It’s a Rye ol’ world!

A few days ago I put the final full stop on my new book, ‘Guinevere’ – an erotic novella telling the alternative myth of King Arthur’s famous wife.

It therefore seemed fitting to visit an English town that dates back to mediaeval times. Unlike the legend of Camelot, thought to be based in Cornwall, we visited Rye in East Sussex.

Despite living only 1.5 hrs away, neither my husband nor I had visited Rye before. Famous for its cobbled streets, rich history and old, old buildings, Rye is a famous tourist stop, and we decided it was about time we took it all in.

We stayed in The Mermaid Inn on the beautifully named Mermaid Street. An ancient building dating back to the 1100s (wow!), the Mermaid Inn is a pub with over thirty rooms, a cosy bar and a restaurant.

We were lucky enough to stay in a four-poster room and when I asked the chap who showed us to our room whether it was one of the haunted rooms (The Mermaid Inn is well known for being a popular ‘haunt’ with various spectres), he said no. However, when I checked out the room information, it very clearly said that there had been several sightings of the ghost of a man who terrifies guests by walking through the bathroom wall into the main room – aarrrgghh!

Ghosty didn’t make an appearance on the night we stayed (or if he did, we must have been asleep). I’m not sure whether I was relieved or disappointed about this!

We chose to have dinner in the bar as it was so lovely and cosy and heated with a huge open fire. We could have eaten in the dining room, which looked very lovely and had a tempting-sounding menu, but we wanted a relaxed evening, so we opted for a more informal setting.

We arrived Saturday midday and took a walk around Rye. If you like antiques, then Rye is a good place to visit, as it has so many antique shops. There’s also a very quaint looking independent cinema called ‘Kino’, which we’d have visited had we stayed longer.

There is an enormous amount of pubs and other eateries in Rye, many of which looked gorgeous. We, however, stuck with The Mermaid Inn, and took advantage of their mulled wine offering in the afternoon. It was a miserable, rainy January day, and there really seemed to be no better place to be than whiling the hours in the warm and comfortable bar. We even got chatting to the locals, which was very entertaining!

Rye is fairly small, so if you only have a weekend to spare, it’s a good town to visit. And if you like English history, ancient architecture and friendly locals, it’s the perfect place to go!

www.mermaidinn.com

Top 5 Reads

It’s been a while since I’ve written a post on book recommendations, so I thought it about time that changed.

Here are my top 5 recent reads for…

A laugh
Why Mummy Swears by Gill Sims

I found this wrapped up without a tag under my tree at Christmas and it took me a while and a few embarrassing text messages thanking the wrong people to recall who had given it to me. After several responses along the lines of “Erm, I didn’t actually buy you a present”, I finally remembered – my wonderful best friend – who else!

Why Mummy Swears is a hilarious account of what it’s really like being a working mum and wife. Aside from the fact that I wanted to kill her husband for his ridiculously selfish behaviour, I loved it from start to finish.

My husband even said: “You’ve always got a smile on your face when you’re reading that book.” That says it all really. If the winter blues are hitting you hard, then this is the ideal antidote.

The swears are wonderfully appalling – perfect for anyone like me with the tendency to be a bit of a potty mouth.

Murder and Mayhem
Apple Strudel Alibi by H.Y. Hanna

I love H.Y Hanna’s Oxford Tearoom series as anyone who’s read my previous book recommendations will know. They’re very ‘cosy’, funny and intriguing all at the same time.

I especially liked this one, which is set in Vienna, as I’ve been there fairly recently myself, so it almost felt like I was there all over again.

I took this book in via Audible, which is always a pleasure with the Oxford Tearoom books, as they’re narrated by Pearl Hewitt, whose voice I could happily listen to all day.

Self-development
Leap Year by Helen Russell

I’ve got to admit – I love a self-help book. I’m not sure this is classified as such, as it’s more of a first-person narrative about the author’s own personal dilemma and how she overcomes it, but whatever the official genre, this is bloody funny.

I laughed out loud to this on many an occasion, as the author takes the reader through her decision-making process when it comes to whether she will remain in Denmark or return to England with her family.

On the way she attempts to lose weight, make new friends and try out a radical new dance class as a way to shake off her British inhibitions.

Romance and Friendship
The Mother of all Christmases by Milly Johnson

Clearly, no list of book recommendations in this blog is likely to be without an entry from Milly Johnson. I love the warmth, humour, romance and of course happy ends that you’re guaranteed with a Milly Johnson novel, and The Mother of all Christmases does not disappoint. In fact, it surpasses expectations.

I don’t know how she continues to think up all the wonderful characters and their stories, but she does, and I hope she continues to do so, as I’ve now read them all!

Historical, edge-of-your-seat moments
The Faithful by Juliet West

I don’t think I’ve ever gripped my car steering wheel as much as I did when I listened to this book on Audible. Steering-wheel-gripping was often combined with shouting “No, no, you can’t!” or “What? I can’t believe it!” as the story unfolded.

Juliet is such a talented story-teller that you can’t help but get completely sucked in to the plot and the wonderfully colourful characters.

Set in the run up to WWII, The Faithful tells the story of a teenage girl who finds herself immersed in the world of the British extreme right movement. Not only is it a sensitive and edge-of-your-seat read, it is also fascinating from an historical point of view.

My Weekly Pocket Novel accepted!

What a brilliant start to the new year – on Friday I heard that my 50k word submission to My Weekly Pocket Novels has been accepted!

It’s a real privilege to be published by My Weekly as they’re such a long-standing, reputable company, and they’re publishing my book – YESSSSSS!

Obviously I’m made up about this, especially because it means I’ll be able to fulfil my ambition of going in to a newsagent/supermarket and seeing one of my books on the shelf (the Pocket Novels are kept on the magazine rack).

The novel, Saving Alice, has been in the making for over a year, and made placed second in the Romantic Writers of Australia’s Ripping Start competition.

The book, which is a love story, features a cheeky little girl called Alice and her rather scrummy single dad.

Saving Alice will be out 4th April 2019.

Tour of Asia pics

A couple of days ago I blogged about our Christmas and New Year across Asia. I’ve since posted some pics on my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ginahollands/

This one taken in Vietnam is my favourite!

An Asian Christmas

Late last night I arrived home, with my husband and young son, from a 17-day tour of Asia. We travelled over Christmas and New Year, starting at Singapore and ending in Shanghai, visiting in between Hong Kong, Ko Samui, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

We went via cruise ship plus two long-haul flights out of Heathrow and back. Phew! Over the two and a half weeks, we experienced the fascinating, exotic, run-down, hot, cold, tranquil, bustling, rich, poor, developed and undeveloped of this vast region.

A relaxing holiday it was most definitely not, but it was a great way to get a taster of each of the countries. The only one I’d visited previously was Hong Kong, so it was almost all new to me.

Clearly, there isn’t enough time in one blog to go into great detail, but here’s my top line:

Start (see pic): Singapore – beautiful, super clean country with zero crime rate. Very impressive buildings and one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in, although it wasn’t ludicrously expensive (Swissotel). The service was phenomenal and the people we encountered were fabulous and so helpful. On the top floor of this huuuuuuge hotel, there is a bar, where you can sit and take in the extraordinary view. So we did, with a Singapore Sling in hand.

The weather is hot, hot, hot!

Singapore is almost all built-up, although doesn’t have that too-busy city feel, which I hate, so I’d love to go back here again.

Stop one: Ko Samui, Thailand. We paid to go on a trip to a hotel for the day. It was called The Passage. Our tour package included lunch (gorgeous), a Thai massage (definitely an experience to be had), and use of the beach and pool (spectacular).

We were so lucky to miss the storm, which hit the area just a few days later. The weather we had was blissful. The tour wasn’t cheap (none of the cruise tours are, so it’s the only one we went on), but it was worth every penny.

The Thai people were super and the place was beautiful. Will definitely be saving the pennies for a return visit.

Stop two: Pattaya, Thailand. The problem with cruising is that you’re basically dumped where the ship docks. Unless you’ve robbed a bank recently and can afford all the trips, then you have to find your own way around, and the place you dock in may not be particularly nice. Although the ship advertised it was stopping at ‘Bangkok’, we were actually 2.5 hours drive away from Bangkok!

We took a 30-minute coach ride to the town of Pattaya, which is OK but not very salubrious. By night, it’s the red-light district. We were there in the day, so didn’t see that, but still, it’s very built-up and the beach, although nice, is lined with people selling parasailing (or whatever it’s called). It’s cut-throat business, so be prepared to be harassed a little from traders. The weather was glorious. I’m sure there are a lot nicer places in Thailand, and this won’t be on my list to go back to.

Stop three: Vietnam. Similar story here – we docked miles away from anywhere of interest. The city was the place on everyone’s hit list, but it cost a lot to get there.

I’ve heard lots of accounts of how wonderful Vietnam is, but our experience wasn’t in line with this. Having said that, other cruise passengers said they really enjoyed their day here, so it is of course subjective.

Our experience involved getting off a coach in a minor town. It was bustling, with a small shopping centre, a market and lots of local shops lining the street.

The area appeared fairly poor, with a lot of traders walking up and down, touting their goods on a tray around their necks. Everyone, but everyone, rides on a scooter – often with several people (and dogs) to one scooter.

The weather was very hot. That was our final hot stop…

Stop four: Taiwan. I had no preconceptions about what Taiwan would be like. I felt like we hadn’t made the most of our stop in Vietnam, and should probably have visited the main city, so when we reached Taiwan, we decided to get on the local train and venture into Taipei, which was around 45 minutes away.

If you love cities, hustle and bustle and something new every corner you turn, then you may well love Taipei. For me, however, I find this level of busy overwhelming.

We left the enormous train station and found ourselves in a shopping mall that was so huge I felt a little dizzy. We walked around the streets and the amount of market traders and shops is staggering. There are definitely bargains-a-plenty.

I had a good look out of the window on the train ride in, and the term ‘concrete jungle’ must have been coined for this area. Everywhere you look, there are high-rise grey concrete buildings. Pretty it isn’t, but interesting, most certainly.

It was a grey, chilly and rainy day, which I believe is typical of Taiwan at this time of year.

Stop five: Hong Kong. A busy metropolis, rammed with people and skyscrapers, Hong Kong does enormous on its own scale. We rode the metro around the city – very easy to navigate, and just like London’s Underground system.

We had lunch in a local restaurant, which was delicious, and I ended up eating everyone’s as my family weren’t feeling particularly well. Oh well, more for me!

I did a highly intellectual experiment and ordered sweet and sour chicken to see if it really did taste like the version you get in The West – given so many people say it’s altered for our taste. Lo and behold – it was as beautifully sweet and gloopy as we get in Worthing’s Imperial China restaurant. Hurrah!

We took a taxi back to the port and the driver took the side streets. Wow! The shiny, shiny Hong Kong you see in pics is a world away from the city’s underbelly. Parts of HK are really rundown. I realise this doesn’t come as a surprise as that’s all cities, but wanted to point out that if you have a craving to see the ‘real’ HK, then by all means visit that famous skyline, but take a trip down the side streets too.

It was a winter’s day in HK at around 10 degrees C, so wrap up warm if visiting this time of year.

Stop six: Busan, South Korea. Thankfully, this is one of the stops where the city of interest is near to the port. I really liked Busan. Although English is not widely spoken, the people we came across were very kind and friendly and we both tried hard to communicate.

Busan is highly developed, and during this stay, we visited the high street and local mall. The mall was huge with so many floors I couldn’t get my head around it. We went to the top and took in the view, which from that height, was awesome.

What I particularly liked about Busan was that although it was lively enough, it wasn’t crammed with people as some of our previous stops had been, and I actually felt I could breathe.

This was our coldest stop at a rather nippy 5 degrees C.

Stop seven: Nagasaki, Japan. Nagasaki is a small, pretty town, and the boat docks within walking distance of the centre. Needless to say, Nagasaki is most famous probably for the WWII bombing it endured, and there is a museum dedicated to this time in its history, as well as a peace museum.

The nicest people I have ever met live in Nagasaki. Our son being young, blonde and blue-eyed got a lot of attention, and many people stopped to talk to us in the street. He ran onto a playground and within minutes was playing with a group of Japanese children and teenagers, who were all shouting out his name.

I loved Nagasaki, not just for the people, but for its tranquility – ironic really, considering what it’s been through. You can mooch around without being bothered and without bumping into a thousand people.

I don’t suppose we’ll ever make it back to Nagasaki, but I would heartily recommend a visit.

It was a beautiful day – cold but sunny.

Final stop: Shanghai. Due to delays with the boat reaching shore, we didn’t really get to see much of Shanghai. We stayed in the Longemont hotel, which was recommended by the cruise liner, although if that’s the best Shanghai has to offer, then it wasn’t particularly impressive. Our room smelt of cigarettes and the temperature in the room was set at 30 degrees C, even though it was about 10 degrees outside. We were melting! Someone was sent to help us, and ‘fixed’ the problem by opening the window. This wasn’t my favourite solution considering we were on the 40th floor.

They eat very ‘interesting’ food in this part of China, which I’d say requires a rather strong stomach. I consider myself quite adventurous when it comes to trying different foods, but it was a bit like watching an episode of ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get me Outta Here’. It isn’t just chicken’s feet and deep fried insects on offer – it’s on a whole different level. I’m not sure what the ‘cloud soup’ was, but it looked rather globular. Clearly, wonderful for adventurous foodies everywhere!

If you visit Shanghai, be prepared that English is not at all widely spoken and the food and service levels are very different from what’s expected in The West. You may consider this half the fun of travelling, but if this is likely to hamper your stay, then it’s worth thinking about.

We travelled to Singapore with Singapore Airlines. The food and service is good and the cabin crew are staggeringly well-kept.

We travelled back to Heathrow with British Airways. The food was OK, the service was crud and the cabin crew look like a right old state. There was a 3 hour delay going out, and we waited almost 2 hours for our baggage to reach the belt.

Choose Singapore!