For expatriates living abroad it can be difficult to know what kind of medical insurance you should have, in order to ensure you (and your family) are adequately protected. Each country has different regulations regarding its public health insurance scheme (if it has one) and navigating the system is usually difficult – especially where there are language or cultural barriers. Some countries may give foreign nationals access to limited cover within their public health schemes, such as for emergency hospitalisation, but in many other areas may leave you exposed.

International private medical insurance on the other hand can be a lot more effective simply because it offers more extensive cover, offers better care, is more convenient and fills the gaps left by public health insurance schemes – removing a lot of the worry associated with living and working abroad.

By having a private medical insurance plan, you can benefit from:

International private medical insurance offers more choice

Unlike public health insurance, where you don’t have a choice in what is covered and what isn’t, you can choose a private medical insurance plan tailored specifically to your needs – so you can determine, for example, your area of cover, your excess level, and whether or not you wish to have out-patient treatment covered.

You can also select your medical insurance underwriting type based on your health situation – so for example, if you’re suffering from any pre-existing medical conditions which you would like to have covered, you may be interested in a fully medically underwritten health plan.

Surety of getting immediate medical attention

One of the downsides of public health insurance is the sheer volume of people using these services – while service availability can be fairly limited. This usually results in longer waiting times for services such as seeing a doctor or getting hospital treatment. Private medical insurance, on the other hand, allows you to have access to both private and public hospitals. And because your insurer helps to pay towards the costs of the treatment, and often also helps to arrange the treatment, you’re more likely to get the treatment you need much quicker too.

Medically necessary evacuation

One risk that many expatriates often overlook is the risk of needing a medical evacuation. Medical evacuation to a centre of medical excellence can be due to unforeseen circumstances such as an accident, or the sudden worsening of an existing medical condition. When travelling or working in remote locations where adequate medical facilities are not necessarily available, expatriates need to consider the huge costs associated with medical evacuations – should events take a turn for the worse. Choosing the right private medical insurance plan can help to cover you for these risks and give you peace of mind.

International private medical insurance is relied on by many expatriates around the world as a way of protecting their health and wellbeing while abroad. For more information on which health insurance plan you should choose, speak to your advisor or broker, or contact one of InterGlobal’s offices. 

Located never less than two hours from each other, Andalucía’s five largest cities are at the centre of the region’s cultural identity. They are home to a sizeable chunk of Andalucía’s diverse population and house the majority of the region’s must-see visitor attractions, as well as many of its finest restaurants and tapas bars. Whilst Spain’s de facto economic capitals remain Madrid and Barcelona to the north, the south of Spain is enjoying a stylistic and cultural renaissance, led by its five biggest cities.

Cádiz

The smallest of the region’s big cities, Cádiz has always punched above its weight due to being one of the country’s major harbours and ports. Located on Spain’s western coast, it was the staging point for many a Spanish explorer’s journey to the Americas, and the City still displays the wealth of its Golden Era through the luxurious mansions to be found along its main thoroughfares. There is a strong fishing tradition in the area, and the nearby Puerto de Santa Maria is considered the place to find the freshest seafood in the region.

 Seville

Andalucía’s capital is the largest city in the region and the fourth most populous in the country. It is also the region’s cultural hub, hosting many major art exhibitions and the most important theatre and music acts which come to the area. Boasting the world’s largest gothic cathedral, the former Arab palace known as the Alcázar,, and of course the Giralda Tower, the jewel in the City’s touristic crown, there is no lack of activities to keep visitors occupied. When you add the additional entertainment to be found in the many fine restaurants and tapas bars found amongst the cobbled passages of the Barrio de Santa Cruz, it is clear to see why so many expats are shunning life on the coast to flock to this great city.

Córdoba

Once the capital of Islamic Spain, the historic city of Córdoba is centred around its grand Mesquita (mosque) which is by far the largest remaining of its kind in the country. Converted by Spain’s Christian monarchs into a cathedral, its mix of Spanish and Muslim architecture is in many ways as an analogy for the city as a whole. The Jewish Quarter is home to many of the city’s most elegant restaurants which are set amongst traditional Andalucian-style patios, and the City’s numerous hammams (Arab baths) provide the perfect place to rest those tired limbs after a day on the tourist trail.

Granada

Granada is home to the Alhambra Palace, considered to be one of the great wonders of the modern world and, together with its surrounding gardens, one of Andalucía’s truly unmissable sites. The whole of Granada betrays the ghosts of its Moorish past, but no where is this more apparent than in the Alcaiceria, the City’s former silk market, which is now home to many of the city’s famous teterías (tea rooms). Tapas were said to have originated in Granada and you can expect a free ‘tapa’ with every drink you purchase in any of the City’s bars, contributing nicely to an inexpensive night-out on the town.

Málaga

Second in size only to Seville in the region, Málaga is the country’s sixth largest city and the main transport hub for the south of Spain. Many visitors often bypass Málaga, using its airport, but making the mistake of moving on quickly, usually to the resorts on the Costa del Sol. However in doing so, they are missing out on the local speciality, Sardines al espeto in one of the seafront chiringuitos (beachside restaurants). Being Pablo Picasso’s birthplace, there is an small but unmissable museum dedicated to him not to mention the Alcazaba and adjacent Castillo de Gibralfaro, two of the most intact Moorish monuments in Spain.

Many a Hong Kong expat will tell you that nightlife in the city is vibrant, eclectic and almost always exciting. While the dance clubs and watering holes of the nightlife zones of Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai are rowdy fun, expats looking for more sophisticated places to entertain clients or impress a date would do well to raise the bar on where they tipple.

Mo Bar

Located in the swanky Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel, this chic bar and restaurant is one of the most popular all-day meet-up spots in Hong Kong’s Central district. Bartenders here use only premium spirits and fresh ingredients for cocktails like the Hemingway Daiquiri and Rose Petal – a Mo Bar signature invention of Belvedere vodka, lychee liqueur, rose syrup and fresh lychee. Ground Floor, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 16 Queen’s Road, Central, +852-2132-0077,  www.mandarinoriental.com/landmark/fine-dining/mo-bar/

Lily & Bloom

Lily & Bloom. Image courtesy of Lily & Bloom

Decorated with brick walls, handsome dark woods and leather seats, this prohibition era-themed bar was inspired by the speakeasy dens and supper clubs of America in the early 1900s. Lily is the second level bar section – a good place to meet friends for aperitifs before heading downstairs to Bloom to feast on oysters, chilled seafood and juicy steaks. To the left of the main bar, you’ll find The Bling Pig, a private 12-seater cigar room decorated with old shipping crates. 5th & 6th Floor, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Central, +852-2810-6166,  www.lily-bloom.com

OZONE, Ritz Carlton

Perched on the 118th floor of Hong Kong’s tallest skyscraper, the International Commerce Centre in Kowloon, OZONE is the world’s highest bar. Sit on the outdoor terrace and enjoy a view of the city and Victoria Harbour over Asian tapas and exotic cocktails like the Dragontini made with vodka, raspberry liqueur, fresh raspberry, yuzu and basil foam. The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, Level 118, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, +852-2263-2270, www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/HongKong/Dining/ozone/Default.htm#

Honi Honi Tikki Lounge

Inspired by famous Tikki bars such as Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar in San Francisco, Honi Honi’s tropical ambience and drinks will certainly put you in a festive and relaxed mood. Expert bartender Max Traverse will send you to Polynesian paradise with mojitos, pina coladas or perhaps a dark and stormy made with Gosling Black Seal Spiced Rum, fresh lime juice, Angostura Bitters and home-made ginger ale. 3rd Floor, 52 Wellington Street, Central, +852-2353-0885,  www.honihonibar.com

Quinary

Award-winning mixologist Antonio Lai’s unusual techniques add a little extra pizazz to classic recipes that are given a distinctly oriental twist here. The Oolong Tea Collins is a mix of vodka, soda and homemade Oolong tea cordial while the Bloody Mary’s here are created with wasabi-redistilled vodka. Light bites on the menu include rosemary smoked cubed pork belly with apple puree and truffle mac and cheese spoons. 56-58 Hollywood Road, Central +852-2851-3223,  www.quinary.hk

Sevva

For a splendid view of the skyscrapers of downtown Hong Kong, head to the Terrace Bar at Sevva. This is where the beautiful and wealthy come to see and be seen, and bankers, models and Hong Kong high-society are part of the crowd. Sevva also has an indoor bar, various lounge sections, a cake shop and a restaurant, so you have a choice of settings to enjoy a champagne or an Irish coffee. 25th Floor, Prince’s Building, 10 Charter Road, Central, +852-2537-1388,  www.sevva.hk

The Pawn

The Pawn, Image courtesy of The Pawn

Set in a former historical building that was once a pawnshop, The Pawn is one of the hippest restaurant and bar establishments in Wan Chai. The Living Room on the ground floor is where happy hour takes place as patrons lounge in cosy leather armchairs in a stylish, British-inspired retro themed space over ales and British pub grub like pork pies and Branston pickle, Scotch eggs and devils on horseback. 62 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, +852-2866-3444,  www.thepawn.com.hk

Known as the Las Vegas of Asia and the Monte Carlo of the Orient, Macau has more than 30 casinos and is a playground for both VIP and mass-market gamblers. But in recent years, the city has seen an increase in families with children, so more facilities have been built to cater to this growing demographic. Today, expats with kids looking to try their hand at a game baccarat or roulette need not hire a babysitter, as there is much to see and do in Macau for teens and kids. Here are some ideas for expat families visiting Macau.

For the Boys

Macau Tower

Dad and the boys will certainly get excited when they find out that they can bungee jump from the world’s highest urban bungee launch site at the top of the 338-meter high Macau Tower. The jumps are organized by AJ Hackett (Level T2, Adventure Zone, Macau Tower, +853-8988-8656, www.ajhackett.com/macau), an adventure company that also offers Skywalk X, where you can walk around the 1.8-meter wide edge near the top of the tower with a safety harness, and Skyjump, a base jumping experience with a high-speed decent. There is also the Macao Motorsports Club, (Estrada de Seac Pai Van, Coloane,+853-2888-2126) which offers go-karting on a 1.2-kilometre racetrack, the Macau Maritime Museum (1 Largo do Pagode da Barra, +853-2859-5481) and the Macau Grand Prix Museum (431 Rua Luis Gonzaga Gomes, +853-8798-4108), with exhibits of Formula One automobiles.

For the Girls 

There’s nothing like a day at the spa and some shopping to keep the ladies happy. Mom and the older girls can treat themselves to a 330-minute full body spa package that includes a facial, aroma bath, body treatment and massage at the five-star Altira Spa (Avenida de Kwong Tung, Taipa,+853-2886-8886, www.altiramacau.com/spa-health). After that, perhaps a few hours of retail therapy at the Grand Canal shopping arcade at The Venetian (Baia De N. Sen. Da Esperanza, Cotai, www.venetian.com) and a cup of tea at the courtyard of Albergue 1606 (8 Calcada da Igreja de Sao Lazaro, +853-2836-1601, www.albergue1601.com), a little café tucked away in the historical Saint Lazarus Square.

For Little Ones

The City of Dreams (Estrada Do Istmo, Cotai, www.cityofdreamsmacau.com) casino resort has four play zones: Create, Dream, Excite and Explore, designed to entertain youngsters with a wide array of games and activities. Kids can engage in interactive games on a video wall, paint on a glass wall, dress up like a princess, enjoy puppet shows or play on slides, swinging bridges and speed tunnels. City of Dreams also has two multimedia, virtual reality shows: Dragon’s Treasure and Vquarium with stunning graphics, music and special effects that will thrill the kids.

For the Whole Family

Grand Canal at The Venetian

Macau’s historical city centre Senado Square will be interesting for everyone. Senado Square is a UNESCO World Heritage site with many interesting old Portuguese-inspired buildings like the Ruins of Saint Paul and Saint Dominic’s Church. There are also plenty of shops here that sell Macanese snacks like BQQ pork and almond cookies. For a delicious midday treat, head to Lord Stow’s bakery (1 Rua Do Tassara, Coloane Town Square, 853 2888 2534, www.lordstow.com) in Coloane for one of Macau’s most famous baked goods – the Portuguese egg tart. Buy a box and tuck into them as you sit by Cheoc Van Beach (Estrada de Cheoc Van, Coloane) in the vicinity. In the evening, get your family tickets to the US$257 million dollar Franco Dragone production, House of Dancing Water at the City of Dreams, a spellbinding dance, acrobatic and multimedia extravaganza that will delight both young and old.

 Macau is probably best known for its casinos, luxury shopping and for being the filming location for the 23^rd James Bond film Skyfall. But what not as many know is that Macau is also a stellar dining destination with a fine selection of Portuguese restaurants as well a famous Macanese snack stands and family-run shops that sell everything from pork chop buns and BBQ pork to almond cookies and melt-in-your-mouth egg tarts.

Macanese Cuisine

African chicken at Espacio Lisbao

In the mid-16^th century, Macau was a Portuguese settlement and today, the influence of the Portuguese can be seen in the city’s architecture and tasted in its unique cuisine. Macanese food is a delightful fusion of Portuguese and southern Chinese cooking styles. Spices and herbs from Africa, Europe, India, Latin America, Southeast Asian and China are used in Macanese cooking and common ingredients include coconut milk, turmeric and cinnamon. Baking, roasting and grilling are the most common methods of food preparation. If you’re a food-loving expat living in Hong Kong or mainland China, Macau is easy enough to get to and certainly worth the visit. Here are some places for your gastronomic hit list.

Portuguese food

Macau has more than a dozen Portuguese restaurants that range from homey tavern-style dining rooms to more lavish hotel establishments. At restaurants like Fernando’s (9 Praia de Hac Sa, 9 Coloane), Espacio Lisbao (8 Rua dos Gaivotas, Coloane), Don Alfonso 1890 (3^rd Floor, Grand de Lisboa Macau, 2-4 Avenida De Lisboa, Praia Grande) and Guincho a Galera (3^rd Floor, Lisboa Tower, Hotel Lisboa, 2-4 Avenida de Lisboa, Porto Exterior), you can sample popular Portuguese dishes like galinha à Africana – a barbequed chicken with spicy piri-piri sauce, galinha a Portuguesa – a dish of baked chicken and potatoes in a curry-like sauce, pigs ear and papaya salad, grilled sardines, minchi – a spicy ground meat and potato dish, Bacalhau – dried salted codfish slices imported from Portugal and Serradura, a luscious dessert made with egg whites, condensed milk, Marie biscuits and whipped cream.

Pork Chop Bun at Café Tai Lei Loi Kei

Macanese pork chop buns are deep fried to perfection, so the meat is crispy on the outside and moist and juicy inside. The pork chop is stuffed inside a fresh, warm baguette. The best pork chops buns in Macau can be found in Café Tai Lei Loi Kei (No.18, Largo Gov. Tamagnini Barbosa, Vila de Taipa), a humble street shack that’s almost always packed with a hungry crowd.

Shrimp Roe Noodles at Wong Chi Kei

Shrimp Roe Noodles

If you’re in Senado Square, the city’s famous historical centre, try a local favourite of hand-made firm and springy noodles sprinkled with salty shrimp roe at a little coffee shop called Wong Chi Kei (17 Senado Square). The coffee shop also sells good crab congee, fried rice, deep fried fish balls and wontons.

Yee Shun Dairy Company

For something sweet in Senado Square, stop by Yee Shun Dairy Company (7 Senado Square) for one of the best steamed ginger milk puddings in Macau. This dessert of silky steamed milk and ginger juice is served hot or cold and has the most soothing effect on the palette.

Portuguese Egg Tarts at Lord Stow’s Bakery

Don’t leave Macau without sampling its most famous treats – patel de nata, better known as Portuguese egg tarts. These delicious baked treats were created more than 200 years ago by Catholic nuns at Lisbon’s Jeronimos Monastery, and today you’ll find them at most good bakeries in Portugal and Macau. Portuguese eggs tarts have a flaky puff pastry and are finished with burnt sugar for a crème brulee-like surface. According to locals, the best place to get some is Lord Stow’s Bakery (1 Rua da Tassara, Coloane Town Square), where wickedly addictive tarts are made fresh daily.

 The Summer Music Festival

Salzburg was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austria’s most recognized classical music composer and certainly Salzburg’s most famous son. When in the City, you can visit the Mozart family crypt or Mozart’s childhood home, now a museum dedicated to his life. Another of his former residences holds a collection of pictures and prints commemorating his life and achievements. The best way to get to know the great man however, must surely be to attend a classical music concert and there is no better time than during the Summer Music Festival, held in July and August each year, when the whole City is fully immersed in his music.  

Sweet Treats

A day in Austria is not complete without coffee and cakes, and there are plenty of establishments in Salzburg who pride themselves on offering this service at the highest degree possible. The Salzburg Nockerl is a sweet soufflé and a local speciality which is served in most cafés and restaurants as a dessert, and often, due to the size and density of the dish, as main course. I can tell you from experience that you’d be foolish to attempt to make your way through a Nockerl on your own, particularly after a hearty Bavarian-style meal. For excellent coffee and a wide selection of local cakes and sweet treats, try Café Sacher on Schwarzstraße which also produces its own delectable brand of chocolate. Salzburg is of course also the home of Mozartkugels (Mozart chocolate balls) which are famous worldwide and which are sold in almost every establishment in the city.

The Salzburg Toy Museum

The world in miniature

 You inner child will demand that you visit Salzburg’s Toy Museum. The fact that this is the largest collection of vintage toys in the country is no small feat, considering the seriousness with which Austrians collect classic toys. The breadth and variety of items on display means that visitors of all ages will be able to find some nostalgic object or other to transport them back to their childhoods. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to visit in order to catch the thoroughly entertaining Kasperltheater puppet show, itself a Salzburg institution. The adjacent Museum of Historica Musical Instruments is also quirky and interesting and free to enter for holders of the Toy Museum ticket.

 A view from afar

Located atop the Festungsberg peak which overlooks Salzburg, is the medieval Hohensalzburg Fortress. One of the largest of its kind in Europe, and almost 1,000 years old, this castle offers not only breathtaking Alpen vistas but also some of the best views you can have over the city of Salzburg itself. During the warmer months of the years, the castle hosts evening classical music concerts, making this a perfect time to visit, to appreciate the impressive after-dark views, with Salzburg’s city lights sparkling like diamonds below.

Visit the Palace

Schloss Hellbrun was the Baroque-style former day residence of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. Since its original occupant Markus Sittikus von Hohenems only used it for a few months in the year, and even then never slept in it, the palace is peculiar in that it does not have any bedrooms. What this palatial villa does have though, is one of the most famous gardens in Austria, known for the series of hidden fountains which were installed as a means of playing practical jokes on the Archbishop’s guests. You will need to take the palace and gardens guided tour to fully acquaint yourself with the so called ‘water games’ but this is highly recommendable, particularly as a means to entertain any children there may be in the party. There is a also a large zoo on the palace grounds.. 

Though sad to leave the many wonders of China behind me, I was excited to be jumping on the Saturday evening flight from Beijing to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. It was almost midnight when I finally got to downtown Hanoi, however the Dong Xuan Road ‘night market’ looked like it was just getting started, extending for miles in every direction off the City’s main thoroughfare. The scene was busy and very noisy, similar to my Chinese day and night market experiences, and included the familiar collection of goods, ranging from trainers and football shirts to ‘designer’ hand bags, iPods and mobile phones. Vietnam is one of SE Asia’s emerging ‘tiger’ economies where the Dollar and the Dong (local currency) are king and there is a strange irony in the way Cold War style party posters sit side by side with Pepsi ads on the crumbling French colonial buildings.

Hanoi: A city of amazing contrasts

In fact, the amazing contrasts are everywhere to be seen in the city. You can look down one alleyway, built during the French colonial era, and imagine yourself in a Paris arrondissement, however turn the corner and you are suddenly in a functional Beijing housing estate. There is either a Patisserie or a pâté vendor on every corner but also street stalls selling pho (Vietnamese rice noodles) for a few cents a bowl. Motorbikes whizz around perilously making every road crossing a mission, whilst fruit vendors with conical bamboo hats effortlessly Frogger their way through the traffic despite the heavy baskets balanced on their yokes.

Picnic in Lenin Park

Making my now traditional trip to the first supermarket I found, I put together a spread of European-style food, including items I had been missing during my time in China, such as a cheese board, some French bread and a nice bottle of red wine. Luckily for me, just about anything is available in Vietnam, so long as there is a willing buyer. I was now ready for my picnic in the park, probably one of the highlights of my time in Hanoi, reacquainting myself with all those home comforts I had been missing whilst watching the locals going about their amusing fitness routines. 

Hanoi Water Puppet Show and Old Quarter

I was reluctant to disturb my lazy afternoon in the park, but following the advice of a British expat I had met at the airport, I had purchased tickets for Hanoi’s famous water puppet show. Sitting in a packed auditorium, about 100 or so fellow tourists and I enjoyed a rather slow-moving marionette display, set in a shallow pool of water. The performance lasted about 45 minutes, though I was glad to return to my wanderings round the city’s Old Quarter, where the tempo was more to my liking. I was lucky to chance upon a local fish market where, amongst the haggling crowds, I met a zany selection of sea creatures I had never known existed, the majority of which were destined to be somebody’s next meal.

Restaurants in Hanoi

It goes without saying that there is much more on offer in the restaurants in Hanoi than the unidentifiable animals I had seen at the fish market and cheesy baguettes. Even a short time in Hanoi will provide the visitor with plenty of opportunities to delve into the excellent local cuisine, even for those unwilling to take their chances on the roadside food stalls. On my first night I enjoyed the sophisticated surroundings of Marilyn’s restaurant on a trendy square overlooking St Joseph’s Cathedral, topping off my slightly less sophisticated noodles, with my favourite ‘Tom Collins’ cocktail. Feeling a little more adventurous on my second night, I opted for the fusion cuisine on offer at Gecko Cafe, which was also a hit. I finally plucked up the courage on my third night to try Bun Cha, a grilled pork noodle soup which is a Hanoi Speciality, enjoyed from a balcony three stories up at the highly regarded 69 Restaurant. Without a doubt its days as a French colony combined with the use of fresh Asian ingredients, makes Hanoi the perfect holiday destination for food lovers.

Ramen is a popular Japanese dish of Chinese origin that consists of skinny yellow wheat noodles in a thick, creamy broth with various toppings. The broth is usually meat based (although it can be fish based as well) and toppings include thickly sliced pork, dried seaweed, boiled eggs, and vegetables.

In Western countries, we know of ramen as the pre-processed noodle packages that serve as your go-to food when you’re on a budget. These are instant noodles and not the real thing (in Japanese, they’re called gakusei ryori – ‘college kid cuisine’). But instant noodles don’t come close to the real thing – a hearty dish that’s filling and absolutely delicious. Luckily for those who live outside of Japan, real ramen is starting to gain worldwide acclaim.

Made-in-Japan Chinese food

During the Meiji Period after Japan opened up its ports to foreign trade, Chinese immigrants flooded into port cities like Yokohama and Nagasaki. As they’ve done elsewhere all over the world, they opened restaurants serving traditional Chinese noodles altered to local tastes.

Japan has many kinds of native noodles but what makes ramen different is that the broth is meat based whereas Japanese soups tend to be fish based. The thick slice of pork and other toppings also make ramen unique.

To say that ramen was a hit would be a major understatement. Over the last century, ramen spread all over Japan like wildfire. Ramen shops with their red curtains covering the entrance are ubiquitous in every major city. In the smallest towns you’ll find ramen shops in abundance and they’re a staple of highway rest stops.

Fast and filling

In Japan, ramen is a form of fast food. People drop into ramen shops for a quick bite, pay and leave. It’s also a quick and convenient meal for families. Grocery stores sell a type of instant ramen that’s somewhere between restaurant quality and instant. The noodles are freeze-dried along with pre-made sauce or powder, and you add your own meat, vegetables and other toppings.

Ramen noodles are slurped. Some say it’s the only way to eat them out of necessity. Others say it’s how you really enjoy your noodle bowl. What mystifies many Westerners is the fact that the noodles are eaten with chopsticks (there’s also a big spoon for slurping soup). It’s a real challenge at first getting the slippery noodles to your mouth with chopsticks, but the slurping makes it quite a bit easier.

Endless variety

There is ramen all over Japan and each local area has its own style. The most basic type is shio, or salt. It’s light and pale in color with thin, straight noodles. Another basic type is shoyu, or soy sauce. Soy sauce is used liberally in the soup and it has a tangy flavor.

Real ramen aficionados usually go for tonkotsu or miso. The stock of tonkotsu ramen is made by boiling pork bones and fat for many hours to produce a soup that’s as thick and creamy as sausage gravy. The pork flavor and thick sauce make this a very hearty bowl of noodles. Tonkotsu is the ramen type that’s most like traditional Chinese noodle bowls.

Miso ramen comes from Sapporo and is synonymous with Hokkaido’s capital city. It mixes miso with a chicken or fish broth to create a soup that’s thick, nutty and slightly sweet, perfect for an icy cold winter’s day.

Regional variations exist in every corner of the country, mixing up noodle styles, broth ingredients, and unusual toppings to create unique noodle bowls. New styles of ramen are constantly being created.

Everything you ever wanted to know about ramen

If you want to become a true ramen expert, the best way to do so (other than eating as much ramen as possible) is to visit the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. You’ll find everything ramen here including exhibits about the noodle bowl’s history and how it’s made, and of course ramen shops galore. You won’t go away hungry.

Rising east of the main highway connecting Johannesburg to Durban, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg is South Africa’s most extensive and highest mountain range.

The imposing nature of this UNESCO World Heritage Site is alluded to in the Zulu name uKhahlamba, which means ‘Barrier of Spears’. The more widely used Afrikaans name Drakensberg, or ‘Dragon’s Mountain’, compares its long jagged escarpment to a saurian spine.

Comprising several dozen peaks that top 3,000 metres, this vast wilderness area is a favoured tramping ground of South African hikers.

But the caves and shelters of uKhahlamba-Drakensberg are also adorned with one of the world’s richest repositories of rock art, a total of around 50,000 individual paintings documented across some 500 sites.

History and meaning

The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg rock art is attributed to the hunter-gatherer peoples known to outsiders as the San or Bushmen.

The oldest of these paintings date back two or three millennia. Others are so recent that they depict ox-wagons and uniformed soldiers, indicating that they were painted after the arrival of European settlers.

Common subjects include geometric designs, portraits of eland (the world’s largest antelope) and other wildlife, and straightforward depictions of people, often dancing or hunting.

Most revealing, however, are the strange and surrealistic creatures known as therianthropes, whose broadly human form is confused by accessories such as hooves, tails and animal heads. These usually take centre stage in panels that depict hallucinatory rituals wherein entranced shaman would metamorphosise  into animals, which the artists perceived to be a portal to the spirit world.

The archaeologist Peter Garlake has called the rock art “one of the world’s last and greatest undiscovered artistic and cultural treasures”. Yet the paintings were not created with posterity in mind, but as a living component of the shamanic artists’ spiritual rituals.

Main Cave, Giant’s Castle

Among the most important and accessible of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg rock arts sites is Main Cave on the slopes of Giant’s Castle. The first outsider to document this site was Major Durnford, whose 75th Regiment camped close by in 1874, and – regrettably – used some of the paintings for target practice. Despite this, the rock walls still host a thematically varied collection of 500 figures, including some memorable therianthropes, and a menagerie that includes the ubiquitous eland alongside big cats and a python.

The Rosetta Stone of Kamberg

Game Pass Shelter, set in the little-visited Kamberg Game Reserve, is reached by a lovely 90 minute hike through a fern-lined valley below the main escarpment. The beautifully executed main frieze here consists of an eland herd interspersed with bizarre therianthropes.

Game Pass Shelter has been dubbed the “Rosetta Stone” of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg. This is a double reference to the nearby village of Rosetta, as well as to the panel’s significance in having provided the vital key that helped scholars “crack the code” of shamanic symbolism that informs the ancient art.

Rock art for beginners

Most of the key rock art sites in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg require some effort to reach. Their isolation is part of their attraction, and it ensures that they are in no risk of being overrun with tourists.

An excellent option for reluctant walkers, the multimedia Didima Rock Art Centre introduces the genre in a reconstructed cave covered with accurate reproductions of rock art sites. And if that whets your appetite, guided walks to the actual sites in the nearby Didima Valley can also be arranged.

The capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra, Mumbai is the most populous city in India and the fourth most populous city in the world. With approximately 20.5 million people in the city, Mumbai can take a little getting use to for expats who’ve recently relocated here. Formerly known as Bombay, the city was renamed Mumbai in 1996. Today, it is home to India’s major financial institutions like the Reserve Bank of Mumbai and the Bombay Stock Exchange and is a global city of commerce that generates about 5 percent of India’s GDP. Mumbai is also India’s entertainment capital where more than a thousand Bollywood films are produced each year. The city attracts migrants from throughout India and is one of the most international cities in the subcontinent. While Mumbai has seen much growth and development in the last decade, its crowded streets, seasonal monsoons, maddening traffic, noise, heat and humidity can leave new expats feeling a little overwhelmed. However once settled in, a surprising number of expats start to really enjoy the many sensory delights that the city offers.

Expat Residential Areas

Because Mumbai is notoriously short on space, it has one of the most expensive real-estate markets in the world. There are some European-style bungalows in the market, but supply for these are low and demand is high. These days, most expats rent apartments instead. Expat quality apartments can be found throughout the city, but the most popular areas are in the north and south. In recent years, more expats are choosing to live in Bandra in the northwest as the southern section of the city has become too hectic and overcrowded. Severe traffic congestion can make commuting very time consuming, so expats would be wise to rent close to where they work.

South Mumbai

Malabar Hills. Photo from http://members.virtualtourist.com

In the south there is the upmarket and exclusive Malabar Hill, a hillock residential area which offers good views of Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive. At a height of 50 metres, Malabar Hill is the highest point in South Mumbai. This is where the well-known Walkershwar Temple in located. To the north of Malabar Hill, are the areas of Breach Candy on the seafront and Carmichael Road, a heritage neighbourhood with low-rise bungalows in Cumballa Hill. Rentals for two-bedroom apartments in Malabar Hills, Breach Candy and Carmichael Road range from USD2,800 to USD3,800 a month. Three-bedrooms costs about USD4,500 to USD8,200 a month, while four-bedroom apartments rent for anything between USD9,000 to USD18,000 a month.

Bandra

In the northwest, there is Bandra, presently the most desired area for expats. Bandra is a suburb that creatives, hipsters and Bollywood stars call home, and it is also where the American School of Bombay is located. This is one of the most cosmopolitan areas in Mumbai, and expats can find everything from Thai to Italian cuisine and even New York-style delis here. Grocery stores in Bandra stock items like Vegemite, peanut butter and other items that show up frequently on expat shopping lists. The city’s largest gym, Gold’s Gym is also located here. The suburbs of Pali Hill and Mount Mary in Bandra are particularly popular among expats. A two-bedroom apartment in Bandra rents for about USD2,200 to USD3,200, a three-bedroom might cost between USD3,300 to USD5,500, while a high-end four-bedroom apartment can cost anything between USD9,200 to USD16,500 per month.

Other areas where expats rent include Powai and Andheri in the East, Worli, Prabhadevi and Lower Parel in Central Mumbai,  Altamount Road, Napeansea Road, Marine Drive and Cuffe Parade in the south, and Colaba, a former colonial residential enclave in the southern most point of the city with old Indo-Sarsenic and Art Deco houses.