After my epic volcano hike, it was time to relax and Guatemala's beautiful Lake Atitlán region was the perfect place for it! I spent three days exploring the small lakeside towns by foot, shopping for handwoven textiles, admiring the street art and enjoying volcano-fringed sunsets. Here's my guide for making the most of your time in Lake Atitlán.

Last Saturday, I took a day trip to Leigh-on-Sea: a new-to-me seaside destination that's just a 45-minute train journey from London. Once a busy fishing port, Leigh has stacks of character with its cobbled streets, historic buildings and wide array of wonderful restaurants, cafes and shops, as well as some great specialty coffee spots and a lovely sandy beach. Just be sure to check the tide times if you fancy a swim!

This is the last of my posts about my recent trip to Bali, where I summarise my overall experience: my itinerary and how it panned out, what I did, how I travelled around and some practical tips.

It's been several years since I last compiled a holiday gift guide, but this year of all years, I thought it would be a good way to highlight some of the products I love — or would love to own — that can be purchased from some of my favourite coffee companies and other small businesses. I hope you'll find some inspiration for gifts for the coffee lovers in your life. And yes, that includes gifts to self, of course (I promise I won't tell).

I can't think of any coffee lovers who would not love to receive a top-quality bag of speciality coffee beans as a gift, and I'd recommend finding a roaster or coffee shop local to you; they'd appreciate your support. But if you need more inspiration, my coffee city guides may help. Equally, if you're thinking of purchasing a speciality coffee subscription as a gift, I can recommend Dog and Hat (which I reviewed here) for the quality and variety of their selection. As we've all been spending a lot more time at home this year, coffee brewing equipment is another good gift category; you can find a list of the equipment I use regularly here, but I'd recommend buying from an independent coffee shop or roaster, if you can.

Cups

Regular readers will know that I have a passion for beautiful ceramics, and these are some of the cups that I either own or that have caught my eye.

Melisa Dora tumblers (£25). I discovered the work of Melisa, who is based not far from me in south-east London, when I bought one of her tumblers at Rosslyn Coffee. I love the cheerful colour palette and minimalist design, and now own two of her tumblers, a mug and two pasta bowls.

With a few days off work and no plans last week, it was the perfect opportunity to return to Bath, which I last visited two years ago. I took a train from Paddington on Sunday morning, returning home on Monday evening, which cost £42. Bath accommodation can get quite expensive at weekends — with some properties requiring two-night minimum stays — while Sunday nights are often cheaper, hence the timing of my visit.

If you've been following my Instagram, you'll know that I spent a week in New York last month. I was there to work in my company's Financial District office but did get three weekend days and a public holiday free to explore in the city, and was blessed with crisp but sunny weather for most of the week. I'm lucky enough to visited New York about once or twice a year for the past quarter-century, which takes off the pressure and means coffee shops, restaurants and things to do can sometimes remain on my to-do list for a couple of years. I've already written about my most recent speciality coffee experiences here, but here's how I spent the rest of my trip.

While planning my trip to Australia and New Zealand in 2017, I thought I could include an eight-hour layover in Singapore. I spent some time researching what I would do, but it didn't work out in the end, and I just spent a few hours at Changi Airport instead. But I was sure to make time for a visit to Singapore at the end of my Malaysia holiday, and loved spending time in the green but high-tech, historic but multicultural city-state.

I flew in to Penang, Malaysia’s fourth-largest island, from KL on a Thursday evening. From Penang Airport, it was a 30-minute (23 RM) Grab ride to the centre of George Town, Penang’s state capital, and Malaysia’s second-largest city with a population of over 700,000. I spent about three days in George Town, which gave me a good taste of the city — quite literally, since the food was one of my main reasons for visiting!

After a 19-year absence, 2018 was the year I finally returned to Amsterdam. As accommodation in the city is expensive, even when booking well in advance, I opted to take a morning flight from London City Airport that got me into central Amsterdam soon after 10 am on Saturday, flying back to London late on Sunday night. I saw quite a bit of the city in two full days, including six of its speciality coffee shops. Here's what else I got up to in my weekend in the Dutch capital.

In addition to checking out various speciality coffee spots on my recent visit to New York, I had a little time to explore the city once I'd finished my days in our company's Financial District office. October is one of my favourite months to visit New York — as the constant stream of Facebook 'memories' suggest — and I was really lucky with the weather. It was crisp and sunny most of the time — perhaps a little too crisp on my last day — which was perfect for wandering around the city.

Brooklyn
After working for eight days straight, I decided to do all of my favourite NYC things (including some from this long weekend guide) on my day off. First off was a morning run from my Lower East Side hotel over Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and back via the Brooklyn Bridge — with a stop-off at the gorgeous new Cobble Hill branch of Stumptown Coffee. It was a beautifully clear morning and the views were fantastic. No matter how many times I cross Brooklyn Bridge, I still get a little thrill each time I step out onto the walkway.



As I'd done two of the three 'BMW bridges (a helpful mnemonic to remember the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges from south to north), I decided to walk over the Williamsburg Bridge from the LES to downtown Williamsburg, which took about 30 minutes. The weather wasn't quite as good as the day before but I still enjoyed the views.



After indulging in a little retail therapy, including at Baggu, Catbird, and Artists & Fleas, I wandered down to the riverfront for some street food at Smorgasburg. I don't know if it's always incredibly windy there or just when I go, but I did get a little chilly while I made the rounds of the food trucks, trying to narrow down my food choices. In the end, I went for some Mao's Baos, plus a massive dulce de leche almond doughnut from Dough, which I ate with a wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline.



One night after work, two colleagues and I went for cocktails at Elsa, a cool and beautiful cocktail bar in Cobble Hill. I'd actually visited Elsa's now-defunct East Village location some years ago and was happy to be back. As well as a cool neon sign, well-stocked bar and famously selfie-worthy bathrooms, Elsa's cocktails are spot on. I had the gin-heavy 'Hemp Ascot' and although I was a little sad the 'rainbow peppercorn' didn't translate into a rainbow-coloured cocktail, it was potent and very well mixed. In need of sustenance, we then hopped over the road to Table 87, sharing a massive coal-oven pizza with soppressata, which more than fit the bill.



Financial District
I spent the first couple of days of my trip in the Financial District, arriving from DC a couple of minutes too late to catch the sunset from Battery Park, although its aftermath was still pretty stunning.


Not wanting to travel too far or to wait in line for dinner, I decided to go to a new opening nearby called Pastagram. Although its name references Instagram, it isn't actually particularly Instagram friendly, mainly because the lighting isn't great. The pasta at the small eatery was pretty good, however. You can choose your noodle style and your sauce — or opt for one of their set dishes. I went for the 'don't touch my protein': chunky fusilloni pasta with ragù, which was tasty and filling.


After dinner, I went for a walk over to the Westfield mall inside the 'Oculus' World Trade Center transport hub. I took a few photos and did a little window shopping.


In the morning, I got up early to go for a run — and for coffee — snapping a quick photo of the old and new architecture on Trinity Street. And then I arrived at the office, where every visitor has to spend at least five minutes taking photos of the views of Lower Manhattan skyline and Liberty Island.



Lower East Side
For my last three nights, I moved to the Orchard Street Hotel in the heart of Lower East Side. October is a pretty expensive time to visit NYC, and even booking 3–4 months in advance didn't really yield any bargains. My room at the Orchard Street Hotel was tiny but had a great view, down to Lower Manhattan and up to the Empire State Building. It was also comfortable and quiet, and the hotel's location was ideal: in walking distance of or a short subway ride from most of the neighbourhoods I wanted to visit.



It definitely didn't hurt that my hotel was just one block down from new pizzeria Una Pizza Napoletana. I went one evening — try to go early if you don't have a booking — and ordered the margherita. Although expensive — the margherita was $22 plus tax and tip — it was absolutely delicious, with a puffy crust, creamy mozzarella and tasty tomato sauce, and the décor, ambiance and service were great too. Sometimes I forget how spoiled we are in London to be able to get world-class Neapolitan pizzas for under £10.


Soho & Nolita
It only took ten minutes to walk to Nolita from my hotel and I spent quite a bit of time there, shopping, coffee-shop hopping and wandering. I stopped into one of my favourite book stores, McNally Jackson (which is relocating but not closing, thankfully), a number of the clothing chains I like, and also the Amazon four-star shop, which stocks only items that have a four-star rating or higher on the Amazon website. I didn't buy anything but it was busy and there were plenty of tech, travel and kitchen items I could have bought.



On my last morning in the city, I went for breakfast at Egg Shop, which has been on my list for a long time. It was busy even at 9 am, but as I was dining solo I soon nabbed a spot at the bar. I had an excellent Egg Shop B.E.C. (bacon, egg, cheese) sandwich, with Vermont white cheddar, Black Forest bacon, tomato jam and pickled jalapeño. The coffee, which was good, is from Café Integral, which is located right next door.


West Village, Greenwich Village & East Village
Arriving in the city shortly before Halloween meant that the decorations and pumpkins were already out in full force. As I felt like doing a seasonal activity, I took a Boroughs of the Dead walking tour, one night. This entailed a two-hour wander through the East Village and Greenwich Village, ending near Washington Square. It wasn't supposed to be a 'scary' ghost walk, but there were lots of good historical stories — some rather tragic — and ghostly lore. Another time, I would like to take the 'forgotten dark histories of Lower Manhattan' tour.




It was 9.30 pm when the ghost tour finished and I was ravenous. I decided to go to Greenwich Village favourite, J. G. Melon, for a quick dinner. My no-frills bacon cheeseburger was juicy and perfectly medium rare. I probably didn't need a whole side of 'cottage fries', but they were tasty too.


Over in the West Village, I ate one of the best burgers I've ever had at Emily. Primarily a Detroit-style pizza restaurant, Emily also serves a limited number of burgers per day. With a double patty, American cheese, caramelised onions and 'Emmy sauce' on a pretzel bun, and curly fries on the side, this burger was immense and utterly delicious. At $26, it wasn't cheap, but I will definitely make a beeline to Emily on my next trip to New York.


For my last brunch of the trip, I went to Joseph Leonard in the West Village. I didn't book and had to wait about an hour for a spot to open up at the bar in the small, cosy restaurant, but I was able to leave my name and visit a few of my favourite shops in the area, like stationery store Greenwich Letterpress and travel book store Idlewild. Back at Joseph Leonard, I had a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich, which tasted great. Ahead of my flight home, I'd switched to mocktails, but like at their sister restaurant Jeffrey's Grocery, these are great too.


On this trip, I made my first visit to David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village, which has long been on my to-visit list. The signature pork belly ramen was comforting and delicious — just what I needed after a long day in the office and faced with a chilly evening. I arrived early and there was a seat available at the bar — by the time I left, closer to 7 pm, a line was starting to form at the bar. Speaking of David Chang, I binge-watched his excellent Netflix series Ugly Delicious, where each episode explores the culture and history underlying eight different popular foods. The first episode on pizza was particularly good.


I met an old friend for drinks at East Village bar Mace early one evening. Earning a place on the World's 50 Best Bars list, Mace has really excellent cocktails, each based around a different spice. Although the pink peppercorn listed on the menu wasn't available, the two drinks I tried (one acacia-based and one that invoked fragrant south-east Asian flavours and spices) were impeccable. We also got to sit by the window and watch the East Village stroll by.



Chelsea & Flatiron
I didn't spend much time above 20th Street on this trip but I did head up to see the Empire State Building lit up in blue and orange to celebrate the New York Knicks on my first night in the city. The stretch of Fifth Avenue and Broadway between 16th and 23rd Streets is one of my favourite places in the city to shop, so after I'd taken a few photos, I indulged in a spot of retail therapy too.


Further west, I also did my usual walk along the High Line one afternoon, which was busier than ever.

After experiencing cold, snowy climes on my previous two visits to Washington, DC, I was relieved to find it much warmer when I touched down at Dulles Airport. The metro extension to Dulles still isn't complete, and by the time I'd caught the bus to the end of the silver metro line and then journeyed into the downtown area, the heavens had opened. I checked into my hotel, the Washington Marriott Georgetown (something of a misnomer as it's really closer to Dupont Circle or the West End), and then braved the rain to head into Georgetown for an early supper. By morning, the temperature has dropped but the sun had come out. Perfect fall weather.

On an off-peak day return from London, you can reach Curve Roasters' Margate Storeroom a few minutes before noon if all goes to plan. Even on the high-speed line, it takes about an hour and a half to reach the seaside town from St Pancras, but it's then just a ten-minute walk along the sea front to reach Curve's flagship coffee shop.


I first came across Curve in Paris last year, and was then very happy to meet Jon and Teresa at their pop up a little closer to home at Nape in Camberwell. I had been wanting to visit the mothership, on the north coast of Kent, ever since and a rare Friday off work in the UK represented the perfect opportunity.


The Storeroom is located in the Printworks, a Victorian building on Union Row — once home to the Thanet Gazette, and now a creative hub. I climb up the stairs and walk into the café — there are also a few seats on the patio, which are perfect for sunny days. The café is bright and airy with bright pops of colourful art and plenty of foliage. It's a welcoming place too — unfortunately, I manage to miss Jon and Teresa but the baristas I meet in the Storeroom are friendly, knowledgeable and efficient.



The coffee menu is so extensive that I miss the tasting flight option (split shot espresso and cortado, and a batch-brew filter coffee) until it is too late. Instead, I weigh up the filter coffee options, opting in the end for the Ethiopian Biftu Gudino, brewed through the Clever Dripper. There is another Ethiopian, the Mormora, also available as a hand-brewed filter coffee and a Guatemalan on batch-brew.


The coffee arrives promptly and is very well brewed, with subtle honeysuckle and pineapple notes coming through nicely. I contemplate the brunch menu and the sweet treats (some banana bread has just come out of the oven) but it's still a little too early and I decide to have a 'barista's lunch' and order another coffee instead. There are two espressos on the menu and this time, I try the Mormora as a piccolo, which tastes wonderful and which is pleasingly proportioned. I can't leave empty-handed, so I buy a bag of filter-roasted Mormora beans, which have been tasting fantastic brewed through my Kalita Wave dripper at home. All in all, the Curve Storeroom is one of my favourite UK coffee shops of the year so far.



I have other stops on my Margate speciality coffee itinerary and so after settling up, I walk ten minutes to the east to the Cliftonville neighbourhood, where I visit Cliffs, a coffee shop where you can also buy LPs, have a haircut or take a yoga class. By this point, I am in the market for brunch and order the poached eggs and avocado on toast (the kimchi grilled cheese sarnie also sounds fab).



The coffee here is from Curve too — in fact, it's roasted at the back of Cliffs — and I order a flat white with a Colombian Palmitas espresso. While I wait for my coffee and food to arrive, I browse some of the records — but let's face it, I barely have a way to play even CDs at home... My flat white tastes great and comes with some fine latte art. It pairs nicely with the harissa- and seed-topped avocado toast. After I've finished, I sit for a while soaking up the laid-back, family-friendly Friday afternoon atmosphere. The spacious café is a lovely place to hang out.




A few blocks along the Northdown Road, back in the direction of the city centre, Mar Mar may well be the most verdant indoor coffee shop I've ever visited. Mar Mar is also a plant shop and sipping a coffee here is almost like being in the middle of a jungle — a coastal one, with excellent décor. The mirrored Victoria Arduino picks up even more of the foliage. I order a macchiato and a chocolate coconut flapjack, which I enjoy sitting in the window seat. I resist the temptation to buy all of the plants — not least because I'm going on holiday soon, and I don't have much success with plants even in the best of circumstances.



Curve Storeroom. Unit 1D, The Printworks, Union Row, Margate CT9 1PP. Website. Twitter. Instagram.
Cliffs. 172 Northdown Road Margate, CT9 2QN. Website. Twitter. Instagram.
Mar Mar. 80 Northdown Rd, Margate CT9 2RE. Website. Instagram.