I have been able to secure my first property in Europe for some 30 years with the purchase of a Penthouse apartment overlooking one of the Marinas in Malta. When I left the UK for Asia all those years ago, the European Union didn’t exist as such, at least not with the right to abode, visa free EU travel, a unified currency and so on. Now of course as a British national I can choose to live anywhere in the EU, and Malta has been a member since 2004. I have been considering a property in Europe for some time, however London is too expensive (and anyway I can stay at my club, the Royal Overseas League, relatively inexpensively) while other cities such as Tallinn appealed but is too cold in winter and use of English is problematic. The ideal location for me would be close to other European cities, with sailing a bonus, use of English prevalent and with a large dose of historic culture. Malta fits the bill – and as a bonus, the capital city Valletta is a UNESCO world heritage site, while property remains at present, good value. Rome is a one hour flight, Paris a little over two, and London three. Plus Malta has direct connections to cool cities such as Istanbul, St. Petersburg and Alexandria. Sicily, Capri, and Sardinia to the North-West, and the Greek islands to the South-East are all within sailing distance.

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Spending half of my time these days at my properties in Sri Lanka, I have been able to gradually work out what I have growing and what needs to be cultivated – and more importantly, prepared for gourmet cuisine. With two acres of gardens to plunder, it has taken not little hard work to first examine what trees and plants are incumbent, what can be disposed of, and what I should introduce. Happily though, I have been blessed with a wealth of mature, productive trees of several species, all probably planted about 70-80 years ago and now in the prime condition for exploiting their natural fruits.

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One of the great attractions about Sri Lanka is that it is also one of the world’s primary destinations for whale watching. Little known about until after the end of the civil war, a deep underwater trench exists off the south and east coast of the island, and is the closest subterranean trench to land in the world. Big whales like deep trenches, and it is thought that the canyons encircling Sri Lanka extend all the way across the Bay of Bengal and further west to the Arabian Sea. Whales use this as a passageway from Arabia and India through to Sri Lanka, where it is thought many calve just off the coast at Trincomalee.

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Having made the decision to remain based in Asia I am now able to live a life on two halves – one half based out of my Singapore office and travelling around South-East Asia on business, while the other half relaxing at my house in Sri Lanka. With emerging countries such as Sri Lanka now rapidly developing their infrastructure – it is an immediate step up to immediate 4G communications and hi-speed wireless, meaning I can continue to work pretty much from home while keeping in touch our multiple Asian offices. However, every good man and every decent house needs dogs – so to that end for the first time in some 25 years I have my own pets again.

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Front Entrance 

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Hunting for Wolves is legal in Mongolia, although licenses have to be obtained. Out in the Steppes, where food can be sparse, anything that can be caught is eaten, although for most of the world, eating an animal that is 100% carnivorous is not a typical occurance. However, through my contacts I was offered some Wolf Meat. Having said “Yes” – the next question to deal with was how on earth to prepare and cook it?

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Having acquired property in Mississauga – an old five bed detached house in one of the quieter neighborhoods of Toronto – it has been time to explore what the area is really all about. Firstly, about the move – Canada is far too expensive from the tax perspective for me to be tax resident there, so my principal place of residence, (and tax) is Singapore, and I spend a lot of time in Asia with my professional duties. However as over 50% of my clients are from North America, and I have gotten fed up of the debilitating jet lag, it has proven better to invest, and Toronto – with its excellent air connections to the United States – is a great choice.

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One of the sights of Mongolia at any time of year are huge, black birds, hundreds of feet in the air, just catching the thermals, sometimes for hours. These are Cinereous, or Black Vultures, one of the largest birds of prey in the world. While circling high above, they are also looking for carrion – a dead animal will attract a host of these birds all competing for scraps. Armed with ferocious beaks with fearsome tips to them, they can tear apart a horse carcass and leave nothing but bones in just two hours.

I was fortunate enough to be able to come across one of my friends who had one, and drove out to go and see this huge bird as well as have an afternoons trekking up to see a Temple dedicated to a Chinese Princess in Terelj. The bird turned out to be a juvenile – less than a year old. Yet is was still massive and it took all my strength just to hold it steady on the wrist. Back on its perch, it reassumed the familiar hunched neck posture as the image demonstrates. It is rare to come so close to such creatures – and I remain in awe of their sheer size. Despite their reputation as scavengers, I’ll  be seeing Vutures as the creatures they really are – elegant, powerful and highly effective cleaning machines on wings.

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Valery Gergiev conducts the Stradivarius Ensemble

It’s black tie and dinner jacket time as the Classical Music new season begins, and in Toronto I was lucky to have tickets for the Gala performance – entitled “From Russia With Love” and featuring Valery Gergiev with the Stradivarius Ensemble. This took place in Toronto’s magnificent Royal Conservatory, which is 125 years old this year and has a brand spanking new Concert Hall.

As a Gala, I was invited to pre-performance drinks, and with Gergiev in town, vodka was definitely on the menu. That the reception lasted for 90 minutes was also somewhat brave, and Imperial Standard shots, caviar and smoked sturgeon were all consumed with some gusto. The Stradivarius Ensemble, founded by Gergiev comprises a group of musicians performing on the most famous and unique-sounding string instruments in the world, and is made up of the best musicians and leading soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre’s Symphony Orchestra. Some of the instruments are more than 400 years old. The evening concert took in some reflective yet beautiful pieces, with Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen, a piece being a 1945 lament on the destruction of German civilization during World War II, and scored for ten violins, five violas, five cellos, and three double basses. It was composed during the closing months of the Second World War, in particular as a elegy for devastating bombing of Munich, especially places such as the Munich Opera House.

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