Post-Office Urban Work Equipment

You're an intrepid urban explorer, drifting through the city and working wherever, and whenever, you feel the need. You need good kit, the best you can get, to smooth your working experience and maximise your productivity. I spend a lot of time working from airports, trains, planes and hotels; here is my list of the best tools money can buy.

The first thing you need is a bag that's large enough to carry your kit but small enough to be easily carried and stowed when you're stationary. If you need to carry a laptop then my suggestion is the Timbuk2 D-Lux Messenger, a sturdy, well-made all-rounder that you can use when cycling, walking or struggling through an airport departure lounge. If you don't have to carry a laptop then you should be able to get away with a small bag, something like the Tumi Alpha.

For communication, photography, transit planning, note-taking and everyday mobile computing you could choose any modern smartphone by my recommendation is Apple's iPhone 5. It's fast, reliable, lightweight, easy-to-use and offers all the apps you're likely to need through a world-beating screen.

If you need a laptop then you'll want something small, light and fast. Apple's 11" MacBook Air should do everything you need (and you can install Parallels if you need access to Windows software) or you could go with a lightweight Sony Vaio (if you absolutely must have a Windows machine).

My advice would be to try to leave the laptop at home and do everything on a tablet instead. There are plenty of options in the tablet market but there's a reason that the iPad is the market leader and unless you have a particular requirement for something that the iPad can't do (which is possible, but unlikely) you shouldn't spend too much time on the decision; go to an Apple store, play with the tablets, leave with the one you fall in love with.

If you find yourself still needing to make written notes then a Moleskine Evernote notebook is the thing to go for. The smaller version fits nicely in the Tumi bag, the larger fits (just) but would be more comfortable in a larger bag. Pair this with a decent pen (like this one) and you're good to go.

To keep you going all day you will probably need a charger for your phone. Your best option is the Mu folding USB charger, which neatly circumvents the storage problems of UK plugs.

To round out your kit you will need a headset for hands free talking and musical entertainment. Something small and discreet with inline controls would be ideal and I would recommend the Sennheiser CX 890i In-Ear Headphones, which should give you complete control of both you phone and your tablet.

And that's it. You should now be fully equipped for a productive day's work away from the office. Just make sure you don't spill coffee or beer on your equipment.

Home Screen Apps

If you have a smartphone you probably find, as I do, that the apps you use on a daily basis change only slowly and that the list on your home screen can remain unchanged for months at a time. This wasn't always the case. When apps first reached the mass market on the iPhone 3G in 2008 there weren't that many apps around and the rapidly evolving market meant that the list of favourites grew and changed quickly as new apps were launched and existing apps were upgraded with exciting new features.

In today's more mature market, with hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from (I'm assuming that you're not using a Windows phone), we could use hundreds each week but my suspicion is that instead we use only a handful. Here are my current non-Apple favourites.

Reeder - Google Reader offers a great service for managing RSS feeds but the interface is a bit of a train wreck. Into this niche falls Reeder, which syncs with Google Reader and gives you a slick UI for reading RSS feeds.

Drafts - for making a quick note, scribbling a short email or updating Twitter (or any one of a few dozen other text-related tasks), Drafts is my app of choice because it is fast, simple, elegant and easy to use.

Evernote - in the realm of cloud-based note-taking solutions, Evernote is the market leader. I use it as an external memory bank dumpting documents, notes, shopping lists, to-do lists, web links and pretty much anything else straight into Evernote.

Instapaper - normally I read articles or web pages as I find them but sometimes, particularly for long or challenging texts, I prefer to save them to Instapaper and come back to them later. Instapaper is ideal for reading long articles on the train or plane when web-browsing might otherwise be tricky.

Tweetbot - Twitter's iOS client is not very good (he says, with light understatement). Tweetbot is by far the best client I've found on iOS.

Citymapper - when I upgraded to iOS 6 my previous navigator software stopped working and I was forced to change. At first, Citymapper had only a few, nicely executed, features. Now, if you want to make your way round London, Citymapper is essentially feature complete and by far the best navigation tool I have found.

PlainText - my default text editor, which I may have mentioned before. It's brilliant.

TactioHealth - I have found that tracking my weight on a daily basis helps me to keep it under control. TactioHealth does far more than just track weight.

Letterpress - And finally, when I need a little entertainment, I switch to Letterpress and play an elegantly designed, beautifully finished word game against a total strange.

Apart from boring (Facebook) or system (Safari, Calendar) apps, that’s about it. My home screen changes infrequently because I’m basically happy with my chosen apps and it takes something truly special to knock one of the above from their perch.

Airport Travel Tips

If you do any international travelling at all you will have experienced the joys of navigating an airport. Unless you are very lucky (or you travel in First/Business Class) you're going to have to spend a couple of hours in the terminal before you can fly to your exciting destination. There are a few things you can do to reduce the stress of this experience and ease your transit through the airport.

Take a taxi. Unless the public transport to or from the airport is ridiculously good, take a taxi instead. The saving in time and stress is almost always worth the extra cost.

Check-in Online. If your airline and airport support it, check-in online or on your phone and avoid the tedious queuing in arrivals. If you're carrying hold luggage you may still need to queue for the bag drop (which sometimes takes as long as checking in, depending on the airline), which leads me nicely to my next point.

Reduce your luggage. The objective is to carry as little stuff as possible, both to and through the airport, and to get in and out as quickly as possible. Some compromise is required here, since the goals of speed and lightness are mutually exclusive (unless you are embarking on a by short trip indeed), but the aim is to carry everything you need in your hand luggage so that you can skip the bag drop and the pickup. If you're away for up to three nights this should be possible if you pack carefully and cut out everything you absolutely don't need.

Buy the Best. When you are looking for travel equipment - bags, clothes, wallets etc. - take your time and spend a little more money to make sure you get something that fits well with your lifestyle. Saving a tenner on the backpack you use for hand luggage (you're not planning to use a devilish wheeled suitcase, are you?) by choosing the one with the thin straps is something you may regret later and it just isn't worth it.

Dump the Metal. You're going to be screened through a metal detector and if your fail the test you'll be searched, probably by a disinterested "security" person. On the assumption that you don't want the inconvenience of a full body pat down, go through your pockets and out everything in your bag or coat pockets, including belt, watch, coins, phone, wallet and keys (remember to collect everything on the other side of the scanner).

Book a Decent Airline. Unless cost is the top priority, don't fly with a budget airline. Instead spend a little more and try to get those little extras (allocated seats, in-flight food and entertainment) that massage away some of the pain of travelling.

Drop the Attitude. Don't bother arguing with the staff or their regulations, particularly at security. It simply isn't worth the effort and you won't achieve anything.

Those are my top airport travel tips. I hope you find them useful.

Marina Bay Sands

Last week I gave you the guests' eye view of O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat; this week it's the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore - an altogether different kettle of fish.

The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) is a mixed-use resort in Singapore's bay. The resort includes a hotel, a casino, two theatres, a museum and a shopping centre, all located on reclaimed land in the Marina Bay Area at the southern tip of Singapore. MBS is about as different from O'Reilly's as it is possible to be. Here are my thoughts.

The Grand Club rooms include a free-standing bath, a walk-in shower, a large sitting area and a private (sort of - it overlooked a ten-lane expressway so it wasn't all that quiet) balcony. The room was huge and the range of bathroom condiments (shaving kit, shampoo, toothbrush etc.) was similarly impressive.

The rooftop infinity pool is simply stunning. 146m long and 200m above the ground, it has views across the city and is the hotel's most recognisable feature (after the three towers that support it).

With our package (the Grand Club) room comes breakfast in the rooftop Club Lounge. It's a standard buffet breakfast (as seen in any other international hotel) but the Lounge is on the 57th floor overlooking the swimming pool and the city; the service is excellent.

Also included are afternoon cocktails and canapes in the Club Lounge, although that description doesn't really do justice to the comprehensive drinks menu (which, strangely, didn't include any cocktails) and the buffet of cakes, cheeses, meat, canapes and other treats laid on by the hotel. Make the most of the afternoon sun by sitting outside in the shade of the palm trees, watching the city bustle.

Did I mention the antiques? Along one wall of the foyer the hotel displays its collection of European and Asian antiques. You can't use these items, of course, they're far too valuable, but they are an interesting distraction from the otherwise completely modern (and vast) foyer.

Then there are the staff, doing their absolute best to make the hotel feel a bit more human and a little less robotic. As well as doing a great job, the staff are also friendly and welcoming; they smile and make polite small talk rather than, as in many hotels, simply moving on to the next customer as quickly as possible. They may, in fact, be the hotel's biggest asset.

And the shops. Wow. If you want designer brands in a convenient mall then MBS is the place for you. The shopping mall, connected by an underpass to the hotel foyer, has over 300 stores (Burberry, Tiffany's, YSL etc.) and high-end restaurants (HY California was particularly good). It's big, bright and (insofar as this is possible for a shopping centre) fun. And they have a skating rink.

In summary, if you want to relax in a luxury hotel in Singapore with the opportunity for a little light shopping and gambling, Marina Bay Sands is definitely worth considering.

O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat

You have probably never heard of O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Southern Queensland but from the name you would likely guess that it is a hotel of some sort in the rainforest. You would be right. Calling it a "retreat" isn't at all unreasonable given that you have to drive 40km through the mountains on narrow, winding roads to reach it but it also suggests a certain level of luxury and refinement. Let me reset your expectations.

If you want the best, go for a villa. They are larger (two bedrooms) and have a more redefined set of features, including hot tubs, TVs and telephones. If you are on a budget (as we were) then choose the Mountain View rooms, which (unsurprisingly) have a pretty good view of the mountains. If you're not worried about seeing mountains from your balcony, go for a Garden View room. Whichever you choose, you'll find that the only noise at night comes from the forest, which can be rather noisy.

A large number of trails start or end at the Retreat, ranging from 800m to about 25km. If you're planning to walk any of the medium to long walks (3km+) make sure you have appropriate footwear, long trousers, waterproofs, medical supplies, water and other things you'd take on any long walk in the wilderness. There's also a treetop walk which takes you high into the canopy; worth doing.

You are going to be in a rainforest, which really shouldn't be a surprise. Prepare to encounter spiders, cockroaches and other creepy crawlers, possibly in your room (especially at night, when they seem to crawl under the door). In my mind, luxury and cockroaches don't go together but they're everywhere in the forest; a blanket stuffed under the door seems to keep them out of the bedroom.

It may be thirty degrees at the coast but at the top of the mountain, about 950m above sea level, it will be quite a bit cooler (around 15-20 degrees, colder in the winter) so pack warm clothes. You'll also need waterproofs (rain forest) and you might like to take insect repellent.

The food at O'Reilly's is good and you'll probably find that the combined breakfast and dinner package represents value for money. They also have an on-site shop for minor items (which is very useful, given that the next shop is over 40km away), a decent but not fantastic cafe and a rather dull bar (the drinks are ok but the atmosphere is a little dead).

The infinity pool at the bottom of the site is pretty special but not very warm; brace yourself. The plunge pool at the top of the site is also cold (as you would expect) but is accompanied by a very comfortable hot tub with nice views over the forest.

Overall, if you want a quiet couple of nights with restful rainforest walks, O'Reilly's is probably the place for you. If you want ultra-luxury and pampering you'll need to look elsewhere.