My holidays: Tim Lambourne

Tim Lambourne in China.

Tim Lambourne presents Kiwi Living, Tuesdays at 7.30pm on TV One.

What was your greatest holiday?

I spent last winter/American summer in New York City. I had some money saved up so I decided to base myself in Chinatown for three months and see how fast I could deposit my savings into the NYC economy. Pretty fast it turns out. That place was built for fun.

And the worst?

I lived in Hong Kong for a spell a few years ago and decided to take a train to Beijing for the weekend. After a really fun first day visiting the Great Wall of China, singing karaoke and eating some street food out of a makeshift metal drum hot-pot, I caught horrific food poisoning. I spent the next 36 hours in a 16-person dorm room vomiting and, well, you know. I assumed it was the street food but a few weeks later it came out in the local news that the McDonald's we went to post-karaoke was busted in a food-safety sting. Turns out it was a ropey McChicken that had sealed my fate.

If we bump into you on holiday, what are you most likely to be doing?

I have two kinds of ideal holiday: either an extended stay in one of the world's big bad mega cities where I can try to ingratiate myself into the culture via live music, socialising and general merriment, or somewhere cheap, hot and relaxed where I can surf (badly).

If we could teleport you to one place in New Zealand for a week-long holiday, where would it be?

Not telling the exact location but it's in the Far North, the surf is amazing, and it's rarely crowded.

How about for a dream holiday internationally?

Some combination of beach and amazing live music would be a good bet. A few years ago a record label I love called Young Turks threw a New Year's Eve festival on the beach in Tulum, Mexico, which sounded ridiculously good.

What's the dumbest thing you've ever done when travelling?

I organised a visitor's visa for China, which I thought enabled me to travel to China from November 17 onwards. So I booked a flight for November 18, but when I landed the very stern Chinese immigration told me my visa was eligible until November 17. They promptly turned me around and put me on the first flight out of there.

What was the most memorable meal you've had while travelling?

Fish curry from a rundown hotel in Calcutta. That was more than 10 years ago and I still haven't found a meal more delicious than that one.

What's the best thing you've brought back from a trip?

Secondhand sunglasses I found in an antique shop in Mexico City.

Favourite airport to land at?

Narita airport in Tokyo. Mostly for the 90-minute train ride into the coolest city in the world.