Manuela Gray is a Cape-Town-based tattoo artist

Where did you spend your last holiday?

China.

What was the best thing you did while there?

Climbed the Great Wall.

Your favourite city abroad and why?

So far it's New York, but I plan to do a lot more exploring. I went there wanting to hate it, but absolutely loved it. The crazy energy, the incredible variety of everything, from food to music and people . it's impossible to be bored in New York.

What must a first-time visitor do there?

Go and stand in the middle of Grand Central Station to see the mass of humanity that moves through New York.

What should they not bother with?

Trying to get anywhere through the mass of humanity at Grand Central Station.

What was your best holiday ever?

Every holiday is my best holiday ever, but a month spent in Thailand with my family stands out, and anywhere that involves good surf.

Which is the worst hotel you have stayed in?

The hotels in rural China were quite a challenge, but fun nonetheless. I'm a "glass half full" kinda girl.

What is the best thing you have been given on holiday ... or pinched from a hotel?

I was given a traditional Bornean tattoo in the jungles of Borneo.

Who would be your fantasy holiday companion and why?

Christopher Walken. It would only always be interesting, and we could have a little dance-off in a smoky jazz club.

What's your favourite restaurant anywhere, and why?

Richard Griffin's (of Madame Zingara fame) restaurants, the Bombay Bicycle Club and Café Paradiso in Cape Town.

What's the most exotic dish you've ever eaten on holiday?

Shark steak in Taiwan (being a surfer, I thought I would eat one before it ate me) and jungle fern steamed inside bamboo over a fire in Borneo.

What's one place you want to see before you die?

The view of Earth from outer space. If I have to stay on land, then it's Kashmir.