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This past weekend, Singapore celebrated its 50th year of Independence on 9th August. It was a time of reflection as well as of dreaming…in the sense of imagining and aspiring towards more to achieve in the future. I thought…since in … Continue reading
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So it’s hard to believe that I’ve only been back home in Singapore 2 years and 9 months. I moved home officially from New York City in October 2012, and in three months time, I commemorate three years of homecoming. It doesn’t … Continue reading
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So its been almost three years now since I stopped this business of trying to discover myself through travelling all over the world, visiting old friends and exploring new vistas. [I officially stopped in August 2012.] At the time, I … Continue reading
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The grande dame of the Nagasaki hospitality scene was the former Belle Vue Hotel, situated just off the Bund, at the edge of Glover Hill, in the Oura Foreign Settlement. It was the second oldest Western-style hotel in the city, established … Continue reading
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Nagasaki has the oldest existing Chinese settlement and community in Japan, consisting of Chinese migrants (from primarily the Fujian province) who crossed over in the early 1600s, during the final years of the Ming Dynasty. They have assimilated so well … Continue reading
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In 1858, Japan signed the Harris Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States of America. The Treaty Port Era had begun for the Land of the Rising Sun. Five ports were forced open … Continue reading
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Last week, I popped into the Museum to admire the whale bone in its natural history galleries, dropped by a streetside stall to have a cup of teh tarik (pulled tea) and – it being the Chinese Lunar New Year – also visited the … Continue reading
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In 1910, Imperial Japan annexed Korea forcefully, culminating a process that began with the Meiji Emperor in 1876. The Joseon capital of Hanseong was renamed 京城 – read as “Kei-jo” in Japanese, and “Gyeongseong” in Korean – and designated the … Continue reading
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In October 1897, King Gojong – the last King of the Joseon Dynasty – declared independence from Qing China and proclaimed the formation of the Daehan Jeguk, or the Korean Empire from the confines of the Deoksugung Palace. Just a … Continue reading
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The grande dame of Dairen’s hospitality scene was the Yamato Hotel 大和旅館, built in 1914 by the occupying Japanese on Nicholas Square. It was the equivalent of the Astor House Hotel in Shanghai, and the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, hosting … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 