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A couple of months ago, in my post “The Grass is Green enough Here, wherever Here is,” I introduced the idea that a whole generation of my friends, including myself, belonged to “the Ariel Generation”, “Ariel referring to the name … Continue reading
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Not having been able to reside at the (former) Bela Vista Hotel, I went for the next best option, which was the Pousada de São Tiago – a luxury boutique hotel occupying a 17th century Fort at the very tip … Continue reading
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While in Hong Kong, reside at the legendary Peninsula Hotel. There is simply nowhere else quite as nostalgic and evocative. The minute the familiar and iconic bellboy – draped in all-white livery – opens the large glass doors and ushers … Continue reading
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One is definitely NOT spoiled for choice on a heritage tour of Hong Kong and Kowloon, not because the city is short of the colonial – on the contrary, the colonial is everywhere, in the many skyscrapers erected in the … Continue reading
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Hong Kong is a “city spectacular,” in all the vainglorious, multifarious meanings, implications, etymologies (and so on) associated with the term – to wit: city, spectacle, spectator, spectacular (adj.), spectacular (noun). Let me explain. From the very moment that band … Continue reading
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So I initially thought that 12 cities (and chapters) would cover it. This was what I had done for The Grand Tour Part I in Southeast Asia, and there was no reason East Asia, or China, Korea and Japan, were … Continue reading
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“After all, the grand tour is just the inspired man’s way of heading home.” – Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar So what have I learned from this year of nostalgia and re-discovery? I’ve learnt, for a … Continue reading
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All three of the Straits Settlements towns, Penang, Malacca and Singapore were known to be multi-cultural melting pots, home to almost all of the creeds and religions in the world. In each of these, there were streets known as “Streets … Continue reading
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What distinguishes Singapore from everywhere else in Southeast Asia, is that here, one still feels keenly, the sense of the colonial. In fact, the colonial is pervasive in Singapore, not just in terms of the way of life here; … Continue reading
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“’No, Jim, that’s not what the Singapore Grip is,” cried Matthew, his eyes flashing more than ever. ‘I know what it is! It’s the grip of our Western culture and economy on the Far East… It’s the stranglehold of capital … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 