Category Archives: Sociology & Urban Studies

The (Former) Bela Vista Hotel, Macau

This gallery contains 9 photos.

One of the greatest legends in Macau’s history and hospitality scene is that of the former Bela Vista Hotel – the inimitable Grande Dame of the colony, handed back to the Portuguese in 1999 and presently the Residence of the … Continue reading

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O Centro Histórico de Macau (The Historic Centre of Macau)

This gallery contains 51 photos.

Despite rampant development, and one of the smallest land areas of any sovereign state in the world, Macau has managed to preserve a significant amount of its built heritage.  The city – particularly the Macau Peninsula – oozes history and … Continue reading

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The Grand Tour II-2: Bay Gate… Macao (澳門)

This gallery contains 12 photos.

Macao is a dream-like city… a city of dreams… a dream of a city… None of these epithets is the same as the other, and yet they contain within them the essence of the “dream” – that which is surreal, … Continue reading

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“How do you find the time to do all this?” – and what it reveals about the person asking

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In the past year, I have been asked frequently how I manage to hold down a full-time job, work on a to-be-published coffee table book on Southeast Asia AND keep up a busy travel schedule for The Grand Tour Part … Continue reading

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The Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong

This gallery contains 8 photos.

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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A Stroll through Colonial Hong Kong and Kowloon

This gallery contains 29 photos.

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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The Grand Tour II-1: Fragrant Harbour… Hong Kong (香港)

This gallery contains 11 photos.

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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Manhattan in 12 Streets: Goodbye Empire State, Hello Lion City!

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Manhattan in 12 Streets was meant to be an extension of my other insane street photography project, 100 Ways To See… A Street, which was a means of exposing the amazing complexity of one single street in New York – … Continue reading

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Grand St: View towards Williamsburg, Brooklyn (East River Park and Promenade)

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Past Co-op Village, we reach a very narrow strip of parkland at the very edge of Manhattan.  Just beside it, is the Gigeresque expanse of the Williamsburg Bridge; and across the water is Williamsburg, Brooklyn – home to yuppies, expatriates … Continue reading

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Grand St: Co-operative Village (East Broadway to FDR Drive)

This gallery contains 8 photos.

Near the edge of the water, we enter the final ethnic enclave on Grand Street. This is the largely Jewish enclave of Co-op Village.  Here, one sees a landscape of towering red-brick apartment buildings with stunning views unto the water … Continue reading

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