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
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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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
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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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
This gallery contains 24 photos.
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
This gallery contains 40 photos.
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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This was it: the grande dame of not just Singapore, but Southeast Asia. It was meant to be the glorious climax and culmination of the entire Grand Tour. But somehow, it fell short, by about a mile. I think it … 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 