Watch out, sea change coming to cruising in Asia
I spent most of last week at a cruising conference and you could say it’s taken me into new waters (pardon the pun).
It’s opened my eyes to how big the market is getting, how much bigger the ships are getting and how, for the first time, instead of bringing their older ships to Asia, br [...]
Walking In The Rain and Reminiscing
It’s become a common occurrence these days in Singapore to be rained upon. Without fail, every late afternoon, just as the crows are getting ready to curl up to sleep, the skies will open up and kaboom, buckets of water will pour from the sky.
(Picture: Clouds build up in the Singapore [...]
Castaway on Koh Lipe, Thailand
'Bak den much more hansome' says the Thai lady at the ticket counter to the European couple, obviously referring to the man, while looking at his passport photo. The couple looked at each other somewhat stunned and then started laughing. How is one supposed to react in this situation?
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When you’re travelling, you depend on the kindness of strangers
Today a friend of mine, Intan, would have turned 50. She missed it by a couple of days. The day she left us, there was a lone star in the Singapore sky. I believe that was her telling me she was in peace somewhere out there.Last night, at the stroke of midnight, I stood under a star-studded sky in [...]
Desert-bound, minus expectations
Of late, I have been advising friends not to have high expectations of anything because then you’re invariably disappointed, I say in the voice I put on when I am attempting to be the sage I am not.However I have to admit I did arrive in Delhi, Capital of Mother India, with high expectations. I w [...]
Shanghai, San Diego … And Heeg?
These are the last three cities I've been dancing in.Shanghai we know. San Diego we know. Heeg? Or Heecht?Well, last night we went to the very local, the only local dance club in this small town in Friesland, a northern province in the Netherlands. We're here for a few days, supposed to be enj [...]
Trilogy of cities, Pt 3: Belfast in context and sheep as neighbours
Belfast is one of those places that gets in the news a lot – unfortunately for the wrong reasons. IRA, bombs, police clashes. Movies made about Northern Ireland reinforce the idea that it’s a divided city, full of hate and violence, neighbor against neighbor …And so as I was being driven from [...]
From Incredible to Pure – a journey into the new year
I guess it was fitting that for my last trip of 2011, I went straight from one of the world’s most populated countries to one of the world’s least densely populated places on earth.From the semi-arid deserts of Rajasthan to the open spaces of New Z [...]
How changing its sales pitch helped iFLYflat take off
Working for Macquarie Bank, Hong Kong-born Steven Hui used to fly a lot. And he appreciated especially being able to fly flat, ie, in business class.
And being a financial planner, he started to think about all those lost frequent flyer points as assets that could be managed in particular f [...]
Trilogy of cities, Pt 2: Chasing the Guinness story and the perfect pint
Growing up, I’d always heard that “Guinness is good for you”. Dang it, I can still sing the jingle although I now learn that it was created in 1929.
Even though I wasn’t their target customer (at least I hope I wasn’t), I found myself humming along whenever I saw big, burly, bea [...]
