Letter from Penang: As Year of the Dog dawns, so will new travellers and citizens with different aspirations and expectations
Tomorrow, February 15, will be the peak of travel as millions of Chinese and their diaspora make the journey to wherever home is to gather for their Lunar New Year reunion dinners.
You can already feel it in Penang, when the population of the island more than triples with the return of Penangites [...]
SIA launches loyalty digital wallet: Travel retailers are clearly hoping blockchain is their Internet 3.0 moment
The hottest word on the block these days is blockchain. Even though it’s been on the periphery for a few years, it’s been in the shadow of the other hotter word, cryptocurrency.
But as the technology underpinning cryptocurrency, it’s been getting more attention of late.
Like everyone els [...]
Letter from Assam, Part 4: Cruising on the Brahmaputra and sleeping in the middle of nowhere
The final leg of our Assam Tea & Wildlife Adventure takes us on a five-hour drive to the city of Guwahati where we board a river boat, our home for the next two nights. On this cruise on the Brahmaputra, I learn about time, silk and breathing in the moments.
On our way out of Kaziranga Wildli [...]
Letter from Assam, Part 3: Creatures great and small, and sunsets to make you weep in Kaziranga
From Majuli Island, the third leg of my travels through Assam takes me to Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve. This being my first safari experience in India, I really didn't know what to expect. All I know is I got more than I bargained for.
I knew I was in for something magical when, o [...]
Letter from Assam, Part 2: Breakfast with the birds, lunch with monks and dinner around the fire
From tea estates, this second part of my travel through Assam takes me to Majuli Island, the world's largest inhabited river island, and home to rich birdlife and devout monks who express their faith through art and dance. It was also there I met a hotelier of a different sort.
The Dekasang Res [...]
Letter from Assam, Part 1: Of tea, monsoons and learning to be a guest
Since everyone's talking about the desire for local, authentic experiences these days, there's no better place to have them than in places which are remote and less travelled. The lack of infrastructure and tourists does mean giving up on certain conveniences but hey, isn't that the point of travel? [...]
Summary of WIT 2017 Conference, Day 2, in Videos
Here is part two of the WIT 2017 Conference digest, where we summarise the key ideas shared on Day Two – dipping our toes in topics spanning the true potential of AI, to the evolution of the corporate travel sector, and how North Asia and Europe plan to cash in on regional growth.
Coffee Chat [...]
Nagaland, here I come – travel is still not easy, thank goodness for that
As I prepare for my year-end trip to Assam and Nagaland in Incredible India, I can’t help but reflect on the year that’s just whizzed by and the year that will undoubtedly come upon us faster than we can say travel.
Here are my reflections on the cusp of a new year.
• Isn’t it wonderfu [...]
Summary of WIT 2017 Conference, Day 1, in videos
As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time to take a moment to reflect on the lessons learned and the stories told throughout WIT 2017… and how we can take these new insights and adapt in time for the coming year. Here is our first take of all the key highlights from Day One of WIT 2017 as well as link [...]
How to play the infinite game, curing loneliness with travel and living forever
Long game or infinite game, whatever the term you choose to use, I am sure there was purpose behind the choice of Simon Sinek as keynote speaker at the Expedia Partner Conference held in Las Vegas last week.
Sinek, who’s working on a new book called “The Infinite Game”, drew an analog [...]
