Letter from Kuching: Lessons for small earthlings in second cities
Just returned from Kuching and on the AirAsia flight to Singapore, I was reflecting on how the combination of low cost airlines and the web, specifically social media, has changed the fortunes and aspirations of folks living in second cities in Asia.
I hail from a secondary city myself, Penang, a [...]
Letter from Sydney: Chatbots are hot but they are no silver bullet
Travelport Live in Sydney kicked off with two female “robot” dancers wearing suits that were more lit up than a Christmas tree, their robot-like movements a hint of where the discussions at the one-and-a-half day conference would be heading.
Futurist Ross Dawson opened with a br [...]
The Millennial Traveller: LUXE’s Simon Westcott on the key good of travel and luxury beyond the price tag
Simon Westcott’s extensive career in the travel media industry is undisputed. His most notable roles are as the former publisher of the famed Lonely Planet guides from 2001 to 2008, being the co-founder of Mr & Mrs Smith Asia Pacific, and his current position as owner and CEO of LUXE City Guid [...]
Letter from Lisbon: From Konichiwa to Ni Hao and Sawasdee
It is funny how like with handbags, destinations too have their trends. For example, these days, you will see people everywhere carrying Anello backpacks – these bags aren’t particularly good to look at, they are unwieldy and cumbersome to use in my opinion but suddenly it seems everywhere you l [...]
How Tujia’s Hai Zhuang wants to be part of “greatest economic event of the century”
Like many entrepreneurially-minded individuals, Hai Zhuang, President, Tujia Holdings, was driven by the ambition to make an impact on the world through his work.
At the WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 Bootcamp, Zhuang recounted his eight years’ experience as a Microsoft engineer, and how his b [...]
Letter from Madrid: Humans must do what technology cannot
We arrived in Madrid on a Sunday, the last day of the Gay Pride weekend in which we were told two million people descended on the city. Across from the Westin Palace, a protest was being staged.
The hotel doorman shrugged his shoulders when I asked what they were protesting about. “Happens all [...]
Letter from Porto: Jewels of the Duoro and gold in the silver market
I am on my first river cruise. As I write this, our ship, Queen Isabel, has just crossed the deepest lock in Europe, the Carrapatelo Dam, at 35 metres. It’s quite an amazing experience, watching your boat rise to meet the other side of the river, and you marvel at the engineering feats that have m [...]
Letter from Tokyo Station: Japan serious about rail, AirAsia about China and Watson about augmenting
Something unexpected happened on my travels in Japan last week. The train service from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka ran three minutes late. You should have seen the look of consternation on passengers’ faces and my Japanese friend said to me, “So sorry, this is very unusual.”
Where I come from, thre [...]
The Millennial Traveller: Peatix’s Emi Takemura on life beyond your startup
The road to success always looks smooth from space. However, every self-made entrepreneur knows that if you look closely enough, pitfalls, dead ends, misleading loops and seemingly insurmountable hurdles invariably riddle the path to eventual success.
At WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 last week, [...]
How Katsumi Sakakura conquered himself to bring Japanese cool to the world
It was two days before Katsumi Sakakura was due to perform at the opening of WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 in Tokyo and I was curious to meet the artist who had captured my imagination with his performances which blend, as he calls it, “screen power with human power”.
In dress and look, h [...]
