Letter from Singapore: Excuse me, do you grab a lot?
“Do you grab a lot?” the taxi driver asked me as I got into his taxi.
It was a rainy Tuesday morning, a bad time for taxis in Singapore, and I had used GrabTaxi, the new app that’s been grabbing attention in this tiny city state that still manages to chalk up 700,000 taxi trips a da [...]
We couldn’t tow an A380 so a Heritage Race it became
I am one of those people that if you throw me a challenge, I will worry away at it until I come up with something.
So when I was first challenged by Abacus International – about 18 months ago now – to come up with a travel industry-led fun event to raise funds for a good cause, I though [...]
Trilogy of Cities, Pt 1: Tokyo rises to the global challenge and call of a new generation
In Tokyo, I had my fill of sake. In Dublin, I had more Guinness than I’ve ever had in my life. And in Belfast, I learnt about the history of a city that’s always in the news for the wrong reasons.
Covering these three cities in a span of two weeks, I found interesting parallels in a w [...]
Stiff upper lip maybe but Olympic excitement is palpable
Waking up every morning at the Royal Garden Hotel to the sun rising over Kensington Gardens is glorious. At first, a pale glow tinges the dawn sky and then like one of those slow switches, it turns orange, throwing the blueness of the sky into stark relief.
I’ve been incredibly lucky with the [...]
So who’s sleeping with you tonight?
Other than the fact that not much went right upon my arrival in Heathrow – mix-up with transfer and booking – it’s been a good first day in London.
I have a room overlooking Kensington Gardens and as I write this, the sun (a very weak version of the one I left behind in Singapore) is vali [...]
Ancillaries. Anchovies. We asked for choice and we got it
I was having champagne pork ribs at Por Kee Restaurant, Tiong Bahru, with friends one cool, balmy evening in Singapore when a friend started venting his anger at AirAsia.
“I used to like them, always fly with them,” he said, sputtering over the ribs which by the way are juicy and tender [...]
Why you must concentrate on this
A fresh breeze is rustling the leaves outside my window where I work. Birds are chirping. Traffic is trundling along. It feels like any other day really. But is it?
I spent the last two weeks, hiding from today’s space invaders. I did as little work as I could get away with. I spent as li [...]
Excuse me, are you real or not? How AI could change customer service
Traditional travel agents have always claimed that their one advantage over online players is their level of customer service – that the human touch is still critical to travel transactions.
That is true of course as long as that “human touch” is well trained and knowledgeable but I t [...]
Letter from Tokyo: It’s all happening here as city goes into hyperdrive
Got into Tokyo on the red eye from Singapore – landed at Haneda just as the sun rose over the city. I got so excited at immigration that I even engaged in conversation with the officer.
“I am so happy I don’t need a visa anymore,” I said, as I handed her my Malaysian passport.
� [...]
Japan steps up inbound efforts but faces challenges in catering to foreign tourists
The third WIT Japan opened last week to the personal welcome of a Prime Minister and the beating of drums, heralding what many believe is the rise of a new dawn for the country’s travel industry.
In his video message, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) told delegates that the Internet had [...]
