I have a dream: Travelling with dignity and humility
How tech can play a role from armchair travel to the physical journey
I’ve now come to an age when my mother needs a wheelchair for travelling. Day to day, she lives a fairly normal active life but travelling, that’s another proposition.
Travelling is a highly physical activity – those lon [...]
Swept up by Swiftie, and blame AI for everything
In my neighbourhood in Tanjong Rhu, Singapore, there’s an undercurrent of excitement leading up to this weekend. Actually, forget undercurrent. There’s an over-the-top buzz happening because, well, Taylor Swift starts her six-day concert run this Saturday at the National Stadium, across the rive [...]
Excuse me, did you hear my clone speak Mandarin? A new cry in the age of AI
I was sitting at dinner to usher in the eighth day of Lunar New Year, an auspicious time in Penang, when immediately after the first course of tossing “yusheng” and shouting for prosperity, the conversation turned to AI.
I mean, we had just witnessed the most elaborate and magnificent ceremon [...]
Smooth succession at Expedia Group as Gorin takes over from Kern
“Time to go back on offense and lead the industry,” says Peter Kern as he hands over reins
A smooth succession and transition in leadership is always to be celebrated. Look at the TV series, “Succession” and how it had to take four seasons to tell the stories of psychosis and skullduggery t [...]
Enter The Wood Dragon: What happened in 1964 and what will happen this year, even AI cannot tell us
Well, the dragons are out in full force as the Chinese community all over the world prepare for their Lunar New Year, the year that will welcome in the Wood Dragon on February 10.
In Singapore, in one week, I saw all shapes and colours of dragons – from the Crystal Dragon that swooped into the Ma [...]
Letter from Bangkok: Weaving Sookjai (happiness) into an organic tourism experience
TOCA to link carbon credits calculations to hotels' “green practices”
The day I landed in Bangkok, social media had literally gone wild with the video of the woman driving in an open-top Bentley with a chained lion in the backseat.
For those of us familiar with Thailand, this is one of those [...]
Forget FOMO, have COMO and JOMO will follow
I love this time of the year. It’s full of rain and wind in Singapore, and birdsong. Birds love the rain. Why, the other day on a Zoom call with a colleague in Kuala Lumpur, there was a constant squeaking noise in the background, and I asked him if his door hinge needed oiling? And he said, “It� [...]
No more pre-pandemic, no more looking back, 2024 is the year we move forward
If, like me, you’re winding down for the year and taking time out to reflect, well, do it. Power down the laptop, switch off the mobile, take a deep breath and slow down. Know you have deserved it. You helped build back travel in APAC.
For us in the region, it was just Year 1 of building back a [...]
Booking a flight direct is still not easy – is this why OTAs are winning?
Last week, I tried to book a one-way flight from Seletar, Singapore to Subang, Kuala Lumpur. How hard could it be after all? It’s really only one airline that plies this route and it’s a flight I’ve taken several times – in fact, a flight I always look forward to because it’s on a smaller [...]
On the Road: A journey through hotels, high lines and human interaction
I am back in Singapore after an epic month of travel which took me from Seoul to New York, Fort Lauderdale and Bangkok and this lull on the ground has given me a chance to reflect on the very different hotel experiences I had.
At a time when we in travel keep saying that travellers are extra dema [...]
