Long-time readers of this blog might have noticed my affinity for Hong Kong. Despite the culture shock I experienced on my first trip there in 2012 – sharing a table with strangers at restaurants and keeping up with the fast-paced locals, among others – the […]
From a bird’s eye perspective, Itchan Kala – the old walled city of Khiva – looked absolutely amazing. Minarets, madrasahs, green and turquoise domes, and sand-colored structures stretched as far as the eyes could see. However, one has to leave the sky and return to […]
I woke up from my slumber. And as my eyes squinted, trying to focus on the things around me, I was reminded that this was neither my bedroom in Jakarta, nor any of the familiar-looking hotel rooms I had stayed at before. It felt almost… […]
Bukhara had been immensely charming. We were fascinated by the relatively intact core area of its historic center where madrasahs and trading domes that were built centuries ago sit side by side with row after row of old houses and former caravanserais. What made it […]
Throughout the history of humanity, we have been attracted to and fascinated by higher ground. Some regard these sites as the abode of gods, while others see more practical reasons to favor such locations. Their prominence would afford anyone who holds a grip on the […]
Business trips are inherently stressful, at least for me. The ones I’ve taken usually involved a lot of meetings, dinner events, and all sorts of commitments that often resulted in sleep deprivation. Last September, I was sent to Busan, South Korea with some of my […]
The ancient trading posts along the fabled Silk Road have captured our imagination for centuries, thanks to not only countless stories about their grand monuments and lively bazaars, but also the cultural and intellectual exchanges between the East and the West that shaped people’s lives. […]
Sitting in the upper-floor dining area of a seafood restaurant in Baubau, having one of the freshest and most delicious grilled fish dishes that had ever passed my lips, I suddenly had a series of revelations. The very fish I was eating was probably, until […]
Twelve items make a dozen, and twelve months make a year. But what do twelve years make? A few Google searches brought me to the conclusion that while everyone agrees that ten years is a decade, it’s harder to reach a consensus on what to […]
We were on a mission. A few months prior to our visit to Bali in June 2024, James went on a business trip to this island and had a local delicacy that he raved about when he came back to Jakarta. Called oret in Balinese, […]
Imagine being a 12th-century ruler who controls an important city on the Silk Road. You would want to build something great to impress not only your neighbors, but also those coming from places farther afield, wouldn’t you? After all, they have travelled weeks and months […]
The Spanish-built Afrosiyob high-speed train whisked us through a landscape that gradually changed from one filled with endless cotton fields at the peak of harvest season, to vast steppes, before eventually giving way to barren hills. We left the wonders of Samarkand behind and arrived […]
What an Amazing World! 