In December last year, my visit to Hong Kong was not much different from my previous trips to the territory: I spent those days eating a lot of good food (dim sum and Cantonese-style roast duck are always a must), checked out new and interesting […]
All posts filed under: East
A Look at Hong Kong’s Hybridism
Hong Kong has always fascinated me since my first trip to the city back in January 2012, and since then I have returned five more times, with the most recent visit being in December 2019. I always tell people how Hong Kong’s hiking trails, white […]
A Slice of Kowloon
For its relatively small size, Hong Kong has so much to offer. From some of the tallest skyscrapers in Asia to verdant hills towering over white sand beaches, opulent luxury malls to lively traditional markets, centuries-old temples to an ultramodern museum of art, and small […]
A Quiet Comeback
If you google anything about Hong Kong these days, most results will probably show the territory’s number of COVID-19 cases, although compared to the rest of the world, Hong Kong seems to have managed to flatten the curve. And if months ago you also googled […]
Island Life in Cheung Chau
Hong Kong is a calm, slow, idyllic, low-rise, and bicycle-friendly place with lots of greenery and nice white-sand beaches. Sounds hard to believe? That’s because I’m not talking about the Hong Kong most people know: a dense metropolis and shopping destination whose skyline is filled […]
Tai Kwun: A Reinvented Police Station
It is an unseasonably warm winter morning in Hong Kong, and as opposed to the thick coats the locals are usually spotted wearing around this time of the year (as though the city were located at a much higher latitude), T-shirts and shorts are still […]
The Mills: Revitalization with Sensibility
Companies build factories to mass-produce goods. They utilize them until they reach their maximum capacity, and then they build newer and bigger facilities to keep up with increasing demand. Or they cut down on the production capacity if they can’t stay ahead of their competitors. […]
Hong Kong at a Slower Pace
Hong Kong is a fast-paced city – no doubt about it. Those who have been there must have come across and seen firsthand how fast the people walk, how efficient and punctual the MTR trains are, and how quick the service at restaurants is, to name […]
Changdeokgung: The Finest of the Five
Donning a dark blue and light pink hanbok (Korean traditional costume), our guide Jae greeted us at the gate to the Secret Garden at Seoul’s Changdeokgung Palace. Together with around 40-50 other visitors, most of them wearing thick jackets with their hands tucked firmly in […]
Heian Shrine: A Blast to the Past
Hosting the world’s fair has become a means some countries have embraced to promote their economic progress and development agenda to an international audience. Since the event’s first run in 1851, which celebrated advancements in industrial technology in the United Kingdom and other countries, a […]
Jongmyo: Walking alongside the Spirits
In the past, great temples, shrines and places of worship were often constructed to signify the rise of new kingdoms and empires, or to commemorate significant events, or even to appease gods and goddesses. Normally a great amount of time and wealth was expended, and […]
Korean Food: Colors and Textures
It was nine or ten years ago when I first had a Korean dish which, unlike Japanese food, was something I wasn’t too familiar with. At a food court in one of Jakarta’s luxury malls, the colorful look of bibimbap piqued my interest the most […]
What an Amazing World! 