This story is a leftover from my previous trip to South Korea two months ago. The date was June 17th 2010 and on the streets of Seoul world cup fever was in the air. For Korean fans the night was not simply about soccer; it was also wrapped up in a sense of national pride, identity, and confidence. These were fans like no other… Read more
The weekend before last I paid a short pilgrimage to the new Apple Store in Pudong, Shanghai. It’s Apples second store on the mainland (the other is in Beijing) and as with many of its other stores the facade sports a cylindrical glass entrance with glass stairs which lead down to the brightly lit subterranean shop floor below. Read more
Sometimes in life you have to pinch yourself to check what you’re experiencing is real. I had one such moment last weekend when I had the chance to visit the Presidential Suite of Le Royal Meridien in Shanghai. It just so happened to coincide with my birthday so was a pretty special occasion. Read on for the gory details. Read more
Given the number of times I’ve been to Hong Kong over the past two years to show friends around I’m pretty sure that I could be an official tour guide by now. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy going there but there’s a limit to how many time you want to visit the same places. Here are some more of my favourite Hong Kong moments… Read more
I never knew there was an art to typographic design until one day one of my friends told me she had studied it (while simultaneously trashing the layout of something I had just made). This new world of serif, san-serif, ascenders, descenders, terminals, baselines and kerning fascinated me so I set out to try to educate myself on the subject. Read more
Last week I continued my quest to stay at the worlds most amazing hotels for free with a visit to the W in Hong Kong (for previous escapades see W Seoul, Park Hyatt Shanghai, and Hotel Éclat Taipei). The hotel is located alongside the relatively new Elements shopping mall in Kowloon right above the MTR station. Read more
I spent my final few days in Seoul exploring a few areas I hadn’t been to before. First up was Samcheong-dong (삼청동) which lies north of Insadong and east of Gyeongbokgung Palace. The hilly neighborhood is characterized by numerous small art galleries, coffee shops, and many beautiful old residential houses. Read more