Tsūtenkaku Tower (通天閣) is the centrepiece of Shinsekai (新世界) district, an old neighbourhood south of Osaka’s downtown “Minami” area. The district was created in 1912 with New York as a model for its southern half and Paris for its northern half (the original tower being patterned after the Eiffel Tower). Read more
Since Tokyo is so spread out, one of the best way to explore its many interesting spots is by bicycle. On a recent two-wheeled jaunt around where I live in northern Shinjuku I came across Kagurazaka (神楽坂), one of the city’s oldest and lesser-known neighbourhoods near Iidabashi Station. Read more
Last month I spent a week in Shanghai, just before one of the harshest heatwaves in recent history (40ºC+) hit the city. Even then it will still stifling hot and I spent most of the week indoors (watching old episodes of Miss Marple bizarrely). Read more
We’re nearing the end of Golden Week (黄金週間) in Japan – a cluster of national holidays which effectively give most people the week off work. Last weekend I returned to Koenji in western Tokyo to visit the annual ‘Bikkuri Daidogei‘, a street performance festival where a variety of acts can be seen around the neighbourhood. Read more
At the end of last month I spent a week in Tokyo (including day trips to Yokohama and Kamakura) which was part-holiday, part-investigation for things I hope to talk about soon, but for now I thought I’d start a new series to share some of my stories and photos which I’ve spent the last week editing… Read more
From mid 2008 to the end of 2010 I lived in Shenzhen before moving to Hong Kong at the beginning of 2011. Now that I’ve spent almost two years in both places respectively I thought it was about time to reflect on the differences in lifestyle between these two mega cities in the hope that it might be useful for anyone considering a similar move (in either direction). Read more
During the few occasions that I visit Shanghai each year, there are two things I always look forward to: the blisteringly fast 430 km/h maglev journey to/from the airport, and the chance to explore some of the city’s remaining old quarters. Last month I found myself in the backstreets of Lao Xi Men (老西门) which is located near the former West gate to the Old City of Shanghai. Read more
After being forced to rub shoulders with much of Bangkok’s tourist population the previous day I decided to change tracks and headed to the multicultural district of Yaowarat and Phahurat (เยาวราชและพาหุรัด) which is home to sizeable Chinese and Indian communities. Filled with narrow alleyways and street markets, what the neighbourhoods lack in grandiose attractions, is made up for with local character aplenty. Read more
If it were not for some intriguing local history, the area around Lok Fu (樂富) MTR station would be a pretty unremarkable as for the most part it’s made up of generic public housing estates. Part of the district was home to the infamous Kowloon Walled City (九龍城寨), which is today Kowloon Walled City Park. The former Kai Tak International Airport was also located in the district and the area is still in a state of transition. Read more
According to a local legend in Hong Kong, in 1880 the small fishing village of Tai Hang (大坑) was devastated by a powerful typhoon. Around the same time, a large serpent entered the village and was killed by some of the residents. Shortly afterwards, plague and cholera broke out, leading to the deaths of many villagers. Read more