Jacqui and I compared our life journeys from New Zealand to where we are today. Journeys from the bottom of the earth that have, we hope, a long way to run yet.
Airports
Normal service resumes in Dubai
I may, just may, about to become the face of ‘the website that never slumps’.
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Miscellaneous
Mounting a challenge at Mount Juliet
“It’s not how, it’s how many.” With that well-worn golf phrase and a wry smile did Paraguayan pro Fabrizio Zanotti try to temper my disaffection with another ropey golf shot at the Horizon Irish Open Pro Am at Mount Juliet, County Kilkenny on Wednesday. There I was a guest of Executive Vice Chairman and CEO
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People
Meeting a modern-day hero of Vietnam
When he returned to the Vietnam embassy in Manila the senior official hugged him and said, “Hahn, you are a hero of our country.” Both men cried with the emotion and the sheer significance of the moment.
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People
None shall sleep: How Khun Vichai’s legacy will be remembered forever
I shall never forget the scene at The Trinity Forum in Shanghai when the 550-strong audience stood as one to honour Khun Vichai, a giant photo of him beamed out while the mournful lament of Bill Fay’s ‘The Healing Day’ played.
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People
A farewell to Boris Romantschenko – survivor of the Holocaust but not of Putin
Boris Romantschenko died in a new world. But one in which the very antithesis of the peace and freedom that he stood for reigned. This strongest and bravest of survivors deserved better than that.
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People
How Martin’s Block thrived through a pandemic
The flourishing of Martin’s Block coincides pretty much entirely with the sustained period of the pandemic. A beautiful reminder of the halcyon days that preceded this descent into a world covered by a deep black cloud.
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Lifestyle
The greening of Twickenham
I can think of no better way to kick off the week in which Irish people around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (17 March) than with a stirring rugby victory over England in Twickenham. Being there in person on a lovely spring afternoon on Saturday made the moment all the more special. Along with
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People
How Foreo founder Filip Sedic discovered the amoeba factor
I can tell you, Foreo does not look like any other company. The whole office space is like something out of a fantasy Carlsberg ad, with brilliantly coloured chairs and sofas; table football, pool table and dart board; well-stocked wine and beer fridges; and a fantastic sense of freedom. It’s the sort of environment that almost breeds creativity.
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People
Free the Kerry One – meet travel retail’s most-quarantined man
Deep and dense (the wine, not Sunil) and bursting with cassis and blackcurrant flavours, it’s the kind of tipple that is simply made for travel retail’s most illustrious inmate.
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People
Say a prayer for Khaliq
Adil has asked members of the travel retail community to pray to their respective gods for Khaliq’s recovery. If you don’t have a god then just hold Khaliq in your heart for a moment.
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People
Making 50:50 calls on equality and rugby, and watching flashing lights up ahead ‘round the bend
“This community was founded at the peak of the pandemic when everyone felt isolated. Women were leaving the workforce at four times the rate of men at that period.”
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People
How Ramesh Cidambi found himself in a literary frame of mind
You can almost picture the scene at Ramesh’s table as William Shakespeare opines “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” and Oscar Wilde retorts, “The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast”