With the dual red bars on the testing kit shining every bit as brightly as any of the neon signs around my Interim Bureau in Bangkok’s Watthana District, I don’t expect to be joining the hubbub below anytime soon.
Events
Why the Wai beats the handshake every time in the COVID era
My throat feels like I have been dining on sandpaper and as a result I have a voice that makes Lee Marvin’s almost death rattle version of Wand’rin Star sound like it’s being sung by a boy soprano.
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Travel
Nearing the end of my year of the RAT
Yes, spectators were meant to don masks when not eating and drinking, which as many of them never stopped drinking meant they did not have to wear them at all.
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Airports
From success in Singapore to being dazzled in Doha
What I saw (and what passengers will see) redefines the airport experience. Not the Hamad International Experience, any airport experience. I can’t give any more away than that before tomorrow. But I promise you, the story will be worth the wait.
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Events
Showing the Cannes-do spirit
“I’ve a blue dress on so you can recognise me.” Both of us were there on time, albeit 50 metres apart, Pam thinking she had been stood up. Me? You guessed it. Chatting away to a bemused woman in a blue dress. Who turned out not to be running retail at Gatwick Airport but was impressed that I knew so much about it…
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Travel
The day the Shiseido nearly ran out
“Get Shiseido on the line. Two bottles down and we’re still not finished with him…”
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Travel
Of Irish jigs, Triple Salchows and an end to Hong Kong hotel quarantine
In the face of inevitable and glittering industry acknowledgements Martin, you will always be more famous as the guy that did the Triple Salchow off the hotel bed during lockdown.
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Travel
No points to the Four Points Sheraton, top points to Qatar Airways, and time to bring out the Brancott
To maintain the same rigid 14-day cancellation policy from the days when quarantine room demand far exceeded supply is outrageous.
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People
Catching up with travel retail TRI-PODs, Kiwis and Kreols in Dubai
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.
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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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Airports
Sunrise and sunset over Doha and on from Edinburgh to Dubai
What I like most perhaps about the store is its non-formulaic approach. No semi-forced walkthrough here, you can go off-piste just as much as you want with a surprise in the form of a travel retail-exclusive or newcomer at almost every turn.
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Travel
Destination Doha once more as one jewel remains wrapped while another is set to sparkle
I’ve been travelling so much that when I visited my dentist on Friday, I actually (and I swear this is true) went to fasten my seat belt as I sat in my chair. Given my aversion to dentists and what followed, I probably should have.
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Airports
Building a showcase for South Africa at Johannesburg Airport
Travel retail, already a fine showcase at OR Tambo, can be a gateway to deeper knowledge and wider engagement with the best that South Africa has to offer.