Exquisite. As was the wine selection, all chosen by Chim – a wine aficionado – from his extensive home cellar. Not quite so extensive by the time we finished.
Miscellaneous
What price a smile?
There’s nothing luxury here but the young patients inside are about to receive, or have already received, a gift more priceless than any shopping emporium can offer. A smile.
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Airports
‘Pura vida’ – A captivating Costa Rican experience
I have not just been on location here but have undergone a full immersion in the culture and tourism highlights of Costa Rica.
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People
A fond farewell to Canny Kwok, a true travel retail superstar
“I have been able to work with beautiful categories like watches and jewellery for eight years and then perfume. My experience at Bvlgari has been like a really colourful tapestry that will always be in my memory.”
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Quirky
Assessing the great Olivetti vs ChatGPT showdown
Ah, even saying the word ‘Olivetti’ out loud fills me with affection and nostalgia. I learned my craft on it. I didn’t need ChatGPT then just as I have never felt the need for an automatic garage door.
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Miscellaneous
A welcome return to beautiful kitsch in Macau
Artificial canals replete with gondolas and a false Venetian sky might not be to everyone’s taste but there is no doubting the allure for countless Chinese consumers, many of whom have never experienced the real thing in Italy.
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Events
Marching on into another year
Just like those designer bags that declare ‘Paris – Rome – London – New York’, I am pondering new company branding featuring a logo that proclaims Ystradgynlais – Galway – Brentford – Discovery Bay. It’s got a certain finesse, you must admit.
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Events
Rum, food and music – a cultural tour of discovery in Jamaica
On an extraordinary evening, each food course – typically Jamaican of course – was paired with an Appleton rum.
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Travel
Eating fush and chups and riding a giant canoe in the sky in Aotearoa
Fush? Let me explain. Foreigners like to mimic the way we Kiwis pronounce the letter ‘I’ as a ‘U’, so that to the non-Kiwi ear ‘Fish and Chips’ sounds like ‘Fush and Chups’.
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Airports
Back in the land of the long white cloud
As if by provenance to prove Raoul Spanger’s sentiments on the renewed desire for travel, a Singapore Airlines A380 loomed magnificently behind him. It was coincidental but the symbolism was ripe and the choreography perfect.
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Airports
Pride (and no prejudice) in Sydney; A spirit of recovery in Hong Kong
What a wonderful display of support for the LGBTQIA+ community and it’s great to see Sydney Airport giving such a radiant and colourful welcome to visitors. Heinemann Australia and its brand partners have entered into the spirit of things too as the photos show.
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People
Filip Sedic’s journey from Queen to King of wellbeing for everyone
“I like to wake up with five fresh new ideas. And start them today. I figured I would not be able to live a life when I wake up and don’t know what to do today.”
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Quirky
Filling in time before filling time as we say ‘Hello Hong Kong’
There that didn’t hurt a bit, did it? My dentist in the 1960s, a Dr. Landsberg, used to say that after drilling through my young teeth and practically straight through to the other side of the earth (which from Christchurch would be A Coruña in Galicia, Northwest Spain, which might explain my later predilection for Ribeiro wines).