“Sure then, why not? I’ll take a whiskey on the rocks; The price of a good time, these days, ain’t a lot; Yes, I’m here alone; No I don’t want you to telephone; You can’t have my number, but you can take me home.”
Miscellaneous
Jeff Orson: Singer, songwriter, survivor
“Every day is a new day and not to be wasted. I try to wring every last moment out of it. People think that the party will go on forever, but I know differently now. You don’t know when that call will come.”
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Events
Redemption or repeat? Why Black is the new green.
Like Mohammed Ali’s ‘rope-a-dope’ tactics against George Foreman in the famed ‘Rumble in the Jungle, the All Blacks absorbed all the punishment and then struck with the ferocity and speed of a King Cobra.
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Miscellaneous
Readers’ competition: Redemption or repeat? Green v Black – the sequel
The Irish have the wind in their sails, the All Blacks an urgent need for redemption. It will be a classic. Which way will it go? Have your say and be in to win some great prizes.
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Miscellaneous
Suddenly the night has grown colder – Hallelujah Leonard Cohen
If it be your will that I speak no more, and my voice be still, as it was before, I shall speak no more.
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Events
All Blacks need emergency assistance after Irish 111 call
Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time in 111 years. Yes that’s right 111 – which also just happens to be the emergency telephone number in New Zealand. And boy did the shell-shocked men in black ever need emergency assistance.
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Airports
Gamsahamnida South Korea, Annyeongi kyeseyo
Gamsahamnida (‘Thank you’) Korea. I learn so much from your country, your culture, your people and your duty free industry each time I come here. Annyeongi kyeseyo (‘Farewell’).
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Miscellaneous
Land of the morning (afternoon and night) turmoil
Competition is so tough, the regulators so fierce, the battle for Chinese tourists so intense, that a Korean duty free equivalent of the Charles Darwin-inspired ‘Survival of the fittest’ adage could surely be coined.
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Events
Sunrise marks a new dawn in Chinese travel retail
Here is a bricks and mortar travel retailer realising not only that it must reinvent itself in a world increasingly dominated by e-commerce (particularly in China) but having the courage and vision to do it on its own terms.
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Travel
‘Officially amazing’ at Shinsegae Duty Free Centum City
A plaque describing the department store’s status as the world’s biggest says ‘Officially amazing’. That strikes me as a pretty good way of summing up the whole complex.
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Airports
Emotion and engagement at Taoyuan International
Classic, colourful, quirky: we’ve championed the virtues of Taiwan Taoyuan International before, but a visit here this week reminds me just what a compelling experience this great airport can be. I’m here on a short trip – little more than 48 hours – to attend the official opening of The Macallan’s striking new store in
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People
The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die
Through the night all was still, as though death was satisfied with the slaughter…
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Miscellaneous
Heathrow sparkles as night-time falls on the Neponset
Wine is a category that demands effort, otherwise why should travellers bother? At Heathrow, Champagne shows plenty of fizz, but table wine falls a little flat.