A friend teased recently that he had been checking on my website and for months all he kept seeing was “the prawn“. Hello again everyone! It has been a while indeed. I was in Ubud with a buddy for a weekend trip and captured some wonderful memories on my iPhone. If you are swinging by Ubud, here are a few worthwhile stop-bys. Continue reading
Urban cycling has taken a stylish turn. From utilitarian city bikes, to mechanically efficient fixies to ultra-compact foldies, clever designing and technological improvements have turned what used to be clunky, sluggish and old-fashioned bicycles into lean mean machines of high performance. Works of art that put cool into laid-back urban cycling.
Folding bikes, or “foldies” as they are affectionately known, have been spinning up a storm in Singapore in recent years (albeit of late, a storm of the nasty kind). We visit a popular lifestyle bike shop LifeCycle to check out these gorgeous bicycles that are garnering such a strong fan base in Singapore. Continue reading
If the kitchen is your favourite room in the house, then you will be right at home at Kappabashi Dori in Tokyo. Every time I visit, I spend hours eagerly trawling the entire stretch of the street, fascinated by the myriad of kitchenware displayed in the shops Kappabashi is so famous for. From the sharpest Japanese knives, to realistic plastic food-lookalikes, to exquisite ceramic ware; if you need it, I’m sure Kappabashi has it. But for a street that has everything to do with preparing food, there is nary a spot for weary shoppers to rest and grab a drink to recharge. I am in for a pleasant surprise this time. Continue reading
Snow sports fashion is mind-blowingly awesome; the variety of designs and styles out there are certain to awaken your inner shopaholic. A trip to a few snow sports shops to browse last year very quickly turned into an uncontrollable shopping frenzy. After three hours…jacket, check. Pants, check. Inner wear, check. Goggles, beanies, socks, all check. All that remains now is just some snow. Not so easy if you live in the tropics or suck at predicting weather! Continue reading
Fresh from the heady arrival of the lunar spring, Jack and friends’ pleasure of the senses is unsatiated with the promise of 14th February!
When I was in London several years ago, I bought a bottle of Penhaligon’s Malabah, and long after I finished the fragrance, it has lingered in my mind, haunting my olfactory senses like a seductive old flame. When I passed ION Orchard after having a meal with Jack at Canton-I, I recalled my wonderful experience in London and that intriguing scent and implored Jack and friends to step in. Continue reading
“There are, broadly speaking, two types of drinkers. There is the man whom we all know, stupid, unimaginative, whose brain is bitten numbly by numb maggots; who walks generously with wide-spread, tentative legs, falls frequently in the gutter, and who sees, in the extremity of his ecstasy, blue mice and pink elephants. He is the type that gives rise to the jokes in the funny papers.”
London, Jack. John Barleycorn New York: Oxford University Press. 1989
Hmm…no blue mice, thankfully, but we did see pink elephants. That belonging to what was once elected the Best Beer in the World – Delirium Tremens. Continue reading
The blue skies on 25 October sang of the night to come. Everywhere I looked, I chanced glimpses of delicious blue hues. The elegant sinews of a blue car hummed with the night’s elegant possibilities. Jack had invited me to the opening of the Bombay Sapphire Blue Room; the embodiment of the well-crafted gin’s spirit. I could not wait to see how the various art collectives, individual and musical artists would interpret the theme. Continue reading
Yes, literally. Tokyo never fails to amaze me with her eclectic mix of cafes and today I was pleased to discover yet another hidden gem. I spent a wonderful half hour at Hapineko in Dogenzaka, Shibuya, a cafe where guests chill out in the company of cats. Continue reading
As someone known for being fussy about beer, you could say I know my lagers from my lambics. So it might surprise you that one way to stump me whilst I’m pontificating about the beauty of a well-constructed craft beer would be to ask the question: “So what’s the best beer in the world?”. I would probably have responded in one of the following three ways: (1) Waffle my way out by claiming that there is no such thing because there is no basis for comparison between the diverse and myriad styles of beer; (2) Divert the question by naming my desert-island top 10 beers; and (3) Just look at you really long and hard to try and make you feel very uncomfortable and a bit daft. Continue reading
A good friend recently lamented that she has fallen out of love with photography. Because we have all been spoilt rotten by digital cameras.
Unlike digital photography where shooting can be mindless, gratification instant and mistakes covered up and transformed into art, it takes a true devotee to capture on film the perfect moment. Analogue film photography is a journey, of discipline, of conviction, of timing, of patience, of skill and sometimes of luck. It’s thinking; it’s set-up. Without thought, not only do you spend the film, you lose the moment. One of the beauties of film photography is the hope, faith and anticipation of fruition while waiting for the roll of film to return. Sometimes the results surprise but always, they are well worth the wait. Continue reading
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