THAILAND | 5 Things to Do in Khao Yai National Park

November 28, 2019.Reading time 22 minutes.

Khao Yai National Park, a 2.5-hour drive northeast of the Thai capital of Bangkok, is the third largest national park in the country. Established in 1962, it is the oldest national park in Thailand and was declared part of a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005, together with other protected areas in the Dong Phaya […]

MALAYSIA | 5 Things To Do In Melaka City

November 6, 2019.Reading time 16 minutes.

Melaka City — previously spelled as Malacca — is the capital of the Malaysian state of Melaka to the south of the Malay Peninsula. Due to its strategic location along the Strait of Malacca, a key trade route linking the East and West, the city has had a long history of European colonization, changing hands […]

THAILAND | Khao Yai Bat Cave — Flight of a Million Bats

October 24, 2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

I glanced at the clock on the car’s digital display screen. It was 5:15 p.m. Navigating along a bumpy, dirt road, I rolled past the Wat Tham Sila Thong temple tucked away at the foothills of towering limestone cliffs in the Pak Chong district of Thailand. Someone on TripAdvisor cited the temple as a good […]

THAILAND | A Little Piece of Europe in Khao Yai

October 9, 2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

The world, it seems, has a deep fascination with Europe. From the Bavarian-inspired town of Leavenworth, Washington in the United States of America to the Dutch-like town of Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Japan, or China’s replica of Paris in Hangzhou, many seem obsessed with recreating a piece of Europe back home. In Thailand, three […]

MALAYSIA | The Iconic Petronas Twin Towers

September 11, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

César Pelli, an Argentine-American architect who gifted the world with some of the most iconic building designs, died at the age of 92 on 19 July 2019. Among his outstanding works, which included the World Financial Center in New York City and the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, arguably his most famous is the […]

CHINA | A Flowery Tale of Snow White & the Yalong Bay Rose Valley of Hainan

August 15, 2019.Reading time 13 minutes.

I was rather surprised to see Snow White resting idly on a tree log at Yalong Bay International Rose Valley (亚龙湾国际玫瑰谷), a working rose plantation in the southwest of Hainan’s Sanya City and, frankly, not quite the enchanted forest. “Fancy seeing you here,” I blurted out loud as she turned towards me, her ebony hair […]

CHINA | Volcanic Hainan: The Haikou Volcanic Cluster Global Geopark

July 31, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Haikou Volcanic Cluster Global Geopark - Fengguling crater

Between the swaying coconut palms and its golden sandy beaches, volcanoes aren’t necessarily the first things that come to mind when you think of Hainan, the smallest province of the People’s Republic of China and an increasingly popular destination for tourism. So it may come as a surprise that the northern half of this tropical […]

MALAYSIA | Life in Art: Exploring Penang’s Street Murals

July 17, 2019.Reading time 19 minutes.

“I want bao!” a voice exclaimed excitedly from behind me as I exited Ming Xiang Tai Confectioneries along Armenian Street in Georgetown, Penang. Bao is the Chinese word for a bun or bread-like dumpling. Startled, I spun around and saw a boy, no more than eight, attempting to reach for a dim sum basket at […]

CHINA | Hainan: In the Heart of Haikou – Qilou Old Street

June 26, 2019.Reading time 17 minutes.

Alighting from a taxi at the intersection of Bo’ai North Road and Shuixiangkou Street in downtown Haikou, a Chinese bakery across the road beckoned to me, the sweet smell of baked dough wafting through the air. Rows of golden, flaky pastry lined the display at the front of the shop, likely filled with red bean, […]