Bali has become home base for the pan-Asian literati
November 1, 2009, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong
With its old craft culture, mildly bohemian cafes and array of misty hilltop vistas, Ubud in Bali seems to have grown almost to fit its twin industries of art and tourism; travelers here have been feeling the pull of poetry, paint and drama for decades. But where this reputation had always been more of a well kept secret or a nice surprise, it is now official: bottled, capped and priced for the greater good each October, as the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Now for four days every autumn the town’s venues – its museums, restaurants, bars and yoga studios – become host to professional wordsmiths and their fans as they grapple with literary themes over thick Bali-grown coffee. Sound good? Well it is, mostly.
Stay Overnight in a Turkish Mansion
May 14, 2009, Time Magazine
"Make yourself at home" may be a refrain heard in guesthouses the world over, but it takes on new meaning when it comes from one of your host country's wealthiest families — and when your temporary "home" is their mansion. The Buyukkusoglu family, who made their fortune in the automotive industry, converted their 48,400-sq-ft (4,500 sq m) modern manor house in Bodrum, Turkey, on the edge of the Aegean Sea into a 12-suite hotel, and in 2007 opened it to paying guests as the Casa Dell'Arte.
Dalian Wonder
A colourful past has created a bright future for this cosmopolitan city
March 2009, Silkroad Magazine, China
“You won’t find much of China in Dalian,” one foreign resident recently observed over coffee, and he has a point. At one time Russian, another Japanese and with a host of names and identities in its recent past, Dalian is as famous today for its female ‘mounties’ on horseback and its links with Canon and Mitsubishi, as it is its excellent sea food. But on one of its famously clear days in one of the many squares, watching couples parade and old men practice water calligraphy, Dalian can also be the best of China. Many agree, and it has been voted one of the most livable cities in the country.
Full Steam
Jo Baker takes the waters in Taipei
October 2008, Discovery Magazine, China
The air was dark and tinged with cool, old trees struck dramatic poses against the night sky and below them, a near-naked elderly man waxed lyrical about the stars. “This is a good place,” he said, a blue towel twisted jauntily around his head. “Out in the open air with the stars, the moon. It’s a very good way to relax.” The scene was a hopping Friday night at a Taiwanese public hot springs; the place, a sleepy town called Xin Beitou, just north of Taipei.
Playground Attraction
Dubai is the fastest growing city on earth, and as the strategic financial centre the Middle East it is becoming a playground for the very, very rich
July 2008, Gafencu Men Magazine, China
There is a frission of guilty pleasure to be had from heading to one of the earth’s hottest, driest places to ski, swim and indulge in climate-controlled shopping sprees, and it is one that this year prompted around seven million to pack light and head to Dubai. This small nation of 1.3 million people will soon have forty mega-malls, 7 new theme parks and over 530 hotels to its name, not to mention a pulsating new club scene and a penchant for luxury sporting events. And with that kind of party laid on – well, it would be downright rude not to show up.
Polo Returns to China
Jo Baker delves into the Middle Kingdom’s new highlife on horseback
March 2008, Prestige Magazine, Hong Kong
A line of Australia’s finest polo ponies fidget unhappily in their stalls, one picking moodily at the stable planks with his well-bred teeth. China is in the throes of its worst winter in fifty years, and it’s not only the people here that are suffering. “They don’t really like being inside,” says Romiro Pellegrini, a young vet and skillful Polo player from Argentina. “They’re athletes. They want to be out playing, and this snow just gets them down.” The ponies of China’s new Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club may well be dreaming of last October; three days in which man and horse tussled on a field of verdant grass to a backdrop of fizzing champagne, hats of architectural daring and delicate wahs of enthusiasm. Shanghai’s elite were learning how to do ‘garden party’ and in the process, sporting history was being made.
Cisco Style
Times may be tighter, but the Bay City is still rolling in it
April 2008, Gafencu Men Magazine, China
Of all San Francisco’s incarnations, the one most loved in Asia is its face from the 1990s – a thrilling time when the dot-com boom made a millionaire a minute and the city’s more bohemian, beatnik impulses were buried deep. “There were parties every single night and they were always totally over the top” remembers Charlotte Milan, who runs a luxury travel and wine public relations firm there, C.Milan Communications. “People were bringing in dance troupes from Israel, doing shot after shot of caviar and it was like: how much can we have? How much, how much?” Ten years later and the brashness has gone.
Snowbound
Discover Asia’s best ski resorts: they’d be hot right now, if they weren’t so damn cool
January 2008, Gafencu Men Magazine, China
Whistler, Aspen, Chamonix Mont Blanc… these are all familiar names to winter sport extremists - and even the occasional dabblers - but how about Muju, Kuruizawa and Yabuli? If limited vacation time has you tied close to the office this year but your soul can’t wait to plunge down an icy mountain slope with nothing between it and oblivion except two bits of Carbon-Kevlar: then its time to consider Asia’s burgeoning ski resorts. They have the slopes, the luxury lodges, the breathtaking vistas. And yes, they might even have hot chocolate too.
December 13, 2007, Time Magazine
Frank Sun, restaurateur and architect: Have a drink at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's Captain's Bar, tel: (852) 2825 4006. It has a lot of history. Then take a walk from there to Sheung Wan — a very different side of old Hong Kong and one that is rapidly disappearing. You can visit shops that still make traditional sausages and sell dried seafood.
Island Shopping
December 2007, Gafencu Men Magazine, China
Some celebrate success with a second Maserati, a Chanel-toting mistress or a view-drenched summer villa on the coast. Others buy an island. To own a piece of land with water on all sides and a decent stretch of beach has become the ultimate status symbol, and the ideal opportunity to pursue that real-life castaway fantasy. Yet it can also be an intensely emotional investment, fraught with complications and unusual obstacles: they didn’t call the reality show ‘Survivor’ for nothing. So whether your island propels you up in – or out of – high society, expect it to make plenty of waves.
The old world charm of China’s newest money pot
November 2007, Smile Magazine, Philippines
With ambitious developments swamping this once-Portuguese peninsula, Macau has rarely been such a hot topic. It hit international news stands in January when its gambling revenues overtook those of the Las Vegas strip, and its stars have continued to rise with every new casino, glitzy hotel and enthusiastic plane-load from Mainland China. But away from the high rolling and the cabaret there’s a quietly beautiful edge to Macau that balances out the economic frenzy.
Higher Education
October 18, 2007, Time Magazine
It's a common problem. You book a trip, fail to pick up a phrase book and before you know it you're shaking hands, toasting — or wildly gesticulating — in your destination, wishing you had mastered just a couple of phrases of the local language.
Happy Families
October 4, 2007, Time Magazine
Sequestered on a hill about a 40-minute drive from Chiang Mai, Proud Phu Fah doesn't attract young urbanites so much as families and others looking for a quiet puff of Thai mountain air. Yet that's not to say that the hotel lacks contemporary style.
Social Assistance
July 9, 2007, Time Magazine
Making new friends and swapping stories about life on the road can be a vacation high point—so why not do so before you set off? Thanks to the Internet, globetrotters can now find travel mates, get trip tips from fellow travelers and even enjoy free accommodation from friendly locals, with just a few clicks of the mouse. Organizing the perfect holiday has never been so easy, or so darn sociable.
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Hot Hong Kong guide
August 2007, Smart Travel Asia, Hong Kong
It may bristle with skyscrapers and burst with investment bankers, but Hong Kong is much more than a business hub – and you don’t have to be a cocktail-sipping Manolo Blahnik-wearer to get the best out of it. Every street corner here struggles for its own piece of the action. Shifty street-side astrologers vie with gleaming multi-storey malls, and busy beaches compete with cut-price electronic stores. Fairy-tale turrets and green hiking trails beckon you out of town, while steaming dim sum carts and harbour-view sundowners tug you back. Whatever you need, Hong Kong has the goods. Here’s our A-to-Z Hong Kong guide.
Chill Out Chiang Mai guide
June 2007, Smart Travel Asia, Hong Kong
Months after being curtly relieved of his newly-acquired farm at gunpoint up in Sisaket province, my flight buddy Richard – a former management professor from the States – seemed surprisingly unperturbed. “That’s Thailand for you,” he shrugged, gloomily. But he had higher hopes for Chiang Mai, his latest choice for building a home. “It’s not the same there,” he said. He was right. We landed, emerged from the airport, and there was not a gun-toting farm-grabber in sight (I’d hidden my own twelve-acre ranch in my hand luggage, just in case). Indeed Chiang Mai cuts a most welcoming picture – and not only due to its apparent lack of property pinchers.
Northern Highlight
February 15, 2007, Time Magazine
Fairbanks, Alaska is an unassuming sort of place: the architecture is generally plain and the winter weather makes thermal underwear a blessing. Tourists use Fairbanks as a gateway to the subarctic wilderness, but a dramatic addition to the skyline is slowing down newcomers on their way through. It's the striking Museum of the North.
A Luang Prabang guide
August 2006, Smart Travel Asia, Hong Kong
There is a reason why Luang Prabang remains the town that time forgot. It’s bloody hard to get to. Snuggled well in the treacherously undulating northwest of Laos it was, until recently, served by just two alarming modes of travel. The first was Lao Airlines – a carrier essentially blacklisted by the US Embassy, the UN, and other companies that prefer their employees whole. The second was a punishing ten-hour bus journey from the capital Vientiane, at the mercy of bandits and a million sharp turns. Yet the lure of gilded spires, saffron robes and cobblestones was strong, and still the travel pilgrims prevailed.
Amuse Bouche
July 17, 2006, Time Magazine
Are you the kind of dieter who can avoid temptation at home but loses all willpower the minute you're confronted with a mouth-watering menu at a restaurant? Then you may well have found your culinary salvation in Seasons 52. Inspired by a brilliantly simple idea, the Florida-based restaurant chain serves modern American dishes with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients—and a calorie count of 475 or less per course.