As we wander, we wonder
We had a brief but memorable interlude in Innsbruck last autumn and it left a sweet impression. Despite my personal preference for summer heat, and earthy terrains of a mediterranean colour, I could see the appeal of a white mountainous alpine town for brief retreats. There is a certain type of silence up in these […]
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It’s almost impossible to find a French city that is not chic and charming and Strasbourg was not an exception. Days of walking around the old town led us through adorable patisseries, fromage houses, pastel bicycles over the River Rhone, colourful Colmar homes, vibrant florists, and the beautiful Notre Dame. A quick 500 metre distance […]
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The Home Hotel was a visual feast. It recently opened in August, and is located in Sihilcity Nord which appears to be a newly gentrified and upcoming neighbourhood in Zurich. The hotel’s aesthetic philosophy was supposed to be from the dada art movement but we found it to give out a more psychedelic 70s vibe. […]
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Throughout the years, and because of one of my best friend’s origin, my many trips to Germany have mainly oriented around the northern parts of the country but I never set foot into Bavarian territory. We finally managed to do so this past autumn and I can quite confidently say this is my favourite parts […]
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The regal bearing of the cat family never fails to disarm and magnetise us. Like children, they have such incredibly strong and inherent personality traits almost from birth which is fascinating to observe throughout the years. Maternal and domineering, humble and passive, timid but hopeful, curious and innocent. After spending a few weeks at my […]
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It’s not easy to enjoy beaches during the monsoon season but we stole whatever moment of sunshine we had with multiple beach outings. Koh Lanta had some rocky and unswimable beaches but it also had picturesque coves and bays speckled throughout the island. We were based off on Khlong Kong beach which was the rocky […]
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My affection for Peranakan aesthetics is partly related to the vibrance of its spirit. A recent National Geographic write-up about this special community sums up my entire enchantment with her visual offerings. ‘“Peranakans love beautiful things,” Kong says. “With the creativity of the early days, they started to hybridize a lot of things into culture […]
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The Vagabond Club is a Tribute Portfolio Marriot Bonvoy hotel located in the middle of the uber-gentrified Little India neighburhood of Singapore. Within 1 km from Kampong Glam and Chinatown, it is an ideal base to stay for a short stay in the city if what you are looking for is the city’s interpretation of […]
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September 2019 feels like a decade ago, and to be fair it is coming up to half a decade since the world experienced life before 2020 and all the baggage that came a long with it. Pula was beautifully hot we were in a high and adventurous spirit after days of dolphin safaris, sailboats and […]
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There are a lot of fabulous visuals in Dubai. The most dramatic restaurants, opulent hotels, extravagant spas, over the top shopping malls, glitzy souks ad nauseam. In my first visit since its initial renaissance I coined it Last Vegas Arab style and as the years passed this aesthetic only amplified. For first timers, to get […]
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Paphos, Cyprus is a 45 minute Ryanair flight from Amman, which makes it a convenient holiday destination if you are based here and want an extended weekend. We discovered about the Blue Lagoon when we arrived in Paphos last September, mainly through online googling for the finest beach in this part of the island. First, […]
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Ugly days swirl all around us and there is nothing left to say that could undo the wretched and the savage. Every human life is sacred, and I don’t engage with anyone who believes that there is a more morally righteous side to the current conflict of which self defence legitimises the extermination of refugee […]
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Our main sentiment upon leaving Sicily is that we wanted to return. It is too big an island and too regionally diverse to rest our laurels of discovery within one trip. Everything we saw had its own unique beauty and we only went to two towns- Taormina which is where everyone goes to in the […]
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Al Manara is a Marriott Bonvoy property from its ‘luxury collection’ range. It’s probably the best Marriott Bonvoy hotel we have stayed at in the Hashemite Kingdom so far. As is always with these places it is the usual five star offerings though probably a little less characterful than the Autograph collections (e.g. the one […]
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This Nabatean city has featured in so many Hollywood movies (Indiana Jones- The Last Crusade, The Mummy, Aladdin, Lawrence of Arabia to name a few) and was deservingly included in the New Seven Wonders of the World by UNESCO. Utterly unique and magnificent, the carving of The Treasury was a visual feast, and the fascinating […]
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So this is yet another ancient-ruin-aesthetic post but I feel it’s almost obligatory to record memories of visiting ruins given how it’s so few and far between in the world. I am also always touched with wonderment when studying ruins from this part of the world – it really expands my curiosity for previous grandeurs […]
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We dropped by here on our way back from Saadiyat Island to Dubai in the summer of 2022. It was one of the main ‘must-see’ in Abu Dhabi obviously, and am glad we did. It’s hard to find something in the UAE that belongs to the region’s heritage. So much of it is borrowed and […]
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The perks of living in an internet age today, with millions of travel bloggers and websites populating the net is that we can land up in a seaside town quite spontaneously and still be able to organise a trip to a nearby village based on a quick google search on the very same day! That’s […]
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Sintra was as gorgeous as a quaint European town rich in history, adventure and fabulous architecture can be. We were recommended to take on a day’s trip there with an Airbnb guide and it was a day well spent. We started the day with a walk at the historic centre with our lovely guide Miguel […]
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There are times when I wonder if social media travellers have spoilt the fun for us. I imagine that if I stumbled upon Sidi Bou Said without having a strong impression of its instagram imagery beforehand, I would have fallen more deeply in love. However, having known what it looked like before seeing it live, […]
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Tunis has been floating in my dreams since I was a youth.. in this curious fascinating seductive strip of North Africa lies memories of the Roman empire interwoven with a melange of different languages, culture, history, hopes and aspirations…whatever remains today is only a whisper of the majesty that once was but already it moved […]
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The idea started a few months ago. My friend and I were trying to figure out what to do to amuse ourselves during the incessant lockdown and suggested we could do some painting. Initially I scoffed at the idea given my non-existent artistic prowess (pretty sure the last time I did art was when I […]
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A few conversations lately made me recollect the first summer holiday I enjoyed as a young adult with a best friend, and not my family. It was the summer of 2001, and I couldn’t have felt more grown-up. Whatever ambivalence we have about our past, there’s no denying the intoxicating excitement of being so young […]
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It’s been almost two months since my last update. Life during a pandemic has been a little bit surreal. While living in the thick of it, our vision is myopic. In hindsight, and hopefully there will be a time for hindsights, the individual and collective human experience will probably be understood better. Initially the journey […]
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My sister and I agree that we are visual creatures. Everything that has aesthetic value fascinates us and we are often poring over various images of different fabrics, homewares, interior designs, architecture and exchanging notes about beautiful things throughout our travels. She recently came across these exquisite tiffin carriers and fell in love with both […]
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September 2019 feels like a century ago. The mechanisms of how our memory functions has always been quite a mysterious fascination and I am curious about how everyone is reviewing their lives this time last year. Back then, I had no idea what was in store for us in six months. For us it, it […]
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This year, life was about being indoors. I didn’t realise how much I needed to get physically connected to nature again until we had a very quick beach get away recently. For various reasons, it came at a time I needed it the most, and I just sank in the experience with much gratitude. I […]
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Looking for The Higher Self 