Kampong Glam is a palette of colour. From the small haberdasheries along Bussorah Street – with its two-story shophouses on either side – you can buy decorative materials, buttons and ribbons. It’s a good place to buy hand-made souvenirs too. One of the most popular pastimes…
Chinatown will satisfy any shopaholic with trinkets, curios, countless varieties and colours of ‘I love Singapore’ t-shirts, fridge magnets and fashion. The district comes alive at night: the ground floor, open-air Chinese restaurants (the cheaper kind where you sit on plastic chairs, beneath a beach…
The Dutch colonial city of Galle and its fortifications are perched on a rocky outcrop on the south-western peninsular of Sri Lanka. This UNESCO World Heritage Site remains the largest European-built fort in Asia. Greek, Roman, Chinese, Indian, Persian and Arab seamen wandered around the…
I think these pictures are reason enough to convince you why Unawatuna, in the Galle District of south western Sri Lanka, is an ideal place to be a beach bum. So why not slap on some sun lotion, grab a great book and recline on…
The seven-hour bus ride from the highlands of Nuwara Eliya, in central Sri Lanka, to Mirrisa on the southern coast was worth every moment, even if only for the picturesque detour through Ella. We meandered between mountains and hills, which tightly held onto clouds by…
I awoke on a mist covered-mountain overlooking Kandy Lake. Sun rays broke through the mist and illuminated the mountain. Someone played “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In” on the trumpet, as girls hurried along in their white school uniforms. They held each other’s hands, their…
With a melodic name like Nuwara Eliya, which means ‘City of Light’, this small town is obliged to be charming, by default. The cool atmospheric conditions allow for the cultivation of tea. ‘Tea country’ is located in the hilltops (1,868 metres above sea level) and…
A Buddhist and Hindu temple stand next to one another near the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Kandy, in central Sri Lanka. I witnessed a ceremony in the packed Hindu temple. Worshippers were sitting cross-legged with their knees touching, as praise songs wafted outside. It…
Ticking clocks, beads of sweat, tapping feet, heavy heat. I lived in South Korea for close to two years and while the subway get packed, Buddha’s Tooth Relic Temple in Kandy experiences similar traffic during Esala Perahera. Hundreds of thousands of buddhists make the pilgrimage to…
The Dambulla Cave Temples are best explored during Poya – the full moon festival celebrated each month by Buddhists throughout Sri Lanka. The majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhist and follow a lunar calendar. The day of the full moon is a national, public holiday and…
The birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka can be traced back to Mihintale and Buddhist monk Mahinda. Mihintale means ‘Mahinda’s Hill’ in Sinhalese and is often overshadowed by its larger counterpart Anuradhapura, which is a twenty-minute drive away. Due to the kindness of the head…
Ask anyone who knows me well and they’ll tell you that I am a greenie, a hippie, completely nuts when it comes to environmental issues. Which invention has saved the most lives? No, it’s not a vaccine, as you’d expect, it’s the toilet. 884 million…
It might take some time and practice for the name to roll off your tongue smoothly. Anuradhapura is an ancient city, which was the capital of Sri Lanka for a thousand years. The Buddhist dagobas, high-rise temples, ponds and ancient palaces are vestiges of the cultural,…
The clock tower in Dambulla graciously welcomed me upon my arrival. Dambulla was to be my base over the next few days. In Sri Lanka main streets carve their way through the middle of town. They are named after the biggest city they lead to,…
Maintaining the lifestyle of the rich and famous may be expensive, but give it a try, even if only for a day. Clicking high heels create a rhythmic soundtrack, which embodies the glamour of Cheongdam-dong Luxury Street. This high-end street aptly captures the true essence…
Tea was introduced to South Korea from China, around the 7th century — during the late Silla dynasty. Perhaps because it was served on a daily basis it was taken for granted. However, recently there’s been a resurgence of interest in the intricate tea ceremony…
It’s not difficult to lose yourself among the titles of the vinyl records and CDs that Mr. Lee has been collecting for decades. I gaze through his extensive collection of music to see what we have in common. I notice a few classics that my…
I gently run my fingertips over the layers of folded hanji and hope the owner will forgive these small delights of mine. When I was younger I desperately wanted to own a stationery store, I think most girls did. South Korea has re-ignited that deep-seated childhood…