Asia/Pacific
Beyond Hong Kong, What a Difference a Day Makes
Soaring skyscrapers plastered in neon, 24-hour nightlife, fabulous shopping that ranges from the suspiciously cheap to the seriously glamorous, and some of the best Chinese food in the world. For most visitors this is Hong Kong, and to be fair, it’s a lot of fun. But it’s not the whole story.
The Lantern Festival and So Much More
It was a warm and balmy February 28, sunny and 80 degrees when I arrived at Taipei’s International Airport, and I had just escaped the blizzard of the century back in New York. I was here in Taiwan for the country’s annual Lantern Festival, a spectacular event spanning eight days with a different location every year. Today was the opening day, just 15 days after Chinese New Year, and I was changing into short-sleeves.
I love Tokyo and in my next life I imagine you’ll find me in my suite on the 47th floor of the Park Hyatt showering and dressing for drinks and dinner with Scarlett Johansson between takes of, “Lost in Translation,” which was filmed at the hotel. Tokyo invokes manic fantasies like that. It’s a city of controlled chaos where anything happens, contradictions gather quickly.
Considering the efficiency of Japan, it’s interesting to witness the dramatic change to Roppongi, an enduring neighborhood in the city of Tokyo. This district has had a diverse and colorful history not unlike the amusement park aura of Times Square, New York, but in its current metamorphosis, Roppongi has made a more elegant and sophisticated transformation.
“Beyond Angkor Wat”
No trip to Southeast Asia is truly a trip without a visit to Cambodia, particularly to Siem Reap, home of the magnificent and awe-inspiring Angkor Wat temples. Not only have these UNESCO world heritage sites outlasted monsoon rains, various wars and the Khmer Rouge regime, they continue to still inspire "oh my God"s with their architectural feats and magnificent majesty.
Majestic Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capitol, is in the midst of a major upheaval. Old and new are constant clashes—it's a city where cycle drivers share the road with elephants and BMW SUVs; where tented houses sit in front of high rise modern apartment dwellings. Poised as a competitor with neighboring Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok, Phnom Penh will be opening its first stock market in 2009. Get there before all the suits and ties arrive.
When one thinks “Tokyo”, immediately futuristic technology, enormous Sony Trinitron screens, Hello Kitty and “Lost in Translation” come to mind. While these images are truly a part of the Japanese urban landscape, a new neighborhood in Tokyo has recently begun to sprout, offering a respite from the overwhelming cacophony of noise, lights and Harajuku girls.
Naka Meguro, until recently, was a quiet upper middle class residential neighborhood, hugging the banks of the Megurogawa River, a small winding canal that runs parallel with the punctual subway line. Modern, tidy apartment buildings and tiny traditional houses line the cobblestoned lane, which is divided by the canal and dripping with blooming cherry blossom trees. Seeing an opportunity to capitalize on the calm and coolness of the neighborhood—not to mention the bulging wallets of the residents—shops, restaurants and galleries began to pop up, and soon it became the “it” place to be.
