Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
For Forbes Life on Singapore
Singapore is an island-state full of contradictions. On the one hand it flaunts its prudishness: chewing gum is banned unless it is of ‘therapeutic’ value; pornography and homosexuality frowned upon; strict fines, caning and the death penalty are de rigueur for drug offenses; and until recently, bar-top dancing and gambling were illegal. Yet in the last two years, Singapore is racing to change its staid image with almost unseemly haste. After months of national soul-searching about whether a casino would mar Singapore’s pristine character, the government approved not one but two giant waterfront casinos to be built and operated by [...]
Eat, Drink and Stay in Hong Kong: for Forbes Life
Few aircraft descents offer as spectacular a view as the one into Hong Kong. Sandwiched between sea and mountains, Hong Kong is in many ways an ‘in-between’ city juxtaposing its Colonial past with its Chinese future; its Eastern traditions with its Western exuberance. Wealth—the making and spending of it— is a national pursuit. Naturally, luxury travelers have many pickings. Where to Stay The Four Seasons has, hands-down, the best location in town. Being within the IFC (International Finance Center) complex means that you potentially can conduct all business without stepping outdoors. Ask the concierge for a local SIM card (everyone [...]
Off Work: Bangalore. for Forbes Life magazine
Off Work: Bangalore Established as a British cantonment in the 18th century, the green city of Bangalore, India, is now famous for its late-night call centers, IT companies and BPO units. The gleaming brand names of the Indian information industry--Infosys, Wipro (nyse: WIT - news - people ) and Biocon--are all headquartered here. Together they have spawned the unlikeliest of millionaires and a wealthy young middle class. The image of bullock cart drivers with thousands of dollars' worth of IT shares is a cliché here, in a driven cosmopolis that is less abrasive than Mumbai and more cultured than Delhi. [...]
Stars of India: Jewelry: Forbes Life magazine
In New Delhi, shopping for one-of-a-kind jewelry is as much an art as the pieces themselves. When I was born, the story goes, my father bought a gold coin. Eager that this family tradition be continued, my mother repeated the story to my husband just as I was about to deliver my daughter in a New York hospital. My husband bought some cake instead, which we shared with all the nurses. And therein lies a difference between the Indian culture I was born into and the American one I adopted: Indians buy gems and gold to celebrate an occasion; Americans [...]
Return to India: For Knowledge@Wharton
Return to India: One Family's Journey to America and Back Published: November 01, 2007 in India Knowledge@Wharton For decades, it was widely assumed that the brightest Indians would go overseas to study and eventually settle there. Today, signs have begun to appear that the tide may be turning. The fact that global companies are setting up operations in India makes it easier for non-resident Indians to return home, often while remaining with the same employer. Indian students are not leaving the country as eagerly as they once did, and if they do, they go back home much faster because of [...]
Amuse Bouche: their daily bread: Time magazine
Two hours southeast of the Turkish capital of Ankara lies a surreal landscape of giant pink rocks carved by nature into phantasmagoric formations. Locals call the area Cappadoccia, or "fairy chimneys," and at nearly every roadside stop, there's a stall selling gozleme the flat bread native to the region. A mixture of feta cheese, parsley, vegetables and spices is wrapped in dough and sizzled over a hot griddle until perfectly crisp. Gozleme is tangier than an Indian paratha, more robust than a French crepe, and altogether delicious. Cappadocians eat gozleme for breakfast, lunch and dinner (usually with a refreshing glass [...]
The Reds Are Coming: New Zealand wines: Time magazine
With 463 wineries producing 119 million liters annually, New Zealand wines have come a long way since the first Sauvignon Blanc was harvested in Marlborough a mere 30 years ago. Mild, fruity whites are what the country is most associated with, but the long-held perception that New Zealand's terroir isn't suited to reds has finally been overcome by a number of wineries producing world-class Pinot Noir. The silt-loam soils of New Zealand yield a Pinot Noir somewhere between the robust Australian reds beloved of influential American critic Robert Parker and the more complex Bordeaux wines. Some Kiwi wineries have even [...]
Amuse Bouche: Food Fight: Time magazine
Emmanuel Stroobant, chef of Singaporean popular restaurant Saint Pierre, serves a signature wok-fried foie gras with tetaki of Japanese squid, julienne of Parma ham with warm yogurt jelly and black peppercorn reduction. But ask him if he is a fusion chef, and he balks. "I guess I am," he says, "but I don't like the word fusion." "Fusion has become a bad word in Singapore," says food-and-beverage consultant Peter Knipp, whose company organizes the city-state's annual World Gourmet Summit. "People use it as an excuse to mix ridiculous ingredients, charge double the prices and upset a lot of people." It [...]
Hidden Gem: Shopping in Santiago, Chile: for Time magazine
Santiago is one of South America's best-kept shopping secrets. With prices in their own countries skyrocketing because of inflation, well-heeled Argentines and Brazilians are flocking to the Chilean capital for their luxury purchases. Among the best buys�besides leather and wine�are gems like amethyst, malachite and lapis lazuli. Amethyst is locally prized for its supposed healing properties (it's common to find chunks of it lying in homes to counter bad luck). Malachite is used in popular fashion accessories, worn by Chilean women in bracelets and anklets as they sashay down the Parque Arauco Mall. But lapis, the most well-known Chilean stone, [...]
Malaysian Sensations: Four Seasons Langkawi. For Time magazine
Most spa resorts are so cookie-cutter that once you check in, it's hard to tell if you're in Krabi or the Maldives. Not so at the new Four Seasons Langkawi, tel: (60-4) 950 8888. The design of this resort has a very Malaysian sense of place and incorporates elements from the country's Muslim heritage. Arabic tiling turns the large bathrooms into approximations of Turkish hammams. The resort has gorgeous views of the Andaman Sea, and all its airy rooms open on to covered balconies. The main restaurant, Ikan Ikan, is housed in a recreation of a limas, or traditional Malay [...]