Kuek Jia Yao

An ornate, gold-gilded thangka (Buddhist painting) that the writer brought home from Nepal, with a stone-tipped tool used to polish the gold detailing.

Exploring the mandalas of Nepal

Tracing the history of the Kathmandu Valley through the circle, beyond the temples

Noravank Monastery, built in the 13th century and situated in a narrow gorge of the Amaghu River in Armenia. The churches’ conical roofs were added during a more recent restoration in the late '90s.
LIFE & CULTURE

In the land of churches and wine

The beautiful countries of Georgia and Armenia are home to resplendent monasteries and boast a history of winemaking

Bunches of Pinot Noir grapes growing on the Williams Selyem Estate, at an elevation of 30-40m.  The vines are cane-pruned to help with the effects of winter frost in the Russian River Valley AVA, and trained in a six-wire vertical-shoot position (VSP).

A tale of two wineries

Two cult wineries in Northern California showcase radically different winemaking philosophies and business models

The Purbaleunyi Toll Road running parallel to the HSR. Constructed in 1989, it forms part of the existing highway network linking Jakarta and Bandung. The HSR has cut the 3.5-hour drive to a train ride of less than an hour.
THE BROAD VIEW

Indonesia’s HSR as a lasting legacy of Widodo’s presidency

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway’s potential benefits could be amplified by adopting a holistic master-planning approach to the region’s diverse transportation links

A panorama of Siena’s historic centre – a UNESCO World Heritage Site characterised by its distinctive Gothic architectural style – viewed from the Basilica of San Domenico.
LIFE & CULTURE

Under the Tuscan sun

A roadtrip through the region’s longstanding tenuta, or estates, offers a glimpse into their deep heritage and unique winemaking philosophies

(The writer) herding the host family’s cattle to their nighttime pasture before sunset in the Orkhon valley.
LIFE & CULTURE

On the Eastern Steppe

MONGOLIA is a land of extremes – entirely landlocked and with a population smaller than Singapore spread over the 17th-largest land area...