Singapore: A Walk in the Padang Area I stay a distance from the monuments. This is work-hard-play-hard Singapore, and I need a moment to contextualise these sacrifices.
At Hanoi's Old Quarter At the Hanoi Opera House, locals have massed again and again to mark momentous events. In 1945, Uncle Ho proclaimed a sovereign Vietnam to them.
Paris and Milan: Some Shows and Sights While On Business Before the Picassos, it was possible to linger before each display, lose oneself in it, read descriptions unobstructed. Most tourists were out at the Duomo.
Putting Aside Some Thoughts Before I leave For Paris I'll go to the Picasso Museum, and the Louvre Apple Store. I can't take the rainy, windy cold anymore, so I'll leave the Parisian streets to themselves.
Dolce Far Niente "We are simple people," Leonard said in his soothing voice on our way back. "Our approach to life is dolce far niente."
Salim Ali, Maa, Salim Ali! Many birdie questions came to mind at The Leela Goa. How far over the sea can the crow fly? What was that golden, hawklike bird that landed by the greens?
Before Aurangzeb’s Tomb As for Aurangzeb himself, to die asking to be buried so far south from Delhi, from the seat of his empire — how did it feel? Where lay his heart? In Delhi? In the Deccan, where he’d honed and proved himself when young?
Saru Maru, Sanchi, Satdhara, and Stupas and Stupas There’s the wind of the plains about the monuments, but the sun bears down hard on the place, and the few trees around don’t help so much the crowds of tourists and devotees. As regards the stupas, they aren’t designed to offer shade.
On Business in Paris During Midsummer There was time to go about Paris, watch Parisians enjoy Midsummer's Day on June 21, and listen to music by buskers who'd taken every available public space.