to cities around the world
We at Madeleine’s did entertain the possibility of spending Christmas in Tokyo …. But quarantine restrictions still made us hesitate … But, we are dreaming about it …. Tokyo has some wonderful Christmas markets and Christmas fairs as well as spectacular winter illuminations befitting its status as a great city … In this year of Read more
As cities are coming back to life with summer drawing to a close and Covid restrictions relaxing …we urbanites and city-dwellers are looking forward to some of the magic that cities offer … chance meetings in the street, lazing at kerb-side cafe tables looking into the streetscape, accidental tableside conversations that spark an idea, chit-chats Read more
In this month of June when Parisians are starting to get comfortable again with the idea of sitting in a café (on my count, we are on the fourth weekend of the city’s “return to life” even if with restraint?) and enjoying the beautiful weather (“savor more than coffee”, as the New York Times put Read more
One of the most astounding things about this ultra-urban city of Hong Kong is that there are still some tiny and remote villages that are not accessible by vehicles, are mainly populated by village houses, and rather untouched by urbanism, and many of these are in Sai Kung, a large area in the Northeastern part Read more
Having been in London earlier in November, we are looking forward to being back in London in 2 weeks which would be mid-December. Here’s our 5 favourites for this winter in this cool city: Theatre. OK, even our London insider who isn’t that into theatre was urging us to go see this production: Translations at Read more
We wanted to share our small obsession about London’s Wellcome Collection including its library with comfy sofas and cushions as well as tall windows with lots of light and space and its “Bookshelf of the Human Genome”. Really, it is one of the coolest places in London. It is a “library” with cushions scattered over Read more
Hello Coal Drops! Earlier in November, we at Madeleine’s finally made it to Coal Drops Yard. And yes, it’s about 5 mins’ walk from London’s Kings Cross station. The area around Kings Cross used to be quite seedy (and was certainly the dodgiest bit of the city that was inside Zone 1), but it has Read more
We at Madeleine’s recently had the opportunity to do a “revisit” to a big urban renewal and revitalisation project: Tai Kwun, which celebrates its second Christmas (and hits the first-year-and-a-half anniversary of its opening). This is a complex sitting almost in the middle of Central, just 100 steps up the hill from Queens Road Central Read more
It’s summer and it’s time for a holiday. But with crowds everywhere especially at airports, have you considered taking a “vacation” but staying home? Well, we at Madeleine’s have been seriously thinking about it! Are you surprised for never having seriously considered how much fun it is to not to have to drag bags around, Read more
When we decided to spend May in Hong Kong and China and shared our reflections about May being the month in between 2 very important historical anniversaries (“It’s the month of May … in a Year of Political Anniversaries”), we could never have imagined that a mass protest in Hong Kong would make the top Read more