Dreaming of a Tokyo Christmas
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
Rethinking cities #1: Ommmm in Paris, the 15-minute commute in Milan, and Amsterdam in a doughnut
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
Love of maps, making globes, and the art of getting lost
(Thank you @marjanblan for use of this image; we’ve called it the “geometric art map of the world”.) In this year when it’s so difficult to travel, we are reminded of these things called maps. In fact, we are crazy about maps, and in that spirit, are sharing “Dancing with the spirit of Marco Polo”, a Read more
Dreaming and walking in the time of the coronavirus
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
Island tales #2: East meets West in beautiful beachscapes, remote villages, church ruins and Hakka clans
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
Keep calm and learn some history: portrait of a city under siege
[An early April update: Hong Kong Museum of Art has opened up some of its multimedia collections online in its virtually@HKMoA initiative while the museum is itself still closed to public access.] We at Madeleine’s have been spending time in a city where there is definitely a siege-like feel: shops have shorter hours, office-workers are working Read more
Island tales #1: celebrating culture on a small island in an island country
Madeleine is in Asia for Christmas and there’s an arts festival taking place on a tiny island in this island-based place called Hong Kong. It’s called the Yim Tin Tsai Arts Festival, taking place on the tiny island of Yim Tin Tsai, and it has caught the eye of us and our friends. What do Read more
In London this winter
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
A small London obsession: sofas and cushions, high windows, and 3 billion-lettered science
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
Urban re-inventions #2: London’s Coal Drops Yard hits its one-year-old mark
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