Tag: City
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2103 Miles: Salt Lake City
Standing at around five-foot-three – probably around my height – with a smile that never leaves her face, Kim, for me, has become the face of Salt Lake City. She’s not from here, and she’s not even American – she’s from South Korea. But she typifies the quality I have come to love about the…
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Vancouver: B.C. Days
I’m walking along a sidewalk on a clear morning with Tita Marie. It’s a bit early in the morning so except for a few early risers, the streets are still on the verge of coming to life. A tattoo-covered girl is about to open her inking parlor. “Welcome to Vancouver,” she greets us. “You know, you picked…
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Singapore: Evening Stroll
We’re sauntering along the bridge between Sentosa and VivoCity on an overcast afternoon. Ships are docked at the nearby harbor. A group of teenage girls are with their tummies on the floor trying to take their picture with the ocean as the background. They’re all giggling, a very much different display from the deadpan expression…
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Kuala Lumpur: Morning Drive
It’s a little after breakfast on a cloudy morning. We’re standing just outside the gates of Port Kelang a few kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, trying to seal a deal with taxi drivers to whisk us off to the Malaysian capital. The ashen sky isn’t providing much help in livening up the aura at the port,…
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Madrid: Victory Party with the Red Fury
As the capital of the nation that once colonized the Philippines, Filipinos will certainly discover an immediate connection with madrileños, whether it be the predisposition for fiestas and naps (siesta!) or the number of Spanish words that has assimilated to the Filipino lexicon. And while Filipinos probably won’t embrace football as much as the rest of…
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Vatican City: Inside, Barely
Geographically and from a traveler’s perspective, the Vatican City has always been a part of Rome, but thanks to the 1929 Lateran Treaty, this tiny enclave within the Italian capital became the world’s smallest sovereign state. The Vatican City has its own postal stamp, its own radio station, and an army of Swiss guards. But…
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Budapest: A Buffet in Hungary
Hungary is a hard nation to pin down. Like its people — the fiercely proud Magyars — this East (or is it Central?) European country defies conventional associations tagged in the region, easily dodging the stereotypes thrown into this “other side” of the continent. Sure, it’s a member of the European Union, the NATO, and…
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Prague: Czechs and the City
It’s freezing and the hastily bought umbrella from a Jewish Quarter store is no use to the increasingly strong rains. The group — our group, plus a young American couple, another American middle-aged man, and a Swedish dude — tries very hard to raise the resolute commitment our Puerto Rican tour guide has. It’s one…
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Wilkommen in Deutschland 3: Cologne
Rains start to pound a little harder the next day and the temperature drops further, which makes our excursion to Cologne slightly uncomfortable. We sought refuge in the iconic Kölner Dom for a few minutes and try to listen to the sermon (it’s a Sunday) but we can’t understand a word since it’s in German. Sensing the…
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Wilkommen in Deutschland 1: Heidelberg
Situated at the crossroads of Western and Central Europe, Germany exerts a significant influence not just on the continent but on the whole world as well. This is, after all, the nation that gave us Einstein, Luther, Bach, Marx and MP3. While a relative newcomer as a political entity, Germany is a veteran in a…
The Tourist Gaze 