Take in more than just ceramics when down in Icheon
While the highlight of the Third World Ceramic Biennale is in Icheon, the festival is actually spread among Icheon, Yeoju and Gwangju in Gyeonggi Province. Because this year’s events have been prepared as exhibitions that can be experienced rather than just viewed, a weekend trip to the three areas is more than worthwhile. Icheon has […]
A town of both legend and history
The heat of the noonday sun made everything shimmer. In the distance, the twin mountains that form a gorge, shone brilliantly like jewels. Lying at Metro Manila’s fringe, Montalban in Rizal is home to the Montalban gorge, where a river’s path gave rise to numerous caves over millions of years. Mt. Pamitinan on the left and […]
Tourists discover fresh sights, fruit, fish
Fruitpicking, fishcatching and floating market tours are becoming more popular for domestic and international tourists to My Tho City and Cai Be Commune of Tien Giang Province, about 100km and 70km, respectively, west of HCM City. The tours start by bus from HCM City and take an estimated two hours to Cai Be and an […]
Bird-watching on Timor a rewarding experience
Brown. Bare. Dry. A fire-scorched and sun-baked island. These were the words that formed in my head as I flew into Kupang, Timor at the height of the dry season. As a keen forest bird-watcher accustomed to the lush greenery of Papua, Sumatra, and Java, it was a shock to be greeted by such contrast, […]
A stop on the Grand Canal
“In the beautiful spring with flowers blooming, we set off for Yangzhou.” This line from a poem of Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) has lured millions of travellers each year to the elegant ancient capital with 2,500 years of history. My recent weekend trip to the city started with the spring countryside […]
World Bank to loan $900m to Indonesia
JAKARTA: The World Bank would allocate about US$900 million in loans to Indonesia this year to help the government boost economic growth, reduce poverty and manage the nation’s finances better, World Bank country director Andrew Steer told reporters in Jakarta on April 11. “Indonesia may borrow more if needed because its economy has improved and […]
Bloggers Republic
Wu Chong, a young journalist from.China Daily, started enjoying her MSN Space late last year. When her friends log in to MSN, they will find out what Wu is feeling that day in her blog. I remember the sparkle in her eyes when she recommended her blog to me: “Hey, you should have your own […]
Murder of a real cop
There has been no breakthrough in the investigations into the brutal assassination of IP Douglas Nimal together with his wife in a Colombo suburb last week. Douglas was no ordinary police officer. He served in the elite STF in the conflict zone for ten years. After his return to Colombo, he was instrumental in seizing […]
Rebuffed again
In a span of two weeks, the Supreme Court has handed down a series of decisions that struck a ringing blow for political liberties and against a threatening authoritarianism. The Court sharply rebuked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration with a train of three decisions that sought to curb abuse of executive power as it declared as […]
Cricket’s Lara hints at quitting
Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, has said that he could prolong his Test career till the age of 40, at the same time also indicating that his one-day career could end after the World Cup next year. Lara, now 37, was speaking after two of Australia’s bowling spearheads – Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath […]
