When I was looking into the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo for an earlier blog post, I came across the Imperial in Hong Kong. Could they be related, I wondered?My uncle stayed at both the Hong Kong and Tokyo Imperials in the 1960s, so I was naturally interested in these … [Read more...]

So after I went on and on a couple days ago about how I don't drink much, now I'm writing about Chicago bars.You see, the same day I blogged about drinking in Havana, I received a review copy of this great new guidebook--Historic Bars of Chicago by Sean Parnell (Lake … [Read more...]

I'm not much of a drinker. In fact, it's so low on my radar that I've missed out on many a cultural tradition because I haven't ordered a drink.I visited Singapore with my parents months before my first marriage. We rambled up to the Raffles Hotel, joining hundreds of … [Read more...]

What a beautiful poster. Blue skies, purple mountains, green pastures.I took this same Yangzi River cruise shortly after my first wedding 15 years ago. I kind of wish Butterfield & Swire had arranged it, though.My parents, uncle, then-husband, and I boarded the boat … [Read more...]