New Emissary

Talk this week that the Copenhagen climate meetings next month might not be as hopeless as they seemed reminded me of a documentary I came across recently about rainforest clearing in Indonesia.  The movie has gotten some international acclaim;

This week, I’ve been lucky enough to come across some inspiring bits of info from the Asia-Pacific cultural arena. One was on Sri Lankan architect Chevadurai Anjalendran, whose work is the subject of the newly-released book Anjalendran: Architect of

One of the most engaging food-politics fusion blogs I’ve come across (and I’m definitely not the only one who has taken notice) is Obama Foodorama, edited by Eddie Gehman Kohan. A web journal that manages, in a very readable way, to record any link b

I stumbled across a very interesting article from Australia at the weekend. (‘Wine Fit for Papal Palates’)Two major wineries in Australia, DiGiorgio Family Wines and Zema Estate, have been chosen to participate in a big riverside Australia Day celebr

India doesn’t have an Easter bunny or a chicken god–so who left a giant egg in the center of Mumbai? The answer is Chinese architect James Law, self-proclaimed ‘Chief Cybertect,’ (or Chairman) of James Law Cybertecture, based in Hong Kong. He’s

The Japanese Film Festival in Australia starts early next week. It opens in Sydney on November 24 and closes December 1 in Melbourne. And if Time Out Sydney’s anticipatory blurb, calling this year’s 21 selections ‘the best and brightest of Japanese c

Although Australian, and more recently New Zealand, wines have been internationally renowned for some time now, there’s another liquid being produced in the Pacific region that seems to be making major waves in gourmet circles these days.  I rea

Is it just me or has Singapore seen an unusual flurry of diplomatic activity this past couple of weeks? World leaders popping in, shaking hands, posing for photos and perhaps even forging some genuine friendships…And although most eyes were focused

A pretty remarkable event took place in Bhutan this autumn–the launch of the first women’s magazine in the country. Armed with questions galore, I got in touch with the editor of the magazine, Pema Choden Tenzin, who graciously took the time to humo

Although I still can’t figure out the reasoning behind the name, ‘Twist and Shout’ is a neat collection of contemporary art from Japan, now at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre in Thailand through January.  The Japan Foundation has collaborated

Indian Cinema Series ’Shahrukh Khan’ (also Shah Rukh Khan) has a rather regal ring to it-appropriate for a figure who looms so large over the Bollywood scene that his most famous nickname graces the cover of the book, King of Bollywood: Shah Ruk

Believe it or not, fashion and pop culture made their mark this past weekend at the APEC meeting in Singapore–an event which annually draws great media attention, no less this year thanks to the presence of ‘celebrity’ leader US President Barack Oba