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Posts from the ‘NORTH AMERICA’ Category

Aug 17

21 Comments

Bonjour, Québec!

Relieved we’d finally reached the top of a wooden staircase zigzagging up the slopes of Mount Royal, Bama and I hurried along the trail to join the crowd of sightseers at the stone balustrades of the Kondiaronk Belvedere. The skyline of downtown Montréal unfolded 180 meters (590 feet) below, its glass-and-steel office towers and condos gleaming in the late afternoon sun. Beyond the tall buildings and busy streets, the St. Lawrence River continued on its perpetual eastward journey from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic. I’d long known I would bring Bama to Canada’s second-largest city, but up until a few months ago, I hadn’t anticipated that it would happen this summer. Read more

Feb 15

24 Comments

Mexico City to Mérida: A Culinary Adventure

In a nondescript yellow building off the main plaza of Santa Elena, a sleepy little town on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, Doña Mirna gently set down bowls of sopa de lima on the table. There was one each for Abdiel — the blue-eyed Cuban driver who took us on day trips from the city of Mérida — Bama, and myself. Here at Restaurante La Central, we were most intrigued by this classic Yucatecan soup featuring the sweet local lime. “I also use herbs, tomatillos, guajillo chilies, and strips of chicken,” Doña Mirna said with a smile. Around us, the simple but cheery dining room reflected the grandmotherly matriarch’s heartfelt warmth. Read more

Sep 21

33 Comments

Below the Pyramids of Palenque

As we stood on the edge of a grassy square facing Palenque’s Temple of the Cross, Bama and I suddenly heard an eerie growl from the nearby jungle: a long and guttural roar, disturbing enough to make anyone stop in their tracks. Read more

Jun 7

38 Comments

Reflections on Our Trip to Mexico

Sometimes, even when traveling on the far side of the world, it’s possible to find similarities with home where you least expect them. That is what we recently encountered in Mexico. Biting into the sweet vanilla crust atop a concha bought at La Vasconia, Mexico City’s oldest bakery, I drew an immediate parallel with the pineapple buns of my Hong Kong childhood. Read more

Apr 15

33 Comments

Finding Magic in Mexico

How far would you go to visit a dream destination? It seems surreal now, sitting in our living room with the suitcases unpacked, to think that we’ve spent the past two weeks in Mexico. Just a few nights ago, Bama and I completed a marathon two-day slog that began halfway across the world. My seatmate on the 16.5-hour flight between Mexico City and Istanbul (with a stopover in Cancún) couldn’t believe we were in Istanbul for a 16-hour layover before the 12-hour flight back to Jakarta. “That is such a long journey,” she exclaimed in wide-eyed shock. “¡Qué horror!” Read more

Nov 27

23 Comments

A Visit to the Embassy

As a young immigration officer flipped through my passport at Bhutan’s Paro International Airport last month, I saw a look of mild confusion cross her face. Eventually she turned to the last remaining blank page and held it up for me to see. “Can I stamp here?” she shyly asked. “Yes, of course,” I smiled. With that, there would be just enough room for the entry and exit stamps I’d be given on a work trip to the Philippines a couple weeks later. My passport had simply run out of space. Read more

Jun 30

15 Comments

Travel sketch: Vancouver, Canada

Unlikely siblings, Vancouver

Seeing as Canada Day is coming up, I felt it was time to publish something just recently rediscovered in a half-forgotten sketchbook.

Drawn on the right is the third incarnation of the Hotel Vancouver, built from 1929-39. 17 storeys high, the monumental hotel was inspired by French Renaissance châteaux with touches of the Scottish baronial. This quintessentially Canadian style was popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, exemplified in the grand railway hotels built by rival companies Canadian Pacific (CP) and Canadian National (CN). Read more

Jun 27

25 Comments

The house of memories

My grandparents' old house in Toronto

Darkness had fallen and driving snow whipped against the windshield as my uncle drove down a familiar stretch of Highway 401 from the airport. Less than 10 hours earlier I had stood waiting at a boarding gate in Heathrow, bound not for the warm temperatures of subtropical Hong Kong, but the winter chill of Toronto. It was December 2008 and death had struck the family two weeks before Christmas. Read more

Jun 22

39 Comments

Milestones, Awards and the Atlas Game

Lamma Island, Hong Kong

This month marks a season of celebration. Just recently Plus Ultra passed the 1,000 mark for followers, and now the blog is just shy of its 100th post! As much as I would like to throw a party in the blogosphere, there are a couple of practical issues to deal with (timezones, for instance!) so I am writing this post instead. Read more

Dec 30

216 Comments

Toronto, Rediscovered

A new Toronto icon

It feels uniquely satisfying, escaping the suburbs and slipping anonymously into the Toronto subway. Three dollar tokens, worn red seats and newspapers strewn on the floor, the trains are a time capsule from the seventies. Read more

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