Around the World | Art + Design | Books | Food | Musings | Photography

Beyond An HDB Flat.

Here is where I record my thoughts and experiences, most of which are from my time abroad and travels. Where I share and exchange insights on off-the-beaten-path destinations and translated literature. Where I discuss photography and societal observations. 

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  • Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada was first published as Jeder stirbt für sich allein (Every Man Dies Alone) in 1947. The novel has since been translated by Michael Hofmann from the German into English. The story revolves around Otto and Anna Quangel, who are introduced at the beginning as an ordinary couple in Berlin…


  • On my return trip to Otaru, aside from sushi, there was one item that I looked forward to eating again: Senbei 煎餅, Japanese rice cracker. Three summers ago, when I was in Otaru with my family, we bought some senbei from a little shop while strolling along Sakaimachi Street. Everyone in my family likes senbei.…


  • Otaru has around 100 sushi restaurants, including some 20 on the famed Sushi Street, which is five minutes on foot from where we were staying. As much as we like sushi, we were in the mood for a variety of small hot dishes – specifically, we wanted to eat at an izakaya. We decided to…


  • I read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov for the first time this summer. Shortly after, I watched the 1962 film adaptation directed by Stanley Kubrick with the screenplay written by Nabokov. Not surprisingly, reading Lolita and watching Stanley Kubrick’s take of the novel left me with different impressions of the convoluted tale. In both versions, the…


  • It was a sunny Saturday morning in Otaru, a port city on the western side of Hokkaido. Gathered at one end of Otaru Canal was a busload of Chinese tourists whose tour guide was instructing where to meet later. Shaded under colourful umbrellas, the women were busy posing for photos in front of the shimmering…