5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist’s Itinerary: Old Bangkok

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Kennie Ting

The Grand Palace, Bangkok.

Look beyond the lights of Siam Square and Sukhumvit towards the Chao Phraya River (or “River of Kings”) to experience Old Bangkok – a part of the city that still reeks with history. Here it was, on the banks of the river, that travellers in the 1800s would have arrived in Siam. And here you will experience a very different side of Bangkok than you would normally encounter.

The essential sights include:

✑ A random wander in the European Quarter of Bang Rak, particular along the many side streets off Charoen Krung Road. Pay a visit to the former Customs House and former headquarters of the Danish East Asiatic Company, both of which remain in a state of crumbling majesty.

✑ A river cruise down the Chao Phraya, because it is the beating heart of Bangkok, and because it is only from the river that you can get a view of some of the oldest European buildings in the city – including the Portuguese and French Legation Buildings. Best taken in the evening when the sun burnishes facades a heart-stopping shade of gold.

✑ Take a klong, or canal tour, for a glimpse of Old Bangkok, once the Venice of the East. Go early in the morning, when the floating market at Thonburi is still active.

✑ A walk down Pan Street, off Silom Road. This is Bangkok’s “Street of Harmony” – with a Hindu Temple, Javanese Mosque, Portuguese shophouse, English library and many miniature Thai shrines.

✑ Visit the Grand Palace, for an otherworldly experience that will blow your mind. This was the seat of the Siamese Empire, and also the backdrop to the famous Hollywood movie, The King and I. Prepare to spend a whole morning, minimally.

And of course, no visit to Old Bangkok would be complete without High Tea at the (Mandarin) Oriental Hotel. This IS the Grand Tour, at its very essence. No reservations are accepted.

[The Romance of the Grand Tour – 100 Years of Travel in Southeast Asia is available now at all major bookstores in Singapore, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and London. Find it also at http://www.amazon.com, http://www.waterstones.com and http://www.bookdepository.com.]

The Chakri Maha Prasat – the actual palace itself is essentially a European style building, with a Siamese-style roof.

The French Legation is one of the oldest European buildings in Bangkok. It sits in Bang Rak on the Chao Phraya River.

Faded facade of European-style godowns in the vicinity of the Customs House, Bang Rak.

And finally… High Tea at the Author’s Lounge, in the Author’s Wing of the (Mandarin) Oriental Hotel. This was the original hotel building built in the 1800s.

5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist’s Itinerary – Surabaya

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Kennie Ting

Pnisis boats at the Kalimas port.

Surabaya is the dark horse on this Grand Tour. It’s not a city frequented by history and heritage buffs; and because it’s actually rather large, sprawling and run-down, it is not for the faint-hearted. But I heartily recommend it precisely because it is so off the beaten track – that you will often find yourself perhaps the only visitor wandering around in the Old Town, experiencing life in the city as the city-dwellers experience it.

Other than Penang, it is also the city that most resembles Singapore – with its old town divided into Arab and Chinese quarters, and with those thousands of traditional shophouses lining its streets.

Here are 5 essential things to do:

✑ A random wander through the Old Town of Surabaya, including the banks of the Mas River, Chinatown, Ampel (the Arab Quarter), the Jembatan Merah (Red Bridge) area and Willemskade. Willemskade contains the most impressive instances of Dutch-colonial architecture in the city.

✑The House of Sampoerna, to revel in the old-world atmosphere. Have lunch at the excellent adjoining restaurant.

✑ Take a taxi to the ancient port of Kalimas, and if possible, get one of the seahands to allow you onboard one of the pnisis. Just don’t accidentally get transported to Madura Island

✑ An evening stroll in the Tunjungan area, to admire the art deco architecture and discover the Dutch Indies-style colonial bungalows dotting the area. Stay, or stop off at the magnificent Hotel Majapahit – formally known as the Hotel Oranje. Just be forewarned, that the hotel is incredibly haunted!! (But I enjoyed it).

✑ Pay a visit to the Heroes Monument, if only to acknowledge the thousands of native Javanese who died for their nation’s independence.

Surabaya has a rather vibrant street art/graffiti scene. As you walk around the Old Town and Tunjungan, look out for the many vibrant works of art that line the sides of buildings.

The Nuutspaarbank building on Willemskade.

Interior of the House of Sampoerna.

The famous Jembatan Merah, or Red Bridge, is Surabaya’s most famous landmark.

Jalan Pahlawan.

Graffiti Art in Tunjungan

Courtyard garden in the magnificent Hotel Majapahit (formerly Hotel Oranje).

5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist’s Itinerary – Jakarta (Batavia)

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Kennie Ting

The former Stadhuys (City Hall) is today’s Fatahillah Museum.

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia today, and was formerly known as Batavia, when it was capital of the Netherlands East Indies. Old Batavia still exists today and can be experienced as follows:

✑ A walk around the Old Town, Kota, and along the banks of the Kali Besar where the oldest Dutch-era merchant houses slumber in a kind of purgatory.

✑ Take in the monuments around Fatahillah Square. Visit the Jakarta History Museum (the ancien Stadhuys) for the building and the Wayang Museum for the tomb of Jan Pieterszoon Coen. Lunch at Café Batavia – an institution in its own right.

✑ Stop by the Mandiri Bank Museum, for an eerie experience of life stopped in media res; and the Bank of Indonesia Museum for the few precious photos of Indische families that it presents. In both cases, check out the stained glass.

✑ Pay a visit to the National Museum of Indonesia at Merdeka Square, for a mind-boggling display of ancient sculpture from Java’s Hindu and Buddhist era.

✑ Take a short detour to the residential district of Menteng, for a glimpse of wealth, privilege and beautiful Indische-style colonial villas. Lunch at the excellent Bungarampai, serving Dutch-Peranakan food.

Jakarta has an excellent and totally brand new Bus Rapid Transit system that plies the main streets of the city. It is the only way to beat the traffic, and it is highly recommended if you want to get anywhere. Prepare to brave the crowds.

[The Romance of the Grand Tour – 100 Years of Travel in Southeast Asia is available now at all major bookstores in Singapore, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Waterstones in London. Find it also on http://www.amazon.co.uk andhttp://www.bookdepository.com]

Former bank buildings along the Kali Besar.

The former Chartered Bank of Australia, China and India, along Jalan Bank.

Cafe Batavia, on Fatahillah Square.

Stained glass in bank building.

Makara at the National Museum of Indonesia.

Borobudur Buddha head at the National Museum of Indonesia.

Fountain at Jalan Teuku Umar, Menteng.

5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist’s Itinerary – Singapore

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Kennie Ting

Gates to the Old Christian Cemetery on Fort Canning Hill.

✑ A stroll around the Singapore River, the Civic District and Fort Canning Hill, taking in the sights of Colonial Singapore. This tiny area has Singapore’s greatest concentration of museums, monuments and historical sites, all immaculately preserved. There’s so much that is historical here, it’s mindboggling.

✑ Visit Singapore’s historic districts – Bras Basah, Chinatown, Kampong Gelam/Arab Street and Little India. In particular, pay attention to the “streets of harmony” – streets on which multiple places of worship stand side-by-side in harmony – of which there are three: Waterloo and Queen Streets in Bras Basah, and Telok Ayer Street and North Bridge Road in Chinatown.

✑ The Singapore Botanic Gardens, to catch glimpses of the colonial. The park is one of the oldest in the region, and hasn’t changed much since the British left. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

✑ A stroll down Orchard Road, once a landscape of orchards and colonial villas, but today the region’s most upscale shopping street. Take a short detour up Emerald Hill for the beautiful Peranakan Chinese mansions.

✑ Have a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel. The atmosphere is raucous, cosmopolitan and touristy; very much the Grand Tour at its very essence.

Singapore is the best place in the region to get an authentic taste of the colonial life; to experience the splendour of a world lost everywhere else in the world but here.

Statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, at his purported landing site, along the Singapore River.

Boat Quay, along the Singapore River, today. Note the row of colonial-era godowns.

The Former Supreme Court Building in the Civic District is today’s National Art Gallery.

Maghain Aboth Synagogue on Waterloo Street is Singapore’s oldest synagogue.

Colonial Contemporary – St John’s Church on Queen Street juxtaposed against the National Library.

Thian Hock Keng Temple, Telok Ayer Street, is Singapore’s oldest Chinese Temple.

Sri Mariamman (Hindu) Temple on North Bridge Road.

Sultan Mosque, in the Royal Compound of Kampong Gelam.

Colonial Contemporary – the last surviving Sino-Portuguese Mansion on Orchard Road proper.

Colonial black and white at the Singapore Botanic Gardens – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And finally… the grande dame herself: Raffles Hotel.

5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist’s Itinerary – Malacca

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Kennie Ting

View from St Paul’s Hill of Malacca town and the Straits of Malacca.

The next destination on the Grand Tour is Malacca, the oldest city on this itinerary. The five essential sights are:

✑ The core UNESCO World Heritage site of St Paul’s Hill, including the La Porta de Santiago, the Christchurch, St Paul’s Church, the Stadthuys, the old Malacca Club and other monuments from the Portuguese, Dutch and British eras.

✑ The Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir, for excellent Portugeuse-Creole (Eurasian) seafood and a gorgeous view of the sun setting over the Malacca Straits.

✑ A random wander down Jonker Street (Jln Hang Jebat) and Heeren Street (Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock), including a visit to the Baba and Nonya Museum. Have lunch at Cheung Wah 中華, famous for their traditional chicken rice balls.

✑ An early morning stroll amidst the thousands of Chinese graves in Bukit Cina. It’s a gorgeous, haunting, contemplative, lonely, otherworldly experience. Stop in at the Sam Po Kong Temple to pay your respects to Admiral Cheng Ho.

✑ A walk along the Malacca River from the mouth of the river to Kampung Morten. Along the way, stop to take in the iconic postcard view of Malacca from the Chan Boon Cheng Bridge.

Despite Malacca being a UNESCO World Heritage site, there is a significant amount of construction going on within and at the edges of the core and buffer zones. The architectural integrity of the old town has been compromised by gigantic shopping malls and high-rise hotel complexes, more of which are, unfortunately, to come.

La Porta de Santiago, at the foot of St Paul’s Hill.

The Malacca River, with St Francis Church to the left.

The Malacca River viewed from the Chan Boon Cheng Bridge, with St Francis Church to the left.

British-era shophouses near the core UNEXCO zone.

Shophouse facade along Jonker Street/Heeren Street.

Chee Yam Chuan Mansion, Heeren Street.

Grave at the top of Bukit Cina.

Roof Detail, Sam Po Kong Temple.

Portuguese Settlement, Malacca.

5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist – George Town, Penang

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Kennie Ting

View of the Malacca Straits from the Grounds of the E & O Hotel in Penang.

George Town, Penang is a UNESCO World Heritage site, due to its being an exemplary multi-cultural trading town with many layers of history. In particular, emphasis was placed on it being a showcase of living heritage, embodied not just in the continued use of many heritage buildings, but also in the observance of a variety of traditional customs practiced by the various ethnicities that share the city. Here are 5 essential sights in this city of heritage:

✑ A walk down Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling – Penang’s “Street of Harmony” – and a visit to the stunning Khoo Kongsi Temple Complex.

✑ A leisurely saunter down Armenian Street for the beautifully restored colonial-era shophouses and the graffiti/public art.

✑ A sprightly jaunt around the Padang to the northern edge of Beach Street, for the air of colonial authenticity, and for the monumental civic and commercial architecture. Look out for Town Hall and City Hall, and the Standard Chartered Bank Building.

✑ The Pinang Peranakan Mansion, for the gloriously over-the-top interiors and the stories of matriarchs and their rebellious progeny. The Cheong Fatt Sze, or Blue Mansion, is equally stunning on the outside but far less well furnished inside.

✑ The Clan Jetties, particularly the Chew Clan Jetty, for its sheer size and for the gorgeous view at the end of the “boardwalk.”

Food is so good in Penang that even Singaporeans down South acknowledge this readily. Brave the many outdoor hawker centres for the most authentic culinary experience and the widest range of local dishes (such as Penang Char Kway Teow, Penang Laksa, Roti Canai, Indian rojak, and so on.)

And of course, stay at the magnificent Eastern & Oriental Hotel (the E & O to locals) for the stunning view of the Malacca Straits from the longest seafront promenade anywhere in the city.

Town Hall, at the Padang.

Traditional shophouses along Armenian Street.

Interior of the Khoo Kongsi Temple.

Detail, Pinang Peranakan Mansion.

The edge of the Chew Clan Jetty.

Jalan Green Hall – an image which demonstrates Georgetown’s multi-cultural nature.

5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist – Rangoon (Yangon)

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Kennie Ting

Lone monk amidst the visiting worshippers, Shwedagon Pagoda.

Over the course of the next 12 weeks, I’ll be doing a series of posts featuring 5 Essential Sights for the Grand Tourist’s Itinerary in each of the cities covered in the Grand Tour. I begin, this week, with the city of Rangoon – today’s Yangon.

✑ Stroll along Strand Road and Pansoedan Road, for a glimpse of the greatness of the British Raj. Stand and gape at the monumental civic, cultural and commercial colonial-era buildings that still stand, in particular, the Edwardian-era High Court Building, and the Accountant-General’s Office.

✑ Wander West of Sule Pagoda, which contains Chinatown, Little India and the Arab/Persian/Jewish Quarter. Here’s where you’ll find the greatest concentration of world religions anywhere in Southeast Asia.

✑ Explore the languid, laidback tree-lined sidewalks of the suburb of Ahlone, a prestigious district of colonial villas, now housing foreign Missions and Embassies. Pop into the Governors House boutique hotel for a drink at the bar.

✑ Take the wonderfully rickety three-hour journey on the Circular Train to the rural outskirts of Yangon and back. Worth the $1 ticket price just to see the motley crew of locals en route. Be prepared to be crushed in your seat by heaving crowds though. Bring your passport.

✑ Pay a visit to the surreal and breathtaking apparition that is Shwedagon Pagoda. Enough said.

Yangon is breathtaking in its vibrancy and timelessness. Visit it before sweeping political and economic change forces the city to slough its magnificent older skin.

The Accountant General’s Office, at the junction of Strand and Pansoedan Roads.

Interior of the Yangon Circular Train, during a rare moment of silence.

The Hong Kong Skyline: Then and Now

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Kennie Ting

The Hong Kong skyline in the 1890s/1900s.

Hong Kong is the sister city to Singapore, and like its sibling, it presents a very stark illustration of how trade and commerce shapes a city.

Hong Kong’s skyline is one of the most iconic skylines in the world – this was true of the city in the early 1900s, as it is today. The following two shots provide a sense of how this skyline has changed, but still remains memorable.

What unfortunately has faded away are those sweeping vistas of Chinese junks sailing past Hong Kong Harbour – the very essence of Hong Kong itself. Today, only one junk plies these waters, and even then, it is a pale shadow of those that came before it.

[The Romance of the Grand Tour – 100 Years of Travel in Southeast Asia is available now at all major bookstores in Singapore, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. As of mid-June, it will also be available at Waterstones and Blackwells in London, on http://www.amazon.co.uk and http://www.bookdepository.com]

An iconic junk in Hong Kong Harbour, early 1900s.

The Hong Kong skyline today, and the lone junk still plying the waters of the harbour (at bottom left).

Imperial Siam and the City of Bangkok

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Kennie Ting

The Royal Barge on the Chao Phraya River

Bangkok, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Siam (today’s Thailand), is important in the history of South East Asia because it never succumbed to any European colonial power. In other words, there is no colonial history of the city — even though it came very close to having one.

Just over a century ago, in 1893, French warships sailed up the Maenam Chao Phraya or the River of Kings intent on forcibly taking this ancient empire as the French equivalent of British India. It took some deft foreign policy and significant territorial concessions on the part of the then Siamese monarch, King Chulalongkorn, also known as Rama V, of the still ruling Chakri Dynasty, for Bangkok to avoid becoming the capital of French Indochina.

French Warships on the Maenam Chao Phraya, from an 1893 newspaper.

The king, himself, we know well. Most latter-day grand tourists remember him from when he was a little boy getting to know his very persistent governess, Anna Leonowens, in the 1954 Hollywood movie musical, The King and I. Educated in the western tradition, he proved to be a vanguard, modernising his kingdom and playing British insecurities against French egocentrism so shrewdly that he managed to secure from both Great Powers a promise to ensure the independence and neutrality of his Kingdom.

Photograph of King Chulalongkorn from an early 1900s American newspaper.

Having no colonial history, however, doesn’t mean Siam has no relation whatsoever to colonialism in South East Asia. Make no mistake about it: while Thailand was never a colony, Siam was a colonising power, exerting its influence over Laos and Cambodia (which it conceded to French Indochina), and the primarily Malay Muslim region along the Kra Isthmus, of which the provinces of Kelantan, Trengganu, Perlis and Perak were conceded to British Malaya. A trip to Laos and Cambodia will reveal just how pervasive the Thai cultural influence still is in these countries.

At the same time, Siam, being independent of any colonial empire, paid host to Europeans from almost every creed and language. The Portuguese and Dutch were the first to arrive in the 1500s and stayed for more than 400 years. Then there were the French in the 1600s, the Danish in the 1700s, the British in the 1800s, and finally the Americans, with their investment dollars, after World War II. At that time, the mighty Chao Phraya River was the stage for a grand pageant of empire and diplomacy at the turn of the century.

The Chao Phraya River today with the former Customs House in the background.

The former headquarters of the Danish East Asiatic Company.

Hôtel Métropole, Hanoi

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Kennie Ting

The iconic and fabulous La Terrasse cafe restaurant, at today’s Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi.

Hôtel Métropole in Hanoi is one of the most beautiful hotels on this Grand Tour of Southeast Asia, and it is easily also one of my favourite hotels of all. Opened in 1901, it was the grande dame of the Hanoi social scene; and over a hundred years later, as the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, it remains the city’s most illustrious hotel establishment.

Hotel Metropole sits at left in a postcard from the early 1900s. The square it sits on was known as Square Chavassieux. Across from the Hotel stood (and stills stands) the Residence Superieure.

Stepping into the hotel is like stepping back in time – the atmosphere is chic, glamorous, chic and steeped in nostalgia. Wrapped up in a seasonal quilt in Winter and supping at one’s aperitif in the famous Bamboo Bar inside the hotel’s central courtyard, one feels transported to Paris during the Belle Epoque (1870s – 1910s). The hotel is lit up with a thousand christmas lights, and the lilting melody of French chansons waft through the air.

Another memorable and unique experience the hotel offers is a spin across town in one of its 1950s vintage Citroën cars. Sailing through the streets in this vehicle, with hundreds of ordinary Hanoi-ans peering curiously at one from their motorcycles, it is hard not to feel like a turn-of-the- century colonialist, ostentatiously descending onto the town for a sumptuous dinner and subsequent merry-making at the cabaret.

Que la vie est belle!

[The Romance of the Grand Tour – 100 Years of Travel in Southeast Asia is available now at all major bookstores in Singapore – Kinokuniya, Times and MPH – as well as at museum shops and the airport. As of mid-June, it will also be available at major bookstores across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, at Waterstones and Blackwells in London. It is further available on http://www.amazon.co.uk and http://www.bookdepository.com]

The Hotel Lobby today.

The Hotel’s chandelier.

Vintage Citroens at the hotel.

The Romance Of The Grand Tour

100 Years of Travel in Southeast Asia

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