Author: Ms. R.

One afternoon in late August, a thunderstorm passed over Hong Kong Park, the 20-acre green in the middle of the city’s financial district. Rain drenched the leaves of the camphor and cotton trees, and every boom of thunder sent flocks of screeching white birds out of the canopy and into the air. The birds, a two-dozen strong flock of yellow-crested cockatoos, circled in the sky, their bodies bright white against the glossy black windows of the international bank towers…….

Read More

Sunshine City is a massive urban complex consisting of five buildings in the Ikebukuro district, one of Tokyo’s busiest commercial hubs. Containing multiple shopping malls, an aquarium, a planetarium, an indoor amusement park, an observatory, a hotel, and a whopping 60-story office building. It’s visited by over 30 million people every year. But very few of them have heard of—let alone visit—the Ancient Orient Museum, one of Sunshine City’s least-appreciated attractions. Located on the seventh floor of the Culture……

Read More

The area in and around St Paul’s Chapel is dotted with several small public parks. Many of these idyllic locations are the result of either the Great Fire of 1666 or the Blitz of World War II. The Churchyard of St. John Zachary owes its present incarnation to the former catastrophe. These serene open gardens offer both office workers and touring visitors a quiet respite from the hustle and bustle created by one of Europe’s largest cities. Besides providing a……

Read More

This iconic landmark was first installed on Deptford High Street in 1988 and has since become a famous symbol of the history of Deptford, an area of southeast London. Deptford Dockyard was one of England‘s key areas of shipbuilding and trade from the 16th until the 19th century. First established by Henry VIII as the first Royal Dockyard, it was an essential location for the Royal Navy where building and repairing some of the country’s finest sea vessels would take……

Read More

Smoke billows skyward, partially obscuring a monumental, two-story hall. The smell of roasting meat is thick in the night air, still oppressively hot though the sun has set on this arid valley in what is now southwestern Spain. Inside the hall, hundreds of people gather around a long wooden table set with fine ceramics and bronze challices. They feast, and drink rivers of wine as the night deepens. A few feet outside the banquet hall, down a massive staircase,……

Read More

High up in the South Downs National Park, almost covered by shrubbery, is a small, solitary, and unexpected monument. It is known as Harvey’s Cross, because it is dedicated to a horseman called John Harvey. John Harvey was born in Bedfordshire to his father, also called John Harvey. Rather confusingly, it seems like John Harvey’s father’s father was also called John Harvey, as was his father before him. The Harvey family were very wealthy, and owned an estate called Ickwell,……

Read More