Unspoiled ruins: the Mayan city of Chichen Itza

December 14, 2008

RIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO – About a 2.5 hour drive from our hotel on the Riviera Maya lies the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, a regional capital from about 600AD to about 1000AD. The site is an impressive view of the ancient past and surprisingly un-developed for tourist purposes. I… (more)

Taking the grease out of the greasy spoon at Cora’s Coffee Shoppe

July 16, 2010

SANTA MONICA, USA – I can just imagine what Cora’s Coffee Shoppe must have been like in the 1920s. The cute-as-a-button diner still features the original black and white tile floors and shiny chrome counter, and it’s not hard to visualize a dame named Cora in a cherry-print apron behind… (more)

Nobu chills out up in the ‘Bu

October 25, 2010

MALIBU, USA – It seems like Nobu, the eponymous restaurant from master sushi chef Nobu Matsuhisa, was made for Malibu.  Despite presiding over a dining empire (locations of Nobu can be found throughout the globe, from New York to Milan to Dubai), consulting for cruise lines, authoring cookbooks, and making… (more)

Writing Contest Finalist 4: A latte love

November 5, 2010

Note: This is the forth of five posts in our writing contest finalist series. The Purple Passport’s Editorial team has selected five finalists from the many entries we received. We will post these entries throughout the week and open voting at week’s end after all the entries have been posted.… (more)

Hot Springs-ing it in Taipei

January 22, 2011

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – A favorite Taiwanese pastime brought over by the Japanese during the colonial period, hot springs bathing is a wonderful way to not only soak up some mineral-rich water (long believed to provide therapeutic benefits to the skin and an assortment of ailments), but also to soothe away… (more)

Walk in red carpet footsteps at the Kodak Theatre

February 2, 2011

LOS ANGELES, USA – If the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood were a song, it would be “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion: dramatic, over the top, and all about Oscar. The theater, inspired by the grandeur of European opera houses, was built in 2001 expressly for the Academy… (more)

Custom Crafts and Bespoke Buys in Florence

May 13, 2011

FLORENCE, ITALY – I’d bet my favorite hand-tooled leather jacket that in the city of Florence, there are more custom boutiques than there are tourists toting Nikons. This is a town where you can find artisans who are still making paper, leather, and gold the same way their stylish ancestors… (more)

Cantonese (and more) fare fit for a palace at Hakkasan Abu Dhabi

November 28, 2010

ABU DHABI, UAE – Back in the day (“the day” being somewhere around the Middle Ages), the Arabian peninsula was a frequent stopover for European traders hot on the spice trail to the Orient. Paying accidental homage to that history is the Abu Dhabi outpost of London’s famed Cantonese (with… (more)

Luxury Travel for Less in New York and London

September 14, 2010

LONDON AND NEW YORK- As the two cultural nerve centers of the English-speaking world, London and New York are like two peas in a pod. The two cities may not talk the same talk–New Yorkers say tomato, Londoners say tomahto–but we’d say they walk the same walk. Superb theater, to-die-for… (more)

Many hands make light work at Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreat

August 31, 2010

BEIJING, CHINA – Sometimes it seems as if I don’t have enough hands to deal with the demands of navigating my way through a city like Beijing. Juggling camera, cab fare, map, umbrella, and cup of tea while traversing the cobblestones of the Forbidden City or maze-like hutongs is enough… (more)