One of the few wooden buildings in the Japanese capital to escape World War II unscathed is soon to be demolished.
Source:
https://scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3039521/bikini-killer-serial-murderer-charles-sobhraj-be Travel
The Bikini Killer: serial murderer Charles Sobhraj to be subject of Netflix drama The Serpent
- Sobhraj terrorised Asia in the 1970s, from Istanbul to Hong Kong, and remains behind bars in Nepal
- Also, Tokyo’s beloved Harajuku Station to succumb to modernity, safety regulations post-Games
Convicted serial killer Charles Sobhraj leaves a New Delhi court in 1997 after an Indian judge ordered that he be released from prison on bail. Photo: Reuters
Backpackers travelling across Asia in the 1980s could often be found with their noses buried in one of a fairly predictable selection of books – usually bought or traded in second-hand bookshops and street stalls scattered along what used to be known as the hippie trail.
Required reading back then included the likes of Midnight Express (1977) when in Turkey, Heat and Dust (1975), Midnight’s Children (1981) and City of Joy (1985) while on the Indian subcontinent and Saint Jack (1973), The Year of Living Dangerously (1978) and Saigon (1982)in Southeast Asia. Tai-Pan (1966) and Noble House (1981) were popular with those whose budgets stretched to Hong Kong or whose passports allowed them to work here for a while.
Two books that struck a chilling chord with travellers across the continent, however, were The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj, by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke, and Serpentine, by Thomas Thompson. Both were published in 1979 and recounted the gruesome pan-Asian crime spree of a psychopathic con man and serial murderer whose nicknames included The Bikini Killer and The Serpent.
Born in Saigon to a Vietnamese mother and Indian father in 1944, Charles Sobhraj was active across Asia, from Istanbul to Hong Kong, in the early to mid-70s. Locked up for murder in India in 1976, he escaped from jail in Delhi in 1986, but was recaptured in Goa and given another 10 years behind bars. He was released in 1997, and, in 2003, overconfidently returned to Nepal, where he had murdered a female American backpacker in 1975. He was recognised, arrested and sent to a Kathmandu jail, where, at age 75 and suspected of more than a dozen killings, he still resides.
Currently out of print, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj will be republished in March with a new title – On the Trail of the Serpent – to tie in with an eight-part BBC/Netflix drama series titled The Serpent, which will also be arriving next year. Thompson’s Serpentine is available for download in a Kindle edition at Amazon.com.
Tokyo’s wooden Harajuku Station will be demolished
One of the few wooden buildings in Tokyo to have survived the American firebombing of World War II – supposedly including more than one direct hit by a dud incendiary device – busy and beloved Harajuku Station is the oldest wooden railway station in the city. However, in a stroke of cruel irony it will be demolished next year reportedly for not being sufficiently fire resistant.
Completed in 1924, the station, which serves Yoyogi Park and trendy Takeshita Street, will be replaced after the 2020 Summer Olympicswith a similar building that meets current safety codes. A modern structure is also under construction nearby and should be open before the Games begin.
London’s Whitechapel bell foundry to become boutique hotel
London’s former Whitechapel bell foundry is to be turned into a boutique hotel, much to the distaste of local residents.
Whitechapel’s former Church Bell Foundry, in the East End of London, looks set to become a boutique hotel, much to the annoyance of local residents and other concerned citizens, who are calling the move “heritage vandalism”. The working foundry closed in June 2017, having cast bells including Big Ben and America’s Liberty Bell.
It was hoped that the site of Britain’s oldest single-purpose industrial building could be used as a museum or reopened as a bell foundry. Sadly, the local council voted by a majority of just one to approve plans for a 103-room hotel, “of no interest to anyone”, according to the United Kingdom Historic Building Preservation Trust, “but its transient clientele.”
Deal of the week – two nights in Penang, Malaysia
The Lone Pine hotel, in Batu Ferringhi, is available in Jebsen Holidays’ two-night package to Penang, Malaysia.
Jebsen Holidays’ two-night package to Penang starts from HK$2,590 per person (twin share) for accommodation at the Hotel Neo+ Penang, in the island’s capital, George Town. Elsewhere in the city, and preferable, Cheong Fatt Tze – The Blue Mansion is offered from HK$3,180 and the Eastern & Oriental Hotel from HK$3,760.
Beach resorts up around Batu Ferringhi, on the northern coast, include the Lone Pine hotel from HK$3,520 while Shangri-La’s Golden Sands and Rasa Sayang resorts are offered from HK$3,320 and HK$4,080, respectively.
Flights with Cathay Dragon and daily breakfast are included with these prices, which will be available until the end of January with occasional high-season surcharges. For a few more hotel options, other details and reservations, visit jebsenholidays.com.