https://www.scmp.com/rss/323908/feed Daven Wu traded in a career as a corporate lawyer to become a lifestyle journalist covering travel, design and architecture. He is the Singapore Editor for Wallpaper* magazine, and he also writes the Louis Vuitton City Guide for Singapore. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Daven Wu Daven Wu How do you design a home like Chapel Residence in a way that speaks to the occupants’ Christian faith without descending into expected visual tropes? For Nelson Chow Chi-wai, of NC Design and Architecture, the answer emerged through a three-year journey that transformed work into genuine friendship and collaboration. Recommended by a mutual friend, Chow found in his clients – devoted Christian parents involved in real estate development – kindred spirits who shared his appreciation for natural... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3325661/nelson-chow-designed-hong-kong-home-essence-chapel-devoted-christian-parents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3325661/nelson-chow-designed-hong-kong-home-essence-chapel-devoted-christian-parents?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:15:11 +0000 Daven Wu Daven Wu In the heart of Bangkok, overlooking Lumpini Park, stands the reborn Dusit Thani hotel – razed in 2019 after a blockbuster half-century run and now completely rebuilt under the direction of Hong Kong’s André Fu. On every metric, it’s a remarkable second act, not least because the Cambridge University-trained, Royal Institute of British Architects-qualified architect has breathed new life into this legendary property without succumbing to nostalgia or sterile modernity. In a city flooded with... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3304099/andre-fu-reimagines-bangkoks-dusit-thani-blending-modernity-and-heritage-reborn-landmark?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3304099/andre-fu-reimagines-bangkoks-dusit-thani-blending-modernity-and-heritage-reborn-landmark?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Mar 2025 05:00:08 +0000 Daven Wu Daven Wu Just as it did The Beatles, Transcendental Meditation has changed my life – though it’s fair to say that, as far as I can tell, there is no other synchronicity between my life and those of George, Paul, John and Ringo. Six months ago, if you’d asked me about my meditation practice, I would have shrugged and said it was fine. I wasn’t a beginner. After years of haphazard sessions with well-intentioned teachers – “Empty your mind!” – I had a daily one-hour practice. I followed the breath as best I... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/wellness/article/3294023/how-transcendental-meditation-transformed-my-life-it-did-beatles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/wellness/article/3294023/how-transcendental-meditation-transformed-my-life-it-did-beatles?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2025 22:15:08 +0000 Daven Wu Daven Wu In the Kimberley region, everything is magnified. Somehow, here, in what Australians call the Top End, and perhaps because you’re so far from any town, the nights are darker. Almost pitch black – the better to show off the Milky Way, thick with shimmering constellations and dense with red and blue nebula. By day, the horizon, under a domed sky of sapphire blue lined with white, hangs in the gathering heat. Despite the soft mincing steps of black-necked storks on sea-wet reefs exposed by the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3274542/australias-top-end-cruise-showcases-northern-kimberley-regions-majestic-natural-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3274542/australias-top-end-cruise-showcases-northern-kimberley-regions-majestic-natural-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Aug 2024 22:15:08 +0000 For some lucky Hong Kong invitees, the arrival into port in June of The World – Residences at Sea was a rare opportunity to peek into the world of the tiny elite that lives and travels the globe in what is essentially a floating luxury condominium with the amenities of a swanky country club. Think fancy wine programmes, boutique health and wellness services including physiotherapist and personal trainer, and reciprocal access to a suite of equestrian, yachting and golf clubs far and wide. Owned... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3272335/aboard-world-mega-yacht-you-can-travel-globe-without-leaving-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3272335/aboard-world-mega-yacht-you-can-travel-globe-without-leaving-home?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jul 2024 22:00:16 +0000 There was a time when checking into a hotel was a relatively solitary experience; after collecting your key from reception, you would head straight up to your room. A few days later, you would check out – all without really speaking to or interacting with anyone beyond the concierge and spa therapist or, at a pinch, fellow guests at a neighbouring breakfast table. Whatever interactions there may have been would have been minimal and not particularly meaningful. But, quite without anyone noticing... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3202519/zoku-amsterdam-eaton-hk-hong-kong-balis-lost-lindenberg-rise-digital-nomads-has-spawned-new-type?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3202519/zoku-amsterdam-eaton-hk-hong-kong-balis-lost-lindenberg-rise-digital-nomads-has-spawned-new-type?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Dec 2022 08:15:09 +0000 Kalimera, kyrie! Well, it sure is good to be back in Athens, just as the city emerges, Venus-like, from the financial doldrums of the past few years. For savvy travellers, this translates into a promising cache of boutique hotels, especially in off-the-beaten-track neighbourhoods. Like The Foundry? Absolutely. Built in the 1930s as a – spoiler alert – foundry, it was later converted into a newspaper office and then a performing arts venue. Now it’s a thoroughly slick, modern boutique prop­erty... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3041560/foundry-suites-boutique-chic-hotel-athens-coolest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3041560/foundry-suites-boutique-chic-hotel-athens-coolest?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2019 09:30:10 +0000 Wasn’t it closed for restoration? Good memory. It was closed for 2½ years for a tip-to-toe spruce up, and the hoard­ings finally came down last month. The last time it was restored was in the early 1990s. And do we like the result? We do, indeed. The all-suite hotel had been in business for 130 years before it was shuttered for restoration, in 2017, and it was looking its age. The owners are being tight-lipped about how much was spent but it’s easily in seven figures and, on every front, it... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3026539/inside-recently-reopened-raffles-hotel-raise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3026539/inside-recently-reopened-raffles-hotel-raise?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Sep 2019 10:00:06 +0000 Paramount House Hotel? Sounds as if I’m going to the movies. You’re not far off. Set in a handsome 1940s art deco pile, the former Australian headquarters and ware­house of Paramount Pictures, the American film studio responsible for such period classics as The Lost Weekend (1945) and Sunset Boulevard (1950), has been converted into a slick, 29-room boutique hotel. What about the location?The hotel is in the middle of Sydney’s heaving Surry Hills. Across the road is the legendary Longrain Thai... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3013985/why-sydneys-paramount-house-hotel-must-stay-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3013985/why-sydneys-paramount-house-hotel-must-stay-film?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jun 2019 05:30:11 +0000 Why might I be impressed? If you’ve been wondering what Adrian Zecha, the founder of Aman Resorts, has been up to since he left the group, well, he’s been working on a new hotel brand, Azerai, which recently debuted in Unesco heritage-listed Luang Prabang, in Laos. Azerai? Sounds Harry Potter-ish. You’re way off the mark. This place is fancy: it combines Zecha’s initials with the Persian word “caravanserai”, a resting place for ancient caravan travellers. So, I’m guessing the brand is opening... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2101346/famed-hotelier-adrian-zecha-launches-azerai-luang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2101346/famed-hotelier-adrian-zecha-launches-azerai-luang?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jul 2017 08:34:00 +0000 What and where is it? Old-world charm meets quirky modern at this bolt-hole in the Oltrarno quarter of the Italian city of Florence, south of the Arno river. Each of the nine rooms is configured and furnished in a mix of shabby chic, antique furniture, Anglo and American pop art, and mid-century pieces. Ad what? AdAstra, which is Latin for “to the stars”. The hotel is named after the 19th-century neo-Gothic observatory in the garden. What’s the big deal? For starters, the hotel sits on the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2062844/finding-seventh-heaven-florences-adastra-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2062844/finding-seventh-heaven-florences-adastra-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jan 2017 05:02:19 +0000