Archive for the ‘travel’ Category
Friday, February 23rd, 2018
KKday, Asia’s largest online travel-experience ecommerce platform, has raised US$10.5 million in additional funding led by Japanese travel industry leader H.I.S. with participation from existing investor MindWorks Ventures.
* This story first appeared on The Travel Memoir.
Research by Phocuswright projects that the travel tours and activities industry will reach US$183B by 2020 from US$135B in 2016. Photo: Ming Chen, KKday CEO.
The alliance and funding is expected to help KKday expand its regional presence and further improve its variety of affordable product offerings to travelers.
“H.I.S. is not just a financial investor, but is valued as a strategic investor. By utilising H.I.S.’s global resources and integrating it with KKday’s strong marketing and big data programs, we will be able to change the in-destination travel operations model. KKday will be focusing on improving the customer experience and strengthening our relationship with our suppliers. These two strategies are highly related. You can’t improve customer experience without having an amicable relationship with the supplier,” says Ming Chen, KKday CEO.
KKday curates more than 10,000 travel-related experiences from more than 500 cities and 80 countries with over 4 million unique visitors and serves a few hundred thousand travellers each month.
The company applies big data analytics to drive business decisions and to refine current offerings to optimise customer experience.
Headquartered in Tokyo, H.I.S. has offices located in over 130 cities around the world.
As the in-destination travel industry is fragmented, managing supply chain is a major challenge.
This is why KKday focuses on developing a strong Supply Chain Management (SCM) system that allows all types of suppliers, big or small, to communicate with customers and manage orders without any IT investment.
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Tags:eCommerce, funding, H.I.S., KKday, MindWorks, online, startup, travel
Posted in Announce, App, Internet, Press Release, travel, Website | No Comments »
Monday, January 1st, 2018
It’s 2018. Happy New Year!
It’s the first day of 2018 today. Here’s wishing all a wonderful year ahead!
May 2017 be a fantastic year for you and your loved ones!
The photos here were taken at the Xuan Zang Temple (玄奘寺）at Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in central Taiwan, during my recent family vacation there.
A worshipper praying at Xuan Zang Temple (玄奘寺）at Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in central Taiwan.
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Tags:holidays, New Year, photography, photos, potd, Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan, Taiwan 2017, travel, vacation, Xuan Zang Temple
Posted in Canon, DSLR, EOS, Holiday, Photos, POTD, POTD, Taiwan 2017, travel | No Comments »
Thursday, April 20th, 2017
IFA GPC 2017 commences from 20-23 April so we spent most of today in the air, flying 8 hours from Singapore to Dubai in UAE; and another 8 hours onwards to Lisbon, Portugal; with a 6-hour transit in the Dubai International Airport.
* This article was first published on The Travel Memoir.
So the entire journey took around 24 hours, if you include the 2 hours earlier you got to turn up at the airport to check in.
I flew Emirates Airlines and the check-in and transit was smooth.
The first leg from Singapore to Dubai was in an Airbus A380-800 and the seats in coach were relatively spacious and comfortable.
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Tags:airlines, airports, Boeing, Changi Airport, Changi Recommends, DBX, Dubai International Airport, Emirates, events, exhibitions, hotels, Huawei, IFA, IFA GPC, IFA GPC 2017, Lisbon, P10+, Portugal, S8, Samsung, travel
Posted in Events, events, Exhibition, Huawei, Phones, Portugal 2017, Samsung, Seminars, smartphones, Travel, travel | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 19th, 2017
IFA Global Press Conference 2017 is happening this weekend in Lisbon, Portugal. I will be covering this consumer electronics and home appliances showcase, as part of a small group of media the show organisers invited from Singapore.
The media delegation from Singapore is part of an international corp invited by Messe Berlin, the organisers of IFA and this Global Press Conference.
IFA this year will be from 1-6 September, 2017.
As a lead-up to the actual trade show in September, the organisers have gathered some of the key exhibitors and media from around the world in a preview mini-show, featuring product showcases, as well as briefs and presentations on the latest trends on consumer electronics and home appliances.
Stay tuned over the next few days (especially 21-22 Apr, Fri-Sat) when the show will be in full tilt.
I’ll be bringing along a couple of newest and latest gadgets to try out during the trip.
(more…)
Tags:appliances, Canon, consumer, DELL, electronics, EOS 77D, event forecast, events, exhibitions, IFA, IFA GPC, IFA GPC 2017, Lisbon, Portugal, S8, Samsung, travel, Vostro
Posted in Appliances, Cameras, cameras, Canon, Dell, DSLR, EOS, Event forecast, Events, events, Exhibition, Gadgets, gadgets, GALAXY, newArrivals, Notebooks, notebooks, Phones, Samsung, Seminars, smartphones, t4tEvents, travel | No Comments »
Monday, March 27th, 2017
IFA this year will be from 1-6 September, 2017. As in previous years, the annual consumer electronics & home appliances show will be preceded by a preview mini-show for the media from 20-23 April.
This year’s IFA GPC will be in Lisbon, Portugal (20-23 April, 2017). Venues in the past have included Dubrovnik in Croatia (2012), Sardinia in Italy (2013), and Belek in Turkey (2014).
IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin – international radio exhibition Berlin) is a global consumer electronics and home appliances show held annually in Berlin in September.
IFA 2016 saw more than 1,800 exhibitors showing off their products to 238,000 visitors (including139,000 trade visitors) in 158,000 sqm of rented display area.
Every year, the organisers hold a global press conference (IFA GPC) in another European city (2016 was an exception, when the GPC was held in Hong Kong & Shenzhen).
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Tags:appliances, consumer, electronics, event forecast, events, exhibitions, IFA, IFA GPC, IFA GPC 2017, Lisbon, Portugal, travel
Posted in Appliances, Audio, Event forecast, Events, events, Exhibition, Gadgets, gadgets, Healthcare, Medical, Philips, Portugal 2017, Seminars, Sennheiser, travel | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 14th, 2017
For travellers that hate the bulkiness of the British 3-pin plug, the Flip plug allow the plug to be folded into a compact flat form factor for packing away into the luggage bag. Prices below.
The Flip comes in three designs to cater to varying power needs. From left: Flip Duo (S$39), Flip Quad (S$59), Flip Power (S$69).
The Flip is the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign which raised £28,115 from 1,140 backers, exceeding their initial goal of £15,000.
Where to buy
The Flip Duo (S$39), Flip Quad (S$59) and Flip Power (S$69) plugs are now available at all Antė stores, EpiCentre, iStudio, Robinsons, TwoBros Lifestyle & Gadget Store and We the People.
Each purchase includes One (1) Year Limited Warranty.
Measuring in at a mere 18mm when folded, the Flip is only a third of the standard British plug’s thickness.
When folded, the pins are hidden away when not in use, protecting your devices and other items from scratches when stored together with the Flip.
To use, simply press the auto-release button, lock the pin and you are ready to go.
The Flip comes in three designs to cater to varying power needs.
(more…)
Tags:accessories, Flug, gadgets, Lamch, OneAdaptr, travel
Posted in Accessories, Announce, battery, Gadgets, gadgets, Lamch & Co, Launch, newArrivals, Press Release, Prices, Specifications, travel | No Comments »
Sunday, January 1st, 2017
It’s 2017. Happy New Year!
Craft animals on display in a shop along the old streets of Jiufen (九份) in Taiwan. Photo taken with Canon EOS 5DsR with Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens.
May 2017 be a fantastic year for you and your loved ones!
Tags:craft, holidays, Jiufen, New Year, photography, photos, potd, Taiwan, Taiwan 2016, travel, vacation
Posted in Canon, Holiday, Photos, POTD, POTD, Taiwan 2016, Travel, travel | No Comments »
Saturday, December 31st, 2016
It’s the last day of 2016. Hope you had a good year!
Golden Sunset at Tamsui in Taiwan. Photo credit: kkmakesandbakes (my wife). Taken with Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with M.Zuiko 25mm f1.8 lens.
Glad the year’s drawing to a close. Best wishes for the New Year!
Tags:craft, holidays, Jiufen, New Year, photography, photos, potd, Taiwan, Taiwan 2016, travel, vacation
Posted in Holiday, Olympus, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Taiwan 2016, Travel, travel | No Comments »
Friday, December 30th, 2016
The Mate 9 is Huawei’s flagship phablet boasting the fabulous camera from P9 that was co-developed with Leica and now improved, a fast Kirin 960 processor and Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.0 user interface. Price in Singapore: S$898.
My take: The Huawei Mate 9 is another winner from Huawei. The Android 7 flagship phablet works swiftly as a smartphone and has a fabulous camera that churns out wonderfully toned black and white snapshots. Fantastic for monochrome shooters that want Leica-like photos without any post-editing.
The 5.9-inch smartphone has dual SIM slots capable of supporting 4G and 3G networks.
The Huawei Mate 9 ships with 4GB RAM and 64GB memory, and you can use the secondary SIM card slot to add up to 256GB from a microSD card.
Have been trying out the Huawei Mate 9 since its launch & availability in Singapore last month. Was curious to see whether the camera performance of the Mate 9 had improved over the P9, which had impressed me when I tried it (see the P9 photos here).
With the demise of Samsung’s Galaxy Note7, the Huawei Mate 9 is a strong candidate to take up the mettle left by the Korean flagship phablet.
The phone sports a Type-C USB socket – an adaptor to convert into a regular mini-USB is included in the box – and has a 4000mAh battery that can be SuperCharged for a day’s usage within 20 minutes.
I brought along the Mate 9 when I went on vacation in Taiwan to put it through the grind of daily usage, and to take some photos with its fabulous camera (see the Mate 9 photos here).
The highlights
- Android 7 Nougat.
- EMUI 5.0 user interface.
- Latest Kirin 960 CPU for faster performance.
- SuperCharge technology (full day’s charge in 20min).
- 2nd gen Leica dual-lens camera with 12MP RGB sensor, and now with 20MP monochrome sensor and Hybrid Zoom, enabling 2x digital zoom.
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Tags:Android, Android 7, cameras, EMUI, flagship, Huawei, Leica, Mate 9, Nougat, phablets, reviews, smartphones, SuperCharge
Posted in Android, audioVisual, Cameras, cameras, Gadgets, gadgets, Huawei, Leica, Photography, Prices, Review, reviews, smartphones, Specifications, travel | No Comments »
Saturday, October 29th, 2016
The “Beyond Boundaries” photo exhibition showcases Laxmi’s photos from multiple visits to the Kashmir. This story first appeared on The Travel Memoir.
Here you can see the photographer, Laxmi Kaul with one of her subjects.. A juxtaposition of the modern Indian woman with one in traditional garb.
Beyond Boundaries presents Laxmi Kaul and her journey with the people and nomads of Kashmir, where life is about simplicity, serenity and sincerity.
“After shooting in a highly turbulent & conflict–ridden area, I have realized that it is the everyday lives of the people living there that matter to me. They are the ones who makes me want to go back to and continue to narrate their stories. Their daily lives & cultures. I have discovered there is something special in the everyday; for one, we are alive,” said Laxmi Kaul.
What goes on around the borders?
Sometimes life is about the unplanned moments, the appreciation of nature and how civilisations interact.
Laxmi Kaul is a self -taught professional photographer, having started photography at a young age when she saw her father’s passion for making images.
Since then, she has never looked back.
Despite being a commercial photographer, she still holds people and documentary photography closest to her heart.
Laxmi connects with spirituality in daily life and travels with a patriotic zeal.
This photo is one of many beautiful shots that Laxmi Kaul is exhibiting at the Leica Galleries Singapore at Raffles Hotel Singapore from now till 5 December, 2016. Photo credit: Laxmi Kaul.
She believes the camera is her tool and photography is an extension of her very being.
(more…)
Tags:exhibition, Laxmi Kaul, Leica, photography, photos, Singapore, travel
Posted in audioVisual, events, Interview, Leica, Opinion, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Press Release, travel | No Comments »
