Hotel oddity #27
byNice square sink at the stylish Empire Hotel in Manhattan. Delicious little apples, too. Another example of form over function though. You can barely…
Nice square sink at the stylish Empire Hotel in Manhattan. Delicious little apples, too. Another example of form over function though. You can barely…
Never thought I’d be on a ship trying to outrun Somali pirates. Bob and I recently sailed across the Arabian sea in pirate-infested waters….
What’s in all the brilliant-colored baskets? Spice? Dye? After witnessing the most amazing train-boarding process ever, we descended from the “flyover footpath” and found…
When gearing up for a heist, thieves try to look relaxed and natural, but fail. In this, they send signals that trained security personnel…
It wouldn’t strike me quite so funny if the brand were “Hindiware,” but it’s not. Hindware. Is there a more perfect name for a…
Out the window of our Mumbai hotel room, across the street: a beautiful building of apartments, or maybe it’s another hotel. On the roof…
I’m a sucker for adorable beggar children on the streets of Mumbai. It’s impossible to look away, not reach for a coin. Now that…
All these Mumbai stories of trains, crowds, swamis, the slum called Dharavi, and promises of more stories… What you’re really wondering is: did the…
The train to the slum wasn’t crowded, due to the hour and our direction of travel. Although there were plenty of seats, the swami…
You saw Slumdog Millionaire, right? It was filmed in Dharavi, one of the world’s largest, densest slums. Bob and I spent half a day…
We bought second-class train tickets (for our thiefhunting) and rode the most crowded Mumbai trains ever. No—you can’t imagine how crowded. Speeding into the…
An archeologist acquaintance just told me an outrageous story about corruption in Egypt. I had asked him what part of the world excites him—professionally—most….
Don’t Lose Your Wallet – A Conversation With Street Crime Expert Bob Arno ChoosyNomad.com Questions by David Matesanz You originally began your career as…
The San Francesco al Monte hotel in Naples, Italy, a former monastery originally carved into the mountain in the 16th century, is a warren…
A pickpocket-proof tank top that comfortable to wear. Pickpocket-proof underwear with zipper pockets. Boy shorts for women with zip pockets.
I have to laugh at the great sense of humor shown by the creators of Stashitware, men’s and women’s pickpocket-proof underwear. Start with the…
Seems everyone knows someone who’s been robbed in Barcelona. And sadly, the city we love to visit shows no signs of improvement on the…
Back at the Jumeriah Emirates Towers in Dubai again. This time, in a cupboard, I find slippers in a can. Why? Isn’t this a…
In what could be called a social experiment, it is proven that a man in a police-like uniform has great power and ordinary citizens…
I’ve never noticed these height-markers before, but I’m told they’re found everywhere. I saw this one in a bank in Stockholm last summer. Pasted…
Press the play button: Awful sound, isn’t it? Sorry to subject you (if it autoplayed in your browser), but I’m making a point. This…
Huffington Post picked up an interview of Bob Arno from over on JustLuxe.com a few days ago. Here’s a reprint of the question and…
In the most staid of Dubai’s many elegant hotels, the most conservative and sedate, the Jumeriah Emirates Towers, provokes a little smile. This after…
I was somewhere near the intersection of the equator and the international dateline when I saw this sign at airport security. Plis putum algeta…
Contrast Mamak with our New Year’s day dinner at Appetito, also in Sydney. Recommended by two people, nearby—and most important: open—it seemed a reasonable…
Mamak is worth standing in line for. Bob and I waited 50 minutes for what is actually rather ordinary Malaysian food. But you can’t…
We did a lot of television these past few weeks, and I’m struck by the differences in studios and the effects on the interviews….