Dean Owen 博客

I don’t have much time. · I will not hide. · This is hard for me to write, but it may well be my last piece. · I realize this might not be an appropriate venue, and for that, I apologise in advance. · Last night I killed a man. Stabbed him through the chest with my kitchen kn ...

I turned towards my buddy. He made a twisting motion with his hands like he was twisting a screwdriver. I was puzzled. He pointed up, and I saw it whizz past. A monster Bluefin tuna shimmering in light. The screwdriver hand signal suddenly made sense (like tuning a radio or somet ...

Jenny, Natalie, Ashley · I was a teenager once. And like you guys, music was an essential part of my growing up. Back then we’d listen to the radio, be sure to watch the weekly episode of Top of the Pops, and guard our precious vinyl collection with tenderness. We’d also compile ...

This was far from a Bond scene. No black tie show down with Le Chiffre over a game of poker. This was me in shirt and jeans, and a dainty little European dealer, and an annoying Chinese guy behind me who had noticed my winning streak a while back and was "back betting" my hands. ...

It almost feels as if I have lived there for many years. · I have a well-tuned familiarity with the island city. · Truth be told, I have never ventured far from the confines of the Shangri-La, Westin or wherever I holed up. I know well the inner workings of the sprawling shoppi ...

The cool and clinical nature of the room offered no hint of the hot and muggy day outside. · I slipped into the plush white bathrobe and drew open the curtains. The city was bathed in amber as rays of sunlight lit up the Bund on the opposite side of the river. The hotel, tallest ...

Boasting only a peripheral curiosity, I graciously accepted an invitation to a pop up exhibition at the Shanghai World Financial Center. I was thinking about dinner anyway and it had been a while since I had those juicy crabmeat soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung on the third floor. ...

Shimmering flecks of gold flickered off the waterways. We settled down at the pagoda teahouse where the bridges intersect. Yet another ancient water town checked off my list, each unique in style, each offering up a local Chinese flavour. Rays of sunlight caught the ceiling lamp ...

Meet Choco, Cony, and Sally. · These are the signature sticker characters of a mobile messenger app that you may not have heard of. But with over 600 million users and 217 million active users globally, it is perhaps time to take notice. · You will start seeing these characters ...

Yes it is March 14th, which means that chocolate sales in Japan are going through the roof, because today is White Day. · No, this isn't some holiday celebrating Dugout Doug’s (MacArthur) arrival in Japan at the end of WWII. White Day is in fact a follow-on holiday from the wide ...

In the shadow of the mighty Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, nestled in a sprawling city, lies the picturesque Old Town of Lijiang. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this Old Town is generally considered to be the ancient capital of the Naxi Kingdom. · The Naxi people trace their roots ov ...

Naff surfer shorts and flip flops may be the order of the day, but pack away your Rayban’s, lose the fake Panama hat, and stow away your wallet, for you are about to enter the Monkey Forest. · Lose all dangly bits, scarves, and hairbands. Macaque thieves nestled amongst ancient ...

Hibiki, Yoichi, Hakushu, Yamazaki, Taketsuru; words that are often whispered over dark oak counters. These are some of the finest whiskies in the World, and yes, they are Japanese. · Many of you may not have heard of them. Some of you might be familiar with a few. Hibiki was act ...

I spent most of the nineties either on the phone surrounded by a plethora of trading screens, or out entertaining “Big Swinging Dicks” · “If he could make millions of dollars come out of these phones, he became that most revered of all species: a Big Swinging Dick” · (Source “L ...

Described as the Hamptons of Eastern China by The New York Times, Moganshan is enjoying a revival as a weekend playground for Shanghai’s affluent. Steeped in history, these bamboo encrusted mountains are witnessing a steady transformation into a hip and ecofriendly destination of ...

It’s nice to see quite a few Japanese words make their way to the English language. · For foodies, the trendy word these days is Umami, a fifth taste set “discovered” by the Japanese in the early 20th Century. · The devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake brought to light anothe ...

I am not a social media guru. I am however an old hand at beBee having made beBee my primary platform about a year ago. What I noticed, and this is true of many websites, is that keeping beBee an engaging venue for me does require constant attention. · Creating a relevant feed – ...

In the Spring of 2014, a wave of nostalgia swept the nation upon the announcement that production of the iconic “Amby” would be halted after a run of 56 years. From Jaipur to Chennai, devotees have since taken to restoring these little runabouts to their former glory. This was a ...

There has been a steady flow of talent migrating to beBee over the last couple of years, but in the last week or so, I was just blown away by the posts on one certain individual who is not only a talented writer taking on extremely relevant issues, but is also an exceptional skil ...

It was Friday, the markets were dead so I thought I’d hop in a cab during lunch to my favourite jaunt and secure tickets for the night’s show. We’d seen Maxi Priest play at The Blue Note the year before. He was brill. · I got there at 2:00pm and there were only a few people in f ...