Hilly Street Blues: A Cynical Brit in Silicon Valley

Here I am, a cynical Brit in Silicon Valley, surrounded by optimistic Americans who are seemingly pushing the boundaries of software and hardware engineering. All in the service of making the world a better place. Or at least, a better connected place. Meanwhile, over six thousand miles away in Italy, Ferrari are focussing on the…
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Best Room in the House: Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco

When you walk into the horse shoe-shaped lobby, you couldn’t possibly criticise the correctness of the greeting from the staff arranged around you. It’s duly deferential, perhaps sometimes almost chirpy when the sun’s out, but it’d never stray into familiarity; I noticed I was wiping my feet an extra couple of times before I stepped…
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Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Fat Man!

“I realise that, Shorty, but where are we going?” “Dinner.” “I know what the evening meal’s called, Shorty, I sometimes have three. But where are we going?” I’ll spare y’all the rest of the conversation, just believe me when I say it went on for quite some time with Shorty chuckling like a hick who’s…
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Mandarin Oriental, Macau

Years of using Hong Kong as a layover for Pacific-bound journeys made me curious about Macau. “It’s just like Las Vegas”, everyone told me, as if that’s a good thing. It is just like Las Vegas in that every hotel either has a casino or shopping mall attached to the side, bottom or top of…
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