Singapore Slinging

Executive summary by darmansjah

SINGAPORE HAS LONG captivated contributing editor P.F. Kluge, and his February or March 2013 feature, “Singapore Fling,” had a similar effect on readers. “I was born in Singapore, and it is wonderful to see an American get to the essence of the island country-the place, the people, and most of all, the food,” wrote Stewart Shang of Los Angeles Calif. Cheryl Surbaugh of sister Bay,Wis., also praised the piece, albeit with one caveat: “The article enticed me to want to visit Singapore, which I have never wanted to do. however, I found the writer’s disparaging remarks about Ohio (where, incidentally, Kluge lives ) unnecessary. Of course Ohio is not Singapore, but it is home to interesting, kind people.”

CAFFEINE HIGH Daisann McLane’s column about coffee and tea (Real Travel, February or March 20130 resonated with 18-year-old Jasmine Joy of Queensland, Australia: “While traveling around Chiang Mai, Thailand, I found myself in a tree house in a traditional Karen village, with a funeral for an elder taking place. We sat across legged in meditative silence, chewing tea leaves wrapped around wedges of rock salt. Sharing the tea brought the community together in their grief, while the caffeine provided endurance for a long night of remembrance.”

FRECH TOAST “Paris Pastimes” (Family time, December 2012 or January 2013) offered ten ways to keep up kids’ joie de vivre around the Louvre. Mom and blogger Monique Rubin, based in The Hague, Netherlands, had more Paris family favorites to suggest: “Go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and to the wonderfully old-fashioned amusement park Jardin d’Acclimation.”

CABIN FEVER A photo of an Appalachian cabin in “Radio Days” (February or March 2013) surprised Cathy Blackwell Stollings of Jenison, Mich.: “That was my grandmother’s log cabin, built in the 1700s. I spent summers there, and if I closed my eyes, I can smell the wonderful aroma of bacon cooking on the old black wood stove. My mother, who is 75, hasn’t been back to Kentucky in years; this spring my brother an I are taking her.”

ALL ABOARD “A Desire Named Streetcar” (February or March 2013) tracked North America’s streetcar revival. Onetime Australia resident Raymond Beckhurst, now of Calgary, Alberta, wrote: “In the 1950s, while many cities ripped out trams, Melbourne expanded its system. Today 29 routes crisscross the icty and suburbs. It seems to have taken Americ a century to catch up with the Aussies.”

ANCHORS AWEIGH After featuring six small European harbor gems (“Ports of Call,” February or March 2013), we asked our digital community to share their favorite ports. Responses ranged from Porto, Portugal, and Khios, Greece, to Galveston, Texas.

What Travel frontiers do you dream of exploring? E-mail responses to travel_talk@ngs.org