Author: Chris Singh

Father’s Day has a habit of sneaking up on us. And while Dad might insist that he doesn’t need anything, turning up empty-handed this Sunday probably isn’t the strongest way to test that theory. Gifts still matter, especially when it comes to parents. Fortunately, buying for dads has become a bit more interesting than defaulting…

Like all people of good taste, I am obsessed with New York City. The sense of community, the hospitality, the dynamism, the energy and the breathlessness of it all. All of it. It may smell of humanity’s worst indulgences – I’m not blind to the decay of a hyper-capitalist, hyper-pressurised rat race – but once…

New York City’s famous Top of the Rock represents its limitless ambitions in many ways that Manhattan’s other observation decks cannot. And I can qualify that by looking at how warm and energising the feeling of nostalgia is. Whether it’s your first time up to the iconic deck, or your fifth, you’ll know that feeling….

I feel like it’s been awhile since we’ve really seen a dining series of this size and scale. Given the popularity of annual events like Good Food Month, it’s a surprise we’ve had to wait this long for a new program of food and drink events to dance around Australia’s capital cities and elevate the…

When you look at any of the world’s sprawling “big cities”, whether that be Tokyo, New York City or Chicago, you’ll find that their accommodation options aren’t all clustered around the central business district. Sure, the grand dames and big chains tend to favour a central location, but you can find interesting, premium accommodation in…

One of the best things about travelling with a proper camera has nothing to do with photography. It has everything to do with how the mind works. Specifically, it’s how attention works. Attention is a prerequisite for presence, which in turn is the essential ingredient for wellness. Attention is important. The very idea of it…

Robot Vacuum manufacturers are trying to make things jump (and mop without slushing dirt around). Phone manufacturers are constantly tweaking their cameras and trying to make life (even) easier for content creators. The ones building wet and dry vacuums? What keeps them up at night is profile. How can they produce a vacuum cleaner that…

Bellroy has always been my favourite brand for carry solutions. I used to do a bit of writing for Rushfaster, which is the world’s biggest online retailer for quality carry solutions like bags, packing cubes and whatnot. Writing about a few Bellroy products was my first assignment, and since then, the Australian company has been…

Before Bellroy became synonymous with backpacks and slings, it built its reputation by solving small, everyday frustrations in the carry solution space. That’s always been the appeal. The Australian brand is big on refinement and has become one of the top apparel labels emerging from Victoria in the past few decades. The Classic Duffel follows…

Tokyo’s visual supremacy is born from contrast. Plenty of pockets around the city blend Edo-period Japan and 21st-century Japan in an effortless, almost disorientating way, speaking a distinguished visual language that echoes across the entire city. There are many unique things about Tokyo; this is definitive. I’ve been to this incredible city around ten times…

I’ve never been on a road trip in America. Despite having visited and written stories about the country for the better part of my 18-year career, hitting the great open road was a new experience for me. Long story short, I have a lot of childhood trauma around moving vehicles, so I’ve never been physically…

I make no secret of my love for 1 Hotels. I’ve stayed in several of the brand’s US properties to date (1 Hotel South Beach in Miami is my favourite), and see it as a necessary evolution for a hospitality industry constantly seeking new ways to be authentically eco-conscious. There are plenty of sustainability initiatives…

Robot vacuums are getting smarter at avoiding obstacles and mapping homes. However, a surprising number still struggle with the part most people actually notice day-to-day: cleaning hard floors properly. Too many mop pads simply drag moisture around until the floor smells vaguely cleaner, while corners collect grime and kitchen tiles slowly lose their shine over…

I used to resist completely immersing myself in Apple’s famously tight ecosystem. It wasn’t because of overzealous privacy concerns or any dislike of Apple as a company. I’ve been using the iPhone since 2007. And while you won’t catch me anxiously pacing in front of the Apple Store on release day, I’ve always had a…

You can’t really understand New York City’s food scene until you’ve been up to New York State. The entire land is like one big farm, giving the epicentre of capitalism access to the top shelf of American produce. The Culinary Institute of America is up there, smack bang in the heart of leafy Hyde Park,…

Paddington just is. It’s a rich, well-to-do area with some of Sydney’s best pubs, incredible restaurants and a seemingly endless roster of upscale boutiques. It’s never been a dynamic part of Sydney, but it has always been one of the city’s most coveted neighbourhoods. And so it’s always been odd that it’s never had a…

I’ve tested around ten robot vacuums over the past few years, trying to make sense of just how many brands have hit a market that’s reaching the kind of hyper-competitiveness we used to see with noise-cancelling earbuds. Ecovacs is a clear market leader in this category, and in Australia, it’s one of the most dependable…

Soaking in really hot, mineral-stacked water with a dozen naked strangers is one of the most important traditions in Japan. And that’s saying a lot in a country that has turned intentional stillness into a life-giving art form, whether it’s at a gentle tea ceremony or along a quiet path in a scrubby forest. This…

It’s been years since TikTok and Instagram made curated visual storytelling part of everyday life. Stories and reels have become the two most common methods of self-expression, and this has required people to think differently about content. Can you even remember what travel was like before we had new and creative ways to tell a…

Robotic pool cleaners are having a moment. And it’s about time; why should your carpet have all the fun? These cute little techies are like benevolent submarines, diving into your pool and promising to keep it spick, span and hygenic forever. That’s the idea, anyway. What used to feel like a luxury add-on has quietly…

In his book Sacred Journeys in a Modern World, Roger Houdsen describes pilgrimage as a “prayer of the body as well as the mind”. In their 1978 works, Victor and Edith Turner explored pilgrimage as a “liminal” experience, fashioning such epic inner journeys as “temporary breaks” from social structures that result in a sense of…

Robot Vacuum cleaners have evolved rapidly over the years, and while that category is constantly trying to improve navigation, there are two other types of cleaning robots fast emerging with rapid iteration.  The first is robotic lawn mowers. I haven’t tested a single one yet. The second is a bit more accessible in terms of…

Surely, if there was any occasion that required all nine core members of the Wu-Tang Clan to be present, it’d be the iconic hip hop collective’s final tour. But that’s not the case as the seminal rap group take Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena for what will allegedly be the last time, bringing with them a…

The gestation period for high-profile hotels often gives me whiplash. Hotels, one of my favourite things about travel, always excite me, especially when news hits about a big new opening in a city as addictive as New York City. But when one is announced, I always let a huge sigh when I see that the…

L.A. comedy rapper Afroman hasn’t been in the headlines since his 2001 hits “Because I Got High” and “Crazy Rap”, both of which were taken from the self-produced The Good Times, a surprisingly potent major label debut that netted him a Grammy nod. He hasn’t had a recognisable hit since. And yet, this week, almost…

There’s an awkward question hanging over the iPhone 17 Pro, although Apple probably won’t have to answer it until September. What exactly would make me replace this thing? I’ve been using the iPhone 17 Pro for months now and, more than any recent iPhone, it’s just so satisfying. Not exciting in that new-gadget, constantly-poking-around-in-the-settings kind…

Cries of hip hop being “dead” have been around for over ten years, but they’ve never rang more true than in 2026. Last year, hip hop, for the first time since 1990, had failed to crack the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. That’s not the death-knell some claimed, but it marked a…

It’s hard to imagine something so beautiful can come from something so… ugly. And yet freedom is an ecosystem that rarely functions without friction. It’s the endpoint of a long, arduous and often cruel journey, and the beginning of a life so wonderfully and exclusively yours that it’s impossible not to take the good with…

Hip hop fans have been aching for a world tour announcement from J. Cole ever since the top-shelf emcee released The Fall Off last week, his already universally acclaimed double-album and allegedly his final release. “Don’t leave while you’re hot, that’s how Mase screwed up” – Kanye West. It’s rare to see an emcee that’s…

Can we call Cut Copy iconic yet? Given that “iconic” has become a nonsense filler word, I think it’s worth reclaiming it for these hard-working musos. I first saw the synth-pop outfit at Splendour in the Grass’ famous British invasion back in 2007. I’ve seen them 7 times since and still consider them one of…