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Ever since it was established as a fair for furniture makers and designers in 1961, Salone del Mobile (best known as Milan Design Week) has lured design lovers and those seeking creative inspiration alike. Championing craftsmanship and pioneering vision, it has grown rapidly, with more than 300,000 visiting the exhibition ground at Rho Fiera last year.
Part of Salone’s success is that it consistently updates itself and introduces new features. This year’s edition from 21-26 April, for example, will introduce Salone Raritas, opening the fair to limited-edition design and elevated creative manufacturing.
Cutting edge design showcased at Salone del Mobile. Photo: Andrea Mariani
Coinciding with kitchen design fair EuroCucina, and the International Bathroom Exhibition, Salone has expanded to include fringe events (Fuorisalone) throughout Milan, with industry parties, independent design exhibitions, open showrooms, workshops, talks, pop-up cafés and shops all thriving in the city.
Designers and brands often set their exhibits against the backdrop of Milan’s grand palazzi. Last year, for example, the Japanese watchmakers at Grand Seiko collaborated with designer Tokujin Yoshioka on “Frozen”, a sculptural club armchair carved from ice and displayed alongside the brand’s timepieces at the 16th-century terracotta Palazzo Landriani.
The pop-up exhibition Alcova will take place in part at Villa Pestarini. Photo credit: Luigi Fiano
Likewise, Milan’s museums make the most of Salone. The Triennale Milano will have ongoing shows in April while pop-up exhibition, Alcova will take place at the old military hospital complex in Baggio and the Franco Albini masterpiece, Villa Pestarini.
Further adding to the joy of the festival are “design districts” like Brera, where you’ll find sculptural installations in quiet courtyards. Meanwhile, Tortona has its own design week during Salone and Isola, just north of Porta Garibaldi, has emerged as an area that tends to spotlight up-and-coming designers.
For more information on Singapore Airlines’ flights to Milan, visit singaporeair.com.
If you expect more from your holidays, Trafalgar should already be on your radar. Trafalgar is a travel company that takes you beyond the standard sightseeing, offering guided journeys designed to connect you deeply with people, places and cultures.
Memorable moments
According to Trafalgar, travel is not about where you go, but how deeply you connect. That is why its signature ‘Be My Guest’ experiences allow you to interact with locals in a sincere and meaningful way, share meals and learn the traditions at the heart of a destination. For example, the Spanish Wonder tour lets you savour sangria with locals in sun-dappled courtyards. You may also spend time at a family-run olive oil farm, learning how olives are grown, harvested and pressed before enjoying a tasting of their signature oils. “Tasting the oils at the table, surrounded by warmth and hospitality, felt like being welcomed into the heart of Spain,” Trafalgar guest Ripple Sim shares.
Trafalgar guests Ripple Sim and Jason Soo on a Be My Guest experience a family-run olive oil farm on their Spanish Wonder tour.
Meanwhile, the Scotland’s Highlands, Islands and Cities tour takes you to a 15th-century farm on the shores of Loch Ard, where you join the Wood family for a home-cooked Scottish lunch. Between stories of Rob Roy and the sounds of traditional ceilidh tunes, the experience offers a warm and personal glimpse into Highland life.
Ledard Farm, Scotland, where guests enjoy a traditional ‘Be My Guest’ Highland welcome.
Positive interactions
‘MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®’ Experiences are another highlight. Curated with care, each destination is chosen based on the positive social or environmental impact it has on local communities and on those who visit.
With the Best of Greece tour, you can visit Axion Esti, a family-run organic beekeeping facility in Stemnitsa. Here, you meet Sophia and Anthony and learn how their passion for bees has grown into an award-winning operation. Suit up to see the hives up close, explore the museum and sample local honey while discovering the importance of pollinators to the wider ecosystem. It is an enriching encounter that connects travellers to both people and place.
Guests take part in a ‘MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®’ beekeeping experience in Delphi, Greece.
Rooted in history
Trafalgar also offers ‘Stays With Stories’, unique accommodations that embody the character of a region. These are not simply hotels, but properties with a narrative woven into their walls.
On the Best of France tour, step back in time at Château de Beauvois in the Loire Valley, where you will learn about the château’s history dating from the 15th to 17th centuries. Once favoured by King Louis XIII, its terraces overlook manicured gardens and tranquil countryside. Inside, elegant rooms blend regal décor with modern comforts, allowing guests to experience the refinement of a bygone era without sacrificing ease. Evenings might be spent enjoying regional wines in the grand salon or dining beneath chandeliers, surrounded by centuries of French heritage.
Château de Beauvois, a historic Loire Valley retreat steeped in royal heritage.Go on a guided Walking Tour of Strasbourg on Trafalgar’s new Villages of France.
On the Secrets of the Rockies and Glacier National Park tour, stay at the world-famous Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in UNESCO-listed Banff National Park, Alberta. Often referred to as the “Castle in the Rockies”, this landmark property was modelled after a Scottish baronial castle and has welcomed guests for more than 130 years. Over the decades, dignitaries and celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, have graced its halls. Today, travellers can admire its striking architecture, learn about its storied past and wake to sweeping views of soaring peaks and pine forests. It is a setting that feels both majestic and deeply connected to the natural beauty that surrounds it.
This is the famous spot in Banff called “Surprise Corner”.
Wherever you plan to visit this year, Trafalgar will help you do it with meaning. With the best cultural insights and most authentic experiences, you can go beyond the bucket list.
Visit trafalgar.com to discover travel that truly connects.
George Town in Penang is best known for its Instagram-friendly street art and legendary hawker fare. But linger a little longer and you’ll find that this UNESCO World Heritage Site is very much a place where culture, tradition and heritage continue to unfold in everyday life.
This is a district where centuries-old clan temples still host ancestral rites, where family-run shops keep traditional trades alive and where art forms such as Teochew opera and hand-puppet theatre exist not as performances for tourists, but as cherished community rituals. Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan influences overlap with an easy familiarity, shaping a layered mix of architecture, beliefs and flavours that feels lived-in rather than curated.
Street art has become a hallmark of George Town. Photo: Karen Tee
Here are five ways to experience the living culture of George Town.
1. Delve into clan culture at Khoo Kongsi
In Penang, clan houses are not relics frozen in time. These were started several hundred years ago by southern Chinese settlers and functioned as mutual-aid societies and community spaces, anchoring new arrivals to kinship networks while they were far from home.
Today, many of them remain active social and spiritual centres, maintained by descendants of the Chinese immigrants who moved here several hundred years ago. Many clansmen still gather for festivals, celebrations, ancestral rites and community affairs like scholarship ceremonies. There are about five major clan houses in George Town with many smaller ones and some of them are open to the public (admission fees are applicable).
The striking architecture of Cheah Kongsi. Photo: Karen Tee
Khoo Kongsi (18 Cannon Square) is arguably one of the grandest, with a magnificent temple and opera stage tucked within the shophouse district of Cannon Street. The temple was rebuilt in 1902 after a fire and features an exuberant display of Southern Chinese craftsmanship, with intricate wood and stone carvings, wall murals, stone lions and roof ridges dense with symbolic figures.
Just around the corner is Cheah Kongsi (8 Lebuh Armenian), which features a unique architectural blend of Chinese, Straits and post-Independence styles, making it a truly one-of-a-kind building.
2. Learn about traditional performing arts at Teochew Puppet and Opera House
In George Town, you can quite literally wander into a full-blown opera performance mid-stroll — which is how I ended up lingering at a makeshift stage for half an hour after dinner, transfixed by the ornate costumes and face paint, stylised gestures and sky-high falsetto vocals cutting through the night air.
Teochew puppets and their colourful costumes on display. Photo: Karen Tee
For deeper context, visit the Teochew Puppet and Opera House (12 Lebuh Armenian), the only venue in Malaysia devoted entirely to Teochew operatic culture. Best known for its iron-rod puppetry, among Asia’s most intricate and expressive theatre forms, the space also houses a Teochew opera school and stages performances during special occasions. Run by a multigenerational family troupe and led today by fourth-generation opera performer Ling Goh, it offers a rare look at how a living art form continues to evolve with the times.
3. Explore the finer points of Peranakan heritage
Peranakan or Straits Chinese culture arose from the intermarriage of early Chinese settlers with local communities, creating a unique blend of language, dress, cuisine and customs. The Pinang Peranakan Mansion (29 Church Street) recreates the opulent lifestyle of a wealthy Baba from a century ago, displaying over 1,000 antiques and collectibles. Housed in a restored, 19th-century Chinese courtyard house, the mansion is a classic example of the eclectic architecture typical of that era, from carved-wood panels and English floor tiles to Scottish ironworks.
The vibrant colours come to life at the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. Photo: Karen Tee
Rooms are furnished with period pieces, including a formal dining room, a lavish bridal chamber, and an opium-smoking hall, all adorned with European art, Ming porcelain, fine china and other decorative treasures, evoking the atmosphere of Peranakan life in the past. Fun fact: The mansion was a filming set for the 2008 Singaporean drama series The Little Nyonya.
4. Experience life in a shophouse at Soori Penang
There’s no better way to soak it all in than by staying at the heart of the action smack in the middle of George Town. The newest address to know is Soori Penang (48 Lebuh Aceh), a luxury boutique hotel set within 15 meticulously restored heritage shophouses, offering one- to three-bedroom suites. Where many boutique stays here lean heavily on vintage charm, Soori takes a different tack, reimagining traditional shophouse living through a refined, contemporary lens.
Lovingly restored, the new Soori Penang is a taste of old shophouse living. Photo: Soori Penang
Designed by Soo K. Chan of Singapore’s SCDA Architects, who was born and raised in these very shophouses, the hotel offers a thoughtful reinterpretation of local architecture. A restrained palette of wood, granite and travertine sets a quietly elegant tone, while hallmark shophouse elements such as central stairwells draw natural light into inner courtyards anchored by a reflective pool. The effect is deliberately unhurried, creating space for pause and contemplation in this historic town.
5. Discover the religious diversity of George Town’s places of worship
The multicultural and religious diversity of George Town is best experienced in person, where a remarkable range of places of worship sit just a stone’s throw from one another. Among the most compelling are the Thai and Burmese Buddhist temples across the road from each other, marking the arrival of these communities in Malaya in the 19th century.
Wat Chayamangkalaram (110350 George Town) is home to one of the world’s largest reclining Buddhas, while the richly gilded Dhammikarama Burmese Temple (10250 Lorong Burma) is distinguished by its ornate stupas and intricate wood carvings. Both remain active centres for meditation, worship and religious festivals.
The striking Dhammikarama Burmese temple. Photo: Karen Tee
Nearby, the vividly ornamented Sri Mahamariamman Temple on Queen Street, Penang’s oldest Hindu temple, anchors Little India with daily rituals. It is also the starting point for the annual Thaipusam procession, when devotees carry kavadis adorned with body and facial piercings as acts of devotion. Because it often coincides with Chinese New Year, it is not uncommon to see Chinese devotees participating by offering prayers and offerings along the procession route.
Kapitan Keling Mosque (14 Lebuh Buckingham) is another familiar landmark with its gleaming domes and minarets. The call to prayer, heard at intervals through the day, carries atmospherically through the neighbourhood, anchoring the pace of daily life for anyone within earshot.
For more information on Singapore Airlines’ flights to Penang, visit singaporeair.com.
Situated on the top floor of the Daimyo Garden City complex, The Ritz-Carlton Fukuoka boasts 147 guest rooms and 20 suites that occupy five floors and look out over Hakata Bay. The hotel houses four restaurants, two bars, a 25m pool and an elegant spa sanctuary. The property’s central location makes it easy walking distance to many of Fukuoka’s main tourist spots including the city’s famous yatai food stalls.
Be sure to stop for a drink or two at Bay, the rooftop bar that in the warmer months, transforms into a buzzing night spot featuring breathtaking views of the city and an eclectic cocktail programme that is seasonally inspired by the region’s best produce. The food menu includes local specialities such as Karatomari Ebisu oysters farmed in Hakata Bay, or Mitsuse chicken and Itoshima pork. Genjyu, the hotel’s Japanese restaurant combines three culinary traditions – kaiseki, sushi and teppanyaki – and serves wagyu beef from Iki island and seafood from the Genkai Sea for an outstanding experience.
The hotel also offers unique and special cultural experiences for their guests. Their recently launched Hakata Magemono Experience is a rare, hands-on workshop where guests can make the uniquely oval-shaped bento boxes of the city. The artform is 400 years old and the experience is run by Tamaki Shibata, the city’s sole certified Hakata Megemono craftsperson and an 18th generation guardian of the art.
This boutique property of just 41 keys is nestled in the top two floors of the new One Fukuoka Building, conveniently located above the Tenjin metro station and the underground shopping mall. While small, the hotel is a destination unto itself, with excellent dining options and spacious, relaxing rooms that make for a great city escape.
The hotel features a mix of traditional design elements, like the latticed spaces and doors featuring a shinden-zukuri motif, as well as modern art showcasing vivid scenes of lightning. Rooms and suites include expansive views of Hakata Bay or the surrounding mountains with most offering separate sleeping and living areas as well as Japanese bathtubs, pyjamas and curated skincare. The items are so popular they are often purchased by guests (which can be done through their interactive TV system). The hotel also offers its own public bath (separate for men and women) and sauna on the top floor, the perfect way to relax after a day out shopping and sightseeing. Guests can check how busy it is through the TV system as well. The Library Lounge also makes for a peaceful space to rest, read and enjoy free coffee, tea, ice cream or light snacks throughout the day.
The signature King is a stay option that includes separate living and sleeping areas as well as a study with windows looking out into the corridor and the courtyard garden beyond. The unique concept offers more daylight with an easy option for privacy thanks to the window blinds.
For a boutique property, the hotel boasts four F&B outlets including The Café on the first floor, Wan Steak House on the 19th floor and The Roof and The Kitchen on the 18th floor. The Kitchen is a stellar option for quality Western and Japanese dishes that feature the best of the region’s excellent produce. The cocktail programme changes with the seasons and with equally sophisticated mocktail options on the menu.
