TWO -MORE PLACES- TOO : CHILE - SINGAPORE 2024

 

Changi Airport

SINGAPORE 

New hotels and advanced biometric technology enhance visits.

Singapore hasn't stopped racing toward modernisation since its independence in 1965. Now the cosmopolitan city-state, already known for its cuisine, architecture and world-class airport, is transforming itself with a luxury hotel boom.

Edition recently opened a 204-room property in the Orchard Road district, while the Standard will open later this year. Famed hotels such as the Mandarin Oriental and Grand Hyatt, which closed in recent years for major renovation, will also return.

Changi Airport has also undertaken a major expansion.

In November, Terminal 2 fully reopened with new automated check-in kiosks, bag drops and immigration lanes. And many passengers will be moving through Changi even more efficiently this year, as the airport plans to adopt the latest technology for passport-free departures. [ CHristine Chung ].

O'HIGGINS - CHILE

' Sample Delectable local foods while connecting with rural farmers.'

This overlooked region south of Santiago has been facing a changing climate, wildfires that are threatening hundred-year-old grapevines, frequent earthquakes and undervalued traditions.

So a group of local cooks, winemakers and artisan growers have joined to preserve their campesino, or rural farmer, identity.

In late 2023 their initiative, known as Ruta de los Abastos, began offering rural culinary experiences to connect visitors to local beekeepers, oyster farmers and other producers.

Markets and restaurants - like EI Abasto in the city of Rancagua and the vineyard-based restaurants at Food and Wine Studio and Vina Vik - are highlighting regional ingredients like locally raised lamb, salt from the coast at Cahill and a rustic, low-alcohol wine called chacoli, produced by area growers.

On the coast around Pichilemu and Punta de Lobos, amid minimalist beach lodges like Hotel Alaia, locavore, seafood with natural wine lists - like those found at Mareal - dominates the scene. [ Nicholas Gill ]