PHNOM PENH — When I spent a few years in Cambodia, I lived for a year in a Phnom Penh neighbourhood called Russian Market. My apartment was a stone’s throw from the eponymous market itself.

TAI O, HONG KONG — As the ferry to Lantau Island glides across Hong Kong Harbour’s choppy surf, I look out from my seat at the city’s congested vertical skyline and try to imagine what this Goliath of modern cities would have looked like back when it was just a humble fishing village.

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN — The land where apples and garlic originated is abundant in wildlife — red bears, snow leopards and antelopes all call this home. It is a wealthy oil state, safe and tourist friendly, with the highest ice skating rink on the planet. Its shiny, ultra-modern capital brims with futuristic buildings.

KASAMA, JAPAN - Jolted awake in the dead of night, my first thought was that my hotel room in this town in Japan’s Kantō region had been hit by a runaway freight train. Or an 18-wheeler. Or an airplane.

FOSHAN, CHINA - Long before there was a martial arts actor named Bruce Lee, there was a martial arts master called Ip Man.

TOKYO - Though sakura, or cherry blossoms, bloom just a brief two to three weeks every spring, these delicate pink flowers are one of Japan’s defining hallmarks, and for good reason.

IBUSUKI CITY, JAPAN - It appeared a gang of headhunters had arrived in this ancient Japanese city before we did. Heads were strewn all over the public beach - not a body in sight. We gasped at first sight of the heads and gingerly approached one wrapped in a towel. Then, as the eyes on the head opened, and a smile crept across the face, we jumped back. The villagers standing out of sight broke into laughter. The heads were the first thing we faced after arriving in this resort town on the southe...

BEIJING - This is a city that changes in the blink of an eye, literally. As an old building disappears in a cloud of demolition dust, a new one appears when the dust clears.

TOKYO - I arrive at the entrance of the HOSHINOYA Tokyo, the capital’s newest hotel, on the eve of Bunka no Hi (Culture Day), when the nation celebrates its deeply rooted customs and traditions.

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA - “Have you heard about the lost city?” asks Sean, our Cambodian guide, who seems eager to expand our horizons beyond the temple complex of Angkor Wat.