We knew coming to Singapore that it had one of the finest, if not THE finest airport in the world. Changi International is a world of wonder and on our outbound trip to Bali we had a chance to explore it for several hours during DestinationUnknown game. However, coming back into the airport, we had a chance to experience the efficiency to see if it was all that and a bag of chips. Let me tell you, this airport is the best experience of any International Destination we have experienced. Efficiency, cleanliness, spectacular amenities aside, this airport was amazing for how they greeted you into the country. Yes, the immigration officers, all up and down the isle were smiling and greeting guests. When you were standing there and they were looking at your passport, they cheerfully asked the normal questions and smiled back. Then they offered you candy and welcome … Read More

In 1985, when I was 21 years old, Steve Jobs, as Co-Founder of Apple was fired. Thirty-four years later, on May 21, 2019, as Co-Founder of Ascent Real Estate, I, Ken Pecus, was fired from Ascent Real Estate! How’s them for Apples and dissenting! Yup, make no mistake, it sucked. Yet, in 1985 Steve Jobs said, “I was lucky, I learned what I love to do early in life”. I repeat what he said then and add to it today, I am lucky, I have learned what I love to do early in life, who I want to surround myself with, and who I want to help make all their dreams and hopes come true. Maybe, more on this at a later time… But, first the more important stuff. Today after a week of intense discussions with some of the finest real estate minds and heads of companies in San … Read More

Why do you go to Bali? Well obviously to eat and pray and love. Bali is a surfers paradise, a honeymoon dream, a meditative and yoga mecca, and of course lets talk about LOVE… that love certainly has a stake in the chiseled and bronzed bods of the international elite who venture to Bali’s world renowned Beach Clubs. These clubs host international DJs plus massive parties ( which were not happening during our stay). So this is a bit of a divergence from my standard travelogues and the traditional sites of interest. There are several dozen through out the 3 isle province of Bali but our location in Kuta/Legion/Seminyak boasts some of the best known. There is a sense this is party central, I mean how can it not be with half of Australia drinking their lagers… but look closely, it is actually so much more than a party. As I … Read More

Today we hired a private tour guide to take us to see some sights on the island. Kadek Sukarta was an amazing guide and we really got an inside feel to the people, the culture, the political tendencies and best of all, how the education system works here for his family and people in general. Our goal of the day was the Volcanos so big in the news right now. There are two active Volcanos on Bali however one of them had a significant eruption on Friday, so that Volcano park was closed. The 2nd one is just emitting steam but unfortunately it wasn’t really perky when we were there. It was ominous to see the history of previous eruptions down it’s slopes, so I can’t say I didn’t have a moment or two to wonder if we might get a little surprise. Fortunately not… But we got some kick ass pics. Also … Read More

If you are like us, you probably never really thought about what Bali was like. You just dreamed of some far off paradise that surfers talked lovingly about, and the rest of us just had on our legendary bucket lists… But after considering Bali for our next DestinationUnknown, I wanted to know what to expect. After all how do I set the clues, if I know nothing about this veritable paradise. What I found out, was not exactly what I had imagined, yet held even more intrigue to me than ever before. Bali is a province of 3 islands, much like Phuket in Thailand. It is made up of many cities and towns and has a population well over 4 million. The capital City is Denpasar but that is not really what people think of when you think of Bali. Tourism makes up 80% of the economy and rightly so. … Read More

And what a jewel it is. Probably the best known Croatian city by Western culture, you dont have to blink twice to get it from the moment you first lay eyes on it. Just a few little facts as you peruse this gorgeous gem.. Dubrovnik was it’s own Republic for quite some time. It has an amazing storied history of both success and domination and war. Seems they all do in these parts. But this city is definitely different. It has always been successful city which is probably why so many have tried to get it, all the way up to the 90s seige by the Serbs and Montenegrans. But the city has thrived and survived and now it flourishes as much as ever. Our 4 hour ride down went through some amazing and beautiful coastlines and included the 10 kilometer sliver of Bosnia Herzegovina that you enter and exit. We … Read More

If you have ever been set up on a date… You know, THE DATE.. with the hottest, most popular, insanely sexy person you ever saw… and on top of it, you had checked out their profile, saw who they knew, checked out what kind of food and movies and music they liked, and on top of that, all your friends who knew the person said you were gonna love them… Well, there you go… welcome to our date with Croatia! Talk about serious expectations and options for letdowns. You just never know how someone is until after you’ve had a chance to spend some time with them in person. So for over 10 years Croatia has been on our bucket list ( seriously since Matt Lauer came here in 2005 on the Today show), but because of this or that, it just hasnt materialized. This trip was really about Croatia, … Read More

Just finished our first 24 hours in this spectacular metropolis. Truly this was a totally unexpected feeling. Out of EVERY new city we have visited in the world, Shanghai has evoked the BEST immediate reaction of them all. There is a feeling here that has transcended language and cultural differences to give us this incredible infusion of excitement. Of course this should not be that big a surprise as we love the big cities, but Shanghai appears to check all the boxes; from old school, to futuristic, to cultural, to accommodating international expectations. Almost makes me want to start learning Chinese…Almost, but I think Spanish for now will remain the focus. Took this picture a short moment ago while sitting on the Bund watching thousands of people stroll one of the greatest waterfront promenades in the world. Will be breaking the city down into different sections for future postings. The … Read More

All in all a successful trip to the capital of The People’s Republic. We finished our visit today with a continuous 6 hour walk through the city streets, touring a number of neighborhoods including the CBD ( downtown) and Sanlitun, a hip diverse neighborhood. Amazingly did not encounter a single rundown area, leading us only to believe, overall Beijing is quite well off as far as cities of 18 million go… We had a wonderful dinner with our friend Ray again tonight and tried to really get a feel from his perspective. After all, being a US citizen who comes home often, yet has lived here for 13 years, gives him a fantastic perspective of everyday life and living trends. I’ll wait till after Shanghai to make any tourist generalizations that we tourists like to do, but for now, let me say Beijing is worth the visit for many reasons. Our … Read More

Although a visit to the Great Wall was not the reason we came to China, it has been on the bucket list for a long time. If nothing else, when filling out those “Places I’ve visited” on FB, we get to check off another. No but seriously, since childhood, if there was a place in another country you heard of, The Great Wall has to rank right up there among the biggest. One thing that Tommy and I are both allergic to is endless tours full of filler stops and ” shopping opportunities”. So thanks to our friend Ray, we hired a private driver to take us there and bring us back. Fantastic experience! Our driver Sam spoke english and was able to answer my incessant random questions about everything we went by and just life in general. Biggest random takeaway was the fact that 15-20 years ago, these Audis, BMWs, … Read More