daphie's travels

2007-12-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong 15 - 18 November 2007

(Super overdue post)

Made my second trip to HK in 2007 - this time for the sole purpose of shopping and eating with my mum and cousin Tricia, and boy did we eat and shop.

HK's easy to get around - for this trip, we took a free-and-easy package, though the MTR is easily accessible from the airport.

Our rather modest room, to say the least.

Oh well, nobody who's anybody goes to HK to enjoy the hotel rooms. We got out pronto to roam the streets in search of the infamous HK nightlife, shopping and absolutely sumptuous HK food!

See the queue? Its the best takopachi ever (erm, outside of Japan I guess)! served piping hot with wasabi mayo!

Loved the neon lights - Doesnt matter whether its 7pm or 11pm - shopping and crowds seem to go on all night. There're things for everyone!

Such sights are everywhere in HK - shoe haven!

One hasnt been to HK without eating dim sum

Shopping continues from Kowloon over to the more atas Hong Kong Island

Nice thing about shopping with mums is the frequent pit-stops in-between shopping, hehe

Another must-try in HK is the shao la (roasted meats) and wanton mee- my mum esp loves the roasted goose with the plum sauce *salivating*

Oh and supper too... (my clothes feel tighter just thinking back about the food on the trip, oops)

Adventurous us also ventured for day trip to Macau - the ferry terminal which looks like an airport.

The seats really aren't too shabby -

Just in time for the Macau Grand Prix! No tickets, but spotted some race babes (sweltering in the heat) and the noise of million-dollar vehicles as they zoom mindlessly round and round and round the tracks..

Money's in the air...

Everywhere I look around...

Trivia: Macau's actually made of islands (big 3 I think), so such bridges are quite common-sight.

Being the typical kiasu Singaporeans, of all the casinos in Macau, of course we had to see the newest, most lavish, The Venetian. The driveway's quite jaw-dropping.

The interior continues to blind you with gold..

Some performers located at one corner of the casino hall singing and dancing away to an empty audience while gamblers around are too busy eyeing the machines. I wonder what keeps them smiling (maybe the huge paychecks and occasional mega tippers?)

Thought the ad was quite cool - (pun so not intended!)

The famed blue sky

Suitably atas food in the atas foodcourt (Western and Jap)
I won! (tho a measly HK$50) alas, am not cut out to be a gambling queen.
Money easily self-collected from a machine

We ventured out from a fake blue sky into a real one - Macau's really quite pretty! =)

When in Macau, how can you miss the egg tarts! (esp when they're everywhere and swarmed by crowds)

I give it eleven upon ten!

And course, the tourist photo spot:

(I wanna wear my boots again - sigh)

Next up, for our last dinner in HK, we decided to throw caution to the wind and try the da pai tang (streetside food) - one just next to our hotel!
This is like our oyster omelette, but deep fried - another eleven upon ten (and i dun even eat oysters)

How good can claypot rice taste? Well, you can actually taste and smell the roasted meats in the rice! Quite amazing

With a morning free before our flight back, we found time to grab a traditional HK char chan teng breakfast

And some gifts back home for loved ones!

2007-05-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

Krabi, Thailand - 3 to 6 May 2007

This marks my second trip to Krabi. Had such a good first visit some 5 years ago, that I knew I'll be back to the friendliest place in the Land of Smiles. =)

Pre-trip:

Heard over CNA the night before that South Thailand, including Krabi, was ravaged by the worst storms in 40 years, resulting in flash floods and land slides.

Just kill me.

But, decided to go ahead with the trip since I generally have good luck with weather on my holidays =) also since we've already paid for the trip in full. And after praying very hard. Well, at least the resort will be nice *wry smile*

No trip to the airport is complete without a Popeye Chicken meal, which made us very nearly miss our flight. But it was worth the 'Amazing Race' frantic running in the airport and pleading with the bus uncle, and not to mention the 1 million calories. Kicks ass!

Tiger Airways is the only flight operating between Singapore and Krabi, and prices can go as low as $100 per pax if you book early enough.

After a 1hour 40min flight, we reached Krabi in the evening, to be greeted by the huge-ass bed at Krabi La Playa Resort:

The room had a lovely balcony which faces the pool, and some mountain in the far background.

View from the room balcony:

The pool by night:

Our breakfast place:

Which is by the pool:

Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

Gimme some sunshine..

Photo-whoring

Why we love Krabi - it's full of beautiful people!

Day 2: Kayaking in limestone caves

Bring on the muddy waters, cave drawings, sleeping bats, lack of sanitation facilities and mozzie bites!

Onward! (just before we feel asleep)

Just before take-off:

The last shot of us dry and clean and smelling good

Acting cute

Towering lush green cliffs amidst calm waters:

Approaching cave 1:

Which is a national park:

Inside the caves:

Another cave:

Any idea why it's called the 'tri'-yak when it can only fit 2?

Spot the 3 centuries old cave drawings:

We're (or is it just me) so glad our dusty climb up the mosquito infested cave (in slippers no less) has ended!

Above the trees! See how far up we climbed!

Boon contemplating where to fit the ceiling fan in his new abode:

Finally! Back to civilisation - and lunch *yum*

Extra servings of huge fresh Thai oysters - with the funkiest condiments including raw garlic slices, sambal, fried shallots and sugar :

Our day-trip group:

Day 3: Phi Phi Islands!

Visited Koh Phi Phi in early December 2004 - just weeks before the Boxing Day tsunami. Phi Phi is still as beautiful as ever. Visit it soon before the tourists hordes come back!

Colours of the day: Blue and pink

Clear skies! Front row seats on the speedboat:

Must memorise this pose - does wonders for the figure:

Bird's nest cave:

More cam-whoring on the boat, when we were not in the waters:

Posing for Krabi's Next Top Model

The island's mine!

Food in Krabi: Rule of thumb - the cheaper it is, the more delicious it will be. So avoid the tourists traps, and chances are, you'll get a more authentic and enjoyable meal.

First night - not-so-good food, but we were hungry and just settled into the nearest eatery that was open. The thumbs-up was before he ate:

Too salty sotong

Dinner on the second night was the bomb! Settled into this open-air market (just next to our hotel) which serves the best Phad Thai, pineapple rice, tom yum soup and fish ever!

Another must-try in Krabi is the 'roti':

It's made of the same dough and roti prata, fried in dollops of butter, with your choice of fruits (banana being the runaway favourite), condensed milk, sugar, nutella, chocolate sauce, the works:

Breakfast - something to look forward every morning which helps dispel my morning grouchiness:

Third day dinner part II, comprising prawns with dip, hot plate and 'morning glory':

NB: We seriously over-ordered and over-ate on this trip *burp*

Last day in Krabi:
Took a morning walk outside our hotel for a bit where we spotted mobile hawkers selling breakfast food

We then went on a half day city tour, before boarding the evening flight back home.

First stop: Fish farm
Thought bubble: "wish i can jump in, its such a bloody hot day.. and maybe i can have the fish for lunch"

Found Nemo!

Snail-like fish

Puker up!

Our old-school lunch place, where the tour guide says serves the best duck noodles / kway tiao in Krabi.

It's really not too bad!

We also made a stop at Krabi Town, where we got side-tracked by an open-air street market. Not a place for the weak-bellied.

Thai desserts galore:

The ones on the right were very yummy - the greens are thai herbs:

Thai satay

Thai bah kwa

BBQ giant fish (each longer than my forearm)

clams and prawns:

Giant peas in giant pods

More phad thai

He wasnt shopping for earrings for me, by the way

What better way to end the holiday than to binge on donuts!

Final stop: Buddhist temple next to a Tiger cave:

Before we know it, the trip was over.

And I can't wait to be back:

2007-03-04T04:56:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong: Food, Shopping and Salsa!

The HK trip from 9 - 13 Feb marked many firsts for me: my first trip to Hong Kong, first trip with salsa peeps, and first overseas salsa festival! None of which would be my last!

After a long period of procrastination, the pictures and stories of my latest HK adventure are finally up!

Hong Kong left me breathless - enjoyed the fast-paced lifestyle, easy availability of food (most of it cheap and yummy - ate too much, too often), internal travelling (getting around is a breeze) and service (most of it, anyways). Only regret was the lack of time to explore the city more due to our tight schedules - mostly due to the late salsa nights. It also means not much shopping done - which can be both a good or bad thing - depending on how you look at it =P. Well, it can only mean that I'll be back to the Fragrant Harbour again (in the not-so-distant future, fingers crossed!)

As per earlier entries, there's plenty of pictures (of hot babes and erm, hot hunks - the latter depending on what type of guys you fancy) as you read about my first forey in the fast-paced cosmopolitan city that is Hong Kong:

The morning flight on Jetstar meant we needed to wake up (and for some, skip sleep altogether!) to reach Changi Airport at about 6am - note the many spec-cy people

We touched down in HK just in time for dim sum lunch at the airport!

where we ordered a scary amount of food

After finally polishing off our lunch (all 324 servings of dim sum), we checked into our super roomy and very value-for-money hotel! (Mucho gracias Jerrine!)

Hotel lobby: Geof, Jo, Heather, Moi and the ever-delectable Lavinia

Due to the size of our group, checking in took some time. Salsa guys of course, took the opportunity to ham it up for posterity!
Jason and YC show off their threads and shades

Our home for the next 4 nights

Food is never far from our minds during the trip. It seems like we were continuously eating =P here're some of makan highlights!

Wantan mee - a must-try

Geof's not too cheery coz his gastric juices are eating up his stomach

Gary and Jerrine show us how to use chopsticks

Jackson makes his verdict:

One of our dinners was at a seafood place near our hotel, recommended by a taxi uncle (who are always to be trusted when it comes to makan recommendations, whether in SG or HK)

Pre-dinner entertainment (NB: the many photos of stars in the background who ate at the place before! Am all for celebrity endorsements!)

The deep-fried squid is so yummilcious that it was a blink-and-its-gone item

Bamboo clams

Deep-fried crayfish - another crowd-pleaser. We ordered a second helping of this

Eateries are opened til way late in HK - check out the crowd at 2am at a Lan Gui Fang eatery!

A HK cha-chan-teng classic

My yummy pork chop buns

Giga-normous beefballs - which did not appeal to ONE person in the group, guess who (and no, it's not because of the beef..)

Mad about mango

Proof that we really do eat all the time:

Uhm, actually, we do not *really* eat non-stop - occasionally, in-between satiating the bottomless pit that is our stomach, we do managed to squeeze in some time for sightseeing and shopping.

At the Avenue of Stars:

Our hotel was in easy walking distance from Times Square and the people-equals-sardines Causeway Bay

The crowd on a weekday afternoon - can you imagine what its like on a weekend??

Pig decorations were abound with the upcoming CNY

Women's Street / Nu Ren Jie

YC, Jo, Heather and Geof vow to visit the gym after the trip to work-off all the food

Boots - all under SGD30!

See who we met while shopping - half of the Swing Guys quartet, for the uninitated.

Speaking of which, let's move on to the *real* reason why we were in HK (other than the food of course:

The Hong Kong Salsa Festival 2007!

It has been a wonderful experience - dancing with international dancers, instructors and performers, watching top-notch performances and of course, cam-whoring while waiting!

The wait for the performances were a snooze-fest for some

So the rest of us entertained ourselves by cam-whoring (relentlessly, if I may add)

After a 4D3N wait, the social finally started:

Jo's first flip - PS: She managed to land safely.

Of course, we could not pass up the chance to take pics with some top-notch salsa-hunks who were dream leads!

Oliver (of Oliver and Luda) - who is so cute in person!

Jaime leaves Liz for a while to give us a group hug

Charming Kaytee, organiser of the upcoming Indian Salsa Fest, who was great fun to dance with

Salsa also brought the gang to Lan Gui Fang - where we had a taste of HK's vibrant night-life

In a nutshell - it was a terrific trip filled with good food, orgasmic salsa, great (but woefully, not enough) shopping and excellent company!

Will end this entry with an example of how entertaining the trip was - PS: I had no idea why she was doing this - it certainly wasn't to pose for *my* camera

2006-09-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

Kelong Acheh 2006

Our home-in-the-middle-of-the-sea

Our "penthouse" unit

Highlight of the trip - Fishing !

The fishermen (and women!)

The most I did was help with the bait..

'cause fishing is not exactly my cup of tea (warning - shocking images ahead!)

Food (and life!) was seriously good

Nights end with a bang with suppers - consisting freshly-caught fish and seafood

Group shot!

Relaxation was on the cards for some..

Cam-whoring galore follows!

Behind our backs..

What's fishing without the catch?

And finally - the coolest thing about the trip..

2006-07-01T00:36:00.000-07:00

Part Four: Nice

Nice (pronounced as it’s spelt), capital of the French Riveria, had a totally different feel from Tours. Nice is what I would consider a French, and much larger version of Phuket.

The weather and the construction for a local tram made Nice quite warm :P

Really liked our youth hostel, located between the train station and the beach and old town.

Our room of seven, saw, during our two nights, girls from Canada (3), England (2 – with a wonderfully wicked sense of humour), Korea (2) and Japan (1).

Vieux Nice, the old town (Vielle Ville), is a cross between French and Italian cultures (street signs were in both French and Italian), and consists a maze of narrow streets with buildings painted in yellow, orange and pink, and choke-full of interesting little gems. Nice's beach is of pebbles, like Brighton. Didn’t spot any nude sun-bathing though.

Lunch of Nicoise specialities - Yum, though not too good for the arteries.

Beach!

Fake sand

Had a phenomenon 4 scoops of ice-cream that day. Of which, this is the best:

Day 14: Monaco!

Received an excellent crash course from Jeannine at Nice’s Musee d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain.

On our way to Monaco, we saw this:

After a short train ride, we reached Monaco.

On the train (before Jean dozed off)

Monaco

Trust me - the hike is a lot more tiring than it appears

Headed back to Nice to check out the excellent shops on rue de France.

Dinner place had a telly, and we cheered with the French as they beat Spain to advance into the quarter-finals. The Nice people went absolutely wild that night (Jean and I had a close-up of a French football fan who was sitting at the next table), with cars horning all night long, and people breaking into song, the works.

Day 15:

With Jean gone in the morning, I had half a day to indulge in my favourite past-time since my flight is in the late afternoon. *Happiness*

Highlights include a shop that allowed wine-tasting and the smelling of olive oil (there was one that smelt like freshly-baked bread, I kid you not) and vinegar; as well as (more) funky shops, with prices that don't break the bank.

And finally – a super *long* trip home – I have the crazy-est flight itinerary, which saw me on planes for some 19 hours, and 6 hours in airports.

It's good to be home :)

2006-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

Part Three: Tours

Day 8: 21 June 2006

Left at the crack of dawn for my flight to Tours (pronounced ‘tu’) in Loire Valley, France.

Spent the afternoon getting lost in the town before meeting Audrey from Quebec. Really cool gal who would be spending the rest of her summer in France and was a huge help (in terms of language) during my stay in Tours.

Coincidentally, the day I arrived in Tours was France’s annual Music Festival (Fetes de Musicale), celebrating the first and longest day of summer. So musicians gathered on the streets playing music all night long. It was one huge party

Photos!

Audrey and I with the Loire in the background

Day 9:
Adore my room in Tours.

Pictures of Tours

Cathedral St Galien

And its famous stained glass windows

Musee des Beaux-Arts

And its garden

After some sightseeing in the town, spent the afternoon in the chateaux of Chambord and Cheverny. Quick bit of information: The Loire Valley has the most number of Renaissance chateaux - which are symmetrical in styles, and meant to convey the power of its owners. This marks a significant point in French history when the chateaux no longer served as fortresses, but as places of leisure and style. France has over 650 chateaux, with over 300 of them in the Loire Valley.

Chambord: Building initiated by King Francis in 1519, and its gargantuan size was meant to impress. It has over 440 rooms, 85 staircases and 356 chimneys

Facade of Chambord

At the top!

Next up, Cheverny, privately-owned til this day by the Hurault family. It's well-known for its richly-furnished rooms.

Day 10:
Took a day trip to Blois (pronounced ‘Blua’) to check out the small town and its chateau. A (in)famous political assassination took place in the chateau centuries back, and it was considered the Versailles of the Renaissance since Francis moved into the chateau in 1515.

Blois train station

Onwards to the Chateau de Blois

Front of the chateau

The Renaissance stairway

On the stairway

Overlooking the cathedral

Random sights in Blois

Dinner at a kebab stall was made so much more exciting with France’s 2-goal difference against Togo to book itself a place in the Top 16. Yeah! The French crowd went wild that night.

Day 11
Jean’s supposed to come in the afternoon, so went on a morning tour of Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau.

Villandry's rooms were well-stocked with flowers, and smelt heavenly. Guess this was in line with its gardens, which are known to be the most beautiful in France.

I can so live here.

And the gardens

Roses!

Azay-le-Rideau

Fresh produce market just outside the chateau

Murphy’s Law struck, and Jeannine could only come over the next day. Sigh.

Nevertheless, had a great afternoon at Chenonceau (elegant chateau built over the river, like a magnificent bridge, which I would go again tomorrow), Clos Luce (where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life), and Amboise (court for French Kings from the mid-15th to mid-16th centuries).

First up, Chenonceau:

Gallery over the river

Clos Luce - One of the more modest chateaus, famous coz of Da Vinci, who helped bring the Renaissance to France.

Overlooking a rose garden

The garden displays some of Da Vinci's finest works

Chateau of Amboise

The chapel in the chateau bears the remains of Da Vinci, who died in France.

The Greek mum with her two daughters whom I spent the day with.

Day 12:

My first rainy day in Europe. The gloomy weather was excerbated with most of the shops closed (Sunday).

Jean (finally) arrived! We visited Chenonceau in the afternoon before taking overnight train to Nice.

Views from the chateau overlooking the Loire

Onwards to the south!

Midnight train change at Lyons

2006-06-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Part Two: London II

After an English breakfast of muffins, I took the Tube to Jean’s place.

Realised (to my horror) that she stayed on the 6th floor (actually 7th as the ground level is considered level 0) and lifts are non-existent. How I got my luggage up remained a mystery to this day.

We then headed out for modernist French film, ‘Meeting of Anna’ or Les Rendezvous d'Anna by Chantel Akerman at the Institute of Contemporary Arts with Jeannine’s friend Pearlie. Then we all split with me checking out the Portobello market.

Met Jeannine for authentic Indian dinner at Aldgate East, and a planned salsa evening turned out flat since the place was empty. But there was ONE competent Cuban lead and I led Jean in some merengue, so it was not a complete waste of a trip.

Dinner!

Day 5:

Easy day - Traditional English breakfast at this great place called Elk In the Woods, and then day-trip to Brighton. Picture galore follows

Brazil versus Australia, 2 – 0 to Brazil!

Day 6: Monday

Another massive sight-seeing day: Tate Britain, Excellent lunch > sandwich at Konditor & Cook, Tate Modern, St Paul’s Cathedral, Museum of London, British Museum.

Tate Britain

Along the Channel

Love this brand

They crack me up

The imposing Tate Modern

The only collection that I checked out

Entrance to the British Museum

Inside

Did I mention I love sculptures?

A highlight of trip: Salsa at Salsa! Love the varied dance scene at London, with the many different dance styles. Oh, and I got a dance with Super Mario - whoopee.

Day 7 Last day in London

Covent Gardens, Tower of London and finished off the other half of Oxford Street.
Caught Carmen at Sadlers’ Wells Theatre with Jeannine and her classmates, then hopped into an English pub to see the England draw 2-2 with Sweden.

Lancester Square

Crown jewels kept here

The Tower is also a place for

2006-06-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

Part One: London I

Journey there
Super early flight on Emirates, 325am on 14th June (Wed). Grouchy stewardesses (they had a long flight earlier from Auckland), uncomfortable seats (large people on my left and right), and persistent kicking from a teen behind me.

It was a seven hour flight to Dubai. When you look from the plane, Dubai’s this incredible city set in the middle of the dessert – much like Las Vegas-in-the-works. All you see are endless orangey-yellow fields intersected by long roads to serve the construction industry.

The Dubai airport

The connecting flight to London was so much better - Had three window seats to myself

Day 1 in London

Tube to Bingrong’s apartment on Glouscester (pronounced ‘Glous-ter’) Road, my 'home' for the next three days.

Short walk to Imperial College, past the big three museums – Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum (‘V&A’ for short). To Knightsbridge to ooh in Harrods. It’s really a very ridiculously ornate and imposing shoping centre. But I can imagine why the rich would shop there though.

Harrods

Took a short bus ride to Lancester (pronounced ‘Lans-ter’) Square, with its many theatres – very happening. Walked briefly past Covent Gardens too.

Covent Gardens

Went back to hostel for home-cooked dinner with his flatmates with a World Cup match behind - Satellite telly is way cool.

Day 2 in London

Major sightseeing!

Walked through Kensington Gardens, which was lovely, to pass the imposing Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall opposite.

The Albert Memorial

The Royal Albert Hall

Took bus to walk pass Buckingham Palace and towards Westminister Abbey, which is a hauntingly beautiful place.

Home of the Queen!

Westminister Abbey - Resting place for the famous dead

The token London picture

After a quick lunch in the park, we walked down to Trafalgar Square towards the National Gallery, which was excellent.

A short walk to Lancester Square got us tickets to the longest-running play in the world – The Mousetrap. But not before an World Cup match in a pub (England vs Trinidad, 2-0 to England! Yeah!) and a quick Chinese dinner.

Day 3:

Spent the first part of the day at the V&A, which was marvelous. Then hopped over to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. Information overload occurred before the Science Musuem, so I headed to Oxford Street, home of the mega-UK stores.

Facade of V&A

Foyer of V&A

My favourite part of the gallery

V&A courtyard, where people lunch under the London summer

When in London, eat as the locals eat - fish and chips at Sea Cow !