Agrigento Travels

Agrigento is a good base to be as it is within easy reach of the Western Coast and not too far to travel from Palermo where we departed from.

The town itself transports you back into the past with its winding paths and buildings. Definitely a fun way of exploring easily by foot. You can then drive off to the coast from here.

For us, we only stayed for a day and took a bus to head to the Valley of the Temples to see the remains of the Greek Colony. I think just the name itself hints at the wonder and magnificence of what you would be greeted with. You definitely want to make sure you do make this a must see place when coming to Sicily.

For food adventures, please click here.

Tips:

1. You can take a bus from the main train station which will take you to the Valley of the Temple. You will not miss it and the journey is no more than 10-15 minutes.

2. The Archaeological Museum is not within the area of the Valley of the Temples. It is between Agrigento and the Valley of the Temple. Hop back onto the bus to take you there.

Sicily Travels - Palermo

I was quite excited about heading away on a 10 day trip to Sicily. It has always made me wonder whenever I noticed Sicilians considered themselves to be unique and individual with their own cuisine and identity. Having never been to the South of Italy, I've heard that it is quite different to its northern neighbours.

I was looking forward to a robust and boisterous experience with fantastic scenery and food in tow.

On the first day that we arrived, we were too tired to do much other than walk around having not had any sleep the night before.

We were just walking around randomly and were brought out by our delightful B&B owner for some lunch and a home cooked dinner.

He has the most amazing B&B, check out some of the room designs (http://www.abali.it/en/abaliweb/)

Strolling through the winding narrow streets lined with pebbles, the stamp of Baroque Arab architecture was still quite evident.

We walked through the main streets and sidetrack into the alleyways whenever we can to immerse and feel the sense of what it was like living here.

The locals are very matter of fact friendly even though they do not look so from their expressions. It is easy to ask for help or directions and they do greet you when you walk by.

A few notable places and sites to see:

• Capella Palatina, Cathedrale, Fontana Pretoria, San Cataldo, Quattro Canti, Teatro Massimo - these are close to each other and you won't miss it. It is in all tourist maps.
• Monreale - You will have to take a bus but is definitely worth seeing, it takes half a day.
• Cripta dei Cappuccini - Seeing how the dead used to be kept and maintained.

Here are some photos of a few places that we visited which I do recommend.

Tips:

1. It is not necessary to have a car to go around in Palermo. Most attractions are easily accessible on foot.

2. To Monreale, take bus 389 which is available around the Cathedrale.

3. Arriving into Palermo airport, you can take a bus which takes you to the central train station in 30 minutes or so for €5.80.

4. Most places are closed for siesta which means that you need to plan your sightseeing which is broken into the morning and evening with a siesta break between 1pm - 3.30pm.

For food adventures, please click here.

Boston

From Washington, I travelled to the City of Boston. Boston is a very interesting place; it is rich in history and revolutions as well as known for its lobster and chowder.

History has always been one of my weaker subjects and what pops into my head when Boston is mentioned is the Boston Tea Party. This obviously changed since exploring the city.

Here are some interesting pictures.




Click here for more photos and here for food.

#Tips
1. It is highly walkable and armed with a good guidebook or research done. You can see everything by foot and public transport.

2. If you are with family and elders, opt for the Duck Trolley Tours. One whole round takes 2.5 hours and covers more stuff and local insights then a book or the Freedom Trail would give you. It is better value in the summer as $36 per person gives you a free harbour cruise as well.

3. The Freedom Trail should be the first point of action. It gives a good and brief guide to the history and brings you through streets that you normally wouldn't venture to. Gives good insight to the feel of the neighbourhoods. Try not to do this on a Monday as a number of sights are closed.

4. Free tours of Harvard Square are at 10am, 12pm and 2pm starting at the visitor information kiosk.

Washington Day 2 & 3

Day 2 & 3 found me headed to The National Mall where most of the Smithsonian museums are located.

Did you know that the Smithsonian museum was founded by a British who has never been to the US?

First stop was the Museum of American History where I spent loads of time at the Julia Child section. Julia Child is such an icon and even though they were showing shows that were aired like 20-30 years ago, I was still equally mesmerised. I was equally fascinated with all her kitchen gadgets too!

I can see how Americans who watch her show grew up with her as she was still on TV at a very old age. Super hugs to her husband who was there for her for all things big and small which was mentioned.

I literally had to tear myself away to check out the other exhibitions. The biggest draw is the Star Spangled Banner. Very interesting story to this one. It was originally but now there is only left as the custodian was giving away snippets of it as keepsakes to people.

The whole place is really inspiring.

Next stop was the natural history museum. I can't believe how cool and awesome this place is. Seriously, both kids and adults will be mesmerised. The whole place is so well planned and the exhibitions are so engaging and well designed. You have to go to see for yourself. By far the best I've seen.

Next stop was the air and space museum. I know that this has over million visitors in a year but the ventilation wasn't that great and I was feeling hot and stuffy and this is in the winter. The place feels a little dated too. Still, manage to catch the highlights such as the Amelia Earhart plane and the Wrights Brothers.

That was enough walking for me and I went off to head for dinner at a famous landmark which even has its own gift shop.

The next day arrived and I headed for The Capitol and Library of Congress. I totally didn't realise that they are not open on a Sunday. Duh!! So tip for travellers, head there on a Saturday and the museums on a Sunday.

So off I went to check out the Eastern Markets instead. I decided to head there by foot which allowed me to walk through residential areas and immersing myself even if it was just for those few moments in what life is like here.

It feels great to watch people going about their daily lives. I see people with groceries, families heading for Sunday church, a child having an argument with his dad.

I arrived at the markets and it was quite interesting.

My earlier mistake meant that had more time to visit the Natural History museum which I did. I even went to the Freer Gallery to check out the Peacock Room.

Ventured into the Visitor Centre after and managed to catch an introduction video. Lesson learnt, the FIRST thing that you should do is head to the Visitor Centre and watch this video. It is so inspiring and told more about the museums than my guidebook did.

I headed to try the famous Mitsitam cafe in the African American museum after. Hey, if they can even have their own cookbook, it should be worth checking out.

My last stop was the National Portrait Gallery to view all the Presidents portraits.

That's all for Washington on my 2.5 day trip. There is still so much more to see if you like museums and history, you can easily spend 5 days here including checking out neighbouring Georgetown and heading to the Kennedy centre for some free evening entertainment. There were also other places like madam tussahs, spy museums and many more.

I did manage to squeeze in a foreign film movie.

For more photos, click here.

Washington Day 1

I decided to take a train rather than by air from New York to Washington. Leaving the hotel when the sun is still asleep is no fun as I made my way to Penn station to take the Acela Express.

While walking into the station, I was greeted by a homeless man who was clearly drunk and this was at 6 in the morning. I walked silently away only to have him follow me into the lift. Luckily there was another Guy in there who told him off saying that he is holding up the lift. Drunken man tapped me on the shoulder and said I'll talk to you later, I Nodded and said ok and then....*scurried away*.

What a way to start my journey to Washington. The train ride was really pleasant and they even have wifi!

Washington South Station

With half a day left to explore, I went off in search of some lunch which took to me to Georgetown University. Pit stop breaks for some lunch. From there it was a 6 blocks walk to Lincoln memorial.

Washington reminds me a little of Canberra. Large open spaces, no sky rises and lined with government buildings. It was a really nice sunny day considering that it was winter and it was just so peaceful. Bar the regular interruption of ambulance and police sirens.

Managed to visit the WWII memorial, White house and finished with the national archives. There is so much history and the whole place just amazes you. Seeing the White House, the much revered Declaration of Independence and Constitution was just amazing.

I was so sad that the FBI have temporarily closed their visitor’s tour. That would have been really interesting. Needless to say, I was really tired by this point as I walked everywhere!

Last stop was Chinatown for dinner. Washington's Chinatown is only manned by about 20 plus shops and restaurant which is quite dismal. What did I eat? Click here.

That's it for day 1 as I walked back to my hotel from Chinatown.

There is no place like New York

I HAD to spend a few days in NY as part of my US trip, there is an inexplicable vibe that hangs in the air and whether it is the unrelenting freeze of winter or sunny summer, you will still fall in love with the place.

There is just so much to see and if you have been watching a lot of US shows, it feels like a movie set wherever you walk and start recognising buildings and pavements for the first time. I love the grandeur of the Grand Central Terminal, the awe of the skyline from the Rockefeller centre and not to mention the delightful desserts and huge food portions.

I did not do as much sightseeing as my last trip which I know is way overdue. This time it was more catching up with friends, eating and shopping.

I definitely ate a LOT which you can catch it all here. Some of my favourites include the awesome Gua Bao or steamed buns, mouth watering ribs rendang and amazing texture in a poached egg just to name a few.

Shopping was....... Let's just say I was feeling shopped out and my credit cards have a very big hole in it now. US is a great place to shop for American brands especially at their outlet stores.

In NY, there are four options in addition to the myriad of shopping centres like Macy's, Sephora and Bergdorf Goodman. I went to all of them and here is a quick guide on each.

Filene's Basement

There is at least one store in every state and works similar to TK Maxx and Century 21. They sell a huge selection of mid to high end brands at discounted prices. You definitely need time and patience to dig out the bargains. It gets especially crazy when they go on sale, the ladies go crazy and manic mayhem occurs in the wedding dresses department.

Century 21

Century 21 is similar to Filene's Basement but you can't beat their huge selection of mid range to couture shoes available. I grabbed many a shoe bargains here. Not to mention accessories and clothings. If you are tight for time and can't head to an outlet, I'll say head here as it is a micro version of the outlets with a taste of selections, variety and prices.

Jersey Gardens

This takes half an hour by coach from the Port Authority Terminal and runs every half hour. Buy your ticket at the machines which costs $13 and head to gate 202. Jersey Gardens have mainly low to mid range brands with some having additional sales.

Woodbury Commons

Lastly, you have Woodbury Commons Outlet which is an hour coach ride from Port Authority Bus Terminal. The ticket cost $42 which comes with a voucher book with additional discounts at participating stores. It is expensive for a coach ride and if you have more than three of you heading there, renting a car and driving there on your own might be a more economical option.

I say the price is worth it as the bargains are fantastic. As with outlets, sometimes you get great bargains and sometimes you don't. WC houses most of the mid range brands that can be found in Jersey Gardens as well as designer brands. Think

Of all of them, my favourite is WC followed by Century 21. Having been all four places in one trip, I am seriously shopped out!

The New York stop was pretty much catching up with friends through food and shopping this time round.

Please click here for more photos

Taipei Day 1

Yippeeeee……after a long stint in China, I am forced to leave the country or I would become in illicit with the law. The destination that I have decided to head to is Taipei.

Have never been to that country but I have a lot of friends from there and watch heaps of Taiwanese shows. It was a long wait at the airport waiting to check in. I was so early that the check in counter wasn’t even open.

I chose to fly with EVA airways. The staff crew were really nice and friendly and I was pleasantly surprised with the food. It was delicious, I think it is definitely at the top of my list from all the airlines that I have been on. Check out the food review here.

Got to the airport and was out within half an hour, went to pick up my youth travel card which is actually a key chain! It was quite late by the time I was settled in the hotel. The hotel is really great, the staff was so helpful and was there at every step. It’s great when you get wireless internet access in the room as it means that I can seat anywhere within the room. It is a Japanese inspired styled room where you even have a section for 泡澡！

So excited to finally be here that I decided to walk around the streets and grab a bite to eat. By the time I head to bed, it was way past midnight! That is my first night in Taipei!

Toilet Manners

Have departed Shanghai and am now in a city called ‘Zhang Jia Gang’. It’s definitely a really small city. Requested for a non-smoking room of which they don’t have any more available unless I upgrade to a bigger room. For an extra 7 quid, am happy to pay that so that my lungs will be happy. It is a really nice room and the amount of space and amenities is much better. On my second night, I even received a little ducky key chain. So cute!

There is definitely more room and space in ZJG. Shanghai is just massive and the amount of people is just incredible. What puzzles me is that in a city with tons of people, everyone seems to walk really slowly. What is more annoying at times is groups of 3 or 4 people who link arms together and occupy the entire pedestrian walk area and because of their slow speed, they are seriously causing human traffic jam here. Yet, they are so oblivious to the jam that they are causing!

Another amusing incident was going to use the ladies in a hotel. Very posh décor and the door to the cubicles were made of glass. It’s not entirely see through as the glass was shaded in alternate stripes so there is still a bit of privacy. Imagine my surprise when I open the door to the ladies and there was another lady in a cubicle who didn’t even bother shutting her own cubicle door. I have no idea what was going through her mind when we glanced at each other for a few seconds while I walked to an empty cubicle.

I never thought that I would say that toilet manners need to be taught!

Time Out Shanghai

A few days into my trip here in shanghai, I chanced upon the Time Out Shanghai monthly magazine and got myself a copy. This was the March 2010 issue and the front article on the best markets was enticing!

Anyhow, there was a restaurant that was recommended in the magazine under the 'Off the Beaten Track' food section which is called 十味观. This restaurant was highlighted for its variety of coloured ‘xiao long pao 小笼包’. In a land where you can get 小笼包 at nearly everywhere you turn, coloured ones is something unique and it immediately piqued my curiosity to try it.

After a long day at work, we left later than expected for dinner and was worried that the restaurant might be close. The taxi did not even drop us at the location and we had to walk around to find it. Didn’t help that we were walking in the rain in the wrong direction before we realised that we had to double back.

Can you imagine the look on our faces when we got to the restaurant and what did we see? A truck parked at the front of the restaurant and workers lugging out the kitchen stove. Tables and chairs have been totally removed as well!

Seeing that scene before me, I think even in my food deprived brain, I'm pretty sure that the restaurant has closed its business. Not happy! How can Time Out recommend a restaurant in its latest monthly magazine which is the March 2010 version and have that restaurant shut down in just a few days into the month? It’s only been less than a week into March!

What is going on Time Out?

Happy Chap Goh Mei!

Happy Chap Goh Mei!

I am fortunate to be able to celebrate the last day of Chinese New Year in a land where CNY is the biggest festival/event for the year, China!

I was even served the much missed 'Yee Sang' which is an annual thing that is done primarily in Singapore/Malaysia. Thanks Singapore Airlines!

 

Arrived the day before and red lanterns and banners are everywhere with festive wishes/sayings written on them. I went about looking for one of my favourite food, 汤圆！

I was taken by a recently became local for some home made Shanghainese food for lunch and my favourite restaurant for dinner. I am so stuffed I seriously need to squeeze some gym time in. The restaurants also gave complimentary 汤圆 when requested. Review here.

Managed to cover some local tourist highlights as well including getting some tailoring done. Think shirts, trousers, qi pao, cashmere coats. Review here.

It's back to work tomorrow now but hope everyone celebrated well.

Leaving to my new home...

Finally, all my bags are packed and I am en-route to London via Tokyo. Can’t wait. The only minor drag is that I have to lug an overflowing luggage of 30kg with me to Tokyo. =(


The flight to Tokyo wasn’t all that great. I got one of those old Japan Airways flight where the entertainment system is not even up to you to choose when you want to watch the movie. Not to mention that I was automatically assumed to be a Japanese and was given an immigration card that was entirely in Japanese. As much as I am flattered, it doesn’t help, as I don’t even know what to fill other than some words here and there that I could make out.


Finally arrived at Tokyo airport and was on the train on the way to Shibuya where our hotel was. It started raining when we got there and we couldn’t quite figure out where the hotel was. Hailed a cab and it was quite an adventure trying to get the cab driver to understand the address in English. In the end, we managed to get the cab driver to call the hotel (thankfully we had the hotel number with us) and we got there safely in like 5 minutes. Argh..it was soo close but lugging heavy luggages with empty stomachs and trying to find the hotel at night wasn’t our cup of tea.


The hotel room was great! There is even a washing machine and cutlery and cooking utensils. It was more an apartment than a hotel. At the lobby, managed to find another map that was so clear and detailed with directions to the hotel from the train station. What is the point of providing that when your guests have already found the place?!?! This map should have been shown on the website rather than the vague looking one we had. So if anyone is interested in this hotel (which I do recommend), please use this map!




With our hands clear of luggages and heavy items, we were able to make our way for dinner. Ended up in a western-ish restaurant. Of all places, trust my friend TB to end up picking that in Japan, haha! Check out the review here. No clubbing tonight for us as we rest our weary minds and bodies in anticipation of a full day of shopping ahead.

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Update: I know it took me ages to update my Tokyo trip but it was busy busy settling in a new country and new job. Better late than never though. Please go here for the continuation.

Manyana

I was looking forward to the weekend away trip for so long. The uncle of one of our friends was kind enough to loan us his holiday house for the weekend. For me, it was about enjoying the company of friends and just being away. For some of them, it was just about alcohol. Ha!

Friday night came and even before we left the city, we had a few crazy moments. Let's just say it was along the lines of switching drivers while at the red lights and passing a map to the car behind us while at another set of red light.

It didn't help that I gulped down my drink at the bar straight before we started our journey there and needless to say, I needed to visit the toilet about 30 minutes in.

We finally arrived and the house was fantastic! Thanks V. It was located at Manyana which was past Jervis Bay down South of Sydney.

Doesn't the bed look inviting after a whole week of work? I was too excited and didn't manage to take photos of the entire house. But wooden floors and the sound of the waves on the beach while sleeping is definitely my cup of tea.

Most of us decided that it was time to get some rest before the crazy activities are to start. I slept on this and it was just sooo comfortable.

Morning came and this was what greeted me. Amazing, I'm in heaven.

Breakfast was toast, bacon and eggs. Yum!

Round off with creamy Lindt chocolate. Slurp!

Games started and so did the drinks and cocktails!

Followed by another and another and another.

Lunch was BBQ. Check out all that meat and grease. Haha.....

We had our lunch at the patio. It was so cold and windy but we braved it just to have the view and smell of the ocean. I was so stuffed after that. I seriously don't think I can have dinner.

More drinks again. Seriously, I think I am drinking more this weekend than I did in the past year!

R suggested a drinking card game and we all started to play. Penalty were drinking shots. There were a lot more shots than this but that was just the first round. Thankfully, I didn't do too badly with the card game and didn't have to drink that much. Alas, I kept getting nominated by T to drink.

By the time I was able to have dinner, it was around 11pm. OMG!

I was soo tired when it was past midnight, not to mention the amount of alcohol in me that it was time for bed. T and I lit a candle in our sleeping area and chatted the night away.

Aren't this bedroom slippers cute?

No breakfast yet and it was already time for more drinks. My group of friends sure are drinkers.

Yummy Caesar salad for breakfast.

With plenty of leftover BBQ meat.

It's time to head home now. Bye holiday house. I wish we had a long weekend and could have stayed longer but I don't think my liver will appreciated that.

It was so good to getaway and have some stress release. Great friends and company.