Euro Travel & More

If you are in Malaysia during the month of August – you are in for a feast – because it’s Ramadan month and with Ramadan month – it can only mean one thing – food !  and more food.  During the ramadan – the muslim will go for a fasting period for a month from dawn to dusk and when they break their fast in the evening – you can see lots of food stall all over malaysia – selling all kinds of food – in their food bazaar and they choices are endless.  If I go to Malaysia during Ramadan month – I have to have lots of appetitie suppressing ideas because you can bet on it that I would eat any kind of food I come across.  The food are not only delicious they are so color and so fragrant – no one can resist it.

From curry to popiah – and sweets and even drinks – they are absolutely delicious – so if you are on a diet – do not think of going to Malaysia during the Ramadan month – for I can assure you that after 5pm – food and its stalls are all over the place in Malaysia.

Some people confirmed that they put on more weight during their fasting month than they do during the entire year – because they eat a lot more of the good food offered after fasting for the entire day.

The variety of food offered are endless and they are really reasonably priced because they are targeted for the average family – who are out working and have no time to break their fast properly by cooking for the entire family.

Yummy coconut dessert are to die for!  i can eat 10 of these at one go.

The Disney resort in Hawaii opens this week – and I had been following its progress.  So for those who are heading to Hawaii – you can try out the resort and spa – and your children will be thrilled with the resort I am sure – while you enjoy a bit of peace – and relaxation.  Your children can have breakfast with Mickey and Minnie Mouse – and lots of entertainment even though – you won’t see a theme park in the resort itself.  I hope there will be more reviews soon – because I would like to know what else they have to offer.

This is the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle – also known as Newcastle upon Tyne in England – I had only been to Newcastle once – but I’m sure all football fans know where Newcastle is right?

This is the Millennium Bridge which is just as famous as the Tyne Bridge.  This tilt bridge can be used by pedestrian and cyclist – a pretty amazing looking bridge if you asked me.  I think the bridge was just opened not too long ago – in 2001 when I had taken a short trip for business in NewCastle.  I wished I had stayed longer – to check out more cool stuff in NewCastle.

I’ve written about New Zealand before – I called it the Kiwi land and I loved the massive amount of land they have there.  This is a Maori sculpture found at New Zealand in a place called Te Puia – I believed it’s a Maori name?  it’s located at the  Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley.

We had actually hired a guide to bring us to Rotarua to visit this Maori Cultural Center – I was told that there was this bubbling mud pool and hot springs – that we will be interested in and they were not kidding.

It was bubbling alright!  There were many people just laying there in the hot spring and taking a dip – it was funny.  I won’ be posting pictures of that – that’s for sure.

This is a geyser in the Maori land – quite stinky if you asked me.

A geyser doing its thing.

Another one – and it does smell – so come prepared eh.

Check out the Maori war canoe – at the museum – quite intimidating right.

We were planning to go to PEI this summer – and had to postpone our plans because the kid got ill – but I had accidentally came across the newest hotel in PEI – thru’ a magazine I found at the local grocery store and decided to check it out.   The rates I meant – and it was very expensive!  a check on the website state that it is a boutique hotel – and usually boutique hotels are small and personable therefore they charge a little bit more.  But we are still booking the hotel – to try it out  – and check it out – after all what good am I to be called an ex-hotelier and not check out new hotels right?  this is what we called a site inspection.  Plus we can always meet up with our dear life insurance agent turned friend and discuss our term life insurance over a cup of coffee and some pastry in the hotel.  The hotel is located in Charlottetown and it even have a bigger pool.  So more on the Holman Grand hotel after I come back from our mini 1 week vacation.

So the in-laws wants to take a cruise this fall – to celebrate their anniversary and asked me to make some inquiries and if it looked good – I should go ahead and booked it.  Like most people the in-laws were focusing mainly on the destination and not the ship they are going to be on for 10 days – well maybe 7 for most people – now that is a mistake – because one should focus on what you want to do on board – a spa cruise – a eating expedition – or just one that you can dance all night.  So be sure to talk to your travel agent face to face – with a list of cruise ship that you found online and make sure the travel agent knows what the cruise ship is offering their vacation party.

If you are booking for a cruise – make sure you try and book early – the earlier the better.  For my in-laws – I’m afraid I won’t be getting a good cabin for them – because it is pretty late to book for the fall cruise.  Early birds gets a discount – and you also get a choice of your cabin.  6 months – is a good time for booking a cruise and if you are lucky – one can get as much as 50% discount – pretty neat eh.

More cruise tips on another post.

Sky Tower

NZ flag

A view of the city from our hotel’s balcony

A bungee jump thingie.

Woohoo!! palm tree in NZ !

Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World

This summer had been an interesting summer for us – not only are we doing a bit of traveling ourselves – the nephews are going backpacking to Europe.   The grandparents and aunts were a little bit worried and apprehensive but i told them that I had gone backpacking at their age too and given the right information and safety procedures to follow – the boys will do fine – I believed strongly.   So the preparation started like 2 months ago – getting their passports and visa ready and of course their air tickets and accommodation plans – and since they are going on a budget – we had to get them some really good carry all – like the  Gregory Backpacks that was recommended.    So the boys left yesterday – and their adventure begins – and we will meet them halfway in Paris – in about 2 weeks.  More on the backpacking – and the nephews trips later.

Health retreats are getting more and more popular here in the West  but we’ve all gone for a few in the East especially around Bali and Thailand but lately – I have been seeing more and more inns offering health retreats specializing in detox programs and yoga sessions.   I think it is a very smart idea to have these health retreats to help revitalize and rejuvenate  – now if they have these opiate detox done with the view of the harbor and rooftop setting or just about any Balinese view  – I think I wouldn’t mind spending time there and doing my detox either.   But yes!  I found one right here in our backyard – a Yoga retreat place combined with a wellness program  – I think it is an awesome program – for those who wants a better lifestyle – or who needs help with detoxing your body – plus it’s nice to be able to tell people that you went for a health retreat – afterall, detox is like a health retreat right.

I’ve flown on Malaysian Airlines many a times on first class and to fly first class in domestic flight on this airline is super cheap – maybe that is why Malaysian Airlines not allowing babies on their first class seats?   This new rule does not sit well with a lot of parents of course.  But the business class cannot be that bad either right?   So if you are flying from KL to Amsterdam, London or Sydney with babies – forget about flying in first class seats and because of what Malaysian Airlines is doing – I hear that other airlines are thinking of doing the same too.    Now that would not be good at all.