Euro Travel & More

While I go to Farmer’s Market as often as I can while traveling for the food – I also loved the ones in Australia – Sydney best because of all the trinkets you can buy.  But yard sales are fun too because you can get things you need for really cheap – I found all sorts of stuff that I want from both the Farmers market as well as the yard sales nearby.  As much as I enjoyed the organic and home made stuff – i love hand made jeweleries and hand made bags & shoes too. I used to buy Beading Tools online but also found some lovely handmade stuff  online as well but it’s nice to be able to try it first before buying them.

These are lovely right?  yes great presents to bring back for the kids – your nieces and friend’s daughters.  I found some gems to bring home – because you can’t bring that much jam home can you and fly home with you – too heavy.

Another pretty store in a yard sale in Australia.

More food – and home bake stuff

Fresh bread – organic anyone?

I haven’t been to Beijing for many years but the friend who just came back from a study trip showed and shared this pictures with me.  This was his first time there – and lets look at Beijing from another eye.

While there were many places that I’ve been to already – there were some new ones that I haven’t seen for myself in Beijing.  But like any Asian country that is flourishing both in natural resources and the tourist industry – Beijing continue to grow and continued to build more high rises.   They retained the old but never stuck in the old – amazing these Chinese are.

One of the few temples that I haven’t been to.

More of the same temple.

Wonder what this mean – hahah!  probably saying the Chinese people are as hardworking as their animals?

As for this pink statue – seriously i still don’t know what it meant and what is the purpose of it?  I will be going to Beijing again – that’s for sure – i’m just in awe with the many changes.

I’ve worked in the hotel industry for the longest time – from the back office to the front desk and have also traveled to the West and to Europe a lot because of work.  Once a General Manager in Asia asked me how different is the service in asia as compared to the west and I cannot begin to describe what I feel about the Western hospitality.

If you have met any of the Westerners in the hotels that I’ve worked in – they are amazed at how well and respected they are treated – so much so – that they get spoiled in Asia.  Many businessmen who comes into the hotels that I’ve worked in – tells me that they don’t want to leave Asia and once upon a time I didn’t understand at all.

But after living in the West for so long and traveled around the West for so long – I can now fully understand the difference.  How different?  very!  while the receptionist in Asia tries their very best to accommodate your needs – in the West – the General Manager in a hotel – would never return your call even though you try to contact them for a reservation because the reservation department don’t answer their phones.

When you check into the hotel – there are no bell hops to help you – and when you ask for a late check out they can’t give you a straight answers.  While Asian hotels will negotiate the room rates – or long staying rates – our Western counterparts – don’t seems to care if the rooms are filled or not?   People in the hospitality industry in the West are less attentive to the needs of their customers it seems. And yes – i missed the Asian hospitality – and one can never explain to the West how they can treat their house guests better – because they don’t really care – so it seems.  What are your experiences?  care to share with me?

Shopping in UK need not be in London alone – in fact – there are different part of UK – that one can travel and see lots of historical and cultural stuff.  I was once in Leeds, UK for a festival in the summer and found that I can come to like Leeds a lot too.

I love all the old buildings in Leeds – they make me think of the Kings and Queens in this modern world of ours.  So where is Leeds – I hear everyone asking me – when i returned from the festival – well it is in West Yorkshire, England.  So how did i get there?   We took the railway from London up to Leeds and if i remember correctly – it didn’t take too long to reach Leeds from London Kings Cross.

Look at the beautiful and majestic looking arch – i lived for old constructions like these.

More shopping if you want to.

My favorite store.

We started early in the day after breakfast – therefore you don’t see much people around – but later in the afternoon – this area was bustling with people.

Gotta love these independent shop houses.

English bears! i know of someone who has one since 1982.

The Light – plenty of shops here – from exclusive shops to the luxury – and have a cup of coffee in one of their quaint cafes if you are tired.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the museum nor watch a sport game – which Leeds is very famous for.  Maybe the next time eh.

We took a trip one year to Canada’s oldest national park but we weren’t expecting it to be that cold and wasn’t really prepared for it.  Banff National Park is in the Canadian Rockies and the view was awesome!  In the province of Alberta – the forest is quite dense and the alpine landscapes were breath-taking.

The park is open for all 4 seasons – reason being because they have the best maintained roads I’ve seen in Canada.   We reached Lake Louise which wasn’t too far away from here using Highway 1.

We did checked out the hot spring (not natural but man made) – famous i heard – while the rest went on hiking.  I didn’t take any pictures there – for fear some guest/s wouldn’t like it too much.  We headed back to the town of Banff after the spring – too crowded.  Down at Bow Falls we could have opted for white water rafting but didn’t – we decided to take a walk instead.  Then we ended up having dinner at a pub – i think it is German if i recall correctly.  More pictures in another post.

The girlfriend who was visiting her in-laws in Colorado had invited me and some of my friends to go with her one year and we agreed.  The host were very gracious and brought us to the Grand Canyon for a day tour.   It wasn’t too far from where they lived and we took a road trip and arrived way before lunch.  The sight was breath-taking of course and we only managed to take a few photos because  – the in-laws wasn’t feeling too hot.

You can imagine how hot it was – but there are tour buses if you are not living nearby and want to go visit the Grand Canyon – we saw quite a few that day.

Some people do a little hiking – some a little rafting – some just sit around taking a sip of water and enjoying the wonders of the world – but we ?  we ate – hahah!! we brought a picnic lunch.

The Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon seems to be the most popular -  layers and layers of rock here.  And if you are a first time hiker – the Bright Angel Trail apparently will be your best bet.  The Grand Canyon is known as a very spiritual place. People come here to find peace and/or be amazed by the grandness of our planet.  So if you are in Arizona – make sure you make a trip up here – shuttle buses do come up here.

For those who have never been to Malaysia – the rustic part of Malaysia is usually the best part – not only do you really get to feel and experience the real culture of the Malaysians – one get to try out the famous durian – king of fruits – by the roadside.  You don’t see this very often in Kuala Lumpur but if you travel further into Malaysia like Batu Ferringhi – you will see many of these stores around – and these are the most awesome places to eat.  Don’t be deceived by the dirty looking environment – because they are not only cheap but they have the best durian here.

Some awesome view after taking the windy and spiral road up to Batu Ferringhi.

When we were in Korea many years ago, well – when i was a kid – i went with the church to the prayer mountain – what a waste of time then.  We didn’t really get to see very much then – but when I was much older and a girlfriend showed me all the Louis Vuitton handbags she got from Korea – i told myself, I had to go there for sure.  So when i was posted there for a meeting for carpark meters some years ago – i was darn happy.

Besides the normal shopping and touristy places and drinking holes that we went to – we also had to see the world’s largest indoor theme park – Lotte World of course!   We should have taken the subway but instead a co-worker there drove us and we ended up using roadside assistance because his car broke down.

Lotte World reminds me a lot about DisneyLand and Sanrio World and you can find a theme park hotel, a museum, many shopping malls and monorail, movie theatre and lots more – both adults and kids will enjoy this place.  We spent like 6 hrs in the theme park and never even finished all the rides.

Opens as early as 9.30am and closes at 11pm – we only waited for the fireworks to end and left – but if you go after 5pm – entrance fees are cheaper.

Pretty magical eh.

Don’t forget to try the Gyro Drop !  It’s awesome awesome!  a great view from the top but hold on tight when you are coming down.   The drop is about 400 feet down and it was really breath-taking – or rather – you can’t breathe.

We all love the carousel but we were too shy to go on it – but some of our co-workers did and made a fool of themselves.

The Sutera Harbour Resort is located in Sabah, Kota Kinabalu – it is a huge property with wireless internet surrounding the entire resort.  The resort is located about 15 mins away from the airport and it’s is so central – i like it that I can get out of the resort and go to the heart of the city within minutes.

The resort was very crowded but surprisingly – people leave you alone to do your own thing – like sitting in a cabana and enjoying a view.

Love all the island – surrounding the resort – look how peaceful it was.

Yay!! a sunset bar !! for those who needs a cocktail!

Love the surrounding ! so peaceful!

I’ve only been to Penang like 15 times in total and each time I visit Penang – whether it is for work or vacation – Penang never fails to amaze and amuse me where food is concerned.  Food is cheap!!  and when i say cheap – i mean really cheap – of course – one should visit the touristy places but one place you should go to is Gurney Drive in Penang.  The above picture reminds me of Clark Quay in Singapore – this open air vast space of eateries – you do not get here in the Canada.  I was on www.toprateddietpills.com when I was reminded of all the many wonderful eat trips I had made up with my friends and co-worker – eating in Penang is not for the weak hearted – i mean it in the real blood clotting way.

Penang is in Malaysia – further north of Malaysia with great food and lots of food – good and cheap.  One can experience all sorts of food – but make sure you have a local friend to bring you around because they really know where to find the best assam laksa or dim sum.

But of course – it’s not only street food  you can find in Penang – Penang has many good cafes and restaurants too.  And don’t forget to visit Hard Rock Cafe for that t-shirt or cap for souvenir.