traveling | beyond toxicity

Posts Tagged ‘traveling

Jun

NIGHT SAFARI SINGAPORE : I DIDN’T LIKE

There. The title of this blog post said it all. But bear in mind that I don’t have aversion to zoos or nocturnal animals; in fact, my wife, Tina and I usually enjoy accompanying our son, Gabby to a few zoos we’ve been to and we consider each trip informative and educational. Zoos and eco-parks apparently promote environmental awareness and appreciation, particularly among those who have no chance of going to a real safari or experience wildlife. Zoos, to us, is the next best thing.

While we liked River Safari Singapore which is located a stone’s throw away from Night Safari, we felt otherwise with the latter. I don’t mean to discourage anyone from going there to see those nocturnal zoologic creatures. Our experiences and perceptions of course, may vary. What I don’t favor might be your preference and vise versa. What matters to me is the fact that the experience killed my (family’s) curiosity and the conclusion I made after that perhaps, one visit to Night Safari Singapore for me and my family’s enough.

Thank you, iVenture card See Singapore Package!

Thank God we didn’t spend a cent for the admission fees as our visit was sponsored by iVenture Card that provided us complimentary 2-day See-Singapore-Unlimited-Pass. Despite the fact that we didn’t have much fun at Night Safari, the other attractions and theme parks included in the iVenture Card package appear to be more fascinating, engaging and interesting. Check out the list below :

Sourced from iventurecard.com. With a lot of choices of packages to choose from (1-day, 2-day, 3-day, 4-day or 5-day pass) and a volume of theme parks and attractions to go to, iVenture card really spells convenience and value for money!

Going to Night Safari from Ang Mo Kio MRT Station and taking Bus 138 to the gates itself of this theme park wasn’t an issue, although it took us around an hour and a half travel time, one way and another almost two hours for return. Directions on how to get there and the other details of iVenture Card, click THIS!

Why I didn’t like Night Safari

It’s not about the waiting time. I’ve been to Disneyland in Anaheim, Disneyland and Disney Sea in Tokyo, and of course, Hong Kong Disneyland where waiting time on the queue per ride is usually longer than 30 minutes. So that of Night Safari wasn’t an issue too.

And more than 30 minutes, Tina, Gabby and I boarded one of these trams finally!

I told myself silently, “Nocturnal adventure, here we come!” I took photos of my family here and there. However, my excitement plummeted after I heard the tour guide’s pleasant voice from the first tram prohibiting flash photography. Ugh oh. Frankly, I expected it. But what I wasn’t prepared of was the fact that during the 45-minute-tram-ride, the tram only slowed down where the featured nocturnal animals are and I personally felt that we didn’t have enough time to appreciate them. Obviously it’s dark and even if that the animals are under a few spotlights, we barely saw them unlike going to the usual zoo during the day (Too bad, we didn’t choose Singapore Zoo!). Yes, tourists can take a guided walking tour after the tram ride but as for us, we didn’t want to walk in the dark even if there’s a staff to accompany us and explain this and that.

What about the other shows and food available inside Night Safari? Are they as boring as the tram ride? Well, I can’t tell the show every weekend that we skipped called, Creatures of the Night. But we did watch that fire-dancing-fire-blowing acts while seated to fill our gastric pits with what we thought initially interesting safari menu. It was nothing new as we’ve seen far better performances in streets, circus acts and stages during fiestas and whatnot back home. Again, to each his own.

The participant from the audience gamely opened his mouth wide to eat fire.

Nah. The performers didn’t put fire on the volunteer’s mouth. The volunteer seemed to enjoy his moment. Good for him!

Schedules of this fire act were 6:30PM and 8:30PM, weekends. So after taking the tram ride for almost an hour, we went back near the entrance grounds, found a table to eat dinner and there were more fire blown here and there on stage, while we were waiting for our meals. Was it thrilling enough for my family to leave our table and seats and troop to the area near the stage? Not much. Thanks to the camera’s zooming capacity, Tina and I took turns in capturing some photos to share. Sorry, but even if we know the performers did exert efforts for the show, but the act looked nothing extraordinary.

These boys are on fayeeeeeeerrr!!! hahaha!

On the food department, Night Safari has variety, from Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, to a few more stalls to fill in the hungry tummies. We chose Bongo Feast but weren’t satisfied too. With mediocre tastes of what we sampled, prices were too steep in my vocabulary (the meals, fyi, weren’t complimentary).

Spring Chicken for Gabby SGD 14.90++

Bongo Beef Burger for me. SGD 14.90++

Fish and Chips for Tina. SGD 15.90++

Tina had coffee but when I asked for creamer or at least milk, Bongo Feast had none. They didn’t run out but they really don’t provide. We didn’t even order black coffee, for goodness’ sake. Oh my!

Have you been to Night Safari Singapore? Did you like it?

>><<

*While this is a sponsored blog post, the words are all mine unless quoted, and were never influenced by anyone.

*This family staycation in Singapore is made possible by :

iVenture Card Singapore | website : www.iventurecard.com

and ibis Hotel Singapore on Bencoolen | website : www.ibis.com

This post is a part of Singapore Blog Series : May 2013.

Jun

INSPIRING SINGAPORE 05/24/2013

By docgelo 18 Comments

Memories of not so distant past. Singapore Food Trail, Singapore Flyer.

En route to board Singapore Flyer. Photo taken by my lovely wife, Tina.

Years before 2010, I never expected to experience Singapore, neither I thought I’d set foot on one of the most expensive cities until chance made it possible to go in and out of the Lion City a few times over with Tina and Gabby for holidays, because of its proximity (if that’s the proper term for 1 hour ride via plane or 9 hours via bus on a night trip) and accessibility to our current home (and work) base in Penang. We’re grateful for everything and appreciate all the lessons and memories we’ve collected, all the flavors we’ve tasted, even more thankful for the people we met within the past trips.

The Helix Bridge, patterned after DNA, viewed on board Singapore Flyer. May 24, 2013, Friday.

Singapore has been so inspiring!

Who would’ve thought that a small fishing village would become what it is today?

To see her from the top at 360 degrees for the second time was nothing short of wonderful!

It was drizzling when we boarded Singapore Flyer last 05/24/2013.

Isn’t that baby too cute to pass as Gabby’s little brother? hehehe!

We reached Singapore Flyer via taxi cab from Orchard Road where we met our good friend, Gina who’s based in Singapore for 3 years now. She generously waited for us at Jollibee Lucky Plaza from 10AM to 12 noon because we arrived at ibis Hotel on Bencoolen a bit later than expected from our 9-hour-bus-ride from Penang. After we feasted at Gina’s Jollibee lunch treat, she even accompanied us to Singapore Flyer that made our kamustahan even longer. We bid goodbyes and promised us she’ll find time to visit us in Malaysia soon. We like her so much because despite her accomplishments on being an IT-expert in Singapore, MBA-certified from ADMU, US-Registered Nurse and all, she remains humble in every sense of the word and so fun to talk to. More like the Lion City, Gina’s inspiring!

Before Gina left that Friday-Holiday (Wesak Day) afternoon, I went my way to the counter at Singapore Flyer to collect our iVenture Cards. We were fortunately invited by iVenture Card Singapore and were provided 2-day-See-Singapore Unlimited Attraction Pass package to sample in all the theme parks included on their list. Details of iVenture Card, its packages and inclusives on my blog post HERE!

By availing iVenture Card See Singapore package, you’ll enjoy savings because it’s truly value for money, and will delight in the volume of choices and absolute convenience.

Gabby posing as unofficial endorser of iVenture Card. Pwede?

Just before boarding the capsule, inside Singapore Flyer, the kid found a paradise.

Thank you, iVenture Card Singapore!

After our 30-minute-Singapore Flyer-flight, we trooped to the ground level and I led Tina & Gabby to Singapore Food Trail. I liked it the first time I saw it last year when I was invited to attend Singapore Blog Awards. The food court was impressively patterned after famous streets in the city with replicas of hawker stalls selling local must-eat. It was still early to have dinner so we opted to have something to beat the bipolar Singaporean weather. I thought Tina & Gabby would like the Ice Kachang and Ice Ball and they did but not the Bird’s Nest Drink I bought for them. At least we try to sample something local whenever we go somewhere. It’s best to travel using all of your senses.

After the almost obligatory bladder break just before we head to the next tourist spot included in the iVenture Card See-Singapore package, I randomly spotted a very fascinating and charming corner inside Singapore Food Trail. It was a small but quaint area where all the memorabilia and treasures of the recent past were beautifully installed. No fees needed, it’s a free visual treat! We were happy like kids who first saw playgrounds and playmates!

Vintage bottled beverages.

Old school cam. Just gorgeous.

AM-FM Radio.

Caption not needed.

Soda/Softdrinks wooden cases.

Turn table, baby!

Cash register, the coolest we saw!

No typographical error, please! hehe! Thanks to evolution, blogging was born!

And many more eye candies…

We found happy moments between Sinagpore’s past, present and future on board the capsule of Singapore Flyer and inside Singapore Food Trail.

Everything was made cost-effective and easy with iVenture Card See Singapore Package; thank you very much!

Happy times in Singapore. May 24-26, 2013.

*While this is a sponsored blog post, the words are all mine unless quoted, and were never influenced by anyone.

*This family staycation in Singapore is made possible by :

iVenture Card Singapore | website : www.iventurecard.com

and ibis Hotel Singapore on Bencoolen | website : www.ibis.com

This post is a part of Singapore Blog Series : May 2013.

Apr

AN EVENING OF LIGHTS AT KHOO KONGSI

By docgelo 13 Comments

*Ornate details of the Prayer Pavilion, Khoo Kongsi

27 April 2013. Saturday. While most people in Penang were probably watching Iron Man 3 in cinemas or perhaps, resting at home after an entire work or school week and a whole day’s household chores as in the case of my wife and our kid, I left our place at around 5PM, hopped on the bus, took the 15 minute ferry ride from Butterworth to George Town and rode another bus to Lebuh Chulia, then strolled my way to Cannon Street with nothing in mind but to revisit one of the incredibly majestic clan houses in Penang, the Khoo Kongsi.

Yes, I’ve been to Khoo Kongsi before and I’ve blogged it a few times already but I’ve never experienced the “Evening of Lights At Khoo Kongsi” celebrated every last Saturday of the month at 7PM. It is when the entire Prayer Pavilion of Khoo Kongsi beams and shines against the royal blue sky!

Since I still have prepaid Rapid-Penang-Bus unlimited-ride-card for the month of April, and the usual admission rate of 10 ringgit (USD 3.30) to Khoo Kongsi was waived during this event, I only spent 1.20 ringgit (USD 0.40) on the roundtrip ferry ride and 13.50 ringgit (USD 4.45) for a personal favorite Indian plate with Mango Lassi from Restoran Kapitan at Little India.

*Chicken Tandoori Set at RM10 (served with Cheese Naan) washed down with Mango Lassi, RM3.50. Dinner solb!

The gates of Khoo Kongsi located at Cannon Street were guarded and only opened at 7PM. After grabbing some bites at Restoran Kapitan, I went back to this famous clan house and simply waited for moments when everyone’s done with their obligatory photo-ops with the gorgeous Prayer Pavilion as their backdrop. I was lucky to have a chance to capture the beauty of the Prayer Pavilion of Khoo Kongsi with less tourists and visitors as people began to flock after I left the area.

*Once again, I marveled at the grandiosity of Khoo Kongsi with all elegance from Fujian architecture.

“From the late 18th century to 1850, the Khoos migrated from Sin Kang Village in China to Penang and involved themselves in trades and other careers. They formed a closely-knit community, took care of each other and gathered on the 5th day of the 5th Moon every year to celebrate the birthday of Tua Sai Yah. In 1835, they founded the Ee Kok Tong as an early form of clan association. The basement of Leong San Tong has been converted into the Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi Museum.” sourced from www.khookongsi.com.my

Who would not be in awe with this excellent Oriental structure built from exquisite craftmanship in woodcarving, stone carving, coloured drawing, stucco sculpture, cut-and-paste decoration and tiled roof?

The Prayer Pavilion faces a courtyard intended for gatherings then and now, and a huge stage built for Opera and other performances. And for this weekend’s event, Chinese drums were installed that provided the beat and accompanied the traditional lion dances.

This is how big the Khoo Kongsi compound is!

I was silently jumping for joy when the blue hour (at around 7:30-7:50PM here in Penang) came! Happy to capture photos of Khoo Kongsi during this time despite the lack of tripod.

Good thing the lion dance performers and “prosperity mascots” with the drummers and cymbals on stage deviated the attention of the people from the Prayer Pavilion; I had a few minutes of camera clicks without tourists and other photographers around it.

This monthly Evening of Lights At Khoo Kongsi was supposed to end at around 10PM with other entertainers to performs but I left the place at around 8PM. En route back to Chulia Street, I failed to resist and captured a couple more photos of the corner of Cannon and Armenian Streets…

plus that iconic landmark in George Town which is a Muslim worship place, the Kapitan Keling Mosque…

Over all, I enjoyed my Saturday evening and considered it a blessing that eased out my stress from work. Engaging in activities and sights like this is a welcome respite from my almost routinary life at my desk in the Faculty Room and in the classrooms.

*How did you spend your weekend?

*More photos on my earlier blog post about Khoo Kongsi –> HERE!

Apr

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : UP

By docgelo 25 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS, MALAYSIA and TRAVEL
Tags: doc gelo, docgelo, jonker street, malacca, malacca malaysia, malaysia tourism, melaka, photography, TRAVEL, traveling, where to go in southeast asia

*Eye-catching, isn’t it?

Erected in the middle of Jonker Street, Malacca, Malaysia is the giant replica of ship used by great Chinese explorer and sailor, Admiral Zheng He. It measures 30 meters in length and 23 meters in height, weighing nearly two-tons, hoisted at the entrance of the famous touristy spot, Jonker Walk for the Chinese New Year celebration.

This is my entry to Weekly Photo Challenge : Up

*This Melaka Blog Series includes :

We Wore Baba & Nyonya Traditional Attires
The Baboon House Malacca
Malacca River Cruise
Food Porn!!!
To be continued…

Apr

MELAKA MEMORIES : MALACCA RIVER CRUISE

By docgelo 19 Comments

*Ornate details of the elegantly handsome Victoria Regina fountain in front of Christ Church Melaka

The words on the tip of the fountain (not in photo) reads:

“Victoria Regina 1837-1901, erected by the people of Malacca in memory of a great Queen 1904.”

In so many ways, Melaka is as a family-friendly destination. Along with her heritage trail that preserved colonial structures from her historic past, is a bunch of modern attractions from theme parks to charming coffee shops and teeming with food stalls and eateries and night bazaars and whatnot, that effortlessly appeal to all ages. I must admit, Tina, Gabby and I were happy with our entire experience despite the fact that our three-day-two-night-family-trip was so unplanned, without hotel reservation and a limited budget at hand, everything surprisingly went smoothly and what really mattered most :

we all had fun!

In case you missed the previous posts on this series : On the afternoon of Black Saturday of 2013, we found ourselves in Malacca instead of crossing the southern Malaysian border on foot to revisit Singapore for a supposed sponsored trip (which was rescheduled last minute to fourth week of May due to unforseen circumstances; we cannot wait!). Cliche as it may sound, it was truly a blessing in disguise as we finally discovered Melaka; we loved every moment we spent there to bits.

One of the highlights of our short break to one of Malaysia’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, was embarking on the touristy boat ride via the Malacca River Cruise.

*Doing that touristy thing!

Before we rode the boat for that famous river cruise, we paid an almost obligatory visit to the iconic landmark, the Dutch Protestant, Christ Church Melaka…

*Arguably, one of the most photographed places in entire Malaysia, the Christ Church Melaka

We admired that Queen Victoria fountain in front of the church…

And never missed to take tons of photos, of course (oh, one of those things we do best! lol).

*Heavily armed and dangerous! lol

*Happy we were here!

Christ Church Melaka, the Clock Tower and the Stadhuys Museum that was previously the administrative office, all in terracotta red color make up the Dutch Square or Red Square.

After quick homage to those must-visit-spots, we walked our way to the jetty where ticket booth to the Melaka River Cruise is located.

*I love this photo! While my lovely wife was ever ready for a close up, our adorable son’s busy with munching! Behind my family are another tourist drawers to Melaka -those overly adorned trishaws!

Few steps more, et voila! The area where the 45-minute-river-cruise starts. No, we didn’t ride that galleon ship, hahaha! I wish!

We bought 15 rinngit per adult tickets and 7 ringgit per kid. This is Malaysia so admission rates are higher foreigners. No further questions.

Finally, we had a glimpse our ride…

It was our first time in Melaka and I was the most excited. “Hey, wait, honey, Gabby. Picture!”

The sight reminded me of the title of a movie of my youth, ”A River Runs Through It.”

All aboard! Here we go!

The boat passed under several pedestrian bridges that were vividly lighted by greens, blues and a few more hues at dusk.

“On your right is the St. Francis Church…. on your left is….this…and that…” heard from the recorded tour commentaries. With a reasonable price for the tour, I could not hope for a better interactive and live tour guiding. Or perhaps, there’s a boat with an actual tour guide but we had it otherwise.

Moving on, the river is cleaner than I expected. I personally liked the presence of few pedestrian bridges that link streets along the river. Even delighted with the fact that no bridge was built the same. Each has its own design and character.

River trees and mangroves keep the river alive.

Here’s hoping the authorities could do more efforts in maintaining cleanliness in and along the river.

Read somewhere that Melaka River was called, “Venice of the East.” Wow! Thankfully, it didn’t stink. Keep up the cleanliness, please!

Major attractions to the Malacca River Cruise were the colorful murals on the shop houses and inns and restaurants and residential and commercial buildings along the waters. It was something we had not seen before! Beautiful!

Spot the following : Vegetables, Moon Cake, Dim Sums, Rafflesia…

Look, there’s a monorail!

Monorail by the river. Amazing!

The 45-minute-10-kilometer-river cruise could also be a hop-on, hop-off for passengers as there are a few jetties at one side. One group of tourist from our boat decided to alight after the boat took a turn at the river’s end to go back from where we started.

And it’s true that the best way to experience Malacca River Cruise is between 6 to 7PM (or onwards) when the sky starts to become blue. If you must know, sun down in Malaysia comes after 7:30PM or so.

May not be a perfect photo but would love to share!

I’m guessing, this is the Eye of Malacca…

Passed under those well-lit pedestrian bridges…

More murals…

Blurry and imperfect and I’m so embracing it!

Red, red, red!

Then my family and I opted to hop off just in front of Christ Church Melaka in the Dutch Square…

Eenie minie miny moe…

There were a choices of restaurants and coffee shops on both sides of the river that apparently offer a romatic ambiance at night. I asked Tina if she wanted to have a dinner in any of those but she thought it might be more costly. We didn’t waste time and strolled our way to the nearby Jonker Street (I’ll have a separate blog post about it).

For now, here’s a glimpse of Jonker Street…

In my opinion, the Malacca River experience is never complete if one only saw her beauty from the boat. The river is totally different when the sun is up! Murals provide you another perspective at daytime.

Oops, do you see those dilapidated walls on the photo below? Something’s crying out loud for an urgent and careful restoration!

Small inns and guesthouses for backpackers (If we only knew they’re here!), mini-groceries and eateries are where the murals on. We spotted a mini-pasar (mini-mart) and had some thirst-quenchers. Look at us, mag-ama, tambay sa Melaka! lol

I was saddened by the sight that my most favorite mural along the Malacca River was dilapidated too! Authorities, when can you restore this?

Had we known that guesthouses and inns are what most of these painted walls are made of, we could’ve spent our two nights in one of them.

Stroll. Pause. Smile. Picture. Repeat. It’s a vicious yet happy cycle! Therapeutic actually! :D

The Malaccans know how to do it! Look at these orchids and other blooms and greens! Bravo!!!

Food murals along the Melaka River. Nice!

Photos, more photos!!!

My favorite mural, that Chinese Lion!

Another mural not to be overlooked…

Worries were melted, nothing in mind but fun, fun, fun with the family!

We’ll cherish all our fun and colorful memories from Melaka forever!

*This Melaka Blog Series includes :

We Wore Baba & Nyonya Traditional Attires
The Baboon House Malacca
Malacca River Cruise
To be continued…

*Since we had a CHANGE of travel destination from supposed Singapore to Malacca, this is my entry to WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : CHANGE

Apr

MELAKA! MALACCA!

By docgelo 18 Comments

Rocking the Baba, Nyonya Malaysian traditional attires | Christ Church Melaka, 31 March 2013.

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

We’re supposed to be in Singapore again from March 30 to midnight of April 2, 2013 but because of unforseen and inevitable circumstance that happened the last minute when we’re already in Johor Bahru (the state of Malaysia at the border prior to Singapore) on the daybreak of Black Saturday, our sponsors -a hotel in Singapore and an a-theme-park-access-card, and my family agreed that the sponsored trip to revisit the Lion City for blog review and feature is best rescheduled to last week of May 2013. Although cliche as it may sound, my family and I considered it a blessing in disguise because as of morning of April 2, 2013, our salaries for the month of March are yet to be issued by our employer, so pushing through with that much-anticipated Singapore adventure could’ve been a challenge on the pocket. Nonetheless, we’re still thankful to the sponsors for such invitation!

After almost 10 hours of travel via bus from Penang to Johor Bahru and learned that the trip was rescheduled, we didn’t dwell on the hassle but opted for the next best thing (affordable too!). Tina, Gabby and I grabbed quick breakfast bites from McDonald’s at Larkin Bus Station and purchased bus tickets at 19 ringgit each from JB to Melaka for that 9:30AM bus ride. We didn’t want to spoil everything and at least, we became excited to experience a place that’s new to our senses.

Without any hotel reservation and no itinerary at hand, we slept the 2 hour bus ride from Larkin Bus Station in Johor Bahru to Melaka Sentral in Malacca. And the rest was a 3D2N of nothing but family bonding, food and fun! Randomly, Beyond Toxicity will take you to our first ever Melaka trip!

Unplanned, Spontaneous, Random Trip to Malacca : Here we go!

On our second day in Melaka, we attended the 8:30AM Easter Sunday Mass at one of the most iconic landmarks in this UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dutch Protestant Church, Christ Church Melaka. Yes, we’re Catholics and experiencing other religious service of Christian faith in a completely new place to us was truly warm and welcoming. The mass that ended after 2 hours with full band and choir singing, was so similar to Catholic masses in order & sequence. After coming out of the church with smiles on our faces, holding Easter eggs and tiny lemon cake slices given by the choir members and the priests, Tina spotted two people with a clothesline of Malaysian traditional attires for rent at 7 ringgit (USD 2.26) per adult, 5 ringgit (USD 1.60) per kid. Next scenes unfolded ~ she asked me, “Gusto mo?” (“Do you like?”), then she began choosing what to wear for a few minutes of photo-op. Why not, choc nut?

While Malaysia is known to be a cultural melting pot in Southeast Asia, Baba and Nyonya in Penang and Melaka (also in Singapore and Indonesia) are people with rich and fascinating heritage. When Chinese, mostly traders, came to Malaysia and married Malays, Peranakan or descendants in Malay term were born. The term, Baba refers to male and Nyonya to female. Interestingly, Chinese culture and traditions were assimitated to Malay cutoms.

Wearing the Baba and Nyonya traditional attires for the moment was such an experience. Admittedly, the part could’ve been complete if we found time to visit the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum. Now that’s a good reason among many others, to revisit Melaka given another chance in the future.

Luckily, there was a Baba costume that fits my size, haha! While Gabby’s too big for the little Baba outfit, he donned Baju Melayu instead, complete with red sampin, a sarong wrapped around his hips. In our eyes, he looked like a very regal Malaysian prince!

Et voila! A Filipino family in Malaysian cultural outfits in front of Christ Church Melaka!

With permission, Tina took a shot of the next customer who rented another colorful Malaysian wear, an adorable little tourist who came with her parents too. The frame could’ve been nicer if we paired her with Gabby, hehehe!

Too cute for words!

Bagay po ba?

Before some closed minded ones conclude that we’re not being proud of our roots and prefer to wear foreign traditional attires, here’s a photo of our family taken at Mines View Park in Baguio City, Philippines that I’ve unearthed from this site’s previous posts. All for the sake of FUN!

In traditional attires from Northern Philippines. Blog post HERE!

*This Melaka Blog Series includes :

We Wore Baba & Nyonya Traditional Attires
The Baboon House Malacca
To be continued…

>><<

Mar

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : FUTURE TENSE

By docgelo 24 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS, SINGAPORE and TRAVEL
Tags: amateur photography, expat blogger, family, lifestyle, lifestyle blog, photoaday, photography, singapore, singapore skyline, skyline, TRAVEL, traveling, wordpress photo challenge

*Singapore Skyline taken from 1 Altitude Bar.

I chose this photo as my entry to Weekly Photo Challenge : Future Tense simply to make myself more thrilled of our upcoming sponsored family trip to Singapore next week! lol I was invited with my wife, Tina & our son, Gabby to revisit the Lion City to review a hotel and an all-theme-park-pass cards and feature them on this site. We cannot wait!

Feb

VOTE FOR DOCGELO.COM

By docgelo 20 Comments

For the second year in a row,

it is my honor that this blog is nominated

in the 2013 Ministry of Tourism Malaysia’s MITBCA Best Expat Blog Award category.

“Since the debut of the Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference & Awards in 2012 which rewarded some of the world’s most accomplished Travel-Social Media Bloggers, MITBCA 2013 is set to spin this year’s event with a more exciting approach, leaving others to admire and emulate upon. Malaysia has set its pace to be on the forefront of reach into social media. Undeniably, there is a definitive difference between monitoring our brand in social media and using traditional methodologies in reaching out to build on tourism numbers. Travel is certainly a very hot topic across all social media channels and is one of the Top Three online topics of discussion and engagement. It surely encourages new network build up, new clientele bases and new innovative ideas being put across.” ~Sourced from www.mitbca.com

Last year’s moments were surreal (blog post HERE!), and to be honest about it, I do not mind experiencing it again! But that’s impossible to happen without your generous support.

And why does this humble site deserve YOUR VOTE?

Let these photos that were previously featured in last year’s blog posts

remind you how my family and I create our own adventure here in Malaysia.

So if you believe this blog is worthy of your generosity,

Here’s how to VOTE

Go to this link : http://www.mitbca.com/category.php?id=9

then click the log in fb button,
once logged in to fb,
click the list of category and choose EXPAT,
then hit the VOTE button for docgelo.com.

Maraming salamat po!

Terima Kasih!

Thank you very much!

Mabuhay!

>><<

Feb

LANGKAWI MEMORIES

By docgelo 20 Comments

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO, FOOD & MORE FOOD!, ILOVEPHOTOS, MALAYSIA and TRAVEL
Tags: affordable accomodation in langkawi, beach, beach in malaysia, beaches in asia, best chicken rice, best chicken rice in malaysia, cenang beach, cenang beach langkawi, chalet, cheap accomodation in langkawi, chicken satay, doc gelo, docgelo, duty free, duty free shops in langkawi, expat blog, expatriate in malaysia, family, family oriented blog, family vacation, fastfood, food, food in langkwi, good accomodation in langkawi, hotels in langkawi, hotels in malaysia, indian food, internet lounge at airport, jollibee, kedah malaysia, lagu, lagu beach blanket, lagu singapore, langkawi, langkawi beaches, langkawi island, Life, life at the beach, lifestyle, lifestyle blog, malaysian food, mcdonald's, must visit in langkawi, must visit in malaysia, naan, overseas blogger, pantai cenang, penang, penang international airport, roti canai, shopping in malaysia, tourism, tourism malaysia, travel blog, traveling, travelling, what to eat in langkawi, where to go in langkawi, where to go in malaysia, white lodge chalet, white lodge chalet langkawi

24-27 January 2013. Langkawi Island, Kedah, Malaysia. No matter how short, a vacation can do no wrong when spent with people you love most and love you back. Tina, Gabby and I took advantage of the long public holiday here in Malaysia from January 24-28, 2013 (well, not actually as January 25th, Friday wasn’t a holiday so we filed a leave from work to maximize the fun) because of their celebration of Prophet Mohammad’s Birthday (January 24th Thursday) and Hindu’s Thaipusam (January 27, Sunday that made the next day a Replacement Public Holiday).

Time stood still upon the sight of this charming beach. Pantai Cenang, Langkawi. So happy to be here!

HOW WE REACHED LANGKAWI

When Tina and I were planning to go to this island paradise back in late November last year, we already crossed out the possibility of bringing our feet to Langkawi via ferry ride from Penang (about 2-3 hours), or from Kuala Perlis or Kuala Kedah simply because my lovely wife has vertigo; she gets dizzy easily on long ferry rides; she’s not fond of airplane rides either. She rarely travel without her anti-motion sickness pills. I thought the plan would not push through until I collected little earnings from a sponsor by posting an an airline food review, we both agreed to go to Langkawi via Air Asia with their promo-seat-sale. And man, the flight took us by surprise! It was like we just went on board to watch the pre-flight safety demonstration by the crew, went up at 11,000 feet for few minutes and then the plane took its smooth touchdown at the Langkawi airport at 25-minutes flat.

Prior to that shortest flight ever, my family and I were admiring the newly refurbished Penang International Airport. Recalling how it looked like when we first saw it in 2010, there’s a tremendous improvement on this terminal as seen on its minimalist architecture, clean lines on its interiors and commendable provision of FREE internet lounge at the boarding area. We’re very impressed by the changes! Look at my family’s smiles while grabbing siopao bites prior to boarding, there’s no sign that we almost missed our flight that late afternoon! Teehee!

OUR AFFORDABLE AND BEAUTIFUL ACCOMODATION

From the list of hotels in Langkawi that Tina obtained online, I narrowed the choices for our accomodation prioritizing location, comfort and cost. It seemed like we hit the jackpot when there was a promo-rate offered for a Deluxe Room at the time of our online reservation. And we’re all content with the decision to purchase a 4D3N stay at White Lodge Chalet. It only took us 20 minute-taxi ride that cost 20 ringgit (US$ 6.4) from Langkawi Airport before we arrived at this relaxing island abode. The lush and gorgeous walkway to the reception area was enough to remind us of the importance of savoring a change of environment from time to time. Such an incredibly welcoming respite!

Admittedly, all staff of White Lodge Chalet particularly those assigned at the reception area were all warm and friendly. They readily answered all my queries about the Island and best, they volunteered to phone a taxi cab prior to our departure to the airport on our last day. We proved that their services were rendered fast and efficient as we requested their maintenance to check and repair a minor and brief electrical interruption in our room.

Location was perfect for us. It’s secluded from the busy main road of Cenang; about 5-to-10 minute walk from Pantai Cenang or Cenang (pronounced as chenang) Beach.

I already paid the room reservation via agoda.com a month before our holiday so checking in was a breeze; they didn’t even ask for a deposit on top of the paid voucher upon arrival. After we got the keys and wifi’s username and password, we headed to our designated room. It may not be a beachfront hotel, neither a five-star-accomodation, what mattered most was the fact that we really enjoyed our days at White Lodge Chalet! Tina professed her wish to go back to the same budget hotel if we get a chance to go back to Langkawi.

Here’s the garden-path to our Deluxe Room at White Lodge Chalet Langkawi…

The room was relatively new; not too spacious neither very small. Everything’s good except for few little things like there’s no phone in our room to call the reception, the wifi’s weak, the flat-screen-TV didn’t have cable channels and the tissue holder at the toilet was installed near the shower. But all in all, we managed to enjoy our time at White Lodge Chalet.

After checking in, we dropped our luggage and bags and off we trooped to the beach! But before anything else, must take photos!

A few minute walk will take you to the main road of Cenang…

…where restaurants, eateries and Duty-Free-Shops are located.

Have I told you that Langkawi seems like our very own Boracay in the Philippines but with plenty of Duty-Free? It’s an island paradise cum shopping haven! Tina bought few chocolates as they’re in volume and cheap in these shops.

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At the back of that famous tourist attraction, Underwater World Langkawi, lies the beach…

PANTAI CENANG (CENANG BEACH)

This was how we contained our happiness the first time we experienced Cenang Beach…

Then went wackier for the pic :

Felt the powdery white sand on our hands and hurriedly soaked our feet! Something we do not do on a daily basis!

It was almost 7PM and the sunset came as usual (in Malaysia) at around 7:30PM. It was time to leave the beach for dinner. Langkawi of course, boasts of freshest catch from the sea! We suddenly missed going to Dampa restaurants back home where you buy your ingredients from the market and ask restaurant people to cook your goods the way you want it -grilled, buttered, fried, in broth and whatnot! Hmmmmm!

There’s that airconditioned Cenang Mall and the main road itself offers a wide variety of choices of food places from hawkers and fastfood joints. We tried to sample local dishes but found nothing extraordinary compared to Penang; we ended up having dinner in this Tomato Nasi Kandar, a decent Indian eatery.

We had Chicken Satay in Peanut Sauce, Gabby’s favorite -Cheese Naan dipped in dahl, Buttered Chicken Masala and 3 orders of Roti Canai (which was so affordable at 80 cents | US $ 0.25 per plate!) and washed everything down with a can of Coke (sinful, I know!) and a gulp of fresh watermelon juice! Solb!

“The sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal.” #CSLewis

After filling our tummies and while waiting for the bill, Gabby and Tina made fun of themselves by playing one of Gabby’s antics. He calls this game, STARING CONTEST.

Without umbrellas, we were halted by a downpour and had to wait for half an hour under the shades of a sidestreet bazaar.

Thank God, it rained; it made me appreciate the wet colored tiles of the sidewalk. The patterns were amazing!

We continued strolling down the main road back to our room. Here’s a rundown of the interesting things we saw…

SECOND DAY AT THE BEACH

We thought of catching the sunrise by the beach but we’re too weak to resist the lure of curling under the sheets. We gave in to our desire to sleep longer; after all, that’s included in the philosophy of a break, isn’t it? Nothing’s more delicious than waking up without worries of battling with an alarm clock.

It was already high noon when we left our room. That red roof on the left side of the next photo below was our room for 4 days in Langkawi. And the structures on the right are called vacation homes by White Lodge Chalet. Spotted a Mini which is so common on the roads here.

Kodakan right in front of our room : Say ,cheese! :)

Inside a tiny wooden gazebo in the garden…

And at the walkway near the reception area…We loved this place!

Trying to avoid KFC as we commonly eat it almost twice a week when at work and in the absence of our favorite Filipino fastfood, Jollibee in this part of the globe, we opted for the next best thing on our list. ‘Love din namin ‘to!

Cravings : satisfied. Time to worship God and appreciate His beautiful creations by the beach!

We also like the fact that there are chalets and locally-themed accomodation at the beachfront but indubitably, the area can get crowded and noisy unlike if the hotel’s tucked somewhere near.

After Tina chose a spot to while away time, she spread our beach-friendly, sand-repellant Lagu blanket. Thanks, Lagu Singapore for this one; we welcome additional gifts in other vibrant colors #shamelessplugging!

Perhaps, one of the highlights of our family bonding on this Langkawi vacation was the moment Gabby and I flew this 5-ringgit kite that we brought all the way from Penang. We came prepared, you know!

The wind and sea breeze were perfectly blowing so flying this plastic birdie wasn’t an effort. It was whole lot of fun! I think I enjoyed it more than Gabby, lol. The only problem was, we all forgot to bring our sunnies and the scorching heat was unforgiving to the eyes! Nonetheless, it was surreal!

While Tina was having her ME-time at one shaded corner of the beach, it was a pleasure accompanying the little-big-boy in collecting seashells by the seashore. #soundsliketonguetwister.

We called it a day inside our room watching movies and munching junk foods.

THIRD DAY : BEST CHICKEN RICE AND PANTAI TENGAH (TENGAH BEACH)

As the plan to catch another sunrise by the beach was drowned again by long hours of sleep, we left our room at almost noon to take lunch. Tina’s craving for Chicken Rice was satisfied! We highly recommend Mr. Tan’s Famous Chicken Rice along the road in Cenang! Two thumbs up for this ultimately flavorful Chicken Rice served with soup!!! The wannabe-food-connoisseur in me told Tina that my palates sensed a-no-preservative dish in the plate and on the soup. Mr. Tan must not be fond of using chicken cubes but freshest ingredients only. Very nice indeed! So budget-friendly and cleanly served for only 5 ringgit (US$ 1.60) per plate! It goes without saying that I had two servings and unbelievably, it was the same case for Gabby! The chicken was not steamed but roasted to perfection! Dare I say it’s the best Chicken Rice we’ve tasted in Malaysia. Need I say more?

When in Langkawi, must eat here! Sarap! Sedap! Delicious!

Dining al fresco was never been better! Great tasting and cheap food enjoyed with family, provision of free table napkins (which is a rarity in Penang hawkers!) and a warm service from Mr. Tan! Everything’s awesome!

Too lazy to hit the beach at high noon, we decided to go back and cool down inside our room. We dozed off until late afternoon.

Just outside our room, Gabby dried his shells on those immaculate chairs that I wanted to bring home.

We woke up before 6PM and hit the roads again. The walk towards Tengah Beach from White Lodge Chalet took us around 20 minutes. Although Pantai Tengah runs continuously with the waters of Pantai Cenang with only a chunk of rocks and a slope of a hill dividing the beaches, one can easily know the difference between the two. If you’re into water sports like parasailing and jet skiing, Pantai Tengah is it! While if you’re like us who prefer finer and more powdery sand, go enjoy Cenang Beach!

Here are the scenes from Tengah Beach…

I love this monochrome portrait of Tina despite the blur. #lovely #happy #surreal

Also in Pantai Tengah, we spotted a Malaysian jelly fish ashore.

We failed more than once to catch the sunrise from Langkawi but we’re glad to appreciate the glorious sunset by Pantai Tengah.

Dinner time. Oh yeah, McDonald’s again.

Langkawi offers so many tourist adventures like the famous cable car that provides a panoramic view of the island with a Sky Bridge (some say you can even view the neighboring Thailand from there), a stroll inside Oriental Village filled with souvenir shops and other attractions, a trek to Seven Wells, a visit to the Eagle Square, gardens, museums and mosques, the Underwater World near Cenang Beach and of course, island hopping and eagle-spotting. We missed all those for some reasons (ask Gabby!) but nevertheless, they remain a notion for us to go back and revisit this wonderful island paradise in the near future. *crossed fingers and toes*

Honestly, we’re grateful and happy we did nothing but beach-bumming and eating in Langkawi. Even for a while, Tina and I were relieved from stress and worries about work (and perhaps, Gabby too with routine life in school). It may not be as interesting and fascinating as what the other tourists usually do iin this island but our simple break defined what we badly need. We created a no-game-plan-vacation and just allowed time to take its course. It was wonderful!

LAST DAY IN LANGKAWI

We checked out from White Lodge Chalet and left our luggage and bags at the reception area. We went back to the same Chicken Rice stall by the road and ordered the same thing for lunch. Gabby had two servings again! It’s that addicting, I kid you not.

After that quick lunch, we went back to the reception area and waited for few minutes for the taxi cab they phoned for us. We opted to kill time inside Langkawi Airport rather than rushing to catch the flight again. We arrived here around 2PM and waited for our flight 3 and a half hours after. We chilled in our favorite coffee shop with these yummies…

C’mmon, don’t count those calories! lol

As for me, I’m counting memories…

Bye-bye, Langkawi! Thank you very much for everything, we had so much fun! Till we meet again!

And just before the 25-minute-flight touchdown at Penang International Airport, I luckily got a good shot of Penang’s inviting coastline. Hello, Penang! We’re so back and recharged.

Until our next family bonding adventure!

*This is NOT a sponsored post.

>><<

Jan

CHIANG MAI SERIES : DOI SUTHEP

By docgelo 24 Comments

29 December 2012. Saturday. Past Noon. Chiang Mai, Thailand. After being thrilled like a kid at Chiang Mai Zoo with my very first sighting of pandas and koalas, I thought I was content with my weekend and was ready to go back to my guesthouse and sleep the afternoon away until I saw red taxi cabs that are locally called, songthaews (literally means 10-seater-2-row-cab) in the main road near the exit of the zoo with dispatchers yelling, “Doi Suthep, Doi Suthep!” There must be some force that compelled me to walk towards them and ride the cab with other 9 passengers to Doi Suthep.

I was certainly clueless that the roads from Chiang Mai Zoo to the said temple are zigzag and uphill (think of Baguio and Antipolo Cities in the Philippines). I only learned after the trip that Doi Suthep is the name of the mountain where the wat is located. That explains everything, your honor! I rest my case. Toinks!

After paying my fare of 40 baht to the old lady who happens to be the wife of the songthaew driver, I was alarmed to see her taking the ride with us on that estribo. I admired her being so carefree but at the same time, I became worried for her being risky at her age. Oh, the things you do to earn a living! With my amusement at her happy character, I asked her permission to be photographed. My heart skipped a beat when she smiled instantly with her chinky eyes and let go of her grip to make a peace sign. I was extremely terrified that she might lose her grip with another hand so I clicked my cam immediately and thanked her. She stood on the estribo collecting fares from passengers until we reached the mountain and Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep 45 minutes after. If I only knew how to speak Thai, I could have told her to take extra-care and be safe always. She reminded me so much of my late grandmother who took care of me from my childhood years.

Upon alighting from the 10-seater-red-cab, I finally saw the foot of Doi Suthep temple bustling with food and souvenir stalls. I hurried to the information counter and asked how to reach the wat. There are two ways to go up–either to take the 300-plus-step-stairs to the temple for free or faster and time-saving via the inclined cable car or travelator with a 50-baht-two-way-fee. I chose the one with less energy requirement as I was too lazy and tired to climb the stairs after wandering the whole morning at the zoo (lame excuse!).

Expressions of faith at the facade of the temple greeted me. Although I am non-Buddhist, it was very inspiring to witness how people from all walks of life practice their religion and devotion. The spiritual atmosphere was overwhelming!

It was a pleasant surprise to watch cultural performances at the facade of the Wat. Before I brought my feet inside the shrine, I spent almost an hour admiring these young ones dressed in their traditional attires. I’ve seen them in their most candid moments and during their cultural dance performances right in front of the temple.

The traditional Thai music and dances were very impressive! Vibrant colors, soothing Oriental music, exotic moves and burning incense sticks over soft uttering of prayers summed up to an incredible sensory feast!

It was almost 3PM when I decided to go inside the temple. I removed my slippers (yes, I traveled to Chiang Mai from Penang for more than 4D3N with only 1 pair of flip-flops!) and put them on the secluded rack for footwears and walked through the sacred ground barefooted.

Awe-inspiring ambiance inside Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep….

I’ve visited several Buddhist temples back home in the Philippines, in Penang, in Singapore, in Tokyo and in Bangkok but I’ve never walked barefooted for more than 2 hours under the scorching heat of the sun in my entire 36 years of existence. Walking inside Doi Suthep with nothing on my soles felt very humbling.

Heart-shaped clouds against deep blue skies and the golden chedi of Doi Suthep welcomed me during the visit.

The tourist and the child in me found it so irresistible to take detail shot.

Would you not be inspired with such acts of faith?

Two hours for me were not enough to absorb everything at Doi Suthep. The positivity from the faithfuls, the great view of Chiang Mai from this mountain top, the grandeur of Doi Suthep temple itself are definitely extraordinary!

It was already past 5 in the afternoon when I went out of the temple. I washed my feet and walked my way down via the lift. After buying identical T-shirts for Tina and Gabby from one of the stalls at the foot of the temple, I hopped on the songthaew again to Chiang Mai Zoo and transferred to similar public vehicle that took me back to the city.

Next thing I did was too predictable. Further explanation’s unnecessary.

It was my second time to eat such meal from the same restaurant in Chiang Mai. I must say, I can eat this everyday! It may be simple-looking-all-in-one-dish but I almost forgot my name after finishing the plate. Cheap and sinfully delicious! #favorite

The entire day was physically tiring yet spiritually moving as well. The entire experience from Chiang Mai Zoo to Doi Suthep reminded me what and whom I should cherish in life. Spontaneous and unplanned trips like this truly bring unexpected and priceless happiness!

*This Chiang Mai Blog Series includes :

Jan

CHIANG MAI SERIES : SATURDAY MORNING AT THE ZOO

By docgelo 20 Comments

December 29, 2012. Saturday. 6:30AM. Probably, I was one of the earliest “birds” who left A Little Bird Guesthouse in this narrow alley in downtown Chiang Mai. My gameplan for the weekend? Nada! Nothing much except to see pandas in Chiang Mai Zoo. And since I didn’t set a concrete plan, neither did extensive research prior to this solo backpacking trip, I was happy at the end of the day where my foot took me. These are the things I saw, the food I tasted, the scents I smelled, the scenes I experienced and a few lessons relearned that day.

Few steps away from the guesthouse, I found myself standing in Tha Phae Road again. I saw monks carrying bowls for their most humble daily routine. Regardless of religion, humility still rocks in any part of the globe.

Handsome orchids in the streets. Penalty for picking : 2,000 baht. I didn’t know if that fine is per flower or worse, per petal. What I know of, laws are implemented properly in this Northern part of Thailand. Obviously, it’s not as urbanized to other Asian cities I’ve been to–Singapore or Tokyo but just the same, local people and tourists are as impressive for being law-abiding.

Tha Phae Gate. I’m back at Tha Phae Gate again; the main landmark in the middle of the road of downtown Chiang Mai. I strolled and crossed the street and looked for something to warm my tummy.

Starbucks Coffee. I know, it’s not Thai but I failed to resist the lure of grande cup of Christmas blend, Toffee Nut! It really perked me up; my morning started right, thus the entire day turned out to be one of the grandest!

Around 7:30AM, I walked towards Tha Phae Gate again, crossed the road to hail a songthaew, or a red taxi cab to take me to the zoo.

This park at the middle of the road is alcohol-free. The lateral streets aren’t. At least they have controlled areas while in other countries -hmmm, nevermind!

Inside the iconic, Songthaew (literally, “two rows”). Of all the red taxi cabs or songthaew, I was fortunate and happy to find this one on the road that morning! Other than the fact that the driver instantly agreed to take me exclusively with no other passengers to Chiang Mai Zoo from Tha Phae Gate for only 60 baht (6 ringgit or US$ 2), I felt ultimately safe inside and did not entertain evil thoughts about the driver. How could I? Look what’s written inside this cab…

Low cost in Chiang Mai. In my 4D3N stay in Chiang Mai, I appreciated the fact that almost everything, if not all are cheap. Case in point, the 60-baht-fare in that “special trip” via songthaew; the trip took around half an hour and it’s still budget-friendly.

Welcome to Chiang Mai Zoo! I shelved the fact that I will enter a facility that cages animals and displays them far from their natural habitats. I gave Chiang Mai Zoo the benefit of the doubt.

From its facade, I walked my way to the main entrance of Chiang Mai Zoo. It appeared to me like a huge medical institution back home (reminded me of East Avenue Medical Center!) rather than an animal park.

Its admission rate of 100 baht per adult (US$ 3.40) was so easy on the pocket.

After a bladder break and purchasing a ticket, I was ready to explore Chiang Mai Zoo! But wait, someone didn’t tell me the roads will be uphill and the vicinity is as huge as you can imagine (think of Camp John Hay in Baguio City or UP Diliman campus in scale).

Tip : Best to go to Chiang Mai Zoo at its opening -1oAM. Less crowded, not so humid, more time to roam around.

Greetings from pink and wading flamingos!

I reached this entrance part by walking uphill. Repeat, uphill! *panting* I smiled upon the sight of Bus Stop sign.

Without hesitation, I purchased ticket for unlimited bus and monorail access. It helped me navigated the zoo faster; and even gave me quick ideas to select areas of interests.

After buying a ticket for the transpo worth 100 baht (US$ 3.40), I waited and sat on this swing.

Saw these mushroom-themed panda table and seats.

I immediately stood up from my seat when my eyes caught these vibrant blooms.

Gelo, Welcome to Chiang Mai Zoo! I never thought Chiang Mai Zoo has manicured and lush garden to boast! Happiness and satisfaction are what we get when we don’t set great expectations.

I hopped on the shuttle bus and sat beside the driver. First stop was approximately 1 kilometer from where I waited. Pandas!

Excited and clueless, I got off the bus without asking if it’s the panda station already. Turned out negative! I walked my way up rather than wait for few minutes for another bus. Didn’t I tell you the roads inside Chiang Mai Zoo is uphill? Repeat again, uphill! lol

Finally, PANDAS!!! I purchased again another ticket to see the pandas. OK. Some may considered it ain’t cheap anymore! Can’t blame you. But it’s still pocket-friendly compared to other attractions I’ve been to. All in all, these were my tickets inside Chiang Mai Zoo. I still think it’s cheap for it didn’t cost me my arms and legs.

My very first time to see PANDAS! At 36 years old, I felt like 6 again!

Chiang Mai Zoo houses 3 pandas but for unknown reason, I only saw two. The visit wasn’t time-pressured. I spent one hour outside their playing ground overlooking at one from a viewing deck. The area had blocks and piles of ice to keep the temperature down. To date, they’re the cutest creatures I’ve ever laid eyes on!

After an hour, I decided to go down and take a peek the pandas inside. I saw another one, munching at their staples -bamboos and wooden chops. I wondered where the third panda was. Must be sleeping somewhere.

I thought after seeing pandas for the first time, my weekend was done. I craved for more. Although I didn’t have the time to explore the entirety of Chiang Mai Zoo, I opted to spend a couple of hours more to maximize my stay and gladly, I made the right move.

Kids are blessed to be carefree all the time!

I didn’t dare try those water balls available at different colors for 90 baht. Neither I wished to sample their zipline; not because I chickened out; but because I didn’t have company to do it *lame excuse*

Brunch! This was my view when I was eating my late breakfast-early lunch!

Pork leg and knuckles. Chinese style. I died and went to heaven!

My well spent 50 baht (plus 20 baht for Coke!).

Brunch inside Chiang Mai Zoo. *Burp*

Another view from where I ate my meal. Oh, look! Monorail! hahaha! Talking to myself became so practically funny those days! lol

Brushed my teeth and took another bladder break before I headed to the waiting area for the shuttle bus. I went off the bus on its next stop : Children’s Zoo where the KOALAS are! Another first time to see such cute mammals! The 36-year-old-kid-in-me was smiling ear to ear!

And because Koalas are nocturnal, they have the license to sleep during daytime. I wished I could be narcoleptic sans being nocturnal *laziness kicked in*

My final ride on the shuttle bus took me to the Monorail station. Prior to that, an elephant dropped by to greet us, hello!

I regret not going down the bus where the Penguins are. I passed up the chance because Tina, Gabby and I already saw live penguins in Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Adventure in New Zealand back in 2005. Then I thought it would not hurt if I did go.

Then I rode the most sluggish Monorail I’ve taken ever. It took me around 40 minutes to cap the entire trip en route to the area near the gate. But I realized everything fell into right timing when I saw a parade coming! This must be my lucky weekend!

Amused at how Chiang Mai Zoo parades its animals.

Thanks to the parade, I had an up close encounter with those koalas! Of course, they became wide awake!

I saw other animals like lions and lioness, white tigers, girraffes and others. There were aviary and aquarium too that I didn’t go to. Nevertheless, I was happy to be in Chiang Mai Zoo before it was packed by other tourists! By the time they’re entering the gates, I was already finding my way out! It always pays to be early all the time!

A zoo offers children and people of all ages an opportunity to somehow interact and learn essential concepts about environment and the ecosystem as a whole. And if learning would be too heavy, at least develop or enhance appreciation. Obviously, not everyone has access or can afford to go to a safari or at least a forest, so visiting a zoo is the next best thing.

With its vast area, it goes without saying that animals in Chiang Mai Zoo have the freedom to roam around despite being “caged”. They’re given an artificial habitat almost similar to their natural ones. And for that of course, Chiang Mai Zoo, I like!

This is NOT a sponsored post. If you want to know more about Chiang Mai Zoo, visit their website at www.chiangmaizoo.com

*This Chiang Mai Blog Series includes :

>><<

Jan

CHIANG MAI SERIES : DRAGONS WITH COILS

By docgelo 35 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS, THAILAND and TRAVEL
Tags: backpacking asia, backpacking southeast asia, beautiful women, beauty, burma, chiang mai, chiang mai blog, chiang mai thailand, culture, doc gelo, docgelo, expat blog, hill tribes in thailand, karen long neck women, kayan tribe, Life, lifestyle blog, lifestyle blogger, long neck women, long necked women, long necked women in thailand, must see in thailand, must visit in chiang mai, must visit in southeast asia, must visit in thailand, myanmar, national geographic, neck rings, overseas blog, padaung, padaung women, penang to bangkok, penang to chiang mai, penang to hat yai, people, photography, places to visit in chiang mai, places to visit in thailand, portraits, refufees from burma, refugees, refugees from burma in thailand, solo backpacking, southeast asia, thailand blog, thailand tourism, things to do in chiang mai, things to do in thailand, tradition, traditions, TRAVEL, travel blog, travel blogger, traveling, tribes from myanmar, tribespeople from burma, what to do in asia, what to do in southeast asia, what to see in thailand, where to go in chiang mai, where to go in thailand, women from burma

After I greeted,“Hello!” and asked her name that slipped my poor memory, this old woman of Kayan, a refugee tribe from Myanmar whose age is beyond 60s, displayed the faintest smile and teary eyes. Her reactions were almost infectious. She’s one of those called by lowland Burmese as Padaung women or long necked. They wear spiral metal coils of many turns on their necks for believing that like dragons and swans, having long necks is beautiful.

I continued to start a short conversation by asking the prices of the souvenir items she sells, she replied with the least audible voice. She exuded weariness and a pleasant lassitude as she tried to make a living that day. I bought one of her purple woven scarves as a souvenir for my wife. I even dared to haggle for 180 baht instead of 200; my biggest regret in this recent trip.

This was our Thai tour guide, Mr. Oak in blue shirt leading the way to the so called-Long Neck Women village.

Before I went to Chiang Mai, I read the worst and unpleasant descriptions written online by people who perceived this place negatively.

Human Zoo. Human Giraffe. Tourist Trap. Hostages to Tourism. Thailand Freak Show.

Perceptions are something subjective and beyond one’s control.

Listening to our tour guide’s explanation about these uniquely beautiful women provided us information of their origin and their past. Mr. Oak’s serious yet casual annotations that were candidly interrupted by his spontaneous humor made this trip more fascinating. While excitedly walking inside their village, Oak pointed a dog and called it, the long-neck-dog :p

Our group of 10-tourists from Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand and the Philippines (who’s currently based in Malaysia) learned that these coils were traditionally worn only by Padaung women as young as 5 or 6 years old. The long coils on the neck are an alloy of brass, silver and gold. It was noted that Kayan tribe women wear them not only to symbolize beauty like that of dragons and swans but as a protective measures from tigers, which are known to attack their preys on the neck.

I had no idea about the National Geographic’s feature on these Kayan-Padaung women. I only read about it on the comment-thread of my facebook friends under the photo I posted on fb. It was the team of NatGeo who subjected one of the Padaung women to cervical X-ray to medically determine if the neck bones were really stretched. Roentgenographic report showed that the seven vertebral bones on the neck remained the same in size, although the intervertebral disks absorbed additional fluid, it is their clavicles or collar bones that were compressed, lowered and collapsed by years of wearing those metallic neck rings, creating an illusion that the neck is elongated.

I don’t know about you but after spending almost an hour with them, these women earned my respect for they continue to practice their customs and traditions amidst the digital age and beyond being refugees to Thailand from Burma now called, Myanmar. It’s simply depressing that despite Thailand’s Tourism boosts with the visits of the tourists to see them, the Padaung women with their families still remain aliens with no papers in Thailand. And because of this, they’re not allowed (as of this blogging) to go down the city and sell their commodities.

Usually, they remove then add additional coils every after 3 to 10 years. They do not only wear the metal coils on their necks but also below the knees too.

I salute them for preserving their identity, cultures and beliefs despite and in spite of everything.

A family of Kayan…

They all flashed ready smiles when I politely asked if I can take their photos. This perhaps made the other people think that these women really are being used for Tourism.

By Padaung women’s tradition, girls born on a Wednesday of a full moon are required to wear the metal coils on their necks.

I found out by talking to them that these two are sisters but it saddened me to know that the elder sister stopped schooling to give way for the young one. Something that’s very common too in some Filipino rural settings.

I bought fridge magnets from them; they didn’t only smile but said, “Thank you!” which I appreciated because simple gratitude is a rarity nowadays.

The village also houses other tribes. This lady belongs to the so-called Akha. These women originally came from Yunnan province of China, Laos, and Myanmar who also migrated to Northen parts of Thailand -Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Their spectacular and elaborate headdresses made them pretty remarkable than the other hill tribes plus the fact that unlike the Kayan Long Neck Women, Akha people were granted legal papers to Thailand so they’re all free to roam around the city and sell their stuffs at night markets and everywhere without restrictions.

A refugee from China…

Another Chinese refugee with colorful and elaborate traditional dress worn with thick brass belt.

Of all the hill tribe women I met in that village, this particular one who chews betel nut, which probably unknown to her and her tribe, is carcinogenic or cancer-causing (Nasopharyngeal Cancer), greeted us in a very light and cheerful mood. Despite living the simplest life of no-gadgets and free from expensive possessions, she remain happy and carefree. Something I am reminded of. Something we all need to reflect on.

Joy in simple things. Contentment sans modern lifestyle.

From these young lady, I bought Gabby’s souvenir vibrant tribal hat, which my son wore in welcoming New Year at home.

There were tribal women who adorned themselves with metal coils and ornate headdresses, now meet the other women who consider having huge earring holes as remarkably wonderful.

Is that a smartphone on her hand?

Do they wear make up as part of tradition or for tourism? Do they wear neck rings only for money? Again, perception is subjective.

Meeting these women even only for brief chat and photo-ops reminded me of some of the most important things in life.

People with strong principles can really stand on their personal beliefs, can fight for their own traditions and can go against the dictate of others.

It was an unforgettable opportunity for me to briefly interact with these women in Chiang Mai. I considered myself blessed as I met, talked and sat beside one of the most beautiful dragons in the world.

“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.”

— Paulo Coelho

*This Chiang Mai Blog Series includes :

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Jan

CHIANG MAI SERIES : BEYOND BOUNDARIES

By docgelo 31 Comments

You will never understand how a solitary backpacking feels like unless you experienced it yourself. It might be dangerous and risky but you won’t learn your abilities to hurdle what seem like challenges until you take the first step.

December 26 -30, 2012. Words are unnecessary to explain why I left Tina & Gabby in our current home in Penang for 5 days and traveled alone to Chiang Mai. There’s no selfishness in the intent but gratitude for understanding. I initially asked my wife if she’s interested in going with all three of us; the casual response I got was a verbal permit to travel solo. She knew I wanted to experience solo backpacking. Sweet! While I have been used to going to places with my own family for 9 years now, it’s a uniquely beautiful gift when people you love most provide you the wings to explore new grounds, discover new cultures and appreciate your own days.

Travelers and tourists may take a train from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to Hat Yai and Bangkok on a single journey. Then transfer to another train or bus to Chiang Mai (or any parts of Thailand). I didn’t take the train; here’s my route :

From Point A : Penang Sentral Bus Station in Butterworth to Point B : Hat Yai Bus Terminal was about 4 hour trip via mini-van including the Immigration procedures of exit from Malaysian border and entry to Thailand border.

From Point B : Hat Yai Bus Terminal to Point C : Mo Chit Bus Station in Bangkok was 14 hour-night-trip on a VIP bus.

Point C : Mo Chit Station to Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok to Point D : Chiang Mai International Airport was around 1 hour flight.

This was my very first solo backpacking trip and God knows if it will be the last.

December 26, 2012, Wednesday. At 7.30AM via Rapid Penang Bus, I left our 11th floor apartment in Butterworth, Penang with my laptop bag, DSLR camera and a backpack in tow. The public bus that usually takes Tina and I to work took me to Penang Sentral Bus Station after 10 minutes. Barely an hour after, I asked the dispatcher of the busliner where I bought my ticket to Hat Yai about the arrival of the mini-van; she said, it’ll come in a while. True enough, I found myself inside a 10-seater-van with 4 other passengers en route to the borders of two Southeast Asian Countries.

Although my family and I miss everything about our country, the Philippines, I personally consider myself lucky to be based for more than two years now in Northern part of Malaysia where Thailand is so accessible (not to mention we also enjoyed going to Singapore which is at Malaysian’s Southern tip via bus from Penang). My family and I crossed the borders and return more than a couple of times. However, this post-Christmas trip was so different for I was lone but not lonely.

Penang to Hat Yai City proper is roughly 4 hours. The mini-vans that take passengers from Penang to Hat Yai usually have an obligatory few-minute-stopover at a food-toilet-forex-complex in a place so near the Malaysia border called Changloon and this trip was not an exception. In Changloon, driver asked our passports for him to prepare and type-write our Departure-Arrival cards. This service was included in the 32 ringgit or USD 10.51 mini-van fare. While he was doing that, I was busy stuffing my tummy with brunch. I ordered two plates for I left home without having breakfast. It was carbohydrate-loading for me that late morning; I had my favorites although I dare say Penang’s versions of these dishes are incomparably delicious, Changloon’s don’t even come close.

Nasi Goreng Cina.

Char Koay Teow.

Exiting Malaysia was a breeze.

Likewsie entering Thailand for someone like me who’s a holder of Philippine passport stamped with Employment Pass in Malaysia was hassle-free, as my country of origin and these nations are all members of ASEAN, simply putting it - No Visa required.

Drizzle greeted me on the road to Hat Yai.

I reminded myself that Thailand is an hour late than Malaysian and Philippine times. Literally that is. I didn’t need to adjust my wrist watch but I had efforts to be conscious.

At 11:29AM Thailand time, I purchased my bus ticket directly from this counter at the Hat Yai Bus Terminal. My ticket from Hat Yai to Bangkok cost me THB 1,162 or USD 38.19 because I opted to take the VIP bus where dinner and other stuffs are included in the fare. It was the same bus liner my family and I rode from Bangkok to Hat Yai last August 2012.

The VIP bus was schedule to leave Hat Yai at 4PM, Thailand time. So it was 4 hours of waiting for me. There goes my backpack that doubles as a duffel bag too and my laptop bag sitting pretty on a bench with that tame street dog on the floor.

Wifi’s free at Hat Yai Bus Station. Must update facebook status.

I checked in and shouted on facebook :

The pink double-decker-Hat Yai-Bangkok bus arrived early than expected.

I was seated at B1 -located on the first seat at the upper deck. It provided me more leg room and comfort for a good night sleep.

I told you it’s a VIP bus, so on my seat, I found the same things that amused Tina, Gabby and I last year when we all revisited Bangkok. There were bottled water, guava juice in tetra pack, 2 pastries, wet ones and pack of coffee, creamer and sugar in a box and a laundried and sealed blanket.

The seal’s more like a security for me.

I was ready to sleep in the middle of my 14 hour-trip from 4PM to 6 the following morning when the bus made a mandatory stop for dinner at this familiar Thai restaurant at around 9PM.

Passengers only needed to present the bus ticket for the dinner (included in the fare). As mentioned, it was not my first time to take this route but my main concern remained the same. I was worried about sanitation, food preparation and handling. You cannot blame me of course but thank goodness, I didn’t suffer from Traveller’s Diarrhea or any infections yet. God is alive!
Six of us sat in one table and dishes with rice were served. There were many choices and I sampled them all. Brought my feet to the toilet for bladder break and brushed my teeth after.

Highways from Hat Yai to Bangkok weren’t bumpy so I had a restful sleep with hyperextended legs under the sheets.

December 27, 2012. Thursday. 6AM. I arrived in one piece at Mo Chit Bus Station in Bangkok. Rise and shine, Bangkok!!! We meet again!

What I shouted in facebook was partly wrong; it should’ve been 14-hour-trip instead of 11. I miscalculated; a proof I hate numbers!

Immediately, I hailed a taxi cab and reached Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok after 20 minute-ride.

After observing my morning rituals, I managed to freshen up and change my clothes. Have I told you that I only traveled with no shoes but a pair of 3-year-old-dependable slippers? Comfort at its best!

I ate the pack of pastries as my first bites that morning and looked for a spot to while away time until my 1:30PM flight to Chiang Mai. I first sat on one of the waiting lounges and since I did not have anyone to rely on, I went several times to the toilet to void with all my bags and all. It’s an inevitable downside of solo traveling, of course.

I was smiling widely after I found my feet on this tranquil area of the terminal. It’s the Observation deck located at the 2nd floor of the Departure area. It was too perfect for me to kill time as it also has its own toilet. I spent hours of waiting here then I realized I should have brought a good read! I promised myself never to leave home for a travel without a good book; nevertheless I savored my quiet time here.

At around 11AM, I went down, checked the monitor for the flight updates and decided to go to the Boarding Area.

Thank God for airports with good food!

The traditional me chose Starbucks Coffee for my brunch.

This is the eye-catching huge monitor that puts images of passers-by into various famous spots in the globe from Paris to New York to London. I saw a lot of passengers stop to take photo-ops. I found watching people more fun than watching myself on the screen.

Boarding time was few minutes past 1PM at Gate 31. Air Asia flight Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Seat belt fastened.

And up we went! It has been years since I last sat by the window. I was like a kid again enjoying the sea of clouds!

Less than an hour later, we safely arrived in this Thai City called The Rose of the North.

My first glimpse of the arrival area of Chiang Mai International Airport was not roses but orchids. Lots of them!

So many varieties of orchids from the airport to the streets of Chiang Mai; what a lovely sight!

Maps are essential I know. I took two copies but funny I didn’t bother to scan at least during the entire trip. I also didn’t bring any guidebook with me. It was more like carefree adventure!

Chiang Mai is truly inviting!

No airport pick up/transfer for me as I went on this backpacking trip on a budget.

Upon exiting the airport, I took a taxi cab for 20 minutes and THB 150 (USD 4.90) to my guesthouse.

Drum roll, please! Welcome everyone to where I stayed for 4D3N in Chiang Mai! This backpackers’ paradise is called A Little Bird Guesthouse. I became one of their “birdies” for few nights, lol!

Tucked within the city center in Chiang Mai where travel agencies, pharmacies, restaurants, hawker stalls, night markets, massage parlors and spas, internet shops and a volume of temples that spring like mushrooms, A Little Bird Guesthouse is one of the favorites among backpackers who troop to this part of Thailand. I discovered it by googling and reading reviews on Tripadvisor. It’s location isn’t only accessible to almost everything but a secured and safe place too.

After hopping off the taxi cab, I entered the reception office and checked in. Since I made a reservation via their website but was not issued a voucher, the young and friendly lady at the counter named, Fai asked me to show their email-confirmation about my booking and so I did.

I was given a key to the dormitory and was led to my designated room at A Little Bird Guesthouse 2 (yes, the front building is named, ALBG 1, and I was assigned to a room at the newer building called ALBG 2; they expanded, business must have been good!).

On my way to my dorm, I saw bikes rented from shops outside this guesthouse.

Almost all corners of this compound serve as interaction-areas for backpackers. I noted nice and quiet atmosphere amongst guests.

Universe, meet my bed. This was my name tag and my Thai name is ”AngeRo” instead of Angelo, *kidding*. No harm done actually.

I was assigned at the upper deck of this double-decker bed. Good luck to the bed! In all fairness, it remained intact the entire time I was there, climbing up and down! My weight wasn’t enough to break it! Yay!!! It was built for heavier foreigners, I guess. The bed below was occupied by German backpacker named, Katya.

I shared a room with 5 backpackers. So there’s Katya- the German lady, Amber the American lady, Jason the American guy, Andre the British guy and another German-long-haired backpacker guy whose name slipped my memory! Sorry.

I forgot to bring a key for the lockers, I needed to buy on the streets. No airconditioning units but wall fans which were good enough! At 100 baht per night, I wasn’t expecting a 5-star-accomodation of course! Toilet and shower with heater, mind you, is located after that open space near the sink.

Wifi was fast and more importantly free or included in the 100 THB or USD 3.28 per night accomodation. I could not complain! I chose to stay at this 6 pax per dormitory instead of their 10 pax per room.

After buying small pair of padlock & keys, I kept my laptop, passport, camera (during sleep) and other things inside a locker that was perfectly built to store them!

My 4D3N stay amounting to 300 baht or USD 9.85 only was all in all, safe and pleasant. I got a long well with my roommates; managed conversations before retiring after a day’s wandering.

Checked in and shouted on facebook again…

It was a great first-time-experience staying at this backpackers’ favorite! I highly recommend it if you’re traveling to Chiang Mai on a budget.

Few minutes after check-in, I began exploring Chiang Mai.

Last facebook check in and shout for the day :

*This Chiang Mai Blog Series includes :

*Map sourced from www.maps.google.com

>><<

Jan

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : RESOLVED

By docgelo 21 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS, THAILAND and TRAVEL
Tags: amateur photography, asia, chiang mai, chiang mai thailand, children, culture, doc gelo, docgelo, nikon, nikon D7000, photography, photos, postaday, resolved, southeast asia, thai culture, thailand, TRAVEL, travel blog, travel blogger, traveling, weekly photo challenge

I don’t usually make New Year’s Resolution for I believe changes may be done regardless of the season. But as for my love for traveling and being a photo-enthusiast, I wish to experience and discover and explore more places that I’ve never been to.

This photo was taken on my recent travel to Chiang Mai; my very first solo backpacking-budget trip.

My Chiang Mai Blog Series soon on this site.

This is my entry to Weekly Photo Challenge : Resolved

Jan

THE JW MARRIOTT-KUALA LUMPUR EXPERIENCE

By docgelo 15 Comments

Christmas 2012 Blog Series includes :

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24 December 2012. Monday. JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur. With reservation done directly via their website a couple of months back, we checked in around 2PM which was a little earlier than the regular check in time at 3PM with no extra charge; thank you! While our luggage and bags were being taken cared of one of the bellboys, the lady-concierge officer who attended to me was so pleasant, friendly and quick, I think they both deserve a salary raise for efficiency. Everything was absolutely hassle-free!

Perfectly located along Jalan Bukit Bintang, the major shopping road in Kuala Lumpur, JW Marriot Hotel is adjacent to Starhill Gallery, right across Pavilion Mall, few steps away from Lot 10 and Fareinheit Malls, Uniqlo, H&M, Zara flagship stores and a wide choices of food shops.

Other than location, security and cost, having wifi connection and its speed is also on top of my priorities. Despite fancy greetings upon plugged-in, READ this entire post to know the only thing WE DID NOT LIKE about JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur.

The family opted to stay here to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day itself with Shook! Masquerade Lunch! The experience was glorious (blog post HERE!)!

Tina and Gabby also agreed on the fact that the king size bed on this deluxe room was ultimately delicious.

One of our most restful sleeps ever.

Believe his smile, he liked the bed so much! We all did!

Boobtube had Gabby’s favorites.

Working station where I plugged my laptop and went online wasn’t bad too.

The view from our window was inviting but we didn’t take a dip.

Mini bar and coffee and tea making facility…

We liked the huge wardrobe fully equipped with those necessary things.

The toilet, tub and shower (not in photo). Spotless. They granted my request of extra towels, thank you!

Toiletries were from Crabtree and Evelyn.

Details of the little things…

Tina and Gabby tried this; I didn’t. They were happier after the soak. Must be soothing.

Slept and woke up with nothing to do but indulge in Shook! Breakfast Buffet included in the promo-package we availed.

We feasted like kings…

The spread wasn’t ordinary.

Coffee, tea, fruit juices were free-flowing…

Choosing what to sample became a happy-problem.

Local rice and bean cakes…

Malaysia’s staple food. Nasi Lemak (Nasi-rice; lemak-fat) composed of rice boiled in coconut milk, chicken in sambal spicy sauce garnished with boiled egg, anchovies, cucumber slices and roasted peanuts. They say Nasi Lemak is enough to empower you throughout the day.

Can you guess who had what?

Everything Halal. Beef bacon (still biased to my favorites- you know!), Chicken sausage, Chinese fried rice, hash browns, biscuits and crackers paired with feta, cheddar and cream cheese, mushroom and onions and a dimsum.

Round 2 : Tina had croissant, smoked salmon and everything else you see on the photo…

While I was a happy diner with Malaysian favorites – roti canai dipped in dahl.

Essential fibers. Papaya slices, pineapples and yellow watermelon.

Those smiles are my early morning sunshine!

Everything’s beautiful and satisfying with JW Marriott and would consider to go back but the WIFI WASN’T FREE! We didn’t avail as we want it to be provided at no extra cost. I only got to go online with their Ethernet-plug-into-your-laptop-kind-of-thing. What if I didn’t bring my own computer? We failed to connect online using our mobiles and Tina’s ipod. There was wifi at the hotel lobby but it certainly spells convenience if the rooms were provided with FREE WIFI service too. On this day and age, free wifi is no longer a luxury but a necessity.

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JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur | 183 Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur 55100 Malaysia | www.marriott.com

*This is NOT a sponsored post.

Dec

PETROSAINS

By docgelo 15 Comments

Christmas 2012 Blog Series includes :

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They called this Personnel Basket Transfer, used to transfer a worker to and from a crew boat or supply boat to a jackup rig, offshore platform, semi-submersible or other structures. When I saw this, I remember one of Gabby’s godparents’ photo (Rob’s) shot when he was swinging with similar structure while at work on a rig in Middle East. This and a lot more are showcased in Petrosains in KLCC-Suria Shopping Complex.

23 December 2012. Sunday. Petrosains, 4th level KLCC-Suria Shopping Complex. Two days before Christmas, Tina and I brought Gabby to this Science museum in Kuala Lumpur. It felt like we went to an educational field trip again! While Gabby tried to enjoy and interact with every display and features, Tina and I honestly felt Petrosains is “too-kiddie” but of course, nothing’s wrong with that. In fact it simplified Science and some concepts of Oil mining for children to appreciate and absorb quite easily however, we felt something lacking. It’s either we expected too much or we’ve seen a lot better Science museums back home. Perhaps both. Or probably, it’s just us. To each his own of course.

KLCC-Suria Shopping Complex this festive holiday season has simple Christmas decors. Compared to other malls in Kuala Lumpur, they opted to keep it low.

At its 4th level is Petrosains. Long queue when we arrived at around few minutes before 12noon. Thankfully, I didn’t need to wait and stand on the line to purchase our tickets because I was ushered promptly upon asking to the lane for those who have reservations online or via phone. I did ours through phone call. I paid RM50 (PhP 700) for a family package that included tickets for the 3 of us. Not bad compared to tickets to Science museums in Manila (but I know, you get what you paid for, right?). Despite its affordability, the cost (of almost all entrance rates to anything in Malaysia) for non-Malaysians/tourists is always more expensive than locals. In my honest opinion, this draws tourism farther rather than being attractive. Again, this is only my two-cents-worth.

It was high noon, must have lunch. Gabby spotted his favorite amongst the kiosks in food gallery at the same level of the mall, hence we gave in. Pepper Lunch is a family’s favorite! We always crave for this DIY-affordable steak-rice meals for we don’t have it in our current home base in Penang. Hmmmm. Yummy!

Oops, but the Malaysian food crew who prepared it must have enjoyed seasoning it with LOTSA PEPPER! Just because it’s Pepper Lunch doesn’t mean it’ll be pepper all over. Believe me, we’ve tasted its versions in Manila, Makati, Hong Kong, Singapore and even in the other branch in Kuala Lumpur which is in Pavilion Mall -it’s not supposed to be that hot! I should’ve instructed him to prepare our hot plates NOT TOO SPICY. Result : Gabby didn’t finish his Pepper Lunch Beef Pepper Rice plate for the first time. Oh well.

After lunch, back to Petrosains. There are free lockers at the entrance to store backpacks, shopping bags, food and drinks that are not allowed inside. Cameras are OK to bring. Excitement to experience this Science Museum diminished when we needed to wait for more than 30 minutes to go in. C’mmon, I didn’t go on queue because I had reservations online but still… Fine. We’re left no option but to wait for our turn, smile while killing time.

It took us almost forever to take the Dark Ride. Relax, relax lang! *sigh*

Then when we hopped on this wheeled semi-spherical black thingie that rolls passengers up and back and down and up while holograms and film projections about environment and oil and Malaysian people are shown, it took another 15 minutes for it to shuttle us to the main Petrosains Exhibit halls. OK. At this early, Tina and I therefore conclude, Petrosains is good just for once. There you go!

Finally, the exhibit proper! First off, Gabby tried the Plasma Tube where a friendly staff explained to him how it works.

As I understood it (I tried while capturing photos!), Gabby was asked to feel the tranfer of energy from the source to something that he was instructed to hold. End of story. Next : the making of a tornado. It looks more fun!

Something like mechanism of a clock…

My family and I love Malaysia’s very own, Wayang Kulit or shadow puppet! We even bought a Rama and Sita wayang from Kota Bharu in Kelantan a year ago. Glad we saw some on display in Petrosains.

More modern shadow play…

Moving on…”Selamat Datang” means Welcome!

Waiting for teksi…

Colorful backdrop…

My photos are raw and I know nothing of photoshop. My captures are imperfect but I love this mirror-illusion image I took with my family. I think it’s amazing!

Then the area became more interesting. Thank goodness!

Funny that Dino rapped (not sang) a lyrics in Bahasa Melayu. Fantastic!

Some things about the Earth – mountains, soil, mining and oil…

I also liked this humongous magnifying lens where the fangs of a model-tiger project.

Lava lava love!

The Sparkz area incorporates interactive Science and playtime!

Cute play place. Cuter kids..

The (helicopter) simulator that we didn’t try for a minimal fee of 3 ringgit each pax…

Oil mining-thingies…

Then Gabby dared to hold a fireball over a demonstration. His eyes said he was excited but his hands showed fear. Ok lang iyan, anak! It doesn’t make you less! Truth is, your curiosity rocks! *Don’t try this at home, kids!*

Another eye-catching display inside Petrosains…broom broom!!!

Molecular churva -according to Tina…

Was this 3D or 4D -15-minute-movie? I forgot, I’m sorry. What I remembered clearly was the fact that I felt asleep. Sorry, I came from a long journey. *pun intended* Dare I say, Petrosains should enhanced this little theater! This what happens when your patrons already experienced the ones in Disneyland and Universal Studios. Comparison kills! Truth is, mediocrity isn’t the way to attract customers! Must improved!

Although the purpose of bringing Science and the oil industry to the young ones is apparent, people behind Petrosains must be reminded that Science is continuously evolving and so it follows that they should upgrade their displays with the times. It’s already the age of everything in command with a flick of a finger pad, isn’t it? And please, do something with the speed of flow of exit; even people who are not claustrophobic experienced the anxiety of being one. Thank you!

_____________

Dec

PUTRAJAYA

By docgelo 19 Comments

Christmas 2012 Blog Series includes :

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22 December 2012. Saturday. Masjid Putra or Putrajaya Mosque, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur. After checking in at Hotel 1915 Kuala Lumpur, we simply dropped our bags and luggage, hit the shower and off we went to Masjid Jamek LRT station which is located a few steps from our budget-boutique hotel. We didn’t have a game plan but to do tourist-things in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s federal administrative center.

Like the LRT & MRT in Manila, Yamanote Line in Tokyo, MTR in Hong Kong, BTS in Bangkok and MRT in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur’s LRT lines spell efficiency and commuter-friendliness. A city is always easy to explore when there’s dependable transport system. And for this year’s Christmas holiday of my family in Malaysia’s capital, we chose to use more of the trains and less of taxi cabs not only to save on the pocket but for speed, comfort and convenience.

Upon reaching the Masjid Jamek LRT station on foot, we asked the counter to break our bills into smaller notes and coins, then purchased tokens from touch-screen dispensing machines. Adventure begins here!

From Masjid Jamek, we arrived in KL Sentral terminal at around 5PM. Despite we’ve been to KL Sentral quite a number of times already, we still needed to ask for directions. We transferred train line to KLIA Transit to get our feet to Putrajaya Sentral. It’s our first time to ride KLIA Transit and the experience was amazing! Better than riding a bus, or the old KTM train in KL and yes, better than driving your own car on those traffic jammed highways! The trip from KL Sentral to Putrajaya Sentral via KLIA Transit train only took around 25 minutes.

We hopped off the KLIA Transit train (that takes its passengers to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the other terminal besides Low Cost Carrier Terminal), stepped out to Putrajaya Sentral station and inquired again. While my family sat on one of the benches, I asked the counter what bus number should we take to get us to the Putrajaya Mosque, or more famously known as the Pink mosque. The friendly staff instantly wrote down the bus numbers on a small piece of paper but we decided to take the cab instead for the reason we wanted to be there quickly.

Because it’s almost evening (or it was already evening as “evening” for Malaysians begins after 2PM!), I got nothing in mind but to take my family to Putrajaya and experience another piece of must-visit-places in Malaysia. After all, our stay in this part of Asia is only until God-know-when! We never wasted time and took photos near the magnificently built, Pink Mosque.

“The Putra Mosque, or Masjid Putra in Malay language, is the principal mosque of Putrajaya, Malaysia. Construction of the mosque began in 1997 and was completed two years later. It is located next to Perdana Putra which houses the Malaysian Prime Minister’s office and man-made Putrajaya Lake. In front of the mosque is a large square with flagpoles flying Malaysian states’ flags.” (via Wiki)

putrajaya 12/22/12

I’ve seen the Pink Mosque during our few trips to Immigration office in Putrajaya back in 2010 but we were shuttled by our company’s bus then. I was too lazy to google how to commute going here but luckily and thankfully, we never got lost and found our way easily. We thought of going inside the mosque to appreciate it more however, we were told at the Informasi that non-Malaysian (non-Muslim) visitors are only allowed within the Mosque until 6PM so we simply roamed around and killed the time.

It was comforting and was so pleasant to see restaurants such as Nando’s and Secret Recipe along side with other local food kiosks inside an airconditioned food place within the vicinity of the mosque; plus even more surprising is a sight of a kiddie-play place!

Kodakan begins with a little bit of yamutan and more of kulitan…

Flying or diving? This photo is one of my favorites! Ang kulit!

A stone’s throw away from the Putrajaya Mosque is that emerald green domed, Prime Minister’s Office.

Picture!

Love and kulitan in Putrajaya…

Gabby voluntarily played as the Thinker…

and spontaneously jumped on high air…

He also tried to play as giant…

Tina took this photo and commented to me, “your teeth look like dentures!” lol

More kulitan moments…
putrajaya5
Nakakapagod! (Tiring!) But fun! We walked our way approximately 100-meters from the Prime Minister’s Office to the bus stop. En route, picture-taking again!

After 10 minutes, the bus arrived. With only 50 cents (PhP 7 or USD 0.16) per passenger and Gabby’s free, we took the Nadi Putra Bus on our way back to Putrajaya Sentral bus station; the ride took around 10-15 minutes. Of course, picture! This family’s happiness involves photos and more photos!

Back in the KLIA Transit train on way to KL Sentral…

Alighting from KLIA Transit train at around 8:45PM in KL Sentral, we transferred to LRT train to go back to Leboh Ampang. As we walked our way to the platform, we saw kiddie murals which we probably overlooked earlier because we’re on a rush. The Samsung-sponsored cartoonish paintings on the walls and stairs have environment-awareness theme, just wonderful. So, another photo-op was done. Picture!

It’s almost 9PM, must have dinner! At a local coffee shop near our hotel, we chowed down “lightly”.

Best meals and moments are yet to come as Yuletide 2012 in KL continues!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!

____

Dec

HOTEL 1915 KUALA LUMPUR

By docgelo 8 Comments

Christmas 2012 Blog Series includes :

Our Christmas Day Masquerade Lunch Buffet at Shook!
Putrajaya
Our Accomodation in Hotel 1915 Kuala Lumpur
Petrosains
The Day Before Christmas 2012 in Kuala Lumpur
more posts to follow!

>><<

22 December 2012. Saturday. Kuala Lumpur. As we arrived in Pudu Sentral bus station from Penang Sentral in Butterworth via 4 hour trip at past 1PM, I did the necessary first - I bought and secured a return bus tickets from Plusliner counter located at the 3rd level of the said terminal (tourists and travelers can also do this online; thanks to Malaysia’s transport system). With almost growling stomachs yearning for lunch, we hailed a taxi cab from Pudu Sentral to supposedly Leboh Ampang; the area where we’ll stay for the next two nights before transferring to another hotel to celebrate Christmas this year. I requested the cab driver who used his meter (thank you!), to take us to Burger King near Jalan Ampang as we wanted to grab quick bites at some burgers and dip onion rings on mayonnaise (upsize, please!). After the driver and I mixed up with the Leboh (or lebuh means street) and Jalan (road), we finally reached Burger King, filled in our tummies and rolled our luggage to Hotel 1915 which is a few steps away from the said burger joint, Masjid Jamek LRT Terminal, Secret Recipe, Mcdonald’s, Chatime, 7-11, some local restaurants and coffee shops, and a drug store.

How convenient is that?

Location, cleanliness and cost remain to be our priorities in choosing an accomodation.

Quaint travelers’ knick knacks greet guests at the entrance and lobby of Hotel 1915.

Budget hotels need not to be crappy and unstylish. Although the rooms are apparently small, we appreciate its comfortable bed and pillows, flat screen TV with HBO, FoxMovies and a few more channels, (how many hotels have updated their boobtubes into flat screens?), a wardrobe, hot and cold shower with a liquid soap, and provision of distilled water dispenser where we enjoyed free cold and hot water for our coffee!

We spent longer hours of restful sleep on this bed with the luxury of not struggling against an alarm clock. That’s more than enough to be grateful for this Yuletide season!

Other than the room being small, I never heard of complaints from Tina and Gabby about our accomodation in Hotel 1915; I guess they liked it too. We stayed 2 nights here before we moved to a bigger hotel to celebrate this year’s Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Have a blessed season!

*This is not a sponsored post. But thank you to Hotel 1915, we enjoyed our stay!

Hotel 1915 | No. 49, Jalan Leboh Ampang, 50100 Kuala Lumpur | http://hotel1915kl.com.my/home.php

____

Dec

THE 2012 OF BEYOND TOXICITY @ DOCGELO.COM

By docgelo 27 Comments

Categories: EVENTS, FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO, FOOD & MORE FOOD!, HEADLINES, HONG KONG, ILOVEPHOTOS, MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE, THAILAND and TRAVEL
Tags: 2012, amari watergate hotel bangkok, asian food, bangkok, best bars in kuala lumpur, best bars in malaysia, blessings, blog review, blogger, blogging, challenges, chatuchak bangkok, chatuchak market bangkok, christmas, counting blessings, disneyland, doc gelo, docgelo, expat blog, expat life, expatriate in malaysia, expatriate in penang, feast village, festivities, filipino abroad, food, food blog, food blogger, foodie, grand palace bangkok, hilton hotel, hilton hotel kuala lumpur, holidays, Hong Kong Disneyland, hongkong disneyland, hotels in bangkok, hotels in malaysia, hotels in penang, japanese, Japanese food, johor bahru, Legoland, Legoland Malaysia, Life, life abroad, lifestyle blog, malaysia, marina bay sands singapore, my 2012 in pictures, mystic place bangkok, mystic place rooms in bangkok, new year, overseas blogger, penang malaysia, postaday, reclining buddha in bangkok, sakae sushi, sentosa singapore, singapore, singapore travel blog, skybar, starhill gallery, starhill gallery kuala lumpur, starhill tea salon, sushi, thailand, traders hotel, traders hotel kuala lumpur, travel blog asia, travel blog bangkok, travel blog in asia, travel blog in southeast asia, travel blog malaysia, travel blog penang, travel blog singapore, traveling, travelling, tuk tuk, vacation, village bar, wat pho, weekly photo challenge, what to see in bangkok thailand, year ender, year ender review

THANK YOU, 2012!

It’s only mid-December and the BEST SEASON, the BEST CELEBRATIONS are yet to come.

Despite all problems, challenges and daily hassles, counting blessings makes life more meaningful.

Words are not enough to express my gratitude for everything that happened to this personal passion called blogging.

Allow me to press the replay button, and sentimentally share with you once more

the vibrant and happy colors that made our family’s 2012 a kaleidoscope!

>>><<<

May 2012 : BEST EXPAT BLOG AWARDS from MINISTRY OF TOURISM MALAYSIA

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/05/09/2012-ministry-of-tourism-malaysia-best-expat-blog/

January 2012 : BATU CAVES, KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/01/27/caves-and-bears/

January 2012 : PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS SKYBRIDGE VISIT

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/01/21/our-fun-homage-to-malaysias-magnificence/

February 2012 : HONG KONG DISNEYLAND THEME PARK & HOTEL SPONSORED TRIP

blog posts :

http://docgelo.com/2012/02/23/our-hong-kong-disneyland-trip-2012-arrival-lunch/

http://docgelo.com/2012/02/27/our-hong-kong-disnyeland-trip-2012-spectacular-burst-of-colors/

http://docgelo.com/2012/03/01/our-hong-kong-disneyland-trip-2012-timeless-magic/

May 2012 : HAVING MY OWN DOMAIN + BLOG HEADER

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/05/25/happy-blogging/

May 2012 : AN INVITATION from @ SAKAE SUSHI, GEORGE TOWN, PENANG

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/05/28/love-affair-with-japanese-food-continues/

May 2012 : INVITATION to PENANG SPICE TRAIL from MINISTRY OF TOURISM MALAYSIA PENANG BRANCH

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/05/22/penang-spice-trail-enticing-sensory-experience/

June 2012 : SHOWCASING GEORGE TOWN, PENANG

June 2012 GT Penang

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/06/24/how-i-introduced-george-town-penang/

July 2012 : PHOTO PUBLISHED ON LONELY PLANET ASIA MAGAZINE

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/07/17/surreal/

July 2012 : INVITATION from SINGAPORE BLOG AWARDS | FAR EAST HOSPITALITY HOTELS -

OASIA HOTEL SPONSORED 3D2N ACCOMODATION

INVITATION from MARINA BAY SANDS SKYPARK | HARRY POTTER EXHIBITION -

ANDY WARHOL EXHIBITION

blog posts :

http://docgelo.com/2012/07/25/oasia-my-oasis-in-singapore-2012/

http://docgelo.com/2012/07/28/marina-bay-sands-my-awesome-experience/

http://docgelo.com/2012/08/08/infinite-dose-of-spring-gardens-by-the-bay/

http://docgelo.com/2012/08/05/singapore-on-greater-heights/

http://docgelo.com/2012/07/27/a-bloggers-weekend-in-singapore-lah/

July 2012 : HARD ROCK HOTEL PENANG SPONSORED 3D2N ACCOMODATION

blog posts :

http://docgelo.com/2012/08/01/glorious-food-porn-hard-rock-hotel-penang/

http://docgelo.com/2012/07/31/our-rock-roll-family-weekend-hard-rock-hotel-penang/

August 2012 : BANGKOK, THAILAND

blog posts :

http://docgelo.com/2012/08/20/bangkok-series-2012-grand-palace/

http://docgelo.com/2012/09/01/bangkok-2012-series-golden-reclining-buddha/

http://docgelo.com/2012/08/23/bangkok-2012-series-we-highly-recommend-mystic-place/

http://docgelo.com/2012/08/25/bangkok-2012-series-chatuchak-weekend-market/

http://docgelo.com/2012/09/04/bangkok-2012-series-heichinrou/

http://docgelo.com/2012/08/28/bangkok-2012-series-penang-bangkok-penang-via-bus/

September 2012 : INVITATION from LEGOLAND MALAYSIA

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/09/22/our-legoland-malaysia-experience-2012/

September 2012 : SINGAPORE ONCE MORE WITH TINA & GABBY

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/09/29/a-saturday-in-singapore/

October 2012 : FINALIST in PHOTO CONTEST @ CHINAHOUSE,

GEORGE TOWN, PENANG, MALAYSIA

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/11/11/we-got-free-brunch-chinahouse/

November 2012 : EXCLUSIVE INVITATION to FOOD TASTING @ FEAST VILLAGE,

STARHILL GALLERY.

SKYBAR @ TRADERS HOTEL | CHYNNA @ HILTON HOTEL | 7ATENINE @ ASCOTT

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

petronas twin towers ANS_1392

blog posts :

http://docgelo.com/2012/11/17/village-bar-an-underground-fantasy/

http://docgelo.com/2012/11/20/my-delicious-afternoon-at-feast-village-starhill-gallery/

http://docgelo.com/2012/11/14/intoxicating-views/

http://docgelo.com/2012/11/24/7atenine/

http://docgelo.com/2012/11/23/dining-chinese/

November 2012 : SPONSORED AIRLINE FOOD REVIEW

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/11/26/malaysian-dishes-on-air-an-airline-food-review/

December 2012 : PHOTOSHOOT for FAMILY PORTRAIT @ MACALISTER MANSION, PENANG

blog post : http://docgelo.com/2012/12/02/weekend-at-macalister-mansion/

We commissioned one of the brilliant Malaysian photographers from Penang to do our family photos on the first day of December for an hour of unlimited shots at a very reasonable cost and a week after, he posted these two teaser-proofs on his facebook account. The rest of the photos will be delivered in weeks time.

As of this blogging, I’m also waiting for the result of ExpatBlogs.Com Best Expat Blog Awards

of which my site is nominated and currently 3rd among 13 expat blogs in Malaysia

(blog post : http://docgelo.com/support-docgelo/).

I’m also excited to share my interview and blog feature on InterNations.Org based in Germany soon!

On a more serious note,

Thank you to those people who lifted our spirits during our lowest moments this year.

Thank you to those generous souls who helped us in so many ways during those trying times.

Thank you to my blog readers, followers and fellow bloggers who have been a constant inspiration.

Advance Happy Holidays! A Blessed Christmas And A More Prosperous New Year to all of us!

THANK YOU SO MUCH, LORD ALMIGHTY!

All Glory and Honor is Yours, Now and Forever!

>>><<<

This is also my entry to Weekly Photo Challenge : My 2012 In Pictures

Nov

HER SPECIAL DAY THIS YEAR

By docgelo 22 Comments

Mic test. mic test. mic test. Test 1. 2. 3. Test….

I’d like to dedicate this song to my beautiful & loving wife, Tina.

And I hope she’ll like it.

Ugh hem…*clears throat*

*inhale, sing*

“Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday….

Happy Birthday to you!”

25 November 2012. Sunday. It’s officially two days after Tina turned 36. She doesn’t look her age, does she? She’ll kill me for posting this. But heck, we don’t need to hide our age; at least we’re still young and have so many years ahead of us! And because her Natal day this year was a Friday, she wanted no fancy celebration at work nor at home. Honestly, I even volunteered to cook her pasta or buy her a cake but she chose otherwise. Yes, I had to ask her as she doesn’t like surprises. She wanted a simple family celebration the weekend after her special day.

Here we go.

Around 10AM, we walked from Jetty in Weld Quay in George Town, Penang to ChinaHouse. En route, we surprisingly saw one of the recently installed murals in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Must have photo-ops.

Taaaaadaaaah!!!

10: 20AM. ChinaHouse.

If you’re following this blog, you certainly know that Gabby and I already enjoyed ChinaHouse (I even won a 100-ringgit-voucher here via their photo contest recently). However, it was Tina’s first time so we’re all quite excited for her. We didn’t have any reservation but we’re quite early, so we’re lucky to avail a table for three.

Breakfast. What’s for breakfast?

After I quickly spotted my choices (plural!) from ChinaHouse’s menu, I told the two loves of my life that I’ll take some shots first. They absolutely know the drill so they didn’t mind me. :)

The table beside us. Lovely.

The painting above it. Lovelier.

Then I walked few steps, I saw this grills on the door. Loveliest.

More pleasant things you don’t see on a daily basis…

For the second time, I’m telling you –if you’re following this blog, you know I’ve featured ChinaHouse a couple of times already but it has more fascinating corners to explore.

Back to my family…. Picture!!!

The table behind ours has a pretty painting too. Picture!!!

Good food, nice art works, a wine cellar, a library, a coffee shop and a restaurant, a concert bar, a great chill out place under a Heritage roof!

Meanwhile, here’s a showcase of how beautiful my family is!

Then the FOOD. Glorious first meal of the day.

Tina and I agreed to share on a 10-ringgit pot of Jasmine tea. Soothing!

The birthday girl decided for a cheese omelet plate. She and Gabby liked it. I liked it too!

From the kiddie meal menu, our 8-year-old-wonder boy opted for spaghetti with cheese beef balls. He didn’t finish it. We had it as takeaway and we wolfed it down as dinner at home. It’s not your ordinary spaghetti. The beef flavor’s too strong for our palates. Must be Malaysian; I might be wrong.

While I chose Big Breakfast, I thought it’s a misnomer. I believed it should have been named Biggest Breakfast!!!

Boy, oh boy! McDonald’s version would look like less. Just so you know, I didn’t finish it too. I saved the bread slices which were really good, as takeaway too. Because I had a humongous plate, I passed up the desserts.

While Tina and Gabby were anticipating theirs. Here’s what they had.

Gabby’s choice : Eggnog Cheesecake. Sarap!

Tina went for a slice of Marjolaine. Mas masarap!!!

She sliced her cake into halves… et voila!

One more time, with feelings! LOL!

Packed everything for takeaway. Settled the bill and burp!

Then we went up the art gallery of ChinaHouse. Picture!!!

ahhhhhhh!!!!!

Around half hour past 1PM, we hopped on the bus and we trooped to Queensbay Mall. We did a little shopping for some necessities and off we went to another gastronomic feast. Well, not actually. We planned to drop by J.Co Donuts and purchase a box for takeaway. Yes, another takeaway. You know, for dinner, for breakfast and dinner again the next day. To fill in the fridge!

And so our bloodstream became hyperglycemic again with these donuts that FILIPINOS in Metro Manila are currently going crazy about (Read: They’re on queue for at least an hour for these J.Co Donuts. For real!!!)!!! It must be the donuts or my fellowmen or both. I cannot blame them; these donuts are indeed softer than Krispy Kreme, GoNuts Donuts and Dunkin Donuts; although I love ’em all!

In our more than two years here in Penang, I think it’s only second time we savored J.Co. And again, there was no long queues.

Here are those freebies that go with our drinks…

DELICIOUS!!!

Tina loved her Cappuccino and JCoccino donut!

While I enjoyed Berry Berrymore! (sounds like Drew Barrymore!)

More pictures…

And I cannot agree more with J.Co….

I love you, Tina & Gabby!

_________________________

Nov

DINING CHINESE

By docgelo 13 Comments

Greetings from Shanghai, China!

Did those Chinese silk lanterns, crimson red velvet lounge seats and chairs and gorgeous porcelain fool you? The greetings’ too ambitious, I know. But who knows? Day will come that I’ll get to bring my feet and my family to China too. Time will tell. Meanwhile, I’m sharing here my honest review of my Chinese lunch at Chynna restaurant in Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur. I hope they won’t ban me from dining there again after this post! *cue prayers here* This post isn’t a rant but a constructive criticism and a challenge to improve.

How to get there? I took a cab from Bukit Bintang to KL Sentral where Hilton Hotel is located. When I was already inside the taxi driven by a friendly Malaysian-lady-driver who thankfully, used her taxi meter on our route (fyi, it’s unspoken rule in Kuala Lumpur that taking taxi cabs isn’t always metered by those opportunitistic divers), it popped in my mind that I could have taken the monorail from Bukit Bintang directly to KL Sentral which costs much cheaper of course (around 2 ringgit only instead of the metered taxi ride of RM15). It was useless to entertain regret so I took the monorail for my return to Bukit Bintang after my lunch; however it’s a-15-minute-walk from KL Sentral to the monorail station, nonetheless worth it.

What did I sample? I’m a dim sum monster so it got to be dim sum of course!!!

Because I was attending an exclusive food tasting tour at Feast Village, Starhill Gallery at 3PM that day, I chose to eat light. And that’s how I defined a light meal *snickers* ~Four Season Platter, Siew Mai (or for us Filipinos, siomai!) and the biggest Chicken pao I’ve eaten! I could have ordered hot tea but I was disappointed after I learned that Chynna’s Tea Master was on his day off. If you’ve noticed my photo of their dim sum open kitchen above, the tea pot with a long nose is eye-catching, isn’t it? Since their Tea Master’s out that day, I missed out his Kung Fu moves when serving hot Chinese tea. Thus, I washed everything down with chilled fresh Orange juice (not in photo).

AMBIANCE vs SUBSTANCE

Did Chynna impress me? As I wanted to indulge something extraordinary other than the usual fastfood and hawker meals, I opted to try this Chinese restaurant initially to experience its beautiful ambiance. I was immediately drawn onto its interiors the very moment I saw it on Hilton’s website. And true enough, it’s more pleasing to the eyes up close! The mood inside Chynna restaurant exudes extreme elegance. The cost of the food on the menu’s another affordable luxury; highly competitive with the common restaurants outside hotels. The staff’s friendly, quick and efficient.

Everything’s at its finest even the food presentation but not its taste.

Disappointed without witnessing the Kung Fu moves of their Tea Master, I felt the same too when Chynna’s dim sums tasted stuffed with extenders! I may be wrong and Chynna may deny it but what I ordered tasted all bland! Sure, they provided two sauces to go with them but a delicious dim sum is delicious sans anything. I know my palate so well. I know how authentic dim sum tastes like. As mentioned in my previous posts, despite I’ve never been to China yet, I think eating dim sums from hawker food stalls and five-star-hotel restaurants in all our trips to Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand (we even had dim sum buffet in Bangkok recently) and even in Manila Chinatown and in Penang and in Kuala Lumpur itself makes me no-authority but at least my gustatory sense has been familiar with quality dim sums. Admittedly, I only sampled a few dim sum from Chynna in Hilton-KL however, it really didn’t hit the mark! Perhaps, noodles, soups and fish, chicken and meat dishes from their menu are all wonderful but remain to be tasted. That’s a good reason to try Chynna again next time.

Although it means nothing to me because I’m a non-smoker, you might be interested that Chynna has private dining rooms where smoking is permitted.

CHYNNA | 5th Level Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur | www.hilton.com

*This is not a sponsored post.

*This Luxurious Kuala Lumpur Blog Series includes :

*GOOD NEWS : To those who read & follow my blog, I’ll appreciate if you could drop a line or two about my blogging via ths link :http://www.expatsblog.com/blogs/1157/beyond-toxicity; this is in line with the BEST EXPAT BLOG AWARDS run by ExpatsBlog.com. Maraming salamat po!

Nov

INTOXICATING VIEWS

By docgelo 7 Comments

How can you say no to a skyline like this?

Resistance is futile. I am seduced once more by its beauty effortlessly.

And I went here alone, without my family, with no one but my feet and my camera. So sue me.

Truth is, I brewed everything for this. Call me anything you want for all I care but I had to secure a green light from my loving wife, Tina. I couldn’t be grateful enough when she agreed. I was silently jumping for joy actually!

You need to continue reading, I tell you!

When I started planning to revisit Malaysia’s capital to renew my passport at the Philippine Embassy, I thought of visiting a few premier places that partly provide logic to the fact that Kuala Lumpur is this country’s metropolis. I could not believe everything because while doing a little online research, I received an invitation via email from a luxurious food and beverage outlet group for an exclusive food tasting tour of not one but four of their restaurants -some of them where the food places where celebrities Michael Bolton and Tiger Woods dined separately this year. That will be featured on this blog NEXT!

Go on, keep reading!

Then a fellow and recognized blogger endorsed my name to an agency in Singapore whose main office is in Scotland, for me to be one of their airline food survey participants. The task is to do an airline food review in any of the flights of airlines on their list before November 24, 2012; rate the airline food, blog and tweet about it and get paid in USD! The amount isn’t HUGE but sure worth it. Thus, I decided to fly back from Kuala Lumpur to Penang for this opportunity.

There’s more news!

A real-life-couple-travel bloggers invited me for a meet-up in Kuala Lumpur where they’re based for more than a year now. We met up, dined and chat the day I arrived in KL. It was fun. Will blog it soon!

I digress.

Because I only have limited budget and worse, with only 3 days and 2 nights, my choices of trendiest, the most sophisticated and stylish chill out spots have been narrowed down to a handful.

Let this LUXURIOUS KUALA LUMPUR BLOG Series begin with SKYBAR, located at the 33rd level of Traders Hotel Kuala Lumpur manned no less than Shangri La Hotels.

I made reservation via email for one of the cabanas with the best view of the incredibly iconic,

Petronas Twin Towers

and the wonderful KLCC Park that’s filled with lush greens underneath.

I had to see and use the tandas. Good thing it’s almost spotless.

I also liked the fact that SkyBar thought of even the tiniest detail that some people tend to overlooked. Because the cabanas are enclosed with comfortable lounges where one can fully extend and relax the tired and aching legs, there are foot stools for the guest to use to step up. Signs and floating lights in immaculate white and powder blue colors on the pool were placed to serve as guides so nobody slips over. Now being drunk and trying to dive like an olympian on the pool is another issue! LOL!

Just before I ordered for snack and drinks, I saw some swimmers. There was a little girl frolicking on the pool…

Then, there’s grandpa…

One of the reasons why I chose to visit SkyBar was to experience not only viewing my favorite structure in Malaysia differently this time, but to know how it feels like to go to a bar with a swimming pool at the middle. It’s bizarre but looks amazingly unique to me!

Isn’t the view intoxicating?

Try to spot the sweetest couple of the night…

Then marveled like a kid at the dancing fountains seen from the park.

Now, here’s what I ordered from SkyBar’s menu.

Patnubay ng Magulang ay Kailangan. Google Translate that if you wish and you may read this blog’s DISCLAIMER, thank you!

I asked Lynn, who happens to be the friendliest staff of SkyBar, of their bestsellers. The young and beautiful lady deserves a raise and a promotion in my opinion for recommending the Selangor Sling and Buffalo Wings for me to sample. Of course anyone would find the menu’s prices steeper when compared to food in hawkers! Toinks!. I say, you never get these view, this service, this ambiance, this experience anywhere else.

Selangor Sling. Tanqueray 10 gin and cherry brandy liqueur shaken with pressed pineapple juice, fresh lemon juice and a touch of angostura bitters strained over ice in a sling glass topped with soda and benedictine d.o.m. garnished with lemon and maraschino cherry. RM42++.

The sunset in Malaysia comes around 7:30PM or so, hence I ordered another drink while waiting for dusk.

Take two : Patnubay ng Magulang ay Kailangan. Google Translate that if you wish and you may read this blog’s DISCLAIMER, thank you!

My last order at SkyBar was that pint of beer for 20 ringgit. I thought it’s appropriate to drink in a bar rather than fresh milk. *wink*

Now I know why SkyBar is ranked mostly by foreigners as one of the most must-visit-chill-out-places in KL.

*Stay tuned to this blog series!

SKYBAR | Level 33 Traders Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur City Center, 50088 Malaysia | www.skybar.com.my

*This is not a sponsored post.

*This Luxurious Kuala Lumpur Blog Series includes :

__________

Nov

WE GOT FREE BRUNCH @ CHINAHOUSE

By docgelo 20 Comments

10 November 2012. Saturday. Between Victoria and Beach Streets, George Town, Penang.

Hats off and thank you very much to the 567 facebook buddies who voted for my photo entry at ChinaHouse Shoot and Win contest. Whether you clicked ‘like’ voluntarily or voted with force and coercion, hahaha! it became one of the 8 finalists! Maraming Salamat po! Congratulations too to the 2 Chinese-Malaysian winners!

Despite I didn’t win that Langkawi getaway, we devoured a FREE brunch at ChinaHouse and for that, I am so grateful!!!

It’s nice to indulge once in a while with your love ones and even nicer if it’s FREE!
Now, try to spot Gabby amidst that heavenly table…

Bingo! I felt I won the jackpot when I saw that spread again! Salivary glands and gastric acid secreting cells were all stimulated. Judgment on what to order was the biggest problem. It took us a while to decide from the menu. So while waiting for our food and having difficulty of choosing desserts, I cannot get enough of it and snapped my camera a countless times on that table filled with cakes and pastries! Here’s a few of my captures of that mouthwatering ChinaHouse spread…

Is it not happiness?

We texted and called Tina who opted to stay in our apartment to get some extra hours of rest and do motherly and wifely duties at home (read : household chores).

I noticed it didn’t take a while for our choices to land on our table. Let the pig-out begin!

Gabby ordered two plates. First was Toasted Banana Bread With Fresh Banana and Cream.

While I enjoyed the tasteful Homemade Beef Sausage & Scrambled Egg Muffin with Tomato Relish.

That tomato relish was the bomb! It complemented my breakfast plate so well that it made me forget about the importance of calorie counter. Got yah! I’m not on a dietary regimen (yet). In as much as I want to give importance to health as my license and profession dictate me to do so, indulgence ruled over those moments! I was too weak (again) to resist! Resistance is futile once more! LOL!

Gabby’s second plate was Yoghurt, Fresh Fruit Salad with Granola & Honey. Sugar and sweetness overload!

Our wonder boy didn’t finish everything he ordered; I guess like me, he was overwhelmed! No problem as it’s a part of my Daddy duties to finish the plate whenever needed *insert evil grin here*.

Before ordering desserts (yes, we still had room for sweet endings!), Gabby walked to the shelves and got some kiddie books. He initially browsed the very educational (kidding!) Pokemon!

then he shifted his pure and young attention to a more serious, morally uplifting hardbound, “Walter the Farting Dog”, LOL!

Not long after, our appetites were ready again! Gabby had few fork-dunks on Chocoholics’ Chocolate Cake; the rest of its slice was our takeaway for Tina.

Over and beyond those multiple cakes and pastries, I succumbed to the decision of having Tiramisu again. It’s really unforgettable the first time I had it, thus a repeat was a must!

ChinaHouse’s Tiramisu, now officially known as one of my kryptonites!

To wash everything down, I had Fresh Orange Juice while Gabby didn’t finish his glass of Strawberry Smoothies. Water in a cute capped tall bottle was provided free (FYI, other restaurants in Penang charge a few cents for iced water).

After our 112-ringgit-hearty-brunch, Gabby and I went to the first floor (yes, it’s ground floor first here in Malaysia) to see the art gallery of ChinaHouse.

Luckily, it’s opened as it was otherwise during my first visit. There’s an on-going-art-exhibits of various local artists of which one’s entitled, Circus, I think. Pardon me as I didn’t get the other titles of the show.

It’s almost past noon when we left ChinaHouse.

Gabby and I agreed that Tina will like ChinaHouse too. And with that, it’s a conclusion that it won’t be our last to dine-in at ChinaHouse; we shall be back one day with my loving wife.

Thank you so much, ChinaHouse! You’re one of our family’s best food finds in George Town, Penang!

*For my first blog post about ChinaHouse, click THIS!!!

_______________________

CHINAHOUSE | 153 & 155 Beach Street & 183B Victoria Street, George Town, Penang. http://chinahouse.com.my/

Nov

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : RENEWAL

By docgelo 11 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS, MALAYSIA, TOKYO and TRAVEL
Tags: cheah kongsi, doc gelo, docgelo, george town penang, kuala lumpur, lifestyle blog, malaysia, medeka square kuala lumpur, penang, photography, photos, postaday, renewal, shinto wedding, TOKYO, TRAVEL, travel blog, traveling, weekly photo challenge

A Shinto Wedding, Meiji Temple, Tokyo. April 2010.

Immaculate blooms at Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur, May 2012.

Offerings at the Temple, Cheah Kongsi, George Town, Penang, June 2012.

These photos to me mean renewal of self, life and faith.

This post is my entry to Weekly Photo Challenge : Renewal

Nov

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : GEOMETRY

By docgelo 28 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS, THAILAND and TRAVEL
Tags: asia, bangkok, doc gelo, docgelo, photos, platinum mall, postaday, street photos, thailand, TRAVEL, traveling, weekly photo challenge : geometry

God knows I hate Math. Sorry but to each his own, yah know! LOL! I palpitate and become tachycardic (having increased heart rate) whenever I see numbers and yes, even shapes and anything that has to do with Math. This week’s theme is indeed a challenge! But here we go. *insert deep breathing here* Can you see those parallel lines? I know Euclid will agree that parallelism is part of Geometry! What about those triangles that make up a square? Can you name the type of angles formed by those white and yellow diagonal lines? Help! I’m having a panic attack -Geometry is actually Math, is it not? LOL!

This photo was taken last August 2012 in Bangkok and this is my entry to the Weekly Photo Challenge : Geometry

Nov

TWO WORLDS IN ONE AFTERNOON

By docgelo 9 Comments

Similar to my previous weekends when I killed a few hours of walking around George Town, Penang with the sole aim of capturing things I fancy on my cam, I didn’t plan to take Gabby with me but my 8 year old son decided to tag along again as I opted to spend my late Saturday afternoon in two areas in the island. Before we left our apartment, it was made clear to him and to his mom that malls and fastfood joints aren’t included in my itineraries. The boy was adventurous and excited to come with me; I welcomed the idea that he’s open to try things outside the box at such a young age.

Hopping on the bus and taking the 15-minute ferry ride from Butterworth to George Town, Penang aren’t unusual to us but going to a nearby clan jetty doesn’t happen even on a weekly basis. I took my feet and Gabby to one of those waterfront settlements of Chinese families who left their country of origin to live in the coastal waters of Penang, the Tan Jetty.

Unlike the CHEW JETTY which is more frequented by tourists and travelers, Tan Jetty does not have much settlers. The houses were less in number, there’s nothing much to appreciate except the existence of an authentic Thai restaurant and a narrower wooden walkway that extends to the sea. I wonder how glorious to catch the sunrise and sunset here!

What Gabby and I saw will definitely not appeal to those who value aesthetics and comfort over and beyond history and heritage. What made the sight a bit unpleasant was the fact that it was low tide when we arrived and the place, despite peaceful and tranquil, screams the need for maintenance.

I initially wanted Gabby to simply stand still near the Thai restaurant and wait for me while I take some photos but he’s determined to stroll down that tall and narrow wooden path. I told you, Gabby’s into this adventure too! So we held hands and took steps farther. At halfway towards the end of the wooden walkway, there’s a small Buddhist temple and the awesome view of the bay.

We only stayed in Tan Jetty less than half an hour but that minimal time gave us a different view of life in Penang. I’m also proud to state that Gabby braved that wooden planks and experienced a totally unique environment that’s incomparable with airconditioned malls, comfortable hotel rooms and wonderful theme parks.

We walked back to Weld Quay and took a 5 minute Rapid Penang bus ride to Jalan Penang (or Penang Road). We hopped off the bus just before Cititel Hotel and turned left to Muntri Street. The second world we visited in George Town that weekend was Soul Kitchen in Muntri Street.

Soul Kitchen is an Italian eatery located in front of Modern Hotel; oh yes! You read it right; it’s modern!

Admittedly, it’s not that common to find a non-Halal restaurant in George Town unless hawker stalls manned by Chinese-Malaysians. Soul Kitchen is uniquely different. It’s owned by a German and Malaysian couple by the names of Tonio and Michele. This restaurant boasts of authentic Italian dishes with ingredients mostly not found in the usual food places in Penang. The unpretentious shophouse-converted-into-a-food-place is a haven for those who look for something extraordinary.

Michele immediately approached us to hand in the menu. There were menu boards and the list of beverages available were on a simple black piece of paper. I asked her of the available pizza, because my boy loves pizza and Michele replied back with a query. She casually inquired if we eat pork. I said, Yes! She told me there’s Parma Ham pizza and some pasta; she also mentioned we can have the pizza in two flavors, half with prosciutto or parma ham and rocula, and the rest of the slices with only cheese. That rang a bell to Gabby’s ears since he’s a purist when it comes to pizza. We also ordered Pork Lasagne and washed everything down with Iced Cappuccino for me and Coke for Gabby.

Parma Ham Rucola Parmesan…

Lasagne…

Gabby and I loved the pizza! Its pretty thin crust and loads of cheese and prosciutto, plus its rare oval shape made it special however a bit pricey at RM 24 for half serving of parma ham. It’s reasonable for those ingredients, I guess. Although the pizza was nice and all, the lasagne needs a little improvement. The Iced Cappuccino is sweet and strong, I liked!

Dinner, solb!!!

Before I googled the web and stumbled upon Soul Kitchen, I never expected to find an authentic Italian eatery amidst Nasi Lemak and Char-Koay-Teow-dominated food stalls! More so, I never thought that an unassuming restaurant could serve freshly baked Parma Ham Pizza that tasted variably delicious compared with that of our favorite Pizza Hut! Sometimes, those that are less commercialized are more satisfying!

Going to Tan Jetty to explore a different environment and discovering another food place in Soul Kitchen offered something new to us. It certainly broke the monotony of our weekday routines and weekend escapes.

I believe that we need to step out of our comfort zones sometimes to uncover more things and places that we’re already familiar with; such will provide a better appreciation of the world we live in.

_____________

Oct

EDELWEISS CAFE

By docgelo 14 Comments

I didn’t plan to eat alone in this beautifully restored 150-year-old shophouse along the very quaint, Armenian Street in GeorgeTown, Penang but the opportunity presented itself. I’ve been passing this restaurant almost once or twice a month every weekends for two years now but never I was enticed to pay it a visit until last week. After I did an errand for Gabby’s school project, I took a stroll on a late Sunday afternoon from Chulia Street with a sole expectation to capture some more picturesque corners. My feet led me to this non-Halal-Western restaurant, Edelweiss Cafe.

The chalk on blue board menu seemed like a magnet!

The moment I walked in, it felt like a step back in time.

I paused. Took a 360 turn and absorbed the killer ambiance. And just like that, the ginormous mirror and all its reflections blew me away!

An absolute breather from the usual fastfood dining experience.

From floor to ceiling inside Edelweiss Cafe, there’s nothing but extraordinary. How do you describe dining amidst this mighty Tower Clock?

It’s love at first sight. The hand movements of the Tower Clock are controlled by this mechanism…

Amazing.

I could just imagine how the bell rings.

I always have conscious efforts to keep punctuality running in my veins; I know that and people who know me best are also aware of that. What I realized after my Edelweiss Cafe experience was the fact that over and beyond believing in the cliche, “Time is gold”, I actually adore massive timepieces too. Fascination costs nothing, isn’t it?

Lovely corner…

Lovelier…

Loveliest…

Next time I get a chance to go back and dine here, I’ll probably choose to sit and while away time in this spot with Tina and Gabby…

The view from where I sat…

I’m not alcoholic but the beverage menu and the gorgeous bar are inviting too.

I passed up; perhaps next time. Instead, I savored every sip of their cappuccino.

Dunking my fork and cutting with steak knife this Pork Belly Baguette served with Fresh Garden Salad and French Fries on a paper cone was definitely the highlight of my Edelweiss Cafe visit.

Did I already tell you that their French Fries are thin as shoestrings but crispy and a bit spicy? It’s made special by a dash of dried chili rather than the usual salt. I liked it! I left the cone empty!

At this point, I really missed Tina and Gabby. The experience was definitely incomplete without them.

After a hearty meal must have dessert. I asked the friendly wait staff about their bestseller. He suggested Apple pie with Vanilla ice cream. I am believer! There’s a lot of pretty thin slices of apple neatly arranged in layers on the crust; perfectly complemented by that scoop of the most classic flavor. The photo doesn’t give justice.

For the moment, all my stress and fatigue and worries and problems were all melted away.

Life isn’t easy but still sweet.

____________________

Oct

DEJA VU

By docgelo 18 Comments

Khoo Kongsi and the other corners of George Town, Penang.

I’ve done photowalking here several times but its incredible charm never fails to lure me.

I keep coming back.

After I hopped off the bus and brought out my camera to start capturing some things I fancy, everything seemed to have occured in the past. It was somewhat like deja vu but not quite. Simply because this time, my photowalking got a volunteer companion; none other than the love of our lives, Gabby!

I thought I would stroll the laterals of GeorgeTown alone again but to my surprise, our 8-year-old kid decided the last minute to come with me. It was cleared to him that I would take long walks and multiple steps from one street to another but the boy was determined to transformed his weekend to an entirely different one from his Monday to Friday routine in school. He really wanted to tag along; I could not be happier!

So while we left his lovely mom who did some amazing household chores at our apartment (she always does it best without us around!), this wonder boy was with me for few hours goofing around one of Malaysia’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites…

Bus, ferry and another bus ride and we arrived shortly to Jalan Penang. We finally saw the largest of Ernest Zacharevic‘s murals in GeorgeTown. Beautiful, is it not?

Few little steps and our feet brought us to Muntri Street. Let the photowalking begin!

GeorgeTown literally inscripted its history, culture and traditions on almost countless iron rod sculptures installed in various alleys and streets. Creative, whimsical, informative and educational, these art pieces surely are eye-catching; a lot of tourists drop by to photograph them. One of them actually asked me, “Do you want me to take photos of you and your son with your camera?”

One of the firewalls of a shophouse in Muntri Street has another Zacharevic’s mural painting -a Chinese-Malaysian girl in kungfu outfit (or is it blue PJs?) whose hands appeared to be pressing on window shades. It’s definitely not my favorite but quite fascinating too.

More installations in Muntri Street…

Yeah, right! Get a Life!

From Muntri Street, Gabby and I lazily walked towards Love Lane…

I wonder why the Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharervic painted a broken heart on two public phones when in fact they’re installed in Love Lane…

Blink and you will miss this on the wall across 711 and the broken-hearted-payphones…

Quaint gestures of recycling on warmest greetings…

Do you have the key?

Meanwhile, at Ah Quee Street, art needs resuscitation…

Alas, another Zacharevic’s masterpieces!

Something pink in Armenian Street…

Something weird?

Or it’s just me. I imagined walking through Armenian Street at midnight with this sight of a ~~voodoo~~ doll on a drift wood, would you not be afraid to death? LOL!

OK, it aint weird but…unique (for the lack of better adjective, hahaha!)

What about a pair of shoes on a giant frog’s mouth? Art? Recycling fun!

Can’t blame us if we craved for Starbucks…

Talking about craving, long walks need refueling of course. And the wonder boy wanted to eat in one of our favorites in George Town. Believe it or not, it was Gabby who wished to eat in Restoran Kapitan again for some Indian dishes. So we had Boneless Buttered Chicken, Garlic and Cheese Naan, Mango Lassi and Chocolate Ice Blended. Solb!

Our last stop was a bookstore for the little boy also craved for his favorite pocketbook series.

We enjoyed our weekend. Yet another special one. And you?

_________________________

This blog’s other posts with George Town’s street arts include :

Sep

OUR LEGOLAND MALAYSIA EXPERIENCE 2012

By docgelo 66 Comments

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO, FOOD & MORE FOOD!, ILOVEPHOTOS, MALAYSIA and TRAVEL
Tags: amusement park, billund band, billund band denmark, blogger with family, coco the magic clown, disneyland in anaheim, doc gelo, docgelo, expat blogger, family, family day out, family fun, food, food blog, food blogger, food in legoland malaysia, foodie, genting highlands, johor bahru, kelly tarlton's antarctic encounter and underwater world, kuala lumpur, legiland denmark, lego, Legoland, Legoland Malaysia, lifestyle blogger, malaysia and singapore, market restaurant legoland malaysia, miniland, miniland in legoland, munchy's captain munch cookies, overseas blogger, philippines in legoland malaysia, the big shop, the big shop legoland malaysia, theme park, things you need to know about legoland malaysia, tickets legoland malaysia, tokyo disneyland, tokyo disneysea, tourism malaysia, tourism singapore, travel blogger, travel tips to legoland malaysia, travel tips to malaysia, traveling, travelling, universal studios in la, universal studios singapore

*This is another Beyond Toxicity’s long and photo-heavy blog post. Tips to visitors and tourists as well as suggestions to Legoland Malaysia’s officials are included in this entry. Enjoy!

Of all the amusement and theme parks I’ve been to, Legoland Malaysia is the most colorful! Nothing compares to its vibrant bricks that directly inspire everyone’s imagination and creativity to build, build and build. I’ve been to some remarkable theme parks around the globe like Sea World in San Diego, Disneyland in Anaheim, Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California, Universal Studios Singapore, Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo Sea Life Park, Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park in Hong Kong, Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter Underwater World in Auckland, New Zealand, Genting Highlands and Aquaria in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, even our very own Enchanted Kingdom, Manila Ocean Park, Star City and Nayong Pilipino back home, thus, I have grown a personal appreciation and somehow I have defined my own standard. In so many ways, going to these kiddie places has been incredibly memorable when I became a family man and started sharing the wonderful experiences with my wife, Tina and our son, Gabby.

Like most kids, I grew up playing Lego. And now that our son’s into Lego too, experiencing the theme park made entirely of these timeless bricks was beyond fantastic! I remember, Tina and I first saw Legoland Denmark on TV via The Amazing Race. Never did we imagine that we would enjoy the same Legoland here in Malaysia so soon! It was surreal actually!

THE INSIDE STORY

I am grateful to Legoland Malaysia for inviting me twice to their media events that I failed to attend to due to some reasons. If you must know, my name was included in the list of bloggers and media who were exclusively invited to Legoland Malaysia’s Media and Family event last September 1st; that’s 2 weeks before the park opened to the public officially. Then recently, they threw another event last September 14, 2012 and during its opening last September 15, 2012, but I was only able to bring my feet and my family to Nusajaya, Johor Bahru where the very first Legoland in Asia and the 6th in the world is raised, last Sunday, September 16, 2012.

The Public Relations people who invited me on Legoland Malaysia’s behalf were gracious enough to still offer me via email a complimentary pass to the theme park for my personal review and blog feature. We only had to pay for Tina’s admission fee of RM140 (US$ 45+) and Gabby’s was waived because he was so fortunate and clever to spot a promosi on Munchy’s Captain Munch chocolate cookies at a popular grocery in Penang a few weeks back.

DIRECTIONS WHERE TO GO ARE ALWAYS ESSENTIAL

I tried to reserve a Deluxe Room via email recommended by the PR people of Legoland Malaysia however, it was too late because most hotels were full due to the anticipated opening of this theme park. I ended up booking a budget hotel that wasn’t bad at all; I did it few minutes before we left our apartment in Penang to head to Johor Bahru.

From our budget hotel in Johor Bahru, we were brought to Legoland Malaysia by a blue taxi cab that we hired for the day for RM 100 (US$ 32+). Good thing that the local driver’s already familiar with the roads because we noticed flags of Legoland Malaysia were only visible a few kilometers from the park itself. I highly suggest for Legoland Malaysia’s officials to put more directional signs like flags long before the Coastal Highway; better put signages at Larkin and Kota Raya bus stations, Singapore-Malaysia exit and entry points and install brochures with map in hotels because not all drivers, visitors and tourists have GPS. We’re just so fortunate to meet the taxi driver who picked us up from the hotel before 8AM and after 20 minutes or so, my family and I arrived at the ticket counters of Legoland Malaysia. We’re too punctual for the park’s opening at 10AM.

Another thing that could guide patrons of Legoland Malaysia is installation of signages of where to queue to buy and/or collect tickets at the gate. Expectedly, signs should be put at the vast parking lot, drop off points and the main entrance to the park. It’s always comforting to see signages that say, “This way, please!” My family and I were second in line but to our disappointment there was no sign that could have directed us to go to the 2 counters after Counter 14; those were the only 2 ticket counters assigned to issue Day Passes/Tickets as Counter 1 to 14 served only those who availed of Annual Passes. There’s a single flat screen TV monitor that showed what counter to go to but it was only turned on few minutes before 10AM where people were already on the wrong queue. Also, there were no labels of queues, just digital ticket counter numbers.

Toilet signs are in Malay, with no English or Mandarin translations.

Signs, signs and more signages please! We, the guests and visitors of Legoland Malaysia deserve to be informed.

What nearly spoiled my day was when I learned that my complimentary pass wasn’t endorsed properly by the PR people to the ticketing office. I could have easily paid for my admission fee but I was promised via email of a free entrance. There was neither media ID nor media pass/ticket provided. I believe it was a non-communication on the part of the PR and the ticketing office of Legoland Malaysia. Some important things have to be organized here. Nonetheless, I have to admit that a certain Legoland Malaysia staff named Fara was so caring, generous and apologetic enough to attend to my concern and escorted us to the gates of the park sans waiting on queue. THANK YOU!

Soon after we entered the park, we felt we stepped into one of a childhood’s dreams! The moment was euphoric!

GASTRONOMIC TREATS IN LEGOLAND MALAYSIA

I know. One doesn’t go to a theme park to engage in a digestive feast or simply to sample their culinary offerings but then again, no one can deny the fact that enjoyment is incomplete when the stomach is half-content, worse, empty. Fret not for my family and I proved that Legoland Malaysia is more than meets the eye! This newest theme park in Asia can also satisfy the appetite and the usual cravings with the variety of food and beverage choices they have.

Before you further escalate your excitement to know how Legoland Malaysia looks like, allow this blog to be different from the others that already featured Legoland Malaysia. I’m highlighting one of human necessities first prior visual pleasure. After all, this blog is all about giving reverence to my family, FOOD & fun! Behold, a shameless rundown of what filled our tummies the entire Sunday when we were there…

We had brunch at Market Restaurant. The space was noteworthy, just like the wide array of delicious dishes available. Combo meals of a Half Roasted Chicken with either Barbecue or Black Pepper Sauce come with soda and mushroom soup cost around RM 23 (US$ 7.50+). The servings were huge to meet my big appetite, tasteful too!

Tina had that British classic, Fish and Chips…

While Gabby enjoyed the pasta that I topped with parmesan cheese generously and a large cup of Strawberry Smoothies (RM 10 or US$ 3.27). He doesn’t like beef balls that much, so his parents came in to the rescue

There were a lot more choices plus desserts like cakes available in slices too, however we can only consume as much.

The not-so-light-afternoon snacks that we savored for hours inside that thank-goodness-airconditioned-restaurant consisted of Beef Lasagna, cups of Cappuccino, Oreo cupcake that’s to die for! Chocolate cupcake, Apple and Cinnamon pie and Turkey Sandwich in Focaccia bread and Hot Chocolate. Can you guess who-had-what? Anyway, it was all glorious!

We only ate at The Market Restaurant and The Cafe; these are two of Legoland Malaysia’s restaurants inside the park; there are others like Pizza Mania where pizza, pasta, soups and desserts are on the menu and the ones outside the gates like KFC and others. We’re happy to know that Legoland Malaysia offers international cuisine! People who aspire to be global should take note.

HYGIENE AND SANITATION : DEFINITELY A PRIORITY

Apparently, it’s not enough that food looks enticing and tasteful. Legoland Malaysia, like other theme parks around should also maintain hygiene and sanitation particularly in food handling. Flies and other insects should be kept away and controlled at all times. We appreciate that the plates we had in Legoland Malaysia were prepared and served satisfactorily.

SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS!!!

After we gained entrance to Legoland Malaysia, Gabby got hold of the map from the gate and we wasted no time; we all trooped to the very first gift shop.

Look what Gabby, Tina and I came up with mix-and-matching Lego parts…

Our very first souvenirs were a Gentleman, an Indian and a Punk! Gabby, Tina and I were delighted!

Legoland Malaysia’s 76 acre-park has 7 themed areas with more than 40 interactive rides, shows and attractions. The 7 themed areas are The Beginning, Lego City, MiniLand, Land of Adventure, Imagination, Lego Kingdom and Lego Technic.

THE BEGINNING

Next stop : another Legoland Malaysia gift shop, The Big Shop that houses the largest selection of LEGO products in Asia!

Did I tell you already how Gabby’s so into Lego Ninjago? He watches the animated series and gradually collects Lego Ninjago items.

Obviously, the boy had his time inside The Big Shop…

Whenever we travel, we usually buy fridge magnets but most of them come in sets of RM 54+ in Legoland Malaysia; we didn’t see anything sold per piece so we settled for second best handy and more affordable souvenir, keychains! They’re sold at RM19+ a piece. Here are some of the cutest and irresistible choices…

There were stuff toys too..

and those fridge magnets…

As we are both fans of the movie series, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tina bought one of these Jack Sparrow key chains…

While I failed to resist something that will remind me of Harry Potter series and perhaps would keep me sane on a daily basis, Rubeus Hagrid keychain, FTW!

There goes our very own happy little shopper!

LET’S EXPLORE LEGOLAND MALAYSIA NOW!

But wait, the sun was so unforgiving! Johor Bahru has the greatest blessing of sunshiny weather making a day in Legoland Malaysia impossible to endure without SPF lotion and sun protectors. Believe me, they’re so necessary! We came in ready with cotton long sleeved shirts, sunnies and fedora hats; better if you have umbrellas but best if Legoland Malaysia could provide more shades for their visitors. Because the heat of the sun was almost unbearable, we wished for Legoland to be an indoor park but of course it’s pointless and futile. What is more practical is to suggest to its management to build more brick-inspired shades and improve more their airconditioning units! They could plant more tall trees too! Because it was really, really hot, we had to go inside the restaurants and some airconditioned attractions in between the stroll around the park. And like most popular kiddie theme parks, Tina and I hope for Legoland Malaysia to provide FREE potable and filtered drinking water fountains that would keep people from being dehydrated. More rubbish bins and toilets too, we wish. Boleh?

We went inside an open-air-theater and watched a comedy skit that left lessons to the young and old audience about awareness of common dangerous materials found in the house. I just didn’t get it why it had to start with graceful acrobatic act; to perk up the audience, perhaps?

LEGO CITY

Finally, we explored this park. Of course, there’s Lego creation everywhere!

I think it’s only in Legoland that minors are allowed to drive! Cool!!!

There was literrally color coding! Red, Yellow, Blue! Take your pick. See how the little boys loved it!

Shark!

We continued to walk and reached the Land of Adventure… Amazing Lego Egyptian structures!

Moving on, more colorful and fantastic brick-structures ahead!!!

IMAGINATION

Most of the rides in Legoland Malaysia are for children whose ages range from 1-12. This Duplo PlayTown is very apt and safe for kids less 5. It’s so picturesque too!

Another interactive part of Legoland Malaysia is the Build and Test Center. The entire family can make vehicles, houses and buildings out of their imagination and Lego bricks and test them in the earthquake table and slopes.

One of the attractions of Legoland Malaysia that we all loved was the 4D studio (not in photos). I highly recommend it for all ages; surely, all members of the family can enjoy! Watching Lego characters in 4D movie with various effects was so cool! -There’s air/smoke, sprinkle of water and blowing of air to the audience; the theater’s nice too, spacious with comfortable seats. And again, the airconditioning was refreshing amidst the challenge of the sunny weather!

Gabby and I also had ultimate fun on this ride that to me, exemplifies teamwork. It’s a pull-me-up-pull-me-down kiddie ride and we loved our moments there to bits!

Despite the heat, the colors of Lego stuctures really made us smile ear-to-ear…

LEGO KINGDOM

This area of Legoland Malaysia provides an atmosphere of the Medieval years. Children can enjoy the Royal Joust ride where they assume the role of a Knight while riding a Lego-lized horse. Older park visitors can ride the Dragon, a rollercoaster ride that takes its spin with excitingly looking twists and turns while kids can opt to queue and try its children’s version, the Dragon’s Apprentice.

We didn’t dare ride the Dragon hahaha! Tina has vertigo and Gabby’s not ready yet for such thrill-of-a-life-kind-of-ride even its junior or kiddie version, The Dragon’s Apprentice located almost right across, while I have an episodic phobia of heights. Oops!

While we’re there, we can’t stop loving all the little details made of Lego bricks; the entire park is uniquely beautiful because of them! No corner was left unnoticed!

LEGO TECHNIC

Mindstorm and Lego Academy’s airconditioning kept us cool against the hot weather in Legoland Malaysia. Gabby was interested to learn how to build and program Lego robots inside however, Tina found out that we should have registered early upon entry; Mindstorm was already fully booked in the afternoon. So there goes another tip -if you want your kids to enjoy this intellectural feature of Legoland Malaysia, head straight to Mindstorm located in Lego Technic area and reserved them a slot within the day.

A splash of water from those fountain was refreshing and fun indeed!

If a little splash from the fountain isn’t enough to cool you down, try riding Aquazone Wave Racers! Surely, you won’t finish the ride without getting soaked! Tee hee!

If you don’t want to try these rides, always keep a bottle of water ready at hand or buy a chilled soda to hydrate you while inside the park. You definitely need to drink more than a liter of water during a day out in Legoland Malaysia. It’s a must!

Also in Lego Technic area of Legoland, another rollercoaster ride awaits the daredevils and thrill seekers. There’s this Project X ride that spells happiness with its sharp twists and turns.

Luckily, we paid Legoland Malaysia a visit on its second day from opening because we chanced upon The Billund Band from Denmark playing beautiful music around the park and on stage at Lego Technic. They sang and played one of the most beautiful versions of Aint No Mountain High Enough! I wished the crowd was more responsive to dance but I guess they’re happy to just clap and stomp their feet like what I did.

At almost 3PM, we felt the need to eat again at the same time, enjoy the airconditioning inside the restaurant called, The Cafe. We had some snacks and the highlight of our stay inside was our meeting with the Magic-Clown, Coco! Look how Coco entertained the kids inside The Cafe, and to our surprise, he really pleased Gabby and made him flash his widest smile!

Coco The Magic Clown made several balloon creations for the kids inside The Cafe but we really appreciate that he made his biggest balloon creation for Gabby! He made our Legoland Malaysia day truly memorable!

MINILAND

In my humble opinion, the most impressive and stunningly gorgeous attraction of Legoland Malaysia is the Miniland! I was left in awe and Tina and Gabby were overjoyed even with the tiniest detail of those famous Asian landmarks. It made us feel we toured around Asia for few hours with small steps, less the hassles of traveling! I am lost for superlatives to describe Miniland in Legoland Malaysia. Hats off to those who poured sweat to build these amazing Lego brick structures!

MALAYSIA in MINILAND

I have been to PUTRAJA in Kuala Lumpur twice, I think and the Putraja pink mosque never fails to impress me, more so when I so its version built in Lego bricks! Kuala Lumpur was Lego-lized! Beautiful!!!

“The SULTAN ABDUL SAMAD BUILDING is one of the oldest buildings in Kuala Lumpur and probably the most photographed. The Lego version is 7 meter long built in scale of 1 :20.” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia.

They even recreated Kuala Lumpur Internationa Airport (KLIA) in Lego bricks complete with battery operated mobile vehicles and stationary aircrafts! Amazing!

This port must be somewhere in Malaysia, however it’s either I forgot to read its label or it was not tagged yet by Legoland. Nontheless another conversational piece!

MYANMAR in MINILAND

When I was at work, I showed one of these photos I took in Miniland depicting one of the famous spots in Myanmar, to one of my colleagues who hails from that country. She instantly smiled and uttered, “Yes! yes! yes! It’s in Myanmar!”. This is the Lego-lized KARAWEIK HALL in Myanmar.

“Karaweik Hall is a gigantic barge on the shore of Yangon, Myanmar. It was inspired by ancient royal barges. The word, “Karaweik” comes from the name of a mythical bird. Inside is a large restaurant where guests can see traditional crafts and dances.” – Miniland, Legoland Malaysia

INDIA in MINILAND

One of the travel destination dreams is TAJ MAHAL in India. I was silently jumping for joy like a kid when I saw its Lego version. The immaculate structure built because of love was immortalized and recreated in Legoland Malaysia.

CHINA in MINILAND

Stretching a length of 8,852 kilometers, the structure that can be seen from the moon, THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA majestically stands and lures the traveler in me. Who would not want to experience setting foot and touching those walls, brick by brick? Well, at least there’s a mini version made in Lego bricks in Legoland!

“THE FORBIDDEN CITY was the emperor’s palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties -that’s more than 500 years! The entire palace has more than 980 buildings and covers 720,000 square meters.” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia

Legoland Malaysia isn’t only amusing, entertaining but educational too!

BRUNEI in MINILAND

Tina, Gabby and I toured Brunei for half a day while on a layover en route to Auckland, New Zealand back in 2005. We’re amazed with most of the mosques, hotel, and museums we visited during our mandatory overnight stay there. One of those remarkable mosques we’ve seen upclose is Lego-lized in Miniland…

“The beautiful royal SULTAN OMAR ALI SAIFUDDIN MOSQUE in BRUNEI is located in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. Its named after the 28th Sultan of Brunei. Its largest dome is covered in PURE GOLD!” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia.

VIETNAM in MINILAND

“HOI AN is a city in VIETNAM on the coast of the South China Sea. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it’s a major trading town for Chinese, Japaenese, Dutch and Indian merchants. In modern times, tourists come to see the historic buildings, and visit the shops and restaurants along the water.” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia.

LAOS in MINILAND

“PATUXAI is a monument of victory in the center of Vientiane, LAOS. It was built between 1957 and 1968. It’s made of cement that was originally meant for building an airport.” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia

SINGAPORE in MINLAND

The pretty and charmingly expensive city of Singapore is Lego-lized represented by THE SINGAPORE FLYER, BOAT QUAY and of course, the iconic, MERLION.

INDONESIA in MINILAND

“PURA TANAH LOT is a beautiful temple built on a rock formation on the coast of BALI, INDONESIA. It can only be reached at low tide. At high tide, it’s an island! A special festival is held at the temple every 210 days.” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia.

CAMBODIA in MINILAND

“ANGKOR WAT is a temple complex in ANGKOR, CAMBODIA. It was built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century. By area, it is the largest religious building in the world!” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia.

THAILAND in MINILAND

We failed to visit WAT ARUN last month when we went to Bangkok, nevertheless, we’re happy to see its Lego-lized version!

THE PHILIPPINES in MINILAND

Of course, we’re proud to see something that represents our beloved country in Legoland Malaysia! Out of our 7,107 islands back home, they chose BOLINAO, PANGASINAN to be Lego-lized Philippines!

“BOLINAO is a thriving fishing town on the coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines. In the town center is the Church of St. James the Great, built in 1609. Visitors come to Bolinao to see the colorful fishing boats and visit the beautiful beaches nearby.” -Miniland, Legoland Malaysia.

Within the vicinity of Miniland that Sunday afternoon, a simple yet lively parade entertained us! After watching the parade, we met again Coco the Magic Clown and one of the cast members of the show that morning, Mo, then we went to queue and hopped on the Legoland Express train!

What perfectly ended our day at Legoland Malaysia was the sight of Miniland at dusk. We intentionally waited for the sun to set at 7:30PM and maximized enjoyment until the park closed at 8PM. While Tina and Gabby were enjoying, capturing everything on video via her ipod, I had my time on my cam.

It was a fun filled, uniquely informative and entertaining day out in Legoland Malaysia! We were delighted with what we saw and experienced but it’ll be more exciting to see improvements on the park and its services as we revisit it in the near future. We absolutely like to experience the Legoland Malaysia Resort to be delivered on 2013 and the Legoland Malaysia Hotel that’s scheduled to be operational by 2014.

Legoland Malaysia

puts Johor Bahru and Malaysia itself a niche higher in the tourism industry scale

within Asia and the rest of the world!

_______________

Have you visited Legoland Malaysia or the other Legoland theme parks around? How’s your experience?

To those visiting Legoland Malaysia who are not from Singapore, it’s nice to head to Lion City before or after going to Legoland as it’s only an hour away (including Immigration proceedings in Malaysia-Singapore borders). You’ll appreciate crossing borders of two Southeast Asian countries on foot!

Legoland Malaysia is located in Nusajaya, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Visit their website via www.legoland.com.my

Sep

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : SOLITARY

By docgelo 18 Comments

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO, ILOVEPHOTOS, SINGAPORE and TRAVEL
Tags: doc gelo, docgelo, postaday, solitary, TRAVEL, traveling, travelling, weekly photo challenge, weekly photo challenge : solitary

I recently took this photo of my son while we’re on a bus, engaged in a traffic jam on a bridge en route to Singapore. The bridge that connects the two countries, Malaysia and Singapore may be rather short compared to others but it’s packed with vehicles last week because of the holiday. My son, Gabby seemed SOLITARY wanderer on this photo, In deep thought. Bored. Waiting. He looked like he’s traveling alone sans us around him.

This is my entry in Weekly Photo Challenge : Solitary

Sep

BANGKOK 2012 SERIES : MALLS WE LOVE

By docgelo 4 Comments

Immediately after Tina and I decided to spend our Hari Raya 2012 holiday last August in Bangkok, I wasted no time and asked some friends who recently have been to the Land of Smiles for recommendations and suggestions on what to do, where to go and how to maximize our 4D3N vacation. I communicated to them via where else but facebook. While on my other social network, twitter, I tried my luck in tweeting no less than the current United States Ambassador to Thailand, Madame Kristie Kenney. Fortunately, I got a prompt reply from the gracious ambassador.

We first saw her upclose at a Haagen-Dazs event in Manila in 2009 (see blog post HERE). Then, we casually met US Ambassador to Thailand, Kristie Kenney in Starbucks Coffee at Greenbelt 3, one Sunday afternoon of 2010. She was then the United States Ambassador to the Philippines and apparently a Manny Pacquiao fan (see her red T-shirt on the photo).

Although I considered heeding Madame Kristie Kenney’s suggestion to go to Asiatique, time and budget restricted us to do so. That newest place in Bangkok remains one of the reasons to revisit the city again. Despite we didn’t experience Asiatique, we absolutely enjoyed malls in Bangkok!

Other than going to Chatuchak Weekend Market, the Grand Palace, Wat Pho or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, we went to a few malls we fell love with! We checked out Siam Paragon, Central World, and Platinum Mall via taxi cabs and BTS train rides.

First stop : Siam Paragon!

Siam Paragon was endorsed by our friend, Dyan as the posh mall in Bangkok. True enough, it houses the most upscale brands and slick shops you can imagine. However, we were not intimidated. We felt relaxed actually, despite we just came from the hot and huge Bangkok weekend market, Chatuchak (look at Tina in the next photo, she even got those sando shopping bag from Chatuchak!)

I adore this dessert restaurant’s fedora hat drop lamps! Beautiful!!!

We thought the installation of a couple of fish tanks in the middle of the food court of Siam Paragon a wonderful idea. It gave me a chance to introduce to Gabby those cichlids while he was savoring his Burger King.

After dining in the food court and having ice cream at Swensen’s, we trooped to the basement of Siam Paragon to see Siam Ocean World. While I was busy capturing Gabby’s antics on photos, Tina headed to the counter to inquire on the admission rates. We settled on taking photos of Gabby as my wife found out that the Siam Ocean World prices were steep; I didn’t bother to ask.

Next mall : Central World. We love it more than Siam Paragon. It has the vibe of Glorietta Mall back home which is one of our favorites.

In Central World, we ate dinner at Din Tai Fung, snacks at Buddhi Belly and Bake A Wish, late lunch at Pasta de Waraku. Gabby’s happiest to find Toys R Us in Central World. We went to Central World 3x in our 4D3N stay in Bangkok. Told you we love Central World! It’s so accessible too via BTS!

One of the highlights of our visit to Central World Mall was when we spotted a live-candy-making demonstration by candy chefs in a shop called Made in Candy. It was entertaining unexpectedly! What’s best, the “show” was free!

It’s our second trip to Bangkok and we’ll certainly go back to this Thai city! We love her to bits! ;)

This Blog’s Bangkok 2012 Series includes :

Sep

BANGKOK 2012 SERIES : HEICHINROU

By docgelo 22 Comments

Flashback to January of 2004, Tina and I flew to Bangkok and spent honeymoon in Amari Watergate Hotel. Nine months and few days after, Gabby was born.

Fast forward to August of 2012, we went back to Amari Watergate Bangkok with Gabby.

Weeks before we left Penang for Bangkok for a few day break, I emailed Amari Watergate to inquire about the rates of their buffet in one of their restaurants where Tina and I spent our first meals together as married couple, the Promenade. Unfortunately, the Filipino hotel staff who promptly replied to my query informed me that Promenade is closed on the dates I specified. He recommeded another restaurant in Amari Watergate that serves eat-all-you-want-lunch, the Heichinrou.

Located at 5th level of Amari Watergate Hotel, the Cantonese restaurant, Heichinrou that actually originated from Yokohama has been keeping its branches in Japan, Hong Kong and this one in Thailand. I was told they’re offering a Dimsum Buffet and ya ol know that eat-all-you-can dining is such a kryptonite to me and my family and dimsums are one of our favorites. So I asked Tina if she wants to try Heichinrou in Amari and with its reasonable price, we both gave it a nod!

Despite the fact we failed to eat again in Promenade for the reason that they’re preparing for a reserved function that day, it was a nice coincidence that we were led to sit in Heichinrou in a table with a view overlooking Promenande, exactly the place where Tina and I had breakfast buffet 8 years ago.

We seldom engage in ala-carte-buffet where you can order all you want and everything from the menu is unlimited to your stomach’s content. We liked it actually. We didn’t have to check the spread and queue. Time was spent in pure indulgence!

Soon after the senior staff of the restaurant handed us the menu, everything was served to our table less the dessert. I didn’t remember asking him to do it but no regrets, no complaints. We certainly loved it!

It wasn’t overwheling; it was lovely!

We started with Sweet Corn Soup with Crabmeat. It was impressive! Thick and tasteful just like what I want in my Chinese soup. There’s generous servings of real crabmeat too! When the staff asked me if I want another serving of the soup, my knees became too weak to say no! Then we tried Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun. Delicious! We call it Asado Siopao in the Philippines!

If you must know, whenever we have buffet-dining, we rarely order drinks and frequently go for just a glass of cold water to wash everything down. We usually make sure to have less intake of sugar-rich beverages from a glass of iced tea or soda but this Heichinrou Dimsum Buffet was an exception. Gabby and I ordered Fanta Orange and thought it went well with those yummies.

Steamed Spare Ribs…

Fried Noodles with Shredded Chicken…

Steamed Cream Buns…

Deep Fried Spring Rolls…

Steamed Fresh Shrimp Dumplings, Steamed Pork Crab Egg Dumplings, Steamed Bean Curd Skin Flakes with Oyster Sauce…

The only dish that I didn’t like (Tina agreed) was the Deep Fried Taro Dumpling; it wasn’t greasy and it looked fine but it’s just me – I am biased to savoring taro as an iced pudding

The dessert from this buffet menu set was heavenly. Deviating from the common mango and tapioca; Heichinrou Dimsum Lunch Buffet offered Chilled Sago and Cantaloupe Melon topped with Coconut Cream. I had two servings. Need I say more?

One may find it so peculiar to enjoy dimsum in the land of Pad Thai but it’s a great breather from all street-food-and-spicy-eats. All in all, we’re delighted with Heichinrou Dimsum Buffet and it felt really wonderful going back to a place that etched a memory in us.

*This is NOT a sponsored post. For details and contact information about Amari Watergate Hotel in Bangkok and Heichinrou, visit there website by clicking THIS!

This Blog’s Bangkok 2012 Series includes :

Sep

BANGKOK 2012 SERIES : GOLDEN RECLINING BUDDHA

By docgelo 22 Comments

From Grand Palace, Tina, Gabby and I walked across the street for some refreshments and late light lunch at Au Bon Pain. After which, we found our way to Wat Pho or Wat Phra Chetuphon or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha by heading left from the exit gate of Grand Palace. About 20 minutes more, a few sight seeing in the streets and two more left turns, we found ourselves inside the Wat Pho grounds paying 100 baht baht admission rate per pax.

Here are the fascinating things we saw en route to Wat Pho…

Something’s telling me these beautiful hats aren’t Thai. Can someone confirm? Nevertheless, seeing and appreciating those uniquely cultural products in the sidestreets have always been a part of traveling.

It was definitely not a tiring walk as our eyes feasted on a variety of must-see, must-taste and must-experience.
Something to profess the faith or to welcome guests?

Something to satisfy the gastronomic craving…

Something refreshing to combat the risk of dehydration under the scorching sun…

Then finally, Wat Pho….

We liked the practice in Wat Pho that each visitors are given a reusable bag for free, to keep their shoes and carry it while on socks or barefooted inside the shrine. It was absolutely different in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Grand Palace and else where.

My family and I certainly saw a few images of Buddha in various positions, particularly depicting his passing to the state of Nirvana as reclining or about to sleep. We saw them in places like Burma Road in Penang, Kota Bahru in Kelantan and Hat Yai in Southern Thailand but admittedly, this one in Bangkok’s the most impressive. With its 15 meter-height and 46 meter-length, gold plated with Mother of Pearl details in its feet and eyes, it remained to be the biggest reclining Buddha image in ~~Thailand~~ Bangkok.

As I was busy snapping my camera, Gabby got a small bowl with coins and began transferring coins to every brass bowl located adjacent to one of the walls of the temple. Tina became busy too capturing the moment on video via her ipod touch. I wish I knew what and how to explain to our son the essence of such act. It appears to me as symbolism of generosity, humility and charity, doesn’t it?

Thanks to Wat Pho’s sponsors, each tourist was provided FREE bottle of cold distilled water each before the exit.

This Blog’s Bangkok 2012 Series includes :

Our Bangkok Hotel : Mystic Place Rooms in Bangkok
Our Sunday at the Grand Palace
Chatuchak Weekend Market : Shop! Eat!
Travel Cheaply and Cross Borders from Penang-Hat Yai-Bangkok-Penang via Bus
Our FOOD PORN in Bangkok
a few more posts coming up!

Aug

BANGKOK 2012 SERIES : THAI FOOD PORN!

By docgelo 11 Comments

Experiencing local cuisine by seeing how a dish is prepared and appreciating its unique flavors and interesting ingredients are a few of the perks of traveling. In our second visit to Thailand’s capital, we planned to immerse our palates to gastronomic offerings available; even sought suggestions from fellows on where and what to eat. One of our great friends of almost 2 decades now, Rob of Sensory Replays highly recommended a modestly famous P Kitchen at Soy 18 for authentic and affordable Thai food which travelers and tourists in Bangkok are raving about. Of course, I already mentioned in my previous posts in this series that our itinerary for this trip was made by Dyan, another friend who’s more seasoned traveler; most of the places we went to were based on her list. However, because we were limited by time and the fact that we always have to prioritize our 7-year-old-son’s food preference, we were not able to sample more than we wished. Gabby’s a little picky now and favors the usual kiddie meals from fastfood joints. Ergo, we usually decide as a family every meal time and it must be agreeable to the 3 of us. Nonetheless, we’re happy and still lucky to savor few authentic Thai dishes without compromising Gabby’s choices.

While Bangkok has been known to many as one of the tourist spots and shopping capitals in Southeast Asia, we had more of food adventures rather than shopping. Undeniably, it’s an epicurean paradise! We tasted few of Thai dishes and indulged in those familiar to our palates. Here’s a rundown of what tickled our taste buds during our recent 4D3N trip in August in the city of Angels in the Land of Smiles… FEAST YOUR EYES, just don’t salivate and drool over your keyboard!

Flavorful, mouthwatering, fragrant and inexpensive dishes delighted us all on our very first meal in Bangkok. From an eatery in the heart of Chatuchak Weekend Market, we had Shrimp Fried Rice, Pad Thai, Pork Barbecue that we’re missing in Penang, and a few fried goodies for Gabby.

In Siam Paragon Mall, Gabby and I had takeaway favorites from Burger King and ate it in front of a huge fish tank in the middle of the mall’s food court while Tina opted for some bowl of Japanese. We also gave in to ice cream temptation from Swensen’s.

Tina and Gabby shared this sundae..

While I enjoyed and shared with them two of my most loved flavors : Coffee and Chocolate! Yum!

Our breakfast meals were included in the Superior Room package we availed from Mystic Place Rooms in Bangkok..

We ate dinner outside the hotel except for this one when we tried the menu at Mystic Cafe…

Tina had breakfast plate during dinner time while I loaded myself with more Thai flavors in this noodle dish and another serving of Pad Thai, this time it was vegetarian. It felt short for me having no shrimps. The Pad Thai we sampled in Chatuchak Weekend Market tasted way better.

Apparently, this Mac and Cheese classic was Gabby’s plate. But because we forgot to request it shouldn’t be spicy, it was served with pepper that Gabby’s young tongue didn’t like. Tina had to remove the seasoning and what saved the moment was a glass of hot chocolate.

Another mall-recommendation from Dyan was Central World which we all loved! If Siam Paragon Mall has a chic and slick atmosphere, Central World is more relaxed and non-intimidating. We went around the food court level and found a Japanese Pastry Shop called, Bake A Wish. All of the cake slices from Bake A Wish look charmingly delicious, making choices on what to order was the most difficult. Tina and I decided to try their specialty - Crispy Japanese Cream Puffs with various tasteful fillings; we had Chocolate and Strawberry while Gabby preferred froyo from the adjacent store, Buddhi Belly.

We didn’t spoil our huge appetite when we had those glucose-rich servings prior to our early dinner at 6PM in Central World’s 7th floor Taiwanese restaurant, Din Tai Fung. We had dinner with one of my former-post-graduate-review-center-student, Thomas who’s working in Bangkok as a lecturer too for a few years now. We enjoyed catching up over a scrumptious meal of Xiao Long Bao (pork soup in a dimsum), Prawn and Pork dimsum (also steamed with soup), Shrimp Fried Rice, Prawns over a blanched greens that the dish’s name slipped my memory (I can eat it everyday!), Mango Pudding for Gabby’s dessert. The only unsatisfactory to us was the noodle dish that Tina ordered; it wasn’t impressive compared to the other dishes we had.

On our last dinner in Bangkok, we had it at a wrong choice. No offense meant but honestly, we’re not satisfied with what we ordered in Pasta de Waraku, a Japanese fusion restaurant in Central World Mall. We were looking for something that fits in Gabby’s preferences and with attractive display of their menu ala-food-stalls in Tokyo with lots of pasta dishes to choose from, we were lured to enter and dine. The taste of almost everything we had didn’t please our palates. I’m sorry but my opinion imposes a challenge for Pasta de Waraku to improve on their menu. Despite the casual ambiance looks quaint and the service quick, it all boils down to the taste of their offerings. The Carbonara, Pesto with Prawns and Octopus, Okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza) had nothing to rave about. And when we saw there’s Pepper Lunch and Bon Chon and KFC in Central World, the more we felt disappointed passing on these sure-choices. So before we head back to Mo Chit Central bus station to depart Bangkok for Hat Yai, we played it safe by eating late lunch at KFC.

The sardonic smile of not-so-impressed diner. *kidding* It’s natural, ya know!

We love LARGE GRAVY!!! FYI, gravy in Thailand and in Malaysia are only used as toppings in mashed potatoes so I always get a peculiar look from fastfood crew when I request for extra gravy for our KFC. They prefer tomato ketchup or chili sauce to go with their chicken. We, Filipinos like those finger-lickin’ goodies to be dunked and submerged in buttery gravy. Sometimes, Gabby and I make it as topping to our rice ala-soup; do you do that too? hahaha!

For Gabby’s dessert, we found a cheap FRIED ICE CREAM in a food court outside KFC in Big C Supercenter in Bangkok. It’s an affordable alternative to the very toothsome Cold Rock Creamery Ice Cream. This fried ice cream only cost us 50 baht (5 ringgit or 70 Ph pesos).

*We had a dimsum lunch buffet at one of the restaurants inside the hotel where we had honeymoon 8 years ago. All of that and more of Bangkok on the succeeding posts. Stay tuned!

This Blog’s Bangkok 2012 Series includes :

Aug

BANGKOK 2012 SERIES : PENANG-BANGKOK-PENANG VIA BUS

By docgelo 34 Comments

Tina and I chose to be practical and frugal on our recent trip to Bangkok to celebrate our 10-day-paid-working-holiday within 4D3N vacation in Thailand’s capital city. We didn’t have too much cash to spend to begin with, so instead of shelling out 2,000 Malaysian Ringgit or equivalent to almost twenty-eight thousand Ph Pesos or 643 USD for the 3 of us (Tina, Gabby and me) for just ONE WAY airfare tickets from PEN-BKK , we initially wanted to take the train from Butterworth to Bangkok but tickets were already sold out 3 weeks before the Hari Raya holiday (FYI, that sleeper train travels from Singapore-Kuala Lumpur-Butterworth-Hat Yai-Bangkok) We went for the second best thing; we decided to take the van-bus-bus-van route, crossed the Malaysian and Thailand borders and enjoyed our days the way we know how.

We left Butterworth, Penang via bus from our apartment and took the usual-12-minute ferry ride from Penang Sentral Bus Station to GeorgeTown in Pulau Pinang.

Junk foods are necessary for us when we travel. Unhealthy, I know but it’s like reminiscing those good ol’ days of educational field trips in school (lame excuse!). Gabby and I loved what Tina prepared and what we selected from the grocery shelves together. So these were our baon we munched en route to Bangkok.

Can you spot my family on this photo taken inside this ferry?

Komtar building. The tallest structure in this UNESCO Heritage Site. We arrived in GeorgeTown a few miuntes past 7AM, August 17, 2012, Friday (We’re on official work leave, ya know! Holiday at work stretched from August 18th to 26th, 2012; we filed a leave and went a day in advance!).

We pre-purchased one-way tickets from Penang-Hat Yai-Bangkok from one of the travel agencies in Prangin Mall, near Komtar few weeks before our trip for only 120 ringgit each or a total of 360 Malaysian Ringgit for the 3 of us, equivalent to 5040 Ph Pesos or 115 USD (Please do the math on how much we saved, Thanks!).

We were supposed to depart in a 12-seater-van at 8:30AM, but the it arrived and picked us up at almost 10AM. Super late. #iamnotcomplaining #justsaying

It was almost 2PM when we reached the Malaysian border in Kedah. Like what we had last year, the driver parked at a bus stop station for mandatory lunch. There, one could find mini-grocery, toilets, foreign exchange and eateries. We ate but only for the sake of eating lunch. There was not much too choose from. #iamnotcomplaining #justsaying

Tina and I agreed that Penang versions are way too better than Kedah’s. #justtryingtobehonest

My favorite Char Koay Teow but not this plate; It fell flat on my standard. I love CKT from that hawker in Gurney Drive, Penang.

Koay Teow Soup. This should have been good tasting noodle dish but this one didn’t even impressed Gabby.

Finally, we’re about to exit Malaysia.

It was our second time to cross the Malaysia-Thailand borders on foot; our first was last year when we just went to Hat Yai. Obviously, this is the nice traveling experience you miss when you cross borders on board an aircraft.

Someone who will cross borders of two countries must at least have coins from the 2 nations’ currencies. They come in handy when you need to use the public toilet.

The queue at the Imigresen was quite long but manageable. We breezed through Immigration proceedings without a single word, actually. It only took a smile and a passport to pass through.

After exiting Malaysia, we hopped on the van again. About 15 minutes after, we found ourselves on queue at the Immigration counter to enter Thailand this time. Just the same as the process in Malaysian border, it was hassle-free in entering Thailand.

After an hour from the Sadao border in the Southernmost tip of Thailand, we arrived in the travel agency office in Hat Yai. Yes, the Thailand border is an hour away from Hat Yai town proper. The passengers of our van who left Penang for Hat Yai were all Thailand bound but to different areas. Some went to Samui and Krabi for Thai beach and resorts, and it was only the 3 of us who went to Bangkok. All of us were distributed to various vehicles of the travel agency depending on our destination.

A little while later, the lady at the office asked us to go with Uncle (salutation for an old Malaysian man), to ride his car, free of charge or inclusive of the fare we already paid in Penang. Uncle took us to the Hat Yai Municipality Bus Station via his vintage Mercedes Benz. Cool eh?

Uncle first went down his car and bought us bus tickets for our Hat Yai-Bangkok trip. Remember everything was paid at 360 ringgit in a travel agency in Penang. So we only had to wait for the tickets and get on the bus.

This is the bus station in Hat Yai…

Bought this bottle from Tesco Lotus grocery store right across the station. Coke is undeniably refreshing wherever, whenever.

The bus we rode from Hat Yai to Bangkok was unremarkable. It wasn’t a double decker, had little leg room and not as comfy as what we rode going back. The ticket that Uncle from the travel agency bought was priced at 55 ringgit or 550 baht per pax only. It was way cheaper than what I personally purchased for our return. Lesson learned : Do-it-yourself-travel is better unless you’re traveling on an unfamiliar place where you need aid from a travel agent and a tour guide (like in the moon perhaps? hehe!).

Malaysia (and the Philippines) is 1 hour ahead of time in Thailand. We left Hat Yai for Bangkok at around 6PM, Thailand time.

Have I told you the trip to Bangkok from Hat Yai is about 12 hours? We’re on a budget travel, remember? We just thought that we’re on a trip from Cubao in the Philippines to its Northern part, say Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte (God, we miss those places!), only that in this journey, we crossed two countries.

Stops at bus stations, eateries and souvenir shops for some shopping and bladder breaks were mandatory. Few more hours to Bangkok, this was one of the stop-overs we had.

At 5AM of Saturday, August 18, 2012, we arrived in Mo Chit Central Bus Station, Bangkok. The first thing I did was to ask my family to sit and wait in one corner with our luggages and bags and I left them to buy our return bus tickets from Bangkok to Hat Yai. It is always wise to secure a return ticket days (or weeks ahead) before your trip. It spells security, convenience and worry-free.

We hailed a cab from the station to our hotel, freshened up, and enjoyed the weekend until the first few days of the following week.

Sawadee Kap!

We maximized our travel by experiencing riding the tuk tuks, taxi cabs and of course, the ever reliable, BTS train…

Oh yeah! We’re proud commuters, baby!

When in Bangkok, ride the tuk tuk!

Then after 4D3N of fun-filled family bonding, we had to face the most difficult part of traveling. Leaving the place where you spent memorable moments has always been a challenge, at least for us Parting, indeed according to Shakespeare, is such a sweet sorrow; separation anxiety with Bangkok kicked in as we arrived again in Mo Chit Central Bus Station at half hour past 3 in the afternoon for our 5:50PM departure to Hat Yai.

Don’t you wish every bus station would look like that of Mo Chit’s or even better?

Try to find my family again on the next photo. This time with that monstrous bag!

Mo Chit Central Bus Station is a few minutes away from Mystic Place Rooms in Bangkok, the wonderful hotel we stayed in. This bus station has ATM machines and our favorite convenience store…

And this was the ticket counter where I personally bought our return bus tickets from Bangkok-Hat Yai. Although the lady at the counter didn’t informed me of the inclusive of the bus fare, I forgave her easily because the purchase was sulit (worth it!)

Cluelessly, we went inside our double decker bus, saw the bus captain and a crew geared like flight attendants. We didn’t expect that the bus ticket fare of 831 Baht or 83.10 Malaysian Ringgit per pax included the following :

A blanket, with seal of laundry shop for assurance

A cup of distilled water and a box filled with sachets of coffee, creamer, sugar, tissues, a couple of wet ones, and a croissant for snack.

Best of all, there’s so much leg room per seat. We loved it! #makakaulit!!!

We all slept on the bus the whole night, we had restful sleep. And at 6AM, Thailand time, we were back in Hat Yai Bus Station. Right across the street was the travel agency where I bought our ticket for a 12-seater-van that took us back from Hat Yai to Penang. Since it was still holiday in Malaysia, they charged us more; a usual ticket of Hat Yai-Penang would only cost 35 ringgit or even less, but we paid for 49 ringgit per pax but it was the earliest trip back to Butterworth at 8:30AM departure; it was OK nonetheless. :)

This Blog’s Bangkok 2012 Series includes :

Aug

BANGKOK SERIES 2012 : GRAND PALACE

By docgelo 30 Comments

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO and TRAVEL
Tags: amazing thailand, architecture, asia, bangkok, bangkok blog, bangkok tourism, buddhism, cabalen, culture, doc gelo, docgelo, dress code in grand palace bangkok, expatriate, faith, filipino expat, filipino expatriate, filipino overseas, garuda, grand palace, grand palace bangkok, grandiosity, hari raya holiday, how to get to grand palace bangkok, lifestyle blogger, must see in bangkok, must see places in thailand, must visit in bangkok, must visit places in bangkok, must visit places in thailand, ocw, ofw, southeast asia, temples, thai, thailand, thailand blog, things to know about the grand palace bangkok thailand, tourism in bangkok, tourism in thailand, TRAVEL, travel blog, travel blog bangkok, travel blogger, travel guide to bangkok, traveling, travelling, tuk tuk, tuktuk, vacation, what to see in bangkok, what to visit in asia, what to visit in bangkok, what to visit in thailand

19th August 2012, Sunday. Sawadee Kap from Bangkok! My family and I arrived in the City of Angels in the Land of Smiles by bus via Penang-Hat Yai-Bangkok route on the early morning of Saturday and we’ll be here until first few days this week. Tina and I are currently savoring days off from work and Gabby from school on August 18th-26th, yay!!! Thanks to Malaysian holiday for Hari Raya celebration (end of Ramadhan season). Revisiting Bangkok felt like a homecoming; time flies so fast that it has been 8 years after our very first trip to this incredibly charming city back in January of 2004 for our honeymoon.

I opted to feature our family’s Bangkok adventure in this blog series randomly. The second day of our holiday started at almost 10AM in the grounds of the majestic Grand Palace. It was our very first time to experience its Anna-and-the-King-like-splendor; everything seemed like just in the movies!

As everyone knows, traffic in Bangkok can be very notorious but not last Sunday. We reserved taking the BTS and rode a taxi cab instead from our hotel in Pradipat Road in 10 minutes at 100 baht; affordable to me when compared to taxi fares in Penang and Manila. Reaching the Grand Palace was certainly hassle-free. We immediately enjoyed the necessary tourist thing called picture-taking! Few minutes after, we found ourselves at the ticket counter of this must-visit-Thailand attraction paying the admission rates of 400 baht each; quite expensive but our experience after proved it’s worth every cent!

A few months back, I asked my friend, Dyan to do an itinerary for this short break, the same way she did for our Singapore vacation last year. With her practical suggestions, I heeded almost all her words. I told Tina that Dyan reminded me that dress code in the Grand Palace is strictly observed. Ladies should flaunt no skin and must be in long skirts. My wife’s almost covered-everything-outfit even received a comment from the lady at the gate. “She should have sleeves.” Tina showed the sleeves of her cardigan that she wore over her dress; she was even ready with a shawl to cover every inch of her integumentary system, hehehe! The lady at the gate smiled and said, “Oh!” and allowed us in.

Men should not wear shorts and bermudas when visiting the Grand Palace. However for tourists who would come in inappropriate attires, the staff provides Thai-wrap-around skirts for female visitors in skimpy outfits and Thai-cotton-pants for males all for free but with refundable deposit.

The very first thing we witnessed inside the Grand Palace was a display of something spectacular. Faith of devotees was beyond amazing!

Here’s my lavish visual synopsis of grandeur, splendor and beauty of Grand Palace in Bangkok… Enjoy!

My two precious were surrounded by gold! Moments were made extra-special!

Hail to my prince and queen…

Everything’s a headturner. No detail left unnoticed. Every spot is picturesque! The photo-enthusiast in me was in a bliss!

Stunning is an understatement! My amateur photo skills didn’t do justice apparently. I did my best and enjoyed capturing the magnificence…

Despite the sun was so unforgiving, our visit to Grand Palace was another uniquely wonderful family experience! I’m glad Tina and Gabby enjoyed every minute!

One of my personal favorites are the volume of colored garuda! I love the contrast of the mirror mosaic gem-colored tiles against the gold! It’s a visual feast!

Doing the necessary : That tourist-thing!

More acts of devotion in front of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha…

We asked Gabby to mimic what the others were doing. He got a long stemmed lotus, dipped it in the brass bowl with water and sprinkle some to his head. Correct me if I’m wrong, it must be a sign of purification if not, a blessing.

Photography and taking videos aren’t allowed inside the Temple of Emerald Buddha for this is of course, a sacred ground. I respected not to snap a photo of the altar in spite of the fact that it’s so tempting. Visitors should also remember that hats must not be worn inside the temple and footwears should be removed and left on the racks at your own risk prior entering the temple. Another thing NOT to do is to point your foot toward the image of the Buddha; better sit on crossed legs instead.

Deep and vibrant colors of various gems and jewels are done in great details!

As Tina became busy with her very own videography done via her ipod touch, she noticed it’s nice to capture images mirrored on those colorful glass pillars. The effect is a kaleidoscope! Try to find me on the next photo!

We left the Grand Palace before high noon, crossed the road to Au Bon Pain for some croissant, soup in the bread bowl, cheesecake muffin and cups of smoothies (separate Bangkok food post, soon!). Refreshing! Following our light lunch, we headed to Wat Pho (to be featured on another separate post).
Indeed, a trip to Bangkok is definitely incomplete without a visit to Grand Palace! It’s an ultimate delightful experience!

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Aug

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE : MERGE

By docgelo 16 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS and TRAVEL
Tags: arts, bangkok, doc gelo, docgelo, hotels in bangkok, innovation, merge, postaday, recycle, thailand, tourism, traveling, weekly photo challege, weekly photo challenge : merge, wordpress weekly photo challege

This is my very first entry in the Weekly Photo Challenge. I finally thought of joining the league! With this week’s theme, Merge, I am posting the photo of one of the corners of the boutique hotel room where we’re spending one of our nights here in Bangkok. The room is called Trash Chic and it merges a lot of concepts! Recycling and functionality. Innovation and creativity. Art and tourism. One of Thai artists who was commissioned to do this room among the 36 rooms in this beautiful and fascinating boutique hotel used various colored sacks of rice for the walls and upholstery for the furnitures without compromising function.

What do you think of my entry?

This is one of the 3 rooms we’re sampling in our 4D3N accomodation here in Bangkok!

Aug

EIGHT YEARS AGO : BANGKOK 2004

By docgelo 10 Comments

Categories: FAMILY : LOVE KO 'TO and TRAVEL
Tags: bangkok, doc gelo, docgelo, filipino blogger, hari raya, honeymoon, raya, temples, thailand, travel blog, travel blogger, traveling, travelling, vacation

Unearthed from my files : Our Bangkok Honeymoon photos…

Our very first trip to Bangkok dates back to 2004; it’s few days after the wedding. More than 9 months later, Gabby was born. Fast forward to 2012, Tina and I are very excited to celebrate a weeklong paid holiday (it’s the end of Ramadhan or Hari Raya here in Malaysia) and we cannot wait to return to Bangkok; this time with our little prince. We badly need this break. This weekend and the following days shall be epic!

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Aug

15 YEAR FLASHBACK AT DIN TAI FUNG

By docgelo 20 Comments

Catching up with someone whom you have not seen for several years is like watching again your favorite movie or TV show that you grew up with; it certainly brings back memories of the old days.

I’m glad I gave a nod to my college classmate’s invitation to meet her and her family in Singapore. And because my 4D3N trip was packed, I had to arrange the schedule and ask Rochel (or Rocel to us back in college; I didn’t know her name suffered from a glitch in birth certificate documentation) if it’s fine to have an early dinner with them on my last day in the Lion City before I head back to Changi Airport to catch my 10:40PM flight back to Penang. She candidly agreed, so I met her and her husband at the facade of Raffles City Mall that sunny Sunday afternoon on mid-July. Meeting her after 1997 seemed like going through a time machine in a heart beat.

It actually felt like we’re back to one of our classrooms inside the Science Building or in the canteen of Far Eastern University in Manila (that we fondly called, Tayuman because we’re only provided then with cocktail tables less the seats, so we’re used to eat standing, hence we coined, Tayu-man!). Rochel and I were classmates from 1993 to 1997 when we’re taking up Bachelor of Science in Biology; we belonged to 2 different sets of friends (or in the Philippines, we call it barkada) -she’s with all-female-barkada who were all very studious in every sense of the word (I actually described her group to her husband as nerds to seriously mean their unparalleled devotion to studies, they’re mentally competitive!). We lost contact after graduation. It was only few months back that I found her on facebook.

It’s unbelievable how we squeezed 15 years in a casual and friendly dinner at Din Tai Fung. One thing’s sure -it’s always nice and easy to talk about those college days; everything sounded like they all happened just yesterday. Those were the years with less worries and almost no priority, at least for me.

Fifteen years went by and I heard nothing about Rochel. While waiting for our food, I did not expect that she would ask me about how studying Medicine was like. At that moment, I wasn’t sure whether she went to Med school or not; worse, I was clueless that Rochel became quite depressed soon after her father told her that her dream of becoming a doctor had to be shelve due to their financial difficulty back then.

I told Rochel, she never missed a thing.

She and her husband have been very blessed and they’re financially stable now in a country more progressive than one could imagine.

I think that’s all that matters.

We both believe that Lord has His ways of leading us to our own paths as we live our own lives.

And Rochel’s gratitude to God for everything that happened in her life is inspiring!

Not that I regret becoming a General Physician and a Lecturer of 8 years but going through Medical school robbed me of my social life -anyone who went through the same path could attest. Attending special occasions like birthdays, holiday celebrations and reunions like Christmas and New Year’s day were not always possible during those gruelling years in Medicine; it was books before anything else. A lot of things were sacrificed, tons of efforts were exerted. In my case, there were times that I felt I had studied enough but everything seemed like the lyrics of a James Ingram’s classic song, “I did my best but I guess my best wasn’t good enough!”. Days got even tougher when we’re having those unforgettable 24-36 hour duties in various private and public hospitals for 2 consecutive years (4th year in clerkship, and another year in completing Post-Graduate Medical Internship). It was all about efforts and sleepless nights in exchange of 2 letters added to your surname after graduation, plus a license after passing the board exams and registration. Nonetheless, if there’s one thing I am most thankful of my years in Medicine was the day I met my lovely wife (yeeehaaa!).

Some of Rochel’s bestfriends even went to Residency or Post-Graduate trainings and became specialists. She continued sharing a piece of her life by relaying that during those times that most of our college batchmates and I were in Med School, she worked and earned money to send herself to study another field that offers a more lucrative career. She studied computers and all about Information Technology. She landed a job in the Lion City; made a beautiful family and the rest, as they say is history.

Cliche as it may sound but there are reasons for everything.

We have different fates.

We live different lives.

And everything is attributed to a cause greater than ourselves.

This is Rocel and her husband, Alvin. Rochel has been based in Singapore for 6 years now and the couple have been doing great on their jobs. They have one beautiful daughter, Audrey who was left at home with the nanny during our dinner. Despite my time was limited, our meeting was warmer than what we chow down! They gave me a paper bag with 4 bottles of Belacahan and Chinchalok Chilli sauces and even sent me recipes of how to use the sauces. According to Rochel, she noted that my wife Tina, loves to cook. The gesture was really thoughtful! Thanks for the dinner treat, guys! It was delicious! Hope to meet you again when my family and I get to visit Singapore again.

On a lighter note, here’s a run-down of what we savored on that early dinner at Din Tai Fung.

Rocel ordered Stir-fried Spinach with Garlic

*”A deceptively simple dish made with only premium young, tender shoots. Every batch of specially selected vegetables is almost identical in length and quality, and is cut with precision before being tossed in the wok with just a teaspoon of sunflower oil.”

She also had Fried Rice with Shrimps & Eggs 虾仁蛋饭

“*An extremely popular dish, the ingredients are pared down to simple rice, shrimps, eggs, and spring onions, creating a taste of familiar comfort. Each plate is of a certain weight and minimal seasoning is used so that the natural fragrance of the eggs and spring onions shines through.”

Rocel’s husband, Alvin simply had Beef Noodles

And as I sincerely trusted their taste, so I submitted myself to their choices for me to sample…

Truffle Xiao Long Bao 松露小笼包

*”A paragon of fine taste, an award-winning steamed dumplings laden with the finest truffles. Served only to foreign dignitaries and very special guests in Taiwan, bask in the fine aroma of truffles.”

See how the Art of Making Din Tai Fung’s Legendary Xiao Long Bao HERE!

Fried Rice with Fried Pork Chop

“*Munch away on this scrumptious dish of deeply marinated pork chop, which is deep-fried to perfection. The meat is juicy and tender, making for a wholesome gastronomic experience at Din Tai Fung.”

It’s fifteen years after graduation and I never expected a simple reunion would be in Singapore. Looking back, it’s a wonderful feeling that we passed those days of going through college and eating our food while standing in the canteen during recess and lunch breaks.

PS : I personally asked Rochel to review the draft of this blog post prior publishing in this site. I’m glad she gave me a green light and a happy note! Thank you so much, Rochel! May you and Alvin receive more blessings for you to continue to be a blessings to others!

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Locate Din Tai Fung in Singapore HERE! and in Malaysia HERE!

Aug

INFINITE DOSE OF SPRING : GARDENS BY THE BAY

By docgelo 25 Comments

Categories: FOOD & MORE FOOD!, HEADLINES, ILOVEPHOTOS, SINGAPORE and TRAVEL
Tags: avatar, bayfront mrt station, blooms, cloud forest, colors, doc gelo, docgelo, expat blog, expat blogger, expatriate in malaysia, expatriate in penang malaysia, flower dome, flowers, fun, gardens, gardens by the bay, gardens by the bay marina bay sands, gardens by the bay south, kraze burger marina bay sands, kraze burgers, life abroad, lifestyle, lifestyle blog, lifestyle blogger, marina bay sands, must see in singapore, must visit in singapore, overseas blogger, photography, photos, pictures of flowers, sands skypark, singapore 47th birthday, singapore must visit, singapore national day, singapore tourism, southeast asia, supertrees, supertrees in gardens by the bay, travel blog, travel blogger, traveling, travelling, vacation, yoursingapore

With their height of 25 to 50 meters, comparable to 16 storeys high and almost trying to reach the sky, no explanation is needed why these amazing installations are called, Supertrees. They’re one of the spectacular attractions in Gardens by the bay; one of the reasons why Singapore’s literally blooming these days.

I was fortunate to pay it a visit on the last day of my 4D3N trip to Singapore last July 2012, barely few weeks after Gardens by the bay officially opened to the public. I was even luckier because my Singapore-based Filipina friend, Gina, who’s a former colleague back in Manila, accompanied me and offered to treat me to Gardens by the bay, Marina Bay Sands and all the way to Sentosa. It was Gina’s suggestion for us to see Gardens by the bay first thing in the morning so we could maximize my last hours in the Lion City.

Accessibility’s definitely not a problem even to a first-time-visitor-commuter like me; locating it was such a breeze. Coming from Oasia Hotel in Sinaran Drive, Novena area, I walked my way to the MRT station right across it and took the train going to Marina Bay Sands. I alighted at Bayfront Station and strolled my way to Gardens by the bay.

My good friend, Gina and I agreed to meet up at the ticket counter. We individually walked through the path from Bayfront MRT at Marina Bay Sands and thankfully, the weather was at its finest, the sun shone its brightest. I only regret 2 things in this visit, one of them was forgetting to bring the 3-fold-umbrella that my wife prepared inside my luggage which I left in the hotel’s concierge and the second one was failing to capture the grandeur of Gardens by the bay at dusk. Anyway, at least we didn’t have a downpour and there’s always a next time to further explore this unique botanical park on our future visits.

Few days prior to our visit, I personally saw and captured the vast stretch of this garden in the city as I first appreciated Gardens by the Bay’s Conservatories and Supertrees from the Sands Skypark at Marina Bay Sands…

Gardens by the bay is attractive from a bird’s eye view, even more impressive up close. It’s a showcase of Mother Nature’s most colorful blooms and lush greens amidst progressive city. However, due to limited time, Gina and I only opted to visit the two conservatories, the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. What I love the most about these two conservatories is the fact that they’re airconditioned; they’re kept cool to maintain the required temperature for the flowering plants to thrive. Most on the display are imported species from *Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world.

Flower Dome is the cool-dry conservatory while the Cloud Forest is the cool-moist conservatory.

This blog has never published a volume of photos of flowers after my blog post about Shibuya in Tokyo back in 2010 (blog post HERE!). Be ready to be overwhelmed!

FLOWER DOME

*Facts from their website : “The world’s largest columnless greenhouse, the Conservatories’ glass sits on a steel grid that acts like an eggshell. With 3,332 panels of 42 varying shapes and sizes of spectrally selective glass, the Flower Dome is like a giant puzzle! Air is cooled at the lower occupied zones through chilled water pipes in ground slabs, while warm air is vented out at the top.”

Now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

meet my beautiful and intelligent Singapore-based-friend,

Gina! (applause!).

Of course, everyone agrees that she best complements those bed of flowers, doesn’t she?

(note: she’s presently available and unattached *just trying to play cupid here!*).

It has been two years since Tina and I last met Gina in Manila. We’ve been keeping our lines open via where else but facebook. She remains to be the same old charming and thoughtful friend we used to know. One thing’s sure, I noticed that she gained extra skills and talents in being host to tourist-guest like me. She wanted to update Tina so using her iphone, Gina immediately checked in our location via facebook and began taking our photos and tagging my wife who was left in Penang with Gabby. I even lost count of the times she asked me if I wanted to be photographed the whole time we’re inside the conservatories. I burst into laughter a few times and told her that I am used to clicking my cam to shoot photos and not otherwise. In the end, I gave in; she won in capturing this…

I know. It’s neither I nor Gina who’s the star of this post. We’re not worthy! Indubitably, the spotlight for this blog post is directed onto those vibrant petals. Here are some of my shots that I hope could make you smile or at least, lighten up your mood even a bit. Enjoy!

Those yellow creeping beauty made me remember Gabby while inside the Flower Dome. Spongebob’s color is Gabby’s ultimate favorite. And he’s correct; yellow brightens up any mood. I smiled instantly when I saw it.

Then, God created pink…

I am recommending Flower Dome to people who wish to pause and smell the flowers, literally! Time, inside the Flower Dome could stand still effortlessly. It’s a perfect venue for those worry-free-forget-about-all-hassles-moments!

After we felt we’ve savored enough, we exited the turnstiles and headed to the second cooled conservatory located right across. It’s the Cloud Forest!

CLOUD FOREST

Gina liked it better than Flower Dome. I thought so too. Whoever made the blueprint and constructed Cloud Forest must have been so inspired by the fantasy world in the movie, Avatar! To me, there’s that avatar-ish mood inside! I felt like I stepped into a new foresty world of another dimension! Or perhaps, it’s just my imagination. I must have over imagined it because there’s that lovely mist when we entered Cloud Forest and it made the entire atmosphere inside cooler and fresher! The moist-loving plants are anchored to a mountain-like installation. There’s that tall waterfalls that greets every visitors at the entrance. There are lifts and escalators that bring visitors to various levels of the Cloud Forest; there’s even one level devoted to crystals and crystal-mountains! And walking through different levels, admiring the many species of orchids, bromeliads and other exotic and vibrant flowering plants made our visit to Gardens by the bay really worth it! If visitors have to choose only one from the two conservatories to visit, Gina and I are both recommending, Cloud Forest!

It was almost noon time when we left Gardens by the bay. We left the appreciation for those Supertree groves to our future visit. We felt our stomachs growling and the urgent need to fill them up. We strolled our way back to Marina Bay Sands and trooped to its food court.

I offered to pay the bill for our lunch, but Gina was so generous and didn’t allow me to pull out my wallet. She treated me to one of the restaurants at Marina Bay Sands that has the mood of TGI.F but was noted to have originated in Korea. The food place’s called, Kraze Burgers. We thought we need to sample the KB Original Burgers so we ordered two, plus a plateful of french fries generously topped by chili-con-carne and 2 glasses of iced tea to wash everything down. Everything in that burger tasted fresh! Our lunch was satiatingly good!

From Gardens by the bay to Kraze Burgers at Marina Bay Sands, we rode the MRT and cable car all the way to Sentosa. And since I have another Singapore-based friend to meet for early dinner, Gina was even thoughtful and more than willing to accompany me to my next meeting place before she took her own way to hear mass that Sunday.

I hope I could bring Tina and Gabby back to Singapore and visit our friend, Gina once more.

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Happy 47th Birthday, Singapore! Happy National Day!!! | 09 August 2012

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Kraze Burgers | Kraze Burgers @ Marina Bay Sands is located at 2 Bayfront Ave, #B2-54/55, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore 018956 | For more details, click THIS!

*sourced via Gardensbythebay.com

Aug

SINGAPORE : ON GREATER HEIGHTS

By docgelo 11 Comments

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Singapore was to personally appreciate the city in a different and higher perspective. Fortunately, opportunity presented itself as almost everything was provided for FREE by friends and sponsors except for one. It was only my second visit to the Lion City and it’s awe-inspiring to see her from greater heights literally. Singapore is immensely beautiful from the ground, even more stunning from various vantage points!

1-ALTITUDE BAR

When I met fellow bloggers at the Welcome Dinner at Landmark Village Hotel for 2012 Singapore Blog Awards hosted by OMY.Sg and Far East Hospitality Hotels, I asked a few of them if they’re doing anything on Saturday night after the event. I was glad to receive a positive response that they’re also interested to experience the newest bar in the city. We’re already in Singapore, might as well maximize the moment despite and in spite of everything. And because I only drink occasionally, my main intent was to capture the fireworks at 8PM from Marina Bay Sands and to see Singapore from its highest platform.

It took us two rides on the lifts to go up to the 63rd floor of One Raffles Place and a single flight of stairs to experience this breathtaking 360 degree-view of Singapore skyline from 1-Altitude Bar. Arguably the hippest bar in Singapore, 1-Altitude Gallery Bar stands at the peak of 282 metres, stretching 61st to 63rd floor of One Raffles Place and provides an unparalleled spectacular bird’s eye view of Singapore. My photos don’t do justice to the grand display of sights.

Marina Bay Sands and Singapore Skyline viewed from 1-ALTITUDE BAR

1-Altitude Gallery Bar | One Raffles Place [former OUB Centre] Singapore 048616 | Accessible via MRT from any point or in our case, from Bayfront at Marina Bay Sands to One Raffles Place.

Cover charge : Sun to Thurs All Night Long S$25 nett inclusive of 1 standard housepour (yes, we paid the cover charge!) | Fri, Sat and eve of PH 6pm-9PM S$25 nett inclusive of 1 standard housepour, 9PM till closing S$30 nett inclusive of 1 standard housepour | Dresscode : Smart Casual on all outlets, no flip-flops or slippers, no shorts and bermudas allowed.

For more details about 1-Altitude Bar, click HERE!

SANDS SKYPARK at MARINA BAY SANDS

This lavishly beautiful hotel needs no detailed introduction; it’s iconic as the country’s Merlion. Although I and my family have yet to experience its luxurious accomodation in God-knows-when; I’m grateful to be invited by MBS’ Social Media Officer, Ms. Philicia Tan to savor the incredibly beautiful Sands SkyPark views from its public observation deck and tour the MBS’ Infinity Pool. It was one of those fantastic moments!

For more details about Sands Skypark at Marina Bay Sands, click HERE!

*Thank you to Ms. Philicia Tan, Social Media Officer | Communications | Marina Bay Sands for making this adventure possible.

SINGAPORE FLYER

Luck was indeed on my side because the venue of #SBA2012 was in Singapore Food Trail at Singapore Flyer. I was not surprised when they announced that each blogger-attendee shall have one FREE ticket to ride the world’s largest Giant Observation Wheel at the height of 165 meters from the ground. I felt the ultimate thrill-like-a-kid before taking the flight that spans 30-minute-revolution inside that 28-person-capacity-capsule that’s comparable to a bus or a size of a small classroom. The ride did not make me nauseous nor dizzy but unexpectedly sleepy and relaxed. The panoramic view’s breathtaking!

Singapore Flyer is a perfect venue for intimate dinner on air, wedding proposals and other momentous occasions.

Singapore Flyer | 30 Raffles Avenue Singapore 039803.

For more details about Singapore Flyer, click HERE!

CABLE CAR RIDE TO SENTOSA

Thanks to one of our sponsors, Far East Hospitality, particularly Elizabeth Hotel for providing us FREE tickets to Cable Car ride to Sentosa. I invited and brought my Singapore-based friend and former colleague, Gina and together, we enjoyed another height in Singapore. It’s another wonderful first-time-experience for the kid in me. We boarded the cable car from the Singapore Cable Car Station at HarbourFront Tower Two after a hassle-free-MRT-ride. Because Tina, Gabby and I failed to go to Sentosa last year, I know nothing of the place; didn’t even expect to see the luxury cruise liner, Superstar Virgo on the shores below us. The ride inside that Angry-Bird-themed cable car was definitely one for the books! Best, it’s free!

For more details about Cable Car to Sentosa, click HERE!

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ON A SERIOUS & PERSONAL NOTE | Except for the ascent to 1-Altitude Gallery Bar, I didn’t actually plan to go to different high places in Singapore prior to my recent 4D3N-July 2012-visit. And admittedly during the entire trip, I was having hassles at work (now resolved, I think) so it was like I’m physically present in the Lion City but my mind was focused in Penang. Imagine the feeling of being in the best heights in Singapore while facing a towering problems. I just prayed and kept my faith and strengthen my belief that everything happens for a reason. It was an effort for me to deviate my attention from unpleasant happenings, more so the guilt of experiencing all this without Tina and Gabby. But after everything’s settled, I realized that adventures are best lived when we never know where life will take us. We may wonder what happiness-amidst-challenges means and we may not understand all things in a blink. What matters most is to firmly stand on the ground despite the challenges are sky-high.

“It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.”

~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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Aug

SINGAPORE : FROM AIRPORT TO HAJI LANE & ARAB STREET

By docgelo 9 Comments

Categories: ILOVEPHOTOS, SINGAPORE and TRAVEL
Tags: arab street, arab street singapore, arts, bloggers, bugis, bugis junction, bugis mrt station singapore, bugis singapore, changi airport, doc gelo, docgelo, ex link singapore, ez link card singapore, haji lane, haji lane singapore, how to commute from changi airport to singapore city, how to go to arab street singapore, how to go to haji lane singapore, individual blog, just wandering, kinetic rain, kinetic rain in changi airport singapore, lifestyle blog, lifestyle blogger, mrt singapore, murals, must see in singapore, must visit in singapore, must visit places in singapore, nina fuentes, nuffnang, paintings, personal blog, photography, photos from travel, singapore, singapore tourism, sufi, sufi turkish corner singapore, sufi turkish restaurant, sultan mosque, sultan mosque singapore, teardrops in changi airport, terminal 1 singapore, tourism singapore, tourist spots in singapore, train from changi airport, travel blog, travel blogger, traveling, travelling, turish dish

If my memory serves me right, it was only my third time to travel solo abroad; the first was back in 2010 in Tokyo for 14 days and followed by my departure to Penang for work on the same year. This was my second time to be in Singapore. Tina and Gabby were with me last year when we visited the Lion City; it was definitely merrier and triple the fun! Mushy as it may sound but it feels incomplete to go somewhere for leisure without my family in tow. Nonetheless, I’m grateful to the invitation of 2012 Singapore Blog Awards, OMY.Sg and Oasia Hotel Singapore for this 4D3N trip.

After a smooth 1 hour-and-20-minute-travel-time from Penang to Singapore via Air Asia (no-delays, thankfully!), I arrived at this tiny but charming and productive city at 1:20PM, Thursday, July 19th, 2012. Due to personal and social commitments, my arrival was a day earlier than the call-time for the events. I knew I had to fight the little homesickness without Tina and Gabby so as not to spoil my days packed with schedules. With my 20-kg-luggage, a backpack with laptop and DSLR inside, plus a suitbag for my jacket (which I didn’t wear!) and fedora hats (Yes, I’m collecting them now. And apparently, I don’t have the skills of traveling lightly; I’m guilty as charged! hehehe!), I appreciate my uneventful airport procedures from Immigration to finding the Skytrain and MRT the very first time (truth is, we were fetched by a Benz limo from Quincy Hotel last year, so I’m really a bit clueless where to go).

Budget Terminal | T1, Changi Airport, Singapore | 19 July 2012

From Terminal 1 of Changi Airport, I had to ride the Skytrain to go to T2 where the Changi MRT station is. As I alight the escalator at Departure Hall of Terminal 1, my attention was caught on a whim by this fantastic mobile and musical installation.

This Kinetic Rain Sculpture made up of 1,216 aluminum droplets coated in bronze located at Departure Hall of Changi Airport Terminal 1 mezmerized me. With soothing music, these silver teardrops float and dance, moving up and down, forming different shapes like hot air balloon, magic carpet and whatnot, providing free entertainment to people in one of the best terminals in the world. I thought little details like providing free fox’s candies wrapped and packaged in Changi Airport branding is already noteworthy of Changi Airport, but with this Kinetic Rain as a new addition to its attractions, this multi-awarded terminal proved that it has so many things to tickle the fancy in everyone!

As a first timer to take the MRT from the airport, I considered myself lucky for not getting lost. However I would not mind if otherwise happened as I can easily shrug it off and consider it as part of adventure. I relied on no one but my instinct and reading signage ability, hahaha! After getting off the train from Terminal 1, I walked through Terminal 2 and thought of going down the escalator; et voila, I found the MRT to the city.

I saw a long queue of tourists buying EZ link card to use in bus and MRT trips. Without asking anyone, I did the same and bought my own EZ link card, topped it up with S$25 for my 4-day-commuting around the Lion City. It pays to be a keen observer! #gaya-gaya, LOL!:)

EZ Link card spells convenience and efficiency in transportation in Singapore. I used it in few of my bus rides and in my frequent MRT trips during my 4D3N in the Lion City.

I took the train from Changi MRT station (Terminal 2) to Tanah Merah. Hopped of the MRT and transferred train the opposite line (East West Line; the green line) that took me to Lavender station and to my budget hotel on my first day (I checked in to Oasia the next day, Friday, July 20th to 22nd, Sunday). After going online in the hotel to check my emails, I went my way to Haji Lane and Arab Street to meet a Filipino Award Winning Travel Blogger for dinner.

Alighting from Bugis MRT Station at around 4 in the afternoon, I found my way towards Haji Lane and Arab Street. My dinner schedule’s at 5:30PM hence, I savored luxury of time in capturing some scenes from Haju Lane and Arab Street.

H A J I L A N E

Undeniably colorful and fascinating, this narrow alley amidst the Muslim area in Singapore is boasting with vibrant hues and quaint shophouses where young Singaporean entrepreneurs showacase their hip and edgy clothing apparels. Other than those boutiques that surely attract the fashion-conscious ones, the spectacular murals found in Haji Lane are enough to convince any traveler and tourist that it’s one of the must-visit-spots in this part of Southeast Asia.

A R A B S T R E E T

As I immeresed myself in the colors of Haji Lane, the next best street adjacent to it drenched me with sights, taste and textures. Arab Street provides an irresistible colossal visual treat!

Stunning Turkish lamps from Sufi’s Corner Traditional Handicrafts. I love these lamps, I want to own a dozen one day, hahaha!

Sultan Mosque, Arab Street, Singapore.

And look who I had dinner with at Sufi Corner Cafe in Singapore….

Beyond Toxicity x Just Wandering. Sufi Corner Cafe, Arab Street, Singapore. 19 July 2012

The one and only (drum roll please!), Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards Best Travel Blog Winner, Nina Fuentes of Just Wandering.Org.

Incidentally, Nina and I first met in an intimate-bloggers’ event conducted by Contact Singapore held in Heritage Hotel back home. Who would have thought that our casual reunion will be in the country that was a topic of the event we attended 2 years ago? We planned the friendly dinner via facebook, and I must salute her for being organized and resourceful; she did research of what we must sample in Singapore (she deviated from Singaporean local dishes as we’ve tasted most of them already), even sent me the menu in pdf of Sufi Turkish Corner Restaurant in Arab Street. I trust her so as she has traveled to UAE and Morocco thus, she’s more familiar with Mediterranean cuisine. Her choices from the menu were nothing but excellent! I want to go back to Sufi, seriously!

Babagannus | Sg$ 6.5 | “A favourite meze from Southeastern Anatolia. Eggplant, capsicum, and crushed red peppers cooked with butter and mixed with a touch of garlic together with homemade yogurt.”

Babagannus, take 2. Same plate, still addicting!

Shrimp Casserole (Guvec) | Sg$ 18 | “Guvec style shrimp casserole of Istanbul.”

Shrimp Casserole’s generous servings! nom, nom, nom, nom!

Turkish Mint Tea, Iced | Jug: Sg$ 8.00 | Refreshingly good!

Kebab on a sword! I honestly forgot if it’s mixed kebab or lamb. Its beautiful taste put me on a spell to forget it, hahaha!

Told you that Kebab was on a sword!

From my solo-adventures at the airport and MRT stations, to the fantastic sights in Haji Lane and Arab street, to that engaging catching-up-dinner-with Nina, I knew I was in for another remarkable Singaporean weekend!

—————

Jul

OUR ROCK & ROLL FAMILY WEEKEND @ HARD ROCK HOTEL PENANG

By docgelo 12 Comments

It started with a simple tweet. It ended with grand quality time with the family. I posted on twitter that I was craving for Restoran Kapitan’s Chicken Tandoori and Cheese Naan. I was really wishing to grab a bite of that favorite Indian dish and unexpectedly, I received a wonderful response from Hard Rock Hotel Penang. My casual tweet received an extraordinary invite. Hard Rock Hotel Penang replied that my craving’s a good one and they invited me and my family to experience their lavishly unconventional beach front hotel and resort located at the heart of the famous Batu Ferringhi, Penang, Malaysia. How could you say no to such offer, when in fact, its location in Batu Ferringhi is so accessible by car or via Rapid Penang Bus # 101 from Weld Quay or jetty in George Town.

Admittedly, I am happy that I gave my nod to the invitation. The entire experience redefined what Penang means to me and my family. The 3D2N staycation in Hard Rock Hotel Penang made us realized that Penang is bigger than being one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, more than being our current work place, larger than having diversities and multicultured communities; it’s actually greater than meets the eye! Penang truly deserves the vast attention it gets from local and foreign tourists. Our short but sweet weekend escapade at Hard Rock Hotel Penang proved that the island is made extra special by having a FAMILY FRIENDLY premiere hotel, a great advantage above the rest.

Let me begin the sharing of our family’s experience and my personal review of Hard Rock Hotel facilities, services and its food and beverages by showcasing one of my favorite shots I took from the balcony of our seaview deluxe room…

Enticing, is it not?

Simple but lovely touches like this personal note made our stay so special…

My recall of Hard Rock dates back to the Philippines’ HRC in Makati City and our short visit to Las Vegas ages ago. Hard Rock Hotel Penang and its Hard Rock Cafe located at its facade reminded me of those stupendous memories.

We liked how they enshrined the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson ala-Abraham Lincoln right in front of HRC, so cool!

The iconic Hard Rock logo recreated in this fine drop-light chandelier dominates the entrance to the lobby.

Tina and I love Beatles, who doesn’t? We grew up hearing their songs on air and from my parents’ turntable. Thus, it’s amazing to see Beatles-inspired artworks, sculptures and mosaic-tiled-paintings all over Hard Rock Hotel Penang’s lobby and Hard Rock Cafe.

The sight of the check-in counter with a reception bar concept might be intimidating and discouraging for some guests with families and children, or perhaps to non-alcoholics, but I, myself marveled on the fact that Hard Rock Hotel Penang is absolutely, FAMILY-FRIENDLY bar none. Read and view this entire 2-part-blog-series and I need not convince you.

Few steps from the reception area at the lobby are fascinating memorabilia from music icons of rock and roll and other genres. From a 500-collection of costumes, to musical instruments, awards and whatnot, guests and visitors would surely feel being in one of the most relaxing hotel and resort and at the same time, a funky museum that houses an unparalleled treasure that highlights the wide span of rock and roll era.

Immediately after the staff at the reception handed me the magnetic keys to our room, we went up to 5th floor.

No, we’re not booked at the Rock Star Suite, but there’s always a next time, isn’t it? hahahaha!

We were provided a seaview deluxe room that opens to a private balcony that’s too perfect for watching sunset, reflecting on life’s simple pleasures, meditation, savoring cups of coffee or even to while away time and think of nothing. The room and the view are definitely glorious!

This is one of my favorite corners of the room as it kept me relaxed and at the same time a bit busy in keeping in touch with my virtual world. I don’t think I’ll be at ease when I’m not hooked online. Thankfully, Hard Rock Hotel Penang provides FREE wifi/wireless and wired/broadband with rapid accessibility. The connection’s fast, it made me and my family happier!

“Rockin’ Rooms : Hard Rock Hotel Penang has 250 tastefully designed rooms including 17 suites. Most rooms are with sea views and private balconies. Lagoon view rooms come with direct pool access. All rooms and suites are well-equipped with DVD/CD players, interactive LCD, TVs, iPod docking stations…”

The size of the seaview deluxe room and the height of the ceiling spell the difference…

While pillows are available in various softness, the bed isn’t too firm nor too soft; it has the right feel to provide utmost comfort. I like the immaculate white sheets too. All in all, my family had restful sleeps for 2 nights in this bedroom.

Flat iron and iron stand, a safety deposit box (not in photo), 2 pairs of slippers, bathrobes are all made available inside the wardrobe. Coffee and tea making facilities, bottles of distilled water are replenished 2x daily.

The toilet and shower also compliments everything in the room. Despite the lack of bath tub (Who needs a bath tub if there’s so much to explore in this resort hotel?), cleanliness, frequent replenishment of toiletries, hand-held and rainfall shower with hot and cold water make every bathroom visits worry-free.

There’s a peek-a-boo-sliding divider from the toilet that to me, appears as a necessity in times of emergency. Oh well, others would consider it sexy; I don’t have problem with that too.

As I first saw the huge mirror inside the toilet, I didn’t notice the framed black and white painting…

The rock and roll theme’s spontaneous! Hail to the King! There’s Elvis!!!

I think it’s the first photo that I posted on my facebook as a teaser to this blog series on Hard Rock Hotel Penang. I even captioned it as “I wanted it as a takeaway freebie, LOL!”

We left our room to meet few people from Hard Rock Hotel Penang and the other Malaysian bloggers invited. Tina, Gabby and I also checked out the hotel and resort’s facilities and amenities. Man, we were blown away! My personal expectations were met, even exceeded. I never imagined Hard Rock Hotel to have the most kid-friendly swimming pool that we’ve seen to date! It has the largest free-form swimming pool in Penang at 26,000 sqft. The kiddie swimming pool is a playplace cum swimming pool with both sand and tiled floors for children’s preference! Tina and Gabby were greatly satisfied and happy too! We felt so blessed to have experienced and enjoyed Hard Rock Hotel Penang! I am overwhelemed by the fact that my family and I got to spend quality time in this beautiful resort. At this point, let my photos do the talking…

Spot the rainbow. Hard Rock Hotel Penang must have a pot of gold! The happiness that it brings its guests and visitors across all ages is as precious as gold.

The joy that Tina and I felt when we’re watching Gabby savoring his time in the pool and its playplace was priceless!

I also had a fair share of my own me-time. I think it’s healthy and far from being greedy to observe quality time too for ourselves, don’t you think?

I wish moments like this could be infinite.

The premises of Hard Rock Hotel Penang ends just before the public beach nonetheless, its guests and visitors can delight themselves in the sand, sun and waters. To some, particularly foreigners who haven’t seen our country yet, the public beach of Batu Ferringhi, Penang is already a paradise and I cannot contest on that. But for Filipinos like us, who have high standards when it comes to beaches (read: the Philippines, if you must know, is an archipelago of 7,107 islands), I must be honest enough that we’ve seen far better shorelines in our country (Boracay alone is Nirvana to sun beach and sun worshippers). At least the location of Hard Rock Hotel is a beach front one, it gives its clients options to dive into the pool or bask under the Malaysian sun. Watersports like jetskiing, parasailing, banana boat ride, boat rides to nearby islands and other fun outdoor activities are also available from operators stationed in the public beach.

Gabby also enjoyed his time in the sand… and I mean literally in the sand!

My family also availed of the Rock Spa’s foot and leg massage for half an hour (the other option included in the package’s neck massage). After strolling in the beach, dipping in the pool and taking aimless walks around the hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Penang really knows how to retune and pamper their guests like rockstars!

Filipina receptionist at Rock Spa, Niniya with my wife, Tina.

Special thanks to the very warm and friendly staff of Rock Spa, Amy, Fifi and Niniya. It’s a pleasure meeting you!

HRHP also has Body Rock gym that offers a soothing sight of the pool and lush greens for those health buff hotel guests.

Family friendliness doesn’t stop at the kiddie swimming pool and playplace. Little ones can have their own fun time at Li’l Rock…

While our almost 8-year-old-kiddo who’s in his awkward age (not a kid anymore but not yet a teenages) fits the Teen’s Club to tee!

Tina and I loved the Beatles mania all around Hard Rock Hotel Penang! Even the Teens Club has these iconic figurines. Amazing!

When dusk falls upon us…

Rockin’ and rollin’ of the live band perks up the night and puts everyone at the lobby to the beat!

Live band music, ultimately relaxing and chill out ambiance, what more can you ask for?

We cannot let the day pass without buying a memento. Luckily, Rock Shops, the souvenir stores of Hard Rock Hotel Penang had their Tshirts and other merchandise at 50% off during that weekend!

We bought 2 identical dad-and-son T-shirts in blue.

Stay tuned on the next post : GLORIOUS FOOD & BEVERAGE PORN at Hard Rock Cafe, Starz Diner, Sand Bar and Pizzeria of Hard Rock Hotel Penang!

I’d like to echo the words from one of the brochures of Hard Rock Hotel Penang,“It’s all about first class entertainment, impeccable service and center stage attention. It’s an ultimate rock retreat!”

My family and I cannot agree more. Everything in Hard Rock Hotel Penang is an epitome of colossal excellence!

Hard Rock Hotel Penang | Batu Ferringhi Beach | 111oo Penang, Malaysia

http://penang.hardrockhotels.net/

Take the Hard Rock Hotel Penang VIRTUAL TOUR HERE!

————

Up Next : Food & Beverages at Hard Rock Hotel Penang!

Hard Rock Hotel Penang offers Buka Puasa & Hari Raya Buffets

Buka Puasa at Starz | Starz Diner | Mondat to Thursday | 6:30PM till 10:30PM | RM 60++

Great American Buffet With A Twist | Starz Diner | Friday & Saturday | 6:30PM till 10:30PM | RM108++

Buka Puasa & Hari Raya Barefoot BBQ | Pizzeria | Sunday | 6:30PM to 10PM | RM60++

For reservations call +604 8811 711 ext 8703 or email fb.penang@hardrockhotels.net

————

*Thank you to Ms. Danielle Fung of Hard Rock Hotel Penang for making this grand family weekend experience possible.

Jul

OASIA : MY OASIS IN SINGAPORE 2012

By docgelo 15 Comments

Minimalist. Contemporary. Edgy. Relaxing. The zen-like interiors of OASIA made up of mostly wood with detailed grain, interesting textures and nice lines, that very pleasant cedar wood scent of the lobby wafting through the lifts, make any client feel so at ease in a heart beat. Located right across Novena Square mall in Sinaran Drive where Novena MRT Station is, Oasia offers accessibility to Changi airport to any point in the Lion City. As impressive as QUINCY HOTEL which served as my family’s urban sanctuary in Singapore back in 2011, I believe OASIA’s FRIENDLY & VERY WARM CUSTOMER SERVICE puts Far East Hospitality hotels over and beyond the others.

I’m blessed to have been invited to

2012 Singapore Blog Awards by OMY.Sg

and was even luckier to have

OASIA Hotel

as my home away from home.

When I arrived at the lobby around half hour past 2PM of July 20th 2012, Friday, I was greeted by a friendly smile from a Filipina staff named, Janice (not in photo) who’s stationed at the front desk of OASIA Hotel in Sinaran Drive within Novena area, Singapore. She warmly received my reservation voucher and immediately endorsed to Malaysian staff, Guru to bring me to THE LIVING ROOM, Oasia’s exclusive lounge for Club Room guests located at the 22nd floor. There I met Randy, another Filipino staff who checked me in one of the Club Rooms at 23rd floor.

My wonderful days in Oasia officially started with this welcome drink called, Singapore Bliss. Refreshingly good!

Beyond Toxicity @ docgelo.com X Oasia Hotel, Singapore…

How do I love OASIA? Let us count the ways…

Showcasing my bedroom at Oasia’s Club Room : It’s sooooo inviting! For that 3D2N Club Room accomodation in this firm bed with varied pillows, you can’t blame me if I wish it could have been longer!

I love the bed and I adore their toilet and bath too. Clean lines, fuss free and always spotless.

In Oasia, I can stay in the bathroom all day; it’s that good!!! The shower comes into two types- the classic rainfall effect and the not-so-common among hotels (but we have the same in our apartment), the hand-held. I prefer the former with lukewarm water! While Oasia went beyond the basic of toiltries – they’ve got loofah which is another rare find in most hotels and of course, THANN aromatherapy body milk, bath gel, shampoo, hair conditioner. And yes, I soaked myself onto the bath tub, I almost fall asleep.

Coffee making facility is as special as a Nespresso machine! If one don’t dig coffee, there are a lot of Twinings of London tea bags included.

Did I tell you already that the mini-bar is complimentary too and best, replenished daily ?

I remember my son, Gabby when I saw the huge Samsung flat screen…

How many hotels that offer so called-STAYCATION provides flashlight for emergency purposes, various electrical plugs and sockets, a safe that beautifully opens upwards, giving you less chances to overlooked things that might be forgotten, flat iron and stand, slippers and bathrobes with more threadcount than you can expect? OASIA doesn’t offer an ultimate staycation but rejuvenation, convenience and maximum comfort.

The health buff in most clients will be delighted because of the topnotch amenities at the 8th floor…

The same floor houses the pool and jacuzzi that are open to all guests checked in the hotel.

While at 22nd floor, there’s an infinity pool and a kiddie one for exclusive use of Club Room guests. Believe me, it’s more inviting as my photos don’t give justice.

Inspiring corners at The Living Room : It’s incredibly creative how they made use of wine glasses as chandeliers…

The view from 22nd floor beside the infinity pool…

The pampering in Oasia doesn’t end at having excellent amenities, outstanding services, relaxing atmosphere, priceless view; the stomach too, is satisfied…

GLORIOUS FOOD in OASIA HOTEL SINGAPORE..

Here’s a rundown of Oasia’s breakfast spread and my first meal and lunch plates during my 3D2N stay at The Living Room…

21 July 2012. Before heading to Singapore Blog Awards at Singapore Flyer, OASIA hosted the bloggers’ buffet lunch at the ZAFFRON, the in house restaurant at the lobby. It was sumptuous!!!

This is Mag, our warmest Singaporean blogger host. She’s like my long lost Singaporean sister, seriously!

COLD ROCK is the house ice cream of OASIA. Can someone top that? …I mixed Coffee and Mint with chocolate chips and M&M. It’s a perfect match made for my palates! Delicious!

Can you blame me if I am terribly missing OASIA now?

Do check out PROMOTIONS from OASIA and the other premiere hotels of Far East Hospitality Group

–>HERE!!!

*Thank you OASIA Hotel Singapore, Far East Hospitality Hotels, Singapore Blog Awards 2012 and OMY.Sg for making this wonderful experience possible!

Jul

GEORGE TOWN FESTIVAL 2012 : JUST GOT BETTER

By docgelo 22 Comments

Categories: EVENTS, ILOVEPHOTOS, MALAYSIA and TRAVEL
Tags: 14 living story, 14 living story penang, acheh street, armenian street, art, arts, cannon street, cheah kongsi, chicken cheese kebab, chinese culture, chinese money plant, chulia street, culture, doc gelo, docgelo, ernest zacharevic, expat in malaysia, expat in penang malaysia, festival, fiesta, george town festival 2012, george town penang, george town penang festival, heritage, http://docgelo.com/, indian culture, indian dishes, indian traditional dances, kapitan keling street, kebab, lebuh acheh, lebuh chulia, life abroad, lifestyle, malaysia, malaysia tourism, malaysian culture, naan, paavani, paintings, penang, penang tourism, photography, restoran kapitan, roti, roti cheese, street photography, tourism, tradition, traditional dances, TRAVEL, travel blog, traveling, travelling, unesco, UNESCO world heritage sites

I anticipated grandiosity in this year’s celebration. I also set no less than great expectations of the pageantry of events. I thought there’s no way that the 4th anniversary of inscription of George Town, Penang as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites could get worse but otherwise. No one can blame me as I experienced George Town Festival 2011 : Tapestry of Cultures last year. I saw, heard, felt, smelt and tasted it as beyond spectacular! A flamboyant display of rich diversities that this cultural melting pot in Southeast Asia is known for. I was simply blown away by that 2011 holiday and I believe this year, it just got better! I haven’t traveled the world but where else can you find streets showcasing arts, heritage, culture, traditions, food, religions, performances and whatnot, mostly for FREE and readily accessible to public all at the same time?

July 7th is the gazetted public holiday for the George Town Festival but people behind it planned and prepared an entire month of merrymaking! This year, it extends from June 15th to July 15th. And if that doesn’t sound grand fiesta to you, I rest my case.

With only my mom in tow, as my wife and our 7-year-old son decided to stay at home to do some chores and rest after, I arrived in George Town from our place in Butterworth on the afternoon of Saturday, July 7th. My mom and I did some necessary errands first, then headed to Plaza Gurney Mall and back to the laterals of Lebuh Chulia.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve probably known that the Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic‘s murals are all over the key streets of George Town. I assumed the muralist who did those fantastic and whimsical reflections of bits and pieces of life in Penang using mostly children and children’s imagination as his subjects, was commissioned specially for the GTF2012. I showed my mom one of his works located in Lebuh Ah Quee as we began our personal GTF2012 walking tour that weekend.

This Zacharevic’s art installation in Lebuh Ah Quee is an updated version that we saw on our visit last June 23, 2012; before it became more animated, it was firstly presented as ruggedly, rustic and restless looking street painting then…

His masterpieces at one of Penang’s waterfront settlement protected by UNESCO, Chew Jetty …

Armenian Street which is my favorite…

and other streets of George Town are always admired by local and foreign tourists.

I regret the fact that I failed to come to Ernest Zacharevic and Gabija’s invitation via facebook and missed their exhibit called Rescube which was a collaboration with few more Malaysian artists.

What I like most of George Town, Penang other than its multi-racial diversities that are so apparent in their flavorful gastronomic delights, colorful and vibrant cultures and varied and inspiring religions, is the fact that this island boasts of creativity in almost every corner.

Another wonderful treat for the public present in this year’s GTF2012 was witnessing Malaysian artists creating their on-the-spot-watercolor paintings. My mom and I were very fortunate to chanced upon these artistic and skillful hands immortalizing parts of Cheah Kongsi and its nearby shophouses along Armenian Street. For few minutes, I was left in awe!

Still in Armenian Street, I walked my mom through a souvenir shop called, 14 Living Story which in my humble opinion, is one of the most quaint stores that sells interesting pieces that represent George Town and a few more things about Pulau Pinang. However, since it’s my nth time inside that souvenir shop and I somehow became familiar with what they could offer, I was more fascinated with one of their ornaments –a Chinese money plant! I like this plant and I want money, LOL!!!

Spotted this street performer at the junction of Armenian and Kapitan Keling Streets who’s throwing his unusual neon yoyo up in the air while grooving over an imaginary sound. He drew crowd expectedly.

Then we continued our aimless strolling and walked towards Cannon Street. Et voila, another Ernest Zacharevic’s mural!

I saw him when he did this last June 23, 2012…

The other side of the wall has pink pin wheels to send lovely vibes…

Meanwhile, at the tail end of Cannon Street comes Lebuh Acheh…

How do you like sweet smiles as a welcoming party?

Whenever I fill out forms or converse with Malaysians and tell them that we, Filipinos came from Malay race, I usually get quirky stares because most of them haven’t heard of it yet. One need not google or read history books, there’s proof in things that are common among us. Traditional music with gongs, for one, is shared by two countries.

There were also live demonstrations of other forms of arts and handicrafts from henna tattooing, batik making and basket weaving.

Past half hour that we’re roaming George Town streets, my mom and I trooped back to Armenian Street and went inside Cheah Kongsi.

We were in Cheah Kongsi to witness one of a kind expression of Lion Dance. To most of us, Filipinos living in Manila, we usually enjoy such Oriental street performance in Manila Chinatown every Chinese New Year. We might be familiar with Lion and Dragon dances performed on the road with so much ease, but Penangites do it on stilts! The GTF2012 map and guide had Lion Dances on stilts at 6PM and Dragon Dance at 7 in the evening for that day. As soon as we got inside the Cheah Kongsi compound, I let my mom watched over my backpack and reusable shopping bags and thankfully found a nice spot that’s high enough for me to capture the impressive performance.

Yeah, right, I was on stilts too! LOL! No, of course not! I stood up the concrete fence with my stance secured and took extra efforts not to fall and break anything important while capturing this feature. So here’s a few of my photos of that amazing Lion Dance on stilts…

One of the breathtaking stunts they did was this…

And these were the two young men who moved the lion on stilts with ease and expertise…

This Lion Dance was tremendously done; absolutely entertaining!

There was an hour gap between the Lion dance on stilts and the Dragon dance thus, my mom and I opted to grab some eats from our favorite food place in Lebuh Chulia (photos just before the end of this post) and headed back to Cheah Kongsi before 7PM.

Just a few steps from Yap Kongsi and Yap Temple is a Southern Indian decorative design made of colored grains. Where else can you experience Hindu, Chinese and Malays co-existing harmoniously? Pardon me but I really I have to state this : Indeed, “Malaysia, Truly Asia!”

We left Lebuh Armenian and headed to Lebuh Acheh where Indian, Thai and Sri Lankan dances will be performed at 8PM. Days before this event, I was personally invited by Ms. Pavaani, the classical Indian dancer whom I met last June 23rd before she performed then. Her email noted that I can capture a few shots of the girls just before their show.

Local and foreign audience in the street including my mom and myself were treated to fascinating cultural dances. First to perform were the very energetic and passionate, Punjabi dancers…

Each group as I understood i

Posts Tagged ‘traveling

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