While in Balik Pulau in Penang, there was a suggestion that we had lunch there. I was gamed for that; the little town there with the lion spurting water fountain at the little roundabout and little shop houses looked rather quaint and inviting. After visiting an art gallery, my other niece had taken a different route and we came across paddy fields, traditional Malay houses, trees and more trees; a very green and laid back Penang indeed. Then, we were headed towards Penang Second Bridge, the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge which links Batu Maung to Seberang Prai in the mainland. We ..read more

It was December; the time for travelling again. There we were at the airport; my friends and I, waiting to catch a plane to Kunming. Kunming, otherwise  known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province in China. Said to be founded in 765, the city which stands at an altitude of 1,900 metres in the middle of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau naturally has much to offer. There are lots of things to see and do here, both in the city and outside the city; and so, while we had been here before, we were back for more, to explore ancient town, caves and mountains...keep tune! 1 ..read more

Khao Yai, being slightly over 173 km away from Bangkok needs less than three hour drive from the Thai capital but probably we didn't start early enough or it was the notorious Bangkok traffic jam; when we reached our destination, it was already dark. There seemed to be drab, wooden houses outside and our van made its way through a narrow road, manoeuvring itself to a back lane and then when it stopped, we were ushered into a big, brown seemingly unimpressive building. Then lo, inside, it seemed like a maze. We trudged in, pitter patter on the wooden floor; there were groups of people here and ..read more

Even before going for a tour in the Mekong Delta, I've heard an acquaintance sighed over her trip there. Obviously, she didn't like it, not a nature lover most probably. Imagine yourself wearing a Vietnamese farmer's hat in a packed long narrow boat rowed by the locals, taking you to some little obscure islands to have tea or lunch or to some villages there to experience first hand how the locals live their lives, Unlike places like Cambridge where the weather was cool and there were cool buildings and scenes to savour, a boat trip in the Mekong Delta among the nipah trees under the hot sun co ..read more

Foodies travel to eat; the different types of food the world has to offer is an attraction; exotic food, the not so exotic food included, all pleasing and ready to tease the taste buds. While non foodies don't emphasize so much on food, why not take advantage of trying local fares in a foreign countries when travelling? After all, foodies or not, everyone has to eat and here's Bali's one and only Babi Guling ... More Virtual Tour ..read more

Seeing how the locals live in a foreign country is always fun, an enriching experience even. In Mytho, Vietnam; the Mekong Delta tour includes visits to the houses of locals in villages and the Ben Tre islands. The trips there seemed like cut out to be a win-win situation for the locals and visitors. Little stalls selling local traditional cakes and goodies were set up to tease and at one point, we even got to try our hands on making Vietnamese spring roll wrappers. These are made from  a a paste of rice flour and water and when dried, became brittle and delicate. A must to make Vietnames ..read more

Taking a plane home from Krabi, it was only natural that we would choose a plane to Penang International Airport, the nearest airport yet to home. Just like Ah Heng had sent us to the airport when we began our journey, he was there to pick us up almost immediately when we landed in Penang. The Georgetown Festival was on in the island but no, that was not for us. We set off to the mainland, stopped for a seafood lunch in Tambun, make a detour to a quaint little town there before making for home. Krabi, would we meet again? 11 Coming up next! Getting to Know Khao Yai ..read more

The Mekong River fascinates. Estimated to be  4,909 km long, the river ranks the twelfth longest in the world and the third longest in Asia. The trans-boundary river starts from the Tibetan Plateau and runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In Vietnam, its distributary in the north is called the Tiền River or Tiền Giang while the southern distributary is the the Hậu River or Hậu Giang.  Mỹ Tho is in this Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta and with a population nearing 300,000 in 2019, the majority ethnic group being the Kinh with minority groups incl ..read more

When travelling on your own, sometimes you would have more time than expected. Dongchuan's Redlands and Lufeng Dinosaur Museum were in the cards during our trip to Yunnan; not so the Western Hills. Yet, we visited the hills and after that, weren't so sure where to go. Lijiang and Dali were out of the question as they were far away and some of us had been to the ancient cities. Then, our guide suggested the Yunnan Ethnic Village 云南民族村... 24 Traveling Tip: Listen to suggestions ..read more

It never occured to me that there are floating markets outside of Thailand. Yet, in Vietnam that probaly was the first place we were brought to when touring the Mekong Delta. There are several popular floating markets including Cai Be floating market on the Tien river and Phung Hiep market which is the biggest due to its location at the intersection of 7 major canals. The floating market we went to wasn't as bustling as the one in Thailand. The boats however were bigger. I had thought it was the Cai Be floating market which is situated closest to Ho Chi Minh City and the most convenient to vi ..read more