Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Best St. Patrick's Day Ever!

Yep, today is the best St. Patrick's Day ever!

Although I don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
I had, however, been to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin,Ireland and in New York City where St. Patrick's day is widely celebrated.

But this is THE best St. Patrick's Day ever! ;)

Monday, March 12, 2012

We're back from China!

It was another fun adventure I had with hubby. But man, I can say I can't imagine how one who doesn't speak Chinese could go about China without being on a tour group. But we did it, thanks to my hubby who can speak Mandarin.

Anyhow, here are some pictures from some highlights of this trip:

Day 1 - We landed in Shanghai at noon and at night we didn't waste time to go to The Bund, where there's a picturesque view of the harbour overlooking the famous Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower.


Day 2 - We went to Xintiandi, an ancient town in Shanghai. If you know me and my hubby, you would know that we would not pass having a traditional costume dress up if we get the opportunity. Yes, we did it, even with the almost zero degree weather, we took off our coats and donned those costumes, never mind if it cost me a nosebleed (literally).

Day 3 - From Shanghai we flew to Xi'an and on our first night there, we wandered around the Muslim Quarter and sampled their yummy street foods (interesting to see the community of Chinese Muslims). Here's Malvin having this popular soup which he loved but I personally didn't like.

Day 4 - Ah yes, the famous Terracotta warriors, the highlight of going to Xi'an. That's us posing with the authentic statues...not! Of couse, these are just replicas but yes we've seen the real ones.


Day 5 - We went to see a Tang Dynasty show. The theatre was lovely and I loved the concept that our tickets came with a drink of our choice so it felt grand to sip a glass of wine while watching the lovely musical production.


Day 6 - From Xi'an we flew next to Beijing. And what comes first to mind about Beijing? Well, the Peking duck! So of course, Malvin and I just had to have it. We ordered a whole duck which the waiter skillfully sliced for us. Oh yes, cholesterol overload.


Day 7 - We conquered the Great Wall of China! There's a few areas where you could go to the walls in Beijing and since we didn't want to go to the very touristy area where there'd be so much people for sure, we went to Mutianyu area and it was fantastic!



Day 8 - We went to the Forbidden city and afterwards tried to look for this food street which we finally saw hidden at the end of a shopping road. Oh what a find, it was amazing to see what can be barbecued these days, hehe :p


Day 9 - From Beijing we went back to Shanghai for our last night. We went out to the bar at the 87th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. This high building is very tempting for daredevil climbers to quest because of how the rails around it make it easy to climb. Do you know of this guy who's been called the French Spider-Man? They put this sign in the building for him:




This was another fun winter trip we had. We did so many things, saw so many things, ate so many things. What's next? Hmmmnnn...




Friday, March 02, 2012

I'm off to...

...the land of no facebook and blogspot.

So excited with this trip! ;)