Category Archives: Travel 旅游

How I Battled Flu

Posted on June 3, 2010 | 25 Comments

The worse thing that can happen while you are on holiday is to be down with some kind of illness. I was the unfortunate passer-by to my brother’s flu virus.

I refused to cower to the horrible bug because that would mean staying in bed while everyone else explore the ruins, learn history and snap gorgeous summer pictures for keepsake.

So I battled the virus with what I could get out of the buffet table at Pam Thermal Hotel in Pammukale.


I helped myself to the lemon slices (meant for salads) and made my own “lemon drink zero”.


My mom swears by lemon honey as the ultimate Vitamin C booster but unfortunately we had no honey then, and I’m not a fan of sugar, so the family had to put up with a prune face at the dining table.

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First Impression

Posted on May 27, 2010 | 21 Comments

My knowledge of Turkey was pretty much limited to the reviews on Tripadvisor, most of which are more factual than descriptive, so I had no idea what to expect upon arrival in Istanbul.

Having just flown from LA airport a week ago, I was surprised that there wasn’t a long queue at the customs and tons of people crowding around conveyor belts; There were no stringent security checks or severe looking officials eyeing you and your baggage; Someone gave us 1 Turkish Lira for the luggage trolley and didn’t ask for it back.

As I took in the sights of Istanbul from the window of our minivan, I realized that Turkey is not just culturally rich because it is geographically located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, but also naturally beautiful with the harmonious co-existence of sea, rocks, flora and fauna.

I spent my first day taking in the sights and sounds, exploring Sultanahmet and we even tried the squeezing with the locals on the electric trams, with the help of our friendly guide.

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Just another day at Sultanahmet

Posted on May 23, 2010 | 7 Comments

There is something spontaneous about blogging on the go that I like. But the flip side of this is that most entries will be short because I’m beat from sight-seeing everyday.

I’m trying out the WordPress app but it is quite limited. Since all photos can only appear after my text, here are the captions:

1. Kebab meat is everywhere. A set meal costs about 5.50TRY. It comes with chicken or beef in pita bread, fries and a drink.

2. The people here at this restaurant are so warm and friendly. They allowed me to enter the serving area for a photo op even though we weren’t planning on eating.

3. Such stalls are common and the food always looks very good.

4. Stalls like this are scattered all over the Sultanahmet area.

5. Boiled maize.

6. I think these are some kind of Turkish apples? Or plums? It’s the size of big grapes, crunchy and a little sour.

7. My first Turkish coffee at a traditional Turkish restaurant.

8. Silk for sale.

9. Pretzels! I believe there is something in the dough that makes these plain pretzels really tasty. I wish they were warm though.

10. I love handiwork!

11. The view on the way back to the hotel.

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Ripped off in Istanbul

Posted on May 22, 2010 | 18 Comments

Night flights are tough to bear because it is so hard to sleep on the plane. We arrived at Istanbul airport at around 7+ in the morning and headed to our boutique hotel to drop off our luggage before heading to the office of the tour agent from whom I booked my tour tickets.

I won’t reveal too much yet because I hope to do a full review of it at the end of my trip.

After we settled on the itinerary and full payment, we walked out onto the streets and immediately got ripped off.

Those of you who have had Turkish ice-cream would know that it is kind of an amusing act. The seller would scoop the sticky ice-cream and then tease you with it till he’s ready to give it to you. We were so fascinated and he was so good at assuming the sale that we just stood there while he made us take the ice-cream. My dad did want the ice-cream but when we tried to ask him how much, he didn’t answer us in English. After he was done with Act 1, he wanted to assume another sale but we were going to walk away without paying because he didn’t tell us how much and we didn’t know where to pay. Finally he said it cost 10 Turkish Lira (TRY).

As we walked on, we found many many many stalls selling it, and while the ice cream flavors may differ (this one had yoghurt as one of the flavours), it shouldn’t cost you more than 2 or 3 TRY. We ended up with another 5 ice creams for everyone.

It was a good, relatively inexpensive experience on our first day.

Tomorrow we’re going to do more sight-seeing.

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Breakfast and Megamarts

Posted on May 10, 2010 | 12 Comments

While Singaporeans like bee hoon, pau and other local delectables for breakfast, I had a little surprise!

Nothing beats waking up in the morning to home-made waffles with maple syrup and fresh strawberries!

Perfect for window display! The waffle is so light I had 1 and half!

I thought this brand of margarine is really cute. I love the exclamation mark at the end, like it's screaming at you to pick it up at the supermarket.

While we're on the topic of supermarket, I love the supermarkets here in the US! They are so massive and everyone can be pushing a cart, but no one knocks into one another. Aisles are wide and items well stocked. The only thing is, if you're not familiar with the placement of items, it's quite a distance walking from one end to the other.

Most supermarkets are open past midnight, some even 24 hours, so it's really convenient if you want to buy groceries late at night. Parking is ample and free too! This is Walmart Supercenter, which is a mega-hyper-mart!

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First snow experience

Posted on May 3, 2010 | 26 Comments

An hour drive out of Las Vegas and you’d get to Mount Charleston, where you can find snow and ski during certain times of the year. I was really lucky this time, because the weather still hasn’t warmed up yet. We wanted to head to Grand Canyon initially, but because the weather was unexpectedly cold and I had no warm gear packed, we decided to do something else instead. Not that it’s any warmer here at Mount Charleston, but at least there are lodges where I can hide!

I was really excited because this was going to be the first time I see snow!!

It's quite a misconception that it's always hot in the desert. Las Vegas has desert and snow-capped peaks too! This was taken from the car.

At one of the lodges taking a toilet break. See the ski resort behind me!

My frozen hand!

Believe it or not, it's the first time I see snow. And I've yet to see falling snow too!

There's an old restaurant up at the lodge that is very quaint. I'm sitting by the fire, warming up with a cup of hot chocolate while waiting for lunch!

After lunch, we drove up to the ski resort. I wasn't dressed to ski at all, and although there's the option of taking a scenic chair lift up the mountains, I figured I'd be frozen halfway up because the wind chill was already quite unbearable down at the beginner's slope. I think I'd save this experience for the next trip! There's rental available for the full gear and equipment.

Trying to make a snow angel but because I'm on a slope, I keep sliding down!

I can't move my hands and legs at the same time. It's a very clumsy motion of moving one limb at a time! Haha, it was hilarious!

The deformed snow angel I made...

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Don’t buy cheap memory cards

Posted on May 2, 2010 | 8 Comments

Important lesson learnt on this Vegas trip: Don’t try to save money buying cheaper memory cards.

I realised that not only did I have to make sure the memory card says SDHC, the card speeds play a very important role too! You can tell by looking out for Class 2, 4, 6 or 10 on the packaging. Of course the bigger the number, the faster the speed. Choose something that matches the electronic device you’re using it for. For more info see SD.

Quite a number of my pictures did not record properly on the new memory card that I bought since the old one I brought from Singapore failed on me. For some reason, the pictures previewed fine on the camera but when I tried to load it on my computer, they’re either truncated or did not show. I have since exchanged for one that has a faster speed, and probably more suitable for my camera.

Which means, photos where I unveiled my birthday present, had homemade waffles with maple syrup and butter that is not butter, visited premium outlet store, the inside of KÀ theater …are all gone.

Sob sob.

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Posted in Dailies 生活点滴, Lifestyle 生活时尚, Travel 旅游

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Retail experience at Apple

Posted on May 1, 2010 | 5 Comments

Going to the Apple retail store in the US is always an experience. Every product is hooked up to the Internet and allows you to browse freely. Every sales person knows their products at the back of their hand, offers their personal take on products, and helps us make our purchase one that suits our needs.

What is most fascinating is that, no one stands in line to pay. Not because they have no social etiquette but because they have a different way of paying.

There's a special jacket that is attached to the iPod Touch that allows the retail guy to scan the barcode of the product and checkout our items on the go.

He takes your credit card, swipes it on the device and have you sign on the screen.

After which you can choose to have your receipt printed out or emailed to you. We chose the environmentally friendly method.

Everyone's excited about this!

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Posted in Dailies 生活点滴, Lifestyle 生活时尚, Travel 旅游

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Eating in a Supermarket

Posted on April 30, 2010 | 29 Comments

Something happened to my memory card today, so most pictures are taken with the phone. I managed to get myself a new memory card but when it comes to products like that, we get them a lot cheaper in Singapore.

I decided to experiment with a different look! It's been a long time since I had bangs, I think I look so different in them!

Hair up or hair down?

Everything else, especially food, comes in big portions so even though we might pay the same price as do in Singapore, it’s actually cheaper because we get more.

I love supermarkets, but this day, I went to the Whole Foods Market, where you get a good selection of organic/healthy options. There is such a great variety, I don’t mind becoming a full-time cook!

Whole Foods Market, Town Center Las Vegas

At Whole Foods Market, Bobby says it's the mecca of healthy/organic food. It's a supermarket but you'll find hot bars, soup bars, salad bars, grain bars, where you can pick out what you want buffet style, and be charged according to weight.

More variety of food you can take away!

Sandwich bar where you have a wide selection of sandwiches to choose from! Wow!

There I am picking out my lunch!

Here's what I picked out...a little bit of Spanish Rice, Pepper Chicken, Baked Broccoli, Pineapple Rice with Endamame, and Mac&Cheese.

Versus Bobby's green leafy salad lunch!

There are seats scattered all over the supermarket where you can sit and enjoy your lunch. I heard the dinner and dessert selection at night is delectable!

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From LA to Vegas

Posted on April 28, 2010 | 20 Comments

There are no intentions of touring LA just yet, since we’d be back towards the end of the trip. I had a nice workout at the gym this morning, followed by a really delightful buffet breakfast, which had a great fruit selection of strawberries, blueberries, grapefruit, oranges and the usual watermelon, honeydew and pineapple. Berries aren’t as expensive in this part of the world, so I was happy with the unlimited intake of antioxidants. No pictures because I didn’t bring my camera to the gym.

After that, I did a little shopping at Barneys New York at Beverley Hills and then we made our way to Vegas. Hopefully I get to go back to that street again to take some photos because that’s where Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave and Barneys stand side by side. I’m fascinated because my understanding of these places are pretty much limited to their online websites!

I love the way this hotel has got all these black and white photographs adorning the walls. So classic!

See if you recognise anyone?

And there's more...

Driving by Rodeo Drive, where all the brand boutiques have their own standalone shops.

The entire street is just lined with designer boutiques!

These are what homes along Beverley Hills look like!

The houses are so private and unique. I just love how these big trees line the road. Most part of LA seems a little dry but this area is so green and inviting!

I got myself some vintage eyeglasses.

Not that I really need to wear glasses, but I thought it was a different look. I love vintage tortoise-shell frames!

It was a 4 hour drive from LA to Las Vegas. The winds were pretty strong today!

We didn't manage to get to the dessert by sunset, otherwise, it would have been quite a beautiful sight!

En route to Vegas, we stopped by Barstow to have dinner at "IN N OUT"! This is the best burger place in the West Coast. Many people tried to bring it to Singapore but apparently they refused to sell the franchise anywhere else in the world. It's fully customisable cheese burgers, no fuss and very delicious!

After which, I had the Cold Stone Creamery. I know how familiar it sounds because Australia has Cold Rock Creamery which is brought in to Singapore but according to Bobby, Cold Stone was the original! And this I hold in my hand is cotton candy flavour. This is a small size by the way. I couldn't even finish the entire cup!

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