I’m back for a short visit, and have been trying to fulfil as much of my local cravings as possible. Yes, food is always a highlight in Singapore. One on my list is a locally prepared crab. There’re lots of big-named seafood restaurants in Singapore but Mellben is one I’d heard so much about but had yet to try. (Yes, pretty slow). So yesterday evening, my best friends and I headed for the original outlet in Ang Mo Kio.
All posts by N.
Shanghai: Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson The Immortal Tour
Despite the earlier controversy at the opening night in Beijing (Article), the shows were still a resounding success during its run in China. We actually bought the tickets well in advance in May, as part of a friend’s birthday gift.
Continue reading Shanghai: Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson The Immortal Tour
Shanghai: Medical Emergencies
Accidents happen. They really do. And most times, there’s a not-so-cool story behind them. At the same time, you gain some lessons from it too. For example, the precious lesson of knowing where to go when you have an absolute real emergency (TLDR: List at the bottom of post).
Shanghai: Fire In The Neighbourhood
So I woke up this morning to blaring sirens. For a city this big and crowded, you don’t hear sirens too often at all. And I remember how often the wailing of sirens would wake me up in Frankfurt. So we knew something was up.
Anji: XcapeShanghai
We don’t always have time on our side for longer travels, but weekend trips are definitely more feasible. Constantly looking out for such options, we came across these guys from Xcape Shanghai who organises weekly trips to the bamboo forest of Anji, where the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was shot.
Hangzhou: Lingyin Temple & Longjingcun
On our second and final day in Hangzhou, we hired a taxi for 3 hours to explore some of the mountains west to our hotel, for a bit. On map, it looked fairly near to walk from our hotel, but in true fact, they were not. They are mountains, after all. Also, fearing we might not have enough hours before having to make our way back to the train station, the taxi seemed our best bet. We got a nice driver who drove a “London Taxi” styled cab who charged around 60 yuan per hour (quite worth the money especially when splitting it per passenger). The drive up took us barely 15 minutes, whereas walking would have taken over an hour.
Hangzhou: West Lake
It’s been the hottest summer in Shanghai since 1873, according to local news. Seeing it’s my first summer in Shanghai, I don’t have anything to compare it to. What I know for sure is that it’s almost 10 degrees cooler in Singapore. I never believed any place could feel hotter than Singapore but we are always proven wrong about something some point in our lives.
Hangzhou being in Southern China, and close by to Shanghai, suffers the same fate. D and I did a two day two night trip there recently (departed on Friday, back on Sunday). It was a nice indulgent weekend staying at the Four Seasons Hangzhou. Probably one of the best hotels I’ve ever had the pleasure of staying at. The spa’s easily the best I’ve ever experienced. But that’s a topic for a different time.
Inner Mongolia: Genghis Khan Mausoleum (Day 5)
We were back in the city of Ordos. After checking out of our final accommodation in Inner Mongolia, we set off for the final destination before our flight – Genghis Khan Mausoleum.
Continue reading Inner Mongolia: Genghis Khan Mausoleum (Day 5)
Inner Mongolia: Kubuqi Desert (Day 4)
After a refreshing night in Baotou city, we were up early once more, and started making our way to the Kubuqi Desert in Ordos.
Inner Mongolia: Wudang Lamasery (Day 3)
Majority of the third day was spent on the roads. I woke up at five in the morning to catch the sunrise but the sky was still too cloudy from the storm the night before. I can imagine it would have been quite spectacular on a good morning.
We started our day with a light local breakfast at the grasslands after the interesting night. Firecrackers were blown off by other residents in the night, scaring off spirits of their yurts maybe. Can’t escape them fireworks anywhere in China. I don’t think we slept longer than 3 hours that day but we were really excited to start off once more. The thought of a more hospitable accommodation (with a shower that doesn’t require us fighting angry bees) awaiting us, was all the fuel we needed to get moving.