Category Archives: Travel

Asia, Shanghai, Travel

Shanghai: The PuLi Hotel & Spa (Mid Autumn Indulgence)

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Happy Mid Autumn Holiday, everyone! 中秋节快乐!

I love Public Holidays – you’re “forced” to take a little breather no matter if you’re staying local or heading overseas. Nobody’s going to give you the “I have to cover for you while you’re gone?” guilt-trip. Time to head out and bask in the company of lovely friends, laze around alone in the company of your-lovely-self, catch up on the films, books, and everything that you’ve missed out on. Yes, I do like them holidays.

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Asia, Singapore, Travel

Revisiting Singapore: Haw Par Villa

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[Having been back in Singapore for two weeks, I’d decided to squeeze in as many friends, and sights I’ve missed, in my itinerary. And I’ll be journalling some of these places here. My bulkier camera was left in Shanghai and photos were only snapped using my phone this trip. So, forgive the photos.]

I was actually checking out the galleries at Gillman Barracks earlier in the day, with my friend Tim. We happened to see a photo of the “Crab-Man” from Haw Par Villa in one of the galleries’ installations, and Tim then mentioned Haw Par Villa was actually close by. I’ve not been back there since a child of 5. So the idea of revisiting this place after so many years was quite inviting. I was curious to see just how much of it was still similar to memory.

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Asia, Singapore, Travel

Revisiting Singapore: Ann Siang Hill

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[Having been back in Singapore for two weeks, I’d decided to squeeze in as many friends, and sights I’ve missed, in my itinerary. And I’ll be journalling some of these places here. My bulkier camera was left in Shanghai and photos were only snapped using my phone this trip. So, forgive the photos.]

Ann Siang Hill happens to be an area I became quite fond of when the company I used to work for was still located in Tanjong Pagar. I would grab a quick dinner at the Maxwell Food Centre, the various Korean restaurants along Tanjong Pagar Road, or in Chinatown, before taking a rest at one of the watering holes on Ann Siang Hill.

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Asia, China, Shanghai, Travel

Shanghai: Art District M50

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Ist das Kunst oder kann das weg?

Art is always subjective, and all about perspective. But there’s a bit of everything for everyone in the M50 galleries. There’s sculpture art, digital art, abstract, paintings of different mediums, art you can understand, art you cannot, and even photography exhibitions.

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Asia, Singapore, Travel

Revisiting Singapore: Sentosa

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[Having been back in Singapore for two weeks, I’d decided to squeeze in as many friends, and sights I’ve missed, in my itinerary. And I’ll be journalling some of these places here. My bulkier camera was left in Shanghai and photos were only snapped using my phone this trip. So, forgive the photos.]

One thing about Singapore that foreigners love and locals hate is that it’s summer all year round. The sun is always felt if not seen, rain or shine, the heat lingers, and the air remains humid.

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Asia, Singapore, Travel

Revisiting Singapore: Arab Street

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[Having been back in Singapore for two weeks, I’d decided to squeeze in as many friends, and sights I’ve missed, in my itinerary. And I’ll be journalling some of these places here. My bulkier camera was left in Shanghai and photos were only snapped using my phone this trip. So, forgive the photos.]

Arab Street is pretty known to the younger locals, but still not the most talked about among travellers. Tourists often overlook this place altogether when they’re short of time. When travellers do talk about it though, they often mention the majestic Sultan Mosque, or the little souvenirs they managed to buy from the little Persian lane stores, or an expensive unique dress from a boutique store run by homegrown designers. Those who stay at night, see a totally different face to this little area.

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Asia, China, Hangzhou, Travel

Hangzhou: Lingyin Temple & Longjingcun

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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.

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Asia, China, Hangzhou, Travel

Hangzhou: West Lake

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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.

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