Posts

Frolicking around Phi Phi: Mother-Daughter Adventures

Image
This February, Mama and I ventured out to Krabi to make up for a very hectic Q4 of 2024. On our last day, we joined a group tour to explore the Phi Phi Islands. These tours are not for the faint of heart! They are designed for adept swimmers and climbers, adaptable to being packed like sardines in a wet-hot boat. Our first stop was Loh Dalum Bay , where snorkelers could see fish right up close to the edge of the teal-clear water. After an hour of swimming and getting soaked by the sun, it was off to Monkey Bay for a peek at some simians from the boat!  Next, our boat took us to past Viking Cav e, where those of us addicted to seawater could dive in for a swim. After this, a crowded, bobbing dock and hundreds of tourists were all that was in the way between us and Maya Bay . This beauty is a sight for sore eyes! A coral conservation site, Maya Bay gained international fame after it was featured in the 2000 movie “The Beach,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. We snuck in a photoshoot amon...
Post a Comment
Read more

Traipsing About Taipei: Sister Edition

Image
This fall, Priya and I took our first ever sister duo trip to a new city together! She's had her heart set on Taipei ever since hearing about Taiwan from Mr. Chang in high school (and figuring out it's the shortest and most reasonable flight from Hong Kong). ]We landed at Taoyuan International Airport and took the MRT to Taipei Main Station -- the signs were easy to navigate as pedestrian traffic flowed smoothly, and Priya navigated us onto the express (not commuter) line into the city. We grabbed a 4pm lunch at the food court in the basement of Taipei 101 before settling in for a few meetings. After delicious pho and a few hours of work, we were keen to explore Taipei by night! We headed to the iconic Raohe Street Night Market , framed on one side by the visually stunning  Songshan Ciyou Temple .  For the next few hours, we delighted in deep fried sweet potato balls (like little donettes made with sweet potato), delicious steamed dumplings, barbecue roasted corn, and Japanese...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Day in Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai

Image
Today, we took a road trip from old town Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon National Park and the Mae Klang Luang Village , about a 1.5-hour drive. Our first stop was the imposing Wachirathan Falls , whose source is the Mae Klang River. From there, we drove by car to the Ang Ka Nature Trail , a short and flat boardwalk stroll through cloud forest, that takes you to the summit of Doi Inthanon, at 2,565 meters high.  The trail featured a tangle of sphagnum moss, mushroom varieties, and rhododendron plants (which flower starting November.) It was my first time seeing a verdant wetland at such high elevation! Next, we visited Chiang Mai’s famous pagoda at Nabhapolbumisiri. The complex features twin pagodas, dedicated respectively to King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit. This signature Chiang Mai view is stunning, and equally stunning was the fog that befell us while we shivered through the visit on this particular day. At lunch, an inviting green curry and tom yum soup at a local homestay thawed...
Post a Comment
Read more

3 Days in Hội An

Image
Hội An is an extremely charming town, preserved throughout as it looked in the 18th century, with the Thu Bon River winding through it, a river system used in the 10th century to trade with the Vietnamese highlands, Laos, and Thailand. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in the 18th century, Hội An was considered by Chinese and Japanese merchants to be the best destination for trading in all of Southeast Asia. Its importance as a port declined with the end of Nguyễn rule at the end of the 18th century, due to a turning away from foreign trade and silting of the river upstream. As its use for trade reduced, so did its contact with the rest of Vietnam. The 1990s saw efforts to revive and preserve the city by a Polish architect and conservator , responsible in part for the Hội An we were able to see this weekend. The beauty of the town lies in walking around and letting it saturate you, the bright mustard walls of each building adding a uniformity of joy to each of Hội A...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Half-Day Adventure in Macau

Image
At 12:30 today, we boarded for Macau at the the TurboJet pier at Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan. Upon arriving in this charming special administrative region, we fumbled with a few casino buses before taking a cab to Senado Square , a paved town square that was a meeting place for the Portuguese and Chinese in the 16th century, and comprises part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. The brilliantly colored St. Dominic's church lies at its north side, while the main road is to the south. Mama and I only had about 4 hours in town until our 7:00pm ferry, so we used this super handy article to prioritize our sightseeing. We walked about 5 minutes north to the Paço Episcopal da Diocese de Macau , situated in a very pleasant square next to the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady. Next, I was too keen to see the mint green Dom Pedro V Theatre, the inside of which we perused as I perched on an ancient chair and re-juiced my phone battery. Around the back of the theater lies St. Augustin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sunset Peak Hike (Lantau Island)

Image
This is the story of how Udai and I accidentally ended up scaling Sunset Peak in Lantau Island, ranked one of the top three hardest hikes in Hong Kong.  With an inflated feeling of accomplishment after last week's hike , I was all too willing to believe my husband when he said "I remember Sunset Peak being even easier than MacLehose Section 2..." (If you intend to use your quad muscles again after this trek, I strongly suggest considering MacLehose over this peak.) But I took him at his word and we arrived at the Tung Chung MTR Station Sunday morning, which we quickly realized is ludicrously busy because it connects to the Big Buddha. After spending 2 hours in the process of discovering that cab drivers waved us away rather than go to Pak Kung Au (the starting point for our hike), we almost turned back to go home when we saw the lines for the buses that go there. But we figured out that since bus 11A doesn't go to the Big Buddha, it's the most efficient route to...
Post a Comment
Read more

MacLehose Trail Section 2 (Sai Kung)

Image
We set off for Sai Kung this Sunday to check out Section 2 of the formidable MacLehose Trail , a 100-km network of stunning scenery. We chose our section because it's a 13-kilometer stretch that is relatively flat (though there are two major uphill sections that last 10-15 minutes). This was our route: From Sai Kung, we got dropped off at Sai Wan Pavilion , a good landmark to use for the start of Section 2! Although there's no signage for a good 20 minutes after this point, if you can follow other hikers or use GMaps to get started, you're soon rewarded with this view. About 15 minutes later, you'll come upon a map of the whole MacLehose Trail that'll give you a good idea of where to go! The first major built landmark we came across was Sai Wan Village, which has a tourist information center, a couple of spots where you can grab a Pocari or something to eat, and a public toilet. Beyond the small booths was Sai Wan Beach, sprawling and scenic though slightly better s...
Post a Comment
Read more