Blogs from Asia - page 12988

Finally woke up at 10am and then took the laundry down the road to a guesthouse that does a laundry service. Returned back to the hotel and saw Brendan who said they are going to Penang hill at about 12 noon, he said they got in about 4 this morning. Went with the rest of the group to Penang Hill which involved us getting a bus then the funicular train to the top, unfortunately it was cloudy so the view was not that great. We returned to the hotel by taxi.... read more

Dedicated to Jaspreet Laly - RIP!! Mamallapuram is 60 km south of Chennai, and offers tourist attractions with exotic beaches, as well as the famous historic temples. Navtej's increasing knowledge of Chennai ensures that no attractions will be missed out. The journey on East Coast Road had an aire of tranquility personified throughout. The Bay of Bengal was on our left, thus providing exceptional sights, also the road itself had a gracious presence in this peaceful setting. The journey lasted for 1 hour by car with the fitting music of Moby in the background. Upon arrival, the Pharangees were at large. This location boasts wonderful stone carvings embellished on the granite temples, making this a guaranteed haven for tourists. The Shore Temple is the most impressive artefact and has stood for almost 1400 years. We had ... read more

A taste of Alsace in Hanoi Ha, not the tour leader, but our friend in Hanoi (like we said it is a popular name) had recently been to Paris. While there she had dropped in on my “petit cousin”, Jean who gave her a bottle of his Cremant d’Alsace for us to share. It was one of the last bottles of the vintage we had worked on together when last in France. his was a really special gift, which we decided to drink, together with Ha’s mother, father and brother at their house in Hanoi. It was great to meet them for the first time and discuss various snippets of their family history. Ha’s father is a very interesting man, having been a doctor in the North Vietnamese Army, then having worked in countries such as ... read more

Early start, got the Mrt to City Hall and went on the Manna for a city tour boat (bum boat cruise) along the Singapore River - the colonial core. We saw the strange Merlion statue, half lion and half mermaid. We passed the business district (all modern glass buildings constructed in a curved shape to signify wealth), a long row of colourful stylish cafes and the Raffles monument. Unable to afford any of the expensive cafes in this area, we next headed towards China Town. We decided to do a walking tour, along the narrow streets. There were tonnes of souvenir market stalls, crafts, very colourful and vibrant. We visited the China Town Heritage Centre, depicting the early Chinese settlers. It was very informative with a layout of a shophouse in the past - such harsh ... read more

Following yesterday’s aborted attempt, this morning we arrived at the Petronas Towers earlier and joined the already quite long queue for tickets. The twin Petronas Towers (named after the Malaysian state oil firm that completely occupies one of the towers) are joined at their 41st floors by a 2-storey ‘Skybridge’ which featured in the Catherine Zeta-Jones film ‘Entrapment’, and free tickets are available every day for 7 minutes (yes, really) on the Skybridge. The whole trip takes an hour or so, plus queuing time. For anyone who likes skyscrapers it’s a definite ‘must see’, but in about 18 months time there will only be a single ‘must see’ structure and that will be the new Burj Tower in Dubai. At the moment there is no universal agreement on the world’s tallest building. To try and clarify ... read more