What?!

Diarrhea and still able to swim.. These persons must be good. =)

Spotted at the Ritz Carlton, Marina Del Rey.

Till my next blogpost, stay healthy! =)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today's a real special day! It is the Western and Chinese Valentine's Day! Chinese Valentine's Day falls on the 15th day of Chinese New Year which is today!

Many years ago, today, when I was based in Malaysia for work, some single girlfriends and I threw oranges into the river on in the hope of finding our life partner. I found my life partner (now the love of my life, my best friend and father of my son) a couple of years later. =)

When you have found that someone special, embrace his every cell, don't try to change any part of him and build a beautiful life with him!

Till my next blog post, tell someone 'I love u'! =)

Happy Year of the Wood Horse

It's the fourth day of the Chinese New Year today and hope it is not too late to wish all 'A HEALTHY AND PROPEROUS YEAR OF THE HORSE'!

Till my next blog post, everybody lo-hei! =)

Switzerland Hotels

Hotel accommodation is very important to me when I go on my holidays. For business trips, I can still tolerate mediocre hotels but not for my own personal holidays. I like to know that I am going back to rest and relax in a nice hotel room after a day or sightseeing/hiking/shopping/eating. I do not need the hotel to be luxurious or 5/6-star rated but at least it should be modern, clean, comfortable and located in a safe area.

I do my research and ask around for recommendations when booking hotels. Most of the time, I am happy with my choices but once in a while, I do have to live with disappointment. =)

Some friends have been asking me about my accommodations while in Switzerland earlier this year, so I have summarized it here. Hopefully, it can be of use to you as well.

FYI: You can find my trip itinerary here and the map below.

2 Nights in Zurich:

We stayed at the Walhalla Hotel which is very close to the Zurich HB. My sister and her family have stayed here before and she recommended it to me. We had room 501 which, I think, is one of the very few rooms that can take 3 and more people. The room faces the evening sun and days are long during summer, so we found the room to be too warm for us. We asked for an extra fan to cool down the room. I booked the hotel directly with the hotel's website and it is CHF261 per night for a triple economy room with breakfast. Being an Asian, I am used to having a minibar and fridge in the room but this hotel does not have both. So, if you are looking for a cold beer at night, do buy some from the convenience store on your way back to the hotel or go to the pubs nearby.

2 nights in Interlaken Ost (East):
We stayed at a tiny hotel called Alphorn Hotel. The rooms are also tiny and the extra bed that they  have put in for my 11-year-old son looks like it is more suitable for toddlers. Nonetheless, my son said the bed is actually quite 'comfy'. Location-wise, the hotel is a bit farther away from the main tourist areas but it is within walking distance from the Interlaken Ost station. The plus point about this is the hotel is very quiet with no traffic sound at night. The lady who runs the place is quite fierce but efficient (very Swiss). The room is CHF180 per night.

Love the way they arranged the pillows .. shaped like the Swiss Alps!

3 nights in Zermatt:
We stayed at the Dufour Hotel. This is my favorite hotel for this trip. The hotel has no lift but the strong lady owner helped us carried our luggage up to the room! Good-sized room with a balcony which opens up to a majestic view of the Matterhorn. The service and breakfast were excellent. I will definitely recommend the hotel to friends and return to stay if I visit Zermatt again. The room is CHF228 per night.

Love this hotel!!

My breakfast at Hotel Dufour.

3 nights in Bern:
We stayed at the Best Western HotelBern. There are a few Best Westerns in Bern and I think I chose this one because of its price and close proximity to the train station. This is my least favorite hotel for this trip. It has no character and is typical of a chain hotel. I think it caters to tour groups as well which is something that I don't like. The only good thing about this hotel that I can remember is the room that was allocated to the 3 of us was a larger room with an extra area for round table that made it feel less like a chain hotel room. It is CHF212.50 per night per room with no breakfast.

All the hotels came with free WIFI, breakfast (except for Best Western) and an extra bed for my son. All are booked directly with the hotels' website.

Hotels in Switzerland are so expensive, so it is important to do ample research beforehand. Hope the above helps.

Till my next blog post, happy holidays! =)

Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan

My son went on his school residential trip last month for a week and since I have no mummy duties and I desperately need to take some time off my work, I rewarded myself with a girlfriend trip to South Korea. My best girlfriend is awesome and a great travel partner.

We spent 3 nights in Busan and 3 nights in Seoul. While in Busan, we:

• Appreciated a lot of great wall art at the Gamcheon Culture Village
• Had very fresh seafood at the Jagalchi Seafood Market
• Though it is freezing, we hung out at the Haeundae and Gwangalli Beaches for dinner
• Got lost doing some hiking at the Beomeosa Temple
• Had my birthday breakfast at the Bujeon Market

I will share more of what we did in Busan later but here is what I remembered and thought of the Gamcheon Culture Village.

Near the coffeeshop where we had our hot chocolate, there is this shop selling my favorite wafer fish with red bean. We went into the the shop asking for 2 wafer fish. We signaled to the owner with 2 fingers and he gave us 2 packs. In each pack, there were 3 pieces of the wafer fish and each pack was only about Won1,000 or Won2,000 (I can't remember exactly how much)! Imagine my surprise! The wafer fish were crispy, warm and delicious!

The Little Prince is French but the Koreans are crazy over him.
But who isn't, right? =)

What I love most about this place is there is no fixed route to follow and you will never know what is  waiting in the next corner. You just have to move ahead all the time. We did some u-turns but hey! that's life, right?

Till my next blog post, explore your journey! =)