Asia

A Sunday stroll around Bangsar Village

I woke up early this Sunday morning and opened the curtains just to find out it was raining so my plan to head over for Breakfast at Bangsar Village seamed like a bad option. So I quickly came up with a plan B, to hope for the rain to stop and find my way over to the Village for a nice lunch instead.

I visited the Bangsar Village a few weeks ago with a friend for dinner and was told it is a great place to hang out during the day as it has a wide selection of cafe’s, Restaurants and shops.

As soon as the rain stopped i booked a grab taxi, took my camera and I was lucky that the traffic was not to heavy, so it did not take me to long to get there.

The area has a wide selection of restaurants serving everything from Local food, Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Western cuisine.

I checked out the lunch menu at the Ril’s Bangsar restaurant and ended up ordering a fantastic tasting Beef. The place have a nice atmosphere, great service and amazing tasting food, so well worth a visit.

The Pasar Malam Bangsar market is located just next to the village mosque.

You will find a mix of stalls with option to buy fruit and vegetables, taste the local cooked food or shop for cloths and other items. For sure an interesting place for a stroll and people watching.

I spent some time at the market, before I found my way over to the shopping center.

As everywhere else in Kuala Lumpur you have to watch out for the motorbikes and cars as they are driving everywhere.

At the shopping you will find a wide selection of shops to choose from including the high class brands. So for the once loving shopping it would be easy to spend some hours checking out the stores. As I had spent a few hours walking around outside the shopping centers I decided that the only shopping I would to this Sunday, other than buying a some fruit at the market, would be to buy a few items at the grocery store to take back to my hotel. So exploring the shopping centers will have to be for next time.

Bangsar Village is located within one of Kuala Lumpur’s most affluent neighbourhoods and is Easily accessible via the Bangsar LRT station, Rapid KL’s Kelana Jaya Line has a stopover along Jalan Bangsar. Jalan Telawi – Bangsar Village I & II’s address – is a five-minute cab ride away. Alternatively, you can hop on the Rapid KL bus U87 (which also goes past Mid Valley Megamall) to get to Bangsar Baru and then walk to the retail emporium.

A stroll around the Jagalchi Fish Market

I was strolling the streets early on a Sunday morning on my way to Jagalchi fish market. It was December and the street was still very quiet and only a few stalls was open at this time. Others were getting ready to open and preparing for the day.

Some cleaning in front of the store and some laying out the fish ready to be sold. The closer i got to the fish market the more busy it was. I passed the stalls and headed in to the indoor wet fish market.

I walked inside the building but as it was still quiet i decided to head over to the outdoor wet market that is located just next to the indoor market.

Fish was unloaded from small and large fishing boats and the outdoor market got busy.

Passing this i was thinking why not try out the waffles like thing looking like fish? Well i decided to miss it this time and headed in the direction of the harbor as i could see lots of fishing boats had anchored up and was unloading fish to be sold at the marked and transported off to other places in the country to be sold.

The harbor was busy and people was shouting at all corners to make sure the fish got to the right trucks or sold off to the local marked.

All was very well organized and boxes got stored in different location or transported direct on the trucks for transportation.

The Jagalchi fish market is the largest fish market in Korea and you will find fresh fish that can be purchased for a good price. With the location beside Nampo port the fish can be delivered quickly and kept fresh.

The market is famous as many elderly woman run the fish stands and have done so since the men were off fighting in the Korean War. Meals are served to locals and tourist alike in the small restaurants they have set up behind the stalls were they are selling the fish.

A lot of restaurants come here to buy fish from wholesalers.

At the time I left the market it was getting really busy.

If you visit Busan make sure you visit the Jagalchi market. Try out some of the food stalls or just stroll around. Either way it is worth the visit.

Maafushivaru

Arriving on Maafushivaru after a 25 min seaplane ride from Male we were dropped off in the middle of the sea on a pontoon. A Dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat) was ready to pick us up and at the Island we were surrounded by friendly staff handing out ice-cold face towels and a color-full refreshing Welcome drink.

Shoeless in the sand and with our snorkelling/diving equipment in our bags we were ready to celebrate Christmas.

Our new home was an overwater villa, modern and minimalistic, lots of natural light in the room with large windows overlooking the endless stretch of turquoise water.

A nice sundeck terrace, with stairs straight in to the water, large bathroom with a bathtub overlooking the balcony and the ocean and a shower was installed just in the entrance from the Balcony to the bathroom.

Maafushivaru means “The Flower Island” and on this small Island you will find 48 Villas, a wine cellar, a library / cafe, a restaurant Gallery Cuisine, a spa and yoga area, the Water bar, a big freshwater pool and a small stage for the different entertainment during the week. Furthermore there is the diving center, a small boutique, a water sports center, and the restaurant 135 Degrees East.

The Island also have a small sister-island, Lonubo, that is uninhabited and different trips can be arranged to the island.

Maafushivaru is located on the southern tip of the Ari atoll, so this makes it one of the best places to get the chance to swim with the whale shark. And as we wanted to see the life beyond the beach, we signed up for a few aquatic adventure. The Christmas snorkeling on Lonubo Island, Manta Ray snorkeling trip & not to be missed, Diving with the Whale shark.

We rented a Kayak and went paddling across the island’s lagoon, crossing over to the nearby Lonubo Island. It almost felt like being inside a picture perfect postcard of the Maldives.

We did not spend a long time at the Island before that relaxing feeling you get in the Maldives came sneaking up on us so before we knew, we were sitting at the Water bar sipping cocktails with same colors as the ocean admiring the amazing view.

The Island is surrounded by coral reef, that houses different fish, in all different color, small sharks and sea-turtles. Once you get in the water with your snorkel, there is a world beneath the surface inviting you to see thing from another perspective. We tried to get close up to the black tip sharks swimming in the lagoon, but they were too fast for us.

Snorkeling in the Maldives is a must try thing to do even if you have not done snorkeling before.

The underwater life is beyond amazing and what we saw during our snorkeling trips was all from Manta Ray, Sharks, Turtles, corals and fish in all kind of colors swimming around us. And not to forget the whale shark.

Early morning on the way to our dive site a school of dolphins decided to welcome us by swimming alongside the boat. At this time both my camera and my phone was downstairs and i had no time to get any of them to capture it on film, so I just enjoyed the view of watching them leaping up and down of the water. What i did get a photo of was the whale shark, but it was difficult to get a clear shot as we only saw it during snorkeling and not during diving. Same for the manta ray as it was difficult following them while snorkeling. You really need to swim fast to try to catch up with them.

One of the evening we got invited for a complementary dinner at The restaurant 135 degrees East. We were served a fantastic dinner with sushi and teppanyaki. The service was great and the location just amazing.

On reflection, the fluency of the Maldives is found not on the sun lounger but out at sea, surrounded by crystal blue water. We dived beneath the surface and the ocean and found a Maldives that is much more than just relaxing and eating and left with memories that will be cherished forever.

How to get there:

Direct flight from Singapore to Male with Singapore airlines.

As we arrived late we had to stay over at Male city so we booked one night at Somerset hotel. Hotel provided pick up service from/to Airport.

Check in for the seaplane is at the airport and transport is then provided to the seaplane terminal by bus.

What happens in Bangkok…

And the continuation could easy have been … stays in Bangkok! But our New Year’s eve did not get that crazy.

Bangkok is known to have some of the best night scenes in Asia. For anyone that like party, there is a lot to choose from of neon-lit clubs and bars with cheap alcohol.

This New Year eve we decided to stay at the same location as we would celebrate as from earlier experience trying to get taxi on New year eve can be quite tricky so we booked our stay at the Lebua with a room overlooking the river.

We touched down in Bangkok around lunch time, checked in to our hotel and started our celebration with lunch at the poolside restaurant and a few glasses of rose while waiting for our room to get ready.

As we had not made any dinner plans up front and most things were fully booked for New Years eve events, we ended up with a table at the Opus Wine bar for a 7 course dinner. Not what we had in mind but as options was limited for this evening we went for it and it ended up being a surprising evening with fantastic food and wine.

We welcomed 2016 reaching for the stars at the Dome sipping Champagne at Flute A Perrier-Jouët Champagne bar with an amazing view and fantastic atmosphere. Our new found friends at the bar invited us to tangle along for some drinks to check out Bangkok’s night life but we turned it down. Waking up next morning we were both happy we did.

Bangkok, also known as the Asian “City of Angles” is the perfect place to spend New year eve and some days after to laze around, indulge and get pampered. And this is just what we did.

Our remaining days was spent visiting the different temples and trying out some local Thai food.

We found our way to the Chao Phraya river, also named “the river of kings” by King Rama I, to check out Bangkok’s waterway. The Riverboats are a great way to get around to the different sites. After the New Year celebration it felt good with the nice breeze from the river.

We visited What Arun “Temple of Dawn”, named after Aruna, the Indian God of Dawn. Sitting majestically on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River, the legendary Wat Arun is one of the most striking riverside landmarks of Thailand.

Followed by a visit to Wat Pho “Temple of Reclining Buddha” that is just across the river so just a short ferry ride away.

Wat Pho’s top highlight is the genuinely impressive Reclining Buddha and it’s an amazing site. We had to queue up to enter in to the room where it is located and had to take off the shoes. They provide plastic bags for you to bring them along with you so when you get back out they will not be lost.

We spent some morning hours at the Chatuchak weekend market, that is Asia’s largest market with 27 sections and over 15.000 booths selling virtually everything. As we went early morning it was not to crowded but at the time we left it was quite packed.

We picked up a map at the entrance to make sure not to get lost.

As Bangkok get really hot on a sunny day a refreshing coconut ice cream would have been a good option to try, but as the queue was to long we ended up with some water instead.

We visited Chinatown for a stroll around and different from other places in Bangkok on this day when most stores were closed due to the holiday, Chinatown was quite busy.

The many gold shops along the street was packed with people and just off the small side roads in any directions we passed stores selling just about anything you would be looking for.

After a long day strolling the streets we visiting one of the many massage places in Bangkok for a well earned foot massage. To get around Bangkok we used Tuk-Tuk as long as the distance was not to far. It is a easy way to get around and your find them everywhere.

Food lovers as we are and having tried out some of the local food that we both love, we wanted to try out Bangkok’s international kitchen. Due to the holiday lots of places were closed, but at the end we managed to book a table at the Savelberg Restaurant. And it ended up being and amazing culinary experience.

Savelberg Bangkok is located at the Oriental Residence and is run by Henk Savelberg, a critically-acclaimed chef behind four different Michelin-starred restaurants in the Netherlands. As the main man himself is working the kitchen on a daily basis we had the pleasure of meeting him when he came over to our table to welcome us to the restaurant.

We headed up to the sky bar at the Dome to watch the sunset and to try out the smooth yet powerful Hangovertini before ending our evening checking out Bangkok’s famous night life. Bangkok becomes a different city at night so well worth to try it out.

The Hangovertini cocktail was created by Lebua’s mixologist for cast and crew of “The Hangover Part II,” which features a few key scenes shot at the hotel. The Cocktail is made with Chivas 18 years, Zen green tea liqueur, Martini Rosso, green apple juice & rosemary infused honey.

Our flight to Bangkok from Singapore was with Tiger Air.

Our hotel during our stay: Lebua at state tower

Bars with a view: Sky bar at Lebua

Places to eat: Savelberg, for a culinary experience (French), Blue Elephant (Thai), Opus Wine bar (Italian)

The White Beach

After an overnight flight from Singapore to Caticlan, we finally put our feet in the soft white sand that made this tropical Island paradise famous and on the top list of Island to visit.

Welcome to Boracay. A tiny Island among the 7000 that makes up the Philippines.

We checked in to Villa Caemilla, a beach front boutique hotel at station 3 and headed over to the Sunny side Café at station 2 to try out the breakfast. Egg Benedicts with Bacon, not the best choice from the menu, but at least it filled up an empty stomach.

White Beach is divided into three sections named after the former boat stations: Station 1 at the north end of the beach, Station 2 in the middle & Station 3 at the south end of the beach.

While we were Strolling the beach a “mermaid” appears in front of us, trying to find her way in too the sea.

This flashy Island is one of the best known holiday destinations in Asia. Having some of South East Asia’s best stretches of soft and powdery white sand.

White Beach is the main hub of the island, stretching along the west coast.

We walked along the sandy beach path running parallel to the shore. Being at Station 3 that is quiet and relaxed you will feel the difference as soon as you enter over to Station 2. It becomes busy and you stumble into people everywhere. Straight away you understand why it is known as the party place on the Island and it is where you find the majority of the restaurants, bars and clubs.

The area of station 2 get busy in the evening with restaurants preparing for the evenings buffet.

If you are concerned about Island fever there is no need to worry. Everywhere you turn there are someone trying to sell you boat trips. Everything from 3 hours sailing around the island to paragliding and snorkeling. And if you feel like exploring the life below the sea surface, diving is a big industry on the Island.

After a romantic tree-top dinner at the Shangri-la resort we had to find our way back to our hotel. It was a hot evening and being to tired to wait for the free shuttle but to take us back to D’mall, we ended up taking a tricycle. Shangri-la resort is located on a cliff top and heading down the hill our driver was on the breaks for most of the time to then again speed up as soon as we got close to another uphill part of the road. It’s amazing how they are able to maneuver these bikes around the curves and up and down the hills.

In the Philippines, there’s no limit to the number of passengers riding a tricycle. 2 adult can sit in the front, some more in the back and I think even another one can sit behind the driver. It’s a great way to get around the island.

Sunset from the beach is one of the things you don’t want to miss out on and a great way to capture it is with a walk on the beach, a sunset cruise on the sea or with a happy hour at the bar with some live music, sipping tropical fruit cocktails, watching the sun go down.

On the Island’s northwestern tip you find the Shangri-la Boracay Resort and Spa where you can watch the sunset from a day bed or from a comfortable chair on the beach with a mango cocktail in hand as we did. During the Happy Hour we tasted the different fruit cocktails on the menu, with the mango one being our favorite. And when the sun had set we found our way over to the bar.

D’mall is the shopping area on the Island with stores selling all type of equipment for Diving to flip flops and other things you might have forgotten to bring for you holiday on the beach.

You will find street sellers all along the beach area trying to sell you all kind of products and if you get thirsty, coconut sellers are everywhere.

We had some blissful days lazing on powder-fine white sand, punctured only by cooling dips in the neon blue water. Just the right recipe for holiday heaven.

How to get there:

Flight from Singapore with Cebu Pacific, via Manila or Cebu.

Our hotel in Boracay:

Villa Caemilla, a boutique hotel on the beach. It does not have swimming pool, but who needs that when you have the big blue ocean right in front of the hotel with water temperature around 29 deg C.

Great Places to eat:

Villa Caemilla

Christina’s Cafe

Rima Restaurant at Shangri la Resort

Cielo Beach bar for Happy hour at Shangri la Resort

	Catherine Adams on A City, a river, a kirkyard…
	Judy on Hiking Mt. Hallasan
	Marta Macias aragone… on Seokbulsa Temple
	Green Corridor (Rail… on The Green Corridor of Sin…
	Chiara on A Sunday stroll around Bangsar…

Where is my next adventure?

come and explore