iPlay @ Shangrila, Yunnan - Part 1

Shangrila, formerly known as Zhongdian. It has renamed to Shangrila City in 2001 in order to attract more tourists

The author of novel Lost Horizon describes Shangrila as a mystical, harmonious valley. The statement is so true to me because the city is consists of continuous snowy mountains, endless grasslands and azure lakes.

We went to Shangrila with a travel agent from Li Jiang – Aladin(www.ly234.com). The travel packages that offered by this travel agency were on the high side but hey this agency was strongly recommended with reliable reputation. Please be aware, there were a lot of local tour came with cheaper price, but the hidden cost almost endless. You can customize the itinerary or go with the standard itinerary that provided by the travel agency. We have designed the itenerary our own and sent it to them.

It took around 4 hours to reach the Shangri-La from Li Jiang. Our initial plan is to visit largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan which is Song Zan Lin monastery. But the tour guide from Aladdin advised us to visit to Dong Zhu Lin Si which also another Tibetan Buddhist temple. Because Song Zan Lin has been commercializing due to tourism and overcrowded too. The entrance fee for Dong Zhu Lin Si was much cheaper than Song Zan Lin!

Dong Zhu Lin Si as beautiful as Song Zan Lin. It was a serene and holy place. It has many beautiful intricate paintings inside and houses several precious status. There were monks chanting in the main hall.

The main hall of Dong Zhu Lin Si

Guardian lion statue

Inside the Monastery

After visiting the temple, we went to Feilaishi. It tooks about 30 mins from Deqin, a town in Shangri-la. Our tour guide shared the living cultural and historical of Shangri-la with us along the road. I found that the mythology of Kawagabo peak- highest mountain in Chinese province of Yunnan was very intersting. Kawa gebo means “God of Snow Mountain” in Tibetan. Many mountaineering team tried to conquer, but they all failed. No one ever made to the peak of the mountain. 

The first bend of the Jin Sha river

Prayers flag at here reminded me of the Nepal trip

Aladin travel agent arranged a cozy guesthouse for us. The view from the room's window was stunning! The guesthouse just sits opposite of Kawagebo peak. We took a good rest and get ready to Ming Yong glacier the next day. 

I loved sitting by the window to enjoy splendid view of the mountain

You can either walk up or hire the ponies to Ming Yong Glacier. It took about 4 hours to get nearer to Ming Yong Glacier. Trekking at high altitude was exhausted but we choosed to walk as I wonder will it be uncomfortable to ride on a pony for 4 hours?? We started our journey to Ming Yong Glacier early in the morning before the weather become hot.

Heading to Ming Yong glacier

We have prepared some snacks, energy bars and drinks too. You can get the compressed biscuit from mart too.

Passed by Tai Tze temple

Kawagebo peak with Ming Yong glacier

For those with good stamina can continue further up to the Lianhua temple. We were almost K.O so uable to make it to the temple. 

On a side note, I felt sad to know that Mingyong Glacier has been receding due to global warming.

After a tiring and fun filled day, we headed back to the guesthouse to enjoy the local food and free time with travel mates. 

Kawagebo accompanied by bright little stars

iEat @ Baked Salmon Fillets

This is a quick and healthy recipe for dinner. The dinner can be ready in 30 minutes time :D

Direction
1. In a small bowl, prepare the mixture by mixing minced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, dijon mustard and lemon juice.

2. Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius.
3. Brush the baking pan with a bit of olive oil and lay the salmon fillets on to of it.
4. Spread the mixture over the salmon fillets.
5. Bake the salmon for 12-15 minutes. The baking time depends on the thickness of the salmon fillets.

Now, enjoy the salmon with roasted/steamed vegetables.

iPlay @ Macau

I'm going to blog about Macau today. Macau is an ideal location if you are looking for a short break. We spent 3 days 2 nights in Macau.

Macau is a peninsula of mainland China; It is just across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. Most of the traveller will go to Macau as well when they visiting Hong Kong. The ferry services are provided between Hong Kong and Macau that take approximately 1 hour.

Some of you might be confuse on Taipa while doing research. Taipa is actually a new town of Macau and connected to Macau by bridge. We can just cross over it by bus or cab. Attraction which located at Taipa such as Kun Iam Temple and Venetian Macau Resort Hotel.

One of my favorite thing in this city is the free shuttle buses! These shuttle buses are actually provided by casino around the island. So, get a map when you touch down to Macau and get familiar with some of the Casino name near by your accommodation in order to get a free ride. Beside, most of the  attraction such as Ruins of St. Paul's, Macau Museum, Mount Fortress and etc were just walking distance from Macau city center. Therefore, we only spent a little on transportation throughout the trip.

Wave-patterned mosaic of coloured stones at Senado Square.

Senado Square is located at city center of Macau peninsula. This place was crowded and happening. It has post office, shopping center, restaurant and souvenirs shop around the square. We spent half day here before we heading to Ruins of St. Paul's.

Don't forget to stop by Koi Kei - one of the famous bakery in Macau. The almond biscuits from this bakery taste so good and fresh. If you feel like missing those cookies after leaving the outlet, don't worry! You may find countless of outlets in Macau.

Ruins of St. Paul's – Macau's most famous landmark.

Reflection on mirror. Look like a picture hanging on the wall.

Macau is one of the most densely populated region in the world. Picture says everything.

Macau has become known worldwide as the Monte Carlo of the Orient. I can see casinos everywhere at the moment we stepped in Macau. It is not a surprise to know that gambling tourism is Macau's biggest source of revenue.

Casino - somewhere near hotel that I'm staying

Macau shows no signs of resting, with lighting from casino.

Luxurious building - Grand Lisboa.

Margaret Portuguese egg tart was my second favorite in Macau other than free shuttle buses!! Margaret's Café e Nata located at a hidden ally and it's not easy to find it. It's just somewhere behind the Grand Lisboa. Please spend some time to find it by asking local resident or Google Map. You will find this is totally worth at your first bite on the tart. Trust me!

We have our breakfast here.

Opps. I’m drooling.

Narrow lanes that crowded with shops.

Almost end of the trip, we are resting by the seaside to enjoy the view. Uuuh...my legs were so tired!

Macau-Taipa bridge. 

iEat @ Apple Pancakes

It is Saturday. It is time for Saturday brunch! I decided to make fluffy pancake for today's brunch. I have some apples sitting at the counter top so I made apple topping for my pancakes. 



Yum~yum~ 

Here is the recipe:

Pancakes

- 3/4 cup soy milk

- 11/2 tablespoons vinegar

- 1 cup flour

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 egg

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Apples topping

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 2 greens apple, diced

- 2 tablespoons brown sugar

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 2 tablespoon maple syrup

Direction

1. Pour the milk and vinegar into a large bowl. Let the milk rest and curd for 5 minutes

2. Whisk egg and oil into the milk.

3. Fold in flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt into the wet ingredient and stir until it combined. (do not over-mix, it should still have some lumps)

4. Heat the skillet. Lightly grease it with a small portion of cooking oil. Pour 2 tablespoons batter onto the skillet. Cook over low to medium heat until bubbles form, then turn over to the other side and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, add butter, apples, brown sugar and cinnamon to a sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until apples are tenders. Stir in maple syrup.

Arrange the pancakes on a plate and put the apples on top to serve. You will love this pancake!

Happy cooking

iPlay @ Lugu Lake, Yunnan, China

I'm so excited to share with my reader about this spectacular place. This is one of the most peaceful and relax lake that I've ever been to.

Some of travelers at LiJiang might have no interest to go to the Lugu Lake (aka Womens Kingdom) as the lake is quite far from LiJiang. It took about 9 hours to travel with the car or bus along the hilly and bumpy road. The road condition could be quite bad sometime. The landslide or heavy snow might occur on this road. Anyway, no pain no gain! We reached Lugu Lake finally!

The entrance fee for Lugu Lake is RMB100 for adult. Dear student, please bring along your student card to entitle the 50% discount. After passing by the toll, we can see the lake is surrounded by mountains and island. We felt like we are entering into a Jurassic world. My travel mates just went 'crazy' and start making noise with "WOW, wow, wow!!"

Picture says everything. Hope you enjoy these!

Wow!  Perfect reflection in the calm water. 

Flowers that floated on the lake looks like countless pearls.

Duckling in Lugu Lake are seem happier than others

Thanks to the blue sky with white cloud.

I slower down my walking pace to enjoy every little thing at here.

草海-Sea of grass

A new day has come. Time for work. 

The fisherman.

Like a mystery castle. 

Lugu Lake is an interesting place with a unique culture. I have learned a lot about the traditions and cultures of Lugu Lake from the local residents, friendly hostel staff, and internet as well. The lake's shores are inhabited by many minority ethnic groups, such as the Mosuo, Norzu, Yi, Pumi and Tibetan. The most numerous of these are the Mosuo people.  Mosuo women have taken on leader ship in their society for the past two thousand years. Thus, we call lugu lake as women kingdom too.

"Hello, is me again!" By the way, her name is Mui Mui.

Milky way. 

No skyscraper but the sky that full with stars. 

It is just nice to spend 3 days 2 night at here. There are a few things that you can do at Lugu Lake.
1. Rent a bike - you might require a very strong stamina.
2. Rent a motorbike - This sound fun to me but you have know how to ride it.
3. Rent a car or van.
we have 6 person here, so we decided to take option 3. It cost around RMB300 to rent a van.

I snapped this photo from the bus stop. Splendid scenery is everywhere.

Based on my research, there is a new route to shorten the distance to travel from Lijiang to Lugu lake to 5 hours.Also, a new airport that nearer to Lugu lake is expected to be opened in Oct 2015. Please visit here before it get commercialized.
Bye beautiful Lugu Lake, your beautiful will always in my memory.

iPlay @ Tanjung Aru, Sabah

Yeah! It's time to take a break with my beloved family member. It been a while since our last staycation at Langkawi Island. This time, my family and I decided to spend three days two night at Tanjuang Aru, Sabah.

We are not here for thrilling or adventure activities (i.e. hiking, water rafting, jungle trekking) the most of the visitors usually do in Kota Kinabalu. We wanted a relax staycation which is suitable for my parents. After searching around the accomodation in Kota Kinabalu, we found that Shangri-la, Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa is a perfect choice for us. The journey from Kota Kinabalu airport to the hotel is about 15 minutes. 

The view from hotel room balcony.

Thanks for the windy sunshine day.

My parents mesmerized by the view and sea breeze.

Watching sunset is a "must do" activity for us!

We headed down to the beach to get a good spot for watching the sunset. Relaxing at the beach chair while waiting for the sunset. 

Somewhere, over the rainbow

Nice place to watch sun goes down. 

My favourite colour - Sunset. 

We are happy to stay at this hotel. We were surrounded by charming scenery - green garden and sea. We had good foods too. My family and i definitely missing this place. We probably will check out Shangri-la's Rasa Ria Resort & Spa which is approximately 45 minutes away from the airport. 

iEat @ Chwee Kueh, Singapore

Chwee Kueh is one of Singapore's famous local dishes. It is a type of steamed rice cake that is served with preserved radish. You can get this dish at most of the hawker centers in Singapore.

I went to the Chwee Kueh stall at Bedok food court. The food court is only three minutes walk from the Bedok MRT station.

I am not a big fan of Chwee Kueh but I have to say; I really like the Chwee Kueh here. The cake is topped with a generous amount of preserved radish. It has a very nice fragrance and slightly sweet taste. I wonder if pork lard has been used to fry the radish because it goes so well with the cake. The cake was smooth and soft. It is a bit greasy but I, simply, love it.

You should give it a try if you happen to be in Singapore!