Out of Norm Travels

Cruise along Ha Long Bay -  Vietnamese:  Vịnh Hạ Long , literally means 'Descending Dragon Bay' is  one of the UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site  in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam which is a  3 hour transfer from Hanoi to the Habour The official information from Wikipedia is that Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km 2 , including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone which has undergone 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The geo-diversity of the environment in the area has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea shore biosystem. There are many cruise operators that you can choose from as Ha long bay is one of the most popular tourist destinations when you come to Vietnam. Choosing Pelican Cruises over the rest is easy as it is one of the newest 4-star cruises (operations started in 2012) sailing in Ha Long Bay. I was really please...

Sapa , is a frontier town and capital of Sa Pa District in Lào Cai Province in northwest Vietnam . I had the privilege to spend 3 days 2 nights at this location which can be reached via Hanoi , the capital of Vietnam (where international flights connect into the country). I heard that there is a new highway that was recently built that links Hanoi to Sapa which takes a mere 5 hours (and at less expense). But for my trip, I took the longer route (and to me, more authentic way of travelling within Southeast Asia i.e. by train) which required 8 hours train travel from Hanoi to Lao Cai. For the way down to Sapa, I took the Livitrain Express Train that departed from Hanoi at around 9p.m. before reaching Lao Cai at 5.30a.m. For the train ride back from Lao Cai to Hanoi, I took a different train service which is the Sapaly Express Train that departed at 8p.m. and reached Hanoi around 4a.m. I will highly recommend the Sapaly Express Train as it wins hands down even though it’s sl...

I had a beautiful evening joining fellow foodies (and alcoholics) on the O'ngo Night Dining Tour organised by O'ngo Food Communications . My guide Amy was new but peppered her tour guiding with little walks around town area and showing us snippets of Korean life such as where to get the dog meat (if you are into such things), customary way of drinking different types of Korean wine (rice wine, filtered rice wine, plum wine and beer with coke and shoju).  We started the evening binge with traditional Korean BBQ with pork pancreas along the back alley of Seoul. That got my attention as i usually eat that with beef or normal parts of the pork. Worth a try and a super Sumptuous start to the tour nevertheless since Amy paired the BBQ meal with beer with coke and shoju which we had to down in 1 gulp. My Hong Kong companion commented that it reminded her of the old 'Tai Pai Dong' or street food stalls in old Hong Kong. Indeed she was spot on for that.  ...

My quick snap reviews of the things done in my short visit to Seoul - this is part 1 which will cover:  (1) Seoul Airport Transit Tour - 5 hour Seoul Culture Tour This is a literally a hop-skip-jump type of tour in a bus - after you make your way to the transit tour desk, you are gathered to travel to Dongdaemun Design Plaza to get your record shots before heading to Gyeongbokgung ( 경복궁 ), also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace , is a royal palace located in Seoul. The name means "Palace" [ Gung ] "Greatly Blessed by Heaven" [ Gyeongbok ]- h ere's some record shots of this transit tour: Dongdaemun Design Plaza Pano of Gyeongbokgung Palace Gyeongbokgung Palace (2) Hanok Stay at WWOOF Guesthouse  A hanok stay came highly recommended by friends familiar with Korea so I took the plunge to get into WWOOF , a Hanok traditional Korean house stay for the 3 nights I was in Seoul. Mind you, it's an e...

1. Go during summer season (ends around Sep) if you are unused to the cold like me   2.    Clothing/ Winterwear:  ·        Buy cold winterwear when you reach cos (1) you never know what you lack until you arrive (2) winter wear is generally cheaper than back in the tropics - wind proof, GoreTex, ski pants, sweat proof, jackets with side zips to release too much heat are good, and for longer jackets, get those with double zips so that you can unzip bottom up if you need to have a waist pouch or sit down.  ·        Pack 1 set of overcoat, fleece, 2 pairs of good inner wear (Woolite or wool preferably not white cos of color transfer), turtle necks or pashmina silk scarves to protect your neck/chest area for maximum warmth. If you do come often, a down jacket is great for chic looking warm clothing.  ·        For head, must haves include buff or beanie...

Started on this entry whilst traveling on the Alaska Airlines plane flying away from Fairbanks on my return leg after spending 5 nights at Bettles Lodge , near the Arctic Circle .  Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that I will be adding Arctic Circle to my "have been" places! To think photography was the reason for me spending several nights out in the bitter cold with temperatures that felt like -14 degrees at times. Bettles coldest is -60 I think - there is a sign somewhere. Having my fingers and toes frozen stiff from braving the bitter howling winds and low temperature (alien to someone who lives in the tropics) in the hope of catch lights in my cameras.  It certainly has been a truly amazing and wonderful experience to have bundled myself to shoot the auroras. The trip has been nothing short of spectacular with sighting of the auroras  4 out of the 5 nights spent at the Bettles Lodge, which sits just next to the airfield.  After ...

I was reminded of my long outstanding India blog entry when I was recently faced with the question of "What would be the personality of India through my lens?" That got me thinking....  Out of the thousands of photos taken during that trip, I vividly recalled the spectacular colors of Rajasthan as I traversed her lands from Jaipur  (Pink City of India) ,  Junagarh Fort at Jaisalmer  (built with distinctive Yellowstone of that area),  Jodhpur (The Blue City) with its  impressive Mehrangarh fort,  and its special places like Karni Mata temple (aka Rat Temple where I had my personal up and  close encounter with the small creatures),  Jaisalmer Fort (with its  intricate hand-carved sand stone latticed balconies and archways)  and last but not least, the  Pushkar Camel Fair (one of India’s unique spectacle that  attracts some 300,000 people and up to 20,000 camels, cattle and horses) .  I also had my first taste...