Europe

Nov 2010: We spent our 2nd Anniversary touring around Europe. We went around London, Paris and Rome. Since it was the beginning of winter, we got the chance to catch some snow here and there. LONDON First stop was London. We travelled around by tube and walking… its the easiest way to travel here. You just pay nearly 7 £ and can get up in ANY tube to ANYWHERE around London. Their system is so efficient that there’s a train every minute!
		Hyde Park Nothing much, just walked around. Locals go about their daily routine, jogging , cycling, some on the way to work. Lots of statues/monuments/memorial if you like taking pictures of them. We saw the Buckingham palace horses on the way to the palace and we followed them.
Buckingham Palace I did not get to see anything!. There were just too many people and it seems its packed like this every day. The man and the horses are beautiful (especially the red ones), but if you want to see the change of guards, you can watch it on Youtube. You cant really see anything here, because you have to stand outside of the palace with thousands of other people holding their camera high up to get some picture. Not interesting. The wind was so cold, we were freezing standing there for so long. Then we walked to a nearby restaurant to have lunch. Then proceeded to Madam Tussaud’s The ticket queue was very long, so we decided to give it a pass. Maybe next time. Then we took the tube to St Paul’s Cathedral.
		St Paul’s Cathedral This is a beautiful cathedral, but you cannot take pictures. You are given Iphones where you can listen to its history while u walk inside the cathedral. The tickets were about 12 £ per person. It was worth it, but a bit disappointing when you cant take pictures.
Wembley   We managed to meet my hometown friend and her husband in London. They drove us around town. It was Christmas season so, at night the place was beautifully lit. The jam was terrible. We had dinner at one of the many “Little India”s. We went to the one in Wembley. Managed to take a pic outside Wembley Stadium. Thanks to Vino and Siva. :))
		PARIS We took Eurostar from London to Paris. It was 3 hours journey and the ticket price was about 39£ (booked earlier). I think on the day ticket would cost around 140£. The train can travel up to 186 mph. very fast. It cuts through the English Channel, so basically we sort of travelled underwater. At the border, on both sides (England and Paris), it snowed heavily and the ground was fully covered in thick snow. We thought were we going to have tough time in Paris, but as we approached the city, it was clear. No snow, but much colder than England; it was about ­3°.
Notre Dame In Paris, we also travelled by tube and bus. Here it is a little tricky due to the language, but still we manage to find our way around. First day we just walked around. We crossed the river Seine and the walk along the bridge to the other side of Paris is the best way to be in the city. Once across there are may shops selling souvenirs at reasonable prices. Most of the interesting places are just walking distance. We passed by the LouvreMuseum but did not go in as we need more time. We planned to go there the next day. We walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral. This is also a beautiful Cathedral. It is free of charge and you can take pictures. Outside of the cathedral also there are so many small shops selling souvenirs.
		Food in Paris …..is to die for. Everything that we ate or drank was tasty in Paris. The Pizza, pasta, coffee, hot chocolate; all were excellent. Even if it is a small stall , an expensive joint or at the hotel, food is really yummy.We were both quite amazed at how the milk served every morning was very tasty.
Louvre Museum Early morning, we took the Open Tour bus to this museum. I never thought going into a museum filled with statues and paintings would be interesting, but there were many beautiful things in this museum. The tickets were 10€ per adult. You are allowed to take pictures but without flash. But usually in certain places, people conveniently forget and you can see flash.Monalisa is a favourite in this museum, so there were many people taking pictures here. My favourite were the beautiful paintings on the ceiling. We took about 3 hours in the Museum.
		Arc De Triompe We continued our journey on the bus. Stopped by at Champ Ellysees, where there were rows and rows of shops selling knick knacks and food. We were freezing, so we had some hot waffles and piping hot coffee… marvellous. Then walked to the end and took pictures at the Arc De Triomphe.
♥Eiffel Tower♥ After that, we hopped on the Open Tour bus and continued our journey to the EiffelTower. As we got down from the bus, it started snowing. It was beautiful to see the little snowflakes. As it drops on us, it just disappears… lovely!			By the time we reached there, our camera was dying on us. We had to on it each time we want to take a shot, and without idling we have to take the shot before it shuts down itself. But despite all that, we took beautiful pictures.
ROME		Next day, we took a flight to Rome by British Airways. At the airport, met a very nice driver- Davidde. He shared a lot of info with us on the way to the hotel. Told us the best places to shop. After checking in, we walked to Quai De Conti for some shopping. Many brand outlets with branded items for very good prices…. We loved this place. There were many Indians in this place trying to make a simple living. They are the in every corner trying to sell something to you… bunch of roses, umbrellas (it was rainy then), souvenirs, some even have small stalls or vans selling food items. Food in Rome was bad.
St Peter Basilica Early morning, we walked to the Sistine Chapel & St Peter’s Basilica at Vatican City. Free of charge and you are allowed to take photos. This cathedral is magnificent and the paintings on the walls were elaborate. At the end of the Basilica is an Art Museum. To enter into the art Museum inside you need to buy tickets.
		Piazza De Trevi – Fontana After that, we hopped on in the Roman version of open tour bus. As the weather in Rome was bearable (about 16°), we sat on the open deck. The view was magnificent. The buildings, structures, monuments were all beautiful. First we went to the fountain – Piazza De Trevi. Beautiful Structure; took some pictures, then hopped on the bus again.
Coliseum Next stop: Coliseum. It is basically just the remains of the Grand Olympiad that it was. There were tickets to go in, but we didn’t go in as we were told that it was not worth going in. There are only ruins in there.			But it was nice to take pictures all around the building. We even walked a bit further to get onto another building to take some shots.
Victor Emmanuel Building   Then we continued walking and we saw a beautiful white building. At that time we didn’t know what building it was , but we took pretty pictures here. Then we found out it is called the VictorEmmanuelMonument. It was huge and took so many pictures here. They also had a short ceremony of changing guards here. At least we were able to witness it at a close distance unlike BuckinghamPalace.
			Pantheon By now, we realised that the Green Open Tour bus that we took does not do as many trips as other buses. We already saw many Red Open Tour bus, but no sign of the green one. Instead of waiting any longer for the bus, we decided to walk to Pantheon. Someone showed us the wrong way and we took a long route to Pantheon when it was actually very nearby. We found that out when we walked back to the Emmanuel monument. Pantheon was quite small and nothing much compared to the other cathedral’s.
Time Elevator Time Elevator Roma is a “must experience” in Europe. When my hubby suggested this,I thought “Oh no”. But it was fantastic!. With Time Elevator, you can see, hear and FEEL great moments in Roman history, not as a spectator but as a participant. It will be good if you can take this simulation ride before you go around Rome, because after this ride you will know more about the places you visit in Rome. It is open everyday from 11am to 7.30 pm. The show lasts about 45 minutes. Tickets are 12 € per adult		.
Piazza Del Popolo - Villa Borghese Park   From Piazza Del Popolo, you can walk up to a huge park, the VillaBorghesePark. From here you can get a magnificent view of Vatican city. Looks like a good place for sunset here, but we were not there during sunset.			This park is quite huge, we walked around a bit then came back to Piazza Del Popolo.
Castel Romano Last day in Rome, we wanted to go shopping and asked the friendly driver, Davidde. He told he will take us to Castel Romano and we can shop there for about 3 hours. Its about 20km south from Rome.There are many brand outlets here : CK, D&G, Nike, Levi’s, Guess, Ferragamo, just to name a few. Of course price is much cheaper than the outlets in Malaysia, so it was shop , shop shop till we dropppp!!!
London Again			We left Rome for another day in London before we left to KL. We arrived here in the afternoon. We checked in at Citadine, Kensington. Oh, I must tell about this place. We were given a one bedroom apartment because there were no rooms available. The apartment was beautiful. When you walk in, there is a kitchen fully furnished with fridge and crockery. Then there is a cozy living room with computer table, TV and such. Then the bedroom is upstairs… and it was purrrrfect! The best of all the hotels we stayed in this trip. Only one word to describe a studio apartment : ♥COZY♥ Ok back to the topic, we walked to the nearest tube and went to Oxford Street for SHOPPING!!! More branded outlets here. We shopped n shopped till late evening.
	Then we took the tube to visit the main attractions that we missed on the first day. First we went to the London Eye. It was dark already and the queue was long. Not worth the wait, so we just took pictures of it. At night it is beautiful with the lights on.
We walked around and took pictures of Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, London Bridge and TowerBridge.

That was all for this trip. We enjoyed this trip very much and would love to visit again - maybe experience spring or autumn.

Langkawi

	At the airport, you can see many booths offering car rental services. The best way to get around in this island is by car. We would have gone for a bike, but if we buy things (duty free items… wink , wink), it would be difficult to carry around, so we took a car instead. We took a white cozy little Myvi. Loved it.
PANTAI CENANG As usual we stayed at a busy area with lots of shops, n lots of people. Nice place to walk around and loads of shops selling pretty things.You can find booths offering Island tour packages.There are a lot waters activities that can you enjoy here such as water-skiing, jet-skiing and wind-surfing.
	EAGLE SQUARE We came here at night, just walked around and took some pics. If you like taking pictures with huge structures, then can come here. There is a huge Eagle , symbolic for the origin of the name Langkawi.
ISLAND HOPPING We took the tour. Its a half day tour which started about 9 in the morning. First we stopped atPulau Beras Basah. It was a beautiful untouched island. There are no shops, whatsoever here. You get to dip in the water and enjoy the breeze. As we were here early, we saw the monkeys walking in a group towards the beach. We made sure we did not leave anything for them to take, but while we were busy taking pictures, we forgot that we went a little further from our bag. A naughty monkey came to my bag; and by the time I ran to it, he managed to open my bag and ran away with a pack of cashew nuts. That was the only food item I had in the bag, so he took that and left. After that, I never left my bag out of my sight.
	EAGLE FEEDING Then the boat that dropped us at that Island came back to take us to the next stop for Eagle feeding. The boat man will throw chicken pieces and you can see the eagles coming down to attack. If you have hightech camera and skillful, you can really take beautiful shots here.  Our pics were not that good as the eagles dont come very near and they are very fast. Note: The image on the left was taken from the net.
PULAU DAYANG BUNTING The last stop is the Pregnant Maiden’s Lake. The boat man will stop somewhere mid sea and show you why that place is called pregnant maiden and then he will take you to the Pregnant Maiden’s lake. It is believed that people who want to conceive should take a dip in this lake water. There are many wild monkeys here too, and they are very friendly. I managed to hold and take pics with few. After seeing me, many tried the same.
	DUTY FREE SHOPPING You can drive down to KuahTown for shopping. There are many duty free shops. This is one thing you should not miss in Langkawi. You can get good prices for many imported items like perfumes, liquor, beer, chocolates and others.
Langkawi Cable Car This is one experience you should not miss. I think it is said to be the steepest cable car ride in the world. Beautiful scenery and a good experience. You will be taken to an even greater spot at a much higher altitude: Langkawi suspension Bridge. You can enjoy the view and the breeze. There is a cafe here where you can grab a bite while enjoying the view. At the bottom, at the cable car ticket counter, there are shops selling souvenirs, but dont bother getting anything from here as they are pricy.
We bought fruits and nuts to feed the animals. Their diet is written on each cage, so that you know what to feed. It was so exiting as you get to pet most of the animals too, like the ostrich, horse, goat, rabbit and so on.	BIRD PARADISE & WILDLIFE PARK (KUAH) I enjoyed this, despite being bitten by a huge parrot (left). The cut was quite deep, it took a month to heal. Anyway, it bit me, and blood was pouring, had to run out through the entrance, got medication and continued. The park is quite big and there are many animals.
Langkawi Underwater World (Pantai Cenang) I think it is the same with any other Underwater World. You get to see many sea creatures here and can take pictures. There are sharks, stingrays, clown fish, sea horse and even penguins.
	There are many things that can be done in Langkawi. We really enjoyed this trip and would love to come again. There are still many other activities that we have not tried like paragliding, jet skii and other water activities.

Phuket

	First thing you need to do in Phuket - Rent a bike and get a map. Malaysians do not need International Licence to ride/ drive here. Phuket is a small island. You can cover the whole island traveling by bike. Patong Beach We stayed at Patong Beach. A lively area, with a lot of tourists and many shops. But the prices here are expensive because of the tourists. It is better to shop elsewhere.
Island Hopping There are many tours you can choose from and go island hopping. The boat ride is one adventure that you should not miss. Quite a rough sea ride, but a very enjoyable one. We went to Phi Phi Island, where you can stop for a dip and take beautiful pictures.
	Also stopped at Krabi Island and James Bond Island. There was also an island where we get to feed monkeys, but cant remember the name. We stopped at one island for snorkeling. But they were not as interesting as the one I went in Tioman (have not snorkeled elsewhere).
Phuket viewpoints There are many beautiful viewpoints where you can watch the sunset or just to enjoy the sea breeze and waves hitting the rocks at the bottom. Simply amazing!
	Promthep Cape There is lighthouse and a shrine in this area. We went there for the view. There are few shops here thats sells souveniers: keychains, t-shirts, n such for low prices. There are few viewpoints in this are where you can see the best sunset in Phuket.
Phuket Temples The temples are really beautiful. If you love photography, dont miss this chance… the colours are just beautiful. As we had the bike with us, we stopped at few temples. We visited Wat Chalong which is a tourist attraction and also the Big Buddha. If you dont see Wat Chalong, you have not seen Phuket. The Big Buddha can be viewed from all around the South Island because it is on a mountain top. You can go there by bike and from the top you can see the whole of Phuket. Other temples that we visited were Wat Su Wan Khiri wong & Pun Tuo Kong Chinese Shrine.	Important Note: Men can go in to temples with shorts, but most temples wont allow ladies with shorts or sleeveless tops. So if you are dressed in beach wear, please drape yourself in a pashmina or beach sarong when visiting the temples.
	Nightlife We only managed to walk around Bala Road for night life. There are many other shows that you can watch like Simon Show, Aqua Show. There is also Fantasea which is a recomended show by others. Its like an Extravagant Circus Show. It seems the money paid for it is worth it if you go for this show. We did not have the time to go for it. Maybe next time.

Bali

Its been very looooooooooong since I wrote. Well, thats because I got busy with house furnishing, wedding shopping, wedding arrangement, getting married, enjoying marriage live, then got pregnant, delivered a lovely baby boy and now continuing to enjoy marriage life & motherhood. Oh and in between all this I (we, actually) managed to travel to some beautiful places. I just thought about sharing the interesting places that we have visited. I cant really remember everything off hand, but I will start off with Bali.
Bali - In one word : Romantic. Its a beautiful place for honeymoon and that’s where we went. Seafood and Sunset in Bali is a must ♥♥♥

Kuta Beach
We stayed at Kuta Beach. Its a nice place for tourists. Lots of people. Lots of shops. Even at night, most of the shops are open and safe to take a stroll in that area. Lots of Beach wear, beach wear accessories, wood carvings, etc. Just opposite our hotel, there was a SlingShot, where you get thrown few meters in the air and back and forth until it stops. Would have loved to go on it, but no way my hubby’s gonna get in with me… hehe. Tak syok pi sorang.

Tanah Lot (Rock Temple)

This is a MUST SEE… You must go here during sunset and enjoy the view. It is actually a temple built on a rock. During high tide, the rock is surrounded by water and it will look as if the temple is floating.

(Uluwatu (Cliff Temple)
This temple is built on a high cliff and the view from the top is magnificent. The breeze was superb. But watch out for monkeys as they are mischievous. They will steal your bag, glasses, etc and will only return if you give them peanuts sold by their masters. Unfortunately some of the things dont return in good condition.

Kintamani
I personally did not like this place, because the journey was too tiring and worthless. When we reached, we we taken to a restaurant were you can view Kintamani volcano(very far away)… GRRR!!! Such a long journey to show me the volcano in some other place. The worst part of this trip was the food in that restaurant was really BAD!

Celuk
Not recommended. You get to stop by at this place if you want to see how silver jewelery is made. Nothing interesting here.


Sukawati Market
There are a whole load of shops here. Good place to bargain for souvenirs: T-Shirts, accessories, bali sarongs, paintings. Hubby could not stop himself from picking out painting after painting. But they were all beautiful ….and cheap.

WGK
Stands for Wishnu Garuda Kenchana. Actually this place is a product of an incomplete project. The plan was to have a Big Garuda attached together with Vishnu’s Head, but as they could not complete the project, the have them displayed separately. If interested in taking pictures here, then go ahead, but otherwise nothing impressive here. The also have a theater that plays the history of GWK, how the monument was supposed to be and how it is today.

Others
My hubby likes to take pictures of sculptures, structures and such. You can find many big structures in the roundabouts in Bali. We did make few pit stops just to take some shots.

BALI MASSAGE is a MUST. They come to do they room and give the best body massages. We tire ourselves the whole day and at night these massages are fantastic.
I guess that’s all that I can remember.