A Quick Life Update
Posted: December 23, 2015 Filed under: Health & Fitness, Housing, Japan, Life, Marriage, Thailand, Travel | Tags: Family, Home, Japan, Krabi, Life after marriage, Marriage 7 CommentsAlmost 10 months and nary an entry!
So much has happened, and I thought I’d do a quick update, since the year is coming to a close:
- We completed our home renovations and moved in last April
- Our home was featured in the November issue of Manja magazine
- I went to Krabi twice — once in April and recently in December
- I officially became a statistic on the NEA website — not that it was a good thing. I got dengue in September and it was horrible. HORRIBLE
- Faz and I have been married for 2 years, Alhamdulillah!
- We went to Japan to celebrate our second wedding anniversary, and we both LOVED JAPAN LIKE CRAZY
- I picked up swimming and am damn proud to be able to swim now, considering the fact that I had a phobia of water
There’ve been some months that I was incredibly busy, but I think I’ve mostly kind of fallen into this comfortable routine of going to work everyday and then coming home and doing some chores or watch some TV with Faz before we go to bed. On some evenings, we’d go swim at the public pool.
Before Faz recently started doing office hours, he was doing shift work — and sometimes if he’d be home when I returned home from work, we’d cook and have dinner together. But then he started doing office hours and found it too tiring to cook, so we don’t cook as often any more. In fact I can’t remember the last time we cooked — must’ve been 2-3 months ago!
On weekends I’d have my swimming lessons, after which Faz and I will visit my parents. Sundays are my rest days — I’ll normally want to stay home, unless I have some compelling reason to go out.
Somehow, blogging just never makes it to the to-do list. Although it seems like a gargantuan task now, I do actually want to blog about our reno and trips before I forget all the details.
Soon, Insyaallah!
3 Nights in HK over CNY
Posted: March 10, 2015 Filed under: Travel | Tags: Bad experiences, Hong Kong 4 CommentsI was in Hong Kong for 3 nights over the CNY holidays. It was intended to be a short getaway from Singapore….
….BUT I ENDED UP WISHING I HAD STAYED PUT IN SINGAPORE.
I did NOT enjoy Hong Kong, and I don’t think I’ll be returning, ever. At first we thought HK would be a ghost town during CNY — much like Singapore — but a bit of research revealed that most shops/attractions would still be open, which cemented our travel plans.
However, what it didn’t tell us was how much MORE crowded it was going to be in already crowded HK during this period. We discovered there were hordes and hordes of mainland Chinese tourists who apparently love to vacation there over the CNY holidays.
I can’t tell you how many times I was pushed, bumped into, stepped on and elbowed. The extent of it became one of the major reasons why I didn’t enjoy HK. How could I, when I spent half the time pissed! Let’s not even talk about saying sorry — not one of them had the decency to at least offer me an apologetic look.
We went to Disneyland on our second day, and boy, if you think Singaporeans are kiasu, these people are a million times more kiasu. Queues for attractions were, needless to say, atrocious everywhere in HK at the time, but the kiasu-ism was especially ugly to see in a “happy” place like Disneyland. Once they reached the head of the queue and the gates were opened, they were SPRINTING to secure a seat like vicious predators going after their prey. Get a grip — it’s just a bloody teacup ride!
Also, the concept of personal space is non-existent in their culture, so queuing in front of a mainland Chinese means having them breathe down the back of your neck — which is gross and really annoying. Aside from having to experience uncivilised behaviour, almost everything else went wrong for me this trip as well:
- Didn’t get to take the tram up to The Peak because of the ridiculous queue. Paid the equivalent of SGD 60 for a cab ride up that lasted less than 10 minutes. The fare was split 5-ways but it still doesn’t change the fact that it was expensive for a single cab ride.
- Didn’t get to take the cable car to the Big Buddha, again because of the queue.
- Didn’t get to eat a single halal dim sum or anything that comes under the umbrella of Hong Kong cuisine because oddly, all the non-halal restaurants were open, and all the halal authentic HK restaurants were closed. The irony! I was told the hotel we were staying at, Panda Hotel, has a halal cafe — but in reality all they had was a measly one halal line at the buffet — serving nasi lemak. Yes, I went all the way to HK to have NASI LEMAK. And Turkish food. And Indian food. All other cuisines BUT HK cuisine. This was probably also one of the most upsetting things because I was really looking forward to having authentic HK dim sum.
- I was on the fence about going to Disneyland because I’m not really into these things, but I ended up going, for a lack of a better thing to do. Instead of showing me a good time, Disney decided they’d ruin possibly my one and only time in Disneyland and in HK by scheduling the Sleeping Beauty Castle for maintenance. The fireworks display above the castle at the end of the night was supposed to be somewhat a highlight, but this was how it looked like that night:
Fireworks + Castle = Epic. Fireworks + Box = WTH?
What it could’ve looked like:
Source: jellybeanz on Flickr
- I wasn’t looking to buy branded goods either, which are supposedly cheaper in HK because they don’t charge VAT — so shopping was not that exciting.
- Perhaps the most painful thing to swallow was that all this disappointment carried a hefty price tag of about $1,350 — flights and hotel were more expensive because of the CNY holiday. As if that’s not bad enough, I returned with an inflamed ankle from all the walking. My feet were throbbing like it grew a heart of its own. Seriously, I don’t think my SIL is human — when everyone else felt like dying she was still all bright-eyed and cheery and like, “OK where should we go next?”
I went with my sisters- and niece-in-law, and I’d say the only positive thing that came out of it was their company and the bonding. That’s seriously the ONLY thing that is preventing me from hitting my head on the wall.
This was also my first brush with retribution for not listening to my husband. Faz had voiced out that perhaps it wasn’t a good time to go on holiday because we have the house renovation to finance, but I was stubborn. It didn’t take much, but he relented, choosing to see the good that the trip will do me — how it’ll be a good break for me, and that I’ll get to bond with the women in his family. As usual he was his considerate self, and I — well, I was just being selfish. And I got served.
You could say it was a case of bad timing — and I agree — but I still don’t think I’d return. Even without the crowd, there’s really not much that would be of interest to me in HK. It’s just like another Singapore, only more Chinese.
Well, at least that’s another country struck off the map.
No other pics because buat sakit hati.
10 Days in Turkey: Istanbul (3/3)
Posted: September 5, 2014 Filed under: Travel, Turkey | Tags: Istanbul 7 CommentsAh, the final leg of our holiday.
Istanbul was made our last stop in anticipation of the shopping that could be done there — we had a meagre 15kg baggage allowance on the earlier domestic flights, you see. But in the end we surprised ourselves by not buying much at all. This, in spite of the legendary Grand Bazaar that houses more than 4,000 shops!
Firstly, the cost of things weren’t that much different from Singapore, making for an expensive shopping spree. Secondly, there wasn’t actually much to buy, unless you’re talking carpets and souvenirs for everyone and their mom.
I only bought a few pieces of clothing, some jewelry, natural handmade soaps, fridge magnets, a pretty iznik tile notebook — and of course Turkish delights and baklava! The sweets were quite heavy but they unfortunately had to be painfully hand-carried to ensure the boxes didn’t get smashed. My 30kg international flight baggage allowance was sadly and grossly underutilised!
A Hafiz Mustafa outlet selling Turkish delights. How royal is the interior, with all that gold?! They’re one of the better shops, the other one being the Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir chain of shops. Haci Bekir is said to be the original creator of the Turkish delight back in the Ottoman days. We did pass by one outlet but by then we had bought a truckload of sweets from Hafiz Mustafa, so we gave it a miss.
I was THE kid in the candy shop!
I had wanted to secretly take a pic of this guy who was manning the baklava section, but I was found out and he invited us behind the counter for a photo with him. Can you imagine how happy I was to be taking a photo with all that yummy baklava?!
While Istanbul wasn’t quite the shopping haven for me, it was still a tremendous delight. Whilst popular attractions like the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace and the Basilica Cistern were marvellous, surprisingly I found even greater enjoyment doing the simplest of things — walking. Strolling the streets of Istanbul, taking in its sights, sounds and smells.
It didn’t start out this way though. One of the first things Faz did upon reaching our hotel in Istanbul…..was to watch Scam City Istanbul! On one hand, it’s good to be aware of the different scams operating there (some examples: carpet scams, shoeshine scams, nightclub scams), but the downside was that it made us feel MEGA PARANOID.
We felt like mice stepping out of the comforts of our sewer for the first time to explore the big city, hoping not to get squashed. It didn’t help that we arrived back in Istanbul on a Sunday — it was so crowded! We got stopped every few metres by peddlers peddling Istanbul guide books, maps, toys and imitation perfumes. We were on real high alert.
It took me a trip to the Grand Bazaar the next day to snap out of it. I had been really looking forward to visiting one of the oldest covered markets in history, but when we reached it, I wasn’t strolling through it leisurely taking in the details of the market like I had imagined. Faz was pulling on my hand and we were walking fast, trying not to look interested so that shopkeepers wouldn’t approach us (therefore reducing our chances of getting scammed?). It was ridiculous because I was interested, and we didn’t stop to enter any shop for at least the first 10 minutes!
Of course you still have to be on guard — someone actually attempted to pick Faz’s pocket while we were in a crowded tram! But lucky for us he was one lousy ass pickpocket because Faz actually felt his hand! Without looking at the guy, Faz immediately turned his body away, putting the guy’s hand in a knot — and he had no choice but to wriggle it miserably out of the pocket. Fotunately there was nothing in there in the first place. Faz didn’t confront him, well, because 1) he didn’t actually get away with anything and 2) he wanted to avoid the possibility of an altercation.
Anyway my point is just do your best to be aware of your belongings and surroundings, avoid dodgy people, avoid following people to places and you’ll be fine, InsyaAllah. No need to be excessively paranoid like we were!
The Grand Bazaar on a Monday afternoon. Great time to go because it wasn’t too crowded. I had a go at bargaining here!
An array of tea and spices.We were lured into the shop by this warm and friendly guy whose English was quite good, offering us Turkish delights that turned out to be pretty damn delicious. He turned out to be a Syrian who had only been in Turkey for 6 months. He told us he left for Turkey to find a safer place to work to support his family back home, and asked us to pray for Syria.It was quite sad and I was immediately reminded of how I should count my blessings because there are other people in worse situations. I just wish Muslims all over the world could just unite and be a force to be reckoned with instead of killing each other — but that’s another story altogether.
We spent more than an hour in this calligraphy shop in the nearby book bazaar to get supplies for my brother, who does calligraphy.
Facetiming my brother to show him what they had. He was practically fangirling behind that screen!
I enjoyed Istanbul SO, SO much after I got over Scam City Istanbul.
I loved people-watching. People from all walks of life seemed to converge there, and it was a challenge to tell the different nationalities apart. Some ladies would have fair skin and light hair, and just when I thought they were Caucasian, they’d start conversing in Turkish. Or just when I thought they were Turkish, they started speaking in some other language.
We found the Turks to be so strikingly beautiful that Faz and I felt like ugly ducklings there. We’d be so sillily over the moon when shopkeepers ask, “Are you Turkish? You look Turkish” although we knew it was probably a ploy to get us to buy from them — we read about this tactic of theirs online. The women, whether in hijab or not, were so fashionable and elegant!
One of our simple indulgences in Istanbul was having balik ekmek on the pier next to the Galata Bridge at Eminonu. Balik ekmek means fish sandwich, and really that was all it was: a simple grilled fish sandwich. But believe me, as simple as it was, it tasted SO good! I think it’s worthy to note that I’m not even a big fish-eater, but we came to eat here twice while we were in Istanbul.
The Galata Bridge. Scores of men line the bridge to fish, and they’re there from morning till night!
One of the boats parked by the pier and customers waiting eagerly in line to receive their balik ekmeks.
This, my dear friends, is how the balik ekmek looks like. Deceivingly simple, right? Typically at every table there is a bottle of salt and lemon juice, which you drizzle over the sandwich as you wish. I suppose most of all it’s the freshness of the fish that makes it so delish!
Just look at the crowd! I like the setup of small tables and stools. Easier for the stalls to pack up and go, I suppose.
The sandwiches were only available in the evenings — I assume they spend their mornings fishing. Eating here felt somewhat like an authentic Turkish experience because even the locals and their families patronised these stalls. I loved the ambience. It was quite laidback despite the hustle and bustle of the harbour because you get to just sit there, enjoy your sandwich and watch the world go by — with the sound of the water and the sight of flying seagulls against the monumental old city as the backdrop to boot.
One of my favourite pics of my favourite places in Istanbul — the Eminonu pier.
I also loved taking a walk down Istiklal Avenue, a pedestrian street in Taksim — the heart of modern Istanbul. It was there that we finally saw some familiar brands like Starbucks, H&M, Topshop and Adidas — we didn’t see any of these in the old city. There were bookstores, cafes, restaurants and pubs with live music there as well.
Taking the underground metro to Taksim.
At Taksim station.
The famed Taksim Square — the place where protests usually happen. Lucky there weren’t any while we were there though it would’ve been an experience. Nobody ever protests in Singapore!
There’s your Starbucks on the left.
At the start of Istiklal Avenue with my delish coconut mocha frap from Starbucks. Have we ever had this here in Singapore? It was sooooooo sedap, I swear!
As evening came, Istiklal became more alive, with some pretty talented buskers performing their music. I’d describe Istiklal as sort of a cool place where people would gather to wind down after work. The buildings were old and weathered European-style buildings, but the shops were trendy and the place was bustling. It was a rather nice contrast.
Istiklal by night. I had wanted to video those buskers on the left but when we came back down the street they were gone! So far the best buskers we encountered the whole night! :(
Istiklal Avenue is mostly a pedestrian street, except for these ultra cute vintage funiculars going up and down every now and then.
It was quite easy to get around in Istanbul, as long as you don’t take a cab — you could either get ripped off or the traffic could kill you. We had printed the rail network map beforehand, and all we did when we got there was to purchase an Istanbulkart (our EZlink equivalent) from a newsstand, usually nearby the station. An Istanbulkart can be used by multiple people as long as you have enough value in it. It’s all pretty straightforward. If not, there’s always the station officer, or the tourism police you can approach for help.
One of the frequent modes of transport for us was these electric trams.
We also found out that the Turks (or maybe just this one Turk) have a mean sense of humour.
Faz and I we were in a park having a lovely time people-watching and munching on our stall-bought corn when a homeless-looking man with a dirty brown bucket and a sinister smile approached us — obviously up to no good. Faz had seen him first. He nudged me urgently and got up to flee — but I, unfortunately, didn’t react fast enough and was by then in direct line of fire.
I could only helplessly imagine what was in that dirty bucket. Pee? Faeces? Filthy drain water? Man, the smell was surely going to be excruciating! The scene that unfolded next seemed to begin playing in slow-mo. The man stopped a few steps away from me and raised the bucket. As he tipped it and gave it a strong jerk to send its contents flying towards me, I shielded my head with my arms — it was the only defence I had left.
A couple of seconds passed, and then in the distance — laughter. I opened my eyes only to see the man looking at me wide-eyed, slightly curling his lips to form a rather psychotic smile, and passers-by laughing at us — HARD. Apparently there was nothing in the bucket and it was all a prank! Without time to waste the man then proceeded to terrorise other people in the park, and looking at their reactions, they couldn’t have been worse than mine!
We turned around to check for cameras in case it was some kind of a gag show, but there were none to be seen. Only an insane homeless man with a bucket and a mean sense of humour — which to be fair, made Faz and I laugh like crazies too. We got punk’d in Istanbul!
Stopping to refuel in a park.
More pics:
The Blue Mosque
Hotels in the Sultanahmet area were pretty pricey compared to other areas. I wanted a hotel that had a great rooftop view of the Blue Mosque that didn’t burn a hole in our pockets, and Spectra Hotel was an excellent choice. It’s a pretty basic hotel but it had what I wanted, and that was all that mattered.
The famed Blue Mosque and the crazy horde of tourists on a Sunday!
The courtyards of the Blue Mosque.
The musollah.
The amount of detail these Ottomans put into their work is crazy!
View from our hotel rooftop of the Blue Mosque at dawn.
The Blue Mosque by night. This was taken on a night a sermon was being delivered, and those illuminated dots you see in the sky were birds flying above the mosque. The interesting thing was that they were only flying over the mosque, and not other buildings. MasyaAllah, a grand display of God’s greatness!
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia, a church of the Byzantine era that the Ottomans converted into a mosque, which Mustafa Kemal Ataturk later converted into a museum. There is a movement in Turkey to have Hagia Sophia converted back into a mosque, and as result of this there have also been people petitioning for it to remain as a museum so visitors can still access this historical building. How complicated.
The corridors of Hagia Sophia. The interior and structure of the former church mostly remained, except for a couple of changes: the Ottomans built a mihrab and minbar, and plastered over the mosaics that depicted faces, just to name a few.
The prayer hall.
A mosaic of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus were uncovered in the apse during a renovation of the Hagia Sophia mosque.
Silhouette of Hagia Sophia at dusk.
Topkapi Palace
The entrance to Topkapi Palace, the first Ottoman palace that was built in the newly conquered Constantinople — known to us now as Istanbul.
One of my best buys in Turkey was this iznik tile-inspired pants. Love it!
The Ottomans were synonymous with opulence and grandeur. The palace was so lavish to the point I actually felt shame! It was all beautiful but it was simply too much.
A dreamy spot in the courtyard.
Dolmabahce Palace
The gates of Dolmabahce Palace, the Ottomans’ second palace after Topkapi. They had decided they wanted a different “lifestyle”, so they built another palace to move into — this time European in style and WAY grander than Topkapi!
There was this pretty pond in the courtyard….
….complete with ducks!
One of the few statues of lions in their courtyard. This particular one was crushing an alligator beneath it. Intimidated yet?
The palace building. It was a pity we couldn’t take photos inside. You should’ve seen it — it had the largest crystal chandelier in the world, a single handwoven carpet that’s bigger than my 4-room BTO flat, and 14 tonnes of gold leaf adorning the ceilings. The Ottomans really outdid themselves with this one.
Basilica Cistern
I wouldn’t say the Basilica Cistern is a must go, but entry was cheap and we had time, so why not?
One of the largest cisterns that lie beneath Istanbul. Also one of the locations where the 1963 James Bond film, From Russia with Love, was shot.
All in all an awesome 4 days in Istanbul and 10 days in Turkey! Planning the trip definitely wasn’t easy because of the logistics of travelling on our own in a big and unfamiliar country. Also there were so many things to see and do, which made it all the more difficult to choose! We wanted to maximise our time there so we decided the best option was to take domestic flights to the different areas in Turkey. We didn’t want to waste time getting lost, so we had our hotels arrange our airport transfers. With the exception of Istanbul which was easy to navigate, we had booked day tours in Cappadocia and Oludeniz, so we were still going to places and doing things we wanted without worrying about how to get there.
Best of all, Faz enjoyed the itinerary I had planned! Granted, he is an easygoing person by nature, but the worrywart that I am couldn’t help but be a little worried that he would find things like museums and stuff boring. But he didn’t, so it was a relief!
I think planning trips on our own is definitely the way to go for us because I like to be in total control of the choice of hotel, food, pace, places to go and things to do. But I think I do want to experience a tour at least once….just to see what it’s like. Hmm, what would be a good country to follow a tour?
It’s only been 3 months since my Turkey trip, but believe me when I say it feels like 6 months — at least. I’ve been so exhausted planning a work event, and now that it’s finally over I say I deserve a quick getaway.
Maybe I’ll try a do-nothing getaway this time. 4D3N in Krabi, perhaps?
10 Days in Turkey: Oludeniz & Pamukkale (2/3)
Posted: July 15, 2014 Filed under: Travel, Turkey | Tags: Hierapolis, Hotels, Oludeniz, Pamukkale 11 CommentsWe spent the next 3 nights in Oludeniz, a beautiful pebble beach in the southwest of Turkey flanked by the Babadag mountains — and is one of the most popular paragliding spots in the world.
Our accommodation in Oludeniz.
Our room was super spacious! It was a relief especially for Faz, who was like a big bear in small cave in Cappadocia. And it was surprisingly affordable too. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the beach wasn’t within walking distance — and we know this firsthand because we tried! I got scolded for this and I’ll tell you later what happened…
Big tubs are almost like a staple now in our holidays!
Explored the very touristy Hisaronu town centre for a place to have dinner.
Not spared from slopes in Oludeniz either. This was what we had to overcome to get back to our hotel. And the hill is steeper than it looks here!
The view from the hotel room balcony.
Paragliding in Oludeniz
Ever since I saw a photo of a paraglider flying above Oludeniz, my heart was set that that was exactly what I was going to do if I ever made it to Turkey. Well, I made it there, so I went! It was breathtaking. It was the closest I’ll ever feel to being a bird flying — at 6,000 feet, no less!
The scariest moment for me was being up on the mountain seeing other people before me run off the edge of the cliff. That was the moment I started asking myself: SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU REALLY DOING THIS?! I said a little prayer to ask that I reach the ground again safely in one piece and before I knew it I, too, was running off the cliff. It was surreal being so high up with my feet simply dangling in the air but the initial shock quickly passed as I became fixated on how beautiful everything was from up above.
Midway during the flight, my pilot asked if I wanted to do some acrobatics. My inner adrenaline junkie told him yes but I almost wished I hadn’t because we did some spins which made me feel so dizzy I felt like throwing up. I was so relieved when our little performance was over! Nevertheless, it was quite the experience!
Having said all that, my experience was actually tarnished a little by my pilot. I don’t know if he’s just naturally unpleasant or if he got up on the wrong side of the bed that day but he was barking at people from the time we met at their office, and was also on occasion rude to me. I was upset but didn’t want to kick up a fuss (which might result in me not being able to paraglide altogether) so I pushed it aside at the time. But thinking about it now makes me feel quite peeved. I mean, we spent thousands to holiday in Turkey and do all these activities — why does he feel that it’s ok to let people down?!
Faz on the other hand had such an awesome pilot from the same company and enjoyed his paragliding experience to bits. Glad that at least one of us enjoyed the experience thoroughly!
It was a long and winding drive up to the top of the Babadag mountains but we made it.
Setting up
I got lumps in my throat seeing other people running off the edge of the cliff.
Off they went!
Faz having a ball of a time up in the air. Love how colourful his pictures turned out!
Waiting for my turn. I know it doesn’t look like it but I was already upset with my pilot. I’m pretty sure that half-smile of his was just for the camera because he was back to his surly self after this photo was taken. And me? Well, I wasn’t going to look unhappy in photos if I’m going to be paying for them later.
Surly pilot aside, it really was an amazing feeling to be up there. And cold, too! My fingers were freezing!
Pretty sure this was before the acrobatics because I could still smile.
Miniature houses
You don’t get water this blue in Singapore!
Upon landing (and landing was a bit rough — it had quite an impact on my ankles), we were brought back to the office to have a look at the photo and video footage our pilots had taken, and basically got ripped off paying for them, even after playing the honeymoon card (technically there was some truth to that — it was our second honeymoon). I wish we would’ve bargained some more but we had a boat waiting to take us island hopping. We ended up paying something like SGD60+ per CD when I think we could’ve gotten them at perhaps the ranges of SGD40+. But we did feel better about it later on after coming back from Turkey because we discovered that the footage Faz had taken on our own GoPro was overexposed. Damn, I knew we should’ve gotten that LCD BacPac!
Well, better to have expensive footage than none at all….right? =/
Oludeniz boat trip
Our boat was a double-decker with water slides which by default sounds fun — if you can swim. Here’s a “fun” fact about me: I can’t. So there was no way I was going to slide into OPEN FREAKING SEA! The boat took us to about 6 different spots/islands and we’d spend about 30mins to an hour at each spot. In between, we spent most of our time on the lower deck because we didn’t want to fight the sunbathers for space, and plus I wasn’t looking to get a tan. Closing in on 30 real soon, I’m so not looking to speed up the ageing process! All in all it was a relaxing trip, despite the harsh sun. The waters were so unbelievably blue!
All the different boats belonging to different tour operators.
Our boat approaching the Butterfly Valley. Though famous for tiger butterflies, we only saw a few when we were walking up to the Selale waterfall.
After exploring the island, we were delighted to come back to the sight of our chef preparing our lunch. We were famished!
This was at Camel Bay, I think.
Faz going all GERONIMO while the two guys in the water were scrambling to get out of the way. LOL.
Ok a little embarrassed about my bright blue foam noodle, but I wasn’t going to let it prevent me from having my fun. Better to look silly than dead drowning! They said this area was supposed to be a hot spring, but the waters were FREEZING! It was a cold spring bay!
One of the stops we made was at St Nicholas Island, the place believed to have been home to St Nicholas (or better known as Santa Claus) for a period of time, and the original site of his tomb.
Remains of churches from the Byzantine era.
Turned out we did quite a bit of walking during this boat trip as well, exploring the islands we stopped at.
Lovely, lovely view
Back at the Oludeniz beach after the boat trip, we contemplated whether to walk or take the public bus back to our hotel. I suggested walking so that we could see more of Oludeniz, and insisted with 200% confidence that it wouldn’t be that long of a walk. It turned out that my memory of how long the journey from our hotel to the beach took when the paragliding company fetched us that morning was MAJORLY skewed.
We ended up walking for a little over an hour — and before you exclaim “Yek eleh one hour jer”, let me add that it was over an hour of PURE UPHILL CLIMBING. Everytime Faz would ask in frustration “Bila nak sampai ni?!“, I’d say “Lagi sikit jer” but that always wasn’t the case. You should have seen him sulking and trudging along angrily. Man, he was pissed.
I thought I’d try to be positive by asking him to treat it as training for Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka — to which he responded: “Screw Adam’s Peak!“. That didn’t work, so I tried another method — to motivate him by bruising his ego a little, telling him not to be weak. That actually went down worse.
I started to feel bad, and was hoping we could hail a cab or take a bus from the next bus stop but there were none in sight! In fact the next bus stop turned out to be the one near our hotel!
It was no easy feat, I’ll admit. I felt bad for “forcing” him into walking, but secretly I was kinda pleased that we got a good workout after all that bread we had in Cappadocia.
Day trip to Pamukkale + Hierapolis
On another day, we signed up for day trip out to Pamukkale, a place with beautiful white terraced travertine hot springs. We almost didn’t make it there because we didn’t know how to fit it into our itinerary, but I’m glad we managed to. Pamukkale is a natural phenomenon — a mountain of white amidst the greens and browns. The white looks like snow from afar, only it isn’t. They’re actually terraces formed by calcium carbonate mineral deposits left by flowing hot spring water over the years.
The day trip to Pamukkale was packaged together with a visit to an ancient Greek city called “Hierapolis”. We didn’t know much about Hierapolis, where it was exactly and quite honestly we didn’t even know if we were going to appreciate the ruins, but the trip gave us a chance to find out.
It turned out Pamukkale was within walking distance of Hierapolis (it did actually seem like Pamukkale was within Hierapolis but I’m not sure if it would be accurate to say so), and a ticket gives you access to both attractions. The ruins in Hierapolis were alright, though I would think Ephesus would’ve been a better choice (more impressive) if you had time to visit just one site. But Ephesus was out of the way for us.
Pamukkale from afar.
Look Ma, I’m standing barefoot on snow!
Enjoying a cooling dip in the hot weather. The water wasn’t hot at all for a hot spring.
I’m not sure if going on a weekday would be any different, but we went on a Saturday and it was crowded! It was quite amusing to see on one end of the spectrum bikini clad women and covered Middle Eastern ladies on the other, and all the various permutations in between — all in one place.
Some of the ruins of Hierapolis.
The gymnasium. Without all the equipment we have today, I shudder to think what their workouts consisted of!
Picture perfect backdrop.
Climbing more slopes to see the amphitheatre.
The grand amphitheatre — worth the climb!
It was too much of hassle to go out for dinner with all that walking and climbing, so we settled for dinner back at the hotel.
Quite a romantic ambience, wouldn’t you say? We hadn’t gone for nice dinners like this since Sri Lanka, so this was quite welcome!
All in all I enjoyed the activities we did and the gorgeous views of Oludeniz but truth be told I had mixed feelings about the vibe it exuded. For some reason Oludeniz is very popular with British tourists and over the years I suppose the place had been moulded to cater to them, making the place less Turkish in its ways and more of a British tourist trap. I had read about this Little Britain in Oludeniz prior, but still decided to go mainly for the activities which led us out of town most of the time anyway, so luckily there was no love lost.
However, Oludeniz was the only place in Turkey that we went in which we felt some uncertainty about the “halalness” of our food. Generally all meat in Turkey is halal because majority of the Turkish are muslims, despite it being a secular state. But walking in Hisaronu town we saw a lot of pork in the menus — nevermind that the other meat sold were halal. We had to recce Hisaronu town quite a bit before we found a restaurant that didn’t serve pork.
Alcohol is a separate matter. Muslims in Turkey (not all, but more so in Istanbul and along the Aegean Coast) seem to prescribe to a different belief about alcohol. Some believe it’s permissible, some believe it’s permissible as long as you don’t get drunk, and some just don’t care. In fact, almost all the restaurants we went to in Turkey sold alcohol. We’d still patronise them, but avoided those selling pork and alcohol because that proved to be a bit too much for our sensibilities.
Anyway, since we’d seen so much pork in Hisaronu, we felt doubtful if our hotel food was halal. So Faz went to ask the nearest staff he could find, which happened to be the bartenders, and they were offended! Genuine or feigned, I don’t know but they were like: What do you mean halal? Of course the food is halal! We’re Muslims! And then they happily started singing “Thola’al badru alaina min thaaniyyatil wada’….”
The juxtaposition of the scene was hilarious. I hope they weren’t high.
—
Of course, no trip to Turkey would be complete without visiting the legendary Istanbul — and that’s what I’ll be writing about in my next post!
10 Days in Turkey: Cappadocia (1/3)
Posted: July 7, 2014 Filed under: Travel, Turkey | Tags: Cappadocia, Goreme, Hotels 4 CommentsMerhaba!
So Faz and I returned home safely (albeit a couple kgs heavier) from Turkey last month, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT THERE! Our 10-day trip was quite the adventure — I think I had way more fun in these 10 days than I’ve had in years put together!
I’d always wanted to visit Turkey for some reason. I wanted so much for Turkey to be THE honeymoon destination that even though we opted for Sri Lanka instead due to some circumstances, I regarded the latter as sort of a pre-honeymoon. I realised later what a silly concept that was because it didn’t quite work that way. One, because Sri Lanka was just as awesome. Two, the feeling you get going for a vacation as freshly minted husband and wife as compared to going 6 months later is just going to be different — period. So I suppose I’ll consider Turkey our second honeymoon!
Some of the trip’s highlights were staying in a cave hotel and riding in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, paragliding and island-hopping in Oludeniz, and soaking up city life in Istanbul where the population is a whopping 14 million!
Because I don’t subscribe to “saving the best for last” when it comes to my holidays, Goreme in Cappadocia was made our first stop. And indeed it became my favourite part of the trip. It took us 4 airports to get there, but the gruelling journey was well worth it. It almost felt like I was on another planet because our time there was filled with nothing but unique experiences, which apart from staying in a cave and hot air ballooning included marvelling at the unusual volcanic rock formations (known as fairy chimneys) unique to Cappadocia, trekking into picturesque valleys and exploring an ancient underground city — things that don’t exist in the part of the world we come from.
The temperature during the day in Goreme was in the low 20’s deg C. I personally consider that to be cold, but with the sun out, it was quite alright — perfect for being out and about. It only felt cold when the wind blew, which was kind of a strange experience for someone who’s never been to a cold place before. Nights on the other hand, were freezing. Temperatures went below 10 deg C. Our cave room didn’t really make for a warm respite, but at least there was no wind in there and that’s probably already half the battle won.
The air was also especially dry throughout our stay in Goreme. The walls of my nose got so dry that part of it cracked and bled. Fortunately it was just a mild discomfort that didn’t get in the way of things.
We stayed at a cosy family-run cave hotel called Panoramic Cave Hotel. The owner said her parents used to live here. Two of the rooms were named after her brother and her because they were born in those rooms.
The room we picked was a real cave room carved out from a fairy chimney. That’s the door to our room on the left.
The medieval-looking room key that was as long as my palm.
After travelling almost 24 hours to get here, we were initially a little dismayed to discover how small our room actually was. But that was probably just the fatigue talking because after a while we came to appreciate this unique experience of staying in a cave.
It was only after we took this photo that we realised there was a winged figure carved into the wall that would look over us as we slept. Creeped us out a bit but once we discovered how comfy the bed was, we couldn’t give two hoots about the figure!
Felt quite like Alice in Wonderland walking through this fun-sized door.
In the morning we woke up to some noises (sounded like something being fired up) and looked out the window. Lo and behold, we had the famed Cappadocian sight of hundreds of hot air balloons rising up into the sky outside our window! I was practically hyperventilating as we jumped out of bed and out the room to get a better look. I think this had to be one of my best moments in Turkey. I’d seen this in pictures and longed so much to witness it for myself — and truly, nothing beats being there in person. Magical!
A panoramic view of Goreme from outside our room.
The cosy breakfast room cum reception area where we’d have breakfast in the mornings.
The way to our hotel from the town centre. I swear, Turkey is all slopes! We had quite the workout there.
Shops like these selling souvenirs, carpets and handicrafts line the streets of Goreme town.
A scruffy lil Cappadocian kitty.
One of the days we signed ourselves up for a guided tour through our hotel. The tour operators there offer standard colour-coded tours (Green, Red and Blue), each covering a different set of major attractions in Cappadocia. We took up the Green Tour, which took us to the Selime Monastery (above), Ihlara Valley, Derinkuyu Underground City, Pigeon Valley and Goreme Panorama.
The rock-cut Selime Monastery, a Christian monastery dating back to the 8th century. You’d be surprised to know that there are many ancient churches in Turkey because the people practised Christianity in the periods before the Ottoman Empire.
It had all the rooms you’d find in a modern day monastery, except they were carved out of rock. Although it was bright and sunny outside, it was dark inside and felt a little creepy. I’d ventured on my own into one of those entrances but almost instantly turned back because I started to get the chills.
The interior of another room.
It had to be the work of Selime Monastery that made the muscles all over my body ache like hell the next day. These monks must’ve been a really fit bunch back in the day!
Gorgeous backdrop.
Contrary to popular belief, Turkey actually has quite a bit of greenery!
Next on the agenda was the Ihlara Valley, where we did a bit of trekking.
The Ihlara Valley, a canyon with a depth of about 100m, runs about 16km and was once home to 4,000 dwellings and about 100 churches with frescoes.
One church we stopped by to see was the Church of Daniel (a.k.a Church of Pantassa) of the 10th-12th centuries which had colourful frescoes depicting biblical stories.
Stopped to rest at a cute lil’ cafe with these tree stumps for tables and chairs. My cousin saw this photo and commented that it looked like a seating area for gnomes haha!
We later stopped for lunch at an interesting restaurant on a stream!
Next we visited the Derinkuyu Underground City, the deepest of 36 underground cities in Cappadocia. These underground cities basically serve as shelter against invasions. This particular one can house up to 20,000 and their livestock — can you imagine?!
Poor 1.84m husband had to crouch through most of the tunnels.
It was quite an impressive complex. The people had everything they needed and life went on as usual down there. They could get water out of a well, kids went to school, men had meetings, women cooked, gave birth — everything.
Goreme in the evening. There were SO MANY cave hotels here it was a real challenge to pick one. But we’re happy to have picked Panoramic Cave Hotel because it was value for money and within our budget.
At the recommendation of our hotel owners, we tried out a open rooftop restaurant nearby the hotel called Koy Evi. Everyone had these cute printed blankets on that were provided by the restaurant because it was about 11 deg C out. Loved the ambience!
Nothing better than having a hot beverage (a tasty Turkish apple tea, no less) in the cold weather!
Faz having a lamb pottery kebab which came in a clay pot that the waiter had to break open. I don’t think these used pots can be re-used, so can you imagine how many of these go to waste everyday? I did see some shops using them decoration, though.
Goreme by night. What a sight!
HOT AIR BALLOONING THE NEXT MORNING!
Our pilot firing up our hot air balloon.
Aaaaand we’re up!
Just. Spectacular.
Everywhere you turned was a photo op!
I don’t usually take selfies, but vacations are an exception!
The lovely people in our half of the basket. One basket could accommodate 24 people.
Nothing but gorgeous views during the hour-long ride.
One of my favourite shots of us!
Faz with our humorous pilot, who made our journey that much more enjoyable. We flew with Turkiye Balloons by the way, which we totally recommend!
Balloons getting deflated in the distance.
Boo, our ride was coming to an end!
As you can see, the balloons were HUGE!
Faz lending his body weight to compress the balloon into that bag — and doing a pretty good job haha!
And so that concludes our out-of-this-world experience in Cappadocia!
Next I’ll be writing about our time in Oludeniz! :)
8 Things About Sri Lanka
Posted: April 24, 2014 Filed under: The Wedding, Travel | Tags: Honeymoon, Sri Lanka Leave a commentPrior to the wedding, we definitely raised a couple of eyebrows when we said we were going to Sri Lanka for our honeymoon. I guess it’s not really a conventional holiday destination (much less a honeymoon destination) and understandably so, due to the 25-year Sinhalese-Tamil civil war that just ended in 2009. 25 years is a long time away from tourism, so I suppose people didn’t know much about Sri Lanka apart from all the bad press. But the war had ended, and it was time to rediscover Sri Lanka.
Now that I’ve been there, I’ve come up of a list of 8 things you (may or) may not know about Sri Lanka. They’re mostly my first-time impressions of the country, but I’ve snuck in some facts as well. We were only there for a week and quite honestly haven’t as much as scratched the surface so not all of the below may be accurate — but hey, first impressions count for something right?
- Being so close to India, I wondered how similar things were going to be in Sri Lanka. To the untrained eye, the people probably look the same. To the untrained palate, the food probably tastes the same. So where do the differences begin?
I haven’t been to India but I once had an Indian colleague who told us quite frankly that India still has a long way to go in terms of how women are perceived. I really do want to visit India one day because I love Indian food and culture, and I truly believe that not all Indian men are sex maniacs or male chauvinist pigs, but at the moment I’m finding it hard to get past the sex crimes that’ve recently been making headlines.Well, it turns out that Sri Lanka and India are worlds apart — and even Indians who visit Sri Lanka are attesting to this (read about their accounts here and here). Not just in terms of safety (which I’ll be elaborating about in the next point), but in other aspects as well. - Speaking as a female traveller, Sri Lanka felt safe — or at least the places we went to were. I did not feel at all feel threatened by the men there — not in the major city of Colombo, and not in the small town of Hatton. They did not stare inappropriately, or do anything that made me feel uncomfortable.
- Sri Lanka’s population is largely made up of Sinhalese (mostly Buddhist), followed by the Tamils (mostly Hindu), the Moors (Muslims — descendants of Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka). A sizeable minority of Sinhalese and Tamils are Christian.
A Sinhalese man stopping to pray to Buddha while passing by the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. I loved to see their devotion. No matter where they were going, every time they passed by a statue of Buddha or a place of worship they would stop to pray — even if they were outside the premises — and be on their way.
- The places we visited were impressively clean! Of course there is going to be rubbish, but there was little to be seen. No beggars on the streets, either.
The perimeters of Kandy Lake. No trash to be seen here.
One of the train stations on the way to Hatton. Some trash on the tracks, but none to be seen at the station!
I think this was in Hatton? The town may seem a bit old, but it was definitely kept clean. Can you spot a man sweeping the streets?
- Sri Lankans I had the pleasure of communicating with were mild-mannered, respectful and polite.
- There are many national parks in Sri Lanka where you can find leopards, elephants, barking deer, birds, and other wildlife. If Africa’s a tad too far, consider Sri Lanka — it’s touted as one of the best safari destinations outside of Africa.
- I was nervously getting ready to having to haggle over tuk-tuk fare in Colombo, but it turns out the tuk-tuks there are metered. Hurray!
- I did not see a single person smoking in Sri Lanka, which was FANTASTIC because I have low tolerance for cigarette smoke, and an even lower tolerance for inconsiderate scums (can you tell how much I hate them?) who like to smoke along the pathways and in public areas, without any glimmer of remorse poisoning everyone’s lungs with deadly second-hand smoke.
Seriously I could write an entire book about how much I hate these people and I don’t care if you’re offended because if you are, it only means one thing: you know you’ve been inconsiderate. Seriously, of what consequence is the bruised ego of one inconsiderate smoker versus the act of putting many others at risk of disease?!I especially abhor it when I see parents smoking around their young children.
Since we can’t outlaw tobacco, we should totally implement this. Hey, if you want to harm your health and stink up your clothes, don’t subject others to it!
In Sri Lanka smoking and consuming alcohol in public places are punishable by law. I’m not sure what the parameters for ‘public places’ are, but I sure didn’t come across anyone smoking during our entire week-long trip. Great job Sri Lanka! Sorry to end off the list with a bit of angst, but I tend to be very….impassioned about these things.
So there you go. Now you know a wee bit more about Sri Lanka!
A Decade of Love: Our Amazing Sri Lankan Honeymoon (Part 2b): Induruwa, Galle, Colombo
Posted: April 22, 2014 Filed under: The Wedding, Travel | Tags: Beginnings, Honeymoon, Sri Lanka 5 CommentsDay 5
After Lunuganga, we headed for Galle Fort, which was about an hour away. But first, we had to have lunch because we were FAMISHED.
On our way to Galle Fort we passed through a street lined with schoolchildren welcoming officials for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013. They gamely posed for us!
For some reason we got really excited at the prospect of having pizza when we saw a Pizza Hut outlet. I don’t remember if it was because we were hungry and Pizza Hut was the first restaurant we saw, or if it was because we were subconsciously craving simple food, after having had gourmet meals for the past week.
We were tickled when we saw they had a localised item on the menu called “Birizza” — which is essentially a fusion of biryani and pizza. It sounded quite interesting, so we ordered one to try.
“Birizza” turned out to be a piece of pizza crust (which we found quite redundant and didn’t eat in the end) atop of a bowl of biryani. I got excited thinking it was baked cheese at first, but fortunately the biryani itself was quite good.
And so with our tanks refuelled, we explored Galle Fort. Here’s a bit of its history:
Sri Lanka is an island that has changed hands several times in history. They were once ruled by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and then the British, before achieving independence in 1948. Everyone wanted a piece of the tear-shaped island because of its strategic location for trade. It had the business of Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays, Indians and Chinese in its seaports back in the day.
Galle Fort was originally built by the Portuguese 426 years ago, and the Dutch and British subsequently added their own fortifications. These centuries-old fortifications later stood the test of nature, when the devastating 2004 tsunami hit Sri Lanka. There was little damage within the fort walls, but tragically the tsunami claimed many lives outside of those walls and in other coastal perimeters.
The Tsunami Honganji Vihara in Hikkaduwa — a giant statue of Buddha gifted by Japan as a memorial for the 40,000 who lost their lives to the tsunami.
Today, within the well-preserved Dutch architecture of Galle Fort, you’ll find residences, a functioning High Court and Magistrate Court, religious sites like a mosque, Buddhist temple and churches, cool cafes, hip boutiques, jewellery shops, book stores, hotels and other businesses. Galle Fort very much reminded me of our Haji Lane/Arab Street in Singapore.
The sea-facing Galle Fort.
The Indian Ocean looked stunning but at the same time the vastness of the ocean and its fierce waves were quite intimidating — I felt so small.
A group of Sri Lankan school boys thought I was a celebrity and wanted my autograph. (JUST KIDDING. They were seeking donations for their school. A group of charming boys they were — we said we were on our honeymoon and they complimented us by saying we look good together. Good on you boys — charm gets you very far in life!)
It was sweltering hot and you probably can’t see it but we were actually sweating like pigs in this photo.
Meera Mosque, built in 1909.
Weaving through the lanes of Galle Fort. This was on Church Street. The building on the left of the photo is an Arabic College established in 1892. I wish we would’ve had more time to wander further!
What I got out of our visit to Galle Fort — a pair of pearl earrings and matching ring! I had completely forgotten to bring any earrings on our trip, so my ever so sweet husband offered to buy me a pair. There couldn’t be a better memento of our Sri Lankan honeymoon. :)
Colombo
Day 6
We had our last breakfast in Temple Tree Resort & Spa before heading for our last stop in Sri Lanka — Colombo.
Breakfast was meh.
All in all a good-ish stay in Temple Tree. Service definitely has room for improvement, but nothing to kick up a fuss about. We really enjoyed our room — the decor, and the view and sounds of the Indian Ocean were spectacular.
The hotel only has 9 rooms — coupled with the fact that some of the rooms were undergoing maintenance, we literally felt like were the only guests there. Once we did see another Caucasian lady, but that was it. I suppose the lack of people around could make the hotel seem a little lifeless, but we personally had no problems with it because we were a honeymooning couple — we needed exclusivity and privacy!
In Colombo we spent our last night at a business-cum-leisure hotel called Renuka Hotel.
Renuka was nothing fancy compared to the other hotels we stayed at, but it was what you would expect out of a hotel that touts itself as a business-cum-leisure hotel.
The view from the room.
Not too shabby — the hotel has a gym and pool on the roof. We didn’t have time to take a dip, but boy did the pool look damn inviting!
We didn’t see the need to get a fancy hotel in Colombo because the main agenda here was to shop for souvenirs and get a taste of the Colombo city while we were at it. Pressed for time, after settling ourselves in we had lunch and went straight to it — we didn’t even stop to take pictures of the city (which I kinda regret now).
Lunch was Indian food at a nearby restaurant. There is definitely some difference in terms of taste between Sri Lankan and Indian cuisine, though I can’t put my finger on what it is. Anyhow, I don’t remember the Indian cuisine in Singapore to have so many accompanying dishes. Needless to say, we couldn’t finish everything!
We shopped at Laksala, a government-run enterprise selling Sri Lankan souvenirs like tea, handicrafts and textiles.
Most of our shopping was done at this departmental store called Odel. That’s me caught in the act, absolutely focused on accessory-buying. I didn’t need any more accessories, but heck — they were cheap!
Managed to exercise some self-restraint and only bought these few accessories. I can’t remember how much the necklaces were, but the earrings were like SGD4.50 each?
Our loot. We didn’t actually spend that much on shopping because we found that the stuff in Sri Lanka weren’t that much cheaper than in Singapore — well, except for the food, tea, gems, and perhaps locally-manufactured clothing.
Day 7
The next morning we had a couple of hours before our flight back to Singapore in the afternoon, so after having the hotel’s South Indian breakfast, we snuck in yet another trip to Odel, and then to Paradise Road:
After having read about Paradise Road prior, I knew I had to come here. Paradise Road is a designer (designed by Shanth Fernando, the same Sri Lankan designer who refurbished The Villa Bentota, to be exact) homeware and furnishing boutique. I foresee myself buying things for my house here!
….aaaand it’s back to Singapore. Till we meet again, Sri Lanka!
Sri Lanka sounded great from research, and it definitely lived up to my expectations! In fact, I’m thinking of taking a trip back next year to do all the things we didn’t get to do while we were on our honeymoon.
On our next trip, we will:
- Conquer Adam’s Peak. Adam’s Peak is a 2,243-metre tall mountain, which is a shared religious site for Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians alike. There is a footprint at the peak, which is believed by the Buddhists to be Buddha’s footprint, by the Hindus to be Lord Shiva’s, and by the Muslims and Christians to be Adam’s when he was exiled from Eden. Adam’s Peak has been on my bucket list ever since I saw the most magnificent sunrise from the peak on the Sri Lanka episode of “Departures”.
- Go dolphin- and whale-watching in Mirissa. Boats will take you out to sea from the Mirissa Harbour. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see out in the wild a school of dolphins upclose or witness a grand display of whale tail flips!
- Go on a safari in one of Sri Lanka’s many national parks.
- Visit the ancient cityof Sigiriya in Dambulla, another UNESCO world heritage site which contains a 180m-tall rock fortress, and a palace complex. You get another panoramic view of the surroundings from the top.
- Visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage to get upclose and personal with elephants.
Oh what an adventure it’ll be! But before that, we’ll be going for a second honeymoon to Turkey this May! Mega excited!
A Decade of Love: Our Amazing Sri Lankan Honeymoon (Part 2a): Induruwa, Galle, Colombo)
Posted: April 12, 2014 Filed under: The Wedding, Travel | Tags: Beginnings, Honeymoon, Sri Lanka 2 CommentsUp to this day I wonder what difference it would’ve made if we had made Ceylon Tea Trails in Hatton our last stop because the views, the service, the food — everything — was pretty darned hard to top.
The reason we decided to go there at the beginning of our trip was because:
- After a hectic week leading up to the wedding, we needed a damn good retreat
- After reading the reviews, I didn’t think we could’ve waited for it to be at the end of the trip
- We didn’t want to lug souvenirs we’d be buying from Colombo all over Sri Lanka if we went to Colombo first
Whatever it is, our trip still turned out amazing so it’s all good!
Induruwa
Day 4
In the second leg of our honeymoon we travelled to Induruwa, a quieter coastal area just a few minutes south of Bentota, its more popular and bustling neighbour. The initial plan was to stay in Bentota, but I didn’t find any hotels there on Tripadvisor that I fancied. But Induruwa turned out to be a pretty good decision because it felt more private.
For two nights we stayed in the Temple Tree Resort & Spa, a beachfront hotel that offered uninterrupted views of the Indian Ocean and had a humongous tub in every room which would take ages to fill — but was definitely worth the wait. More than enough space to splash around!
The hotel compounds. The entrance was pretty easy to miss if you didn’t pay enough attention.
The hotel lobby.
Our room!
…and my favourite part of the room — the humongous tub, which looks out onto the lawn and the Indian Ocean!
Our view for two nights. MasyaAllah.
The first night we were there we did a rejuvenating ayurvedic body massage to prep us for the next two days of sightseeing. By the time it ended we were famished and Pali, our driver, recommended us a good seafood place called Amal Villas. It was amusing to see they had “Singapore Chilli Crab” on the menu, and for fun we ordered it just to see if it would taste the same. It tasted NOTHING like our Singapore chilli crab! It was more like a sweet and sour dish — but still fortunately quite tasty.
Our huge crab before it ended up on the dinner table.
Faz, together with Pali. Faz and I were literally still covered in oil from head to toe because we couldn’t shower right after our ayurvedic treatment, but was too hungry to wait.
We ended up eating quite a bit because we’d invited Pali to have dinner with us, but he was too shy and only ate a bit before leaving us to ourselves. But it was nice to get to chat with him for a while and find out more about Sri Lanka through a local’s eyes.
Day 5
Our second day in Induruwa saw us visiting Lunuganga, the country home of the late Geoffrey Bawa, a renowned Sri Lankan architect.
As he (Bawa) went on to become Sri Lanka’s and one of Asia’s most prolific and influential architects, the garden at the Lunuganga estate remained his first muse and experimental laboratory for new ideas. He continued to change and experiment with its spaces and structures throughout his life until his final illness in 1998. Left to the Lunuganga Trust on his demise in 2003, the gardens are now open to the public and the buildings on the estate are run as a country house hotel.
Source: www.geoffreybawa.com
In my search for accommodation during the honeymoon, I remember stumbling across a hotel called The Villa Bentota and being wowed because it had such a distinct and unique style. I later discovered it was designed by an architect named Geoffrey Bawa, who had designed a whole repertoire of hotels both in Sri Lanka and internationally. In Sri Lanka, these hotels were the Heritance Kandalama in Dambulla, the Jetwing Lighthouse in Galle, and the Tintagel and Number 11 Colombo Residence in Colombo, just to name a few.
After having designed so many hotels, Lunuganga was interesting to see because Bawa built it for himself, so in a sense it was a true reflection of his personal tastes. He spent his lifetime experimenting with the space — I don’t know about you but I was very curious to see how a place that took 40 years to build up looked like.
Getting there saw us getting lost, stopping several times to ask the locals for directions. We later learnt that every single detail about the 23-hectare Lunuganga was deliberate. It was inaccessible because Bawa had intended it — he treasured his privacy very much.
We finally arrived at this huge iron gate with nothing but an old bronze bell as form of communication which seemed to lead into a forest, no buildings in sight. Did we arrive at the right place? Surely this couldn’t be the main entrance? We rang the bell and waited. Five minutes passed. I thought maybe the place was closed and had begun to feel a little disappointed, but lo and behold suddenly a young man came running from the inside to let us in. Trip not wasted afterall!
Waiting for any signs of life to appear after ringing the bell….
Going into the premises we realised why it took the man five minutes — it was a bit of a walk in but I didn’t mind. I was already enjoying Lunuganga and its many visual stimulants: giant trees hundreds of years old, flora of different species — and when we finally got to the houses, they were old and rustic on the outside but bursting with character on the inside.
We weren’t allowed inside these houses, which now serve as hotel rooms, but they had windows for us to peer through. In terms of accommodation, Lunuganga is probably not the place for you if you cannot live without all the mod cons. There are no swimming pools, no TVs, and probably no wi-fi. What you do get, but which is priceless these days, is a sense of immense serenity and still-standing time.
The Entrance Court, the start point of our Lunuganga tour.
The place is rustic but the details are amazing!
Waiting for our guide to take us around.
Geoffrey Bawa’s gorgeous study. He was obsessed with checks, and I love that it lends such a bold yet refreshing contrast against the traditional-looking furniture in the room!
More checks! This was one of the hotel rooms, which we shot through the window.
We were told this Water Garden was Bawa’s favourite view in the evening.
One of the many pretty water lilies in the pond.
You’ll find Lunuganga littered with frangipani trees — frangipani was Bawa’s favourite flower.
Pong pong — the forbidden poisonous fruit we all learnt about in primary school. I think this was the first time I’ve ever seen it in person!
Guess what, even more checks! That’s the Dedduwa lake in the background.
Cinnamon trees were also planted in the compound. Did you know the entire tree smells of cinnamon –the bark, the leaves and all?
I love how ethereal the branches look! The whole time I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland or something.
An interesting plant the blue fern is. It only looks blue when the sunlight hits it.
What did I say about feeling like Alice in Wonderland? I felt like I’d just come out of some secret passage in the forest!
Have I told you I have a fondness for old, weathered doors? I feel like they have so much character. And how unexpectedly bold is the choice of colours in such a rustic setting? Love it!
Bawa’s favourite frangipani tree, which was also the largest one in Lunuganga. This one was weighted to achieve that low, spreaded-out effect. You could come here to the Western Terrace to have a meal and enjoy the majestic view.
As a layperson I’d say Lunuganga is an amalgamation of traditional and modern, eclectically peppered with all of Bawa’s favourite things, making a style that is uniquely his.
Lunuganga was beautiful and I enjoyed it tremendously. I wasn’t sure at first if Faz would appreciate this sort of attraction — I still probably enjoyed it more than him — but thank god he turned out to be quite an easygoing travelling companion!
Coming up in my next post — our visit to Galle Fort, a 426-year-old historical monument and UNESCO world heritage site that was originally built by the Portugese but was subsequently taken over by the Dutch and then the British, and then to Colombo for a taste of Sri Lankan city life!
A Decade of Love: Our Amazing Sri Lankan Honeymoon (Part 1: Ceylon Tea Trails)
Posted: February 10, 2014 Filed under: The Wedding, Travel | Tags: Beginnings, Ceylon Tea Trails, Honeymoon, Sri Lanka 18 CommentsAfter we came back from our honeymoon I think I was probably more excited to write about our amazing time in Sri Lanka than our wedding. Of course I enjoyed our wedding tremendously but to wind down after the pains of wedding planning and to be travelling for the first time as husband and wife was even better!
Being the more detailed and analytical half, I had automatically (and quite delightfully) put myself in charge of the research and itinerary. Each time I sat down and researched the things to see and do in Sri Lanka, I would come out of it more and more excited because there were just so many!
But we only had a week, so we had to choose. After much deliberation, we decided on the Southwest region of Sri Lanka. These were the places we ended up going in our trip:
Our itinerary summarised.
Our first stop was Ceylon Tea Trails. Tea is an integral part of Sri Lanka’s economy (they’re one of the world’s largest exporters of tea) so seeing the tea plantations was a definite must for us. There were many other hotels amidst the plantations, but based on research, Ceylon Tea Trails in Hatton seemed to offer the best experience, and was thus intended to be the highlight of our trip.
Getting there
We arrived at Bandaranayake Airport, Colombo at 1:40 am Sri Lanka time, 10 long hours away from our noon check-in at Ceylon Tea Trails. At the airport we were lucky to have chanced upon a tour agency from which we secured a driver and transport for our entire trip — something we’d left to chance because we didn’t have time to look for one before leaving for Sri Lanka. We told them we wanted to experience Sri Lanka’s famed scenic train rides, so they suggested taking the train from Kandy to Hatton, and that our driver, Pali, would meet us there.
Had we not chanced upon them, we would’ve taken a longer and less scenic route….and probably would’ve gotten lost along the way!
So off we went to Kandy Railway station. We arrived at 5 am, but our train was scheduled to arrive only at 9 am. With time to kill, we went about exploring sleepy Kandy city. We walked along the Kandy Lake, saw the famed Sri Dalada Maligawa Temple (also known as Temple of the Tooth), and experienced Kandy in its bustling Monday morning peak hour rush.
Kandy Railway Station at 5 am. Our ticket counter hadn’t even opened yet!
Met this friendly lil’ Sri Lankan kitty walking along the Kandy lake.
These Sri Lankans definitely didn’t look as solemn as Singaporeans going to work on a Monday morning!
Wanting a more “authentic” Sri Lankan train experience, we bought 2nd class tickets. I imagine 3rd class would’ve been more interesting, but we felt we weren’t “seasoned” enough. Onboard the train, it was a real challenge to stay awake because we hadn’t slept for more than 24 hours since we woke up at noon on departure day!
Onboard the second class Podi Menike train, which was quite clean. There were vendors going up and down the train selling snacks and drinks, and later a group of boys singing and playing instruments, providing entertainment throughout our journey.
With the cool air blowing against my face, it was hard not to fall asleep.
As the train crept up higher, we were presented with views such as this. MasyaAllah! What a reward for fighting to stay awake!
Somewhere in the middle of our 2.5-hour journey, I got paranoid thinking we might’ve have taken the wrong train, or missed our stop. Prior to boarding, we had tried to check how many stops away Hatton was, but nobody seemed sure of what we were asking, or perhaps how to answer. I think in Sri Lanka generally most people can speak English, but the level of proficiency probably differs with the area. In Colombo I found they were very proficient, but not so in Kandy. It actually looked like we were the only foreigners in Kandy up until the arrival of the train — that’s when we finally saw other foreigners boarding.
We tried our luck again on the train, zeroing in on a young Sri Lankan chap sitting opposite us who looked like he might know English. A quick check with him put my worries at ease — we were on the right track!
Ceylon Tea Trails, Hatton
It took us 14 long hours in total (including our 4-hour flight from Singapore to Colombo) to get to Ceylon Tea Trails but once we did, all manners of lethargy vanished — all because of this AMAZING sight:
This was the magical view that greeted us. A slice of heaven on earth!
Having been on the road for so long, we took the first day to rest and just stayed within the bungalow premises, marvelling at the scenery. We learnt that no keys were issued for our room unless requested — this was to make guests feel like they were at home. We were a bit apprehensive about the concept but went along with it, and was later after our stay grateful to find that nothing went missing.
Probably the first to die in cold weather, I was afraid it was going to be cold up in the mountains but it was in fact a cool and relaxing low to mid 20’s deg C during the day, which was just perfect. At night temperatures dropped further — no fans or air-conditioning needed — but nothing thick comfy blankets and lots of cuddles couldn’t solve!
The exterior of the Summerville bungalow.
The spacious interior of our Garnet Suite. No TV here — nature will keep us entertained!
His and hers mirrors — and a stylish clawfoot tub!
Our room opened up to a private lil’ garden. In the mornings we’d wake up to fresh mountain air and birds singing. Absolute bliss.
Lounging in the living room after dinner, discussing our itinerary which initially included venturing out of Ceylon Tea Trails. After having seen the scenery here, we threw that itinerary out the window — we’re staying put!
Day 2
Because Singapore is about 3 hours ahead of Sri Lanka, we found ourselves waking up ridiculously early in Sri Lanka — as early as 5am, which meant we had more time to do stuff and was probably the reason time seemed to go by slower.
On the morning of Day 2 we arranged to go for the Tea Experience, which is a tour of one of the tea factories in the area. The tour takes you on the journey from tea leaf to tea cup — basically showing you how tea is grown, plucked, processed, packed, auctioned and sold. It’s really quite amazing how much work goes into a simple cup of tea! It was somewhat a reminder of how we shouldn’t take even the seemingly simple things in life for granted.
We were glad we went for the Tea Experience early in our stay because through it we had a newfound appreciation for tea, and were able to better appreciate the tea served to us every mealtime — swirling the tea in our mouths a little longer before swallowing — adding to our entire Tea Trails experience.
At the Norwood Tea Factory.
Resident tea planter Andrew Taylor (whose lineage dates back to Sir James Taylor, founding father of Ceylon Tea — how cool is that!) explaining to us that a cup of tea starts with two leaves and a bud.
The morning’s collection of tea leaves coming in to be laid out and dried.
What the interior of the factory looks like.
Ground tea leaves, ready to be packed.
Because at Ceylon Tea Trails you can have your meals pretty much wherever you want, we chose to have our lunch this time at Castlereagh bungalow, another Tea Trails bungalow located across the reservoir from Summerville. We had the option to get there either via tuk-tuk or boat, and without a heartbeat we chose the latter! We’d been marvelling at the view of the reservoir and the mountains beyond it ever since we got here, so deciding to take a boat across was a no-brainer, really.
The husband looking rather nervous about the narrow boat.
Lunch at Castlereagh bungalow. Vegetable broth with a view, how’d ya like that?
One of the activities guests can do at Ceylon Tea Trails is to explore the other bungalows. They’re all preserved colonial bungalows, but each and every one of them has a different interior and character. Guests sometimes plan their stay such that they get to stay in each one of the four bungalows. You could also take a hike/bike up into the tea trails but it rained after lunch and into the evening, so we could do none of those. Instead we ended up taking an extremely satisfying nap in the cool weather, awaking only to have our evening tea and scones by the reservoir.
Having afternoon tea with yummy cakes and scones.
This was at about 5 pm, I think. I can’t believe how mystical this looks — no editing at all! It was so magical to see every time the clouds rolled by!
Day 3
Taken just after sunrise. A sight to behold!
It again rained in the afternoon, and I was starting to feel a little anxious because this was the last day we could go trekking into the tea trails before leaving for Induruwa the next day. Fortunately the rain stopped, and we left almost immediately. Pradeep, the butler, equipped us with some salt to fend off leeches and we were on our way. We only had about two hours before dark, so we had no choice but to go for the shortest trail.
At the start of the trail.
Having a ton of fun even though it’s just the two of us!
The view atop the tea trails.
The way down was steep!
Typically the trail would’ve taken an hour to complete, but because we were stopping every now and then to take pictures, we took almost double the time. The trail back to the bungalow was quite steep — I wonder how we would’ve made it back down if we had chosen to go by bicycle. It was already getting dark and had started to drizzle again, so we had to be extra careful. When we finally made it back to the bungalow, we were so impressed to see Pradeep waiting out on the driveway to receive us with umbrellas! Such sincere service!
I dreaded to take off my shoes because I’d felt something like ant bites and somehow knew I’d find leeches in there. Yet I couldn’t wait to get them off! I was just so grossed out I just froze, and couldn’t bear to look! True enough, Pradeep found THREE leeches stuck to my foot! He had to pepper the bloodsucking leeches with salt before plucking them off of me. Where was Faz in all of this? Laughing at me and videoing my high-pitched squeals, apparently. Pfft.
Sorry to break the flow of beautiful pictures with this pic, but this was one of the leeches that made its way into my shoe. Gross!
Pradeep, trying to get the leeches off. Such a sweet guy he was. We chatted with him later and found out he has a girlfriend he plans to marry. Awww!
Day 4
Three days of bliss had gone by, and the time had come for us to move on to the next leg of our honeymoon in Induruwa. We were sad, but didn’t exactly mind leaving because we were already blessed with an amazing time here at Ceylon Tea Trails.
We didn’t get to check out the other bungalows (except for Castlereagh) because of the weather, but in all honesty we were actually quite contented to have stayed put in Summerville. In our itinerary we had planned trips outside of Ceylon Tea Trails to nearby Kandy, as well as the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage but this place was so beautiful, service top-notch — the butlers were attentive without ever being intrusive, every meal a titillation for the palate that we literally couldn’t bear to tear ourselves away.
Boohoo, last day here! Admiring the scenery for the last time.
I haven’t spoken about the food, have I? Every single gourmet morsel that went into our mouths while we were here was delicious. We had enquired about halal food prior to booking, and while they said it could be arranged, we still chose to stick to seafood just in case. At Ceylon Tea Trails we were served breakfast (you could have it Sri Lankan or English), a 3-course lunch, afternoon tea and cakes, and a 4-course dinner. Our chef would discuss every single meal with us beforehand. He would suggest the menus, but we were free to change it up however we liked. We absolutely loved everything we ate here.
Apparently Sri Lankans are big on bread — there are bakeries everywhere in Sri Lanka! We had freshly baked bread to accompany all our meals, which we found great pleasure in. Who doesn’t love freshly baked bread?
Some Singapore-style food pics to make you salivate:
Breakfast always starts with fruits and freshly squeezed juice!
One of the days that we opted for a Sri Lankan breakfast, which consisted of string hoppers and accompanying condiments. I can’t put my finger on what makes Sri Lankan cuisine different from Indian cuisine, but there definitely is something that sets it apart.
Lunch/dinner always starts with some soup.
…followed by an appetizer. We had requested to have prawns one time and they served us this grilled prawn salad. I love prawns!
Another appetizer we had for dinner. Darn, can’t seem to remember now what was in those parcels….
Mains one day was grilled tuna and cream sauce.
Sri Lankan dinner — a burst of flavours in our mouths! Absolutely delish.
My favourite course of the meal — dessert! Pastry with raspberry filling, with a side of homemade vanilla ice cream.
Poached pear with cinnamon ice cream.
Creme brulee with a mint leaf garnish.
Check-out, as was the check-in, was a breeze — there was nothing we had to fill in or sign, no bills we had to pay because we had paid for our stay in full beforehand, and there were no hidden costs. When we left, all the butlers saw us off, which was a very nice gesture but made leaving a little harder.
With the lovely people who made our stay at Ceylon Tea Trails an experience.
Ceylon Tea Trails was the PERFECT place to spend our honeymoon. We couldn’t have been happier.
The drive back down to ground level took us almost 2.5 hours! We were circling down on narrow, bumpy roads which made Faz feel a little sick, but once we were on the ground he was okay.
Coming up in my next post, Part 2 of our Amazing Sri Lankan Honeymoon!
Amboi Sri Lanka part two
Posted: May 28, 2013 Filed under: Travel | Tags: Honeymoon, Sri Lanka 2 CommentsBefore anyone starts thinking I have bipolar disorder for being angry and clueless in one post and so cheery and forward-looking in another, I was actually in the midst of completing this entry when the Grassroots Club dropped the bomb on us. Since it’s already written, I thought I might as well just publish it because I really did feel happy albeit in a moment that has already passed — but will come again, I’m sure.
In a holiday mood yet again because we just booked our second honeymoon accommodation in Sri Lanka!
For this second accommodation, we were looking out for beachfront hotels so that we could wake up to views of the Indian Ocean.
The Bentota area in Sri Lanka is popular for their beaches, but I couldn’t really find any hotels there that suited my taste. There were lots of beachfront properties with amazing views of the ocean, but none with interiors that blew me away. By the same stroke, the hotels we found with interiors to die for weren’t as close to the beach as we’d hoped.
We did come close to making a reservation for two nights at Paradise Road The Villa Bentota, a gorgeous 19th century property that was converted into Sri Lanka’s first boutique hotel back in the 1970s by the late world-renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa, that recently got refurbished again by Sri Lankan design guru Shanth Fernando.
The hotel compounds
Source: Mr & Mrs Smith
The hotel pool, set against lush greenery and perfectly manicured gardens
Source: Mr & Mrs Smith
Looks so enchanting in the evening!
Source: Mr & Mrs Smith
The hotel lobby
Source: Mr & Mrs Smith
The bedroom lounge
Source: Mr & Mrs Smith
One of their superior rooms
Source: Mr & Mrs Smith
Another superior room, which I think has a nice and cosy beach feel to it
Source: Mr & Mrs Smith
I love the interior of this hotel! It fuses old charm with contemporary design, and the end result is a space that exudes so much character. But then again I may just be biased because I’m a sucker for anything that has a story behind it. You could spin a little history around a product out of thin air and I’d probably buy into it.
This gorgeous property faces the beach, but its rooms don’t open out to the sea. They open out to the gardens, which is really not bad an option, but it’s not what we originally wanted.
Lucky thing we weren’t so quick to settle, because I decided to check out other beaches nearby Bentota, and chanced upon Temple Tree Resort & Spa, Induruwa. Now this became an instant contender because it offered us uninterrupted views of the Indian Ocean!
The facade of Temple Tree Resort & Spa, Induruwa
Source: Book Online 2 Save
The suite. The only difference between this and the standard room is the dining area, but we didn’t need it, so we took the latter.
Source: Book Online 2 Save
The standard room
Source: Book Online 2 Save
The bathroom
Source: Book Online 2 Save
The bathroom also has a round tub also with a view of the Indian Ocean!
Source: Book Online 2 Save
Would you look at that!
Source: Experience Travel Group
The minimalist hotel lobby
Source: Experience Travel Group
Pool and restaurant
Source: Experience Travel Group
Source: Experience Travel Group
The interior is a far cry from that of The Villa Bentota, and is in fact rather basic, but fortunately in a way I thought was tasteful.
For a while we were at a loss with the two options but we slept on it and finally decided after that to go with Temple Tree Resort & Spa. The Villa Bentota is gorgeous, but we just couldn’t pass up on the Indian Ocean. The cheaper option of the two, it just seemed like the more appropriate option since we’ll only be staying in one of the two days anyway.
So two hotels down, one more to go! The last one will be nothing fancy, just a place to crash after shopping in Colombo before we head home (and face reality, ha-ha).
feelingfeelingkawin.wordpress.com 
Recent Comments