Travel information to Seoul, Korea

Have you booked your ticket to SEOUL, the soul city of Asia? Or are you still struggling on picking up one of those cheap tickets offered by AirAsia to Seoul because it's kind of troublesome to update the dates and check the price?

You'll simply love this~ Oh... Don't kiss me for telling you this. =P
Check out AirAsia Price Chart here!

Or redirect to your latest favorite destination here - Seoul!

Good things are meant to be shared. And it's great to get the overview of the flight cost in just a glance. More and more of my friends are using it.

Talking about South Korea, I've been there years ago, just once, but it was nevertheless the most memorable one in my life (experience during uni days). There are too much to be described and said over here. You read it. =) I hope you can read Mandarin, else you can use the Google translation software on the right sidebar.
Seoul...soul of Asia
SEOUL's Best 100 - Daylight in Seoul (#1-8)
SEOUL's Best 100 - Daylight in Seoul (#9-18)
Korea, the beginning of my travel chronicles
出国第一章：韩国 （游山玩水记）Expedition
出国第一章：韩国 （踏步韩国大学）Visiting Universities of South Korea
出国第一章：韩国（秋天的邂逅之首尔闲游）Touring around Seoul

For girls, come back from Seoul with the experience as a Korean beauty:
A Guide to Korean Women’s Beauty Secrets Part.1: Spas
A Guide to Korean Women’s Beauty Secrets Part.2: Jjimjilbang

And a little something more on South Korea - my idol RAIN!
Rain's Coming World Tour Concert (27/1/07)

If you need help or information of South Korea, add me in my FB fans page and drop a message in Wall Post. I'll try my best to answer.

Last but not least, have a great trip to Seoul!

Baby and I at Namsan Seoul Tower.

Tulou: Walking into Living Homes

By Janice Au

This part of China was never on the list of holiday ideas at the time until its now-famous Fujian Tulou (Chinese: 福建土樓) was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Driven by curiosity I decided to have a look at these strange constructions that were once mistaken as traces of UFO on our planet. Well, perhaps this itself was a story created by some business-minded people to boost tourism, I was one of those who were fascinated by the idea and decided to spend my precious holiday there in the mountainous region of Fujian, China.

The coach journey was an adventure itself. My coach could barely fit in those bumpy, narrow and often curvy roads. At the time, the region was not nearly ready for a huge travel coach or stream of visitors, which was good. I got to enjoy the privilege of walking around those largely unspoiled villages. Sad to say though, at the time I could already see signs of the place being commercialized; shops selling typical souvenirs like postcards, snow globes and travel guides.

Each of the tulou was like a little city itself, with its own living area and community. In the ‘King of Tulou’ there were a total of 370 rooms! The local guide told me that at its peak there were 80 families living in this one single tulou. I was simply amazed by the magnificent structure of this circular building and how it could accommodate hundreds of people, given that they were built almost 1,000 years ago when multi-storey buildings were not at all common.

I could actually walk into the living homes of villagers. Only the ground floor of any tulou was opened for tourists, the upper floors were the villagers’ homes. The buildings were still occupied by families, even when it was at the same time open to visitors. This was perhaps what fascinated me most. Tulou was not just a historical relic, but living homes of villagers that I could step into and get a taste of their lives. It was not like visiting an old Roman theatre that had been abandoned for years or some constructions that were historically significant during the WWII. In some parts of the buildings I could actually see villagers on their day-to-day living state: some cooking with the very traditional kitchenware, some hanging laundry out on the balcony.

I was asked a few times why I would take a trip to a place as undeveloped and rural as that. What instantly sprang to mind was a quote by Paul Theroux: ‘The fact that few people go there is one of the most persuasive reasons for travelling to a place.’
 I guess it explains why.

Check out Janice’s travel blog Wide World, Little Places or follow her on Facebook

http://www.wideworldlittleplaces.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wide-World-Little-Places/109069755803716

Top 10 Things to Do in Vang Vieng, Northern Laos

by our guest blogger, Elaine Chung

Vang Vieng is a town built for backpackers. If you take tourism away, the town will lose its energetic soul. Vang Vieng (4 hours from Vientiane) has become a pit stop for backpackers who are heading to Luang Prabang. This town is generally known for its “happy” pizzas, booze and party. Apart from that, here are a list of things you can do and find in Vang Vieng.

1) Tubing. If you only have limited time to spare, I reckon river tubing along Nam Song since this is one of the popular activity among backpackers. You can read more about tubing here.

2) Caving. There are a few caves to explore, you can hire tuk-tuk to bring you around.

3) Kayaking along Nam Song. If you are fit enough and up for the challenge, you can take a one day trip kayak from Vang Vieng to Vientiane. Otherwise, a short kayak along Nam Song is sufficient.

4) If you want more of outdoor activities, buzz one of the many tour operators lining up in town for rock climbing, biking and trekking tour packages.

5) Party. There are lots of bars in town especially along Old Market Riverside Road. Loud music, whiskey bucket (mixture of Tiger Whiskey, Coke, Red Bull, lime, lemon juice, honey and ice) and beer lao all night long.

6) Chill out at one of the restaurant while enjoying (if not annoyed) by the endless re-runs of Friends and Family Guy. You pick your restaurant based on Friends or Family Guy preference, period.

7) Hammock is a common sight especially at the guesthouse. If you’re a hammock person just like me, this is a good place to spend a quiet afternoon with a good book to keep you company.

8 ) Local fishermen can be seen along Nam Song with fishing nets. Casting fishing nets required a lot of skills and it isn’t easy as it seems. If you’re lucky, they might ask you to give it a try.

9) To witness a typical routine by mostly women and children, head up to Old Market Riverside Road for the morning market at 7am.

10) Head to Norkeo for Lao food. The typical sticky rice, grilled fish/chicken/beef without any TV (Friends or Family Guy re-runs) insight.

For more interesting trails in Asia, check out Elaine's website - Trail of Asia

The ‘Where are you from?’ Culture

Istanbul is no doubt a great place for shopping. Have a walk in the Grand Bazaar, a virtual labyrinth of fascinating shops; it’s easy to be drawn by the carpets, copper and brassware, jewelry and all kinds of ceramics.

Hmm, no. My story is not titled ‘Shopping in Istanbul’. I’m more interested in people.

It didn’t take long for me to realize this special and interesting culture of Turkish shopkeepers: the ‘Where are you from?’ culture.

The day I arrived in Istanbul I was told that shopkeepers there like to ask that question (if not a little obsessed with it), and no matter what country you answer they will tell you they have a close relative living there, very close to you. I had no idea how true that piece of information was as I’d just arrived in the city. I started wandering around touristy places and reached the Grand Bazaar. I was fascinated by the nicely arranged shops and the colorful ceramics. I stopped at one or two of the atmospheric little shops, was asked where I was from, but didn’t pay much attention to that until I reached this carpet shop.

The shopkeeper started by quite an odd opening, ‘Your eyes are tired.’

Feeling a bit puzzled, I stopped.

‘You’ve seen too many carpets, your eyes are tired.’

‘Ah, yes, quite.’ I was just trying to give the desired answer; I hadn’t seen any carpet at all.

‘Where are you from?’

‘Canada,’ said my partner.

‘Oh, my wife is from Canada,’ he said with that look as if he’d just found a long lost friend. ‘What about you, lady?’

‘Hmm, Hong Kong.’

‘My wife’s sister is now living in Hong Kong!’ The way he responded gave me the impression that I was only given a standard response. If I said ‘Taiwan’ his wife’s sister would have been living in Taiwan; or if I said ‘Japan’, then the response would have been rephrased with Japan.

The rest of the conversation was all about his carpet shop, where the carpets were from, how they were made and such. I didn’t pay much attention, as I was still amused by his response, remembering what I was told when I arrived.

As we kept walking around the Bazaar, we saw so many more shopkeepers who asked just this very same question, ‘Where are you from?’ Quite predictably, a lot of them had some brothers, sisters, nephews, or uncles living very close to us. I couldn’t understand why, but instead of finding it annoying, we found it quite amusing. Each time we were asked that question by a new shopkeeper we exchanged smile as if we were saying, ‘Hee, another one!’ Sometimes we would even prepare a surprising answer to see how they would respond.

We didn’t count how many times we were asked that question, but we would definitely have failed and lost count if we had tried.

Things were pretty much the same in other parts of Turkey.

In Antalya, even the restaurants asked the same question. Each time we walked past an eating-place the friendly waiters would rush to us and show us each item on their menu. In the conversations, they never forgot to ask where we were from.

I remember this one restaurant just at the entrance of the old town. We were not interested in the place, but were stopped by a very talkative waiter. As expected he began by asking that question, we didn’t answer. He continued promoting his restaurant. Still, we were not interested, so we said ‘Thank you’ and walked away. As we walked, we heard the fading voice of the waiter, asking, ‘Where are you from? Hey, where are you from?’ I couldn’t help but feel really puzzled this time. Why was he so interested in asking that, even if we were walking away, obviously not interested in what he was selling?

If I was to write a list of fun memories of my trip to Turkey, ‘Where are you from?’ would no doubt be the top of it. I’d never answered that question so many times in my life, come to think of it.

Check out Janice’s blog Wide World, Little Places or follow her on Facebook

http://www.wideworldlittleplaces.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wide-World-Little-Places/109069755803716

10 things you must do in Langkawi

1. Take a cable car ride up Gunung Mat Cincang and walk the suspension bridge

2. Enjoy a candle light dinner at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club

3. Go island hopping – Pulau Beras Basah, Pulau Tasik Dayang Bunting, eagle feeding

4. Buy a snorkeling day trip to Pulau Payar and swim with the black tip sharks

5. Buy chocolate and drink alcohol like nobody’s business

6. If affordable, rent a chalet by the tranquil seaside of Pantai Kok; else enjoy your stay at the busy seaside of Pantai Cenang

7. Visit the Underwater World of Langkawi and find out how Tun Dr Mahathir brought back the 2 species of penguins to Malaysia

8. Visit Galeria Perdana to know more about the life of our respected ex-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir

9. Eat seafood!

10. Take a mangrove tour in the fishing boat, enjoy the picturesque archipelago coastline, and bedazzled~