Have a cup of tea in Uji

Uji River. Any picture is better with sakura in it. Uji, Japan. April 2013.

If you eat enough Japanese snacks and candy, you must have came across this town’s name already. Since there are tons of green tea flavored snacks said to be using green tea from Uji. So after spending a few hours at the Fushimi Inari Shine in the morning, I hopped on the local train to spend my afternoon in the small town of Uji and ate the most awesome green tea ice-cream ever. 

Oh deeeeeeeeers

Lots of deers at Nara Park, Japan. April 2013.

During my recent visit to Kyoto, I made two day trips out of the city. One is the tea capital Uji and the other one is the awesome Nara. There isn’t a lot of interesting sight in Nara for me, as I’m already overdosed on temples and shrines. However, the free roaming deers definitely caught my attention. Come on, where else you can see tons of deers chilling out in a park under cherry blossom?

A little story at Dubai airport

I traded New York City with sweets and a silver box in Dubai. Aug 2012.

Here is a little story to tell, before I start the long process of blogging my recent trip to Europe covering Munich, Salzburg and Barcelona.

4 years ago, when I moved out of the Unites States, it wasn’t the happiest moment of my life. I always try to hold on to something from the live I have in New York. So I put a 50 USD bill in my wallets and walk around Hong Kong with me. Even I know it won’t have much use in here, and I risk losing it. However It did make me happy whenever I open up my purse and see that 50 USD I earned in New York, it brought out lots of fond memory.

B&B experience in Geneva *New York*

I’d trade a generic hotel stay for a night in this homey B&B in a heart beat!

Unless you’re paying over 100 Euro per night, a hotel experience is very likely to be……let’s say not special. Even paying with that price, you might still have to stay with some boringly tired looking hotel room that screams “renovations”. How to stretch your money on the road? One of the things I do is to stay at Bed & Breakfast. (ok, I also do hostels and short term apartments rental, but that’s for another story)

Colourful Taiwanese temple with dandelion juice

Entrance plate of Mengjia Longsha Temple in Taipei, Taiwan. Jun 6, 2011.

Before leaving Taipei, I had a few hours to do some last minute sight seeing. Mengjia Longsha Temple was he perfect choice for me, as it was easy to get to by metro, and I was curious to see how different this Chinese temple was, compare to those I saw everyday back home.

The skiing rat

My first snow angel. Brighton, Utah. February 2008

One day, I got a phone call from my sister saying that she and her friend were planning for a ski trip to Brighton, Utah. I had never skied before, but I heard there were a few newbies in the group too. So I bought ski pants and jacket, and flied over to Salt Lake City to join them. What’s better than renting a cabin up in the snowy mountain for a week with a group of friends, and glide down the slope every day?

Summer trip

Apparently it’s time for a summer trip! Although work has been busy for the past two months, I managed to find the time and plan for my up-coming trip. Spain is never really on the top of my list of country to visit. However, as a friend of mine is getting married in Alcoy (Spain), and I’m invited. Therefore, this country just bumped herself up to my next-to-visit!

Fortified castle in Fougères

Lovely view of the Chateau de Fougères seen from the Jardin Public in Fougères, France. May 24, 2010.

If you ever need a break from the grandeur of Versailles or the lavish decor in any chateaux in the Loire Valley, then, Brittany is quite the right place to explore. There are a number of old towns that keeps it’s medieval charm, and we decided to stop by Fougeres after visiting the romantic Mont Saint Michel. We made a stop at the tourist office in the town centre, and we were recommended to walk up and through a park in order to reach the castle. It was a little hike, but we did get a very nice view over the castle.