Happy Leap Year

Happy 29th February. 

It only happens once in 4 years.

And apparently, woman is allowed to propose to a man on this particular day.

And the tradition goes back to the old Irish legend that says if a man rejects a woman's proposal on this day, he needs to buy her a gift supposedly to be gloves to hide her bare hands without the engagement ring. 

Hmmm...too late to propose now.....

Thean Hou Temple 天后宫

Decided to write something on one of Malaysia's famous temple located in Kuala Lumpur known as Thean Hou. Believe it or not, I had never been in this temple before and the first time was during one of my 'sista' ROM on Chap Goh Meh. Thanks to her who made me waited for an hour for her, I managed to snap some of the very beautiful decorations in the temple. Thean Hou is located near Midvalley and easily accessible via Jalan Syed Putra. Turn into Jalan Robson and go up the hill. Parking here costs RM3.

 

Food to Eat in Shih Lin Night Market, Taipei

Opera going on when we reached Shih Lin night market

The temple in Shih Lin

Temple

Finally, it's the last entry on food in Taiwan. This time, it's all about food in the night market in Shih Lin. Actually, the title kind of misleading as it combines food from Shih Lin night market and also the breakfast shop that we love so much which is nearby to the hotel we stay in XiMenDing, Good Ground Hotel. Not exactly a hotel I would recommend but this shop, I totally recommend it. 

To get to Shih Lin night market, take the MRT and stop at Jian Tan station instead of Shih Lin station.

one of the famous bun

the sesame bun

the famous potato and very long queue too

eating at the road side in Shih Lin

the most spicy curry ever

only Leng can take this

the Japanese restaurant where we had the curry (in XiMenDing)

dessert stall in Shih Lin

our dinner, not too tasty

 The place we had the best breakfast, located in Xi Men Ding near to Good Ground Hotel

If you notice, that most of my food photos were taken from Leng, my travel mate as I was too busy eating than taking shots of the food.

More of must eat night market food in Zi Qiang night market in Hualien and Feng Jia night market in Tai Chung here. 

Paracas National Park @ Lima, Peru

If you think Peru only consists of Machu Picchu, you are totally wrong. At least that's what I thought initially. A bit shallow but hey, that's how I get to know about the amazing country.

On the second day of the tour from Lima to Nazca, we passed by this national park, Paracas by my standards, is very gorgeous. I have yet to see the Twelve Apostles in Melbourne but I believe this is as stunning as that.

Valentine's Day

It's a day to express love.

It's a day where the price of flowers, dinners, chocolates are tripled.

It's a day I used to envy couples being lovey dovey and holding flowers walking around.

But today, this year, it's different. Although I still have to celebrate this day alone, but I am glad that I will have someone to celebrate Valentines, birthdays, new years, and many other days for years to come.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Beitou Hot Spring @ Taipei, Taiwan

Finally we reached

The trip to Beitou hot spring is a short one, just a day trip from Taipei. It's part of our schedule on the same day we head to Yang Ming Shan and Dan Shui. From Yang Ming Shan, we took a bus back to the MRT and took the MRT red line and stopped at Beitou. From the Beitou station, we changed to another line which reached directly to the hot spring at Xin Beitou stop. 

We didnt get to dip our feet at the hot spring as the area for public is closed. Instead we went to the Geothermal Valley and the Beitou Spring Museum which are free admission. 

walking towards the Geothermal valley

So much of smoke

Inside the Beitou spring museum. No shoes are allowed

The Tiger's Nest @ Paro, Bhutan

Tiger's Nest,  Paro

Postcard view

Paro Taksang or more popularly known as the Tiger's Nest is one of the most popular attraction in Paro, Bhutan. Tiger's Nest is nestled up in the mountains among the lush greenery of the forests.

I was quite excited for the hike as it is always been a dream for me to visit this place. A bit of history of the monastery as copied from wikipedia: (I only remembered our guide, Namgay told us about the flying tigress part)

According to the legend related to this Taktsang, it is believed that Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) flew to this location from Tibet on the back of a tigress from Khenpajong. This place was consecrated to tame the Tiger demon.

An alternative legend holds that a former wife of an emperor, known as Yeshe Tsogyal willingly became a disciple of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambahva) in Tibet. She transformed herself into a tigress and carried the Guru on her back from Tibet to the present location of the Taktsang in Bhutan. In one of the caves here, the Guru then performed meditation and emerged in eight incarnated forms (manifestations) and the place became holy. Subsequently, the place came to be known as the “Tiger's Nest”

More picturesque view

For our 5 days 4 nights visit to Bhutan, we allocated one day for this place as the hike up to the Monastery takes about 1 hour for our guide but for us, we took 1 1/2 hours. The 'credit' goes to Namgay who volunteered to carry one of my friend's backpack so that she can walk faster!

XS climbing from behind

Finally we made it!!

The view is amazing

We started the hike early in the morning to avoid the sunny hot weather of Bhutan. I still remembered when I browse through all the forums and guide books online and discovered that August is not the best time to visit Bhutan due to the monsoon season from June to September. However, we were quite lucky as there were no rain and instead it was scorching hot, even hotter than Tibet!

There's a rest house halfway through the hike and we were very excited to see the monastery. After resting for half an hour, we resume our hike and finally reached the monastery. A long and tiring hike turn into excitement as we were rewarded with the majestic view of Taksang. It is simply too beautiful to describe in words.  Bags, cameras and handphones are not allowed in  the monastery and there's even a policeman located at the Tiger's Nest.

We spend some time at the monastery listening to stories told by Namgay. He had actually hike the Tiger's Nest numerous time, almost once a week! No wonder, he didn't even break a sweat when hiking up the mountain. He also mention that once he had to help his friend carry a Japanese guy who died in the middle of the hike.

After listening to his stories, we hike back down to the rest house for some refreshments and food!

Greenery along the hike

On the way down

Lanterns

Lanterns at Kek Lok Si

All red in Thean Hou temple

Happy Chap Goh Meh to everyone!  Last day of CNY, as well as, the Chinese Valentine's day.

A day for girls to throw oranges into the river/lakes/ocean/anything watery to wish for love.

Anyway enjoy some pictures of lanterns I took while in Kek Lok Si, Penang and Thean Hou temple. Just love the colours and the composition..haha (ok , I am kind of self praising my skills again)

Fireworks

One of the greatest perks of staying in a condo is that I get to view many many fireworks at one go especially during festive season.

This time, it happened during the ninth day of the Chinese New Year, also known Pai Tin Kung for the Hokkien. I think it is more happening that the new year's eve itself. 

The fireworks lasted for 2 hours until 2am. Since I cant sleep, might as well I enjoy the view.