Last Commented Travel Blogs (264)

I'm deviating from my usual entries of interest. This blog is inspired by the show I was watching last night. About the best yet economical places in the world to experience a remarkable and memorable vacation spot without breaking the bank.

I would want everyone to participate where they've been and why they recommend it? Doesn't have to be outside of their own country yet it's very beautiful and worth seeing?

Anyone? Thanks all for your reads and comments and contributions fellow citizens of CS.

Note: A friend who's never been out of Australia always go to the same place during his vacations. He's well off so it's not a matter of money. Well he hates flying but his response whenever I ask him is this: "Why would I go anywhere, the water in my place (Port Stephens), is the same. The weather would be the same, so why bother going so far away when here's a perfect place."

I've traveled in many places but not in South America, or Africa yet and my bucket lists includes Machu Pichu, and the Amazon.

Please share us your most desired place you've been into or even still planning to go to.

Thanks again.

Well figured I should start blogging to see if I can gather information on my upcoming travel venture. I am headed to Arizona sometime in Dec. Crossing over from Canada and hoping to spend a few days in Nashville. Has anybody got an advice about what I really should see and also what are the best places to eat other words where can I get the best bang for my buck seeing my buck is looking sad compared to the US$. I will be driving.

Good morning my cs family

I need some info .

Does anyone know if Asian countries issue something like schengen visa?

Then I travel to exotic civilization.
"When I breeze into that city
People gonna scrape and bow.
All the women gonna want me
Teach em what they don't know how..."

- The proper Way to Wear an Abaya and Veil
- Care and Maintenance of the Burqa
- Basic Black for Every Occasion.
- How to Make Cocktails From Common Kitchen Products.

holiday thailand

surf at own risk

I worked in Singapore in the early 90's. Vibrant city but it has become a very expensive place to live in ( For the fourth year running, the Republic has been ranked the most expensive city for expatriates and business travellers, ahead of Hong Kong and Zurich, according to a bi-annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)- published in March 21, 2017 )

Recently went back there for a couple of days. There's always one thing that I'd do whenever I'm at the 'Little Red Dot'.......devouring their yummy 'Hainanese Chicken Rice' !

Tian Tian has been voted as the best chicken rice hawker stall in Singapore by local foodies. Anthony Bourdain, an American celebrity chef, host of Travel Channel’s culinary, has reported that “Chicken rice is so fragrant and delicious that it can be eaten on its own”.

There's a long queue always!







I've always preferred the 'roasted' version



than, the 'poached' version, which is of course the healthier version!



This is how a typical outdoor food court all over Singapore looked like



My favourite stop after a meal, cut fruits!



Met up with a long-time Malaysian girlfriend who is now a Singapore citizen and we had afternoon tea at the 57th level of The Marina Bay Sands ( MBS )



MBS has the best infinity pool on the 57th floor.





They even have grown trees up there! Fancy being in a jacuzzi admist the trees?





I looked down and saw 'Gardens by the Bay', a top attraction in Singapore which features the world’s largest glass greenhouse, the Flower Dome – an impressive 1.28 hectares of flowers under glass.



The formidable MBS at night when we were approaching it


Pic from the internet, MBS at daytime


Meeeee!!!! That's the Fullerton Hotel located near the mouth of the Singapore River, in the background

I also introduced my gaggles of girlfriends to Art. They were dying to meet him after hearing so many stories about him. There was only one problem though...........none of them except one, could utter a word of English and to make matter worse, Art couldn't converse in Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese or even the Malay language!

Outside of our favourite Chinese restaurant where my girlfriends and I always dined whenever I'm in town.



Chicken drizzled with orange sauce



Mantis shrimp with spring onions



Home-made tofu



Spicy Fish ( we asked the head to be excluded coz we did not want to traumatize our special guest )



Wong Tai Miu ( direct tanslation- King Vegetable Shoot ) with egg gravy



The most expensive dish on the table that were consisted of sea cucumber ( yummy!! ), fish maw, scallop, abalone, mushroom and squid.




Art was of course thrilled with our choices................NOT!

He was a hit with my girlfriends though...



Notice the empty dishes? My hungry girlfriends and I cleared up everything in sight! Errr....except the scallop shell





Walking back to the car ...................with my poor Art's tummy growling




Earlier in the day.......

Stopped by at my hometown's landmark, a leaning Pagoda-like tower that was built in 1885.



Local cops were intrigued by his presence in such a small town and asked to have pics taken with him. The first thing he asked them was, " Do you want me in handcuffs? " Cops didn't get his joke



Right after this pic was taken and when we were about to leave, they told us to wait a little while longer coz there were more cops ( like 15 of 'em? ) that wanted to have their pics taken with Art! Art had his 5-mins of fame and also had a taste of what it is like to be a 'celebrity'! I didn't have that pic in my phone coz I was roped in to be in the pic as well. My mission now is to retrieve that pic by going to the police station back in my hometown!

Art go bananas over bananas!



Art trying Chinese sweet tofu pudding or doufu hua for the first time and decided he didn't like it. He doesn't like anything 'tofu'



Art showed this pic to his family members and told them this is his 'MiMi' selling jackfruits He sure likes to jack around!



Oh! Wanna know what was his best purchase throughout his whole trip here?

Back-scratcher!



He nowadays Skypes with me while scratching his back ( effortlessly! )

Maratika Tour is a Buddhist pilgrimage tour. Maratika cave is situated in the eastern part of Nepal namely in Khotang district. In and around the Maratika cave, there are other caves around and all of them are quite sacred, holly and blessed by the enlightened personalities like guru Padmashambhava, Amitayush Buddha and Abhilokiteshwor.
Since Banepa Bardibas road connection makes great accessible to khotang, it is now quite easy to travel by road from Kathmandu to maratika. It is even easy now since the motor- able bridge has been built in the jayaramghat above the Koshi River.
Maratika cave history and/or maratika cave biography goes this way from the spiritual point of view according to Buddhism:- maratika Cave and maratika monastery (Maratika is also known Haleshi ) are located in Khotang District in Nepal, circa 185 km south west of Mount Everest. It is a very sacred site of pilgrimage associated with Mandarava, Padmasambhava and longevity. Mandarava and Padmasambhava realised a number of terma that had been elementally encoded as terma in Maratika Cave by Dakini Sangwa Yeshe, terma that number among the longevity teachings of Buddha Amitabha and given to Bodhisattva Avalokiteswara. At Maratika Cave, Mandarava and Padmasambhava attained the Vidyadhara of longevity or long life. That is why it is believed that visiting to Maratika cave grants long life to the visitors.
Distance from Kathmandu to halesi mahadev or Maatika Cave is 260 kilo meter and it takes around 10 hours and need to hire a 4WD jeep since 30 kilometers road is not that good from jayaramghat. Kathmandu to halesi by road used to be difficult at the past but not anymore now.
Maratika Cave Tour for long life can be done in 5 days but if you want to make your tour a bit longer and want to visit other sacred Buddhist places in Nepal then you can join a tour called Maratika Namobuddha Lumbini Tour which allows to visit other famous Buddhist places including the birth palce of lord Buddha organized by Nepal tours.
Example outline itinerary of Maratika Tour.
Day 1, Arrive in Nepal and transfer to Hotel.
Day 2, Drive with 4WD jeep to Maratika 10 hours/260 kilometers.
Day 3, Puja, sighseeing and meditation in Maratika and other caves.
Day 4, Maratika to Kathmandu by the same Jeep.
Day 5, Departure.

selfie 2............