Let\’s Visit Asia

July 30th, 2008

Let’s Visit Asia’s Travels Stops Here

b5media has decided to retire this blog and it is with a heavy heart that I write this last entry for Let’s Visit Asia. After three years (yes, LVA is one of the oldest blogs in the network, older than even b5media itself!), this blog has accumulated lots of information and tips about traveling in Asia and I hope that LVA’s archives will continue to be a source of valuable information for you.

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing for Let’s Visit Asia and and getting to know many fellow travelers along the way. I hope that doesn’t end with LVA’s retirement: if you find yourself in my part of the globe some time in the future, do drop me a note and perhaps we can catch up offline!

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July 26th, 2008

Melaka Travel Video

Out of a gazillion travel videos in YouTube, there’s not a lot that’s fun to watch. Here’s one that’s looks professionally edited, featuring the best of Melaka, Malaysia in just about 6 minutes:

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July 24th, 2008

Navigating Local Eats in Tokyo

Japanese cuisine is more than just sushi and sashimi. If you’re headed to Tokyo anytime soon and fancy a degustation of local flavors, check out this ABC article for some ideas on what to expect.

Once the menu is presented, the strange and often thrilling journey outside the comfort zone begins. Though Japanese cuisine is based on the familiar — rice, noodles, soups, tofu, fish, livestock — it also appears to embrace most of the other creatures that inhabit the region, with the exception of Hello Kitty. About 450 types of seafood are sold at the city’s Tsukiji fish market, the main restaurant supplier, and chefs aren’t shy about serving up their odder parts, such as abalone liver, fugu fins and those squid guts.

“One of the interesting things about living in Japan is that you end up eating things you have no idea what it is, so you just have to go with it,” Spreckley says. “As long as you view it as a constant adventure, it can be fun. Things change all the time.”

Of course, for more enlightenment and ideas on what you should look out for and which you should better not dare try, head on for more Tokyo eats at the Tokyo Traveler.

Photo Credit: Gustty

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July 24th, 2008

Thai Budget Airline One-Two-Go Suspends Operations

If you check the website of the Thailand-based budget airline One-Two-Go, this is the message that will greet you:

Dear Valued Passengers

We would like to inform you that during 22 July 2008 – 15 September 2008 we are operating a reduced schedule.

We apologize for any inconvenience to your travel plan and thank you for your kind understanding.

One-Two-Go Airlines.

The reports that are circulating, however, say something different. According to Bangkok Post, the 56-day grounding is due to “mounting cost pressures spurred by ballooning oil prices, fierce competition from rival airlines, falling domestic passenger demand and the poor business outlook”. Bloomberg confirms that the suspension in operations is a financial move.

However, another report in Bangkok Post says there is another reason for the suspension:

The Civil Aviation Department has ordered One-Two-Go airlines to halt operations for 30 days due to substandard operations and revoked or suspended the flying licences of nine of its pilots.

The department had found shortcomings in the airline’s aviation operations, flight schedules and maintenance, along with a lack of quality assurance.

The low-cost airline had violated aviation safety regulations and lacked proper airline management.

Now that, coupled with financial issues, would make it tremendously difficult for One-Two-Go to make it back in the scene!

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July 23rd, 2008

Increase in Fuel Surcharges

I was surfing around for cheap airfare deals for November and noticed that I’m still able to see the kind of airfares I was seeing a few months ago. I thought this a bit strange, considering the skyrocketing fuel prices of late. It was when I got to the page indicating the total amount I need to pay that my jaw dropped: the tax and fuel surcharge fees cost more than the seat itself!

Now I understand how airlines can advertise that they haven’t increased airfares, and in fact are still offering discounted fares. As usual, the trick is in the small print: plus taxes and surcharges.

Considering the trend in fuel prices is going, I wonder, are we seeing the end of real low-cost travel?

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July 23rd, 2008

Seoul Food

Much as I love food and trying out new tastes, I must admit I am quite wary of trying out dishes that are totally unfamiliar to me. I can’t count the number of times I’ve ordered (more like pointed out to) something on the menu, imagining how it tastes like, and ending up quite frustrated cause it was nothing like what I expected. I’ve had so many bloopers of blindly ordering something I don’t know, and I just end up wasting money and sometimes disappointing the cook or wait staff.

If you’re headed to Korea, make sure you read Matt’s experience of South Korean local cuisine, as he spends a spent a week “eating the weird and the wild, the tasty and the comforting, and, more than once, the sublime”.

Read his experience from his NY Times report.

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July 22nd, 2008

Singapore Food Festival 2008

Singaporean cuisine, being a fusion of Indian, Malay and Chinese cooking, is possibly the most diverse in flavors among Asian cuisines. If you’re in the island over the weekend, it’s the perfect time to sample local cuisine as the Singapore Food Festival comes to a close.

Here are the Top 10 Must-Try Dishes:

1. Chili Crab
2. Rojak
3. Hainanese Chicken Rice
4. Bak Kut Teh
5. Satay
6. Char Kway Teow
7. Fried Carrot Cake (no, there’s no carrots in there at all)
8. Fish Head Curry
9. Roti Prata
10. Laksa

For tourists, just present your passport to any of the Singapore Visitors’ Centres (located at the airport, Orchard Road, Little India, and Suntec) and you get a Singapore Food Sampler vouchers for a FREE portion of any three local delights.

Image: Screenshot from the Singapore Food Festival Website

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July 20th, 2008

Singapore Sun Festival

A festival also held in Napa and Tuscany, this premier arts and lifestyle festival will also be held in Singapore for the second time.

From 17 – 26 October 2008, embark on an exciting journey to celebrate the Art of Living Well through over 90 premium lifestyle and arts events encompassing Music, Visual Arts, Literature, Film, Wine, Cuisine and Wellness. Join over 250 artists, musicians, chefs, writers and celebrities at various beautiful locations along the Singapore River and Marina Bay throughout the 10 days.

Check out the calendar of events and ticketing details from their official website. If you book until end of July, you can get early bird discounts!

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July 19th, 2008

Little Jet Set: Stuff for Traveling Kids

There are a gazillion of travel websites out there for various destinations and all types of travelers, but being a mom of two little travelers, I’m glad to have stumbled into the Little Jet Set, an online shop for toys, gadgets, clothing and other gear for little jetsetters. According to their founders:

Based on our own travel experiences and extensive research, we are certain that the items we offer are the best in each of their respective categories. We spend considerable time carefully selecting thoughtfully designed and well constructed products that appeal to various ages and interests and that respond to the travel needs of today’s families.

From the website, you can shop for kid travel stuff by category, by brand or by price. You can also shop by age, too (the link is easy to miss if you go to the website).

So the next time your kids ask, “Are we there yet?”, what are you going to whip up?

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July 19th, 2008

Resorts World Sentosa, July 2008

A friend of mine emailed some illustrations of the future casino currently under construction in Sentosa Island in Singapore, set to open early in 2010. I can’t post them here as I can’t trace the origins and provide credit, but they are basically the same as those featured in the headers of the Resorts World Sentosa website.

I am awed at those illustrations, not just with the sheer expanse and attractions planned, but mainly because it’s blows my mind that something so extraordinary and sophisticated can rise from a site that currently looks like this:

This photo is from my personal collection, taken last July 16 from the Tiger Sky Tower. Bordering the huge construction site is the Sentosa express snaking between the mainland and Sentosa island, and on the upper left corner, you can see a glimpse of the Singapore central business district.

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