BigWorldAndSmallWorld Blog

When I think about Singapore, I will for sure think about the Jewel, the largest indoor water fall at Changi Airport and Merlion Park. They are Singapore’s icons. I was lucky to see them firsthand when I attended ITB Asia travel trade show just a week ago. I also went to Haji Lane where colorful Arabic style shops and a mosque are located. I also had the pleasure walking around the beautiful Botanic Garden for 1.5 hours in the morning and saw a scary creature walking on the road.

One of my favorites is Gardens by the Bay and the huge SkyTree. The view there was awesome. I also liked Clarke Quay, a colorful river side along Singapore River with high-end shops and restaurants.

I stayed at a hotel in city center. However it was just a street away from Chinatown. This way I got to enjoy many delicious foods at a few hawker centers on a low budget. This worked out really well for me. If you like food, you will for sure like Singapore.

At the travel trade show, I had a good time walking around the exhibition floors and listening to some industry talks. I also met some wonderful local tour operators and even took a picture with very tall Kazakhstan men in costumes. The conference was held at the famous Marina Sands Bay Convention Center. Of course I had a quick glance of the fancy Marina Sands Bay shopping center; it even has boat rides in the middle of the shops like Venus.

Last but not the least is how I get around Singapore? I bought a 3-day tourist pass which allowed me unlimited rides on public transportations such as MRT and bus. MRT was easy ride because it was clearly marked and announced at each station in English. However bus was not that easy because there was no announcement nor had any electronic signs to look at on some of the buses. Luckily I did my homework before hand, after I booked the hotel I know where I stay, I looked on Google map for how to get to the place I wanted to go from my hotel. Google map is good, it tells how many stops you will ride on MRT or bus and how far you will walk to your destination in distance and minutes. It even tells if it is by MRT at which station to get on or off and exit at which exit, so convenient!

After land tour, we took a Celestyal 4-night Cruise to Mykonos, Patmos, Rhodes, Santorini and Crete.

Rhodes is one of the most beautiful islands in Greece. Acropolis of Lindos is a fascinating archaeological ruin, standing over 100 meters above the sea and overlooking gorgeous beaches and waters. This magnificent palace was built between 10th and 4th centuries BC for Greek God Athena. I was amazed by its grandeur.

The Colossus of Rhodes is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Across where the ship docked, there is a medieval castle. The strong wall of the castle stretched 2.5 miles long, amazing!

I was looking forward to Patmos to see St. John’s cave. It did not disappoint me. Even though it was not allowed taking photos inside the cave, seeing the actual cave where John lived was like a dream. It was here John saw a vision and heard Jesus speaking to him, thus he wrote the Revelation. The monastery built on top of the cave was nice. We didn’t climb the many stairs to St. John’s Church; instead we drove by and saw the church from a distance.

Patmos is the smallest Greek island. On the island, we visited a 400-year-old house. From the window of the house, we can see a nice view outside. The most interesting thing walking through the alleyways was seeing different kinds of hands on the doors. The guide told us man could tell from the door’s hand whether the hostess was married or not because the hand on door showed wearing a ring or not.

Santorini is the island we had high expectation. We took the excursion package where a bus took us from the ship dock to the most northern village of Oia. When we arrived at Santorini around 4pm in early April, it was perfect weather not too hot not too cold, and the best of all not too many people. Seeing postcard-like scenery, taking many pictures of the azure seas, caldera landscape and white and blue houses, and sitting on a bench to relax and enjoy the moment was a truly satisfying experience. Many people came to Oia to see sunset, it was absolutely stunning.

The day we arrived at Mykonos we met a hurricane with strong winds and heavy rain. The port was closed due to safety reason. It was unfortunate but we were glad we were safe.

Crete is the largest island. There was not much to see there other than a market place to shop.

Even though we went to Turkey’s Ephesus, because this was the second time I visited Ephsus, I am not going to repeat what I have already blogged in my Turkey trip blog. However we visited a fancy Turkish carpet place.

Last but not the least, Celestyal cruise’s food was good. You can eat buffet all three meals or you can order from a menu at supper time.

I had a wonderful 12-day Greece tour with 4-night Iconic Cruise to Greek Islands in March. The land tour only covered a very small part of Greece, see the map where the tour route is circled in black.

Athens has some historic landmarks dated back to 5th century BC, including but not limited to Syntagma Square, the Temple of Zeus, the Panathenaic Stadium, and the Acropolis. Throughout Greece, you will see several Acropolises. Acropolis in Greek means “high city”. At Athens’ Acropolis, I saw the beautiful Temple of Athena, amazing tall remains of Parthenon and a fantastic panorama view of Athens.

After Acropolis, we had some free time to wonder around the Plaka (the city center) on our own. At the foot of Acropolis cave, we ran into a nicely located restaurant and had a very tasty lunch.

In the evening, we went up the Lycabettus Hill. Even though it was a cloudy day, we did not see the sunset as planned, but we saw the breathtaking view of Athens light-up.

We passed the narrow but deep Corinth Canal to Peloponnese Peninsular. I was amazed by the pre-historic Mycenae culture, a cone-shaped tomb and ancient ruins. At Epidaurus, I liked the 2300-year-old open-air outdoor theater a lot. It combines perfect mathematic proportion with excellent acoustics. Everyone no matter where one sits in the theater can hear the sound at that time, how amazing!

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Even though the Statue of Zeus is no longer there, the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Hera, exercise gym, torch-lit station, sacrificial altar and game stadium ruins still can be seen at Olympia. Imagine tens of thousands people sitting on the grass watching the ancient Olympic (776BC-393AD) games, what wonderful experience that was!

Driving through the scenic Arkadian Mountains, we arrived at a picturesque mountain town Arachova. It was nice having some free time to walk around and take some beautiful pictures.

Setting on Mount Parnassus lays Delphi, the home to the most famous Oracle and the Temple of Apollo. In ancient times it was considered the Navel of the Earth. According to mythology, this was the place where the four eagles of Zeus met after they were released from the four corners of the world. The hotel we stayed at Delphi was located on the top of the hill, not only it has an amazing view but also we saw beautiful sunset and sunrise.

From Delphi, we returned to Athens. This ends the land tour. I looked forward to the Greek Islands cruise afterwards. Do you know Greece is 60% mountainous? Do you know Greece is one of the top olive oil exporters in the world? Do you know shipyard is Greece’s 2nd largest industry? Have you tried ouzo, the anice-infused drink the locals are fond of? I tried, but it was too strong for me. Do you like the delicious dip of Greek tzatziki? I do. Athens is also the 3rd busiest port in Europe. When you are at Athens, National Archaeological Museum is worthwhile to visit.

Turkey has a dessert called Turkey Delight. It’s candy like with various nuts in it. When you are in Turkey, you must try this. After all, visiting Turkey is really a delightful experience. I liked their food a lot, especially kebab made with all kinds of meats are very tasty. Pita bread bubbled up like a balloon; eat with all kinds of dipping sauce or hummus, delicious. Baklava for sweet tooth is a must. I also liked Turkish tea but not so much about Turkish coffee.

Istanbul, the big city on the Bosporus located both in Europe and Asia, remains one of the most exciting places in the world. It has such a mix of culture, traditions and religion. You see modern buildings in some part of the city; you also see 2500 years history like Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque. Topkapi Palace nowadays becomes a museum where a lot of Ottoman treasures are on display. It was a lot of walk to visit all these famous places in one day. However I do like the Bosporus cruise where I actually was under the bridge that connects Europe and Asia.

Before visiting Gallipoli peninsula’s WWI battlefields the Anzac Cemetery, the Lone Pine Memorial and Chunuk Bair Memorial sites, I did not know anything about it. Seeing the sites made a difference. Crossing the Dardanelles by ferry, I arrived at Troy the ancient city full of myth.

Nestled between hills, the Asklepion a healing place for the body and the soul, was an ancient shrine to the Greek God of medicine. Walking through the ruins, I can imagine a sense of serenity. When I arrived at Kusadasi a vacation town, I was very pleased with the luxury room with magnificent view at Charisma De Luxe Hotel. From my room I saw beautiful sea, sunset and sunrise.

Ephesus was the highlight of my trip. It was one of the most famous cities of the ancient Mediterranean and the second biggest city of the Roman Empire. Today it is one of the largest Roman archaeological sites in the eastern Mediterranean. I liked everything I saw at the ancient ruins. The vast areas of ruins hold the world’s first library, worship temple, rich people’s houses, bath house, theater and even toiles. I am amazed by such grandeur!

Hierapolis the Greco-Roman thermal resort dating back to 190BC is comprised of white terraces and turquoise pools of water. People walked in the water believing it has healing power. I didn’t dare because the rock was very slippery. From the top of Hierapolis, you will have a good view of the town Pamukkale below. Did you spot the snowcapped mountain in the background?

Almost every city has Grand Bazaar. Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is huge. I found many shops sell the same thing, things like textile to spices to jewelry to carpet to anything you can think of. If you like shopping, you will like Grand Bazaar. However you will need some suitcase and some money. Instead of shopping, I am much more interested in people watching and street watching.

During the 7-day tour I only saw a very small western part of Turkey. There is a lot more to explore, maybe another trip?

Fujian Tulou is a unique architecture in Fujian province. It is a huge enclosed style four story residential building. The wall is made of natural mud, thus came the name Tulou (earthen building). There are hundreds and thousands Tulou in Fujian. I visited Nanjing Tulou with one of my young friends. She was born and raised in the area. However this was also her first time seeing Nanjing Tulou. We saw two shapes of Tulou: circle and rectangle. The enclosed inside open area usually has a well and/or a stage for public use, while the stories were used to be private rooms. But today, very few people still live in Tulou. Many of them became museums and visitors can go to rooms to see what’s inside. Tulou’s 1st floor usually is used for kitchen and cafeteria, 2nd floor usually is for grain storage, and 3rd 4th floor usually is for bedrooms.

This particular rectangular shape Tulou was built on marsh lands. How amazing it is! When we walked inside, we could feel the spongy like ground. Like many, I can’t help but wonder will the building sink? The answer is no. It has stood for hundreds years. According to some documents, the earliest Tulou appeared in the 16th century.

On the day to see Tulou, we also came to a picturesque ancient town called Yunshuiyao. Its natural beauty attracts a lot of tourists each year. This place was also a movie shooting place and the movie is also called Yunshuiyao. Its serenity makes people feel like living in the past time. I like the huge banyan trees, their branches stretched so elegantly outward. I like the watermill, the stream running gently, and many students do their paintings under banyan trees. Spending a day with a friend and sightseeing together was most marvelous.

Gulangyu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian province in southeastern China. The name literally means waves beating and making drum like sound. The island is about 2 km² in area, and is reached by an 8-minute ferry ride from downtown Xiamen. It is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. I suggest making the ferry reservation early. Morning ferry tickets are usually hard to buy. Weekends are full of people, if possible, I suggest go to Gulangyu during weekdays. I was lucky enough to have one of my college classmates who currently lives in Xiaman to be my guide and companion. People come to the island for leisure stroll around many pretty little alleys and relaxation. There are many well-known buildings and picture spots usually packed with people taking pictures. We went to the island on Monday, luckily that day there wasn’t too many tourists. We took our time to stroll around the streets, visit a couple of museums and sit in a café to enjoy delicious mango ice slush.

Gulangyu is most famous for its many colorful and beautiful international architecture buildings. This includes an old US Embassy, old Japan Embassy, bank buildings, manors, and villas that were built in late 1800 and early 1900. Today some of the buildings converted to museums and gardens for people to visit.

When visit Xiamen, one has to try many delectable food. I was so lucky to eat almost all the famous ones including bubble or jelly tea, Sha Cha noodles, Tu Shun Dong (sandworm jelly), mochi, fish balls and sweet peanut soup.

With many thanks to my classmate who took the time to show me around and even let me to stay at her home for several nights. It was absolutely wonderful to see her after 33 years.

Wuyi Mountains are located in Fujian province in southeast China. It is 3.5 hours from Xiamen or Shanghai to the city Wuyishan by high-speed train. In September when I was there, it was hot and humid with daily temperature over 33 Celsius (91 Fahrenheit). I spent 2 full days to visit Wuyi Mountains National Park. Time was well spent on bamboo rafting on the 9-Bend River and viewing the range’s 36 peaks, climbing the rocky hills, walking through the narrow path in between the rocks called Yixiantian “the Razor”, and visiting famous Wuyi rock tea cultivation sites.

the Razor

Tea tasting is included in almost every tour. When I signed up for a tour, I didn’t know that particular tour at that particular time ended up only had one person that was me. I was hoping to meet other tourists but unfortunately it was not the case. However I did get the tour guide and driver just for myself, my family laughed about this and said I got the VIP service. After 2-hour tea tasting of four different kinds of tea, I finally had to buy a box of tea in order for them to let me leave the showroom. It was not cheap. Of course when I was visiting the rock tea cultivation sites, the legendary Dahongpao mother trees was a must see.

After I shared my travel pictures, one of my friends told me the funniest story I have ever heard, which was his backpack got stuck during his walk through “the Razor”. It took nearly two hours for people behind him to back out so that he could exit. Good thing was my guide kept my backpack, what a service!

Finally our wish to visit Egypt came true in March 2023 where we took an 8-day Globus Egypt tour with Nile River cruise.  Before I went, I was fascinated with pyramids and the story of Death on the Nile River.  After I went, I was fascinated with Egypt ancient culture which was so advanced in the world more than three thousand years ago.

We began our amazing trip with the pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx as the first sites to see after our long flights to Cairo.  We rode on camels and it walked us in between Giza pyramids, that was a fun ride.  We also went through some long and narrow pathways to a king’s burial chamber in the middle of a pyramid.  It was worth paying the extra for this visit.  Even after we saw the pyramids structure and touched the big block of large stones, how they were built still remains somewhat mysterious to me.  We were told there are over one hundred pyramids in Egypt, so amazing!

Cairo Museum is a must see. We saw a lot of precious artifacts including a replica of Rosetta Stone.

We flew to Luxor to start our 5-day Nile River cruise. At Luxor we visited Karnak and Luxor Temples. The 1997 007 movie the Spy Who Loved Me was shot at Karnak Temple where the beautiful and colorful carved pillars were impressively tall.

Papyrus paper was made from a plant called Papyrus. You peel the stem piece by piece and you sock them in water for a few days, then you layer them horizontally and vertically and you press them with heavy stone. The plant has a natural gluten material which serves as a binding agent. Once the paper is dried, it is quiet durable. Artists painted all kinds of images on papyrus paper, they are beautiful.

The cruise took us from Luxor to Edfu to Kom Ombo to Aswan. My favorite was Valley of Kings and Queens and Queen Hatshepsut’s monumental rock temple on the west bank of the Nile. We were told there are over one hundred kings and queens buried in the Valley, 62 burial sites were excavated. They are still working to excavate more. The Valley’s tombs’ paintings and carvings are best preserved compared to the pyramids. Pyramids were built about a thousand years earlier than the Valley of Kings and Queens.

Who would not like cruise, especially on the Nile? Nice scenery, good food and along the way many attractions to see. I found it most unusual the little boat vendors sell their merchant to the big cruise ships. The vendor showed you what they sell and then they threw their stuff in a bag a few stories high onto the ship to the interested party, the two sides negotiated a price, if the price was acceptable, the purchaser threw money back in the bag to the little boat. If the deal did not carry through, the party simply threw the merchant down in the bag as it came. We asked what if the bag did not hit the little boat? The vendor just swam to catch the bag.

In Edfu, we had a scary experience ridding on a horse carriage from the harbor to the Temple of Horus. Many carriages ran among cars and people, there are no traffic lights or lanes, it was chaotic. However, because of the carriage ride, we were able to see first-hand what the streets look like in Egypt.

Temple of Horus (the god of war and the sky) is a best preserved historical Greek style site. At KOM OMBO the temple dedicated to the crocodile and falcon gods, I saw many crocodile mummies for the first time. At this temple, there is a well which was used to measure the depth of Nile River so that to predict if a flood will be coming.

There are 11 Ramses who reigned Egypt for four hundred years. Among them, Ramses II was the most loved. An excursion to Abu Simbel is a must. Two temples built in rock hills, one for Ramses II and one for his wife. It’s an impressive sight.

In Aswan we stayed in a hotel on a man-made island and visited the Temple of Isis. While sailing on a Felucca to our hotel, we passed the famous The Cataract Hotel where Agatha Christy stayed for 11 months to write the well-known novel Death on the Nile River.

From Aswan we flew back to Cairo and spent our last day in Egypt visiting the step pyramid which was the very first pyramid built. As we say goodbye, we had a wonderful trip, it was truly once in a life time experience.

We went to New Mexico twice each time started from and ended at Albuquerque: this spring to south and east, and a few years ago summer to north and west from Albuquerque -> Petroglyph National Monument -> Acoma Pueblo -> Lava Beds -> Church Rock -> Four Corners -> Aztec Ruins -> Taos -> Santa Fe -> Albuquerque. New Mexico’s different architecture, Indian and Mexican infusion culture, and its mostly flat land with spotty butts’ landscape were quite interesting.

The south and east route Albuquerque -> Santa Rosa -> Roswell -> Carlsbad -> Alamogordo -> Las Cruces -> Albuquerque route, we thought we would get away from Minnesota snow in March when we went to New Mexico during the spring break, but to our surprise it snowed twice there during that week. Even people lived there told us snow like this was quite unusual. On this trip, we had the luxury to visit my husband’s rock-climbing and caving friend from 40 years ago. He moved to Albuquerque two years ago. He and his wife have a very nice house with a good view. We spent a couple of nights there and had a good time talking and hiking.

Santa Rosa’s Blue Hole was a must-see. A car museum by the road was unexpected. Fort Sumner’s Billy the Kid Museum and Billy the Kid Grave were interesting to see. Then we headed to UFO town Roswell.

Roswell is famous for its 1947 UFO event. Even though UFO Museum was interesting to see, but I liked the Bottomless Lake State Park there the best. There are at least five lakes in that park, there are paths get you close to the edge of the lakes and some of them you can even walk around the lake.

Carlsbad Caverns is world famous and it’s a must-see. Good thing we checked national parks’ website before we went. To visit the Caverns, you need to make a reservation ahead of time through their website to select a timeslot for arrival. Because our reservation time was 1:30pm in the afternoon, on the way to Carlsbad Caverns we went to see Sitting Bull Falls first. We took the Carlsbad self-guided tour where elevator took us directly down to the cave. The trail in the cave was about 1.5 miles. Can you spot the lion’s tail in the cave pictures I posted below? Carlsbad also has a natural entrance. It’s where bats gather. They usually come in June/July. We did not see any bat when we were there in March. The natural entrance is huge, magnificent to see even though the walk down to the entrance was long.

White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo is another must-see. The world’s largest gypsum dunefield over the Chihuahuan Desert is 275 square miles, it’s so amazing to drive on the vast field and walk on the sands. As you can see it happened to snowed at night so when we went to White Sands in the morning, the snow was whiter than sands. But still very beautiful.

Alamogordo is a city built narrow in width but stretched long along mountains foot. We liked Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks National Monument. It’s worthwhile to hike there, the shapes of the rocks were unique and a cloudy day made this place somewhat mysterious.

Here are some other interesting things we saw on this trip such as living desert zoo and Pueblo Missions ruins. It looks this blog is getting long, I’ll write about our New Mexico north and west route at another blog.

In January 2018 I took a 5-day trip to Iceland for a Mid-Atlantic Travel Tradeshow sponsored by Iceland Air. It was a very well organized trip just for travel agents. We can choose which hotel we wanted to stay at and which tour we wanted to take from a selection list. In winter time, there is no direct flight from Minneapolis to Reykjavik, I had to route to Chicago. But in the summer time, there is direct flight from Minneapolis to Reykjavik, therefore it is much convenient in the summer.

Upon arrival, the first evening we had a welcome dinner at downtown Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center hosted by Iceland Air. The Center is a modern building with nice architecture and wonderful lights. We were treated with great hospitality by the host who offered us a huge selection of delicious bite size food and drinks. BTW, www.icelandair.com is a good website not only for booking flights, but also for day tours as well.

The 2nd day we had a full day tradeshow. Prior to the trip I had already made meeting appointments with vendors and tour operators that I’m interested in finding out more about. Because my schedule was almost full and each appointment was merely 15 minutes; therefore I did my homework ahead of time and marked on my schedule each appointment’s booth number so that I can get to each booth promptly. From 9am to 5pm, in between appointments I had just enough time to cover the entire tradeshow floor; it was a very efficient day. I found today to be very helpful for me because prior to the trip I knew nothing about Iceland, but now I learned a lot by talking to vendors and I had a good idea about Iceland as a whole. That evening, we were entertained at Valsheimilid with lovely food, good company and entertainment.

The 3rd day we were on a full day excursion of our choice. I had chosen the West Iceland the Sagaland tour because of its nature. West Iceland the official tourist guide that I acquired yesterday at the tradeshow became very handy; otherwise I had to say it’s pretty hard to follow the names of the places we were going. As the map shows the Snæfellsnes peninsula projecting out the most on the west was where we toured. I stood there before the 844 meters high Hafnarfjall Mountain outside Borgames and Eldborg Crater rising 60 meters above the surrounding lava, I was amazed by the winter wonderland.

We had a tasty lunch at the ancient fishing station called Arnarstapi in a room with magnificent glacier view. Arnarstapi is known for its stunning basalt cliffs, ravines and grottos as well as unusual rock formations in the ocean. The Snæfellsjokull National Park is the only coastal park in Iceland. We walked on slushy and spongy moss-covered lava fields, it was an interesting walk. We took a nice coffee and cake break in the afternoon along the coast somewhere on the way heading back.

In the evening we had another great food and entertainment.

The 4th day is also the last day, today I went to the famous Blue Lagoon. The colors of the water was so beautiful, words just can’t describe it. The lagoon is big some area deep and some area shallow. The water felt warm even in the coldest January.

After the Blue Lagoon, the bus took us to the airport and I took the flights home. On the way home, I can’t help but thinking next time I want to visit Iceland again in the summer. I want to take a bus tour all around the island on the ring road as the map shows. This way I get to see a green Iceland and all the attractions; that will be fantastic! For a bus tour, I recommend these companies Reykjavik Excursions www.re.is and GJ Travel www.gjtravel.is.

Below are some helpful websites for reference:
1. The Tourist Board for Iceland: www.icelandtouristboard.com
2. Keflavik Airport: www.kefairport.is/english
3. Visit Reykjavik: www.visitreykjavik.is
4. The Iceland Review: www.icelandreview.com