My trip to China- Beijing and Shanghai

I always wanted to put my foot in China, as I have heard about the wonders and the natural beautiful of China. I'm curious too of how eventhough we speak chinese but it can be a different than the chinese spoken in China. Plus known to everyone that China is a Shopping paradise(plus point). China is a big country, where should I start? I wondered? After asking around from tour agency, they told me that I should visit first to all the big cities, because they say that if you have never seen to beijing and shanghai is like you have never been to china. Logical- like if I have been to Paris but never seen Eifel Tower...then is like you have never been there before. Therefore, I chose Beijing and Shanghai...The metropolitan cities.

I thought of going by tour, unfortunately I was cheated by the tour company. I thought my wish of going to china would be just gone, blown away.After much enquires, I found out that my friend lives there,hehe! I was going there after all. But there is no luxury, as to sit on the bus and let the tour guide handle everything. I needed to plan for my trip.

Hence by journey begins to Beijing and Shanghai...

Coming Soon- China Trip

I would love to write about my trip to China, telling you about my journey, what I did and how I like it...
I went to Beijing and Shanghai...

Will tell you more about it...

Don't forget to tune in...

Estimated cost... for Krabi Tours

Tours:
4 Island Tours (by long tail) RM35-50 per person
5 island tours ( by long tail) RM 60-80 per person
Hong Island Tour (by long tail) RM 60-80 per person
Phi Phi Island (by speed boat) RM 110-150 per person
James Bond Tour (by speed boat) RM 230-250 per person
Water Rafting(there are many programs that you can choose from) Cheapest: RM105 per person Most Expensive: 250 per person.
ATV and rafting RM 380-390 per person
To Enter National Park-- RM 40 per person

This is the price that I got from the tour companies from my last visit, price may vary according to season.

Restaurant Review: Meng Heong

Hmm... My next restaurant review is a chinese restaurant, Meng Heong, that my friends took me. They gave me a treat!! Thank You! It is located in Tmn Mastiara, Jalan Ipoh.

 

First up, was the vegetable- Deep Fried Kailan with Ikan Bilis, I thought that it was an interesting dish, never seen vegetable being deep fried like that before. It taste quite good too, but who could any deny that deep frying food is always tasty plus ikan bilis added to it, crunchy. If you are healthy conscious, I think you can guess how healthy this dish is...

The taufu, I was told that the restaurant made it themselves. The taufu was soft. The sauce, nothing special, just ordinary oyster sauce mix. As for the chopped prawns that was put on the taufu, that was what spoilt the whole dish, as they put prawns that are not fresh on it, and you can immediately taste it.

 

Next dish was served, oh wait to you hear what is this dish all about, I'm sure some people will be crazy about this dish---- Fried Prawns with Salted Egg! Yes I said it: Salted Egg, Ham-Dan.

If you like salted egg, you may like this dish. I not a big fan of salted egg, so can't commend much about it. As all salted egg dish, it is a mix of salted egg and sugar on the prawns. I love prawns... but this dish was a so- so for me.

What else did we have next: Fish!

 

It is the normal, Steam Fish with Ginger, that you can get anywhere. I would say that this was the best dish of all that we ordered. They steam the fish just right timing, not overcooked nor undercooked, so the flavour was absorb into the fish and the flesh was soft and smooth;The ginger was just the right amount, it is not overpowering.

Anything more? my friend ordered: O Jian(Oyster Pancake) Was surprised he ordered it, I thought we could only find it in Pasar Malam or "Pai Pai Tong"...hehe... must be something special, when we ordered it, it was mentioned to the staff that it must be fried with less oil. The dish came out with, less oil? Maybe! I could still see oil all over and it still has a oily taste to it. The taste was not bad. I don't know what is the price, but if it is highly price, maybe going to the pasar malam is much better.

 

Opps, forgot about the Loh Hon Zhai! Ok dish. Again, would say that it is an oyster sauce based dish.

Total cost: RM 160

My thoughts: I really thank and appreciate my friends for giving me a treat. Thank you, thank you! This is my honest review on the restaurant. Hope you don't mind....friend.

Krabi- Alternative Tours

There are many other tours that you can join, other than the one mention in the previous post:

The Hong Islands Tour


- I wanted to go for that tour too, as I have heard about how good and how beautiful the Hong islands.


James Bond Island


- This island is where they film the movie. But looking the pictures, it is not so captivating.


Sea Canoe Tours


-Kayak Ao Tha Lane


- Kayak Bor Thor


- Kayak Koh Hong


- Kayak Srakaew


ATV adventure


Diving


White Water Rafting


- Rafting & Elephant Track- Full/Half Day


- Rafting only


-Full day Adventure- incl ATV


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Other than shopping around Ao Nang, I took a tuk-tuk and went to their local markets. More for their local people. You can try the food there, but be careful, if you stomach is sensitive or if you are afraid. Don't risk it, because it might spoilt your holiday. The night market in Ao Nang is on, Monday, Tuesdays, Fridays, 3pm onwards.

Krabi- 4 Island Tour Part 2

Next: Tup Island, another spectacular island! This island is one of its kind. Why? Look at the ligher blue area in the picture, do you see people walking? Yes, during low tide, you are able to walk from one island to the other. Amazing!

Picture of the path or sandy causeway to walk from one island to the other. Look easy to walk from one island to the other but it is quite a distance, don't miss it, it is really worth while.

The island path from another angle.

The other island. After you walk across to the other island, you can have different views of the island, enjoy different part of the beach.

We had lunch on this island, was a bit hesitant to leave this place.

Last destination: Phranang cave. Nothing much, the island which Phranang cave is on is not beautiful, it is polluted. The sea water is not like the other places where you can see through it. Went exploring the cave.

My review:

I would recommend the Green Planet tour comapany for the 4 islands tour. Not bad, nothing special happened but they were nice.

4 Islands Tour
Absolutely Must Go!!! No matter how many days you are staying, MUST GO! It is very breathtaking, love all the 3 islands in this tour, so fascinating!! I love this trip more than the Phi Phi Island one because of the distance, it is nearer.

Downside: One thing about this tour too, if you are looking for beautiful corals, you might be dissapointed!

Next: Krabi- 4 Island Tours 2

Krabi-4 Island Tour second part....

Stay tune...

Ikea- Swedish Meatball Offer

Ikea has a special offer... If you are eating in the Ikea cafe, and ordering Swedish meatballs, don't forget to say the password and you will get an extra two more meatballs.

Krabi- 4 Islands Tour

On the following day, I opt to go for the 4 islands tour. Again, I book through Krabi Nemo Tour, this time they arranged for me to join the Green Planet company. The people from Krabi Nemo Tour group told me that Green Planet is quite good for the 4 islands tour and to choose to go by long tail boat will be good enough. I took their advice. As usual, the Green Planet company came to my hotel to pick me up. We took the long tail boat and depart for Chicken Island.

This is chicken island, it has the chicken head too... Haha....from a distance you will know which island you will be going too.

Love this island, so picturesque, full of beauty!!!

Resting by the trees, on a hot sunny day, but what a beautiful picture!

This is to show how clear the water is!

Next: Krabi- 4 Island Tours

The next post will be Krabi 4 island tours...

Stay tune....

Restaurant Review- Italiannines--Let's Do Lunch Promotion

This is not the first time, eating at Italiannies. The last time, I ate, the food was good, especially, one dish that I truly love. This time around, I had a craving for this dish at Italiannies. As you know the price is not cheap at all. So when I saw the newspaper advert that they are having special promotion for lunch,RM 13.90, I ate lunch at this restaurant.

I went to their outlet in One Utama. As every promotion small print is important, same as Italiannies, after being given a place to sit. I look at the promotion once again and found out that it was RM 13.90 onwards...aiyah! They only have one dish that is RM 13.90, 8" Magherita Pizza, the prices of other dishes are higher. One good thing though, the set includes a cup of soup and your choice of Pepsi/ Lipton Iced Lemon Tea.


The served us bread; their bread mixed with vinegar and olive oil...Wow! Yes, it is only bread, but it taste different from ordinary bread especially when dipped with vinegar.

I decided to choose my favourite dish in Italiannies--- The Classic Carbonara, Yummy! Unfortunately, it was included in the promotion. My last impression of it, very delicious. This time round, i enjoyed the first bite, but after a while, did not really like it, the taste was a bit different, I think they used milk instead of cream(my personal opinion, I'm not a chef!). Anyway, it tasted different! I think I would recommend eating and sharing it with friends. I think it taste better like that. The price of this dish- not cheap- RM 20.00+ for one person.

Krabi- Phi Phi Island Tour Part 2

Pileh Bay

Viking Cave

They allow us to go snorkeling in Lohsamah Bay, we were able to feed the fishes too. Look at the pretty fishes and so many of them.

Bonus point: We were able to spot Dolphin, look at the picture. Wow, dolphin in the middle of Thailand, hehe!

Next the gorgeous island- Bamboo Island.

Truly, bamboo island, look at the bamboo. Love this island. Unfortunately because of the scorching heat was unable to enjoy it as much.

End of the tour, we went back to Ao Nang.

My take:

I would recommend this big tour company: Nattacha Tour- for Phi Phi Island.

They were willing to accommodate to our request, they went all the way out. They handle tours with personal touch. The boat man was willing to take us extra mile to have a look at the dolphins, even though it was not in our itinerary. Really showed us that they are not doing it for the money only. Highly recommended.

Phi Phi Island Tour Review

It is worth going for the tour, as the scenery is beautiful and it is one of the famous tours.

The downside is that the distance is quite far and because of the popularity of this place, there are many people on the islands. Besides that,during high tide, it is quite a bumpy ride, so after a while you might feel a bit sea sick and uncomfortable and tired too. I felt that way. Be prepared!
If you can't stand travelling on the speed boat for a long time, you might have to reconsider.

Another downside: Unfortunately, the corals that we were taken to see, because of pollution, most of it were dead. I expected to see many colourful corals, but to my dissapointment- Could not spot one at all. (Maybe they didn't take us to they right place)