Back from China 中国,

Hello folks, I'm finally back from the Land of Mao - even though parts of the trip was a battle against my stamina (thanks R for being so selfless and caring), thought it was a great experience for the first time setting foot on new grounds, we even made some local friends who infused the 小苹果 song into our heads. Here's a sneak peek of the trip, loving the splash of colours! More about it on a separate post, for now it's back to reality as the office beckons.

R's trip back home in Singapore has been an extreme whirlwind, but I'm thankful because we got to spend some quality time over Christmas and the New Year. It was also very refreshing (and not to mention therapeutic) spending the crossover to 2015 amidst the countryside cold and giant mountains. Reminds us on how tiny we really are on the surface of earth, and how the years before us are standing erect like giants. Nothing short of reflective.

Can't wait till the next break already, ciao!

London ice bar,

After reading about Ice bar in a travel magazine and having a close encounter in Sweden (we didn't have enough time to find the place and also got lazy), we decided to visit the one at Heddon Street in London! We invited Nav along because he was visiting from Oxford, that guy never fails to be great company :') 

We arrived slightly early, admittedly I was beyond enthused to get in even though sub zero temperatures ain't really my thing. Tucked away in a cosy corner of Regent Street, Ice Bar (as the name speaks for itself) is a quirky bar designed out of entirely ice. It is kept at -5 degree celsius everyday, and they alternate the design experience regularly. The ice is specially shipped over from Sweden (supposedly Tome River's purest ice) and carved out in sculptures. I must say that it was quite a unique experience! 

A £14 ticket gets you for about an hour and a free drink, visitors are also provided with a dark blue thermal cape and gloves to keep warm. It was frosty alright, but the unique setting was quite a distraction. The cocktail menu was limited (some were really aptly named: Arctic Freeze), I barely even remember what I had - probably something tropical since it was yellow.

Loved how even the cups were made of ice, no more warm beer worries!

Hands on Ice table challenge.

Red noses and tearing up because of the cold.

"The Ice is pure!"

Although it was a unique sensory experience (oh come on, I come from the tropics and we don't have winter here), the ambience was definitely not the best. It was a pretty small room, and there were many patrons. We had fun but perhaps it was just novelty at its best (or just great company) - I'm actually quite curious to whether the Sweden one would have been different, as the concept originated from the Swedes.

Ciao!

London Ice Bar

31-33 Heddon St, London W1B 4BN, United Kingdom

Singapore hopping: Kusu island,

Disclaimer: Cheng Ho imperial cruise has been discontinued since November 2014

Being avid explorers, we decided to venture out of mainland Singapore and hopped onto the Cheng Ho imperial cruise for a short trip out in the waters. The trip took us around Marina South Pier bay, Singapore Flyer, Sentosa Cove, Tanjong Pagar Port and the coastline of the various islands around. We also had an estimated 45 minute stopover at Kusu Island to walk around. Here's the route that we took:

Credits: Watertours Singapore

It was a melodramatic start to the day (which was coincidentally my birthday hahaha) because our cab took a wrong turn and took us straight back to the highway when we were supposed to have turned into Marina South Pier. The roads were confusing, due to the amount of construction going on. But we made it nonetheless, and dashed wildly to the boat - only to have the steward waiting calmly for us to purchase our tickets. 

Coming on board, realised that my toe was bleeding....but they didn't have any plasters! (One of the workers kindly offered me Burnol, which I politely declined) But ain't no injury gonna bring me down, was pretty excited to sail out. R felt otherwise though, and was instead amused by the whole morning saga.

The boat itself was rather spectacular sight, for it was a huge imperial vessel covered in oriental carvings and asian ornaments. It is named after Cheng Ho, a 15th century Chinese Admiral who was an explorer of the waters; the boat replicates the Dynasty vessel that he sailed in. Even the ceilings and wooden chairs were intricately decorated! There were different cabins on 3 levels, and outdoor viewing decks to enjoy the sea breeze and Singapore sunshine. 

Apart from the few American couples and a French father-daughter duo, we had the whole ship as our playground.

Located 5.6km from Singapore, Kusu island is one of the many Southern islands of Singapore. The island basks in the glory of its name as the "Tortoise island" in Chinese. Legend has it that a magical tortoise transformed itself into an island, to save shipwrecked sailors from drowning. While it comes across as a ghost town during most parts of the year, thousands of devotees flock to the island for the Kusu Pilgrimage - during the 9th lunar month every year! It is believed that this annual affair will bring about peace, good health, prosperity and happiness who those who make the effort. There are 2 Chinese temples situated on the island (for deities of 'Da Bo Gong' and 'Guan Yin') as well as 3 Malay kramat shrines which sit on the top of a hill. The tranquil and serenity, together with the unspoiled beaches was definitely a plus point, and these brought up the raw charm of the island.

The island used to be called Pulau Tembakul, which can be loosely translated from Malay to be burial site. And indeed, it was used as a burial site for immigrants who passed away from their quarantine stint on nearby islands of Lazarus and St. John's.

Walking in, we were greeted by a tortoise shelter which houses tons of tortoise resting around. A few of them looked battered, and we were really intrigued by who takes care of them (think it may be the few people on the island mending the temples opposite....). Nonetheless it was quite a joy to watch them nest around and bask in the sun. Was getting really close to them because they're pretty adorable, but R scared me by telling me that they may be snapping turtles (seriously). Anyway, I didn't want to look like I was terrorizing them hahaha.

The tortoise sanctuary supposedly houses hundreds of tortoises. 

A diseased looking tortoise, poor him! At least he has a good shelter and food here to protect him from weathering wild conditions.

The pavilion above the waters was a nice reflective walkway, which made for picturesque pictures. There was no one in sight on the island apart from the boat patrons, and a few others mending the temples (or so I believe). 

The island coastline was one of the highlights of the island. Coupled with the tranquility, it's definitely a spot which you can retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life.  Brownie points for being able to score the beautiful city line of downtown!

The sea walls help to create a lagoon and soft waters. During low tide, you're apparently also able to spot out both hard and soft corals and other sea creatures such as the sea cucumber, the sea moth, anemones and little hermit crabs. We're actually quite keen to take a walking tide tour at Sister's island sometime when R comes back, give a shoutout if you've been to one of those :)

Wandering around, we decided to explore uphill where the 3 Malay Shrines (or known as 'Keramat') was located. Man, was it an arduous climb - for me at least!

Greeting us at the top was the loud blasting of pop song 'Gangnam style', I guess pop culture is really that pervasive. The 3 shrines, which were located next to each other. They commemorate a 19th century religious Muslim man (Syed Abdul Rahman), along with his sister (Puteri Fatimah) and mother (Nenek Ghalib). Many devotees flock to the shrines to pray for fertility and children, however this has since expanded to include prosperity and all kinds of happiness - as seen by the prayers and wishes of many visitors, scribbled over the bright yellow paint. Along with the red plastic ribbons tied all over the trees, it was a quite a sight.

The island was also dotted with many picnic tables around.

Food centre, which seems to only be in operations during the peak season of the pilgrimage.

Greeted by a monitor lizard on the way out.

Heading back to the boat before it starts to storm.

It was pretty fun exploring the boat in itself, check out the pavilions and the various outdoor decks!

Nostalgic Khong Guan biscuits and coffee/tea for morning tea, don't expect too much.

If you're interested, you can find more about the cruise here. It's sounds a little commercialized, but it was extremely underrated. We had fun exploring, and it was good to lose ourselves to foreign sights and sounds before getting back to the daily grind.

Ciao!