Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Another Garden Wedding at E&O Hotel

It was a rainy day, we had to move from the garden to the verandah.  Do not get me wrong, it was not havoc, instead the verandah was so perfect for wedding ceremony! There was a glass awning with vintage iron-cast frame that caused the romantic atmosphere. At a glimpse, I thought I was in the 20's of last century. Nonetheless, the most importantly, the ceremony still held next to the garden, participants still can enjoy the greenish and sea breeze.


A vintage arch and flower stands with bird cage decorated with fresh flowers. This was where the wedding couple took their wedding vow.

Chair sash. Color of the day - red, white and gold, just right for the vintage style of E&O hotel.

Walking on the aisle is like walking on the memory lane of  20's  of last century, when Penang was still the colonial of british . 


Small posies with a swing for the wedding ring box decoration.

Wedding reception at the grand ball room, same theme as the garden decoration - bird cage flower stands.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Discover, explore & experience Taiwan - East Coast

Beautiful sunny day and mild pacific ocean Sea breeze, it was a perfect day drive along the stunning east coast. We started the journey early in the morning to avoid crowd, while the beautiful sceneries were encouragement enough to wake up early

My first time -- Pacific Ocean. No body blocking the view, luckily we were early, a big crowd of tourist buses came after 30 minutes.



This reminded me of the Great Ocean Road in Australia.


Dancing in the wind.

Tropic of Cancer - Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most southerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead -- according to wikipedia. :D 

Young bird nest fern fried with garlic, delicious and crunchy! One of the dishes we had for lunch in one of the seafood restaurants along east coast. Never though of it can be eaten, I use it for flower arranging back home. 

At the end of the day, we rented bicycles and cycled around Li Yu lake, a significant spot in  East Rift Valley.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Discover, explore & experience Taiwan - Hualien, Taroko Gorge

Hubby and I prefer country side vacation than hectic city tour. Hence, we spent 5 nights at Hualien, a place with more natural spots around.

Taroko Gorge is a top rated travel spot in Taiwan and should not be missed. The blue-green Liwu river cuts through marble-walled canyons, lush vegetation and cliffs so outsized they block out the sky at Taroko Gorge. We hired a private tour guide to bring us around, as we only had one day for it. Travel by bus would consume too much time on travelling. We did few hiking trail on the day, and the scenes were so magnificent and awesome!

清水断崖
Qing Shui Cliff - Our first stop from Hualien to Taroko Gorge. Our private tour guide warned us not to too close to the shore,  as the waves could be too big sometimes.


Entrance of Shakadang River Valley trail, lush green shade, fascinating rock folds and magical marble stones are waiting ahead.

Look at the blue-green crystal clear water,  how I wished I could spend another day here just to swim within the marble rocks.
Gosh.... we should spend another day to soak in this natural hot spring.
燕子口道
A popular tourist spot, which can be reached easily by vehicles. 



Sunday, May 20, 2012

Discover, explore & experience Taiwan - Night Market and delicacies

Hubby and I made it to Taiwan the Ilha Farmosa, translated as 'Beautiful Island', in April this year. We spent 10 days in Taipei and Hualien, to discover the bold mountain scenery, explore the serious food culture and experience the thriving local culture.

No one would resist the local delicacies at taiwan's night market. We spent 3 nights at different night market  - Keelung Miaokou night market, Shida night market and Raohe street night market. Keelung was my favourite among the 3, the delicacies were more traditional and unique, variety from seafood to special Keelung snacks.

海鲜烧烤
Look at the octopus legs, so big and yet not so expensive!

油饭和蟹肉羹
My favorite street food in Keelung, oily rice with crab meat soup, still drooling while looking at this picture, lol! But watch out the calorie and cholesterol, sinful food indeed.

基隆庙口夜市
Night market in front of a temple, the crowd that obsessed with the street delicacies.

葱油糕
Another favorite snacks - scallion cake, it melt in my mouth with the aroma of scallion.


We experienced another night in night market at Hualien, the crowd was less but food was no less variety and tasty. It was a long day after a day trip along the east coast, we were more starving than usual. Thus, the local tour guide brought us to one of the night market in Hualien. And he told us that, it was pretty much easy to find good food -- just follow the crowd, and you wouldn't get mistake.

烤肉串
Took away some barbecue meats as snacks for beer back in hostel.

春卷
The famous spring roll stall. It was quite similar to spring roll back home, but like most Taiwanese food, more ingredients like peanut, mustard, garlic, pork or beef were added to make the taste richer.

关东煮
Oden, a common and delicious street and night market food that you can find anywhere in Taiwan.

臭豆腐
And here came the notorious Stinky Tofu. This was my first time tasting, and guess what? I love it! Especially the texture. 

We had tried several spicy steamboat restaurant in Taipei, but we were amazed by this shaoxing rice wine chicken steamboat. The restaurant was located at Ximending. The course was extremely delicious, and hubby almost wanted to extend our holiday for it. 真是神仙都站不稳!*fainted*

花雕酒鸡火锅
It was steamboat buffet , we added some mushrooms, vegetables and yuba based on our favorite. We had another round of spicy steamboat, and all it costed was only RM50.00 per person. On top of that, they even provided unlimited beers, it worth more than the price.
Once a while, when we want to release stress and free of self constraint, this is the ideal place to hangout, drink and eat as much as you desire. Hell, you would not want to think of what may happen tomorrow if you come to restaurant like this!



There were plenty more food we had and had not tried, I choose few more that I like and worth to post and record.

豆浆油条
Me, enjoying hot soya bean milk with youtiao(chinese fried bread stick). Typical Taiwanese breakfast.
炒米粉与竹笋汤
Fried rice noodle and bamboo shoot soup. Taiwanese food was just so right to my taste of tongue, bamboo shoot is my all time favorite and we could find it everywhere in Taiwan!  
卤肉饭与金针花排骨汤
Another mouth watering traditional food -- Minced pork rice, and orange daylily with pork rib soup.


As the conclusion of today's journal, Taiwan is a truly food paradise. Most of the hawkers and cooks are serious, passionate and creative with their food. Believe it or not, even their train's bentos were so good! If you are a food lover, your trip to Taiwan could be really awesome and splendid!

p/s : I had gained 1kg after the 10 days trip. :P

Friday, March 23, 2012

Stay young and fit

Recently, there were a few strangers and new friends thought that I am in my late twenties. I was trilled and I knew it was the result of my hard work!
Two years ago, people used to guest my age at early thirties, I was so upset and these alarmed me to look seriously on how to maintain my adolescence. I took granted and annoyed for too long,  I had advantage looking younger than my real age with my petite size. But it did not work anymore after you have reach thirties!
I forced myself back to gym, sports help to accelerate our body's metabolism. Invested in good quality skincare, make facial and mani-pedicure a monthly routine.  Supplements like collagen, Vitamin C, fish oil and evening primrose oil are good enough for now.  The most importantly, stay in healthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, there are still food and activities that I can't live without that harm my skin, such as a cup of coffee every morning, sunbathing, sometimes some alcohol drinks and too much food during the party and gathering. However, I am not a monk, finding balance within healthy lifestyle and leisure is the best way to go. Keep it up Liangliang! Keep fit and young is the whole life battle for women!


Saturday, February 18, 2012

I need a break!!!!

Time flies! After the busy buzzy of chinese new year and Valentine's day, finally life back to normal routine. 2012 kicks off with extremely two busy months, and I was like riding on bullet train, chasing a station by another station. Although daily routine finally back to track, but I really desire to have a break now, a short vacation if possible. How nice if I am now soaking in Maldivian sea, sunbathing on an isolated beach or enjoy a real nice Balinese full body massage. Hope my wish would come true in very near soon, but by now, I need to back to work to clear some backlogs and stop day dreaming!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

2012 new year resolutions

It is said that on 22nd, Dec of 2012 is the end of the world. But I am just a mortal and nothing I can do to change anything, if something really ought to happen. However, life just goes on and no one could stop the time passing. So, I still positive in every edge of life.

Last year was not as smooth as I had planned, instead it was a tough year, a lot of tears and sweats, especially the second half year. The process of replacement for flower delivery driver and maid who take care of my mom were not as smooth as we thought. The problem had been dragged for 4 months, and the first time in my life I felt so pressure and depress, more patient and toughness were needed to get over these. However, life is not always at the down side, as well as the opposite. We finally see some bright side in 2012, and I hope the stability could stay longer as we wish. Let's pray hard to GOD!

I welcome my 2012 with a garden wedding deco on 1st Jan. It was a good start for a good year and I hope we can do more wedding deco in this year. We would like to see more wedding couple smile with satisfactions, by create their dream wedding come true.

Second, I want to make 2012 a travel year for me again. I didn't make it to Europe last year, and I am going to make it HAPPEN this year! And I must, I must, I must make it happen, no matter how!!! lol! Let's see how many vacation I manage to go this year. Plan in my list: April - Taiwan and Macau with hubby and family; June - Turkey or Nepal with my best friend HL; September - Europe trip, probably Spain.

Wish 2012 is a prosperous, happy and healthy year for me, my family, my friends and everyone! And let us work hard towards our wishes!!!

Garden Wedding Decoration - Bukit Jawi Golf Course

     I started 2012 with a garden wedding decorations at Bukit Jawi Golf Course on 1st of January. Bride was an elegant and gorgeous lady, and red was her favorite color. Red is not a popular color for wedding now a day, as most people think it is too tacky and traditional. However, when a little bit of striking red match with white, the atmosphere would immediately turn out gracefully, bravery and flamboyance. 


Nice golf course view for the garden wedding ceremony. 


Theme of the day - bird cage


Red daisies chair sash looked outstanding on white color chair cover.