Travelogue: Road Trip to France - Part 2 Loire Valley

After reaching Calais, we had a 6 hours drive to our holiday rental south of Loches. Loire Valley is a huge area and we have decided to concentrate on the area east of Tours. We found a holiday rental which was doggie friendly just south of Loches.

After a night's rest, we headed to the beautiful town of Amboise for the day. Unfortunately, the weather was bad. The rain was coming down non-stop. Despite that, you can see how beautiful Amboise is. The town sits on left bank of Loire with the Chateau towers above the town and the river.

Amboise

You can't come to Amboise without visiting the Chateau. The tickets are 10.50 Euros each. There is plenty to cover inside, so take your time. I am not going to go into the history, just enjoy the pictures :)

Going up to Chateau 'd Amboise

The Chapel of Saint Hubert where Leonardo da Vinci is buried

Top Left: View of Amboise town below, Top Right: Chateau d'Amboise, Bottom left: View of Amboise, Bottom Right: View across Loire

View of Chateau d'Amboise Grounds

Travelogue: Road Trip to France - Part 1 Crossing the Channel

At the end of August, the whole family (parents, husband and dogs included) went on a 2 week road trip to France. We planned a week in the Loire Valley, and a week in Brittany. It went fantastic!!! This was our second time bringing the dogs on a road trip to France. Armed with their pet passport and our 4x4 packed, we drove from home all the way down to Folkestone to catch the Eurotunnel over to Calais. Last time, we took the Ferry due to a strike on the Eurotunnel. So we were quite apprenhensive as we didn't know what to expect. All fears were blown out of the window, once we started our journey. It was raining cats and dogs on the day itself which was horrible as we got there early and had to make sure the doggies had their wee before we packed them back in the car to go on our merry way.

Rainy day at the Eurotunnel

The experience of driving into a train carriage was amazing. We had a tall 4x4, so ended up booking to go in the single deck carriage. If you have a normal car, you would go into a double deck carriage which I think is much more interesting.

The carriages open out to allow the cars to drive into the train

Once you are in the train carriage, the Eurotunnel staff would guide you and all loaded, they would closed down the gates between the carriages. The journey itself took 35 minutes, and the loading of all vehicles were really quick. We reached France really quickly, and the carriages reopened and you drove off into France. It was super easy and the waiting time was very reasonable. Best of all, the dogs get to stay with you in the car. Unlike taking the Ferry from Dover across to Calais, where the trip takes 1.5 hours, you have to leave your dogs in the car during the entire journey. A bit unnerving I would say, so if you are travelling with your dogs, I would definitely recommend taking the Eurotunnel. It is more costly, but the shorter journey time and for the dogs, it is the far superior choice. You pay £15 for each animal each way and it is very easy. At check in, you just have to let the attendant know that you have animals in the car, and they will give you a sticker to place on your car so that any Eurotunnel staff will know there are animals in your vehicle, and that's it. No red tape, special queues etc, very easy to take your dogs with you.

We are in France

On arrival, we just drive out of the train and voila! we are in France. Just bear in mind to drive on the right and you will be alright.


Join me next on the Loire Valley Leg of our trip. It was a 6 hours drive from Calais to where our gite rental was in the Loire Valley, south of Loches. Stay tune.

Back in London

Sorry all for being MIA. Was in UK for over 3 weeks. It has been 2 years since my last visit and it was great to be back. Another friend of mine was in UK at the same time, and we had a great time checking out old hangouts and discovering new places too. We were also lucky with the weather. It was in the teens and lovely sunshine, the perfect weather for walking around. I also got to drive a lot, from London out to Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Kent & Surrey and it was great. After driving over 1000 miles in a manual car, I didn't grumble at all. It was therapeutic to drive in the UK as almost everyone is a polite driver. Now that I'm back in Singapore, I am missing that very much.

Lots of stuff have been happening since I'm back. The hubby and I are rushing off on our New Zealand South Island trip for 10 days. The shortest planning time I ever had for a holiday - 2 weeks! Followed by arranging to go to Kuala Lumpur for a short weekend to meet up with some friends in november. The hubby also will be popping back into London for another business trip and it is very tempting to follow along.

Anyway, here are some highlights from my trip:

This was taken from the cab from Heathrow to our service apartment

Sun was shining when we arrived in Heathrow. I had to snap this picture as we drove past Buckingham Palace in our cab. The sun was shining and London could not look more beautiful!!!

View of Canary Wharf from our service apartment

London Day out

The next day after I arrived, I met with my friend and off we went for a day of fun!!! We went to check out the British Museum. It was good to be back. We spent a few hours there and went for lunch. Found a quaint little french restaurant that offered a great lunch deal. My friend ordered this yummy pork belly dish. The pork was done amazingly, it was crunchy outside and soft on the inside. After the heavy lunch (plus desserts), we had to walk it off. We went from Holborn all the way to Covent Garden to Leicester Square where we checked out the the humongous M&M shop! It has 4 stories of everything M&M!!

Kent 

The weekend, the hubby and I picked up our rental car and went off to explore Kent. We drove over the familiar Dartford Bridge and entered Kent. We checked out the lovely quaint English villages along the River Medway. Ended up in Maidstone where we stayed for the night and went to have another lovely french meal at Cafe Rouge. The confit duck was heavenly, totally worth every ounce of fat I've ingested :p

Highlights of Hertfordshire & Bury St Edmunds

My friend and I spent a lovely day exploring parts of Hertfordshire. The lower left picture was taken at the village green at Hatfield Heath where we enjoyed a lovely day sitting outside. The temperature was perfect at around 18C. Another day, I drove up to Bury St Edmunds on my own. Went up to see some friends as I used to live there before moving to Asia 4 years ago. We went for a lovely lunch followed by a walk with my friend's beautiful black lab. It was great to be back in the outdoors. I missed this lifestyle whereby the dogs get all this space to roam and fellow dog owners are gracious. Anyway I ended the day with a steal from the wednesday market in Bury with a big bag of cherries costing just a quid!! :)

Another weekend in Kent

The 2nd weekend, the hubby and I popped back into Kent. This time we explored further. We went to a village which had the most beautiful postcard view ever. A lovely bridge over the river Medway, with willows swaying in the background. We had a lovely pub lounge overlooking the river and went off on the public footpaths for a lovely saturday afternoon walk. Life's just dandy!!!

Exploring London

The last weekend in London, we decided to spend some time exploring her. We went off back to Covent Garden and discovered an area that was new to me. I had always gone straight into Covent Garden but this time we turned left into an area known as Neal's Yard. It looked really bohemian. There were cutesy boutiques, and one of a kind shops. Even the cafes and restaurants in the yard looks really funky. A note to check it out the shops proper with a girlfriend. Hubby is not a shopper at all so I didn't want to bore him that afternoon.

London Part 2

For Lunch, we had it planned to go for the Four Seasons Roast Duck as mentioned in my other London posts. It is the most amazing, yummylicious duck ever. Even my fussy tongue hubby loves the duck, so we went there just before the lunch crowd to grab seats to enjoy our lunch. It is still as good as I remembered. After that, we went off to Piccadilly and walked to Fortnum & Masons to pick up some goodies to bring back as gifts. I spent a good while wandering around all the selections to pick up what I wanted. Finally we were back in Canary Wharf. It has a different feel to the rest of London. It reminds me of Singapore with all the tall gleaming offices, and clean streets.

Final Day

Three weeks came and went so quickly. Before we knew it, it was the day to fly back to Singapore. As we had some time to kill before getting the cab to the airport, we went to check out the big new Westfield mall at Stratford. It was huge and had all the known high street names in there. They even have a nice selection of restaurants and an ultra cool food court. I settled for a meatball pho as it's been a while since I had any nice soup noodles. What a great way to end my trip back to London. Will be back soon!!!!

Top ten free things to do in London

I will be travelling to London soon. It's so good to be back as the last time I was there, was April 2010, two years ago!! Truth to be told, I miss UK. I consider UK my second home. Lived there for more than a decade, most of my most important adult life was spent there. I learned to drive there, got married there, graduated with my doctorate, bought my first house and all my other properties there etc etc. You are probably getting my drift here. So I am over the moon to be flying to the UK again. So before that, I thought of writing a blog post on top ten free things to do while you are there. I wrote a recent blog post on the off the beat things to do in London, so this post will probably tie in nicely with the other one.

Along the Thame

Our trip to Alaska : Overview

Known as America's last frontier, Alaska is also United State's largest state and is over twice the size of Texas. Alaska has always conjure an image of the grandest natural landscape and awe-inspiring sceneries. Her wild and rugged wilderness, glaciers, mountains, wildlife, and interesting people are Alaska's many offerings.

The best and most popular way to see Alaska is from the coast, on board a cruise ship. Each year around 1 million people arrive to see Alaska on board a cruise ship and now I understand why. It is a fabulous way to see the coastline of Alaska, otherwise largely inaccessible.

Travelogue: Trip to Greece - Exploring Athens Part 2 (Acropolis)

The Acropolis of Athens overlooks the city of Athens. As you wander around the city, all you have to do is to look up and you will see the Acropolis up on the hill. It is a beautiful structure even from afar. We got to visit the site and luckily on the day where it was the World Museum Day where entry was free :)

Warning: Photo Heavy Post

Acropolis

Travelogue: Trip to Scandinavia - Stockholm: Gamla Stan

The first country that we started our Scandinavia trip in was in Sweden, famous for being the home country of Ikea. Would I be seeing Ikea shops everywhere in the country? We flew into Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden.  Just joking. One of the main reason we visited Stockholm was to visit my friend from back in my University days.What impressed us about Stockholm is how beautiful, clean but yet funky and stylish. It provides a lot of attractions and places for tourists to check out.

Stockholm

Travelogue: Trip to Prague, Czech Republic - Part 3

After spending 1/2 a day with Alena at the Prague Castle, we continued with Alena as she took us to explore more of Prague. She and the hubby were happily discussing about Czech Republic history as I wandered alongside enjoying the sights and taking lots of pictures of this beautiful city.

Colourful buildings as we were walking down from the castle

Travelogue: Trip to Italy Part 2b - Pompeii & Herculaneum - Pompeii

After spending the morning at Herculaneum, we headed towards Pompeii via the Circumvesuvian railway and alight at Pompei Scavi Station. The entrance to Pompeii is about 50m away from the station. Many people gets confused regarding the name, the ancient site is known as Pompeii while the modern town that stands there now is called Pompei.

Pompeii

Travelogue: Trip to Siem Reap - Day 2 : Small Circuit (Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei)

After a great night sleep, our 2nd day started with a lovely breakfast brought to our room by the staff at Hotel Be. You get to choose from a menu the day before, and it was brought upstairs to us. You can either have it at the little dining area or upstairs at the terrace.

We had arranged with Ara to pick us up around 9am to start our temple tour in Siem Reap. She had arranged our own private tuk tuk for our entire stay. If you are not familar with the tuk tuk or it's also known as an auto rickshaw, it is a modified mode of transport found in several parts of the world where using a small motorbike, you can transport up to 2 to 4 people depending on the tuk tuk.

Our own Tuk Tuk

Travelogue: Trip to the East Coast USA for Fall Foliage - Visiting Woodstock, Vermont

The idyllic village of Woodstock, situated on U.S. 4 between Rutland and White River Junction, attracts many visitors with its old-world beauty. So we decided to visit it when we were in Vermont.

Woodstock, Vermont was the winner of the 1997 National Contest conducted by the Ladies Home Journal magazine as the "Prettiest Town in America", it was chosen as the community with the most beauty, charm and character. And when you get there, you will agree with them for choosing this town as the prettiest.


Warning: Photo heavy post

Pretty Woodstock

Travelogue: Trip to Macau Final Part

After checking the Macau Museum, we went off to check out the other sights of Macau. As we descended the Mount Fortress, one could see the beautiful Grand Lisboa Casino in the foreground.

Warning: Photo Heavy Post

Grand Lisboa

Post Alaska Cruise thoughts

7 days of bliss and pampering on board the Diamond Princess in Alaska, we are sad that it was all over in a blink of an eye. The hubby and I are cruise virgins and I am glad to report that we are now converted to cruising aficionados. 2 years ago when I first asked my hubby if he wants to go on a cruise, he had refused, fearing that he would have do a lot of socialising on board the cruise and be bored but it wasn't the case at all. We loved it so much that we have put deposit on another Alaskan cruise for June 2013!

Hubbard Glacier

Travelogue: Trip to Perth Part 3 - Mandurah & Perth

The next place we went to during our short Perth trip was to Mandurah. Mandurah is the second-largest city in Western Australia and is located approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of the state capital, Perth. The reason I decided to stop at Mandurah is that  dolphins frequently swim by the city, and dolphin watching is very popular there. Since my parents had not seen it before, I thought it would be a great chance to do some dolphin watching there on our way back from Albany back up north to Perth.

View out from Mandurah's harbour

Travelogue: Trip to North Island, New Zealand- Our accommodation at Lake Tarawera

Our journey to New Zealand, also known as Aotearoa in the native Maori language which means "The land of the long white cloud" started when we landed in Auckland International Airport. We were hyped about our visit as we have heard so many wonderful things about New Zealand, mainly her natural beauty which we were keen to explore. New Zealand has so much to offer: from stunning natural scenery of jagged mountains, fiords, stunning lakes, the most scenic beaches and jaw dropping active volcanic features. We couldn't wait to start our adventure!!

Lake Tarawera where we spent a few days

Live from on board the Diamond Princess in Alaska

It's our third day of our southbound Alaska cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. The last two days have been sea days. We set off from Whittier, Alaska amidst a lovely sunny day, which was a rare occurrence and so far, we have been very lucky with the weather. We saw the Hubbard Glacier followed by today we were at Glacier Bay National Park. We were again super lucky with the weather, as the sun is out shining bright for us. The cruise so far has been fantastic. Will do more detailed blog posts after the cruise. In the meantime, here are some teaser photos. Enjoy.

Alaskan Landscape

Travelogue: Trip to Macau Part 2

Just east of the Ruins of St Paul's, is the Mount Fortress or Monte Fort. You will noticed that all the tourists are congregating at the Ruins, taking tons of photos, but at path that leads up to the Mount Fortress which and to the Museum of Macau, it is very quiet. Most tourists especially on group troups will not get the chance to visit both these attractions, which is a great pity as from the Fortress, one will find excellent views across Macau. 

Views over Macau on the way up to Monte Fort

Off to our Alaska Cruise!

Hey all,

I will be flying off soon for my trip of a lifetime. We are flying to the US to join our Alaska Cruise on Princess cruise followed by a road trip exploring the Canadian Rockies!! Please be patient as I will still try to post while on holiday. Just so excited as I get to cross off another 2 places off my bucket list!

Alaska Cruise

I will still try to write at least 2 posts a week and will write about my most recent trip when I get back in July. Till then, happy travels.

Travelogue: Trip to North Island, New Zealand - Overview

Since moving to Asia, one of my main places to visit on our bucket list is New Zealand. It always felt that it is at the other end of the world, too far to travel from UK. In addition, we have heard of amazing things about New Zealand and from what we hear, it is definitely a place up our alley as we love beautiful scenery, driving holidays and do you know what is the best part? - there is very little human doted around the country!! It would be a relaxing holiday away from the crowds

Source: www.newzealand.com

Travelogue: Hong Kong Sightseeing - Off the beaten Track - Cheung Chau

Before we moved to Singapore, we lived for a year in Hong Kong. In recent years, Hong Kong has taken the place of one of the top destinations for Singaporeans to visit. There are lots to do from the great food, to the shopping and the amazing scenery. Yep you hear right, Hong Kong has great scenery, more than 70% of the country is designated as country parks. The number of hiking trails is staggering. You get amazing mountain and sea views from every corner. Most people thinks of Hong Kong as a city with amazing skyscrapers, but what most tourists won't see is the quieter side of HK, the country parks, the greenery and the village life. Thus I won't be writing about most of the standard places that Singaporeans are sure to visit during their trip. What I will write about are off the beaten track. So to start off with, I took a friend who was visiting to Cheung Chau.

What most tourists' image of HK- Skyscrapers Galore (taken from the summit of Fei Ngo Shan where I lived)