On site drawing in Venice, Italy

Stayed in a Venezian apartment, and made use of the early morning hours to draw on site. What a good feeling it was.

Australia - Kiama Blowhole (New South Wales)

The Kiama blowhole in New South Wales, Australia is not a typical tourist spot. But I would recommend a visit there cos it is really spectacular. It is the largest blowhole in the world! They even have an awesome coin for the place.

Back view

Front view

Sketch of Melaka

This place brings back fond memories... chendol by the roadside, eating cockles at the backstreet alley, Jonker Street, chicken rice balls, Assam Laksa, Muah Chee :)

Itinerary for my 5 day 4 night Taipei - Hualien Trip

I went on a 5 day 4 night trip to Taiwan in 2010. Our group of 9 pax did it free and easy style :)

The flight to Taipei Taoyuan airport took about 4.5 hours. Being a big group, we had arranged for airport transfer prior to arrival, hence there was a driver waiting for us at the airport. Two ways at NT 4000.

We reached our hotel at Ximending area (TS Hotel) after about 1.5 hours, due to heavy traffic in the evening. TS Hotel is a 2-star hotel that is centrally located at No. 170-172, HanZhong St., Taipei (near ChangSha St.). Rather economical and in a good, accessible area. 

Below is my itinerary for the 5 days:-

Day 1: Reach Taipei. Ximending - Longshan temple - Huaxi night market

Day 2: Hualien via high speed rail. Arranged for driver to take us to the following attractions:

• 清水断崖 Qingshui cliff
• 太鲁阁国家公园 Taroko Gorge
• 砂卡当步道
• 长春祠
• 燕子口
• 九曲洞
• 慈母桥
• 白扬步道
• 七星潭

Day 3: Driver took us to the following places:-

• 野柳 Yehliu
• 九分 - 九分老街，黄金瀑布，阴阳海 Jiufen
• 十分 - 十分瀑布， 十分老街，天灯 Shifen
• 五分铺 Wufenpu
• 饶河夜市 Raohe night market

Day 4: We took the metro to the following places:-

• 淡水 - 渔人码头, 情人桥, 淡水老街 Danshui
• 北投温泉 Beitou Hotspring，Hell Alley
• 保安寺 Baoan Temple
• 士林夜市 Shilin night market

Day 5: We went to Taipei 101 and spent the day around Ximending area. Red House is a must go!

Souvenir Coin - Mona Lisa from Musee de Louvre, France

I am not a magnet person, as I think that they are rather fragile and take up quite a bit of space.

I am a coin person, meaning that I collect souvenir coins and pressed pennies from the places I visit. I love coins as they are hardy - they will not break and be destroyed by a clumsy person like me. Plus, souvenir coins are shiny and usually gold or silver in colour, much like real gold and silver coins. And they do not take up much space hence easy to take along during travels and to store as well. And the coins tend to be cheaper than magnets. And it is such fun to work the coin machines :)

This is one of my favorite coins which I obtained from the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

Back view:
Picture of Mona Lisa and the words "Mona Lisa" and "Musee de Louvre" indicating the place where I had gotten the coin.

Front view:
The words "Reunion des Musees Nationaux" and "Grand Palais"

I googled and found out that Réunion des Musées Nationaux is a French organization, uniting 35 national museums. Founded in 1895, it's a very prestigious establishment, and one of the main cultural institutes in France. It was founded to raise and administer the funds required for the acquisition of works of art by national collections. 

The museums range from the immense, with the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Château de Versailles, through medium-sized institutions such as the Musée Picasso, Paris, the Musée de la Renaissance at the Château d’Ecouen and the Musée Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice to small entities such as the Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris, and the Musée Magnin, Dijon. The exhibition venues are the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais and the Palais de la Porte Dorée. 

The coin costs 2 euros and may be obtained from the museum shop in Louvre.

Day 3 of my Great Oz Trip - Sydney (Skydive or Bridgeclimb, Whale watching)

Sydney is a rather charming place. Yes, it is. I felt rather happy there :)

We reached Sydney at night and managed to find our way to Sydney Harbour YHA. Highly recommended place to stay! Right in the center of Sydney and very accessible to the places of attraction.

Sydney Harbour YHA

We woke up on a Friday morning and had our breakfast at The Rocks Farmers Market, which opens from 10am to 4pm. Location: corner of Argyle and George Streets. Just a few minutes away from Sydney Harbour YHA.

They have a range of delectable food stores. We had the Wagyu burger which tastes yummz.

After breakfast, we made our way to the Bridgeclimb centre and signed up for a climb in the evening (it being cheaper on weekdays).

Website: http://www.bridgeclimb.com/The-Climbs/Pricing/

There are a few types of climbs available

Express climb: smaller group of 12 people, can finish climb in 2 hr and 15 min (inner arch).

Discovery climb: up to 14 people, can finish climb in 3.5 hr (inner arch + guide on achitecture).

Bridge climb: up to 14 people, can finish climb in 3.5 hr (top arch). 

We did the Bridge climb in the evening slot. 

While waiting for our time of climb, we walked to Sydney Opera House, and also to Mrs Macquaries Chair which is situated at one end of the Botanical Gardens.

Billowing sails of the Opera House

View from Mrs Macquaries Chair

Story behind the Chair

The Bridge Climb

No handphones or cameras allowed on the climb. So we bought the photos that the instructor took for us on the bridge.

We had kangeroo and emu pizza for dinner while sitting by the sea. The meat tasted rather chewy.

Night view of Opera House

After a walk around the harbour, it was back to hotel and rest for us.

FYI: Sydney visitor centre located at the Rocks 106 George St. (collect brochures 9.30-530pm)

or 33 Wheat Rd, Darling Harbor (9.30-5.30pm)

Day 2 of my Great Oz Trip - Great Ocean Drive (Port Campbell-Port Fairy-Melbourne-Sydney)

Outside of the hostel in the morning...

After breakfast at one of the cafes in Lord Street, we intended to set off to Warnambool which is 66 km away, and continued drive to Port Fairy (another 29 km away).

:- breakfast option: 12 Rocks Beach Bar and Cafe breakfast (8.30am-11pm) - smoothies

:- if required, refuel at Caltex petrol station (32 Lord St) before leaving, else petrol stations avail at Warnambool/Port Fairy (Caltex 53 Albert St) as well.

En-route, look out for London Bridge (after Port Campbell, before St Peterborough)

(Optional) Childers Cove (good views according to Let's Go guidebook pg 629)

Grotto - beautiful reflections

London Bridge has fallen down.. the middle portion collapsed due to forces of nature.

Port Fairy Highlights

:- Waterfront, whale watching spot at pier. (Due to time constraints, we didn't make it to Port Fairy as we took a more leisurely pace taking photos and admiring the sights).

:- lunch options:

Time and Tide Cafe (down a dirt rd just out of town towards Portland)

21 Thistle Pl, PORT FAIRY 3284. Open Thu-Sun 9.30am-5pm. (It is now only open on weekends)

Then ice cream at Rebecca's Ice Creamery (7am-6pm) 70-72 Sackville St. Yummy mango.

(We went to Time and Tide Cafe and it was closed. Apparently, they had just switched to operations during weekends only :( We decided to go to the town centre, and had lunch there instead. There is a quaint old school sweet shop in town, and we bought some old school sweets in a glass bottle.)

We had lunch at Rebecca's cafe in town.

Here's what we had:-

Strawberry milkshake - yums

Beef burger.. Yummyyyy

Portions were big in Oz, so we shared our meals (thereby saving $ too!)

Take Princes Highway (1) to Geelong (265 km)

Estimated driving time required: 3.5 hr (excluding stopover time)

:- take a few stops if required to stretch those legs and toilet breaks. 

:- drive within speed limits as there tend to be police patrols hidden in some corners

If there is time, can stop over at Geelong for a look-see and early dinner @ waterfront, which was what we did.

Some of the famous wooden posts of Geelong...

Gorgeous weather...

Ice-cream van

We set off for Melbourne Avalon airport to return the car by 7.30 pm at the Europcar keydrop counter at Avalon airport. Off we go to take Jetstar to Sydney!