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Loving it all at Koh Samui

A tropical island like Koh Samui has been well-prepared to welcome the hoards of sun, beach, and fun worshippers for a great and wonderful time. Whether you prefer the lively beach scene with rockin’ nightlife or a peaceful getaway without noise pollution from partying holiday goers, Koh Samui has a place for you.

As a habit, I often look up reviews of what people have to say about a place. I find it the most honest way to really get to know what a place have to offer. For such a popular vacation choice, there are some tourists who had felt let down or betrayed during their stay in Koh Samui. After reading their ranting, it dawned on me that we cannot really fault a paradise island like Koh Samui. So what went wrong?

It's definitely too many a crowd here ><

Many bad comments lament on the fact that the island is too overcrowded with tourist and it has been developed into everything touristy to generate income from foreigners. The rich Thai culture is nothing but an empty shell at Koh Samui because it had all been sucked dry by money-making. There was also mention of overpriced food and what-nots. If I’m not a savvy research nut as I am, I would definitely have crossed out Koh Samui as a recommended holiday spot. But I beg to differ here.

Choosing a vacation venue can be really tough when we lack the knowledge of the place. We must first understand what type of holiday we’re seeking before choosing a place to go. Though Koh Samui can be tagged as a very touristy place, it does preserve some of its hidden treasures for those who seek a low-key getaway. The key to loving it all at Koh Samui is to understand what it has to offer.

Getting to know what Koh Samui has to offer...

For those of you who seek to mingle with the crowds and want to pick up a few babes or dudes, Chaweng and Lamai is the place for you to go. Chaweng and Lamai are the sandy strips on Koh Samui known for being the happening place with all noise and parties you could ask for. Restaurants, bars, clubs, and the holiday crowds will gather here to unwind and have a blast. But for those who want a quiet, peaceful holiday, head away from this two places.

Be left alone with glee on Thong Krut Beach

Most of the smaller coastal villages are still untouched at Koh Samui. Take a look at Thong Krut on the south coast and Maenam in the North. They still give you a nice feeling where you’ll be uninterrupted by other tourist. The locals there will give you their gentle smile and you can perhaps chat up with them and they’ll share with you other hidden gems in Koh Samui.

Enjoy the simplicity at these humble chalets at Maenam Beach

Nathon, the island’s capital is a great place to experience the Thai culture. It is nowhere near as touristy as Chaweng and has great food, a lively market. Every evening, there are lots of local food stalls set up at the ferry car park harbour front where you can eat well alongside the locals for a few baht only.

Eat with the locals and get a taste of the real Thai flavour

These places are only a few I get to mentioned here and there are definitely more to come. Once you get to know and understand the various locations in this paradise island, you’d be sure to love it all at Koh Samui.

Part 4 : Food-Hunting in Siem Reap

Are we going around the globe or what?! Haha! Now that we're already hunting in Siem Reap... I'm sure some of us might be wondering what to eat in Siem Reap. Well, there are loads of good local delicacies there. And for sure, tempting enough for me to try.

When I always travelling with PYO Travel, I was brought to a local restaurant which serve mouth-watering local dishes and also a presentation of Khmer traditional dance show at the same time. That was quite an interesting (yummy) experience! Haha!

1) Amok

This is so much similar to the Malaysian version otak-otak! Nicely steamed and grilled in banana leaves. They use catfish meat to make this delicacy. Good & tasty!

2) Sngou Trolach Nyuk Bongkong
Never mind the spelling and pronunciation. I simply call this stuffed gourd with minced meat & prawns. The gourd was fresh and the prawns as well. Very nice to eat with rice. The soup was clear and very sweet.

3) Bok Lahong
A very simple and mouth-watering appetizer. Sweet and sour, with a bit of spicy. Extra points for the crunchy texture from the peanuts, cucumber and raw papaya. Simply irresistable!

4) Somlor Machu Kreung Ktih Sach Chrook
I love kangkung! This is a dish specially made for me! Haha! With some ribs and beef tendon, the flavour just rush into your mouth. You can also taste some lemon grass and assam in the soup.

Had a great time there in Siem Reap and let not the food-hunting spirit stop! Click PYO Travel to experience the excitement yourself.

It's FREE at the British Museum!

Visiting a foreign country where the exchange rate is so much more superior to our Ringgit can really burn a hole in our wallet. I used to travel online when there’s not enough budget to do the real thing until one day, I discovered that I can visit certain wonderful attractions for FREE!

Being a Chinese, I was quite skeptical initially as there’s a Cantonese saying that goes something like this “Cheap things, not good; Good things, not cheap”. I was apprehensive when I heard about these ‘free’ attractions. Are these so-called attractions worth visiting? Are they free because they want to force you to buy something while you’re there? The best way to find out about these places is to read reviews! So here’s what I found out about this Too-Good-To-Be-True-But-Is-Real-And-Awesome-Free-Attraction right in the heart of metropolitan London – The British Museum.

Norman Foster’s stunning glass-covered Great Court

British Museum allows its visitors to literally travel around the world. Not only that, you can travel back in time to learn about the rise and fall of some of the world’s greatest civilizations. This landmark museum is founded in 1753 and is home to over seven millions exhibition-worth objects collected from the whole world that bring you on a journey of exploration, discovery, and enjoyment.

Visiting British Museum can become an overwhelming experience if you’ve only visited our own Malaysian local museums. British Museum is HUGE. To really see everything in this museum, it’ll take you more than a day. But don’t worry; if you’re afraid about getting lost in the numerous corridors and exhibitions rooms, there are daily gallery tours as well as guided tours. If you’re adventurous and would like to explore in your own style, just grab a map and an audiotour headset available in various language, and you’ll be all set to go.

Click for a larger image to see the sections of the British Museum

One thing you must see is the world renowned Rosetta Stone, the valuable key to the decipherment of hieroglyphs. Perhaps it may just look like a plain old stone with inscriptions on it, but the Rosetta Stone has helped lead the discovery and understanding of the Ptolemaic era (before about 332 BC) and laid the foundations of our knowledge of ancient Egyptian language and culture.

Rosetta Stone

If you are a big fan of the movie “The Mummy”, you’ll be sure to be thrilled on the journey into the Mummy at British Museum. Every one of the mummies in this museum was once a living, breathing Egyptian who had gone through about their everyday life. Studying these mummified people tells us about their way of lives thousands of years ago. There are Egyptian mummies which had been in the museum for more than a hundred years and remained sealed. This is because unwrapping the mummies can badly damage them. Yet, with the current amazing technology, there are images that are taken of the inside of the mummies without having to open up the case.

Seeing a real mummy and its inside too!

If mummies are too scary for you (I know, they’re dead people), there’s a very pretty exhibition that shows Chinese ceramics. You’ll be captivated by the marvelous workmanship transforming ordinary clay into fine porcelains which record the imagination of people throughout history an across the globe. Just be really careful and no running at this exhibition room as not to shatter any of these priceless pieces of art.

Looking at pretty things - Chinese ceramics exhibition

Though the British Museum is said to be free, there is a periodical special exhibition which changes according to its set dates in the museum’s events calendar. It cost from £8.00 (about RM50). Right now, the special exhibition focuses on Indian summer season celebrating Indian culture up until end of August 2009. You can see vibrant illustrations depicting the palace life and pleasures of the Royal court telling stories of Indian epics.

The pleasurable lifestyle of the Indian Royal court

Alright, for me to tell you about every inch of the museum is simply not possible. The best way to know what I’m actually talking about is go see it for yourself. Because it is free to enter into the British Museum, you can go treat yourself in buying a souvenir from the museum store! PYOtravel deals to London though are not free, but they are at an incredible price too good to bargain for right now, so go check it out! Click HERE.

The Saga Continues : Part 3 : Food-Hunting in Jogjakarta

This round, let us venture around Jogjakarta for some local delicacies to excite our taste buds!

1. Gudeg Yogya
This is a dish where the locals eat as staple food. Gudeg Yogya is similarly as famous as Nasi Kandar to Penang. To be exact, it’s a plate of white rice, served with some specially cooked young nangka (jackfruit) slices in herbs & coconut milk, some stew chicken meat and eggs. Some even add-on some beancurds and vegetable to do some extra bits for their customers.

2. Nasi Langgi
Here’s another rice dish. Served on banana leaf (to enhance the aroma), with some fried beef (locally known as ‘empal’), preserved beef (‘abon’), potato cakes (‘perdekel’), stew egg and ‘sambal’. To me, it’s a ‘nasi lemak look-alike’ except for the ‘abon’ which we don’t get it here in Malaysia.

3. Ayam Goreng Kalasan
Yummy crispy golden fried chicken! Marinated with garlic, coriander and other herbs for taste and aroma. Must try!

4. Bakpia Pathuk
A snack most of us would like to get as souvenirs for our family or friends. Actually, it is rather similar to the “Tambun Pneah” from Penang. I like the original green bean type most. There are also some other taste like chocolate and cheese.

5. Wedang Ronde
Reminds me so much of ‘tangyuen’ (glutinous rice balls). A bowl of ‘wedang’ is served in warm ginger soup along with some peanuts. You can usually get them from push-cart vendor at night. The taste? Love it!

I bet most of us would not know that we have so much in common with Jogjakarta food. Well, can we say we are really neighbours or what? Grab a taste of Jogja’s best food and keep the food-hunting spirit continues with PYO Travel.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Not very far away off the Northern side of Chiang Mai, lays villages of hill tribes living peacefully in picturesque hillside regions. These groups of minorities have a very different view on the meaning of ‘beauty’.

Just because of this contradictory perspective of ‘beauty’, they have drawn so many people from all around the world to just either shamelessly stare at them, curiously talk to them, dedicatedly try to understand them, make a human/cultural interest story out of them, or even make some timeless documentary to record this unique group of people.

Of cause, what is beautiful always lies in the eye of the beholder. As pictures are often worth more than a thousand words, let me cut short from being so long winded trying to explain to you in words on their idea of beautiful. So…

Is she beautiful?

These minority tribes of people are actually groups formed from many different tribes who have their very own distinctive language and costumes. The more well known ones are known as the Paduang, a sub-group from the Karen tribe.

They originate from Eastern Burma, near the Thai Border, where conflicts with the military regime in the early 1900s have caused many of these people fled to neighbouring Thailand, living in exile. When asked, they do not really mind, in fact are quite happy with the peaceful simple lifestyle they led there as compared to the chaos back in Burma.

Wearing brass coils as early as 5 years old.

The people from these hill tribes view that women with ‘long neck’ are beautiful. Starting at the age of 5, little girls will start wearing these heavy brass rings around their neck. As they age, more brass rings will be added. These coil rings around their neck gives us the illusion that their neck is really long, but the truth is, it is the collarbone that is crushed and the ribcage get pushed down to create this ‘long neck’ look. The average weight of these brass coils that an adult woman wear can range between 3-4kg and they wear them while they sleep, eat, work, and play. It hardly gets taken off.

Skillful weavers

The village

You can find most girls in the tribe wear these heavy brass coils. When asked why they wear these heavy coils around their neck, they simply explain that it is part of their cultural identity. This determination in them to keep their cultural identity is actually the fact which contributes to their survival, bringing throngs of tourist to see them and created an income source for them in tourism. While the men of the tribes do farming, the women are skillful crafts makers, excellent weavers, and are able to sew you the most intricate design where many would not hesitate to get a piece as a souvenir to bring back home.

A memorable experience with the simple, warm and friendly hill tribes.

A visit to Karon Long Neck Villages is truly a worthwhile trip as you get to walk around the tranquil village sites, watching children at play, men hard at work, while women tend to their stalls. It is a very different life from how we city folks lead our life, and it is definitely a refreshing experience as you explore into a different culture and learn to understand them.

Remember to make this excursion to the Karen Long Neck Villages part of your travel itenerary while you book your trip with PYOtravel.

Part 2 : Food-Hunting in Ho Chi Minh

It's tea time!!! Let me get myself a cup of really hot chocolate on this rainy day… before I share with you guys & gals the 'makan' place in Ho Chi Minh City… I still remember the first day I stepped onto the land of Ho Chi Minh, I was already hunting for dining places there. Simply because I'm a dedicated food lover and I crave for them every minute… I like to be adventurous, trying out new things whenever I can. Eating the same thing over and over again everyday is like – BORING! Moreover, I was in a new environment, so I did not waste the opportunity to hunt for something new and refreshing!

1) Deep Fried Elephant Ear Fish

Fear not to try this strange-looking fish. It may look weird (and scary at times) but wait 'til you taste it. *Two-thumbs up!* It’s actually a type of relatively big-sized fish called Elephant Ear Fish fried with its scales on. 3 simple words – crispy, tasty and yummy!

2) King Prawns

Look at how big the prawns can actually grow! Well, if I'm not wrong, I found them "dead" in Ben Thanh Market. To my surprise, the price was rather reasonable. Basically, you can have them served in Vietnamese style, served with some special sauce of lime + salt + pepper + chili powder. (I guess this sauce is really "THE" special sauce as it's generally found in most dishes in Vietnam).

3) Shrimp Spring Rolls

In short, shrimp popiah. Like those I shared with you in my previous post about Hanoi, these were similar but fresh shrimps, instead of chicken meat, were wrapped in the thin rice paper roll. Together in there were some fresh lettuce and vegetable which added the extra texture to the spring rolls a.k.a. popiah.

4) Vietnamese Drip Coffee

The first time I saw this, I thought to myself, do I have to wait until the night falls just to taste a sip of the ever-famous Vietnamese coffee? Eventually I was wrong. Of course you wouldn't need to wait long for the coffee to drip. It's actually a way Vietnamese relax while stealing some time to enjoy their favourite cup of drink. Must try! Options : Kopi (with milk) or Kopi-O (no milk)!

My goodness! I need another cup of hot chocolate! My stomach is growling again… (although it’s just after tea time). Could it be because of the tempting food/drink I'm writing on? Wait 'til I fly to Ho Chi Minh again (for the king prawns and coffee)… with PYO Travel (of course!)... Ciao!

Thanks Jacqueline for the beautiful photos!

Catching Albert Lee on Video...

Watch it on our YouTube Channel,
http://www.youtube.com/user/mypyotravel

Groove with the Young and Trendy at Ximending

The hip and trendy at Ximending

Are you young (or at least young at heart), fashionable, trendy, and hippy? If you answer ‘Yes’ to all the mentioned descriptions, you got what it takes to be seen at Taipei most popular, trendy upbeat shopping haven! If Tokyo has its Ginza, New York City has its Broadway St, then Ximending is definitely the ‘it’ place for Taipei. This hot spot is choke-ful of shops selling everything a youngster could ask for. Be it fashion, fast food, tattoo, piercing, sunglasses, sneakers, snacks, CDs, magazines, movies, theatre shows……you can basically find everything here that fits the ‘cool’ bill for a hippy, hormone-raging youth. Well, I know I mentioned Ximending is a shopping haven, but for a light traveler like me, I’ve managed to learn to curb the shopping maniac side of me when I go see the world. All because it just look so-not-cool to walk out of the airport/bus station/ train station carrying loads of bags, looking tired and haggard just handling the load, even before any sightseeing starts. So yeah… no shop-until-I-drop indulgences on traveling trips for me. (Unless it’s specifically a shopping trip!)

What is youth culture without grafitti?

So what do I do at a place like Ximending with no intention to shop? Worry-not. The sights itself is enough to steal my soul away. Ximending dates back to the Japanese era when it rules Taipei. It has developed and grown with time, filling up the need for fashion and entertainment for the people. Trendy and upbeat as it is, Ximending has an underlying solid tone that tells you that though it serves the young and feeds the youth culture; it has no doubt successfully hidden itself as a true old grandpa place, ever so faithfully dishing out candies to passing youth.

My favourite cheapest travel itinerary: people-watch

With storefronts covered in kitschy neon lights, naked wire, artsy graffiti, and jumble of colours, it makes a perfect study for the ‘art of raking up a new look’ for an old historical place. If you look carefully into the street alleys, away from the crowd, you’d find the edgier side of Taiwan’s youth culture where they truly work and shop. It’s a discovery of the true Ximending, on how life can be, in an alleyway right in the heart of Taipei city, building an understanding for a culture, dissecting the similarities or differentiation of lifestyles, away from what you see at home.

Be wowed and entertained by street stunts & performances!

Besides the alleyways, the crowds make a great opportunity to do people-watching. At the pedestrian streets of Ximending, you’d see youth parading around at their best. Though it may be somewhat different to what I’d normally wear when I was their age, but hey! Don’t discriminate, being a youth is all about being different.

Thank God they're doing this on the street during day light time! (Street shows)

I often get amused with the most bizarre way of dressing up that a person can get away with. What can look totally dynamic and stylish on one person can just totally make another look so ‘off’. I used to drab myself in safe boring colours and shapeless big Ts, until my very own dad got fed up with me and insist upon the role of my personal fashion advisor. I couldn’t help but smile watching teens in their choice of style, and I wonder what their parents think.

Get lucky to run into celebrities' CD albums launches

Walking along the streets at Ximending is definitely a must if you want to feel of the vibe of youth culture in Taipei. With random street performances, music CDs launches from hip atiste, small concerts, this is certainly not a place to have the chance to feel bored with. Ximending is there for what it serves in the first place: to entertain. Find great travel deals to Taipei at PYOtravel.com Photos credit to Flickr contributors.

Food-Hunting in Macau

Gosh… food hunting in Macau was FUN! So many that we can eat there but the following three are the most famous ones in Macau. Not that I am exaggerating or something but they are simply irresistible.

1) Portuguese egg tarts

I think I've mentioned them in my previous post. But I'm definite that once you've tried one, you would want to put another one in your mouth right away. Simply marvelous! Smooth and soft egg custard surrounded by layers of fine thin crispy layered skin. Its skin and the egg custard blend well and with just one bite, it melts in no time.

2) Steamed Milk Pudding

For milk lovers – You can’t say NO to this bowl of tempting dessert. Try a bowl of steamed milk pudding and you'll fall in love... (once again). They even give you the option of serving them hot or cold. To me, I love BOTH! Its silky smooth texture and strong milky flavour give the 'magical' touch to this simple dish. For those who love something extra, you can try their ginger steamed milk pudding. This won't disappoint you as well.

For non milk lovers – No worries, have a bowl of their egg custard pudding. Gosh, I can't describe this in words, but the soft and smooth texture of the egg custard is something you can never find elsewhere. Taste – brilliant! Not too sweet. Ngam ngam hou! (Just nice in Cantonese) Every mouthful of the custard excites your taste buds. Reminds me of the colourful nutty chocolates – melt in your mouth, not in your hands!

3) Pork chop bun

Frankly speaking, I do not eat pork due to personal health reason. But, I can tell you how aromatic this big chunk of meat was when they were being sizzled on the pan. The whole shop was being "seasoned" with the aroma of the cooking meat. I assume it's a version of Macau's very own burger. A piece of finely marinated fried pork chop, served in between slices of buns. According to my "carnivorous" friends, they love the bun more than anything! Hmmm… I can tell it when by just looking at their face while they were taking a bite of the huge Macau burger.


Oh gosh! My stomach is growling already… Wait 'til I fly to Macau for lunch… Wanna join me? Well, get your travel packages with PYO Travel if you wish to have lunch with me in Macau. 'Til then, ciao!

Thanks Zoey & Poh Kuen for the unedited photos!