A Travelling Journey
Cheerful Summer
by Laura Blanc de Silva on 12/04/13
We
wanted to escape from the freezing New York last February, and visit a country
that could warm us up for a while. We chose Montevideo, the capital of a tiny
country, Uruguay. A trip to a fascinating and country. In Montevideo we could breathe
an air full of tranquility, good vibes and magic. I was thinking if there was
more oxygen, because I could not stop yawning and feeling sleepy for a couple
of days. The city was
not huge, but to a considerable extent. Enough to get a good loss if you take
the road that is not. Car traffic may be congested in parts.
One
of the Montevidean traditions is to visit the Isla de Flores and Santiago de
Chile streets, located in the South District to watch the candombe groups of Montevideo played
the drums. Candombe is music and
dance originated with African slaves. A tourist that wants to
visit Montevideo cannot miss the candombe and the parade during Carnival time,
where hundreds of people parade in beautiful costumes accompanied by dancing
men and women. Candombe players heated the instruments by the fire before they
started playing. A curiosity.
One
Sunday we went to the Tristán Narvaja Fair which has been taking place every
Sunday in Montevideo for over a hundred years ago. It is combination of a
market with a flea market. A tourist can find almost everything: books, antique
lamps, pipes, boxes, clothes, canaries, drums, fruits and vegetables and so
forth. We got tired of walking and decided to take a cab to go to the Punta
Carretas Mall that is located close to the seaside. We had a delicious meal at a
restaurant and for dessert coffee and scones - type of muffin cake - a delicatessen that we could not
ignore.
The
Punta Carretas’ neighborhood was very pleasant to stroll. Skirting the edge of the Rio de la Plata was
the Uruguayan shore holding a chain of beaches. For the most part there is a sidewalk
between La Rambla (a wide boulevard/promenade) and the waters of the Río de la
Plata. It
was very pleasant to walk along the coast on Montevideo's Rambla. We saw people
sitting on benches, running, walking, drinking the typical mate, a place to
socialize. Nothing more
relaxing and enjoyable than watching the sunset from here! After a while, we
decided to go back to the hotel to have a shower and dress up to go to a night
club.
We visited one where tango was danced and
played, it was spectacular! Then we went to another where we could listen to rock
and roll, Brazilian and tropical music. By the way, people stayed dancing until
dawn as we were told. We were exhausted, music, dance and some drinks! What
a combination! Still, next day we were heading to the famous Punta del Este.
Amazing Hong Kong
by Laura Blanc de Silva on 12/04/13
We flew north east for about four hours to a mega city I very much wanted
to experience for a few years. Hong Kong in January is much cooler than is
nearby Thailand or Singapore. It's made of 3 main islands which are Kowloon,
Hong Kong and Lantau Island. We arrived around 8 pm nighttime to a beautiful
skyscrapers scenery, took the high speed train to Tsim Sha Tsui, stop in
Kowloon and then taxi to our Park Hotel. We would spend the next 5 nights
wondering this ancient city, meeting its people and seeing what it was all
about.
The first night after a quick shower we headed downstairs and into a nearby
diner type restaurant to have something to eat before bed. Pretty much no one
here spoke English and even the check was in Chinese numbers. I had a soup followed
by an egg/shrimp and vegetable quiche plate. Apparently that was too much since
I had stomach aches for the rest of the night.
The next breezy morning we had breakfast nearby at a French cafeteria and
started to get a grip of the city. As in most of Asia traffic, it went on the
left and back on the right side. People here were not in the same pace as in
Thailand, or Singapore, they were very much in a rush and rarely smiled, very
much like at home in NYC.
The population was mostly Chinese/ Japanese mix along with some ex-pats working
here. We took the ferry across the bay into Hong Kong Island, and bought
tickets to head up the mountain. Amazing panoramic views on the peak Tramway. Along
the way up we passed Victoria peak and mid-levels, which are prestigious
residency areas in Hong Kong. This train system began operating back in 1888 by
the British Kingdom. We noticed that one big issue here is the lack of housing.
The amount of people and the demand is so high that it's almost unimaginable
for a middle level income individual to live anywhere well located, and much
less bigger than a cubicle in size.
In the evening we walked around town and had dinner at the Pacific Place Mall.
The malls in Asia seem to congregate the top chefs, therefore to grab a seat
there's a guaranteed line on pretty much every restaurant. We had tickets to
see the “HK Symphony of Lights” from Kowloon Bay. It's a perfectly orchestrated
show of music, lights of different colors on the sides of skyscrapers
coordinated with music and fireworks. Not bad at all! After that we took the
ferry again across and visited “Times Square” where luxury retailers make most
of their income in this very affluent part of the planet.
The next morning we decided to take the ferry out of Hong Kong on a two hour
trip to visit something very different. We headed into Macau, a former
Portuguese colony for 400 something years, now under Chinese mandatory. An
interesting fact we heard is that Macau’s revenue is 12 times that of Las Vegas
on a yearly basis! Since casino games are illegal in the mainland of China and
also in Hong Kong, visitors come here in and out in masses.
We had experienced another amazing city which I had the pleasure to visit for
the first time. I was truly delighted by their attention to detail, from
cooking to their advanced fashion, to the mixture of stereotypes to every
single aspect of their lives. Hong Kong I will be back for more of your
exquisite taste!
We’ll Definitely Visit Singapore Again
by Laura Blanc de Silva on 12/04/13
After changing planes in Tokyo and flying
south for 7 hours we finally arrived at the heart of Asia, a country that has
seen is biggest growth over the past 20 years than in all of its entire
history. Singapore is the place we would be calling home for the next 5 days
before starting this trip through the beautiful, unexplored south-east Asia.
From the first morning we felt and smelt the humidity, and heard the rain from
our room at Tanglin View - a new 4 towers complex built about ten minutes from
the center of town. As experienced tourists, we headed into the Visitors Center
and purchased 4 tickets to do different activities. The first was a hop on-hop
off bus service, followed by a boat quay tour of Singapore’s magnificent channel
system. Then we planned a visit to the night’s safari and access to the
Singapore Flyer, which at 541 feet high is the biggest spinning wheel
worldwide.
The one that I enjoyed the most was the boat quay tour, before boarding we had
lunch at a restaurant on the riverside. All the seafood was served by the pound
and there were from Australian crab to live oysters. The boat quay started in
the evening and went on through sunset. We saw the town came alive with all the
buildings sitting along as the Feng-Shui dictates for progress and movement.
The next day we visited the Singapore Flyer which had impressive views, with
the Marina Bay sands rooftop pool almost at the same height and the formula one
racetrack to your right. The gardens by the bay were incredible to see as well
as the ports.
