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Monthly Archives: January 2019

Shenyang – Liaoning Province – PRC – September 2018

26 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Benxi National Park, Benxi Water Caves, Liaoning Province, PRC China, Shenyang

Another province visited in China

fullsizeoutput_53bWhilst in Liaoning Province last year, my friend Jon and I went to Benxi Water Caves for a visit.  These caves are about an hour’s drive from the capital Shenyang so again using a trusty guide and driver, off we went.  fullsizeoutput_52fThe caves are located in Benxi National Park and our guide told us they are the longest underground water-filled caves found in the world and that they contain the world’s longest underground river at 5.8 kilometres. Of this, only 2.8 kilometres are accessible by boat.  I never think our guides are untruthful, however I have heard many [many] times during my travels around China that some structure is either the oldest/biggest/longest/tallest so I am not sure of the accuracy of this statement.fullsizeoutput_533My photos are not great [or even good] as I only had my mobile telephone with me in the caves which were quite dark.  The ride in small boats took about forty-five minutes and wearing too small life jackets we boarded and then on occasions we had to duck our heads as the stalactites were quite low.  Was a fun time though with the usual bright and colourful lights highlighting the cave.img_2611fullsizeoutput_530Little bit of interesting information on how to remember which are stalactites and which are stalagmites…the word stalactite has a ‘c’ for ‘ceiling’ and the word stalagmite has a ‘g’ for ‘ground’…an easy way to remember I think..fullsizeoutput_531After our visit we hopped off the boat and took a short walk through part of the cave where at the exit we were met by our driver and taken to lunch.  We arrived at a typical Chinese looking building with basic interior but enjoyed an ok lunch[I say ‘ok’ as it was not some of the best food I have had in China] consisting of several Chinese dishes including an egg dish, rice, a meat dish for Jon and the usual eggplant dish for me.fullsizeoutput_52efullsizeoutput_52bfullsizeoutput_52aBefore returning to our hotel we took a quick tour of Shenyang city; not an awful lot to see but we got out of the car to look around and seeing as it was very warm, got a good spray of water from the fountain in the city centre.fullsizeoutput_536fullsizeoutput_53afullsizeoutput_535Then back to our hotel after another great day in China!

 

 

Seminyak – Bali – Indonesia – January 2019

17 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels outside China

≈ 44 Comments

Tags

Bali, Indonesia, Seminyak, travelling with family, Ultimo restaurant, Villa Kubu

I liked it so much I returned!fullsizeoutput_521

Last year in July I met my friend Sandy in Seminyak, Bali for seven days.  I stayed in a hotel with a communal pool on the roof area which was lovely but I wanted to bring my brother and nephew over here and this time I wanted to rent a villa with a private pool.  After much research I chose Villa Kubu and was definitely not disappointed. Gorgeous gardens inside leading from our villa to the front door…img_4484And so many other little gardens areas as well as a pond with a few goldfish…img_4509fullsizeoutput_520

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Our villa has three large bedrooms each with ensuite – well it’s pretty special that one of the two bedrooms downstairs has a private courtyard with an outdoor shower – my brother chose this room; how nice to have a shower outdoors when it is so hot here. But there also is a bath located in the inside bathroom in case it’s too warm outside.fullsizeoutput_526

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The main bedroom upstairs has an open bathroom, lounge room, dressing room and separate bedroom – it really is huge therefore it’s the one I chose (ha ha) !!img_4467img_4468We spend most of our time on the super comfortable lounge downstairs overlooking the pool – its sort of inside/outside (ie no doors or windows but covered overhead).  There is also an air-conditioned television room but we have not put the tv on once since arriving.fullsizeoutput_51eimg_4459I have been getting up early to ensure I exercise so I walk through the tree lined streets then the shopping area down to the beach which is about an hour walk there and back – important for to get my 12,000 steps in ‘most’ days.  On the way I feed the street dogs and try not to get run over by the mad scooter riders.

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img_4511fullsizeoutput_523There are so many amazing restaurants in Seminyak and last night I chose an Italian restaurant called Ultimo.  It’s so easy to travel in Seminyak, we booked a taxi and five minutes and $2 later we arrived!fullsizeoutput_514This turned out to be an excellent choice as the food was truly delicious.  Ambience and service was top notch also.  I chose the Penne All’ Arabiana; a dish of penne pasta with fresh chilli and fresh tomato sauce with basil – wow this was good!fullsizeoutput_513My brother chose the three pasta dish which had spaghetti pomodoro, penne formagi  and fussili pesto.  He couldn’t eat it all.  My nephew chose the Fettuccini Alla Carbonara which like all our meals was delicious and huge; he is not a really big eater so he took half of it back home to our villa.

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My nephew also ordered some cheesy garlic bread which really was very cheesy and came with a pesto sauce – all eaten!  A friend of mine also joined us for dinner and she ordered a couple of entree size meals (which I forgot to take photos of) and the largest piece of tiramisu dessert I think I have ever seen.  She laughed and said she would not be able to finish it; she did it was that good.fullsizeoutput_512fullsizeoutput_515It was an early night which was good as we still have several nights here in Seminyak and we are returning to Seasalt restaurant tonight to enjoy great food and watch the sunset.  Can’t wait!

 

 

 

 

Changchun – Jilin Province – PRC – September 2018

11 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Travels inside China

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Imperial Palace of Manchukuo, Jilin Province, Jin-An Hotel, Jinyue Lake Forest National Park, PRC China, Puyi Mansion, travelling with friends

Four days in Jilin – a province in north west China

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My friend Jon and I caught the bullet train from Liaoning Province to Jilin; it was only about an hour and half ride and I recall we slept most of the way.  Upon arrival we went straight to our hotel (well that was after we haggled with a ‘private taxi’ over a price to our hotel).  I immediately jumped on the bed to see if it was a typical Chinese hard mattress or western style…pleasantly surprised..western style; nice and comfortable.  After this, I followed my usual routine of checking out the bathroom [clean with all necessary amenities] and then took photos from the window.fullsizeoutput_4f2After a relaxing evening, early the next morning Jon and I were picked up by our tour guide and driver and taken to Jinyue Lake Forest National Park.  The park covers an area of 200 square kilometres, with over 4.3 square kilometres water surface and 80 square kilometres planted forest.  We told our guide we wanted to walk quite a distance within the park so our driver dropped us off at the main entrance.  Firstly to see as much as we could and secondly to ensure we reached our 12,000+ steps for the day.

The park has many features; a golf course, a man-made beach that holds up to 3000 people, BBQ areas, temples and 1000 spotted deer located in over 30,000 square metres in Deer Park.  Or you could just enjoy walking, skating or bike riding around.fullsizeoutput_4fbfullsizeoutput_4f8img_2777The park also had some cartoon character statues – no idea why they were there but I have come to enjoy seeing these statues in many places around China!!  Pepa Pig and family were first to greet us followed by some other characters I didn’t know and then Mr Fox and Ms Rabbit…fullsizeoutput_4fa

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The walkways are paved beautifully [very old our guide told us] as well as treelined and circle for kilometres through forests and alongside the water.  It was a pretty hot day but the shade from the tree branches made our walk very pleasant.img_2782

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Walking around the water’s edge was also beautiful.  There are small boats that can be sailed around at the lake but we decided to continue walking.fullsizeoutput_502fullsizeoutput_4f9fullsizeoutput_4f6Although after about four hours, we were a little tired and rather hungry so we cheated a little and had our driver pick us up from another entry/exit point to/from the park.  A great day out to enjoy China’s surprisingly beautiful bright blue sky.fullsizeoutput_500The next day we visited Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo. fullsizeoutput_509The palace was the official residence created by the Imperial Japanese Army for China’s last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Puyi.  It was where Puyi lived as part of his role as Emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Chinese refer to the museum as the Puppet Emperor’s Palace & Exhibition Hall and are not particularly complimentary about Puyi with his ‘defection’ to Japan.img_2717HISTORY – [source: Wikepedia] In 1931, the Japanese took control of the Northeast of China, the area of modern-day Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, which were historically known as Manchuria. The Japanese created an officially independent state in Manchuria which they named Manchukuo which was in reality a puppet state of Japan. In an attempt to lend legitimacy to Manchukuo, the Japanese installed Puyi as Emperor of Manchukuo.fullsizeoutput_505Finally, in 1945, the Second World War was brought to an end and the Japanese surrendered to China. At the same time, the Manchukuo ceased to exist and Puyi returned to the status of an ordinary citizen.

A puppet state is independent but is completely dependent upon an outside power. It is nominally sovereign but effectively controlled by a foreign or otherwise alien power, for reasons such as financial interests, economic or military support.fullsizeoutput_50eBut back to the palace – it was designed as a miniature version of the Forbidden City in Beijing and is divided into an inner court and outer court. The outer or front court was used for administrative purposes and the inner or rear court as the royal residence.  Both the front and rear court were maintained beautifully and the furniture was stunning.  You can imagine an emperor living there…fullsizeoutput_508

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fullsizeoutput_507fullsizeoutput_504The palace grounds cover an area of 43,000 square meters.  We spent most of our time in the royal residence but also took a short stroll around the grounds.fullsizeoutput_50dfullsizeoutput_511

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Then it was time to leave the palace, return to our hotel and make our way to Inner Mongolia by plane to more fabulous adventures in China!

Bicicletta Restaurant – Canberra – Australian Capital Territory – Australia – December 2018

05 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by SueT唐 梦 琇 in Sightseeing and eating around Canberra/Sydney

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

ACT, Australia, Bicicleta restaurant, canberra, dining with friends, Eggplant, Gnocchi, Polenta, Vegan food

A Canberra Italian restaurant serving delicious vegan dishesfullsizeoutput_4ef

Isn’t it funny, I live in a small city and; having lived here for nearly fourteen years and have never been to Bicicletta Italian Restaurant (which my ‘foodie’ friend Jane had told me about several times)…but last month that all changed…

I arranged a pre-Christmas dinner with girl friends I have known for over thirty-five years.  We all joined the same employer way back in 1983.  Unfortunately two girls could not make it but the remaining three and myself allowed us to catch up on all the gossip of life.  Even though I have now retired we still keep in contact and only one of the girls is still with the same organisation…although she did leave for many years to run a hotel in the country.  fullsizeoutput_4eaBut back to our dinner…  Bicicletta Restaurant serves locally sourced food and its menu has several vegetarian and vegan options.  In this location, there are several restaurants and a few residential complexes who share a communal vegetable and herb garden. I loved this little area; so beautifully maintained also with an ‘interesting’ statue and small gardens and pathways for local residents to enjoy.fullsizeoutput_4eefullsizeoutput_4e5IMG_4278We sat outside in the courtyard with a view inside the restaurant through large windows.fullsizeoutput_4e7The courtyard is great for the warmer months with lush greenery and coloured chairs and umbrellas.  In late Autumn and Winter, blankets are supplied to keep your legs warm.fullsizeoutput_4f0I loved the look of two vegan items on the menu so decided to try both an entree and main course.  I chose the eggplant dish for entree which was deep fried with a balsamic glaze, polenta chips and a small amount of rocket.  This was an incredibly delicious meal…really too big for an entree but I was not complaining.  I loved it!fullsizeoutput_4ebMy friends shared the Pane, Olio E Balsamico which was a selection of breads; sourdough, baguette and brioche served with butter, aged balsamic reduction and extra virgin olive oil [forgot to take a photo].

For my main course I ordered the Gnocchi Da Giardino; house made pumpkin, potato and ground herbed gnocchi with roasted baby beets, broccoli florets and wild mushrooms in spinach and a vegan herb pesto sauce.  Another incredible dish – so [so] good.fullsizeoutput_4e6One of my friends also ordered the gnocchi but hers included a topping of crumbed goats cheese.

My friends then chose a range of dishes including the Capesante; pan seared scallops with romesco sauce, green apple tartare with lime and salmon caviar.fullsizeoutput_4ecAlso the Ravioli Di Maiale Arrosto; house made ravioli stuffed with roast pork, apple, potato and thyme in a creamy apple, rhubarb and white wine sauce finished with rocket, toasted walnuts and aged balsamic.  fullsizeoutput_4e8And finally the daily risotto dish with wild mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, rocket and freshly shaved parmesan.  fullsizeoutput_4e9I thought all the meals looked so appetising and were beautifully displayed.  But in relation to our friendship, no matter how different our lives are now, this group of friends is still very special to me and I always enjoy catching up with them over a meal.

 

 

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