Random Trips

Hong Kong. City of mixed cultures of Brits and Chinese. Dont expect a typical city of China. Definitely not London too. Many skyscrapers and temples to see. Dont forget the food! Most importantly Dim Sum!! March is a good month to visit Hong Kong. Not so cold not so hot, just a perfect weather for tourists! Still watch out for the light rain. Kowloon Island Best place to view Hong Kong Island is Kowloon Island. Both in day light and night time. Kowloon island is also best for shopping. We stayed on Kowloon Island. So it was easy to reach shopping malls and get back to hotel without the traffic jam. A beautiful park is located in the middle of the island. You may take your food and have a little picnic over there. There are also some interesting animals -especially the birds-  I have not seen before. Many old people meet at this park for doing yoga or other exercises. Tin Hau Temple, Hong Kong Island T...

Hong Kong. City of mixed cultures of Brits and Chinese. Dont expect a typical city of China. Definitely not London too. Many skyscrapers and temples to see. Dont forget the food! Most importantly Dim Sum!! March is a good month to visit Hong Kong. Not so cold not so hot, just a perfect weather for tourists! Still watch out for the light rain. Kowloon Island Best place to view Hong Kong Island is Kowloon Island. Both in day light and night time. Kowloon island is also best for shopping. We stayed on Kowloon Island. So it was easy to reach shopping malls and get back to hotel without the traffic jam. A beautiful park is located in the middle of the island. You may take your food and have a little picnic over there. There are also some interesting animals -especially the birds-  I have not seen before. Many old people meet at this park for doing yoga or other exercises. Tin Hau Temple, Hong Kong Isla...

If you see someone who actually born in Washington DC,  hug him. S/he is so rare to find. District of Columbia is not a state as you may predict from its name. It is like an artificial city. Everyone (you may call them Washingtonians or Dcist) in the district is there for a reason. They are either working for the government, World Bank, NGO,  etc or has a meeting with one of them. White House If you are one of the lucky ones who had a chance to visit the White House many years ago,  you know how the second floor looks like!! Today they do not allow visitors to second floor where the President and his family live. I cannot say much anything interesting going on the first floor but the best season to visit is Christmas. White House looks awesome with the ornaments. However, you may always take  the virtual tour ! Check the link and please share what you think about this amazing project. It saves money, effort and time....

A friend once said "We live like teletubbies here in Brighton." Coming from a big city where daily life is a struggle, I believe that is an accurate statement for Brighton where no one feels like a foreigner; being eco-friendly, vegetarian and retro are glorified, and "marginal" groups are never marginalised. Brighton (and Hove) is a small city with a population around 270.000 people, just in the south of London, can be reached with a 50 minute train ride from the Victoria Station. Though it is not worth a visit during the storms,  when you cannot even reach the seaside because of the crazy ocean winds, it is heaven when it's sunny, and everyone is trying to reach the beaches from the hills of the city, like newborn caretta carettas. As the saying goes for all Britain, Brighton as well, "does not have a climate, it has weather, and if you don't like it just wait for a few minutes."  Thus, you have to be prepa...

Almost everyone loves a good massage, a clean scrub, nice steam rooms and a warm bath. These are also offered by modern day spas, with package deals, though I always feel something missing from them, as if relaxation is a mandatory requirement, as if when you are in a spa, you have to have a relaxed face with calm breaths and all those symptoms of relaxation. I must say, I am not a big fan of them. Hamams (or Turkish baths) are different. They are built to clean you, not unwind you, no one expects you to make that relaxed face at the end, they just expect you to smell of soap, and that relaxation persists. In Istanbul, there are many hamams, but never go to a mixed gender hamam. Traditional hamams are about bonding with your real friends under a historical dome, cleaning your soul together with cleaning your body. Unlike spas, no one expects you to be quiet in a hamam, instead, everyone reveal their hearts, and gossip, under that co...