Fey Wanders: travel

Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Today's Daydream...

"Smurf Town" in Juzcar, Spain.

Photo credit: Rough travel guides

Monday, November 10, 2014

Find Perfect Moments (Greece Part 3)

I found many perfect moments just being on Santorini.
The breathtaking view of the Aegean Sea, the strong breeze, the amazing variety of colorful buildings perched on the cliffs in the different towns. In such moments, life just standstills. The magic is all around us as I am reminded of how grateful i am to be alive and how blessed I am to be on such a beautiful island to experience these perfect moments.

Some of my favourite snapshots of Santorini that i will forever hold in my heart & mind.

Santorini showed me how simplicity can be so beautiful.
Looking at clean cut lines of the structures can bring so much peace and zen-ness to the mind.
#feelingreallyblessed

TBC….

Read The Oia Dream (Greece Part 1)
Read The Oracle of Delphi (Greece Part 2)

pics taken by a Samsung Note 2 & Panasonic Lumix camera

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Happiness & Travel

There is a famous story about two children who set out to find a bluebird; they travel all over the world only to find it in their own backyard when they return home. The bluebird, of course, represents happiness and the moral of the story is that happiness is found when you stop looking for it. Travelling to find happiness is probably always doomed to failure, despite all those romantic movies which claim otherwise, because happiness comes in those moments when you are not consciously trying to be happy. The moments of sheer joy come when you forget yourself and focus on something other than your own feelings or desires or goals.

When you travel to another country where everything is unfamiliar, your awareness is heightened, you notice every little detail because you are trying to understand and make sense of everything that is going on around you. The person you are at home, in your own environment, becomes less important, less central to this new story, you are an observer and this sense of being an outsider intensifies your responses and emotions.

Travel takes you to places in the world that are heart-stoppingly beautiful, exposes you to scenes of horrific deprivation and challenges you to accept and understand that the world is composed of both. But the moments that remain with you, when you look back and remember your wanderings, are those moments when you simply allowed time to unfold. Watching a sun set or rise, wandering around a ruined city or ancient temple, meeting someone who is as curious about you as you are about them, exchanging impressions with other travelers- these are all part of the everyday travel experience, and yet these everyday incidents will be the fragments that make up the whole journey, that stay with you and inform or change your perspective when you return to that other 'real' life.

The opportunity to look at another culture, to see the world from another viewpoint, to see yourself as someone foreign, is the adventure of travel. The freedom, the sense of possibilities, the absence of the routine mundanity of normal life, is the excitement of travel. But happiness in travel comes from the moments when you are aware how lucky you are to be in that place, at that time, and how wonderful the world is.

By Maureen Wheeler, Lonely Planet Co-Founder

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Today's Daydream...

Pura Besakih in Bali, Indonesia.

photo credit: world wonders

Sunday, January 19, 2014

My Hong Kong Top 10 To Dos ! #2

A way to experience the spectacular skylines of Hong Kong is from the Victoria Peak (The Peak). The Peak offers a 360 degrees paranomic view of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the hills of North Territories as well as the Lamma island.

The part i like about the Victoria Peak is the ride up via the Peak Tram, which pulls visitors up a steep hill in under ten minutes.
(***As the queue for the tram is usually long, tickets purchased in advance gives a quicker access to take the ride. We bought ours at the airport which offered us a bundled discount for a few tourist attractions as well.)

While it does, the Tram's climb up offers us a gradually growing bird's eye view of the city.

With less people in the viewing lookout, it can surely be quite a romantic backdrop for lovers.

It can get quite cold especially during nights with strong winds, so do remember to layer up before visiting.

I enjoyed the view so much that i will definitely be back again!!

In the meantime, if you are into wax figurines of famous personalities, photo opportunities await a Madame Tussaud's at the Peak Tower as well.

TBC…

Read My Hong Kong Top 10 To Dos ! #1

Pics taken with a Panasonic Lumix camera and Samsung Note 2

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Chasing the Lights (Norway Part 2)

That night as the sun set, we got ready to attend our lecture at the Polar Light Centre. The lecture was informative as it explained all about how the aurora borealis is formed and what are the favorable conditions for her to make an appearance.

Our first night in Laukvik and we were hopeful about getting a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

We met the owners Rob and Theresa, a couple originally from Holland but moved to Laukvik to set up the Polar Light Centre all for the love of Lady Aurora. Rob is so passionate about his research on the northern lights and both are them are just so inspiring.

The wonderful perk about signing up for a lecture at the Polar Light Centre is that Rob provides a complimentary SMS service to notify us about the sightings of Lady Aurora; so we won't need to brave the cold outside to wait for her appearance.

By the way, Theresa makes the best cookies ! Couldn't get enough of them!

That night, my eyes were affixed on this device…

Spikes indicate a possible appearance of Lady Aurora.

According to Rob, that night was not a good night for sightings as the sky was not clear.

The other devices Rob uses to track her…
This maybe what passion and dedication looks like!

Rob and Theresa shared many of their encounters and stories about Lady Aurora. Like a child, i listened in awe and anticipation of meeting her. I was eager. Such is the beauty and magnificence of Nature which man has no control over. She decided not to make an appearance on the 1st night of our arrival.

Hearing the stories, i figured the best way to meet her was to make her a gift as a token of my sincerity to meet her. Somethings have no explanation, and explanations need not be sought.

I went into the Art Studio in the same premise where i lived, as our land lady is gracious enough to open up her art studio to those who board with her.

Even though i was never so confident about art, i whipped out the paint brushes and did my best potrait of Lady Aurora from my imagination and pictures I had seen.

Afterwards, I braved the cold of the night and lifted up my painting to the sky as a gift to her.

I think she must have heard me.....

Despite the disappointment of not meeting her on our first day, we were treated to this beautiful sunset…

This was just the beginning of things to come…

If you do go by Lofoten Islands, please pay Rob and Theresa a visit at their Polar Light Centre
http://www.polarlightcenter.com to maximize your chance of seeing the Northern Lights!

TBC…

Read Chasing the Lights (Norway Part 1)

pics taken with a Panasonic Lumix camera

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Today's Daydream...

Holy Land, Israel.

Photo credit: holiday force

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Today's Daydream...

Photo source: HotelDirect

The beauty of Tibet is beyond one's imagination….

Monday, December 9, 2013

The Mysteries of Angkor Wat & Beyond (Part 2)

Walking through the rumble amongst the Ta Prohm gives visitors a feeling of an adventure in the likes of Lara Croft (in Tomb Raiders) and Indiana Jones. Unlike other Khmer temples, Ta Prohm is left in its junglistic state offering visitors an experience founders once had when the Khmer temples were first discovered.

Being one of the most celebrated temples after the Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm is also the work of Jayavarman VII dedicated to Buddhism. Rather different from the Angkor Wat, the temple consists of a long, low complex of buildings all standing at the same height connected by passages.

Exploring Ta Prohm gives us the best of both worlds- nature and architecture. The towering thousand year old trees, creeping plants and moss covered relics in the temple makes it distinctively unique showcasing the magnificence of nature standing beside the grandeur structure of the man-made temple. Overtime, both have somehow blend in perfect harmony.

Over the years, the spectacular roots have also spilt massive stones into rumble and cracked vaulted passageways, giving us a sense of awe of the strength of Nature as they cave into the temple grounds.

Although being a much smaller compound compared to Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm charms visitors in its jungle setting of creeping vines and exploring through the corridors is nothing short of a mysterious and adrenaline pumping experience.

Another one off my bucket list! :-)

TBC…

pics taken with a Panasonic Lumix Camera

Read The Mysteries of Angkor Wat and Beyond (Part 1)