Christmas Cheer

Let me stretch my fingers and dust out this place a little, ahem...
I took a quick trip to NYC last Sunday to check out some Christmas decorations (christmas trees, store windows, all that!). Unfortunately we didn't see anything too amazing... maybe they're putting them up late? maybe everyone decided to tone it down? who knows.

But we made a stop at Dylan's Candy Bar and filled up on all kinds of chocolate
(NOT the bacon flavored one though)!

Rockefeller Center delivered as always.
And we even caught the little light show on the facade of Sack's Fifth Avenue!



Alright, off to my chocolate bars now -- Caramel, Red Velvet, Dark Chocolate & Raspberry, and S'Mores!

Memories of China: Nanxun, Zhejiang

During my Christmas-slash-New Year vacation, I went on a day trip to Nanxun, Zhejiang, one of the many water towns outside of Shanghai. Since we went on a weekday, the touristic part of the city was very calm, almost too empty... but it was exactly the kinda escape I needed at the time, just an hour away from home.

We walked along the canal and visited some of the old houses, temples, and gardens. I wish I could go back during the spring or early summer, I'm sure it would look and feel completely different!


Nanxun being the only water town I've visited in the Shanghai area, I can't compare it to the other ones based on experience. HOWEVER, I heard that Qibao, although the closest one from Shanghai proper, is too small with not much to see. Zhujiajiao, on the other hand, sounds like it might be the best one to visit; it's closer to Shanghai and livelier than Nanxun!


I put together a short video of the town to capture the atmosphere a little better. This is my first 5x5 video (Vimeo has a whole special category for these if you wanna check it out) so don't look for anything fancy here.. they're just a few scenes from the trip ;)

P.S. I noticed a huuuge number of new visitors on my blog this past week (thank you, Tumblr, for featuring my DIY post!). Welcome all! Thanks for checkin' this blog out! I've actually been working on an "About" page, so bear with me!

Seoul - Day IV, Part 2

After our morning in the hanok village, we went to Gyeongbokgung (or Gyeongbok Palace).


Geunjeongjeon Hall

My friend Kyunmi and her infamous high heels.

Gyeonghoeru Pavilion


At the other end of the Palace, in front of the National Folk Museum of Korea, we were lucky to catch this performance:


We then walked over to Insadong, a shopping street with lots of small shops.


My friends "forced" me into Ssamzie, a complex of stores (clothing, accessories, home decor) all terribly cute. It's a miracle I didn't spend all my money there!



We went to Koong for an early dinner, a restaurant (still in Insadong) well known for its dumplings. We had their 만두국 manduguk, dumpling soup, and it was delicious!



We then took the subway + bus up to the N Seoul Tower and arrived on time for sunset. There were a few couples putting up their own love locks that night, how cute.

After stopping a bit for a cup of coffee, we went by Cheonggye Stream. Unfortunately, it seemed pretty empty and it was getting really cold outside, so we decided to just go home. I'm sure it's nice to stroll along the stream in the spring... for some other time, huh ;)

Year of the Rabbit

Wednesday night for Chinese New Year's eve, a group of us went to Le Royal Méridien's 66th floor Bar & Lounge on People's Square and enjoyed an amazing view of the park and the city. There were no big official fireworks organized (most likely because of the huge fire that happened months ago and the fire security concerns that came after), but there were many "small" fireworks all over the city set off by Shanghainese people themselves (how is this safe, hmm?). The fireworks that night lasted at least an hour. Taking a decent picture of that was difficult, sorry :) It's well known that Chinese people celebrate the New Year for at least a week, and I can assure you that every evening I can here the rumbling of fireworks being shot off nearby.

Edit: few minutes after I first published this entry, I realized that tonight's fireworks were getting bigger and louder by the minute. So I decided to shoot this short video for you!


This is the first time I use Flickr to host a video. If there are any problems, please let me know!


Thursday evening, I went downtown to Yu Yuan Garden's Market to see the New Year decorations, including a huge rabbit. I loved it!