7Sep David Tao World Tour 2013 in Beijing!

Beijing is my favourite China city by far, 

because it is a place where modernity meets cultural arts and history. 

I wish i had more time with all the tourist attractions i could explore, 

but i only had 2 mornings to make use of :( 

We stayed in Swissotel Beijing..

Always love hotels with huge gyms so that i can work out before rehearsals :)

Spent out first night in Beijing over a hearty fusion Japanese meal :) 

Consider myself lucky the restaurant OKRA was opened by Christine's friend.

OKRA (meaning Lady's finger), is located in Beijing 1949 area,

serves really great sake, wine, assortment of sushi, chawanmushi, 

chargrilled unagi, octopus and sesami ice cream :D yum..

Happy us after a great meal with the boss!

For those planning to visit beijing, do head down to OKRA ;) 

OKRA  

北京1949餐飲區（盈科中心南面）

I always try to find time to sneak in a little sight-seeing before rehearsals and concerts!
Willing to sacrifice sleep for travel and hotel buffet breakfast :D
So on the morning of Forbidden Palace Tour, here's my feeble attempt at eating clean..
*proceeds to grab xiaolongbao bacon and sausages after nomnomnom

The Forbidden Palace 故宫

I looked a tad too happy. It's a palace, not Disneyland kexin.. tsktsk

The beloved 公安

It was a saturday and that explains the crowd -_-

Light at the end of the tunnel!!

人山人海。。

I secretly wanted to buy the touristy Concubine headdress hairband..

This korean lady fell for it.

Tadahh!! Tourists!! 

Love the china man and his kungfu panda shirt and the lady carrying a china flag..

Most of the tourists i saw came from other parts of the china itself.

Everybody wanted to catch a glimpse of the Emperor's throne

Where the Emperor strolls and goes dating with his 23435 wives and girlfriends..

Rehearsals and show day!

Simple braids for the show this time..

Great Wall 長城

The day after show, Charis and i were determined to scale the Great Wall!!! 

We woke up at 6am and embarked on an hour's journey to one of the 7 wonders of the World :D 

*feeling hopeful *不到長城非好漢

The Great Wall is so huge it is divided into several sections.

We chose to scale Mu Tian Yu 慕田峪, a relatively shorter section, 

because we were rushing to complete the wall under 2 hours

(i had a flight to catch back to singapore in the afternoon) :(

Pretty cheap! We bought the cable ride tickets up and toboggan tickets down, all for only 125RMB! 

We were one of the first few to arrive and the cable car wasn't even ready for operations -_-

Waited from 8am to 830am for them to be done with inspection and checks.

No harness, just a handle and a prayer as we got lifted up in the skies 

that we don't get stuck up in the air!

Really enjoyed the ride because i have no fear of heights hahaa

The wall's on our right!

Hello Great Wall of China! 

It was completely empty because we were the first few up on the wall! 

So excited i tried to sing and i heard echoes :D 

Some steps were so steep we had to use hands while climbing up like dogs haha

 

We did it!

It took us about 45mins to finish the stretch, which wasn't too bad in my opinion..

I had a really nice workout that morning and stunning view to accompany my journey :D

This is the Toboggan Ride! 

Super fun i was kinda worried initially because i thought i would go all out of control, 

but apparently you could adjust the speed of the ride.

Let's go baby!

Really enjoyed our time in Beijing..
Next stop ShenZhen on 1 Oct!

[Part I of my typhoon'ed trip] Taichung Night Markets & Cafes!! 台中夜市吃吃吃！

A week back from Taichung,
i'm slowly easing myself back into a healthy lifestyle,
because being fat & happy was so damn easy in taichung.

5 days of night-market food and cafe hunting in the mornings,
those adventurous fats were so worth it.
I only spent 2 full days in taichung so i don't have an extensive list of eateries,
but i do hope my entry helps in your foodhunt :D
(because sometimes reading mandarin taiwanese food blogs can be so tiring to the eyes!!)

I'll let the pictures do the talkin'!

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Feng Jia Night Market 台中逢甲夜市

If you're in taichung you wouldn't miss the most 道地 food haven... 逢甲夜市！

There really isn't much to recommend for night market food because everything is so damn delicious!

So go on, explore your night away and put your tastebuds to some exercisin'!

Sweet Potato Balls 地瓜球

This has got to be one of my favourite snack.

It's chewy and not too deep fried and the portion is just nice :D 

大腸包小腸

Cafe-hunting in Melbourne, Aug 2013!

Been a long time since i last went to Melbourne,and this time, Melbourne was a short stopover en route to Tasmania.

On the surface, the city seems very much like singapore,

but dig a little deeper, and you'll find that melbourne is filled with surprises :)

Nestled in between the gaps of the buildings are creatively-drawn graffitis and quaint cafes.

Melbourne is also said to be more refined than Sydney.

A stroll along the CBD and you'll see beautiful old english style buildings 

that reminded me very much of those encountered in europe :)

20Jul David Tao World Tour 2013 in Macau!

It's my first time in Macau and i'm glad i didn't have to pay to come here!

Gambling, clubbing.. not exactly my cuppa tea.

But i had fun this time round again :) 

Happy that my IC still gets checked whenever i need to enter a casino :D 

Took the plane to hongkong and transited Turbo jet to Macau.

The luggage pick-up was so primitive...

Instead of conveyor belts 2 men were unloading our bags...

I was certain Macau is still stuck in 1980s. 

The Venetian

Reached our hotel The Venetian! 

Kitsch interior design but super comfy beds and duvets,

and an extended living room to chillout after a long day :) 

Huge bathrooms, mirrors and bathtub :D

Great room to unwind in!

European Escapade in Rome, Italy!

*European Escapade series chronicles my European Travels 2 years ago,
when i backpacked all around Europe as part of  my graduation trip.
Read about my other amazing European travels here:
Santorini, Greece


Rome is a overly-romanticized touristy destination,
made irritable by tourists during hot summer months.
It's still a beautiful place with amazing structures and churches,
don't get me wrong,
but if only it's less crowded.

European Escapade in SANTORINI, Greece!

Just 2 years ago,
i had the most amazing backpacking trip around Europe
with 3 of my best girlfriends to celebrate the end of our academic years.

I couldn't be luckier because one is an excellent planner,
another an excellent cook and domesticated homemaker,
and the other an anal organizer.
The powers combined and i had the time of my life
backpacking across europe to 8 countries within the span of 1.5 months.

Destinations we covered - London, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Germany, Scotland.

And in case you think we are all rich kids,
i would like to put a disclaimer that i spent a grand total of 7k throughout the 1.5 months,
we stayed in backpacking hostels, sometimes even saving money by sleeping overnight at train stations,
and we scrimped on food, giving ourselves a treat only very occasionally.

I'm going to cover some of these amazing destinations in my following blogposts,
but for now, i'd like to dedicate this blogpost to my all-time favourite destination - Santorini.
Till now, i often find myself fantasizing and reminiscing about Santorini :)

SANTORINI

Paradise. Island. Sunset. Sea. White Cobblestone Streets. 

29Jun David Tao World Tour 2013 in Chengdu!

packing again, too small a luggage to fit my craftholic

Back to the familiar stage