Buon Natale - Travel to Italy

Buon Natale  - Travel to Italy for some Christmas Music by visiting the Christmas post on my News From Italy Blog.

      Buon Natale - Happy Christmas 2012 - Momento Musicale

I look forward to returning in 2013 to share many more Travel Tales with you all. Thankyou so much to my followers here for your continuing support.

Siam Paragon - Bangkok

                       

In my last post Siam Ocean World I stated that the aquarium was located within the Siam Paragon, which is a most amazing shopping centre, or shopping mall depending if you use the British term or the American one. Anyway I felt I could not write posts about our visit to Bangkok without at least once mentioning a shopping centre of which there are many, but the Siam Paragon happens to be the pride of Bangkok. One of the largest shopping centres in Asia with over 270 different shops, restaurants, cinema, aquarium, concert hall, bowling alley, karaoke centre, exhibition hall and the Thai Art Gallery, so with a lot more to offer than just shopping!

Although the centre is itself logical in layout and fairly easy to explore, it is very closely linked to the many other shopping centres that cover this area. I warn you Siam Paragon is just a part of a huge shopping area which you would never explore in just a day. Siam Paragon caters more for luxury items for well off Thai's and international visitors but it is definitely the place to buy something extra special!  However you can still find the more affordable brand names for the price concious customer and there is also within the complex,  Siam Paragon Department Store where my husband treated me to a charm for my Pandora bracelet. That was the extent of our luxury shopping but we did have a couple of meals in the Siam Paragon Food Hall. 

When we first arrived in Bangkok and had not yet found our way around it was we thought an easy option to have lunch there, covering at least half of the ground floor floor area it was vast!  First you purchase a card at a central desk that gives you credit for purchasing your food, a hygienic and sensible option as none of the food booths have to handle money. There was an incredible choice of the best of local and international cuisines available all in one place and it was delicious, no photos of what was just a snack lunch of noodles. On another occasion though we ate at Cafe du Tu in the restaurant area within the centre and I did remember to take some photos.

At the bottom of the page you will find the link to more shopping centre photos from Bangkok as I have just shared a small selection here.

Opened: December 9, 2005 Hours: Mon-Wed, Sun  10am–8pm Thu-Sat  10am–9pm Address: Rama I, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Location Map

Location:  The Siam Paragon Building is to be found in Siam Square

Bangkok 10330

Thailand.

Opening hours:09.00-21.00 (Last entry 20.00)

Transport: Buses 25, 501 and 508 or Train to Siam Station.

The following website links may also be of interest.  
 Siam Paragon - The Pride of Bangkok   Siam Paragon - Wikipedia  
 Bangkok.com   Google Reviews - Siam Paragon

All photos are my own taken in October 2011. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The full set of photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled  

  Travel Tales - Shopping Centres in Bangkok  at  My Flickr account.

Siam Ocean World - Bangkok

Today my travel blog post is moving on to a different country, Thailand, as I have at last caught up with our Travel Tales from Hong Kong. As this blog is still a relatively new one, a year in a few days, I am still catching up on travels we have taken that I wanted to become part of this blog. Set up as much for me as a scrapbook of memories as in response to requests for readers of  News From Italy that were interested in our travels outside of Italy. In fact I have included a couple of trips within Italy but outside our home region of Lazio here on Travel Tales. Anyway over the winter months while things are quieter in Italy, the plan is to catch up with writing and posting here.

This time last year Thailand was suffering from tremendous flooding problems. We were in Bangkok before the floods reached their height which fortunately meant the high water levels did not pose us too many problems and we had good weather. When we first arrived in the city it was raining though and wondering what to do we took ourselves off to visit Siam Ocean World and we were so pleased that we did as we had an absolutely fascinating tour.

The Siam Ocean World aquarium with over four hundred species of more than thirty thousand aquatic creatures is the largest in South East Asia. It covers 10,000 square meters and the seven different zones that are walked through during a visit are well laid out and a fascinating experience for everyone. The first zone is entitled weird and wonderful; it certainly is with some of the weirdest and most bizarre marine animals housed here.

The colourful sea life that surrounds coral reefs is the theme for the deep reef zone two and the eight metre high coral tank that is housed there. Zone three, the living ocean gives you the opportunity to experience the underwater rules of survival where animals must protect themselves against predators as well as adapt to their environment.  The next zone, four takes the visitor deep into the rainforest to discover the complexities of the ecosystem within the forest and be amazed by the world’s largest fresh water fish. Penguins are to be found in zone five, which is a rocky shore where they would struggle for survival in the natural habitat as they have to adapt to intense land and sea conditions.  A glass tunnel under  the open ocean is zone seven and is very impressive as the two hundred and seventy degree tunnel means that one is surrounded by the predators and prey, quite amazing.

Throughout the day in different zones of the aquarium it is possible to view various species such as Shark, Eagle Rays, Penguins, Otters and Fresh Water Fish at feeding times.

If you wish to view the photos in a larger format, just click on them individually, this should work. I have also put together a slideshow on YouTube of the photos I took as there were too many to share here individually.

Published on YouTube by LindyLouMac

All photos are my own taken in October 2011. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The full set of photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled  

  Travel Tales - Siam Ocean World at My Flickr.com account.

Location Map

Location: The aquarium is to be found in Siam Square in the Siam Paragon Building.

991 Rama 1 Road

Bangkok 10330

Thailand.

Opening hours:09.00-21.00 (Last entry 20.00)

Admission:  Bht 450 for adults and Bht 280 for children.

Transport: Buses 25, 501 and 508 or Train to Siam Station.

The information here was taken from a Siam World brochure. The following website links may also be of interest.  Siam Ocean World - Official Website     Bangkok.com

Ladies Market - Hong Kong

There are many accredited markets in Hong Kong and possibly the most famous which was the first to be made official was Ladies Market. It is not my favourite for shopping as it can become rather overcrowded which makes the experience more of a hassle than a pleasure, however it is worth seeing. If you want to shop be prepared to haggle if you are lucky you may get 50% off the asking price.

The market runs along Tung Choi Street, from Argyle Street to Dundas Street in Mongkok. Although its name is taken from its reputation for selling bargain fashionable ladies clothing and also to distinguish it from 'Mens Market' ,Temple Street Night Market, this is nowadays something of a misnomer and the market sells a huge range of ladies, mens and childrens clothes, sports goods, electrical goods, toys and souvenirs. Any “designer labels” are almost certainly fake but nevertheless there are bargains to be had and you can negotiate huge discounts from already low asking prices. This is a large and very busy market and negotiating through the crowds here can be exhausting. The section of Tung Choi Street where the market operates is pedestrianised and closed to vehicles between 4pm and midnight on Mondays to Saturdays and between 12 noon and 10pm on Sundays and public holidays. Sections of neighbouring Sai Yeung Choi Street, Nelson Street and Soy Street are pedestrianised from 4pm to 10pm on Mondays to Saturdays and 12 noon to 10pm on Sundays and public holidays.  Market information in this paragraph courtesy of Hong Kong Extras

Just to give you an idea of the atmosphere and huge variety of goods from beautiful to tacky I am sharing lots of photos of the market. As there are so many I have kept them small, click on photo if you really want to see something in more detail. Be warned if you ever visit that many stall holders will not be keen on you taking photos if you are not buying, so take care. 

That's it for the virtual shopping

Address:Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon

• OPENING HOURS - 12 noon to 11pm daily. Most stalls are open by 1pm. 

GETTING THERE – MTR to either Prince Edward and take exit B2 or to Mong Kok and take any of exits B2, D2 or D3. Prince Edward MTR Station and Mong Kok MTR Stations are at the northern and southern ends respectively of the market.
Bus 1, 1A, 2, 6 or 9 from Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry pier and get off at Nelson Street station

Sources for more information:-
Ladies Market - Discover Hong Kong     Hong Kong Extras - Markets

All photos are my own taken in October 2011. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled - Travel Tales - Ladies Market - Hong Kong at My Flickr.com account.

This is my last post about our most recent trip to Hong Kong, but hopefully I have given you plenty of ideas for your own visits. Or that you have enjoyed your armchair travel.  Next time the Travel Tale will be from Thailand.

Sai Kung - Hong Kong

Sai Kung town, which now has a population of about 13,000 was a small undeveloped fishing village until the fishing industry declined in the 1970’s and many fishermen moved into other businesses such as fish farming, eco tourism and seafood restaurants. A major reclamation project between 1978 and 1993 led to subsequent development of new buildings, shops, promenade, piers, public swimming pool and other facilities. Improvements to roads and public transport have seen the town grow to become a commuter town popular with ex-pats but the town still retains much of its old charm and fishing village atmosphere. The colourful harbour is always a hive of activity and sampans line the promenade selling catches of seafood direct to the public and local seafood restaurants.
The plan was to have lunch at one of the many fish restaurants along the promenade, where you can choose your own fish from the tanks, or even direct from the fishermen, then discuss with the waiters how you would like your choices cooked.  
I will let the photos tell the story, yes I did take the first one because of the red mini!

Strange Sculptures!

We made our way through the town to the promenade which is where as I mentioned earlier all the action is. 

We selected Hung Kee Seafood Restaurant to have lunch at, we choose our fish from the tanks and then discussed with the waiters how we would like it prepared.

After to lunch we had a stroll around the town.

Our last stop was to buy tea, an interesting experience as you taste before you buy.

  After tea it was time to head back to Mid - Levels

Getting there:-

MTR KWUN TONG LINE to Diamond Hill MTR Station then KMB bus service 92 (approx every 12/20 mins – journey time about 40 mins) to Sai Kung Bus Terminus (next to harbour side). 

There are other ways to get there with a combination of MTR and bus, but this is the way we got there and it was a pleasant scenic ride. The final stage of the journey is always going to be on a bus, as there is no MTR there.

With thanks to the following sites for the background information included in this post. The links will take you directly to the pages on Sai Kung if you are interested in learning more about the area. 

Sai Kung - Hong Kong Extras     Hung Kee Seafood Restaurant  Wikipedia - Sai Kung Town

                                      All photos are my own taken in October 2011.

                                  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled Travel Tales - Sai Kung - Hong Kong at My Flickr.com account.