ECP – Singapore’s Jewel in the Crown

On August 8, 2017September 7, 2017 By ourhoppytravelsIn Asia, Our Expat Life, Singapore1 Comment

The East Coast Park was a big part of our life in Singapore and is our most loved place in this wonderful little island country.

The ECP is a scenic coastline that stretches over 15 kilometres and is a great place to go to for a ride along the coastline or a lazy day at the beach.

You can spend a few hours or an entire day at the ECP. There’s a whole bunch to do. And, it’s a beach you can go to anytime of the year. You may be aware that Singapore doesn’t really have seasons.. it is situated just above the equator and has a tropical climate.. it’s humid and sunny thru the year in this little island. And yes, it is known to rain quite often but it’s usually the kind of rain that comes pouring down with all its might but lasts just a short while. There’s plenty of gazebos around the ECP for you to take cover while the rain clouds pass over.

ECP is filled with a whole range of entertainment options. You can ride a bike along the coastline – a single, tandem or a full family seater! The view is spectacular and you’ve got a dedicated cycling path for your uniterrupted biking pleasure. Many an afternoon/evening was spent biking along the coastline while we lived in Singapore. They also have other options like rollerblading, kayaking, wind surfing, and other extreme sports for the adrenaline junkies. There’s also a paint ball and laser tag arcade in Parkland Green. Or if you’d like to just sit back and drink a pint or two while some fresh fish take the bait, you’ll find plenty of fishing spots along the ECP – the pier near Marine Parade is especially popular for this.

If you’d rather just hang out by the beach, get a beach blanket, some snacks, and a cooler filled with your favorite beers! You’ll find plenty of folks just lazing on the beach under the shade of a palm tree, having a jolly good picnic. At ECP, you can also camp by the beach, overnight as well if you’d like to. It is a very popular activity, so you’ve got to book ahead. We never got around to camping under the stars while we were in Singapore but would highly recommend this if you get a chance to. They provide for shower facilities as well if you’d like to wash off some of that salt and sand off your skin before you call it a night.

There are a ton of options all along the ECP for some lip-smacking food – you’ll find a whole bunch of hawker centers (Singapore’s quite famous for these). It’s basically street food that is cheap and delicious. We highly recommend the satays – they are just mind-blowing! You”ll find these stalls at the East Coast Lagoon Food Village. Just a little further away, you’ll find restaurants, beer bars, and cafes as well, if you fancy a quieter place. Many of these offer a great sea view too. We frequented the Parkland Green as it was closer to where we stayed. This section of ECP is newer and offers plenty of dining options. And, for the eager cooks, you can do your own barbecue in one of the many pits around ECP. Barbecuing at the beach is another very popular activity – make sure you book in advance!

The East Coast Park is part of the Singapore national parks and is interconnected to many of the other parks so you can indulge in some park hop too, by foot, by bike or simply skate your way through.

The East Coast Park is definitely frequented more by the folks living in Singapore but it is a great place to unwind and soak in Singapore’s fantastic culture, and relish its variety of culinary delights during your short holiday to this little island.

If there’s one thing we miss the most about Singapore, it would have to be ECP. There’s nothing like it anywhere else. While there were beautiful cycle paths along the Donau in Germany and there’s sure a great variety of food and beautiful coastlines here in Ireland, having that all-in-one experience like the East Coast Park is something we crave for from time to time.

Some of our favorite moments in ECP were riding one of ’em big family cycles along the sea, building sand castles with two of our favorite little girls, enjoying a nice pint at sundown and watching the distant lights of the boats fade into the sea… priceless memories!

The East Coast Park holds many a precious memory from our life in Singapore. It made our lives beautiful and complete. It will always be a special place!

Krabi – a special place

On May 31, 2015March 17, 2017 By ourhoppytravelsIn AsiaLeave a comment

I have always been in love with the sun and the sand… walking on the beach and feeling the sand squish between my toes and watching the sun go down in the deep blue sea are some of my happiest moments.

Krabi, Thailand is a paradise with beautiful beaches, pretty little islands, delicious food and just gorgeous blue waters of the Andaman sea. We wanted to stay in a place that was relatively less busy and crowded compared to Phuket. Most of Thailand is swarming with tourists anyways and for good reason.. It is a gorgeous country!

We were in Krabi to celebrate my niece’s 18th birthday. We were there for a short four days but we had such an amazing time and such wonderful experiences in this brief period. We stayed in a resort close to the Ao Nang beach in Krabi. It was a pretty resort surrounded by little hills and the rooms were partially built on stilts and we were surrounded by beautiful water everywhere in the resort. You could kayak your way through the resort.

On our first day, we did the 7 island sunset tour which lasted 6 hours.We started a little after mid-day and cruised the Krabi waters in a long-tail boat and occasionally a speed boat.

Long-tail boat, traditional boats of Thailand

Our first stop was the Phra Nang Cave that is near the well-known Railay beach. This limestone cave is full of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave is probably more well-known for its “Phallus Shrine” which is full of a strange variety of offerings to the symbolic phallus of Shiva or the Lingam – I was surprised to learn what the lingam actually represented (I had no idea what I was worshiping as I was dragged through temple after temple in my younger years – remember I mentioned in one of my earlier posts I was born a Hindu). Anyways, bizarre yet interesting revelation this was.

Phra Nang Cave

Smaller phallus shrine around the cave

We then headed out to Koh Tan Ming where we did some snorkeling. After a bit, we hopped over to Koh Si island where the snorkeling was so much better and we had more time. The water was so clear and the underwater life so pretty!

You see the chicken-like head sticking out? That’s the Chicken Island, Krabi

We then hovered around the Chicken island for a bit before heading over to the Tup and Mor islands where we just walked around the beach, collected shells and lounged in the warm waters. Finally, we halt at Koh Poda, where we had a Thai buffet. As the sun went down, one of the crew members entertained us with a fire dance.

Finally, the island hops are done and we head back. On the way back though, we have one more stop in the middle of the sea for more snorkeling and swimming with bio-luminescent plankton. It was a great experience to hop through all those pretty islands but it just seemed like too short a time at each of the stops and we felt rushed. We did the Hong islands the next day which was SO much better and just what we needed.

Gorgeous blue water at Hong Island,Krabi

It was again a full-day island tour where we stopped at a couple of great snorkeling spots. The tour took us to the rock island of Koh Daeng, Koh Lahding, and finally on to Koh Hong. The water in the Hong Islands especially the Koh Lahding or Paradise Island is amazingly clear and you can see marine life right near the shore without even getting your snorkeling gear on. You venture a little further into the water and you can see the most stunning variety of fish and corals. You simply cannot pull away from the water. And the beaches are beautiful white sand beaches.

img_20150521_163447 — Cruising through beautiful Krabi islands

The next day we just hung around Krabi town, shopping for junk jewellery and indulging in local delights. Thai food is simply heavenly – the satays, the curries, just divine.. we binged on some lip-smacking dishes! We sampled some interesting local Thai spirits and chugged lots of Thai beer (the usual lager variety – not very exciting but definitely refreshing in Krabi’s humid weather). Singha and Chang dominate the local beer scene. Back when we visited Krabi, we didn’t research much on local craft beer and may have missed out on a couple of good places. We’ve heard that the Full Moon Brewworks may be worth a shot.

We also enjoyed some great live music from one of the local bands (unfortunately we cannot remember the name of this wonderful band) at a cosy little restaurant in the main street (and we cannot remember the name of this restaurant either – we had had one too many beers and shots).

img_20150522_224045 — A Krabi local band playing some great music

It was the most wonderful 4 days in Krabi – we relaxed, swam, lay on pretty beaches, drank lots, ate lots, danced some, laughed hysterically (and cried some tears of joy), and had loads of fun!

Krabi will always be special for many reasons and we’ll make our way back there again someday to reignite these beautiful memories.

(Most of the pictures in this post were taken by my niece, a very talented photographer. Check out some of her cool pics here.)

Bali – a cultural wonder

On February 28, 2015March 17, 2017 By ourhoppytravelsIn Asia3 Comments

Our trip to Bali was a memorable one. It reminds us of some fun times, great food, beautiful sights, and a rich cultural experience.

Bali is one of the most popular destinations in Indonesia and rightly so. In Bali, you’ll find a varied mix of areas – some like Ubud that are steeped in mythical traditions with beautiful temples, artisans displaying their meticulously crafted ware, and talented artists putting up great performances in mythical plays. And then some others like Seminyak (part of Kuta) where you’ll find the hip and happening beaches and bars. We stayed at Seminyak as we wanted to be close to the places playing live music and pouring out the good brews.

2-2 — Gorgeous sit-outs by the beach at Seminyak

We started out by watching the Barong dance, a very popular Balinese dance. Barong is a lion-like creature who represents all things good and the dance features the battle between Barong and Rangda, a demon queen that represents all things evil.

The music and the depiction of these mythical characters in an enthralling dance was a great start to our journey into the rich cultural wonders of Bali.

img_0105-2 — Meet Rangda, the white-haired evil queen

Our next stop was the Kopi Luwak Plantation. This was an interesting and somewhat amusing experience. We witnessed the making of the world’s most expensive coffee (aka Kopi). The Luwak, this cat-like creature eats the coffee cherries and then of course poops it out. This poop is then collected, the coffee beans separated from the crap, cleansed and sun-dried, fried well, and hand pounded to produce the supposedly wonderful coffee. Sorry for the sarcasm here but well, I tried the coffee and while it was decent, it was in no way remarkable to pay the high price it demands. And, I am a coffee lover just like many of you out there but just didn’t understand what the fuss was about. This turned out to be an interesting experience nonetheless and was worth the visit.

The Luwak

with the highly priced coffee it poops

The plantation is beautiful and you should definitely take a short walk through it to see the lovely coffee plants, cocoa trees and fruit trees. Oh, and the tea lovers needn’t despair, there’s also a wide variety of interesting teas to be tried as well, which incidentally I enjoyed more than the coffee!

1144334054172929053-account_id2 — Pura Ulun Danu Batur Temple

We then headed over to the Pura Ulun Danu Batur Temple located in Batur, Kintamani. This is one of the second most important temples to the Balinese people. It is a huge temple complex and in fact consists of nine different temples that includes ~300 shrines of gods and goddesses. One of these nine temples is actually a Chinese temple and I was a bit surprised to see it there but it was apparently built to pay homage to Ida Ratu Ayu Subandar, the patron saint of commerce and the ‘administrator’ of the gods. The story goes that, back in the days, the king used to appoint a harbor master, usually Chinese, who was responsible for the storage and protection of valuable objects.

Hinduism is the majority religion in Bali and being a Hindu (by birth but not by choice) and being aware of some of the Hindu customs and gods/goddesses – it was pretty amazing to see how similar Indian Hindu rituals was to that of the Balinese Hindu rituals. It was also amazing to note the differences in the way they represent the same gods and rituals. The architecture of this whole temple complex is just mind-blowing! We unfortunately went there on a misty day and there was lots of fog which made for a slightly blurry view… despite this, the temple was simply marvelous. By the way, in almost all Bali temples you will need to wear a sarong, both the male and female.. this is not that bad a deal really.. you can rent one or buy one.. but what’s bad is the locals ripping you off by charging as much as 50 USD just to rent one! This is not so bad in all temples and we were shocked when it happened to us in this Batur temple. It’s best to just buy one and use it for all the temples you plan to visit. It’s much cheaper and stress-free!

Mount Batur is an active volcano visible from Kintamani. Its last eruption was in 2000. The mountain is surrounded by the crater lake, Danau Batur, Bali’s largest lake. As I mentioned, it was a misty day and we waited several hours for the view you see in this image. When we got there, there was nothing but thick mist making the entire mountain and its surrounding area altogether invisible. We sat in this little cafe sipping on some lovely coffee and munching on some delicious cakes and waited for the mist to lift. It was worth the wait.

We drove down through a different route and stopped over at the Gunung Kawi temple. The main attraction of the temple complex is the royal tombs. These tombs are dedicated to King Anak Wungsu of the Udayana dynasty and his favorite queens.. This image above features the tombs of the king, his ‘major’ queen and their three sons. On the other side of this are the tombs of the ‘minor’ queens.

It’s a beautiful walk through the temple complex with little streams flowing through and beautiful rice terraces along the way. Ubud is filled with these gorgeous rice terraces.

This was the end of our Day 1 in Bali. Boy! we did see a lot and it was such a beautiful day! We then headed back to Seminyak to unwind with some chilled beers and listen to a fun, local rock band. The next day we just chilled out in our lovely villa and swam and drank lots more beers.

A typical pils (nothing special) – seemed to be the most popular local beer

In the evening, we stepped out to see Tanah Lot, a temple built in a spectacular rock formation – this is one of the most photographed places in Bali. Just behind the temple, you can find a quiet little rock for yourself, away from the maddening crowd, and sit there mesmerized by the beauty and the power of the sea.

On our last day, we visited Nusa Dua, part of the Kuta area in the south of Bali, that is well known for its water sports. We had a whole adventure-packed day and indulged in a variety of water sports from parasailing to sea walking to doing the flying fish. We immensely enjoyed them all.

It was my first time parasailing and after much trepidation, I mustered the courage to do it and I was so thrilled when I did it. The insane rush of adrenaline as you take off, the child-like glee that surges within you as you soar high and admire the vast expanse of water, and finally, the urge to do it all over again as you descend to the shore — was simply wonderful. We also visited the Turtle Island which I don’t think is worth the time, money, and effort – it’s sad to see the turtles kept (trapped really) in such enclosed dirty conditions.

We wrapped up the day at the Pura Luhur UluWatu temple, which is perched at the edge of a steep cliff that is surrounded by the Indian ocean. The views from here are breath-taking! We also watched the fascinating Kecak dance here – the performance takes place every evening against the backdrop of the ocean.

The music for this dance is produced by the performers you see in this image incessantly chanting ‘Cak’. The dance is a depiction of one of the primary plots in the Ramayana where Sita, the wife of Lord Rama is abducted by the demon king Ravana and then the performance goes on to show how Rama (with the help of the monkey god Hanuman) kills Ravana and brings back Sita safely. The entire performance is filled with unbelievable energy and is a brilliant one to watch – and the twilight views of the vast Indian ocean make it all the more special. We then headed off to grab a lovely dinner in a restaurant situated on the other side of the cliff. The food in Bali is delicious no matter where you go with a wide array of choices. Eating mouth-watering satays, listening to the local band play some lovely Balinese music, and looking out at the ocean – this is how we finished off our last day in Bali.

That’s what makes Bali so memorable for us – the amazing views, the scrumptious food, the rich culture, and the varied experiences you can get in this lovely little city. There’s something for everyone.