[FINLAND] Helsinki Suomenlinna Fortress

Suomenlinna, originally called Viapori in Finnish, was founded in 1748 on a cluster of islands off coast of Helsinki. Its construction began in the 18th century when Finland was still part of the Kingdom of Sweden. In 1808, Viapori was transferred under the rule of the Russian Imperial Government. With Finland’s independence in 1917, Viapori was taken over by the newly founded Finnish government in 1918 and renamed Suomenlinna (‘Castle of Finland’). It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Merry Christmas 2017

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2017 has been a great year for me and I look forward to better years ahead. May the spirit of Christmas brings peace, love and joy to us all.



Have a very blessed Christmas!

[FINLAND] Helsinki City Tour

Helsinki, capital of Finland since 1812, is the third largest city in the Nordic countries after Stockholm and Oslo. It is best visited in summer when the weather is mild, lasting from early June until late August.

Baltic Countries Travel Recommendation

Baltic countries refers to three countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of Baltic sea. These three countries were independent, then occupied by Soviet Union, among the first to break away in 1990s. Today they are members of European Union and NATO. All three countries uses the EURO as their currency. Visitors usually visit all three countries together as it is easy to travel from one Baltic country to another and there are many interesting sites to see along the way. You can choose to either travel from south to north (Lithuania to Estonia) or from north to south (Estonia to Lithuania).

[ESTONIA] Tallinn

Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city lies on the Gulf of Finland and the Old Town is on a rocky hill, known as Toompea. The bishops and nobleman in upper town were separated from the merchants and craftmen in the lower town by a wall, much of which still remains.

[ESTONIA] Parnu

On my way to Tallinn, I dropped by in Parnu, a resort seaside city. Parnu is a popular summer holiday resort for the people of Estonia.

[LATVIA] Sigulda

Leaving Riga in the morning to Sigulda, a town in the Vidzeme Region located 53km away from Riga. Because of its lovely landscapes, Sigulda is known as the Switzerland of Latvia.

[LATVIA] Riga City (Art Nouveau)

The city of Riga has the highest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture in the world and is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe. Outside the old town, there a few more attractions which are also worth a visit including the Freedom Monument, Latvian National Opera, Nativity of Christ Cathedral, Central Market and Latvian Academy of Science where I enjoyed the panoramic of Riga City.

[LATVIA] Riga Old Town

Riga, Latvia’s capital city, was founded in 1201 and over the following 800 years was occupied by Germans, Poles, Swedes and Russians. Latvia finally became an independent country in 1991 after long years of Soviet domination. In 1997, Riga Old Town was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

[LATVIA] Rundale Palace

From the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania I proceed on with my journey to Latvia. First stop in Latvia is the 18^th century Rundale Palace. The journey took about an hour. Rundale Palace is a summer residence for the Dukes of Courland and it's one of the two must visit place in Latvia.

[LITHUANIA] Hill of Crosses

Hill of Crosses near Siauliai is the most unique place in Lithuania. There is no exact historical date when and how the first cross was erected on the legendary and storied mound of Jurgaičiai or Domantai, but the hill was considered sacred since the second part of 19th century. After unsuccessful rebellions against Russian authorities in 1831 and 1863, more and more crosses emerged on the hill. Today, people from around the world still bring crosses to be erected here.

[LITHUANIA] Trakai - Trakai Castle, Hill of Angels & Uzutrakis Palace

Trakai is a historic city and lake resort, which is located 28km away from Vilnius. Due to its proximity to Vilnius, most people would opt for a day tour or half day tour to Trakai. I joined a half day tour which took me to Trakai’s best attraction, Trakai Castle, Hill of Angels and Uzutrakis Palace.

[LITHUANIA] Vilnius City Tour

Vilnius, capital city of Lithuania has one of Europe’s oldest Medieval Old Town. The entire Old Town is a UNESCO Heritage Site. From Kiev to Vilnius, the flight duration is only about one and a half hours. Lithuania is the first Baltic state that I visited out of the three. From here, I travelled north to Latvia and Estonia (the other two Baltic states).

[UKRAINE] Kiev Travel Recommendation

Kiev is a colorful city. The weather was pleasant and I enjoyed my stay in Kiev. Although most people heard of Ukraine for the wrong reasons (eg. Chernobyl disaster, Euromaidan, eastern Ukraine crisis, MH17 plane crash), its capital Kiev has a lot to offer tourism wise. Now is the best time to visit Ukraine since the local currency, Ukrainian Hryvnia, is at all time low since 2015.

[UKRAINE] Kiev - St Sophia Cathedral

St. Sophia Cathedral is Kiev’s best known landmark. No visit to Kiev would be complete without visiting St. Sophia Cathedral. The cathedral was named after the Aya Sophia cathedral in Constantinople and was surrounded by other churches dedicated to patron saints. The monastery was built between 1017 and 1031 in honour of prince Yaroslav the Wise, to commemorate his victory over the nomadic Asian Pecheneg tribe.

[UKRAINE] Kiev City Tour

After visiting Andrew’s Descent, I continued to visit other attractions in Kiev. This includes Children Landscape Park near Andrew’s Descent, St. Michael’s Golden Dome Monastery, Golden Gate and Maidan.

[UKRAINE] Kiev - Andrew’s Descent

Andriyivsky Uzviz or in English, Andrew’s Descent is a historical street which links the administrative part of Upper Town Kiev to the historical commercial lower town, Podil. At the top of the street is St Andrew’s Church where the name of the street is derived from.

[UKRAINE] Kiev – Park of Glory

Park Slavi or Park of Glory is a memorial complex dedicated to the soldiers that lost their lives during World War 2 defending Ukraine. The park is about 10 minutes walk away from Kiev Pechersk Lavra. After visiting Kiev Pechersk Lavra, I visited this park.

[UKRAINE] Kiev - Kiev Pechersk Lavra

Kiev Pechersk Lavra or in English, Kiev Cave Monastery was first constructed nearly a 1000 years ago in the year 1051. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Kiev Pechersk Lavra is a must visit place of Kiev.

[UKRAINE] Kiev - Motherland Monument

Kiev is the capital and largest city of Ukraine. Ukraine gained its independence following the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. Although Kiev is the most commonly used English name for the city, the Ukrainian government adopted Kyiv as the mandatory romanization for use in legislative and official acts in 1995. From Baku, Azerbaijan, I boarded the Ukraine International Airlines to Kiev. First stop on the way to the city center is none other than the Motherland Monument, which is one the best recognized landmark of Kiev.

AZERBAIJAN - Revisit Baku

Back in Baku Azerbaijan for the second time. Well it was just an overnight flight layover. The plan was actually to visit Kiev, Ukraine first with a short layover at Dubai. However, due to the blockade of Qatar, I was forced to cancel the flight and looked for an alternate route to Kiev.

QATAR - Aspire Park

Aspire Park is the biggest park in Doha, covering an area of 88 hectare. Located in Aspire Zone, near Villagio, Doha’s popular shopping mall, this huge park is a great place for getaway from the city.

The Journey of Ethan

If you are wondering what new places have I travelled to in the past one year, the answer is none. 2016 is the year I press the “pause” button on all my travel plans as I prepared for a life-changing event of the year: the birth of my second son.
 

QATAR - The Pearl

Located at the northern end of Doha, is The Pearl Qatar. The Pearl is an artificial island covering an area of approximately 400 hectares of reclaimed land.

INDONESIA - Bali

Bali is arguably the most popular island holiday destination in Indonesia. Like many other newly wed couples, I too have chosen Bali as my honeymoon destination back in 2009.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong, the former British colony for nearly 150 years, is one of the two Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China (the other being Macau). Hong Kong and Macau is so near to each other that you can easily plan a day trip to Macau from Hong Kong by ferry, or vice versa. But I visited Hong Kong and Macau in separate trips. I visited Hong Kong in 2008 and 2 years later, I visited Macau.

MACAU - Cotai and Coloane

Cotai is a piece of reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau. Many hotels and casinos can be found in the vicinity of Cotai Strip. The largest and most notable casino hotel at Cotai Strip is Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian Macao.

MACAU - Peninsula

When people mention Macau, the first impression that come to mind is usually gambling. But it’s the historic part of Macau that really attracts me to visit it in 2010. Macau Peninsula is the first place I visited since it is the most populous and historic part of Macau. Large sections of Macau Peninsula has been designated a UNESCO Heritage Site known as the Historic Centre of Macau.  

As I didn’t travel to any new countries last year, I’ll just update in my blog some of the countries which I have visited before I created this blog.

KUWAIT - Kuwait City

Kuwait is one of the smallest country in the middle east (still bigger than Qatar) and is one of the GCC countries. Invaded by Iraq in 1990 (liberated in 1991), Kuwait has one of the highest per capita in the world backed by its large oil reserves. Kuwait City is the capital of Kuwait and is the political, cultural and economic center of the country.

Iran Travel Recommendation

Iran, also known as Persia is the site to one of the oldest civilizations. It is the second largest country in the Middle East. Its rich history and culture is what drawn me to this country. I spent the first day exploring Tehran on my own, after which I joined the 8 day tour with key2persia. The tour brought me from Tehran to Shiraz, Persepolis, Necropolis, Esfahan, Abyaneh, Kashan, and finally back to Tehran again before I flew back to Doha.

[IRAN] Kashan - Tabatabaei House

Tabatabaei House is a historic house in Kashan, built in early 1880s for the Tabatabaiha family. It consist of four courtyards and includes classical features of traditional Persian residential architecture, such as biruni and andaruni.

[IRAN] Kashan - Fin Garden

Karshan is just 2.5 hours from Tehran. Fin Garden located in Karshan is a historical Persian garden. It contains Kashan’s Fin Bath, where Amir-Kabir, a famous chancellor of Qajarid was murdered by the King Nasereddin Shah in 1852. The garden covers 2.3 hectares with a main yard surrounded by ramparts with four circular towers.

[IRAN] Esfahan - Abyaneh Village

Abyaneh Village, known as the Red Village because of its red soil and houses, is one of Iranian historical villages located at the foot of Karkas Mountain. The word ‘Abyaneh’ has been derived from the word ‘viona’ meaning ‘Willow Grave’ in local dialect.

[IRAN] Esfahan – Manar Jonban (Shaking Minarets)

Manar Jonban or Shaking Minarets is the mausoleum of Amu Abdollah Garladani, one of the mystic men in 7th and 8th centuries of lunar Hejira who passed away in 716. The most interesting and exciting feature of these minarets is that when one minaret starts shaking, the other starts shaking with the same frequency simultaneously.

[IRAN] Esfahan - Khaju Bridge & Si-O-Seh Pol

Khaju Bridge is arguably the finest bridge in Esfahan. It was built by Shah Abbas II around 1650. It served as both a bridge and a dam, spanning across Zayandeh River. While Si-O-Seh Pol is the longest bridge on Zayandeh River. These two bridges are the most popular bridges among the eleven bridges across Zayandeh River.

[IRAN] Esfahan - Vank Cathedral

Vank Cathedral was established in 1606, dedicated to the Armenian deportees that were resettled by Shah Abbas I during the Ottoman War (1603 – 1618). The Armenian immigrants settled in Esfahan and started building churches and monasteries to continue their religious activities in their new home. Vank Cathedral was originally a small church called Amna Perkich, which means “All Healing”. It was later expanded under the supervision of Archbishop David before it was completed in 1664.

[IRAN] Esfahan - Chehel Sotoun

Chehel Sotoun was built as a pleasure pavilion and reception hall by Shah Abbas II and completed in 1647. The name, meaning “Forty Columns” in Persian, was inspired by twenty wooden columns supporting the entrance pavilion, which when reflected in the waters of the fountain, are said to appear to be forty.