Category: Travel (Asia)
Summer Palace, Beijing Part 3
After a quick lunch of noodles and dumplings we retraced our steps back to the Sea of Wisdoms. From there, down the Longevity Hill to the shore of Kunming Lake.
Summer Palace, Beijing Part 2
At the top, a panoramic view of the park and its surroundings await.
Summer Palace, Beijing Part 1
“Yiheyuan” 颐和园 (Summer Palace of Beijing) is an imperial garden from the Qing Dynasty. Built in 1764 as “Qingyiyuan” 清漪园 during the reign of the Emperor Qianlong. It was burned down towards the end of the Second Opium War by the Anglo-French troops and was reconstructed in 1888 by the Guanxu Emperor to celebrate the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, adopting its present name. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized for “its harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value”.
Autumn in Beijing
Last month I went back to Beijing. While I was there working half of the time on a project, I did get to visit some of the sights around the city.
The morning after my arrival, I took a stroll in the neighbourhood Yuyuantan Park 玉渊潭公园.
Foliage Season in Kyoto – Day 6
This was the day I dreaded the most!
Continue reading “Foliage Season in Kyoto – Day 6”
Foliage Season in Kyoto – Day 5
We went to Andrew Wyeth exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum last week. Mr. Wyeth lived his whole life between Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and coastal Maine, where he painted prodigiously, of the landscape and a small cast of people, for almost seven decades. Instead of painting “the object as it is in nature”, his works reflect the “mood of a thing rather than the truth”.
Continue reading “Foliage Season in Kyoto – Day 5”
Foliage Season in Kyoto – Day 4
How long would you wait for a bowl of noodle?
When we got to Ramen Sen No Kaze half an hour before its opening, there were already a dozen people lining up at the door.
Foliage Season in Kyoto – Day 3
I would not have visited the Kyoto Imperial Palace if not for my dad, who on the morning of day 3 insisted that he must visit a royal palace during his time in Japan. So we did.
Foliage Season in Kyoto – Day 2
In Kyoto we stayed at a ryokan. It wasn’t one of those fancy schmancy places, but it does offer breakfast for the additional cost of 2000 yen. I like Japanese breakfast and would never pass an opportunity to try one.
