Puerto Plata area is one of the popular destinations in the Dominican Republic.  Located in the North coast, Puerto Plata is surrounded by mostly lush green coconut forest and tannish/gray sand beaches. The lush green coconut forest leaning into the beaches make for some great tropical paradise photos.  Most tourists come to Puerto Plata to stay at the beach around […]

If you are trying to go to Yosemite during the summer months, often times you will have a hard time finding cheap accommodations INSIDE the park.   During the summer, Yosemite hotels and lodging are very limited and quite expensive (often $200-$500 as of 2012).  Most lodgings are fully booked 3-6 months in advance.  Most last minutes traveler often have to […]

Yosemite is stunning and there are many things to do.  Here are our top picks   1. Sunrise or Sunset at Glacier point –One of the best view of the Yosemite Valley and Half Dome is from Glacier Point, and no better time to do it than during Sunrise/Sunset.   Only 100 meters from the parking lot, the area is well […]

Yosemite’s ultimate and most difficult day hikes.  Rising nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level, Half Dome is a Yosemite icon and a great challenge to many hikers, both professional and amateur.  The views along the way are amazing, with the spectacular mist trail steps up to Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, the panoramic view […]

One of the easiest hike and best view of Yosemite is Taft Point and Sentinel Dome.  Each are 2 miles round trip, 1-2 hours each to complete, with parking lot right off Glacier Point road.  Kids as young as 5 years old and senior in their early 70’s should be able to do these hikes.    Of course you can just […]

After we arrived to Yosemite and got our lodging, we decided to spend the afternoon hiking the trails around Mariposa Grove, which offers view of the giant Sequoia trees and one of the world’s largest trees, the Grizzly Giant.  Mariposa Grove is right next to the park’s South Entrance (near Highway 41 to Fresno; 36 miles south of Yosemite Valley […]

Because of the strong trade wind (typically blow at a steady 20-25 knots year-around) and its flat seas, Aruba is famous for windsurfing and kitesurfing.  The biggest and best known watersports event of the Caribbean for the past 24 years, the Aruba Hi-Winds, occurs at Fisherman’s Hut (Hadicurari) annually in June/July. Hadicurari, known to the locals as Fisherman’s Huts, is […]

There are many ways to get to Woodlands Train Station from Singapore to catch the train to Kuala Lumpur or other area of Malaysia.  Ofcourse, you can pay for the expensive taxi ride, but the easiest and fastest public transportation is to use the following buses noted below.   Note that all bus heading to Johor Bahru will have to go […]

Raffle Hotel I took a short taxi ride from the Casino to Raffle Hotel (SG$4).  Raffle Hotel is a colonial-style hotel build back in 1887 and is one of the world’s most famous hotels.  Tourists flock to the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel to sample the original Singapore Sling, a sickly sweet pink mix of pineapple juice, gin and […]

Singapore Chinatown   After leaving Changi Airport, my first tourist stop in Singapore was Chinatown, where I ate, visited a Buddhist and a Hindu temple. To get here from Changi, you will need to change train at Outram Park, and get on the purple North-East line for just 1 stop. Every China town is unique in term of diverse cultures […]