Happy New Year

It's been awhile hasn't it ?
I have not been stitching or crafting anything worthy enough to show; a little smallies here and there, a bit of travelling with the girls from college and families, then Diane is home, watched a couple of movies, and a friend flew in from Hong Kong and  time just flew by.

However, before the year came to an end, I signed up for a Sekka Shibori class. It's a textile dying technique which has a fascinating history that dated back to ancient Japan using natural indigo dye.

My piece of dyed fabric with my teacher Dora

 Behind us is a 100year old tree in the background

located at a newly launched artisan complex in the heart of the city.

Student's work for the day.

We were taught the dying method to obtained the various design and the composition of the dye.

 

Miniature ironing board,

Something that I have been looking for quite a while until I stumble upon the website

I stitched one tiny part of a Hungarian motif two on two

 on Belfast 32 count with DMCs

 

Over the past few months I have been crocheting some Irish motifs. What will these become, well,
we will see how it goes, This is taking crochet to the next level.

A gift for a student , pencil case that is fully lined with added pockets inside. Outer fabric - Japanese
Diane had been bugging  me to sew one for months before I finally managed before her last sem ended for a friend of hers. Whew!

Freebie from The Shop Around the Corner

 

This is one of the three festive smallies I managed to stitch when the holiday season was just around the corner. I forgot to take photo of the other two before sending out, one went to Danielle in the Yukon and the other for my Hong Kong friend. I still have one more UFO , couldn't finish that on time before Christmas, a Lizzie Kate design.

I thought maybe stitching some festive smallies and finishing it could keep me focus and put me in the mood to stitch again. I am not too sure about that, but then my stitching group has just organized a Halloween Exchange, so may be all is not lost. Let's see how long I can keep my blog going.

I hope all of you had a great start into the New Year with beautiful moments of warmth and joy.
 

A quickie weekend getaway

Travelling into Southern Thailand is like crossing the border of Mexico in the US. That is how close we are with Thailand. We have three points of entry into Thailand; namely Padang Besar, Bukit Kayu Hitam; both on the North and Rantau Panjang in the East Coast

This is the Bukit Kayu Hitam Checkpoint 

After Immigrations and Customs are done with we drove passed a giant gate

Crossing over to Thailand, we were surprised to see the old Sadao Checkpoint closed .

No idea when it happened, but now replaced by this newly built checkpoint which caused a bit of a confusion while driving through both times going and returning for lack of direction/notice board.

I like to think that this is only temporary until it is completed(hopefully) for it is weird that the only checkpoint noticeable shared the same route both ways and  it seem a bit too small to cater to holiday crowds when it does happen. I can just imagined the long queue and hours of waiting to just get through it as with the last checkpoint which seem triple in size compared  to this new location.

I was only told of this trip by DH one week before we took off to Penang-Tailand : Dannok-Hatyai

on a four days three night  before June ends.

Due to the close proximity, it's not surprising that South of Thailand has always been our weekend gateaway, especially more for the people in the Northern states. They can simply hop over for a day's shopping and food indulgence trip.

Revisited Penang - We spent a night in Penang Island and this round we visited the Temple of the Supreme Bliss aka Kek Lok Si Temple is said to be the largest temple in South East Asia and arguably one of the most famous in Penang. Located on a hill regarded to be geomagnetically significant .

 Day light view 

Construction began in 1893

The pagoda was completed in 1930

 Magnificent Night view

 Goddess of Mercy on the pavillion overlooking the sea

standing at 30.2m

Walking on foot gives you a good walking exercise via a pathway sandwich by stalls and stalls offering souvenirs. Walking up the steps give you a different perspective and one can just leisurely stroll along, it was the only pathway up to the temple once a upon a time,  that afternoon we simply drove up to the pavillion car park. 

The mystical secret garden of Penang, inspired by the Pandora world of Avatar is located on a hilly piece of land just next to our fave Pearl Garden Seafood Restaurant which was turned into a neon like fantasy dubbed Penang Avatar Secret Garden

 One need to wait for night fall before the garden is light up

Revisited Hatyai - Once again we visited the Hatyai Municipality park which is located on hill top overlooking the city. Actually this was our meet up point with some friends who choose to explore by train and later engage a van to transport them into the city. Thereafter once in the city, it is pretty easy to get around with their Tuk-Tuk.

The Standing Buddha overlooking the city below

Sharing the same location with the Standing Buddha, the 535 meter long cable car is the first of it's kind the country and stops at the Brahman Shrine where the Four Face Brahman and Erwan shrine is located

The Asean Night Bazaar - Hatyai or any part of Thailand has always been a shopping haven, other than the sleazy nightlife; this bazaar  I have yet to visit for the much talked and heard about was on my must visit list. Consisting of two storey, the stalls are neatly lined with food on the upper floor .  Items are pretty much repetitive from lane to lane compared to the ' Old Market' that houses a bigger varieties of goods . We missed the Greenway Night Market which is located just a stone's throw away. Oh Well! there is always a next time.

You can read more of my past trips to Southern Thailand , if it interest you

Thailand - Danok-Hatyai

Thailand - Hatyai

Thailand-South

Thailand-South 

Thank you ladies for visiting and leaving me your comments. Hope you enjoy reading another travel journey of mine. Next post I may have a little crafty pursue to tell.
Have a good rest of the week everyone.

Taiwan - The journey with Mom

A journey with Mom in the last five days of May  

Thou this is not the first time we travelled, we have travelled many times before but just that this is the first time we are travelling  just the two of us and most importantly,  we survived, LOL. Travelling with mom may be a joy for some, for me it's different, I need a lot of patience and compromise, for we can have our differences in many ways and I do not want our little spats to destroy our journey. Just because I like to explore as much as I can and doing all the touristy stuff in my travels, doesn't mean that I expect mom to do so as well, she prefers to shop and can take up conversations with just anyone, not me. At her 85 years of age, my concern is her walking long distances and her diet.  I also worry she will not be able to go on a long haul fight. Taiwan, a little birdie has told me is on her wish list and I thought I should plan a trip just the two of us so I could be in controlled of our itinerary. Moreso, Taiwan is slightly just over four hours away seem perfect.

Thou I began planning in March, I couldn't get away from work until after April ended and it was only May, end of May that we made the journey. I worked out a schedule of planned itinerary weeks before our departure and making sight adjustment along the way to accommodate mom. I have arranged her to be on wheel chair from airport to airport so she will not have to walk the distance within the airport especially our airport which is a very, very long walk

Our first dinner upon arrival we tried out the famous Yuan Yang Hot Pot in Xiemending,

 the most famous district also known as the Shibuya of  Taiwan where we spent 3 nights. Here's a brief details of how our journey went in no particular order.

Visited the Chiang Kai Shek Residence , Shilin like a tourist

 The former residence of late Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek 

and his wife Soong Mei-ling, The residence consisting of Western and Oriental influence garden is now turned into an ecology park. It was a very hot day and mom took shade while I explore a little of

Madam Chaing's favourite Rose Garden, trust me I didn't go very far

In awe with the roses

The garden is huge and filled with many species of roses that I wished I could cart home

I managed to get mom to pose for a few shots and I was rather surprised that she was very obliging 

Later in that afternoon, we made our way to SunYat Sun Memorial, a tribute to the Nation's founding father and our timing was perfect to witness the changing of guards

Never knew Mom was ecstatic to be able to witness the changing of guards, it was drizzling a little that day, the only day that rendered a wet day for us. 

With an umbrella, I got her to pose with Taiwan's tallest iconic tower 101 in the background

Pineapple Tarts is Taiwan's most popular snacks food souvenir. The fruit itself hold a significant history behind its popularity . The crumbly bite-sized pastries filled with chewy pineapple filling mold into brick size symbolize golden bricks of prosperity. Mom and me had a fun time getting some lessons in molding the pineapples, set a side the thoughts that this is actually a gimmick to get you to buy it's products later and need I say that we did succumbed to it, LOL 

Taiwan famous dumplings Xiao Lung Bao must try, I told mom so

By bloggers' recommendation we went to King Ping instead of Ding Tai Fung the original restaurant, said to taste better since the Chef here originates from the later and had made a name for himself.

Two of the famous night markets Shilin and Roahe Nite market are most popular with tourist for their trendy fashion but most importantly fancy street food and especially the Stinky Tofu, seriously it's a Chinese form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor considered the most memorable and classic dish and oh boy! I ain't going to give this a missed.

This it's a must try when in Taiwan and HongKong !

How bad is the odor? Like rotting garbage , LOL

ewwww..not!

Thankfully, the taste is far less pungent than the smell. Normally served with either chili sauce or pickled vegetable to mask the smell and give it some flavor.

 Mom was all no-no at first, but I managed to coaxed her to try and she remarked 'not bad'

 There you go!

another on my must try from  the night market is  another signature Taiwan made famous 

Bubble Milk Tea. not that I can't get it locally back home, but this is it's birth land

so MUST TRY !! 

From Taipei we managed a night at this PeiKong Creek & spa Resort  in Nantou

A onsen style resort for a revitalising soaking session in hot thermal water with a breathtaking view

There is even a mini onsen styled tub in it's bath in our chalet for privacy, bliss

Our dinner at the spa was a packaged we took

Since mom is on no seafood diet, they were kind enough to obliged

still somehow, thou our ancestors may originates from the same Chinese land, 

food wise is somewhat not something we could get accustomed to while in Taiwan

With a  little assurance and encouragement, Mom made it midway onto the scenic suspension bridge, A lil'cheat just for a snapshot, LOL

The journey to Nantou was a bit long and so we had some fun with snapchat 

At the Dahu Strawberry Farm and Winery, unfortunately it's strawberries off season 

Still mom had a joyful time shopping for souvenirs for her friends back home

and she found the largest strawberry and lolly

Neiwan Old Street, a remote village nestled in the mountain next to a river . 

The old street will come alive on weekends with tourist sampling food from the Hakka culture but we went on Friday and thus the old street is almost deserted. 

 Taiwan was ruled by the Japanese for 50years and such villages existed due to logging and mining industry all over Taiwan and flourished prosperously. 

 Its popular landmark here is the Neiwan railway station. Mom went back to our van, (yes we had a seven seater van for the duration of our trip just the two of us) with the driver after lunch while I went exploring the streets a little on my own

<Mom looking out into Sun Moon Lake from the Wen Wu Temple 

> At the Puli Winery famous for its' earthen pots of wine

The Magnificent WenWu Templed replaced the old temple after the earthquake overlooking the  famous Sun Moon Lake . It is located at the foothills of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range and surrounded by forested peaks and has foot trails east of the lake.

By the Wishing Fountain - Her expressions said it all

Five Days In Taipei
Drinking like crazy
ONLY
Coffee and Tea
from the 7-Eleven that mushroom all over Taiwan
and there is one located just right outside our hotel

Coming back home I was thrilled that our local Family Mart has some of these on it's shelves

and so the drinking continues, hahaha

Finally

Our final shot at Taoyuan International Airport boarding gate

 She stole a lil'nap while waiting, our flight was  delayed for over 2 hours

Like any tourist, we took zillions of photos and mom was very sporting throughout, of the many photos ; selfies, wefies and some with the help from strangers, I love this best, a snapshot in front of the 101 Taipei iconic tallest tower

I am glad I took this journey with mom, I am glad for many reasons; glad that I did this when she is still somehow still able thou abit slow, glad that she still have the strength thou not as strong as she was a year ago, glad that I finally done it and not just wishful thinking but most importantly glad that we had some moments to bond and enjoyed the journey sharing a little joke and  laughter along the way.

We can now argue at home :D

Many thanks to all those who came and left comments in my last post 

Today we celebrate another festivity

Happy Dumpling Festival 

and this is the Nyonya Chang/Dumplings

Wishing all a Happy New Week !

The 12th Teacup Reveal

Once again, I participated the 12th Teacup and Mug exchange hosted by Stephanie of The Enchanting Rose blog.  What a joy to have Margie's name as the person receiving the teacup from me  I have been following Margie blog for sometime enjoying and at times in awe with her tea theme blogging and can you imagine how hard it is to hold back my excitement so I can sort of surprise her?

I had a hard time deciding my choice of a teacup for Margie knowing that she has a vast collection . I finally sent her this chinoiserie design teacup and saucer from my collection. It contains hints of her favorite colors.

For Margie it's tea 

Here are the things that goes into my package for Margie

 A teapot card  that went along in the package. I mailed this on the morning of 17 April 2018.

Thereafter the anxiety of waiting for news of it's arrival 

 It is always a great relieve to finally received words that the package arrived

especially great to know the teacup and saucer arrived in one piece

My teacup packaged arrived just two days before the reveal date from Joy in US

It was a wait worth waiting for.Joy had sent  me this beauty, a musical theme teacup and saucer, I would say one of it's kind that she found in an antique store. This is simply too precious.

Thank you so much Joy for this fabulous teacup and the extras that came in the package

I am sorry I didn't write to thank you as you have not include your email in your note. Nevertheless, I want you to know that your package is greatly appreciated and love.
Thank you for going into extra mile to sent me the Cross stitch hoop kit.
I will definitely stitch that up and yes, you will be hearing from me soon.

I also took part in the Mug Swap, how can I give that a missed? so next post up, Mug Reveal.