Where to go and what to do in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

We spent a night in Karakol. Karakol is the forth largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located near the eastern part of Issyk Kul Lake. It used to be a place where the Russian military outpost founded in 18th century, and also the place where the place where large number of Dungan, the Chinese Muslim fleeing warfare in China. I will share here some of the places that you can visit or things you can do in Karakol.

Holy Trinity Cathedral (Russian Orthodox Church) - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

1. Visit the Russian wooden Orthodox church called Holy Trinity Cathedral. The building was constructed in 1894-1895, replacing the earlier church that was destructed by the earthquake. During that period, this church was initially built as a chapel for the Russian military personnel. Later on, after the 1917 revolution, it also served as a school, sport hall, theatre, and even a coal store, before it was briefly returned as a church. By 1961, again it was not used as church until the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. 

The church is beautified with flowers and trees at its surrounding, plus the snow capped mountains view as the background. Inside it was quiet, calm and peaceful. You could grab some wooden souvenir or accessories to bring home afterward. 

Dungan Mosque - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

2. Visit Dungan Mosque - a mosque built and designed in 1904 by Dungan, the Chinese Muslim, without a single nail and looks resemble like a Buddhist temple. If you visit it in September, the place will look more like a garden with so many beautiful roses beautified the area. Fruit trees like pear, apple, and walnut would be full of fruits too!!! We were lucky that the staff plucking some of the apples and pears to be shared with us. I had them for breakfast next day and it was really wonderful!!! They were juicy, sweet and crunchy, most importantly, organic and grew with TLC (tender loving care) :D

Issyk-Kul Brand Shop - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

3. Shop local products at the Issyk-Kul Brand Shop - a store that sells natural, high quality handmade products made by local community, such as: honey (Kyrgyzstan is famous for its pure white honey and varieties of honey from Kyrgyz mountains), wool products (bookmarks, wallet, hat, shawl, doll, slippers, bags, etc.), various local fruit juices and jams made of sea buckthorn, barberry, raspberry, walnut, etc., soaps, lip balm, hand cream, paintings, various handcrafts, etc. You can try some of the products before deciding to purchase or not. The store commits to support the local communities with OVOP - One Village One Product concept - to produce, sell, and earn from their products sustainably. You can find more information about the shop here. 

Dinner at Dungan Family House - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

4. Have dinner at Dungan family house, tasting the dishes that Chinese Muslim would eat on their daily life. We were given a private room where 7 of us could peacefully enjoy our meal. They served 9 different types of dishes plus laghman (handmade pulled noodle - similar with Chinese lamian) as the base to eat the dishes with. The owner's son served us the food personally, explained their cultures and traditions, also origins with us. He could speak a little Chinese too as he went to learn Chinese in China himself, so that he could communicate better with his guests (many Chinese or Chinese Asians guests came and dined at his house). It was a great experience and for us, we could finally have something Chinese in our food after almost a week of mostly Central Asia food on our menus. Hahaha... Something spicy and delicious :D

5. Visit Karakol local bazaar. Unfortunately it had closed by the time we reached Karakol and we did not have time to visit the next day as we still have many places to go. But if you have more days to visit, it will be a great experience to see how it looks like and what types of things they sell over there.

We continued our journey to Bokonbayevo village and on our way, we passed by many places, which I will cover next. Stay tune :)

World Cup 2018 and Its Life Lessons

FIFA World Cup - Russia 2018

Since June everyone all over the world had been excitingly welcoming the World Cup 2018, after one of the world historic event - Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's visit and summit in Singapore had over. I had missed both important events (the summit and the world cup's opening ceremony) as I was still on holiday in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Throughout few decades of my life I had never shown any interest in football, ever!!! But since most of my Bhutanese young friends loved football so much (many had so much passion in it and played them very well - including what I had witnessed myself during my trip in Sri Lanka not long ago on how they would purposely travel to another city just to participate in a match, play it under the rain, etc.), plus my brother and nephews' great interest on some football teams, I had slowly been developing the interest towards football.

Final FA Cup 20 May 2018 - Chelsea VS Man United (Pic source: Google.com)

I watched my first football match with interest back on May 20th, 2018 - the FA Cup final Chelsea VS Manchester United - at my brother's house, when I stayed there over night. My brother supported Chelsea while my nephew supported Manchester United. I was waiting for my friend to reach my brother's house as she participated in running event that night. To be honest, I had zero knowledge of football. So many times I would comment unnecessarily which at the end, irritated my brother. Hahahahahaha..... :P

And now, this World Cup games.

It was very expensive to subscribe the football channel in Singapore, especially for this World Cup event. So we did not have an access to watch the games conveniently at home. During dinner meeting with friends, she told us her experience of searching the free streaming match and she ended up listening to other then English languages comments given by the commentator, i.e. Arabic, Thai, etc.

World Cup time!!! With Durian :P

However, sometimes, our local TV channel (Okto) broadcast the match (not regularly though), and I watched my first match on Sunday, 24th June, England VS Panama. I still had no knowledge about football so someone suggested me to just see if the player made goals or not. Hahahaha.... And instead of having beer while watching, I had durian (if you had durian, no alcohol was allowed to be consumed). And from that match, I knew few players such as: Harry Kane (the 25 years old English's footballer who made 3 goals on that match), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United player ), and John Stones (Manchester City player who made 2 goals).

Then followed with Japan VS Senegal match. I watched it on streaming online this time since it was not broadcast in local TV. Thanks to someone for giving me the link so that I could watch it on my laptop at home :) From this match, I also learned to know few good Japanese players like Takashi Inui, Keisuke Honda, cool-looking Maya Yoshida, and Shinji Kagawa. Although the result was draw 2-2, they managed to go on the next match.

So, from that day onward, I tried to watch one match per day (due to the time difference I could not wait and watch the 2 am game here). Sometimes hubby taught me some rules on the game too, which increased my knowledge a little. Many times I asked around what people thought about the result of the upcoming game like which team would win, how many scores they would make, and so on.

Friends were helping up in broaden my knowledge too by saying who were good from the team, and associated the country with its good players, e.g. Argentina - Messi, Portugal - Ronaldo, Brazil - Neymar, French - Griezzman, etc. Hehehehe... :D From Facebook post I also knew some of the good-heart players, e.g. Messi,

Some matches were good, in the sense you could see how strong the team, e.g. on Korea match against Germany. The Korea defenders were defending very well and the goalkeeper did his job very well on the match too. There you could also see how weak the Germany striker. They had so many opportunities to make a goal but they could not use it well. Some games were too much of fighting, bringing the players down, injuring players neck, head, legs, and so on, and not worth watching.

Many games were unpredictable. Those who people thought supposed to win, they lost, and who supposed to be weak, they won, even after the 90 minutes game had over (Korea VS Germany match).

I learned new things on every match as I was really having 0 knowledge on it. Just like yesterday's match - Russia VS Spain. In this match, when the result was draw, they were given 30 minutes to play and see which team could score a goal and win. In the event they both did not score any goal, both teams would do penalty kick - 5 kicks were given and those scored the most would win).

World Cup's betting (Pic source: Singaporepools.com.sg)

Apart from it, I also learned about the betting system from Singapore Pools. Hahahaha.... I haven't put my money on any bet so far, but usually the World Cup event was the only event most Singaporean would put their money and bet on it. Like from the above figure, I had to ask my brother what was the figures showing. There were many bet type available too, e.g. Pick the score, total goals, halftime, halftime-fulltime, etc. P.S. I do not encourage you to bet, to be interesting in betting, and other kind of betting interest by posting about it here. I just wanted to share what I learned from this World Cup event.

World Cup 2018 - Round 16 Chart (Pic source: CBS Sports)

So we are now at the Round 16 match. Many good teams have been taken out like Portugal, Argentina, and Spain. Will more good teams be out from this World Cup??? Hopefully not. And which team you predict to be World Cup champion this time round?? Many of my friends hope that Brazil and England would be one of the champions. But with so many went out so far, it would be hard to predict right??

That how the World Cup lessons apply to our lives journey. So many things are unpredictable. No matter how good the team or the person is, sometimes luck (or fate, or karma) is still playing parts, which makes everyone undergoes ups and downs in life. No one experiences only the good things or only the bad things in life. It is all mixing up like roller-coaster ride.

Life lessons from World Cup (Pic source: Pinterest.com)

Some of the important lessons are how we can accept all the situation bravely and wisely? How we can learn from the things in the past so that we can have a better journey towards our future? How can we accept failure in life? How can we get up from it and move on? How can we live our dreams?

We face praise and disappointment. We face so much pressure from society. If we are good, they expect us to perform good all the time, or even better performance. If we are not good, they may despise and look down on us. While at the end, it is our own life and we are in control of it. What type of life we prefer may differ from what society expects us for having. Can we strive and get hold on it?

You may not think much as I mentioned here when it comes to World Cup, but these thoughts just appear as I write. Hope that we can have enough strength to choose the life we want to live, and not living life from other's expectation. Be you, be yourself. Be me, be myself, no matter what.

Beautiful natures from Russia :)

Have you ever wondered if the sun or the moon at the other part of the world is rounder, sweeter, much more beautiful, or all almost the same?

When I was studying in Beijing many years back, I thought the moon in China is much rounder and brighter during the full moon or mid-Autumn Festival. Because this legend was coming from this country, so obviously, I expected that the moon there would be much better than what we had in Indonesia.

On that night of celebration, many friends of mine and myself were having picnic, basking ourselves under the moon on the basketball field, waiting for the much expected bright moon illuminating the sky. But to my disappointment, it wasn't as great as what I expected. Hehehe...

Here, I share with you the beauty of the natures, from Russia with love.... :)

Sunrise from my hotel's window - Moscow 8th September 2014

I was amazed when I opened the curtain on the first morning of my visit in Moscow

The sun was rising beautifully right in front of this very window of my room

What a joy behold filled my heart with blessing and grateful feeling

I knew that I was home of this earth, wherever I was

Sunlight from above the high sky brighten up the whole city - Moscow, 8th September 2014

 

Once I finished my breakfast and went back into my room,

the above was what I saw

Wow!!!

I could hardly say any word

I was numb, couldn't believe my own sight

What a lovely day we'd have!!!

Beautiful and bright!!! Moscow, 8th September 2014

I turned my head to the right...

And that's what I found!

It reminded me of the movies that I usually watched

It was alive, right in front of me

Again, I was stunned with the beautiful view

Couldn't believe that it was real!

Sunset in Suzdal, Russia - 8th September 2014

We left to Suzdal by bus

It was quite a long journey

But it was all worth it

Their houses were beautiful, so did the natures surrounded it

By the time we reached this lovely village

We were welcomed by the beautiful sunset above

Full moon on Mid-Autumn Festival in Suzdal, Russia - 8th September 2014

Right after finished our dinner, the moonlight came by

It was the awaiting mid-Autumn Festival!!

The weather outside was terribly cold!!!

And it was wise for us to stay warm inside this wooden cottage

My parents came over to our room

with moon cakes, beer, and other snacks

We had this little family celebration

in this lovely night

Good morning!! Dobroye Utro!!! - Greetings by flying birds from Suzdal, Russia :)

We woke up an hour earlier than the wake-up call

Just to see the beautiful sunrise from this lovely place

We had a leisurely walk around the area

and found many beautiful natures around us

Beautiful flowers in Suzdal, Russia :)

 The above flowers were one of them

The morning dews were stuck to each flowers

The colors were amazingly refreshing, dazzling, and bright!!!

Do you feel freshen up now??

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!!! From Suzdal, Russia, with lots of love..... :)

 With my picture above, 

indeed, you feel freshen now, don't you???

Hahahaha....

Here I want to wish all of you

Blessed with good health, wealth, luck

Life full of joy and happiness :)

Have a great week ahead and be happy always!!! ^^

From Russia with Love

So, here we come to the last day of our trip in Russia. Yesterday we experienced the coolest temperature here. Thank Buddha! Because the rest of our stay it was all sunny and warm with temperature between 14°C to 22°C :)

Beautiful Moscow view at night :)

We had drizzling but luckily at night time it was on and off so that we could enjoy the night view of Moscow by taking the private cruise.

Night Cruise in Moscow

The view was superb, the cruise was pretty new and elegant, and we had a great and relaxing time there. It finalized our journey with bitter sweet memories. It was bitter because I lost one of my diamond earrings, one of my Mom's wedding gift :(

But nothing lasts forever and so does my holiday. It's going to over soon. Wish us luck for a safe and pleasant journey back home! Thank you SB, my parents, everyone for everything! We all enjoyed our journey and life to the fullest! :)

From Russia with Love

Magnificent Cathedral of Christ the Savior at night - Moscow, Russia

As the cruise flowed through the Moskva River, I sat on the upper deck enjoying the beautiful night scene of Moscow city in front of me, alone. No moon, and no stars. It was all covered up with the thick dark cloud. There was no light too. All was dark, except the lights from the buildings and bridges that we passed by.

Beautiful bridge along Moskva River :)

The wind blew sturdily. Bbbrrrr...... It was cold. And I was frozen severely!

I tightened up the black and white scarf that secured my neck, and tidied up my two-layer sweater cum wind-breaker, making sure that no wind would blow inside me, and keeping me all comfortable and warm.

Mulled wine to warm up the coldest night in Russia :)

I sipped in the local Russian concoction, which they called Mulled wine, a mixture of red wine, honey, fruits and spices. It was hot and immediately warmed my body up.

Kremlin's night view - Simply awesome!!!

I closed my eyes and my ears were listening to the Matt Monroe's song that I downloaded before my departure. Its lyrics were so smooth and delicate. but bright. It said like this:

From Russia with love I fly to you
Much wiser since my good-bye to you
I've traveled the world to learn I must return 

from Russia with love

I've seen places, faces and smiled for a moment
But oh, you haunted me so
Still my tongue tied young pride
Would not let my love 

for you show 

in case you'd say no

What a night!!! Such a relaxing 'me alone' time...  

As usual, my mind started wandering around while listening to this song. Suddenly, I heard a loud song and a bright light illuminated the sky far in front of me. Oh dear... There were fireworks!!!

Beautiful fireworks illuminated the sky along Moskva River :)

Wooohhooooo!!!! Wasn't it my lucky day??

Awesome!!! - Fireworks along Moskva River :)

It played continuously for some time. I was asking myself, "Am I dreaming???" and started pinching myself over my arm, Ouch!!! That's pain!!! Then I realized that I wasn't dreaming... This beautiful night, this trip in Russia with my parents and niece, this splendid city of Moscow, St. Petersburg, the beautiful village of Suzdal, it was all real!!! Right in front of me!!! 

Silently, I cited a prayer inside my heart. I was feeling blessed, and grateful for all things that happened to me. Although it was all seemed like a dream now, it was all the wonderful memories that remain deep in my heart now. Thank you SB! Thank you, thank you, and thank you for everything!!! Russia, thank you for giving me a chance to see... Hope to visit you again, perhaps in my next life ;)

The last fireworks waved and farewell Good-Bye...

To Russia I flew but there and then
I suddenly knew you'd care again
My running around 

is through
I fly to you from Russia with love

Russian Circus at Dubrovka Theater, Moscow

It's been the seventh day my stay here in Russia. It's been tiring but full of enjoyment. I'd been wanting to write blog and share more experience with you. There were many things I wanted to share. Just like this evening. We went to see Circus performance at the Dubrovka Theater.

Dubrovka Theater, Moscow

We reached late. It supposed to start at 6pm. But we only reached 20 minutes later due to late serving during our dinner. So it'd been started halfway when we got our seat. We sat at top floor, at the sixth rows from the front side.

You know, when I knew that Circus was inside the itinerary, I was all exciting and looking forward to watch it. Because it's been so long that I'd watched my last Circus. In fact, I still remembered the first Circus that I watched during my childhood time.

I was six years old. My mother brought me to the Circus that was held not too far from where we lived. I went with some other people too, most probably my sisters.  It was held inside the big round red color tent. Surrounded it, there were many other colorful tents, just like what it's always drawn in many children's story book.

We sat quite in front row but a bit in the left side on a wooden bench, which was getting higher at the back of it. I was so happy watching the animals, like elephants, lions, parrots, and was awed with performances like tightrope walkers, acrobats, trapeze acts, uni-cyclist, and most importantly, the clown. They put the net under the tightrope and trapeze's performances and we were wondering if anyone would fall on it and yes, they did (perhaps some of them were still quite amateur ba!)

And tonight, when the clown appeared and entertained the audience, it really brought me back to the nostalgic moments. I heard laughter from children who were sitting all around me. They were enjoying it, laughing innocently, and incessantly, just like me. All this feeling suddenly brought me into tears, tears of happiness.

During half-an-hour break time, I asked my niece out from the theater. We saw from above the activities provided for the children. Singing, dancing, standing in line just like a choo-choo train, and so on. Many people were queuing for the Popcorn, candy stalls, toys stalls, and so on.

Russian Circus in Dubrovka Theater, Moscow

I saw parents (with more Mums) brought their lovely daughters and sons out to watch this Circus. They were sitting down. They all bought some snacks, pastries, and beverages from the nearby food stall and sat together enjoying their meals.

Children enjoyed their time - Russian Circus

I could feel so much love in this building. Kids were wearing their best dress. Girl's hair was braided beautifully by their mothers. The boys were dressed handsomely by their mothers again. I saw their laughter, their joy. Their smiles, their happiness. And I was telling myself how lucky they were by having such lovely parents who brought them to this Circus, just like me, many many many years back and I felt very grateful to my parents, who had given me chances to watch it not only once, but even up to this age, when I've become a mother, and parents myself. I was even thinking if my son would still enjoying this kind of performance at this age, and whether it would leave him with beautiful memory as I had.

Kids looked at their reflections on distorted mirror :) (Photo courtesy of Landa)

There were many distorted mirrors outside the theater too and many people from any ages would love to stand up in front of it and take a look how funny they had become. Children were again laughing and playing with their friend around in front of those mirrors.

The show was last for 2 hours and 45 minutes (with break in between). It wasn't same as what I watched before as they didn't show us elephants, or lions as this was held inside the building and not inside the tents. They also showed lots of performance using skating. Not using ice though, but something like wax floor. Perhaps it's because they often do ice skating during winter times and it has been part of their culture.

The trapeze show has been modernized though using the glow-in-the-dark costume also the ropes. There were many singers too, singing live on the stage. Except for the hot room (no air-con inside), the Circus was quite enjoyable for me. I love the clown the most.

Some of the shows - Russian Circus

When it's over, we exited happily from the building. However, on our way to the bus, we saw the name list carved on the wall with many toys put below it. Only then I knew that twelve years ago, on 23rd October, something happened in that very place. They called it 2002 Nord Ost siege.

It was a tragedy that had made hundred over people, as hostages, including many children (the main audience of the Circus), pregnant women, etc., died after few days' siege. You can read more about it here. My heart wrenched after heard about it and I was a bit guilty for being too happy inside that theater just hours ago. I deeply pray here for those victims, wishing them to rest their soul in peace and to be born in a much better world. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu.

Ha здоровье! Read: Nah zda rovh yeh or Cheers in Russian :)

My happy face - Russian Vodka Museum, St Petersburg :)

When I knew that there would be a visit to Russian Vodka Museum, I was like.... ehem... very very very happy la! :D Because Russian is very very famous for its Vodka!

And I was very happy when knowing that we would visit it today, the first day of our stay in St Petersburg.

Right after lunch, we were walking there. It's such a right time because we couldn't drink with an empty stomach no?

Some exhibition stuffs inside the Russian Vodka Museum

There was small exhibition inside, such as the collection of the cork for the bottle, various bottle type, various brands, and so on.

We were welcomed by the beautiful Russian lady. She explained to us the history of the Vodka and what it was made from, etc.

Well, for me, that wasn't very important though, but there were few interesting facts that I learned about the Vodka and its development in Russia.

Guess what is this! Russian Vodka Museum collection :)

For example, look the above picture carefully and guess what is the Vodka above usually used by? Or what kind of profession make use such form of Vodka?

Russian Vodka Museum collection

Second question: To whom do you think that these bottles of Vodka made or given to?

Dadadada.... I'll give you some time to think about it and I'll give you the answer at the end of this post ;)

At the end of tour, we entered the Bar, which was displaying over 200 types of Vodka.

Inside the room, there were six standing tables. They had prepared three different types of Vodka for us to try and there were three different types of snacks to accompany the Vodka with.

Three different brands of  Vodka for us to try - Russian Vodka Museum

Honestly, I had no idea how to spell their names since they were all written in Russian language. I only knew that the middle one was the one gave the warmth effect on the throat (stronger feeling).

I took a piece of black rye bread topped with smoked salmon. I took my first shot of the strongest one. I held the shot glass on my hand, took a deep breath, and said, "Nah zda rovh yeh!" which means "Cheers!" :)

In Russia you could only drink it plain, with no orange juice or Redbull, and had it at one shot. You had to taste it from the strongest one to the less strong ones. Interesting, wasn't it? ^^

Russian Vodka Museum

Many people took one type each. Some took one or two shots only, and some didn't take any single shot. End up, there were still many shot available. I took 5 shot of it before leaving the place (while my father wasn't around) hehehe... and I was happily continuing the rest of my day here :D

Oh man, I wish I could stay longer or otherwise visit the place everyday! :D Anyway, it really made my day! I love Russia! ^^

Answers :
1. The Vodka in paste form was made for Russian Astronout who went to space as water form wasn’t allowed there. 
2. These bottles were given to those who quit drinking Vodka as a celebration :D

First time painting the Matryoshka Russian dolls :)

On our way to Suzdal, we were brought to the Matryoshka Doll Factory. It's located hidden from the main road and the buildings looked quite old. It's said that the factory has been there for 66 years. Wow!

Shaping the wooden base for the Matryoshka Russian dolls

This gentleman above showed us how he shaped the wooden doll using the special machine. It required skill and experience to be able to shape it nicely and comfortably. When asked, he said he started working when he was only 15 years old and has worked continuously for the past 45 years using that machine. No wonder it looked easy on him to shape those dolls. He even made the smallest doll shape as per shown on top of the palm above :)

After that we went inside the room where there were tables and chairs provided, plus some brushes, many basic water coloring, and a cup with water to wash the used brush on top of each table.

My niece and I with our creations: Before and After

Each of us was given a chance to paint our own Matryoshka dolls. And look at the above picture, before and after paint! Weren't the dolls beautiful??? But there were actually not our painting. Hahaha... They were actually the sample of the dolls that were put on the table, to give us inspiration and idea on how to draw and color it beautifully ;)

Seriously painting the colorful dolls

Well, it looked easy and simple, isn't it? But tell you, it wasn't easy at all to draw and paint a nice one.

They had few rules on which part to be colored first. The sequences were as per follow:
1. Sleeves part
2. The cloth part - front and back
3. The apron
4. The face area (eyes, eye brow, eye lashes, nose, lips, and hair)
5. The top part outside face and back side too
6. The base of the doll
7. Signature at the base of the doll

Everyone at different ages were having fun with it. We could paint it at any color that we like, any design that we want. Every doll became a very unique creation. While painting it we could hear funny funny comments from the other participants and made us laughing. It took us more than an hour to paint but yet, still not enough time to decorate now beautifully.



My own painted Matryoshka Doll :)

Lalalala.... That's my creation! :) It was just a simple and basic. I didn't have enough time to decorate more. I made agreement with my niece that this doll would be a gift for her upcoming birthday present, while her doll would be a gift for my upcoming Birthday present :) Our Birthday are just separated by 1 day.

She also hasn't finished hers and she wanted to continue it back home plus doing many repair jobs to make it much more beautiful. Well, let's see the final result when the time comes! ;)

The Manager cum owner explained the dolls to us translated by our guide, next to her :)

So, we were all having great time at the factory. And before we left, we shopped some of the doll products. Although the price set was slightly expensive, we were still buying one or two as a souvenir and after went through the painting workshop, we became appreciating the artist's effort in making beautiful dolls :)

Pri-vet привет - Hello in Russian :)

After a 10-hour flight from Singapore, we finally arrived at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia. It wasn't an easy flight. We departed at 2.30am Singapore time and we were served supper inside the airplane when we had already fallen asleep at 3.30am. Lol! Moreover my niece and I were given the seat at the last row of the aircraft where we couldn't have any space at the back of the seat and therefore, we had to sleep on sitting position at all time. Luckily I managed to catch some deep sleep :)

The sight of Domodedovo Airport in Moscow

The weather was very good. It was sunny and it wasn't as cold as I expected. Luckily I brought some normal shirt and short pants, otherwise it would be too hot for me.

It was Sunday. We immediately were brought to Red Square and visited many places on foot. Started at 11am, had lunch for an hour at 12pm, then walked again until 4.15pm. Thereafter we had an early dinner and checked in to the hotel to get the early rest.

Finally seeing the St Basil's Cathedral in real! :)

We were all very tired with so much walking but we were all feeling grateful for being able to visit many wonderful places there.

I only write a little for now and need to sleep now. So 'til we meet again ;)

Visit Russia Sep 2014

I’ve never dreamed in my life that one day I will visit Russia, the largest country in the world located in the northern Eurasia with around 143 million populations in it. The country was once under the Soviet Union in 1990s and then it reconstituted as Russian Federation in 1991. 

Mr. Vladimir Putin is the current president helming and governing the country, and in less than a month ago, he ordered the ban on the food imports (fruit, vegetable, meat, fish, milk and dairy items) from the West as a retaliation against Western countries that imposed economic sanctions against Russia after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine.

When I read the news about it, I was a little worrying about what kind of Russian food I should expect to have over there. I wouldn’t starve of course, only that I wouldn’t find bits of Italian mozzarella, chunks of Australian rib-eye, dollop of Finnish yoghurt and other American food that used to be available before. Well, they produced a very nice chocolate confectionary and Massandra dry sherry and I wouldn’t mind having it every day though plus their vodka too hehe…

By right, I should be grateful as we will only be served a local taste of Russian food, pure taste and fully grown indeed :) and there will be Chinese food as well. I did some research on their food and I expect to taste their black rye bread, Solyanka (sweet and sour beef soup), Pirozhki (fried bun with fillings), Blini (Russian pancake), Chicken Kiev (breaded chicken cutlet rolled around the garlic butter and herbs – hm.. sounds delicious!), Pelmeni (Russian dumplings), Shashlyk (kebab), Golubtsy (stuffed cabbage or pigs in a blanket), and so on. Just browsed around it has already made my mouth watering ^^

"Real" Russia, I'm coming!!! :)

All thanks to my parents who wanted to visit Russia and asked me to accompany them in their tour. We’ll spend nine days there with itinerary packed each and every day to a few different cities. This will be new experience for me to visit another place I’ve never been to before, and at the same time, a bonding time with my parents and niece :)

We were briefed a month before the departure date. We were warned not to wear lavishly as it could attract pickpockets. Other than that, we were told not to expect too much, such as: efficient service, smiley faces, etc. from Russian people as they are just like that. We were also asked to always be on time as traffic jam would delay the whole journey and disturb the whole itinerary.

What feared me most is actually their language, an East Slavic language. Their writings are different from English words. I have no idea about their pronunciation too. If we get lost or being separated from our tour participants, that’s it! Haha… That’s why they advised us to follow the tour leader closely and we have to inform them wherever we want to go, even to the toilet. Ahhh… I have already imagined a unique and challenging encounter ahead! ;D

Pic source: therussianstore.com

Despite the Ebola spread and unstable situation in many places of the world, we can only afford to think positively and hope that we all will have a smooth and safe journey. Please wish us lots of good luck for our safety and health throughout our journey, go and return in good shape and bring back many memorable events as part of our lives’ journey. I’ve even already had Matryoshkas doll – the famous Russian nesting doll or Babushka doll – in my mind, planned to bring some back home ^^

I’ll share more stories with you when I’m free, share more photos, feelings and emotions too. Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukhitatta – may all sentient beings be happy. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu.