Lake Geneva , Switzerland

SWITZERLAND... COLD~~~

What do you imagine when you think of Switzerland? 

Do you think of cold winds and short days? 

Well, you shouldn't. 

Do you ponder over their wonderful cheese and ask just how do they get those little holes in them? A step in the right direction, but go much further.

You see, Switzerland is a wonderful land for any type, whether you are the academic searching for knowledge, the wanderer in need of enlightenment, or even the adventurer looking for long treks that end with amazing sights. Resting in the middle of Europe, Switzerland is a deceptively small country that has many surprises in store for any traveler lucky enough to see it. 

It is like a good friend, only too eager to show you just how much fun you can have while visiting. It is without a doubt an easy task to find those who can help you start upon your amazing journey in exploring the sweet little country that is only waiting to please those who want to see it. 

So why not take in what it has to offer, to embrace the experience of several delights known simply as Switzerland? Here are only one interesting place to visit. 

Lake Geneva

In tenth place is Lake Geneva. It would hardly be a complete list on the various attractions of Switzerland if only museums, libraries, and religious grounds were covered in this list. The outdoors is every bit as interesting, fun, and fulfilling to those that choose to pursue it. Lake Geneva is a prime example. It rests between Switzerland and France, and is crossed by boat several times a day by many people, both for business and pleasure.

View of Lake Geneva - Montreux

The shores offer an exciting night life in the surrounding city, pastures and farms for calming atmospheres, and beautiful picnic areas to enjoy the simplicity of nature's true beauty. It's also nice to know that you can skip, or row really, right over to France. Prices are typically cheaper in France, which makes crossing Lake Geneva for a day a great opportunity if you wish to get more bang for your buck, and check out another country during your European vacation.

Vineyards of the Lavaux Region and Lake Geneva

# Photos of Beautiful Views of Lake Gevena

While there are many things on shore to see, it's definitely the lake itself that earns a spot on this list, its pureness and simplicity are too calming and relaxing to risk missing. Vacations of course are for relaxing, and few places to visit are better for that than the spanning waters of Geneva.

Map of Lake Gevena:

Foods at the Night Markets in Taipei

Wow wow wow.... Time to eat without think CALORIES!!

I'm going to eat till the end at 

Taipei's night markets...

Let go for a walks and discover the 

 Foods at the 

Night Markets in Taipei

let me introduce one by one....

Eating the Local Cuisine in Taipei 
Located on the northern tip of Taiwan and sitting on the banks of the Tamsui River, the Taiwanese capital of Taipei contains 2.5 million people in an approximately 105 square mile area. The thriving capital offers a diversity of contrasts. Not only is it home to upscale restaurants and clubs, it features roadside stands, wet markets, and night courts that showcase a unique variety of snack-type cuisine.

Wet Markets in Taipei - Fresh Food Vendors 
Wet markets, which feature fresh food and fish, got their name because of the large amount of water that is used to keep the floors of the market clean, wash the fruits and vegetables on display, and keep the shellfish alive. However, to truly experience local Chinese eating, a visit to a night market food court is a must-do activity.

A Daring Culinary Pursuit
That's because the food courts in the night markets feature such fare as frog soup (the amphibian included in the broth sans his head), fried crickets, and other fried specialties. In fact, most of the food you'll find is deep-fried and not overly healthful. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of daring foodies who will sample the cuisine.

Typical Taiwan Night Market:

The Longshan Night Market Area
The Longshan Night Market area is home to four primary night market streets. These market settings include:

• The Huaxi Street Market (also called Snake Alley) - a favorite of tourists
   
• The Guangzhou Street Market (a popular market of locals)
   
• The Xichang Street Market
   
• The Wuzhou Street Market

Other Well-known Night Markets
In addition to the Longshan markets, the Taipei area is also home to the large Shilin Night Market, the Keelung Night Market, the Raohe Night Market, and the Tonghua Market.

The Night Market Atmosphere 
Night markets generally open in the early evening, around 4:00 p.m., with crowds peaking around 10:00 p.m. at night. Businesses, which sell everything from imitation handbags to small, inexpensive lamps, stay open, along with the food stalls, until around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.

The Shilin Night Market - 
The Largest Night Market in Taiwan 

The Shilin Night Market is a local favorite and is considered the largest if not most famous market in Taiwan. The selling venue is home to over 500 food stalls.

Shilin Food Specialties
One of the specialty foods at the Shilin market is Stinky Tofu served with pickled vegetables.

Shilin Night Market:

Food vendors also feature such foods as:

• Snails

Ox Tongue Pie:

• Deep fried crabs (Common Taiwanese fare - the whole crab is consumed, including the shell.)
• Ox tongue pie (Fortunately, this pie is not made out of an ox tongue but is just shaped like one. The pie or pancake is flavored with peanut or sesame.)
• Oyster pancakes (These specialties are made with sweet potato powder, oysters, veggies, and an egg with a complimentary topping of sweet and sour sauce.)
• Coffin bread (This hollowed-out deep fried toast is typically filled with pork chowder. The concoction is a southern Taiwanese specialty.)

The Keelung Night Market: Featured Foods
The Keelung Night market is located in close proximity to the harbor and therefore is well-known for its large selection of ocean catches. Vendors prepare crabs, shrimp, and oysters on-site.

Keelung Night Market:

Some of the other specialties at the market include:

• Paopao Bing (Also called bubble ice, the hot-weather favorite is shaved ice that is blended to a smooth consistency.)
   
• Red Bean Cake (This food is similar to the Japanese version of taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake with red bean filling.)
   
• Seafood Egg Buns filled with Oysters, Leek, and Shrimp

Raohe Night Market Foods
Located in the Songshan District of Taipei, the Raohe Night Market is one of the oldest markets in Taiwan. You’ll often find long lines in front of vendors who sell black pepper buns - a night market favorite that features a bun containing black pepper, pork, and scallions.

Raohe Night Market:

Custard in egg shells is sold in many of the stalls too and is a common night market snack.

Fukushima Circle Pie
The Raohe Market also features Fukushima Circle Pie. The fried pie is made with a baked egg and ham filling combined with bonito flakes and mayo. Bonito, itself, is a type of fish (also known as skipjack tuna). The flakes are made by shaving and drying the fish.

Squid Stew
Squid Stew is yet another popular food at the Raohe Market. The squid for the fare is placed into a bag with a variety of sauces before being shaken and served. Pudding shaved ice, pan-fried dumplings and a small sausage in large sausage are other market favorites.

Tonghua Market Specialties
The Tonghua Market, also known as the Linjiang Night Market, is famous for such market foods as:

• Potato and yam fries
   

Guabao Sandwich:

• Guabao (pork, cilantro, pickled vegetables and peanut powder in a sliced bun)
   
• Teppanyaki Steak (a stringy kind of beef steak that only costs about $4.00)

Where to Find Snake
Popular with tourists, the Huaxi Night Market, also known as Snake Alley, is famous for its snake specialties. Snake is served with wine, broth or without any accompaniment. Vendors also feature turtles, braised pork knuckles, and fatty pork slices. Tomato plums, another vendor offering, are basically cherry tomatoes stuffed with dried sour plums.

Shaved Ices and Aiyu Jelly
The shaved ices at the Huaxi Market are known to be some of the best in Taipei while the Aiyu Jelly Drink is a favorite hot-weather beverage. Aiyu is a gel-like substance that is extracted from the seeds of figs. To save on costs, some vendors sell and serve the jelly drink in plastic bags.

A Memorable Eating Experience
Surrounded by movie theaters, karaoke stores, and video arcades, night market food courts provide a carnival-like atmosphere in and around Taipei. If you're brave enough to sample Chinese fare other than the standard Beijing duck or veggies and dumplings, then head on over to the night market courts and try out the local cuisine.

Below is Taipei City Map:

Van Gogh Museum of The Netherlands

We are now at  The Netherlands

#Old Port of Rotterdam

The Netherlands is a small country in comparison to the United States, but is still full of extremely interesting places. So many in fact, that it can get a bit overwhelming to pick which ones to visit. From their museums boasting rich cultural Dutch heritage to their amusement parks and zoos, there are plenty of spots to enjoy. If you are the adventurous type who likes playing water sports, there are Netherlands' beautiful beaches. If you are the quiet type that would rather visit all the historic landmarks, this guide will help not miss all the essential locations in the Netherlands.

Buckle up and get ready to take notes, because you are not going to believe how much there is to see and do in The Netherlands.

Van Gogh Museum

If you are in The Netherlands and don’t plan on visiting the Vincent van Gogh museum, shame on you. Vincent van Gogh is likely the most well-known Dutch artist of all time, and one of the most famous around the world. His unique art style makes him instantly recognizable, and his art very well deserves to be properly appreciated.

Outside of the Van Gogh Museum

Inside the Museum

The Van Gogh Museum holds the largest collection of the artist’s works, giving you the chance to contrast his first works to his last, as well as with art by other artists of the era.

A Look at a Photo Shoot Inside the Museum

Last Look Inside the Museum

There are also plenty of other expositions on 19th century art history, permanent and temporal exhibits alike. The museum buildings themselves will amaze you with their complex and interesting designs. Different designers and teams worked on each building, at different time periods.

# photo displays of art products 



Additional infomation:

Next station, we going to eat... 

at TAIWAN !!

No DIET in next station.....

Visit to Dubai

Some interesting places in Dubai... 

The world is a vast and interesting place, and no matter how many stamps you have on your passport, there is always something left to explore. Commonly known to be the richest city not just in that area but in the world, Dubai is arguably the crown jewel of the Middle East. Originally geared toward fishing, pearling, and textile trade, Dubai holds a wealth of past splendors coming into its own in the modern era.

Dubai Skyline and View of Burj Khalifa - 

The World's Tallest Man-made Structure

Oil trade is what built this cosmopolitan area, but tourism is just as heavy of a factor in the economy these days. Dubai caters to the world-traveling luxury seeker through numerous places to visit and things to do, such as parks, malls, aquariums, museums, and cultural centers. Read on for a selection from among literally hundreds of wonders available in this desert metropolis.

First place is Wild Wadi Water Park!!
Owned by Jumeirah--who offers access to this park for free to their guests. If you want to experience how themed amusement parks are done in the Arab world, this is the destination for you. The park is centered on the adventures of Juha, a widely known and loved comic folk figure of Arabia. He is something of a trickster, but also wise and noble sometimes. His stories contain both a joke and a lesson, and can be used to understand deeper aspects of reality or simply enjoyed for pleasure.

Aerial View of Wild Wadi Water Park - Dubai

There are a variety of restaurants and five separate retail outlets nestled in among 30 separate rides that have something to appeal to any age, from babies to adults. The park is family-oriented and makes good on this policy at every turn, from the menus to the attractions. Wild Wadi is known internationally, well awarded, and its employees represent some 41 separate nationalities, making this park a unique experience.

Second place is Dubai Fountains!!
Near the world’s tallest building is the Burj Kalifa lake, which is a 30 acre manmade water feature that houses this system of fountains. It is the world’s largest choreographed water display, with 6,600 light and 25 colored projectors. Water shoots up 500 feet in the air over a 902 foot length of fountains shaped with swirls and runs that allow a variety of shapes to the dancing jets. Both contemporary and classical Arabic music is used for the show, as well as selections of world music.

The fountain can spray up to 22,000 gallons of water at any given time, and cost 218 million USD to build. The fountains tend to have two afternoon shows, and then several more at 30 minute intervals in the evenings. With a revolving repertoire of routines, you can watch many times and still be surprised and there is a very good chance that you may be watching one of the fountains' sequences for the first time. This kind of variety is indicative of what Dubai really has to offer for tourists; something undiscovered.

Third place is Burj Kalifa!!
This towering piece of modern architecture is the world’s tallest building. The Burj Kalifa is touted as a symbol of Dubai’s progress and place as a world leader in the modern era. The building is a work of art, combining the principles of Arab design and engineering into a single, sleek structure that bridges the past and future. It is 2,716.5 feet high with over 160 stories, which not only gives it the title of tallest building in the world, but tallest free standing structure as well as the highest floor occupied.

Visiting the building is said to be not simply observing a site, but to be a total experience. Visitation packages can be booked and purchased, which highlight the observation deck on level 124--also the highest in the world--but also allow the visitor dining in the restaurant two floors below that. The building also boasts 1044 private residences total, 37 office floors of suites, a 160 room hotel, and an 11 hectare park with six water features and 3000 underground parking spaces for residents and visitors. There is also an entire recreation annex and a gym that spans four stories.

Care went into every detail of design and construction, from 40 separate rounds of wind tunnel testing to the use of a triple-lobe footprint for the building that is actually based on an abstraction of the Hymenocallis flower. Over 1,000 pieces of artwork were purchased from Middle Eastern and international artists to be displayed through the building, and the interiors of the residences and suites are tastefully done. The suites feature glass, steel, dark stone, and even Venetian stucco, combined with more traditional Middle Eastern rugs.

Fountain in Front of Burj Khalifa

The local culture of Dubai is prominent through the interior design, but incorporates a number of global elements that remind visitors and residents of the main message behind the tower, which is to show Dubai as the world leader it has become.

The Grand of Dubai show that their high living standard of the local residents.... 

If you have a choice...

 Do you want to be their RESIDENT ??? 

Shark Reef, Las Vegas..

Next station, let us Heading to

  Shark Reef , Las Vegas...

This isn’t the kind of swimming with the sharks you’ll be looking for if you’ve lost all your betting money, but it might be healthier for you in the end. Remember, fortunes always change, as do coral reefs. Make friends in strange places at the 1.3 million gallon Shipwreck Exhibit tank at Mandalay Bay.

Mandalay Bay Tram

The Mandalay Bay Tram is a 850-metre (2,800 ft) long people mover that opened on April 9, 1999 on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise , Nevada. It was constructed to connect three gaming hotels belonging to the MGM Mirage Group.

 The line carries passengers from the major Tropicana- Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, via the Excalibur Hotel and Casino and Luxor Hotel to the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort at the southern end.

#photos of Tropicana- Las Vegas

#Photos of Excalibur Hotel and Casino

 

#photo of Luxur Hotel

The dual-track system is cable driven and free for the public to use. If only one track and train are in use, it stops at all four stations. During peak periods, both tracks are in use. The express train running non-stop southwards from Excalibur North to Mandalay Bay (returning empty); the second train travels northwards depositing its passengers at Excalibur Hotel (and also returning empty).

The asymmetric arrangement—requiring a walk from Excalibur Hotel to Excalibur North—is designed to encourage extra patronage to each of the served hotels.

Shark Reef Aquarium at 
Mandalay Bay
Shark Reef Aquarium claims to hold over 2,000 animals divided among 14 displays, with over 15 species of sharks. The largest exhibit - the Shipwreck tank - has two acrylic tunnels where visitors can walk underneath to get a nearly 360 degree view of the aquatic animals.

The aquarium takes itself very seriously, and makes a pledge to uphold the highest standards of animal care. Shark Reef hosts a variety of education programs, including an aquatic medicine seminar. They have "Ask a Biologist" sessions on site as well as online, and participate in greening programs and environmental projects.

# Visitors get up close to stringray at touch pool

One of the most popular things to do there is visit the Touch Pool,

 where visitors of all ages can pet real live sharks, getting a more intimate understanding of these animals. Of course, they’re no Great Whites, but part of the purpose of Shark Reef is to show that sharks as giant, vicious man-eaters is a stereotype, and not a just reality for these varied, sometimes shy creatures who are intricately connected to the food web of any marine ecosystem - and some fresh water ones as well.