*Sorry for the poor quality of pictures. Took it with my iphone.*

This is the first time my family and I (excluding my mum, I'm sorry) planned a surprise mission for my mum's birthday. We planned a month ahead and it's killing me for not telling my mum. I almost blew the whole plan up a couple of times. Good thing my mum isn't that quick. 

So my dad came up with this plan to fly "my mum and him" off to Bangkok and letting her thinks that all her children will be staying in Singapore, then we hop onto the next flight to Bangkok for her birthday. It's a tough mission for us since we couldn't pack anything until they leave for the airport (which is only a couple of hours) and the worst thing is, my brother and I actually have to wake up really early to pretend to go to work and wait for them to leave. Once my dad gave us the green light, we rushed home immediately and start packing like crazy. It was so hectic and my nerves are driving me insane. 

It was funny how my mum kept reminding us to make sure the gate to our house is closed and to make sure all the switches are off before we go to bed, and she even stock up on food in case we go hungry. My dad and I were laughing like crazy behind her back. She's just so cute and clueless.

Once we reached Bangkok, we head straight to Mandarin Oriental Hotel where the restaurant (Sala Rim Naam) is located with our luggage (good thing the hotel helped us store our luggage at the counter) and to our surprise, the restaurant is actually located across the hotel (though it's still under Mandarin Oriental Hotel). The staffs there are so helpful and friendly which is a total thumbs up and lead us to the pier where a traditional thai boat will bring us over to the restaurant. Good concept ya. Loved it.

The waiters and waitresses were really friendly and they even helped us through the surprise event (I will be uploading the video up soon so do stay tune!). The food there was great! The pineapple fried rice (yum!), the duck dish (once it reached the table, it's all gone so you know how good it is), sweet potato appetizer (love!), fried fish (I'm not really into fried fish but my family loved it), green curry (holy moly! YUM YUM YUM!), mango salad (it's really good and the mango is just so fresh), pad thai (was alright), mango with sticky rice (BEST EVER!!). They also served us a plate of thai desserts for my mum. So sweet of them. Two thumbs up for Sala Rim Naam and we will definitely go back again for the food.

Stay tune to the surprise birthday video!

Sala Rim Naam

48 Oriental Ave Alley

Bang Rak, Bangkok,

Thailand

Tel: +66 2 659 9000

Website: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/fine-dining/sala-rim-naam/?htl=MOBKK_salarim&eng=google&src=local

 Nahm Restaurant in Bangkok is rated World's Best Restaurant (Top 13) and Asia's Best Restaurant (No. 1) and truly, all these titles are not just for show because this might be one of the best thai cuisine you will ever tasted.

Recommended it by one of my brother's friend who is living in Bangkok, and I thank you for that because this place is hella good!

Doors are only opened at 7pm sharp and if you are early, you simply wait. This is how good the restaurant is and I can see why. More like taste why. I am someone who hate waiting but for this restaurant, I don't mind waiting at all. For their food, I-WOULD-WAIT!

We have ordered 2 choices of food per category in their menu and whatever we ordered, it came out hella good! From the appetizer to the main course, it's a wow for my family and I. Simply just heaven.

Oh ya! Also, the chicken salad they served, it's really good but it's also HELLA SPICY!!! Anything my brother and sister-in-law said it's spicy, it's really damn spicy. I almost burnt to death that day so you guys might wanna take the waiter's advise in mind especially on the spicy level of the food.

I hope you guys will enjoy this place as much as my family did and I certainly can't wait to go back to this place again.

Nahm Restaurant

27 Sathorn Road, Metropolitan by COMO Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

Tel: +66 2 625 3388

Book Online: http://www.comohotels.com/metropolitanbangkok/dining/nahm/reservations

***Advance Booking is recommended!***

Mr. Jones Orphanage is one of the cafe you would like to check it out when you are in Bangkok. They have a total of 2 branches and if you are heading around Siam Paragon or Platinum, the closest branch will be at Siam Center and if I'm not wrong, Siam Center is just next to Siam Paragon.

There are lots of positive comments about this cafe and according to TripAdvisor, their cakes are pretty amazing. My sister-in-law too, love cafe hopping and she came across this cafe on the internet as well, so we have decided to list this cafe as a MUST to go.

First of all, the interior of the cafe is similar adorable. With all the little teddy bears and train tracks above our head, it's like we are in Disneyland or something. The cakes they showcased on the entrance is just mama-mia. I had to literally hold my mouth shut in case my saliva drip all over my clothes.

These are the cakes you would like to try:-

1. Kit Kat Cake - This cake is what they are known for and this might be the most sinful cake you'll ever had. The sponge of the cake is spongy with thick layers of chocolate in between (YUM!), kit kat on the border of the cake (Even better) and M&M chocolate topping flooded on top of the cake (HEAVEN!). This is definitely a MUST to try!

2. Passion fruit Sponge Cake - The sponge of this cake is soft and light, with cream and strawberry in between of 2 sponges, and the passion fruit topping. It's a nice cake but certainly not THE cake so you might wanna skip this and try something else.

3. Apple Pie with Ice Cream - I'm not really a apple pie type of person unless it's McDonald's apple pie but this apple pie taste GOOD! My sister-in-law ordered this and damn, this pie is good! You guys can considered ordering this when you go but do keep in mind the portion is quite big.

4. Chocolate fudge cake - A classic dessert you would order in most cafes and this too, never disappoint. For me, a good classic chocolate fudge cake is the success of cafes. If your chocolate fudge cake don't taste good, I will never go back to that place ever again. This is how important chocolate fudge cake is to me and THIS chocolate fudge cake, RULES!!! The cake itself taste like heaven let alone the ice cream and the chocolate sauce. So if you combine them together, it's twice the heaven people. Yup!

As usual, I would always order Earl Grey tea whichever cafe I go, it's the perfect combination to everything I eat. I used to only drink English Breakfast or Hot Green Tea but ever since my sister-in-law recommended me to Earl Grey, damn I never stop. It's just so refreshing and it doesn't spoil the taste of whatever I eat so I admit, I have an addiction to Earl Grey tea. 

Anyways, if you would like to check out this cafe, here are the address:-

MR. JONES ORPHANAGE - SIAM CENTER

Siam Center, 2nd Floor (Close to the exit to Paragon Mall)

Tel: 02 658 1163

MR. JONES ORPHANAGE - SEEN SPACE SOI THONG LOR SOI

Ground Floor, Seen Space Soi Thong Lor Soi 13, 

Off Sukhumvit Soi 55 Road, Khlong Tan Nuea, 

Watthana, Bangkok 10110 Thailand

Tel: 02 185 2378

A blink of an eye, it's already June and half of the year is gone but June since to be an exciting month for me and it's just the second week of the month. 

This month, I will be traveling to Bangkok, Thailand on the 18th to 21st for a very special surprise event, my mum's birthday. So this is how the plan goes, my parents will be heading over to Bangkok first and my siblings and I will be hopping on the next flight over. By the time we reached there, my parents will probably be out shopping so we have to rush to the cake store to get a cake and meet them at the restaurant to surprise my mum. I'm finger-crossing everything will go well!!! 

I will also be posting about the trip once I'm back so do check out this space!!

Next, my family and I will be heading to Australia (Melbourne and Tasmania) on the 25th September to 4th Oct for our annual family vacation. I love planning trips so I'm glad we're not following tours this time round and will be driving around ourselves. I'm excited!!!

Lastly, my parents and I will be going to Hong Kong this December to just chill and relax. My mum and I will be visiting the fabric street together this time and I'm excited because the previous time we went, my dad insist my mum to follow him for some day tour and I have to go to the fabric street alone. That's sad but since she wants me to make a gown for her, I'm dragging her along with me to the fabric street to choose her fabric. I'm so looking forward to Hong Kong. That also means, I can get my Chinese New Year clothes there!!! Can't wait.

It's awesome awesome year ahead and I hope there's more good news to come!!!

Til next time..

This is Vic, a capital of Comarca of Osona, which is located in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia. It's only 69km from Barcelona and I believe most tourist agency in Barcelona provide half-day/ full day tour for this place. It's a very quiet, cosy and beautiful place. What I love about this place is that it gave me a very peaceful feeling and everywhere I go, people were so friendly. Oh ya, did I mention, they sell the best sausages!!! Yup, it's mamamia!! 

You may think this place is a little old and quiet, but when you reach Placa Major de Vic (the last 2 photos), they have great cafes and restaurants, shops like Zara, Massimo Dutti etc etc. Its definitely a place you want to go when you visit Barcelona. Didn't regret coming to this place. 

We stopped at a stone-built village at Queralbs, where we catch our railway train to Pyrenees. This place is stunning!! Let's not mention how breathtaking the surrounding view was. WOW!

And finally, Pyrenees mountain. People who are into hiking, this is definitely a place you want to go. It was freezing when I went but it's totally worth it. When we reach the top of the mountain, we went speechless. I think I stopped breathing for a few seconds. It was too beautiful. My parents and I were crazily taking photos and videos and sending them to my brothers. It's too exciting.

If you are interest, you can go to www.viator.com. They provide lots of half day tour and day tour and it's really affordable.

 For Day Tour to Pyrenees Mountains from Barcelona, click the link below:

 http://www.viator.com/tours/Barcelona/Pyrenees-Mountains-Small-Group-Day-Trip-from-Barcelona/d562-3142PYREN

If you have visited Barcelona and not seen any Gaudi's artwork then you haven't seen Barcelona yet. 9 out of 17 of Gaudi's artwork is located in Barcelona (let's not count the Hotel Attraction in New York which is not built) so it definitely play a big part to what Barcelona is today. 

First stop, Park Guell. All I can say is when you enter Park Guell, you entered a totally different world. It's like you are living in a fairy tale. Childish but it's fantastic. It's a place you want to throw reality aside for a while and just enjoy walking in wonderland. I had an amazing time strolling around this beautiful park and I love it.

There's two parts of Park Guell, one is where the ginger bread house is located, which is also the main attraction of this Park (you have to buy tickets to go into this part of the park), and the other one is located around the main attraction (free entrance). Since we need to wait for an hour just to go into the main attraction of the park, we decided to skip and just enjoy the free entrance park. One advise, just because it's a free entrance park doesn't mean there's nothing much to see. You are wrong. It's best to check the two out but if you can't, you still have to check out the free entrance park. There's things you can't see in the main attraction park so don't be fool just because it's free.

Next stop, Sagrada Familia, also known as Gaudi's unfinished work. As you can see from this photo, it's truly unfinished. The anticipated completion of this Roman Catholic Church by Gaudi will be in 2026, which is also the centenary of Gaudi's death. It's 12 years from now and I hope I can get to see the finished work.

When we arrived at Sagrada Familia, the whole place was flooded with tourists from all over the world. It's impossible for us to even get a ticket without queueing for hours. Thus, we didn't go in.... All we did was just stand across the road and enjoy the beautiful beautiful exterior of this Church. Honestly speaking, I imagine the Church to be much more bigger in size and it kind of look different from the pictures I saw on the internet but overall it's truly an extraordinary architecture.

Final stop, Casa Batllo. Walking down the street of Passeig de Gracia, you will be able to spot Casa Batllo right away. Firstly because there will be lots of tourists hanging just outside the building. Secondly, the futuristic architecture itself stood out from other building beside it. Standing just in front of this building, all I could think of was the word "wow". The exquisite detailing on this building is just breath-taking. I have to remain myself to keep breathing or I will die. It's just too beautiful

Sadly we missed out Casa Mila since once we arrived at Passeig de Gracia, we got way too distracted by all the shops around. Both Casa Batllo and Casa Mila are located at Passeig de Gracia, one located at block 43 and one at 92, which is not far apart. If you arrive at Casa Batllo, it wouldn't be too difficult to locate Casa Mila since it's just down the street. You will be able to spot it right away as most tourist will be there.

One day is truly not enough to visit all Gaudi's work in Barcelona. My next visit to Barcelona will be  to visit Bellesguard, Casa Calvet, Colegio Teresiano, Guell Pavilions and Casa Vicens. Oh, and of course Casa Mila. This time, I will make sure I won't get distracted by all the shops at Passeig de Gracia. 

After staying in Madrid for 3 days, we headed to our next destination, Barcelona. The train ride was surprisingly easy, convenient and fast. When we reached Barcelona, honestly speaking it's not what I've expected. It's a great city but you know how you saw pictures on the Internet and it came out to be something different? This was how I felt. I might have let my imagination go wild on this one. I still had a great time though. 

Apparently Madrid seems to me much safer than Barcelona. All the taxi drivers, the hotel staff, the waiters, etc etc kept remaining us to be careful of our belonging and make sure to put our handbags in front of us. It seems scary at first but then as long as you are careful about your surrounding, it shouldn't be a problem.

Stayed in SOHO Hotel during our visit in Barcelona. I highly recommend this hotel if you are visiting Barcelona. I give a 4.5 out of 5 stars to this hotel. Firstly, it's a very affordable hotel. Secondly, the rooms are even better than the pictures shown in their website. It didn't lie like the hotel I stayed in Madrid. I've totally black-listed that hotel and I will never go back again. Angry....

Anyway, SOHO Hotel have the best staff I tell you. Our rooms wasn't ready when we reached and since we were earlier ourselves, we didn't blame them but the staff there actually upgraded one of our rooms as they felt bad letting us wait at the lounge area. Very friendly staffs. They even went through the Barcelona map with us patiently and recommended us to some amazing restaurants, cafes and the hottest place in Barcelona. That service for the price we pay, AWESOME!! Not to mention how fab is the rooms. 

SOHO Hotel Barcelona is located at Gran Via and it's really close to most the shopping areas and attractions. How great and the moment you step out of the hotel, there's supermarket, cafes and restaurants. How convenient is that. This is definitely the hotel you want to stay if you are all about affordable and convenience. Thumb up!!

Checked out the Barcelona Pavilion, Magic Fountain of Montjuic and Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which are all located at the same area. Fabulous fabulous place. It's definitely a must to go if you are travelling to Barcelona. My dad is a builder and he's all about interior and architecture. The first thing he wanted to see is the Barcelona Pavilion that his architects talked about. A very modern, timeless architecture built in 1929 designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. This building is 85 years old and it simply doesn't look as old. Simply stunning. It's a place you want to sit and draw, while enjoying the fresh air and beautiful view. 

Barcelona Pavilion

Avenida Francesc Ferrer i Guardia, 7, 08038 Barcelona, Spain

Opening Hours: 10am - 8pm