Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
The self-guided city trail company, Go Quest Adventures, has recently added a new location – Birmingham, to their ever-growing list! In total, they have 26 popular secret city trails across the UK for you to choose from, and to name a few, they have Bath, Belfast, Brighton, Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford etc.
Last month, on 23rd August, we went to our local Hill Hook Nature Reserve to attend the Bat and Moth evening. The friends of the Hill Hook Nature Reserve host two sessions each year to educate the local people about different species of Bats and Moths and the roles they play in our ecosystem.
When you visit Rome, you also should visit the smallest country in the world – Vatican City. It is a country and a city at the same time. It is surrounded by Rome and it is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. There is no passport control around the border as you can enter or exit freely. Although there was not much greenery around, it was very clean and tidy.
On day two, we walked from our hotel to the ticket booths at the Roman Forum just after 10.30am. It was straightforward to locate and there were hardly any queues at all. We showed them our daughter’s disability card at the ticket booth and they offered us a disabled ticket and carer tickets for free. EU children under 18 can get free entry. Hence we only paid 18 euros for one adult.
Last week, we took an early flight via Birmingham Airport and departed for Rome. The airport staff are always great with people with disabilities or travelling with young families. We were grateful that we were fast-tracked through most of the queues and went straight to security. At the gate, I do hate it when we have to take the shuttle bus to board the plane. It always takes so long to get everyone onboard and getting a visually impaired child up those metal stairs in bright light with loud engines running is not easy.
This trip was quite an impulsive decision we made after I saw our close friends go there for a burger. It was always one of the places we wanted to visit if we were heading down south, but we never had a chance to drive nearby.
It was a Friday morning during the school holiday and we decided to make a special trip to visit this place with the intention of stopping on the way back to visit a nearby national trust for an hour before heading home. It took us approximate 1 hour 40 minutes (11.15am) to reach the place and we were directed to the overflow car park by the worker. There were already rows and rows of cars parked up.
Last week, we went to our first Guide Dogs family event at the Black Country Living Museum. Not many people know that besides training guide dogs (or buddy dogs like Mabel), Guide Dogs also help children with mobility access, technology support and many more.
Singapore takes on a magical quality as the holiday season approaches, exuding a delightful blend of tropical allure and joyous celebration. The Christmas Camp (https://maker.sg/christmas-camp), a well-known location for its joyous festivals, is located in the middle of this lively metropolis. Not any old destination, but a thrilling excursion that captures the essence of Christmas with a Singaporean twist just right.
Bongeunsa Buddhist temple was founded in 794 during the United Shilla Dynasty, with a 23-metre tall Maitreya Buddha statue. We came across this temple while visiting Starfield COEX mall.
On day 7 of our South Korea trip, we went to the underground shopping mall – Starfield COEX Mall to avoid the rain and to visit Starfield Library! This mall is in the Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea. It was relatively far away from our location in Myeongdong and it took us nearly 40 minutes to travel there. It is located near Samseong station on Seoul Subway Line 2, at the intersection of Teheranno and Yeongdong Dae-ro.
We were so lucky to have booked a hotel (Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong Hotel) so close to Myeongdong night market! Little did we know at the time of booking that this place was so convenient! It is located in the popular Myeongdong shopping district and is within walking distance of many popular locations, like LOTTE Department Store, LOTTE Young Plaza, Namsan cable car, meeting point for day trips etc. It is near Euljiro 1-ga subway station exit 6.
If you are a foodie, then you should visit Gwangjang market at least once! It is a highly recommended place to visit! Just remember to go there with an empty stomach! There are over 5,000 shops in a very small area! This place is very near to Jongno 5-ga Station line 1, exit 7/8, which takes a 3-minute walk or Euljiro 4-ga Station line 2/5, exit 4 and about a 5-min walk. After finishing your food, you can take a stroll near the bridges with stepping stones and shop at the fashion malls near there.
Day five of our South Korean trip was a Saturday and both my children wanted to have a lie-in. Hence we decided to take it easy and visit the local area instead. We were within walking distance (maybe 30 minutes) of N Seoul Tower and booked the tickets with Namsan Cable Car via Klook (costs £76.16 for four people). As the Wonder Trip ticket office only opened at 1pm on Saturdays, we had plenty of time to explore the nearby area before picking up the tickets.
Jogyesa Temple is the main temple of the Jogye Order and a symbol of Korean Buddhism, and it is located in the heart of Seoul. It was founded in 1910 and is a place to practice Buddhism as well as a centre for education, culture and social services. This is a very impressive and colourful temple. The Main Dharma Hall/Daeungjeon is open 24 hours a day to the public.
On Day 6 of our South Korea trip, we went on a DMZ and Ganghwa Island day tour which we booked via the Klook app. When we first booked this trip, we were unsure if this was the same DMZ trip as we had previously booked. Anyway, after booking it, we realised that this DMZ trip is on the other end of South Korea – Peace Observatory in Ganghwa island. Hence we booked another proper DMZ tour.
