Kwai Chai Hong (鬼仔巷) @ Chinatown (Kuala Lumpur) in Malaysia

I didn't do much sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur last month but a Malaysian friend suggested checking out a very unique place before dinner, and brought us to a lane in Chinatown that had red lanterns hanging across it!

Known as Kwai Chai Hong (鬼仔巷), it's actually an old, dilapidated alley that was refurbished. p.s. the first Chinese character stands for ghost although its reference in Cantonese could also mean for naughty kids, gang members etc.

Given its location within Chinatown, the objective was to give you some tastes of the Chinese enclave in the 1960s of KL. For example, a statue of a Chinese lady dressed in samfoo, which was the de facto attire then. 

Cross the red bridge and be brought back to the good, old days of my parents' youth! While Singapore is not Malaysia, I presume the scenarios would be quite similar.

The alley was compact and only about 30-40 meters long. Providing shade with a natural canopy, I was glad to visit in the early evening when it wasn't as freakish hot. 

Beautiful murals on the raw, dated walls. with props that made this place an instagrammable hotspot! Pity, Alex wasn't in the mood to be the model. Oh well, there were strangers who helped! 

There were some doors which are not props! The back alley actually connects to the shop of the shophouses and as you can see from the above photograph, lucky customers of those shops could sit there and enjoy the atmosphere, which was even better at night.

Staircase up to an upper level, where there was a huge mural! 

Loving inclusion of an image for the imposing landlady of the popular Hong Kong movie, Kung Fu Hustle; known for being a nasty bitch with a soft heart, she was eventually revealed to be a skilled fighter that had an iconic sonic scream! 

View of the ground floor from the upper floor.

This ancient looking lamp post was said to be one of the oldest in Kuala Lumpur! How old? More than a hundred years old since it was suspected to be installed in 1903. 

We returned after dinner to Kwai Chai Hong (鬼仔巷) and there was a different vibe that totally exemplified its retro beauty, especially with the help of the lighted lanterns! 

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Address

Lorong Panggung, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, 

Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Operating Hours

9.00 am to 12.00 am

Website

https://www.kwaichaihong.com/

Ni Spa & Massage @ Hoi An [Vietnam]

There are so many reasons for me to return to Hoi An in the near future, and one of them is to revisit Ni Spa & Massage, which was right next to La Charm Hoi An Hotel & Spa.

Commanding an impossibly high google map score of 4.9 from over 1,300 reviewers, I was skeptical when the shop was found to be devoid of customers! Nevertheless, the buy 1 get 1 free did entice us to step in and check out the services.

Service was friendly and I guess they likely didn't expect any customers at 4pm. Anyway, we signed up for the 90-minute Ni Spa Massage at 920,000 dong; about S$48. That's quite expensive at first glance but since it's buy 1, get 1 free; each of us would just pay a comfortable S$24. 

Unlike massages in places like Malaysia and Thailand, we were served with iced mineral water and coconut biscuits before our massage began. I really did need the water as it was freaking hot that afternoon! 

Feet washing - again, with a pail of warm water infused with flowers, lemongrass and lime. Aside from the visual appeal, I did feel that foot scrub with coarse salt would have been a more exfoliating experience. 

Our room for the next 90 minutes. Of course, no photos during the massage but overall, I was 101% happy with this ni spa massage!

I was literally "played" like a contortionist (something which I didn't know my body can do), with the utterly satisfying cracks at the end. I even dozed off in the middle! At numerous points, hot towels were also used to wipe down my body that was oiled for the massage; shiok!

Towels were kept hot in a rice cooker placed in the room! I was wondering where my masseur was taking the towels from since I didn't see her going out of the room. 

Once we were done with the massage, a tray consisting of two cups of passionfruit juice and a plate of nicely cut mango was placed in front of us. Yes, they were complimentary! Taste wise, much better than expected for something that I didn't anticipate in the first place!

That's not all; a basket of pouches was placed in front of us and the lady in charge mentioned it was a gift; we can each choose one to bring back home! Even though we declined the gift, the unexpected gesture was just such a nice, concluding touch to the massage. No wonder the review score was so high!

To be honest, I love the massage and even went back the next day! Only improvement, please change the music; I feel like Sun Wukong on the Journey to the West and this bloody music was on constant loop! 

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Address

68 Đào Duy Từ, Phường Cẩm Phổ, 

Hội An, Quảng Nam 51000, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Price List

As above. Do note that this pricelist is the discounted one! For example, the Ni Spa Massage was indicated as 460,000 dong each, which was essentially the price for 1+1 free. 

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Tan Phu Giao Handicraft Ships @ Hoi An in Vietnam

Hoi An was such a charming town; I totally relished walking along its many ancient streets and exploring every nook and cranny. While there were many restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops, one particularly stood out for my trip.

The above; Tan Phu Giao Handicraft Ships. I had assumed it would be like the rest of the souvenir ships, albeit with small, unique offerings like traditional model ships.

Boy was I wrong - it was almost 90% model ships and would be paradise for those who love old ships made of wood and 'powered' by seawind that went against the sails, before the industrialisation age that put those ugly, heavy pollutants into our oceans. 

Oh wait, there's a model of the titanic, which was powered by steam engines. Cost of the 60cm x 7cm x 23cm model? 1.5 million Vietnamese dong; about S$80.00.

Love that scene of the Black Pearl in the bottle, in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series? Captained by the infamous Jack Sparrow, you can have this ship for a mere 280,000 dong; an affordable S$15.00. Not for me since it would just collect dust. 

Aside from ships, you can also get a ship's steering wheel, which doubled up as an analog clock. Speaking of which, I wonder if kids nowadays would know how to read the time if it is not in digital format. Let me test Jovyn next time! 

Main model ship in the shop was the Sovereign of the Seas; 78cm x 20cm x 55cm, it was based on a "17th-century warship of the English Navy" known as the "Golden Devil" and also the nation's "most extravagantly decorated warship"! You can buy it home for just S$256! 

In case you are wondering how to ship it back, fret not; the shop provided shipping to anywhere! You may refer to the website here for more information. p.s. you can even commission the shop to build one for you!

 

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Address

145 Trần Phú, Phường Minh An, 

Hội An, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Website

https://hoiancraftships.com/

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Carpets of Red Flowers @ Hoi An [Vietnam]

There were many highlights in Hoi An and one of them was jogging in the UNESCO qualified old town, alongside the Thu Bồn River, when the sun was awakening from its slumber and the weather was cool. 

In the first morning of my jog, I chanced upon a stunningly beautiful sight; carpets of red flowers that fell from trees planted on the walking path next to the river! I was intrigued and searched the web for the name of the tree / flowers, without any success.

Take a closer look and they actually bear some resemblance to spiders, albeit red in color. On second thought, I should have taken a macro photograph of the flower and search on Google Image.

Hanging vines from the trees that dispersed the flowers. Interestingly, I don't see the flowers later in the day; guess the cleaners would sweep them away which was a real pity.

If not, I bet there will be many photographs like the above where people would be using the carpets of red flowers as natural setting, although they would likely be looking pensively towards the river. 

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Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam

Mysterious Papua Zone @ Bird Paradise Mandai in Singapore

When a zone has the word "mysterious" in its name, I would be prepared to receive any weird stuff it could throw at me, and maybe scream a few wows along the way.

Sclater's Crowned Pigeon - I remember this was quite a common species found at Jurong Bird Park and they don't seem to be afraid of humans, often roaming about on the ground without a care for the giants (humans).

It's so tempting to get closer to them for a better shot but I remember there were some guidelines at Bird Paradise that warned visitors about standing too close to the birds. Those with shiny accessories had been known to be "attacked". 

The Mysterious Papua Zone was said to have 25 species of birds but given how blind I am, I didn't see the cockadoos and the parrots, although I did catch signs of another pretty bird.

Nicobar Pigeon / Dove, which had frills around the neck, with interesting shades of green against a metallic blue black body plumage. It's like a bird, with its fringe neatly combed back after a hair wash.

Always nice to see a nest as it infers comfort with the environment. Animals in captivity sometimes don't breed well and it's often a big deal when a new life is borned in captivity. In the anthropomorphic mindset, I would say there's nothing much to do except mating.

Woah, I didn't know there are over 750 species of pandan in the world! A common ingredient for local desserts, the species that we are acquainted with would be the "Pandanus amaryllifolius". No way am I going to remember it.

I am confused; is this an emergency message for me to call that number or does it mean I have to call that number if it is an emergency? My English is so bad.

Right behind the message would be the flightless Cassowary which is known as the world's most dangerous bird! Aside from being able to run over 50 kilometers an hour, it has a lethal weapon on its feet; "a long, daggerlike nail" that can be fatal when slashed across.

While it safety remained behind the fence, I read on the web that it can jump 7 feet and that's way taller than the fence! The mysterious Papua can be dangerous. 

Nevertheless, danger drives some humans. 

Just wondering what the feeding entails.

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Location

Mysterious Papua Zone,

Bird Paradise Mandai, Singapore