Day 2 - Stone Forest and Green Lake park

I had done a lot of research on using public transport to get around. But while bus fares are ridiculously cheap, taking Didi (the China version of Uber or Grab) is relatively affordable.  During trip planning, 7 days seemed enough.  It was after I'd bought air tickets that I noticed there was more to this area than it initially appeared.  Hence I figured time-efficiency trumps cost-efficiency. 

Right, our first trip!  Took a Didi from the hotel to the Stone Forest.  RMB211/RM127 for a 90km, 1.5 hour trip - pretty ok methinks.  The pomegranate, which we saw depicted at various locations, apparently symbolises the ethnic diversity of Yunnan 'clustered in unity like the seeds in a pomegranate'. 

Outside the Stone Forest

Entrance tickets weren't cheap by China standards - RMB130 plus 25 for the internal shuttle bus/total RM93 each.  The shuttle bus dropped us off at the actual entrance.  

First, flowers on a hat

The Stone Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a karst landscape of rock pillars standing like a real forest. 

At the actual entrance

At the lotus pond

To me, it was unique and worth the trip.

And, we are at the rock area

Lots of rock pillars

Us and more rock

And even more 

SE managed to lose her shuttle bus ticket.  Sigh.  Tickets are checked upon boarding the bus, but they are not sold inside the park so we couldn't buy another one.  They were kind enough to let her board the bus so we continued sightseeing from the bus.  The area is really large.  However food is not available inside the park and we couldn't have stayed much longer anyway (it was already around lunchtime).

Another area of the park

Apparently the bus we were on only travels around internally so we had to get off.

Entrance to the minor Stone Forest area

Luckily we were allowed to board the bus out, or it would have been a long walk!  We had lunch at KFC.  Quite a challenge figuring out the promo menu but we got our food.  Then it was another challenge of finding a point where a Didi could drive in as much of the area wasn't accessible to outside vehicles. 

For our whole trip, Didis didn't take long to arrive at all.  We headed to the Green Lake park.  Ahh after all the wandering amidst rock, it was nice to be back in civilisation!  There were shops around the park.

JE and a gelato

Green lake park was lovely.  The weather was cool by then and there were plenty of people enjoying the park. My spirits lifted and I was a happy bunny. :) 

Happy people

After all the tanghulus bought by JE, she finally tasted the original made with hawthorn fruit.  I liked it, tasted like a powdery apple.  The red colour was natural too.

 

Let's check this out

You must like this park, or else

For dinner we had mushroom hotpot which was a local specialty. This felt fancy!  There were various types of mushrooms (in the wooden divided tray in the picture), poached chicken, good hotpot broth and various other items.  RMB300/RM180 though haha.  Expensive since there wasn't much meat and to me, mushrooms aren't luxury items.  We did enjoy the meal which was the important thing.

Fancy hotpot meal

Rather an expensive day!  But a good one. :)

Kunming Trip 2026 Day 1 3/6

Back from another trip!  This time we went to Yunnan in China.  Kunming was less than a 4-hour flight away.  As usual, I chose a hotel with a nearby metro/subway station.  Getting there was a breeze (and cheap) from the Airport station.

Stairs at metro stations, again

Decent room at Atour Light hotel Kunming

We settled in and then walked out for dinner.  Relied on Google Translate to figure out what to order heh.  Eventually braised pork rice, chicken with chilli and these local cone-shaped buns called 'wotou' (nest buns) arrived steaming hot.  I had thought the buns would be vegetable-based, but they were mostly carb - the green bun had veggie speckles but the others appeared to contain glutinous rice, corn, taro etc.  

First meal at China

The 'Golden Horse and Jade Rooster Archways' area is Kunming's main landmark - a plaza with two giant arches.

Archway area behind us

Nearer view

Nearby was the largest Mixue outlet I had ever seen.

At the giant Mixue

Multiple ordering sections inside

Where are we again? Oh ya KUN MING

We were full from dinner and didn't get any dessert. Wandered around the area a bit then headed back to our comfy beds.

The Wall and the Oven

When hubby was around, I thought I did most of the work.  He would be watching TV when I left the house to fetch the kids for gymrama, swimming, art class and whatnot, and he would be in the exact same position when I returned.  In between I would be rushing for work deadlines while he didn't have them as a business owner.  I was the one who went to the market for food supplies, the supermarket for more food and other consumables.

However now that he is gone, I realise that I depended on him more than I thought.  Like I didn't have to bother about the house or the cars.  I had to push down the panic when multiple things seemed to happen - power blackouts, leaking taps, his car battery going flat, my car making strange sounds, the washing machine malfunctioning, the overhead lights in my apartment burning out.  I didn't even know the number to call to get cooking gas.  One day I noticed the back wall was collapsing.

A widening crack

Before I knew it, I was in the middle of a major-ish repair job.  

Bricks and sand

I had never dealt with contractors before.  This one gave a quote of rm20k, then increased it by 1k when he knocked down the wall and apparently only then noticed it was red brick which costs more.  Some tiles were broken by the lorry delivering the bricks.  The contractor said the ground underneath had shifted and it was hollow, quoted another 20k to dig everything up and make things right.  Sigh I was so not up to all this!  Told him I had no more money.  

The work took 3 weeks.  In between, he said the drain was broken and recommended fixing it for another 5k.  I said no, then he left a long phone message that he sympathised with me since I didn't have a man to take care of things, he didn't want me to have a tough time having more problems etc etc.  I had zero idea if he was fleecing me blind.  Agreed to this as the last item.

All rubble

When the wall was done, I realised it was much lower than the old wall.  I couldn't look over it before and now I could, easily.   The contractor provided some long explanation again.  Fortunately he eventually agreed to raise it.  The wall looks all right now.  I addressed the air/sky/my hubby... "I got it fixed!  Are you proud of me?"  Hubby must have known about the wall and decided it didn't require immediate action.  It might well have lasted a few more years.  I just... panicked.

While the wall drama was going on, the oven was providing a side story.  The old oven was giving electric shocks and the thermostat was shot.  After I located a shop selling ovens, multiple messages and visits to measure the space happened before a suitable replacement model was found. Then when the technician came to install it, the new oven was also giving electric shocks.  Another couple more visits and tests before it was discovered the wall socket wasn't earthed.  Luckily the shop had an electrician I could contact. 

Hacking wall to drag the wire from another socket

I guess it's not a matter of things suddenly requiring attention, it was that hubby had been managing them as they happened.  I appreciate him more now.  And must take over what he used to handle.   

New Maid

Picked up Joy the day after Christmas.  My previous helper of 9 years was 'Jane', the one before of 2 years was 'Gen'.  All sound quite similar haha.

With Joy, it was very difficult going even after making allowances for a new person.  She was so confused, forgetful and either hard-of-hearing or just in her own world.  Apparently at home her husband was the one who cooked, cut the kids' hair, fixed things... so she wasn't familiar with these tasks.  She was the one who went to work on the farm.  SE asked if we could hire her husband instead!

New kakak's here

Slowly, slowly she has improved.  Still nowhere near our most-efficient Jane though.

SE's birthday 2026

SE is now 14!  She adamantly refused a birthday cake though.  Or substitutes like a jelly or ice-cream cake.

She picked Mozer's for Syrian food on the weekday, and d'Italiane on the weekend.  Mozer's was good as usual, forgot to take pictures.

Food at d'Italiane was good!  

Mozzarella in crumbed ciabatta bread

Pea and avocado risotto

The third item was lamb stromboli - lamb in baked bread - which we decided not to order again. 

Then she chose some cheese after me asking her multiple times to get something 'special' since it was her birthday.  And that was all. 

Happy birthday to my little one!  Maybe next year choose more 'presents'?  

Home and Other pics

Gahh sleeping at the airport with old bones is no joke!  Apparently there are rest areas within the airport, but since online check-in is not doable for Malaysians, we had to wait outside until the counters opened at 5am.  Which meant napping on a hard bench.  JE didn't bother with it and just walked around the airport.  

Reached home smoothly.  Our loot: Socks (good quality and cheap at just rm3 a pair if you buy more), snacks to share, souvenirs for friends and JE's usual popmart - rainbow thing this time.

Our loot

A few more pictures... there were so many HBAF almond stores!  Most stores had samples but usually the same, more popular, ones.  I was happy to score unusual ones like 'carrot cake', 'soy sauce chicken' and 'matcha red bean', as I wouldn't dare buy whole packets of those.  Erm no, I wouldn't be buying either after trying.  Prices didn't seem lower than what I could get online so just bought a few home for friends.

Chicken-flavoured

Toffee latte flavoured

Now, why the hype over cherry blossoms when there are other pretty ones?

Magnolia with large white flowers

Plum, this one in intense pink

Looking back on the trip is part of the fun I guess.  Ok, on to the next!

Day 8 - 30/3 Yeouido Park, Ikseon-dong

Ah the last day of our trip already.  We had ticked off all the major items on our list so we could now go for remaining items - ginseng chicken, cherry blossoms, Namdaemun market.  Followed the Naver map for the first... then kept walking around without seeing the shop.  Finally I realised we had already been in the correct building, just that the shop was on a higher floor, its name WAS listed (in Korean) AND access was actually across the floor via a different set of lifts.  Wow no wonder we couldn't find it!

Figured 3 orders of ginseng chicken would be too much.  Selected 'acorn jelly salad' instead as the 3rd item - it was cheaper which was already a plus point, and salad would complement the meal.  It was a good choice as we got to try something new.  Acorn jelly is a Korean dish made from acorn starch.  It was slightly bitter.  I didn't quite like it while SE did.  The ginseng chicken soup didn't taste of ginseng... only the shredded ginseng topping had a mild taste.  I had expected something like the one hubby and I had years back on a package tour to Korea, which had a strong taste and we could even add on ginseng wine for free (which we did).  

Ginseng chicken finally, and also this weird salad

On to Yeouido Park.  Sigh, confirmed that it was too early for cherry blossoms.  I wonder why they don't just plant a lot of PLUM trees together?  These were way more cooperative in showing blossoms! The trees we saw were beautifully shrouded in blossoms but were always scattered single trees.

Plum tree with blossom

This one is also plum blossom

With Hechi (the big pink one) the mascot of Seoul and his friends

We still had time so took the metro to Ikseon-dong.  I loved the narrow streets filled with cool cafes and shops.  The cafes were just beautiful.  Unfortunately we were full from lunch and couldn't have managed to eat the 3 items we would have had to order.  Fine hmmppff (being sour grapes)... at least we didn't have to pick one cafe out of the many tempting ones.  Oh, and the prices weren't low either.

Birdcages in nature theme

Railroad tracks theme

Saltpond cafe 

Dripping water and a pond

Dry ice stream

SE suddenly noticed it was past 5pm... meaning Namdaemun market which was the next destination was already closed.  Aiks what an early closing time.  Thing was, wouldn't have been much point going to a foodie destination on a full stomach.  What to do... just made our way back to Myeongdong.

See the lone plum tree?

The final item to tick off, Isaac toast, the famous toasted sandwich chain.  Shared a sandwich with JE... too much food, too little stomach!  This was pretty good.  

Got the toast

We noticed people going up the stairs next to this outlet.  Searched on Google and found the shop was called 1992 and it has good reviews.  We still had to walk around more to digest our lunch first!  Made our way back here eventually for dinner.  Food was decent but not mind-blowing.

Last dinner in Korea

I'd initially considered this last day a poor cousin to our previous ones for lack of worthy destinations, but JE liked it as she said it was relaxing.

Walked back to our hotel to collect our luggage, made our way to the airport without drama and settled to sleep the night there ahead of our early morning flight.  Bye, Korea!