travel Archives - LIVING ASEAN - Inspiring Tropical Lifestyle //

10 Best Places to Eat in Canggu, Bali

By livingasean
March 28, 2019
EXPLORE,JOURNEY

Located on the southern coast of Bali, Canggu is known for beautiful rolling rice fields and the roar of the surf. The fast growing village is roughly half-an-hour drive from the upscale resort area at Seminyak that lies further south. Looking for good food, good vibe? Here are ten best places to eat in Canggu, from trendy café to Balinese style restaurants to cool spots to post on Instagram.

/// Indonesia ///

Story: Samutcha Viraporn /// Photography: Sitthisak Namkham

Cafe Organic

One of the favorite hangouts in Canggu, Café Organic means exactly that. Good food comes from natural farming methods. Feel the atmosphere. The interior space in shades of white is adorned with lush tropical gardens. There are healthy desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Warung Gouthe

A restaurant with beautiful rice field views, Warung Gouthe is well known for its home-style brochettes. The skewered meat or fish chunks grilled or roasted to perfection come in a tray with an excellent side dish of salad. You will love panini, a sandwich made with toasted Italian bread and the tantalizing aroma of a country style kitchen.

Cabina Bali

A favorite place serving breakfast and lunch, Cabina Bali is about good food, great company, and the opportunity to share the happiest moments in life. Here, food comes in a floating basket, so you don’t even have to get out of the pool. Girls in bikinis love it for the Gram.

Parachute

Calm down and relax at Parachute as you take in the view of surrounding rice fields and lush vegetable gardens. If you prefer to eat alfresco, there are parachute canopies for that. Inside, coffee smells like heaven, and the aroma of baked goods will simply overwhelm you.

My Warung Canggu

Nothing beats a steak grilled to perfection. My Warung Canggu is a place to give yourself a nice treat or the ultimate indulgence. It goes together well with artistic and definitely exciting interior design. There’s even a confession room in case you think you’ve eaten too much.

A Day Trip Through Yaowarat / Chinatown Bangkok

By livingasean
February 1, 2019
EXPLORE,JOURNEY

The historic business hub of Bangkok is on CNN’s List of “Best Districts for Street Food” and “Top Ten Chinatowns in the World”. Whether it be fine dining or quick one-dish dinners, you can find some of the best meals in Yaowarat. Combine your favorite pastimes into one-day adventure. Living ASEAN recommends stopping by these places.

/// THAILAND ///

9:00 Coffee at Ama Hostel

Start your day at Ama Hostel Bangkok, a recently renovated Chinese style building located at 191 Soi Sapanhan off Chakkrawat Road in Samphanthawong area. The café in the forward section of the hostel offers coffee that smells so good. There’s nothing like the warm aroma of a steaming cup of coffee to wake you up to a beautiful day in old Chinatown. Nearby, push cart vendors serve delicious Kuichai meals and Kuay Jub noodes.

10:00 Shop at Sampeng Market and Yaowarat

A stone’s throw away from Ama Hostel stands Sampeng Market, a shopper’s paradise for goods at bargain prices, both retail and wholesale. The area is well known for many gift shops and stores selling fabrics, clothing and accessories, toys and seasonal decorating materials. Follow Chakkrawat Road and you come to Yaowarat Road.

12:00 Lunch at the Canton House

Enjoy the pleasure of authentic Chinese food at the Canton House. Established in 1908, the restaurant has since been renovated to give it unique appeal characterized by raw construction materials. The Canton House is located at 530 Yaowarat Road, Samphanthawong area. You will love the bite-sized Dim Sum in steamer baskets, steamed pork rib with black bean sauce, and fried Mantou (buns) with condensed milk. Thai and Western meals are also on the menu.

13:00 Wat Leng Noei Yi

The historic Wat Leng Noei Yi is rooted deeply in this community of Thai citizens of Chinese descent. Founded in 1871, the temple has been involved in every facet of life of the followers of Buddhism. It sees the busiest time during the period leading to Chinese New Year celebrations. Slowly burning joss sticks are used in paying tribute to the Lord Buddha. It’s good idea to avoid getting smoke in your eyes.

14:00 Jay Noi’s Kuichai Meal

About 250 meters to the right of Wat Leng Noei Yi stands a famous push-cart business selling fried Kuichai meals. Jay Noi’s Kuichai is renowned for being one of the most delicious vegetable meals in Yaowarat. Located on Charoen Krung Road, the humble push cart vendor sells Kuichai at 10 Baht apiece. The menu also includes fried Taro and Jicama (a globe shaped root vegetable). They are equally delightful.

15:00 Cakes at Wallflowers Café

Beat the heat in the afternoon with yummy mouthwatering cakes served with frothy Thai tea with cheese. Located at 31-33 Soi Nana, Pom Prab area, Wallflowers Café sits on the upper floor of a florist’s shop, which provides inspiration for many beautiful items on its menu. The café is owned and operated by an architect who has great interest in the art of coffee making.

Bangkok Is Top Global Destination City, Continued Growth Forecast for 2017

By livingasean
October 2, 2017
BUZZ,EXPLORE

Bangkok was at the highest place on the chart of Top Ten Global Destination Cities attracting 19.41 million visitors in 2016, outranking London, Paris, Dubai, and Singapore. A Mastercard index released recently showed the Thai capital benefited the most from international travel, while further growth in visitor arrivals were in the forecast for 2017.

/// ASEAN ///

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), Bangkok / Photo: Tanakitt Khum-on

Visitor Volume

The Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index predicted that Bangkok’s visitor arrivals would increase by 4.0 percent in the 2017 calendar year, while Singapore was forecast to move up one notch growing by 2.6 percent and outranking New York (at minus 2.4 percent). Meantime, Kuala Lumpur was likely to post a strong 7.2 percent gain in visitor arrivals for 2017, enabling it to keep its eighth place on the chart.

From 2009 to 2016, two ASEAN cities also saw strong growth in visitor arrivals, namely: Jakarta up 18.2 percent, and Hanoi up 16.4 percent. Of all 132 destinations across the globe, Osaka was at the top with a whopping 24.0 percent growth in overnight visitor arrivals during the 8-year period.

Overall, international visitors to leading global destination cities increased in the 2016 calendar year. As for 2017, Tokyo’s visitor numbers were forecast to increase by as much as 12.2 percent, making it the strongest growth in visitors among the top ten.

National Gallery Singapore / Photo: Sitthisak Namkham

Cross-border Spending

The Mastercard index was more than just a ranking of top destination cities across the globe. Apart from international visitor volume, it also looked into tourist spending that contributed to furthering economic growth of countries. For the 2016 calendar year, Dubai was at the top with overnight visitors spending $28.50 billion, followed by New York ($17.02 billion), London ($16.09 billion), Singapore ($15.69 billion), and Bangkok ($14.08 billion), all in USD. Destination cities benefited greatly from tourism. Shopping accounted for 22.9 percent of tourist spending, local service 21.5 percent, and food and beverages 20.6 percent).

Royal Palace, Bangkok / Photo: Aphirux Suksa

Reference:

https://newsroom.mastercard.com/digital-press-kits/mastercard-global-destination-cities-index-2017/

https://newsroom.mastercard.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Mastercard-Destination-Cities-Index-Report.pdf

You may also like…

WAT ARUN RATCHAWARARAM, A MUST-SEE THAI HISTORICAL SITE

WORLDWIDE AIRPORT RANKING 2017: THE BEST AND THE NOT SO GOOD

Agoda and the new colors of Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali, and Tokyo

By livingasean
April 25, 2017
CULTURE,DESIGN

Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali, and Tokyo redefined in photo collage: today Living ASEAN chats with Pariwat Anandachina, who has infused an Agoda tourism campaign with lively, colorful imagery.

/// Indonesia, Thailand ///

Agoda.com (of Agoda Company Pte., Ltd.) is one of the largest online booking networks, its more than 100,000 hotel offerings spanning the globe. In collaboration with Singapore’s Saatchi & Saatchi agency, Agoda has created “Agoda Base Camp,” a vibrant and innovative Indonesian tourism ad campaign designed to attract foreigners and Indonesians alike. Pariwat, known for his iconic photo collage art work, was a natural choice to present the campaign to viewers worldwide.

Base Camp features three staples of Indonesian tourism– Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Bali – adding perennial favorite Tokyo, Japan, with pictures of buildings, houses, and people representing local culture and lifestyles from every corner of those cities. The images were cut, mixed, and laid out in Agoda’s five primary colors to illustrate each destination’s highlights and character, as shown here.

Jakarta stands out for its mix of old and new. Here old and new architectural styles appear almost as reflections of each other, different, but fitting together in a charming way.

Yogyakarta/Jogya stands out for its mix of old and new. Here old and new architectural styles appear almost as reflections of each other, different, but fitting together in a charming way.

Bali is highlighted by nature itself, with its gorgeous beaches and healthy activities. This pictorial representation of the island also illustrates ghost worship, animist ceremonies presided over by shamans in colorful robes, and a native fascination with the occult.

Tokyo shows a mix of contemporary life and technological progress with a powerful sense of cultural preservation. This collage is presented in the uniquely Japanese “manga cartoon” style, split into viewing panels as in a comic book.

Pariwat spoke with us about how this four-city promotion came to be represented in his work. “We did extensive research on the highlights and character of each city, looking for ‘what’s hot and what’s not,’ to see what would get folks hooked on going there. Scheduling was a big challenge: we only had half a month to fly everywhere and take our pictures, so had to be creative, sometimes using pictures taken by others, or hotel pictures from Agoda, and these were often hard to match and balance with what we already had.”

The Base Camp campaign will use both printed ads and key visuals in video footage taken by Agoda and enhanced with animation.

Pariwat, Agoda Base Camp campaign designer

Link : http://pariwatstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/agoda.mp4

http://pariwatstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/agoda-_-base-camp-on-Behance2.mp4

http://pariwatstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/agoda-_-base-camp-on-Behancec.mp4

http://pariwatstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/agoda-_-base-camp-on-Behance.mp4

A Day Trip Through Charoen Krung

By livingasean
February 22, 2017
EXPLORE,JOURNEY

There is more to Charoen Krung than iconic landmarks. Keep walking and you will discover richer cultural heritage beyond the famous tourist attractions. A day trip through the historic riverfront neighborhood is one way to find out. Let the journey begin.

/// Thailand ///

Story: Bundaree Deewong / Photo: Rithirong Chanthongsuk, Bundaree Deewong, Peerapol Taiyaithieng

The historic neighborhood of Charoen Krung has attracted many tourists and locals looking for a glimpse of old-world Bangkok. Originally called New Road, the avenue and namesake pretty much follows the path of the Chao Phraya River. Rich in historical and cultural heritage, it’s a chic place to chill out if you have time on your hands.

The area is gradually transforming into a “creative district,” thanks to active collaboration between the Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) and Thai Health, a wellness promotion organization. The initiative is aimed at promoting healthy behaviors for a better lifestyle and eventually mature to become a torchbearer for other districts to follow. Designed by Shma Soen, the project master plan recently won a highly commended award at the World Architecture Festival 2016 in Berlin.

Living ASEAN invites you on a journey for pleasure to discover beautiful places and come back the same day. Let’s get started at:

09.00: The journey begins on the hour at Taksin Bridge BTS Station. The venue is chosen for the start because it is easy to get to. You can come here either by the Bangkok Transit System or by boat services on the Chao Phraya.

On exiting the BTS station at Taksin Bridge or a nearby riverboat pier, take your time to admire Wall Art Exhibitions. Beautiful works by international artists have turned this neighborhood into a landmark ideal for photo shoots.

The first attraction that you shouldn’t miss is Chiew Eng Buai, a beautiful Chinese shrine located a stone’s throw away from the BTS station at Taksin. The historic building was erected in memories of Chinese traders arriving by sailing ships but later killed due to a misunderstanding some 150 years ago. The Chinese architectural masterpiece is bedecked with beautifully patterned tiles, religious images, and dragon statuary. You are most welcome to drop in and pay respects.

From the shrine, take a sidetrack next to the Shangri-La Hotel and you come to Charoen Krung Soi 50. The minor path is home to a Vintage Loft-style hostel named Glur Hotel Bangkok. It is popular among foreign tourists and backpackers looking for a decent place that won’t cost them an arm and a leg.

From the hostel heading north, you are back on the main avenue of Charoen Krung. The famous Bang Rak Market is located between Choroen Krung Soi 46 and 42. It’s a slice of paradise for shoppers and great experience for people who love to eat. The main drag is lined with old row houses showcasing the architectural style of old-world Bangkok.

Blog : travel