Tag: caoliang

Granada, Spain

On By treesatravelsLeave a comment

June 25, 2018

Granda is a city in Spain’s southern region of Andalusia and only about 1 hour and 45 minutes (by bus) away from Malaga. On this day, Caoliang had a day off so we decided to go a little outside the city to see something different. Luckily for us, it was also our wedding anniversary! Happy one month of marriage to us! Only forever more to go! Anyways, with so many good things said about Granada, we had to go and see for ourselves. The bus ride wasn’t too bad there. Once we arrived, we saw some friends from Caoliang’s work that were also spending the day off in Granada. The four of us shared a taxi from the bus station to the city center.

For lunch, we went with one of Caoliang’s colleague’s recommendation for food (thanks Tyler). The place was called Bodegas Castaneda. It is a tapas bar with mostly standing space at the bar and huge pieces of ham that were hanging from the ceiling (typically seen in tapas bars). Caoliang and I love eating tapas! They are so small and perfect for sharing and trying new things at such an affordable price. We ordered about five plates and received one of the house as well. Some of the plates we had were the spanish omelette, homemade croquettes that was served with peppers, roasted pork with cheese on a piece of baguette, and ham. I usually don’t drink during the day but after Caoliang ordered a glass of sangria, I guess I had to get one too. The food was very satisfying! The food is so simple and straightforward but really nice and filling. Also everything costing us only 16 euros felt good too!

Once we finished lunch, we headed to the Alhambra since our entrance time was 2:30 pm. We had heard that they only sell a certain amount of tickets per day so we were lucky that purchasing our tickets online was so simple. One thing that was not very simple was getting to the Alhambra! I put in the destination into my Google Maps but, of course, Google showed me where it was but we didn’t know where the entrance was! Luckily we left with ample amount of time. After following the wind, some tourists, and signs – we found our way to the entrance but another confusion came up! Our ticket said our entrance time was 2:30pm. I had thought that meant our entrance to the whole Alhambra grounds, but no, it meant to the palace! Luckily I had asked the ticket lady (with 15 minutes before our entrance time) where to enter and she had told me to go ahead and go in and go straight to the palace. So even though we sped walked in the direction she had said, it still wasn’t super clear where the palace was! The place was so big! It was like walking into a little town. Thankfully, after all the confusion, we found the proper line and had made it in time. Phew!

So according to Wiki, “The Alhambra is a Nasrid “palace city”. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984. It is certainly Granada’s most emblematic monument and one of the most visited in Spain. It consists of a defensive zone, the Alcazaba, together with others of a residential and formal state character, the Nasrid Palaces and, lastly, the palace, gardens and orchards of El Generalife.”

We started off in one of the palaces. The palace was very crowded. I personally don’t enjoy such cramped spaces. I feel like you can’t even enjoy where you are when you are continuously dodging other people. The palace walls, floors, archways and entrances reflected the Islamic history of the Alhambra. The place was so huge it was like a maze. We had no idea which route we were suppose to walk. We were just trying to enjoy the space, following different crowds, looking for interesting views, and then suddenly we found ourselves in the exit! One of the palace’s pathways led out to an outdoor garden. We had thought it was part of the palace grounds but when we realized the way we came out was the only way to go back in, we turned back to see a sign that said “do not enter”! Oh no! When we tried to explain to the lady sitting at that doorway what had happened, she was not having it. Even with the help of a Spanish speaker, this employee had no mercy for our accident. Seeing no point in arguing with her, we just threw up our hands and left. So a palace that usually people spend and hour to two hours in, we saw in about thirty minutes. Hmph! Oh well, there were a few other places in the Alhambra that was included in our ticket that we headed to instead.

The day was so hot. I mean SO HOT! Being that everything we saw this day was outside, we spent literally the whole day sweating. I have no idea why I even spend time to do my hair in the morning. Hah!

Like mentioned above, the Alhambra also has a defensive zone called the Alcazaba. This was like an empty castle with pathways that led up to the edges where you could have a nice view of the city, but with no protection from the sun. The views were nice but man was the sun strong! Needless to say, we didn’t spend too much time there. Afterwards, we found ourselves in the General Life. The name is really confusing for us. I kept thinking, what is this General Life?

According to Wikipedia, “The Generalife is a garden area attached to the Alhambra which became a place of recreation and rest for the Granadan Muslim kings when they wanted to flee the tedium of official life in the Palace.” This was very beautiful. The flowers were all in bloom. Really lovely roses and leafy archways decorated the Generalife.

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I feel like Granada probably has more to offer than just the Alhambra but with only a day to spend there, it really took up all of our time. With our bus to return to Malaga at 8 pm, we headed back to the city center to find a small bite to eat before heading back. Like I had said, Granada would be nice to stay for another day to see more of the city, but with our short visit, even with the small hiccup, was a really pleasant way to spend a day off together.

Tips for Alhambra: purchase tickets beforehand, make sure you have enough time to get there, and don’t accidentally walk out of the exit!!

With My Fiancé

On By treesatravelsLeave a comment

After our Summer together on the East Coast, Caoliang had to go back to work and back to Europe. Does being in a long distance relationship suck? Of course! But there are perks to having someone who works in cool places. You get to visit! Originally, we didn’t plan for me to come to Belgium but after being able to spend so much time together in the Summer, I missed him too much to stay away. So after two weeks, I packed a bag and was on my way to Brussels!

This was my first time in Europe so I was pretty excited. I had always wanted to go but with the fear of high costs in mind, I never got a chance to make it, until now! I spent a total of three weeks in Brussels, finding time to fit in Paris, Amsterdam, Bruges and Ghent as well. I won’t write you an essay on the three weeks but here are some high lights of each place.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM : Known for Belgian waffles and chocolate, I had to have both of these while visiting Brussels. The chocolate is so delicious! And the temptation is everywhere! The waffles on the other hand, look really yummy but are super sweet and is better shared…unless you really just have a huge sweet tooth! While in Brussels, I did a lot of walking around the city center (outside the city center there isn’t much), visited a couple museums (Royal Museums of Fine Arts and Musical Instruments Museum), and spent a fair bit of time at the Cirque tent (which happened to be next to Atomium). My most favorite thing about Brussels was The Grand Palace. It was just so monumental and awesome just to stand in and look up. There was such detail in all the structures and a marvel to be surrounded by.

 

PARIS, FRANCE : Ah, Paris, the city of lovers. How appropriate Caoliang would take me here! I never dreamed I would be able to go to Paris so soon, but when Caoliang asked me if I wanted to go, of course I said, “Why not!” We only had a day and a night in Paris so it was very difficult to see many things. We walked to as much as we could though. We started our day with a quick train ride into the city, the morning checking out Sacré-Cœur Basilica – the church grounds, insides, and top dome, then strolling around the city seeing such sights as the neighborhood Montmartre, the outside of the famous Moulin Rouge, the magnificent Louvre, and of course the symbol of Paris, The Eiffel Tower. Some of my favorite moments of Paris were watching the lights twinkle on The Eiffel Tower, strolling through Jardin du Luxembourg, and being able to see such a historical and iconic city with my love, Caoliang.

 

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS : This city actually surprised me. From it’s reputation of being a city just for stoners, I was reluctant to think anything more of it. Boy was I wrong. Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen! With canals everywhere, this city is truly something else. We decided to celebrate a year being together by taking a quick day trip to Amsterdam. Arriving by train, we saw heaps of people outside the train station. The weather was perfect and even though we only had a few hours, I was determined to see as much as we could. While in Amsterdam, we saw a couple museums (Sex Museum and Van Gogh Museum ), took a boat ride on a canal tour, walked by many coffee shops, and saw sights such as Bloemenmarkt (floating flower market) and Dam Square. Some of my favorite things in Amsterdam was the walking views and the relaxed vibe. Canals in every direction, beautiful parks, and heaps of people watching, Amsterdam really is a chill place.

 

BRUGES & GHENT, BELGIUM : These two cities I got to see on a day tour! With Caoliang at work so much of the time and me having the free time, I figured why not sign up for a day tour and get out into a different city or two while in Belgium! Luckily, my sweet friend Chloe was up to join me! We set out on a large tour bus that would be hitting up the two cities of Bruges and Ghent along the way. The two cities were much smaller than Brussels and had a different kind of charm. Bruges is also a canal city but much smaller than Amsterdam. There were cobble stone pathways and very medieval looking structures. Ghent was also very similar to Bruges with its canals and architectural structures. My favorite thing about these two cities is that I felt like I was transported back in time. It almost felt unreal how the buildings were. I said to Chloe at one point, “I feel like I’m in the medieval section of Disneyland or something. I just feel like Mickey and his friends will pop out around the corner at any minute!”

 

So this was my three weeks in Europe, part 1! I know it’s not my usual novel-long rant but I hope you guys could get a little feel for what this past September was like. Since then, it’s been back to Houston for me and off to Spain for Caoliang. Fortunately, we got to see each other for a few days this October as he came to Texas to visit me. We are super busy with wedding planning but looking forward to spending New Years together in a couple weeks. So look out for my adventure in Spain soon!

In the mean time, check out my EUROPE PT.1 compilation video of this trip!! Thanks for hanging out and catching up!!

Welcome to NYC

On By treesatravelsLeave a comment

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This past summer was pretty full of memorable trips. Along with going to the Bahamas for the first time with my family, I also got to welcome into the country a special person to Caoliang, his twin brother Caoyang.

Having siblings is pretty important to me. I grew up with four other siblings so I know how special it is to have a sisterly or brotherly bond. Caoliang grew up with a twin brother. Both of them were energetic boys who got put into gymnastics at an early age. Fast forwarding to current day, both of them are still very active in their everyday life style even though most of the last few years have been spent apart from each other. Now there was a chance to bring Caoyang to America to study circus arts which would hopefully, bring the Wang brothers a higher chance of sticking closer together in the future.

Before Caoyang arrived into Newark Airport, Caoliang and I had a few days to explore the Big Apple together for the first time. I had traveled to the city before and remember loving everything about it then. It was weird that now coming back, I didn’t love it so much.

I never realized how disgustingly dirty New York City streets are. Literally every corner smells like urine and garbage. I had been to much more denser cities before but even those places, New York seem to beat it levels of horrid smell! I’m not sure if the city is wanting to keep its filthiness to add to the character of the city or what, but it is definitely an issue I wish the city would address.

Besides trying to hold my breath through nearly every street in Manhattan, there were other, more enjoyable things we did in the city as well. With our few days there, we walked The High Line to take a walking break and watch the cars and people go by, checked out what the MoMA had going on, and even met up with a fellow Houstonian friend who had moved to the city.

But the most special thing we did before welcoming Caoyang into the city, was get engaged. So how did it happen? What’s the story? It happened on the Brooklyn Bridge actually. I had never been there before and Caoliang was really keen on taking me there one evening. After a whole day of walking around, I wasn’t the most excited person to go. But I saw how eager he was and figured I get my lazy bum up to check out this bridge. When we arrived, it did exceed my expectations. It was really interesting to be in such an open space with so many cars passing underneath. Also being able to turn around and see buildings lit up and knowing you could literally walk to Brooklyn from there.

So we spent a good amount of time just taking photos of cars and lights and watching cyclist speed by. Finally he handed me his camera and asked me to take a photo of him standing in the center of the walk way with one of the bridge’s arches behind him. Ok, sure. I took a picture or two before he asked if I could take it from a lower vantage point. Um, all right I suppose so. As I was counting off the photo, this adorable guy pulled out a red ring box and only had a massive smile on his face. I clicked the photo and could clearly see excitement and nervousness written all over his face. He didn’t saw anything but just kept a huge grin on his face. It was very sweet and I laughed at the whole situation. After making him stand up to get out of the walk path, I listened to him go into a nervous speech about the whole thing. Finally, he gave me a chance to say yes. It’s funny to write about that night and to think back on it. But it’s a sweet story to tell and will be fun to retell in the years to come.

We spent a total of nearly two weeks in New York and Philadelphia. Meeting Caoliang’s closest family member was not so much nerve wrecking for me but more exciting. I was happy I finally can meet someone he calls family and see how he is with his brother. The whole experience of meeting him and helping him get settled into a new environment and culture was exhausting. I’ll spare you the day by day details. But at the end of it, we successfully helped him set up his new living space, show him how to get into downtown Philadelphia, and showed him how to get to his new school campus, Circadium.

To give you a little back-story on a strange sounding name for a school, Circadium is a new circus school that just recently opened up in Philadelphia. It was actually born with the name, Philadelphia School of Circus Arts but with the growth over the years, it has taken on new grounds and a new name. The creators Greg and Shana Kennedy are friends of Caoliang and have been awesome at helping Caoyang get adjusted in a new life. I also got the pleasure of meeting his couple and seeing the site of the new school. They actually purchased land and property of an old Catholic church. Once it was fully theirs, they redesigned and changed the interior to fit the needs of their students. Honestly the place looked amazing. I wish I could be attending this school!

This trip to the East Coast wasn’t finished just yet. After feeling like parents that are sending their only child off to college, Caoliang and I said farewell to Caoyang and headed back to New York City for friends’ wedding. The wedding ceremony of Guilhem and Liz Cauchoi was set in Tarrytown, New York with an amazing backdrop of a castle-like mansion, Lyndhurst. It was such a joy to witness their love and be part of this celebration. After an evening of good food, great company, and plenty of dancing, we had only one day left in the city before going our separate ways.

Any new, or old, place I get to travel with Caoliang is such a treat. Each time, I realize how lucky and blessed we are to even be able to have such trips! Because of all the great things that happened these two weeks, it will definitely be a memorable one!

Video Bonus! It’s just two seconds but put them all together and you get my whole trip!! Enjoy clips of my trip to the East Coast HERE!

TO STAY: NYC AirBnB, Doubletree by Hilton Tarrytown, City Rooms Chelsea
TO EAT: The Spotted Pig (NYC), Xi’An Famous Foods (NYC), RANA (NYC)