Monthly Archives: June 2014

A Brief Respite

Moment of rest on the Dragon's Back Trail, Hong Kong.

Moment of rest on the Dragon’s Back Trail.

Dragon's Back Trail, Shek O Country Park, on the way to Big Wave Beach.

Enveloped by the Shek O Country Park wilderness.

Escaped the city for a couple hours over the weekend. A girlfriend and I did the Dragon’s Back Hike in Shek O Country Park. Having the scorching sun beat down on our backs was (kind of) worth it. We were greeted with clear blue skies, lush greenery and 360 views of a quieter side of Hong Kong as we power walked from Shek O Road to Big Wave Beach (also known as Tai Long Wan). We wrapped up our cardio-charged morning with boozy ice pops and shisha sticks before hopping on a mini bus back to civilization.

Heading to Singapore this morning. Some exciting things in the works so keep your eyes on our Facebook and Instagram for instant updates!!

xx Ling

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Espresso overload

According to the DSM-5 aka the bible for all things mental illness/disorder/health related, caffeine intoxication is recognized as an official pathology now. I didn’t think it was possible, but after inadvertently consuming a QUADRUPLE-ESPRESSO’s worth of coffee a few days ago in Vietnam, I was able to personally verify this was indeed the case.

credit gluttonous traveller

Locally grown coffee beans at Phuc Long in Ho Chi Minh City. Credit gluttonous traveller

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Hunt Gone Awry

Escaping the rain with a LUXE guide and Vietnamese iced coffee in L'usine, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Escaping the rain with a LUXE guide and Vietnamese iced coffee at L’usine.

Our first day in Ho Chi Minh City revolved around escaping the heavy downpour, mastering how to cross the traffic light-less streets in one piece, communicating with our hands/facial expressions and scoping out boutique stores.

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Surviving Saigon (Day 1)

 

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Invariably when we travel, things do not always go as planned. Our first 24 hours in Saigon have evidenced just that. Starting off on the wrong foot even before arriving in Vietnam, we had visa issues with one of our teammates in Thailand. Thankfully all flights and immigration were sorted out before getting here. Upon arrival, we were briefly lost in motorbike nation (even at 10pm) but managed to communicate to our non-English speaking taxi driver to stop at what appeared to be a murderous alleyway: the entrance to our Airbnb. This is when we realized how much we had taken for granted the English proficiency of locals in Chiang Mai, which does NOT apply as prevalently in Saigon.

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Asia Trek Update Week 2

founders

Greetings from Chiang Mai! Things just got interesting. We were originally scheduled to visit Bangkok, but cancelled and re-routed due to ongoing violence at the time. Things seem OK in Chiang Mai though, the only noticeable impact of martial law is a 12am curfew, after which we are not technically supposed to leave our hotel rooms until 4am. Not sure how hard that is enforced but we probably won’t be trying too hard to flout it. Anyway, I am super psyched because it is my first new Asian city in a while.

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5 destinations, 3 weeks, 1 goal

Korean sunglasses at PMQ, Central, Hong Kong.

One of the amazing things about pivoting ZAOZAO to a travel-inspired shopping site is the opportunity to travel on a regular basis. I split my time between New York, Singapore and Hong Kong, and travel to South East Asian countries every 6 months or so to scout new designers. Imagine jetting to exotic places that are just as breathtakingly beautiful in person as they are in photos, treating your tastes buds to interesting local flavors, losing yourself in local attractions, exploring the local design scene and meandering busy streets all in the name of work. Pretty sweet right?

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