Adara Whistler Hotel

After spending the New Year's Eve at Whistler Blackcomb and enjoying every minute of it, Nick suggested that we celebrate my big birthday up there. He found a great accommodation deal with Adara Hotel on Last Minute Hotel Deals provided by Whistler Blackcomb. If you are traveling to the ski hills next few weeks, and planning to stay there for a few days, be sure to check out those deals. You never know what hidden treasures you may find there.

We checked in this little boutique hotel after a day of snowboarding on Whistler. Adara is the first designer boutique hotel at Whistler. The hotel itself isn't large, but is "supremely comfortable and elegantly sculpted into a bold, contemporary design" - Small Luxury Hotels of the World. I particularly loved the warm and rustic design elements in the hotel lobby. The designer red lounge chairs with the live gas fireplace and big river rocks make you feel homey and at ease instantly.

A View From A Seaside Lounge

This picture captures the very spirit of Racha Island, the sense of exclusiveness, comfort and playful luxury. This is the outdoor lounge situated right on the beach near the main lobby. The maple wood structure provided the perfect photo frame. The cloudless blue sky blends right into the layers of the sea down below, just the perfect back drop for the inviting wood and wicker furnitures.

Waiting for the Sunset

This photo was taken at the Racha Resort where Nick and I spent our honeymoon. We were just enjoying the sunset while most visitors had gone back to their villas to get ready for dinner. I thought that was the most beautiful time of the day. It's not that I don't enjoy blue sky with sunshine, I just love sunset more. No words can describe the intense fiery colors at sunset. So I'd rather snap it with my camera and remember it forever.

ADIDAP - All Day I Dream About Photography

One of my passion is photography, and when I came across a good photography site, I like to share it with my readers. ADIDAP - All Day I Dream About Photography is a good place to get photography ideas, tips and resources. Techniques such as selective color effect in black and white photos and transforming an image to a painting are commonly adopted by professional photographers, and they do wonders to your photographs. Antoine Khater, the author of ADIDAP, provided step-by-step tutorials on how to add those effects to your photos using Photoshop. Give them a try and see how you like them.

Exotic Thai Food

We came across these exotic Thai food at a local night market in Phuket Town. It was right before supper time, and my appetite was instantly boosted when I saw these "tasty" creatures :p. Not only did I have to snap a few photos of them, but I also tried those oily crunchy legs and heads...NOoooo, I'm just kidding.

Travel Forum Search Engine

I was quite excited to have discovered that Chris Michelle's article on my blog was posted on San Francisco Chronicle's Website. Chris is an British writer for TravelHappy.info mentioned in my previous post. His articles on travel guides and tips are frequently posted on SFGate.com. His Travel Discussion Forums Search Engine was published there today. He compiled top 10 travel forums, and provided a google search engine on his site. Now with TravelHappy Travel Forum Search, you won't have to spend hours visiting 10 different travel forums to find the answers you need. One stop meets all your needs. I just tried it myself, searching for Phi Phi Island. All threads on Phi Phi Island topic from those 10 travel forums came up instantly. It worked really well. I wish I had found a similar search engine before my honeymoon. It would have saved me tons of time. What a brilliant idea, Chris! Cheers!