nykeiko travel: #TBT=#ThrowbackTravels #4: Elephant Trunk Hill in Guilin, China 2007

This rock formation is called the "Elephant Trunk Hill" because well...

I visited Guilin with my middle sister and mother back in 2007 and it was so much fun. Good time, good times...

In pictures: CitizenM-Where to sleep in the city that never sleeps...[New York Times Square]

CitizenM room 1414

Welcome to CitizenM 

CitizenM is a Dutch-based hotel chain line that has kicked off in Amsterdam-with great success- and has since opened two more locations in Glasgow and London. Where is the location of their latest venture for helping people get a good night's sleep? Ironically, in the city that never sleeps- New York city! CitizenM NYC is right by Times Square where it really never sleeps...well, except maybe for Earth Hour when Times Square shut off its lights for an hour, yet still attracting a mass to see it turn off :)

When Eva extended her invite to a blogger sleepover party to help celebrate the launch of the new CitizenM hotel in Times Square, I was beyond ecstatic but still trying to keep it cool sorta... How original and exciting! All breeds of bloggers from New York city would be taking over the brand new hotel for one night. To keep everyone merry, there was an open kitchen and cocktail bar along; and live music performances and entertainment (live portrait drawings) throughout the evening. I could have pretended that I am a heir of a hotel owner and do pretty much whatever I wanted (except break stuff)! The goal was to do a soft opening and prep the hotel for its official opening on April 10th. The staff worked really hard to make sure everything ran smoothly and were friendly even at two in the morning.

nykeiko play: CitizenM blogger/slumber party-Portraits by Mike Perry and ChrisRWK

Portraits by ChrisRWK

We had the awesome pleasure of meeting and having our portraits drawn by Chris of RobotsWillKill and Mike Perry during a blogger/slumber party (more on that later! Click here) at the new CitizenM in Times Square!

My #TBT =#ThrowbackTravels #3: Dynamic Yunnan show in Kunming 2009 [Peacock dance]

The peacock dance is one of the most famous traditional folklore dance of the Dai minority in China.

Peacock dance

The picture above is one I took during a show I caught with my parents during a trip to Kunming back in 2010. Dancer and choreographer Yang Li Ping, is world famous for her interpretation of the peacock dance which she has perfected at the early start of her career to make it her own. Yang Li Ping herself directed and choreographed the entire show where she drew a lot of her inspiration from her country's ethnic tribes, nature and wildlife. A year before that, we caught the same show while it was touring and made a stop in Taiwan. I feel very lucky to have seen this amazing show twice. I felt even more lucky to have seen Yang Li Ping herself during the tour while the show in Kunming featured her very talented apprentice. Although her apprentice was amazing, most people agree that Yang Li Ping's talent is uncomparable. Dynamic Yunnan is absolutely amazing and mesmerizing. Few dances could leave me speechless like this show did.

This particular dance, Moon-Solo Dance, left me utterly speechless. You can watch it on Youtube but if you could see it in person, you would definitely get goosebumps from the raw talent exuded by Yang Li Ping.

Dynamic Yunnan-Country of Daughters

This dance is called "Country of Daughters" which I had the chance to dance our own interpretation of it when I was part of a Chinese dance troupe back in Montreal. It was intense and emotional. I loved every second of dancing it.

Pictures taken by me.

nykeiko eats: Dunch (that's lunch/dinner)-Ethiopian gourmet at Zoma [Harlem eats]

When Dave said he would take me to try Ethiopian food, I did not know what to expect. It was not until the platter was served that I realized that the meal was going to be consumed entirely with my hands. It should have been a big hint when I noticed there was no cutlery on the tables. Doy! I went back to the bathroom to wash my hands extra clean just to make sure I don't ingest dirt accumulated from the day.

It was weird for me for the first 10 minutes as I kept thinking about picking up a fork or spoon that was not there before every bite. I had to constantly fight my brain off and think it was perfectly okay to eat with my hands and that my mom will not suddenly appear out of nowhere and slap my hands for eating with them. Next time though, I'll make sure I cut my nails short because the sauces stuck underneath my nails pretty good.

We tried Zoma in Harlem which has many good reviews. We got two meat platters (beef and the lamb) which came with two veggie side dishes of our choice. It was pretty decent and spicy!

Dave has tried ethiopian food several times before and kept telling me about his indian coworkers who "hand-feed" every day. He says that they also sometimes use their entire hand to scoop up food. The whole time he's talking, I had this elf in my mind:

Thanks for stopping by! xx