A Rare Exception

I am never a fan of Tai Ping Koon, quite possibly one of the oldest local restaurants still standing and serves the so-called “Soy Sauce Western” cuisine, a fusion cooking style of sort mixing old-school service a la russe with a “Chinese characteristic” – how politically appropriate. But I thought I would make this an exception for once to eat there again given the restaurant is right across the street from where we were staying for the night. 

Dinner Downstairs

Highlight of our weekend stay at The Eaton was certainly the dinner at Yat Tung Heen, their Michelin-starred restaurant specializing in Cantonese dishes. We always have a good time eating here, and this time was no exception. The only difference was this time around we only needed to hop a few level down from our room to eat. 

All Crab Menu

We finished our staycation weekend with another dinner at a hotel restaurant, this time Yat Tung Heen at The Eaton for their 8-course seasonal all-crab menu on Sunday evening. Good to see the restaurant has filled to its capacity again during the weekend dinner service, a sign that everything is slowly returning to normal after the latest wave of pandemic has cooled down. 

Friends Gathering

When my uni mate J and his family returned from China for a quick vacation here, a few of us met up over dinner at Yat Tung Heen in Jordan. It’s been a while since my last visit, and they went through quite a bit of renovation along with the rest of the hotel, transforming itself from the conventional tourist hotel to more a trendy, young and hip style properties complete with a food hall and even co-working space upstairs.

Touring Middle East 18: The Finale Feast

Before the trip I have been told by those who joined the same tour previously that the first and last meals were usually the highlights as far as food is concerned. So that gave me something to look forward to as we were drawing our 2-week-long journey in Jordan and Israel to a close at our last stop of Amman, the Jordanian capital.

Touring Middle East 16: The Two Ruins and the Dead Sea

We spent the later parts of our trip enjoying the magnificent sights of more archaeological sites near Dead Sea and in Jordan. On our last full day in Israel, we were taken on a scenic route along the coast of Dead Sea and paid a visit to the popular tourist spot of Masada, an ancient fortress built on top of a rock plateau in the middle of nowhere.

Touring Middle East 5: Crossing Jordan and Full Moon by the "Sea"

After spending 2 nights at Petra, we crossed the Jordanian border into the Palestinian-administered West Bank via Allenby Bridge (or King Hussein Bridge as the Jordanians call it) without much fanfare. This is no longer the most hostile border to cross (after the peace treaty signed between Jordan and Israel a couple decades ago) but traces of hostility remained with both sides still heavily armed and the no-man's land between the 2 countries stretching a couple kilometers with only a narrow road for authorized vehicles to cross with signs warning against mines along the way.

Touring Middle East 4: Dining Under Starlight

We wanted to reward ourselves after an exhausting day at the Petra, so for dinner, we ditched the buffet at the restaurant downstairs at our hotel and opted to eat at the lush Al Ghadeer on the rooftop. With the temperature dropping significantly in the evening and on a clear night, we just thought that’s a good idea to chill and relax, and try something different.

Touring Middle East 3: Petra by Day

The thought of having to walk twice the distance during the day as we did in the previous night didn’t sit too comfortably with me, but I guess I just had to forget the pain and sweat and made the hike up to the magnificent sights in Petra again. We began our journey at 8am in order to avoid the heat on mid-day as much as possible.

Touring Middle East 2: Petra By Night

We arrived at the town of Petra in the southern part of Jordan right before sunset after a 3-hour bus ride through the King’s Highway (an ancient road even mentioned in Numbers 21:22). While our official itinerary of Petra wouldn’t start until the next day, some of us decided to join the Petra By Night show after dinner at our hotel. Well, we have seen Petra in numerous photos and documentaries before (plus of course, the Indiana Jones movie which was shot there) but this is one of those places you just have to visit by yourselves to experience. If you haven't put this in your bucket list, you should.

Touring Middle East 1: Madaba and Our First Lunch

In just slightly less than 12 hours, our uneventful Royal Jordanian flight (a new Boeing 787-Dreamliner by the way) landed at Amman Airport at day-break. We try to do at least one long trip every year and this year our destination is Jordan and Israel. It’s only our first time setting foot in the Middle East.