SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER

Hi there! I’m Samantha,

and this space encompasses my personal milestones made beautiful in His time. Combining my flair for easy-to-read writing and my love for photography, here you'll find me sharing the thing I'm most passionate about - travel, food, fashion and my conversations with God.

*P.S when God was blessing others with the gift of height, He left me out realizing that great things come in tiny packages, so instead I am gifted with endless energy and a big wide smile to get through difficult times.

Forever & always, a child of God. Through this cozy little virtual haven, I hope each post inspires at least someone out there with my life stories.

Are you planning your next event?

There’s always something for everyone at Temptations Cakes, let us celebrate your next special event (be it a birthday party, baby's first month, wedding, christmas, you name it!) and create lovely memories with you.


Browse our beautiful selection

48HOURS ANNIVERSARY GETAWAY IN YANGSHUO!

For our first wedding anniversary, we ventured to China!

Never expected that we would we spending this memorable day in this part of the world but it does make sense to explore the amazingly huge China as much as we can since we're based in Hong Kong now. Go where life takes us to, right?

Google led me to some of the most amazing places in China and it was only when I chanced upon Yangshuo/Guilin that I knew we had to do a relaxing getaway here!


THIS RESORT TOWN IN SOUTHERN CHINA IS WELL KNOWN FOR ITS DRAMATIC KARST MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE - one you shouldn't miss!


off the beaten path, Yangshuo stole our hearts 


As the saying goes, 'Guilin has the best scenery, but Yangshuo is even more beautiful'...


Set amidst the stunning panorama of jade-green Karst Mountains and graceful Li River, every corner is picturesque.

We enjoyed our night's stay filled with tons of never-ending activities, good food and amazing views. Perfect for anyone in search of relaxation.

In fact, I recommend people coming to China even for their honeymoons.

This is indeed one of the most beautiful places I've seen in China, like a paradise on earth.


Banyan Tree Yangshuo

There are many mid-range to luxurious hotels but we chose to do a relaxing and rejuvenating stay at Banyan Tree and it was indeed a great choice! Our room was clean, luxurious and comfortable (without a doubt!), but what's impressive is their beyond-excellent customer-centric service and I'll show you why...

It was our anniversary stay and we were greeted with a romantically decorated room and a basket of gifts from exotic fruits to customized adorable yummy desserts along with a bottle of wine for the sweet tooth in us.


Of the 48 hours in Yangshuo, we spent 75% in the resort. Can you blame us?

We were simply maximizing our stay! Or more so, the resort is 30mins away from the main street so we already went there with the intention of staying in the resort. And, most of these hours were spent exploring the resort, swimming in the pool, lounging on the deck enjoying the mountain views, reading, taking photos, people watching (yes one of my not-so-secret fav past time) soaking up the entire atmosphere!







Breakfast Buffet Spread


quality ticked, quantity ticked!
We ate amongst the resort's picture perfect backdrop of natural beauty and it was the perfect way to start our day.


Private 'Sampan' Raft Experience


We unintentionally missed the pre-reserved timing for our rafting experience as I was on the phone trying to settle a transportation issue to Guilin with an external vendor (it was priority for us at that point since we had a high speed train to catch back to Hong Kong), and there were no more rafting slots available for the day. However, one of the resort's staff went the extra mile to help us arrange for a private rafting experience. Instead of 1 hour supposed session, it was only 20mins but the caption rode us all the way to the main photo spots and it definitely was enough for us to view such a beautiful scenery from the waters. Of course, we snapped as many photos as we could. I quote the raft captain, “不要留下遗憾” hence he did this for us despite his lunch hour and till now, we are super thankful because we wouldn’t want to leave without this unique experience!



Beside rafting, the resort has many in-house activities, there's always something for everyone!

There were so many things to do from cycling to yoga / archery / spa...




Summer in China is no joke, thank god it wasn't too humid when we visited in end September / early October. Definitely hope to come back!



Getting Here

We took a high speed rail from Hong Kong to Yangshuo with a transit in Guangzhou.
If you have the luxury of time and want to visit Guilin too, there are trains direct to Guilin - you can then take a short train ride or a long 5hour cruise to Yangshuo, vice versa direction.


In our case, upon arriving at Yangshuo Railway Station, we took a bus to Yangshuo Country. *FYI, that's because it's railway station is located in Xingping Town, not in Yangshuo. From Yangshuo Country where the bus terminates at, you must change a train to Yangshuo Main Street - this is where you find many shops and restaurants. We then took a complimentary shuttle bus (pick up from Main Street) by Banyan Tree and was quickly whisked away to the resort. For a quicker ride (but way more expensive), most resorts provide private transport direct from Yangshuo Rail Station to the resort.


In summary, this is a perfect tranquil experience!

No comments

Post a Comment

© S A M A N T H A • Theme by Maira G.