Tag: island

Island In The Sun – Santorini

Chermaine Louise (@Cherietheangel on IG) is a Malaysian living in Potomac Maryland and works in Washington D.C. She flew from Washington to Budapest, Hungary to meet her partner. From there, they flew to Athens, Greece and then by ferry to the island of Mykonos, a LBGT tolerant and rave capital. Mykonos will be the first glimpse Cycladic Architecture for newcomers.- the ancient architecture is described as a harmonious mix of white cubic houses, cobblestone streets, pristine windmills, and ubiquitous blue domed churches. The landscape will blow the owl and panda embroidered socks off hipsters.

From there another ride on the Aegean Sea and the Cyclades islands to Santorini. What an adventure! They took the doubly fast SeaJet ferries. A regular ferry will take 10 hours. They started at the port city of Piraeus near Athens.

Santorini, the remains of a massive volcanic eruption in 1646 BC, attracts tourists from all over the world today. You will be surprised to know of the number of Malaysian and Asian couples who traveled there just for (pre) wedding photography. There is something magical about white wedding gowns against the white washed buildings of Sanatorini. I looked at some friends’ albums and can not find good pics free from selfies. Who can blame them when everything is so photogenic?

A tremendous effort by Chermaine in covering the island from sea level to the top of the cliff, bringing us a rare and non cliched look of Santorini – a real life Greek myth and legend. Also thanking her for her patience in answering all my questions. As always, I try to fact check everything.

Find a hotel in Santorini here: http://www.mycen.my/santorini-hotel-deals-finder/

#santorini #greece #greek #athens #cyclades #aegean #praeus #mykonos #island #thera #church #fira #oia #mediterranean #travelogue #architecture #landscape

Memories Of The Queen Of The Night – Regina Zylberberg

Memories Of The Queen Of The Night – Regina Zylberberg,

Was reading a travel article about Formentera island in Spain. It is next to another famous Mediterranean island, namely the party capital known as Ibiza. The trio of Balearic Islands off Spain include Majorca.

To Europeans, Ibiza is like how Bali is to Malaysians and Singaporeans. A much loved holiday destination of sun, sand and sea. Few Malaysians will know Ibiza except the very wealthy and royalty who considered it a playground. I first heard of Ibiza when I interviewed the disco empress or queen of the international glitterati Madame Regine as she was known.

Madam Regine was in KL in to open a gltzy club in Kuala Lumpur in the 80s. She had clubs in New York, Paris, Monte Carlo, Rio de Janeiro, Saint-Tropez and many other party capitals such as Ibiza which she cited a few times. Regine was credited with the invention of live disc jockeys. the modern-day discothèque, by virtue of creating a new, dynamic atmosphere at Paris’ Whisky à Gogo, where the ubiquitous jukebox was replaced by live disc jockeys utilizing linked turntables. I introduced my childhood friend, DJ Odin, to work at Regines KL. Not the EDM DJ of the same name. Must have been nerve wrecking for Odin. Lost contact; last I saw him was in Ampang Jaya or Ulu Klang viilage. Was a sweet Malay kampung boy Anybody knows him?

Regina Zylberberg, is a Belgian-born French singer and night-club impresaria. She dubbed herself the “Queen of the Night. She is now 88 and owned a grand network of discos around the world, all called Regine’s. Although the local club in Plaza Atrium survived briefly, and thinking back, it was quite a bold and daring investment by the diva and local partners. Was an honour to have met her.

Visit Ibiza and find many hotels at MyCen Hotels here: http://www.mycen.my/ibiza-hotel-deals-finder

Picture of Régine au festival de Cannes in 1997 from Wikimedia