At the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we never get tired of discovering what Asian cuisine can offer us. That is why we keep travelling around the Asian continent, this time to Singapore to try its most famous dishes. Are you coming?

Many people consider Singapore Southeast Asia´s gastronomic capital. The country includes the best of high Oriental cuisine and other Asian cooking traditions. Its gastronomy is a magnificent example of the cultural diversity within the country, especially China.

Which are Singapore´s must-eat dishes?

Crab. This is Singapore´s star dish. It is one of the most famous things to eat in any of its varieties. The most popular one, due to its taste and symbolism, is chilli crab, which is cooked with a spicy sweet and sour sauce.

Chicken rice. It is considered one of the national dishes of Singapore. It is prepared with chicken strips served with rice cooked in chicken stock and spices. The recipe includes chilli sauce, which is always a homemade one.

Char kway teow. This recipe is cooked with flat wide rice noodles, stir fried with eggs, dark soy sauce, shrimp and pork. The mix of all these ingredients make this dish the perfect fusion of sweet and salty taste.

Satay. This recipe comes from Malay cuisine. It is one of international tourists´ favourite dishes. Skewered grilled meat served with spicy peanut sauce and cucumber and onions.

Laksa. Rice noodles in spicy coconut curry soup. The recipe usually includes egg, chicken meat and shrimp. There are many different types of laksa, but the one in Singapore is katong laksa.

If you visit our Asian paradise in the Mediterranean Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, you have a mandatory stop at Koh Samui. Our Asian restaurant par excellence offers the choicest Oriental crossover cuisine. Are you up for it?

Today from the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we are taking you to Indonesia, specifically to Bali, to visit the famous Tanah Lot Temple.

Tanah Lot Temple is one of the most beautiful examples of Bali´s Hindu religious architecture. It is famed due to its spectacular location; it is situated on a large offshore rock.

It was built in the 16^th century by a priest in honour of Varuna, the Hindu god of water. There are many legends about the temple; according to the popular belief thousands of sea snakes guard the temple from evil spirits.

Tourists can’t access to the inside of the temple, but during the evening it is possible to visit the shrine to receive a blessing from the priests.

Precisely the best time of the day to visit Tanah Lot Temple is when it gets dark. The sunset makes the temple become a unique spot.

If you are planning an autumn getaway, we can´t imagine a better destination than the luxury resort in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa. Mild temperatures and 4 swimming pools heated to 30 degrees all year round. Are you coming?

At the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, as good nature lovers we love visiting the most beautiful Asian parks. Today we are travelling to Tokyo to discover Ueno Park. Are you coming with us?

Ueno Park is a large public park located in Ueno, district of Taitō in Tokyo. It is situated over the land once belonging to Kan’eiji Temple. It is one of the main tourist attractions in the area.

It is Tokyo´s oldest park; it opened to the public in 1873. Its official name is Ueno Onshi Kōen, which can be translated as “Ueno Imperial Gift Park”.

The park offers those who visit it a wide variety of attractions, among them we can emphasize its many museums such as the Tokyo National Museum, the National Science Museum or the National Museum for Western Art. It is also home to Toshogu Shrine, which is one of the main buildings remaining from the Edo Period.

It is surrounded by important Japanese figures, such as the statue of Saigo Takamori, an important personality of the Meiji Period, and located at the south entrance of the park.

But if there is something remarkable about Ueno Park, that is its more than 1000 cherry trees, which make the park one of the most popular Tokyo´s cherry blossom spots during Spring.

If you are also a nature lover, you can´t miss our Botanical Route when you visit our luxury resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa. Enjoy the luxury of losing yourself in tropical gardens blooming with flowers.

At the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we still have many Asian traditions left to discover. That´s why today we are travelling to Indonesia, specifically to Java, to find out all the details about Javanese dance.

Indonesian people believe dancing is the best way of entertainment. In the past, Indonesian dances were very linked to religious ceremonies, but currently, their main purpose is entertaining.

Javanese dance is one of the most popular Indonesian dances. It is the dance native to Java. It is appreciated for its beautiful movements. According to Javanese tradition, this is the art of preserving dancers´ physical beauty, by healing body, soul and mind.

It dates back to the 7th century and the influence of Indian culture on the island. It is based on the poetic epics “Mahabharata” and “Ramayana“. Most classical Javanese dances are and are considered sacred by locals. The two most famous ones are Bedaya and Serimpi, which are performed in Central Java.

There are four characteristic dance styles in Javanese dance: Alus brahmana, the refined priest; Branyak satriya, the dashing prince; Bergas wissa, the spirited merchant; and Sereng-regu sudra, the severe servant. Most dances are named after their leading characters.

Additionally, most dances can be classified into three different groups of Javanese dance: Beksan putri, putri means women in Javanese, these are courtly dances designed for royal events. Beksan putra, this is the Javanese dance for men, which lets them show off their martial arts skills. Beksan wayang, this category includes the dances based on the epic poems.

There are many reasons to come to the 5 stars hotel Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa and many options for enjoying your stay. If you visit us, you won´t have time to get bored with our program of activities designed to enjoy a full Asian experience.

At the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we love trying new flavours. That´s why today we are going all over Asia to discover the most used Asian spices. Are you coming with us?

Spices play an essential role in seasoning when it comes to Asian food, mainly on Chinese and Indian cuisine where spices give a unique taste to their dishes. Let´s go over some of the most popular Asian spices:

Ginger. This is one of the most famous Asian condiments. It is very used all over the continent, especially in China. It is used in various forms: whole fresh roots, powdered ginger and pickled ginger, to season both sweet and salty dishes.

Turmeric. It is native to Asia. Not very spicy, it is one of the main ingredients used to make curry. It is used powdered as a spice and as a colorant of many dishes. It is commonly used as an alternative of saffron.

Curry. It is one of the most famous Asian spices, mainly in India and Southeast Asia. It is a mix of about 20 spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, clove or ginger. It is usually used to spice rice or legumes dishes.

Five-spice powder. This is the blend of 5 spices, used primarily in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. It incorporates the five base flavours of Chinese cooking: sweet, bitter, salty, sour and salty. It is perfect for meat and fish dishes.

Cinnamon. It comes from India and China. It is available in two forms: cinnamon sticks and powdered cinnamon. This spice is most often used in desserts, although it is also used to enhance the flavour of fish and meat dishes such as chicken recipes.

Have you already visit the 9 restaurants and bars at the 5 stars resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa? If you are a food lover, visit our Asian spot in the Mediterranean where you will be able to enjoy the best of flavours of Asia.

You can still enjoy the paradise in September with an excellent climate. Today from the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we make the most of the summer by travelling to Myanmar to cool ourselves off in the amazing Inle Lake.

Inle Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in Myanmar and in the entire Asian continent. It is one of the main tourist attractions in the country. It outstands for its size, covering an area of more than 200 square kilometres, and its landscape. The scenery that the mountains surrounding the lake create together with the clouds and the green colour of the trees is worth admiring.

Most tourists go across the lake by boat to better appreciate it. The two main points of interest of this fresh water lake are its floating gardens and the fishermen who fish in its waters.

The fishermen work from dawn to nightfall, looking for a good fishing to sell it later. But if there is something remarkable about these fishermen that is their unique rowing style: standing on the stern wrapping one leg around their oar.

The gardens amaze all those who visit Inle Lake due to the wide variety of plants, vegetables and fruits growing there. Due to the shallowness of the lake, locals have created floating gardens where they grow from hyacinth to alga.

At the luxury resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa there are 7 outdoor Asian pools, 2 of them heated ones, which are ideal to enjoy swimming at any time of the year. When are you visiting us?

We can´t imagine a better plan to enjoy this Thursday than keep discovering new wonders of the Asian continent. Today from the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we are going over the most famous trees of Asia.

Do you want know which ones are? Keep reading…

Japanese cherry. Also known as Sakura or hill cherry, is a wild tree native to Japan. It is famous all over the country due to its spectacular blossoms that welcome spring every year. This is one of the main attractions in Japan. At first, its leaves are reddish-green colour and later with the change of seasons they become green. Its flowers are white and pink.

Walnut tree. This is a very valued tree due to its wood and its nuts. This is a very robust tree; it can reach a height of 30 metres. Just as hazels, walnut trees have both male and female flowers. Their leaves are big and light green. These trees are used in gardening, diet and cabinetmaking.

Sugi. It is also known as Japanese cedar. This is Japan´s national tree and one of the symbols of the country. It is common to find these trees surrounding Japanese temples.  Japanese cedars are one of the oldest trees in the world, they last several thousands of years. Their wood, which is rosy and strong, is thoroughly used in all type of constructions.

Maple. This tree is also called False Banana, due to the similarity of its leaves to banana´s ones. It has tiny green flowers. It can reach a height of 30 metres. It is common to find it in parks and gardens, although it is also very used in cabinetmaking.

 Japanese plum. This is a deciduous shrub, very similar to Japanese cherry. It is usually an ornamental plant due to the elegant combination of its pink flowers and its dark trunk. Its most characteristic feature is that it blossoms at the beginning of spring, before its leaves have even appeared.

The Asian garden of the 5 stars resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa is made up of more than 150,000 shrubs. How about discovering them with our Botanical route? Visit Asia in the heart of the Mediterranean.

Today from the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we are travelling to Japan to discover the magnificent Kinkaku-ji Temple. Are you joining us?

Kinkaku-ji Temple, also known as Golden Pavilion, is considered the most emblematic building in Kyoto. It is also one of the most famous Japanese temples. It has a distinguishing element that makes it unique: its outer walls are completely covered in gold leaf.

It was originally built in 1397 as a retirement villa for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the shogun at the time. It is one of the locations making up the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu).

Kinkaku-ji houses sacred relics of Buddha. The building is made up of three floors. Each floor uses a different style of architecture. The first floor, called The Chamber of Dharma Waters, is rendered in shinden-zukuri style. The second floor, which is known as The Tower of Sound Waves, is built in the samurai style. And finally the third floor (Kukkyoo-choo) is built in Zen style.

Japanese Buddhism is very present in the amazing gardens surrounding the temple. The pond called Kyōko-chi or Mirror Pond is formed by islands and stones symbolising the history of Buddhism.

Have your ever lost yourself in the tropical gardens of our 5 stars resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa? We are looking forward to seeing you in our Asian paradise in the Mediterranean. An essential luxury…

Today at the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we have many reasons to celebrate. Besides welcoming September, we are travelling to India to celebrate the famous Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is a Hindu festival that commemorates God Ganesha´s birthday. It is held every year around August and September and it usually lasts ten days. This year the festival starts on September 5.

The festival is celebrated throughout India and it takes place both at home and in public. The public celebration involves installing clay images of Ganesha in temporary public shrines called pandals and group worship. Ganesh Chaturthi also includes different cultural activities such as theatre and performances. During these days, it is also traditional to eat the famous Indian dessert modak.

At home, families also install a small clay image, which is worshiped by the families and friends who visit their houses. At the end of Ganesh Chaturthi, all the clay images of Ganesha are immersed in water, mainly in a river, a lake or the sea. After a few days, families use this clay on their gardens.

If you are looking for a place to hold any professional or family event, the luxury resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa is an excellent choice. Have you ever seen our Conference Centre?