There are places that make us feel as if we were in a different dimension, far-away lands, far-away worlds… At the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we always try to bring you closer to Asia to help you live an incomparable experience with your family.

However, today we are bringing you to a place which seems more dreamlike than real, the Zhangye Danxia Chinese Geological Park, where nature itself has created a spectacular place over time.

These impressive colour mountains are in the Gansu province a landscape that goes on for 300 square kilometres and seems taken out of a world of fantasy.

There is a scientific explanation for this landscape, the tectonic movements of the earth. The erosion caused by the climate in time is the main reason for the interesting shapes and colours we can see there.

The term “danxia” is the name given in China to certain landscapes where there is an important presence of layers of continental sedimentary rocks of mainly reddish shades.

Because of its exceptional values, scientific and aesthetically, these landscapes became part of the Humanity Heritage of UNESCO in 2010.

At the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa you will also see the red shades in our buildings, but without a doubt, the most attractive feature of our luxury resort is the attention to detail we offer and our wide range of services which will make your stay a pleasant and relaxing one.

Today, we are going to go for a stroll around a garden similar to the one at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, the Kawachi Fuji Gardens, to be captivated by its flower waterfalls and the tunnel shape they make.

This place is in Kitakyushu, in Japan, and it is one of the most beautiful places on Earth according to those who visit it. This garden makes you feel as if you had jumped right in to an impressionist-style painting.

The main flower in this garden is part of the glicinia japonesa (Wisteria), a famous endemic plant used around the world to create a romantic kind of garden.

In this garden in particular, there are around 150 wisteria plants of a wide range of shapes and colours, bringing a bright display of colours that go from white, to blue, purple, pink and lilac.

A wide range that surrounds the tunnel and supported together to make what could easily be the most beautiful flower tunnel in the world. There are thousands of almost one-metre-tall flowers there. Every spring thousands of visitors are drawn to such an amazing sight.

If you really like this landscape, you will be able to enjoy all the flowers we have at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, flowers which we have brought especially from Asia. Come to enjoy Asia at our luxury resort in the Mediterranean.

With the arrival of Christmas and the New Year, at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we would like to get up and ready to get started on a positive note. That is why we are going to get started a few weeks in advance in order to have everything ready. Today, we are going to tell you about charms used in Japan for good fortune, prosperity, etc.

For centuries, Asian cultures have been very superstitious, and charms are used for almost everything. The following are some of them; maybe one or two of them could be of use to you:

– Omamori: From the verb “mamoru” meaning to protect, look after, defend. It consists of a fabric pendant mainly sold in Japanese shrine temples. It is believed that it avoids accidents, improves health, encourages love, improves academic performance, etc.

– Ofuda: It is considered a type of omamori for the home, normally larger and made out of wood or paper. In it, there is a prayer for a god.

– Maneki-neko: Maybe one of the Japanese charms most popular outside the country, cats that invite you to come in. They can be generally seen in Japanese businesses or homes, as cats are believed to be symbols of good fortune, happiness, success and money, and its bell keeps bad spirits away.

– Omikuji: small papers that foretell your future. They may be purchased in most Japanese temples. They are believed to bring bad fortune to those who touch a omikuji. Instead, it is recommended to tie it to a tree in the temple in order for bad fortune to be taken away by the gods.

– Animals that bring good fortune:

• The owl: traditional Japanese legend has it that if you listen to an owl chant (fukuro in Japanese), that will be a sign of good luck.
• The turtle: called kame in Japanese, is also worshipped as they are considered to be animals of good fortune, and they symbolise longevity and protection. That is why turtles are seen in most temples and events in Japan, and they are often given as gifts at weddings.
• The monkey: called saru in Japanese, it also means “to drive bad luck away”.

If you are not lucky enough to know what you are going to do this New Year, come visit us to the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa and live a true Asian experience surrounded by lucky charms. Come and have fun!

Today, we are bringing you from the terracotta view from the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, to the blue city of Jodhpur in India.

In the city of Jodhpur, located in Rajasthan in India, there is no room for any other colour but blue. From the very beginning, each building at the Blue City, as it is commonly known all around the world, was painted blue like the colour of the sky. This was part of an initiative started by the Brahmin, members of the priesthood, in order to indicate their place of residence and differentiate themselves from the rest of the population.

In time, this upper class tradition started to also be adopted by the rest of the people and everyone chose blue as their favourite colour to decorate their homes with.

There are narrow streets that dim the sunlight in a hot area near the Thar Desert, and the shadows are magnified between the blue buildings.

Another popular version of the story is that the homes in Jodhpur dressed in blue because, according to the locals, this colour keeps insects and mosquitos away, and it also acts as a thermal insulator that keeps sun rays away in this desert area of India.

To sum up, Jodhpur is a blue oasis in the middle of a large desert. But if this city does not appeal to you, come to the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa instead, a luxury resort where you will be pampered, and where you will live a true Asian experience.

At the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa you can enjoy the most exquisite delicacies from Asia at any of the restaurants available at our resort. You can also try some of the most exotic and traditional dishes, but, do you know what your table manners should be like in Japan?

Many of us think that it is enough to know how to use chopsticks, but in Japan there is a whole protocol that must be followed. Today, we are going to tell you about some of these manners:

– Shoes must not be worn at the dining room, or anywhere inside a Japanese home or restaurant. Socks are offered to guests.

– Men must cross their legs when sitting at the dining table. However, women normally kneel on their heels with their knees to the one side.

– When they start eating, they say “Itadakimasu”, an expression meaning “bon a petit”. When they finish, they say “Gochisousamadeshita” to give thanks for the food they have just had.

– Chopsticks are only used to eat. It is considered rude to use them as sticks or to point. It is not mannerly to lick them either.

– Chopsticks must always be kept together. If there is a chopstick holder available, it should be used; otherwise chopsticks should be left in front of a bowl or plate. Chopsticks should never be crossed or on top of a bowl (the way we do it in the west when we finish eating).

– If there is a sauce on the table, the chopsticks must be dipped in it and then brought towards the food, as opposed to dipping the piece of food to the sauce.

– When having soup, you must directly drink from your bowl, not using a spoon. When having noodle soup, use your chopsticks if necessary. Slurping is not impolite in Japan.

– Another person must serve us, not ourselves, and we must do the same for others.

If you wish to put everything you have learnt into practice, come to one of our Asian restaurants at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa for a magnificent gastronomic experience.

There have been many famous people throughout history that have used Asia as an inspiration in their own projects. And, of course, we do the same thing too. The Asian elegance and peace reign at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, a luxury resort right in the Mediterranean.

However, today we are going to tell you about the great designer, Mariano Fortuny.

A man and artist whose designs, pieces, work and ideas, as portrayed in “Thousand and one nights”, have always been looked up to.

He was educated in a well-off family, he was well read and an aristocratic person. His designs radiate simplicity and a perfect quality. He has been publically praised by Hubert de Givenchy, Issey Miyake and Karl Lagerfeld.

In Venice, they called this versatile artist Little Leonardo. He painted, carved, filmed, designed stages, designed clothes, and he was also a photographer, inventor, lighting expert and an entrepreneur. Mariano Fortuny  knew how to show beauty through his art.

His work reminds us of Asian markets, palaces, veils, harems, Arab baths, Ali Baba’s cave, oasis and caravans that cross deserts, and that is indeed how the popular Fortuny lamp was created.

Mariano Fortuny’s famous lamp:

If you also wish to be surrounded by art and be inspired by Asia, we recommend you visit the 5-star Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, a luxury oasis in the Mediterranean, where you will live a true Asian experience. Let your creativity run free.

This week we keep on celebrating at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, we are going to a wedding. There is nothing like a wedding, a happy bond between two people who swear to love each other for the rest of their lives. Have you ever wondered what weddings are like in Asia?

Traditional Korean weddings have been toned down recently, and are now much more basic than before. Previously, anyone could take part in a wedding and congratulate the newlyweds, as they used to celebrate them with open doors.

However, this is no longer common practice, although some weddings continue to be held in people’s homes, now the bride and groom make a guest list just like we do in the west, because they wish to have a more intimate ceremony.

Weddings consist of several parts:

– Nappye or Hampalgi: the groom’s family used to send gifts to the bride and a letter inside a chest. However, they now send a “hanbok”, a traditional Korean dress which dates back to the 70’s.

– Jeonallye: the groom used to go to the bride’s house with a present, a male goose which symbolised “a partner for life”. The bird was given to the future mother in law, in representation of loyalty to his fiancée. Nowadays, this has also changed; a wooden goose is now used instead.

– Gyobaerye: the bride and groom are face to face for the first time at the ceremony and they exchange vows.

– Hapgeullyue: a pumpkin soup that symbolises “the newlyweds”.

– Pyebaek: once the wedding is over, the newlyweds pay their respects to the groom’s parents and they in turn throw some fruit at the bride’s skirt, as a symbol of fertility.

If you are looking for a spectacular wedding which is perfect and luxurious and has a strong family tradition come to the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, where you can celebrate your wedding in the best luxury resort in the Mediterranean.

If there is something we like at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, that is Asian traditions; and although we are far away from that continent, from our blog we try to make you feel closer to it. Today, we are going to tell about the Masskara Festival.

This festival is held annually in Bacolod, in the Philippines, on the third weekend of October. It is known for being the liveliest festival in the country. It is true that during the festival the natural and friendly character of the locals is plain to see.

The word “Masskara” is a combination of “crowd” (a crowd of people), and “kara” (face), making up the word Masskara, “crowd of faces or masks”, because at the festival people wear smiley masks.

The Masskara Festival it consists of a dance competition held on the streets where masked and colourful dancers happily move to the rhythm of music, showing coordination and resistance.

Another one of the main activities is a beauty pageant called “MassKara Queen”, along with carnivals, competitions and raffles, cooking contests, sport events, concerts, agricultural and trade fairs, gardening programmes and other special events.

If you like festivals and celebrations, there is no better place than the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa 5*, a luxury resort where you will be able to enjoy Asian traditions from the word go.

At the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we love to look after the wellbeing of our guests, which is why, at our luxury resort in the Mediterranean, we have several restaurants where you can enjoy Asian cuisine.

That is why we would like to dedicate a whole section to talk about the most exotic and dangerous fish in the world, a delicacy in Asia, the FUGU or puffer fish.

The fugu is a Japanese dish made from puffer fish, a fatally poisonous fish due to its toxins, which is why it must be carefully cooked.

Eating this fish is so dangerous that only some expert chefs who have undergone a prior 3-year training, can cook or serve it, as it is essential that its toxic parts don’t contaminate the rest of the fish. Only 35% of the candidates pass the final exam.

Fortunately, in Japan a lot of care is put into this technique, and it has been so for many years. Currently, it is fully regulated from the beginning of the process, permits are given only to experts, and it is prepared in authorised restaurants where they make sure that all toxic waste is duly disposed of in special containers allocated to each of the restaurants.

The largest fugu wholesaler in Japan is in Shimonoseki, where there are plenty of specialised restaurants that serve dishes prepared with different parts of this fish.

If you prefer not to take risks when it comes to what you eat, and you’d rather enjoy the experience, in our restaurants at the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa you will find all kinds of safe and traditional Asian delicacies.

Would you like to come and try them all?