🎶 Two drifters, off to see the world There's such a lot of world to see 🎶 Our last night in Athens and we had done most of what we had planned and decided to have a last stroll that evening whilst doing some souvenir shopping. I had bought a Greek dress in the style of what was worn thousands of years ago accessorised with a “gold’ leaf headband and found myself sashaying as I walked the streets of Athens as if I was in the movie ‘300’. It was funny because when I was choosing my dress my heart was set on this particular pattern and colour but for some reason in my mind I always thought that the Grecians only wore white. However I was quickly corrected by the shop assistant who said that that was actually a myth when in fact the Grecians wore all kinds of colours back then. So I stuck to my first choice and was glad I chose a royal blue Grecian dress with embroiled gold traditional Grecian stiching in the end. All I needed now was a chariot. Eh. Lol. “Ancient Greek clothing were quite simple, draped, loose-fitting and free-flowing. Customarily, clothing was homemade and cut to various lengths of rectangular linen or wool fabric with minimal cutting or sewing, and secured with ornamental clasps or pins, and a belt, or girdle. Pieces were generally interchangeable between men and women. However, women usually wore their robes to their ankles while men generally wore theirs to their knees depending on the occasion and circumstance. Common clothing of the time was plain white, or neutral coloured, sometimes incorporating decorative borders. There is evidence of elaborate design and bright colours, but these were less common among lower-class citizens. However, noble citizens wore bright colours to express their wealth as dyed clothing was more expensive. They wore purple as a sign of wealth and money as it was the most expensive dye to get hold of. The clothing for both men and women generally consisted of two main parts: a tunic and a cloak. They didn't start sewing and making actual clothes until the 4th century.” - Wikipedia #ADashOfSash💋 #CommittedToTheCelopians #DiaryOfADevotedDomesticatedDabawi #TheElusiveFairytaleOfTheHalfBloodPrincessSayang

[Xuanwu District, Beijing] There is this plain looking mansion along Zhushikou West Street (珠市口西大街) that resembles nothing out of the norm, but in fact, it used to be the residence of Ji Yun (纪昀, or more popularly known as Ji Xiaolan纪晓岚). Ji Yun (1724 – 1805) is a famous Chinese politician and writer during Emperor Qianlong’s era, he was also the chief editor for Siku Quanshu, the largest collection of books in Chinese history. However, unlike what was being portrayed in various dramas, Ji Yun had a rocky career path, he was convicted of tipping off a relative who is embroiled in a corruption case. As a result, Ji Yun was banished to Urumqi in Xinjiang Province. He returned to Beijing about a year later. Jiyun named his residence as yue wei cao tang (阅微草堂) and it was here that he compiled a book known as yue wei cao tang bi ji (《阅微草堂笔记》) which consisted of "true" weird tales, investigations of paranormal phenomena, as well as horror stories, parables, accounts of strange natural phenomena, and satirical portraits of prominent Neo-Confucian scholars and government officials. He lived in this place for 60 over years until his death at the age of 80 years old. 📍Beijing, China. 中国北京。🇨🇳 . . . #china #beijing #forbiddencity #travelthroughthelenses #nonmainstream #ancientchina #travelgram #igchina #history #love #gugong #seetheworld #bitesize #beijinger #chinese #chinesearchitecture #citygrammers #oldplaces #chinaexplorer #discoverchina #createexplore #instagram #instatravel #sihantravels #igdaily #instabeijing #notatourist #中国 #北京 #胡同

[Taipei, Taiwan] Shihlin (士林) has an important place in my heart and it is usually a must-go to place whenever I visit Taiwan, not so much for the good tasty Taiwanese night market food in the area, but because of the National Palace Museum. Both Singapore and Taiwan are recently embroiled in a series of COVID-19 outbreak, initially we were even in talks about having travel bubbles but I guess this will have to be put away for quite some time. Sincerely hope that the number of confirmed cases for Singapore and Taiwan will be able to subside soon! Nevertheless, it should not hinder our plans to resume global connectivity in a safe manner. I will definitely be back in Taiwan soon, after refraining from going there for a good 5 years due to personal reasons, but Taiwan has never left me even for that period of time! 😄 就是愛台灣啦 💪 📍Taipei, Taiwan. 台灣，台北市。🇹🇼 . . . #taiwan #taipei #shihlin #travelthroughthelenses #visittaiwan #ig_taiwan #urbanview #streetphotography #taipeitravel #seetheworld #travelgram #discovertaiwan #instataiwan #ilovetaiwan #igtaiwan #taiwangram #taipeitaiwan #amazingtaiwan #taiwanese #taiwanlife #taiwantravel #iseetaiwan #台灣 #台北 #西門町 #看見台灣 #愛台灣