A turbulent adventure on the South China sea

Masjid Sultan Ahmad Shah State Mosque

Kuantan of Malaysia harbors a multicultural community where Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims live together. People can find peace at either a Buddhist or Hindu temple, or a mosque.

Among them the Masjid Sultan Ahmad Shah State Mosque is worth a visit, even for non-Muslim tourists. The mosque, built between 1991 and 1993, overlooks a welcoming open green field. It presents itself as an example of the modernized Ottoman-Moorish Islamic style.

We arrived at daytime when people were worshiping inside and visitors couldn't enter. What a pity! The photos of its interior highlight the mosque's marvelous design. Even though we couldn't go in, we found tranquility by taking a walk around the exterior and appreciating the building's color combination of ivory white and sky blue.

One must not miss authentic Vietnamese cuisine and fresh seafood in Da Nang.[Photo by Lin Qi/China Daily]

Floating seafood restaurants of Mot Island

The floating restaurants we saw in Vietnam's Mot Island, near Nha Trang, provide a unique dining experience.

Diners can choose from an array of fresh seafood, which is prepared by fishermen. Hotels offer yachts that guests can rent and use to sail to the restaurants, enjoying the sea view and a good meal.

Since we were in a hurry, we didn't dine at one of the floating restaurants. But we had a great dinner at Khi Hoang Vien. The restaurant, tucked in a quiet alley of Nha Trang, has a beautiful green garden. The dishes were savory and reminded me of the food I bought at a tiny Vietnamese food stand in Bangkok.

The restaurant was decorated to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival. Vietnamese prefer a festive atmosphere with pots of yellow chrysanthemum flowers, which in China is only used to memorialize the deceased.