21 January 2018, Sunday Today, the three of us took a road trip to Mornington Peninsula, located some 75km southeast of Melbourne city and about an hour’s drive away. It was 27 degrees Celsius and a very fine summer’s day. At 10am, we walked to the Budget/AVIS outlet near our apartment and picked up our […]
Author: Holden
Just an avid traveller who loves exploring the world and sharing my experiences...
How It All Began In January 2017, I visited Melbourne for the second time in my life. My first visit was a decade ago in 2007, fresh out of university and about to enter the workforce. That trip was special because it was the first time I watched a concert overseas. I was so fortunate […]
30 October 2017, Monday After resting for most of yesterday, I felt better physically today. In fact, I wasn’t aching as badly as I thought I would. I had a whole day in Kathmandu today so I took it nice and slow. At about 7:45am, I left my guest house to look for a nice […]
29 October 2017, Sunday Rise and shine! After yesterday’s gruelling race, I woke up at about 5:45am today. I had planned to make my way to the viewing area to see the sunrise but my body was aching and I didn’t have enough motivation to climb all the way up there, so I only got […]
28 October 2017, Saturday I felt like I had barely fallen asleep when my phone alarm rang and it was time to wake up again. It was 2:45am and I only had about five hours of sleep. After washing up, I ate my apple strudel and cinnamon bun for breakfast and tried to calm my […]
27 October 2017, Friday This morning, I woke up at about 7am and it was a nice, cool 18 degrees Celsius outside. At 7:45am, EW and I walked to the main street to have breakfast at a restaurant called Boomerang. I ordered a Trekker’s Breakfast set, which cost Rs 325 (S$4.40) and consisted of muesli, […]
26 October 2017, Thursday This morning, we woke up at about 7:30am and went for breakfast at 8am. It was about 16 degrees Celsius in the morning, slightly chilly but still comfortable because it was sunny. The hotel breakfast buffet was not bad and we ate our fill before heading out for one last stroll […]
How It All Began Last October, I visited Nepal for the third time. My previous visits were in 2012 and 2013/2014 and I’d been wanting to go back for some time now. Alongside Iceland and Japan, Nepal is one of my favourite countries in the world. I love the Himalayan mountain scenery and the simple […]
19 September 2017, Tuesday Day 3 in Boracay, and it’s raining again. It’s not called the wet season for nothing. Because of the rain, I decided to have my breakfast at the hostel café. I ordered a full English breakfast set and coffee and it cost PHP 380 (S$10.34), more expensive than the eatery outside. […]
18 September 2017, Monday This morning, I had a very important piece of business to settle, and that was getting my mobile phone repaired. The front and rear cameras were not working anymore after I dropped my phone last night. I felt extremely handicapped without a camera so I made it my number one priority […]
Prelude Boracay is a tiny island in the Philippines, often portrayed as a paradise on earth, famous for its white sand beaches and raucous nightlife. In the past year, it has been in the spotlight because the Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte branded the island a “cesspool” due to the lack of proper drainage systems, resulting […]
13 May 2018, Sunday It’s our second day in Serbia and we have a full day today to explore. We left our apartment at about 9:15am and walked towards the Temple of Saint Sava, about 20 minutes away on foot. As it was a Sunday morning, the streets were quiet and clear of vehicles. All […]
Bulgaria | Europe | Serbia | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure 2018 – Day 12: Bulgaria (Sofia) / Serbia (Belgrade)
12 May 2018, Saturday After just one night in Sofia, it was time to move on to another country. We woke up at about 5:15am and it was a chilly 9 degrees Celsius outside. After munching on our breakfast, we checked out of our Airbnb apartment and walked to Central Bus Station, arriving at about […]
Bulgaria | Europe | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure 2018 – Day 11: Bulgaria (Blagoevgrad / Sofia)
11 May 2018, Friday After a blissful night’s rest, we woke up bright and early to clear blue skies and 12 degrees Celsius weather. It was a beautiful morning. We had our breakfast before checking out of the apartment at about 8am. Initially, we encountered some difficulties flagging a taxi but thankfully, we managed to […]
Bulgaria | Europe | Greece | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure 2018 – Day 10: Greece (Thessaloniki) / Bulgaria (Blagoevgrad)
10 May 2018, Thursday After spending nine days in Greece, it was time to move on to Bulgaria, the second country of my trip. Our Thessaloniki Airbnb host Asteris swung by the apartment in the morning to check us out. He then gave us a ride to the railway station, saving us the hassle and […]
Europe | Greece | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure 2018 – Day 9: Greece (Kalabaka / Thessaloniki)
9 May 2018, Wednesday Day 9 and it’s our last day in Greece. This morning, our Airbnb host Dimitrios kindly gave us a lift from the house to the railway station. After bidding him farewell, we caught the train 590 and departed Kalabaka at 8:19am. The journey to Thessaloniki was not a direct one. At […]
8 May 2018, Tuesday I woke up feeling super excited because we were going to visit the Meteora rock formations and monasteries today. When I started planning this trip months ago, Meteora was one of the first things I pencilled in, so I was greatly looking forward to it. I initially considered touring the monasteries […]
Europe | Greece | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure 2018 – Day 7: Greece (Santorini / Kalabaka)
7 May 2018, Monday This morning we set off early (as usual) as our driver sent us to the Santorini airport to catch our 9:55am flight to Athens. The drive from Fira to the airport took only 10 minutes and we arrived at 8am. The short ride cost us 30 Euros (S$48.75) though. I had […]
6 May 2018, Sunday As we had brought forward our Oia visit to yesterday, we had the whole day available to explore Fira today. That meant waking up slightly later, but not too late, as the weather forecast still showed that it was likely going to rain later in the day. At about 8:30am, we […]
Europe | Greece | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure 2018 – Day 5: Greece (Mykonos / Santorini)
5 May 2018, Saturday This morning, we reluctantly checked out of our Airbnb apartment as we prepared to bid farewell to lovely Mykonos. Last night, I had arranged for my Airbnb host to send us to the port to catch our 9:50am Sea Jets ferry to Santorini. At 9:00am, the host’s brother arrived and he […]