14 April 2023, Friday I had set my alarm clock for 2am but I was woken up an hour earlier by the alarm from the tent next to ours and I couldn’t go back to sleep again. I continued lying in bed but my blocked nose didn’t help. At 2am, I crawled out of the […]
Author: Holden
Just an avid traveller who loves exploring the world and sharing my experiences...
13 April 2023, Thursday After a good night’s sleep, we woke up bright and early at 5:30am, packed our bags and went for breakfast at our Rudy Trekker guest house at 6:30am. Breakfast comprised of a simple omelette, toast, coffee, watermelon and pineapple – just the way I liked it. For the 3D2N trek, it […]
12 April 2023, Wednesday [Exchange rate: 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) = S$0.90] I woke up at 4am this morning, had my usual breakfast of bread and coffee, then left home at 5am. As always, mum and dad accompanied me to the airport. We arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 5:30am and met up with […]
Asia | Cambodia | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 10 & 11: Siem Reap / Singapore
4 December 2022, Sunday And just like that, we have come to the last full day of the trip. After a hearty breakfast, we left our hotel at 7:37am and reached our starting point 10 minutes later. After the usual warm ups, we started cycling at 8am, for one last time. As with previous days, […]
3 December 2022, Saturday Despite the “fiasco” of our La Residence Blanc D’Angkor hotel last night, the bed in the room was comfy and I slept pretty well. We checked out early at 7:05am to go to our new hotel for the next two nights, Angkor Paradise Hotel. It was only seven minutes away by […]
Asia | Cambodia | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 8: Phnom Penh / Siem Reap
2 December 2022, Friday After the brief hiatus yesterday, it was back to business today, as we (somewhat) resumed our cycling in Cambodia. Breakfast was at the usual 6:30am before we checked out of our lovely Frangipani Royal Palace Hotel in Phnom Penh. We also bade farewell to two members of our group, A and […]
1 December 2022, Thursday After four days of cycling, we had a day off today to let our bodies rest a little, and to do some sightseeing in Cambodia’s capital city. I took the opportunity to sleep in and had a late breakfast at 7:30am. At 9:17am, we left our hotel for the National Museum […]
Asia | Cambodia | Vietnam | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 6: Châu Đốc / Phnom Penh
30 November 2022, Wednesday We started our day later today, with breakfast at 7am instead of the usual 6am. That meant we got to sleep in an hour longer, which was great because I was starting to feel the fatigue building up from the past five days. Maybe some of it was self-induced from sleeping […]
Asia | Vietnam | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 5: Cần Thơ / Châu Đốc
29 November 2022, Tuesday After a good night’s sleep, we started the day fresh and bright, with breakfast being served at 6am. The buffet spread was very good, comprising a wide selection of Western and traditional Vietnamese food. I was especially pleased with the variety of fresh fruits on offer – papaya, watermelon, pineapple and […]
Asia | Vietnam | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 4: Trà Vinh / Cần Thơ
28 November 2022, Monday We had an early start to the day, with breakfast being served at 6am. However, the food wasn’t really to my liking so I only had a French baguette, some eggs and a glass of orange juice. As more members trickled down to the dining hall for breakfast, they told me […]
Asia | Vietnam | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 3: Ho Chi Minh City / Trà Vinh
27 November 2022, Sunday I woke up feeling super excited because it was D-Day! After two days of roaming around Ho Chi Minh City, the day had finally come for us to saddle up and start our cycling expedition. After washing up, I walked over to Avanti Hotel for an early breakfast at 6:30am. The […]
Asia | Vietnam | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City
26 November 2022, Saturday We had a light programme today – free and easy in the morning, followed by a bike fitting session in the afternoon and lastly, a group dinner. In the morning, some of the members toured the Cu Chi Tunnels while others went on a Jeep Tour. I have never been on […]
Asia | Vietnam | Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022
Vietnam Cambodia Cycling 2022 – Day 1: Singapore / Ho Chi Minh City
How It All Began I have always enjoyed cycling, but particularly more so in the last 10 years. That was when I first bought a foldable bicycle and started cycling around Singapore, exploring the different neighbourhoods on pavements before there were even park connectors (PCN). I then upgraded to a hybrid bicycle and did longer […]
Day 6: 29 May 2022, Sunday It’s Sunday, and that means there’s only one place to go in Bangkok…the Chatuchak Weekend Market! For most Singaporeans, a trip to Bangkok is never complete without a visit to Chatuchak, sometimes also spelled as Jatujak, or JJ Market. It is one of the world’s biggest weekend markets, spanning […]
Day 5: 28 May 2022, Saturday Rise and shine! Waking up to a beautiful and sunny Saturday morning, we went for our breakfast at 7:10am. As we were somewhat creatures of habit, we sat at the same table as yesterday while enjoying the lovely buffet spread. After filling our tummies, we went to the swimming […]
Day 4: 27 May 2022, Friday It was a joy to wake up at 7am this morning and be greeted by a beautiful ocean view. I spent a few minutes standing at the balcony just to take in the view and sounds of the waves before the usual din of traffic began. It was really […]
Day 3: 26 May 2022, Thursday After spending two nights in Bangkok, it was time to move on to Pattaya. As we would be returning to the same hotel in Bangkok two days later, we had packed what we needed for Pattaya into one suitcase and a backpack, and deposited our two large suitcases with […]
Day 2: 25 May 2022, Wednesday Rise and shine! After a good night’s sleep in our Grand Suite, we went for an early breakfast at 7:15am. The dining area of the restaurant at Grande Centre Point Ratchadamri hotel had two seating areas – one for Asian food and one for Western food. Naturally, we went […]
How It All Began After almost three years of flight restrictions due to COVID-19, the world finally regained some semblance of normalcy in the first quarter of 2022 as more countries reopened their borders to international visitors. With pre-departure/on-arrival testing and quarantine requirements being dropped, and vaccination and booster shots being administered to majority of […]
England | Europe | This Was It Europe 2009
This Was It Europe 2009 – Day 14 & 15: London / Singapore
Day 14: 23 October 2009, Friday This morning, we went to King’s Cross Station with one mission in mind…to look for Platform 9¾ and board the Hogwarts Express to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Of course, the Hogwarts Express exists only in the books and movies created by JK Rowling, but as a […]