How It All Began When the Singapore government first announced last October that two cruise lines had been given the green light to offer “cruises to nowhere” from Singapore starting in November 2020, I thought there was no way I would go on board a cruise ship with thousands of others and risk contracting Covid-19. […]
Day 6: 20 November 2007, Tuesday For our sixth day in New Zealand, we headed north from Rotorua to Paihia, the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands. It was a long journey of over 450km and about six hours of driving. It was late afternoon by the time we checked in to our […]
Day 5: 19 November 2007, Monday – Rotorua After having had our first taste of adrenaline yesterday with the bungy jump, my cousins and I were thirsty for more. We had picked up a few brochures along the way and contemplated what other extreme sports activities we could do. I was quite interested to try […]
Day 4: 18 November 2007, Sunday – Rotorua / Lake Taupo The fourth day of the trip was a very good one, definitely one of the most memorable days of my life. The reason being, it was the day I literally took a leap of faith and did a bungy jump for the first time […]
Since international borders are still closed and I don’t expect to do any travelling in 2021, it’s time to take it way back to 2007 and revisit my first and only trip to New Zealand so far. As this trip occurred more than 13 years ago, I don’t remember the minute details now. At the […]
Asia | Japan | Tokyo Escapade 2013
Tokyo Escapade 2013 – Day 10 & 11 (Daikanyama / Narita / Singapore)
23 February 2013, Saturday In the blink of an eye, 10 wonderful days had flown by and I would be returning to Singapore in the evening. As I still had time to spare in the morning, I made a trip to Daikanyama for breakfast and to spend some quality time discovering new music at Tsutaya […]
22 February 2013, Friday I started my last full day in Tokyo with a visit to Asakusa Kannon Onsen, a historic bath house just three minutes’ walk from my K’s House Tokyo Oasis hostel. It was conveniently located between the Hanayashiki amusement park and Sensoji temple. Established in 1961, Asakusa Kannon Onsen was one of […]
21 February 2013, Thursday It was Day 8 of my trip and I would be heading back to Tokyo today. But before that, I decided to visit an onsen in the morning since Hakone is an area rich with hot springs. After checking out of my lovely Fuji-Hakone Guest House, I took a bus at […]
20 February 2013, Wednesday I had an early start to the day today. After a surprisingly good night’s sleep in my tiny pod, I woke up at 5:30am, packed my things and checked out of my Shinjuku Green capsule hotel an hour later. I then had a quick breakfast at McDonald’s before walking to Shinjuku […]
19 February 2013, Tuesday After a good night’s sleep, I woke up at 7:30am feeling fresh and energised for the day ahead. At 8:45am, I vacated my room at Nikkorisou Backpackers but left my luggage at the lobby because I would first spend the morning exploring the historic shrines at Nikko before heading back to […]
18 February 2013, Monday After spending the past four nights in Tokyo, it was time to head to Nikko, a town about 150km north of the Japanese capital. At 7am, I woke up, did my final packing and checked out of my hostel. I then walked to Asakusa station to catch the Tobu Nikko train. […]
17 February 2013, Sunday Today, acting on my friend MB’s recommendation, I made a day trip to a coastal town called Kamakura and the nearby island of Enoshima, located about an hour south of Tokyo. I had not heard of these two places before so it was great that MB suggested them to me. At […]
16 February 2013, Saturday This morning, I woke up relatively late at 9:15am. At 10am, I left my hostel and took a leisurely walk through Nakamise Shopping Street, just a short distance away from my hostel in Asakusa. I enjoyed looking at the colourful Japanese lanterns and other exquisite souvenir items on sale. They all […]
15 February 2013, Friday This morning, I woke up at 7:30am and had a simple breakfast of toast and coffee at my Sakura Hostel. At 9am, I made my way to my first destination – Ueno. I decided to walk from my hostel in Asakusa to Ueno as I wasn’t in a hurry and I […]
Since COVID-19 isn’t going away anytime soon, that means I won’t be travelling for some time yet. Thus, this is the perfect moment to revisit my older trips that I did not get to blog about in the past. This 2013 trip to Tokyo was a fabulous one. It was my second time to Japan […]
14 March 2013, Thursday For our last full day in Bali, we had breakfast at Flapjaks, a casual restaurant offering home-made pancakes, waffles and gelatos. After that, we went to Petitenget Beach to have a look. Bali is famous for its many beaches and Petitenget is popular among surfers for its rolling waves. However, it […]
13 March 2013, Wednesday It was Day 7 of our trip and we had a few hours in the morning to spend at Gili Trawangan before making our way back to Bali. Breakfast at our Alam Gili resort was sumptuous as usual. After that, we went for a walk around our resort to take in […]
12 March 2013, Tuesday Today is Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence. Nyepi is a day of fasting, silence and meditation and the following day is celebrated as New Year’s Day for the Balinese. It is a Hindu celebration mainly celebrated in Bali, which has a majority Hindu population, unlike the rest of Indonesia, which […]
11 March 2013, Monday Today, we moved on from Padang Bai in Bali to Gili Trawangan (Gili T) in Lombok. Gili T is one of the three Gili islands – the other two are Gili Meno and Gili Air. In fact, the word “Gili” means “small island” in the local Sasek dialect, so there are […]
10 March 2013, Sunday We had an early start as we were climbing Mount Batur today. After waking up at 3:20am, we washed up and left our hotel at 3:50am for the starting point. The drive took only six minutes and we reached a small office for the Association of Mount Batur Trekking Guides. We […]