2014 in Travels

December 31, 2014

2014 had been an exciting year for travels. The picture above showcases the destinations I’ve been to for the very first time this year.Started the year off reconnecting with dearest Citra in Bali, and ended the year with a bang in Turkey! It was my very first step into Europe, with many, many more opportunities to come! 2015 is going to be even more exciting, but first 2014 in review!

January 2014 – Bali, Indonesia

I’ve been to Bali many, many times but hardly made it past the departure lounge. So to start off the year, I decided to utilise a long off period to book a ticket and fly solo to Bali. Spent a night in Ubud with Citra at her home; rode a motorbike not as a pillion for the very first time and had the best massage ever while waiting for her to be done with work. Took a bus to Seminyak where I would hop on a 45-minute ferry ride to the Lembongan Islands where I stayed in a luxurious hut (alone, unfortunately) but made friends with the locals who in turn took me on a bike ride to Nusa Ceningan where I had my very first cliff jumping experience. So. Damn. Awesome. Spent the last two nights in Kuta where I met Benedikte, and spent the days soaking in the sun and nights partying crazy hard. The last night was pretty epic as we happened upon fellow hostel mates while pre-gaming at a bar and we all headed out together, had tons of fun and went back together.. getting huge packets of Macdonald’s fries to share.

February 2014 – Bintan, Indonesia

One of the very few trips I am able to make it because, you know, work. It was a very relaxing weekend for all of us compared to the crazy ass party we had in Desaru and Kuala Lumpur in 2012. It was 8 of us in a really nice two-storey villa facing a huge pond and the clear blue sea was just a stone throw away. We spent most of the time in the pool though, because the waves were too choppy to swim in. It was also a great time to catch up with my friends whom I haven’t seen a lot of since I started work.

March 2014 – Adelaide, Australia

Okay, this was a work trip. But we had a rare three-nighter in Adelaide… I just had to slot my time here into this post. I got to meet Tess again after our last encounter at Vang Vieng, Laos in 2013. We first had dinner at a pop up Mexican bar that serves mean strawberry margaritas and tacos, then spent the whole of the next day together, she driving me to an animal sanctuary and the lookout point… we ended up getting pretty lost. But of course, we had fun.

April 2014- Hua Hin / Bangkok, Thailand

This was an itching to get out of Singapore during long off periods kinda trip. Dragged Farhan along, who had the same off days and some spare time before heading to Phuket. Hua Hin was a 3-hour bus ride away from Suvarnabhumi International Airport and a sleepy town when we got there. The beach was gorgeous, but not as crowded as Phuket or the Southern Islands nor as blue and crystal clear. It was okay, but again, we spent more time in our own private pool at the hotel than at the beach. Did a lot of exploring and eating for 3 nights before heading to Bangkok for a stay at my favourite hostel, LubD Siam Square. Brought him to Khao San Road because he’s never been there, and got my cravings of som tam (papaya salad), phad thai (fried noodles) and cha yen (Thai Milk tea) satisfied.

September 2014- Osaka / Kyoto / Tokyo, Japan

My very first annual leave trip! I wanted to further explore Osaka area since I don’t get to go there for work as often as I do, Tokyo. I covered Osaka city, Namba, Universal Studios Japan before taking the train to Kyoto and explore the serene temples, crossed off Fushimi Inari shrine off my bucket list and walk up and down the Geisha district of Gion. Kyoto was a beautiful, peaceful place and I wouldn’t mind another chance to revisit when I get the chance. Flew from Osaka to Tokyo to meet Arafath,, Manoj, Joseph and Ummar. Did further exploring with Arafath and Manoj when they planned to head to Lake Kawaguchi for a looksee. Ummar and Joseph did more exploring of Tokyo city, since it was their first time there. I was tired of being there already. I finally got to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it was mindblowingly magical. Plus, I got to hug Cookie Monster.

October 2014- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

My year will not be complete without crossing the causeway at least once a year. This time though it was for a very important purpose. My cousin Sufyan was getting engaged to an awesome lady, Lyana and after missing my own sister’s engagement, theirs was something I didn’t want to miss. Lots of food, mischief and I squeezed in some time to meet Emily before she leaves for Canada, and Kharti, the bro whom I haven’t seen since he left Singapore a couple of months back.

December 2014-
Bursa/ Kusadasi / Pamukkale / Cappadocia / Ankara / Safranbolu / Istanbul, Turkey

A great end to the year was spent with family. It was 10 days worth of exploring, bus riding, moving around, sightseeing and eating and eating and eating. The mosques were majestic, the city was bustling with life, the markets were vibrant and the street food was delicious. I pretty much got to strike a couple of things off my bucket list; one of which was riding a hot air balloon. Travelogues will come in weeks to come, so stay tuned! That is all for 2014, and I have more travel plans for 2015, not sure if they’ll materialise, but next on my TO EXPLORE list: United States of America.

What are your plans for next year?

Psst, I’m currently hosting my new year giveaway here! Do participate and have a great new year ahead, no matter where you are in the world!

Welcoming 2015: GIVEAWAY

December 29, 2014

I will be celebrating New Year in Japan for two consecutive years and what better way to usher in the new year with my very first giveaway! 2015 is going to be an exciting new year for me, and I have lots of changes in store. Be it change within me, or around the blog, rest assured they’re all going to be awesome.

WHAT YOU STAND TO WIN:

1 x Note from Yours Truly, in a really pretty envelope featuring Japan’s best
1 x Popin’ Cookin’ Sushi set
1 x Meiji Meltykiss Chocolate Truffles
1 x Lush Drumming Drummers Bath Wand

All gifts are handpicked lovingly from Japan. One of my 2015 resolutions is to get to know more people in the blogosphere, interact with all of you and hope that we’d be friends some time. I secretly love to blog hop via comments posted on my favourite blogs, and that’s how I check out all the interesting blogs out there! And this giveaway was inspired by all of you who have been faithful readers for the past year. Because of you, I have the motivation to share my adventures with you. Thank you, and here’s to many more years of sharing ahead!

x Giveaway begins Monday, 29th December 2014 (0000 hours) and ends Tuesday, 5th January 2015 (2359 hours) local time – GMT +8
x This giveaway is open to everyone from anywhere in the world who has a postbox.
x International (or local) postage fees are paid for by me

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is an international giveaway. One winner will be chosen and be notified by email within 24 hours of giveaway’s end. Winner will be given 48 hours to respond before a redraw will be done.

Japan’s Secret Garden

December 24, 2014

This day was yet another one of those dragging myself out of bed at the crack of dawn.. before everyone else in the room did and going out to do stuff, days. Well at least this time I was checking out of Tokyo for good (okay, not really, but at least for this trip) so I didn’t have to chase for last trains anymore. Little did I know, I was going to take back whatever I said about chasing for last trains at the end of this day. Sigh.

Anyway, I had things to settle before meeting the boys that morning. One of the two important things to do was to settle my hostel fee. For the past two nights I’d been arriving after the reception has closed and leaving to explore before it opened, so I definitely had to put my foot down and said, “Boys, I don’t care what time you guys are planning to head out, but I’ve got shit to settle.” The bus to our destination leaves at 1030-ish. I had more than enough time to do stuff before meeting them.

Paid my fee, checked out, sent my fat duffle bag to Narita and battled the morning rush hour to meet the boys at Tokyo Station’s Yaesu South Exit. We stocked up on food and snacks to last us the afternoon and boarded the bus that would take us directly to Hitachi Seaside Park. Also today was special because it was the second last day of our trip, and we’re all going to spend it together after a week of having different agendas, and travelling to various parts of Japan.

It’s a hidden gem as the population were generally Asians. Didn’t think that Western tourists would have discovered how to get here yet. The park is located 2 hours away from Tokyo, in the Ibaraki Prefecture, and it was MASSIVE. The main attraction was the vast field dotted with bushes that changes colours with the seasons. They were called KOCHIA. Unfortunately while we were there, it was still green but it was due to turn red and it’ll look pretty magnificent. We hired a bike to go around of course, walking wasn’t an option. We took tons of pictures, did jump shots after jump shots and even came across pretty Japanese girls whom the boys were pretty excited to take photo with but was too shy… hence it was my duty as a friend to approach the girls and asked if they wanted to take a photo with these crazy boys. Lucky for them, the sweet girls were happy to.

1. This train takes its riders to various parts of the park. Didn’t get to go on it though.
2. The view of the field from the base. Check out all the fluffy bushes!
3. Tinges of red are seen on the bushes. It was to turn red at the end of the month.
4. Failed jump shot.
5. After getting tired of the boys shying away despite wanting a photo with the cute Japanese girls, I stepped in.
6. Then it was my turn to be literally at the centre of their attention. (I kid.)
7. Ummar told us to pretend to look natural. Don’t know what that means, but it seemed like we did a great job didn’t we?
8. My very own jump shot.
9. The view of the fields from afar.

From the top of the hill, I noticed a field of flowers that I definitely had wanted to check out. No regrets there! They were ZINNIA, the flowers that bloomed from late July to late September. More photo taking opportunities, and being amongst the flowers was like a dream come true. Ummar took one look at the picture below and went, “That looks like Tellytubby Land.” Much to my surprise. This man had a childhood! *pops confetti*

After wandering away from the field of flowers, it was when we discovered a place where they featured traditional Japanese old school toys. We spent quite a bit of time there, tossing the kendama, throwing around tops and me getting creamed by Ummar in a game of ‘badminton’ with wooden paddles and a feathered wooden ball. While he was a natural at stuff, I take some time to get used to things. Joseph and I had a blast trying to get that thing to stay on our paddles while skidding, shuffling, yelping and laughing around.

1. Arafath was very skilled at top spinning.
2. Still pretty peeved that his ice cream is bigger than mine.
3. Me, Manoj and Joseph enjoying a leisurely ride.
4. The awesome vertical wall.

The entire park was kid-friendly too. The playground was one of the best I’ve ever seen… EVER. If I were a kid, I’d be totally excited to climb up the vertical wall, slide down the roller slide and jump on the rope bridge. Which was exactly what we did. The child in me never died. After scaling up the vertical wall (didn’t know I still had it in me), Ummar grabbed my arm and dragged me across the suspended rope bridge. It wasn’t the best idea because my clumsy feet got caught in between ropes and I tripped and fell flat on my face… much to the rest of my other friends’ horror. I picked myself up, jumped off the course and brushed sand off my knees.. that was when Manoj exclaimed, “You have blood on your leg!” While the boys fussed over me, I brushed them off, wiped away the blood and sped off on my bike. Hurt like a bitch, but I felt really great. Haven’t had that much action and fun in a really long time and getting to experience that was totally worth it.

There was a mini amusement park, with rides and mini go-kart course for tiny humans and even a water park. I wished we had the time to stay and play for awhile, especially the roller coaster or the fast, spinning superman contraption but we had to get out of there so as not to miss the ONLY bus back to Tokyo. Alas.

Ummar got to check something off his bucket list, and we got to enjoy it with him. I would recommend everyone to visit this place at least once in their lifetime. Different types of flowers bloomed every single month, so check out the website to see which ones you really want to immerse yourselves in and just go! The website also tells you how to get there, but we took a route that was less of a hassle but it meant a little bit of rushing.

Getting to Hitachi Seaside Park our way:
1. Train to Tokyo Station
2. Head towards Yaesu South Exit
3. The counter for the highway buses should be on the left.
4. There’s only one timing for the bus that goes to Hitachi Seaside Park which is at 1030
5. There’s only one bus back from Hitachi Seaside Park that departs at 1630

Cheers!

Packing Woes

December 2, 2014

I came across this particular quote and fell in love with it because it made sense. The whole of today had been dedicated to me slowly packing for my very first faraway trip in a long, long time. Finally I could get away from the usual Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan bubble and scratch off more countries on my scratch map.

For the next 10 days, I’ll be in Turkey. There will be a lot of ground covered, and a lot of travelling done so I am pretty excited. This is also the first time in years that I am joining my family on a packaged tour. My mum usually prefers free and easy travelling -something I’ve inherited from her – so it’s going to be quite interesting. Plus my grandma’s coming with us. It’s going to be epic.

I’ve been so used to travelling on my own that I’m happy for once I get to take the backseat and not worry about anything. The only thing I worried about was packing. It should be an easy task for me as I do it on a weekly basis, but I learnt packing for work and packing for leisure travel ain’t the same.

Things I needed to consider:

1. It’s winter in Turkey. That meant the type of clothing I need to bring.
2. How cold is cold? Is it as bitter cold as Japan’s winter or is it leather jackets sufficient during the day like the Gold Coast?
3. How many pairs of shoes should I bring? Should I stick to my trusty Converse or wear my boots?
4. The Modcloth ones or Timberlands?
5. What if the Timberland ones aren’t comfy enough.
6. What if the Modcloth ones fall apart?
7. Oh dear God.

Anyway, I’m just gonna pack what I can carry and hope for the best. This space will be a little more quiet than usual, but you can follow me on INSTAGRAM for a daily progress or FACEBOOK!

Till then!

Lake Kawaguchi

December 1, 2014

I was the last to fall asleep in my dorm that night after a hell of a time trying to get to Tokyo from Osaka, and the first to rise and scoot out the next morning. That’s quite a feat because I’m not normally an early riser. Last night I was given two choices: head to Kawaguchiko to see Mount Fuji with Arafath and Manoj or explore Tokyo city with Ummar and Joseph. I picked the former of course. I can explore Tokyo during my layovers.

Left the hostel and hopped on the train, got a feel of Tokyo’s rush hour. It wasn’t as bad as the videos and photos I’ve seen, but I was never a fan of squeezing in public transport. Got off at Tokyo station to meet the two boys and booked tickets for the bus that would take us straight to Lake Kawaguchi. I was incredibly excited to finally be able to spend time with friends after being alone and in the company of strangers for the past week. There was a lot to catch up during that 3-hour journey, including some shut eye. Ummar didn’t believe that I’d wake up early to join them, so I sent him a picture as proof.

The Kawaguchiko area boasts spectacular view of Mount Fuji at certain times of the day…. and unfortunately not when we were there. Our beloved Mount Fuji had been perpetually hiding behind the clouds the entire day, alas. Thankfully there were enough things to do and see while we were there to keep us occupied.

The first thing we did when we got there was to survey the packages available for sightseeing. There were a few options and we decided to take the one that included a hop-on and off retro bus shuttle that takes us to all the attractions offered, a ropeway trip and a little boat ride around the lake. Before buying the tickets, we needed to tackle a more important matter: the ride back to Tokyo city. I had an errand to run before our evening activities so I scoured for a bus timing that suited my fancy. Unfortunately, most of the time slots were fully booked and we managed to score the last three tickets a little bit later… that meant I had lesser time to run my errand. NOTE: If you intend to take the direct highway bus back to Tokyo station from Kawaguchiko, let securing a seat be the FIRST thing you do. Or you can take the train, which is way more complicated than your problems.

First stop was the highly photogenic Oishi Park located at the very end of the shuttle bus route. It was a flower haven. The sight was like nothing I’ve seen. It probably would be a sneak peek to the Hitachi Seaside Park, a place we intended to go the next day. We spent most of the time camwhoring, and tried our very best to cut short our time spent so we could see more. But there was always enough time for jump shots.

Next stop: Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum. This was Arafath’s idea after the bus went past the area on the way to Oishi Park. What made the place more special lies beyond the fence. The place was MAGICAL. If it weren’t for the place teeming with Asians, I wouldn’t have thought I was in Asia.

Next stop was a toss between the rope way or the boat ride. But first, we were all starving and needed food. Lawsons to the rescue! At that time I wasn’t as sick of konbini food as I am sitting here typing all these out now. I got my usual haul from the store, onigiri, crab sticks, cream cake, bottled green tea and a Japanese Yakult-like drink in a carton. We chomped on our quick lunch while waiting for the boat ride which wasn’t due for another half an hour. The weather was marvellous; it wasn’t too hot or too cold, but it wasn’t sunny. It was a gloomy, grey with a hint of sunshine type of day. When it was time for the boat ride, we hopped on the boat and were least bothered about the commentary because it was in Japanese. We took the time to enjoy the scenery. The wind was vicious though. Cold.

Our last stop was the ropeway. By this time, the driver of the shuttle bus knew us well enough already and didn’t demand for our bus passes. The ride reminded me of the tram ride I took in Penang, retro, clanking piece of metal and all. The climb to the viewpoint was about 3 minutes long and from there you could hike up to a higher altitude for better view. We were lazy and tired so we stuck to the area where we could see the tram. We had a beautiful view of the lake from the viewpoint, but Fuji-san was still feeling shy that day.

All the sightseeing took a whole day, and the journey back to Tokyo station was uneventful, except when the bus went past the Fuji-Q amusement park. The rollercoaster was by far the longest I’ve seen. Sucks that we didn’t get to go and check it out. Made a mental note to drag the crew along if we ever had a Tokyo two-nighter.

We got to Tokyo city at around 8 pm, and that gave me zero time to go back to my hostel and run my errand before meeting Ummar and Joseph at Roppongi. I was to send my big, fat Country Road duffle bag to International Garden Hotel in Narita because I was too cheap to purchase check-in baggage for my flight home. Plus, I was too lazy to carry such a huge thing filled with goodies from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter around. So I decided to send my duffle bag to the hotel I usually stay at for work for temporary safekeeping till my next work trip… which would have been in less than two weeks. Didn’t happen.I got distracted by the idea of going up to the the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building’s observation deck, that’s why.

From there we headed to Shinjuku in search of Kabukicho, the entertainment and red light district of Tokyo. Arafath was hell bent on finding the damned place, and when we finally did I realised I’ve been there with my crew before. I just never realised we wandered into a red light district. The place was vibrant, loud and colourful.. littered with R21-themed parlours and decorations. I was lucky to be with the two boys, or I wouldn’t have survived.

We got so caught up in the scene, we were 1.5 hours late for our meeting with Ummar, Joseph and Manabu-san in Roppongi. I had insisted that we went to Roppongi together. What I didn’t expect was the fact we were only going to stay there till the last train. Which meant, we had less than 2 hours to party. Yes, Roppongi was the party district of Tokyo, and we spent less than 2 hours there before I had to run, yet again, for my last train to Asakusa.

I experienced the craziness of Roppongi with the crew a few months back. Craziness involved staying out all night and club hopped. We stayed out till the sun came up and slept walked all the way back to Narita. While we didn’t get to do that this time, I would recommend anyone to head to Roppongi for a great night out with friends.

The hopes of a semi-early night for me diminished as soon as I stepped into my hostel building that night. I was still recovering from the scare of barely making it for the last train to Asakusa. All these running for trains ain’t good for my health. But there was a party going on. Great. It was going to be another long day for me tomorrow, but what is sleep, right?