‘Quality over quantity,’ was what my friend Ummar had said when he describe his year in travel, and I couldn’t agree more. 2015 was the year of weddings. Most of my leave days this year were spent on them. Be it at home, or destination weddings… it was weddings, weddings and more weddings!
March 2015 – Bali, Indonesia
Started off the first vacation of the year in Bali. I’m totally making it a thing to head to Bali once a year just because. This time though, it was for my girlfriend Nikki’s birthday weekend. We rented a private villa in Seminyak and did some sightseeing, cafe hopping and of course, celebrated her birthday with dinner at the fancy Ku De Ta.
March 2015 – Taipei, Taiwan
Straight after Bali, it was my first ever trip with my baby sister. Because of our six-year age gap, we hardly ever get the opportunity to go anywhere together. But she turns 18 this year, what better way to spend it in a place we both have never been to before! Taipei was a street food haven, with throngs of night markets to explore, and if you venture out of the city area, you’ll find hidden gems on the roads less travelled. Unfortunately, we went during the rainy season, so 4 out of 5 days were spent under an umbrella and cursing the cold and wet weather. Oh wells.
May-June 2015 – Tiruchirappali/ Pondicherry/ Chennai/ Delhi/ Jaipur, India
My biggest trip of 2015 was to India. Our main purpose was to attend our good friend, Manoj’s wedding in a village called Namakkal in South India, but we took the opportunity to explore India after. Visited the iconic Taj Mahal, the Grand Mosque in Delhi and navigated through the maze of Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, India was nothing like I had expected. It’s one place I will definitely make plans to come back in the near future.
June 2015 – Wakayama, Japan
I first read about Wakayama in an article that featured themed trains. I mean, how often can you tell people you’ve been on a strawberry-themed train? I made the trip with Mai-chan on one of our rare 2-night Japan layovers and it was worth it! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Tama, the famous station master because he was gravely ill and subsquently passed away a few days later. However we did meet Nitama, once a receptionist cat, now the newly appointed station master of the Kishi station.
November 2015 – Wuhan, China
Our first new route that doesn’t revolve around Denpasar. We fly into Wuhan via Gold Coast, courtesy of a two-year deal a Chinese tycoon struck with our airline to provide charter service from Australia to China and back. I’ve only been there once, and did more eating than anything else. I discovered that people in this part of China really love their spicy food. The spices that accompanied the dishes, or so heavily coated in are like lip, tongue and mind numbingly spicy! Wuhan flights are highly coveted since it’s brand new, hence it’ll be a while till I get another chance to visit. Hopefully, this time I’d do more than eat and sleep and catch HBO, the only English channel they have on TV.
What are my plans for next year?
It had always been my dream to visit America during Obama’s administration, and next year will be the final year I’ll get to do it. My best friend Rasyidah’s living in Seattle during that time too, so it’ll be a perfect opportunity to travel America and visit her at the same time.
USA is definitely on my cards next year, and one other big trip before I relinquish my travel benefits for good. To where, I’m not quite sure… But I was hoping to set foot properly in Europe. However, if the stars aligned for me next year, maybe I’ll get to explore the Middle East? *fingers crossed*
