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sowecanrememberourtrips · 2 years

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Seoul, Korea (2022)

Dates: 25th November 2022 to 2nd December 2022

TRANSPORT

ICN Airport to City: 45 min Express Train from ICN to Seoul Station. About S$9.

Seoul Station to CBD area (Eujiro 2 or Cheonggyecheon stream): Cab- about S$8- 9.

Travel within city: All cabs to places from CBD: S$8 to S$22. Furthest being Gangnam.

Google the desired location, click its Google Map. Find Korean words below photos at Google Map. Audio playback Korean words to cab drivers (most don’t know English). Or, copy Korean address, then find in Naver app for bus/ subway/ walk options.

Get transport card from any CU (their 7-11) store. Can be used on buses and subway trains. STAY

Where to stay: from orientation and observations done in this trip, these two areas are ideal.

1. Somewhere along Cheonggyecheon Stream between Euljiro 1 and 3 stations. CBD. Eg Lotte City Hotel Myeondong is superbly situated. Four Points Sheraton, Nine Tree Myeondong are options too.

2. Yeonamm is a charming, alternative area. Hipster Haji-lane vibes. Only down side - further from everything else as Yeonamm -Hongdae is in the west. (Think Holland V) WHERE’S WHERE

The following clustering of activities and highlights is done with efficient moving-around in mind.

Cluster 1: Gyeongbokgung Palace

Cafe Onion- one of the most well-known cafes among Singaporean tourists. has a couple of branches. good pastries and aesthetic interior design. Anguk branch is in a century-old hanok. Unique place for breakfast.

Go west for 5-10 min, you will reach MCCA Seoul branch (also got other branches, so be careful when navigating), which is just across the road from Gyeongbokgung Palace.

National Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art (MCCA Seoul)- a great museum to visit if you want a break from shopping and the outdoors. relatively edgy exhibits. has a big cafe and gift shop too.

Gyeongbokgung Palace — one of the most popular tourist destinations in Seoul. A fun thing to do would be to loan traditional costumes from the nearby shops for a couple of hours, to explore the palace grounds in while taking photos. note that the palace is closed on Tuesdays. we had a good experience loaning costumes from Hanbok Girls. when done, walk to nearby restaurant Tosokchon Samgyetang, famous for ginseng chicken.

There are two Hanok villages in this area too - Bukchon (more famous) and Seochon.

About S$8 cab fare from Euljiro 3 to Onion Anguk. Cluster 2: Jongno (Ikseondong - Insadong - Pocha)

Ikseon-dong- a unique hanok village that is popular with social media influencers due to very aesthetic cafes. good for a cafe-hopping afternoon. notable cafes include: Cheong Su Dang (清水堂）and Kafe 溫 (카페 온 溫).

Walk minutes to the west, you will reach Insadong - tourist shopping street, with a youth design centre that has floors of crafts based on original IP.

Walk south and you will reach the road Donhwamum-ro 11-Gil. Where exits 4 and 5 of Jongno 3 Station areat. This is where there is a concentration of Pochas at night in winter, and in the alleys, a cluster of gay bars such as Bar Friends and Gnomes.

If you stay near Eujilro 1-3, all these are within walking distances.

Cluster 3: Cheonggyecheon Stream

North of Stream, between Jonggak station and Jongno 2 street is Avenue of Youth. Noisy Ximending-like. Lots of food though - BHC and Kyonchon fried chicken shops are here. Also, a huge orange pocha with good food!

South of Stream: Myeondong. Myeongdong- traditionally known as a shopping area popular for cosmetic products. but many shops have closed due to the pandemic. currently worth visiting mainly to check out the street food stalls and a famous dumpling eatery named Myeongdong Kyoja, which only serves 4 dishes but is a must-visit. has 2 branches in the area.

Can also cover walk Lotte Town - a series of huge shopping malls with familiar brands like Uniqlo, Samsonite .

If you stay near Eujilro 1-3, all these are within walking distances. Cluster 4: Gwangjang Market + DDP

Gwangjang Market- a vibrant street food destination, including a couple of stalls featured on Netflix programme Street Food. come here for lunch and to check out the market stalls selling snacks and dry goods.

DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza)- an architectural wonder that’s one of the most recognisable landmarks in Seoul. visit to take photos of the facade, then check out the exhibition spaces and gift shop within.

If you stay near Eujilro 1-3, all these are within walking distances. Or a short cab or bus ride to the east. Can cover both over lunch and an afternoon. Cluster 5: Hongdae and Yeonnam

Hongdae- probably one of the best shopping areas in Seoul for youths and the young at heart. wide range of shopping options, from international brands to indie shops. good to come in the evening and stay on till night falls. many f&b offerings too. we began exploring the area from an arts complex we love named KT&G.

Yeonnam-dong- a charming area near Hongdae, with alleyways of numerous cafes, boutiques and bookshops. notable eateries include: Greem Cafe, Gosh Gosh

Yeonnam is more Haji Lane and Hongdae is more Bugis. They are separated by Hongik University Station.

About S$10 - 15 cab fare from Eujiro 3 to Yeonamm or Hongdae. Cluster 6: Gangnam

Further south, must cross Han River. At least 20-30 min cab ride (S$18-22) from Cheonggyecheon Stream. So plan activities together to avoid travelling up and down.

Starfield Library- located within COEX mall, this aesthetic library has been a popular photo destination for years. the underground mall itself is connected to Hyundai Department Store.

Then go west to Apgujeong area for Sinsajeon Honey Comb Makgeolli. Good pancakes too. Must visit!

The street in front of Makgeolli shop is Dosan-daero 11 Gil. And it has CK and Gentle Monster etc. Can walk and lead you to Hyundai Departmental Main Store. Sulwhasoo flagship store is nearby too. Others

Lotte Mart next to Seoul Station- massive supermarket good for buying snacks and other gifts before flying home

Seoul Forest- more like a Botanic Gardens than an actual forest, but a good option for a walk in nature without leaving Seoul

Paradise City- a relatively new casino resort near Incheon Airport. it has a refreshing focus on modern art, and features some stunning architectural wonders. worth visiting for photo opportunities. locker service on level 3 of Incheon Airport, then free shuttle service (10min) available to get you here.

Zest- a chic bar that’s in the list of World’s 50 Best Bars 2022. Prides itself on cocktails that use Korean ingredients in a sustainable manner

#korea #seoul

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 5 years

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Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels (2019)

Dates: 29th Nov 2019 - 12th Dec 2019 (2 weeks)

Climate: On average, temperatures in all 3 cities ranged from 1 - 10 degrees, making it necessary for us to wear heat tech inner wear, gloves and thick winter jackets when outdoors. Thankfully, it only drizzled on a couple of days, and there was only mild snow on our very first day in Copenhagen. However, the sun set around 4pm daily, which was a factor to consider when planning our activities.

Expenditure: In total, each of us spent at least SGD $5,500 for the whole trip. We converted SGD $1,500 for cash expenditure during the 2 weeks, but definitely used our credit cards every now and then. Note that there are places in these 3 cities which do not accept cash. We chose to stay in gorgeous Airbnb apartments as we feel that hotels in Europe generally do not offer value for money.

Sequence: Copenhagen (Denmark), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium).

Transport: Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Copenhagen at midnight of 28th Nov, KLM flight from Copenhagen to Amsterdam, train from Amsterdam to Brussels, Singapore Airlines from Brussels back to Singapore (via stopover in Zurich)

***

Day 1 (Fri)

Singapore Airlines direct flight to Copenhagen.

Metro from Copenhagen airport to town area took about 20 min.

Torvehallerne Market, largest covered market in Copenhagen, which we went to by taking the metro to Nørreport. The area is split into two air-conditioned market halls: http://torvehallernekbh.dk/

Freetown Christiana: A controversial closed community, that was immune to Denmark’s laws at one point. While we were at an area named Pusher Street, we actually saw drug pushers setting up makeshift stalls to sell their stuff to all sorts of characters crowding around them. Note that photographs are generally not allowed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania

Church of our Saviour: one of Denmark’s most famous churches, known for a helix spire with a winding staircase. We did not go up, but entered the building to look at the beautiful prayer hall: https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/church-our-saviour-gdk410659

Strøget, Copenhagen’s largest shopping area. We were rather overwhelmed here actually, due to it being Black Friday. Incredibly vibrant, and therer were also charming Christmas markets offering highlights such as mulled wine, also known as Gløgg: https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/stroget-gdk414471

Other important info to note for getting around Copenhagen:

It was surprisingly difficult to find places offering data SIM cards at/near airport, so we decided to depend on Wifi and a navigation app we like named maps.me (like Google Maps that doesn’t need online connectivity if you have downloaded the country map beforehand)

Important tip: Get the Copenhagen Card online. Can be physical card (pick up at airport) or a digital version in your phone. There are 1 day, 3 day or 5 day options for purchase. Covered our public transport and entrance fees for many attractions including museums and Tivoli Gardens.

Our Airbnb apartment was a 5min walk from Nørrebros Runddel station on a circular line. Try to always find accommodation within a radius of less than 5min from metro stations. We would go on to depend a lot on the Metro Circle Line M3 for the next few days, which is new and brings you to many popular attractions.

Metro station overview: Three stops along Stroget, Rådhuspladsen is City Hall side, with LGBTQ area next to it and Tivoli Gardens opposite it. Gammel Strand in the middle and Kongens Nytorv is the other end, walking distance to Nyhavn, Marble Church, Design Museum. Marmorkirken station also means Marble Church. M3 also covers Enghave Plads, which is the heart of Vesterbro area (beware, dead on weekends after 3pm!) and København H or Central station, transit to S Trains for Forgotten Giants.

Day 2 (Sat)

Nyhavn, a lovely waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen. Lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants: https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/nyhavn-gdk474735

We enjoyed a canal cruise in the area, covered under our Copenhagen Card. Informative 90min experience that covered a lot of attractions via the waterways of the city. We arrived early (10+ in the morning) when crowds were small.

Restaurant 108 for Michelin-quality lunch: https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/restaurant-108-gdk1082918 (after walking along Nyhavn to Royal Playhouse)

Vesterbro area after lunch by bus, unfortunately the area was a fairly dead town, with most shops closed by 3pm. An area that has potential, but isn’t worth going to yet.

Enghave Plads station, where we explored nearby streets and ate at Sliders.

Rainbow Square, next to City Hall Square, honours the LGBTQ movement. Drinks at a cosy bar named My Fair Ladies, serving drinks named after divas like Idina Menzel: https://www.myfairladies.dk

Day 3 (Sun)

Rosenborg Castle, home to 400 years of royal history. After exploring the grounds and halls, at 11.30am, we followed the royal guards as they marched from an exit of the castle to Amalienborg Palace. Very fun experience marching alongside them through areas like Strøget: https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/rosenborg-castle-gdk410582

Amalienborg Palace, Marble Church (biggest dome in Scandinavia), Design Musem, three places we visited in succession due to their proximity from each other: https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/amalienborg-palace-gdk492887

Gasoline Grill, interesting burger kiosk at a petrol station: https://www.gasolinegrill.com/

Round Tower: fascinating architectural highlight. No stairs! Located in a vibrant area too: https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/round-tower-gdk410741

Illums Bolighus, massive Danish design store, one of many highlights at the bustling pedestrian shopping area of Strøget: https://www.illumsbolighus.dk/

Oscar Bar & Cafe, classy restaurant bar for the LGBTQ community, located at Regnbuepladsen 9, a short walk from the City Hall Square: http://oscarbarcafe.dk/

Day 4 (Mon)

Nørrebro Park, a skate park with contour lines, perfect for Instagram: https://iaincameron.dk/norrebro-park-copenhagens-colourful-urban-park/

Grundtvig’s Church, which we visited after a bus ride, but unfortunately could not enter due to it being closed on Mondays

Tivoli Gardens, one of Copenhagen’s most popular tourist attractions. We spent many hours here, soaking in the Christmas vibes and eating at the amazing variety of eateries. Established in 1843, and yet still incredibly charming despite the lack of intellectual property characters like Universal Studios or Disney theme parks. We recommend entering in daylight, and staying till night falls, as well as visiting during the Christmas period. We deliberately visited on a Monday too, to avoid weekend crowds. Admission was covered under our Copenhagen Card, but you have to pay separately for rides: https://www.tivoli.dk

Note: If you plan to also visit the NY Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum next door, you may want to visit Tivoli on a non-Monday, as the art museum is closed on Mondays.

Day 5 (Tue)

Bulk of the day was spent outside the city, hunting for forgotten wooden giants by Thomas Dambo: https://thomasdambo.com/works/forgotten-giants

There are 6 of these giants hidden in forested areas of Copenhagen’s suburbs. We had time to find 3, depending solely on public transport options such as the S train and buses (do prior research using Google maps). A significant amount of walking/trekking was required too.

Based on online research, driving is a more popular way to find these giants, but we decided against it as we did not want to rent a car for just 1 day and worry about the unfamiliarity involved. Our navigation app maps.me also reflected the location of the giants, helping us to find our way in the wilderness.

Sequence of 3 giants found: Little Tilde, Thomas on the Mountain, Teddy Friendly.

Chose to find Little Tilde and Thomas on the Mountain first, as they are 20 min walking distance apart. Little Tilde takes about 10min walk from bus stop. And then skirt around the lake, cut through a sheep farm area and climb up a steep sloop overlooking a field to find Thomas on the Mountain.

Then this is the longest walk of about 25 min from mountaintop to civilization. Hop on the same train to go further in the train route to another suburb Høje Taastrup to find Teddy Friendly. The train station for this is a larger terminal and the bus to take is right above the station. Bus will bring you to a Technological Institute. Teddy Friendly is only about 5-10 min walk from bus stop depending on which bus.

Now, if you missed the bus specified by Google Maps, you can look for other buses that take similar routes. Cos bus intervals may be as long as 40 min.

NY Carlsberg Glyptotek, a massive art museum beside Tivoli Gardens. Spent a couple of hours appreciating the statues and surroundings, before Thai takeaway dinner near Airbnb apartment.

For future treks to find the remaining 3 giants:

If we had one more hour of day light, we could have covered a 4th, Sleeping Louis, on our way back (sun set around 4pm at this time of year). Cos it’s also the same train line, and some 20 min walk one way from bus stop drop off.

The other two giants are harder to get to. The one under the bridge is a whopping 35 -40 min walk from nearest train stop. No bus or clear walk track. However if you cover this, you may as well walk a little more to Arken Museum of Contemporary Art. Either giant or museum, you will need another 40 min to walk back to train station.

The last giant on the hill is a 8 min bicycle ride from Louis. But a 30 min walk one way southwards. Again, no train or bus routes.

Day 6 (Wed)

KLM Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Amsterdam.

Tip: Buy 24 hours or 3 days tram / bus passes. One trip on tram costs 3.2 euros, whereas a day pass costs 8 euros

Jordaan area for Airbnb apartment. A charming Tiong Bahru-ish place with cozy restaurants and cafes. 4min walk to Westermarkt church (our landmark and tram stops), which is in turn near the iconic Anne Frank House.

Anne Frank House, one of Amsterdam’s most famous tourist spots. We were impressed by how tasteful the experience was. Poignant but essential. We bought tickets in advance as this is a very popular place: https://www.annefrank.org/en/

Grand Café Restaurant 1e klas in Amsterdam Centraal Station for dinner, as we were entitled to a Klook promotion. Classy venue.

Future consideration: Staying in hotels near Amsterdam Centraal is a good idea, as the pick up points for many day tours are within the station

Note: Tram ride from Westermarkt to Centraal or vice versa takes only about 5 min.

LGBTQ tip: Pink Point is a useful info kiosk for the community, located right in front of Westermarkt. We picked up a map and spoke to the owner to find out more about bars and clubs. There is also a homomonument nearby, consisting of three triangular structures to honour the LGBTQ community.

Day 7 (Thurs)

Zaanse Schans windmills + Volendam cheese makers + ferry ride to Marken to learn about wooden shoe making. Comprehensive Klook day tour that we highly recommend. Meeting point was Amsterdam Centraal Station.

Canal boat tour for Amsterdam Light Festival. We bought tickets at a tourist kiosk, for the boat company Lovers. A charming 90min ride around the city’s canals in the evening, with pitstops to appreciate light installations by international artists, based on the theme Disrupt.

Prik, gay bar located at Spuistraat 109, for drinks

Day 8 (Fri)

MOCO Museum, a relatively small museum hosting an exhibition of works by contemporary and street artists including Banksy, Yayoi Kusama, Kaws and Jeff Koons: https://mocomuseum.com

Van Gogh Museum, much bigger, permanently dedicated to the life and work of Van Gogh. Buy tickets online so you only need to queue once to enter. 11am to 2pm is peak hour: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl

Both museums are located in Museum Square. Another popular museum in the area is Rijksmuseum, but we did not have time for that due to spending hours in the two museums listed above.

Club Church, located at Kerkstraat 52. An eye-opening themed night at this dance club.

Day 9 (Sat)

Giethoorn, which we visited using a Klook day tour. A picturesque little village, 1.5 hours drive from Amsterdam. It has canals instead of streets and boats instead of cars. We had a lovely time strolling along the canals, and enjoyed a boat tour too. Highly recommended for December, but we were warned that the place is overcrowded and unpleasant in summer: https://www.klook.com/en-SG/activity/8628-giethoorn-one-day-tour-amsterdam/

The Good Companion, for comforting seafood dinner, walking distance from our Airbnb in Jordaan area: https://www.thegoodcompanion.nl/

Paradox, coffeeshop for marble cake (less upmarket)

Day 10 (Sun)

Kessens, a hipster cafe serving breakfast, walking distance from our Airbnb apartment: http://www.kessensamsterdam.nl/

Bloemenmarkt, a supposed floating flower market, which was basically a row of shops selling similar tulip products. Too touristy for our liking.

Picked friend at Central Station, who would spend a couple of days with us in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Genetics, coffeeshop for red velvet cake (more upmarket)

Rice Table for dinner, along main road leading to Westermarkt

Day 11 (Mon)

Pancakes Amsterdam Westermarkt for breakfast: https://pancakes.amsterdam/locations/3/pancakes-amsterdam-westermarkt (very near Anne Frank House)

Coffee at Zoo bakery

Amsterdam Centraal’s Wurst & Schnitzelhaus for lunch, before boarding train to Brussels

Thalys train to Brussels. Tickets bought online before the trip: https://www.thalys.com/be/en

Grand Place for Christmas light show on the hour, part of the Brussels Lights Festival. This is the historic central square of Brussels: https://www.brussels.be/grand-place-brussels

La Brouette, traditional brasserie for dinner, located right at Grand Place: https://taverne-brouette.be/en

Airbnb right in the heart of district centre, walking distance to Grand Place

Day 12 (Tue)

Ghent and Bruges, which we visited using a Klook day tour that took 10 hours (including bus time). Both are charming cities in northwest Belgium, famous for their medieval architecture. Our guide provided comprehensive commentary in both cities, which offer many opportunities for photo-taking: https://www.klook.com/en-SG/activity/26000-ghent-bruges-day-tour-brussels/

Day 13 (Wed)

Breakfast at Aksum Coffee, located in a glitzy row of establishments named Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert: https://visit.brussels/en/place/Galeries-Royales-Saint-Hubert

Mannequin Pis, the famous peeing boy statue of Brussels. Popular with tourists, but definitely not a must-visit. The lanes of shops and eateries in the area were more interesting to us: https://www.brussels.info/peeing-boy/

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, for an interesting Dali x Magritte exhibition: https://www.fine-arts-museum.be/en

Laurent Gerbaud Chocolatier for late pastry lunch (owned by founder of Tiong Bahru Bakery): http://www.chocolatsgerbaud.be/

Wittamir area, for chocolate brands such as Godiva and Taschen bookstore

Rue Neuve pedestrian street for shopping, Primark being a highlight for us: https://stores.primark.com/nl_nl/belgie/brussels/13-15-rue-neuve

Starbucks Rogier, futuristic building: https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Restaurant_Review-g188644-d13274778-Reviews-Starbuck_Rogier-Brussels.html

Japanese food for dinner at Kabuki restaurant, near our Airbnb: http://www.restaurant-kabuki.be/

Day 14 (Thursday)

Took Intercity train to get to airport. Due to early flight, we had to get tickets for the 4.41am train. Thankfully, Brussels Central Station opens at 4am. Bought our tickets for 8 Euros the day before.

Flew back to Singapore with Singapore Airlines, via Zürich, Switzerland.

#copenhagen #amsterdam #brussels

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 5 years

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Seoul & Busan 2019

Dates: 11 - 19 June 2019 (4th and 5th nights spent in Busan)

Climate: Summer. Sunny but not really humid. Only slight rain on last couple of days.

Airline: Asiana Airlines (flew in to Seoul, flew back from Seoul)

Accommodation: 4 different hotels

1) Nine Tree Premier Hotel Myeong Dong 2 (3 nights) - pleasant mid-range hotel. walking distance to myeong dong shopping streets.

2) Commodore Hotel Busan (2 nights) - old and small rooms. not recommended. only hotel lobby and facade looked impressive.

3) IP Boutique Hotel (1 night) - chic hipster hotel, but some signs of aging.

4) Seoul Shilla Hotel (1 night) - posh high-end hotel. booked 1 night due to discounted rate.

Future hotel to consider: Aloft hotel in Myeongdong area (love the Bangkok one)

Day 1:

After arrival at Incheon Airport, Express Train to Seoul Station took about 40min. Had to change 2 more trains to arrive at the Green Line’s Euljiro3-ga station. Then walked to first hotel Nine Tree Premier Hotel Myeong Dong 2.

- Lunch at Myeongdong KyoJa eatery (famous for dumplings and cold noodles)

- Exploring vibrant shopping area around Myeongdong Cathedral. Myeongdong is a very big and popular shopping district, famous for facial product brands

- Deoksugung Palace (good for observing change of guard ceremony before entering to explore grounds)

- Sungnyemun Gate (photo stop)

- Namdaemun Market (fake branded goods, place has not aged well...)

- Dinner at Sinseon Seolnongtang eatery (famous for beef noodles and dishes),

- Desserts at Osulloc branch also in Myeongdong area (good matcha cafe chain from Jeju)

Day 2:

- Abalone porridge breakfast at restaurant above Sinseon Seolnongtang

- Exploring Gwanjang Market (featured on Netflix, must-visit place for local street food due to its uniqueness and vibrancy)

- Jongmyo Shrine (serene UNESCO World Heritage site)

- Ikseongdong Hanok Village (MUST GO! A very cool hipster enclave, consisting of beautiful cafes and restaurants occupying traditional one-storey Korean houses)

- Hongdae shopping area (youth-centric shopping near university), dinner at Kyochon Chicken, fried chicken and soju place in Hongdae area

Day 3:

- Booked a day tour for Nami Island, using Klook, a website that is very useful for tourists. After booking day tours of your choice, you are typically added into a Whatsapp group chat by the tour guide, and given instructions about where to wait for a bus to pick you up. We went to Nami Island boarding the bus followed by a ferry ride, with several other tourists. Nami Island is basically Instagram heaven, where we spent a few hours walking around and taking photos with the beautiful flora and quirky art installations. It was pleasant due to us being the earliest to arrive, and we left around lunchtime when busloads of other tourists arrived.

- After Nami Island, the day tour took us to Gangchon Rail Park (fun experience of operating pedal carts, allowing you to appreciate the countryside nature while being entertained by decorated tunnels), followed by Petite France (very lame theme park of sorts about Little Prince, please avoid if possible)

- After Klook day tour ended, we made our own way to Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a very futuristic building. Explored a hipster market within it, and the various malls in the area.

Day 4

- Had to take the train to Busan. Bought tickets the night before using Korail website, which was a mistake as timings were not ideal anymore. Buy early. Made our way back to Seoul Station, where we showed our online bookings at the counter to get our tickets. Note that this train ticket is quite expensive, about SGD$90 per person. We chose the first class cabin to have more comfort, since the train takes about 3hrs to reach Busan. Upon arrival in Busan, immediately buy your return tickets to secure ideal timings.

- Very challenging walk to Commodore Hotel Busan upon arrival, due to how many streets in Busan are very steep. Hotel rooms disappointed, so for future trips, will research more on better hotel options. Might be a good idea to stay near the train station that takes you back to Seoul, for convenience.

- Spent evening exploring some Busan streets, visiting pink cutesy cafe Kakao Friends Store Apeach Cafe and walking around BIFF square

Day 5

- Booked a day tour for Busan’s famous attractions, using Klook once again. Similar process of choosing and booking the day tour online, communicating with guide over Whatsapp, and going to a meeting place to board a bus with other tourists. Day tour itinerary included:

- Haedong Yonggungsa (stunning temple by the coast, known as most beautiful temple in south korea. be prepared to jostle with crowds though)

- Taejongdae Coast (coastal walk, highlight being a white lighthouse)

- Songdo Beach (sprawling coastal area, with seafood restaurants, cafes, boardwalks, very good for photos)

- Gamcheon Cultural Village (MUST GO! A very charming and quirky area, highlight being houses painted in pastel colours. Many interesting shops and cafes, very popular with youths and Instagram enthusiasts)

- After day tour ended, we made our own way to dinner at the Bay 101 area of Busan, which reminded us of the MBS area

Day 6

- Took train to leave Busan and return to Seoul, after which we checked in to IP Boutique Hotel in Itaewon area.

- Bongeunsa Temple (beautiful and peaceful temple, with beautiful lantern canopies)

- COEX Mall & Starfield Library (popular Instagram location, explore huge mall while making your way to the library. Some very cool cafes within the mall like STEM Coffee)

- Gangnam area - Huge shopping district, ideal for walking around and eating for several hours. Good place to people watch too. Had fun at shops like LINE Friends Store & Cafe.

Day 7

- Breakfast at hipster cafe Anthracite, walking distance from our IP Boutique Hotel in Itaewon

- Checked out and made our way to final hotel of the trip, Seoul Shilla Seoul, and were very impressed by the impeccable service and poshness of the hotel

- Lunch at famous ginseng chicken place Tosokchon Samgyetong

- Gyeongbokgung Palace was next stop, but it was unfortunately closed on Tuesdays (take note). Thankfully, we had a lot of fun around the palace anyway, due to renting hanbok costumes to wear. Near the palace, there are many competing shops renting hanbok costumes for affordable prices, around SGD$20 for a few hours. A very popular activity in the area, where many tourists will rent the costumes and take photos around the palace.

- Cheonggyecheon, iconic man-made river flowing through the middle of the city. Relaxing area to take photographs at.

Day 8

- Breakfast at the coolest hipster cafe of the trip - Cafe Onion. MUST GO! Amazing interior design that’s basically extreme industrial chic.

- COMMON GROUND - popular Instagram location due to blue containers used to decorate a hip shopping area. Surprisingly empty before lunchtime.

- Made our way to Incheon Airport for flight back to Singapore

SUMMARY:

Seoul is a good alternative to Taipei and Tokyo, in terms of being a modern Asian city. As compared to 2011 (my previous trip), the overall vibrancy and beauty of the city has grown significantly in 2019. However, we agree with the common view that locals can sometimes be rude in public places, such as trains and elevators within train stations.

Busan is actually the second largest city in South Korea. We only spent a couple of days there, but enjoyed the attractions we saw. Now that there is a direct flight to Busan, I think it’s possible for a future trip to focus more on Busan.

Klook is a very useful resource to tap on, if you want to cover key attractions without having to worry about transport during day tours.

Facial products are probably the most popular items bought by tourists. On this trip, I spent quite a bit on Sulwhasoo products, which can sometimes be slightly cheaper in South Korea than Singapore.

#seoul busan korea

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 6 years

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Tasmania 2019

One Week in Tasmania. March 17-24.

Tasmania is 100x the area size of Singapore, yet its population is only 500,000. If you want nature, National Parks, lakes and farms, coastal drives and forest walks, this is the place.

It is also home to animals such as Tasmania devils, quolls, wallabies, pademelons and kangaroos.

We squeezed a 7-day itinerary into 6 days. Kinda round the island in 2,000km. Do-able but a little tight on Day 1.

Took the red-eyed flight, and arrived in Melbourne to transit to Hobart. Our Quantas arrived in Hobart at 2pm. Jetstar may get you 4 more hours - precious as most shops and eateries in the woods close at 5pm!

Either flight, I would recommend staying one afternoon and night at Hobart, to rest up before driving west.

We rented a car from Apex car rental. Small local Aussie company, friendly and flexible service which allowed us to return the GPS when we learned that iPhone Google Maps can be plugged into the car system. Their office and carpark is 1 min away from airport departure hall. We called for their van transport upon collecting bags, and by the time we reached pick up point, the van arrived. We picked a Hyundai sedan, $41 a day. Functional, but if you have budget, go for a heavier car as traveling speed can go up to 120km/h.

Download map.me app. And then download map of Tasmania. This wonder offline map will save you when data GPS fails you in the forest.

Day 1 (Hobart to Strahan, total 5 hrs drive)

Upon collecting car at 2pm, we made our way from East to West. No time for proper lunch!

Buy the Multi-Parks Pass for $60. Useful and good as it covers two adults, one car, and all National Parks! We bought ours from ticketing counter at Russel Falls.

1 hr 15 min to reach Russel Falls, within Mt Field National Park. Do the walk up to Russel Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Tall Trees (Eucalyptus) trek. Takes about 3 hours return.

(If you start off in the morning, you may want to drive on 1.5 hours more to a recommended next stop for lunch. The Wall in the Wilderness Cafe)

From Mt Field National Park, it’s 3hr 45 min to Strahan. Tiring drive as night was falling. Wild animals come out more at night, and there are no street lamps, so drive with extra care.

Make stops for coffee or dinner - which we did not! Or rather, we tried to. We stopped at Queenstown, a supposed big town an hour before Strahan, but all shops were closed by 6. We met a nice lady named Joy at the Paragon Theatre who cooked up some carbonara for us and allowed us to dine in this old-school theatre screening hall - deeply appreciated at 10pm!

Salt Box Hideaways is more Airbnb than hotel. Self-picked the keys from a locked box. Apartment was hipster lovely! Morning surprise view of a lake as we raised the curtains!

Day 2 (Strahan to Cradle Mt, total 2.5 hrs drive)

Strahan is a sleepy, scenic town by Gordon River. A great place for breakfast is The Coffee Shack & Morsels, opposite Gordon River Cruise. Great avocado toast. Cruise is damn expensive, don’t bother. 42 Degrees is a restaurant on a higher ground - but not opened for lunch. Check online.

A 20 min drive brings us to Henry Dunes. A peculiar area of fine white sand on top of a hill - gentle climb up sandy slopes.

1 hour more brought us to Montezuma Falls’ start-off point. To see the Falls - highest in Tasmania - is a 3 hours return trek thru rainforest. We just trekked a bit in and out of the rainforest. Looking back, this is not a recommended spot.

Another 1 hr 30 min to Discovery Parks Cabin and Camping site. Buy food (raw or cooked) along the way and top up petrol. Discovery Parks is an accommodation facility WITHIN Cradle Mountain, which is important and cool. We got the Family Cabin (good for 4 pax) as the hip cabins were sold out. Camp site has no food. Bring your own to cook in communal kitchen. Toilets are communal too but they provide towels. But super near Cradle Mt National Park Visitor Centre, which is useful for the next day.

5 min drive away is Devils@Cradle. They organize Tasmanian Devils feeding at 5:30pm and /or 8:30pm. Check online.

Day 3 (Cradle Mt - Launceston, total 2.5 hrs drive)

One of the highlights is the World Heritage listed Cradle Mountain National Park. Very organized shuttle buses that bring you in, very Jurassic Park feels. Park your car at Visitor Centre for free, grab a coffee (opens 8:30am) and then take the shuttle (every 20 min from 8am). Remember the Multi-Parks Pass? Gets you free shuttle bus tickets. Show at counter to redeem. Bus service is a loop service with 5 stops.

We took the 9:30am bus to Dove Lake. A lake formed by glaciation some 10,000 years ago. Absolutely stunning scenery and tranquillity. Walk around the lake takes about 3 hours, many photo points. Including a boat shed.

We then took the shuttle bus back to our car and drove to Peppers Lodge/ Cradle Mountain Lodge Tavern for lunch. Good portions!

To come back for:

Some other 20 min to 1 hour walks, there is one apparently beautiful walk just next to Peppers Lodge. Or, the famous Overland Walk, that takes 6 days. Can fly into Launceston and drive 2.5 hrs here.

We went to Devils@Cradle, a sanctuary for breeding the endangered Devils, in time for a 1pm Keepers Tour. Very informative and you get to see Devils and Quolls.

From here, it’s a 2.5 hours drive to Launceston. Can stop by Sheffield (town of murals) or Christmas Hills Raspberry Farms for tea break.

Launceston is the second largest city of Tasmania. We stayed at Mercure, which is along Brisbane Street, their city centre where you could walk to cafes, eateries and shops. Ate at Pachinko, an Asian fusion place.

Day 4 (Launceston to the East, total 4 hrs drive)

A very short drive (5 min) from city centre of Launceston will bring you to Cataract Gorge. A pretty and easy park to walk around after breakfast (pancakes and French toast!) at Basin Cafe located right at the park. Spend about 2 hours here, including breakfast.

On the way to the East (2.5 hours to Bay of Fires), we stopped by Ledgerwood. To see the 9 unique war memorial carvings on cedar trees.

We also stopped here for lunch and ice cream at a simple Ledgerwood Kitchen.

If you like cheese, the next pee or coffee stop could be Pyengana Dairy Company. We stopped instead at a roadside kiosk for coffee with a mountain view, and a little stretch-leg shopping at The Shop in The Bush.

Bay of Fires is a secluded pristine white beach with rocks with orange marks, formed by lichens. After some photos, we drove down and visited a few other fine beaches, towards St Helens. Took us 1.5 hours to arrive at Bicheno. Bicheno town centre has a few eateries, we had fish and chips dinner at Beachfront Bistro.

We stayed in Diamond Island Resort and Penguin Parade in Bicheno. Owned by Koreans, the resort is on a good piece of property. It is linked to an island via a thin stretch of sandy beach, fairly unique as you can see waves crashing in from both sides. When tide is low, you can walk to the island. And on summer nights, you get to see peri-penguins coming onto resort property. We were lucky to spot one as soon as we stepped onto the viewing deck! Room is villa style with two floors - kitchen and sofa on the ground floor, and beds for 4 on the second floor. Maintenance could be better lah.

Day 5 (Great Eastern Drive, total 4 hrs drive)

East Coast Natureworld at Bicheno, a wildlife sanctuary 5 min from our resort is a must! Greatest animal experience feeding kangeroos, and meeting wombats, white peacocks, black swans and more Devils. There is a cafe that opens at 9am with waffles and coffee.

1 hour drive brings us to Freycinet National Park (Multi-Park Pass, again), and we had lunch at Robertson’s at Freycinet Lodge. High-end accommodation for my 70th birthday? Haha.

5 min drive upwards from Freycinet Lodge is the car park to start walking trek up Wineglass Bay Lookout. 1.5 hours return hike. Moderate to tough. Read and heard many said lookout point is enough. Don’t need to go to the beach, which is another 1.5 hours return. Super popular attraction, ie crowded with tourists wanting that postcard shot.

Freycinet to Hobart is a 3 hours drive. You may break it up with coffee breaks at Swansea (1 hour), Orford (45 min) and Hobart (1+ hour). We stopped by Kate’s Berry Farm for good pancakes, and awesome boysenberry (cross between rasp and black) ice cream!

Arrive at Hobart before 6pm to see the HarbourFront. We ate an assortment of seafood at Fish Frenzy, right by the water.

Day 6 (Hobart)

Our Airbnb was on the right street - Elizabeth St - that brings you down to the HarbourFront. But it was a 30 min walk one day!

We went to Battery Point to have breakfast at Jackman and McRoss, many friends recommended. And then a short walk to Salamanca Weekend Market (ONLY on Saturdays 8am to 3pm, so plan your itinerary well). Hop on the hippest ferry MR1 or MR2, the Mona Roma, to MONA - Museum of Old and New Art. $22 for two ways ferry, each ride 20’min. Book your return timing as soon as you reach museum. We took the 1:15pm ferry to, and 5pm ferry back.

Museum entry was $28. Worth it as it’s one of a kind. Eccentric!

We skipped Port Arthur, Richmond Village and Mt Wellington cos not very interested. If you have one more day in Hobart, you could try those. Or Huon Valley for a walk above treetops on the Tahune Airwalk.

Accounts:

Air Tickets - about $900 during March holidays.

Car - about $250

Accommodation

Salt Box Hideaway S$210

Discovery parks S$120

Mercure S$144

Beach Villa S$210

Hobart AirBnb S$156 x 2 = S$312

Daily expenses - about $800 for a week.

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 6 years

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Bhutan (2018)

Dates: 6th Dec - 12th Dec (Dec is an off-peak season which we recommend)

Weather: The beginning of winter in early December means lovely cool weather. It thankfully did not rain throughout our trip, and temperatures of below 20 degrees were very ideal for our hikes to tourist sites. It gets significantly colder in the evenings, so you should still bring thermal wear and winter jackets. But gloves and earmuffs are not really necessary on a daily basis.

Airline: Drukair (Bhutan’s national carrier), about a 5hr flight, including a stopover in Kolkata that did not require us to disembark. Landing at Bhutan’s airport is challenging for pilots, due to how near the runway is to surrounding mountains, so do look out of the window when the plane is about to land.

Visa: Singaporeans need a visa to travel in Bhutan. The guide we hired helped us with the application process. Settle this as early as possible.

Guide: Tourists from most countries are not allowed to explore Bhutan on their own. You must hire a guide, who will be with you throughout your trip, from receiving you at the airport to sending you off at the end of your trip. Many Singaporeans plan their Bhutan trips with a company named Druk Asia. For us, we went with a smaller company named Bhutan Exodus Tours, after getting a recommendation from a friend. The owner of the company was our guide, and his name is Sagar Gurung. (email: [email protected], +975-77114164) He is very experienced, knowledgeable and fluent in English. We would recommend him as a guide, but he seldom leads tours personally these days, and tends to assign guides who work for him. If you do get in touch with him for a quote, mention Colin and Weetz, and he’ll do his best to assign you a good guide if he can’t be with you personally. We planned our trip with him over email and Whatsapp, giving our input over an initial itinerary he sent over. For example, we requested a couple of nights in better hotels, as well as for him to make arrangements for us to wear the national dress of Bhutan (named Gho, for men)

Cost: Many people have the impression that travelling to Bhutan is expensive. For us, we paid about $3,000 in total for our 7D6N trip, but found it reasonable actually. The package included our guide, driver and main meals for each day. Such an arrangement means that we were very well taken care of, and never had to worry about transportation or language barriers, since our guide and driver accompanied and drove us everywhere. If you have budget considerations, share them with your guide during the planning process, but generally speaking, there’s a guideline of sorts that requires tourists to spend an average of USD$200-$250 a day for their trips in Bhutan. Remember to tip your guide and driver at the end of the trip. We googled to get a rough idea of the amount. Oh, and before flying, we changed our Singapore dollars to Indian rupees, a commonly accepted currency in Bhutan. You’ll need some cash on you for tipping, souvenir shopping and snacks in cafes.

Food: Most of our meals reminded us of Cai Fan in Singapore. In other words, food is quite simple in Bhutan. The vegetables are great, but lower your expectations for meat dishes. A highlight was a chilli cheese dish, often served as a gravy with potatoes. Fancier meals are available in higher end hotels, and there are some cosy cafes in the capital, but you still shouldn’t expect the food in Bhutan to blow your mind.

Dogs: Be warned that stray dogs are everywhere in Bhutan. In the day, they’re lying around on every other street and leave tourists alone. But at night, the barking can be quite an issue, no matter what kind of hotel you’re staying in. A friend told us to bring earplugs for the trip, and I did use them on 1 or 2 nights, when the barking got unbearable.

Hiking: Hiking is a big part of travelling in Bhutan. Most tourists will look forward to hiking to Tiger’s Nest most, which is Bhutan’s most famous tourist site of a temple built on the side of a cliff. If completed in full, this hike takes at least 6hrs, and hiking sticks are highly recommended due to the rocky slopes you’ll have to walk on. Many guides like to plan this hike on the final day of tours, so that tourists get to practice on shorter and less demanding hikes in the days before to other places. Hiking boots are not a necessity, as the sports shoes we wore served us well enough. Just try to build up your stamina and take some long walks before your trip.

Itinerary: Our 7D6N trip covered 3 main areas, Paro, Thimphu, Punakha. Paro is where the airport is located, and is very charming due to simple streets and how its in a beautiful valley. Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan, and is more densely populated, but also offers more things to do for tourists, such as proper bars and restaurants. Punakha is a vast rural area, so don’t expect accommodation options here to be elaborate.

Main places visited:

(you may want to Google each, then shortlist and mention to your eventual guide)

Rinpung Dzong

National Museum of Bhutan

Buddha Dordenma

National Institute for Zorig Chusum

Memorial Chorten, Thimphu

Tashichho Dzong

Dochula Pass

Punakha Dzong

Chimi Lhakhang

Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Choeten

Tiger’s Nest Monastery (also known as Taktsang)

Conclusion:

A unique country that everyone should visit once in their lives, to appreciate their incredible architecture, Buddhist culture and dedication to environmental preservation. But don’t be misled by the country’s reputation for happiness, and think that the Bhutanese you meet will be the most cheerful people you ever come across. What impressed us more was their fluent English, which makes Bhutan a rather easy country for tourists to enjoy, also due to how your guides and drivers are there to help you with everything. Highly recommended if you can appreciate different customs, hiking and the outdoors, but think twice if shopping and eating are your main priorities when travelling.

#Bhutan

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 6 years

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Taiwan

Airline: Jetstar, most of the time

Transport from the airport to central Taipei: Take the New Metro train ride from Tao Yuan airport to Taipei Station. This takes about 40min. From Taipei Station, you can choose to switch trains or take a cab to wherever you’re staying, such as Xi Men Ding.

Transport within Taipei: The train system is as straightforward as Singapore’s MRT. Guidetotaipei.com is useful in terms of telling you which train stop to alight for which attraction you want to visit. Try to keep the You You card from previous trips, so you don’t have to buy again and can just top up when you return.

Accommodation suggestions, in order of preference:

1) Westgate: Popular hotel among Singaporeans, due to how it’s very near exit 6 of Ximen subway station, opposite the iconic Red House cultural building. We paid about $210 a night a few years ago, which some people might find too expensive as compared to Airbnb options.

2) Amba: A trendy chain of hotels that we love. We’ve stayed in 2 branches, including one in Zhongshan area. Not cheap, but very charming.

3) Walker Hotel.Ximen: Next to Westgate, but not as posh. The hotel takes up a couple of floors in an old building, but the rooms are value for money and staff are friendly. Recommended if you’re budget-conscious.

4) Hotel Papawhale: 10min walk from Ximen subway station, and has a beautiful lobby and industrial retro chic theme. But rooms are very small, and beds/pillows not of the best quality. Good hotpot and dessert eateries owned by the hotel though.

5) Hotel Midtown Richardson 1min walk from Exit 5 of Ximen subway station, which makes this hotel amazing in terms of convenient location. Rooms and size of gym are fine, but I personally didn’t like the quality of the breakfast buffet. Same hotpot and dessert eateries as Hotel Papawhale here, probably due to same hotel management.

Key highlights within Taipei (guidetotaipei.com is a good resource)

Xi Men Ding: One of the most well-known shopping areas for the young and trendy. Think Singapore’s Bugis Village and Cineleisure combined. We really like the Ximending Cinema Street/Taipei Cinema Park nearby, which is more arty and less commerical than the main Ximending shopping area.

Shilin Night Market (Jian Tan train station): The largest and most touristy night market in Taipei, where you can spend hours shopping and eating. A must-visit if you’re visiting Taipei for the first time.

Raohe Night Market: My favourite night market in terms of food quality. Not as big as Shilin, but also not as touristy.

Other night markets to explore if you have enough free nights are Shida (more shops) and Ningxia (more food). But both of these will impress less than Shilin and Raohe mentioned above.

Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall station): One of my favourite areas in Taipei. A sprawling hipster area with charming cafes, bookstores, art galleries and tasteful shops. The relatively new hotel by Eslite is gorgeous, and we might consider staying here in future, although it is not going to be cheap

Dong Qu shopping area (Zhong Xiao Dun Hua station): An enclave of fashionable boutiques can be found behind ZARA, with tiny lanes and street shops that reminded us of Harajuku in Tokyo. Highlights were SPAO, a Korean boutique and Sweet Dynasty (dessert from Hongkong). There is also a 24hr Eslite bookstore in this area.

Zhongshan art district: where you can kill time in the huge Taipei Fine Arts Museum or Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art, and take photos with street art installations

Addiction Aquatic Development: Excellent and gorgeous F&B fish market of sorts. Hipster interior design with a wide range of fresh seafood available for purchase and immediate consumption at tables and standing areas. nearest station is Xingtian Temple station but actually fad to walk (at least 20min), so better option is a 10min taxi ride from Ximending. Must visit!

Lungshan Temple: One of the more well-known temples in Taipei, where the gangster movie Monga was filmed. The surrounding streets have eateries selling local delights such as mochi and tang yuan

Yongkang Street (Dong Men station exit 5), for restaurants like original Ding Tai Fung, Gao Ji and mango desserts

Xiang Shan hiking trek, just go to Xiang Shan station, walk past the playground and easily find the steps to begin a 30min hike up Xiang Shan to get a spectacular view of Taipei's skyline. But if you have knee problems, this might be tricky due to the number of steps

159 成都路 (雅香石头火锅): Very good and affordable hot stone steamboat restaurant, where staff fry the meat you select in the hot pot, before throwing in the dishes you pick. Humble setting and grumpy auntie staff, but excellent food makes it worth it. We only paid SGD$20 each despite ordering many dishes (there were 4 of us)

Recommendation if you are celebrating NYE in Taipei: Book a New Year’s Eve dinner at Joyce East restaurant in advance. Located very near Xiang Shan train station. After eating, simply walk out to the streets to have a great unobstructed view of Taipei 101 fireworks. Surprisingly, going back to our hotel in Ximen was quite okay after watching the fireworks to usher in 2018. Proper crowd control at the stations and general non-rowdy crowds. They allow people to enter the stations by batches, and we did not have wait very long. Moreover, Xiang Shan is the final train station on the red line, which means we could board relatively empty trains to begin our journey back.

***

Some well-known areas beyond Taipei, which will require travel time:

Shi Fen & Ping Xi:

To reach these 2 places, you must first check train timings on Taiwan Railways Admin website (http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/English/e_index.aspx) and look out for Express train timings. (Note, if you don’t mind spending money on taxis there and back, then ignore the following details about taking the train)

We chose a 1155am Express train timing for our day trip. Take the MRT to Taipei Main Station, then change to railway train. Buy a ticket to RuiFang, which is about 72NT one way. The train departed punctually, and took about 40min to reach Ruifang. After you alight at Ruifang, find out the timing for the train on the Pingxi line. Ask for the day trip ticket which allows you to hop on and off for about 52NT. If you have time, exit Ruifang station and go eat at Yong He Dou Jiang (famous soya bean shop) across the road.

Board the Pingxi line train and get off at Shifen first. Set aside 2-3 hrs at Shifen. You can spend 30min to walk to a waterfall, where there are cafes. You can then walk back to the main town area, explore the shops and most importantly, release sky lanterns, which are sold in numerous shops and allow you to write wishes on them. Get the shop owners to help you take photos as you release the lanterns into the sky. Sky lanterns are affordable, ranging from 150NT to 200NT.

After you leave Shifen, board the train again and head to Pingxi. This is a smaller and quieter town which also has sky lantern shops. We had a good time relaxing at a cafe named Corner 28, which played jazz music and was near some sky lantern shops.

To go back, simply take the Pingxi line train back to Ruifang, where you can then take the train back to Taipei Main Station. For us, we got off at Songshan Train Station to have dinner at Raohe Night Market to end the day.

Jiu Fen

A beautiful and charming area where you can spend an entire day and evening. Spectacular views of mountain ranges, shopping streets, tea houses and authentic desserts. The process of getting here is similar to Shi Fen described above, but once again, if you find it too daunting and don’t mind spending money, just find a taxi driver

Mao Kong

Cable cars with glass floors up to 300m above sea level. Charming misty area with cafes and walking paths. Note that the cable cars may not function in the event of bad weather.

Qing Jing

Qing Jing is an area outside of Taipei, known for green pastures, sheep and accommodation options that resemble European cottages. In 2018, I spent 2D1N here, travelling here from downtown Taipei and back. Here is how to get to Qing Jing:

First, get to Taipei Station*, then take the THSR (aka Gao Tie) to Tai Zhong station. This takes about 45min. Once you exit Tai Zhong station, you may want to buy your return ticket in advance, as well as some food you can carry along. From Tai Zhong station, take a taxi to Qing Jing, which will cost you about 2,000 taiwanese dollars on average, and will take at least an hour. You may want to make an arrangement with the same taxi driver for your subsequent return journey, to make things more convenient later on.

*Note that Taipei Station is huge and complicated, and the THSR is just one of several train types operating from here. You may want to practice finding your way to the THSR area before the actual day, to avoid getting lost while pulling your luggage around. The ticket costs 700 taiwanese dollars, and you should buy it 1 day in advance to ensure availability. There are quite a few timings to choose from.

The Airbnb we stayed in for the night has since closed down, so I won’t mention it here. The main highlights at Qing Jing are a ticketed open-air show featuring sheep running around and being sheared, the beautiful and sprawling area which you can explore after watching the show, as well as a boardwalk hike you can take to admire the beautiful view of mountain ranges.

***

LGBT spots in Taipei: Red House and its surrounding bars/boutiques, Anaki WOW sauna, Hunt Bar, Huang Ding Hotspring

#Taiwan

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 6 years

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Tokyo (2018 & 2019)

This entry is split into 2 parts: for a rather thorough trip in 2018 and a more casual trip in 2019. Both took place in September for less than a week.

2018 TRIP:

A 5D4N trip in the first week of September 2018. This is our second time to Tokyo, after a previous trip which saw us visiting Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.

WEATHER:

A typhoon that affected Osaka and Kyoto was not an issue, and neither was an earthquake that hit Hokkaido and Sapporo. Amazingly, it did not even rain during our trip despite weather forecasts predicting so. However, Tokyo was very hot and humid on some days. The heat was quite unbearable on a Saturday when we explored Harajuku.

TRANSPORT:

Took ANA airlines to Narita Airport, and the Express train towards the city

We bought a 3 day metro pass. You must have your passport with you when you buy this metro pass sold at specific metro stations. Buy as soon as you can, if not it will be troublesome to buy tickets whenever you take the train.

ACCOMMODATION:

Innsomnia Hotel. 2 types of train stations near this hotel. The one about 6min away is a Tokyo Metro station named Tameike-sanno. The nearer one 2min away is Akasaka station. Depending on our destination, we used either of these stations to set off each day.

There’s a trendy and popular Unir cafe next to the lobby on the ground floor, and hotel guests can get free coffee daily. The hotel barely has any facilities, and the tiny gym had no free weights. However, our room was large, with a proper sofa and TV area apart from the bed. Bathroom was old though. Location-wise, it’s in the Asakasa area, which is quiet on weekend mornings, but vibrant at night without being overwhelming. A pleasant stay on the whole.

DAY 1:

21_21 Design Site: a hip art exhibition space located within Midtown Garden. There is a nearby mall with many food options.

Ninja Akasaka: dinner at this incredible ninja-themed restaurant. Waiters are literally dressed as ninjas, and the place fascinates with its interior design while serving excellent elevated Japanese food. A must-visit even though it’s pricey.

Mixology Akasaka: had post-dinner drinks here. Small but cosy bar, serving creative drinks.

DAY 2:

Ueno Park: a scenic and spacious public park ideal for long walks. A lake covered by lotus leaves was stunning. There are torii gates for good photos too

Kyoshuku Toban: simple lunch at a classroom-themed restaurant. slightly amusing due to the setting, but don’t expect great food.

Senso-ji Temple: one of the more famous temples in Tokyo, which we did not visit on our previous trip. expect many tourists, but still worth a visit as the temple is in the heart of an area that’s charming in the evening

Don Quijote, Asakusa: An entire building dedicated to this budget shopping chain, where we bought things like caps for low prices. This whole Asakusa area is surprisingly vibrant at night.

DAY 3:

Bills Ginza Tokyo: high-end restaurant where we had fluffy pancakes for breakfast. gorgeous interior and excellent service, but pricey

teamLab Planets Tokyo: a highlight of our trip. Basically, we spent a couple of hours being fascinated by art and light installations in a warehouse-like facility. For example, one huge room had water that came up to our knees, and we were fascinated by images of colourful fishes projected onto the water. Another room was charmingly filled with giant white balls we had to push around, and another required us to lie on the ground and look at a dome-shaped ceiling that had all sorts of images projected onto it. We had to queue to buy tickets and wait to enter. This seems to be a very popular attraction in Tokyo this year, and there is more than one venue for the experience. Google “teamLab Planets Tokyo” to find out more.

Maricart Roppongi: THE HIGHLIGHT OF OUR TRIP. Basically, we made a booking with this Maricart company before flying to Tokyo, to dress up as Mario characters while driving go-karts around downtown Tokyo. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you should try if you have a driving licence. You must also apply for an International Driving Permit before making the booking. We booked a 2hr experience, which included rental of the Mario/Luigi costumes we wore to drive, watching a quick instructional video, driving on roads and EXPRESSWAYS (!!!) during peak-hour traffic on a Friday evening, and a short toilet break at DiverCity Tokyo Plaza. It’s not an activity for the faint-hearted, as we literally drove next to all types of vehicles on the expressways. Driving at 60-70km/h on a go-kart that’s so near to the ground can be quite daunting. There were 4 other tourists, and 2 staff at the head and end of our convoy to guide us on the roads. Note that we were neither given safety helmets or had seat belts. BUT it was so fun and exhilarating, and I’ll remember this experience for life.

DAY 4:

Hedgehog Cafe & Pet Store HARRY Harajuku: Spent an hour petting and feeding hedgehogs in this cafe. The hedgehogs are as cute as you would expect, but after a while, we felt bad for disturbing them just so we could take photos.

Takeshita Street: Began exploring Harajuku from the entrance at this street. We spent several hours in Harajuku, eating, shopping and exploring. Expect trendy shopping options and fashionable Japanese shoppers.

Tower Records, Shibuya: walking distance from the famous Shibuya crossing. Bustling downtown area that’s great for a night out.

Kitsune: LGBT-friendly establishment that served excellent and creative sushi dishes. It’s also a dance club, but we did not stay on to party because the music was strangely soft.

DAY 5:

The Salty Sun: Australian cafe within Akasaka Biz Tower, where we had a satisfying breakfast

Shinjuku: shopped around Keio Mall and had lunch at another nearby mall named Mylord. This is a very busy shopping area, so expect crowded train stations, but it’s a good place to spend a few hours shopping and eating from mall to mall. (Note to self: Southern exit of train station area brings us to Takashimaya/Times Square area, which we visited during our first trip to Japan, but not this time)

2019 TRIP:

A trip from 9th - 13th Sept 2019. This is my third time to Tokyo, which explains why I took a more casual approach to planning and sightseeing.

WEATHER:

The powerful Typhoon Faxi hit Tokyo on the night before our early morning Delta Airlines flight. Historic winds were reported. Although our flight was not cancelled, a very epic experience awaited us at Narita Airport. To cut the long story short, we were stranded in the airport after arriving around 2pm. The airport was cut off from the rest of Japan, with no trains, buses or taxis allowed to leave or arrive at the airport. We experienced a lot of uncertainty and tension, only managing to rush onto a final train that left the airport at 10pm. This chaotic day made international headlines, with media eventually reporting that as many as 17,000 passengers were trapped in the airport, with many having to spend the night there. On the bright side, weather was kind to us for the rest of the trip. Sunny, but not as humid as it was in 2018. We barely experienced any rain too. Normal weather led to Narita Airport functioning normally when it was time to go home.

TRANSPORT:

For this trip, we flew by Delta Airlines. Air ticket cost was reasonable at $544.30 and we were happy with the overall service. Unfortunately, Delta Airlines has made headlines for ceasing business in Singapore by the end of 2019.

Due to the airport chaos, we did not manage to get a 3 day metro pass upon arrival this time. We simply bought train tickets whenever we had to use the train during the trip. However, being in Tokyo for a third time has made me better at using the trains now. In general, just remember that the JR line is the most common one, but there are other lines run by other companies. The next thing to note is that standing at the right train platform doesn’t mean you will board the right train. This is because there can be limited express trains which skip particular stations. You need to pay attention to the screens on the platform or on the train itself, to ensure that you do not board these limited express trains by mistake, if they are going to skip the stations that you want to get to.

ACCOMMODATION:

In relation to what I just wrote above, I think it’s better to book hotels that are near JR train stations. For this trip, I booked 2 such hotels, which made getting to tourist areas and back to our hotel more convenient than it was in 2018.

First hotel was Hotel Niwa Tokyo, in the Shinjuku area. Second hotel was Hotel Shibuya En, in the Shibuya area. Both these areas are served by JR train stations of the same name, and are popular tourist areas. So in terms of location, we were happy with both these hotels.

Hotel Niwa Tokyo cost about $200 a night (we booked 2 nights) and Hotel Shibuya En cost about $300 a night (we booked 3 nights). Hotel Niwa Tokyo’s room could be bigger, but there was a fitness room with treadmills. Hotel Shibuya En’s room was bigger, and bed was excellent. But room toilet was very small, and there was no fitness room. However, the basement of Hotel Shibuya En has one of the best eateries we went to on this trip, named 35 Steps Bistro, which we highly recommend for a modern and chic izakaya experience.

DAY 1:

Shinjuku: Takashimaya/Times Square area, where we spent several hours shopping and browsing the many floors of Tokyu Hands. The food hall basement of Takashimaya is always worth checking out, and we stumbled onto excellent coffee at the trendy Blue Bottle Coffee Shinjuku Cafe. It’s easy to stroll from one mall building to another in this shopping area.

Tokyo Dome: We spent the evening here, basically a stadium and amusement park area rather near our Hotel Niwa Tokyo. Dinner was excellent fast food at Shake Shack Tokyo Dome (no queues like in Singapore), and the area was conducive for an evening stroll, looking at ferris wheels and people coming to watch baseball games in the stadium.

DAY 2:

Shibuya: Loft Shibuya is the largest branch of Loft in Tokyo, which is a lifestyle store I love that also exists in Bangkok. It was within walking distance of our Hotel Shibuya En, and one of many shopping highlights in a bustling shopping district. The world-famous Shibuya Crossing is nearby too, along with Tower Records Shibuya, Mega Don Quijote (basically a massive Don Don Donki) and the usual high street fashion options like Zara and H&M. It’s possible to spend hours in places like Loft and Mega Don Quijote, if you’re excited by their wide range of products and often reasonable prices.

Food options are aplenty too, since there are so many malls and streets that make the area vibrant. Dinner was a cosy basement eatery named 渋谷居酒屋　九四六屋 near our hotel.

DAY 3:

Harajuku: Breakfast was at the hipster haven named Bills, located in Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku. In 2018, I visited the Ginza branch of this same cafe chain. The famous fluffy pancakes are available in both, but note that this Harajuku branch is less posh than the Ginza one, understandable since Harajuku is popular with youths and Ginza is a more high-end district.

The afternoon was spent exploring the streets of Harajuku. Harajuku is a sprawling area which you can spend hours exploring. There are busy areas with throngs of tourists and tacky food or clothing options, but there are also quiet lanes with tasteful shops. If you’re travelling in September, dress light on the day you are visiting Harajuku, because it can get very hot and it’s not the kind of area with huge air-conditioned malls to hide in.

We then popped over to Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine), right beside the Harajuku train station. This is a good place to retreat to when you feel overwhelmed by the Harajuku crowds. It’s also arguably one of the most famous shrines in Japan, offering you a relaxing walk below tall shady trees, before you end up seeing the main shrine buildings further in. For each shrine I visit in Japan, I tend to partake in the common rituals of washing my hands/face at the water points at the entrance, followed by praying/clapping/bowing after throwing coins at the main praying areas.

Dinner was at the excellent 35 Steps Bistro I mentioned earlier, coincidentally at basement of our Hotel Shibuya En. Dishes like cheese tofu with honey, dry udon with kimchi, were innovative and impressive. Exact address is 1-1 Maruyamacho, 渋谷区 Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0044.

DAY 4:

Akahibara: a district famous for selling all types of electronics and gadgets. Basically shopping haven for geeks and gamers. We walked around casually after alighting at the station, bought wireless chargers, and ended up visiting one of the shrines nearby. Lunch was a highlight, when we had an excellent French-inspired set lunch at a lovely cosy restaurant named Nous (2-10-8 Sotokanda, Chiyoda 101-0021), run by a very competent pair who seemed like husband and wife.

Asakusa: The afternoon was spent here, mainly visiting Tokyo’s oldest temple named Senso-ji and the streets surrounding it. This temple is very crowded, with tourists wanting to take photos with the iconic red lanterns, and buying snacks from shops lining the streets. The surrounding area is full of shopping lanes to explore too. There is also a Don Quijote (basically Don Don Donki) in the district.

Roppongi: Ended the night by taking a train here. Instead of exploring the usual high-end mall area, we ended up walking along the streets, and selecting a BBQ eatery to have dinner in. Normally, people come to this area for the high-end shopping. This area is relatively near Shibuya, which is why we chose to end our day here. Asakusa and Akahibara are significantly further from Shibuya.

Note: Because of being stranded in the airport upon arrival, we only arrived at our first hotel around midnight on Day 1. So what was technically Day 2 is described as Day 1 here. Our last day was also mainly spent making our way back to the airport from Shibuya by the Narita Express train, so I did not include details here.

Random thoughts:

Comparing Seoul and Tokyo after visiting both in 2019, I’ve realised that people in Tokyo are really much nicer. This applies to service staff in shops and eateries, strangers on the street or commuters in train stations. Food quality and variety is also definitely better in Tokyo than Seoul. However, Seoul is superior when it comes to buying facial products and hipster cafes.

#Tokyo #Japan

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 6 years

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Myanmar (2018)

A family trip to Myanmar in June 2018, planned by a family friend. We visited Yangon and Mandalay. The itinerary was planned by the family friend, and we were also driven around from point to point. As such, this blog entry mainly lists the places we visited, but does not provide details about how to get to them.

Generally speaking, Yangon is more urbanised than Mandalay, and some hotels and restaurants surprised us with how modern they were. But it will still take many years for Myanmar to match up to somewhere like Bangkok as an exciting tourist destination.

Flight: Jetstar flight to Yangon and back

Yangon highlights:

Accommodation in Yangon: Lotte Hotels & Resorts (very new, very big, very posh for Singapore standards, not to mention Myanmar. highly recommended)

Padonmar Restaurant: which serves authentic Burmese and Thai cuisine. Respected establishment frequented by politicians. We had lunch here.

Shwe Dagon Pagoda: the largest and grandest temple I have ever seen. sprawling grounds and stunning gold buildings. arguably the top attraction in Yangon. Note that most temples in Yangon and Mandalay require visitors to go barefoot, no matter how dirty or slippery the floors may be. This was something we had to get used to.

Bogyoke Market: vibrant marketplace, we walked through some alleys briefly.

Rangoon Tea House: relatively new and very popular hipster cafe, trendy for Singapore standards. huge contrast the streets of Yangon and how modern this cafe looks.

Uncle Benny's Landmark company office: where our family friend works

Hong Bao dimsum & seafood restaurant: had dinner at this rather typical Chinese restaurant

Lotte Hotel Yangon’s Tao Lin: a huge restaurant with ballrooms and private rooms, serving hearty Chinese food

Lim Chin Tsong Palace: an abandoned mansion that’s a good place for exploring and taking photos.

Junction City: a modern shopping mall owned by CapitaLand. there was even a popular Breadtalk outlet in it.

Strand Hotel: a beautiful hotel which reminded us of Raffles Hotel in Singapore. an option for high tea in the beautiful cafe on the ground floor.

Pullman Hotel: classy dinner at a steak restaurant within the hotel

Mandalay highlights:

Flight to Mandalay from Yangon, via domestic airline Myanmar National Airlines, Business class

SHWE Coffee & Tea Center: had breakfast here, highlight was Mohinga, a popular Burmese noodle dish in gravy

Accommodation in Mandalay: Hilton

Mahamuni Buddha Temple: a popular temple in Mandalay, but smaller and less impressive than Shwe Dagon Pagoda in Yangon

U Pein Bridge: a memorable walk along this crossing over a lake, due to the hilariously strong winds. worth a visit.

Jade Pagoda: a popular tourist spot in Mandalay, but we only made it to the entrance and decided not to go in due to wet weather, which made the floors slippery.

Mandalay Hill: a must-visit. basically a huge temple on a hill, with awesome views and many stray cats haha

Peik Chin Myaung Cave: a huge limestone stalactite cave that is home to many statues. somewhat like Haw Par Villa. interesting place, but we had to go barefoot on the wet floors.

National Kandawgyi Gardens: Pyin Oo Lwin’s answer to Singapore’s Botanic Gardens. lovely place for a leisurely afternoon walk.

The Taj: classy restaurant serving excellent Indian food

Mercure Hotel Mandalay: had drinks at the ground floor bar, and we even ended up singing with the house band

#Myanmar #Yangon #Mandalay

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 6 years

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Bangkok (2018)

We go to Bangkok every 2 to 3 years, so this post is a summary of sorts for the last few trips. We love Bangkok because it’s a F&B and shopping paradise, that offers more interesting options than Singapore for lower prices.

Accommodation:

1) Oakwood Residences (https://www.oakwoodasia.com/serviced-apartments/thailand/oakwood-bangkok-sukhumvit)

Staying here cost us about 3,400 baht per night in 2018 (thanks to a friendship price), and we were generally satisfied with the location and room size. It’s only 200m away from Phrom Phong BTS station, and you can walk through Emporium mall to get to the station, which is also next to EmQuartier mall, which is very awesome.

Other hotels we’ve stayed in for previous trips:

2) Holiday Inn Express Bangkok, a no-frills hotel that is a short walk to National Stadium BTS station, but the surrounding area is not as vibrant as Oakwood Residences

3) Aloft Bangkok, a beautiful trendy hotel that’s unfortunately a long walk from Nana BTS station, that made relying on tuk tuk rides necessary at times.

Husky Highlight:

True Love @ Neverland (https://www.facebook.com/neverlandsiberians)

153 Soi Ari Samphan 2, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai, 10400 Bangkok

A popular cafe that allows guests to interact with more than 20 Siberian Huskies, which are huge and well-groomed. Generally speaking, there are 2 timeslots per day that guests can buy tickets for, either 1pm or 3.30pm. You can call the cafe (+66 90 101 9669) or visit their facebook page to confirm the timings, but note that they do not accept reservations. We suggest that you go as early as 11am to queue for tickets if you want to secure the 1pm interaction slot. From Ari BTS station, we took a cab to the place (it’s a long walk in) and arrived just before 12noon. However, we were told that tickets were already sold out for the 1pm slot, and so we had no choice but to buy tickets for the remaining 3.30pm slot and go kill time over lunch at a Greyhound cafe branch nearby. For 500 baht per ticket, you get 1 drink, 1 cake slice and 1 hour of interaction time with the dogs. Staff will help each group of guests to take a proper photo with the dogs, then you can spend the rest of the hour interacting with the dogs within the compound. The time given is more than enough, so this is quite a satisfying experience once you can secure the tickets.

Shopping Malls & Eateries

As compared to Singapore, Bangkok malls are much more distinct, and some have eateries and fashion boutiques that we have repeatedly visited. Moreover, most malls are connected to BTS stations or each other via sky bridges, which makes it very convenient for shoppers.

For future trips, we are likely to avoid going back to older malls like MBK (mainly fake branded clothes) and Platinum Mall (wholesale focus, more for female clothing), but malls we really like and recommend include:

1) Terminal 21 (BTS station: Asok)

We like how there is an entire floor dedicated to trendy male clothing, as well as how the mall is creatively themed by countries for each floor, right down to the elaborately designed toilets. Please try the amazing salted egg lava or thai tea flavoured toast/croissants at C.O.D.E, a cafe located on Level 4.

2) Siam Centre (BTS station: Siam)

A fashion mall we tend to buy clothes from as well, due to trendy clothes by brands that are quite unique to the mall, such as DA+PP and ANR Men, both on Floor 1. Please try Greyhound cafe on Floor 1 as well, if you’ve never eaten at the chain before, which now has many branches all over Bangkok. If you want affordable Japanese food in big portions, try Fuji restaurant on Floor 2, near Food Republic food court.

3) Siam Discovery (BTS station: National Stadium)

This is the place to go if you want to shop for trendy and decently priced homeware. I’ve bought stuff like plates, utensils, place mats and fake plants from it, and the mall is basically a breath of fresh air in terms of creatively designed spaces and product range. LOFT is also a lifestyle store worth visiting.

4) EmQuartier (BTS station: Phrom Phong)

A 3-year-old mall with beautiful vertical gardens. Less male clothing to buy than Terminal 21, but several notable eateries that we recommend, such as Audrey (8th floor, beautiful interior, excellent food and desserts) and Roast (1st floor of Helix Quartier wing, popular with Singaporeans, serving hearty dishes. Most people travel all the way to a place named The Commons for this, but this branch is so much more convenient to go to)

5) CentralWorld Plaza (BTS station: Chit Lom)

Huge mall near Platinum mall, mainly relevant to us due to After You (the seasonal mango sticky rice kakigori is amazing) and the glitzy new Starbucks on the 3rd floor, which is the second largest branch in the world after Shanghai.

6) Central Embassy (BTS station: Ploen Chit)

Most of this mall is high-end and underpopulated, but we love the relatively new Open House area on Level 6, a beautifully designed floor dedicated to arty books, quirky products and hip restaurants. A must-visit if you are design-conscious and love places such as Eslite bookstores in Taipei. We had good pizza at Peppina, one of several eateries in this area.

Sky Bars:

Bangkok is famous for beautiful sky bars overlooking the city, and we have mainly 2 to recommend:

1) Red Sky Bar - at the top of Centara Grand at Central World Mall, Bangkok (established and popular, reservations needed)

2) Yao Rooftop Bar on the 33rd floor of the relatively new Bangkok Marriott Hotel Suranwongse (relatively undiscovered and empty for now, due to it being new)

Four Faced Buddha

Erawan Shrine is an iconic spot in Bangkok, where Thais and tourists pay respects to the four faced buddha. We come here whenever we’re in Bangkok to pray and give thanks. The process of praying usually doesn’t take more than 10min before we move on to the nearby malls. Nearest BTS station is Chit Lom.

Tailor:

A friend recommended Alex Fashion within Amari Hotel, which is walking distance from Platinum Mall. We did not tailor anything on this trip, but this is for future reference.

Pharmacy:

A doctor friend recommended this pharmacy, which sells a wide range of medication for good prices. It’s named SC Drugstore, and is beside Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park Hotel, about a 5min walk from Sala Deng BTS station. I bought boxes of probiotics, and each box of 16 capsules cost only 180baht. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/SC-Drug-Store/167524303420047)

Massages:

The Health Land chain is popular with Singaporeans, and we’ve gone to the Asoke branch a few times. The chain has several branches, which are clean, large and very professionally managed. However, for this 2018 trip, we actually paid SGD$60 for a 1.5hr massage, a significant increase in price from previous years that is inching towards massage rates in Singapore. Thus, we are unlikely to return in future.

The Prime Massage is a new option we visited twice on this trip, thanks to a friend’s recommendation. It’s nowhere as big and glam as the Asoke Healthland branch, but the environment is clean and functional, and in terms of having skilled male masseurs in a LGBT-friendly environment, this met our needs. You can have foot massage, Thai massage (in pyjamas) or aroma therapy oil massage. Located at Silom Soi 6, and their telephone number is +66 2 634 2078. After getting a massage here, you can eat at Mango Tree, a well-known Thai cuisine restaurant that’s rather high-end, located right next door.

Clubbing:

Note: Bringing a passport is not necessary to get into clubs, but at least bring your driving licence or IC. We usually take taxis back to our hotel after partying.

DJ Station is an institution when it comes to LGBT partying in Bangkok. We come here to dance whenever we visit Bangkok, and have noticed how the place is constantly improving and becoming more popular. Located at Silom Soi 2 | Suriya Wong, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, the main dance club is at the end of a corridor of bars, each of which can be jam packed with party people.

Fake Club The Next Gen is an incredible establishment we were introduced to on this trip. It’s very impressive in terms of floor space, sound system and performers. Located at Ratchadaphisek Soi 14-16, Bangkok, the place requires guests to book tables, stand around and drink alcohol while watching performances by bands and muscular dancers. There’s no dance floor per se, but after the impressive performances are over, partygoers can dance on the runway stage if they want to. We got a table due to a friend’s contacts, and only ended up paying about SGD$24 despite opening a bottle and receiving good service from staff, who would come around to pour our drinks and mingle with us. The contact number is 091-724-2999. Highly recommended.

Jupiter is one of several gogo bars, located at 92 Silom Road, Soi 4. We didn’t manage to go to this one, which is known for relatively better shows by gogo dancers. Instead, we went to Dreamboyz, which was disappointing in terms of the production values and overall taste of the establishment. Note that such gogo bars are not for the faint-hearted, as performances can be raunchy =)

Some info about other places we have visited on previous trips:

1) Chatuchak - Iconic weekend market, worth visiting at least once if you have never been. But be prepared to sweat a lot and set aside a few hours for it, due to how the place is basically a massive bazaar with huge sections dedicated to everything from food, clothes, animals and plants.

2) Asiatique The Riverfront - Rather out of the way, but worth going if you’ve never been and like the idea of a much bigger Clarke Quay of sorts. Prices of clothes can be very attractive, and availability of air-conditioning in some areas and eateries makes the place more attractive than Chatuchak to me actually.

3) Thong Lor - a hipster area that has interesting cafes that we want to go back to. We had lovely cakes designed to look like durians and mangosteens at Rosemary by Madam Tuang (Thong Lor Soi 11), but have yet to check out The Bookshop Bar at Ashton Condominium.

4) Rot Fai Market Ratchada was a very disappointing experience, probably due to how it was drizzling when we visited. Rather pointless compared to Asiatique. Other night markets popular with tourists that we have yet to go to include JJ Green and ChangChui, both popular with hipsters and tourists.

#bangkok

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 7 years

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Jeju (2018)

Airline: AirAsia flight, which required us to stop over at KL for about 6 hours, before taking a connecting flight to Jeju. We decided to book a room in a KL airport hotel named Sama Sama Express, so we could sleep for a few hours before the connecting flight. But the stop over during the return flight was less than 2 hours, so we didn’t have to book a hotel room when flying back. Note that the Jeju airport departure area is very small and does not have any proper eateries. Eat somewhere else before arriving at the airport when leaving Jeju.

Duration: 5D4N in mid March

Climate: No rain at all, but some afternoons were so sunny that we could do without jackets. On average, temperatures hovered between 14 to 20 in the day. However, it got cold whenever it turned dark, so ultimately it still made sense for us to bring thick winter jackets and beanies.

Food: Jeju is mainly known for black pork, which we did have for one dinner. Fish/seafood is fresh, due to Jeju being a coastal area. We didn’t manage to try abalone porridge, and sometimes found it puzzling that it’s not that easy to find proper eateries in some areas. We visited many beautiful cafes, but realized that almost every cafe only sells coffee and cakes, unlike Singapore cafes which will also sell proper food.

Accommodation: We only spent 1 night in a hotel, the well-reviewed Maison Glad Jeju, which is about 10min to the airport. It cost us only SGD$140, despite the hotel being huge and impressive in terms of facilities. The rest of our nights were spent staying with a friend, in a service apartment near Shinhwa World Resort.

Transport: We did not use public transport at all, due to renting a car from Hertz. Make sure you have your International Driving Permit before making your online booking with Hertz. Upon touching down, we had to find the Hertz counter within the airport to show our documents. We were then directed to a bus bay to take a 5min shuttle bus ride to pick up the car at Jeju Auto House. This shuttle bus leaves every 8min, and we used it again on our day of departure. Remember to pump your petrol to full tank before returning the car. You may take a while to get used to left hand driving, as well as the occasionally confusing roundabouts, but other than this, driving is relatively straightforward in Jeju. We were surprised to notice that free parking is quite common.

Note: Google Maps DOES NOT work in Jeju. Instead, download an app named Kakao Maps. You will need wifi to search for locations, but once that is done, you can drive to the location without requiring wi-fi. But the GPS system that comes with the car is easy to use. Make sure you ask the rental company staff to show you how to use it when they show you to your car. Other than getting the address of places you want to visit, you may also want to compile the telephone numbers (if available), which you can also use to key in to the GPS system.

Places we covered, grouped by day:

Hyatt Regency Hotel, Bonte Museum, Hallasan Mountain, E-MART

Hyatt Regency Hotel - had breakfast with a friend staying here, and walked along the coast. Scenes from drama serial All In were filmed here

Bonte Museum - designed by acclaimed Japanese architect Tadao Ando. galleries are small, but the design of the museum itself is worth the visit. Highlight was a gallery dedicated to Yayoi Kusama.

Hallasan Mountain - a friend drove us up the famous mountain via the scenic 1139 Highway. Many tourists choose to trek up the mountain for hours.

E-MART - contains a huge supermarket

Oedolgae Rock, Cheonjiyeon Falls, Jeongbang Falls, Aewol, Hallim Beach, Shinhwa World Resort

Oedolgae Rock - a vertical rock formation protruding from the sea, which we saw after trekking along the coast

Cheonjiyeon Falls and Jeongbang Falls - both waterfalls are frequently visited Jeju tourist attractions, and are about 10min drive away from each other. Both located in scenic areas, within a park or directly next to the sea

Aewol - a must-visit coastal area if you’re into hipster cafes. We visited two, Monsant and Premium. Monsant is a gorgeous mirror house, famous for being owned by G-Dragon of Big Bang previously. Premium reminded us of Santorini, due to it’s white furniture. Several other cafes and eateries in the area, which has yet to reach it’s full potential.

Hallim Beach - stopped here briefly to take a break from driving, and were surprised by how fine the sand was, and the view of the gorgeous sunset

Shinhwa World Resort - had dinner with our friend working here. A new and huge resort, consisting of theme parks and hotels like Marriott and Four Seasons. Still underpopulated due to how new the resort is. G-Dragon is the official spokesperson, and also owns a cafe and bowling alley here.

Osulloc Tea Museum, Seopjikoji, Seongsan Ichulbong, Playce, Maison Glad Jeju

Osulloc Tea Museum - Jeju has many small museums, some of which are tacky and not worth visiting (based on feedback and online research). This tea museum is arguably the most famous one, which we decided to visit. We arrived early in the morning, enjoyed the cakes in the cafe and took photos in the small tea plantation. A good place to get pretty souvenirs from the tea shop.

Seopjikoji - A highlight of our trip, in the eastern area of Jeju. A sprawling seaside area consisting of rapeseed flower fields, a couple of futuristic buildings designed by Tadao Ando again, a hilltop lighthouse and a classy restaurant named Mint. We read about this place from a Straits Times article, and really enjoyed the few hours we spent here. Many great photo opportunities, but be prepared to walk quite a bit.

Seongsan Ichulbong - Another must-visit for Jeju, also in the eastern area. Basically involves you climbing up many steps (180m above sea level) to reach the top of a volcanic crater which gives you an amazing view.

Playce - we stopped here for dinner before a 1hr drive to our hotel Maison Glad Jeju. A hipster enclave consisting of a hip hostel, shops and eateries. We ate at a classy Italian resturant (Dito) and had coffee and cakes at a pretty hipster cafe (Dorrell). Charming, but yet to reach full potential as well.

Maison Glad Jeju - spent our final night of the trip in this hotel, and spent the next morning exploring the shopping streets before leaving for the airport.

Conclusion:

Jeju shares some similarities with Okinawa. Both are beautiful coastal areas which make sense to drive around with rented cars. Both are also underpopulated and not very satisfying in terms of food options or shopping. But both will make you feel relaxed due to the scenic attractions and wide open spaces.

Future trips: If we return, we will want to check out Udo Island, do more hiking trails (Olle trails, we only did trail 7)and stay in Maison Glad Jeju again.

#jeju #korea

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 7 years

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Okinawa (2017)

Airline: Direct flight with Jetstar (which was launched in November 2017)

Duration: 8D7N in early December

Climate: Cooling temperatures of 14 - 18 degrees on average. Cloudy. Only drizzled on 1 day. But strong winds at night. Some people may not want to visit Okinawa in December due to such weather, especially if they want to participate in beach activities

Food: Some Japanese dishes are unique to Okinawa, such as sea grapes, and purple sweet potato. Cuisine is similar across to most restaurants, and thus does not offer as much variety as somewhere like Osaka.

Accommodation: 3 different resorts. 2 nights in Okinawa Marriott Resort & Spa (89,400yen for 2 rooms), 2 nights in Sheraton Okinawa Sun Marina Resort (95,200yen for 2 rooms), 3 nights in Renaissance Okinawa Resort (186,000yen for 2 rooms). Out of these 3, Sheraton was the most impressive in terms of design and facilities. Marriott was average but slightly dated, and Renaissance was way overpriced in hindsight.

Transport: Public transport is almost non-existent, so you should rent a car. We rented our Toyota from a reliable and efficient company named OTS about a month before the trip. You must apply for your International Driving Permit online too, and bring the physical documents that will be mailed to you for the trip. In total, we paid about SGD$480 for our one week of driving. This included car insurance we bought via OTS upon arrival, as well as a ETC card, which basically contains cash that will help you to clear toll gantries on expressways via a faster-moving lane. OTS has several branches, and we picked up and returned our car at the branch near the airport. A shuttle bus was provided for us on both occasions. Communication is not a problem with OTS staff, as some of them can speak English or Mandarin. Overall, a very positive experience. At the OTS office, we even bought slightly discounted tickets to popular tourist attractions such as Nago Pineapple Park and Churaumi Aquarium.

DAY 1:

1hr drive from OTS branch near airport to the Marriott resort

Nago Fishing Port lunch - unassuming place with very fresh sashimi

Nago Pineapple Park - not well-reviewed online, but actually quite amusing as a whole due to how the place is very committed to pineapples. Some may find it boring or tacky, but it’s worth visiting for families, and you can buy yummy food souvenirs that are pineapple flavoured.

Ufuya dinner - popular and impressive restaurant within a hundred year old compound, specialising in shabu shabu

DAY 2:

Churaumi Aquarium - one of the most famous attractions in Okinawa (a 45min drive from our Marriott resort), is located within Ocean Expo Park, a sprawling coastal area. We really enjoyed the hours we spent here, and the highlight was the 2 whale sharks in the aquarium.

Cafe Kukuru Gama - which we stumbled upon after getting a little lost in the hills while driving to an observation tower. An absolutely charming cafe with a splendid view of the sunset. The owners were so friendly and even gave us an impromptu performance of traditional folk songs.

Chura-Hana dinner - a restaurant near our resort serving local cuisine

DAY 3:

Busena Marine Park - where we sat on a glass bottom boat and spent time observing marine life in an underwater observatory tower. A relaxing beach area

Cape Manzamo - famous among tourists for an elephant-shaped coastal rock formation. Aim to come here in the evening, as we took beautiful photos on the grass fields thanks to the gentle setting sun.

Arrived at our Sheraton resort. We got a free upgrade to rooms in a new tower. The hotel also has free fountain and light shows in the beautiful lobby area, which also has an amazing pond with exotic marine creatures.

DAY 4:

Sea-Side Drive In for breakfast, an American-themed restaurant serving humble but good breakfast. We came here for breakfast on 2 consecutive mornings.

Snorkelling activity within Sheraton resort. Corals and marine life were not that impressive to see, but the 4 of us had 2 instructors with us on a completely deserted beach, probably due to how beach activities are not popular in Dec.

American Village - for shopping and dinner. A lot of eateries and some shopping here, made more charming by the Christmas lights. Don’t expect glitzy malls, but it’s still a refreshing change from other less urbanised parts of Okinawa.

DAY 5:

Renaissance resort - which offered us some perks via a Club Savvy membership that we instantly got thanks to booking 3 nights here. It entitled us to free meals and drinks in some restaurants/lounges within the resort, as well as discounted prices for some beach activities. This was a good trade-off for the relatively small rooms, which also had ridiculously ugly toilets.

Ryukyu Village - a run-down cultural area, which was disappointing. Don’t waste your time coming here.

Okinawa World - this was betterr due to the Gyukusendo Caves, limestone caves which impressed us with their sheer size. Walking through them took almost 45min, and some walkways are really near the limestone formations. We didn’t have time to visit the Snake theme park of sorts within Okinawa World.

Aeon Mall at Rycom - for shopping and dinner. Many malls in Okinawa are owned by Aeon, but this one at Rycom is one of the newest. We were very impressed by the size of this mall, and blown away by the quality of food at the gourmet food court. There were many beautiful shops selling lifestyle products and homeware too.

DAY 6:

Shujiro Castle Park - a key tourist attraction in Okinawa, but unfortunately the main facade of the castle was under construction. It was still a pleasant area to explore, but as a whole, this is less impressive than castles in Kyushu and Osaka

Makishi Public Market - a rather small fish and beef market, with a cluster of eateries upstairs serving seafood

Kokusai Street - a trendy shopping area, that’s arguably the most Tokyo-like place in the entire Okinawa. A must-visit if you’re a city person. We saw F&B brands like Pablo, Koi and went to a cat cafe too.

DAY 7:

Cape Maeda - beautiful coastal area that was deserted, and thus ideal for taking photos. Also a popular diving spot.

Ashibinaa Outlet mall, which is very near the airport. Quite a decent place with some of the usual brands you can find in outlet shopping areas. We mainly bought stuff from Coach and Under Armour.

#okinawa #japan

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 7 years

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Penang (2016)

Accommodation: Eastern & Oriental Hotel

This is a relatively expensive hotel to stay in for Penang, but we were very impressed by it. From the spacious rooms facing the sea, the colonial design of the hotel that reminded us of Raffles Hotel, and the afternoon high teas that serve free flow alcohol, everything about it was lovely.

For a previous trip, we stayed in G Hotel, which is less pricey and more modern in terms of design. The best part about G Hotel is how it’s right next to the iconic Gurney Drive open air food area, and is also connected to a shopping mall.

Key places we visited on this trip, which was a simple 3D2N trip for food:

Katz Street, for simple yam rice and accompanying dishes at a kopitiam

1st Avenue Mall, which has some unique brands like Yubi-Sou and Padini

Sin Nam Huat, for good roasted chicken and char siew in a eating house

Jalan Siam - for famous charcoal-fried char kway teow

Passionis - for gorgeous cakes in a hipster cafe

Gurney Drive and the mall next to it, for local delights

China House - for coffee and cakes in a huge hipster shop house

Ming Xiang Tai Pastry Delights - for traditional egg tarts and pastries

Padang Brown - for dry mee siam and kueh

Lebuh Chulia - for roadside wanton mee and curry mee

Mugshot Cafe - for coffee and cakes in a jail-themed cafe

Gurney Paragon - for Plan B, one of our favourite restaurants in Penang

Design Village - the new outlet mall, which was unfortunately overcrowded

If it’s your first time to Penang, you should also make an effort to find the street art paintings, which have become popular photo spots for tourists. You can search online for their locations, or even get hard copy maps in Penang.

#penang #malaysia

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 7 years

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Greece (2017)

TRIP OVERVIEW:

Dates: 11 days, 10 nights in mid-June 2017 (avoid coming in July/Aug, which are the hottest and most popular months)

Locations: Santorini (3 nights), Mykonos (4 nights), Athens (2 nights)

Cost: About $2,400 for flights, ferries and accommodation. Changed about $1,100 SGD. So about $3,500 per person.

Airlines: Turkish Airlines (to Athens via transit in Istanbul), Olympic Air (domestic flight from Athens to Santorini). Turkish Airlines cost us $970 per person. Note that in late June 2017 (after our trip), Scoot begins flying to Greece.

Accommodation: 3 Airbnb apartments (each was on average of about SGD $200 per night)

Santorini: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/12790006?eluid=0&euid=49d285e0-854b-be7e-4f0e-ee7e2dfcc3b9

Mykonos: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/17341323?eluid=0&euid=8535eec5-8e64-6e55-685d-93b4b437eec7

Athens: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/17019561?eluid=0&euid=8f61bd61-af3d-fc0d-797d-5472c019656a

Ferry tickets booked via https://www.ferryconnection.com for ferries from Santorini to Mykonos, and Mykonos to Athens

Internet: Wifi is widely available for free in most eateries. You do not have to book the Wifi router from Changi Airport

Food: Cost of food is high in Santorini and Mykonos (think an average of 20 Euros per person for most meals), but relatively cheaper in Athens. Greek food is generally meat and carbo-heavy, and can be described as a cross between Italian and Turkish food. Notable dishes we ate a few times were moussaka (like lasagna) and souvlaki (skewers). Lower your expectations for coffee and cakes.

Transportation: We barely took any taxis for this trip. In Santorini and Mykonos, taxi rides are apparently fixed at 30 Euros regardless of your destination, so we mainly walked and took buses to specific beaches. However, waiting times for these buses can be long due to how they may not arrive punctually. Clear signage is also lacking, so ask around or follow other tourists to go to the right pickup points. In Athens, you can take the Metro, which is pretty straightforward.

Summary of the 3 places: Santorini will amaze you with it’s natural and architectural beauty. The white buildings, sunsets and views are exactly like how they look in postcards. Mykonos is a must-visit if you like partying and are discerning about shopping and F&B options. Athens has much less to offer, with the Acropolis ruins being the main attraction.

SANTORINI

Key highlights: Oia, Ammoudi Bay, Imerovigli, Fira, Kamari Beach

Accommodation: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/12790006?eluid=0&euid=49d285e0-854b-be7e-4f0e-ee7e2dfcc3b9

Day 1 (Santorini)

Walked from Air Bnb in Finikia to Oia area. A seaside town area with beautiful views and a variety of shops and eateries in charming lanes. Then we saw crowds waiting for sunset at northern tip of Oia. Beautiful spot for photos. Then we walked down 300 steps (donkey shit) to Ammoudi Bay, where we had dinner at 1 of 4 seafood restaurants there. Airbnb is spacious and beautifully designed as a cave house. Excellent service too, in terms of planning transport and helping Weetz to receive new luggage bag to replace a damaged one from Olympic Air. Main problem is the walk to the main road (approx 10 min), which leads to Oia town. Can feel dangerous at night, and the pavements and steps are rocky, which makes it tricky for old folks or those who have to carry luggage on their own.

Day 2 (Santorini)

Morning breakfast at cafe in Oia with caldera view. Trekked for more than 5 hours from 2pm from Oia to Imerovigli and Fira. Quite a physically challenging trek due to uphill and rocky paths. But breathtaking views of the caldera in the west and the coast in the east! Ate at Avocado resturant in Imerovigli, which is relatively sleepy town you will pass by before Fira. Finally reached Fira in the evening, which is very commercial and crowded compared to Oia. But this also means much more shopping and F&B options. Dinner at Ouzeri, which was thankfully near bus interchange. We ALMOST missed the last bus back to Oia from Fira at 10pm. Thankfully bus interchange was near Ouzeri. Paid 1.80 euros for bus ride.

Day 3 (Santorini)

Beach Day. All buses to everywhere on the island start and end at Fira. Like an interchange. First took bus from Oia to Fira, paid 1.80 euro again. Wait for bus outside Tourist Info Centre of Oia. No clear signage and directions to find this waiting place, ask around. Buses come in 30min intervals. Check schedule online by googling Santorini local bus schedule. From Fira, took another bus (20 min interval) to Kamari Beach, which has many many beach chairs and eateries along a pedestrian walk. We ate at one named Albatross Beach Bar. Beach chairs here belong to the restaurants that they are in front of. So have a meal before going to the beach chairs. Took a bus back to Fira to explore the shopping lanes. Ate at Chill Box (yogurt ice cream) and Lucky’s (pitas and souvlakis).

MYKONOS

Key highlights: Charos (AMAZING), Super Paradise (ALSO AMAZING)

Accommodation: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/17341323?eluid=0&euid=8535eec5-8e64-6e55-685d-93b4b437eec7

Day 4 (Mykonos)

Air Bnb host arranged transport from house to new port of Santorini, where we took a ferry to Mykonos. Tickets were booked via ferryconnection.com and the company Sea Jets, and cost 67 Euros each. Duration of ferry ride is written as about 2 hours. But actual duration may be longer. Don’t plan things too tight. Arrive at least 90 min before ferry ride to collect tickets. Be prepared for some chaos at the port. Our original ferry was delayed by an hour, so we were told to take an earlier one. There is no systematic queue to board the ferry, and you have to leave your luggage unglamorously in a dubious storage area with everyone else before going upstairs to sit. Basically, you may feel like a refugee.

Our Mykonos Airbnb was in a very beautiful hipster area Fournakia in the old town, just behind Balengiaca boutique. Very classy lanes and shops! Walking distance to Little Venice, waterfront eateries of Yalios, and LGBT nightspots like Babylon and The Piano Bar. As a whole, this amazing area is called Mykonos Old Town (Charos). Possible future hotel to stay is Hotel Carbonaki, next to our Airbnb. As a whole, excellent service at this Airbnb, with friendly hosts who gave us directions and cleaned the room punctually at 1pm daily. This Airbnb is more like a hotel room instead of whole house but they own other options if you have more than 2 people

Day 5 (Mykonos)

Went to the iconic old windmills by the sea and Rarity Gallery, a small but impressive art gallery.

Recommended Mykonos eateries: Pepper, Vegara, Lotus, Souvlaki Story, Kitchen Lab for cakes and soft ice cream

Recommended Mykonos LGBT nightspots: Jackie O (main dance club with drag shows and an amazing branch at Super Paradise) Lola (intimate bar for drinks espresso martini, lemontini) Porta (smaller dance club but with great pop r&b music). Drinks such as Mojitos are about 12 euros.

Day 6 (Mykonos)

Short walk from Airbnb to bus area in Fabrika, to take private minibus to Super Paradise (9 Euros per person two ways, bus leaves every 30min, again be there earlier as they leave a min or two earlier than scheduled.). Super Paradise isn’t a huge beach area, but the absolute highlight is Jackie O, the LGBT-friendly club perched on top of a slope to the right of the beach. Such incredible party vibes, even with daylight! Dancing in the open while facing the ocean is amazing. The beach itself is split into 3 section, which charge for use of the beach chairs. The cheapest is 10 Euros, the most expensive is 25 Euros each. Pricey, so plan to stay for the whole afternoon if you can. The sun is very lovely in mid June, and we were not sunburnt despite spending hours suntanning. Mediterranean winds!

Day 7 (Mykonos)

Took bus from another bus terminal at Old Port to Elia Beach, also known as a popular beach for LGBT tourists. This bus is less frequent than Super Paradise one, although larger. Unlike Super Paradise, towels are not provided with beach chairs. Paid 15 Euros each. But there is no clubbing aspect here, although there are indeed many LGBT visitors. As with other beaches, some topless nudity from women, and drinks are sold separately. Sun today was quite unbearably hot.

ATHENS

Key highlights: Acropolis, Plaka, Monastiraki, Ermou Street

Accommodation: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/17019561?eluid=0&euid=8f61bd61-af3d-fc0d-797d-5472c019656a

Day 8 (Athens)

Took ferry from Mykonos new port (again Sea Jet company, tickets about 60 euros prebooked via ferryconnection.com) to Piraeus port of Athens. Our AirBnb turned out to be in a fantastic location at Dionisiou, less than 500m away to a ticketing booth for the Acropolis, and just a street away from the Plaka shopping district. Huge apartment of 2 living rooms and 2 bedrooms. Shops in Plaka open till pretty late, around 10pm or so on average. Not hipster shops, but enough variety for decent souvenirs and window shopping.

Day 9 (Athens)

Woke up early to reach Acropolis before 9am, so as to beat the crowds and avoid afternoon heat. Tickets cost 20 Euros per person. Made the right decision to reach early, as number of fellow visitors was reasonable. But weather quickly turned very hot by 11am, which made climbing up and down the winding paths quite tiring. Took a while to find the Theatre of Dionysus on our way down. We then walked for about 20min from our Airbnb to the National Museum of Contemporary Art. The walk made us realise that some parts of Athens are really not very pretty due to urban decay. Museum itself was new and pretty, and we caught a special 100 days contemporary art exhibition from Germany called documenta14. Brief rain showers a couple of times today, the first of our entire trip.

In evening, we walked from Airbnb to Syntagma Square, which is a central shopping area that faces the Greek Parliament. Walked to Ermou Street, where we saw fashion brands like Zara and H&M here, and had much needed Asian food for dinner!

Day 10 (Athens)

Since we had to leave Airbnb by 12pm but only leave for airport at 8pm, we had to deposit our luggage somewhere for the afternoon. Through a tourist info kiosk, we found a Athens Studios hostel near our Airbnb that charges a per day fee of 8 Euros for luggage storage!

Took metro to Monastiraki Metro station, which we stumbled upon the night before and met 2 different Sporean acquaintances. Seems like a bustling F&B area, with the only Starbucks we saw in Athens haha. A very popular food street is Mitropoleos. Lunch with Denise’s family at rooftop Electra restaurant of a hotel named Electra Metropolis Hotel, which apparently charges affordable room rates too, despite good proximity to shopping area.

On the way to airport, taxi driver used some time to show us a side of Athens we never knew about, basically a coastal residential area that feels very Beverly Hills and much more affluent than the city centre we experienced.

#Greece #Santorini #Mykonos #Athens

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 7 years

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Shanghai (2017)

3D2N trip over Good Friday long weekend in mid-April of 2017

General: Same time zone as Singapore. No visa required for trips less than 15 days.

Climate: 22 - 25 degrees on average in the day. Basically, it was less cold than we expected, and thankfully did not rain at all. In fact, it was really sunny in the day (but not humid), but cooling in an ideal way at night. According to locals, April is like a transition month between rainy March and hot May.

Transport: Locals cycle a lot using app-activated public bicycles. For tourists, taxis and the train are quite simple to use. The train system resembles Singapore’s MRT, while taxis are relatively easy to flag down. If you need help getting a cab in crowded places such as The Bund area, try to get staff of hotels (whether or not u stay in them) to help u flag cabs. Once you board a taxi, meter starts at either 14 or 16 rmb. After 11pm, it’s 18 rmb.

Transport from airport: From Pudong Airport, take the Maglev train (Ci Fu) to Long Yang station, which is only about 8min as it can travel 300km/h and above. From this Long Yang station, we took a taxi to our hotel Twelve at Hengshan, which took about 40min and should cost you around 80rmb (do the same thing in reverse when going back). At Long Yang station, avoid drivers who are using their own cars as taxis. Board the official taxis and make sure their meters are on.

Accommodation: Twelve at Hengshan Hotel A classy five star hotel which we paid SG$308 a night for. Chose this because we wanted comfort for our 2 nights of a short trip. It is also located directly opposite exit 4 of Hengshan station, and in the charming French Concession area. Lovely Paris-like walking paths in this area, and also safe due to various embassies here.

DAY 1 ATTRACTIONS:

Jing An Temple - charming! in the heart of a bustling area. apparently effective for career wishes.

Zoo Cafe in mall next to Jing An Temple - good waffles, lousy coffee.

Senator Saloon - classy, dark bar for pre-dinner drinks

Jian Guo 328 - popular authentic local diner. must make reservations in advance. not pretty, but food was great. Cost about $70 per person for 4 pax dinner.

Speak Low - a popular secret bar, hidden within a shop named Ocho Your Bar Tools. cool crowd, pricey but interesting drinks.

Lucca 390 - spacious gay club, but music and crowd did not impress. party vibe was strong though.

Day 2 ATTRACTIONS:

Green & Safe - very popular hipster cafe offering healthy food and products. had to queue for 20min but waiting system was organised. impressive interior, vibes and food! very good carrot cake. combo salad for about 88 rmb. has 2 brances in Shanghai.

麟笼坊 (建国东路10号(近肇周路口) - authentic local eatery specialising in xiao long bao of different flavours

Xintiandi - trendy area of restaurants/cafes/shops set in heritage area. must go!

K11 mall - arty mall with hipster tenant mix

The Bund - iconic but extremely crowded!

M on the Bund - high end restaurant with a good view of The Bund. food didn’t amaze us though.

The Chop Chop Club - hip restaurant in building opposite to M on the Bund

Subconscious - massage place with beautiful interiors. our masseurs had average skills though

DAY 3 ATTRACTIONS:

Element Fresh in Xin Tian Di - popular breakfast place, but felt pedestrian to us when compared to Green & Safe. many branches though.

Muji Flagship Store in Huai Hai Lu - huge store with impressive product range. Large Nike and Under Armour stores next to it

Ri Yue Guang mall - Xin Shang Hai restaurant - good Chinese food in this mall next to Tian Zi Fang street market area

Tian Zi Fang - popular street market area, which reminded us of Dan Shui in Taiwan and Camden Market in London.

In conclusion: A vibrant and fast-paced city with a lot to offer. Service standards in F&B outlets as well as public transport crowdedness were both better than Hong Kong. But cost of living is high, so we barely shopped, unlike how we can do so in Bangkok.

#Shanghai

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sowecanrememberourtrips · 8 years

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Bali (2016 & 2017)

In 2016, we stayed in Ubud and Seminyak. In 2017, we stayed in Jimbaran and explored Uluwatu. Below are useful details for visiting Bali, which we compiled after both trips.

GENERAL INFO

- Weather: The rainy season is from Dec to Feb, so the ideal period to visit is from April to Sept. For our March 2017 trip, it drizzled quite frequently in the afternoon

- Transport: Uber is frowned upon in Bali. When taking taxis, the Bluebird ones are recommended as they are more credible. Tell the drivers to turn on the meters once you get into the taxis. It’s easy to get private drivers to bring you around too. Most resorts will be able to help you with this. Expect to pay about S$50 - 60 for a day, and most private drivers are quite easy-going when negotiating the number of places you want to go to.

- Difference between various parts of Bali: For Uluwatu, it’s mainly private villas instead of hotels. For Jimbaran, which is near Uluwatu, there are more hotel options due to the popular beach with seafood restaurants. For Nusa Dua, it’s mainly expensive chain hotels. For Seminyak, it’s basically our favourite area in terms of shopping and eating options, as well as trendy resorts. For Ubud, it’s increasingly popular due to the relative serenity it offers.

JIMBARAN

- We stayed at Le Meridien Jimbaran - which gave us a beautiful and spacious room for about only S$200 a night. Staff were great too, but the pool and overall services cannot be compared to Alila Seminyak. Moreover, due to nearby seafood restaurants at Jimbaran Beach (walking distance), the smoky air can get quite ridiculous in the evenings throughout the resort. Avoid staying in rooms which face the beach because of this smoke problem.

- From the resort, you can take a 45min taxi ride to Seminyak Square in Seminyak, costing about S$15.

- You must have a seafood dinner at Jimbaran Beach, right next to Le Meridien. Great ambience as you eat and face the ocean, but try to order set meals with fixed prices (about $40 and above).

- The resort is also within walking distance of a couple of cafes, like Grocer & Grind, which serves good breakfast.

- For SGD$50, we booked a private driver via the hotel reception to drive us to several places over the span of about 6 hours. The driver’s name is Eben, and his mobile number is +62 812 3605 6061.

First, there was Uluwatu Temple, which offers a great view of the ocean, but this is the one place we will NOT recommend coming to due to a nasty experience we had with aggressive wild monkeys.

- But Suluban Beach is a must-go. First, eat at Single Fin, a cool restaurant popular with surfers that overlooks the ocean. Then walk down the steep stairs from the restaurant all the way to a beautiful seashore. We really liked this place due to the natural beauty and relative lack of tourists.

- We also stopped at Padang Padang beach, which was more ordinary than Suluban Beach. This is an optional place to visit if you have enough time.

- Our last stop with the private driver was the famous Rock Bar within Ayana Resort. The sunset view did not disappoint, but the quality of the pricey finger food did. Moreoever, there were many Mainland Chinese tourists, which affected the overall vibe of the place, which is nevertheless amazing from an architectural point of view.

SEMINYAK

- We stayed at Alila Seminyak, a gorgeous sprawling resort nowhere as crowded as W hotel, and yet in the same central area of Seminyak. It’s relatively new, and when we stayed there in 2016, there was a promotional price of about $350 a night, which was awesome because it feels like a $500 a night kinda place.

- Alila Seminyak is within walking distance of the famous Potato Head beach club, which you should check out to see the beautiful crowd and soak in the party vibes, which are strong even in the afternoon.

- Ku De Ta is a famous place to go for drinks at night, but we weren’t too impressed by it, especially when compared to other places like Rock Bar in Ayana Resort which offers a much cooler view of the ocean.

- A couple of lovely eateries we went to in Seminyak include Corner House, Garden Gangsters, Sea Circus, Sisterfields, Frozen Yogi, Grocer & Grind and Fat Turtle. Awesome interior design and food. In fact there are many awesome cafes in Seminyak as a whole. For proper restaurants, we would recommend some such as Bambu and Batik. Avoid Library Cafe, that disappointed.

- But the most impressive F&B establishment we've been to in Bali is probably Motel Mexicola. Very colourful, very fun, very unique. Popular for a rowdy night out, yummy tapas and a wide variety of alcoholic drinks. Must go!

- We had a really good full body massage for USD$11 at Carla House

- On both trips, we bought trendy art items from a shop named Vivere

UBUD

- We stayed at a beautiful hipster resort named Bisma 8. It was a wonderful experience, due to the gorgeous rooftop infinity pool, a library-themed cafe and the huge and charming room we got. Highly recommended if you want somewhere relatively intimate and design-conscious. We could even attend complimentary yoga or cooking lessons in the morning, and the restaurant within the resort named Copper is also very pretty.

- We hired a personal driver via Facebook before the trip, for a 1 day trip to several popular attractions. His name is Ketut, and his mobile number is +6282147396969. His quote was relatively pricey at about $80, although his service was excellent (wet towels in car, beautiful sarongs for us to wear in the temples, good music and conversations in the car, etc)

- Monkey Forest was interesting due to the incredible number of monkeys within a huge lush area, just be careful of your belongings.

- Tegenungan Waterfall was worth the visit due to the good photos we got with the falls. Expect to get a little wet, and walk carefully as you make your way up.

- Tegallalang Rice Terrace was a wonderful experience, due to how we got to trek up the rice fields and take beautiful photos. There are other rice terraces in Ubud, but this is apparently the most famous one.

- Holy Spring Temple was another place we went to, and took photos at while wearing sarongs. If you want to, you can go into the waist-high water areas of the temple to pray, like the locals do.

- There was also a stop to take photos of the view from Batur Volcano.

#Bali

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