Travelogue: Trip to Siem Reap - Day 2 : Small Circuit (Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei)

After a great night sleep, our 2nd day started with a lovely breakfast brought to our room by the staff at Hotel Be. You get to choose from a menu the day before, and it was brought upstairs to us. You can either have it at the little dining area or upstairs at the terrace.

We had arranged with Ara to pick us up around 9am to start our temple tour in Siem Reap. She had arranged our own private tuk tuk for our entire stay. If you are not familar with the tuk tuk or it's also known as an auto rickshaw, it is a modified mode of transport found in several parts of the world where using a small motorbike, you can transport up to 2 to 4 people depending on the tuk tuk.

Our own Tuk Tuk

Travelogue: Trip to Macau Final Part

After checking the Macau Museum, we went off to check out the other sights of Macau. As we descended the Mount Fortress, one could see the beautiful Grand Lisboa Casino in the foreground.

Warning: Photo Heavy Post

Grand Lisboa

Travelogue: Trip to Macau Part 2

Just east of the Ruins of St Paul's, is the Mount Fortress or Monte Fort. You will noticed that all the tourists are congregating at the Ruins, taking tons of photos, but at path that leads up to the Mount Fortress which and to the Museum of Macau, it is very quiet. Most tourists especially on group troups will not get the chance to visit both these attractions, which is a great pity as from the Fortress, one will find excellent views across Macau. 

Views over Macau on the way up to Monte Fort

Travelogue: Hong Kong Sightseeing - Off the beaten Track - Cheung Chau

Before we moved to Singapore, we lived for a year in Hong Kong. In recent years, Hong Kong has taken the place of one of the top destinations for Singaporeans to visit. There are lots to do from the great food, to the shopping and the amazing scenery. Yep you hear right, Hong Kong has great scenery, more than 70% of the country is designated as country parks. The number of hiking trails is staggering. You get amazing mountain and sea views from every corner. Most people thinks of Hong Kong as a city with amazing skyscrapers, but what most tourists won't see is the quieter side of HK, the country parks, the greenery and the village life. Thus I won't be writing about most of the standard places that Singaporeans are sure to visit during their trip. What I will write about are off the beaten track. So to start off with, I took a friend who was visiting to Cheung Chau.

What most tourists' image of HK- Skyscrapers Galore (taken from the summit of Fei Ngo Shan where I lived)

Travelogue: Trip to Macau Part 1

While living in HK, we didn't really want to go to Macau. To me, it is a wannabe Vegas and having been to Vegas, I didn't see any need to pop over there. Plus I thought we would be in HK for 4 years. Lo and behold, we were moving out of HK, so quickly the family and I took a couple of day trips over to take a look at what Macau has to offer.

New buildings on Taipa Island

Travelogue: Trip to Siem Reap - Day 1

Last year for our 10th Wedding Anniversary, we planned quite a few celebratory trips since we love travelling. Rather than spending it on gifts and such, we decided to go for a few trips during the year. So in the end we went to Italy, Siem Reap, Greece and East Coast of USA. Quite a bit of travelling around the world. I was a happy happy bunny :)

Angkok Wat is one of those places I have on my must visit list. It took quite a bit of convincing on my part to get the husband to go with me to Siem Reap. He doesn't really like visiting what you call the Third World countries. He is more at home in developed countries and also remember that he only thrives in temperate countries due to his narrow zone of temperature range where he will not melt. When I finally managed to get him to agree to go to Siem Reap, I immediately went ahead to book our tickets during the week of our Anniversary.

Angkor Wat 

Travelogue: Off the beaten track in Tokyo - Mount Takao

Tokyo - a city of neon lights, endless metropolis and packed with citygoers. After your fifth visit, maybe you are tired of the bright city lights and grey concrete, you will be surprised to find that once you venture outside the well-trodden paths of the city center, you will find loads of natural scenery and beauty that Japan has to offer. Most importantly, you do not need to travel too far. That was what the hubby and I did on our one of our visits to Tokyo. We wanted to go off the beaten path and check out somewhere new that we had not been to. 

The place we checked out is Mount Takao 高尾山. It is a mountain located within metropolitan Tokyo, in city of Hachiōji. Therefore it is within easy reach of Tokyo using the Chuo line from either Tokyo or Shinjuku station. It takes only 50 minutes to reach to Takao station before changing to Keio line to Takaosanguchi, the closest station to Mount Takao.

Source: http://www.takaotozan.co.jp

Travelogue: Tokyo Accommodation

Having been to Japan quite a few times, I thought I will write a post on the type of accommodation I have stayed in especially in Tokyo. There are plenty of choices ranging from budget to $$$, from the normal to the wacky. Unfortunately, it's not in our comfort zone to try out the wacky ones. So what I have here are the normal from reasonable budget-conscious type to comfy 5 stars hotel.

Nowadays with the advent of the internet, nobody can give the excuse that they cannot find a place to stay while on holiday. There are tons of booking sites, review sites, the list is endless. I remember the time when internet was new (ohhh, Am I revealing how old I am?). Anyway, back on point, back in the days,  going on holiday, especially free and easy was more challenging. I love the INTERNET!

The first time we went to Tokyo was back in 2007. We found a great place to stay in Tokyo. The place we stayed was called the Tokyu Stay, an apartment hotel. They have 15 hotels scattered around Tokyo, from Ginza to Ikebukuro to Shibuya. The advantages of such a hotel is that their rooms have kitchenette sand they even provide free internet. The current rates for a standard room in Tokyu Stay in Higashi-Ginza ranges from JPY 9,400 to JPY 17900 (SGD$145 - 278) a night.


We stayed at their Higashi Ginza branch. It was a brilliant location just right next to the Tsukiji Market and the Higashi Ginza Tokyo Metro Stop. Our room had two twin beds, there was a computer which had free internet and doubled as a TV. There was also a little kitchenette with a washing machine, fridge and a electric stove top. Our stay also included continental breakfast each morning at the reception area downstairs. Great for budget and fuss free travelling.

Tokyu Stay at Higashi Ginza

Travelogue: A family trip to Bali, Indonesia

Despite the proximity and the years living in Singapore, I have never been drawn to Bali. Despite the husband being an 'Ang Moh' (Local Singaporean term for Caucasian), we have never been drawn sun, sea and beach. I know it is ridiculous especially within a stone's throw, there are plenty of great beach resorts to visit. We prefer cooler climate which explains why most of our trips are further afield rather than in Asia.

Distinctive Balinese architecture

Travelogue: A Short Visit to Seoul, South Korea

Cute Figures out the visitor center in DMZ

Travelogue: Visit to Tokyo Part 1- Spring

One of my favourite countries to visit is Japan. I had the privilege to visit the country on a few occasions. The first time was back in 2007 when the husband and I were still living in the UK. We flew in during spring in late march in hope to catch the Sakura (Cherry blossom) season and we were really lucky. More on that later.

Anyway, we went back to Japan again and again as we couldn't resist the charm, and also the husband had to go there a lot for business, so lucky me got to join him there at least 2 to 3 times a year. So between 2009 and 2011, I had gone back to Tokyo at least 6 times. These trips gave me plenty of chances to explore Tokyo and some of the trips were in spring which meant that I got to see more Sakura!

Japan is amazing, no matter which season you choose to visit. I love spring for the cherry blossoms but I also love autumn, my favourite season ever!! I love to see the colours change in the trees, stepping and hearing the crunchy sounds made as you stepped into a big pile of fallen leaves :).

Admiring cherry blossoms in Kitanomaru Park