I finally attempted snorkelling for the first time in my life! I am not a beach person and I do not know how to swim. Hence, water activities are things that I would rarely do. I am also the kind of person that would get uncomfortable of floating in the middle of the open sea and being a little afraid of all the things beneath that I couldn’t see (maybe because I watched too many shark movies…haha).
I followed my friends on a trip to Mersing, Johor this weekend to join a pre-booked island hopping tour. The half-day island hopping tour which we took yesterday (Saturday) departs from the town of Mersing and covered several islands (costs about RM160 per pax). Included in the package are lunch, mineral water and snorkelling equipment. There are several other packages available too. Our trip started at around 10am and ended around 4pm.
After clocking off from work on last Friday, we immediately made our way to cross over to Johor. Due to the extremely long queue for public buses at the Singapore’s immigration complex, we decided to just walk over to Johor via the Causeway. It was my first time walking across Causeway by foot and it took us about 30 minutes. There wasn’t any traffic congestion on the lanes towards Johor (quite surprising on Friday’s evening) but the buses just wouldn’t arrive back to Singapore side to fetch passengers that day. We then had a late dinner before staying at my friend’s house for the night.
We woke up pretty early on Saturday morning as it took about 2 hours to travel to Mersing from Johor Bahru by car. It was a clear sunny day, perfect for outdoor activities and ideal for our island hopping trip. The trip commenced with an exhilarating boat ride crashing through waves as we left the mainland towards the South China Sea. What a ride! (definitely not for people with motion sickness).
We were introduced to Harimau Island, Rawa Island, Hujung Island, Tengah Island and Besar Island. We got to snorkel at 3 spots, each close to an island. We were given a brief guide on how to use the snorkelling equipment and for those who couldn’t swim (like me), we have to stay on the area close to the boat where attached life buoy was dispatched for safety. We came prepared as we brought a loaf of bread to feed the fishes. Although I am very short-sighted (very high degree) but I could still see the fishes (the fishes were small) quite clearly as they were very close. The only disappointment is that I couldn’t quite see clearly the coral reefs on the ocean floor.
Here’s a clip of me snorkelling while feeding the fishes…haha;
Due to high waves at Harimau Island during our visit, we couldn’t snorkel or swim there. Many said that island is the most picturesque of all. Well, too bad. We do alight on two islands respectively for lunch and for a brief exploration too. I even saw a lovely sea turtle during the boat ride (but didn’t have time to take a picture of it as the boat is going very fast).
Very clear water isn’t it! Once the trip was over and we headed back to the town, we immediately went to check in at Kampung Stay at Teluk Buih, a small new resort hotel by a bay. We then had dinner and made our way back to the hotel for early rest after a long day.
I then realized that I got sunburnt (hands-most severe, legs and the back of my neck) from the island hopping trip. Oppss…We then left Mersing on Sunday’s afternoon and got back to Johor Bahru and then back to Singapore in late afternoon (just a moment ago).
Taylor Swift is in Singapore currently for her 6 sold-out shows at National Stadium for ‘The Eras Tour’ (her 6th concert tour). She is arguably the most famous American singer right now and needs no further introduction. The concert tour which consists of over 150 shows across 5 continents commenced on March last year and will end on December this year. With a global cultural impact, ‘The Eras Tour’ became the first tour to surpass $1 billion in revenue, making it the highest-grossing of all time.
I did not listen to her songs a lot but her songs do give good vibes and are very upbeat. Some of her popular songs include ‘Love Story’, ‘Cruel Summer’, ‘Blank Space’, ‘You Belong With Me’, ‘Shake It Off’, ‘Anti-Hero’, ‘Style’, ‘Lover’, etc. Singapore is her only stop in South East Asia for her concert tour. Yup…she skipped all the other ASEAN nations due to exclusive deal made with Singapore’s authority that has caused displeasure from officials from Thailand, Philippines, etc after the deal was exposed. The deal is somewhere along the line whereby Singapore gave a grant to the concert organizer in exchange that Singapore would be the only stop in South East Asia region for her tour.
Well, I don’t think Singapore is being sneaky or unfriendly here. It is just a smart way of doing business where no one else has thought about it. By doing the shows only in Singapore, many from around the region would flock to Singapore to watch the shows. This boosts the economy and tourism of the country as these visitors would come to spend during their stay here for the concert. Smart move! Many global celebrities were also spotted attending the concerts here in Singapore such as Barry Keoghan, Blackpink’s Lisa, Carina Lau, JJ Lin, Wu Chun, etc.
‘The Eras Tour’ isn’t just merely a concert tour by now. It has undoubtedly becomes a global phenomenon. Me and my friends went over to the stadium area after work yesterday to join the crowd outside the stadium hoping to be catch some of her song performances. Yesterday’s evening was her 5th show of her tour here. The crowd was massive as expected as many couldn’t obtain the tickets for the concert. Many were singing along together with Taylor from outside the stadium.
It was very happening not only inside the stadium but also on the outside. There are many booths selling merchandise of the tour, food and beverages. There were even several street performances to further elevate the atmosphere. Many visitors went prepared by setting up picnic mat and enjoying their time there while listening to Taylor live without the need to fork out money to buy the concert tickets (also it’s super difficult to get one anyway!).
We only stayed there for a while and managed to listen to few of her songs. I became a fake Swiftie (a term that refers to a fan of Taylor Swift) for the day. Haha…We then had our dinner at the Kallang Wave Mall right beside the stadium and left early to avoid congestion at the MRT later on when the show’s ending is near. Although I didn’t manage to watch her concert, but at least I can claim that I have listened to her concert before…haha.
I’m so excited this morning! Today is finally the day when the online public sale of admission tickets for Sammi Cheng’s concert on this coming July at Hong Kong Coliseum starts. The aim to watch her concert in Hong Kong is already fixed in my mind ever since she announced late last year that she will be holding her 11th solo concert tour in July 2023.
Her tour this time is called ‘You & Mi Sammi Cheng World Tour’ and will begin in Hong Kong with 13 shows (originally planned to have only 8 dates but 5 more shows were added later on due to overwhelming response in the priority sale for specific bank card holders earlier). The tickets are priced at HKD1080, HKD680 and HKD380. Although I have been her fans for over 2 decades and I have watched three of her past concerts at Genting Highlands before (last one being in 2015), but I have never actually watch her performing at her home turf in the famous Hong Kong Coliseum (or commonly known as Red Hall).
The online public sale today commenced at 10am. I was working but I was already standby with the ticketing website on my office desktop once I reached my office couple of minutes after 9am. However, as soon as the clock reaches 9.57am, one of my superiors called me for a quick discussion. Haiya….Once that was over by 10.01am, I immediately get back to my work station and clicked on the purchasing page. I was already in a queue with over 80 000 people ahead of me. I was only late for like 2 minutes. What the heck!!! At that moment, I felt so defeated. With only 64 000 tickets available to purchase out of her 13 shows (with a huge portion already reserved for organizers earlier), it would be impossible for me to get any with that many person ahead of me (and one person can buy a maximum of 4 tickets). There was also some technical glitches with the website (very much expected due to extremely high traffic to the website) this morning that made me felt worst.
Luckily, I did ask my eldest sister to help to buy this morning too since she will be going with me for the concert along with my second sister and her partner. She came prepared with two phones, one laptop and one iPad to try to snap the fast-selling tickets. And yup…she managed to purchase 4 tickets priced at HKD680 each for the show on 18th July (Tuesday). She immediately told me the good news and I’m so delighted! Can’t thank her enough! Once I got into the purchasing page some 10 minutes later, all the shows were already sold-out with no option to purchase seat with any prices on any dates. The website then made an official statement an hour or two later that all the shows are sold out. My sister was so lucky. By the way, we will only be able to collect the physical tickets once we arrive at Hong Kong close to the date of the show that we purchased.
And yup..I will be going to watch her HK concert and it’s now confirmed that my next travel destination will be Hong Kong on this coming July, exactly two months from now. Haha…Perhaps I will include one day trip to the neighbouring Macau as well since I have not been there before (I have been to Hong Kong once back in 2006). I have just returned from my solo trip to Dubai two days ago (and had already been to Australia and Japan early this year) and now I have to start planning for another one. My life is mostly about travelling this year, I guess…Haha…it is undeniable that travel is great! I hope more and more good news like this one today will come rolling to me for the rest of the year.
Like what I mentioned earlier, this will be my first time seeing my idol performing at the four-sided central stage in the Hong Kong Coliseum. Can’t wait for it. With this 13 shows planned, this would push her total number of shows held in Hong Kong Coliseum to 115. She is already the third female artist with most number of shows in that famous venue, only behind Paula Tsui and the late Anita Mui. With 115, she will also join the list of top 10 artists with most number of shows in Hong Kong Coliseum. What an achievement! Also let’s not forget she had won 4 best actress honors from her critically acclaimed performance in the film ‘Lost Love’ early this year including from the prestigious Hong Kong Film Awards.
She recently released a new song with spectacular MV that involved over 100 dancers and was shot in Taiwan last year. The song is very catchy and I quite like it. It also features a new young artist, Jeffrey Ngai who is an actor, model and singer that does the rap part/English part of the song. You can have a listen to the song below from YouTube:
It has become a very common occurrence nowadays that concert tickets in Asia were all snapped up very quickly for any popular singers recently. Earlier, I was informed of news that Jacky Cheung’s shows planned at Singapore had been extended to 9 dates and all were sold out immediately. Same to Aaron Kwok’s coming 3 shows at Singapore as well. Then, Eason’s shows at KL last weekend were also sold-out quickly according to one of my friends who did attend his concert. And then, news came out yesterday that Coldplay concert at Malaysia in this coming November sold out immediately too once the tickets are released. Everyone suddenly have huge interest on watching concerts and the singers are making big bucks!
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
It is Dubai!; the destination of my trip that I only thought of it two weeks ago. The idea of going on an impromptu vacation kicked in just a week before the trip itself and I immediately thought of Dubai. I always wanted to visit Dubai to see all the architectural landmarks and engineering marvels this city has built but have never done so till now. I have stopped at this city twice before on transit in the Dubai airport before continuing to fly to Europe in the past. I was not able to get out of the airport and explore the city back then which is kind off sad.
It’s off-peak season for travel to Dubai now as the unbearable summer season for the city is kicking in from next month onward (from June till September). It’s still very hot over there now (above 35 degree celsius most of the time) hence lesser tourists/crowds. The airfares and fees for accommodations and some attractions are lower during this period of time. Hence, I’m going for it with tight budget in mind and while the temperature is still manageable for me who have been living in hot tropical climate my entire life.
This was actually my first ever solo trip to oversea purely for travel/vacation. I did traveled oversea by solo previously but that was for my higher education/other purposes. Hence I do felt nervous and excited at the same time. It all went smooth and according to plan. I had a fulfilling 5 days 4 nights in Dubai (including a one day guided tour to the neighbouring state of Abu Dhabi) at United Arab Emirates. I did it in only a little over SGD 2000 including the return flight (via Singapore Airlines…first time taking this airlines too) which already costs around SGD 1200 alone. I ate mostly at food courts/fast food restaurants and I stayed in a dorm at a backpackers accommodation (quite comfortable, not many people, and the place is centrally located at the Dubai Marina area).
The only unfortunate incident was that my luggage was quite severely damaged after my flight from Singapore to Dubai. Due to me rushing to the accommodation to check in on that evening of my arrival, I didn’t report the damage to the airport’s staff. Poor handling of luggage from the Dubai airport side. I ended up spending more to purchase a new luggage in Dubai…and that makes less spending for souvenirs.
Yup…so here’s below are the highlights/itinerary of my trip:
Day 1 – 11 May 2023 (Thursday)
Head to Changi International Airport for afternoon flight from Singapore to Dubai (7 hours flight). Reached Dubai in the evening. Singapore time is 4 hours ahead of United Arab Emirates.
After checking in to the hostel (Lunar Hostel Plus), had a brief evening stroll along JBR Beach and Smoky Beach (both beaches are side by side and JBR stands for Jumeirah Beach Residence). View the world’s tallest/largest observation wheel, Ain Dubai (250m tall) from the beach.
Walk along the waterfront of the Dubai Marina, a large artificial canal city along a shoreline. My hostel is located in this area.
Day 2 – 12 May 2023 (Friday)
Visit to Zabeel Park to view the Dubai Frame. It is the largest frame in the world with a height of 150m and width of 95m. It serves as a monument, observatory, museum and literally a frame for the views of old Dubai in the north and modern Dubai in the south. I didn’t enter inside the Dubai Frame.
Visit to Museum of the Future. It is a very futuristic-looking building that houses exhibition space for innovative and futuristic ideologies, services, and products. Some has even described the building as the most beautiful building on Earth. I didn’t enter into the exhibition space though; I just wandered in the main lobby area and around the external of the building including the adjacent Emirates Towers‘ area.
Visit to Downtown Dubai where the Burj Khalifa is. It is the current world’s tallest building/man-made structure at 828m high. Went up to the ‘At The Top’ observatory at level 124 and 125 (at around 450m above ground) of the skyscraper for spectacular views over the city. First time in my life entering into a floor level higher than 100.
Also in the area is the Dubai Mall which is one of the largest shopping mall in the world by total land area. Checked out attractions in the huge mall such as the aquarium, a real dinosaur fossil display, ice skating rink, a large indoor waterfall art installation and an area dedicated as Chinatown. Plenty of things to see in the mall besides than the shops. Lunch and dinner in the mall.
View the Dubai Fountain show which is one of the world’s largest and tallest fountain shows. A 5-minute show (different music & choreography for each show) in every 30 minutes in the evening daily. Burj Khalifa is also lit up with gorgeous LED projections in the evening daily.
Day 3 – 13 May 2023 (Saturday)
Took a one full day guided tour (by ABC Tours, a local tour agency in Dubai) to Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE.
Outside views of the Ferrari World (first Ferrari-branded amusement park in the world), Etihad Towers, Capital Gate Tower (famously known as the leaning tower of Abu Dhabi) and Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental Hotel (a super luxurious hotel complex).
Quick photostop at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the largest art museum in Arabian world. Designed by Jean Nouvel, the building appears like a floating dome structure with a large interesting web-patterned dome.
Visit to Heritage Village, a small museum complex featuring a traditional village oasis that offers glimpses of life in the UAE before its oil boom.
Visit to Abu Dhabi Marina Mall for lunch.
Visit to Qasr Al Watan, presidential palace of UAE. The palace is built in 2017 not for the residences of the royals or leaders but as a place for hosting foreign leaders, for main government’s meetings/summits and for public visit. It is an intricately designed and ornately decorated palace with massive volume and spaces.
Visit to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in the country. It is also the largest and grandest mosque that I have ever visited. The mostly white-coloured mosque is built mostly of natural materials such as marble stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. The mosque is large enough to accommodate over 40 000 worshippers at a time. The mosque has the world’s largest carpet in the grand hall, features a courtyard of floral floor design and is considered to be the largest example of marble mosaic in the world and has seven huge chandeliers that incorporate millions of Swarovski crystals.
Back to Dubai before sunset and took time to walk along Dubai Marina again (this time walk from the other side of marina). View the Cayan Tower (a twisting skyscraper) along the marina. Visit to Dubai Marina Mall for dinner.
Day 4 – 14 May 2023 (Sunday)
Visit to The Pointe, a waterfront retail destination at Palm Jumeirah Island to view the luxurious Atlantis The Palm Hotel and Atlantis The Royal Hotel.
Take monorail from The Pointe to Nakheel Mall. Go up to the Palm Tower at level 52 to visit ‘The View at the Palm’ observatory for magnificent views over the entire Palm Jumeirah Island, Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Burj Al Arab, Ain Dubai, etc.
Visit to Souk Madinat Jumeirah, an Arabian bazaar complex with beautiful close view of the Burj Al Arab, world’s only 7-star hotel. Lunch in the complex.
Visit to Jumeirah Mosque for outside view only. Opened in 1979, the mosque is said to be the most photographed mosque in all of Dubai.
Visit to Old Dubai area. Visited the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood (one of Dubai’s oldest heritage sites with much of original infrastructure and narrow alleys preserved and intact). Also visited the adjacent Al Seef Heritage Street where traditional Arab souks lined this beautiful heritage district.
Took abra (traditional water taxi) to cross Dubai Creek over to Deira side of the city.
Visit to various souks in Deira region, particularly the famous Dubai Gold Souk, a traditional market of over 380 retailers, most of whom are jewelry traders. The Dubai Gold Souk is also host to the largest ring in the world weighing 64kg.
Back to Downtown Dubai again in the evening for shopping for souvenirs at the Dubai Mall (and dinner) and one last look of one of my favourite skyscrapers, Burj Khalifa. View the Dubai Fountain from the other side of the artificial Burj Khalifa Lake. Also visit to the Time Out Market(Souk Al Bahar), a retail mall famous for culinary hotspots which is also adjacent to the lake.
Day 5 – 15 May 2023 (Monday)
Visit to Dubai Miracle Garden. It is the world’s largest natural flower garden and only opens generally from October to April every year. For this year, it opens until early June. There are plenty of beautiful floral sights in the garden including a life-size version of the Emirates A380 which also broke the record as the world’s largest floral installation. The garden also features hearts tunnel, floral castle, Smurfs village, lake park, etc.
Visit to Mall of the Emirates, another large mall with beautiful architecture (particularly the huge domes and arched glass roof). The mall is also host to Ski Dubai (the Middle East’s first indoor ski resort and snow park). Shopping and lunch in the mall.
Return to hostel to check out and head to Dubai International Airport in the afternoon for flight back to Singapore. Arrived in the early morning next day (16 May 2023).
It was an awesome and fulfilling trip. You may check out more pictures posted in my social media (Facebook and Instagram) posts too. I managed to see and admire all the sights that I wanted to including the Burj Khalifa, Palm Jumeirah, Burj Al Arab and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. I have to admit that it was a bit rushed though to fit all into just 5 days. Anyway, did you notice that most of the attractions in Dubai are some sort of record holders (world tallest, world largest, etc)? If it isn’t big or grand, Dubai is not going to build it! Haha.
It’s a miracle that I was able to fit so many places into just 5 days 4 nights (technically only just 3 full days in Dubai and 1 day in Abu Dhabi in total). The consequence is that my legs are feeling the pain now from all the excessive walking I had in Dubai for the past few days. Literally around 30 000 steps each day (tracked from iPhone health data).
This trip was also there to clear off my leave (had quite a lot of accumulated annual leave from my company) and also to clear off my mind for a while after undergoing down moments since end of March. At least the planning and the trip itself gave me a much needed distraction and excitement.
I enjoyed the trip overall. If I can have one more day, I would go on one of the popular things to do in Dubai; desert safari. I missed that one because I have done similar activity in Egypt few years ago and that I didn’t plan that one extra day earlier. Hmm…hopefully my next travel would be in this coming July to Hong Kong only if I am able to get the tickets to watch Sammi Cheng’s concert which will be on public sale this Wednesday. Once a trip was over, it’s time to think of the next one. Hehe…we have a world to see!
I’m back! I have returned home yesterday’s evening from a week long guided tour with my parents to Hokkaido, Japan during the Chinese New Year holiday. Hokkaido is at the north side of Japan and is the country’s second largest island. This was my first ever trip to Japan. The trip was all smooth except for some minor hiccups such as cancellation of some activities in the itinerary and a hectic rush at New Chitose Airport to catch a domestic flight back to Tokyo (more on these later).
We saw a lot of snow and I experienced the coldest ever temperature in long stay. Hokkaido experienced a serious cold snap just a day before we arrived and caused temperature to plummet to just around -15 degree celsius (with feel-like temperature of around -20 degree celsius) for almost the whole week we were there.
We joined the Apple Vacations tour for this 7 days 5 nights trip that costs us around RM8700 per adult. Here’s the highlight of the trip by day;
Day 1 (Tuesday – 24th January 2023)
The trip commenced on the third day of Chinese New Year. We went to KLIA in the late afternoon to meet up with our tour leader, have our dinner and catch our flight to Tokyo in the evening.
Day 2 (Wednesday – 25th January 2023)
We arrived at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport in the morning, met with our tour guide who is also a Malaysian Chinese and then immediately made our way to Haneda International Airport (almost an hour drive away and this airport is closer to the city) to have our lunch (my first meal in Japan – fried pork rice with udon soup) and catch our domestic flight to Memanbetsu Airport in Hokkaido.
We then went to visit Ainu Kotan, a small village of Ainu people (indigenous people) and browsed through some Ainu handicraft stores along the main street of the village. Thick snow everywhere, first experience of the freezing temperature and the sky is getting dark soon although it was just around 4pm (sunset at Hokkaido during winter is very early at around 4.30pm).
We then head back to hotel. We had a delicious buffet for dinner in the hotel (and I wore traditional outfit for the dinner). The hotel has an onsen too (public bath which is very popular in Japan). I’m more of a shy and conservative person hence I didn’t go for it. For the night, we stayed in traditional tatami style bedroom (no bed furniture and sleep is just on futon, a traditional Japanese bedding on the floor).
Day 3 (Thursday – 26th January 2023)
We walked over to Lake Akan which is just right beside the hotel we stayed last evening. The entire lake was frozen and we can walk freely on top of it (parts of it were very slippery though). Some of our tour members decided to do ice fishing and banana boat on the lake (separate fees apply) while we just walked around taking in the snow-overwhelmed sights and snapping photos.
We then made our way to Lake Mashu, a crater lake formed in the caldera of a potentially active volcano. That explains why the water on the lake is not frozen. We went to a souvenir store that also has a cafe and an observation deck for spectacular view over the massive lake.
Next, we went to view another lake called Lake Kussharo and had a lunch there along the Sunayu Onsen natural hot spring beach by the lake.
After our lunch, we went to paid our visit to Mount Io. We walked over to an active volcano valley where sulphurous fumes rise from several crevices in the rocks around that area. The sulphur smell (smells like rotten egg) is quite strong over here.
We then made our way to Mombetsu, a city that faces the Sea of Okhotsk and Russia. Along the journey, we made a quick rest stop nearby a closed amusement park. We arrived in Mombetsu in the late afternoon and went to visit the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum. There are some exhibitions related to drift ice here and we got to experience -20 degree celsius in a particular room in this museum.
That’s all for the day as we head back to hotel to have a delicious crab-themed dinner and rest. Tour leader also purposely bought ‘yee-sang’ (traditional Malaysian Chinese dish to celebrate Chinese New Year) for us to toss and feast on for the evening. There were also two cakes served to celebrate birthday of two of our tour members.
Day 4 (Friday – 27th January 2023)
We were supposed to go on an ice breaker cruise on the Sea of Okhotsk (a major highlight of the tour) this morning but the sailing is cancelled unfortunately due to rough sea and strong wind. We got our refund though. We then went to visit the Okhotsk Tower to check out some live sea creatures on display at its undersea observatory level. The most fascinating creature on display here must be the cute little sea angels (mostly transparent sea slugs with wings and visible orange coloured internal organs).
We then head back up to its upper floors for amazing views over the breakwater, Okhotsk Sea and the city of Mombetsu. As there were no other visitors to the tower at that time, we had the whole tower to ourselves.
Next, we walked over to the Okhotsk Tokkari Center to catch a brief presentation of seals. We then paid a quick visit to take some photos with a huge Crab Claw Statue, then had an awesome lunch before making our way to Daisetsuzan, Hokkaido’s largest national park.
We reached the Sounkyo Gorge and took a lot of photos with the two famous waterfalls in this region; the Milky Way Waterfall and the Shooting Stars Waterfall. The former was fully frozen while the latter was partially frozen during our visit. My first time seeing frozen waterfall and it would be much cooler if we can view them at a closer distance.
Then, we were supposed to ride on the Sounkyo-Kurodake Ropeway to Mount Kurodake to enjoy magnificent view of the national park. However, the ride was closed due to poor weather (we got back our refund for this too). To compensate for this, our tour guide brought us to visit the Sounkyo Onsen Ice Fall Festival in the evening which is not part of our original itinerary. The attraction features several huge ice sculptures illuminated with colourful lights at both exterior and interior. We can walk into these ice sculptures and I’m very amazed by these fascinating displays.
We then head back to hotel for dinner and stayed in tatami style bedroom again for the evening.
Day 5 (Saturday – 28th January 2023)
We left Daisetsuzan this morning and made our way to Sapporo. Along the way, we had a quick rest stop and I took some shots of the snowy landscape on that area and a bizarre view of an outdoor vending machine surrounded with thick snow there. We also had a stop at Kitahiroshima Snow World for over an hour to drive snowmobile at own expenses. It was my first time riding a snowmobile and it was quite a fun experience although the track was a bit dull with no spectacular views.
Before reaching Sapporo, we arrived at Otaru, a port city and we checked out the Otaru Canal after having our lunch. The canal was once a transportation hub but has now become a major tourist destination of the city.
We also walked around the Otaru Handicraft Street which is renowned for glass handicrafts, a large music box store and museum, art gallery, and shops selling sake (Japanese rice wine), ice cream, snack and desserts. It was quite a heavy snowfall during our visit in Otaru.
We then finally arrived in Sapporo, Hokkaido’s largest city in the evening. We went to visit the Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade, a long stretch of sheltered shopping street filled with more than 150 shops ranging from souvenirs, pharmacies, cafes, snacks, clothing, etc. We bought quite a lot of snacks here to bring back home.
We ended the day with a mouth-watering barbeque dinner near the arcade before making our way back to hotel for rest.
Day 6 (Sunday – 29th January 2023)
It was a lovely morning and our first destination of the day was the Sapporo TV Tower which is located at the Odori Park. The 65 metres high tower built in 1957 is a landmark of the city. I also took a shot of the cityscape around this area.
The tour guide then offered to brought us to an additional attraction which is not part of our original itinerary. It is the Mount Okura Ski Jump Stadium. The stadium hosted a number of winter sport events including the 1972 Winter Olympics held in Sapporo. We took a ride on a ropeway to the top of the mountain where an observatory is located that offers amazing view over the city of Sapporo. Wow…the city is so huge and is comprising of mostly low-rise buildings.
We then made our way to Hokkaido Shrine which is the largest and most popular shrine in Hokkaido. The place was bustling with activities (countless people worshipping, making wishes, selling street snacks, taking pictures or just strolling around).
Next, we head over to Kitanogurume seafood wet market to have a sumptuous seafood meal (of course!) with king crab as the highlight. The crab meat tasted so fresh and good! I also had an opportunity to hold a live king crab for a photo.
It’s already afternoon and it’s time for our final attraction of the trip; Mitsui Outlet Park. We spent nearly three hours in here for shopping. I was getting little bored as I didn’t buy anything and 3 hours in quite a small two-storeys outlet mall is excessive (I manage to explore the entire mall in about an hour plus only).
After that, we head to the New Chitose Airport for our domestic flight back to Tokyo in the evening. As we spent too much time at the Mitsui Outlet Park earlier, we had quite a rush in the airport for all the check-in procedures and did not even have time for dinner. Although the slow handling of the airport staff at the check-in counters was to be blamed, our tour guide is responsible for his poor time planning today too (he allocated too little time for us in the airport). Once we arrived in Tokyo and got back to the hotel, we were given a sandwich and a bottle of green tea each as a token of apology.
Day 7 (Monday – 30th January 2023)
We made our way to Narita International Airport in the morning for our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. We had ample time in the airport this time and I took this opportunity to browse a large souvenir stop in the airport and bought some stuff before leaving Japan. We arrived at KLIA and reached home in the evening.
Apology for the lengthy post and thank you for having read my post until this point. Hope you enjoyed it. The trip was just average in my opinion as I felt I hardly saw much of Japan from this particular trip to Hokkaido. All I saw was mostly snow-covered landscapes. The meals served though were very good. I’m certain I will be visiting the country again too (most probably Tokyo as I would like to visit Mount Fuji, the Tokyo SkyTree tower, Tokyo Disneyland and more traditional Japanese buildings, gardens and temples).
Singapore really does know how to maximize revenue from their local tourist destinations. What is the single place you would go if you want to see live animals; zoo. But over here in Singapore, this attraction generally called as wildlife reserve is separated into 4 different parks; Singapore Zoo, River Safari, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park. So..you have to pay price of 4 tickets to visit them all because visiting only one will make you feel that it is not enough.
I have visited River Safari with my parents last year. It was a very enjoyable experience. Last night, I visited the other park; Night Safari with my friend. This is the park where you get to see nocturnal animals (animals that are more active at night). There is an on-going promotion of which the entrance fee is slashed by half and hence we decided to go for it.
We entered the park at 7.15pm, the time slot that we were allocated to to adhere to the capacity limitation requirement of any tourist attraction now due to the pandemic. That is the earliest time slot as the park is only opened from 7 to 11pm. We first took the tram ride to quickly tour around the whole park and get the overall picture and feel of the park in general. The animals there roam freely within their clearings without any cage…that is good…
After the tram ride which took about 30 minutes, we then walked along the 4 different trails along a continuous path. They are called Fishing Cat Trail, Leopard Trail, East Lodge Trail and Wallaby Trail. As the trip is in the evening, it was pretty much comfortable walking along the trail without any worry of heat. However, the only downfall is the lack of lighting that make it very hard for visitors to look for the animals. Even when we spotted the animals, we couldn’t really see clearly their overall features. However, we do understand that plenty of light may disturb or interrupt behavior of these animals.
We finished the whole walking trail in about one and a half hour. Some of the animals you can see here include Asian otter, fishing cat, binturong, Indian gharial, hyenas, leopard, lions, bears, tiger, wallaby, tapir, elephant, rhinoceros, wolf, deer, owls, porcupine, squirrel, etc. We end the trip by watching the ‘Creatures of the Night’ show that took place every one hour (7.30pm, 8.30pm, 9.30pm, and 10.30pm). We managed to catch the last time slot (10.30pm slot…but we have to queue from 9.30pm already to catch a spot). All the earlier time slots were full (due to the limited capacity of 100 pax for a show). By the way, 10.30pm slot is only available during weekend or public holiday. There is this another show called Thumbuakar performance but it was suspended due to the current pandemic.
The ‘Creatures of the Night’ show was a bit of a disappointment for me as there is nothing memorable or spectacular that comes out of the animals’ performances. All things covered in the park…and so we left the park right at its closing time at 11pm. There is also a souvenir shop but we are not keen on that, so we skipped it. Overall, it was still a fun experience visiting the park and I had a comfortable time there. It was my first time seeing animals in the dark. The staff are very friendly and efficient at their work too. Malaysia really need to learn a lot from Singapore on the quality of tourist attractions.
2 parks down…2 more to go to complete the whole ‘wildlife reserve’ experience in Singapore. I’m waiting for their next promotion then. By the way, do remember to bring mosquito repellent if you to plan to visit the park. That’s very important. If not, you will end up finishing the tour with many mosquito bites on your body.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
I’m back! I have just returned home recently after a long 9 days 7 nights vacation in Egypt with my parents during this Chinese New Year break. In general, I had a very enjoyable trip despite having needed to take a lot of tiring flights (4 international, 2 domestic), hefty price tag to pay for the trip, and required to wake up super early on multiple days to follow our tour schedule.
In this trip, I have visited most of the famous attractions in Egypt, from its capital Cairo to Aswan and Luxor. I have taken over a thousand photographs (expected due to the many awesome temples and scenery there) too. I’m not that fancy on Egyptian food and fortunately, most of our meals were Western style as we spent some nights on a cruise ship and had some meals at hotels’ buffets.
Without further ado, here are some of the awesome shots I have taken at the trip (only limit myself to put 50 photographs here out of the over 1000 shots I have taken):
Ruins of Memphis ancient city, Cairo
Sakkara step pyramid, Cairo
Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, Cairo
Khan El-Khalili Bazaar, Cairo
Citadel of Salah Din and Grand Mosque of Mohammed Ali, Cairo
Egyptian Museum + Mummies Room, Cairo
High Dam, Aswan
Unfinished Obelisk, Aswan
Philae Temple, Aswan
Nubian Village, Aswan
Abu Simbel Temples, Aswan
Temple of Kom Ombo, Kom Ombo
Temple of Edfu, Edfu
Colossi of Memnon, Luxor
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Luxor
Valley of the Kings, Luxor
Karnak Temple, Luxor
Luxor Market, Luxor
Nile River Cuise (from Aswan to Luxor) + Felucca Ride + Esna Lock
Other random pictures – City view of Cairo, hot air balloons + sunrise over desert + keeping all the entrance tickets (including tickets to toilet which is chargeable there)
We have also visited several local shops selling Egyptian papyrus, alabaster stones, cotton and essential oils. I only bought a miniature set of 3 pyramids (represent the 3 Great Pyramids of Giza of course) and a magnet for my house fridge. I’m not keen into most Egyptian souvenirs except for the sand art bottle that I couldn’t find in Cairo (bought one at Dubai International Airport during my flight transit instead as a consolation..haha).
It is winter now in Egypt but still the Sun over there is intensely glaring (that’s good for taking pictures though). This is my first time seeing vast desert and my first time riding on camel and horse carriage too. In conclusion, I do had a very enjoyable trip. A lot of memorable experience in this travel and feeling of awe looking at the magnificent tombs and temples and knowing more on the rich history and culture of ancient Egypt. I am particularly intrigued by the scale of the ancient buildings, their near-perfect symmetry, the intricate carvings/facade works on the architectural elements, and the brilliant play of light and shadow. For people in architecture field like me, this travel is simply excellent.
Now, it’s time to start thinking on where to go for the next Chinese New Year break in 2021.
Good times pass by so quickly. There goes the conclusion of my long 10 days 8 nights trip to Eastern Europe. The trip took place from 2nd to 11th February 2019 during the Chinese New Year break and covers 6 countries; Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Czech Republic.
Day 1 (02/02/2019 – Saturday)
First light from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Muscat International Airport (at Oman) and then second flight to Munich International Airport (Germany). Basically spending whole day in various airports.
Day 2 (03/02/2019 – Sunday)
Heavy snowfall greeted our official first day of trip. Snowfall made it hard for us to walk in the city for the city tour. Wet environment, no sun, freezing temperature and snow-covered walkways made photographing a challenging task.
Had a quick city tour at Munich (Germany) and visited Marienplatz, the central square of the city.
Then, we proceed to Salzburg, the place famous for being the home of the popular late music composer, Mozart. We then visited the Mirabelle Garden (not picturesque during winter unfortunately). Then, we moved on to Vienna in the late afternoon.
Day 3 (04/02/2019 – Monday)
Commenced the day at Vienna (Austria) with city tour (photo stop) at The Ring Road, Opera House, Parliament House, Johann Strauss Statue, St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Town Hall.
Next, we proceed to visit Schonbrunn Palace, a huge baroque-styled palace that contains 1441 rooms and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ended the day at Pandorf Outlet for quick shopping. Brought my first ever luxury branded wallet here. Then, we moved on to Budapest.
Day 4 (05/02/2019 – Tuesday)
It’s the first day of Chinese New Year! Had a city tour at Budapest (Hungary) to view the Hero’s Square, Parliament House, Chain Bridge, St. Matthias Church, Central Market Hall, Citadel Hill and Fisherman’s Bastion.
Spent the afternoon on a 1-hour cruise ride along the scenic Danube River. The view is spectacular and I took a lot of pictures here. Then, we proceed to another city; Bratislava.
Day 5 (06/02/2019 – Wednesday)
Quick city tour at Bratislava (Slovakia) with visit to Bratislava Castle, Presidential Palace, Michael’s Gate and Old Town area.
Spent the whole afternoon on long journey to Krakow.
Day 6 (07/02/2019 – Thursday)
Began the day with a city tour of Krakow (Poland). Visit to Jagiellonian University, Wavel Hill, Royal Castle, Old Town area, Cloth Market Hall and St. Mary’s Church. The main square of Krakow is breathtaking.
Then, we had an awesome visit to Wielicka Salt Mine. This is my first time visited a tourist attraction so deep below the ground (over 130m underground at one section).
Day 7 (08/02/2019 – Friday)
Only one tourist destination for today before continuing the journey to Brno. Today, we visited the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp. It is the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp and is now a museum for us to learn more of the World War II history, particularly the suffering of the Jewish in Nazi German era.
Day 8 (09/02/2019 – Saturday)
We moved on from Brno to Prague (Czech Republic) for a city tour. Visited the Prague Castle Complex, Saint Vitus Cathedral, Golden Lane, Charles Bridge, Parizska Street (street for luxury brands shopping), Old Town and the Square. The Old Town Square is another fantastic spot for photographs.
Day 9 (10/02/2019 – Sunday)
Time flies. It’s already our last day of trip. We head to a brewery tour at Pilsner Urquell Brewery at Plzen (don’t like the bitter taste of this local beer). Then, we moved on to our last tourist attraction, the BMW Welt in Munich, a multi-functional exhibition facility of BMW. It’s the spot for car lovers.
Finally, we head back to the Munich International Airport for flight back home.
Day 10 (11/02/2019 – Monday)
Whole day spent at the airports just like on the first day of the trip (but now is on the other way round). Reached home in the evening. There goes the end of the trip.
Had an awesome time joining this trip (a guided tour with a group of 42 people). I took about 500 photographs! The good thing for this guided tour is that daily lunch is on our own which allow us to try local food at our preference. Certainly enjoyed this trip (except for that one or two days in the middle when I was not feeling well – vomiting, and also except for the lengthy and uncomfortable flights). This is my third time visiting Europe and it’s another unforgettable experience.
I was in Singapore the past few days in a sudden move. Besides than attending a job interview, I also take this opportunity to travel around in this gorgeous island and visit some architectural icons. Besides than facing the interview with huge anxiety, I was actually enjoying the rest of my brief 3 days 2 nights trip to Singapore. The total cost spent on this trip is less than RM900. This amount covers bus ride to and from Singapore, parking fee at bus terminal, stay at budget hotel (not hostel), meals, phone data, and public transport in Singapore.
Here are 7 architectural icons in Singapore that I have visited during the trip:
1 – DUO Towers (Architect: Ole Scheeren, Year completed: 2017)
I am very intrigued by the unique form, hexagonal patterns and the balance of rigid geometry with curving surfaces of this complex of twin towers. They gave the design an overwhelming presence.
2 – The Gateway (Architect: I.M. Pei, Year completed: 1990)
This twin towers are located just opposite the DUO Towers and the former are here much earlier. A very simple modernist approach but still leaves a striking impression due to its sharp edges and angle that contributes optical illusion.
3 – Marina Bay Sands (Architect: Moshe Safdie, Year completed: 2010)
A ship-like structure suspended above three towers is definitely one of the landmarks of Singapore.
4 – Parkroyal on Pickering (Architect: WOHA, Year completed: 2013)
Massive curvaceous sky gardens and undulating layers of precast concrete forming parts of the design that created similar image to eroded rock formations are the highlights of this hotel building.
5 – The Pinnacle @ Duxton (Architect: ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism, Year completed: 2009)
An upmarket public housing project in Singapore, The Pinnacle @ Duxton features 7 residential towers with 2 sky decks that connect all of them. The highest sky deck at the 50th floor is accessible to the public.
6 – The Hive, Nanyang Technological University (Architect: Heatherwick Studio, Year completed: 2015)
A very unique university building. The design goes beyond the stereotype classroom layout; all the learning spaces are in circular plan with no corners to encourage collaboration. The building has a naturally ventilated central atrium surrounded by shared circulation spaces and informal garden terraces. The outer appearance of this building really reminds me of stacked ‘dimsum baskets’.
7 – The Interlace (Architect: OMA + Ole Scheeren, Year completed: 2013)
Multiple residential blocks stacked in playful manner while creating picturesque voids, dramatic overhangs and numerous courtyards, pools and gardens for the residents. ‘The Interlace’ won Best Building of the Year from World Architecture Festival in 2015.
I do enjoy this kind of trip whereby I can visit and experience some amazing architectural projects. I hope for more of such trips in near future to other places too. Singapore is certainly a city with luxurious and unorthodox architecture that one should explore if you are an architectural enthusiast like me.
(Copyrights reserved to all the images in this post)
I was very excited when my friend successfully helped me to buy tickets for Jacky Cheung’s concert during the ticket launch three months ago while I was in Australia. His tickets are so hard to get. I remembered I did try to buy the tickets myself through online purchase. However, the website kept crashing and the tickets were all sold out in twenty minutes. Fortunately, I have one friend who planned to queue at Quill City Mall for the ticket launch and he decided to help me along. That’s so awesome.
Jacky Cheung is a well-known Hong Kong Cantopop singer and is one of the four ‘Heavenly Kings’ in Cantopop music. He is also being known as the ‘God of Songs’ due to him having a lot of classic songs that won huge number of awards in the past and for having the best singing skill among the four ‘Heavenly Kings’. I have never watched his concert before and so I am very eager to watch it this time. He seldom return to Malaysia to organize one and we may not be able to see more shows from him in Malaysia in the future. So, this is like a golden opportunity for everyone. His ‘A Classic Tour’ in Kuala Lumpur took place for 3 days (26th, 27th and 28th January 2018) at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil and I attended the first one (yesterday’s evening).
Since it’s a Friday evening, quite a number of people were late to the venue due to the rain and traffic congestion. Many were not expecting (me included) that the show will start on-time at 8pm due to Malaysian culture of being late. I was wrong. The show started sharp at 8pm while I (and my parents) had just entered and were queuing to go to the washrooms. A lot of people were still queuing outside to enter the stadium. We rushed inside and had a hard time finding our seats in the fully packed stadium with all the lights already off. Hence, we missed out the first two songs by Jacky unfortunately.
The show was awesome. Jacky put a lot of effort in it. Usually, a singer who is performing oversea will usually slack down and deliver performance of lesser passion and quality. Well, that’s not the case for Jacky. The stage (it’s a four-side stage) is beautifully crafted with all the possible motions to allow for a creative animated display while Jacky is performing. The lights are fantastic and the state-of-the-art technology helped elevate the whole atmosphere into a very exciting and engaging nature. I didn’t expect that the standard of concert’s set design in Hong Kong’s famous Coliseum is brought into Malaysia for the very first time and I’m exceptionally delighted. Every audiences is also given a free light stick to make the whole stadium more electrifying and synchronizing.
Jacky delivered the songs and dances with huge passion. I can see that he was tired after half of the show (couldn’t blame him as he will be 57 years old this year already) but he insisted on performing with awesome effort and quality. His singing skill is still magnificent and his live performances are brilliant. There are also a lot of dancers and other performers on the stage in some parts, and it means that this is seriously a grand big-budget production. It is certainly worth the money of everyone who has paid to watch his concert. Totally deserving. Furthermore, the show is 3 hours long (started at 8pm and ended exactly at 11pm), which is more than I’m expecting earlier. The only thing that is not the best is that Jacky didn’t perform some of his hit songs. Well, this is forgivable since he has a lot of great songs and it’s impossible to sing all or most of them in a single show. At least, he still did covered most of his classic hits and I got to sing along too, indulging myself into the excitement. I am not his fans (I hardly hear his works) and I’m surprised that I can still remember some of his songs and their lyrics.
So, here’s some of the clips I have taken during the show…just a short clip…enjoy if you are into Jacky Cheung. There is one part when there was someone who is proposing to his girlfriend right near where I was sitting…wow…what a romantic way to propose but it’s really noisy that it’s impossible to hear a word from them:
His concert here for his worldwide ‘A Classic Tour’ (he did mentioned that this is his 132nd stop) is amazing! Now, that’s a top-notch show that other singers can learn from. I had an awesome time watching it and it was certainly a great experience! This is definitely my first highlight event of the year! The next one shall be my graduation early next month! Hopefully I will get to see more great events coming in for the rest of 2018!
(Copyrights reserved to all the images and clip in this post)
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