Finland [20 - 27 Dec 2016]

Day 1 - 201216

Helsinki - Senate Square, Market Square, Temppeliaukio Church, Sibelius Monument, Christmas Market, Aleksanterinkatu

Arrived in Helsinki and started our city tour.. getting used to the cold! Nothing much to buy at the christmas market though.. Went for dinner at Naughty Burger as recommended by our tour guide, it's good!

Day 2 - 211216

Ivalo, Kakslauttanen - Santa's home, glass igloo

Took an internal flight to Ivalo, finally the ground is all filled with snow~ Went to visit the reindeers and Santa's home in the afternoon (afternoon is no different from night as we only have 4 hours of daylight everyday, about 10am to 2pm). It was really cold when we walked around to visit the different places, and it was the first time that I couldn't feel my toes! The only thought at that time was to get into Santa's house to warm myself up! Tour guide recommend that we take lots of photos with Santa as photo taking was free, otherwise you have to pay a price for taking photo with the Santa at Santa Claus village.

Finally checked into the glass igloo in the evening! My dream came true :D The only night 我会不舍得睡!! But we were a little disappointed that night as it was snowing really heavily and auroras will not be seen. The snow was so heavy that the top of the igloo was covered with snow when I woke up in the middle of the night. But being able to be there and even staring at the tree in front of our igloo was just pure bliss~

Day 3 - 221216

Kakslauttanen, Levi - Reindeer safari, chasing northern lights on snowmobile

Finally we were able to take nice shots with the igloos when the sun is up in the day. Went to take the reindeer ride, we were very lucky as the weather was not very cold (about zero degrees celsius) so the ride was very enjoyable with the reindeers walking us through the forest. Was offered warm berry juice after the ride (apparently berry juice is THE DRINK in Lapland, although I didn't really like it). Our tour guide also requested the driver to bring us to this scenic place to take photos of the sunset after that, then we checked into our hotel in Levi.

As the aurora index for that night was high, we went on our snowmobiles to chase the northern lights in the forest. Riding the snowmobile was not as easy as I thought, the ground was bumpy although it was all covered with snow, there were slopes and the ride into the forest took us a full hour. I was really stressed and exhausted as the guides expected us to travel quite fast on our snowmobiles as well. The forest was in totally darkness after we switched off all the lights from our snowmobiles. The wait for aurora was quite a torturing one in the extreme cold.. although there was a hut to hide and enjoy some sausages and berry juice. Haha.. but I have to say we were lucky, the aurora appeared after some time, although it was a really faint one at first. Didn't stay for very long because it was time to ride out of the forest as it was already quite late.

Our tour guide was very nice and promised to bring us to a spot where we can continue taking photos of the aurora back at our hotel. Indeed, the aurora was still visible from our hotel rooftop when we got back around midnight! At that moment, the thought that formed in my head was "why in the world did we go through such pain travelling through the forest when it can be viewed from the rooftop at our comfort?!" Apparently the chances of seeing aurora at the rooftop was much lower due to lights in the surrounding. But the aurora was so strong for the night that we are able to see it even in the presence of light :)

Day 4 - 231216

Levi - Ice fishing

My idea of ice fishing before the trip was just to get to a frozen lake nearby and fish. How hard can it be right? But the night before the activity I found out that we had to ride snowmobiles back into the forest (similar to the night before) in order to get to the frozen lake -.- 晴天霹雳.. hahaha.. I've developed a phobia of riding the snowmobile due to the long and stressful ride before. Luckily there were 2 girls who both wanted to ride the snowmobile so they took me and mabel on their snowmobiles (thank goodness!). And i was really glad that i was the pillion that day~ Bcos it was bright (unlike the night before) and the sky was soooo pretty! I was really enjoying my view throughout the whole ride to the lake~ I will be glad to be a passenger to any car/snowmobile anyday!

Fishing at the lake was a real torture.. hahaa.. Temperature dropped to about -10 and we were literally being frozen while sitting there and waiting for fishes to take the bait. No joke.. Talk about frozen face, hands and toes. It was one of the coldest experience we had in our trip. Oh well, none of the 35 people in our tour caught any fish.. but i think no one is too bothered about that.. we were more concerned if we were frozen to death. Lol!

Went back to Levi and visited the supermarket in our overalls (apparently it's quite common for anyone to be in the overalls anywhere in town) and it was free and easy for the rest of the day. Had our dinner at Kotipizza (which offers cheap pizzas) and the Hawaiian pizza was reallyyyyy good! I think that it's the best Hawaiian pizza i ever had although they had doubts on that. Hahaa~ They agreed that it was tasty though!

Aurora index was very high at night again! We parked at our hotel rooftop and managed to catch DANCING AURORA that night. We saw the auroras moving in front of us and it wasn't just the pure white/green light which people usually see, we even saw a tint of pink! Everyone on the rooftop were literally screaming when the aurora was dancing. It was truly a memorable experience! 

Day 5 - 241216

Levi - Husky ride, Snow Village

Before the husky ride, our tour guide got us feeling scared by sharing on his experience of flying off the ride as he didn't concentrate on the huskies. But it ended up to be very fun! Although my right foot was literally on the brakes the entire time as our 5 huskies were "flying" bcos we are considered quite light. The dogs keep getting too close to our guide just in front of us. After 5km my legs were feeling very tired already.. And it was snowing heavily during our ride too.. couldn't feel my own chin! Regretted not taking a pic of the aftermath of my frozen face, scarf and hat immediately after the ride haha.

Visited the Snow Village in the afternoon. It's a hotel made of snow/ice and the hotel rooms have beds made of ice too. Spent some time visiting the different themed rooms and the other areas. They also have a bar serving liquor in cups made of ice.

It was xmas eve and we were offered an xmas buffet dinner in our hotel. Most of the shops were closed since afternoon.. even the gondola ride which is required to bring us from our hotel at the top of the ski slope to the town.

Day 6 - 251216

Rovaniemi - Santa Claus Village, chasing northern lights

Merry Christmas~ It was such a different christmas in 2016 :) Visited Santa Claus village for the afternoon and mailed myself a postcard to be received in Dec 2017! Returned to our hotel in Rovaniemi and had xmas buffet dinner and gift exchange as arranged by our tour guide.

Our last night in Finland, and knowing that chances of seeing northern lights is quite high, we went to chase the aurora again in our tour bus. Our tour guide and bus driver also prepared drinks and sausages to BBQ in the cold. They cut branches as skewers for the sausages and helped to set up the fire as well. Enjoying the northern lights with our campfire in ultimate cold.. Thanks to Lorenzo for going the extra mile for us! Truly lucky to have him as our tour guide this trip!

Day 7 - 261216

Our last day in Rovaniemi, we stood in the open although it was snowing quite heavily. We were unwilling to get into any shelter bcos we know we will definitely miss this!! :') We walked around town, had lunch at this chinese restaurant which serves very nice sweet and sour pork (and our much needed rice!) and finally got onto our long flight unwillingly. Haha

This trip to Finland is really different from any other trips. The cold, the rides, the experiences.. Although the trip was expensive, I always believe money cannot buy experiences you gain from travelling. Thank you Finland for the awesome experience!

Bangkok [250916 - 290916]

Day 1 - 250916

Reached Bangkok early sunday morning, realised that this is a good timing to reach the airport, not much people around and we were able to get a taxi to the hotel almost immediately. Chiong to Chaktuchak right away, the air-conditioned section 2 and the cloudy weather is perfect for shopping on that day, at least we don't have to bear with the heat too much.

Visited Rod Fai market at night, quite like this market. Lots of stalls and it's also walking distance from the mrt. Had a 1.5hrs long massage too, so good for the tired legs!

 Day 2 - 260916

Shopping and eating continues~ Booked tickets at $20+ sgd for international buffet dinner at Baiyoke Sky Hotel, super worthwhile for the price! Includes entry to the revolving platform at the top floor too.

Day 3 - 270916

Took a 1-day tour to Safari World. The animal shows amazed us! It's actually the best animal shows I've watched so far. There was close interaction with animals too, unlike many other zoos.

Day 4 - 280916

What a twist of events on this day. Wanted to visit Grand Palace but ended up on a private boat ride, probably cos we got smoked by this uncle. But nonetheless, new experience.. It was freaking hot though, and we had to chiong to many places after the morning visit for our last min shopping and buying of snacks.

Day 5 - 290916

Grabtaxi has become our best friend in Bangkok. Visited Little Zoo Cafe before going to airport. Such a cool cafe with lots of exotic animals. We are able to touch and carry them too!

A good 5 days break :)

Taiwan [270416 - 040516]

Kaohsiung

Day 1 - 270416

Shinkuchan & Yuchu shopping district, Liuhe Night Market

Took HSR to Kaohsiung once we landed in Taoyuan. Stayed at Kindness Hotel which is near Formosa Boulevard station, loved this hotel! The hotel provides free snacks (which includes a variety of desserts, cake, pudding, bao, coffee, etc) 24 hours a day! You can enjoy it anytime you want. Went to the Shinkuchan and Yuchu shopping district in the afternoon, and explored Liuhe Night Market which is within walking distance from our hotel at night. Liuhe Night Market is rather small, selling mostly food and souvenirs only.

Day 2 - 280416

Lotus lake, Dream Mall, Ruifeng Night Market

Visited Lotus lake in the morning as I wanted to go to 龍虎塔. Weather was so hot that day! We also explored the temples around the area after that. Went to Dream Mall in the afternoon, the shopping mall was so empty.. Their arcade and games area is at the top floor of the building, and we took the Ferris wheel too. Didn't played the basketball machine for so long already, and it was too cheap to resist!

Visited Ruifeng Night Market in the evening, food area was crowded but shopping was rather good over there!

Miaoli

Day 3 - 290416

Flying Cow Ranch

Met our driver at Miaoli HSR station, and he took us to the Flying Cow Ranch in the afternoon. Quite disappointed with this place, the place is huge but does not have much animals and activities to do. Only stayed for about 1 hour+ and decided to go back to our hotel and rest. Miaoli is a rather quiet and town-like place, but we were lucky as it was a Friday when we were there, and the night market was operating just below our hotel (F Hotel)! Heard that the night market there doesn't open daily. The stalls at the night market are either carts with wheels or lorries converted to food stalls.

Day 4 - 300416

三義木雕, 勝興車站, 龍騰斷橋, Beitou hot spring, Ning Xia night market

Visited some attractions around Miaoli as we make our way to Taipei. Miaoli is a place where there are alot of hakka people, overall, it's quite a boring place. Lol. As that was about all in Miaoli, we proceeded to Beitou for a soak in the hot spring!

Checked into Dandy Hotel (Tianjin) in Taipei, very satisfied with the hotel as well! Me and sis had a good time watching taiwan variety shows every night till late, since we were finally not staying in a family room anymore =p Ning Xia night market was also within walking distance from our hotel, although it's rather far. This yam ball filled with salted egg yolk is heavenly~ So good that we bought some back to our hotel for supper!

Taipei

Day 5 - 010516

九份老街, 黃金瀑布, 陰陽海, 十分天燈, 十分瀑布, Shenkeng, Shilin Night Market

Visited Jiufen and it's surrounding attractions in the morning. Then proceeded to Shifen. Didn't visit Shifen during my previous trip to Taiwan and was looking forward to 放天灯. The weather forecast for that day was actually raining throughout the day. But fortunately, it wasn't raining when we reached Shifen. So we rushed for the 天灯 and when our 天灯 is up in the air, it started drizzling! So thankful that we managed to send it up into the air in time! Hope our wishes will come true! 十分瀑布 is very inaccessible, even when we had a driver, we had to walk a long way in and climb alot of stairs to finally reach the viewing platform.

As we still have some time after the last attraction, the driver suggested that we visit Shenkeng. Shenkeng is a place known for 臭豆腐, there are many stalls selling 臭豆腐 over there. There are also other food stalls and shops around the area. And lastly, Shilin night market for the night. Shopping was good there too, managed to grab a number of items.

Day 6 - 020516

国父纪念馆, Line Store, Taipei 101, Ximending

Line store taipei was rather small, and they don't have some of the items I wanted to buy! Zzz. Visited Taipei 101, didn't go up the viewing tower, just took a few photos nearby and left. Lol. Shopping at Ximending after that, and of cos, must have 阿宗面线! Oh, and our new discovery, we liked having the 苦瓜汁 at Ximending as well. This must be the only night that we didn't visit a night market. Lol, but nevertheless, spent our night having snacks at Ximending too.. Hahaa..

Day 7 - 030516

中正纪念堂, 龍山寺, 忠孝SOGO百貨, Wufenpu, Raohe St. Night Market

Our last day to chiong all the shopping, non-stop walking for about 12 hours (other than meal times)! I really couldn't feel my legs at the end of the day.. Hahaa.. But it was all worth it. The shoes we bought from Taiwan are all so cheap and good~ If there's a reason why I would like to visit Taiwan again, it will be for the shoes! Hahaha.

Japan [190216 - 280216]

Tokyo

Day 1 - 190216

Meiji shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya

Booked airbnb for our first 2 nights stay in Tokyo as hotels near Shinjuku area is very expensive! Luckily, the airbnb didn't fail us~ Nice and spacious and it's quite near to the mrt station. Shopped around Harajuku and Shibuya area and rested early for the day, was feeling half awake the entire day from our overnight flight. We must have Ichiran for our first dinner, and it's still as tasty as ever!

Day 2 - 200216

Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo station (Imperial east garden, outer park, tokyo character street)

Went to Tsukiji fish market in the morning, had some interesting food while shopping at the market. It was drizzling and cold, we couldn't find the famous sushi shop, so we ended up in this restaurant to have lunch and warm ourselves up. Proceeded to Tokyo station and went to explore outdoors at their garden and park. It was really freezing at the park, and there's totally no shelter! But we were rewarded with cherry blossoms, lucky us to have caught them in Feb! :) Walked a long way and finally got back to Tokyo station where we shopped at the underground character street.

Hakone

Day 3 - 210216

Travelled to Hakone, took the cable car but was unable to transfer to the ropeway as it was closed due to volcanic activity. Therefore, we had to give Owakudani Valley a miss :( All these transport transfers in Hakone is so time consuming, even when we reached the Hakone sightseeing cruise earlier than originally planned, we only managed to hop onto the last cruise for the day (which is rather early!). Would have probably missed it if we managed to get to Owakudani Valley.. Anyway, we were frozen once again on the cruise.. Haha.. But it was worth it, the cruise was the most interesting activity for the day. Lol. Visited a shrine and chilled at a cafe thereafter, caught the sunset and returned to our accommodation for the night.

We booked this hotel which has a private onsen in our room. But to our horror after we checked in, we realised that there is no bathroom in our room! The only shower place available was just beside the onsen, which was outdoors and the temperature was 4 degrees celsius at the moment. After spending some time to check with the hotel staff, we realised that there's no other choice but to stick with this room. Our experience was priceless and unforgettable, the onsen has the hottest water ever and we bathed outdoors at 4 degrees celsius at lightning speed. Hahaha..

Day 4 - 220216

Kawaguchiko, Gotemba Premium Outlets

Travelled to one of Fuji's Five Lakes - Kawaguchiko. Took a ropeway up to a place where we can view Mount Fuji. But due to fog, we had to wait for about an hour to finally see the peak of Mount Fuji. I guess we were still considered quite lucky, even after we came down from the viewing platform, we managed to catch Mount Fuji along the way. Took a bus to Gotemba Premium Outlets in the afternoon, but the outlet was quite a disappointment.

The outlet closed at 7pm, and we realised that the bus that we need to take to get back to our hotel is already out of service. Zzz. After a few transfers, we were stranded at a bus stop along a dimly lit street, cold and not knowing if there's still a last bus coming (according to the schedule we figured at the bus stop). It wasn't even 9pm! This is the time when I really missed being in the city.. Hakone is definitely not my cup of tea. Haha

Tokyo

Day 5 - 230216

Sensoji Temple, Nakamise Dori

Back to Tokyo! Stayed at "Hotel MyStays Asakusa", not recommended! We didn't know that room service is only available at additional cost until we checked in. And there was this weird smell in our room on our 2nd night there, luckily the hotel staff managed to solve the problem.

Visited Sensoji Temple and walked through Nakamise Dori. These souvenir shops reminded us of the days in Osaka.. Spent our evening shopping around and had sushi for dinner at a random sushi place. We totally couldn't communicate with the staff on what we want to order, so we can only take what's available on the sushi belt.. haha

Disneysea

Day 6 - 240216

Our most anticipated 2 days! Bought a 2-day disney pass and visited Disneysea first. Surprisingly, Disneysea doesn't really have the Disneyland feel. Less magical, more Duffy. Haha.. The show at night was good :)

Disneyland

Day 7 - 250216

Queued so long to have our mandatory picture with Mickey Mouse at the entrance. Disneyland has a Frozen Fantasy special now.. Caught the magical Frozen parade~ The only regrets is the fireworks at night was cancelled for some reason. Luckily we managed to catch it at Disneysea the night before.

Yokohama

Day 8 - 260216

Kirin Beer Village, Minato Mirai

Our day trip to Yokohama. Visited Kirin Beer Village first, this place is quite cool. The guide's explanation of the beer making process is only in Japanese, so we were given some papers to read to follow up with the guide. After the hour long explanation, we were each given up to 3 glasses of free beer and other kirin drinks. Most of the Japanese who visited seems to be there for the free drinks! Went to Minato Mirai after, this place has a number of places to visit and shop. Cosmo World with the big ferris wheel is just across the road, beautiful at night.

Day 9 - 270216

Kichijoji, Tokyo Tower

Decided to spend our last day shopping at Kichijoji, and had our lunch at Steak House Satou. Still thinks that the steak we had in Kobe is better.. Went to Tokyo Tower to catch our last sunset in Tokyo.. But the viewing deck at Tokyo Tower is enclosed, so the view wasn't so fantastic. We googled for a place to enjoy our last shabu shabu dinner, just like last year in Osaka. Although the experience was not as good as the one in Osaka, but it's still special and delicious!

Things in Tokyo are really much more expensive, and we didn't buy much this trip. Our conclusion after the trip, we still prefers Osaka!!

Korea [091115 - 161115]

Busan

Day 1 - 9 Nov 15

 

Seomyeon, Gwangan Bridge

Travelled straight to Busan via KTX once we reached seoul, after a good many hours, finally reached! Was tired and hungry when we finally found our hotel. Walked the streets in search of food and settled for this place. Menus in Busan were mainly in Korean... Think i cannot survive there alone. lol.. food in the simple furnished shop was surprisingly good!

We stayed in Home Hotel in Busan, so-so experience.. Staff there were not able to converse well in english too.

Visited Gwangan Bridge at night after some rest, had our rice with pork in soup and intestine on hot plate.. yums~

Day 2 - 10 Nov 15

Gamcheon Village, Jagalchi Fish Market

Visited Gamcheon village in the morning, and Jagalchi fish market thereafter. The fish market was quite an eye-opener.. seafood lunch at the fish market.. the grilled fish is super nice!

Visited LINE cafe and store.. SO CUTE! Had BBQ dinner near our hotel at night.

 Day 3 - 11 Nov 15

Beomeosa temple, Busan National University

Visited a wet market near our hotel in the morning, then proceeded to Beomeosa temple. Nice autumn leaves spotted!

Shopping at Busan National University in the afternoon.. Winter clothes are so cheap but of no use to us.. Haiz...

Fried chicken for dinner! Very nice and cheap.. The portion is so huge!

Seoul

Day 4 - 12 Nov 15

Lotte Mart, Myeongdong

Took KTX back to Seoul. Shopping at lotte mart, so many things to buy! End up have to pack the purchases into boxes to bring back to our hotel as their bags are chargable and our things couldn't fit into the 2 bags we bought!

Went to Myeongdong for more shopping after unloading our stuff back at our Airbnb apartment. Another round of crazy purchases of langeige and other skin care products!

Day 5 - 13 Nov 15

Nami Island, Petite France

Booked a 1-day tour to Nami Island & Petite France. Instantly fell in love with the awesome autumn sight at Nami~ Although there's nothing much on the island and we didn't stayed for long. It was drizzling and was super cold! Had lunch at this place where our tour guide brought us to, yoogane style.. So nice for the cold weather. It was still drizzling when we reached petite france, such a pity.. Ginseng chicken for dinner while we comb Myeongdong again.

Day 6 - 14 Nov 15

Hongik, Sinchon, Ehwa Woman's university

Our shopping + cafe hopping day. But it was raining the whole day so our shopping plans were kinda spoilt as most of the shopping areas are not sheltered. Visited hello kitty and rilakumma cafe. Had our dinner at Myeongdong and trying all the street food we wanted to try!

Day 7 - 15 Nov 15

Everland

Our day spent at Everland! Glad that we chose to visit Everland (although its freaking far), it's so big and has so many things inside. Particularly loving the animals section where animals can come so close to us! Christmas decorations are also up and they are so pretty! Always enjoy being in a theme park although I don't take rides. Only regret was not staying for the fireworks as it was too late.

Went back to Myeongdong for dinner (yes, Myeongdong every single night after we reached seoul!), chose budae jjigae as we had a lousy one the previous night, must make up for it! Haha..


My first visit to Korea. Thankful for the nice weather (I love the cold!) and good food. But lacked shopping as most clothes are too thick to be worn in sg. Korea is also not as tourist-friendly as I thought it will be.. Not knowing how to communicate in korean will probably bring some inconvenience. Will probably be back for shopping next time.. Till then~

Japan [180415 - 260415]

Osaka

Day 1 - 180415

Tenjinbashi, Tenmangu Shrine, Shinsaibashi, Dotonbori

Amazed at what our hotel provided, leg massager for our use every night! Loved this hotel~

Nara

Day 2 - 190415

Nara, Shinsaibashi

We were lucky to catch the last of sakura blooming at Nara! Enjoying the good weather with our matcha ice-cream~ Dinner at this udon shop which is cheap and good! One of our favourites!

Day 3 - 200415

Instant Ramen Museum, Osaka Castle, Umeda

Our DIY instant noodles tasted quite good~ Visit to the Osaka Castle was quite disappointing, recommend to give this place a miss. Haha.. It was raining that night and we were kinda lost in Umeda. Desserts at Nana's Green tea and we just had to have our fav udon opposite our hotel again!

Day 4 - 210415

Universal Studios, with the newly opened harry potter section. Much better than the one in Sg definitely! Had sushi before calling it a day.

Kyoto

Day 5 - 220415

Nijo Castle, Shimogamo Jinja, Gion

Moved to Kyoto for 2 nights. Visited shrines and more shrines.. We concluded that Kyoto is not a good place to stay in for shopping-loving ppl like us. Haha! The long hours of walking on their stone roads also destroyed my fav boots :(

Day 6 - 230415

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kiyomizudera, Gion

Lunch near Fushimi Inari Shrine was sooooo delicious! We order one pax share of this Tsukemen and we couldn't finish it. Tried on their traditional clothing for some phototaking~ And we happened to step into their supermarket just before the closing hours. All the food items were on discount and we happily brought back quite alot of food to eat in our hotel!

Day 7 - 240415

Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan), Dotonbori

Back to Osaka and visited their aquarium, not very impressive though. Bought strawberries again from the supermarket near our hotel, so sweet and good!

Kobe

Day 8 - 250415

Kobe, Umeda Sky Building

Spent most of the day in Kobe. Highlight was of cos the Kobe beef teppanyaki, yums! Visited the Umeda Sky Building in the evening to catch the sunset. Very nice view from up there.. (much better than Osaka castle!) Enjoying the breeze and the last of our trip. So glad that we chose to have shabu shabu for our last dinner in Japan, so good and cheap for the portion! We will be back for this!!! Missing it so much now~


I lost all my photos in my SD card on my last night in Japan. So unexpected and terrifying.. I guess we just have to accept that some things in life goes very wrong at the most unexpected moment. Anyway, thanks to the help of programs and my friends, i managed to recover 90% of my photos luckily.

Japan has given me quite a surprise. I didn't expect myself to like this place before I went. But their good service, technology advancement and good food did leave me a wonderful experience. So much so that we are going back japan next year again! :)

Birthday 2015

30 Dec 14 - KTV with colleagues

1 Jan 15 - ST games and Crystal Jade steamboat with Pri Sch frens

2 Jan 15 -  Genki sushi & visit to The Cat Cafe with sis and pt

 My unexpected gifts this year! :)

6 Jan 15 - Meet up with Uni peeps at Super Chicken

9 Jan 15 - Meet up with Sec sch frens at Marche

Thank you everyone for your wishes and effort! I hope this will be a better year for me.