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If you are looking for an off-the-beaten-track, wallet friendly, and not swamped-with-tourists destination in Italy, I think Puglia is the answer. For summer last year, I headed out to Puglia for Summer Part 2 (first part being my hot but enjoyable trip to Karuizawa), joining my travelling buddies from Hong...

Karuizawa is a beautiful upmarket mountain resort located in the Nagano Prefecture. It's definitely not a cheap place compared to some other countryside areas, and has developed as a popular place for many Japanese to visit especially during Summer, with many affluent ones owning a second home here. I aptly call it...

For my summer getaway this year, I did almost the unthinkable of visiting Japan in July! Unthinkable because it's the summer season then, and all I could say was my furry paws and body was just sweating profusely in the hot humid weather years ago when I went to my...

Recharged from our first night in Kanazawa staying at the lovely Asadaya Ryokan, I made my way with Y and her best gal pals to our next stop to Kayotei Ryokan, an hour's drive away. Located in the small hotsprings area of Yamanaka, Kayotei is a traditional ryokan, family-owned inn...

In celebration of Y's big 40 last year, we went for a nice girlie getaway with some of her best gal pals to Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture. This post describes the first part of the trip where we stayed in Asadaya Ryokan in Kanazawa for the first night, before moving...

In my final post on my amazing trip to Peru last year with R & Y, I will delve into the best sights to visit while in Cusco and Sacred Valley. These 2 destinations are a natural place to stop by if you are going to Machu Picchu. We chose...

The highlight of our my big Peru trip with Y and R was definitely visiting Machu Picchu, one of the seven wonders of the world. Yeah, I made it to one of them finally! In researching for this leg of the trip, I did consider if we should do the intense...

Lima was our first exciting destination into South America, a part of the world that Y and I have never been to and we were so stoked to be here with R, as part of Y's celebratory 40th birthday trip. We flew from Singapore to Los Angeles to chill for...

In my follow up post from last year's feature on my top few wanderlust locations - the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia, I find it an absolute must to let you all know the Best of Bolivia if you are visiting this exotic country for the first time, given it's not...

One of the most amazing places I went to with Y and R this year had to be the Bolivia Salt Flats - in September, as part of a Y's big birthday. Bolivia was one of the 2 new countries - the other being Peru, that we visited over a...

Finally after years of wanting to go Megeve, we finally did it this year! It has always been on my hit list after reading so much about this charming and chic ski town in France, close to the Montblanc. This place is definitely laden with old money and best described...

Hakuba, in Nagano, most well-known for being the first ski resort in Japan to host the Winter Olympic Games in 1998. A lot of friends ask me, why Hakuba as compared to Niseko - a popular ski destination for many tourists from SE Asia and China? I have summarised in a...

My 2016 was completed with a fun winter trip to the region of Shirakawa and Takayama in the Hida region of the Gifu Prefecture for some sightseeing and a ryokan stay, followed by a ski trip to Hakuba with Y and R. Given how full flights were to Tokyo when...

Beautiful sunset just before we land in Reykavik. Our first entry into Iceland was via Reykjavik, which is the most natural first stop, before our adventure in Iceland began. We were here for 3 nights but effectively we probably only had one proper full day to really explore the eats and...

The south coast of Iceland is also reputed to have many star attractions from waterfalls to the most amazing glaciers and we spent 2 days here exploring some of them with our guide Petur driving us around. Definitely not enough time for sure given the short daylight that we had,...

Our exciting Nordic trip ends off in Iceland, and after arriving in Reyjavik (promise I will touch on this city in a later post), we started our 'mystical' journey through Iceland starting with a full day visit to Northern Iceland in Akureyri. It sounds almost silly to say this, but...

After covering Stockholm in 3 nights, Y and I made our way to another new city - Tromso with gal pals AL and GS in a bid to hopefully catch some Aurora - Northern Lights! We were also sucked into all that talk that it will be harder to see...

From a tiny Lake Iseo, we ventured next to a giant Lake Garda on our weekend escape near Milan. Lake Garda is the largest lake of Italy and sits halfway between Brescia and Verona, which of course made it the perfect location to explore after we had driven to Brescia earlier...

After Florence and Pisa, Y and I continued our wonderful springtime travels to Milan, where we met R at the Milan Centrale to do a nice 4 day weekend escape to Brescia region and the Lakes. After picking up our car from EuropCar, we made our way to the Brescia region,...

My first visit to Florence in April would not be complete without a visit to Pisa given its close proximity (only an hour's ride via the Trenitalia from Firenze Santa Maria Novella station in Florence to Pisa Centrale - see here to book). It was just Y and myself for this last...

In my second half of my week in Sydney, my landscape changed from surfers paradise - Bondi Beach to Chippendale, where I stayed with Y, and buddies WT and CG in newly opened industrial chic Old Clare Hotel opened by our own Singaporean hotelier Loh Lik Peng. Close to Chinatown...

In March this year, Y and I made our way to Sydney with our buddies CG and WT for some chillax week in Sydney, the main reason coming here was for Madonna's final leg of her Rebel Heart World Tour, but it was nice to come visit Syndey with our friends...

Just in late September this year, Y decided to head to Chengdu with R and me to celebrate her birthday and also more importantly to check out this city known for my favourite black and white Pandas. R's parents also came along given they had once stayed in this country...

Our last day in Aix En Provence, was chock full of activities. After a quick shopping spree at the morning markets in Aix En Provence (see post), and a wonderful lunch at La Petite Maison, we had to make a quick dash to this amazing modern winery - Chateau La Coste...

Very often when one googles for flowers in summer in Provence, images of lavender and sunflower fields fill the pages. So it's only natural to any non-local including myself that sunflowers are just springing up anywhere in Provence in the peak of summer. So here's the reality check, for sure lavender fields aren't everywhere, and...

On our first day arriving into Aix En Provence, we were planning to just take it easy and walk around the town square. But yes there's always the unexpected that pops up in driving trips. Our concierge from Hotel Le Pigonnet was sharing with us places to go near Aix...

For the last leg of our Provence trip, we decided to stay in Aix En Provence, given that we might need to have some 'city life' after a few days of countryside and small towns. And it's convenient to depart from here back to Paris via the TGV. I acknowledge we didn't...

Gordes, part of the Luberion region, has been helmed in many tourist websites on Provence as one of the most beautiful villages of France, and after coming here, I can understand why. Gordes has also been mentioned in Peter Mayle's best selling, famous book - A Year in Provence, which am...

When you visit Provence, it is an absolute must to come to Les Baux Des Provence (a 20 minutes drive from St Remy) to visit the Carrieres De Lumieres here and also the Chateau which sits on the former old town of Baux. Sometimes good things come out of bad experiences,...

The second stop in our Provence virgin trip was St Remy. This town is picturesque with its tree lined streets and has a great selection of art galleries, gourmet shops and museums, spread throughout the main boulevard and the tiny streets. I love especially the mixture of pastel and bright coloured windows that accent...

After a fun filled week in Paris of shopping and eating, we made our way with bestie CG to beautiful sunny Provence in France. After taking a quick train to Avignon which was really like a touch and go, and resting nearby, we made our way early on Sunday morning to...

After admiring the breathtaking fur coats at the Fendi Haute Fourrure defile at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Y was invited for an exclusive preview two days later to 9 Avenue Hoche. A beautiful space in this Haussmann style building had been specially converted to host the exquisite Fendi Haute Fourrure collection where customers...

This year’s summer holidays had a special meaning for Y and I as it was a first time we were taking a full month off to travel with Y’s friends in different cities, and also the first time that Y was invited to a fashion show in Paris, and it...

Niseko mountain on a clear unfoggy day, what a rare treat! Niseko, nestled in Hokkaido and one of the world's top 10 ski resort GO TOs for any avid snowboarder and skiier has also a decent selection of restaurants. Having been to Val D'Isere and Zermatt, by comparison the advantage of...

In my visit with Y this year for our ski trip to Niseko, we arrived at Sapporo's New Chitose Airport and given that we arrived first before everyone else, we had to explore the Steiff Nature World which was a Steiff Teddy Bear Museum here in the airport! How cool is that? We...

On our second day of exploring Nagano, we decided to focus on northern Nagano. Y had to pop in to Hakuba for a quick work visit, so I found us a really nice quaint ryokan called Yuyada Sekiya which was within walking distance to the famous Jigokudani Monkey Park. Driving through...

In early February, Y and I decided to do some ryokan hopping and sightseeing to Nagano after having confirmed our booking for Noma's pop up in Tokyo in late October last year (Yippee yeah yeah!). So the planner in me went ahead in full steam to plan all the exciting...

After a eventful driving trip around Switzerland, skiing in the sunny alps of Zermatt and exploring a new gourmet city - Lyon, we arrived in Paris around noon on the last day of 2014. Paris is one of my favourite cities if you don't know that by now, and it...

Zermatt mountain restaurants are as famous for their cuisine as it is for skiing. They boast 50 over mountain restaurants, which is pretty impressive comparing to other resorts I have been to such as Val D'Isere and Niseko, Japan. And they range from the mass casual ones to the finer...

Montreux is located just 10-15 mins by car from Vevey, so after a short eventful sightseeing and a quick lunch break in Vevey, we decided to drive to Chateau De Chillon (Chillon Castle) first, to check out this famous scenic castle, located by Lake Geneva just after the town of Montreux....

My first trip with Y and R to Switzerland in December last year started with a driving trip through small quaint towns of Vevey, Montreaux, Monthey before rounding up with my annual ski trip in Zermatt with Y's buddies. Although taking the efficient Swiss train seemed the most logical and...

On our second day in Takefue Ryokan, being the explorer in me, I wanted to explore some of the famous sights nearby such as the active volcano Mt Aso. I had read up that there's a Mt Aso Cable car we can take, which is the best spot for viewing...

After a quick 2 day orientation of Fukuoka, we rented a car from Nissan Rent A Car to drive to the wonderful Takefue Ryokan, 2 hours plus drive away from the main Fukuoka city. Of course, being the planner in me, I researched on what interesting sights were worth exploring on our...

Yes it's taken me so long to write this concluding post on my safari trip, but here it is finally! Well, with our safari in Masai Mara, all I can say it was memorable in more ways then one, because of a slight misadventure on our second day here. I thought...

Our visit to Lewa was not just about seeing the animals, but visiting one of the best known tribes known as the Maasai people. A semi-nomadic tribe who live mainly in Northern Tanzania and Southern Kenya, they have a deeply rooted history, and is known for still embracing and going about...

Our next 2 days in Lewa was nothing but fabulous with long game drives in the early mornings and evenings including checking out the local village where the Maasai tribe people live (another separate post on that). Expectedly, not everyone in the group opted to go for every game drive,...

To be honest, Y and I did not know what to expect with this safari trip, in terms of living conditions, the journey, the place, would it be too hot or too cold, will there be mosquitoes sucking through my fur every day? But the moment we landed in Lewa,...

Earlier this year, our friend JC started a group chat with Y's bunch of friends - one of her fun traveling buddy groups that have taken me with her a few times to Bali and last year to Maldives. The topic header being "Safari trip"? It finally ended up with...

On our last day in Cornwall, we had to go back to The Lost Gardens of Heligan near The Eden Project which we failed to see on our first day there. Conveniently located near our lovely hotel in Megavissey, we were there in no time. This is one of the...

We managed to explore a bit of the nearby towns on the first day such as St Austell. Failed in the sightseeing bit, as some of the sights such as The Eden Project closed early by 4.30 pm and we arrived around that time. Interestingly after we had decided to...

Taking a day out to just soak in the city of lights and sights during winter in Paris can be really gorgeous as long as it doesn't rain. It was a rather wet season this time when I was back in Paris (yes my 2nd time in 2013!) after my...

Hello to my readers, I have taken a long break of 2 months since my last post on Taiwan, and it's great to be back on my blog writing, and most importantly writing my first post in 2014 on my new blog look. Let me know what you think? It's...

Continuing from my earlier post on discovering Taiwan, here's the itinerary which I think be useful for 1st timers plus Mr Hung's contact at the end of post if you wanna hire him to bring you around Taiwan. Please bear with this rather long post, as I rather not break...

Beautiful clouds spotted on our trip from Singapore to Taipei. This late November, I decided to visit Taiwan with R & Y and Grandmother and Granddad. Taiwan is a rather large country that has still managed to preserve its old architecture and old towns, abundance of nature and mountains, amidst urbanisation in...

Firstly, I have to clarify that I did not choose Izu just because they had a Teddy Bear Museum here, but I think God meant for me to come here. It was to my great joy when I discovered in the local Japanese guide regarding the existence of this museum!...

Continuing from my earlier post on Izu - Day 1, on our second day, we decided to drive towards the local food street near Atami Sekitei, where there was a supermarket and other small goods stores. It was such a horrid weather, was just raining the whole day, made it...

There's something about spontaneous trips that I really like. This Perth trip was literally planned and decided within a day. How it started was CT texted Y and other buddy JG on Sunday night the 4th August, when Y and I just touched down from Maldives. Long story short, her other...

As part of my return trip with Y this year to Perth, we planned to take a fun day trip out on the Sunday that we had, as we thought it's pretty darn boring to stay in Perth on a Sunday. When AW was giving us a few choices for...

Lake Como, an hour's drive north of Milan, has to be one of the most beautiful places I have been to with Y & R. After a rather hectic trip in Milan to cover the Milan Saloni, it was a nice way to wind down here before returning to Singapore. We...

2013 kicked off with a wonderful trip to Osaka with Y's Hong Kong friends - YW, AL and TW, just before Chinese New Year. I haven't been to Osaka in ages since I think 2003 so it was nice to be back there for a short weekend trip before heading...

Me posing with the yummy "cow-packaged" milk from Hakone. Miss it so much! In my part 2 on Hakone, I will share with you some of the memorable Hakone sights that we experienced. 1. The Hakone Open-Air Museum Ninotaira, Hakone-Town, Kanagawa-Prefecture, 250-0493 Japan http://www.hakone-oam.or.jp/english/ This is a definite must go...