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Post-Trip Recollections - Konichiwa Yokohama

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In August 2023, I made only my second visit to the city of Yokohama. This despite that I had visited numerous times over the past years. Only slightly more than an hour by regular train from Tokyo, Yokohama is located south in the prefecture of Kanagawa. Most famous for its port, Yokohama is today also where large cruise ships visit to pick up or drop off passengers.  Pokémon  at the  marina waterfront, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan (2023) Famous landmarks for visitors to the city include the Red Brick Warehouse, Cup Noodles Museum Yokohama, Yokohama Chinatown as well as the Minato Mirai district located just next to the sea. Cable Car, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan (2023) The main intent of my trip to Yokohama was not to visit the city for sightseeing. I was there to board the cruise ship, Spectrum of the Seas for my cruise from this city to Singapore. But I decided to stay in Yokohama for 2 nights prior to boarding the cruise. The reason being to give my itinerary enoug
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Singapore, Marina Bay - Lights

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In a recent visit to the ArtScience Museum in Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, I toured an exhibition about "lights". Titled "Future World-Where Art Meets Science", the exhibits featured the wonders of light and allowed visitors to immerse themselves in a world of digital arts, all powered by lights. I had a fun time strolling through the halls, marvelling at the wonders of light and at times, immersing myself in the exhibits. Yes, some of the exhibits were structured such that visitors may actually "immerse" themselves. Unlike traditional museum visits where one could only view exhibits from a distance, this was one place where one can enjoy some the exhibits physically. Each exhibition at the ArtScience Museum is exhibited for a pre-determined period. Most of these so-called travelling exhibitions will be closed and taken down after the pre-determined period, to be taken over by another travelling exhibition. One can thus visit the ArtScience Museum reg
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Post-Trip Recollections - Kumamon's Hometown

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I visited the city of Kumamoto for the first time in August 2023 as part of a port visit by the cruise ship I was sailing on, Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. The cruise's itinerary was to take passengers from Yokohama to Singapore, sailing in a south, south-easterly direction, whilst visiting some ports along the way. The original port visits in the southern parts of Japan were Shimizu and Osaka. But these 2 port visits were cancelled due to inclement weather because of a nearby typhoon. It was summer in Japan in August and the typhoon season was in town, literally and figuratively. The cruise company subsequently decided to add Kumamoto as a port visit to the itinerary to compensate for the lost of the the 2 cancelled port visits. Weather conditions are part of the forces of nature and I appreciated the cruise company's decision making discretion to ensure that all passengers had a safe and enjoyable trip. Thus, I was not upset at the lost of 2 port visits. Moreove
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Post-Trip Recollections - Oh! Ubud!

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Despite being a frequent visitor to Bali, I had previously only been to Ubud once. Yes, just once. Thus, when I traveled to Bali in December 2023, I decided that I wanted to visit Ubud. This was only my second time visiting Ubud in more than 10 previous vacations trips to Bali over the years. Religious festival; this photograph was taken with a zoom lens because I was observing from a distance, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia (2023) A simple day trip to Ubud will not suffice for me. I wanted to immerse myself in the vibes of Ubud. I also wanted to do walking trips around the vicinity of the hotel I was staying in. To explore the area, observe the local lifestyles and better understand the local culture unique not just to Bali, but also to Ubud. Located north of Denpasar, Ubud is well known as the centre for traditional crafts. It is surrounded by rainforests and padi fields are everywhere in the area. Some of these can be beautiful terraced fields while others may just be a small plot of land wh
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Travel Bits: April 2024

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Visiting Japan in Autumn......  Two months ago, I was writing in my Travel Bits series about travels becoming more expensive by the day, week, month and year. I also wrote about constantly scouring the internet for deals on air tickets and accommodation.  During one of these searches, I managed to score a good deal on a return-air ticket from Singapore to Tokyo. And because I had been on the lookout for such deals for the past half year, I knew a good deal when I saw one. Without any hesitation, I booked and paid for my air ticket. A day later, that same return air ticket to the same destination on the same outbound and inbound flight dates and times, had changed, It was 15% more expensive than what I had just paid a day ago. Today, two weeks later, I checked again for the same flights and the prices have now gone up  by close to 30% from what I had paid. For folks like myself with a limited travel budget to work on, the 30% price difference can make or break a trip.  With my air ticke
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Inflight Experiences - 'J' Class on SQ from REP to SIN (May 2022)

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This is a review of my experiences when I flew on Business Class (i.e. 'J' Class) onboard Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ163 from Siem Reap International Airport to Singapore's Changi International Airport in May 2022. I had just a week ago, flew the outbound sector on SQ164 from Singapore to Siem Reap. The flight tickets were redeemed using my frequent flyer miles accumulated through retail purchases during the pandemic-induced stay-at-home period between March 2020 and April 2022. Selfie of myself sitting at the Departure Gate waiting to board SQ163 from REP to SIN, Krong Siem Reap International Airport, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2022) Check-in Check-in at the SIA Business Class counter at the Siem Reap International Airport was a breeze. During the check-in process, I noticed that passengers in Economy Class were processed just as quickly. Probably because the flight was not full and most leisure travellers were still hesitant to travel because of COVID. As usual, the coun
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Bucket List: Enjoying Tea-time in an old English-style Garden

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Malaysia, Pahang, Cameron Highlands The leisure-travel restricted periods due to the Covid Pandemic that last somewhere between the beginning of 2020 until 2022 (in most places) were painful for those who love to travel. Be it travel to distant destinations or to places that one is familiar with, this luxury was denied to most folks around the world due to the need to efficiently manage the spread of the dreaded virus. With the slow re-opening of travel in 2022 onwards, I took baby steps to resuming my own travels by first visiting neighbouring countries and going to places that I had previously visited before, enjoyed the experiences and wanted to return again. Cameron Highlands in the Malaysian state of Pahang is one of these places.  With cool all-year round weather, gentle pace of life, beautiful sceneries, fresh air and great vacation places, Cameron Highlands is definitely one destination in my personal travel bucket list. In this article previously published on this blog, I revi
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