Travel Bits: January 2016

By -
January heralds the beginning of a new year. A new year of work, a new year of commitments and of course a new year of travel!

My travel programmes for this year should hopefully be a bit more interesting than that of last year although I already had to modify the travel period for my first trip of the year. I had originally planned to drive from Singapore to Ipoh (Perak, Malaysia) in the early part of February to spend the long weekend that comes with the public holidays for Chinese New Year (a.k.a. Lunar New Year). However, as my regular pet-sitter is already fully booked for this period, I have to instead travel after the Chinese New Year period. What a bummer but the trip is still on. :-)

Ipoh, State Capital of Perak, Malaysia (2015)

The crystal clear waters in the streams of Ulu Chepor, Perak, Malaysia (2015)

My next trip should be a longer one sometime in mid-April 2016. I am planning a trip to Japan. Its been 18 months since I last visited Japan and I wanted to travel to the mountains of Takayama (Gifu Prefecture) once again to enjoy the tranquility of the mountains and to soak away my stresses in the natural hot springs (a.k.a. Onsens).

Following this, I have an unplanned trip to Phuket in July 2016. I booked the trip in the spur of the moment yesterday night while I was browsing the internet and came across a fairy attractive promotion by JW Marriott. Coupled with a separate but equally attractive promotion for air tickets by Silk Air for the same period, I couldn't resist clicking on those "Book" buttons. ;-)

Early September 2016 will see on my annual visit to Bali to relax at the white sand beach of Nusa Dua. This is also the time for me to show off those muscles that I have been working so hard for in the gym! Read a book, eat, work on my photography skills, relax and of course gym at my own time and convenience without the need to rush to meet deadlines at work. A short timeout from the daily grind of work. 

In-between my Phuket and Bali trips and if time and schedule proceed as planned, I may embark on a long haul trip to the United Kingdom and France to visit the twin European capital cities of London and Paris. This trip is still very much in the planning phase and may or may not materialise.

So there you have it, my full travel plans for 2016! What is yours? Travel.... the world is out there for you to explore!!! :-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Singapore, Horsburgh - Deep Sea Fishing

By -
Image
Horsburgh Lighthouse (or Horsburgh) is located on an outlying small island (a.k.a Pedra Branca meaning "White Rock" in Portuguese) near the entrance to the east of the Straits of Singapore. The lighthouse was named after Cpt James Horsburgh, who was a hydrographer with the then East India Company. Horsburgh is located about 54km (34 miles) east of Singapore. It was raining in the morning as we set off for the long anticipated trip which was planned as far back as 3 months ago in August 1998. There were four of us; YK, Kenneth, CC and myself.  
 Soon, we were on our way to the suppossedly rich fishing grounds near Horsburgh Lighthouse. This locale is considered a good fishing ground for recreational fishing because commercial trawling is supposedly not permitted.  
 We reached our first fishing spot at exactly 5.00 pm local time. Looking around, we couldn't see actually any lighthouse but who cares, it was the fishing that we were coming for, not a visit to so
Read more

Cambodia, Siem Reap - Wall Sculptures at Angkor Wat

By -
Image
In many places of great historical and cultural significances around the world, wall sculptures left by generations before us convey messages of events past. Such messages are recorded versions of history of the places where they are found.  I have always been fascinated by how our ancient ancestors were able to faithfully convey events that would otherwise require many pages of descriptive words, through a series of wall sculptures. The creative ingenuities, stone masonry skills and storytelling talents of our ancient forebears were translated into these beautiful and amazing wall sculptures that allow us of later generations, to learn and study the civilisations that preceded us. Are these wall sculptures from the past simply just art? Or recorded history? To me, they are both and more. In my previous visits to Cambodia's renown Angkor Wat in 2015 and 2022, I spent time studying the many wall sculptures that still remained in this ancient site. The experience has made me more awa
Read more

Estonia, Tallinn - Palace of Ungern-Sternberg

By -
Image
I was awestruck by the grandness and magnificence of this building during my walking tour of the Old Town of Tallinn. While there, I had no opportunity to enter the building itself. Thus, admiring its facade and photographing its structure as I walked around its perimeter had to suffice.  The  Palace of Ungern-Sternberg, Tallinn, Estonia (2017) Without knowing what this building was, its history and its name, the photographs I took allowed me to conduct basic research on it after the trip.  Based on my rudimentary research into the building long after my trip to Tallinn, I was to discover that it was built in the year 1865 by the German architect, Martin Gropius. Also known as the Palace of Ungern-Sternberg, the building is today the home of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. The Academy is a group of scientists whose aim is to promote research & development and scientific cooperation as well as knowledge dissemination.  The main building housing the Academy is a
Read more