Random Thoughts - Gearing Up for a Month-Long Multi-Cities Trip

By -

As I geared up for my upcoming month-long multi cities trip across several counties in Asia, I am starting to wonder if I have missed out anything. Travel documentations, accommodation bookings, inter-city transportations, air tickets, travel insurance and more are all in order. At home, I have made arrangements for my pets to be taken care of and my plants to be watered at regular intervals. Pre-travel, I have done all the laundry, paid all my upcoming bills, make sure my phone apps are all updated and decided on which work laptop to bring along for the trip. Yes, I am never far from my work, thanks to the wonders of modern technologies! 

But, there is always this nagging feeling that I have missed out something, only to find out when I am abroad! Well, I will only know when the time comes.

Meanwhile, I am only left with my luggage to pack, to decide what clothes to bring along and of course, my writing instruments (pens and pencils) and materials (inks, refills and notebooks) to accompany me on my trip. When it comes to clothing decisions, I always take into considerations, the weather at my destinations cities during the trip. Its currently summer with sizzling warm weather all over Asia. I will probably pack only light cotton t-shirts, knee-length bermudas, a couple of jeans and an over-shirt jacket for the evenings when I need to dine at the more upmarket restaurants. For the second part of the journey which will be the cruise from Yokohama to Singapore, my daily attire will be the same t-shirts and bermudas which I intend to launder before I board the cruise ship. And I will also throw in a hoodie. I am still deciding whether I want to bring along an extra pair of shoes in my luggage. I am no fan of extra luggage weight and traveling inter-city while lugging along a heavy luggage is not fun. I have one more day to think over this.

With all my checklists items getting ticked off progressively, I am ready for my month-long pan-Asian trip! But before I even start on this trip, I had just booked a week-long cruise from Singapore to Indonesia's Bali and Lombok for February 2025. I have been bitten by the travel bug, well and truly.


A selfie showing me in a hoodie worn over a t-shirt while onboard the cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas last year. Strait of Malacca, somewhere between Indonesia's Sumatra and Peninsula Malaysia (2022) 


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