The annual pilgrimage has begun

We are not overly religious just in case you wonder. But you see this word ‘pilgrimage’ aptly describes what we’re about to do. We are once again on a journey to the land of the rising sun. Our annual road trip will begin soon!

But first, Mel will need to pound the corporate floorboard. And while he’s busy doing that, Suan will be setting herself upon the city’s shopping. Look out Tokyo shopping, here comes HRH Suan!

This pilgrimage will take us to the northern coast of Japan.

Toyama (富山市), ~300km northwest from Tokyo will be our base.

Go there in April!

It will be approximately 2 hours+ of a Shinkansen ride to/from this city on the sea of Japan. We will be making our road trip all along the coast, staying in ryokan onsens. Yes, naked hot baths again! Heheh… If you are wondering, nooooo we are not nudists. Just to clarify.

The last time we came close to Toyama was when we visited the ice walls of Tateyama. We could have continued onto Toyama from the mountain, but that would mean leaving our car behind in Omachi! So, this is in a way, a continuation of that journey.

This will be another epic road trip for us. The day light will be short and the roads fester with snow. However the distances we have chosen this time are short and we’ll have plenty of time to spend at each of our road trip stops.

A journalog cometh soon. Look out for it!

Our favorite hotel at Zurich airport

The Radisson Blu has got to be the Mel’s all time favorite hotel if he had to stay a night near the airport in Zurich. Because the SQ flights back to Singapore (once daily) is only in the morning.

Located next to the main parking garage and linked to the Kloten airport shopping mall, the hotel is not exactly the emblem of luxury. But is is convenient, and boasts of one of the nicest bars around. Here in Kloten anyway. Ok, we don’t get discounts for saying good things about this hotel…

The one thing that keeps Mel coming back is literally the bar. Not to drink a lot, but to enjoy the spectacle. A really really interesting one that you’ve gotta see.

What’s that? Click here to find out…

Now that we are finished (temporarily) with Switzerland, we will move on to the next country in Europe that we had a lot of planned affinity with. Can you guess which one it is?

Train to Busan

We figured that if I used a title that is similar to that of a zombie movie, it might attract more readers. Alright for those not in the know, it is a Korean zombie flick. Look our for it on youtube!

After a hiatus of 4 years, Suan is finally making a ‘return’ journey to Korea, the land of the morning calm. Yeah right. Suan’s anything but calm…the comeback kid had been pacing the living room all evening in anticipation. You see, she has expended a lot of effort into planning and booking the trip. Think of it this way, she had put in more effort planning this trip than all the preparations for exams in school in her whole life! The fruits of this hard work is about to be realized and she is once again having butterflies in the stomach!

So, the usual call by Mel is : “Get over it, let’s go to the airport early”.

So we did, again, as usual, as always…in about 10 hours we will be in Seoul where she will be busy pounding the streets of the city procuring stuff while Mel pounds the office floor. Well from Monday anyway…for the weekend Mel will be the wondering bag holder. The rewards will be just and soon we’ll be in Busan (in a few days), placing our travel handprint on yet another corner of Korea.

Journalog will follow soon!

Journalog our Taiwan food coma

Travel buffs who frequent Taiwan will probably frown on the fact that we emphasized the culinary aspect of the island. But you know in Singapore the only hobbies are eating and shopping. LOL

So how can Singaporeans getting to Taiwan not put eating on the top of their list of to do?

It would be a sin.

Our bleisure journey back in July to Taiwan was definitely no different, but lest you think it is just any other travel log, prepare to be surprised. As humanly possible, we had visited one night market in depth each night we had available. We had also sought out places for lunch. True we were not as ambitious as some foodies to eat throughout the day, however it was quality over quantity for us!

This journalog will detail to you where and what we ate. And believe you us that it was not only an adventure, but a rather affordable experience too. Best, to top it off we flew in a Cat’s plane – Hello!

More here … best viewed via desktop with wider screen.

Around the world in 42 hours, Part II

What do you do on a weekend when on business? Why you do a series of mini road trips! Especially if the missus is with you.

And so we did, taking drives further away from the hotel. Where did we go? For one, we visited Amish country in Pennsylvania. Well hadn’t Mel seen them before? Well yes, but not his boss at home! On a Sunday, it was perfect timing to see these folks ‘driving’ about in their horse-drawn buggies. And that young man with the black hat in the featured picture, he’s single because that’s the hat they put on to signify their marital status.

How can we not tell you about the trains? Choo choo-ing through the lush farm lands of Lancaster county. We even hoodwinked Thomas the train to smile for us. LOL.

Finally after 19 years, we are back! Back on liberty island and the light that enlightens the world. She looked as beautiful as the day we first set our eyes on here. Yes and I mean both the missus and lady liberty. See them pose side by side for a selfie!

Topping it all was a nice pre 4th July fireworks, viewed from the comforts of our hotel room:

Read all about the 2nd leg of our “round the world” journey here!

Around the world in 42 hours, Part I

Woohoo! Connect the dots on the planet and circle it!

For those who enjoy life, the climate of California seems to be a real getaway, especially the southern half. Talk about the Socal towns and beautiful coastal drives. But it seems that even at the northern end, life can be rather sweet too! How better to enjoy the days here in the warmth of the summer sun…

This would be the start of two weeks of a combined business and leisure trip on the side – “bleisure” with an emphasis on the 2nd half of the expression. Yes this is also the part where we commenced the “round the world” journey. When we first booked the flights, it did not occur to us that we would literally circle the globe on this journey…

This journey took us to the depths of SFO over a weekend, joining the fun with carnivals and festivities that seem to be everywhere! Everywhere people seemed to be partying away, dancing, drinking. Is this how the folks of the city live? Wow!

Is that all true? Read all this and more in our journalog.