Sunday, 18th March 2018 I arrived a day ahead of my meetings in Oslo so that I could have some decent rest before heading to the office on Monday morning. This was my second business trip to Oslo, the capital city of Norway. Everything seemed somewhat familiar. I was staying at the same hotel and taking the same train service to work. Arrival at Oslo Gardermoen Airport at 7.30am on Sunday, R was expecting me at the Arrivals. He had been working out of Oslo office for the past two years. We were great buddies in the Singapore office together with J and it was nice to meet him again since our CNY lunch in Singapore in February 2018. Temperatures in Oslo today was in a low -12 degrees even though we were assured of clear ... read more

Saturday, 3rd March 2018 Our Desaru roadtrip started on Saturday morning when DC arrived at my place sometime after 6am. The strategy was to beat the weekend crowds at the Woodlands Checkpoint by having an early start. Desaru have been a bucketlist as far as my travel plans go. It was one of the earliest places in Malaysia that I knew it existed. The story goes back to 1991 when there was a school trip and for some reasons, I was not able to make it for the trip. Flashback 27 years later, I was soon on my way to Desaru in March 2018 courtesy of DC. Our efforts paid off as we arrived at our breakfast place at Restoran Gim Cheng around 7+ in the morning. This is a no-frills Dim Sum place near to ... read more

Friday, 26th January 2018 Early morning, I headed to the top floor of the Okinawa Prefecture Government Building for a nice view of Naha city. Overlooking the Kenchomae Station area, the view stretches as far as my eyes could see. It was a rainy Friday when I visited and the interior provided a warm respite from the chilly temperatures as a result of the rain. Best of all, there was free admission and I could come and go at my convenience. After my visit at the observatory, I took a slow 20 minutes walk towards the direction of Naminoue Beach where I literally had the whole place to myself. By then, the rains had already stopped and it was nice to be outdoors when the weather was fine. I headed to the Max Valu supermarket nearby ... read more

Wednesday, 24th January 2018 I took a full day sightseeing tour of Ishigaki and Taketomi Islands today. Public transportation options do exist and it is possible to do it DIY if time permits. The full day tour is rather easy to arrange having booked the program prior to my arrival in Okinawa. It includes a delicious set lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. My day started at the small bus station next to my accomodation. Commentaries were conducted in Japanese so I did some read-up on the web prior to the tour. Since Ishigaki is a small island, we didn't have to travel far before reaching the various tourist spots that the bus would bring. Our first stop this morning is the Toujin Grave (Chinese Tomb) about 15 minutes from where we started in the ... read more

Monday, 22nd January 2018 I woke up to a happy breakfast spread at the Centurion Vintage Resort. Service was great and food variety consisted mainly Japanese staples along with some Okinawan specialties plus some western selections. I found a nice breakfast spot that commanded an ocean view which started my day on a correct footing. By 8.30am, I was happily making my way towards the aquarium entrance. The strategy was to enter the aquarium when it was the least crowded. It paid off really well as the crowds were very thin at opening times. There was even an opportunity for me to pose for a free souvenir photo shoot at the main entrance. I made my way slowly across the various tanks and viewing galleries. Of course, the most awesome experience was the massive Kushiro (named ... read more