Monday, 19th October 2015 The JR Kyushu 5-Day Rail Pass is a worthwhile investment as I travelled extensively on the island during my week-long stay in Japan. The Pass cost me 18,000 Yen (SGD 201) for 5 consecutive days of usage starting from first validation. At first glance, 18,000 Yen seemed like a lot of money. But considering the ground that I managed to cover using the 5 Day Pass, this was one of the best bargains that I had for this trip as I probably clocked more than 30,000 Yen worth of train fares. Some of the sample one-way fares on selected routes that I travelled using this pass :- 1) Hakata to Kagoshima-Chuo (10,450 Yen - Shinkansen) - Kagoshima is the gateway to the Sakura-Jima Volcano with a relaxed sea-front vibe and charming city ... read more

Saturday, 17th October 2015 This is my first time taking a Singapore Airlines flight from Changi Terminal 3. And this would also be the longest duration for me on a SQ flight. My flight time to Fukuoka (Hakata) would take about 6 hours and 30 minutes. Checking in on a late Saturday night for my red-eye flight is not something I thoroughly enjoy given that I'm a relatively light sleeper. However, since the SIN-FUK route operates on this ungodly timing, there was not much of a choice as far as direct flight goes. Hopefully, by the time my flight touch down in Japan at 8.35am the following morning, I would not be too exhausted from the whole journey. I was lucky to be seated along the emergency row with a wide leg room. Breakfast was served ... read more

Saturday, 19th September 2015 This entry is about our weekend staycation @ Belllo Hotel in Johor Bahru. Decked in shades of black and white, the charming little hotel is nicely located along Meldrum Walk where it is within easy walking distance to City Square and the numerous cafes that dotted around Jalan Tan Hiok Nee. In fact, we had our breakfast at Restoran Hua Mui, a very popular Hainanese coffeeshop that have since gone upmarket. Housed in a vintage two-storey building, our delicious seafood fried bee hoon and egg sandwhiches took a while to arrive as it was full house on a Saturday morning. We loved the old school deco of this place which doubled as a living museum. In fact, the coffee shop have become a rather popular photography stop for newly weds. After breakfast ... read more

Monday, 10th August 2015 Breakfast was a local affair at the Rangoon Tea House this morning. The local staples, Mohinga and Tea Leaves Salad had clearly gone upmarket at this grand café with high ceilings and wooden floors. Food was rather ordinary even though we enjoyed the hot coffee. Back at the hotel, we arranged for a driver to bring us to the Kyaik Hmaw Wun Ye Lai Pagoda located at Kyauktan Province. This was a temple sitting on top of a lake. Access to the temple was via the hoards of overpriced boats waiting patiently for us as we got down to the jetty. To us, this was nothing more than a tourist trap and definitely not worth the journey from Yangon. For our late afternoon snack, we headed by to the KFC which commanded ... read more

Saturday, 8th August 2015 We started our day at the 999 Shan Noodle Shop for this seemed to be a highly recommended place for breakfast. We found the place to be spotlessly clean and neat together with very welcoming wait-staffs. Our soup noodles was really delicious and flavourful even though it contained only a small portion of meat. With budget friendly prices, we made a pact to return every morning before starting our day in the city. During our time in Yangon, we tried our best in search of the best coffee at local joints. It turned out to be a rather futile attempt as we were not very satisfied with our finds. The local coffee was laiden with milk and it was too sweet for our liking. It didn't help that the coffee powder was ... read more