Monday, 24th June 2019 I started my morning routine at Doutor for my usual 390-yen egg sandwich and coffee fix at JR Kokura Station before embarking on my journey to Iwakuni, some 172km away. The itinerary for this morning included a visit to the iconic Kintai Bridge, first built in 1673 across the Nishiki River. While the wooden bridge today is a replica, it was nevertheless a joy to visit as I made my way slowly across the bridge towards the Iwakuni Castle. From the top of the castle, the views over the city and Hiroshima Bay were unrivaled. From Iwakuni, I took another 23 minutes train ride to Miyajimaguchi where the World Heritage Site, the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine was accessible after about 10 minutes ferry ride from the train station. Having visited the shrine for ... read more

Tuesday, 21st May 2019 Breakfast was spot on as the eating place that we were planning to go was closed this morning. The Grab driver was kind enough to bring us to a private house instead which operated as a daytime eatery within the neighborhood. We probably tasted the best roasted Char Siew, Kolo Mee and Sarawak Laksa at this unassuming place. And it seemed that only the locals knew about this hidden gem. Sitting on top of Canada Hill overlooking the city is the Petroleum Museum which is a short ride away from our hotel. Next to it is the Grand Old Lady where the first oil well was drilled in Malaysia in August 1910. The near-empty indoor gallery contained a lot of information related to the Oil and Gas Industry which we took our ... read more

Sunday, 19th May 2019 Miri have been one destination on my travel bucket list ever since I joined the Oil & Gas Industry some 12 years ago. However, it took me a good decade before stepping foot again to the state of Sarawak in East Malaysia. Handsome and I decided on this trip at the eleventh hour and we were glad that we still managed to score a great deal for a 4D3N vacation in this little oil town. Without a doubt, our stay at Pullman Miri Waterfront was one of the highlights where we were rewarded with fantastic views overlooking the coast of Miri. After checking-in and freshening up a bit in our spacious room, we had lunch at the nearby Nasi Lemak outlet located at the older part of the town. The tri-coloured milk ... read more

Wednesday, 24th April 2019 The rainy weather in the morning presented an ideal opportunity to visit the Capital Museum, a short metro ride from where I stayed. The modern building is a delight to visit with plenty of spaces to maneuver around. However, the sparse exhibits were nothing to shout about which was a shame considering the generous size of the museum space. Anyway, this is a good space to while the hours away while waiting for the rain to stop. I decided to opt for a Japanese lunch at Genki Sushi. Conveniently located at Oriental Plaza, it was right next to Wangfujing Metro Station. Back at home, Genki Sushi is always an institute of itself, perpetually crowded with snaking queues at any time of the day. It was nice to dine at the Beijing outlet ... read more

Monday, 22nd April 2019 It was Monday when I decided to join a day tour to the Great Wall sections at Mutianyu, about 75km north of Beijing city. The day tour is the most convenient option since it covered the cost of land transportation, gondola rides, admissions as well as a decent lunch thrown in. Along the way, our guide cautioned that things at Mutianyu might get crowded this morning given that the Forbidden City is closed today. Visitors were expected to throng the walls instead. Amidst the minor transport hiccups in the morning, I thoroughly enjoyed the day excursion. The crowds at the Great Wall were thin (thank god) and clear weather accompanied me throughout the day. We were given about two hours to explore the wall proper to take in the best views of ... read more