Page 4 of smkwan Travel Blog Posts


Canadian Rockies

Published: August 23rd 2009North America » Canada » Alberta » Banff National Park
smkwan icon
smkwan
April 8th 2009

Highly recommended by Col, we drove up to Columbia Icefield and Jasper town, before heading back to Banff town for the night. The drive from Lake Louise to Jasper was approx 250km. Expected to just take at most 3 hrs to get there. But the scenery was simply too breathtaking. Every corner, every bend, every angle depicts the majesty of the Rockies. Naturally, we stopped at different look out points to take photo and more photos. We were told that there will be waterfalls everywhere... we tried very hard to look for it but to no avail. Finally we realised that the waterfall are all frozen and they looked like a strip of ice on the mountains. Arrived at the Columbia Icefield and gazed at the spectacular thick mass of ice. A pity the icefiled is ... read more



Frozen Lake

Published: June 25th 2009North America » Canada » Alberta » Lake Louise
smkwan icon
smkwan
April 7th 2009

Drove for approx 5- 6 hrs from Kelowna to Lake Louise. Stopped by some unknown lakes on the way for toilet break and photo op. So strange, the lake looked like it's semi frozen. The edge is still water while the rest of the lake has a layer of frost on it. Continued on and finally arrived at Lake Louise Town at abt 5pm. Our Ms Never-Get-Lost brought us to the wrong HI Lake Louise, which we panicked a bit. The carpark lots looked packed with a huge layer of snow.. how do we drive in ah? Luckily after asking ard,we finally found the right place. Nice hostel. The gals are pretty impressed by their first hostel experience, esp when we were fortunate to be able to get a 4 bed room to ourselves. Yeh! Drove ... read more



smkwan icon
smkwan
April 6th 2009

Spent the morning strolling leisurely down Robson St. First stopped for a brekkie at Blenz Coffee, one of the many cafes located at every other corner in Vancouver. Mmm... nice hot coffee in the cold morning. Great start for our trip :) Collected the car at abt 10am at Empire Landmark Hotel. When we were brought to the carpark, all the cars looks new and shiny, except 1 blue toyota... mmm we were all secretly praying silently that it wont be ours. To our relief, our car is the one parked next to the toyata, a big silver Chevy. First check if any scratches, check driving position, GPS blah blah... Aiyo... the leg pedals are too far for my short legs.. How how? After fidgeting here and there, we are finally on our way! Yeh! Picked ... read more



smkwan icon
smkwan
April 4th 2009

Required to transit at Seoul, newly voted as the Best International Airport! Tot we'll get to shop for lotsa comestic and skincare, but only 2 pathetic shops were opened. One of the shops displayed a range of BB Cream. BB cream?? Ash, the beauty consultant said that she read abt how this cream mobbed Korea and Taiwan. Well, maybe tt's why those Korean gals have such porcelain flawless skin. I'll buy 1 to try too :) Finally after approx 20 hrs flight time, we finally arrived in Vancouver, ard evening time! After checking in at YWCA Hotel along Beatty St. our warm hospitable Vancouver hosts, Col & Cel, brought us to Hon's Noodles for dinner. Wow, the food was awesome! Cheap and huge portion! Everything was yummy, particularly the beef tendons! I've never eaten such good ... read more



smkwan icon
smkwan
February 10th 2009

SQ has a krisflyer promo! We get 50% discount to claim miles for tix to Vancouver in April yeh! In 2 days time, Ash, Mich and I booked ourselves on a flight to Vancouver! Rockies! Here I come! This time, we have 2 mths to plan for our trip. Will be super prepared as compared to our last Lake District trip :) ... read more



Tokyo Disneyland!

Published: March 7th 2009Asia » Japan » Tokyo
smkwan icon
smkwan
October 30th 2008

My first Disneyland! So Excited! We took a train from Shinjuku and the excitement grew stronger as we see the train passing by the iconic fantasy like Disneyland Resort! The box office was packed! And mostly locals... Gosh.. how come these people so free ah? And these people are so cute, they dressed themselves up as Disney characters. Mmm... I wanna be Snow White. After we entered, we're so lost... which ride should I start with? And yes, I must get a fast pass! Just whacked the first one I saw. Every ride has such LONG queue... had to wait between 30mins to freaking 2hrs! Damn... The long queue was compensated by the experience. All the rides were BEAUTIFUL! Esp the Winnie the Pooh one.. my mom's fav. After 2 hrs of queuing, we were simply ... read more



Windermere

Published: June 24th 2009Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cumbria » Lake Windermere
smkwan icon
smkwan
August 10th 2008

Yeah! Our prayers have been answered. The sun is really out! Our lovely day begins with a traditional English breakfast again. This time with black pudding! Mmm.. acquired taste, but glad I got to try it. Took Des' advice to drive to Derwent Water and then loop back to Windermere. Explore some waterfall and many windy road. A real test to my manual driving skills. At one point, I almost roll back to the horror of my fellow travellers. But phew, close shave! Stopped by Grasmere on more time, to grab the traditional ginger bread as souvenirs. Wow, so crowded... Have to queue to get in and when it's your turn, we didn't have much time to ponder what we wanna buy. Dun even know if it's nice :p Rush rush rush... we finally made it ... read more



Scones, Fish Pie and Moet!

Published: June 24th 2009Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cumbria » Keswick
smkwan icon
smkwan
August 9th 2008

Headed to Keswick after our yummy brekkie. Very excited to check out our Keswick Rickerby Grange B&B (esp after the little joke by the lady at the Visitors' Centre). As we entered the driveway, we saw a rather burly man on a ladder tending to his garden. That must be Des! Carol, the mistress of the house, showed us around the house! Lovely! She was very kind to share tips on where to explore in Keswick. Went out to explore Keswick town by foot. We walked past a meadow with meh-meh and moo-moo roaming around. Definitely much better than driving to town, despite the drizzle. As we arrived at Keswick town, our shopping craze started to hit us. We entered an outdoor gear store and i simply couldn't resist buying a polo tee that says sun-resistant, ... read more



Grasmere

Published: September 1st 2008Europe » United Kingdom » England » Cumbria » Grasmere
smkwan icon
smkwan
August 8th 2008

We left London armed with our confirmed train tickets, 1 night confirmed accomm on 8 Aug and 1 tentative reservation for a manual transmission car. We'll work out the rest of the stuff when we arrived, with dunno what exactly to expect. Upon arrival, the first thing we did was to pop into the Visitors Centre. Glad that they have an accomm helpdesk. The lady kindly asked for our requirements, made some suggestions and started making phonecalls. 1st night at Grasmere done! 2nd night... after a few tries, she chanced upon this accomm at Keswick which cost GBP 115 (our budget was GBP90/room). Well, we were about to agree when we overheard her speaking over the phone, saying they're in their early 20s... Mmm... is she talking about us? Then she looked at us and said ... read more



Mad rush in London

Published: August 16th 2008Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Kensington
smkwan icon
smkwan
August 5th 2008

Everyday was long and tiring in London. Thu Arrived at 6am. Too early for check-in but hotel managed to provide a day room for us to wash up. Took a quick nap before heading out for a quick breakfast and meeting at London RO. Nice cosy office. Did a quick site recce before proceding to buy tickets for our musical for this evening and also collect pre-ordered tickets for my bosses. Lotsa walking in the heels and heavy lappy. Dashed back to hotel to check-in and out again to rush for our Dirty Dancing musical. Love the dancing and music. But too tired from the long flight and long day that I fell asleep during the slower parts. No appetite for dinner after the show. All I wanted was to go back to sleep. Fri ... read more






Tot: 0.141s; Tpl: 0.008s; cc: 16; qc: 59; dbt: 0.0472s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 2; ; mem: 6.4mb