Saturday, 12th April 2014 I was happy to land myself in Taiwan for my 7th time after enduring the 4hrs 30 mins red-eye flight from Singapore. However silly it sounds, the red-eye flight was most useful for time-strapped holiday makers like us since we wasted no time on the boring commute. Getting from the airport to our hotel was a familiar affair involving transfers on the bus and the metro systems. After leaving our luggage at url=http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowUserReviews-g293913-d2017876-r201908844-CityInn_Hotel_Plus_Ximending_Branch-Taipe.htmlCityInn Plus Ximending, we headed separate ways after breakfast. The plan was to converge again at the hotel lobby at 3 in the afternoon, ready for check-in and of course some decent rest. I made my first stop at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in the morning to witness the hourly changing of guards. The situati... read more

Saturday, 15th February 2014 My Perfect Saturday in Jakarta Happily, I hopped onto a commuter train from Gondangdia Train Station to the city of Bogor about 60km south of Jakarta. This was a sort of adventure for me given that train announcements were made only in Bahasa Indonesia and I was probably the only foreigner throughout the 90 minutes commute. But as a train lover, I always cherished those times on the trains during my overseas travels. It was fun even though the crowd was a bit overwhelming at times. In fact, on my journey back to Jakarta Kota Station, I had to stand throughout the whole journey. My legs were tired but this was probably the only chance for me to experience train travel within Greater Jakarta region. The train cars that plied their routes ... read more

Congested traffic might be one of the dampers. Yet in my opinion, the city boasts some of the most beautiful traffic roundabouts in Asia as I shared in one of my Facebook postings recently. These group of pictures were taken around the Welcome Monument in Central Jakarta during one of the Car-Free Sundays in February 2014. I liked that the main Jalan Thamrin thoroughfare (think Orchard Road in Singapore) is converted to a traffic-free boulevard much to the joy of cyclists and pedestrians. I'm happy to sacrifice a couple hours of sleep on a Sunday to join in the early morning walk from my hotel to the National Monument (Monas). Certainly, this was one of the rare treats in this crowded city. ... read more

Friday, 17th January 2014 As we welcomed day 7 of our trip, I was determined to squeeze some time after breakfast to visit the Museum Negara and the Police Museum in the morning. Located next to the massive Lake Gardens, getting there via public transport was very possible even though it involved a fair bit of walking along the highways and job site from KL Sentral Station. Construction of the MRT line outside the National Museum continued as I stepped into the premises on a warm day. I was greeted by a vivid display of iconic vehicles including the old furnicular train cars used in Penang Hill. The museum interior was divided into four permanent exhibition halls depicting the turbulent history of the country. Unfortunately, little was mentioned pertaining to the nation's struggles during the Second ... read more

Wednesday, 15th January 2014 Gulangyu, a traffic-free island off the coast of Xiamen is arguably one of the city's top tourist draws. It helped that access to the ferry terminal from our hotel was through a comfortable walk along Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Mall. Once on the island, touts offering every imaginable walking tours possible were determined to grab a share of the tourist dollars. This was absolutely unnecessary with a Google Earth print out map and a pair of good walking shoes. With the exception of Zheng Cheng Gong Memorial Hall where views of the island could be had, most of the other tourist sites required some sort of admission fees. The island was littered with many quaint cafes and B&B establishments converted out of old colonial buildings. They provided good rest stops after an afternoon ... read more