Page 43 of Budokan Travel Blog Posts


Asia » Singapore August 26th 2010

Thursday, 26th August 2010 As the first Youth Olympic Games comes to an end this evening after 12 days of intensive competition, I couldn't help feeling a sense of loss. Skipping lunch during office hours to catch the likes of our home grown paddlers, Isabelle Li and Clarence Chew in action would become a thing of the past. There would be no more games to watch for now even though the Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games are just a couple of months away which should wrap up the year nicely. While I had never been physically present at the games venue to support our local athletes, I had been following closely with the reports from the press and the internet. Critics had been harsh from some fellow Singaporeans. Some were sceptical of Singapore's ... read more
Memories

Asia » Indonesia » Java » Prambanan August 9th 2010

Sunday, 9th August 2010 Our day started early with the aim of reaching the vantage point of Mount Merapi before 9am. The 1 hour drive took us through the Javanese countryside where rice fields, tobacco and coconut plantations made up most of the scenery. We managed to reach our destination by 8.30am, in time to capture the last shots of Merapi before it disappeared into the smog covered skies. Hermanto was right from the beginning and we were thankful to have heeded his advice to set off early from Yogyakarta. The next leg of the journey took us through the Hindu Temples of Prambanan and we were pleasantly surprised that there were not too many visitors this morning. According to Hermanto, most visitors would timed their visit to Prambanan in the evening to coincide with the ... read more
Majestic Merapi
Great value lunch
Mcdonaldization

Asia » Indonesia » Java » Yogyakarta August 8th 2010

Sunday, 8th August 2010 After finishing our tour at the Borobudur temples, 4 of us continued our journey in the afternoon towards the north in the direction of Magelang where the Losari Coffee Plantation was located. It was fortunate that our stomaches were not growling even though we had missed our lunch today. I guessed this had got to do with the hearty breakfast we had this morning for this unusual phenomenon. Located at over 800m above sea level (at least that's what our guide told us), the Losari Plantation had a relatively cool weather to thank in a lush and idyllic backdrop. This was in stark contrast with the scorching heat and the consequential sun burns we experienced in Borobudur. After an hour’s drive, we reached our destination sometime after 2.30pm today. The Coffee Plantation ... read more
Snacks for the afternoon - Coffee Beans and Palm Sugar

Asia » Indonesia » Java » Borobudur August 8th 2010

Sunday, 8th August 2010 We were up by 6am today in time for our breakfast that came with our room rate. The breakfast spread at Santika was surprisingly extensive for a 4 star property with a good selection of western and local favourites. We adored the thick banana pancakes that were made fresh by the chefs upon request. This was by far the freshest pancakes I've ever tasted which could give the McDonalds a run for their money. As promised, Hermanto arrived at the hotel's lobby by 7.30am today ready to drive us to the temples of Borobudur in the morning and the Losari Coffee Plantations in the afternoon. Man of few words, he would respond whenever we asked him questions about the city and the tourist attractions. At other times, he prefered to concentrate on ... read more
The only Buddha statute without a stupa
The temples of Borobudur
Guardian angels

Asia » Indonesia » Java » Yogyakarta August 7th 2010

Saturday, 7th August 2010 It has been 6 long years since I last took an Air Asia flight to a holiday destination. Gone were the days of old and obsolete planes from the bygone era. We were greeted by brand new A320 flights for our flight this morning to Yogyakarta, the cultural heart of Indonesia. Arriving at Terminal 3 basement foodcourt at 9.15am this morning, my mates had already demolished their breakfast as I proceeded to get a quick bite from one of the grumpy storeholders from China. "Please leave your sour plum faces at home. This is not your HDB kopitiam. You are representing the Singapore Changi Airport Group." The Air Asia check-in counters were mobbed by eager holiday makers who were making use of the National Day long weekend for a quick getaway. Our ... read more
The huge Tiger Airways banner over looking Air Asia's Check-in counters
Welcome to Yogyakarta in a not so welcoming scene
The main road outside our hotel

Asia » Singapore July 31st 2010

Saturday, 31st July 2010 Thanks to Daddy for being the proud winner for this year's NDP Preview tickets. After a hiatus of 5 years, we are finally back to the Padang grounds for this year's celebrations. Never mind that we weren't able to win the tickets for the August 9th celebrations. The Padang grounds would always hold a special meaning in my heart. It was at this same ground where memories of my NS days were evident, where we spent many weekends perfecting our skills during the run-up of NDP 2000. After days of torrential downpour, we were very thankful that clear skies greeted us as we sat down at the blue sector this evening. Never mind that our seats was not strategic enough to catch the fireworks display or the aerial fly pass. Never mind ... read more
Proud to be one
Part of the goodie bag
My favourite moment

Asia » Indonesia » Riau Archipelago » Batam July 7th 2010

A Typical Day Part of my job involved travelling to & fro from Batam and exchange the latest news with our counterparts. Departing on the earliest 7.55am ferry from Harbourfront Terminal, it normally took an hour or so to reach the Batu Ampar Ferry Terminal where our office was located. After clearing the customs' formalities and paying the USD25 working visa (that's daylight robbery!), our company representative would be waiting for us at the arrivals to drive us to the office. Visitors on vacation would never arrive at the Batu Ampar Ferry Terminal (aka HarbourBay) even though this is slowly changing. The ferry terminal have been upgraded and the nearby Harbour Bay Mall with anchor players like Carrefour is already opened for business. Instead, they would normally be shipped to the Waterfront City (Holiday Inn / ... read more
Dream of the next Root Beer Float
Or the next pampering massage
Or some Nasi Goreng

Asia » Singapore June 19th 2010

After the wedding lunch and after my date with Renee, I still had sometime to spare before my stint at DC in the evening. I decided to pop by at the National Museum of Singapore where the "Singapore 1960" exhibition was taking place. Arriving at the newly constructed Bras Basah MRT Station, it took me a while before orientating myself in the not so familiar Bras Basah neigbourhood. A few others seemed lost as well as they approached the MRT staffs to direct them to their destination. The much media hype had certainly drew my curiosity even through the exhibits were ordinary enough to leave a lasting impression. The sparsely decorated exhibition hall located at the Basement 1 of the museum should probably take about 20 minutes to complete. It was filled with familiar artefacts, photographs ... read more

Asia » Singapore May 28th 2010

Friday, 28th May 2010 This was one of the few occasions that we decided to stay put in Singapore during the Vesak Day long weekend. For now, I had enough of those uninspiring getaways and sinful indulgences that would hurt our wallets the most. After a hearty dim sum breakfast at Hua Nan Restaurant located along Upper Thomson Road, we headed to the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (aka Guan Ming Shan) located at Bright Hill Drive. Granted that we didn't went vegetarian this morning. In my 31 years of existence, this was my first visit to the temple grounds even though our house was merely a 20 minutes drive from there. We couldn't help but impressed by the sheer scale of the temple complex. The buildings (probably 10 in all) were nicely carved ... read more
The Bodhi Tree containing well wishes
The Giant Guan Yin Statute
The huge turnout

Asia » South Korea » Seoul April 29th 2010

Roy's Travels Presents: Destination Seoul Garden 2010 "Thank you Cathay Pacific and thank you Hongdae Guesthouse for making my shoe string budget trip possible. And thank you J, for sharing your insider tips on suriving Seoul even with zero knowledge of the language ....." :) Day 1: Saturday, 24th April 2010 Assembled at the Singapore Changi Airport at 8.30am this morning for my Cathay Pacific Airways flight to Seoul (2-hour transit in Hong Kong). Breakfast & lunch were provided on board. For breakfast, I decided to try the airline's congee since I had enough of sausage and eggs. It turned out to be a relatively sane choice. Nothing to shout about for my black pepper chicken with fried rice lunch on the HKG-ICN route though. Hours later, the flight landed at the ultra-modern Incheon International Airport ... read more
Korean Folk Village
Hongdae Guesthouse




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