Crazy Digest

Kyoto Gion Matsuri 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 06:23:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 16-18 July 2015

We were fortunate enough to visit Kyoto in July 2015 due to a slight "bug" in Airasia's booking system which enabled us to fly from KUL-Osaka, return, for RM257 nett per person. Since it was that cheap, die-die must go, we were there for just 2 nights to catch the Gion festival! We were also very lucky to secure rooms at the Toyoko Inn Kyoto Shijo Karasuma, which has front row view of the festival. "Lucky" means everyday must check hotel booking website for cancellations, until the day I departed. Cost per room was approximately RM300/night. Had I not gotten it, my backup hotel was RM900/night during this super peak season.

Gion Matsuri takes place throughout the month of July, but the epicentre of it is on 17 July where there will be a procession of floats along Shijo to Kawaramachi. I don't know much about the customs, but it was fun seeing the ever busy Shijo turn into a street carnival. Throughout the 3 days, I was hounded by a whistling sound. They play an instrument that sounds like a whistle when the procession goes by. In the spirit of Gion Matsuri, these are repeated over the speakers on Shijo throughout the festival period. The sound can even be heard from my room, and I end up having nightmares of whistling.

On the night before, 16 July, Shijo turns into a pedestrian street and I had fun looking for the floats.

There are barricades in the middle, that stopped us from getting to our hotel entrance. Need to walk 500m to go around it

There are platforms leading into the float

I'm not sure how, but visitors can get onto the float itself. Perhaps by donation or in kind?

It rained on 17 July 2015. The procession moved at a painstakingly slow pace. Every float had to have a handover to the next section, and turning a float is quite a chore too. Enjoy the float photos!

Eagerly waiting for the first float

The best view is from the 1st floor of Tokyu Hands. Only the privileged can get up there

Photographers eagerly waiting the first handover

Since it was so crowded and rainy, I happily sat at my hotel lobby to watch the procession

HH in her raincoat, last photo before we head off

Taitung, Taiwan - 3 Days Itinerary

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 06:26:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 1-4 Jan 2015

Of the many times I've traveled to Taiwan, this is one of my favourite excursions. Taitung is a coastal town on the south east of Taiwan. Very picturesque views.

Day 1
- 2:00pm Catch the train from Taipei to Taitung (3hr 46min, $783/pax)
- 5:48pm Reach Taitung, walk to EasyRent
No.610, Ln. 101, Yanwan Rd., Taitung City, Taitung County. T: 886-89-224-000.
EasyRent https://www.easyrent.com.tw, Toyota Vios $2400/day x 2 days = $4800
- Dinner for aboriginal dishes Mibanai Shandimei Restaurant 米巴奈山地美食坊
950, Taiwan, Taitung County, Taitung City, Chuanguang Road, 470號
- Drive to Luminous Resort for the night
Address: 台東縣鹿野鄉中華路一段200號
No.200, Sec. 1, Zhonghua Rd., Luye Township
Coordinates:22°53'52.59"N 121°6'4.80"E
Kuomintang Lantern at Luminous: 8:00pm onwards
Heated Pool: 0700-1100/1430-2200
Spa: 0700-1100/1430-2230

Luminous Hot Spring Resort

Room with hot spring spa tub inside

Personal hot spring bath

Ice cream as part of breakfast!

Custard apple & Custard Pineapple are the local fruit in Taitung

Day 2
- Breakfast & Hot spring in the morning, checkout at 11:00am.
- Have lunch at Yuan Sen Garden, with ostrich farm
http://maluchunchun.pixnet.net/blog/post/58873192
- Then drive to Chulu Ranch 初鹿牧場
- Checkin in to Taitung Cultural Excursion Resort ($3000/room)
950, Taiwan, Taitung County, Taitung City, 博物館路1號, +886 8 938 4666
- 4:00pm Drive to Taidong Forest Park and have a look at Egret Lake(鹭鸶湖)
- Then drive to the other end of the park at 台東縣台東市大同路 Haibin Park
- 5:15pm sunset by walking to Pipa Lake(琵琶湖) and 活水湖
- Have dinner of seafood in Fugang 富岡 fishing village, at the Mei-e restaurant 美娥.886-89-281062
- Check-in to Taitung Cultural Exchange Resort
- Then head to Taitung Night Market at Zhengqi and Zhongshan intersection

Inside Chulu Ranch

Chulu Ranch with many farm animals

Feed the cow, but they were probably too full by then

Yuan Sen Garden's steamboat buffet was really good with fresh veggies

We had to queue 2 hours till 4:30pm before we got to eat. Worth the wait!

Ostrich roaming around Yuan Sen Garden while waiting for lunch

Taitung Cultural Excursion Resort

Cycling to Pipa Lake

Somewhere inside Taidong Forest Park, possibly near Egret Lake (鹭鸶湖)

Seafood at the night market

Long queue for this chinese burger

Yummy!

Apple custard everywhere

Day 3
- Checkout after breakfast
- Follow the blue bus line up to San Xian Tai
- Proceed to Xiao Yehliu (小野柳)
- Next stop Water Running uphill (水往上流)
- Buy Donghe Steamed Buns
- Amis Folk Center
- San Xian Tai
- Lunch along the way - be creative
- For desserts, try Ma’olahay 玛悟拉嗨手作巧克力铺 (台东县东河乡都兰村新东糖库入口处, facebook) http://maolahay.pixnet.net/blog

Long queue for Donghe Steamed Buns

Nice, but I don't get what's the big deal

Finally reached Sanxiantai

Seafood lunch at a roadside hut along the way

Where the water flows uphill - Water Running uphill (水往上流)

Xiao Yehliu (小野柳)

Naturally, I had to buy some custard apples & custard pineapples to bring home! This box completely filled up my luggage bag :(

Xian in 72 hours - Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 24-26 June 2017

Day 3
Today is our final day in Xian. Our flight departs at 12:15am, so we have 15 hours to explore. We had pre-arranged a hotel car to bring us to the airport for RMB180, as we didn't want to take a non a/c taxi in a 45 minute car ride. So we booked one for 8:30pm. We walked to the Muslim Quarter to visit the Grand Mosque. Unfortunately, today was the 2nd day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri and there was a prayer ceremony going on at that morning. We declined to enter the mosque, and wandered around the shops instead.

Free public toilets outside Drum Tower. Not bad!

Follow here to the Grand Mosque

At 10am, shops aren't open yet

So spicy, how to eat?

"Snack Street" or Beiyuanmen Street

Was supposed to eat here, TripAdvisor highly recommended "Jia San Tang Bao Zi Guan"

Fried Pao

Another Xian delicacy, Rou Jia Mou = Pulled Lamb Burger

Plenty of things to eat at the Snack Street, but we ended up not trying anything. Guess what we had instead? McDonald's! But you know what, even McDonald's was too spicy! One bite of this chicken chop rice, and we had to stop eating. The spiciness of the sauce was OK. But the chicken was the killer. Wait 30 seconds after chewing the chicken, and it hits you deep down in your stomach. Bought another McChicken after that.

Back to hotel to shower and checkout and leave bags with the concierge. Now it's time for us to visit the Terracotta Army museum. At 1pm, we took a taxi to Xian Railway station (instead of Xian North Railway Station). When facing the station, head to the parking lot at the far right corner of the station to find buses heading to the Terracotta museum. There were people in blue uniform trying to get you to enter the Blue and Green buses, but we were advised by the hotel to only take the White buses. White buses are RMB7 per way, and I overheard blue/green buses are RMB10. I don't know what the difference is. Maybe Blue/Green will bring you elsewhere to shop first, or you go up and pay a fee, coming down, must pay another fee, who knows?! So we queued up under the hot sun for about 10 minutes, and got on the White bus. It took 1 hour to arrive the parking lot. From there, it was a 2km walk to the ticket counter for this Terracotta Army museum. 2km!! Once we got onto the grounds and got our tickets, there was a little golf buggy ride for RMB5, that was about 100m distance only.

No, no, no this is not the Terracotta Army. :)

Again, no clear signage on where is Pit 1, 2 or 3

Best view is at the front left and right coners of Pit 1

Towards the end of Pit 1, the restoration area.

You first need to find Pit 1, which is the most impressive, then find Pit 3, and finally Pit 2. It was like a sauna inside, with people jostling you from every side. It took me awhile to realize that I just needed to take a step back, and let the people rush away, and then I could appreciate the army for what it is. Each soldier wasn't assembled as we saw them. They lay in a clutter of dirt, and someone needs to try piece the puzzle together. Overall, I'm glad this is off my checklist. We braced ourselves for the 2km walk back to the bus under the hot sun, and thankfully our timing was just right for the White bus.

We were back at the Railway station by 5:30pm. Wanting to reward ourselves, guess where we went? Yup you got it right, back to Haidilao again!! We ordered a different set of items, and it seems like we must have covered the whole menu by now. Enough of Haidilao for the next 3 years! Hehehe

Today's Walking = 21,854 steps or 13.6km with 4 floors of stairs

Here's an interesting photo I snapped along the way, to end my writings on Xian.

A bicycle reflector/sunshade!

Continue reading about Xian:
Xian in 72 hours - Day 1
Xian in 72 hours - Day 2
Xian in 72 hours - Day 3

Xian in 72 hours - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 24-26 June 2017

Day 2
Today is our relaxing and shopping day, but we managed to pack quite a lot in. We started the day at 9am with a bike ride on the Xian City Wall. I know Mark Zuckerberg jogged the entire 13.84km on the city wall, but we chose to do a little section of 2.5km from the West Gate to the South Gate. The most famous part of the wall is at South Gate (Yongningmen), where entry fee is RMB80. So what we did was to take a taxi to the West Gate (Andingmen) and enter for only RMB54. From there, we picked up the rental bicycles for 45RMB for 2 hours. A deposit of 200RMB is required. Under the scorching sun, we rode!

Entering West Gate

You can walk, run, cycle or ride the electric cars on the wall

The bikes have suspension!

There's even a little post box on top of the wall at South Gate

Upon reaching the South Gate, there was supposed to be something like a Changing of Guards ceremony at 11am. For some reason, it happened at 10am on Sunday, so we missed it :( From here, we walked to "Shuyuanmen Shopping Street" but it turned out to be a disappointment as they sold mostly chinese paintbrushes and art material.

U-turned out and took a taxi to Xiaozhai area. We heard of many recommendations of this place, and it turned out to be a great place to shop! We spent a good 3 hours at the Saga Shopping Mall. B1 and B2 had many interesting shops, mostly for young adults as the large Changan University is nearby.

Inside Saga Shopping Mall

Lunch at a HK restaurant = RMB117. About the same price as Superb Haidilao last night. How come?!

Managed to buy fun stuff here and few doors away

Look at the size!! And the chili! No thank you!

We rushed off for our 3-4pm appointment to enter the Shaanxi History Museum. This is supposedly the No.2 rated museum in all of China, as Xian's history covers over 13 dynasties lasting 1100 years! I had high expectations! I knew it would be very crowded, as I had to stay up till midnight 5 days ago, to book the online tickets. Only 4000 tickets are given out daily, and another 500 from online. To prebook your tickets, go to http://tuanding.cl988.com/api/pagelogin/toExhibition and register one account per adult, and book the ticket 5 days before. After all that hype, I was greatly disappointed. The Louvre, this was not.

We paid 30RMB to get an Audio Guide and went in. There were 3 free galleries, all really small, but no clear signage on where I'm supposed to go. I just see people loitering around everywhere, but no clear direction on where the main door is. When I finally entered Gallery 1, there is no obvious flow that I'm supposed to follow. Seriously, the administrators here should pay a visit to IKEA. The audio guide in English somehow created a lot of unknown words, and not all displays had the audio guide numbering. Perhaps this audio guide is new. Nonetheless, this museum was a good for me to see the terracotta warriors up close. Thank you for that.

Shaanxi History Museum

Star attraction of Shaanxi History Museum

Finale of Shaanxi History Museum

After the museum, we walked back to opposite of Saga Shopping Mall to visit this quaint book store that HH wanted to see. Interesting design, and we rested here for awhile, thinking of having a drink or cake. But, the drink/cake cost more than my lunch! How can that be again?

Wondering what to have for dinner. Then we said, if lunch was the same price as Haidilao, maybe we should just go back to Haidilao for dinner! Then we searched online, and as luck would have it, there was a Haidilao branch inside Saga Shopping Mall on the 9th floor! It was a Sunday night at 6pm, and we called to make a booking. They said waiting time is 2 hours! They asked for our local number, and we said we only have our Malaysian phone number. The person was kind to enter us into the queue manually, and told us to go find them once we arrive to get our official queue number. When we got there, they got us a seat at the waiting area, and I got to eat my snacks again. Took a long time to find the person who took our phone call, and by then, the queue was 2.5 hours! After checking, someone eventually came to us and said our queue is "30-45 minutes wait". We didn't understand, but it sounded better than 2 hours! After waiting 20 minutes, we got our table! Woweeee is this some hidden VIP back door? Loved our 2nd night dinner again. We had beef this time around.

Haidilao Day 2

By the time we finished dinner, it was 7:45pm. Took a taxi back to hotel, but he dropped us at the main road where the drum tower was. The timing was perfect for sunset at 8:30pm, and we managed to get some wonderful photos.

Drum Tower at sunset

Bell Tower at sunset

Today's Walking = 19,840 steps or 12.1km with 13 floors of stairs

Continue reading about Xian:
Xian in 72 hours - Day 1
Xian in 72 hours - Day 2
Xian in 72 hours - Day 3

Xian in 72 hours - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 24-26 June 2017

How to accomplish everything Xian has to offer in just 72 hours? Xian is unlike any China city that I have been to. I quickly noticed the differences:

It is less crowded
People drive defensively, and rarely horn
Toilets are clean, and there's always a western (handicap) toilet in most tourist sites
The spoken Chinese have less accent and isn't as loud

I would normally keep my itinerary in Google Drive and saved offline on my phone. For some reason, this did not work! And it's in China, all Google Services are not accessible. So this itinerary is "winging it"!

Day 1
Day 1 starts at 12:15am, as AirAsiaX from Kuala Lumpur lands at 12:15am. Tip: It pays to sit closer to the exit, as there were only 2 immigration counters open at that hour. We chose to accept the hotel transfer @ RMB220 instead of haggling with taxis at that hour. Upon arriving the hotel at 1am, we were pleasantly surprised to find many street vendors selling supper at 1am even. We chose a Muslim restaurant and found out how spicy dishes are in Xian. They claim to be just "a little spicy", but it was scorching all the way to my stomach.
Hotel: Citadines Central Xian.

The next morning, we made a sudden switch in our itinerary to visit Huashan today instead of Day 3.
We left at 10am and made our way to the Bell Tower to catch the MRT to Xian North Railway Station (10 stops, 4RMB). From here, we bought second class high speed train tickets to Huashan North railway station for RMB54.5 one way, and it took a mere 35 minutes, 11:53am - 12:25pm. Perhaps you can consider buying the tickets online, as the earlier train tickets were sold out.

Citadines Central Xian

Hotel Breakfast. Only the fried rice was nice

Walking towards the MRT station

Waiting for MRT

Clean and quiet

At the Xian North Railway Station, before heading down to the platforms

Our highspeed train to Huashan North

2nd class seats, 5 in a row

Once you exit the railway, many people will approach you to offer you a ride to Mount Hua visitor centre for 5 or 10 RMB per person. They will tell you that it's lunch time and the buses aren't running. Just ignore all of them and head straight to this bus stop shown in the picture. The bus has 2 routes and Route 1 is a shorter journey. It departs every 30 minutes and the journey takes 40 minutes.

View of Huashan from the Visitor Centre

After arriving Huashan North Railway Station, face the mountain and look for the white booth behind the gold statue

This is the white booth from the other side. This is where the bus stop is

This is where the bus stops you. Walk 500m to get to the ticket counter

After arriving the Mount Hua visitor centre, this is where the walking begins. From where the bus drops you, be prepared to walk 500m to get your tickets and bus to West Peak Cable Car station. Entrance is RMB180, bus is RMB40. Please choose a good seat on the bus closer to the front, as it is a winding and bumpy ride that lasts for 50 minutes to get to the base of West Peak Cable Car. Once you get off the bus, be prepared to walk a long way in. To save some walking, I would recommend taking the coaster ride for RMB30, that will save you 700 steps of climbing and it's really fun! When you get off the coaster ride, you're faced with yet another long flight of steps to the Cable car building. After entering the building, buy a ticket for 140RMB and you'll have to climb 6 flights of stairs to get to the cable car itself. Our train departed Xian at 11:53am, and by the time we got onto the cable car, it was 2:30pm.

After getting off the bus, I would advise you to take the coaster ride on the left to save walking 700 steps to the base of the cable car

Coaster ride for RMB30

Quite fast, 5 mins and I'm there

More steps to get to the cable car building, and climb up 3 stories to get onto the cable car

The 30-minute cable car ride is worth the journey. Remember to face forward to get the best views. It starts very innocently by climbing up a small forest hill, over the top and then you are faced with a view that will take your breath away and cause your jaw to drop.

This is the innocent part of the cable car ride

Over the hill and you suddenly see this!

The red square is where it eventually heads to!

Breathtaking views along the way

Another 100 steps of climbing, and you'll get to the base of this view. The view from West Peak is good, but not as impressive as the view from the Cable Car

To get down, just go in reverse direction and pay the same fees all over again. Total cost per person for Huashan was RMB717. We left Huashan West Peak at 4:00pm and got back to Xian Railway by
5:30pm. By then, we decided to visit my favourite restaurant in China, called Hai Di Lao Hotpot. There are a few branches in Xian, and we picked this one:

海底捞火锅城(解放路店)

解放路63号东新街民乐新都会4楼

When we arrived HaiDiLao, it was about 6:45pm. We were told that we had to queue for 1.5 hours, but it actually took only 1 hour. While waiting, we saw this sign and found it as an ingenious way to kill time. So we folded 80 stars, and got our humongous plate of mutton for free!

Fold 80 stars to get a free plate of mutton!

Waiting area, free drinks and snacks

Add RMB9/person to access this sauces station with free salads

That sesame sauce is darn good!!

That's the free mutton on the left! Superb meal

After dinner ... if you think there's an after dinner plan, think again. Time for bed!

Today's Walking = 16,503 steps or 10.3km with 21 floors of stairs

Continue reading about Xian:
Xian in 72 hours - Day 1
Xian in 72 hours - Day 2
Xian in 72 hours - Day 3

A different side of Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 May 2016 09:17:00 +0000

Date of travel: 20-24 Nov 2014

Would you believe that this is Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong?

I had been avoiding Hong Kong for awhile, because there seems to be so much you can do there. Or so I thought. It's been 6 years since my previous trip, nothing much has changed, but yet I managed to find some unique things that I hadn't tried before.

1) First up, we stayed at Sheung Wan, which is on the Western side of Hong Kong island. The Ibis Hotel here had a sneak peak of the harbour, and I could view the Hong Kong Harbour Light Show from my room window. Just download the app, and listen to their music that plays in sync with the light show. Awesome technology. The area of Sheung Wan is filled with local charm, medicine shops, dried seafood, and an Edwardian style Western Market.

Ibis Hong Kong Central & Sheung Wan

The Harbour Lights show visible from my room window

Western Market

I am guessing that this is dried fish maw

2) Cheap and delicious food can still be found! At certain hours, you can enjoy a wonderful bowl of wantan noodles for $20. This became my favourite breakfast spot: Sai Yung Kee.

Sai Yung Kee at Sheung Wan

Very springy noodles, simple and delicious

3) Sai Kung
We were honoured to have Sue join us in Hong Kong. She led the way to Sai Kung, which included a train ride filled with residents of China, heading home to the border of HK and China. A short bus ride later, and I felt like I arrived in a coastal town of Australia. Took me by surprise, and we had a great day out at sea, followed by a sumptuous seafood lunch.

You can buy freshly caught fish here too

Boarding our boat. We picked only 3 stops instead of the full course

One of the islands that we docked at. Just catch the next boat back

So pretty, so blue, so clear

HK$1371 at Tung Kee Seafood Restaurant

4) Kadoorie Farm and Botanical Gardens
Now that we've been to the sea, it's time to explore the mountains. This unique farm is set up on the mountains, with shuttle buses bringing you from place to place. The view from the top was breathtaking.

There is a bit to climb at certain spots

This doesn't look anything like Hong Kong to me!

Taking the long walk back, cos we missed the last bus

5) Dogs have landed at Lan Kwai Fong
Never have I seen this many species of dogs before. This is my favourite, and I'm not sure what it's called.

Do you know what type of dog this is?

Soooooo cute

Many stalls selling freshly cooked food for dogs

6) Eating Roast Goose and Century Egg in the middle of Central
I know this place is famous, but I haven't been here before. We had the roast goose first for HK$70. Then I was curious about how good the century egg can be, so I sent HH to the shop to buy 1 single century egg. Little did I know that it was a 3-shop 3-storey lot, and looked very high-class indeed. She daringly walked in and asked to purchase 1 century egg for HK$15, and spoke English the whole way. They asked her, "1 box"? They were kind to oblige, and I happily enjoyed my century egg by cracking it on the staircase. Kakakakaka. The egg yolk was oozing out, and just melted in your mouth. Really good. Well we went back to buy the box of 6 in the end, $85. That's about RM7 per egg!

Yung Kee famous for century egg and roast duck

We chose to eat at Yat Lok restaurant for their roast goose

Also, thanks to Teck Meng for treating us a wonderful meal and welcoming us to your home, and to Sue's mom for welcoming us to your home and cooking a spectacular meal for us. I feel so blessed to have good friends around the world that I can occasionally impose on. Let's wait for 6 more years for another re-visit!

Noto Peninsula, Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 08:38:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 28 July 2014

One of the salt farms along the Noto Peninsula

Departing from Kanazawa, we took a day-trip to Noto Peninsula. It was a beautiful day, and the moment we hit the coast, I felt like I was driving in Australia. Even one of the rest stops felt like I wasn't in Japan anymore. Our first stop was the Chirihama Beach, where you can drive your car onto the 8km beach.

Next up, we stopped by the Ganmon Rock for some photos. But no time to stay for too long, as we are headed to Wajima City Market next.

Ganmon Rock of Noto Peninsula

You can opt for a boat ride around the rock, but sorry no time.

We overestimated the distances, and by the time we arrived Wajima City, we were so upset that everything was closed by 1pm! It became a dead town, and we found it difficult locating any restaurants open. Thankfully we found this place and had the best seabream sashimi ever!!

Wajima City became a dead town after the morning market closed

Super super super Seabream (Tai) Fish sashimi, with Suzuka Fish and something else.

After lunch, we continued our way to Senmaida for the beautiful rice terrace. But alas, it was harvested recently.

Senmaida Rice Terrace, Noto Peninsula

The road narrows to a single lane. Only go when the green sign is lighted. Pretty useful instead of having a man there.

The last few stops before heading back to Kanazawa, we had fun on the beach, stopped by a salt farm, and went to the light house. Overall, a very nice and LONG drive. Note to self: Don't do this in summer again! The car windows weren't tinted, it was really really hot!

The scarecrows have horses too!

I couldn't climb up to the actual lighthouse, so I took a picture with the replica. Hahahahaha!

Kanazawa, Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 08:13:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 26-29 July 2014

Kanazawa Station

This is a continuation of the previous post at Takayama & Shirakawa-Go.

3 nights at Kanazawa is too long. You end up doing many things that you normally wouldn't do. So here's our drive trip to some really small towns around Japan. We arrived Kanazawa late at night and checked-in to the newly opened Holiday Inn Kanazawa. At 13,300¥/night with breakfast for a huge twin room, it was worth every penny. On the night that we arrived, we walked to the nearby Omicho market and somehow wasn't impressed with the restaurants there. We randomly picked a restaurant nearby, and wanted to go back to take our car and head out for a drive. On our way back, we heard fireworks and only JUST realized that the big fireworks festival was on that night. We ran back to the hotel and asked them where is the fireworks, and wanted to drive there. The reception pointed us to the 15th Floor. He insisted we go there. And so we did, and we arrived at the hotel's library which was pitch black, and everyone was sitting by the windows catching the fireworks. So lucky, we got to enjoy the hour long fireworks in the comfort of our hotel.

This room has 2 single beds, and 2 toilets! This picture show half of the room, the other half is exactly the same.

Seafood is very fresh in Kanazawa

Enjoying the fireworks festival from the 15th Floor of Holiday Inn Kanazawa

So what do people do at Kanazawa?

1. Kenroku-en Garden
The most famous place is the Kenrokuen Garden. Why? It is supposed to be one Japan's "three most beautiful landscaped gardens". And what is the star attraction of this place? The Kotojitoro Lantern, uniquely built with 2 legs instead of one. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... sorry I don't get it.

The 2-legged Kotojitoro Lantern at Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa

I still don't get what's so unique about the lantern

2. Kanazawa Castle
Just beside Kenrokuen Garden, is the Kanazawa Castle. We walked until we hit the paid entrance and turned back. I'm not really into looking at castles, especially when I don't know the history

3. Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

I wanted to visit this museum for this very bizarre art piece. In order to take this photo, you have to wait at the top, and hope someone pays for a ticket and will suddenly appear in the pool.

Other free exhibits

Food trucks outside the museum

4. Higashi Chaya District
Originally known for its tea houses, it's a photographer's dream come true.

5. Kanazawa Fountain Clock at Kanazawa Station

I was more interested in the drive to the Noto Peninsula. That's coming up next!

Takayama and Shirakawa-Go, Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Jun 2015 02:18:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 25 Jul 2014

Shirakawa What?? Where? Huh?
Shirakawa-Go is a UNESCO Heritage Site in Central Japan. It is famous for these houses shaped like hands in prayer, and whose roof has no nails. Most houses have 3 layers, such that when winter comes, you have to go in and out of your house from the top most level door.

We were one of the fortunate few who managed to fly to Nagoya where AirAsiaX once flew to. After landing at 4:20pm, we picked up our rental car for our adventure in Central Japan. It took approximately 3.5 hours to reach Takayama, what I call a transit town for Shirakawa-Go. By 8:30pm, everything was really dead. We were lucky to reach the restaurant on time, before last order of 9:00pm. Try locate Ajikura Hida Beef restaurant, Hanasato-machi 4-147, Takayama. Tel: 0577-371129. After dinner, we checked in to Takayama Super Hotel.

Our rented Nissan March, 4 days rental for 30240¥ (RM967)

The GPS system is really easy to navigate in Japan

Ajikura Hida Beef Restaurant

Ox Tongue is my favourite!

Super Hotel Takayama

Free hotel breakfast

The next morning, we decided to leave our car at the hotel for a morning stroll of Takayama. We started walking at 8am, but that was a bit too early for this sleepy town. We soon found the morning market, but not that many stalls at this hour. Since checkout is at 11am, we had to see all we could. The feel of the place was really peaceful, and woody. NICE! But sorry, a bit too slow for my liking.

Well hello hello! Nice to see you. What can 2 persons who don't speak the same language, laugh about?

These peaches were so nice I tell you! We had one everyday

3 bridges to take photos from

Crystal clear waters

So clear, that there are fishes!

Even 7-11 has different feel here

A very famous old-town street in Takayama, with the backdrop of the mountains

Did I tell you that I brought a Selfie Stick???

After checking out, it was a short 1 hour drive to Shirakawa-Go. To key in the GPS, use Tel number 0576961013 / 0576961311. We arrived there at high-noon. The sun was unforgiving! There is a shuttle bus to the Shiroyama Viewpoint, where people recommend to go there for sunset. Due to time constraints, we ended up there at 1pm. Not the most pleasant time to take photos. But what to do.

After parking, you gotta walk into Shirakawa-Go

Of course there's a souvenir shop

That's the main road of this Ogimachi Village, as seen from the Shiroyama Viewpoint

That's where the shuttle bus stop is, to get to the Shiroyama viewpoint.

For lunch, we tried Hida beef again! Locate #37 in the tourist map, called Shiraogi. No english name whatsoever, just ask around. It was AWESOME! Much nicer than the bbq the night before.

This is Shiraogi Restaurant, #37

Hida Beef cooked on a lotus leaf with miso paste. *drools*

Cold noodles to cool off

After lunch, we had a stroll around the Gassho Houses in the scorching sun before calling it quits. We drove 1 hour to Kanazawa, where the next adventure awaits.

Here's the map in case you need it

A chinese version is supposedly easier to compare it with Japanese characters

Of course there's always time for selfies LOL!

Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 3 & 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 03:41:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 10-13 May 2014

Waterfall at Doi Inthanon National Park

Day 3

We decided to enjoy nature today, and headed to Doi Inthanon National Park. It is the highest mountain in all of Thailand, 8415 feet above sea level. Entrance fees were THB100/person and THB30/car. Our first stop was this lovely waterfall. The kids went down to the water to play, refreshing cool air.

Then up to the Queen and King Pagodas for the view of Chiang Mai.

One of the pagodas was under renovation. But the air was nice and cool

Jumping shot - FAIL!

We then headed down to a village for a simple lunch, and then to see the actual village. The most famous village here is Karen village, but this was NOT Karen. Sorry I don't remember the name again.

The guide says, this special leaf has liquid inside such that you can blow a bubble. Everyone tried!

Ta-dah! The bubble is formed!

This place sells coffee

I had reserved a table at a garden restaurant on the way back from Doi Inthanon, again it's a unique garden restaurant. Khao Mao Khao Fang Restaurant. Tel: 053-838444/053-838838
181 mu 7,Ratchapruek, Nongkwai, Hangdong, Chiang Mai, Thailand. What's so unique about it? "Mummy, there's a tree inside the toilet!!"

Inside the toilet at Khao Mao Khao Fang Restaurant. A huge garden restaurant

Even the sink has been modified

This is a dumb waiter that goes round and round the track, delivering plates back to the kitchen

Everyone happily taking photos everywhere

The actual meal itself? Not bad, 7/10

After dinner, one van went to the Night Safari that is very close by. Entrance THB800 adult, THB400 per child including the Tram Ride. English speaking Tram departs from North Zone 7:45pm & 9:30pm, and South Zone 8:30pm & 10:15pm. Tram ride lasts approximately 1 hour. The guide charged THB1000 for the van to wait until they finished and send them all back to the hotel. Others returned to hotel.

Day 4
Our flight was at 4:55pm. We all had a lazy morning, either going shopping or massage nearby the hotel. We did not use the guide anymore, and just used the hotel van to the airport. Nothing much to report today, but everyone asked, "So where is our next destination??" - Pengsan!

Continue reading at:
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 1
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 2
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 3 & 4

Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 03:17:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 10-13 May 2014

Making T-Shirts at Borsang umbrella making factory

Day 2

Today is a very relaxing shopping day. We did not want to drive too far out of town, and we do not support riding nor watching animals do silly tricks. So we visited the Samkampaeng area, which is known for their Home Industries. First stop was Borsang paper umbrella making factory. We made history today. We are the first and only group to stay here for 3 hours, when most stay 30 minutes at most. What did we do here??? We made T-Shirts.

These T-shirts had a ripple effect - everyone wanted one

After this was done, we saw a factory selling bags that look exactly like NaRaYa. So we stopped by and had even more shopping time of 45 minutes. Lunch was just 500m away at a local restaurant.

Exactly like NaRaYa right??

Those not shopping, can pluck fruits outside. That's our van, and 2 drivers on the right

Lunch at a nice garden restaurant, sorry can't remember the name

An elephant lake next to the restaurant

Back to the hotel to rest before dinner. I pre-booked a restaurant called Dash Teak House & Restaurant, Moon Muang Road Soi 3, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Phone:+66 53 279 230. The architecture was nice and looked unique from the outside. They gave us the entire floor upstairs, and we could hang out by the balcony too. But I pity the guests downstairs, the kids ran around all over the place on the wooden floors. OMG.

By the balcony of Dash Teak House & Restaurant

After dinner, what else is there to do? Yet another night market. The Sunday Walking Street at Tha Phae Gate. This market was pretty much the same as Saturday's, didn't see nor buy much.

Continue reading at:
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 1
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 2
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 3 & 4

Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 02:57:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 10-13 May 2014

At Doi Suthep Temple, Chiangmai

12 adults and 4 children flew to Chiangmai for a fun-filled holiday. AirAsia had a promotion which included the Royal Princess Chiangmai hotel, airfare + 3 nights hotel at RM635 per person. We started out with just 4 persons, and our group size grew really fast. We needed the help of a tour guide to help us move around more easily, and I selected Sutthi Hampitak +66899534407 thihampitak@yahoo.com. He charged us THB15,000 for 3 days in 2 x 12-seater vans, based on my itinerary.

Day 1
Arrived Chiangmai at 8:40am. Sutthi came with 2 x 12-seater vans, and boy were they comfortable. I asked him to bring us to a local market first, then up to Doi Suthep temple. You can climb 309 steps to the top, or pay THB50 for a tram car ride, to and fro. Everyone was already tired from waking up at 4am that morning, so we had a relaxing lunch and back to the hotel. Some of us chose to sleep, others went for a massage at Let's Relax just across the road from our hotel. For dinner, I had reserved a table at a very popular French restaurant in Chiangmai called Chez Marco 15/7 Loi Kroh Road, +6653207032. After dinner, all 16 of us squeezed into a truck to Wualai Road night market, a.k.a. Saturday Night Market.

"Papa, why is it so smelly in here?"

"Papa, why is it still smelly outside?"

Riding the tram to the top of Doi Suthep

The view from the top of Doi Suthep temple

Lunch at a local restaurant nearby

This isn't a tour, so up to us to order what we wanted. Everyone was super hungry!

Let's Relax Spa - Time for a massage!

I chose THB800 for 2 hours Thai Massage

Free Mango & Sticky Rice and tea after the 2-hour massage. So yummy!

Royal Princess Hotel Chiangmai

Breakfast Area of the Royal Princess Hotel, Chiangmai

Free shuttle to Central Plaza from Hotel

Free shuttle to Night Bazaar Road from Hotel

Dinner at Chez Marco french restaurant

Duck Confit, outstanding! Tastes just as good as when we had it in 2011.

At Wualai Road Night Market

Note: This Wualai Road market turned out to be a nightmare for us organizers. We did not know that it was at least 2km long. Our group soon split apart into several small groups, and HH and I had to keep running up and down the stretch looking for people. Some reached the end fairly quickly, and were tired and wanted to go home. So we had to send people off on tuk-tuk's to go home separately. Thankfully our hotel is pretty old and famous, and all drivers knew where to go. Conclusion is, if you're coming to this market, everyone should take a hotel name card and make their own way home!

Continue reading at:
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 1
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 2
Chiangmai 4D/3N with a big group - Day 3 & 4

Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 03:22:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 28-31 Jan 2014

Day 3
Today was our second last day of our 16 day holiday. It is coincidentally Chinese New Year eve, where we would normally be having a reunion dinner with family. But 3 of us are so far north in the Arctic Circle, so far away from any family members. So we shall make the best of tonight's celebration.

On the way to the Airport, to pay the parking fine

This is the Airport carpark. It's really really quiet

First mission of the day, is to pay the parking ticket from yesterday. They tell us that we just need to go back to Malaysia, and transfer the amount via Telegraphic Transfer to the said bank account. But we didn't want this ticket hanging over our heads, and wanted it settled. We googled the whole of last night, trying to find the Europark parking ticket office. Apparently, there could be one at the airport. So we drove all the way there, only to find out that there is none. En route to the airport, a police car was following us on a single lane road, when WK was driving again. After a short while, the police car high-beamed us twice. We didn't know what to do, what does high-beam mean? After a short while, beacon siren lights came on! OK don't panic! Let's just pull over, maybe he just wanted to pass. So we did, and thankfully, the police car just zipped past. WK said "HENG AH! If a parking ticket costs RM400, I don't know how much it'll be if I didn't have my drivers license with me" - he had left it at the hotel. Kakakakakakaka!

We were already unnerved after several encounters with the law in Tromso. We decided to spend the day quietly at a shopping centre! So off we went to the biggest one we could find, ICA Supermarket, which is a huge area of buildings holding different types of shops. We came to Jetta central since it housed many individual stores inside. Yes we double-checked that parking was free this time. First thing we did, was to locate the bank cum post office. In the end, they charged us a 75Kr service fee to pay the fine!! The total came to 760 + 75 = 835Kr = RM418!!

836Kr (RM418) for not putting a parking ticket for 2 hours. Sigh.

ICA Supermarket, Tromso. Separate buildings for different stores.

Lasagne for 135Kr + 25% tax = 168.75Kr (RM85)

Pasta Salad for 139Kr + 25% tax = 173.75Kr (RM87)

Carbonara for 129Kr + 25% tax = 161.25Kr (RM80)

Found a pet shop selling Ox Knuckle for 149Kr(RM75) each. One bone costs more than my lunch!

After shopping, we dropped by the Polaria, the world's most northerly aquarium. Why? Because I wanted a Tromso magnet before I left, and this gift shop was the only one we could find hahahaha. I left WK in the car to look after it, we were seriously paranoid about parking by now.

My favourite shot, taken from just outside the Polaria

So, what do we do about dinner tonight? So tired, so paranoid, it's meant to be Chinese New Year reunion dinner... we went to take-away frozen foods from Co-Op Supermarket instead!! Here's what we got. One microwavable container, Thai Chicken Rice, Chinese Noodles, and 4 cuts of salmon, a lemon and a pack of hot chocolate. Total only 226Kr (RM113).

Our Hotel Sydspissen allowed guests the use of their kitchen until 11pm, which included a microwave, and plates and utensils to eat with. Unfortunately (bad luck again) for us, there was a function that night and the kitchen was closed. At least they were kind enough to shift the microwave out for us to still dine at the lobby area. The smell we caused with our Thai Rice, kakakakaka! The salmon and Thai Chicken rice were superb! What a memorable CNY Reunion dinner.

No Northern Lights sighting tonight, so we created our own with an LED torch we bought at the mall today

Expenses for Day 3:
Parking fine = 835Kr
LED Torch = 19Kr
Coke = 15.50Kr
Smash Snack = 10Kr
Lunch = 504Kr
Petrol = 200Kr
Dinner = 226Kr

Day 4
We left the hotel at 5am to begin our long journey home. WK had an earlier flight than us, so we all went together anyway. Tromso - Oslo, Oslo - Qatar, and finally Qatar to KL. A big big thank you to Qatar Airways for upgrading both of us to Business Class on the final leg, where we could finally sleep peacefully. I sat next to a modern middle eastern man who was rather quiet. After seeing HH & I pass things between us, he asked me, "Why don't you go sit with your daughter?". I was too stunned to reply, and refused to talk to him for the entire journey! Hmph!!!!

The grand total for Europe 2014 came to RM9668.30! It was THE trip of a lifetime. 16 Days & 14 Nights across Rome (and Pompeii & Florence), Barcelona, Berlin and Tromso Norway. Could be further reduced if we hadn't gotten a parking fine!

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 04:25:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 28-31 Jan 2014

Tromso, Norway

Day 2
Apart from the Northern Lights, Tromso is also famous for the Fjords, which are narrow waterways through steep cliffs. There are many tours offering cruises to see the fjords, some lasting a week long even. I get seasick easily, so I am not one who would willingly sleep on a cruise. And being in such an expensive country, we found the cheapest possible solution to see the fjords. Take the 7:10am Fjordprinsessen from Tromso - Vikran - Tennskjer – Lysnes. Don't get off the ferry, and ride it all the way back to Tromso to arrive back by 9:05am. Cost was 177Kr (RM88) per person for a return journey. The ferry DOES NOT run on Tuesdays & Thursdays, so do check the schedule to plan your itinerary. http://ruteinfo.thn.no/filer/519_en.pdf

After a very late night with the Northern Lights, we got up at 6am, and finally got to the pier area around 6:45am. However, there were no clear signage on where the ferry departed from. On top of it all, there was a construction site going on. We were running around like headless chickens in the dark. We decided to just park somewhere near the construction site, and searched on foot. We asked if we needed to pay for parking, and apparently we did! Even at 6+am, parking is required. We paid 36Kr (RM18) for 2 hours 20 minutes parking. Eventually, the correct jetty was located behind the shopping mall.

Was it worth it? Totally!! It was magnificent! Have a look at the scenery from the Fjordprinsessen ferry.

Our first stop at Vikran, many people got on

We arrived back to the jetty at 9:20am, 15 minutes later than scheduled. When we got to the car, the parking metre lady was already there about to give us a ticket! We stopped her just on time, PHEW! They are super efficient when it comes to parking. We then drove back to our hotel and had a great breakfast there.

Tromso city at 9am. An ice sculpture is in the making

That's the shopping mall on the left. And the jetty is just behind it on the far left.

This is the view we see from the back of the hotel, where the breakfast area is. Spectacular!

The same beach behind our hotel, where we took photos of the Northern Lights the night before

That's our hotel on the left

Sunrise from the hotel

Our Triple Room at the Sydspissen Hotel, Tromso, Norway for 990Kr/night (RM495)

After breakfast, we had a lazy morning and had a nap before our afternoon activities. Nearby our hotel is a great supermarket called Co-Op where we bought sandwiches to bring along for a "picnic". Daylight hours during our stay was 10am - 3pm only! So we took a drive to Sommaroy, a round trip distance of 130km. Very beautiful scenery along the way, but it was tough driving under snowy conditions. The roads are slippery even with snow tires. Some bridges are so narrow, then only one car can go through at a time. You have to be so alert at all times when driving, very tiring indeed.

That's our white rental car from Avis, 1501Kr (RM750) for 3 days

Many many bridges linking the small islands of Tromso

You gotta avoid the side curb, as its ice and very slippery

Many red huts like this along the way

That's the final bridge before getting onto Sommaroy Island

The bridge was actually one way traffic only! Have to look out for the traffic lights

Sommaroy ... just like a postcard

The sun is setting at 4+pm

After a short rest, we headed out for dinner. Our intended restaurant was Pasta Fabrikken. We circled the streets round and round, but could not find it based on their address! We even had internet and google maps to search, but we just couldn't see it. We gave up, and just decided to eat at any restaurant nearby. So when searching for a carpark, we chanced upon the Clarion Hotel Bryggen. Just outside the hotel, was an open-space carpark. There was a signage in Norwegian which seemed to indicate that it was for hotel guests only, so we just parked there. WK said, how can they know whether we are guests or not. Since he was the driver, HH did not want to seem naggy, so we just let it be.

Scenery taken outside Clarion Hotel Bryggen

Very quiet at night

Hunting for a restaurant

We finally walked in to Pepe's Pizza, and this is what we ordered.

Interior of Pepe's Pizza

Chicken Wings for 140Kr (RM70) for 10 miserable drummets!


A large pizza, beef & wine flavour, for 350Kr (RM175) !!!

Total restaurant bill came to 528Kr (RM264) including a hot chocolate for 38 Kr (RM19). WOW that has gotta be the most expensive meal I have ever had in any country. But that's not the worst yet. When we got back to our car, we saw a piece of paper stuck on the window shield.

760Kr (RM380) for a parking fine!!! OMG!!

Totally no more mood. Went back to the hotel and thankfully saw the Northern Lights again for the second night. Also tried to do a star trail from our room. Not bad :)

Using the flashlight function from our phone

Northern Lights and stars from our room window

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 06:21:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 28-31 Jan 2014

Aurora Borealis, a.k.a. Northern Lights, taken from Tromso, Norway

Call it luck. Call it fate. Call it anything you want, but being able to catch this natural phenomenon was breathtaking and once-in-a-lifetime for me. The picture above, was the goal of our trip to Europe this year. I feel blessed! And what a present for HH on her birthday today. Here's what happened.

Day 1
Berlin - Oslo, 11:35am - 1:15pm
Oslo - Tromso, 5:40pm - 7:35pm

It was really unlucky (or lucky) that there were snow storms everywhere that day, causing many flight delays. We were supposed to have a short trip to Oslo city to have a look, but due to the delay, we decided that it wasn't feasible. In the end, our flight leaving Oslo, was also delayed, and we eventually arrived Tromso at about 8:45pm.

All snowed in at Oslo airport

The airport has a very nice wood-y feel

Oslo Airport has very few restaurants for the amount of people here

Guess how much was a burger? NOK189 = RM95!

Grilled Norwegian Salmon for NOK175 = RM83! At least it was cheaper than a burger

Note: Along the flight, our friend WK was assigned to look out the window the entire time, trying to spot the Northern Lights from the plane. Using all the Northern Lights app and forecast we had, today's chances were very high!

We had pre-booked a car from Avis at the airport, 3 days rental for NOK1501 + 240 for Super CDW and NOK62.50 for added driver, total NOK1803.50 = RM900. Since we were already late, we rushed to pick up our rental car and rushed to the hotel, in case they may have given up our reservations.

We got a little lost on the way to the hotel, as it was really dark and lost our bearings a bit. But it added to the delay in getting to our hotel. We picked a hotel that is sorta in the middle of nowhere with its own private beach, because it would increase our chances of seeing the Northern Lights. I did not want to join those Northern Lights tours that run from 7pm until possibly 5am even. No, I don't want to sleep in a van, driving across borders in search of these lights, and *ahem* pee-ing in the snow. So we finally arrived Sydspissen Hotel at 9:45pm. I rushed in first to do the check-in procedures, while HH & WK prepared to get our luggage.

(WK staring up at the sky.)
WK: Eh, eh, I think got leh! Am I seeing things?
(HH staring up at the sky. A moment of complete silence between them, trying to decide whether got or not)
HH: I also think got a bit there leh!
WK: Really got lah!
HH: Faster call Angie to come out and see!

So these 2 jokers quickly came to get me to go out and see.. and true enough, the lights show was about to begin. Tonight was to be the best of our 3 nights there, but we didn't know it at the time. If it weren't for all the delays, we would have driven to town for dinner, and would have missed it entirely. The peak was between 10:00pm - 10:30pm.

We rushed to our room, dumped everything, and even saw it from our room window. (Tip: Ask for a room facing the beach). The back of the hotel has a private beach, which is perfect for viewing the Northern Lights. So rushed, so not ready, we just ran down back to the beach and got our finest shots there. We were so unprepared about the camera settings, a lot of trial and error to do. But it was awesome!

By the time the lights show ended, we got back to the room at 11:20pm. Everything in this town closes at 11:00pm at the latest, even all restaurants and bars. So laugh all you want, but I have my Maggi Mee brought all the way from Malaysia, carried it across Barcelona to Rome to Berlin and now Tromso. It was the only thing available to eat for the night. I wanted to take a photo of me eating Maggi Mee under the Northern Lights, but it was just too cold and I think the mee would have frozen by the time I reached the beach. It was about -10°C that night. Though I wore goretex boots, I could feel the cold on the soles of my feet. We had to find some branch to stand on.

We slept with the curtains "open" that night, in case any of us wakes up in the middle of the night and spots it again. :D

Day 1's Expenses:
Car Rental = NOK1803.50 = RM902
Hotel = NOK2970 = RM1490 for 3 nights

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

4 Days in Berlin - Day 2, 3, & 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 03:25:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 25-28 Jan 2014

Cycling in the snow, at the iconic Brandenburg Gate

Day 2
We kinda wasted today doing nothing much. After a superb hotel breakfast, we headed to the Trondl Market but found nothing much selling. Only later did we find out that today was a special festival day, where malls are only open from 1pm - 7pm today. Since our friend was really cold, we headed to our favourite outdoors-gear shop called Globetrotter to buy gloves. There was a sign at the door, but we could not read German! So we shopped at a mall nearby and hung around there till after 1pm, hoping that it would open. But luck wasn't on our side today. After heading back, we were just too cold and tired to go anywhere, and basically had dinner next door at an Italian restaurant called Marinelli.

My yummy hotel breakfast

Trondl Market is on the right. Really quiet day for a market

Streets were kept pretty clean and snow-free

Szechuan Soup at China House. Yucks

Dinner at Bellissimo, not bad at all

Day 2's Expenses:
Day Ticket = €16.20
Lunch = €15.00
Gloves = €22.95
Chocolates = €10.00
Maggi Spaghetti & Juice & Beer = €5.00
Toothpaste = 8 x €0.35 (travel size, very good for future trips)
Dove lotion = €2.75
Kids Jigsaw Puzzle = €27.15 for 5
Dinner = €36.40 + 3.60 tip = €40.00

Day 3
Not wanting to waste the day like yesterday, thankfully we had pre-booked a visit to the Parliament of Germany, a.k.a. the German Bundestag. We had to make sure to get there before the tour began at our registered time of 9:00am. Today also happened to be the anniversary of the release of Auswitch prisoners, and many VIP will be at the Parliament today. Therefore, security felt tight. It was a fantastic tour inside the Parliament, the tour guide was a political secretary who could answer any questions you had about the German parliament or politics. It seems like employees take turns giving tours, and every citizen is allowed entry into the parliament during a sitting. Everything is very transparent, and feels very democratic.

Start of tour, walking outdoors to the main building

Messages from soldiers were still preserved till today

A replica of the Reichstag building we were in now, where the Bundestag is held

This is an Art-piece supported by the Reichstag Building. Every parliament member name is on it

On good days, you can circle the interior of the dome up to the very top.

After our parliament visit, we walked out and saw a row of bicycles for rent. It was snowing badly, my leg was aching, suddenly riding a bike seemed like such a great idea! We went to the machine and tried to figure out how to work it. Due to miscommunication in the English translation, we had actually selected the 1-year membership, instead of the 1-time use. When we got the credit card bill later, we were shocked to have been charged about €48 per bike, can't remember the exact value. Thankfully, they reversed the charge after we emailed to them explaining the situation.

ANYWAY, I must say this first. It is bl**dy hard to ride a bike on snow covered roads, in the middle of heavy snowfall. We had to be the only jokers on the famous Under der Linden road doing this, and one that kept holding up traffic cos she was trying to snap photos. Still, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which I will always think fondly of.

Checking the locations on where we can return it. Let's go to Hackescher Market!

Try riding, with snow pelting your eyes, with one hand on the handle, and another trying to focus and snap this.

Exhilarating bike ride!

When we finally arrived Hackescher Market (2.2km away) 1 hour later, we were drenched in sweat and feeling dead tired. We had lunch at some random restaurant at the market, but things didn't seem too interesting either. We picked something called 1840, as they claim to be around since year 1840!

2 Berlin Meatballs, Berliner Bouletten €12.90

1840 Currywurst Spezial, €14.00

After lunch, we headed to the remnants of the Berlin Wall. No more cycling please. We took the train using our day ticket, to get to the East Side Gallery, which is what they call the wall now.

Up for a snack, we went to Burgermeister, a joint rated #15 on Tripadvisor for their burgers. We shared 1 burger, but didn't take it to be exceptionally nice. So-So. After the snack, we headed back to Globetrotter again for some shopping. It was worth going back a second time, it was a huge store and had a great sale at the time.

The Burgermeister is really small and has no seats inside. At most, only 10 customers can stand in there at a time.

€3.90 for this burger, I ain't complaining

For our last meal, we wanted to try something different - Turkish! Gel Gor Restaurant has very good kafte, and so cheap.

Hummus with pine nuts on top

Day 3's Expenses:
Lunch = €40
La Roche Touleriane Creme = €13.95 x 3
Hat = €4.99
Converted €200 to NOK1500 (BAD BAD BAD rate due to tax)
Burgermeister = €3.90
Jack Wolfskin bag = €20
Dinner at Gel Gor Turkish = €24.50

Day 4
This was a really long day. One train to the airport was cancelled, and we had to quickly re-route to another line. So stressful in case we missed the plane. Always always go early to the airport in Europe. We were leaving Berlin, for our next destination Tromso, Norway. More details to come.

Day 4's Expenses:
Train Ticket = €3.20 x 3

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

4 Days In Berlin - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 04:26:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 25-28 Jan 2014

Day 1

Continuing from my previous post in Barcelona, we decided to visit Berlin because it was a convenient stop on our journey towards Tromso, Norway. Also in my previous post, I had acquired a knee injury on my left knee. HH was really worried that I could no longer walk for the rest of the trip, and she had searched and emailed a contact to rent a wheelchair for me in Berlin. I have always been impressed by the efficiency and precision of Germans. True enough, when we landed, there were several missed calls from that company, and they had emailed a reply saying that they can promptly deliver a wheelchair to our hotel, for our 4 days here, and collect it back from the hotel before we depart. The cost was €50.00 nett for the entire duration. Not bad at all.

Although public transport from the airport to hotel was available, I opted to take a taxi instead due to my bad leg. €40.00 for a metre taxi from Schoenefeld to Suite Novotel at Potsdamer Platz. Oh well! On the day of arrival, the weather was -10°C to -15°C! We did love our hotel. For €62.40/night for a family room with breakfast for 3, it was perfect. It was also very convenient to have the room partition into 2, where we could conveniently change to our winter gear without going to the bathroom. It takes us 15 minutes to put on all our winter wear before heading out LOL!

Suite Novotel at Potsdamer Platz

A family suite with 4 beds for €62.40. There is partition to split the room into 2, for us to change into winter gear.

On the right of the microwave is there the partition is hiding

We walked into any random restaurant across the road for lunch, as it was just too cold! Coming from Barcelona with a weather of 15°C to -15°C, we just wanted to hole up in our room. Lunch was Mexican fare, because we wanted hot soup!

Something we walk pass everyday, but no idea what it is.

Once I saw the road conditions, plus snow everywhere, I told HH not to take the wheelchair. There is no way that they could wheel me around with snow. Miraculously, my leg improved with this cold weather. I believe it acted as a permanent cold compress! In the end, I was very grateful for the cold weather.

After a nap, we went out in the evening to the KaDaWe shopping mall by taking a direct bus. It was so much colder at night! KaDaWe was quite high class, but I managed to pick up 3 jigsaw puzzles there and a super high class nail clipper. The food court upstairs was supposed to be good, but the whole mall was closing at 8:00pm. No problem, we took a train to another restaurant, Augustiner, which turned out to be superb!

At the food court of KaDaWe shopping centre

What the S-Bahn subway station looks like

S-bahn trains

Augustiner Restaurant - they claim to have the best pork knuckle in Germany. I agree! :)

Really good bratwurst & potatoes! €9.50

Really the best pork knuckle I have had so far. €13.50

Potato soup, again excellent but perhaps not warm enough €6.50

Apple strudel for €6.50

Menu at Augustiner

Checkpoint Charlie - Been there, done that!

After leaving the restaurant at close to 10:00pm, nobody knows how cold it was at that point. We waited over 15 minutes for the bus home. Our friend froze!

Expenses for today:
Taxi from airport = €40
Mexican lunch = €38.10
Subway group ticket = €16.20 x 2
3 jigsaw puzzles = €14.99 x 3
Super duper nail clipper = €5.99
Augustiner dinner = €47.80 + €4.20 tip

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 03:50:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 25-28 January 2014

This was a very detailed itinerary planned by HH. However, she did not predict the weather to be -15°C and snowing most of the time. Perhaps it can still be usable on warmer days.

25/1    BCN-BER    1055-1345
28/1    BER-TOS    1135-1935

Sat 25 Jan (Group ticket ABC: Euro16.70 )
- Arrive Berlin Schonefeld 1:45pm
- Walk to S station Berlin Schonefeld Flughafen
- Take S45 11 stops to Berlin Sudkreuz Bhf
- Walk to S Sudkreuz Bhf station
- Take 2 stops to S Anhalter Bahnhof
- Checkin to hotel
- Take bus M41 3 stops to Sony Centre
- Take U2 towards S+U Pankow 2 stops to U Stadtmitte
- Walk to Augustiner Restaurant
Address: Charlottenstraße 55, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 20454020
Hours: 10:00 am – 1:00 am
Recommended: Weiner Schnitzel, pork knuckle, veal sausage (kalbsbratwurst), potato soup (kartoffelsuppe), big pretzel (brez'n) and beer (Edelstoff), potato dumplings(klopse), fried potatoes (bratkartoffeln), roasted pigs legs (hinterhaxe), beef goulash
- Walk to Unter den Linden, take bus 100/TXL towards S+U Zoologischer, 1 stop reach S+U Brandenburg Tor
- Take S25/S1/S2 towards south, 2 stops to S Anhalter Bahnhof. Reach hotel

Sun 26 Jan (Group ticket AB: 16.20 Euro)
- Take S1/S2/S25 To S+U FriedrichStr Bhf, 3 stops
- Walk to Berlin Friedrichstr
- Take S5/S7 to Berliner TrodelMarkt, 3 stops
- Walk to Berliner Trodel Markt, reach Flea Market 17 June Street
- Get to S Tiergarten, take S7 towards S Ahrensfelde, 4 stops to S Hackerscher Markt
- Walk to Berlin Cathedral
- Walk to Spandauer Str/Marienkirche, take tram M4/M6/M12 1 stop to S Hackescher Markt
- Walk to Hackescher Hof, reach Hackescher Market
- Walk to S Hackescher Markt, take S75/S5 1 stop to S+U Alexanderplatz, reach Alexanderplatz
- From S+U Alexanderplatz, take S75/S5/S7/RE1 to S Ostbahnhof, 1 stop
- Walk to East Side Gallery
- Walk to S+U Warschauer Str, take U1 to U Kottbusser Tor, 3 stops
- Take U8 to U Schonleinst, 1 stop
- Dinner at Gel Gor inegol
Address: Kottbusser Damm 80, 10967 Berlin, Germany
Phone:+49 30 69582753
Recommended: kofte and kebab

Mon 27 Jan (Group ticket AB: 16.20 Euro)
- 0800 take S2 to S+U Brandenburger Tor, 2 stops
- Walk to Reichstag Building for tour
- Walk south to Scheidemannstrabe, turn left onto Scheidemannstrabe
- Continue on to Dorotheenstrabe, turn right onto Wilhelmstrabe
- Turn left onto Leipziger Strabe, turn right onto Mauerstrabe
- Slight right onto Friedrichstrabe, reach Checkpoint Charlie
- Walk to U Kochstr/Checkpoint Charlie, Take bus M29 towards Roseneck to U Kurfurstendamm, 14 stops
- Lunch at Salut
Address: Augsburger Straße 29
Phone: +49 30 27575978
URL: salutberlin.de‎
Hours: Mon-Fri 1200-1800
- Walk to KaDaWe
- Lego Store on Tauentzien St beside KeDeWe
- From U Wittenbergplatz, take U1 to U Uhlandstr, 2 stops
- Walk to the west to The story of Berlin, and walk to east towards Kadawe to browse Kudamm str
- From U Wittenbergplatz, take U3 to U Spichernstr, 2 stops
- Take U9 to S+U Rathaus Steglitz, 7 stops
- Walk to Globetrotter
- From S+U Rathaus Steglitz, take S1 to S Anhalter Bahnhof, 6 stops
- From Novotel, take bus M29 towards U Hermannplatz, 2 stops reach U Kochstr/Checkpoint Charlie
- Walk to Viet Bowl for dinner
Addr: 69 ZimmerStr
Tel: +49 030 20453712
Hours: Mon-Sun 1130 - 2200

Tue 28 Jan (3x single ticket ABC, 3.20Euro each)
- Take S2 from Anhalter to Berlin Sudkreuz (S) station 0814-0819 (2 stops)
- Switch to S45 to Berlin-Schonefeld Flughafen station 0824-0855 (11 stops)
- Walk 7 mins to airport

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:53:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 22-25 Jan 2014

Day 3

"Oh no! My shoes!" It pays to wear waterproof/Goretex shoes in winter

Having seen lots of buildings around Barcelona, we started the day with something not in my original itinerary at all: To see the beach! Yes it's in the middle of winter and we must be crazy going there in our heavy jackets. After eating at our hotel room again, we took the train to Drassenes station and walked to the Christopher Columbus monument. This area is known as Barceloneta, which seems to be the older part of Barcelona. It was a beautiful, beautiful morning by the water, eventhough the water was cold!

Bicycles for hire, but it was not available for tourists

Hi Christopher Columbus!

Such a beautiful sky in the middle of winter

A circus was in town. Quite a big setup too.

That's the W hotel, which reminds me of the Burj Al-Arab

We saw the W hotel from afar, and decided to pay a visit to their loo. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh nice man. Too bad no photos haha. Just next to the W hotel, was the Desigual headquarters. A huge store for shopping again.

It was really cold u'know!

Next up, it was time for lunch. We wanted to try something truly Spanish in our eyes, and that would be a paella. Unfortunately, Barcelona is Catalan cuisine, not Spanish. So there were very few places offering authentic ones. Out of all of them, we picked Kaiku Restaurant which was by the sea. Here's the interesting part. You never ever interrupt a Spaniard during his lunch hour. When is lunch hour? Typically from 1pm - 4pm. Sometimes restaurants only open at 1:30pm. Then when is dinner? Typically from 8pm - 1am. Lunch hour is a very sacred event, you do not ask your employee to return earlier from lunch. We arrived at Kaiku Restaurant at 12:15pm, feeling really cold and tired. All the employees of Kaiku were having their lunch. We decided to sit just outside the restaurant and look like lost puppies, hoping to get inside, away from the cold winds. But no such luck. They didn't bat an eyelid, totally ignored us even when we wrote our names on their booking list. At exactly 1:00pm, someone came to let us in. Was it worth waiting in the freezing cold? Totally!!

The only menu we could look at before Kaiku Restaurant officially opened at 1:00pm

2 soups that looked funky, but superb @ €3.45 each

A fish dish to complement the Paella €14.72

€16.90 per person, this was meant for 2 = €33.80. Wish we had ordered more. Wahhhh yums!

With our tummies filled, it was time to walk again. Barcelona has 2 funiculars. We wanted to ride the cable car to the top of the mountain, and continue on to the funicular. But someone *ahem ahem* got really scared of heights when he saw how tall it was going to be. Luckily it was too expensive for our liking (€11/pax one way), and we detoured to the second funicular to Mt Monjuic instead. This funicular actually starts from the metro underground station, it took us quite awhile to locate it. The view was breathtaking!

Hunting for the funicular to Mt Monjuic, but none in sight. It was actually under the road

This is the station from the top of the mountain

Although there was a lights show on at 7pm at the Magic Fountain of Mount Monjuic, we were too tired to wait it out. Decided to go shopping instead at Catalunya area. We first visited fnac shopping centre, but it was a let-down. Nothing much there at all. Just next door was El Cortes Ingles, and that's where my knee totally gave way. I couldn't walk anymore at that point, and could only sit somewhere inside the mall waiting for them. Because of my knee, we had no choice but to pick the nearest restaurant to El Cortes Ingles, which turned out to be Hard Rock Cafe. Sorry guys for such a disappointing meal that night. My fault. After dinner, I even had to take a taxi back to the hotel, which would otherwise have been a 10-15 minute walk.

Supposedly Salmon

Beef & Chicken Fajitas for €18.95

Mayday songs were playing, inside Hard Rock Cafe Barcelona!

Oh, at our hotel room, WK surprised us with a gift - Iberico Ham! Ta-dah! Unfortunately, it was so darn salty, I was scared my hair would fall out on the spot.

Note to self - I do not like Iberico Ham, no matter how expensive it is

This was really nice. Must buy more next time

Day 3's Expenses:
Lunch = €67.21 + €2.79 tip
Shopping = €20 worth of chocolates to bring home
Dinner = €46.75 (no tip for bad service!)
Taxi = €5.70

Day 4
Took the Renfe train to airport, where it stopped at Terminal 2A. It took me 40 minutes to walk from Terminal 2A to 2C with my crippled leg, and we were so scared to miss the flight that morning. But HH managed to grab yet another Desigual T-shirt just in front of the boarding gate kakakaka.

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

4 Days In Barcelona - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:06:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 22-25 Jan 2014

Sagrada Familia - Under construction since year 1882!

Day 2
Today we had a booking to enter the Sagrada Familia's Nativity Tower at 3:00pm. It is highly recommended to make a booking prior to your trip, as the queue to enter the Sagrada alone will snake around the block! Do your bookings here http://visit.sagradafamilia.cat/?lang=en

We started the day with a healthy breakfast in our hotel room, previously bought from the Supermarket the day before, follower by a walk in the park at Parc Guell. To get there, walk to Girona station, catch the 9:06am metro for 2 stops to Trinitat Nova station. Use the same T10 ticket to take bus #116 at 9:20am for 6 stops. There is an entrance fee to enter the building, but we chose to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and view from the top instead. The park itself looks huge, but surprisingly it's again a false illusion, as you can easily walk the park rather quickly. Again, compliments to Gaudi! Have a look at the photos.

Can you see the Balearic Sea from here?

Queuing for the park's public toilet with doggy

€1 to use this self-cleaning toilet, pretty nice in the park

The great expanse of Barcelona city. No idea what's on the top of that hill

Sagrada Familia is clearly visible in the distance

After Parc Guell, we took a bus to Las Ramblas. I can't remember which bus number now, but buses are very easy to locate, as each bus route is clearly written at almost every bus stop. Here's a sample of the map at the bus stop.

We then visited Las Ramblas, a very famous street in Barcelona for its market and shopping. The best part about Las Ramblas to me, is the La Boqueria markets. This is where we had our lunch, just picking up anything we fancied and having it outdoors on the street.

This is the start of Las Ramblas

And the famous Desigual can be found EVERYWHERE

We had churros and hot chocolate, a must have in Spain in general. Very yummy!

Dang! We are leaving Barcelona on 25 Jan!

La Boqueria Market, my favourite place to snack

We bought a cup of cherries here. €7.99/kg = RM34.00/kg. So cheap!

Chili in oil inside spray bottles. What a cool idea!

Free sampling of nuts. Yummy!

I was so intrigued by this stall. Bought many things here for lunch

Nachos was fantastic!

After our snack, we took the train to Sagrada Familia. Our booking was for 3pm. I didn't realise that you are only allowed to enter 1 hour before your booked time slot for the tower climb. So we had a nice relaxing time outside. Many buskers/street performers outside trying to earn a buck or 2.

Inside a metro station

Mobile devices vending machine

Credits to the photographer HH

When it was time to go in, we had to run around to get the audio guide added to our tickets. On hindsight, please GET THE AUDIO GUIDE! I'd skip the tower climb honestly, but the audio guide is a must! The interior of Sagrada Familia was just - WOW. Words cannot do justice to the feeling you get when you first step in.

Can you see that the pillars represent trees with knobs?

The stained glass brought so much colour. Different times of the day will bring a different feel & colour

When it was time to go up to the Nativity tower, locate the correct left which will bring you to the top. Please remember that it is a lift in one direction only, which means you have to walk the 426 steps down! After climbing so much from the Vatican, to Casa Batllo, to Parc Guell, my left knee suddenly gave way at this church. From this point on, a lot of activities for the rest of my trip was hindered by my knee. Apologies to my travel mates for the inconvenience.

Window to the World, or just Barcelona City :)

Narrow pathways inside the tower

Every part of the tower tells a story. Could you spot the birth of Christ in my earlier photos?

The long spiral staircase down

Next, we took the train to Jaume I station to see Barri Gothic. Once we got there, we were just too tired, and the wind was sooooooooooo cold. We just saw 2 gothic-like buildings, then went to hide in an Argentinan restaurant called Arcano, then it was time to go back to sleep. :)

Streets around Barri Gotic

We had the TripAdvisor app to locate any good restaurants in this area, and this came up

Very nice interior

Free appetizer which was really good

I don't know what salad this was, but at only €8.60, fabulous!!

Patatas Bravas, a dish native to Spain - €4.30

Very interesting sauces they gave. Thumbs up!

Ravioli Spanish style = Banjir Style. Not bad

Expenses for today:
Market snack = €4.50+€2.50+€4.50
Market nuts = €3.00
Market fruits = €7.00
Magnet from Sagrada Familia = €5.40
Unicorn toy = €8.00
Sagrada Familia entrance = €19.30 x 3
Sagrada Familia Audio Guide = €3.50 x 3
Dinner at Arcano = €46.60 + €3.40 tip
Strawberries on the way home = €1.50
One more set of T10 ticket = €10.30

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 09:04:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 22-25 Jan 2014

Barcelona is now my favourite tourist destination city. It has the perfect balance of sights, shopping, food and a great transport network linking all of them together. The whole city embraces the work of the famous architect Antoni Gaudi and his modernisme ways. And which other city can you find a church under construction since year 1882?

Day 1
We woke up in Rome at 4am to catch the flight to Barcelona, and landed at 10am. From here, grab the RENFE train from the airport to Passeig de Gracia and walk 200m to Hotel Europark. Though it was in the middle of winter, the weather was very pleasant, approximately 15°C, making the walk very pleasant. Hotel Europark was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for the 3 of us at only €61.60 per night (excluding the €0.72 city tax per person per night).

Triple Room for €61.60/night without breakfast (Off-peak in Winter). Extra bed slightly too soft

Bathtub very important to soak your aching muscles away

We were dead tired and just wanted a quick meal nearby the hotel before taking a nap. Moral of the story is, not every restaurant is nice :) There was a supermarket just 2 minutes walk from the hotel to get all our daily supplies. We later found this hotel to be perfectly situated for a walk around Barcelona city. Highly recommended for future travelers.

This Cannelloni was the star of the meal. Everything else was salty, though fresh.

Total for lunch was €23.95 for 3 persons, including drinks and salads. Very reasonable for a simple meal. We then had our nap and left the hotel around 5pm for our walk to Casa Mila. Unfortunately, Casa Mila was closed for renovations!

Casa Mila closed for renovations.

So we ended up at Casa Batllo instead. Both of these buildings were designed by Gaudi, and should be just as interesting. The entrance fees of €21.50/person was rather high, but they are independently run and receive no sponsor from the government. Still, it was worth the price going in and listening to the audio tour. Here are some photos of this awesome building. To fully appreciate its splendor, please pay a visit to Barcelona!

Who can resist dropping by Desigual when it's just across the road?!

Can you see the mess of wires? It's actually art! Seriously!

Casa Batllo looks innocent from the outside, but it's packed with wonder inside!

This fireplace reminds me of Hobbits!

An airwell located in the middle of the house brings light and ventilation and so much more

On the rooftop of Casa Batllo

After spending about 1.5 hours inside Casa Batllo, it was time for dinner. Though it was a long walk, it was the best darn meal we had in the entire trip! Want to try? Go to Barcelona tomorrow! :)

La Flauta
Carrer d'Aribau 23,
8011 Barcelona.
+3488612541

Bread that came with the tapas

Huevos Cabreados - phenomenal eggs and potatoes in a unique sauce

Fish of some sort. Nothing special like the rest

You MUST MUST MUST try this Crema Catalana. Guaranteed to make you want more

4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 07:17:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 22-25 Jan 2014

This is my original itinerary for Barcelona. I still think it's a good itinerary, if not for the fact that my knee gave way halfway and we couldn't venture that far anymore. My actual itinerary will come next.

22/1    CIA-BCN    0810-0955
25/1    BCN-BER    1055-1345

Wed 22 Jan (1 x T10)
- 0955 Arrive BCN Airport
- Buy 2 sets of T10 tickets from the entrance of RENFE station
- Take RENFE train to Passeig de Gracia, walk to Hotel Europark to drop bags
- Walk to Casa Mila for photos
- Walk to lunch at La Flauta for fabulous Tapas. Order cabreados eggs, assortment of tapas platter and pam amb tomaquet, and a glass of house wine. Finish off with crema catalana. Total €33 for 2 pax - Walk to Casa Batllo for photos
- Walk to Placa de Catalunya for shopping at El Corte Ingles'
- Dinner at Cafe Alfonso
- Back to hotel for rest

Thu 23 Jan (2 x T10)
- Walk to Girona Station, take 09:06 metro for 2 stops to Trinitat Nova
- Use the same T10 ticket to take bus 116 at 09:20-09:33 (6 stops)
- Climb up to the free areas to see the city
- Walk 2.7km to La Muscleria for lunch. Order one plate of starters, like Calamares or Chipirones and a pot of muscles (El Diablo or similar) and a glass of sangria
- Walk 1.0km to Sagrada Familia
- Must queue for Tower Naixement (Nativity) before 2:30pm! 3pm is our pre-booked tower access
- Take metro from Sagrada Familia Passeig de Gracia, walk to fnac for shopping (Open till 9:30pm)
- Walk back to hotel

Fri 24 Jan (2 x T10)
- Walk to La Boqueria markets for breakfast
- Explore La Ramblas to Placa Sant Jaume
- Walk along Carrer del Bisbe, take photos of Barri Gotic
- Find Coinsa Entrepans, the best sandwiches in BCN
- Walk until you reach Cathedral Square
- Walk until Argentina Street, and you'll reach Picasso Museum
- Early dinner at El Xampanyet
- Walk to Metro Barceloneta to catch bus D20 18:06-1828
- Make it to the Magic Fountain of Montjuic for 7pm for lights show
- After the lights show, walk up the hill to the Museu Nacional Art de Catalunya, where you can get an expansive view of the city!
- Walk to catch bus 55 back to hotel (2009-2046)

Sat 25 Jan (1 x T10)
- Depart hotel at 7:00am
- Walk to Passeig de Gracia station
- Catch the 07:32-07:57 train to Aeroport
- Walk to Terminal 2C to catch the 10:55am flight to Berlin

Continue reading on Europe2014:

How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 04:06:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 17-22 Jan 2014

Day 5 - Day trip to Florence

Many people love Florence. They say that I should have spent a night or 2 there. Yes I liked it, but I still think a day trip is good enough. Most of the sights can be covered quite easily by walking. We caught the 8:35am - 10:07am train from Roma Termini to Firenze S.M. Novella station. What's the first thing we did when we got to Florence? We went straight to the Factory Outlets!!

My aim was to get a Bottega Veneta wallet, and The Mall factory outlet near Florence is the only place in Italy that has this brand's outlet. From the S.M. Novella station, you have to locate The Mall's bus stand that will take you directly there for €5 per person. Finding this bus stand was no easy task at all. We ended up walking around the entire block before we found the entrance to the bus station. Here's a map for you:

Where to catch the Shuttle Bus to The Mall for €5 per person

50 minutes later, Welcome to Paradise!

I was rather upset that I did not like the wallets at Bottega Veneta, they didn't have what I was aiming for. I ended up bring home a Prada. You can do your GST refund immediately at The Mall itself. We spent a good 3 hours shopping here, including lunch which was tasty and reasonably priced. We eventually left at 3:30pm, and arrived Florence at 4:30pm.

Lunch at The Mall, very good pasta

With only 4.5 hours remaining to walk around Florence itself, this was my walking route
A. Firenze S. M. Novella Station
B. Basilica of Santa Maria Novella (a.k.a. Duomo)
C. Holy Trinity Church
D. Vecchio Florence Bridge (Old Bridge)
E. Palazzo Vecchio - go inside the courtyard for best pics
F. Church of Santa Croce
G. Oblate Public Library of Florence
H. Piazza del Duomo

However, when we got there, we kinda went in reverse direction, as we thought we didn't have enough time to cover everything

San Lorenzo Market - lots of leather goods here

Biking makes more sense here. Streets are pretty narrow

At the Duomo. The exterior was magnificent. Did not go in

Even buses are half-sized here. So cute

A replica of The David outside the Palazzo Vecchio. The real one is inside the Ufizi's Accademia Gallery. No time to see it

Now comes the fun part - dinner. 5 things you must eat in Florence: Bistecca Alla Fiorentina, Crostini (toasts with liver pate), Ribolita (beans soup), Pappa al Pomodoro (tomato soup) and Trippa Alla Fiorentina (tripe). Of all the restaurants for Bistecca Alla Fiorentina, we picked:

Trattoria le Mossace
Via del Proconsolo, 55/r. Tel: 055294361
12pm-2:30pm, 7pm - 9:30pm

Conclusion: Nice, but nothing beats the Matsuzaka Beef I had nearby Tokyo.

A queue was forming before 7pm

The famous Bistecca Alla Fiorentina

Ribolita (beans "soup" but was more like a paste. Quite good!)

Minestrone Soup

To end the night, we walked to the bridge for some night photos

Shops on the bridge itself

Here's another shot from the other bridge

A heated discussion about Salvatore Ferragamo - to go in or not to go in?

This is the Salvatore Ferragamo HQ and Flagship Store

Costing for today:
Train to Florence = €38 x 3 person for return (Prebooked 6 months in advance)
Bus to The Mall = €10 x 3 person for return
Lunch = €45.75 for 3 mains and a glass of wine
Dinner = €46.50 for 1 Bistecca Alla Fiorentina & 2 soups
Shopping = As much as the credit card allows Kakakaka

Day 6 - Getting to Ciampino Airport
Our flight to Barcelona departs at 8:10am from Rome's Ciampino airport. We would like to reach there 2 hours before, therefore 6:10am. The journey takes 30 minutes. Therefore, we hope to catch a bus from Termini at 5:40am at the latest. However, the only available option for us was the 4:50am bus by Terravision. We checked out of the hotel at 4:15am and dragged our bags all the way to Terravision, so cold, so quiet. Luckily we had a guy with us haha.

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 03:01:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 17-22 Jan 2014

Day 4: Monday 20 Jan (My birthday outing)

The Ruins of Pompeii City

We had mostly covered what we had planned for Rome, so we were searching for another place to visit nearby Rome. Many friends suggested Venice, but to me, that was just too far. HH was very surprised to find out that Pompeii was so near to Rome, and was excited to visit. She told us about the stories of the volcano and how people died there. It sounded interesting. To get there, we had to go to Naples first, and then take another train to Pompeii. Naples rang a bell in my head. I had often watched movies about Naples, being a beach town, with many resorts and palm trees. On hindsight, I think I mixed it up with Naples, Florida and not Naples (Napoli), Italy.

So Pompeii + Napoli it was!

Pompeii, from what I gathered, was an ancient Roman resort town for the rich. Researchers believe it was founded between 600-700 BC, and captured by the Romans in 70BC. Disaster stuck when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, and buried the population of 20,000 people under 4-6metres of ash. Over 1500 years later, it was discovered once, and rediscovered again in 1748. The objects beneath the ash have been well preserved due to the lack of air and moisture. Rumors say that the rich people had already fled when the volcano erupted, leaving behind the poorer workers who died there. The most ghastly part of this story is that the bodies disintegrated, leaving behind a cavity under the ash. During the excavation, they filled up the gap with plaster, in order to re-create the bodies lying underneath. So you can even see the expressions on their faces when they died. Ghastly!

We took the train from Termini for 1 hour 10 mins to Napoli, and then transferred to a local line train to Pompeii Scavi station (40 minutes ride). The excavation site was directly outside the train station and once again, we were awe struck by its size and the details they uncovered here. I saw 2 wild dogs walking around, they looked quite cute. But HH (with her bottomless pit of knowledge) said that these are wild dogs and very unfriendly.. one once bit a pet dog, and the pet dog contracted some rabies disease. Have a look at the photos from Pompeii. I haven't gone to see the movie Pompeii, but maybe they may look familiar to you.

This is the Forum area - the city centre

This is where they kept all the artifacts they excavated

This is the market place, specifically for butchers

Sorry, I did not dare to go near enough to see the face. Horrifying thought

They used part of the ruins to turn it into a restaurant on the left

This is part of the bath house

And that is the bath area at the back

After leaving Pompeii, we took the train back to Napoli, and decided to wander around the city. Only after having returned to Rome, did we find out more about Napoli. It is Italy's third largest city, but supposedly have the highest crime rate in all of Italy. It was an eye opener for me, to see the poorer side of Italy and where organized crime still takes place. Have a look at the scenery I took from the train, and you'll know what I mean.

This is what a train stop looks like

Typical housing along the way

I was trying to locate a famous restaurant in Napoli. I had taken a google map photo, and we were going to walk there from the main Napoli train station. Along the way, a guy approached me wearing a jacket, and when I got near, he removed an Ipad from his jacket and whispered "Buy Ipad?". I shook my head, and he snuck it back into his jacket. That Ipad clearly looked used! I walked farther, and the same tactic was used, but this time, it was for Iphone 5 instead. At the time, we did not know about the crime rate. Ignorance is bliss! We continued walking, and we got more and more surprised looks at this 3 Asian fellas wandering around Napoli town. The streets got quieter and quieter and it was raining and gloomy and dark. We gave up on finding that restaurant, and just ducked into a pizza place just to avoid the rain. When we finally sat down, the guy friend with me said, he was SO AFRAID that someone will just dash out and mug us, but he didn't dare to say so!

This was the street where we ducked into a pizza place

Thankfully, we got to taste some fantastic Napoli Pizza! That hole-in-the-wall place turned out to be rather large, with an underground restaurant. Unfortunately, not many photos of Napoli, as our dear photographer was too afraid to bring her camera out in this neighbourhood, plus the rain didn't help. She got scared, when she suddenly saw several cars having steering locks where steel encompasses the entire steering wheel. She knew something wasn't right if cars were so afraid of being stolen.

Underground, there was a huge dining area

The base was so thin and soft, I can't imagine how it held the tomato + cheese. Bellissimo!!

The base got so soft, that everything mushed together. Tasted like Pan Mee after that

Never order hot chocolate in Italy. It is so thick like eating Chocolate Gravy. Yucks

Although we had another 2-3 hours to kill, we decided to wait at the main train station instead. At least we felt safer there. Hahaha what a joke. But it was still an experience that we will never forget. Pompeii was a great visit.

Expenses today:
Train to Napoli = €69 x 3pax
Train to Pompeii Scavi = €2.90 x 3pax
Toilet at Pompeii Scavi = €0.50 x 3pax
Entrance to Pompeii city = €11.00 x 3pax
Pizza Lunch = €17.50
Hot Choc, Coffee & Strudel = €4.10
Magnets from Napoli = €1.00 x 3pcs
Fanta Lemon = €1.60
Dinner at Termini = €10.90 for 2pax

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 09:17:00 +0000

Date of Travel: 17-22 Jan 2014

Day 3 - Sunday 19 Jan 2014: Visiting the Pope!

This is Vatican City

We started the day shopping at Termini Station. Why? To locate underwear! It was becoming increasingly urgent to locate where to buy underwear, so we found very expensive ones indeed. From memory, 2 pairs for €25 of Calvin Klein. Bought it reluctantly. We did not expect our next stop to buy underwear. Who buys underwear at a flea market?? Apparently, Italians do. 6 pairs for €10

We walked to Via di S. Maria Maggiore to look for the bus stop opposite Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, to take Bus #75 to Porta Portese Flea Market. This flea market is only open every Sunday around Via Portuense from 6:30am - 2:30pm. Warning - watch out for pick pockets! I saw one in action too. A kid about 12 was following an elderly man, and reach out his hand into his jacket pocket, and quickly retracted it when the guy turned a bit, and the kid continued to follow him, waiting for the right opportunity to try again. I ended up buying Murano glass necklaces here. Many shops but mostly selling the same stuff.

Porta Portese Flea Market - Beware of Pickpockets!

How do I look?

How can they afford to sell them so cheap? Are they hot goods?

The 3 Murano glass pendants we brought home

We hopped on a bus to the Vatican City. To my surprise, there was no immigration nor security check to enter the smallest nation in the world. On certain Sundays, the Pope himself will appear at a window to give a sermon/speech/prayer. Since it's entirely in Italian, I have no idea what he is saying. But we were amazed at the number of people here.

We decided to queue to enter the Basilica of St Peter while waiting for the Pope. It was a long and snake-y line. When we were halfway to the entrance, a group of women & children, about 6 of them, just reversed into the queue where we were standing at, and held their I-Pads pointing at the Basilica, pretending to take photos. They stood there a long time and refused to budge. They eventually melted into the queue. I tried telling them politely to queue at the back, they ignored me. I repeated loudly, still no effect. I nudged them a bit with my body, still nothing. Then more and more people joined them, and the queue-cutter group became about 12. I simply overtook them, and stood in front of the group, loudly muttering that people who cheat in a place of God will get their karma soon. Hmph!

Entering the Gates of Vatican City

An hour to go, already so crowded. Christmas decorations were still in place

When we finally made it into the Basilica, we were so rushed since the Pope was coming out soon. We eventually gave up and ran out to see him first. He was sooooooooooo tiny at the window, but it lasted about 20 minutes and the crowd was frantically waving country flags and banners, hoping to be noticed. The crowd finally dispersed, and we decided to have lunch first before going up the tower inside the Basilica, also known as The Cupola.

Hello Pope Francis!

A zoomed-in view of the Pope

Since we were so hungry and needed a rest, we picked a restaurant just very nearby the gate. It looked so lively, and is what I know Italian restaurants should look like. And it turned out to be my favourite meal in Italy!

Nice atmosphere inside

This chicken looked fantastic!

Can you see the size of that sandwich? It was humongous!

We were too greedy and ended up ordering 5 dishes, for just 3 of us. Hahaha. The bill came to €80 as well! But it was much nicer than the previous night's dinner.

Yummy salad with super yummy mozzarella cheese balls

One large pizza - oh so good

Very perfectly cooked Spaghetti Bolognese

The chicken drumsticks that I couldn't resist

Grilled eggplant which came with some quiche-like topping

So fabulous. So filling. So satisfying!
Ok time to tackle the Cupola! It costs €7 to use the lift inside the Cupola. What I did not know was, that there was still an additional 320 steps to climb after taking the lift! OMG! So tiring. The problem with climbing is, that the path is very very narrow and slanting to one side. The pictures will explain everything.

Inside the Basilica

The view you get after taking the lift up

The start of the Cupola climb

These ancient locks still work?

I had to walk SENGET! Totally SENGET!

It keeps getting narrower and narrower

Got some more ah??

The final part to the top

After all that climbing, what do I get? A truly breathtaking view of Vatican City. It was drizzling and windy, perfect to cool me down after such a climb. After getting down, you will exit inside the Basilica itself and can then wander around.

Aerial view of Vatican City, from the top of Cupola

Back inside the Basilica, it was magnificent

After such a tiring climb up and down, we decided to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest. On the way back, we were rewarded with a double rainbow. A perfect birthday present for me for the following day.

We all had a nap around 6pm. Guess what? Nobody bothered to set the alarm, and nobody woke up until it was in the middle of the night! WK woke up, saw his phone was 9+pm and it was all dark, and his first thought was "Sh*t.. they went for dinner without me!". But just slept through the night till the next morning. What a tiring day!!

Continue reading on Europe2014:
How I Ended Up In Norway In Jan 2014
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 1 & 2
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 3 Visiting The Pope!
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 4 Napoli & Pompeii
6 Days Itinerary In Italy - Day 5 & 6 Florence
4 Days in Barcelona - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 1
4 Days in Barcelona - Day 2
4 Days In Barcelona - Day 3 & 4
4 Days In Berlin - Intended Itinerary
4 Days In Berlin - Day 1
4 Days In Berlin - Day 2, 3 & 4
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1
Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2
Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4