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Showing posts from July, 2010

Weekend getaways from Singapore

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I am in need of a holiday already! I've just came back from Shanghai end of May and went back to my hometown in Penang end of June. I am feeling drained from work, and yes, that is also why I haven't been updating my blog as regularly. Due to the mountainous amount of work, I am unable to plan my long holiday to Europe that I was thinking of since early this year. So, unfortunately, short weekend trips from Singapore would be all that I can afford for the rest of this year. I started searching for flights from the various budget airlines that fly from Singapore - Jetstar , Air Asia , Tiger Airways and even SilkAir , which is a cheaper alternative to Singapore Air. So, where can I go that I haven't been before? { Angkor Wat taken during my trip to Siem Reap in 2008 } Weekend getaways that I've been... Cambodia - Siem Reap ( Angkor Wat) One of the most famous archeological and UNESCO site in South East Asia, Angkor Wat is a great place to go for a weekend bre

Torii gates, temples and garden in Kyoto

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{ Japan April 2010 - Day 7 - Kyoto } Wanting to make full use of our second, and final day, in Kyoto, we took off (relatively) early in the morning. We only had half a day left before leaving for Osaka in the late afternoon. The plan was to spend the day around northern Kyoto, but at the last minute, we decided that we wanted to have the ultimate torii experience! The Ultimate Torii Experience Walking down the orange torii gates was a surreal experience. If you have watched Memoirs of Geisha, you may remember the scene where the young Sayuri ran through a gateway of orange torii gates. That scene was filmed in Fushimi Inari Taisha . The torii gates were donated by worshipers with their names written on one side of the torii gates (see the 4th photo with all the wordings), and put along a pathway going up the hill behind the main building. We only managed to walk a section of it, and even then we couldn't stop snapping photos! While it looked orange when we were there, it cam

From Kiyomizudera Temple to Gion in Kyoto

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{ Japan April 2010 - Day 6 - Kyoto } It was finally time to visit Kyoto! While I love the vibrant and electric feeling that Tokyo radiates, I would still take culture and history over people and city anytime. Kyoto has one of the most number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan and many historical buildings. So, I was excited to see what the city has to offer. Once we reached the Kyoto Station, we went up to the Kyoto Tower that offered a 360 degrees view of Kyoto from 100 metres above ground. While the view was great (and I loved the mountains at the horizon), the tower looked like an out-of-place candle. Kiyomizudera Temple From the bus stop at the main road, it was an uphill climb to reach the Kiyomizudera Temple. The path was filled with shops and restaurants catering to tourists and selling many local specialties and souvenirs. The best feature of the temple was the wooden platform standing above the hill. It provided a great view of the city amidst the cherry blosso