Scribbles

After our short stay in Hokkaido, we flew back to Tokyo and spent a few days there. As everyone probably knows, Tokyo is the capital of  Japan and is considered to be the most populous metropolitan area. It also used to be the most expensive city to live in the world (it was recently toppled from the number 1 slot by Singapore according to an article I read online). We stayed in Sun Members hotel in Shinjuku. Shinjuku is considered to be a major commercial and administrative center. In addition, the Shinjuku station which is situated in the center of the area is considered to be the busiest train station in the world according to japan-guide.com. I haven't been to many train stations so I can't attest that it's the busiest but I can say that it's a very busy train station with people running here and there. photo courtesy of www.japan-guide.com The Ueno park is one of Tokyo's most popular Sakura spots. Numerous Sakuras were lining the central pathway an...

First (and probably the last) international trip for 2014 and it was in Japan!!! Awesome!!  My parents lived in Japan for a few years and loved their stay in the country; so much so that when we were growing up, they would tell us about how beautiful it is, most especially Hokkaido. Those stories made us love Japan so much that we made it our life goal to visit the country. Apparently, 2014 is our year. After years of saving, we finally had enough resources to support this trip. Our first stop was in Sapporo. Sapporo is located in Hokkaido which is the northernmost island of Japan. Sapporo is considered the capital city of the Hokkaido island. It was also the venue of the 1972 Winter Olympics. People might think we are insane to go there in February, when the temperature is almost always below-zero and the roads are covered in ice. We probably are. Sapporo during Winter We flew to Sapporo via Jetstar. We had a very short layover in Tokyo before heading to Hokkaido. Up...

I planned to write a post about my trip to Bangkok last December. But then, office reports started piling up, school papers had to be prioritized and other writing assignment (slash other jobs) had to be finished. Thus, I decided to take a hiatus in writing in this little corner. However, I decided to finally finish this Bangkok post so I can officially close down 2013 (yes, I am 3 weeks delayed). Bangkok was my last country for 2013. Why? Well, I already used up all my travel money (being in two other countries and all). Anyway, I've been to Bangkok twice already and yet, I still can't get enough of this awesome city. Almost everything is very cheap...the food, the hotels, the merchandise. Literally, everything!!  Every time my family and I go to Bangkok, we stay in Baiyoke Suite. However, as Yani (my friend) and I are pretty much on a budget, we stayed in Baiyoke Boutique which is just a few meters away from the Baiyoke Suite and the Baiyoke Sky. I have always love t...

On our second day in Malaysia, we decided to go to Batu Caves which can be reached via the KTM Commuter. As always, you have to go to KL Sentral to access the train. Batu Caves is a popular tourist attraction in Selangor. The limestone forming caves is said to be around 400 years old and was transformed into a place of Hindu Worship in 1890 by K. Thamboosamy Pillai. The cave is said to be one of the most popular Hindu shrine outside India and is dedicated to Lord Murugan. When we arrived in Batu Caves, there were so many Indian people. Just near the entrance was a tent wherein the Indian people are huddled together either lining up for food or eating. There were also a lot of people worshiping inside the shrines so we decided not to go in.  50 foot tall statue of Hanuman, the monkey god The most pictured attraction in the complex is the gigantic statue of Lord Murugan.The statue was completed in 2006 and costs 2.5 million MYR. It stands at 140 feet high and conside...