Air Conditioned Floating Market in Bangkok ? SOOKSIAM Got You Covered!

Pardon me for my lack of posts, and thank you to those who's still waiting for my posts by DM or dropping comments. I'm still here guys, just lacking the will to write these past few years, and also lacking the interest to explore this city food scene and write reviews about it. So well, rather than having so much excuses, I'll just post anything I feel like posting. 

So I went to Bangkok last month and I feel like this place worth to write.  Since the weather was so hot and humid on my last visit, well 2 years ago I also visited this city around this time but I do not remember Bangkok being this hot 37°C-38°C average daily, event 35°C on the evening, it was such a hassle to visit Bangkok's outdoor scene like temples, markets, and else. So I found this perfect place to visit when you are craving for traditional food and also street food without having to battle the heat.

My Personal Comfort Food Choices Around Hong Kong & Macau

This post will cover my food journey on my latest Hong Kong-Macau short trip a few months ago. Yeah, it's been a while since my last Hong Kong trip, 5 years exactly. This post will be useful for those who are not too ambitious about trying new and hype food, and cherish comfort food more than anything. Well, that's me as I am getting older. Fiuh.

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

It was one fine Sunday morning when I went to Shirakawa-Go from Takayama. I booked a half-day tour from  J-Hoppers guesthouse, the hostel where I stayed in Takayama. You can book this tour also even if you don't stay at the place, but it's cheaper if you stay there. Actually, I didn't expect to witness any snow in Shirakawa-Go since it was still November, but it did snow!

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama

Shirakawa-go was on my last year trip itinerary, and after some researches, I decided to visit the place from the city Takayama. Actually Takayama is closer from Kyoto, but because of one thing and another, I decided to visit Takayama from Tokyo, which is quite far. So this post will be about my one night stay in Takayama.

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto

Kyoto has been one of my favourite city to visit since the first time I stepped my feet there, and I was so excited to re-visit this city. Since I visited some of the top spot on my previous visit like Kiyomizu-Dera, Fushimi Inari Shrine, which I'm sure are also beautiful in autumn, I decided to pay a visit to different spots this time.

SOUTH KOREA TRIP (2016): Train To BUSAN

Yes, I'm using that movie title: Train to Busan (but no, I don't watch it since I dislike thriller genre, but oh yes I was almost tempted to watch it because of Gong Yoo) since this post is really about my day trip to Busan except I met no zombie along the way. So back then when I was planning on this trip, I thought about buying Korail Pass and I did buy the 1-day pass for KRW 81,000. I still haven't decided which city should I visit when I bought it. I always want to visit Busan since it is the second largest city in South Korea, but yet it is so far away from Seoul, the round trip itself took about 5 hours by KTX - the fastest train in South Korea, meanwhile I only bought the 1-day pass which mean I could not spend the night there. On the other side, the 1-day trip pass would be most advantageous if I use it to Busan since it normally costs around KRW 120,000 for a round trip. So there I was, one cold Saturday morning, heading to Seoul Station to get on my train to Busan.

SOUTH KOREA TRIP (2016): Gapyeong Day Trip Part 3 - LIGHTING FESTIVAL at The Garden of Morning Calm

Finally I manage to continue this Gapyeong Day Trip series. So, my last stop was The Garden of the Morning Calm (아침고요수목원). I arrived around 5 PM, and the weather was getting even colder. Of course you would expect to see colorful flowers when you visit a garden, but apparently you would not see any blooming flowers on March, it's still winter time! So why did I visit a garden on winter time? So it happens that every winter (from early December to late March), a Lighting Festival is being held at The Garden of the Morning Calm. What could you expect to witness at this festival? Let's take a look.

SOUTH KOREA TRIP (2016): Gapyeong Day Trip Part 2 - PETITE FRANCE, The World of Little Prince

Once upon a time there was a Little Prince who came from Asteroid B-612, stranded on Sahara Desert where he met the pilot. Some of you might be familiar with this story, some of you might not even heard of it. And so, what is the connection of this Little Prince story and this Petite France in South Korea? So Petite France is a famous French culture village with 'Rose, Asteroid, and Le Petite Prince' as its concept. You might have seen this place before in several dramas and variety shows, but I should tell you that this place is a bit meaningless to visit if you don't read The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) - a French novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. But if you want to know about this place, let's wander around a little bit with me.

SOUTH KOREA TRIP (2016): Gapyeong Day Trip Part 1 - Nami Island

That day, I was planning to tour around Gapyeong using Gapyeong City Tour Bus. What's interesting in Gapyeong? Well, if you know Nami Island & Petite France, both of those places are in or nearby Gapyeong. Gapyeong is a county in Gyeonggi Province, surrounded by mountains and a river. You could reach Gapyeong by using bus or train from Seoul Metro lines you could transfer to GJ line and stop at Gapyeong Station. From this station, you could wait for the Gapyeong City Tour Bus to tour around the area. So, my first destination that day was Nami Island, let's check this post out and have some Winter Sonata moments.

SOUTH KOREA TRIP (2016): What to Eat Around Myeongdong - Seoul?

Myeongdong is a primary shopping district in Seoul that is always packed with people day and night. The streets are filled with lines of shops, from premium brands to street retailers. Myeongdong is a must visit place while you're in Seoul. Sometimes when visiting a place like this, you got confused in choosing  place to eat, because there are too many of them. So, let me help you a little by listing a few restaurants and cafes I've visited before. 

SOUTH KOREA TRIP (2016): Preparation and Cost (Visa, Accommodation, Transportation, etc)

Hai hai! Kali ini saya ingin berbagi tentang persiapan perjalanan ke Korea Selatan mulai dari pembuatan visa, biaya, dan lainnya. 3 tahun lalu saya sudah pernah berbagi tentang hal ini, but for now I'll share you the updated version. Let's take a look.

안녕하세요!

Annyeonghaseyo! I just came back from South Korea a few days ago and it was still freezing there, -2°C when the plane landed. Usually I plan a trip and and buy the flight ticket months before and actually I have this thought of coming back to South Korea since my first visit, but I never knew when to realize it. This time, I was a bit spontaneous. I decided to fly alone and I just bought the ticket for this trip around 3 weeks before my departure, I applied for the visa 2 weeks before, and planned everything in between the those two weeks span. I'll write a few posts regarding this trip, but meanwhile I'm contemplating on what and how to write, just enjoy a few pictures. You could also take a look on my instagram account @niyaoke for some photos I posted while I was on the trip.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 13 & 14 Osaka Shopping Heaven - Shinsaibashi Suji & Dotonbori

I spent the last two days of my Japan trip around Namba area, to be more specific, Shinsaibashi Shopping Street and Dotonbori. If you are a shopaholic, you would go crazy for this spot. Those lines of stores and restaurants will make you go back and forth along the road and alleys. You will also meet hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs of restaurants those will attract your eyes.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 12 Fushimi Inari Taisha & Ichiran Ramen (Kyoto)

It was Sunday and we woke up a little bit late. Our first destination that day was Fushimi Inari-Taisha (Shrine), you might have seen the pictures of this place a lot. A place with rows of orange torii gates. From our guesthouse we walked to Kiyomizu-Gojo Station for a train ride straight to Fushimi-Inari Station.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 11 Half Day Trip to Nara, Smile Burger - Kyoto

A few more posts to conclude this Japan trip series! It was a cloudy Saturday morning when we went to Nara from Kyoto. We rode the trains via Keihan Main Line & Kintetsu Kyoto Line those costed us 1,540 JPY for a return trip. It took around an hour from Kyoto to reach Nara via train. Nara (previously known as Heijo) was the first permanent capital city of Japan. As the first capital city, Nara is also known as the home of many historical treasures including some of Japan's oldest and largest temple.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 10 Kyoto - Kiyomizu Dera, Nishiki Market, Tsujiri Honten, Gion

Finally day 10! Getting closer to the end of the trip. Well, I should be finishing these Japan trip series soon. It has been almost a year, geez, time really goes by so quickly. So, early morning on the tenth day, I arrived at Kyoto. The arrival location was in front of the Centnovum Hotel, and from there, we decided to walk to our guesthouse which wasn't so close, but anyway, it was still early in the morning, so just count it as a morning exercise - a 30 minutes guided with Google Maps walking while carrying our 29" luggage.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 9 Fujiko · F · Fujio Museum & Yanaka Ginza

Let's head to Kawasaki and visit our childhood friend, Doraemon! From Tokyo you need to get aboard the Odakyu Line train from Shinjuku Station towards Odawara and stop at Noborito Station. From Noborito Station, you could ride the shuttle bus to Fujiko · F · Fujio Museum, or if you want to walk, it would be closer to stop at Mukougaoka Yuen Station.

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 8 Tokyo DisneySea

Finally, the 8th day! I rarely go to theme parks, but on this trip, I went to 3 theme parks in a week! And guess what? After those theme parks visit, I even thought I need to buy a 3-days passport instead of a 2 days-passport. We rode train to Maihama Station, and we needed to take Disney Resort Line to reach DisneySea which costed us JPY 260 one way.

1 Day Bandung Culinary Trip Idea

Masih dalam rangka musim liburan, kali ini saya ingin berbagi ide atau inspirasi untuk 1 day culinary trip di Bandung. Post ini berdasarkan pengalaman saya sendiri dengan kondisi perut yang agak black hole. So here we go. 

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 7 Tokyo Disneyland

Well, well, well, finally I write again. And finally we arrived at Tokyo Disneyland. It was one cloudy and chilly morning in Tokyo. We arrived at Maihama Station around 8 something and walk to Tokyo Disneyland from there. The theme park was already packed! So, I bought a 2-Day Passport from Tokyo Disney Resort's website, so I just had to bring the printed ticket to the entry gates without having to queue at the ticket booth. A 2-Day Passport costed me JPY 12,400, and you have to choose which theme park at what date when you buy the ticket online.