[Travel] Itinerary for 5D4N Hong Kong-Macau Budget Trip (May 2018)

Hey all,

Since I just came back from my Hong Kong trip, decided to share my itinerary while its still fresh in my mind. Anyway, I've decided that summer is NOT A GOOD TIME to visit HK, the weather is just tooooo hot! (Even hotter than SG). Ok, so here's my itinerary for my recent trip in May 2018. I flew on SQ this time round cos it was promo price (so remember to check out SQ for any flight promo ok!! Sometimes might be even cheaper than LCCs). I will post a review on the SQ flight very soon!

Day 1: Saturday

6am                      Leave house

6.40am                Reach Airport and check-in

8.40am                Flight to HK (SQ860)

12.40pm              Arrival at Terminal 1 HK

1.30pm                Out of airport: To purchase Octopus card x2  (Cost: HKD300)

                              To purchase Cityflyer Pre-paid Return Ticket @ Customer Service Centre                                    (Airport Ground Transportation Centre)- Cost: HKD55, otherwise single                                      trip by octopus card HKD33

                            - Take A21 from outside Arrival hall (right side) Frequency: 10-20min

                            - 9^th stop: Man Ming Lane, Nathan Road

                            -  Walk Towards the cross junction, cross towards Hang Seng Bank, cross                                    again towards B1 and B2 exits.

                            - Walk straight until B2 exit turn right and walk straight down.

                            Duration: 45min - 1hour

(The instruction above is for people staying at Inn Hotel HK @ Yau Ma Tei, the cityflyer bus is alot cheaper than taking the train, with minimal walking too)

2.40pm            Check in Hotel: Inn Hotel HK

3pm                  Leave hotel for Yee shun milk company- directly opp busstop we drop at)   Must try: double milk pudding

 Take train down to Diamond Hill MTR Exit C2: Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan                   Lian Garden

 Shop at Plaza Hollywood while waiting for sun to set.

 Take MTR down to Jordan MTR for Kai Kai Dessert (Exit A Jordan- Black   sesame and Almond custard)

 Temple Street shopping (all the way down at Nathan Stn), Walk down to   explore Tsim Sha Tsui, Mammy pancake: Pancake Egglet

 Dinner: Hing Kee claypot rice,  15 Temple street (Opens 5.30pm   only) and Hui Lau Shan (Dessert), 

 After dinner + dessert, in opposite direction (Mongkok station): Langham   Shopping Place, Ladies Street Shopping (otherwise keep for Day 2)

Day 2: Sunday

8am                 Leave hotel

8.15am            11 min walk to Capital Café (Truffle Eggs Toast)

8.45am            Kam Wah Café for breakfast (Polo bun breakfast set) 16min walk from hotel

11am               On Ladies Street (Tung Choi St) try Dim Dim Sum Sum Specialty Store (Cheap: 112 Tung Choi St, +852 2309 2300 (11am onwards), Fei Jie Xiao Shi Dian (55 Dundas Street)- Intestines etc. (2pm onwards), find Bai Wei Shi Pin noodles in bag (New Town Mall Basement escalator)

12.30pm         Take MTR to Sham Shui Po MTR

                        KungWoo Beancurd/Tofu Factory (Exit B1-straight: Order Beancurd and their fried tofu platter) (There is an egg tart place somewhere there for 2HKD for 1 only!!!???), Apliu Street Market (2nd hand goods + Electronics market)

                        Try Hop Yik Tai (Michelin CCF- Exit C2); Chee Cheong Fun

                        Cheung Sha Wan Road Shopping (Cheap) (Exit D2), Real Tim Ho Wan: G/F, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Hong Kong, Lau Sum Kee Noodles (2 branches in SSP) Wanton noodles- straight frm D1/D2).

3.30pm            Take MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui

Kowloon Park (Avenue of Comic Stars), Clock Tower and Harbour City (to redeem the vouchers + shop + We Bare Bears), Little Korea @ Kimberly Road.

Take the Star Ferry to Wan Chai for Golden Bauhinia Square and take 7.15pm ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui to camp for Symphony of Lights, 8pm Light Show.

Walk to Peninsula to take photo and to revisit Temple Street (and try desserts if have yet to try)

5.30pm           Settle dinner (going back to those places yet to try in Day 1)

9pm                 Rest for Macau

Day 3: Monday (Macau)

6.30am           Rise and shine

7am                 To eat breakfast at Cha Chaan Teng (next door to hotel)

8.15am            Take train down to Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal

9.15am            Catch ferry to Macau (Get discounted tickets from Cotai Ferry- Facebook promo)

10.30am         Reach Macau and get shuttle that gets to Venetian or Parisian.

Explore the Venetian, Lord Stow’s bakery (Macau’s best Portuguese egg tarts) and The Parisian (Eiffel Tower replica).

Take shuttle from City of Dreams to Grand Lisboa and walk to Marfaret;s Cafe E Nata (for egg tarts) and to try Tai Lei Loi Kei (Pork Chop bun)

Walk up to Senodo Square, Ruins of St. Paul’s, St. Dominic’s Church, Leal Senado Building, Monte Forte.

Chan Kong Kei Case de Pasto (Black pepper deck with noodles) for Lunch

Take a shuttle to Taipa Village (shophouses) and explore Rua do Cunha Street: Koi Kei Cookies to buy back!!, 新好利美食餅店 (milk tarts)

                        After sunset: take night scenes at Casinos exterior, Wynn (For water                                 show- if sufficient time)

Take shuttle from Parisian back to Taipa Ferry Terminal
Head back to Hong Kong!

Day 4: Tuesday

7am                 Rise and shine

Get down at Central station

Walk to Lin Heung Tea house for oldest Dim Sum Teahouse.

Purchase Jenny Bakery cookies

Go to Graham Street: murals, Yat Lok Restaurant (Conwell House, G/F, 34-38 Stanley St, Central: 10am-9pm) for lunch, Lan Fong Yuen (Dai pai dong): chicken cutlet macaroni and milk tea (2 gage street, central- Central exit D2)

Tsim Chai Kee (Super good wanton mee) 98, Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong (near Central Mid-Levels escalators, +852 2850 6471(9am – 10pm)

Visit the Dr Sun Yat Sen Museum

If time permits can travel down to Causeway bay, Jardine’s shopping street, Can try the real Ding Tai Fung or Mak’s wanton mee (Wanton soup + braised pork knuckles)

Hong Kong Central Library (take pic) and Noon Day gun (fired at 12pm: be there before noon- entrance World Trade Centre)

Wanchai: Heritage Trail (different architecture and coloured buildings), Kam Fung- polo bun and chicken pie, Honolulu wan chai – egg tart (breakfast set avail),

Joy Hing Roast Goose 3 treasure rice (~SGD7) Wan Chai MTR, Exit A4, +852 2519 6639, 10-10, Mon-Sat)

4.30pm          Meet at Central Station Exit K: Klook guide at 4.30pm

8pm                Make way back down to Central, explore Lan Kwai Fong (night life in HK)

                        Eat dinner somewhere near hotel

                        Supper @ Cun Ye Ye (For super good and cheap seafood noodles)

                        Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market (see night scene Fruit holder restocking- very                                  lively)

Day 5: Wednesday

7.30am          Rise and Shine

                        Australian Dairy Company (Exit C2 Jordan or 17min walk from hotel)

                        Walk to Sky100 Observation deck

                        Once done, to head to Harbour City (We Bare Bears)

                        Head back to hotel to check out

12.30pm        Walk towards Pitt Street busstop to wait for A21 or A20 back (same travel time)

                        Upon arrival at airport remember to get refund for octopus card (50HKD each with remaining balance but need to pay admin fee since bought within too short a timeframe)

1.30pm           Lunch at Plaza Premium Lounge

3.40pm          SQ861 Flight back to SG

7.40pm          Arrival back in SG, If hungry to find dinner, otherwise head home

Optional Photo spots in YMT: Yau Ma Tei Theatre, (Police Station (Jackie Chan movie), Tin Hau Temple, at Mido Café (overpriced- if wanna try salty 7up & condensed milk toast))

Tips for HK-Macau:

- There are many deals on Klook worth getting!

- Especially the ferry to Macau (super cheap), I was upset that I could not use my SQ Klook promo voucher cos the ferry return tickets were very quickly sold out so I had no choice but to purchase onsite instead.

- The Peak Fast Track is worth getting, however, only if you're intending to visit at peak hours (5/5.30pm onwards) Otherwise, just get the regular tickets cos the queue isn't that long.

- I did not visit Lantau Island, nor any of the theme parks because I've been there on my other 3 trips to HK.

- Do download coupons from HK tourism webpage for discounts specially for tourists!

- In my honest opinion, HKers were not very friendly (especially the food vendors; they were in fact very rude, so please do not expect them to be patient with you)

- Try to learn some simple canto before going to HK, and if you really can't understand, communicate in ENGLISH instead of CHINESE (because the HK locals seem to hold some kind of grudge against Mainland Chinese visitors).

- If possible, google the menu of popular eateries/ cha chaan teng/ dai pai dong before your visit, and roughly decide on what you want first. If language is a barrier, then screen shot pictures and show them what you want to order (makes things faster, and makes them less pissed off...)

- In general, HKers on the streets are actually very nice people who would help you out if you ever need help (but their tone sometimes can seem pretty intimidating, and might pose off as fierce instead- pls dont be too shock)

- HK would be a perfect destination during the Jan-Mar period when its still relatively cooler (not in May... it was just terribly hot and humid)

Just a reminder, I'm not in any way sponsored by any of the companies/ agencies listed above, nor was a sponsored for my food/ accommodation. Everything is written with my very own experience. Hope this post was useful! 

Look forward to my next post alright!

[Travel] Itinerary for Japan: 9D8N Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe Budget trip

Hey guys, 

I'm back again. I've been really inactive becos the past academic year was quite project-heavy. I can't believe this post has been in my draft since the year ended in 2017 (almost 6 months ... wow). Actually, I've got many other things I would love to write about. Do comment in the comments section if you would like more travel itinerary and tips, or more module reviews (for NUS kids) and perhaps some other miscellaneous topics? 

So ... for this post, I'll be sharing with you my itinerary for my recent Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe budget trip! I have the costs indicated on the RHS so you guys can decide whether to take certain activities out for your own trip (: (some of the costs indicated are not incurred- meaning they are covered by the Amazing Osaka Pass)

Day 1: Tuesday (Chilling around hotel area)

About the Amazing Osaka Pass:

- Super amazing pass that covers many components of your trip

- Valid for purchase ONLY FOR TOURISTS

- Limited to ONE pass for your entire trip (meaning you can't purchase 2 passes for your 4-day trip)

- Covers not just transportation (but also admission to MANY TOURIST ATTRACTIONS)

- You can purchase the 1 day pass if you intend to cover Osaka in a day and spend the other days in Kyoto/Kobe.

- If you purchase the 2 day pass, on the first day when you first feed the card into the card reader, it will punch a hole in the top of your card (marking the 1st day has been used), on the 2nd day when you first use it, there will be a 2nd hole punched in. 

Cost: $39.80 from Klook OR 3300 yen from Tourist counter

How to ensure the Amazing Osaka pass is worth it?

- Important that you plan beforehand the places you wanna visit 

- Find out how much the individual admission tickets costs and make sure the total costs of the entry tickets you intend to visit covers the 3300 yen price for the pass

- You won't be able to cover all the free attractions (with the use of the pass within the 2 day time-frame) so just go for those that have a higher price tag.

About the Hankyu Pass:

- Allows for easy travel between Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe!

- Major sightseeing spots using the pass: Arashiyama (Bamboo Forest), to Ikeda Station (Osaka Cup Noodles Museum), Minoh Station (for Minoh Park- the beautiful waterfall- best time to visit is Spring and Autumn)

- Unlimited train rides on Hankyu Line

- Only valid on Hankyu Line (not any other lines)

Cost: $15.90 from Klook OR 1400 yen from Tourist counter

                           

Day 2: Wednesday (Exploring Osaka)

    

Day 3: Thursday (Exploring Osaka)

Day 4: Friday (Day trip to Nara)

For the next few days I did not place restrictions on time and just listed all the places of interest that had to be visited. Feel free to make reference to the places I went for your own trip. I did manage to cover all the places mentioned.

Day 5: Saturday (Day trip to Higashiyama Kyoto)

Tip for the 500yen Kyoto bus pass:

- Get it only if you will travel more than twice on the bus in a single day

- Board the bus from the back door of the bus, and alight from the front!

- Can purchase the bus pass from any of the bus drivers (It's a green card and you do not need to pay any admin charges for it)

- Buses are very convenient in Kyoto but sometimes google maps directions to certain locations are not right (So ask the locals- the younger people on the streets- how to get to certain places of attractions)

Day 6: Sunday (Day trip to Kobe, Minoh, and Ikeda)

Day 6 seems like a very short day but most of the day is spent traveling to and fro locations (especially to Kobe) but my train trips are all covered by my pass, and I travelled alot on this day to make full us of the pass.

  

Tips for visiting Minoh Park:

- A very nice, quiet and serene location, perfect for an intermediate workout after eating all your sushi, unagi and Ichiran in the city

- The best time to visit the park is any season (best in Autumn and Spring)

- You will get to see the whole park covered in red autumn leaves, and cherry blossoms in Spring.

- I would not recommend you to visit it in the winter as it will be very cold and slippery (making it a hazard for all, especially the young and old). But the whole park will be covered in white, making a very pretty scene to capture (for romantic couples maybe?)

- Remember to visit the waterfall, the key highlight!

- If you're visiting in summer, do bring some towels to enter the streams (and the lower end of the waterfall)- It's super cooling and refreshing to dip your legs during the hot hot summer season.

- Wear proper shoes if possible, to make it safe to climb up.

- The easy route up to the waterfalls might take up to 3 hours (less steep route)

- Professional hikers or those that are more physically able (with proper attire) can try their intermediate/ rocky routes which gives you access up to the waterfall in about 1.5h.

About Kobe:

- There's really nothing much in Kobe, but the port of Kobe earthquake memorial is worth a visit if you happen to be there. 

- Kobe has a long street of sheltered shopping (closes pretty early, so be there before 6pm)

- Chinatown (Nankinmachi) was boring (there wasn't many shops open and unless you are really craving for Chinese food, otherwise, do not bother to make a trip down). Chinatown should be the most crowded during the lunch hour, but when I was there (close to 6pm) it will pretty quiet.

- If you do take beef, the Kobe Beef is a MUST TRY!

- Nunobiki Waterfalls behind Shin-Kobe station is quite a distance away and for safety, please visit it in the day.

Tip for your visit to Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum:

- Super cool place and I urge everyone of you visiting Osaka to come here to make your very own Instant cup noodles to bring home!

- The whole process of making the cup noodles is super cool (and suitable for all ages, not just kids)

- Get to explore how cup noodles has evolved over the years and get nice pictures.

- If you bought the pass, show your pass at the info counter for free gift (Not sure if this is still avail, as I can no longer find info on this deal)

- Good for families with young kids (Can sign up for free ramen making class on the spot- subject to avail and get free bandana)

Day 7: Monday (Day trip to Arashiyama Kyoto)

 Day 8: Tuesday (Day trip to South Kyoto)

From here onwards, it was free and easy and up to us to see how tired we were to explore places (therefore no time indicated).

Day 9: Wednesday (Back home to Singapore)

Our flight was 2pm so my last day was nothing much but to buy anything we needed to buy last minute from Osaka or Umeda station.

10am- Check out and do any last minute shopping near Umeda/Osaka Station

11am- Leave for airport

12pm- Reach airport

This is all I have for a 8D7N Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe trip. It was a fun-filled and my 2nd visit to Japan and the trip was a super memorable one as I took a long time to plan out this itinerary. Hope everything here is useful for everyone reading this. And may all of you readers out there have a nice holiday. Stay safe and enjoy yourselves! 

Hint: Look out for my next post on a Tokyo Itinerary! :)

Cheers!

Rachel

[Travel] Traveling to Tokyo with a budget? Here's how you can travel to Tokyo for just $660 per pax (inclusive of air tickets and accomodation)

Dear readers,

Always have plans to visit Japan but low budget so you decide to forgo the trip?

Fret not, because that was my initial thought too, but turns out, Japan isn't as expensive as how everyone thinks it is.

So here are some tips I have for anyone traveling on a budget (like I always do).

Flight:
To work around a budget for flight, you should try not to exceed $500 for a trip to Japan. You'll be able to spend slightly below $400 if you manage to catch a good deal (and if you book earlier in advanced) Scoot constantly offers amazing offers, so be sure to catch them! (Reminder, this is not a paid/ sponsored post, I am just sharing my experience to you guys)

For my recent trip to Tokyo in June, I booked my flights really last minute, about 2 weeks in advanced so I did not manage to get such an attractive flight price. My flight with Scoot was about $515 per pax, which wasn't so bad, but if you cannot survive without entertainment and food on flight, then Scoot will not be the flight you'll want to take for a trip to Japan. Perhaps, consider Japan Airlines, which was about $650 per pax. Plus they fly direct and provides meals on board. But being such a budget person, I wanted to save that $145 per pax (so I could do more shopping and eating) so I flew with Scoot in the end although Japan Airlines' price was pretty attractive.

Price Damage: $515 per pax

Accomodation
For accomodation, when I was sourcing around, Tokyo accomodations were rather expensive as compared to the prices in Korea.

While definitely you'll want to stay at somewhere convenient, eg. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, etc. do note that the prices are much much steeper there (About $90 to over $100)

Before I went, I asked my friends on locations they recommended to stay in Tokyo. The common response were Ueno, Tokyo station, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku. But since I was traveling on a budget, I stayed at a Flexstay accomodation which provided me everything I needed. While it might be near a small (and rather unknown) station, plus tourists hardly stay near this station, it provided me decent convenience to travel to all areas. Plus, Flexstay Inn Higashi-Jujo was just a 2 minutes walk/ 1 minute brisk-walk to the Higashi-Jujo Station, and a 5-7 minutes walk to Jujo Station. From Jujo station, there were direct trains to Shinjuku and Shibuya, which made it very convenient since it was close to 2 different train stations of different lines. To add on, the environment made it a wonderful to experience their local neighbourhood atmosphere.

In the room, amenities were more than sufficient. Ensuite bathroom, double bed with quilt, bedroom slippers, bathrobe, shampoo, shower gel, razor blades all inclusive.

I really loved the comfy feel of the room (it wasn't spacious nor was it too cramped) and the amazing price paid for the room makes it even more worth it.

Price Damage: Max $60 per night (extremely affordable for ensuite bathroom and everything you need is available in the room)

Food
Expensive food in Japan? No, not at all. It's decently priced, really!

As a pretty giam siap (aka thrifty) person, I felt that Japan was a perfect paradise for food. Quality food with amazing prices.

They have many underground shopping areas which offers affordable and a decent variety of good (some were really cheap: about SGD5)

My personal list of must-eats in Tokyo (in no specific order):
1. Tako-yaki
There's this brand, Gindako that you'll come across almost anywhere in Tokyo. It tastes yummy because it's serve when its just done so it's warm and there's generous amount of fillings. There's also a popular stall in Ueno (Ameyoko Street) with affordable and yummy tako-yaki. There's usually a queue at this stall I think because people like the idea of choosing how much bonito flakes, seaweed powder and mayo you'd like with your tako-yaki.
Price Damage: $

2. Red bean filled fish-shaped pancake
This can be found anywhere, even in the shopping malls. Some are in the shape of a fish, while some are not. All tastes about the same, but I loved this snack in general because the filling is extremely generous. Every bite of pastry always has sufficient red bean filling.
Price Damage: $

3. BBQ squid with Japanese mayo
(THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THING I ATE IN TOKYO)
I have no idea where else can you eat this, but I had it at one of the seafood stalls in Ueno (it was a small quiet lane) but served amazing food like Chirashi Don. I paid only about 300 plus yen for this squid which I got a chance to BBQ myself. Wonderful experience, wonderful price, wonderful taste.
Price Damage: $$

4. Green tea/ Matcha ice cream cone
Everywhere and anywhere serves this. But the cheapest one I came across was in Ueno along Ameyoko Street (about 200/250 yen). The usual price for this is about 300-400 yen. Really love how the ice-cream is so smooth and milky.
Price Damage: $$

5. Ichiran Ramen
The famous Ichiran Ramen is a must-try. If you're in Tokyo for more than a day, I guarantee you'll want to go back the next day after you've first tried it. The texture of the noodle is something that any Singapore ramen store will never be able to replicate. The broth is so rich and fragrant that I wished the soup was free-flow. Their onsen egg was also really yummy and cooked just right (it tastes different from those in Singapore's ramen stores). Ichiran can be found in tourist areas like Shibuya, Asakusa, Shinjuku, etc.

Tip: Request to sit at the private counter. No one will ever see how unglam you slurp your noodles and gives you all the privacy you need to eat your noodles. Experience the local culture! (which you'll never experience in SG) (plus there's a water dispenser in each of these private counters)
Price Damage: $$$

6. Curry Rice
Their curry rice is worth a try while in Tokyo. The curry is usually really fragrant and tasty because the meat is cooked with the curry till really tender and soft .Japan's beef curry is supposedly really popular, but I didnt try due to religious beliefs. Do try and let me know how's it!
Price Damage: $$

7. Pablo Cheese Tart
Try their special items that are available only to that certain branch. I'll recommend to visit the branch at Harajuku as I love the atmosphere there and they have some branch special menu (where certain items are not available at their other outlets). There's always a queue, even on weekdays, but definitely worth the queue. I ordered the big Pablo tart, small cheese tarts and matcha cheese tarts. Those were really good, and are must-try. Even if you don't dine in, do tabao back to your hotel room!!

They serve shaved ice too but really, don't waste your money getting that. It was just coarse shaved ice with choco syrup and choco flakes drizzled and sprinkled over. (I find our Ice Kachang tastes much better)
Price Damage: $$$

8. Unagi 
(OMG THIS IS A MUST-EAT IN TOKYO, THEIR UNAGI IS A 1000 TIMES NICER THAN ANY UNAGI YOU'VE EATEN (in SG) THE PAST IDK HOW MANY YEARS IN YOUR LIFE, I GUARANTEE, SUMPA)
I tried Unagi don at Tsukiji Fish Market. It was really cheap and good. The unagi was so soft and almost melted in my mouth. Words cannot describe how amazing it tasted, you should go and try it for yourself. Total price damage should not exceed 1000yen if you choose the regular sized one.
Price Damage: $$$$ (but super worth it for the portion size and for its amazing texture and taste)

9. Chirashi Don
I had this at Ueno with the BBQ squid. The amount of fish in there is really really generous for the price I paid. I had mine for about SGD10, and the amount of fish was really overflowing I couldn't even see the rice in the bowl. Worth a try, and you should probably try it at one of the stalls at Tsukiji (I didn't as the queues were crazily long)
Price Damage: $$$

10. Sashimi
I tried the sashimi from Sushi Zanmai. Request for a counter seat, it will be great experience seeing the chefs prepare the sashimi and serve it to you directly. The seafood were really fresh and it was really yummy. What's a trip to Japan without trying their Sushi? I know there are other more popular places for sashimi in Tokyo, but I'm not a fan of sashimi so I did not do any relevant research.
Price Damage: $$$


Shopping

Fashion:
I did most of my shopping in Ginza and Takeshita Street. Most of my clothing were from GU, Uniqlo or F21. The stores there have really amazing offers that you would NEVER find in Singapore even during the GSS period. I bought several culottes at about 500yen, that's about SGD6 only. I also manage to get several dress and bottoms from F21 for below 12SGD too. It was amazing shopping in Tokyo, and totally beyond my expectations. I left for the trip thinking I'd go back with minimal shopping, but I came back to SG with more shopping than expected.

Takeshita street has this really cheap clothing store on the left side of the street (2nd level). Majority of the clothing are below SGD12 and I managed to get really good value clothing like denim vests and off-shoulder blouse from there.

Tidbits/ Souvenirs:
You must be thinking, what to get for friends/ family as souvenirs. I would personally recommend getting tidbits unique to Japan. In fact, you can get really interesting stuff in Daiso.

Do note that in Japan's Daiso, majority of the stuff are priced at 100yen (which is about SGD1.20) Though keep a lookout on the price tag as there are other items priced at 150, 200, 250 ... 550yen too.

What I got back as souvenirs from Japan were matcha flavoured Oreos, green tea, sushi-design mini erasers, matcha flavoured kit kats, matcha-flavoured everything basically... I had one whole handcarry bag filled with tidbits (cos they were really cheap and good!!)


Overview
As you guys can see from the post, Tokyo isn't really an expensive city to visit for a budget holiday. I had a wonderful time in Tokyo, and my expenditure per pax was really decent. If you guys have any budget tips to share, comment below. I'd want to learn too!

Hope you guys enjoy the blog post. Stay tuned for pictures of the Tokyo trip soon!!

Love,
Rachel

[MISC] Contemplating whether to celebrate your 21st Birthday? Here are some tips!

Dear Readers,

Are you considering whether you should celebrate your 21st birthday? Too much of a hassle? Too lazy to plan? Worried no one will turn up? Worried about costs? Worried you get shitty presents that's not worth the price you paid per head? No worries, this post will help you make the right decision!

Read on to find out more about why you should/ should not celebrating your 21st birthday!

Some of my friends asked me: Why is a 21st birthday so special that people have to celebrate it? Don't everyone turn 19. 22, 23, etc. once in a lifetime? 

My response: True, but the age of 21 is when you become legal to do many things, and when you get a whole lot more of responsibilities. It's the age when you are granted a lot more freedom and have higher accountability of your actions. Therefore, it is worth celebrating, and your celebration party can be a platform to catch up with friends that you haven't had the time to catch up with.

Is it too much of a hassle?
Depends on how large scale you want your celebration to be. I had a relatively simple one, with a mini activity to get everyone actively participating and entertained at the same time. So I had to prepare prizes for winning individuals and activity cards printed for the Bingo game. I also had a photobooth so I had to do up all the decorations and props, more pictures on this below(:

Location wise, I booked my venue 2 weeks in advanced and settled my food menu quite quickly with the hotel. My two-tiered birthday cake was ordered from my cousin's friend and was considered quite cheap, I got it at about $130, which is considered the cheaper end of two-tier cakes.

Too lazy to plan?
If you're a lazy person and your family and friends are also lazy to help you plan for your party, then celebrating will be a pain in the ass for you especially if you're not good at planning. Thankfully, for me, my family and friends were very supportive and helped me alot in giving me ideas and helping me out with the deco. Kudos to them <3

No money to celebrate? 
Celebrating doesn't mean you need to burn a hole in the pocket. I didn't spend that much on my party. For my decorations (photos will be shown below), I spent about $40 at most? Not kidding. My backdrop, table cloth, some table deco were purchased from Daiso. Balloons were purchased from the party store near Bencoolen Street. All the photobooth props were printed from home and handmade. Some props were also taken from home.

Depends on you really; One of my close friends recently celebrated at Park Royal @ Pickering. He booked the Presidential Suite for about 2k and catered food for his guests. He also ordered his cake from Plain Vanilla for 200 over dollars. So overall, he spent a lot more than I did although I sort of booked the entire hotel cafe and had a seafood buffet for my guests.

Also, another tip, if you have low budget, just plan to celebrate with a closer group of friends and family.

Shitty presents?
Do not set high expectations of your gifts. If you think about that, it might make you a lot more miserable. Anyway, it's always the thought that counts right? To me, having my friends attend my party is already the best gift, really!

So here are some of my 21st birthday pictures:

That's about it, folks! If you're interested, I celebrated my birthday at Bayview Hotel and stayed there for the night too! Feel free to comment below to find out more. Don't forget to follow me on Miss Lee's Life Story (:

Love,
Rachel

[Travel] Experience Taking Vietnam Airlines to Seoul, Incheon Airport from Singapore, Changi International Airport

Hi all,

I'm back with travel reviews! This time round for my flight experience with Vietnam Airlines. I booked my tickets in May 2015 for my summer school in July 2015. I booked a return trip and paid SGD529.10. I agree that this is really cheap for an air ticket to South Korea, the land of Kpop and amazing Korean dishes. However, I was utterly disgusted at their sales tactics.

I booked the flight in the evening at 5pm on a Saturday over my laptop, extremely delighted to get my tickets at just SGD100 which was the Special deal tickets. However, after I attempted payment via VISA, the screen indicated an "Invalid action, payment unsuccessful", and then I refreshed the page as saw that the Special Deal tickets were sold out. I was worried I had to spent SGD1K on SQ kind of tickets so I reluctantly bought the SGD150 tickets, spending SGD100 more instead.

To my horror, the next day from morning to night, when I looked through the fares, the Special Deal tickets were back again at the price of 100SGD! Not only the next day, even in Mid July when I checked through the webpage, the SGD100 air tickets were still available. I WAS SO PISSED, because when I emailed the sales management team, they said strictly no refunds, but "you can choose to cancel your reservation and pay the administration fee for cancelation".

I was just too pissed to reply him, because it was totally stupid. I already had keyed in payment information and everything, but payment was rejected just because I was a few seconds late, but yet the sale tickets were continually available at the same price for 1 month?! Not too sure if I was just unlucky or what.

Remember, when choosing your flight timings, always make sure transit timing is as short as possible, as there are connecting flights that make you transit for 12 hours or even up to one whole day. Unless you intend to tour Vietnam then please see the date and time of transit arrival and departure carefully.

I took the 8.30pm flight and we reached Vietnam local time 10pm, it was a 1 hour plus flight. Note that the airplanes are not linked to a gate, so you basically need to climb down the stairs and enter the airport bus shutte to bring you to the terminal. The flight to Ho Chi Minh came with food and beverages plus wet wipes upon boarding the plane. It was a really small and old plane, but decent and worth for the price paid. After landing, there would be a long queue for transit because most of the passengers are transiting to Korea too. You just need to go through a customs check, and you can head to the gate. There's wifi at the Ho Chi Minh airport, which made the transit of 2h 25min bearable.

Dinner part 1

Amazing skyline of HCM

Upon arrival at HCM

 Similarly, to board the next Vietnam Airlines plane, you will need to board the gate which is at the ground floor for you to board the shuttle bus that brings you to the airplane itself. This was an old Boeing too, but it was an even older, smaller, more crammed and air conditioning which was equivalent to Sauna. It was really hot, so my plane buddy and I had a hard time falling asleep. Thank god I managed to sleep for 2 hours, but without any blanket on since it was really too warm. My buddy on the other hand, was fiddling with her MacBook the entire time, editing videos. Kudos to her for not sleeping. The food was good too, with beverages like alcoholic drinks served. For some tips on booking, you can check the plane model on the VN website to see if its a big or small plane. The big plane I took from Seoul back to HCM to SG was super luxurious and comfortable. So you can actually plan beforehand if you are very particular about space and comfort.

Dinner part 2 aka Supper

First sign upon waking up after a 2 hour nap

Upon landing, thank god the plane was connected to a gate although our gate was the extreme last gate of the terminal (which means a lot of walking). The travelators made it much better, thankfully.

 

All in all, it was a good experience. I find that it was worth the money to travel with VN, however, if you ever see the Special Deal tickets ever sold out, wait for the next day to check back. Chances are it will be available the next day. The transit was good as I got to experience climbing down the airplane, and being able to capture photos of yourself standing on the ground with the airplane in the background.

On my return flight from SG to HCM, I met this really cute baby who was fed milk every single time she cried. (Pardon my bare face without make up, my skin condition got really bad when I was in Korea)

Let me know if you need more info on the flight experience(:

Cheers,
Rachel

[Travel] Tips for fashion shopping in Korea

Hey readers!

I'm back with some tips for fashion shopping in Seoul, Korea!

You must be thinking, the usual shopping places must be like Myeongdong, Dongdaemun (and that's about it right?) 

There are really many other places to shop for cheap and yet fashionable but of good quality clothing! I can only list places for female clothing but for guys, I would think the best place with the most number of guy clothing stalls (although all sells similar shirt designs) would be Ewha University Street!

Tips for shopping (Guys):
1. Always walk around and explore all the shopping streets. Most of the clothing store are homogenous amongst the stalls.
2. Remember which stall you first saw it
3. Note down the price and if possible, get a picture as a reference for the design.
4. Continue shopping cos most likely you would be able to find a stall (in a more secluded and quieter street) at least 5,000won cheaper (which means you get to save SGD6!!)

I almost bought a shirt from this stall which was nicely lighted and the shop even invested in plastic covers for their shirts, but their tee costs 10,000won each! I decided to look for other designs and came across another shop which sold the exact same shirt at only 5,000won! It's a guy's tee! Not even kidding!

You must be thinking, "It's damn hard to go shopping in Korea for guys since it's a women paradise". While I must agree to the 2nd part of the sentence, the first part is totally an incorrect statement!!! Ewha and Myeongdong are both great places for shopping for guys! (Although honestly, Myeongdong tends to sell them at a slightly higher price; or they make you buy a minimum quantity (eg. 2 for 10,000won, 1 for 8,000won) In that case, just buy two!!! You wouldn't know if you realize you need to get a gift for a friend(: )

Ok for ladies and teenager girls, my recommended areas are: all underground shopping centers located in subway stations, Dongdaemun, Ewha, Hongdae, and Sinchon!

These places are listed according to my preference!

1. Underground shopping centres

They are simply amazing places to shop at. From 2,900won you can get nice blouse and occasionally dresses, while I doubt they are brand new, the quality is as good as new! I got THREE 2,900won blouse on the first day i touched down in Korea and they look perfectly new! The best underground shopping centre would be at Express Bus Terminal followed by Gangnam which I visited at least 5 times throughout my 1.5 months there. The good thing about Express bus terminal is that it's a good place for wet weather plans cos you can spend at least 2 hours there shopping! The clothes there are really nice, although I wasn't able to get discounts at any of the shops since they were already priced really cheaply.

Everything I bought there (dress, dungaree, oversized tee, casual tee including shoes) ranged from 5,000won to 10,000won. Average spent per piece of fashion clothing would be 8,000won. And I have to mention the clothes in Korea are super comfy! There are 2-3 shoe shops in Express Bus Terminal which all shoes are sold at 5,000won. If you see a big sign in their shop and you're not sure, if everything is 5,000won, get a design you're interested in getting and act like a Korean and ask "wu cheon won isseoyo? (Is this 5,000won?)" If the shop keeper says "ne" means yes!

They sell really cheap fashionable caps and hats (very k-fashion designs) and sunglasses at 4,900won. So many designs, and they are of really good material!! Grab some home with no regrets. I managed to get cheaper sunglasses at Forever 21's summer clearance sale so I didn't get any from these shopping centers.

These underground shopping centers usually have some small food eateries at the end of the shopping street (so if you're hungry you can just get something to eat at the ends of the streets, no worries at all!)

2. Dongdaemun 

With so many malls around at Dongdaemun, it's just a shopping heaven. Knowing me, I'm the typical budget shopping queen. I mainly got stuff at Migliore and HelloAPM  ladies area since they have 5,000-10,000won clothing. I love this shop on the 3rd floor of HelloAPM  in a corner cos they have really nice designs on sale at 5,000won. The same design I got over there was selling in a local blog shop brand at SGD23! 

Although there are many malls, the others malls besides the 2 I've mentioned above are relatively more expensive. Notably, Doota mall! But when you get there, try to go to the tourist centres and see if they have a sale booklet with different vouchers for different boutiques. Doota normally will have a small coupon cut out in the booklet for you to redeem a free gift. During the 2015 summer period the gift was a really nice multipurpose pouch. 

3. Ewha Women's University street

Great for shopping from noon onwards! Perfect place for good and cheap food and for nice and fashionable clothing. Fashionable clothings can be found in almost every lane. My best buy from Ewha is plait tartan long outerwear of a good and comfy material for only 10,000won! The locals there are really friendly. Can always attempt to get discounts when you're purchasing more than one item! I would suggest to get there at 11am, explore the Ewha campus, lunch, then do your shopping after. Get street snacks while shopping cos they are really cheap there, as compared to other places like Myeongdong and Dongdaemun.  Then settle your dinner here too: I would recommend Alchon flying fish roe rice!

4. Hongdae!!

The amazing place for shopping in the evening! Best time would be to reach at 4-5pm! Cos shops close by 9pm except the clubs (obviously). Lots of shopping here, but I find that it's generally more expensive than the other 3 areas I've listed above. Except for one shop, which was having a clearance sale, he had a rack outside with loads of clothes for just 1,000won! Yes you didn't read wrongly! 1,000won! Only SGD1.20! I bought almost 20 pieces of clothing there, from blouse to dress to denim shorts! No words can explain my joy when I got such a good deal!(:

5. Sinchon

This is mainly a place for food and cosmetics shopping. I love the Etude house at Sinchon cos it's a cute little pink house at a very prominent location opposite Sulbing! Clothings and fashion stuff are similar to everywhere else!(: It is a good for evening shopping as shops here closes pretty late! They have really nice food here and I would recommend the 8 flavour BBQ pork which is a lot cheaper in Korea than in SG! 30,000won for a set that can feed 2-3pax.

Ok that's all for shopping in Seoul for now! If I have any updates I'll edit this post!(: If I missed out anything feel free to comment below too! 😀 Thank you for reading I hope this will be useful! Sorry if the last 2 locations have really short descriptions. I will try editing them to include more info!

Cheers,

Rachel

[Travel] Korea, Annyeong-hasaeyo

Annyeong readers,

I'm finally back with a new blog post. Just gonna briefly describe my 1.5 months journey in Korea from July to August and what to do, eat and see.

Why is Korea such a popular travel destination?

The K-pop faze has definitely contributed to that (EXO!!), and definitely good food (TTEOKBOKKI!! SAMGYETANG!! BIBIMBAP!!), desserts (BINGSOO!!), and shopping (COSMETICS!!).

Where should you visit in Korea?

Shopping:

• All the university streets especially Hongdae have great fashionable clothings at reasonable prices! (5,000-20,000 won for really good quality ones though the 5,000 won ones were quite rare)

• Fashion Shopping: All the Underground Shopping attached to the subway stations!! Definitely I feel the Express Bus Terminal Underground Shopping at Express Bus Terminal Station (brown line) is the best!! The main shopping area with 2 long lanes of fashion shops is apparently quite hard to find (even though I gave my friends pretty detailed instructions on how to get there). Will be posting more about it in later posts.

• Cosmetics and Fashion shopping: Dongdaemun. I stayed around this district for 2 weeks, and it was a great choice. There is also a wholesale shoe market which sells really cheap and fashionable shoes for 5,000-10,000 won, which I found elsewhere selling at 15,000-20,000 won! My friends were so envious cos I bought a similar designed as theirs for 1/3 the price they bought it at (hehe)

• Cosmetics Shopping: MYEONGDONG! HONGDAE! Myeongdong is definitely the best place to go for cosmetics shopping because they are really generous with free gifts and with great bargaining skills, you'll bring back an entire bag of samples. What more, act like you're not interested in going into their shops, and they will try to lure you in with FREE facial masks! (IMPORTANT TIP: Make sure you grab them before heading in, and have a bag conveniently placed at waist level to throw them in, or else the staff might take it back if you don't purchase anything- esp. The Face Shop and certain Nature Republic stores) My favourite brands: The Saem (which can't be found in Singapore), Innisfree and Missha. Regarding price range, all are definitely cheaper than Singapore! Catch them during the sale periods (best sales during Summer Sale!) to get ridiculously cheap cosmetics of great quality. I managed to get BB cushions at a wonderful price: SGD14 for 1 casing with 3 refills (woohoo!)

Food:

• University streets again, for sure! They have affordable food for the university students who are sick of their canteen food! My favourite: Alchon Flying Fish Roe Rice (IT IS A MUST TRY- tastes so good and so cheap that I want to bring a Franchise over to Singapore) Specific university street I would recommend is: Edae (aka Ewha), Kondae (aka Konkuk Uni), Hongdae and Wangsimni (Hanyang University shopping area)

• Sinchon, Hongdae, Edae area has many famous food. In this area I would recommend the 8 flavoured BBQ pork in Sinchon. More about this place in later posts!

• Everywhere has good food in Korea, I'm not kidding. But the must try food are: Bibimbap, Jjajangmyeon, Samgyetang, Jjamppong (Seafood noodles- I love the broth omg), Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet, they even have cheese pork cutlet specially catered for cheese lovers!) There are just too many to list all! 

• Must try the Self Serve bars (aka Korean BBQ buffet). I was quite upset cos I couldn't find the 9,900 won one in Hongdae/Sinchon area cos they all closed down. But I ate the one near Hanyang University at Wangsimni Station which had a good flow of Beef, Chicken, Pork, Squid, fried food (chicken, seafood, etc.) and cup noodles (Yes, all free flow!)

• Street food! DEFINITELY SOMETHING YOU CAN'T FORGO! The fish cakes (eomuk) are my favourite street snacks, and they are so cheap and good! To be honest, you can find it for 500 won per stick at Sinchon, but other areas like Myeongdong and Dongdaemun sells it for 1,000 won. Hongdae and Edae has it for about 700 won. Egg bun (Gyeran-bang) is a unique street food which may not suit the taste of many cos it's a little sweet and has no fillings (occasionally sprinkled with nuts over it) Can be bought at 1,000- 2000 won. More on street snacks in later posts.

Places of Interests:

• All the palaces. During the period I went in, there was free admission into all the palaces in the month of July. To be honest, the palaces all look pretty alike. I find that Changdeokgong is the prettiest of them all. Gyeongbokgung was just TOO CROWDED, although it is the biggest palace.

• Gwanghwamun Square. The two statues here are famous statues of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sun Shin. It is beautiful place for photo taking with the Gwanghwamun in the background. What's more, you can visit the peaceful Chonggyecheon Stream just 2 minutes walk away. At the stream, feel free to dip your legs into the clear and cool water to relieve stress and tired legs. Do not eat by the stream though, there will be security to chase you away!

• Iwha Mural Village (a lot of walking and climbing, but once you reach the peak, the view is simply amazing) Great place for those that enjoy picturesque views and for those who loves to take pictures.

• Many many other places, but due to time constraints and I don't want to bore readers with extremely long posts, I'll post it in later posts. Stay tuned!(:

Lastly,

Accommodation:

• Best areas to live in according to personal preferences (with the criteria chosen as easy convenience to shopping and tourist attractions) and in ascending order as listed: 

1. Dongdaemun 
2. Myeongdong 
3. Hongdae
4. Wangsimni
5. Sinchon
6. Ewha

• If you are on a budget trip, stay in hostels. I personally find that the cheapest prices can be found on Hotels.com and by booking through them, they actually provides a Best Price Guarantee thing that makes sure you have the cheapest price for that same dates and same room types! It really works, cos I found a cheaper price on another site, and they matched the price by refunding me the difference. 

• The areas I've mentioned are good and convenient for shopping but if you want cheaper accomodations for budget trips, I would recommend Star Hostel Dongdaemun. (Gentle reminder: I am not sponsored for any of my blog posts, and it is all voluntarily written to help netizens with their plannings.) 

• Each night cost about $45 for a twin room and comes with ensuite bathroom. Rooms are fully air-conditioned, comes with soap in a dispenser in the toilets (shampoo and shower gel), bedroom slippers and towels (which were facial towels- would recommend to pack along a usual-sized towel cos the towels they provided were way too small for me to dry myself). Free breakfast was provided too (daily till 10am and self service), although simple: toast with jam or butter and cornflakes every morning, it was a nice gesture and can save a meal's cost (:

• The downside was that the room had no windows so we tend to oversleep since the room was just completely dark: no indication of the time of the day and it was as if we slept in a shed, separated from the world. Also, room was really crammed. I had 3 big luggage and 3 smaller ones, which made it impossible for me to maneuver around the room whenever I had to pack my stuff or get my clothes out (they had no cupboard too, just a couple of hangers below the drawer which served as a dressing table for me too). I had to do broad jumps over all my luggage, sometimes resorting to climbing on the bed to get to the door. 

• All in all, pretty worth it for the price I paid. Would recommend you guys to stay there if you're visiting Seoul!(:

Interested to know more about my Korea Trip, stay tuned~

[Travel] Must Shop in Singapore: Bugis Street

Dear Readers,

Decided to post some recommendations for Must-visit places in Singapore from a perspective of a local. Are you looking for shopping places in Singapore? Cheap deals and quality clothings? Singapore doesn't manufacture fashion clothings, so most of the clothings you get in Singapore are imported either from Korea, China or Bangkok. I would say mostly from China as they produce the cheapest clothings.

Bugis Street

Yes, when in Singapore, Bugis Street is a MUST-VISIT! It is a place to get not only souvenirs, but also cheap clothings, and tasty but slightly over-priced street snacks. The key highlight at Bugis Street is the cheap fashion clothings. Bugis street is a large sheltered shopping area. It consists of 3 levels of shopping spree. I personally love shopping at level 2, as most shops there really cheap. You can get a nice looking piece of dress of decent material for just SGD5 (And I'm not even kidding, the prices are displayed, so you need not worried getting scammed)

Shoes are slightly more pricey but occasionally the shops on the 2nd floor does have offers like 2 pairs for SGD20. If you're looking for more fashionable types of shoes or sandals, the price ranges from SGD10-40. Certain shops sells the same items so do look around for cheaper deals before getting it.

Do note that level 1 of Bugis street is non-airconditioned so it is generally more stuffy. Especially at the main entrance near the fruit juice stall and the other exit near the Albert Street Food Centre. It is always jam-packed with people.

If you're looking for souvenirs here, I think it is good to get the Singapore-designed tote bags at 4 for SGD10 only! The material is acceptable and it comes with some small compartments inside. Definitely worth the price. Although the keychains seem cheap, with most stalls selling at 36 pieces for SGD10, I think the bags are more worth it (if you're getting for ladies).

If you're looking for cosmetics, it is not very cheap there. Reasonably priced, but not the cheapest cosmetics you can find in town. Cheap bags can be found in a number of boutiques, but I usually look out for the ones on the 2nd floor (newly renovated area) which has their offer racks hanging outside their stalls. I bought 2 cambridge satchel at SGD5 each, although it lasted about 3-4 months of continuous usage. You are able to find good deals there so long as you're attentive to the goods the shops display. I found one of the satchel retailing at a boutique in a shopping mall at SGD19.90, which was the exact same one I bought at bugis for just SGD5.

Accessories are not cheap at Bugis, unless a stall is having a mega sale. For cheap accessories, I'll recommend you to get it from the sales at Cotton On and Factorie (I'll post more on such boutiques later).


Tips for shopping at Bugis:

1. Bargain (Only if the item is $10 and above, or if you are getting more than 1 item- Most salesgirl will give you a dollar or 2 of discount)

2. Do not purchase from the first stall you spot something that interests you. Chances are, there are other boutiques selling at a lower price. Bugis is easy to navigate around, so don't worry that you'll get lost.

3. SGD5 deals are not necessary goods of low quality. Some are really good one, and because they are urgently clearing stocks, they sell it cheaply.

4. Be careful of pickpockets. My friend (a local) was pickpocketed recently! Keep your bags close by your side (but don't make it so obvious- like hugging your backpack tightly, etc.)

5. If you cannot find a price tag on the item you are interested it, chances are the owner will randomly throw you a high price. Do not buy from these stalls!

6. If you're hungry, you can always head to the Thai eatery on the 3rd floor of the new compound. They sell delicious Thai food.

7. If you are getting a little warm, head to the higher levels which are fully air- conditioned.

8. Cravings for snacks? There's this really popular crepe stall that always has a long queue. About SGD4-6 for a flavoured crepe. (I personally tried it only once)

9. If you are looking for higher end boutiques and more commonly known brands, cross the road to Bugis Junction. There are various fashion boutiques like Cotton On and Topshop.

10. I would recommend you to bring your own recycle bag to contain all your small shopping bags. The plastic bags the stall provides are always really small and I hate it when they squeeze my dresses into such a small bag and crumple it. I always bring along a recycle bag to throw my shopping goods in it.

11. Very few shops in Bugis street allows payment by cards. Only a handful accepts Nets, majority accepts cash payment only, so remember to bring along enough cash to shop!

12. If you would like to get a tattoo here, I know of one tattoo shop on the 2nd floor of the older section of the building. Not too sure about the price.

Hungry while shopping? Walk across the road towards the Albert Street Food Centre! Delicious food stalls that makes me feel like eating everything there. Will be posting on food recommendations at Albert Street Food Centre soon!(:


Bugis is such a nice place to shop at. The best timing to go would be on weekday afternoons (after lunch and before dinner time) Avoid Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights! You might end up having to walk like penguins. Remember to bargain (reasonably obviously). Let me know of some of the good deals any of you readers got from Bugis!(:


Cheers,
Rachel