This was quite an interesting idea for me - All-inclusive resort where all the food, accommodation and facilities are added in the price. I heard it first from a few friends but I never thought I would want to try it. After all, shouldn't a holiday be full of sight seeing, shopping and walking?

Not if you just want to relax and not have to plan any itinerary or follow some boring tours.

I had a chat with a Singaporean friend staying at Bangkok for 2 years. Both of us were amazed by the Thais, particularly on their accepting culture no matter who you are and who you like.

I barely scraped through this year.

I just returned from Bangkok and it was just so unfortunate that the Thai King Bhumibol just passed away recently.

Black and white cloth everywhere

We were excited to head to Taroko Gorge as we heard how beautiful it is. That was the place where our main bulk of pictures were taken. First up: Taking the train from Ruifang to Xincheng took around 2.5 hours. Once you reach there, you can book the hotel shuttle or just take a taxi. A taxi should be cheaper for 2 or more people.

Note to everyone: Please pack thick layers if you head to Jiu Fen (九份) during January and February. This place is really freaking cold, unlike Taipei or other Taiwan cities because it is up in the mountains. If you are unlucky like us and encounter abnormally cold temperatures, then you will shiver like mad.

It is also one of the top choices once you are old enough to travel with your friends.

I have been to Georgia aquarium in US and also Chitose Salmon Park in Hokkaido but I am ashamed to say that I have not been to my own country's second top attraction.. the SEA aquarium! I just had to go there this year. It opens at 10am everyday and closes at 6pm to 9pm so be sure to check the opening hours before you plan your activities.

Many people who went university always tell me that secondary/poly/JC school was one of their best times in their life and I always think that it is because these people did not know how to optimize university's activities fully. I think I set a record by going for 4 freshmen camps consecutively for 4 weeks and made great friends there and had such a blasting great fun because of that.

But nothing can compare to this. One of my best times in university was an opportunity to go Work and Travel. It's a once-in-a-lifetime deal to leave your parents to work for 1+ month and travel USA for the rest of the summer holidays which is 1 full month of vacation!

The wave pool at the theme park

Eat like a king. Shop like a king. Sleep like a king. Rest all you want and cafe hop like it costs nothing. How would you like such a vacation?

Vietnam has long been neglected as a popular destination due to their poorer English proficiency compared to Thailand and less commercialized tourist spots. However, that's the beauty of it. I actually prefer Ho Chi Minh than Bangkok as it is much more cheaper and more exotic.

First of all, hotels are cheap. I stayed in a business hotel which is Novotel Saigon Center in District 3. The price is around $150 per night and is better than a typical 4 star hotel with great breakfast, wifi and facilities. For budget travellers, you can try Asian Ruby Luxury Hotel at S$61/night or Saigon Hotel at around $90 a night as both are in District 1 and with nearby restaurants. Do read my tips on travelling to Vietnam before you head there.

Day 1
As usual, tourists will want to visit all the top attractions first. The Number 1 on Tripadvisor is the War Museum. This is to showcase the brutalities and sufferings during Vietnam war and how the country managed to prevail during that 20 years. Quite informative but all the pictures get kind of repetitive after a while.

Do take note that they close from 12 to 1pm

Still can't believe I managed to churn out articles for one year. I was thinking I would run out of juice in 6 months but luckily, I did stay on long enough to mark my blog's first year birthday! Thank you to my readers for the support and I am also lucky to get some extra bucks from Google Adsense.



Some thoughts:
1) On Coftea
The most popular post is not written by me... sigh. Haha but I am grateful for Coftea on writing this excellent piece - 'Can HDB owners own a private condo', This topic has indeed troubled many Singaporeans which promoted a lot of searches and went viral in facebook with daily hits hitting more than 10000 a day! I also like his appreciation to being a Singaporean and 10 lessons in Warren Buffett's letter. Thank you Coftea for your great contributions and please write more :)

I also welcome all guest writers who feel the urge to write once in a blue moon...

2) On travel posts
I did not expect my travel posts to be popular as there are so many free and easy blogs out there. It was a pleasant surprise to see 4 of them in my top 10 namely for Hokkaido, Seoul, Tokyo and Bangkok. These posts don't generate any good views in the beginning but after some time, the search results will push them to regular daily hits. I am also glad that my travel stories are able to amuse some of you, especially on my lesbian friend's story and my encounters with taxi drivers. This made me motivated to continue writing on my travels...

3) On OCBC and UOB
I will continue to update their changes regarding their accounts and credit cards as I am using the OCBC 360 and 365. I have stopped using Frank after they stopped the rebates and am considering UOB One account as I have applied for UOB One card. Hope to keep sharing my thoughts and how I milk my cash fully so as to benefit you too.

4) On being a finance blog
I have failed terribly at this as you can see from what I bought for my first stock. I am not good enough to dole out finance advice and sometimes, I can only advise people to save more and make it a habit or be conscious of their spending. This Sheng Siong and Riverstone post is one of my newbie attempts though it's easier for me to write about not losing $10,000 a year to expenses. My writing flows easily on little tips in life like what you should get for your girlfriends and wives but...

There is always the problem where those who should be heeding my advice are not my viewers. The big question is still on how to disseminate the information to non-savers/investors and I am not sure my other posts are able to do that.

5) On Simply Sales Talk series
I started this as I wanted people to know that every job has their difficulties and discriminations and many toxic people to bring you down. Although I was terrible in my job initially, with passion and perseverance, I could still get to my current ideal job as a regional sales manager!  Hard work is definitely necessary in order to prove yourself and there is no easy way out. My job satisfied my need to travel yet be paid to do so and appear to others as leading a high life.

Work is not our everything but it takes up one third of our life and seeking fulfilment in that significant amount of time is essential.  For me, I would want to see how much I can contribute back to the society. The payroll will sponsor my travels and also my continued contribution to my investments.

Happy birthday, SimplyJesMe! Hope I will get to my second birthday :)

I have no idea what is in Hakata, Fukuoka besides the famous Tonkotsu ramen that originates here. That is definitely be on my must-eat list here. What about the attractions? No clue on what to expect so time to explore!

It was one of my work trips to Bangkok and a tiring Monday after my arrival there. Work ended early and I was deciding where to go for dinner alone. I usually go to Central World for dinner as I could take my pick on Nara Thai, Maisen or many other restaurants. It's a good place to relax and walk around or people watch.


The land of smiles turned to land of fear and trepidation

After Tokyo and all the food and some sightseeing in Hakone and Hiroshima,  it took around 2 hours to get to Kyoto by Shinkansen. Once you reach Kyoto station and if there is still time to walk around, do purchase the City Bus’s all-day pass at 500 yen. It is worth the money if you take more than two trips a day.

The crowded Kyoto JR station

Looking for a break from the city life? Hakone is a place most Japanese like to go and escape from hectic Tokyo as it is less than 100km away.

Day 1

Using the JR pass to get from Tokyo to Odawara station is the closest you can get to Hakone. It's only half an hour from Tokyo JR station , so it's better to go Hakone first before heading to Kyoto. From Odawara station, you have to change to the Hakone Tozan Train and it costs 300 yen for a 14 minutes ride to finally arrive at Hakone-yumoto station. Yippee!

The main reason to go Hakone is to see the simply breathtaking Mt Fuji!

If you are like me staying for only one night and has the JR Pass to get to Odawara station, then you do not need the Hakone Freepass (5140 yen for 2 days). To milk money from tourist, they have 5 different mode of transport - Train, cablecar, ropeway, boat and bus, to completely cover the scenery. Being kiasu, we went with their suggested itinerary anyway.

Taking the Ropeway

For a start, we took the train or Tozan railway to get to Gora station at 310 yen. Then we switched to Cable car (an electric tram) to travel from Gora to Souzan at 420 yen. After which, we took the Ropeway (what we call a cable car in Singapore... it's complicated!) at 840 yen to arrive at Owakudani. Finally... Owakudani is an active volcano site and you can see the sulphurous fumes and hot springs everywhere. It was absolutely gorgeous and made the long travelling journey worthwhile! The journey sounds hectic, but the sight seeing kept us busy all the way.

The steamy scenery up.. the picture doesn't do it justice

Not all pictures of Mt Fuji were perfect.. it depends on how foggy it is!

We had to wait awhile before the sky cleared and heavens permit us to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji! Boy, was it breathtaking! We quickly took our group shots and marveled at this natural beauty. There are a few walking trails at the location and also a shop that sells lots of snacks. There is also the popular black eggs which are blackened by sulphur in the volcanic zone, but it didn't taste special to me.... However, it was said that the eggs could prolong one's life by 7 years. Maybe if you eat it every day, who knows... but definitely a marketing gimmick for me.

The blackened eggs

Descending from the mountain requires the Ropeway to get to Tougendai and at Togendai Port, we continued with an evening cruise to get back to Hakone machi station. Anyway, Lake Ashinoko was pretty boring and we could not see much as night was falling. It was a boring ride but still we wanted to try a different mode of transport for a change. It took us to Hakone-machi where our hotel is situated.

It definitely looked like a pirate ship...

Hotel Nanpuso is not a grand hotel but was cosy and perfect for our small group of travel companions. It was my first time sleeping in futons and the comfort and cosiness really surprised me!

4 of us squeeze one room... how fun for a pajamas party!

We had a private group dinner consisting of traditional Japanese food. Food was nothing spectacular but all of us dressed up in kimono for the meal and it really made the evening memorable. I highly recommend you to try this with your buddies as this is what I fondly remembered the most. This marks the end of our stay in Hakone and I really enjoyed Hakone tremendously.

Our cosy private dinner

The nice waitress who served us food

Our feast that tasted fresh and fulfilling

Day 2

We travelled from Odawara to Osaka station in 2.5 hours. It was a relaxing day and we spent most of the time shopping in Osaka. The bustling shopping area here is Shinsaibashi area, which is 15 minutes away to get from Osaka to Shinsaibashi station. It was just a stopover so we did not explore Osaka in depth.

Day 3

We woke up bright and early the next day as we were heading to Miyajima. It's touted to be one of the top 3 scenic spots in Japan (the other 2 being Matsushima and Amanohashidate). I slept through the 2 hours to get to Miyajima guchi station and the JR ferry is located just beside the station. Being under the same JR group, the ferry is free with our JR pass. It took only 10 minutes to get to the island to our destination and we walked the rest of the way to the famous shrine.

The ferry to get to Miyajima

The island when seen on the ferry

We got side tracked by a shopping street, called Omothesando on our walk from the pier to the shrine. We couldn't resist the grilled fresh oysters, okonomiyaki, fried snacks and beer! Awesome way to fill our stomachs and I have always loved these country side streets more the ones in the city.

Nice relaxing walk

My only regret is not having more!

Miyajima is translated to Shrine Island for a reason. Itsukushima Shrine looks like a floating shrine built on the sea, so it was great fun taking quirky pictures with it. Moreover, the shrine stands out as majestic and striking against the gloomy backdrop.

The floating shrine in the sea

Low tide shrine area where it does not look like floating on the sea

The A-bomb peace memorial has an air of melancholy

Against the city backdrop

Japan is one of my favourite countries to travel to for these simple reasons: Everywhere is so clean, even the toilets, the food is great, the people are so gracious and they have so many scenic spots to explore. Hokkaido is still the prettiest but the buzz of the city and the vibrant life of Japanese can only be found in Tokyo.

Shop and eat and shop and eat. That's basically what you do when you go Bangkok and staying in Pullman G makes it convenient. I did some research on the top food to try and here are my reviews:

Street food is always the best! (Source: wikipedia)

A real shopping heaven for cheap bargains... that's Bangkok. However, my Thai friends think that Singapore is a better place to shop.... Oh well, distant pastures always look greener. If you are taking a taxi to go around, do read this guide. A few places that you must visit:

Lovely Bangkok at night (Source: wikipedia)

It definitely requires some skills.

Lovely scenic view in Bangkok

And you thought I was kidding that taking a taxi requires a guide. Seriously, for some places, taking a taxi is faster and may be cheaper than taking the train, particularly when you have a few more friends travelling together. However, Bangkok is the only place I have been to that will have taxi drivers rejecting to ferry customers. Mainly because the price is not worthwhile for them to travel and brave the traffic jam. The taxi drivers will rather not drive anyone and sit around doing nothing rather than earning a few bucks more. They really know how to relax, huh.