|SPECIAL STORY| SEA Games 2017 in Malaysia With Traveloka

MALAYSIA IS THE HOST COUNTRY

Can you believe it? It's August already and the 29th Southeast Asian Games is already happening! For the sixth time, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is again the host city for SEA Games. As a fellow Malaysian who was born in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, I couldn't have been prouder! The SEA Games brought together 4888 athletes from the 11 member countries of Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) and kicked off on 19 August 2017. There will be 404 events held for a period of 11 days and everything will come to an end on the eve of Merdeka day, i.e. Malaysia's National day on 30 August 2017. This is after all 39 sports are held in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu and Kedah.

PENANG FOOD GUIDE: What to Eat in Penang

This is us at Kek Lok Si Temple. Nope you can't see the temple. Heh.

I just came back from Penang after spending three days there with two of my classmates hunting for food. It's my second time travelling with friends but first time travelling in Malaysia with friends. Woohoo! Although I've been to Penang a couple of times before, this is so far the best.

How I Planned My Trip to Japan 2 - Kyoto

I Travelled In Japan Without Speaking Japanese, Here's How

Happy Chinese New Year to those who are celebrating the lunar new year!

It’s been more than two weeks since I described to you my trip to Tokyo and I promised to write about Kyoto, so here it comes! 

Kyoto is an ancient prefecture of Japan. It has a large number of temples characterised by their vivid red paint and picturesque views. My family and I had spent fewer number of days in Kyoto compared to Tokyo, not for any particular reason, simply due to restriction of time. It was a three-day-three-night adventure filled with many temple visits, walking and … well you won’t want to know what comes after the ‘and’. Hint: it’s not pleasant.

Apps to download for use in Kyoto:

How I Planned My Trip to Japan - Tokyo

I Travelled In Japan Without Speaking Japanese, Here's How

I have just recently got back from Japan and man, it was a memorable trip. Never had I actually thought that I would one day set foot in this foreign country because Japan used to be on my no-go list and I didn't think I could cope with the culture. My Japanese vocabulary is also very limited. All I know was the three most common words: Konichiwa, Arigato and Hai but my family and I did manage to travel on our own feet and visit every place that we planned to visit. I planned the whole thing one week before departing and had an awesome experience travelling around with my family.

Outfit: Yehliu Geopark

Yehliu Fisher Port

Yehliu Fisher Dock by Yanrula is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://yanrula.blogspot.my.

The Stroll Outside Alishan

The Stroll Outside Alishan by Yanrula is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://yanrula.blogspot.my.

Rays of Hope (Along the rail to Shui Shan Giant Tree)

Rays of Hope (Along the rail to Shui Shan Giant Tree) by Yanrula is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://yanrula.blogspot.my.

Yehliu At A Glance

Yehliu At A Glance by Yanrula is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://yanrula.blogspot.my.

How I Planned My Trip to Taiwan 2

Click image for image source.

Speaking of Taiwan, I've never wanted to visit there at least not until a year ago. After a failed plan to travel to Turkey, my family and I had decided to make our way to Taiwan, the country I never thought I'd like.

The first impression I had of the much hated place (for no reason and this should be in past tense) was the politeness portrayed by the Taiwanese we met. One incident is when we decided not to hire a Taiwanese driver we found to travel around the island, he still politely thanked us and let us know in the best way he could that it is okay and that he doesn't mind, which I'm quite sure he should and would because we are going there for 10 days, that's a big amount of incoming cash!

But how?

Flying Droplets (Yehliu Geopark)

Flying Droplets (Yehliu Geopark) by Yanrula is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://yanrula.blogspot.my.

How I Planned My Trip to Taiwan

Let's travel to Taiwan!

The day we arrived late at night at Taipei Tao Yuan International Airport and headed straight to Bouti City Capsule Inn to sleep.

We were supposed to first take a trip to Jiufen and head down to Shifen before we visit Ximending at night. Seeing the sky clear and fearing that it might rain the next day and ruin my plan to visit Yehliu Geopark, we made the RIGHT decision (because it really was raining on Day 2, how lucky) to instead travel to the geopark.

After getting our bearings right from the hotel receptionist, we walked our way to the main bus station (which happens to be located just a stone-throw away from the inn). The bus ticket costed TWD90 per person but if you're using the EasyCard, which I highly recommend you obtain one if you're staying in Taiwan for more than a week and are travelling extensively by public transport. Why? To get the card, you will need pay a non-refundable NTD100 deposit. This deposit can be compensated (and give you extra savings!) if you travel extensively by public transport for some time in Taiwan because they give you a benefit of a 20% discount (Taipei only) compared to others who pay cash or buy tickets at the counter.

You might ask, what if I travel to other places of Taiwan?