Travel | Clicks | Scribbles
Takayama is another beautiful Japanese city located in the Hida region (Gifu prefecture), surrounded by scenic countryside of the Japanese Alps. It is known for its festivals, historic architecture, and Onsen (hot springs). Moreover, this city and surroundings are supposedly hot spots among tourists like us, who like to explore the rural parts of Japan.... Continue Reading →
Day 2 in Japan started with an early Shinkansen (bullet train) journey with Fazul to our first destination, Mount Koya (Koyasan), a sacred Buddhist settlement. Early in the morning, we reached Yokohama station to catch the Tokyo - Osaka Shinkansen (alight at Kyoto). If I remember correctly, these bullet train tickets were quite expensive; just... Continue Reading →
My first and only visit to Japan was in November 2011, and this post is a recollection of that trip using my memory bytes and few photographs. Tourism landscape in Japan must have significantly changed over these years; with latest statistics showing, Japan had approximately 37 million foreign tourists in 2024, compared to only 6... Continue Reading →
Bali requires no introduction! Those who have visited Bali, will have their personal 'best of Bali', with a list of must-try for their next visit; and those planning their first visit, will easily be able to find a lot of info about Bali (thanks to all the travel content and personal experiences available on internet).... Continue Reading →
After our holiday trip to India (Dec'19 - Jan'20), we spent rest of the year in Norway and mostly, in Kongsberg. Together with rest of the world, we were also busy trying to adjust and adapt to our new lifestyle, caused by the pandemic. Our original plan to return to Singapore in summer 2020 was... Continue Reading →
Day 2: Diwali Evening @ Hamnoy Luck STRIKED AGAIN! Yes! After hardly an hour at Hamnøy, nature started its Diwali celebration. I noticed it first after I saw that the Kp level prediction looked good for the evening. Even though yr predicted cloudy conditions, the sky was clear in real. Yr.no is the most commonly... Continue Reading →
Day 1: Kongsberg to Gimsøysand Sitting in an aisle seat of the Norwegian air flight to Evenes, I kept wondering why I had chosen a morning flight. With a taxi pick-up arranged (for few of us) at 0430, we had to wake-up pretty early and as usual, slept late last night too. I felt sorry... Continue Reading →
When my parents-in-law, brother-in-law & family planned their trip to visit us in Norway, they wished to experience the Northern Lights too. Taking recommendations from online research, they booked flight tickets for late October, since that period has higher probability of seeing Aurora. I too believe late autumn and early spring offers more favourable conditions.... Continue Reading →
October 2019 Venice requires no introduction. Being one of the most popular destinations in the world, this small city welcomes about 30 million visitors every year. Obviously, Venice has been on our wish list too for long time. Earlier this summer, we had planned, booked and later cancelled a trip. Finally, during the Autumn school... Continue Reading →
The first time I visited Belgium was in 2009, on a day trip from Norway to Brussels for processing my visa at the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago. After submission of application in the morning, I spent the day as a tourist in the city, while waiting to collect my passport in the evening. A... Continue Reading →
April 2019: After our short and exciting trip to Bavaria and Rhine Valley, from Frankfurt, we followed the Rhine river's flow to the Tulip capital of the world - Amsterdam. End of March to mid-May is the blooming season for Tulips with mid-April being the time to see the Tulips at its best. Thanks to... Continue Reading →
April 2019: Day 1: Steingaden, Schwangau and Fussen First part of our Easter holiday week was spent in south Germany. We landed at Munich airport and rented a car from the airport. Our first destination was Schwangau in Bavaria, gateway to the Alps and famous Neuschwanstein Castle. En route, we first visited the UNESCO listed... Continue Reading →
Jan 2016: I had just bought a new lens.. Nikkor 70 - 200mm f/2.8. Combining your hobby and a family outing doesn't work out well, always. Since I was so anxious to try my new lens, I chose to carry it to Singapore Zoo during a Saturday outing. Zoology is not my favourite subject, but,... Continue Reading →
You can easily find millions of articles about the most beautiful city in the world {Paris} and you also might have read few of those. This is not another one of those posts describing the beauty or vibrance or attractions or fashion or getting around the city or in fact, nothing really French! This is... Continue Reading →
29 May 2009: It was a usual Friday morning where almost everyone at work is eagerly waiting for the day to end and start their weekend! I was back in office after 'successful' completion of my first project and almost 2 months of offshore (yes, sea) life. It was great to be back in office!... Continue Reading →
I hadn’t heard, read or dreamt about the term Aurora Borealis or Northern lights until my first visit to Norway (this might have been one of those topics I missed in afternoon Geography classes at school while I was busy 😴😴). I was on my first business (training) trip to Norway in 2007 when my... Continue Reading →
While moving to Kongsberg, we figured out that owning a car is more or less a necessity. Singapore has a wonderful public transport system and owning a car there could be a luxury, considering the cost of owning and maintaining it. Public transportation in smaller towns like Kongsberg is not frequent or convenient, unless you... Continue Reading →
Life is a Journey.. 