Leisure Archives - Lifestyle of a Singaporean Blogger

Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park In Japan Is A Winter Wonderland

Published on December 20, 2020December 29, 2020 by adminLeave a comment

The snow monkeys that reside in Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park at Japan would agree with me that their habitat is a winter wonderland, won’t they?

I was pretty excited as it would be my first time visiting wildlife in the midst of winter. It would be so cute to witness snow monkeys sitting and enjoying themselves in a natural hot spring!

Prior to visiting the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, visitors could monitor the movements of these Japanese macaques online. The live camera installed by the pool would assist visitors in their decision if they would like to visit on that day. No point visiting if all the monkeys did not want to have a soak anyway.

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Top 2 Places I Visited In Matsumoto – Matsumoto City Museum of Art & Matsumoto Castle

Published on November 29, 2020December 29, 2020 by admin2 Comments

Matsumoto is a place where one of the most beautiful historical black castle is built.

Matsumoto is a city located somewhere in the middle of Nagano Prefecture. A place we had to visit since its Matsumoto Castle is included of our planned itinerary for this trip.

After a short public bus ride from Matsumoto Station, we arrived at the outermost of this amazing landmark. I have already caught sight of the black castle grandeur and started snapping pictures.

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Tokyo One Piece Tower That Shut Its Doors Since 31 July 2020

Published on November 22, 2020December 29, 2020 by adminLeave a comment

For all One Piece fans out there, it is unfortunate that the management of Tokyo One Piece Tower has made a decision to close it down since 31 July 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19 outbreak.

Besides being a beautiful landmark for photography, the Tokyo Tower is an indoor theme park for the popular Japanese manga series, One piece.

A quick introduction for non-otakus, One Piece Japanese manga series is about straw-hat Luffy whose goal is to be a pirate king. Having eaten the gomu-gomu devil fruit, he was granted a rubber body along with its elastic properties. Being a leader of Strawhat pirates, Luffy and his crew set sail to achieve their individual dream! The manga series is still ongoing with multiple arcs that kept me glued onto, week after week.

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6 Top Things I Did During Winter In Karuizawa, Japan

Published on November 1, 2020December 29, 2020 by Alvin SimLeave a comment

Karuizawa is a town known for its mountainous region of Nagano prefecture. Locals and tourists alike travel over to Karuizawa for various recreational activities, from exploring waterfalls and nature trails to skiing at ski resorts during winter.

Besides that, there are also various beautiful churches, museum and shopping districts to satisfy a non-sporty / non-nature loving person like myself. It only took about 2 hours of train journey from Tokyo to this beautiful town! Check out what are the 6 top things I did during winter in Karuizawa, Japan.

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Tokyo Disneyland – How I Felt 15 Years Ago And Now?

Published on October 7, 2020December 29, 2020 by Alvin Sim1 Comment

Have you ever heard of this proclaimed statement about Disney(land) being the happiest place on Earth? Not exactly knowing where I have heard this from, I tried recalling how I felt stepping into Tokyo Disneyland almost 15 years back, compared to recently.

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Top Things To Do At Kawagoe, Japan

Published on September 29, 2020December 29, 2020 by Alvin SimLeave a comment

One of the amazing takeaways from this trip was to visit Kawagoe City, also known as “Ko-Edo” which lies in the Saitama Prefecture of Japan. This city very much managed to preserve the Edo-period ambiance and is not too far from Tokyo. Make sure to add this city into your itinerary for at least half a day to experience a part of Japan’s rich culture and history!

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Hotel Review – Hotel Mystays Ueno Inaricho

Published on September 26, 2020December 29, 2020 by Alvin SimLeave a comment

Anyway, it was already nightfall when we arrived at Hotel Mystays Ueno Inaricho, which took us probably about 10 minutes walk from the nearest station – Ueno Station. One important thing I look out for while staying in any hotels would be a convenient store such as 7-11 within its vicinity. Thankfully there was one so that we could get our water and supper supply for the 2 nights.

In fact I dreaded this trip’s flight to Japan as I had to transit at Vietnam for 6 hours before arriving at Narita Airport. Despite being cheaper this way, it was definitely a torture waiting for my flight. No more transit flights for me though.

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Top Things To Do At Ba Na Hills, Vietnam

Published on September 7, 2020December 29, 2020 by Alvin SimLeave a comment

The sighting of a fantasy bridge held up by a pair of hands started making rounds on the internet about 2 years back, catching the attention of many. I was one of the many whom was intrigued by such amazing structure and made a trip to Da Nang for that experience.

Known as the Golden Bridge (Cau Vang), it was located on Ba Na Hills, a hidden “playground” which offers much more than just a bridge. Ba Na Hills is basically a theme park & resort nestled on a mountain top. Who would have expected that?

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Top Things To Do At Hoi An, Vietnam

Published on August 22, 2020December 29, 2020 by Alvin Sim2 Comments

I instantly fell in love with Hoi An, an ancient trading port city the moment I stepped in. Dragging my luggage passed a Vietnamese couple taking their wedding photoshoot along the scenic Thu Bon River, rows of historical shophouses and other buildings that were pretty well preserved throughout the years came into sight.

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Hostel Review – Kon Tiki Da Nang Hostel, A Short Walk From Dragon Bridge

Published on August 1, 2020December 29, 2020 by Alvin SimLeave a comment

It was already nightfall by the time our Grab arrived at Kon Tiki Da Nang Hostel, our lodging place for the very first night in Vietnam! This was my second time travelling to Vietnam, yet the first time departing from Da Nang Airport. For this trip, we mainly stayed in hostel and homestays due to their very affordable pricing. Let’s check out Kon Tiki Da Nang Hostel!

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