Jinhae Gunhangje Festival 2016, South Korea

The Jinhae Gunhangje Festival is one of the largest cherry blossom festival in Korea that attracts a large crowd of visitors from around the world annually. Around early April, the glorious cherry blossom cover the whole Jinhae city, creating an enchanting atmosphere, and it is definitely the best moment to take a stroll along the endless street of cherry blossom trees.

3 years ago, I went to the Jinhae city for the cherry blossom festival, but the blooming of cherry blossoms had finished when I was there. I left the city with disappointment and I told myself  that I must go back again for the cherry blossom. I kept my promise and true enough, I was back in Jinhae city in 2016; the timing was perfect for the full-bloom cherry blossom this round.

Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival 2016, South Korea

We were standing under the cherry blossom trees and looking at a signboard that written 한국의 아름다운 길 (Scenic Road of Korea). At that point of time, we realized that we were already walking along the 10ri Cherry Blossom Road also known as the Wedding Road. People believe that "if a couple walking down this road together hand in hand, they live happily together forever".

In spring, many visitors come all the way to Hwagae to enjoy a walk down the stunning Cherry Blossom Road, which is one of the main attractions of the Hwagae Cherry Blossom Festival. This scenic road with an endless view of cherry blossom stretch over 6 km from Hwagae Market to Ssanggyesa Temple.

Fukuoka Castle Sakura Festival 2016, Japan

Sakura (桜) is charming, irresistible and beautiful but short-lived; it takes one week to reach full bloom after the first opening of the blossoms and it lasts for a week before the blossoms start falling. During spring, visitors from around the world visit Japan for the ephemeral nature of life, Sakura (Cherry Blossoms).

The last time I enjoyed Sakura viewing (Hanami) in Japan was 10 years ago at Ueno Park, Tokyo. And 10 years later, I am glad that I came back to Japan for Hanami again; this time was at Maizuru Park, Fukuoka for the Fukuoka Castle Sakura Festival 2016.

Food Hunting in Penang, Malaysia

Penang is well known for being the food capital of Malaysia; and it naturally became the foodie's favourite hunting ground for delicious food. Because of its multicultural history, you get to taste on a wide range of traditional Malay, Chinese and Indian dishes.

When I was in Penang especially in the George Town, I really enjoyed strolling down the atmospheric street between the stretch of traditional shophouses while hunting down the mouth-watering hawker and street food. Every time I visit Penang, I will be so looking forward to discover new places for good food, also at the same time I will make an effort to go back to my favourite stalls again and again to get back the taste of yesterday.

Explore Ko Lanta, Thailand

Ko Lanta is a beautiful uncrowded island set in the Andaman Sea. This large island with white sandy beaches is just a couple hours of travel from Krabi. As compared to the neighbouring destinations like Phuket and Krabi, Ko Lanta is considered a little less well-known but it is becoming more and more popular in the recent years.

Other than the beautiful long beaches, Ko Lanta is also known for its nature reserves and cultural diversity where the Thai-Chinese, Thai-Muslim and Chao Ley (Sea Gypsies) have lived together in harmony for centuries.

SriLanta Resort: A Resplendence Stay (Thailand)

Our trip always involves traveling from city to city, town to town and changing of hotels every one to three nights; it was fun with lots of excitement but it can be quite hectic at times. Hence, for this year Lunar New Year retreat, we decided to go for a resort holiday and have a more relaxed trip. When we planned our retreat, the first country that came to our mind was Thailand. Why Thailand? It was because Thailand is a beautiful country with no shortage of beautiful beaches and also I love Pad Thai and K.K. doesn't mind eating more Mango Sticky Rice.

Initially, we wanted to settle with the popular destinations like Phuket or Krabi, but afraid that they were too crowded, so after further research, and we found SriLanta, a resort which is ideally situated on an uncrowded island of Ko Lanta.

7 Things to Do in Batam, Indonesia

Batam is one of the Riau islands in Indonesia, just a short ferry ride from Singapore. Some of the things that come straight to my mind when talking about Batam are Kueh Lapis (Layered Cake), Polo factory outlet, finding a 2nd wife (Mistress) and etc.

Finally, I had this chance to make a trip there to take a look myself. This trip was pretty short, therefore we just explored around the city area.