Singapore 2016

March 6th, 2016

For my family travels this year, we decided to head over to Malaysia. However, on the way there, I got a great opportunity to visit my friends in the small island-country-city – Singapore.

After arriving there and meeting up with my good buddies from urbanest – Wilmer and Darrel. I checked into the Ruck Sack Inn in Little India, which got refurbished recently, so it was a rather pleasant environment for me to stay for 2 night, plus it was cheap. We met up with Mr. Schumacher – Nian, and proceeded to a traditional Singaporean chilly crab restaurant and then drinks afterwards. Man, what can I say, the chilly crab was amazing, but it made me realise how bad I am at eating crab.

The next day was fully packed as well: Gardens by the Bay, walking around downtown and CBD, Funan Centre, Bay area at night and some great satays for dinner. And finally the last day was spent in Little India, Chinatown and just out and about the area, all the touristy stuff.

Huge thanks to Wilmer, Darrell and Nian for the warm welcome in the 30° hot Singapore. And now I am off to see my parents in Kuala Lumpur.

Photos here:

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Maldives 2015

April 29th, 2015

Maldives

Ah the crystal clear azure sea, the white sand of the beach and the green trees, so beautiful, so tranquil – these are the Maldives.

Honestly after spending 7 days on the island all I can say is: its bliss. If you are in need a rest and have enough funds to back it up, I say go for it! It will be the time of your life. All you do is lie on the beach, eat delicious fruit and go snorkelling to see all the colourful fish down bellow. So bring your sunnies, snorkelling gear and a good camera (normal and underwater) cause you will see so many beautiful things that you will definitely want to keep these shots forever.

Now its time to get back to my normal life: work and uni here I come.

Photos are right here:

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United Arab Emirates 2015

April 18th, 2015

View of Burj Kulifa

Welcome to another exciting episode of: ‘Vadim goes traveling around the world’. This time he is visiting the land of sand and oil – United Arab Emirates. What did our young traveler find in this distant Arabian land? Find out after the break.

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Sapporo Snow Festival

February 11th, 2015

SnowFestival

Every year a bunch of snow sculptures are constructed in the Ōdōri park in Sapporo. This year is the 66th Sapporo snow festival and we (Amy and I) had the opportunity to experience it first hand.

To start of, I would like to say that with big events like this, it is important to book hotels and flights early. I booked everything around the middle of November and that was apparently too late by Japanese standard. All the affordable hotels in Sapporo city were booked out, so the best I could find was a Toyoko Inn in the nearby city of Tomakomai, which is 1 hour away from Sapporo by train. But that was ok and well worth it in the end.

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Kyushu Christmas trip

December 30th, 2014

Huis Ten Bosch

This winter break being far away from home, far away from our families, Amy and I went on an adventure around Kyushu to see everything it has to offer. For our 6 day trip we, went to Nagasaki and the deserted island of Gunkanjima, Huis Ten Bosch theme park, Beppu city and the town of Yufuin. I’ll try to write up as much as I can, but it is late and we are sleepy.

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Sakurajima – 桜島

December 21st, 2014

sakurajima

What are your first thoughts when you hear the words active volcano? Mine used to be: “run away as fast as I can”. But ever since I came to Kagoshima these words have changed to something more calm. Thats right, even though Sakurajima volcano is active and erupts about 3 times a day, it is still fairly safe and there are even people living on the used-to-be island. In 1914 a great eruption happened, and thus Sakurajima was connected to the peninsula and lost its status as an island, but the name remains and literally means Cherry Blossom Island.

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The red leaves of Kirishima – 霧島

November 22nd, 2014

Kirishima

One day, I receive a message from our Turkish gaijin Burak saying that we are going to Kirishima. It was rather spontaneous, but I am not the kind of person to decline an invitation to a trip, especially if I have never been to the place before. The reason for this trip was simple: to see the beautiful red leaves that cover Japanese trees in Autumn. And so we hired a car and drove to the Kirishima Jingu (shrine). Another trip together with the Gaijin Gang.

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Shimabara 島原 & Nagasaki 長崎

October 20th, 2014

samurai road

This weekend I spent together with my good friend Tac, who is currently working as a English teacher in the city of Shimabara as part of the JET program. We went around the city, a nearby hot spring and Nagasaki city.

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Hiroshima – 広島

September 20th, 2014

Hiroshima

After a relaxing and rejuvenating stay at Kurokawa, Amy and I continued our travels. Now we are heading to the city of Hiroshima, best known for its century old shrine and gate on the water (Miyajima Jinja) and of course the atomic bombing of 1945.

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Kurokawa Onsen – 黒川温泉

September 20th, 2014

Summer holidays are not over, and neither are my travels. This time Amy and I set on an adventure to venture into the mountains of Kumamoto prefecture, into a small town called Kurokawa onsen. It took us 3 hours to get there by bus from Kumamoto station; it was a long ride, but totally worth it.

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