One of the things I was most excited about on our trip was Glamping. Glamping, or Glamourous Camping, is actually something I've always wanted to try and when I found out that NZ had it I literally begged Brandon to allow us to give it a try.
The campsite we picked was the Mt Gold Camp which was for couples although they do have other campsites for families as well. The campsite was off road so we had to drive down an unmarked lane, met up with Amy (our host) who brought us to the little parking area (there's no actual parking, we kind of just drove through a gate that marked the spot as private property and parked behind a bush to block the car from sight).
While doing my research on "must-do" things, I came across the Blue Pools forest walk. It's supposed to be a really short hike to this pool with amazingly blue waters. Just google "Blue Pools Track New Zealand" and feast your eyes on the beauty that is the Blue Pools.
The great thing about New Zealand is that there were so many public car parks that were free for everyone. If you're only going to spend a short time visiting a place, it'll be very annoying to have to continuously pay for parking at every single sightseeing spot.
The next stop we made was at the Otira Viaduct Lookout. It's just a small lookout point where you can see, well, the Otira Viaduct. We never see such things in Singapore so although it isn't a must-do, if you're passing through the area, there is no harm stopping by to snap a quick picture of two before moving on with your journey.
For the longest time, I've been meaning to blog about all the trips I've taken but I've obviously slacked off and didn't do so. Take this trip for example, I went to New Zealand with Brandon in April 2018, that's nearly 10 months ago and I haven't even uploaded any of the photos on Facebook. Since I'm on a roll, I thought I would mix up beauty posts with some travelogues, starting off with our honeymoon trip.
We took a direct flight with Singapore Airlines to the beautiful South Island and it was honestly the most blissful 2 weeks of my life. We basically did a road trip around the South Island, just Brandon and I, and we had the best time ever. Obviously I may miss out certain details at this point because it's been a while but I'll do my best to add in whatever I can.
I don't know about you but going to Canada has never been on my list of countries to visit simply because no one I know really raves about Canada. I have friends who went there on exchange and they weren't overly impressed with what they saw so Canada was never on my radar until I had the opportunity to go on an Alaskan cruise. Prior to the cruise, part of the tour was to explore the Canadian Rockies and I went along with zero expectations. Boy was I proven wrong at that, I now can't stop raving about the Rockies but I'll save all that for the subsequent posts.
Flying to Canada saw us changing 3 different planes and spending nearly 2 days travelling (with breaks in between of course). Our first flight was to Taipei and we flew there in a Hello Kitty plane. I love pink, and I love cats, but a fan of Hello Kitty I am not.
The whole plane was filled with all things Hello Kitty and I've never felt this overwhelmed before. Hello Kitty screen savers, seat covers, pillow cases, serviettes, cutleries even biscuits. It is definitely a Hello Kitty's fan's biggest fantasy.
Whenever we walked from our guesthouse over to the main Hongdae area, or to take the subway, we always pass by this lovely cafe which always seemed to be crowded even late into the night. We never had the time to check it out but we finally did on our very last day in Seoul. It looked warm and inviting, especially with all the bright colours on the outside, very spring/summer appropriate.
Whenever we find ourselves at Sinsa-dong, Garosu-gil, we always head to School Food because it's one of my sister's favourite food places. When we were there in May last year, we were (not so) pleasantly surprised to realise that they changed up the menu quite a bit and a few of the items we loved having there were no longer on the menu. For better or for worse, this meant that we had to try new items.
While the menu is mostly written in Korean with only the names of the food items are in English, you can pretty much guess what the food is based on the names themselves so ordering really wasn't much of an issue for us.
Whenever someone asks me where to go to have samgyetang (Korean ginseng chicken soup) in Seoul, I always say "Tosokchon". Tosokchon is probably one of the most famous places in Seoul to have samgyetang at and this is evidenced by the long queues outside the shop for a table during lunch times (I have never gone there during dinner time so I can't testify to that.
A trick to beat the queue is to head there right when they open. They open at 10am so if you reach there any time between 1000 to 1015, you can pretty much guarantee yourself a table with no queue and no waiting time. I've been there 4 times and have never had to queue for a table.
This is going to be a very random post but if any one were to ask me what were the 2 drinks I would have to have whenever I'm in Korea, it's definitely these 2. I'm not talking about drinks which you find in cafes or in coffee shops but just drinks that you can find in their local convenience store like 7-Eleven or GS25.
The first drink is nothing surprising, it's the famous Korean banana milk. It's one of the must-have drinks whenever you visit Korea and for good reason as well. It's very fresh, the banana taste is just right, not too overpowering or too light, and it isn't too sweet as well. If banana milk isn't your cup of tea, the melon milk is pretty good and refreshing as well. Besides banana milk and melon milk, they do have normal milk and strawberry milk as well.
The second, lesser-known drink, is this, it's called Coolpis in Korean (if I'm not wrong). I was addicted the moment I took my first sip. My friends and I were having jjimdak (Korean braised chicken) and the set meal they were offering at the moment included Coolpis with it. The jjimdak we had was pretty spicy so we were gulping this down and we realised that it did help to cool our mouths (and stomachs) down slightly.
Since then, I have always hunted this down whenever I'm in Korea. Not all 7-Elevens and GS25s sell this though so you may have to go into a few to grab this but if you do see it then please give it a try. If I have to describe how it tastes like, it's a light peach-flavoured yoghurt sort of drink. Absolutely delicious.
Thank you so much for reading and you can check out my Korea vlogs HERE! x
My dad always says that the difference between males and females when it comes to shopping is that females usually go shopping with the intention to buy something, and not with something specific in mind. Females then end up loads of other items that weren't on the list. Whereas for males, they go out with the intention to buy one specific item, and they come back with only that specific item. As sexist as that sounds, and I know this does not apply for everyone (I am not generalising here), he does describe me perfectly.
Being in Korea does not help because there are so many shops around that sell items that I while I do not technically need, they look so cute that I just need them in my life after seeing them. One such store is Mary Brown in Hongdae.
If you're looking for food to eat in the Hongdae area, then you'll definitely be pleased to know that I have yet another eatery to recommend. I stumbled upon this place when I was in Seoul with my family earlier this year. We were in search of a place to have lunch at and we decided on this one (with the white sign board and red words) because it was one of the only ones open at around 12 noon.
I can't read Korean so I am no help in translating the name of this place but it's in the main Hongdae shopping area where the buskers usually are so if this is any help at all...
I think I love about food places in Korea is that they always have side dishes which taste amazing. My favourites are definitely the bean sprouts, kimchi and fishcakes. They have so many different kinds of side dishes (although kimchi is usually a standard one no matter where you go) that you definitely have to be there to try them all.
On our second to last day in London (and in the UK), we decided to spend it in Oxford Street because Oxford Street is quickly becoming my favourite place to shop at. Almost every single brand and shop you want to shop at can be found in Oxford Street and they are so conveniently located in a small area so they are easy to get to as well.
We had breakfast in the Inn in a separate location this time and it was really warm and cosy. I think there is something about having a meal in a beautifully decorated space that makes the whole eating experience an amazing one.
After spending a couple of days in Lake District, we were finally ready to move off and we headed to Ambleside. On the way there we drove through landscapes that were very white and covered with snow. Driving through the snow, you can hardly believe that it was nearly summer. It looked and felt more like the middle of winter.
We spent a couple more days in Lake District and on our second day, we took the advice of our host and headed to Ashness Bridge and Surprise View which were places we didn't initially include in our itinerary.
After spending a few days in Snowdonia, we drove northwards up to Lake District. I've heard of Lake District many times and I have even been there before when I was still a young child but I don't remember much of it at all so I was definitely psyched to have a second chance in revisiting this picturesque place.
It took us 2 and a half hours to get there and we managed to squeeze in a little coffee break just to stretch our legs and pick up a cup of coffee.
Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. It is a ribbon lake formed in a glacial trough after the retreat of ice at the start of the current interglacial period. It has been one of the country's most popular places for holidays and summer homes since the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway's branch line in 1847. Historically forming part of the border between Lancashire and Westmorland, it is now within the county of Cumbria and the Lake District National Park. (Credit: x)
For lunch, we headed to the Hill Top and had lunch in the really cosy eating area they had. Halfway through our meal, it started snowing so heavily it felt like winter. The weather is really erratic these days and in the UK especially, the weather changes so rapidly that I realise you really have to be prepared for all sorts of weather. Even though it was supposed to be nearly summer when we were there, we experienced 3 bouts of snow, loads of wet weather and the occasional sun so saying that it was nearly summer is really misleading.
Homemade soup & roll (£5.95)
Oak Smoked Haddock Chowder
Sawrey House Fish & Chips (£11.95)
Seabass fillets in citrus yeast batter, hand cut salt & pepper chips, homemade ketchup, lime and cape mayonnaise, pea and mint mousse and lemon confit
Homemade soup & roll (£5.95)
Tuscan, Tomato, Aubergine and Chicken Soup
We drove up to the Old Man of Coniston and wanted to do a little hike just to get a spot of exercise but we didn't get to do so because soon after we arrived, it started spitting so we had to head back which was such a shame. Imagine doing a hike through rolling hills dotted with sheep, how amazing would that be? I am definitely coming back here one day with SH and we are going hiking just because I feel like places like these are a waste if you only drive up and not put your hiking boots on and trudge through those mud paths.
We drove past a few lakes and if you haven't guessed already, Lake District is named after the numerous lakes that are in the area. I can't remember for sure what the names of the lakes were but I am pretty sure one of them was Yew Tree Tarn and another was Ullswater but I'm sure if you just do a little drive around the area, you will be able to come across a few of the many lakes there are.
After a long day of braving the cold and wet weather, we decided to head to the B&B to get an early night and guess what, halfway through our drive we hit some snow once again. Always dress warmly guys!!
For dinner, we headed to The Silk Road Chinese Restaurant and had Chinese food again. If you're ever in the area and you're craving Chinese food, please head to this restaurant because not only was the food really good and authentic, the bosses were really friendly and nice as well. They came out and had a little chat with us and they were so welcoming that we actually went there again the next night.
Also, Chinese food isn't always affordable in the UK and we have gone to places where dishes were really expensive for their portion. The Chinese food here was reasonably priced which we really appreciated.
