But in the process of drafting the annual year-end post I thought it a shame to let my future selves forget some of the best times in 2025. After all, 4 trips in half a year is grand! So here's a quick one, just to preserve the best memories.
Kuching, 17-20 Jul
- The travel restart couldn't have been formulated better: short trip, short flight time, highly trusted company.
- A sign of a great trip is great appetite! Must be something to do with being on a(n active) holiday. There's absolutely no way I could eat a whole bowl of kolo mee at 6.30am in SG, or large amounts of garlic naan at 11pm.
- Other notable food mentions: I loved all the varieties of stir-fried curly shoots but was severely grossed out by the sago worms... they uh neither looked appetising nor tasted nice. Happens that we saw live ones not long before attempting to consume the dead version, and they looked and moved like muscular marshmallows.
- While this was not meant to be a hiking trip, there were elements of it coz Kuching is an access hub for various nature reserves. My poor knees were stressed.
- By contrast, Kuching town itself was nice and walkable, and clean beyond expectations. Thing is, 80% of the shops were closed for most of the daytime which makes me think rental recovery is not an issue there.
- One of the trip highlights was succeeding at entering the Fairy Caves within seconds of closing time which involved an action film-worthy sprint out the car door (not by me). We then proceeded to climb many stairs before reaching the namesake-worthy grotto.
- Another highlight was the boat ride to Bako National Park. I always enjoy the strong sea breeze, and this time on a boat was definitely a happy one haha.
- The trail we took in the park was actually pretty fun. i.e. engaging and undulating but with no boring sustained inclines haha.
- After some freefalling grey monkeys and grey boars, seeing a proboscis monkey was like seeing a pokemon in real life. Oh and it was perched so conveniently on a tree next to the path, purposefully planted.
- Salomons are awesome. No need to fiddle with shoelaces while taking off shoes and socks for beach boarding!
- Even though this trip was objectively physically tiring, it brought a feeling of renewal that I hadn't realised I'd forgotten. The first 1-2 days back at work were unusually productive haha.
- This trip was also important in helping my body understand what it could do, and to slowly chip away at its fears making unknowns known again. Won't miss the major pre-trip anxiety which thankfully reduced with each successive trip.
Seoul, 21-26 Aug
- Seoul in summer was rather high level for my old lady body, but Suju left me with no choice haha. There really is no other reason for me to visit in summer.
- In many ways, I was extremely lucky to be there at SS10 in Seoul and on my birthday no less! Thank my luck and decisiveness in snagging that one precious ticket.
- Thankfully also, I had travel companions in the form of friends who were lucky enough to snag tickets (each of us on a different day lolol).
- Concert trips come with concert vibes to soak up! This also meant 3 days of soaking up intense sunlight, taking pics and getting handed freebies outside KSPO dome.
- As for the concert itself, Suju really outdid themselves with that insane setlist that was such a statement of longevity. I could only marvel at their physical endurance.
- Cafe hopping was a thing for escaping the heat. Even if this meant upsetting meal times haha.
- One special cafe visit was to Forest For Rest (i.e. Ryeowook's cafe), alllll the way in Gimpo. He obviously wasn't there due for work reasons but his wife glided in! She sportingly agreed to take photos on request of so many ELFs in the cafe.
- First time taking uber in Seoul and it's so affordable?? It helped to cut down on what would have been a lot of strenuous walking in the hilly city.
- As a non-picky eater, I ended up having mostly vegetarian food/food from vegetarian restaurants for most of the trip, to cater to a friend.
- It was only on the last day that the other non-vegetarian and myself realised that we almost hadn't had meat at all. So cue a final kbbq before the night flight home!
Manila, 3-5 Oct
- Yet another concert trip!
- While VIP tix was a faraway dream in Seoul, it was possible here with some help. As a result, we landed literally the closest seats to the extended stage!
- Tried Filipino food for the first time in 3 concert trips! Of all the dishes, I liked the gising-gising the best - a sort of winged green bean in coconut sauce.
- Honorable mention to the sumptious Italian meal on the first night after checking in. We were quite shocked at the size of the pizza when it landed on our table, but every item was outstanding - the pesto spaghetti and thicc cheese sticks.
- Since it was Oct, Christmas deco was out in full force and prob had been for a while, since the -ber months started haha.
Japan, 5-12 Dec
- I must say first that tours are not my preferred way to travel. The daily 6-7-8am (morning call, breakfast time, move off time) schedule was nuts, considering that I usually start work at 9+am, and we were whisked from place to place to tick boxes.
- But then, this trip was about spending time with family members I don't usually get to travel with, which meant that a tour was the most likely modality.
- Two things were top notch on this trip and the first was the weather! My favourite kind of clear blue skies + 10s deg C weather 😎 the sunlight was an absolute blessing for film photos.
- The clear and cool weather meant that we had ample views of Mt Fuji, both planned and unplanned (like seeing it loom up off the side of the highway).
- The second thing was the shopping! I'd been living with stuff that had come dangerously close to end-of-life and was lucky to find suitable replacements.
- The shopping was buoyed by the extremely favorable exchange rate! It never fell below $1:¥120 in the entire week.
- It was definitely winter, but we were lucky to see sizable samples of the autumn colours, especially in a location where they were enhanced by night lighting.
- Overall, travelling with family (+ family friend) comes with lots of gossiping, snacking and love 🩷
Rounding up with 2 choice photos!
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| The simple, but deeply delicious. |
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| And the lucky. |
