Bangkok for CNY 2017? 还是首一回!

"爸爸妈妈，其实我们索性就来曼谷过年吧!" I suggested a few weeks ago, while we were having a swell time enjoying a short holiday in this lovely city.

KOREA ~ A Family Winter Sonata!

The Land of Arirang
17th Dec 2015 - 26th Dec 2015

Gyeongbok Gong, Seoul

It was all Choi Kang Hee and Shin Se Kyung's fault.  Really.   I wouldn't have even thought of going to Korea had it not been for these two beautiful Korean actresses who enchanted this simple little Singaporean man.  And the family ended up one unearthly morning waiting for our Korean Air flight to the Land of Arirang.

Iceland Day 9 ~ Pushing through snowy blizzard back to Reykjavic

TRAVELLOGUE: Of 17 knot wind and snow, a white out KKJ waterfall, a magnificent Hraunfossar waterfall, and back to Reykjavic!

This was really the last day and last night in Iceland.  It definitely seemed far to me, at that point in time, to travel all the way that 322km from Hellissandur back to Reykjavic and to fly back early the next morning.

But 9 days were one heck of a long time to be travelling away from home, though it sure didn't feel long to me then.  I could feel a sense of the trip ending.  Sadly.  But all good things must end, even though it was all white and snowy for the last few days.

Iceland Day 6 ~ Racing against time in the Ice Cave, skirting the Svinasfelljokull, revisiting Jokulsarlon & a magnificent BANG! of Aurora!!

Travellogue:  Dragging my broken body along in the Race against time, shooting with just a point and shoot camera.. Boy, was I glad I did it!

The Ice Cave, by Serene.

A Whatsapp message from Adrian early in the morning on my handphone read:

"There is not much walking to the Ice cave today.  Only part is the little bit of steep climb into the cave.  If you cannot walk, you can still take picture from the mouth of the cave.  Serene can walk into the cave to shoot.  Don't worry, I will take care of you all the way."

Iceland Day 5 ~ A broken bus, a close encounter with Fjallsarlon, a flirt with Jokulsarlon (Norman) Ice Beach... and Bukit Lim Wee How

Travellogue: One of the most eventful days in Iceland

Life was like that.  There was always calm before the storm, and there was always exuberance before pain.  At 8am on this fateful day, not a single one of us would expect what was to come.  None.  We only knew that our stomachs were growling in anticipation of Adrian's breakfast.

Iceland Day 4 ~ Bumping along the Southern Bumps:- Capes, Lava.. and finally Glaciers!

Travellogue: Cruising down the southern coast of Iceland.

Our GPS track for this day, from Skogar to Jokulsarlon.

Alex & Lai Peng on one of their regular morning walks,

We woke up to a nice, clear morning.  So far the weather had been lovely.  I told Serene the weather forecast I checked before coming to Iceland predicted that this day and the next few days would see rain and slight snow flurry.

Breakfast started at 8am.  Between Icelandic sesame-rye biscuits and OMG!-spilled coffee by a customer on the next table, we filled our stomach and got our luggage out.

Iceland Day 3 ~ Of famous volcano, full-rainbowed-Skogafoss, slippery Seljalandsfoss, and our first full-fledge Aurora...

Travellogue: The tour of the -foss, a gentle start that ended with a whole lot of bang for our bucks!

My second run in Iceland
I promised the boys at home that I will continue to run even while I was in Iceland.
Gerard said: "Don't be crazy lah.  Just enjoy your holiday lah!"
But Wai Kit joked: "Come on lah, go mark your run on the map of Iceland in Strava."
With the event one week right after my return from Iceland, I couldn't waste any time.  Thus at 6am on this third tour day, I enjoyed the lovely cool air and suphur fumes around Lake Laugarvatn.
My 5km run at Lake Laugarvatn (a clickable link to my Strava)

Iceland Day 2 ~ The tour of the Golden Circle.

Travellogue: Iceland Day 2 ~ of tectonic plates, waterfall & geyser...

A breakfast of smoked Icelandic fish
Adrian did prime us prior to the trip that we really needn't wake up early for this trip, like

The man & his coffee.

the typical SgTrekker photography trips.  And this man kept his words. "8am breakfast, 9am checkout." became pretty much the standard arrangement.
But... I woke at 6am for a run around Rekjavik.. crazy lah, me.
My 5km run in Reykjavic

Iceland Day 1 ~ 27 hours of plane+airport and a first glimpse aurora...

Travellogue: Day 1 Iceland


Changi Airport

It was the 26th February, the year of 2014. 
Like trickles of glacial water, the team members slowly made their way to Terminal 1 at Changi Airport, some looking fresh while others appearing tired from a full day of work.  It was characteristic of a Singapore Trekker Photography trip, this red-eye flight arrangement.  Seasoned members would be almost unfailingly found gathered at the kopi tiam up on the second floor, patiently waiting for the arrival of the tour leader while sipping a kopi-O.

"Haiyah.. the taxi driver got lost," quietly complained Norman.  The drone of the conversation around me faded into the background as I stared at my cup of kopi.  My drifting mind was lost in a day some months ago…

Prologue. Chasing the Icelandic Aurora.

Fighting the wind & impending snow...

All my eyes could see was raging waves crumbling with splashes against the dark cliffs of Dyrhólaey Cape down below on our right.  In the distant left, a dark mist was fast-approaching our location from inland.  Like wolves out on a rampage, the tearing wind howled just outside our ears.
My index finger, totally frozen and void of sensation, struggled to change the aperture on the camera, while my left hand fiddled with the wired cable release.  Beside me, my fellow teammates Derek and Kai Sing were frantically trying to snap a last shot before the snow storm approached.   From the corner of my eye I could see several figures a certain distance away, equally urgent in their movements. 

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 8

Day 8 .. flying back to Kathmandu

No surprise.
Often in Nepal, when the weather turned bad, the planes get delayed.
And our flight back to Kathmandu from Pokhara was no exception.
The morning visibility at 9am was like that... couldn't fly.

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 7

Day 7: Our 6th day of trekking~ Ghandruk all the way back to Nayapul

Yes, we had passed through the most difficult part of our trek.
Today would see us coming back down all the way to Nayapul.
The distance is not short. But the terrain is relatively gentle, though downwards.

Waking up int the morning and having a last look around in Ghandruk.

Video of the morning scene.. birds chirping, roosters crowing...

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 6

Day 6: Our forth day of trekking- From Tadapani (2660m) to Ghandruk (2060m)
*Yawn.... an easy easy trek...*
[Haha... that's what most would think...]

Yupe. So it had come to Day 4.
Somehow, after my deep slumber, and after awakening to a fresh cold mountain morning,
I couldn't believe that the family had done three days of pretty tough (read, in our family term lah, but in real mountaineering terms, it's 'easy') trekking.

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 5

Day 5: The third day of Trekking
To Poon Hill and to Tadapani

This third day saw us moving out at 5:15am from our guest lodge
to move in the dark to Poon Hill.
And after the return to Ghorepani,
we set out towards our destination for the day - Tadapani.
What a trek this day brought.
What a trek.

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 4

Day 4 - The second day of trekking

6:30am. I took this shot out of my window.
The sun was just about rising.
Another new day. Another new adventure.

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 3

Day 3.. finally, we are starting to trek..

Overwhelmed with excitement, we all woke up at 6am to get ready for the one and a half hour ride to Nayapul.
Nayapul is a small little village where the actual trekking will start.
Located at an altitude of 1000m, Nayapul is the gateway village to Annapurna Base Camp.

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 2

Day 2 morning!

Sleep came easy for most of us.
And we woke to a cooooold morning.
Looking forward to a nice flight to Pokhara, was my Rudy Project and my newly-acquired Nepali topi..

A Family's Trekking Travellogue to Nepal ~ Day 1

^Prologue

Serene and I did our first Nepal trek in March 2011 to Lukla and Namche Bazaar.
But recently, a family of my patients went trekking to Lantang, with young adults children.
And when finally, a few weeks ago, a good friend of mine Gerard brought his 10 year old son to Pokhara for trekking, I was totally inspired.
And we decided to bring all our 5 children, age ranging from 12 years to 24 years, for their first real trek in Nepal.

Everest Panorama Trek ~ Day 10. Bye Bye Nepal.

T R A V E L O G U E

Day 10: Bye Bye, Nepal...



It was not without a sense of unbearable yearning for the thin air up in the mountains, that we made our way to Kathmandu's Tribhuvan Airport for our final flight back home to Singapore. From the look of all the trekking poles sticking out of every one's backpack, it seemed that every single one of us in the team was keeping his and her poles, either for memory's sake, or for future use back here in this lovely country.

Everest Panorama Trek ~ Day 9. Flying back from Lukla to Kathmandu

T R A V E L O G U E

Day 9: Back to the yellow waters and congested air of the city...

Whatever was the case, a great trek must come to an end. As we all sat down for a very early breakfast in Namaste Lodge, in several of our hearts, the seeds for a repeat trip were sowed. Perhaps some would describe this trek as a love-hate relationship, and others would see it as simply exhilarating a break from the monotony of city-living. But what I saw that morning sitting on my breakfast table was a unique specimen of expanded dough called Tibetan bread. Hmmm... Sherpa-ian Tibetan bread, I told myself.