The glorious spring at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

  The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, or also known as Kew Gardens, is the world's largest collection of living plants. It makes a good half day or day trip from London, a break from the concrete city if you are already tired of statues and buildings and galleries and museums. People like me who likes to poke around every nook and corner will take almost whole day here because Kew Garden really has a lot to offer, even if you are not a botany enthusiast. And it's really, really huge... 121 hectares of land.

Banqueting House, Whitehall

 

If you like palaces and grand places, take a peep into Whitehall Banqueting House. It's not that far from Trafalgar Square, along the Whitehall road. It doesn't appear any grander from the other buildings on the outside and you may miss it. This is how the entrance looks like, and that's James' I bronze bust head, Charles' I father.

Whitehall was in my itinerary partly because of my fascination with King Henry VIII. Supposedly it was taken away upon the fall of Cardinal Wolsey (as he did with Hampton Court) and revamped to be a grander version that suited his taste better (well, he was known as one of the fashionable monarch last time). Originally it was named as named York place.He married Anne Boleyn here. Pocahontas was among the celebrated guest here.

Currently it is under the care of Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity that also took care of Tower of London, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace. So in your ticket price you may or not add in the donation portion. Some may feel that the admission rate is rather pricey but I guess it takes a lot of effort to maintain the beautiful ceiling paintings and the hall itself. Plus, what is not expensive in London? :p

Japan itenerary planning - my references

Planning is the most essential thing for hassle - free traveling. Meaning, I did plan my itinerary to the minute details, including where I’m gonna stay, how I’m gonna get from place to place, where I’m gonna go, where to eat, my daily spending etc and it helped a lot the whole time I was there. Boy I tell you, just one place was enough to drive me nuts with reading and research. I carried the printed itinerary and kept a softcopy too. But with Japan, whatever listed in the reference - I discovered later - is precisely as what that is gonna be over there, down to the detail of transport mode and ticket prices.

Japan has also been selected to host the 2020 Olympics so I expect that travel in Japan will be much easier than before, though I can't imagine Japan being anymore convenient than it is now.

Internet connection in Japan ~ eConnect

This is how I stay connected to the world while in Japan :) Surprisingly enough, Japan does not have many free Wifi spots. New hotels have it, Starbucks, the airport, train stations, but not many. Most involve registering, which is not something I particularly enjoy doing.

My concern is about quick information access, especially if it happens that I’d need Google Map whenever I’m at lost. After looking around, I found eConnect, a 30 days non – contract micro SIM Internet data of 1G. Speed for Downlink: 7.2 Mbps / Uplink: 5.7 Mbps (best effort). Available in SIM and micro SIM. Good enough, cost 4890 Y including delivery. Payment by credit card.

Go to Japan. You will love Japan. And you will never regret it :)

Japanese version of Minions singing Banana!!! :D

Ok, let’s give Japan some credit here, they do try to speak sukoshi English and make life easier for gaijin like me by putting up English signboards here and there, loading up their Tourist Information Centres with English – speaking personnel and stuffs, and some helpful Japanese even attempt to speak some English to help a lost – looking gaijin, and I did kinda get  blown over by a Japanese who actually speaks better English than me LOL. All in all, Japan is an easy place to visit.

What you need to know about Japan Rail Pass @ JR pass

Japan being train – centric, next on the list is to get the JR pass @ Japan Railway pass exchange voucher, especially if you are planning to travel extensively across Japan. It saves a LOT of money. A long - distance one - way shinkansen ticket can cost you at least 9000 Y, but a JR pass allows FREE unlimited shinkansen uses within a time frame. 

When you order a JR pass, you will receive an exchange voucher which takes roughly about 2 weeks to be delivered to your address. This is how an exchange voucher looks like (above). You have the option of 7 / 14 / 21 days, Ordinary or Green. Note that you can only buy the exchange voucher while you are outside of Japan.

For myself, I was using an ordinary one since I was going during an off - peak season and the JR tracks that cover my places mostly do not have Green cars. Ordinary cars are comfortable enough with ample leg space. After agonizingly planning my itinerary, I decided to take the 7 – day pass, since most of my time is spent in one local area. Also, there are many special discount cards and passes available for tourist covering transport and attractions so if you do a thorough research, you pretty much can cut cost and decide on the best JR pass duration that you may need. And yeah, most of the websites are in English. 

Takuhaibin delivery service... one of the awesome things in Japan

Takuhaibin is a delivery service in Japan that can be utilized to transfer your luggage from one place to another as long as you have the address of that place and the cash for it. This, if anything, is one of the most convenient thing ever during my stay in Japan. But it requires some planning on your side.Use this service if you have the extra cash and don't want the hassle of dragging huge luggage around.

A cuppa and scone at Kilkenny

Ok it was a cold, cold spring day and I simply couldn't resist a peek into the cafe at first storey of Kilkenny along my way o Grafton street because I was cold and hungry. Plus I'd always heard that they serve pretty good stuffs here.

The unexpected finding on Cockburn Street, Edinburgh... A nice uncle, discounted plums and halal snacks :D

I wish I could take and post the picture of that nice uncle in this small grocery shop but I guess that would have been a breech of privacy. So a picture of the shop will have to suffice.

Bewley's Dublin Airport Hotel and the ponies on the field behind :)

 Bewley's Dublin Airport Hotel has been a long time favorite of mine. The location is near to the airport, and there's a shuttle bus commuting to - and - fro from the airport to the hotel. Not an ideal location if you want to be near the city since it's 40 minutes away at least from the city by bus no. 16 from the airport. But the location itself makes it a quiet and tranquil retreat.

South Street, Italian food and steak in Dublin

I went to South Street twice during my visit in Dublin because of this crazy craving for steak. Maybe it's the cold weather working up my appetite or the crazy walking or the shopping... beats me. But the place is pretty decent albeit a tad pricey. Now, this place has no halal sign and it serves alcohol and some of the dishes do contain alcohol (described in the menu) but it was reputedly own by a Muslim guy who also owns the kebab shop next door and it serves no pork. I guess he was trying to cater to a larger market. The halal standard is somewhat different or uncontrolled here, because I've even seen a restaurant with a halal sign but serves pork ball soup, and even the shop with halal signs will serve alcohol. Lots of Muslims seem to be eating here too. So you be the judge.

Wok In and walk out with cheap halal meal in Dublin

Now I won't kid you into believing that this is one of the most delicious thing in Dublin city. Because it's not. There are lots more other option that you can choose. But it's cheap. And halal. And tasty enough. I dunno whether to classify this as Chinese food or not :p

United Kingdom, UK, Great Britain... Just rambling

To me UK is pretty safe and civilized. I can walk around on my own without fear or anyone bothering me at all. Some staring at times probably due to something awkward I do or my skin colour or my hijab but nothing malicious so far. Common sense prevails, of course, by keeping all my cash and documents in safe places and not straying into dodgy area or wherever my gut told me not to. Gut feelings sometime save lives, if you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, get the hell out fast. Still, I feel less wary and afraid than in my own country where anytime I can get mugged (happened in a cafe to me) or potentially raped / killed.

Electronics

Thanks to Universal Traveller, I got myself a multi – USB port with changeable adapters that can also convert the currents to suit the local output. So in KLIA I can use our pin, in Japan I just need to switch to a different pin. I think this cost RM70, and has adapters for EU countries too. So far seems to work just fine with my phone, tablet and camera. 

Packing your clothes and toiletries

My clothes are usually mix and match of T – shirts and jeans.  My selections are simple, as long as they can be folded into tiny wedges to maximize space and passable they’re fit to be packed away. Plus points, sturdy enough to withstand cheap laundrette and fast enough to dry. If the weather is cold, wear layers and mix-and-match. Of course, you still have to get a winter coat, gloves and shawl but trust me, they are NOT enough. Wear LAYERS. 2-3 minimum. Don't worry, nobody cares when it's too cold for anyone to notice what everyone is wearing.

Shoes preferably slip on and easy to remove, comfortable, sensible, water resistant. There will be a lot of walking, seriously. And oh, wear socks. It'll save you lots of tears from those painful blisters.

Packing... the bags

OK, this is what I hate about travelling. Packing. The hardest task ever for a girl like me. Reality sucks, I can’t be possibly lugging a carriage far too heavy for me thanks to my small built, so I really have to plan carefully what I wanna pack into that bag.

Speaking of bag, yeah, another important part of packing that caused me quite a headache. After much consideration, I decided to get myself a light but sturdy 50 L backpack, a foldable backpack from Travel Blue brand and a sling bag. The rationale behind these are simple, the 50 L is gonna go into the plane since it will contains things considered not acceptable in cabin and is easier to manage if packed lightly (I just hate lugging a trolley bag). 

Planning the trip...

Let me start with basic stuffs before I go rambling about places I've visited and things I've eaten. Planning, the most essential thing for everything. Planning a trip makes life easier when you reach your place. Don't be lazy, do some homework, unless you wanna do blind and mindless sightseeing, which I think is a waste of your money and time. Unless of course, that is what you wanna do, or have someone do it for you.

Maybe it's just me but I like planning my trip instead of going on a tour. I like to poke around nooks and corners, go off the grid, get lost (without actually being lost, mind you) along the trail, have some freedom, enjoy and appreciate things in my own angles. Best of all, I know what I'm doing. And it gives a sense of accomplishment and independence and a confidence level booster. Try it, and you'll know what I'm talking about.