Category: Travel & Leisure

Food travelling is always fun to do especially for those who appreciate original recipe and the culture diversity. Travelling is not always about visiting museum. Interacting with the locals and try their original cuisine is also a great way to appreciate their culture. One of the most popular travel destinations is South Korea where K-Pop has been wild recently. It attracts lots of people around the world to get to know more about the country and its culture including foods.

South Korea is loud in promoting their local foods to the world through may tourism acts as well as film industry. There are many kinds of Korean foods shown in almost every K-drama. This makes people more interested to try.

List of foods you should try while travelling in South Korea

Kimbap

Kimbab can be found almost everywhere from street vendor, convenient store, to high-end restaurant. This is like Korean food-to-go. The appearance is similar to sushi and that’s why people also call this dish as Korean sushi. This is made of rice rolled with various fillings such as cucumber, carrot, omelet, beef, etc. They are then wrapped in seaweed. If you are used to American food style, then you can consider this dish as Korean Sandwich. You can eat it right away without using any utensil.

Kimchi

Kimchi is one of the healthiest dishes in the world. When it comes to Korean food, you cannot leave kimchi behind. Kimchi goes along with every kind of meal. This is sour and slightly spicy fermented side dish which promotes health benefits. It is made of cabbage mixed with various Korean spices then fermented until it’s ready to serve. Aside from cabbage, there are also other varieties to make kimchi such as radish or cucumber.

Bibimbap

Bibimbap is the next recommended Korean you should try. The look of this dish is so tempting. It looks colorful and fresh. It consist of rice topped with various vegetables as well as beef, and fired egg. It is then often added with gochujang, Korean chili paste. To eat it, you need to mix all in the bowl. The taste of vegetables and other ingredients is just great for your appetite.

Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki is kind of snack for Korean. This always makes appearance in almost every K-drama. You can find it in street vendors as well as restaurant. This is made of rice cake in cylindrical shape, triangular fish cakes, as well as vegetables. All of them are cooked in spicy and sweet red chili sauce. The looks of this snack is colorful and flavorful. Korean students love this so much since it’s delicious and affordable.

Bulgogi

Bulgogi is made of beef which is marinated and grilled. The marinade is made of sesame oil, soy sauce, pureed pear, sugar, as well as ginger. Some people like it to be grilled after marinated but some others like it to be fried. It is best served with warm rice, lettuce wraps, kimchi, and onions. The beef is sliced thinly so it is easy to grill.

Nothing can compare to Komodo diving liveaboard experience. Waking up when the sun blasts the golden rays, floating in the middle of endless ocean. You slide on the dive gear and prepare for the first dive of the day. The instructor gives you signals to jump from the deck, and the next thing you know, you are underwater in one of world’s best coral garden and colourful marine creatures. This is how a life in a Komodo diving liveaboard looks like. Your excursion days is overflowed with scuba diving opportunities with island hopping in between while living onboard for an extended period.

Flores has long been known for its fantastic underwater with plenty of marine life, preserved biota and great biodiversity. It’s not a surprising sight to see Labuan Bajo’s dock, Flores’ port town, jam-packed with diving life aboard of all range. With lots of energy-draining diving activities, it’s only rational if you want a liveaboard with maximum comforts. A liveaboard that offers more than a deck to sleep in and filled up tank in the morning. If you are willing to pay for quality services and get what you’ve paid for, there are some qualities you need to scrutinise in a liveaboard.

Signs of Quality Komodo Diving Liveaboard You Should Pick Up

Spacious Komodo Diving Liveaboard

Like it or not, diving is way more complicated than the usual land excursion. Diving needs lots of extra spaces to store all the bulky equipments. You will also need a lot of open space for diving preparation as well as having enough wet area. It’s also importance to maintain safe space between other divers to avoid slippery accident. Choosing a spacious diving liveaboard is essential for your safety.

Quality and Roomy Cabins

Some liveaboard boats sleeps all their passengers in one communal deck. Other liveaboard build comfy rooms for the sake of passengers’ quality rest. Some quality to look in your Komodo diving liveaboard’s cabins are space, air-con, bed, ventilation, and the general layout. Will the room be spacious enough for you to move around? Does the bed clean and dry? (Sleeping on a damp bed can turn your peaceful rest to a living hell). Is the ventilation lets flowing air change? And eventually, does the room has air conditioner or fan? Remember that it can be very hot and humid in Indonesia. Staying in a room without proper air conditioner can make the stay rather feel unpleasant.

Onboard Foodie

Staying in a hotel room means you can go out every time for lunch and dinner. You can choose to walk out from the breakfast selection and find one of your preference. Staying in a liveaboard means you are ‘forced’ to eat whatever are available on the table. Back in more traditional days, divers’ diet onboard often consist of regular mie goreng or nasi goreng. However, today newer and more modern liveaboard begin to serve international cuisine. And with huge demands of physical activities during, your body needs high nutritional foods, too. Normally, liveaboard doesn’t put their menu online. For a safe bet, choose a Komodo diving liveaboard which specifically mentions the presence of professional chef in their service.

There are some other quality to indicate a good liveaboard other than these essentials three. A noise-isolated cabin will definitely gives more support to quality rest than those without. More often than not, noise-isolated cabin is quite a luxurious option appears in high-end liveaboard. You might also want stable internet connection, though most travelers in Flores enjoys their momentary digital detox. Again, this is something that’s less essential but definitely makes the experience be much better.

Your Komodo diving liveaboard can either make or break the trip—so do choose wisely!

The arrival of autumn is a cause for celebration, if only for the break from the scorching heat of Japanese summers. A lot of people enjoyed autumn through the endless supplies of delicious Japanese traditional food popular to be eaten in autumn. There’s Yakiimo, which is sweet potato, soft and warm, the food is delicious and naturally sweet, a perfect companion for the fall months. There’s also Oden; more popular as a winter delicacy, but also pretty well-sought and widely enjoyed during the fall.

Regardless of what’s your choice of food and snacks to accompany your search for autumn colors, if you do want to bask in the beauty in its full glory, then take some time to visit these places locals love to go to during the autumn.

Koshikawa Korakuen

The Koshikawa Korakuen is one of the most popular spots when it comes to catching the autumn colors in Tokyo. It’s a Japanese traditional landscape garden with breathtaking beauty with emphasis on the gorgeous landscape. Stunning views of maple trees with their vibrant red shades are in abundance. The Japanese garden landscape frames Japanese aesthetics and appreciation towards nature and aged scenery. The traditional garden uses aged materials reminiscent of ancient times. The materials used for the paving are all natural, it includes gravel and other natural stones. The Japanese traditional landscape garden is also highly influenced by mostly Shinto and Buddhist philosophies.

Icho Namiki

This park is located near the Meiiji Jingu Gaien Park, which is home to the Jingu stadium. The  place is a set of outdoor facilities which is a heaven for photographers alike during the fall season. There are lines of neatly trimmed trees, an excellent example that Tokyo is always at pea form. The sight of golden hues lining the street is simply gorgeous. It’s a great way to spend time; simply relaxing at the cafes around the street is a pleasant way to spend your day.

Showa Kinen Koen

This park is located near the Tachikawa station, where lines of ginkgo trees flaunting gold is a sight. Not just autumn colors, the park also boasts neatly organized seasonal flowers with gorgeous hues spreading throughout the place. There’s a bonsai museum that people can visit in the Showa Kinen Park. The park is a great place for family outdoor activities, as it’s complete with a large playing area for children with slides and all sorts of playground equipment.

Yoyogi Koen

The Yoyogi Koen is located at central Tokyo, Shibuya, Harajuku, to be precise. If you enjoy going to the infamous youth subculture and enjoy its wealth of fashion and quirks, you’re going to enjoy looking for autumn colors in Yoyogi Park. The vibrant youths of Tokyo often use this park for a lot of artistic activities and if you’re lucky you might even catch a rehearsal in place. Musics, dance, and all sorts are often spotted in the park, as Yoyogi park attracts all sorts of talents. To see the autumn shades, go away for a bit from the central and go to the Southern part of the park.

If you’re planning to go to Tokyo in the near future, then you’ve probably heard of the public transportation that has a consistently excellent reputation during your planning trip. You’d most likely take the trains one way or another when you’re in the heart of the metropolitan.

The railway companies have issued IC cards that can be used by basically anyone. IC cards are prepaid cards and you can choose between either PASMO or Suica. What’s the difference between them? Not much. Both of them have the exact same use, with only minor differences as they’re issued by different companies. Whichever you choose, it won’t affect the everyday use of the card. With these IC cards, you’d essentially have an electronic money that can be used in most places you’ll go in Tokyo. IC cards are extremely useful and are live savers. Seriously, don’t travel in Tokyo without these cards.

Less hassle overall

With IC cards in your pocket, there’d be no more working out places for several minutes in front of the ticket machine. No more remembering station names as you fiddle with the buttons to purchase the ticket, every time you’re going to go somewhere. Also no more looking for small papers of ticket stubs, easily forgotten, as you walk out of the trains onto the ticket gates. No more clutter as well as fiddling with bills and coins, getting the bills out and the changes inside your wallet. It would literally make your life easier.

Saves you so much time

You won’t have to spend more time more than necessary every time you want to go somewhere. There’s also the fact that there’s generally always a queue on major train stations, therefore, not having to go to purchase tickets every time would save you so much time that you could be spending doing more important things. All you have to do is swipe the card at the ticket gate, you hear a beep, then off you go

Use your card for shopping

All of convenience stores in Tokyo commonly accept IC cards as payment methods. Most, if not all supermarkets in Tokyo also accept PASMO/Suica. A lot of major stores, as long as they have the machines or signs would accept the cards. Take Matsumoto Kiyoshi for example, a general drugstore and beauty shop, that you’re going to take notice sooner or later, is one of the most common examples of the many shops accepting the card.

Less to no coins

You’re likely going to learn this lesson only after you’ve visited Tokyo. There’s just going to be coins, so much coins. Every time you spent a 1,000 Yen, you’re going to end up with coins as change if you use cash as a payment method.  Not all money changers back home are willing to exchange coins, and you end up with a pile of coins that you wont be able to use back home. With IC cards, purchasing everyday needs at the convenience stores or the supermarket as well as some restaurants won’t contribute to your piles of coins.

Travelling is everyone’s favorite because it i the time when you feel so carefree about your hectic life. It is not a secret that life forces you to keep working hard. However, human is prone to stress so taking trip to somewhere nice can be the solution for it. Travelling is stress reliever and energizer. After travelling, you will likely get more spirit to work harder energetically. However, leaving your home for travelling should be prepared though. If you are taking long vacation, you need to do the right things before really leaving your home.

What you need to do before travelling?

Your holiday is stress reliever. However, don’t make it sounds like you are dodging a bullet. Instead of using vacation as a way to run out of responsibility, it is better to finish your task properly at work before taking vacation. Travelling while having pile of works waiting for you when you get home will not make it as stress reliever. You will feel restless during travel because you keep remembering your unfinished works. Thus, make sure you finish your works before taking vacation to avoid more hassle when you’re back later.

Next thing to do is booking all necessities such as flight, hotel, car rental, etc. From some studies, it shows that the best time to book flight for vacation is 3 months prior. At that time, you likely have more opportunities for cheaper price. Aside from getting lower price, booking early helps you to ease your mind before travelling because you will likely be panic to do it in a rush.

Next, you need to make sure every document you need is prepared especially when you are travelling overseas. Check your passport’s expiration dates as well. Aside from passport, make sure that you also prepare other necessary documents. It is recommended that you make copy of them just in case you need them while travelling.

Research more about your destination and find out the do’s and don’ts. For example, there are some countries which require you to get shot from certain vaccine before visiting. This is very important because you don’t want to get caught some diseases during or after travel. If you travel with your family, make sure all members are up to date on their shots as well, especially children who are prone to diseases.

Plan your itinerary thoroughly to set up all our necessities such as hotel, transport, and everything in details. Some people say that spontaneous travelling is more fun to do instead of thoroughly prepared one. However, travelling with family requires you to be prepared in details because you have more responsibilities to make sure everything will be fine.

Make sure that you leave home safe before travelling. For example, you can ask your neighbor to monitor your house when you’re away. You can also pay all bills before leaving so that you don’t have to do it while travelling. Make sure that your other families know when you are going to travel for emergencies.  

Nusa Penida is a favorite place for domestic or foreign divers. A pure natural environment that has not been touched by humans is the advantage of Nusa Penida. There are 3 best dive spots you can explore. Nusa Penida is not only popular with diving spots but also best for snorkeling, sunbathing or just enjoying the natural scenery.

Nusa Penida diving is famous for rare and large species such as sunfish, manta rays, or sharks. You can enjoy beautiful and colorful coral reefs while exploring underwater.

Given the location of Nusa Penida diving quite far from Bali, finding a dive center long before you arrive is a great idea. Generally, tourists come and vacation to Bali, then continue to Nusa Penida using a speedboat. To be more organized, you can search for Nusa Penida dive packages from dive centers in Bali.

The Nusa Penida diving package includes a drop-off and picks up, from or to the hotel to the speedboat. There are a number of Nusa Penida diving spots that dive centers usually offer for 1 dive package.

Crystal Bay

Crystal Bay includes Nuda Penida diving spots that attract divers. In the crystal bay, you will be invited to see an underwater cave located 10 meters away. To see the underwater scenery, you have to dive at a depth of 20 meters. Unique and beautiful fish variations and beautiful coral reefs. When the current is not strong, you can enjoy the underwater view from the bay.

Gamat Bay

Gamat bay, one of Nusa Penida diving spots that have clear water with steep sinks. Domestic or foreign divers really like this spot because it has a beautiful underwater panorama. When you go under the sea, you can find sharks, big pelagic fish, mola-mola fish, big Pari fish, and unique and beautiful turtles.

Manta Point

This is a popular spot for Nusa Penida diving in the world. You can enjoy manta points, manta rays with wings of more than 3 meters and have a variety of motives. Other views of underwater biota that you can see are an octopus, porcelain crabs, moray eels, soft and hard corals. To see the manta point, you have to dive at a depth of 7-20 meters. It is recommended that you have a certificate that matches the depth level of your dive level. Capturing under the sea is a must. This is an amazing diving experience at Nusa Penida for every moment.

There are many places to go if you want to explore the world to the fullest. There are many spots you can visit to satisfy your adventure spirit. However, choosing safe place does matter as well. Even if you are prepared with anything you need physically and mentally, there are some places you should not visit. Of course, travelling is supposed to be chill and fun. However, your safety is the first priority if you want to really gain memorable experience in a good way. Some parts of the world are safe to explore while some others are not. Therefore, it is essential to always research your travel destination before you go. Thus, you can guarantee your safety while travelling later in the location.

Some dangerous cities you might want to avoid for travel plan

The world is absolutely full of wonder. However, it is also full of danger if you are not careful enough to keep your safety. Dangerous cities that will be mentioned in the following are not necessarily closed off. However, these cities tend to have higher level in the matter of gang attacks, taxi scams, pickpocket, assault, robbery, terrorism, etc. These cities are not safe for solo traveler because they are not really welcome foreign tourists. here are some of dangerous cities all around the world you should not travel alone to:

• Mexico city, Mexico is one of dangerous cities you should be careful of. This city is famous for violence against solo travelers specifically. The violence includes assault, mugging, kidnapping, etc. It is not recommended to travel to this city alone especially for women. The risk of gangs during night is higher so you’d better not be alone when you are in this city.
• Caracas, Venezuela is considered dangerous due to unresolved political issues as well as violence. It is recommended not travel to this city due to its danger. In fact, some airlines have stopped operating to this place. Violence between police and protesters are quite often to happen in this city. It can escalate rather quickly so travelling in this city is positively dangerous. The rising number of gangs operating in this city is also concerning and it has been proved by frequent violence against individuals.
• New Delhi, India is considered dangerous due to he rapid grow of threats specifically in sexual assault to women. Therefore, it is not recommended for women to travel to this city especially alone. If there is no choice to visit this place then it is highly recommended to travel in group and never wander around the city alone.
• Bogota, Columbia is located in the heart of the nation. Along with all attractiveness presented by the city, there are also dangers looming around this tourist destination especially for western travelers. Dangers appearing in this city include drug cartels, insurgency, kidnapping, terrorism, etc. This city is indeed full of attraction but also dangers so it is better to plan your visit thoroughly to guarantee your safety if you have to travel around the city.  

If you think about visiting Bali, there are many suggestions for enjoying the best vacation. Activities in Bali are never obsolete on time. They have been popular for years and are increasingly becoming a favorite among tourists.  Surfing in one of favorite activity in Bali from 86 years ago. Sculpture and painting in Bali have been rooted long ago. Diving is currently one of the favorite activities in Bali.

Explore Tropical Of The Sea

Adventure scuba diving Bali is an amazing experience to share with others when you back home. There are many stories and memories as a reason to return to Bali. This is a fact! Lots of tourists will back to Bali, either for vacation or stay for a long time. Sprinkled with dive centers with professional instructors is the reason why you have to dive in Bali.

Bali’s underwater wealth remains a mystery, and Bali’s underwater temperatures can change rapidly. Underwater Bali is known for world marine and photography biologists. At present, Bali won an award as one of the best diving destinations in the world.

Some international class dive operators are ready to serve adventure scuba diving Bali. Bali infrastructure for diving supports and has developed perfectly. Dive instructors have been trained and experienced to ensure exceptional safety and diving experience.

Adventure scuba diving Bali will be successful along with the selection of dive operators that meet your expectations. Not all dive centers meet your expectations. Ignorance and dissatisfaction are often reflected in reviews on the internet. Some dive centers sometimes cannot see the needs and desires of divers. This makes a decrease in customer satisfaction with the related dive center.

Adventure Bali scuba diving will be successful along with the selection of dive operators that meet your expectations. Not all dive centers meet your expectations. Ignorance and dissatisfaction are often reflected in reviews on the internet. Some dive centers sometimes cannot see the needs and desires of divers. This makes a decrease in customer satisfaction with the related dive center.

Many rare species make Bali underwater as their home. Mola-mola and manta rays become the favorite species of divers. No matter there are professional or amateur divers, adventure scuba diving Bali experience will be impressive. Diving spots from every area of Bali have their own features. Strong currents make Bali’s scuba diving adventure more challenging and extreme.

Bali is not too big. Adventure scuba diving Bali is perfect for your vacation. Plan properly your dive trip schedule. Do not go to the east and west in one day. The perfection of your Bali scuba diving adventure is the right planning by taking the best dive center dive package.

If you in need of peaceful yet exciting vacation, you may need to include Nusa Lembongan in your bucket list. This place is one of a kind even though its location is near the infamous Bali Island. To get to this place, you need to cross the Badung Strait. Bali Island is already popular for travelers around the world. However, it doesn’t make Nusa Lembongan less beautiful. The best part of this place is that it is less crowded than Bali. Thus, lots of travelers choose to visit this place instead. The place is absolutely easy and convenient. This is a great place if you want less mainstream travel destination.

Things you can do when you are at Nusa Lembongan

If you expect for modern coffee shop or high-end cafe, you won’t find them at Nusa Lembongan. As mentioned earlier that this place is less mainstream and those modern public facilities are not there yet. This is more suitable for peaceful vacation when you don’t expect excessive crowds or nosy surroundings. Even though this place is lack of those sparkles buildings or high end architectures, you can still enjoy your time to the fullest by doing interesting activities such as:

• Surfing is the main reason why many travelers visit this place. This is a great place for intermediate and professional surfers. The breaks are challenging for those surfers. Thus, beginners are not recommended to surf in this place. This is due to the most breaks crash precariously over reef. However, this place is like a playground for those intermediate and professional surfers.
• Snorkeling is fun thing to do when you visit Nusa Lembongan since you can meet manta rays. This is also one of the reasons why travelers visiting this place. For your information, mantas can grow to over 20 feet in width in regular. It is a rare opportunity to see mantas in close distance. However, it doesn’t stop travelers to try and see themselves how mantas move and behave gracefully. Just pray that when you get a chance to snorkel you will meet mantas even for brief time.
• Another water activity you can do while you are in Nusa Lembongan is scuba diving. The visibility is great especially during summer months. Aside from having chance to meet mantas, you can also pray to be able to meet mola-mola, oceanic sunfish. For your information, mola0mola is indeed the heaviest bony fish that exist so far. It can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. July to October is the best time you can meet mola-mola in highest possibility.
• Tired with water activities, you can try another activity that doesn’t include sea water. You can explore mangrove forest instead. It is located along the eastern side of Nusa Lembongan. The forest is full of thick and shady tangles. This is not adventurous per se but a great activity for lovers who want to have peaceful yet romantic activity. You can explore the mangrove forest using kayak or on foot.

Travel organizers are super useful and would totally change the way you travel. Before knowing what travel organizers really are, trips and suitcases are messy and that’s normal. Packing and unpacking are such a chore. These days, travel organizers are everywhere and are in a large variety. They serve various purposes and making travel even easier.

Packing cubes

Packing cubes are designed to be used in compartments to make categorizing your items a breeze. The insides of your suitcases and backpacks are bound to be so much neater and so much easier to re-pack. You can categorize your belongings according your need. You can fit a lot into these revolutionary cubes. Roll or folds, packing cubes can contain them all. These types of organizer is very versatile. The smallest size of packing cubes can be used as a makeup bag when you need it.

Packing folders

Packing folders functions to keep the clothes folded neatly. These folders are especially useful for business travelers to keep clothes from wrinkling as packing folders are commonly made out of more solid materials compared to packing cubes. It prevents the insides from being squished by other items in your luggage. The flat packing style pose its own benefits.

Grid-It organizers

These Grid-It organizers are super useful to organize your electronics; charger, usb flash drive, cables, phones, you name it. A lot of people also found the use of Grid-It organizers to organize their makeup equipment on the go. If you’re an artist, the organizer is also an extremely useful makeshift artistic tool holders. It’s super versatile and the use is entirely up to your creativity.

Shoe sleeves

Separate your shoes from your belongings

Doesn’t have time to clean your heels from last evening because you’re catching a flight? Just pop them right back into the shoes sleeves and you wont have to worry about the dirt you shoes likely caught soiling your other belongings.

Ziploc bags

These plastic bags that come in various sizes are amazingly multi-purpose. You can use these ziplocs to separate your dirty laundry from your clean clothes. Often, these bags are waterproof, and therefore you can put some of your electronics inside for protection.

Toiletry kits

Water resistant toiletry kits are a must for any traveler. It makes everything so much easier and faster. All you have to do is pull your toiletry kits from your backpack and you’re off to the bathroom, instead of digging through piles of stuff to find that small bottle of shampoo, then opening another zipper for your shower cap, and so forth. These toiletry kits also ensure your toiletries won’t spill.

Compression sacks

For bulky items, compression sacks are perfect. Compression sacks are also known to be used by travelers who do certain sports. Large, space-consuming items such as sleeping bags would also benefit from compression sacks. Compression sacks suck the air out of the bag and therefore, saves so much space. These sacks are also known to be durable, so you wont have to worry whether it would survive certain climates.