love

You could say that my husband and I have a slight obsession with Asia! In the past five years we have been to Japan, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar , Laos, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. This year we decided to check out two new Asian countries-South Korea and the Philippines.

What keeps drawing us back you may ask? Each of the countries is so different, but all such rich and distinct cultures. All much different than our own. In my opinion, there is nothing more satisfying then learning , exploring and experiencing other cultures. Not all of our Asian experiences have been glorious and splendid. But that is part of travel! How boring would it be if everything was always comfortable and predictable!

We set out on our journey with a first stop in Tokyo. We have been to Tokyo a few times now, and whenever we have a layover the debate is how long should we extend it. We just love Tokyo so much! Not wanting to take too much time away from the new destinations, we decided 2 nights in Tokyo on the front end of the trip and 1 night on the back should be good!

Thankfully, (for the first time in a long time) our travel to Asia was smooth sailing! No delays, no issues!We arrived at Narita Airport and took the train into Tokyo- arriving just in time for an early afternoon dinner! The train took about an hour and is an easy ride. The thing you first notice about Japan, is how helpful people are. While the trains system and many signs are in Japanese, if you are lost or need assistance, most locals are more than willing to help.

The immediate excitement of Tokyo is overwhelming as you walk down the brightly lit streets! Overwhelming, in a good way! Imagine NYC but times 10, cleaner and just so rich with culture! Now, perhaps the Japanese feel this way about NYC when they visit?

We were craving some fresh sushi, and nothing beats the sushi in Japan! We found an awesome conveyor belt sushi place, which I am convinced we went to on our honeymoon 5 years ago, but hubby wasn’t sure. With our travel backpacks and gear in tow, we had to squeeze our way into the small establishment. Restaurants in Tokyo , are often very small. Some only with 5 or 6 seats. This one, although small, had probably 20 or so seats, and no restroom. But boy, oh boy was the sushi good!

Sake tasting

The damage– all of our plates

After dinner we checked into the gorgeous Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku. We had stayed here on our honeymoon and loved it! Shinjuku is one of the coolest areas to walk around in Tokyo! It is very central and easy to get on the train to anywhere else in the city.

Our room was as lovely as we remembered , with gorgeous views of the city! We enjoyed cocktails in the executive lounge , with even more fabulous city views!

The next morning we set out to explore an area we previously enjoyed – Shibuya. Shibuya is a huge commercial and business area with two of the busiest rail stations in the world ( Shibuya and Shinjuku). Shibuya crossing is known as the busiest intersection the world! It is really something!

It seemed rather quiet for a Saturday morning for Shibuya, but it certainly picked up as the time went on. We had an amazingly delicious ramen lunch! The food is also one of the reasons we love Tokyo ( and Japan in general). The Japanese know how to do food. They take so much pride in their cooking and it really shows!

Vending machine ordering is very common in Japan—

Conner (aka hubby, aka John) is the navigator when we travel, and he does such a great job! We decided to explore an area of Tokyo we had not yet seen before- “Electric City”or Akihabara. The Japanese love their video games and electronics! This is seen everywhere-but electric city was insane ! It was huge buildings , all 5-6 levels , one after another filled with all sorts of gaming. Everything from the “claw” grabbing machines featuring anime figurines, to dance games and virtual reality- even horse racing!

Vending machines are EVERYWHERE

I got in trouble for trying to take a video of the gamers– oops! But just imagine– pure craziness!

every old school video game ever made

We had a blast walking around our favorite city all afternoon! Navigating the trains in Tokyo can be confusing – even my amazing hubby navigator needs some time to figure it out–

That evening we had another amazing meal ( you really can’t go wrong in Tokyo), followed by cocktails in the hotel lounge and even a stop at our old favorite Karaoke bar! We had randomly walked into it on our honeymoon and had a blast! Finding it again this trip was just awesome! We chatted with some locals and watched as a beautiful ladyboy sang some tunes. (Lady boys are pretty common in Asia- and they love to sing karaoke!)

The next morning we set out for our next stop Seoul, South Korea! Tokyo , you never disappoint, and the more time we spend with you , the more we love you! If you haven’t been to Japan, put it at the top of your bucket list- I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Ja Matane ( see you later),

Kinz

We arrived at the Surabaya airport (about an hour drive from our hotel with traffic) ready to head to the gorgeous Gili Islands. “Gili” means ” island” in Indonesian, so Gili Island is like saying “Island island”. The 3 main Gilis- Gili, Trawangan (Gili T for short), Gili Air and Gili Meno becoming more and more popular due to their immense beauty. They are so isolated, which alone makes them so special and romantic. Everyone has heard of Bail, but really Gili, the more beautiful ( you’ll read more on this later), is less tarnished and touched by overwhelming tourists. We were heading to stay at Gili T, the largest of the three islands. Doing research, we found it had the most activities.

We flew to the island of Lombook ( the Gilis are considered part of the Lombook territory or province). Landing in Lombook, Conner had arranged through our hotel for a driver to then take us to the pier where we would catch a ferry. Our driver waiting for us was holding our name sign upside down- hehe. We rode about an hour and a half to the pier. The island of Lombook was quite pretty, with many temples, hotels. restaurants, nightlife.

Arriving at the pier a boat driver approached us “ where you going”. We told him and he said “ ok come on”— we had no idea how they worked out the payment. Conner had already paid through the hotel so we are really confused about it all. But we boarded the guys boat. He looked about 15 and had two crew/ buddies helping him. They also looked about 15. The ride was rough and bumpy , but very beautiful!!!

We could see all the Gilis and Bali in the distance. Arriving at Gili T , the driver pulled to boat right up to the Island and in right in front of our hotel “ Dive Trawangan”. Talk about door to door service! Walking up the beach entrance felt so cool! There were kitties on the beach- yay!

The Indonesian kitties have short stunted tails

Our hotel had 2 gorgeous front pools and a pool bar/ restaurant.

They advertised 2 day full scuba certifications but we decided to pass. We were there 4 days, but wanted to do other thing, and knew that would monopolize our time. It was really cool though to see the scuba trainings in the pools. Our room was nice and spacious. The hotel gave free unlimited water fill up, free breakfast. We set our stuff in and set out to explore- Conner style!!

We walked down the main road, which is quite an experience in itself. Gili T ( and all gili’s) have no cars/ no motors. There are horses with carriage type transportation , bicycles and lots of people walking. The roads are muddy from ocean/ rain. As we walked down this amazing road, we passed numerous shops,restaurants, bars, hotels — all along a beautiful beach on the opposite side. This roads just magnificent. It really is! I encourage any traveler to come to Gili (soon) and explore this — a perfect mix of locals and tourists. It’s touristy but not too much. It keeps its authenticity..( which we find out later not the case in Bali).

There was a baby sea turtle rescue organization right outside our hotel–

We had the most amazing Christmas Eve dinner along on the beach,. Not bragging, but it was a huge seafood feast for the 2 of us- crabs. lobster, clams, oysters etc for only 25$— another reason everyone should travel to Asia!!

Dinner was romantic and wonderful. We then walked along the main street home, passing many live music spots. We had to stop! The reggae bar had an amazing band, so we stopped and enjoyed! It was so much fun! We loved the music so much and met some cool people!!!

The next AM+ Christmas Day—-!! We awake in the amazing GIli. I think — How fortunate am I? To wake up in such a beautiful place!!! I wont get very religious, however I personally have very deep rooted beliefs. I can just say , I thank God every day that I am fortunate, healthy and able to wake up in such an absolute amazing place!

Last year we woke up on Christmas Day in a treehouse in the jungle of Laos– read more here Laos adventures

This year we are off the grid again to celebrate such a wonderful day

Conner booked us a special Christmas day Boat cruise from Gili T. We arrived around 11am. Boarding the boat we immediately noticed how international it was! YAY! MY FAVE— meeting new people from other places is one of my ALL time favorite things to do!!!

Boarding the smaller transport boats to our main boat for the day , we immediately made friends. I started talking to this nice guy from Singapore – Conner was chatting with some Austailians. On the main boat we all got a nice greeted cocktail and started chatting. It was so fun! We met amazing people from -South African Rugby players, to elementary school teachers from Australia, and others from Belguim, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Kezeksatin, Singapore, Indonesia. Fabulous!!!!! So fun! We danced and talked the day away!!!

Conner doing flips off the boat–

We talked politics , religion, media,,, everything under the sun and we danced!!!!

Now this was really cool!!! After our boat cruise, we had to ferry back to land– we were on this super tiny boat with all of our international friends…. and needless to say we made our own music!!

What a fabulous way to spend Christmas. Although I missed my parents, siblings and kitties oh, so very much, I must say this was cool! I feel so fortunate and thank God! I learn so much from other people and new adventures!

After our Christmas boat party Conner and I headed back to change clothes/ shower . All of our boat friends wanted to keep dancing but we needed a refresh. We had a quick dinner at a night market- so cool and yummy- and so cheap!!!

We then met our boat friends back at the loading dock bar “ Jiggy”. There were pool tables, games and dancing! What a fun night! I found my friend Louise from earlier and danced with her while Conner played pool and beer pong.

After a late late night In Gili T , we slept in!! Of course, can you blame us?? We had a phenomenal breakfast at 11 then relaxed on the beach ALL afternoon!!!

The next day we booked a snorkeling trip along all the islands!!! It was really fun! I will say , the snorkeling wasn’t amazing. We saw some fish, a cool shipwreck site…. but honestly, there was trash. It was really sad. Pollution, trash— we saw it in Thailand as well. The beaches of the Gilis were trash free though, so that was good! Our snorkeling trip stopped at Gili Meno where we had lunch and explored. A lovely island, definitely quieter than Gili T.