[travel] What is there in Cologne?

Apart from this?

After a stressful flight from Rome to Amsterdam, I got back to my room in Utrecht at 11:30pm on 17 January 2014. I rushed to do laundry, check emails, and do some very very last minute packing for yet another adventure the next day. Yes, I have to get up at 5am to catch my 6am train for Cologne. Guys, this is seriously strenuous alright. After 1 week of non-stop sightseeing in Italy, a flight + train ride + biking back, a few hours of doing laundry and waiting for my clothes to dry, I have 3 hours of sleep before getting back to the road.

Given my fragile state on that day, it is no surprise that I did not enjoy Cologne very much.

[travel] Wonderful winter scenery at Chuncheon, Korea

It’s 5 hours to the 3rd of January 2014 and I still think it’s 2012. Time is strange. To anyone who’s reading this post I hope you’ve had a great NYE.

Remember the time when I wrote an ~article worth~ post about spending a marvelous autumn day at Nami Island and asked you to check out Chuncheon’s signature dishes for we couldn’t afford a proper meal due to our state of forever living on a tight budget? Well this time I’ve finally had my dream come true trying them myself at the very heart of where the dishes come from: Chuncheon. Of course we didn’t spend an entire day traveling to only eat a pan of marinated chicken, but what Chuncheon had in store for me was absolutely beyond my imagination.

[travel] Chinatown @ Incheon, Korea

I like Seoul and all its diverse ranges of food and cultural venues, but soon enough new places start running out and sadly so does my creativity when it comes to choosing a good one to hang out. In addition to my pent-up frustration, the weather is at its worst these days (raining mornings, wet snow and blowing winds etc.) which makes every Friday aka the only time of the week I have a full day off a problem. This weekend, in order to celebrate non-existent Thanksgiving in Korea aka a reasonable excuse to get out of Seoul, I headed to Incheon and spent the day walking around Korea’s only official Chinatown.

This post is pretty personal what with my face plastered all over on photos, trivial complaints and cat-centered stories so…you have been warned.

[travel] How new buildings should look, observations from a trip to Rotterdam

I usually favor historical places: an old town, an antique church, a vintage stores with items that have passed their golden days. Knowing my preferences, one friend warned me that I would not like Rotterdam–the most non-Dutch city in terms of architecture and ‘feel’. While other Dutch cities are mostly old and relatively small in size, with tall churches and cobbled pathway imbued with the depth of time, Rotterdam is big, new, modern, and is covered with exciting, futuristic, and innovative buildings. Contrary to what my friend expected, I found myself deeply impressed by the city’s vibe, but even more so my the incredible architectural creations in every corner of Rotterdam.

[travel] Delft, the dreamy town

After 3 weeks of recovery from my extensive Europe trip, this weekend I decided that either I started to resume my “going-to-a-new-place-every-2-weeks” plan or I would rot and become a lazy pathetic being who has started her hibernation way too prematurely. While it is universal knowledge that I am pathetic, I refuse to be classified as ‘lazy’… Taking advice from a classmate, finally yesterday, on a foggy, misty, oh-so-typical Dutch Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of the room and hopped on the train to Delft.

[travel] Nami Island – more than just a filming location

Nami Island is one of the most popular tourist attractions out of Seoul, widely known as the famous filming location for Winter Sonata – a drama that once took over the entire Asia when it was aired in 2002. My first visit to Nami was back in March when the last bits of winter still lingered thus everything was barely alive, which is why this time around the beauty of Nami in autumn totally blows my mind away.

[travel] My last day in Maastricht

This is the last post of my Maastricht-Brussels series. After our quick trip to Brussels, we took it easy in Maastricht by just visiting the two famous landmark of Basilica of Saint Servatius–a beautiful Roman Catholic Church, and Selexyz Dominicanen–a former Dominican church dating back to the 13th century, which now serves as a the world’s coolest bookstore.

[travel] My day trip to the magnificent Brussels, Belgium

I’m back from my epic trip to Maastricht and Brussels;v; It was tiring, but exceptionally fun and awesome. I still have a stack of Maastricht photos to sort out, but I can’t wait to share my Brussels photos right now. Such a gorgeous, gorgeous city. It is the heart of Europe for a reason lol. Though I didn’t appreciate the fact that the streets were a whole lot dirtier and people seemed to speak worse English than in the Netherlands, the sights I saw, the foods I tasted, the experiences I had were simply amazing.

[travel] Maastricht: first impression

Greetings from Maastricht–the capital of the province of Limburg, the birthplace of the European Union, of European citizenship, and of the euro. I remember reading about this city when I was 13 years old in my Geography text book and was fascinated by it. Little did I know that I would be here for real.

I took a 2-hour train ride from Utrecht to Maastricht, arriving at 5pm. The weather was fabulous so my friend took me out for a walk for a few hours before we headed back to her room to plan our travel itinerary tomorrow. Guess who is going to Brussels in 10 hours? xDDDDD But lemme share some snapshots of Maastricht today first.

[travel] My day trip to Amsterdam, the Netherlands

3 weeks of living the Dutch life and I finally managed to go to Amsterdam for only 7 hours :\ Albeit in my limited time there, I got to see a panoramic picture of Amsterdam by taking the whole day hop on/hop off cruise trip. Amsterdam means canals (well, among other things…) so taking a boat ride was the most sensible way to get a first taste of the city. Of course I wanted to see Anne Frank’s house, Rembrandt’s house, the Van Gogh museum, the Rijk museum, the Red Light District and etc etc. but I was totally satisfied with my short time in Amsterdam. In any case, Amsterdam is just a 28 minute train ride from Utrecht xD So you can expect more posts about this gorgeous capital in the near future.