Arabica% Coffee Kyoto

 
kimleow_arabica_coffee_kyoto

Arabica% Coffee

Higashiyama, Kyoto

87-5 Hoshinocho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture 605-0853

Opens 8am

What can I say- excellent coffee in the most perfect spot in between traditional and modern Kyoto. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. If you would like to know more about Arabica%, click here.

 
 

Cherry Blossom in Kyoto

 

Japan is so beautiful this time of the year. I personally think the best time to visit Japan is during the Sakura season. But then again Japan is a great place to visit ALL year round! 

2 things I love about Japan during the Sakura season: 

  1. Cherry Blossom trees 
  2. Starbuck's Cantaloupe (Rockmelon) Frappucino ! It's so good we had it every day when we were there.

I'm so glad I got to witnessed the beautiful Sakura bloom in Kyoto when I was there 2 years ago. (Can't believe how fast time just flew by).  Kyoto is one of my favourite cities in Japan. I love it so much, we went back there again 2 months after the first time we were there. 

Here's also the city I discovered Arabica% Coffee! I dedicated a whole blog post for it cause it's just <3  Click here for the post. 

Besides that, you can find ANYTHING and EVERYTHING green tea or matcha there. My favourite green tea place is Saryo Tsujiri - their ginger green tea is SO GOOD.  They are also well known for their dessert parfaits.

Here is my list of things to do in Kyoto (pictures to follow):

  • Kyoto Train Station (there's everything there! Shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, movie theater and even an observation deck on the rooftop)
  • Arabica% Coffee in Higashiyama
  • Walking around Higashiyama area
  • Saryo Tsujiri
  • Nishiki Market
  • Visit Gion during the day (everybody goes to Gion at night in hopes of Geisha sighting)

We've done all the other tourist attractions the first time around so I'm not going to include it here.

 

Honeymoon Shoot with WanderZoom

As much as I love having my photos taken when I'm travelling (usually by my husband hehe), it's always better to have photos us two at our travel destination. Especially for this particular trip because it was our very much delayed, (by 2 years!) honeymoon trip! 

So I'm very happy we've engaged WanderZoom for this purpose. Not only did we get to keep our memories together in Copenhagen, we also got a free tour out of our photoshoot with our photographer Nick. 

He showed us places that the locals would go to for food, historical buildings and even told us about the property rental market in the city. Instead of bringing us to the usually crowded canals, he brought us to an equally beautiful canal with the famous colourful houses- minus the many MANY tourists! The area that he brought us around for photos is called Christianshavn. I highly recommend this place if you want to take serene and beautiful photos of the beautiful canal. 

I honestly think photos are the best form of souvenirs from your travels. 

Here are some of our souvenirs to you from Copenhagen :)

Thanks again WanderZoom for the awesome service!

 
 

8 hours in Singapore

 

I thought I'd do a fun and short video about our layover in Singapore for 8 hours via Jetstar on the way back to Australia. This is my first time making a travel video so please do excuse me for my noob cameraman skills (note shaky hands and blurry videos) but nonetheless we had so much fun in that short 8 hours!

We hope you enjoy this video as much as we did filming it:

 
 
 

We decided to check in at Aerotel transit hotel. BEST decision ever! I know some have said why bother checking in when it's only 8 hours. But can I tell you how GOOD it felt to be able to shower and change into dry comfy clothes before our flight? Other than that, the view was amazing from our room! We could see planes land and take off. We were also able to leave our hand carry in the room while we explore Singapore. There's also an outdoor swimming pool, at the airport! How cool is that. The hotel charges by hour (minimum of 6 hours) and it really is perfect for those transiting in the wee hours of the morning.

Places we went :

  1. Aerotel - Changi Airport
  2. One Fullerton (to see the amazing view of Marina Bay Sands)
  3. No Signboard Seafood Restaurant (for their famous, delicious but expensive Chilli Crab -so worth it though)

With the limited time we had, we had to choose between P.S Cafe or Chilli Crab, we obviously went for the latter because we can always get good coffee in Australia. Perhaps next time we could do a bit of cafe hopping because this definitely won't be our last time in Singapore.

What I wore in the video:

 Top - Portmans, Leggings- Adidas, Shoes - Nike Toki Slip Ons, Bag - Fendi Du Jour.

Most of the footage were captured on my iPhone6 and some with my Canon 6D. 

Anniversary Shoot in Tokyo with Travel Shoot

Today marks the 13th year I've been together with my best friend/soul mate/ the love of my life. YAY!! I can't believe we have come so far and we still haven't ran out to things to talk about. Hopefully there will be many more years to come!

Jason and I travel quite a bit and we always have our camera with us. But we hardly have nice pictures of us together, it's always just one of us (mostly me) or we are stuck really close up selfies. So when we were given an opportunity to work with Travelshoot, we thought why not? It would be great for our anniversary this year. Travelshoot is a photography service company that connects travellers with a local photographer in the city they are travelling to, to take some photos for them to take home with. I seriously love this idea and was so excited to work with them.

We were in Tokyo, Japan when we had our photoshoot. Our photographer, Electra, suggested that we should take some shots at Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park, both places we haven't been before. Electra was so helpful that the night before, she sent us a picture of the place that we were supposed to meet up at so that we don't get lost as we have no wi-fi nor a local number to be contacted at. We wanted some cherry blossoms in our pictures but unfortunately when we were there, the cherry blossom season was almost over. Lucky for us, we stumbled upon one when we were walking around Yoyogi Park. 

Jason and I are both really awkward when we're in front of the camera. The only other time we had a shoot like this was during our wedding! Also because Jason doesn't like being in front of the camera, he really prefers to be behind the lens. Despite the awkwardness, I'm so happy we now have photos of us together at one of our many travel adventures, thanks to Travel Shoot!

Here are some pictures we took:

 
 
 

During your next travel, why not book a photography service through Travelshoot so you can have beautiful and professionally taken pictures to take home with you? For me, I think that's the best kind of souvenir to bring home.

 

Mount Wellington, Tasmania

Just wanted to share some pictures of our trip to Mount Wellington,Tasmania in October 2015. It was out first time in Tasmania and unfortunately, we arrived on a public holiday. So most of the shops were closed and we had nothing to do.  We actually went up the mountain 3 times (once during the day, sunrise and sunset!) and every time it was just so magical.  We also witnessed a beautiful proposal during sunrise. Lucky girl!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.