Travel Archives - evannsee

Accomodation July 22, 2018

Weekend Getaway in Waiheke: The best spot do absolutely nothing

Date visited: July 2018 After 3 months of being in New Zealand, we finally got around to visiting Waiheke Island for a weekend getaway. Since Waiheke Island is only a 40 minute ferry ride away, I have basically no excuse as to why it took us this long to check it out… we’ve just been so incredibly busy doing adult stuff (and watching my plants grow.. but that’s beside the point). Fun Fact: I’ve started harvesting spinach and lettuce from my garden to EAT! Yum!! Fun Fact 2: I’ve caught over 10 slugs last week… ugh. Back to the main topic, I really wanted to escape the city life for a couple of days and soak in some nature without travelling too far, so Waiheke was the perfect choice. Despite crazy rain on the last day, we had a gorgeous time surrounded in nature. The biggest highlight for me definitely…

Lifestyle March 19, 2018

My Destination Wedding: Bali (Vendors & Tips!)

Wedding: September 2017 Starting Budget: SGD $20,000 Ending Budget: approx. $27,000 (incl. accommodations for guests, our own flight tickets and extension at the wedding villa) As most of you may know, I have just recently held the wedding of my dreams in the Island of the Gods – Bali. Looking back, it was the most amazing night of my life so far, and everything turned out like a fairy-tale. I’ve decided to finally get down to sharing contacts, vendors & tips (sorry it took so long… i got lazy haha). WHY BALI? Having a destination wedding is the perfect reason to keep it small, and the closest of the closest who REALLY WANT TO BE THERE will fly overseas to be there. People also wouldn’t be offended if we didn’t invite them. yasssss! Location-wise, Bali is only a couple of hours away and quite affordable to fly to. It also…

Accomodation August 15, 2017

Fancy Luxurious BKK Hotel Under $100 – The Salil Hotel Sukhumvit 57

Date of Travel: July 2017 So we planned another trip to BKK (rather last-minute, I have to admit) because we needed to get new suits for J – that was actually the main purpose of the trip, so you can imagine how much shopping time I sacrificed. If anyone is interested, we got them done at Jesse & Sons – they were slightly pricey, but undeniably good. My time waiting at the couch was also made more bearable with free coffee/whiskey – brownie points. Because I wasn’t going to get much shopping time, I had the full say on our accommodation choice (that’s a lie, I was always going to do the research anyway), so I searched till I found a good pretty one at a reasonable okay price. Here’s more about it! LOCATION One of our concerns – since we wanted to be relatively close to the tailors. Also,…

Bali December 13, 2016

Bali Sights Part 2 – Hidden Gems You Have To Visit!

Date of Travel: November 2016 It’s been awhile since Part 1, which I wrote about the touristy sights in Bali (Ubud) which I was definitely not impressed with – too much crowd, too high expectations. So I’ve finally gotten around to writing about Part 2 (amidst my crazy renovation planning and ROM shebangs) – the two hidden gems YOU HAVE TO VISIT! Melasti Cliff (Ungasan Cliff) Green Bowl Beach #1. Melasti Cliff / Ungasan Cliff After getting super disappointed the day before with all the touristy touch-and-go sights, we spent the night doing some thorough research and digging before we found this spot – and everything seemed too good to be true! I mean, hidden cliff…gorgeous blue waters… and no one to disrupt your me-time? That’s just too amazing! Getting There. This was the only hard part as it was not well-known amongst the drivers. We had to use our google map…

Bali November 20, 2016

Bali Sights Part 1 – Unimpressive Tourist Attractions but a Crazy Good Spa Find!

Date of travel: November 2016 Recommended Driver: Mano (+62 856 3778 685) (let him know you got the contact from Jeremy!) Bali has always been reverently known as the Island of the Gods, aptly so, as almost every corner finds you in a breath-taking landscape you never knew could exist. Prior to this trip, I have hardly ever been to Bali, except for a few times MANY years ago, staying at Hard Rock Hotel (what a shame to have missed out on the gorgeous villas available everywhere) and travelling no further than the beach down the road. This trip has been quite an eye-opener and I am certain there will be many more trips soon to explore more parts of Bali! Check out the video here! (Bump the quality up to HD!) Although we stayed in a villa 30minutes from Ubud, it took us one day to realize that touristy…

Seoul September 27, 2016

10 Things You Must Eat in Seoul!

Travel Date: September 2016 Anyone who has ever been to Seoul knows that 4 full days in this busy city is wayyyyy too short. Unfortunately, because my girlfriends J, S, and I booked a last-minute trip to Seoul over dinner 2 weeks before (#yolo right?), beggars can’t be choosers and the return flight prices were the most ideal during those dates. So with only 4 days and approximately 13 meals – every meal had to count. We planned most of our trips according to food (and shopping) in the area, and here’s 10 things you absolutely have to eat on your next trip to Seoul! Special thanks to J who did most of the planning this trip haha! #1. Budae Jjigae This was definitely on the top of our list to eat – Budae Jjigae (army stew) is shown in almost all Korean shows, making us salivate every single time.…

Accomodation September 16, 2016

Seoul Station Airbnb – Perfect For Seoul-Searching below $150 (Must-Go!)

Sweet Studio @ Seoul Station (click link) First time on Airbnb? Get $40 credit! Date of visit: September 2016 Perfect for : 3 -4 pax Seoul was a very impromptu trip for my girls and I, having decided and planned only a couple of weeks in advance. Air tickets were pricey at $800+ (Korean Airlines) due to last minute booking, and we could not spare too much time for accommodation research, in case everywhere would be booked out! That being said, it was my FIRST time in Seoul and I’ve been watching Running Man and various K-dramas enough to be a little giddy over it, sarang-hae! Hotels.com provided quite a few options, however as we had 3 pax, the comfortable places were quite pricey, at least $190/night. 5 nights would be a huge dent for us, less moolah for shopping yo! With this thought, we turned to Airbnb in search for…

Batam July 5, 2016

Lotte Mart Wholesale in Batam – YES!! (Must-Go!)

Lotte Mart Wholesale – Jl. Engku Putri, Batam Centre Core kel. Gulf Tering, district Kota Batam, Batam, Riau islands Date of visit: July 2016 Having stayed in USA for a year, I’ve grown to appreciate Costco and their wholesale supermarkets – being able to buy things in BULK (like serious bulk) and feeling like I’ve saved a ton of money. I think I’ve once bought like 60 packets of instant Quakers flavoured oatmeal for $15 or something… cool right?? That’s something I miss in Singapore, going grocery shopping with my friends and buying the staple things in bulk. So imagine my excitement when I stumbled into Lotte Mart Wholesale on a weekend trip to Batam! WHAT IS LOTTE MART Lotte Mart Wholesale is a super-sized grocery store aimed to provide businesses (retail, hotels..) and SMEs with quality products at very competitive prices. They use a membership system with these businesses (sending…

Accomodation June 22, 2016

Ban Sainai – Krabi’s Hidden Gem below $150 (Must-Go!)

Ban Sainai –550, Soi Aonang 11/1, Moo 2, Aonang Beach, Krabi, Krabi, 81000, Thailand, ‏‎800 120 6467 Date of Visit: May 2016 During my last trip to Krabi, we needed a stopover place to stay before our flight home, as we were in Koh Lanta for the majority of the time (see my review on the gorgeous Atlanta Villa). Because it was only for a night, I was issued a strict budget and reminder to be practical haha! I kept overlooking this particular hotel on Hotels.com since it looked rather “rustic” and “scruffy” from the first glance – no doubt it had a nice rustic charm, BUT I didn’t particularly want to sleep on wooden floors and straw cottages, so I never did any research on it. However, since the rooms started from $60+ a night (wow!) and had a great rating score of 4.8/5 on Hotels.com and was also listed as one…

Uncategorized June 1, 2016

5 Reasons to Get Travel Insurance (and how to use it)

Everybody knows what Travel Insurance is – it’s that thing that kiasu people buy before they go on a holiday, in case die or kena earthquake hor? Or.. it’s that thing that airlines sneakily add into your fare (then you have to remember to uncheck the box, if not your GOOD DEAL airfare of $80 suddenly becomes $150++ , because of travel insurance, upgrades, seat selection, meals, yada yada) and honestly, alot of people don’t buy travel insurance because we travel so often (#wanderlust #yolo #vacay) that we think – what are the odds of anything happening to us? Even an extra $25 not worth it! I travel quite a fair bit, especially short trips, so i totally feel your pain (go batam ferry ticket only $48 but travel insurance $20+ very expensive leh!) But recently I’ve been able to appreciate travel insurance a little better. So here’s 5 reasons…