Agoda - Travel With A Butterfly

Close your eyes and imagine what a sleepy little town would look like. Give yourself ten seconds, then open your eyes.

OK, got a clear picture in your head? I’m sure when you were thinking about the sleepy little town, it’d probably looked something like this:

A gradient sky, a gentle and calm atmosphere, where people are a few and the ripples glide through the water like a kid riding on a slide.

This is Faro, the capital of Southern Portugal’s Algarve region. I first heard about this place when an ex colleague of mine had parents who lived there, and that he would occasionally go back to visit his family. I had never been to Portugal before, but Faro’s proximity to the seaside captivated me. For those who have been following my blog posts, you know that I have an affinity towards coastal cities. Continue reading A Sleepy Little Town Called Faro, Sorry!

Greece

Roaming In Athens

ByRyan Lee

Unlike the city of Dubai, Athens is a city to walk around in. In fact, I would say Athens is a city where you’re supposed to roam around in. Pretty much everything around here is centered around the Acropolis.

If you’ve never been to Greece before, you may feel a bit nervous or worried; after all, it’s a city that’s been in the news for it’s near bankruptcy, for its austerity measures, for always needing bailout money, and for its high unemployment rates. I remembered back when I was still working in a brokerage department, markets were falling because of the potential for Greece to default, because of the future that if Greece left the Eurozone, a lot of countries would follow suit, and because of the fear that it would create a domino effect of defaults in Eurozone. This was back in 2011. Continue reading Roaming In Athens

Greece

Offseason In Santorini

ByRyan Lee

Don’t go during the very offseason in Santorini.

A lot of amazing accommodations are not opened. A lot of amazing restaurants are not opened. The weather can be terrible – frosty and cold while raining, making the cobbled pathways slippery and uncomfortable to walk in. Sometimes, it hails at night. It’s pitch black during the night. A lot of shops aren’t opened.

Yet again, perhaps due to these reasons we had cheaper accommodations and flights. Perhaps that’s why Santorini seemed like it belonged to us, as there were no other tourists to fight with. Continue reading Offseason In Santorini

Japan

Let’s Drive: Nagoya (Japan Part Three)

ByRyan Lee

This is part three of a four part series blog post. The first talked about my days in Izu Peninsula, Hakone, and Gotemba. You can read it by clicking here.

The second part talked about the climb to Mt. Fuji summit and Fuji Five Lakes. You can read the second part by clicking here.

This blog post will concentrate on Nagoya.

You can read about the 4th post, on Tokyo, by clicking here.

Accommodations

Nagoya – Dormy Inn Premium Nagoya Sakae. 2-20-1 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya Station / Downtown, Nagoya, Japan, 460-0003. Booked through www.agoda.com. Continue reading Let’s Drive: Nagoya (Japan Part Three)

Japan

Let’s Drive: Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes (Japan Part Two)

ByRyan Lee

This is a continuation of my Japan trip. For more information on my climb to Mt. Fuji summit, read below. For part one on Izu Peninsula, Hakone, and Gotemba, read here. For part three on Nagoya, read here. For part four on Tokyo, click here.

Accommodations

Mt. Fuji Station Hotel. 2-7-12 Matsuyama, Fujiyoshida-shi, Yamanashi, Kawaguchi-ko / Sai-ko, Mount Fuji, Japan, 403-0016. Booked through www.agoda.com.

Similar to the Hotel MyStays; it’s like those very good budget hotels that aren’t terrible but is quite small but honestly it has everything you need, and it’s tidy and clean enough that you don’t have to worry about a thing. Please note that this hotel was booked for the days we were suppose to visit Fuji Five Lakes AND Mt. Fuji, but this hotel is not exactly in any of the locations. It’s still some driving distance (around 15-20 mins) from the lakes, and definitely far from the Yoshida 5th station at Mt. Fuji (more on that in 2nd post). Also has parking. Continue reading Let’s Drive: Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes (Japan Part Two)

Japan

Let’s Drive: Izu Peninsula, Hakone, Gotemba (Japan Part One)

ByRyan Lee

This is a series of four blog posts because of the number of different places I went to for my Japan trip, and I want each post short enough to keep you from getting bored but long enough to provide you as many details as I could.

This first post will focus on the western parts beyond Tokyo – Izu Peninsula, Hakone, and Gotemba. The second part will focus on Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes, especially focus on Mt. Fuji since I feel it deserves a more special post. The third part will focus on Nagoya, and the fourth post will focus on Tokyo. The Gotemba was mainly going to the Gotemba Premium Outlets, and we actually went on two separate days. So it was outlets, Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes, then a revisit to Gotemba again. Continue reading Let’s Drive: Izu Peninsula, Hakone, Gotemba (Japan Part One)