Wanderlust: Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto

Back to Japan this December, barely 2 months from my first step into the sacred land of Hello Kitty and Udon. This time with my family in tow, seeing scenes from a different era, enchanted by the remnants of an age not forgotten.

In between

The last 3 weeks - I dropped my favorite Pen Lite after the big party in Amsterdam and broke my lens...

I bought a new DSLR on impulse in Tokyo (but I love it!!)...

I woke up to the most amazing views ever...

I went butt naked in -1 degrees celsius to soak in an outdoor onsen in Hakone...

I took lots of eye-expanding purikura...

I watched an amazing dolphin show and laughed at cute penguins, unplanned and spontaneously discovered next to our hotel in Shinagawa...

I bought cool boots which got me through the snow at only EUR 29 and JPY 2900 (cheap deals FTW!) ...

I shopped with the view of Mt Fuji...

I feel like I need another break to recover from this long break. 

With over a 1000 photos in my memory card, stay tuned for more photos (after my break). Ta!

Sinterklaas Weekend in Eindhoven

Last weekend the Kamphuis family very warmly welcomed us into their home at Eindhoven, and we celebrated Sinterklaas (a Dutch tradition) together! It was all very exciting to consume so much sugar in one day (!!) and learn about their culture, so many cute songs to learn! Though there was quite a big hoohah over Sinterklaas being racist this year, I say that it's all in the perception, most people just celebrate it as a tradition, not linking it at all to slavery, so I say let the Dutch keep their traditions!

Plus we went to a REAL farm to buy a REAL Christmas tree, no fake plastic trees like those in Singapore hurhur. And after, we got to decorate the tree wheehoo!

Then it was time for dinner!! Traditional Sinterklaas meals are like our steamboat grill, just that everyone has an individual little pan instead of everyone cooking on the same big pan. Yummy yummy! We brought a bit of Asia with us, dressing up in our Onesies!

After dinner, it's time for the gift exchange! In Sinterklaas, there's a twist, as the presents are usually random things around the house that have never been used. There's usually a whole stack of them, and the first round we roll dice to see which presents are in our pile. After unwrapping the presents, we roll dice again to take/exchange those presents (e.g. I got a toilet brush and passed it to someone else hahaha). Real fun!

Went to sleep real early that night as we had flown the whole night before from Singapore (yawnnnnn). But the next morning we were in for a real treat with breakfast and a surprise early birthday celebration for Irene!! *Pops confetti!!*



And it's time to....go shopping!!! Papa drove us downtown to the new Primark and to Roermond outlet. Didn't buy much, but got to catch the loveliest sunset ever!

Though we were only there for 1 day, the warmth and love we felt was real and fuzzy! Hope to see you again soon Papa and Mama Kamphuis!