Discovering Blackheath, NSW

Winter time is one of the best times to visit the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. It can be freezing with crisp air and you might get lucky with an occasional snow fall which adds a dramatic winter wonder land feel. Winter time is also the Yulefest celebration or popularly known as Christmas in July, with venues serving hearty Christmas fare, carols, fire places and even the presence of Santa in some venues. We religiously make a yearly pilgrimage to Katoomba and have mulled wine or even a bottle of Champagne to celebrate Christmas in the colder season. This trip we also visited Blackheath, a town close to Katoomba.

Sunshine Coast Queensland: the perfect winter getaway!

To best appreciate the many facets of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, you’ll need a car. Depending on your arrival point, you can rent a car from Brisbane Airport or Maroochydore Airport, the gateway to the Sunshine Coast. From Brisbane it’s over an hours drive (105 km) via the M1,  a bus service also operates a shuttle transfer for those who don’t want to drive.

York, England in a day, what to see!

If you like an old world with a higgledy-piggledy atmosphere, a visit to Medieval York is must on your bucket list. Old York is a walled city in North Yorkshire England, and has produced evidence of ancient settlements as far back as 7-8000 years BC, way before the wave of invasions like that of the Romans, who named it as Eboracum in 71 AD.

72 hours in Tokyo!

‘Goraiten itadakimashite makoto ni arigatou gozaimasu’ (thank you for coming to our store), when you keep hearing this announcement as you enter and exit any department store, you know that you are in one of the most exiting cities in the world, Tokyo.

If you have arrived at your hotel in downtown Tokyo from Narita or Haneda with out any mix-ups, that’s brilliant, you are on the right track. For most first time visitors to Tokyo it can be challenging and often daunting experience, especially if your time is limited, what to do and where to go if you haven’t pre-planned your trip.

A day trip to Hakone, Japan by ‘Romancecar’

If time permits during your stay in Tokyo, a good way to experience rural Japan is to head off to a nearby town for a day trip. One popular destination is a visit to Hakone, a mountainous town located west of Tokyo.

We have been to Japan a number of times, and during our last trip we endeavoured to visit this town, to experience its famous Onsen, hot spring bath. This is also a good vantage point to see Mount Fuji from Lake Ashi, weather permitting of course.

A taste of Boodle feast!

I’ve always wanted to experience a boodle feast or fight for a very long time. I’ve seen a lot of photos on social media and television food networks showing what a gastronomical experience this type of Filipino dining is, where food favourites are served on a wide-green banana-leaf platter and eaten with bare hands. So I contacted my friends whilst back in the Philippines, to see if they would like to have a get together and catch up over a boodle night, everyone liked the idea, so bring on the food war!