Hi guys! It’s been a long while since my last post isn’t it? I just came back from a long holiday and thought it apt to share about planning an international trip!
Planning Your International Trip Right
What is everyone’s travel nightmare when it comes to travelling internationally? When everything doesn’t seem to add up correctly. Mind you, this isn’t about getting mugged or scammed out of your money, but more on the preparations phase you might have planned poorly before your anticipated trip. Hence in today’s entry, I’d like to raise a few pointers you might want to take into consideration when you plan your international travel, especially if this is your first trip!
Before we get into the thrill of travelling the world, we might have the perspective that to travel, all you need to do is hop on any cheap flights we can find, and off we go for an adventure. However it might be more complex than that, especially when you’re going to somewhere beyond your own country’s borderlines. Lucky for you, I’ve round up this simple checklist for you!
1. The basics: Where? When? How?
Where? – Even spontaneous traveller needs to have a destination in mind before embarking on one. The reason for being sure of where the destination? Well, from knowing just the “Where”, you get to get an overview of what are the things you might need to bring. Let’s say you’re planning to go to Bali. Bali is a beautiful island, hence you know you won’t be needing a lot of fancy clothes because you’ll be spending a lot of time in a beach environment.
When? – Unlike Singapore where we’re pretty much on a one-season basis, other countries might not be so simple. If you’re travelling to the Philippines, you will definitely need to know the seasons they have. You do not want to go there during June because all you’ll be seeing is rainy clouds.
How? – This does not mean the type of transportation you will need because, for international destinations, we both know the main transport you will be boarding is on those with wings. My recommendation based on track record and general demand? SilkAir. Now, this is not the only recommendations I have, but one of it. SilkAir Singapore flights provide all the facilities you need to make your long-haul flights comfortable. I’ll be exploring this bit later in the “Choosing your airline” section.
2. Choosing your airline
Like my previous point, I recommend SilkAir; however, that is one of the many recommendations I have under my belt. Each airline serves different purposes, and SilkAir is one of those that provide well above average services for international routes. You can find cheap Singapore to Bali flights in any channels, be it their official website to the several online travel agency that serves their tickets like Traveloka for example.
Why is airline so important to take into consideration?
Three words: Quality services provided.
International routes, especially those that cross between 4 to 8 hours will be a pain to you physically and mentally if their services are below average – like, way below. You cannot run away from a crappy service because you are literally thousands of feet off the ground! Hence, I’m going straight to the point and listed the services that SilkAir provide well for their flyers.
SilkAir Services:
1. Seating class: Economy vs Business
Their Economy class provides great comfort with their width between 17-18 inches. It gives you plenty of legroom and pretty spacious for your kids if you are travelling with children. Their Business class on the other hand, of course, provide greater comfort with an extra legroom space and seating width between 20-22 inches. In a specific type of airline, their Business class seats even come with additional seat recline.
2. In-flight amenities: Dining and Entertainment
When it comes to food, SilkAir knows the best way to someone’s heart is through the stomach. SilkAir provides large varieties of food choices that could cater to the crazy foodies and those under special diet preferences. Be sure to give them a heads up if you are a vegetarian or allergic in some sort of way with certain food. With varieties of food also comes with a variety of drinks. Be it alcohol-based or juices, you will have the free flow you need to ensure your liquid intake is as satisfactory as your food intake.
When it comes to entertainment, I’m pretty sure you’ll get all the basic stuff you need to make your trip runs smoothly. SilkAir entertainment inventory is packed with the latest movies from various genres. You’re not into movies? Hard to believe but not impossible. There is also an extensive collection of audiobooks and music that could give you some relaxing entertainment.
3. A checklist may seem nerdish, but they are also called smart
Create your travel checklist. This checklist does not necessarily mean how many pair of clothes you have to bring or how many bottles of sunscreen you are going to need. This checklist marks its existence before, during and after your trip. From creating your visa to listing down your medical supplies; from having a checklist for your day-to-day activities at your destination to a checklist containing emergency contacts should things get a bit unpredictable, or even merely a checklist to get you through the airport or immigration. A checklist is your friend; let it be your friend!
So, there you have it. It is a brief anecdote to get you prepped up for your international flights. Either you’re new to travelling or even have been frequent travellers, all in all, we need to make thorough preparations. No matter how small or insignificant it may seem, but, trust me, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Better to have a headache now than later when you’re in a foreign land.
Anyways, happy holidays, everyone! Have fun & stay safe always!
x
Ena
P.S. This post was written in partnership with Traveloka.
Olive Young:
Came by StyleNanda at Hongdae:
Also, Chuu official has nice lip tints!
Always love plane rides and enjoying the view from above! <3
With Daddy on the plane!
You’ll see a lot of pretty peranakan-style shophouses in Penang, similar to those along Katong in Singapore. I love the relief designs and the exterior of shophouses in general, so you’ll be seeing a lot of them in my post today! Lol!
Took a photo of this building exterior because it’s interesting. I’d admit it’s not pretty, but definitely unique!
Took a photo so I can figure out later where this kopitiam is located at, but I can’t find it online, except that it’s along Jalan Penang, rofl.
Penang style iced kopi and beef noodles!
Beef tendon noodles. I find that Penang food has its own unique flavours, unlike anything I’ve tried in Singapore.
With everyone at lunch table and mummy not looking in the camera, LOL.
Shophouse exhibits 3.
Shophouse exhibits 4. More really old looking shophouses which are a dime a dozen in Penang.
A relic looking building hoarded up possible for works. Reminds me of Malacca. After visiting Penang, I came to realize that Penang has a lot of similarities to Malacca, with the strong cafe culture, a heritage centric zone, Peranakan influence, relics and a lot of awesome local food. The main few differences at the top of my mind is that Penang is much further from Singapore and also famous for Penang beach. Malacca also has a seaside, but not as famous as Penang.
I love the industrial chic interior style, which is all the rage in interior design lately. 
Greenery providing a nice contrast with the industrial vibes.
Different seats thrown together for an eclectic style.
Lots of interesting artworks pepper the streets. It would be really nice if Singapore had a street like that, don’t you think?
Cute sand art featuring animals.
In front of an artsy souvenir store, ottokedal.
We continued our cafe window shopping trail and came across this mural.
Another shot of the mural. Love the colours!
This cafe we passed by had a pond in its courtyard.
And a “福” which is missing a stroke… which makes for a photo opportunity/wall!
Told Dad to get into position. HA.
And here’s my take. 😛
After crossing the courtyard, we made way into a cafe abounding with cat drawings. 
They provide paper and drawing materials on the table for customers to doodle, draw and colour! What a fun idea.
Basically The Canteen at Chinatown is a traditional compound of 3 heritage buildings, linked by an open air courtyard and converted into 14 spaces comprising shops, cafes, restaurants, galleries, live music and bakery. Visit their website 
We also popped by this coffee shop selling coffee beans.
And walked through another coffeeshop with quirky interiors, to say the least.
And a really pretty courtyard. Except it was really too hot to to be out.
Sis and I popped inside a space for a photo. HAHA. Spot the little birdy on the frame?
Casually seated right by the stall.
With our ice creams!
Paired with nata de coco, jelly and corn. Yums!
Dad posing for a photo with the baby, LOL.
Uncle one-live-band! I totally made that up, but that’s exactly what he is. Which reminds me that I should totally do a vlog the next time I travel, because you can’t hear the music through a blog post.
We came by this building and I love the palace like details that goes into that exterior!
Look at that. I wonder if its real gold plated or gold paint.
Mural art exhibit 2. Twist.
Shophouse exhibit 5. Dad’s got the swag in this pose, lol!
Want a beach experience right in the middle of Penang? 
Ta-da! HAHAHAHA. You must be thinking, “Like that also can?”.
Mural exhibit 3. And another really random wall mural / artistic feature. Gotta love the purple wall, so pretty!
And then we came to visit this temple which is famous for this secret passageway. For more backstory and temple interior, you can visit this 
And the contrast of the light and shadows.
Travel trips are all about finding the beauty in the environment and taking artistic shots, hahaha. 
The beauty of travel is finding the otherwise mundane lives of the locals, fascinating.
Buildings that might be otherwise overlooked by locals become outstanding. Look at those dragon statues on the rooftop! I didn’t edit the colours of of my photos (trust me when I say it will take forever to edit 222 photos, maybe you will only see it in 4 years if I do, lol) but if I did, this building will look even more remarkable. 🙂
When I’ve earned enough money from making a living, I’d love to travel the world, take photos for inspiration and design collections be it fashion, beauty or interior design from each travel! That’s my dream. 🙂 
For lunch, we came by this 
A particularly interesting menu which included a lot of articles and text too!
And thissss. Omg. The food is so yummy, yummy is an understatement. We ordered Jawi Herbal Lemuni Rice, Jawi Briyani, Prawn Briyani and more but I cannot recall the names now, oops. You can check out their menu online 
After lunch, we continued the walk around Georgetown from before.
Sign of no street food stalls allowed.
Mural exhibit 4, of a rickshaw uncle taking a break on the rickshaw.
Time to check in! We stayed at 
Parent’s room in the Red Rock Hotel. Damn big, I know.
Photos of a hat I bought for Christabelle as she was looking for something similar for her D&D event. 🙂
After checking in, we headed out again for some seaside sightseeing. And then omg… I had to walk down this rickety wooden bridge. It was scary!
The view however, was so pleasant. 
Dad and mum looking so chill by the seaside.
We met an uncle who was showing us his fishing loots. Don’t really know what this is either, but it was like the size of my fist.
Afternoon sun. Looking back at this post, it does feel that we had a super long day, isn’t it?
We passed by this house which seemed to be rearing bulldogs. This puppy is cuteee. 
Then we headed for desserts!
I had Aiyu jelly, which was yums. Gotta admit though, the street stall didn’t seem very hygienic.
We also passed by this Georgetown Wines, which seems like a really pretty and laidback evening spot.
And then we came to Kedai Kasut, where world famous shoe designer Jimmy Choo started his apprenticeship!
Can’t miss a photo with Jimmy Choo, can I? HAHA.
This is presumably the exact spot/shop where Jimmy Choo has his apprenticeship.
Gotta love these cute and informative metal artworks! 
More really pretty dining spots.
Mural exhibit 5 of a man with a long white beard and sis posing below.
Shophouse exhibits 6.
Shophouse exhibit 7.
Shophouse exhibit 8.
A cat cafe! But sadly we didn’t go in.
So cute though!
And a camera museum, which you can visit if you’re keen! 🙂
A cute beer place.
Love little details like this.
Shophouse exhibits 9.
Mural exhibit 7.
Yunno, just posing with the fam outside a cute door.
Mural exhibit 8, riding on Uncle’s sampan.
Yes, you could totally do a Penang Food Trail cause there’s so much yummy food here.
Like this restaurant where we had our dinner, Shing Keang Aun Restaurant which is famous for its authentic Hainanese food.
UNFORTUNATELY I was too hungry and forgot to take photos of our delicious dinner. T_T Visit their foursquare page 
After dinner, we headed back to rest. And then mum, sis and I headed out for supper. HAHAHAHA. I know. I too, am surprised that we had the stomach for supper. XD We just walked down on the further left side of Red Rock Hotel where there’s a lot of hawker and coffeeshops and we opted for one that seemed cleaner and more spacious. 🙂
They have a lot of ingredients displayed, customers order and the chef cooks on the spot.
We ordered cockles! Although I prefer clams.
A lot of vegetables on display too.
This is the shop we visited. 东京海鲜饭档. 
Tbh, supper was not spectacular. It was a tad too oily. I think the experience of having supper was more fun than the supper taste itself.
We also ordered oyster omelette – which is one of my fave! 😀
Fruit stall by the road. We bought some fresh fruits to bring back to the hotel.
We arrived early.
A cute wall decor at the church.
My dad is a retired Hokkien pastor, so he was the invited speaker that day. 🙂
With a sweetheart and her mum after church service!
For lunch, we visited this Zhong Hua restaurant nearby.
Crispy noodles.
Fried noodles.
Egg tarts!
Vegetables dim sum.
Dim sum galore. Think we over-ordered.
Parents with aunty.
After lunch, we took a cab down to shop! The cab has this cute hand drawn map on his car.
We came to Gurney Paragon to shop. It’s rated number 1 among the 
Gurney Plaza is just next doors. But Gurney Paragon is so big, we didn’t even have time to finish shopping the mall alone in 2 hours.
Came by this cute The Zakka store that sells a lot of cute accessories.
We bought a lot of snacks from Ban Heang which was just next doors to our hotel, haha.
We didn’t shop a lot, bought a few clothings and masks.
Random poses right outside the hotel.
The Ban Heang shop with yummy and affordable local treats.
We tried this Hello Kitty chocolate mooncake, which was TOO SWEET. Sugar overload.
For dinner, our parents and us went separate ways. Our penang friends Shaw Wooi and Wan Lin brought us towards Penang beach side for drinks and dinner.
We came to Hard Rock Hotel for drinks. The live band was really pretty good! I really enjoyed the songs they sang. Again, another reminder I should do vlogs for my next trip. 🙂
After the rain stopped, we headed to Tree Monkey. 
We opted for this Asian Tapas set.
Unfortunately we missed the sunset, the owner recommends coming in the early evening for a beautiful sunset view.
Pineapple rice.
Calamari Rings.
Curry.
Tom Yum Soup.
My favourite would be this Asian Tapas.
Group shot!
We really enjoyed the ambient and service by the humourous team as well.
Post dinner, we came by Starbucks for drinks.
Walked by all the street side stalls. Located near Holiday Inn Resort.
They even have Starbucks Gear, which is unheard of in Singapore.
For Day 3 breakfast, we decided we’re gonna try more local delights instead of hotel fare. So sis and I randomly chance upon this stall opposite the hotel.
Slathered on Lip Hop’s sunblock, ready for the day’s sun.
We ordered kopi, teh and char kway teow.
I really wanted to try the famous salted egg yolk char kway teow but didn’t have a chance. This was a regular one.
The fishball noodles. The dishes were average. I liked the fried fish!
After breakfast round 1 (yes, breakfast round 2 coming right up, LOL). We headed to walk about/around. We did so randomly and came by this pretty spot.
Which thus called for a photo. 
There’s a 
Mural exhibit 9, le smoking lady (made that up myself).
Trying my best to strike up a conversation with her.
Mural exhibit 10. Sister approves of this barrel full of likes. #ThumbsUp
Mural exhibit 11. Angel with graffiti wings.
And an angel wannabe. 😉
Mural exhibit 12. Food machine. 
Located close to this Nagore Square sign.
Shophouse exhibits 10.
Mural exhibit 13. Red nose man.
Mural exhibit 14. Another red nose man.
Shophouse exhibits 11.
Don’t have a series to go with this, but I found this row of pillars very intriguing.
I imagine the relics on the pillars were chipped away by people moving goods along this corridor.
Not a shophouse exhibit per se, but just found this window above the pillars fascinating. Old buildings and exteriors just seem to have so much untold stories, don’t they?
Another and final series for this Penang trip, tiles exhibit 1.
Shophouse exhibits 12. Love the colours!
Not a shophouse exhibit per se, again. Just love the cute doodles on the door!
Shophouse exhibit 13.
Unfortunately that street pole blocks it. It’s so pretty with a cute balcony. 
Even the side of the shophouse is pretty too.
Shophouse exhibit 14. Cute red canopy.
Mural exhibit 15. Blue couple.
Mural exhibit 16. Short hair girl.
CHIME Heritage architecture explained.
Tile exhibit 2.
We passed by this very promising looking hawker spot.
Shophouse exhibits 15.
This row of shophouses houses a lot of quirky shops, like this Caffeine Chemistry. Obviously 3D2N was not enough to explore Penang with. T_T;
Tile exhibit 3.
This Lim Brother mansion also caught my eye,
So did this LX Leather Spa.
And this Taiwei Village Restaurant, because my BIL’s name is Tai Wei, hahaha.
We headed back to the hotel to pack up, and here’s a look at the Lip Hop products I brought along for the Penang trip!
We had breakfast round 2 at Yummy Cottage.
Carrot cake.
And finally got to try duck egg char kway teow. It does tastes more flavourful than the regular egg. How come we don’t have this in Singapore?! 
Penang Char Kway Teow stall. For a list of must try stalls, visit 
Then we visited Leong Chee Kee for damn good pastries. 
Very famous with a lot of press clippings.
Their mooncakes were totally yums.
Close up of the clippings. 
Super cute old school stickers and labels.
Old school interior as well.
The shop owner, his son and family helping him with the business. He was also very friendly chatting about Malaysia, Singapore the similarities and differences, with us.
Located amidst local housing. Again, these buildings seem to have so much stories within them. 🙂 
For lunch we came to 
Fresh juices.
Picked mango appetisers.
With aunt and family
Beef and ginger.
Crispy Peking Duck.
Fish Steamboat with amazing stock. Very yums!
New cosmetics from Etude House Play 101 Sticks / cushion concealers, Laneige BB Cushion, K-Palette Rose Eyeliner, Kate Tokyo Eyeshadow Palettes, Stenders Handcream and Lipbalm.
Swatches of Etude House Play 101 sticks, creamy and pigmented.
My picks for the day. 
Coffee break with Cafedirect (available at Fairprice Finest & Fairprice Xtra) before heading out.
Chic photo spots around every corner around Middle Road, if you seek, you’ll find. 😉
Headed back and washed up with 
We were well fuelled by 
*satisfied grin*
And YES I had also lugged over the new ranges of skincare goodies; shower gel, scrub, body creams from The Body Shop to try out during the staycation, best decision ever! Our bathroom and room were filled and smelled so good of summer fragrances from the Pinita Colada (Pineapple and Coconut) to Polynesian Tiare (island flowers), they’ll all launch by June 9. 😉
Lovin’ the soft morning sunrays~
And a wefie with the lovely one before we tore ourselves away from the room… we really didn’t want to go.
A very cosy and bubbly lobby atmosphere when we left, ideal for friends or family to gather before heading out.
Traveling with my sis for this trip! On the coach~
My cute personalized passport cover thanks to Tiffy!
They had nice bread, but servings were huge. We didn’t want to be too full as we were expecting a buffet lunch at Coffee Terrace~
So I snapped a few photos and we headed to check out other food places.
Apparently my sis is a pro at it! 😛
Here’s one of me after a few takes. But as you can see, I can’t seem to take on with one hand only… I need more practice. Haha.
Here’s one with the group before going in! The plan was to take 5-10 min before it was open to public, to snap some photos before we can have fun after! Photos and cameras are not allowed (except for media) inside Snow World as they have professional photographers inside and will charge you for photos, should you want.
Super cute Easter eggs and sweets decor~
They have ice sculptures too.
Another group we-fie, inside!
With sis outside the Igloo house! 
The menu, sorry it’s a little dark, basically you have choices from Pizzas, Pasta and Meat.
Aglio Olio.
Refreshing Blackcurrent with apple base juice.
Slow braised lamb shank.
Spaghetti Bolognese.
Carbonara Pizza.
Lam Lee Burger, tastes like a restaurant version of Ramly burger.
Oblong Margherita Pizza.
Kampung Chicken.
Old Angus Beef T-Bone Steak.
Old Angus Beef T-Bone Steak. This was pretty good! Overall the food at Bubbles & Bites were of great value with prices from RM29 for Ethiopian Chicken to RM75 for the Old Angus Beef Steak. I highly recommend the Grilled Salmon Tagliatelle & Cremosa Pesto (RM33) & Chicken Schnitzel (RM29).
Oops, I didn’t snap a pic of the room / hour rates HAHA. I thought this was it. T_T I think it’s about RM80 per hour.
Leong looking so happy with his food! 🙂
With the group after a hearty and full breakfast!
Super cute travel theme suitcase and giftbox, it feels like it’s travelled the world with all the country themed stickers and landed on my doorstep, I love it!
From Around The World New York($24.90) you have these adorable hand creams in Mango, Avocado & Cocoa flavours. How cute are they???
Twist open for the cream.
From Around the World Paris set, we have Cleansing foam and 2 rice masks, $18.90.
Not forgetting, this Christmas, we have Christmas themed facial masks like Santa & Reindeer!
There’s definitely a gift set at TheFaceShop that you’ll find for your special someone~
Wooden interior and earthy colours makes for a luxurious yet comfortable experience.
View of the city from the comfort of our room!
Changed & chilling a little before heading out again…
Kose Cinderella Finalists & Tricia Ong
