Showing posts with label travel tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel tips. Show all posts

Friday, 29 January 2016

What's In My Travel Backpack?

January 29, 2016 2 Comments
Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog.

I have just come back from a holiday in Jakarta and I thought I would show you guys what is in my travel backpack.

I do travel quite often and finally I know what are the essentials or basic things that I need to pack in my carry-on backpack.

I hope this blog post would help you guys a little on what to pack in your carry-on backpack.
Or if you have any tips to share, don't forget to comment down below.

Okay, let's get started!

This is my backpack that I brought with me to Jakarta.

As you can see from here, I am a HUGE Mickey Mouse fan!
This backpack was my 24th birthday present from my bf and he got it from Vans.
If you are more of a Minnie Mouse fan, they have it in Minnie Mouse design too.


In my backpack: Camera, umbrella, water bottle, cleansing wipe, notebook, power bank, passport holder and two purses. 


The reason why I love this backpack so much is because it has a very spacious space and of course, it is Mickey Mouse! =P

I always put my camera in the camera bag and sling it over my shoulder but sometimes, I find it difficult to like moving around. The strap of the bag will be keep falling off from my shoulder and it is kind of irritating when you are carrying a lot of things with you.

Thanks to this backpack, I managed to put everything including the camera bag in the backpack.

Many of you may be wondering why don't I just carry the camera with me, without the camera bag.
It is my precious camera and I am a very rough person so, it has got to be in the bag to avoid any unnecessary scratch or whatever possible incident that could happen to it.

My Preciousssss (Please ignore my bad photoshop skill)

Moving on to the next item in my backpack, umbrella.
Honestly, I hate carrying an umbrella with me because it is heavy to me but you never know when it will rain so yeah, better be prepared than to end up soaking wet.

A water bottle, it is important to keep yourself hydrated throughout your holiday.
It is considered as a basic human needs to me.
Just bring along an empty bottle with you then fill it up at the airport and don't forget to fill them up again before you leave the hotel to explore the city.

If you have an oily skin like me, don't forget to bring a packet of cleansing wipe with you.
I have a really oily skin and it can get really nasty so I need a cleansing wipe to keep my face fresh all day.

I am the old school type of person who is still using a notebook instead of the note app that you can find in your smartphone. Writing down stuff is very important to me because I have a really short term memory.

One of the most important things to have in your backpack, power bank.
We used our phones a lot throughout the trip just to Google. We Googled what to do, where to eat, what to buy and all sort of things. This is where power bank comes in handy, to make sure our phones will never run out of battery and of course, don't forget to charge your power bank while you are sleeping at night.

To me, it is very important to carry your passport along with you and I think having a passport holder like this is quite convenient. I can keep every important documents such as my boarding pass, bus ticket, train ticket or whatever it is all together in this holder. It is much easier to look for the document that you want when they are all well organized in this passport holder.


Why am I carrying two purses?
I prefer to keep different currency in a different purse. It is much easier for me because sometimes, different notes might have the almost same colour and it is seriously confusing.
Imagine all the coins are placed together in one same purse, you will have a hard time in looking for the right coins.


Let's move on to the front pocket of my backpack.
I really love backpack that has a front pocket, it is much easier for me to access little things that I need during the trip.

In my backpack's front pocket: Facial tissue, medications (just in case), sanitary pad, lip balm and candy or mint.


I can't live without a pack of facial tissue because I tend to sweat a lot during a hot sunny day.
I used to steal tissues from my hotel room (cheapskate me =P) but then sometimes, they only provided toilet paper instead of facial tissue so yeah, better carry one myself.

Don't forget to bring along some medications with you, you will never know what might happen next. My bf got a really bad food poisoning during our last trip in Bangkok, luckily there was a pharmacy next to our hotel else I seriously had no idea where to look for a pharmacy so, the best thing to do is to at least carry some like paracetamol or whatever you think you might need.

Girls talk now. You will never know when your girl is going to pay you a visit so yeah, just carry one to be safe because sometimes it is unpredictable when your hormones are going cray cray. Girls problem.

Carry your favourite lip balm with you because your lips can get very dry when you are in the plane.
My lips crack easily so I always carry one or two with me.

Candy or mint, it is a must. You know how you get one of those stinky breath when you are traveling for a very long time so yeah, just to keep your breath fresh and clean. Or maybe just something for you to chew on when you are bored.

Okay, that is it for my backpack story.
I hope you guys enjoy it and somehow find it useful.

Thank you for reading and I will update you guys on another blog post soon.

See ya!



Rachel.

Friday, 22 January 2016

Koh Lipe Haul?

January 22, 2016 0 Comments
Hello everyone and welcome back to another Koh Lipe blog post of mine.

I know some of you are bored with my Koh Lipe blog posts so don't worry, this will be the last Koh Lipe post. I promise, finger crossed! 

In this blog post, I am going to share some of the things that we bought in Koh Lipe or what I called as the Koh Lipe Haul. 
Does it even make sense???

There will be a lot of food so that everyone is happy! ;)

It was our last day in Koh Lipe and the sky was a little gloomier compared to the other days when we were there. 


One last breakfast before we left this beautiful island.

Imagine having your breakfast everyday with this view. HEAVEN!


Our furry friend was there too and he kept giving me that kind of stare.

"Hey you, when are you going to feed me some of your food?"


Seriously, that was the most patient dog that I have ever seen. He didn't bark at us at all while waiting for us to feed him some of our breakfast. 

My FiFi would bark the hell out of me when she sees us eating especially chicken, her favourite food.

"Are you talking about me, mommy?"


There you go, some eggs for you.


It was time for us to pack our bags so let me just show you guys what we had bought for the past few days when we were there.

1. Rice Crackers
Who doesn't love rice crackers?

2. Lays Lobster Choochee Flavour and Lays Satay Flavour
I don't even know what choochee means, anyone here knows? 
The lobster flavour tasted a little weird whereas the satay flavour chip was kinda good and weird at the same time. 

You can give it a try but those are not the best chips that you can get in Thailand.


3. Jack 'n Jill
The first one from the left is Takoyaki flavour but it didn't taste anything like Takoyaki.

The other two are just BBQ or grilled flavour, it was pretty good if you love BBQ or grilled kind of flavour.


4. Jack 'n Jill, Chicken Hot and Spicy Flavour.
When I looked at this, I was thinking "Oh God, this is going to burn my tongue" but it turned out to be not really spicy at all.


5. Lays Scallop Flavour, Lays BBQ Flavour and Lays...
I don't know the flavour of the green packet Lays because I can't read Thai but it tasted something like sour lemon with chili kind of thing (if that even makes sense).

Scallop flavour and BBQ flavour are my favourite! 

Don't forget to try them out guys, they are one of the best that I have tried in Thailand!


6.Coffee Flavour Peanut
Not really a fan of peanut, my bf bought those and according to him, it was good.


7. Seaweed Snack
I can't read Thai but it is something like seaweed on a chip kind of thing.

I loved it so much and my whole family loved it too.
I think this can be found at our local supermarket. If I am not mistaken, I have seen this selling at Aeon Supermarket.


8. ... 
And again, I can't read Thai so I don't know what is this called.

I will just call it "Fries Looking Snack with Cheese". xD

Yeah, it comes with a small little container of cheese for you to dip your fries in.
Honestly, it was not really that tasty because the fries itself was kinda tasteless to me but the cheese did help to "enhance" the taste of it.

I don't really recommend you guys to get this.


9. Souvenirs
Bought some magnets and key chains for our friends.
You can get 3 of them for 100 Baht at Walking Street.




10. 7-Eleven Food
Seriously you guys, you have to try the sandwiches or burgers that are selling at 7-Eleven Thailand.
It is cheap and delicious, trust me.

We will buy a lot of sandwiches and burgers whenever we come across a 7-Eleven in Thailand.

Pork Burger with Bacon & Cheese is one of my favourite burgers and it is one of the best burgers that you can find in 7-Eleven.

Pork Burger with Bacon & Cheese

Chicken Steak Burger

Grilled Chicken Burger

Crab Meat Pizza

Don't forget to try their Prawn Burger too because it is made from real prawn meat.
We didn't expect to have real prawns inside.

Prawn Burger

Pork Katsu Burger

Cream Puff

That is all that we got from Koh Lipe. 
I actually filled up half of my bag with snacks. I am one happy girl. 
SNACKS FOR LIFE!


We felt so sad to leave this island, I wish we could stay a little longer. :'(

Look at his sad little face, haha!


We had some time to kill until 3:00 p,m. so we decided to get a foot massage and a pedicure.



And also some ice-cream!

Raise your hand if you are excited to see SPRINKLES all over your ice-cream!
SPRINKLES FOR LIFE!

Coconut Cookie Ice-cream

That is it for our trip, had to say goodbye to this beautiful place.

Bye Koh Lipe. We will definitely come back to this place again in the future.


Thank you guys for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

And don't forget to read on my Everything About Traveling to Koh Lipe post to know more about this beautiful island.

Thanks again people!

Till next post!
Don't worry, it will not be another Koh Lipe post. =P



Love,
Rachel.

Saturday, 14 November 2015

Everything About Traveling to Koh Lipe

November 14, 2015 2 Comments
Hello everyone!

I just came back from another awesome holiday from Koh Lipe, Thailand.

Koh Lipe, Thailand.

A little information on Koh Lipe if you guys haven't heard about this beautiful island.
It is a small island in the Southern part of the Thai Andaman Sea and it is really close to Malaysia too. A great place to go to if you don't like a long-haul flight. ;)

Koh Lipe is famous of its white sandy beaches, beautiful turquoise seawater and bountiful marine life. Everything about this island is really beautiful and breathtaking. It is heaven on Earth!

Some people even named this place as The Maldives of Thailand.

In this blog post, I am going to share some tips about traveling to Koh Lipe, Thailand.

How to get there from Malaysia?
1. Fly from KLIA or KLIA2 to LIA (Langkawi International Airport) or whatever possible ways to get yourself to Langkawi.

2. Take a taxi from LIA to Telaga Terminal for RM27. There is a taxi counter at the airport selling taxi coupons. 

3. It is about a 1.5 hours journey from Telaga Terminal to Koh Lipe. You may purchase your ferry ticket online and they will send you a booking confirmation voucher. Just print it out and bring it along with you because it is required for check-in. Visit Telaga Terminal website for ticket booking.

When you are reaching Koh Lipe.
They will transfer everyone and all the luggage bags from the ferry into the long-tail boat. 


Remember to wear just shorts and slippers because there is no jetty for you to walk on and you need to wade ashore.



When you are at Koh Lipe's immigration. 
If you already have your return ticket (booking confirmation voucher) with you, hand it over to the guy (wearing purple t-shirt) sitting at the table there.


Wait for your name to be called for immigration check. 
Before you board on the ferry, they will collect your passport and will only return it to you after the immigration check at Koh Lipe.

Where to stay?
There are 3 different beaches (Pattaya Beach, Sunrise Beach and Sunset Beach) to stay at and I would recommend you to stay at Sunrise Beach because it is less crowded compared to Pattaya Beach but not as quiet and isolated as Sunset Beach. It is depend on your own preference whether you would prefer a more crowded beach or a more quiet beach,


I stayed at Lipe Beach Resort which is located at Sunrise Beach and it was awesome! I would highly recommend Lipe Beach Resort if you are planning to stay at Sunrise Beach.
Of course there are other beautiful resorts available too.






How to travel around the island?
Koh Lipe is a really small island. Walking around the island is not really a problem but there is a taxi service available if you want to. They charge 50 baht for each person.

Walking from Sunrise Beach to Walking Street took us about 10 to 15 minutes.
Walking from Pattaya Beach to Sunset Beach took us about 20 minutes. 

So basically walking from one place to another will take approximately 20 to 30 minutes. 

Love snorkeling?
There are a lot of packages available for you to choose from.
Everything such as mask, snorkel, fins, life jacket, lunch, fruit and water are included in every of the packages available. For lunch, you can choose either chicken fried rice or seafood fried rice.

I chose two packages (Program A and Program B) from Thai Beach Traveler and it was an awesome snorkeling experience.

If you have a GoPro or waterproof camera, bring that with you because the corals are really beautiful.



What to eat?
The best food of all, 7-Eleven food! Don't forget to try their prawn burger (the one in blue packet) because it has real prawns inside.


Mango Sticky Rice

Thai Fruit Pancake (Banana and Nutella Pancake) and Coconut Shake.

Coconut Ice-Cream

Thai Fish Cake

Green Curry Chicken

Coconut Cookie & Cream Ice-Cream

What to buy?
Souvenirs. You can get them for like 3 for 100 baht.
There are key chains, pen holders, magnets and more to choose from.



If you are a potato chips or junk food lover like me, don't forget to try them all! ;)


Where to get a good massage?
I went to Leelawadee Massage Resort to get a pedicure and my bf got a foot massage.
It was awesome! Great service and nice environment.


What to see?
Don't forget to head over to Sunrise Beach at about 5:00 a.m. (Thai time) and also Sunset Beach at about 6:00 p.m. (Thai time) to witness the most amazing view ever!

 Sunrise at Sunrise Beach.

Sunset at Sunset Beach.

What else to do in Koh Lipe?
Head over to Walking Street for some shopping time and of course for the amazing food too!





Other tips.
1. Travel light if it is possible because dragging a luggage bags on a sandy beach is not easy.

2. Bring a torch light along because it would be really dark during the night.

3. There are a lot of mosquito during the night so don't forget to bring some mosquito repellents with you.

4. Don't forget to bring your sunblock and don't forget to reapply it too.

5. Just wear shorts and slippers.

6. Get a waterproof bag or dry bag to store your valuable belongings such as camera, phone and whatever stuff that can't get wet.

Okay, that is everything about traveling to Koh Lipe. Almost everything. ;)
If you guys have any question to ask, just leave it in the comment box down below and I will reply you. I will also leave some links for you guys to refer at the end of this blog post.

So what are you guys waiting for? Pack your bags and let's go!

Have fun in Koh Lipe!




Useful links.
Telaga Terminal Online Ticket Booking - https://telaga-terminal.com/
Thai Beach Traveler - http://kohlipethailand.com/koh-lipe/travel-shop/
More information on Koh Lipe - http://www.kohlipethailand.com/

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