Nara

'What you are most afraid of doing is the very thing that will set you free.'

Hello!

I got my first e-mail asking how frequently I'm going to update my blog! Hopefully I'll be able to post a travel piece once a week (usually Sundays or Mondays), if something comes up mid-week, it will most likely be either a style post or a guest blog! Which leads me onto this piece on one of my favourite places in the world: Japan!

Nara. I don't even know where to begin. For those who just Google image the place, it may seem like Bambi heaven to you. To me, it was a heaven where God decided to remind me my gym membership had long expired, and regular exercise was very much needed. So the story begins.

Featuring: AC in Kyoto

'The things you are passionate about are not random. They are your calling!'

I have dreamt of going to Kansai for many years now. Everyone travels for various reasons; it has always been the daily lives of the people as well as the culture that appealed to me.  I was very fortunate in that I timed my travels just as the Sakura season was at its peak! They blended harmoniously with the landscape, painting gradients of whites and pinks as they flourished.

After leaving my exhaustion behind in the hostel, I took a leisurely stroll along the Shirakawa river. What greeted me was a promenade framed with white Sakura blossoms, waving to me in the wind. As I admired the beauty of the falling petals, an antique plaque caught my attention. It was written by the poet, Isamu Yoshii (吉井勇):

Shirakawa (白川), Gion, Central Kyoto (洛中). A stone with a Waka (Japanese poem with song-like qualities) engraved on it

かにかくに(Kanikakuni – Here and there)

祇園はこひし (Gion-wa-kohishi – is my love for Gion)

寝(ぬ)るときも (Nuru-toki-mo – Even when I sleep)

枕のしたを水のながるる (Makura-no-shita-o-mizu-no-nagaruru – the trickling of the river flows underneath my pillow)

Kota Kinabalu

‘Sometimes, life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see but you.’

First stop, Kota Kinabalu! As soon as you step off the plane, there’s a certain laid back atmosphere about this place. The heat lulls you to sleeps, but at the same time, the array of vivid colours, the pinks and oranges and purples streaked across the sky (also known as a sunset) make you pinch yourself to stay awake. Within five minutes we were at the hotel, fully unpacked and ready to swim. By then night had fallen, all the other hotel guests were dining, and the entire pool was ours! (skinny dipping did flit across my mind at that point) 

Swimming in the infinity pool heated up by the generous amount of sunshine during the day under a star lit sky was really an experience second to none. The sound of water lapping onto the poolside, the fragrance of the Rhododendron rugosum tree permeating the air, being able to swim through a waterfall under the bridge into flowers, flowers and more flowers. The free flowing champagne might have helped too.