Wild hearts can't be broken

FIRST TIME IN SENDAI, JAPAN/THINGS I AM GRATEFUL FOR

Back to last year, 1st of June 2018, despite bouts of uncertainty, I went ahead and applied for a month of unpaid leave at work. My then boyfriend, was posted to Sendai, Japan, for a business trip for 6 months. I was still amidst of my part-time degree back then, I could not afford to take such a long break even if it meant quitting my job. Praying hard for my unpaid leave to be approved, and yes, it did. Dream came true, I bought an air ticket, my first time on ANA, to Sendai.

A year ago, it was my first time stepping foot in this country. Never did I know much about Sendai, only the Tsunami and Earthquake that hit this beautiful place back in 2011, I practically knew nothing about this place. It definitely was not a popular tourist spot, people usually visits Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido for holiday in Japan, but I did not been to either. With just a little research and guidelines from my hubby who was already there for 2 months, I embarked on the journey. First flew to Tokyo, took a domestic transit and landed in Sendai. I heed the instructions given by the hubby, and took a train from Sendai Airport to Sendai Station. I still remembered starring at the extensive train map at the station, not knowing what the hell am I seeing. I have no idea how do I purchase a train tickets and what puzzled me the most was the gantry gates left opened. Am I supposed to walk through it to try my luck if it would be a free trip, or do I need to purchase a ticket? Silly me! Nothing is free in this world. So I headed to the ticketing office, asked a few questions, he then directed me to the ticketing machine to make a purchase. It definitely was not the cheapest train ride, 650Yen, approximately S$7.50 to travel to the central area. It was around 6 stops away from the Airport.

Then I arrived at Sendai Station, everything was amazing. Weather was cold, people of all walks scattered around the station, with me lugging my 21kg luggage, searching for the Nambouku Line Subway Station and praying hard that there was an elevator so I would not have to carry my luggages up and down the stairs. I paid 300Yen to travel on the Nambouku Subway, heading towards Izumi Chuo Station, where my hubby was staying during his business trip. I spent a wonderful 1 month in Sendai, trying different food, heading to Tokyo twice over the weekends by Shinkansen, spent loads of money, and left reluctantly back to Singapore to work and finish my last semester of studies.

Fast forward till today, 23rd April 2019, here I am, in Sendai again. I am blessed, I am very very blessed indeed. Many things I thought were not possible, happened to me, one after another. There were so many challenges in my life that I never imagined that I would overcome and eventually accomplish. In 2018, I've been proposed, in 2019, we got married and collected the keys to our lovely house (which is still left empty and untouched till this date, definitely guilty for it), completed my degree (hell fucking yes, please, it took me long enough and was not the easiest journey) and left my job without a job.

I am thankful for the opportunities given to me thus far. I am thankful for my family, who made it easy for me, I am thankful to have met my husband, who completes my life. He is definitely the one who has helped me along the way, big time, encouraging me, accepting the big bitch in me, tolerating my continuous nonsenses. I am thankful. I would not want my life to turn out any way else.

Well, I might have just sidetracked a little, bear with me.

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, by Hweeyee Kweok

Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa

Yay! This time round, our Staycation location is at the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa.

Located in the heart of Sentosa, we drove in at 3pm for our check in.

The check-in stated was at 3pm, however when we reach around 3:05pm, we were told to wait for them to clean up the rooms before they can serve us. We only managed to checked in at 3:30pm onward. We were pretty bummed as we just couldn't wait to check out our rooms.

Prior to this, I was dreaming about the Staycation all day long as we are not traveling out of Singapore till December, it pretty much felt like a vacation to me instead. It was the only thing I could look forward to during my exams period.

The day was kind of gloomy as it was drizzling when we reached the hotel. The sky cleared up after.

Here we go ~

We had a luxury room for 2 with garden view, which stands at 36 square metres! Woa, it is really one of the bigger rooms compared to other hotels in Singapore. The previous Staycay at Carlton City Hotel was merely a 28 square metres.

This is me, who could not wait to jump and roll on the bed. It was super comfy! (but i still prefer Movenpick's)

This room cost approximately $500 SGD (not inclusive of breakfast). Yea, it is a 5 star hotel hence the steep price. But lucky us got it for free! (or maybe lucky me hehehe)

There is a work desk, perfect for businessmen.

And here comes the star of the room - a portable coffee table. It was closed when we arrived, and to our surprise, they have a coffee maker machine, a kettle, and some TWG teabags alongside Illy coffee. What was the best? It even comes with TWG tea jug!

Everything on the coffee table was complimentary. So first thing we got to do, is make ourselves some tea.

(hehe, pardon the mess)

No photos of the pool side as part of it was under construction. However, the pool was open and we did go for a dip. There was a secret staircase by the pool (which was also the smoking corner) which leads to Tanjong Beach Club.

There was a room cleaning service at 8pm (yes, at night) when we just checked in at 3pm. How meticulous of the staff.

Then, it's breakfast time! We got up at 7am for breakfast to avoid the crowd and not to waste too much time sleeping in. "Must make full use of the hotel!!"

The hotel buffet spread was VERY AWESOME. Great variety and food are of a certain standard.

From cold cuts, to croissants, to cheese, to chinese dim sum, to indian cuisine, to salad bar with tonnes of vinaigrettes. There is even a kids' corner!

It was a great stay at Sofitel for us!

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, by Hweeyee Kweok

Vietnam, Hanoi, Sa Pa

Located in the north-western Vietnam, is Sa Pa, the capital in Lào Cai Province.

While waiting for our 8 hours night train to Sa Pa, we spent some time walking around Hanoi.

We left our luggage in our hotel in Hanoi, Delano Hotel (highly recommend!!), and only brought along a bag pack each, ready to concur Sa Pa!

At 9pm we caught the train at Hanoi Train Station. We booked a 4 berth cabin, which means 4 beds in a room. We shared the room with 2 other travelers from Germany, who were also heading to Sa Pa.

I took the lower cabin and the bf took the top deck. The entire night was a rough and bumpy journey, with me thinking all the time, "when are we reaching?" till I fell asleep halfway through. The train was nothing spectacular, it was old, even the toilet was horrible, especially when the train was already moving, it's impossible to pee lol.

And so, we reached Lao Cai Railway Station at 5am in the morning, it was so chaotic and everyone was busy looking for their tour guide, in order to board the 1hr bus ride to Sa Pa. Yes I know, 1 more hour ugh.

It was an uphill journey, the weather was cold and wet. It was about 12 degrees at Lao Cai Railway station, and i only had my Hanoi weather long sleeves wear on, which i find it still bearable. Till we reach Sa Pa.

I remember stepping down the bus, it was drizzling and I was instant freezing! It was SO COLD. We were left stranded in this particular scary-looking motel, waiting for our personal tour guide to find us. After asking around for half an hr, he finally came, and we checked into the weird motel for a wash-up (as we did not brush our teeth/wash our faces the entire night on the train).

I quickly went into the room and double up my winter wear. I wore a long john, a legging and on top of it, my jeans. Yes it was THAT cold. I can barely feel my legs. It was said to be 5 degrees and it was my first in a cold country. I guess it was exceptionally cold as we were on top of the mountains.

After being forced to eat the shitty breakfast in that weird motel, we are on a trekking journey to Cat Cat Village, which was part of our itinerary. Tbh, i was cursing and swearing cause I just couldn't wait to check in our Hotel.

All i remember was, I am dirty, I am cold, I wanna sleep. I was in a cranky mood.

We went ahead for the trek downwards, and it was SO COLD. We went for a house visit, which has a fireplace. Thank god. Everyone was putting their hands around the fire.

Our first decent meal in Sa Pa, this is our appointed restaurant that we will be having all meals at. It's called Michelle Restaurant or something. So each meal time, our tour guide will give us a time to meet them there and he will order the food for us.

Everyone was just hogging up the fire place..... The restaurant does not even need to have air-con like seriously? It was VERY cold inside too. (i know i repeated VERY cold for the third time haaha)

Here we go, finally checking into our stay ~ Sa Pa Lodge. We were so happy when the Delano Hotel Supervisor got a top-up for us, with balcony and awesome view.

This is the balcony outside our room, which we barely even go to. It was freezing our asses. Once i open the door, my face FREEZES. I brave the cold and took some selfies though.

Guess what's worse, there's no fking heater in the room!!!!!!! omg..... there's only this air-conditioner which can be set at 30 degrees celsius, which obviously ain't enough to keep us warm. I wore socks to sleep that night. Even the heater in the toilet broke down, i showered with ICE COLD WATER.

I guess that's what you have to expect when you are staying at a countryside. I don't even wanna imagine staying at their home-stay.

The lucky bf got to shower in warm water and when it was my turn, i was just screaming yelling and cursing in the shower.

Trying out their Egg Coffee. Pretty good. Anything warm will be good in this weather. The temperature dropped to a good 2 degrees at night.

So when we were walking down the streets halfway, the entire Sa Pa blacked out for a good 10 minutes. It was in complete darkness and we couldn't see a thing. Everyone instantly turned out the torch light from their mobile phones.