• Kulia's adventures
apr. – aug. 2023

Sabbatical 2023

Time for a break - The Tiki family on the move
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  • Start på rejsen
    8. april 2023

    It is (about) time!

    8. april 2023, Holland ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Finally! After months of preparations - reading travel guides and more importantly travelling family blogs, organising, booking, work arrangements - we are set to go.

    Backpacking? Hell yeah, had to dust off my backpack though but Julia bought her first one (who thought that she would ever travel with a backpack instead of a trolley, yeah!).

    First stop: South Korea. In 2 days we will fly to Seoul. Follow us on our adventures.
    The Tiki family
    Kulia
    MiYu
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  • K-Trip - Seoul

    9. april 2023, Sydkorea ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Annyeonghaseyo from Seoul!

    What a crazy, cool, gigantic place to start our travels! Despite the jetlag, total lack of rythym (combined a nice mix of screaming kids and ashamed parents in silent metros) and the enormous distances, we did manage to explore quite a bit of this metropolis.

    Some highlights: The spectacular Starfield Library with its 50.000 books displayed on three 13-metres tall towering bookshelves. The relaxing stroll along the Cheonggyecheon stream, running through downtown Seoul. Snacking around in the busy markets Gwangjang and Namdaemun. Running/stepping around the futuristic fashion hub Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Making friends with some of the many, many, many!!! gwiyeowo (kawaii) characters. Getting lost in the streets of Bukchon Village with its traditional houses. Kids having a blast at the Children’s Park Museum. Meeting up with old high school mate, Han.

    Oohhh and not to forget about COFFEE. Coffee shops are everywhere, 18.000 of them: local, international, chains, independent, specialty, 3 storeys high, take out window, themed, OMG!! Starbucks also set the trend here in Seoul since 1999 and since then has more branches than in any other city in the world.

    A week has passed by, time to move on and discover more of the country.
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  • K-Roadtrip Part I - Seoraksan

    17. april 2023, Sydkorea ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    After ‘see you soon Seoul’ we continue our trip by car and head directions to the mountainous and coastal Gangwon-do region. On our way we made a quick stop at Nami Island, nice for a stroll because of the beautiful lanes of (pine) trees and nature although a bit crowded and therefore loosing some of its authenticity.

    Seoraksan National Park is the highlight in this area with odd rock formations, waterfalls, wildlife and temples. Very popular amongst hikers especially the locals; almost all dressed up in their super fancy schmancy outfits. Another first for the Tiki family but why not, Yuna in the carrier with Julia and Milo hand in hand with me. From a light ascend to a steeper climb, we reached Heundeul Bawi, a 16-tonne boulder on the edge of a flat rock. We could catch a nice glimpse of Ulsan Bawi, a challenge for another time. Kudos to Milo for his first hike of 6 km (also from all the hikers we met) and a well deserved soft ice cream.
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  • K-Roadtrip Part II - Sokcho

    18. april 2023, Sydkorea ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Next day, we rested on the beach of coastal town Sokcho but a sudden cold windy fog forced us to take shelter at the fish market where we had to eat super fresh sashimi ;-) Before moving on, we enjoyed Seoraksan once more and switched hiking teams - Team JuMi and KuYu. After climbing countless stairs we finally reached Biryong Pokpo waterfall, another 5 hiking km’s yay! Reward, another beach further south along the coast (Samcheok) and canola flower fields.Læs mere

  • K-Roadtrip Part III - Sobeaksan

    20. april 2023, Sydkorea ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    First stop in neighbouring region Chungcheongbuk-do is Guin-sa, a large temple complex (headquarters of the Cheontae Buddhism) located in another scenic national park, Sobeaksan. Beautifully decorated temples in a valley surrounded by steep forested slopes were simply awe-inspiring. Feeling hike confident, we went for another challenge, Birobong Peak at 1400 meters. The path was unfortunately one steep climb up boosting team’s morale downward (almost equally perhaps?) but we still managed to reach 1000 meters for a well needed lunch break. Exploring Danyang including a river cruise that suddenly turned into a kind of speedboat party party tour (turn on video sound :-) was a nice change of settings.Læs mere

  • K-Roadtrip Part IV final - Andong

    23. april 2023, Sydkorea ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Hahoe Minsok Maeul (Folk Village) close to Andong is all about traditions and deserves its Unesco World Heritage status. This is the place to catch a glimpse of how rural village life was and here also still continues to be (with some modern practicalities, that is to say). Followed by watching the traditional mask dance and visiting the mask museum, exhibiting not only Korean masks but from all over the world. Before finishing our roadtrip, we once more enjoyed the typical Korean hilly/mountainous landscapes (65% of South Korea is forest with 22 national parks and 3 times bigger than NL) and passed by Haeinsa temple. Not only an amazingly natural setting (again) but housing the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete collection of Buddhist texts engraved on 80.000+ woodblocks (each 3-4 kg and 70x24 cm) dated from the 13th century.

    On another note: Driving and speed limits. Seems that controls are almost only done by camera’s. Sometimes every other (few) kilometer(s). Hidden? Nope… in plain sight, even several warning signs including on the navigation system. Result: some drive but also brake like insanes, us being overtaken by trucks, busses, big construction vehicles and even schoolbusses. Time to end the roadtrip and return the car.
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  • Gyeongju & Busan

    24. april 2023, Sydkorea ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    Gyeongju a.k.a the golden city or museum without walls was an important area during one of the important empires (Silla) in the first 10 century’s. We visited a few of the many historical treasures that can be found here, such as the national museum, the Bulguk-sa temple and the royal tombs housed in tumuli (burial mounds), weird-looking grassy round hills in the centre of the town.

    We took the bus to Busan, the 2nd largest city after Seoul. Here we didn’t do much other than chilling on beautiful and popular Haeundae beach, strolling along the coast on the Cheongsapo Daritdol Skywalk trail and eating fresh fish at the Jagalchi fish market.

    Jeju island is awaiting us. Till later!
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  • Jeju Island - Part I

    30. april 2023, Sydkorea

    This volcanic island is also called the Hawaii of South Korea and has become a popular holiday destination because of the white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, lush and green vegetation, high volcanic cliffs, hiking trails and a pleasant subtropical climate. No wonder it is one of the 7 new natural wonders of the world. And no wonder that the busiest route in the world is by far Seoul-Jeju, with 85.000 flights per year and something like a 10 minute interval of planes leaving each day.

    Highlights: walking through lava caves and climbing Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak volcano) at 5am with fantastic views. Chilling at hipster beach Woljeong, not yet discovered by the mass, but also at hangloose, surfs-up Jungmun Saekdal Beach. And passing by beautiful fields of green tea.
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  • Jeju Island - Part II

    3. maj 2023, Sydkorea ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Our mission to enjoy the beaches, do some easy hikes, visit some nice waterfalls, stroll along the rugged coast/cliffs was not completely successful. Rain started pouring down and didn’t stop for 3 days/nights. A huge bummer but we could find shelter: this small island of 1.800 km2 (only a bit bigger than the smalles province in NL) has only 100 (!!) museums and countless theme/amusement parks, from teddy bear museum to sex museums, from a modest Hello Kitty park to gigantic rollercoaster/aqua parks.

    Sipping Hello Kitty Matcha latte (say what?? ;-)), playing with 1000 kids at the popular Pororo penguin theme park, trying to make funny pics in the optical illusions Alive museum (challenged by the busloads of tourists behind us…).

    All in all, a great week of fun. Back to mainland Korea.
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  • K-Trip - the end…

    9. maj 2023, Sydkorea

    We are back in Busan to take the ferry to Japan. It has been exactly 1 month that our trip took a start and what an adventure so far!! Trying so many different dishes (and side dishes called banchan) and tastes, besides the famous BBQ’s, bibimbaps, sashimi, and kimchi, even bento boxes in convenience stores such as 7-eleven or GS25 are fantastic. Sleeping in normal beds or on matrasses on the floor with heating (ondol). Milo and Yuna drawing so much attention here and although their non-obedient and loud behaviour (grrr), seems they are liked here. In the street, shops, on the mountains, they get sweets, chocolate, drinks and even money. Yuna does a few boxes (very Covid proof, almost everyone still wears face masks) with a granny in the metro and granny opens her wallet and gives 50.000 won (almost EUR 40).

    For sure, South Korea did not disappoint us at all, friendly and helpful people, clean, good infrastructure, safe, although sometimes a bit challenging. Difficult to find non-spicy food for the kids, innocent looking products are not to be trusted ;-), public transport can still be confusing even though made easier with the right apps, getting an espresso despite the superdeluxe coffee machines (excuse: it is not on the menu but we have cappuccino or latte or americano, or we don’t have a small cup….).

    Some foodie impressions to share for now and very excited to explore the next country!
    South Korea, we definitely come back (even if it is because our return flight is from Seoul 🤣)

    Annyeonghi gaseyo!
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  • J-Trip - Japan!!

    9. maj 2023, Japan ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Konichiwa!!

    The Queen Beetle, a fast aqua-dynamic hydrofoil boat, took us in less than 4 hours to Japan. Fantastic to set foot again on this island after our honeymoon 5,5 years ago. We took it slowly in Fukuoka, visiting a temple here, eating some famous local Tonkotsu ramen there, before speeding up with the Shinkansen bullet train. We left beautiful, natural and quiet Kyushu island unfortunately aside, skipped the Hiroshima area (already explored) and made our way to relaxed and cosmopolitan Kobe, needless to say famous for its special, juicy, tender, melt-on-your-tongue beef (and yes, fully confirmed 😋😋!!). By ropeway we visited the tranquil Nunobiki Herb Gardens, tested our smells (more than 75.000 herbs) and enjoyed beautiful vistas on the city and bay.

    On the other side of the bay lies Osaka, a quick visit before heading to Kyoto. But not without enjoying their famous savory pancake Okonomiyaki and Tako-yaki, doughy dumplings with octopus. For the kids, the Pokemon center seemed the highlight of the town.

    Some food experiences in the next story!
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  • J-Food - Oishii

    11. maj 2023, Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    It is so good to be back in food paradise Japan. First stop, for some cash from the atm, is the convenience store and the amount of choices of snacks, just fantastic: delicious, cheap and more than good enough quality!

    When it comes to noodle soup, there is a whole world behind the famous ramen. Traditionally, ramen can be classified into 4 categories based on the broth or distinct flavorings. On top of that there are many cities/areas that add something special, resulting in many different styles. Perfect noodles cannot stay longer than 5 minutes after put into the hot soup, hence the wild slurping.

    When travelling by shinkansen and food is needed, there is no chance to miss the ekiben shops: train station shops selling bento boxes 🍱! What a variety (not always sure what it is but who cares), truly a delicious, colourful feast in a box!

    A teppanyaki chef preparing the beautifully marbled Kobe beef was very entertaining. The kids were luckily happy with a drink and the promise of an ice cream afterwards (pistache soft ice🍦wowiee!!).

    Next to our hotel we chose a sushi place and were quite surprised by their servicing. No more words, just watch the video.

    Itadakimasu (bon appétit)!!
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  • Kyoto

    14. maj 2023, Japan ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Time to put away the backpacks for a week and chillax in culturally rich Kyoto. Being the former capital for almost a 1000 years, there is too much to explore, from Buddhist temples to Shinto shrines, from Michelin star restaurants to vegetarian Buddhist temple food (both fantastic), from elusive geisha’s to hordes of tourists in kimono’s posing at every spot imaginable, from traditional craft workshops to huge shopping malls, from traditionally hand/machine made cakes to pre-packed ones in supermarkets (again both fantastic) and from perfect, sublime gardens to a chaotically crowded bamboo forest. We managed to do a bit, very slowly paced from our base: a spacious, comfortable, traditional, wooden house.

    We started with a fun and light activity, the Ninja & Samurai experience. Milo learned some about the samurai and practised with Ninja weapons, star, claws, blow pipe, dagger and of course the sword.

    A nice change of scenery we found in the (bamboo) forest with monkeys, on Omi Maiko Nakahama beach at the Biwa lake and the almost midnight (to avoid the crowds) adventure at Fushimi Inari-Taisha, famous for its (around 10.000!!) torii gates (a bit spooky 👻 but luckily a few likeminded were spotted 😅, see timelapse video for the result).

    Some time alone was well spent by both parents. Julia followed a matcha tea workshop and now knows a bit of the ins and outs of making, serving and the story around green tea. I on the other hand started with siphon brewed coffee in the same place as 5,5 yeas ago, followed by an oishii (delicious) Kaiseki lunch (Japanese haute cuisine) accompanied by pairing sakes and looking for (and in the end found) a proper Japanese knife.

    Of course, a Kyoto trip is not complete without a nice bike ride. Difference with the previous time: E-bikes and kid seats. We took the Philosopher’s Path and recuperated at a temple with a proper Shojin ryori lunch (vegetarian buddhist meal).

    Fantastic week!
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  • Japanese Alps - Kanazawa

    22. maj 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    The shinkansen is moving again, this time taking us to Kanazawa in the Japanese Alps. Like Kyoto, Kanazawa is rich in history and culture which can be seen from the castle, its garden Kenroku-en and the nice geisha and samurai districts. We took it easy these few days; got high from the coffee roasters across our little house, confused our kids with this museum swimming pool filled with only 10 centimeters of water, enjoyed the seafood and tasted some fine seasonal sake.Læs mere

  • Japanese Alps - Ogimachi & Takayama

    25. maj 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    On our way to Takayama we stopped at idyllic Ogimachi, in the remote and mountainous Shirakawa-go, to stretch the legs, look at the special thatched roofs of the farmhouses and and enjoy the scenic landscapes while having picknick.

    Atmospheric Takayama has a cozy feel, especially in the Sanmachi-suji district with well preserved old houses, sake breweries and shops. Everything of interest was at walking distance and by coincidence we found a kind of kindergarden where the kids almost played with all the nice toys.
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  • Japanese Alps (Matsumoto) & Nikko

    27. maj 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Final stop in the Japanese Alps is Matsumotooo. Famous for its oldest wooden castle, lattice walled storehouses and for hikers a gateway to the many beautiful walks in the surrounding mountains. A huge doubt whether to visit again stunning Kamikochi but a 1,5 hours travel one way and a 4-hour hike seemed a bit too much for the kids.

    Nikko is our last stop before ending our J-Trip in Tokyo. Again many shrines and temples surrounded by high cedar trees all set in a forest. We stayed in one of the few rooms of a beautiful, remote summer house where retired owner Hiro lives and likes to be accompanied by travellers. A day trip to lake Chuzen-ji was worth it with beautiful vistas along the steep mountain road with many hairpin curves, on the surrounding area, the Kegan waterfall and the lake itself.

    Tokyo, here we come!
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  • Tokyoooo

    31. maj 2023, Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    What an immense, giant, bustling, crazy, kawaii place this is! A shortage of superlatives to describe Tokyo. Our base is not far from Shibuya, famous for its Scramble Crossing: on average 2.4 million pedestrians cross here daily with an average of 2500 people per crossing. Nearby Shibuya station has around 3 million passengers passing by every day and a few stops further Shinjuku station is the busiest station in the world with 3.5 million passengers passing, 36 platforms and 200 exits!! To compare, Gare du Nord in Paris is Europe’s busiest station with less than a million passengers.

    We explored some of the areas for just a tiny bit because everything is just huge: skyscrapers, shops, malls, advertisement screens, anime, neon lights, crowds.

    Harajuku: known for its extreme teenage culture/fashion styles from punk rock to kawaii to lolita and extremely crowded Takeshita street where you can find crepes filled with strawberries to slices of cheesecakes, rainbow colored croque monsieur cheese, animal cafes (from hedgehogs to owls to snakes).

    Akihabara: started being the Electric Town to buy discounted electronics but now more famous for anime, gaming and manga fans. Fun to see how enormous this culture is.

    Kappabashi aka Kitchenware Town: dozens of shops selling stuff for the restaurant business: knifes, pans, cooking utensils, lanterns and also the plastic/wax food samples showed in their windows by almost all eateries.

    Shinjuku has it all, restaurants, izakaya’s, high end shops, nightlife and the famous Robot restaurant. But who cares if you can visit the Tokyo Whisky Library….. Around 1200 whiskies, I rest my case.

    Ginza is particularly famous for its high end shopping from large department stores to small boutique shops, all the international upscale brands have a shop in one of the most expensive areas in Japan. And this area is home to impressive architecture, wherever you look at there is some cool building to stare at. Also home to once the biggest fish market Tsukiji (but recently moved after only 50 years of discussions) where tourists would queue up in the middle of the night to ascertain a spot to watch the action of the fish auction and start the day with a fresh sushi bowl.

    What a shame to leave this fantastic city and country (our wallets think otherwise though 😅) but no doubt we will come back, so much more to explore.

    Arigato and till next time!
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  • Singapore

    7. juni 2023, Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    A stopover of a few days in bloody hot and humid Singapore. Warmly welcomed by Claudia and family, we could stay in their beautiful house and explore from here some areas, such as the impressive Marina Bay Sands, the green Gardens by the Bay, Chinatown and eat at some of the popular, delicious and busy hawker food centres.

    Singapore is called garden city and is one of the greenest cities, everywhere you look you see plants and trees. Not only in the parks and botanical gardens but also part of the skyscrapers: interior, exterior, on the rooftop. Cool to see this green ambition in the urban planning.

    Colombian arepas, Dutch poffertjes, tropical fruits as breakfast and a fantastic dinner with ceviche, tortillas, paella amongst Colombians, Ecuadorian, Spanish and Dutch all living in Singapore. Well done to superhosts Claudia and Ernesto and of course Eduardo for being BFF of Yuna and Milo.

    Up to Indonesia!
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  • Indonesia - family time in Jakarta

    11. juni 2023, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    It has been a while for Kun (12 years) but first time for the rest. What a busy city, especially on the roads. Traffic jams everywhere and all the time, exception early mornings in the weekend. This week is all about family visits, relaxing, being spoiled, getting stuffed with Indo snacks, food and drinks, yummie!

    Completely recharged, we continue our Indo trip. First to Yogyakarta by train.
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  • Yogya

    18. juni 2023, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Deactivate Jakarta spoiling mode and time for some action: where better than in traditional and artistic Yogya on central Java. Upon arrival on Sunday, we could immediately feel the liveliness on busy Jalan Malioboro with music, dance performances, street food.

    Yogya is the only city/region governed by a monarch so we thought let’s choose our base next to his palace, the Kraton, 12m2 hotelroom vs 1.4 hectares palace…. well actually more like a small village with 25000 people living, a mosque, shops, schools etc.

    We learned a bit more about batik, wayang kulit and golek puppet shows in the Sono-Budoyo museum, did some shopping and walked around the amazing Hindu temples of Prambanan and Buddhist masterpiece temple, the grand Borobudur.
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  • Borobudur & Prambanan

    21. juni 2023, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Day tripping from Yogya to the Hindu temples of Prambanan, The huge complex from the 8-10th century AD has gone through quite some challenges: earthquakes, treasure hunters and just locals looking for building materials so many temples still need to be restored. The biggest draw are the 8 main temples in the central courtyard and are simply put impressive.

    We found a nice little oasis in the middle of the rice fields in Borobudur, also called the garden of Java because of its green rice fields, nature surrounded by volcanic peaks. Exploring the area on bikes, cooling off in the swimming pool, treated by amazing sunset colors and enjoying a fantastic dinner in the middle of the garden, ooh yeah tough life! Trying to catch sunrise with the Borobudur and infamous Gunung Merapi on the background, team KuMi is on it and took a scooter taxi at 5am, followed by a small hike to Punthuk Setumbu for fantastic vistas!

    After breakfast it is time to explore Borobudur from up close. This Buddhist colossal monument has been abandoned actually soon after its completion and was forgotten for almost a 1000 years. Earthquakes, jungle growing back, terrorist bombings, volcano eruptions, Boro had to endure quite some catastrophes and is now Indonesia’s nr 1 tourist spot.
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