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Sabbatical 2023

April - August 2023
Time for a break - The Tiki family on the move
🇰🇷🇯🇵🇸🇬🇮🇩🇲🇾 Read more
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  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    Day 32

    K-Trip - the end…

    May 9, 2023 in South Korea

    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!    Read more

  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    Day 32

    J-Trip - Japan!!

    May 9, 2023 in 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!    Read more

  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    Day 34

    J-Food - Oishii

    May 11, 2023 in 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)!!    Read more

  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    1
    11
    Day 37

    Kyoto

    May 14, 2023 in 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!    Read more

  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    Day 45

    Japanese Alps - Kanazawa

    May 22, 2023 in 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.Read more

  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    1
    Day 48

    Japanese Alps - Ogimachi & Takayama

    May 25, 2023 in 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.    Read more

  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    1
    Day 50

    Japanese Alps (Matsumoto) & Nikko

    May 27, 2023 in 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!    Read more

  • TravelerSabbatical 2023
    1
    Day 54

    Tokyoooo

    May 31, 2023 in 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!    Read more

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