Author: Alex Yip

Sky lanterns during Mid Autumn Festival 0

Asia / China

23 Oct, 2013

A day of wandering around Shenzhen and Mid autumn festival

Soooooooo, as I said before, eventhough my 1 year gap trip is over, it doesn’t mean that I’m gonna stop traveling! This time I went back to Hong Kong for some administrative stuff and to visit my girlfriend. I took the opportunity to check out the South of China, more specifically: Yangshuo-Guilin-Shenzhen. To get to Guilin-Yangshuo I originally planned to go by overnight train from Shenzhen, but “luckily” there weren’t any tickets available anymore so we booked a plane ticket from Shenzhen to Guilin instead. My traveling partner was quite pleased to hear the change of plans… But in the...

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Planning

11 Aug, 2013

How to look for the right accomodation

Traveling for a year sounds fun to most people if not all people, but what many people don’t know is that it’s also freaking TIRING! There are so many things to take care of and organise, especially if you’re traveling by yourself. Research on the city/country you’re visiting, the language, money exchange, necessary visa, transport and most importantly accomodation. When I was still traveling, I lived by 1 rule. As long as I have a roof over my head then I’m all good. That’s why it’s important to find a good place to stay at to be able to do...

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Blog

7 Jan, 2013

Coming back home after a gap-year around (half) the world

It’s been nearly 2 months since I came back from my 1 year round (half) the world trip. The first month I was pretty much just busy meeting up with friends to tell them about my experiences and hearing from them what has changed in a year time. You’d think that 1 year is long, but when you’re traveling for a year, everything passes by so fast. When people asked me about some stories and experiences from my trip, I often don’t know where to begin the story. One of the most difficult and rather annoying question is asking me...

Statues at Ngong Ping 1

Asia / Hong Kong

31 Dec, 2012

Outlying islands in Hong Kong: Lantau Island and Lamma Island

Next up on the list was Lantau Island, the largest of the Outlying Islands, twice the size of Hong Kong Island and famous for its high peaks, wild landscapes, great beaches and the airport. Over the years the area has been heavy development in the shape of Disneyland and a cable car to Ngong Ping monastery. I joined a hiking group of who were going to hike the Dragon’s back in Shek-O. It was voted the Best Urban Hiking Trail in Asia by Time (Asia edition) in 2004. Just a short hop from the bustle of Hong Kong East, it...

Interior of The Venetian 0

Asia / Macau

31 Dec, 2012

Checking out the historical Macau and trying my luck at the casino

Macau was the first and last European colony in Asia, it has more visible colonial history than Hong Kong. Walking through the old city you could convince yourself you were in Europe rather than in Asia. One of the world’s most densely populated spots, Macau is best known as Asia’s largest destination for gambling taking in even more revenue than Las Vegas. Although best known for gambling, Macau is extremely rich in attractions and oozing with atmosphere, thanks to hundreds of years of fusion between European and Chinese cultures. Macau is a fascinating place to just walk around as the...

Hong Kong Island skyline 1

Asia / Hong Kong

30 Dec, 2012

Bright lights and neons in Hong Kong, cliff jumping and visit to cat cafe

Hong Kong is my last stop on my 1 year travel around the world. It’s not a stop that I intended to visit because my parents are from Hong Kong and I’ve been here several times before. It was a required stop on my way back to Belgium. In the previous visits I haven’t ever really traveled around in Hong Kong. Most of the time, I’ve just been visiting relatives, taking care of paperwork, eating and shopping. So I had no idea what Hong Kong really had to offer. This time around I wanted to really TRAVEL in Hong Kong....

View from our lunch spot 0

Philippines / South East Asia

30 Dec, 2012

Island hopping in El Nido, wreck-diving in Coron & visit to Taal Lake

The center of El Nido wasn’t that big at all and was mainly occupied by tourist vendors and travel agencies offering island hopping tours and also dive shops. Main reason for me was the diving since there was some really diving to be done in the area. But more on that later. First up was the island hopping tour. There are 4 different pre-packaged routes that all the agencies offer. Depending on what you want to see, you can select a tour that visits the major sights or one that visits the hidden lagoons. But be sure to check out...

Dahican beach in Mati 0

Philippines / South East Asia

30 Dec, 2012

Skimboarding in Mati and a ride in underground river in Puerto Princesa

Mati was only famous for 1 thing: skimboarding and partly surfing. Other than that, there wasn’t much else worth visiting for the average tourist. That was also the reason why I decided to take a 5 hour slow bus ride from Davao to arrive in Mati in the middle of the night in a rundown hostel with no other guests. The next day I managed to fix a ride and pick up to the Dahican beach where all the action is happening. But the thing is, the waves are only good at certain times during the day. Mainly early in...

Some of the CS Davao hardcore members 0

Philippines / South East Asia

28 Dec, 2012

A trip down south to Davao in Mindanao

The Philippines consists of more than 7000 islands, they said it takes about 3 decades to visit and experience every Island. As I don’t have that much time, I at least wanted to visit each major region and part of that is Mindanao, the world’s 19th largest island. It’s known for dazzling scenery, primitive hill tribes and an almost complete lack of tourists because of political unrest and occasional fighting between the government and Muslim separatists. Government has warned tourist not to go to Mindanao because of this situation. Even local Pinoys don’t venture out there. However, the north coast...

Basilica of Santo Niño 0

Philippines / South East Asia

28 Dec, 2012

Dumaguete and diving around Apo Island and 1 day visit in Cebu

Dumaguete as a city was quite energetic for a “small” city. It’s actually known as a university town as a huge college campus engulfs much of its centre. Upon arriving, I didn’t really notice that many tourists around, good thing I blend in seamlessly now. The main reason why tourists come to Dumaguete is to go diving around Apo Island, UNESCO World Heritage Centre. One of the Philippines’ famous diving sites, Apo Island has one of the world’s best known community-organized marine sanctuaries. It is home to over 650 documented species of fish and estimated to have over 400 species...

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