Unfortunately, it started raining again. I was slightly disappointed for a brief moment but thankfully, I've already taken all of my touristy shots that needed a tripod (and potentially leaving my camera in the rain).



On second thoughts, I guess a clear and sunny day wouldn't have felt right in a solemn place like Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

The pedestal of the Flame of Peace was designed to look like two opened hands with palms facing up

Took a stroll walk along one of the quieter corners of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park while digesting everything I've saw, read and learnt. Much as I want to believe that people are good at heart despite all the evil in the world, those around me keep proving otherwise. That's life, huh. People keep disappointing, but you just accept it and go on your merry way.





Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a heritage center in its entirety. Every corner of the park is filled with history and stories, as proven by the numerous signs erected around to explain the significance of every nook and cranny.

Hiroshima's clear skies after the rain

Witnessed the clear blue skies of Hiroshima when I walked out of Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall — a sight impossible in Singapore due to our constant pollution. Sigh, Mother Nature sure is beautiful.

Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims

Built in 1951, the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims was one of first memorial monuments of the atomic bomb. The Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims holds the names of all victims of the atomic bomb.

Took my time and strolled around Peace Memorial Park, relishing the experience and enjoying the cold. I roamed the area for a while before I found directions to Children's Peace Monument, a statue to commemorate Sadako Sasaki.


Sadako Sasaki was only two years old at the time of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Living about 2km away, she was thrown out of the window when the atomic bomb exploded. Sadako was a miracle child since young and she miraculously survived the blast. However, tragedy struck Sadako at age 11 — she fainted while training for a sports meet and was subsequently diagnosed with leukemia, a common type of cancer caused by radiation exposure after the calamity.



Recalling the Japanese belief that if you fold a thousand paper cranes, your will be granted a wish, Sadako began folding paper cranes within the four walls of the hospital she was confined to. Soon, Sadako ran out of paper and used any material she could find, including medicine wrappings and candy wrappers.


Sadako was freed from her sufferings and passed away on 25 October 1955, at age 12. The consensus is that Sadako folded a thousand paper cranes before passing away, although some recounts suggests that Sadako only folded 644 paper cranes.

Paper cranes since became a symbol of peace, and a statue of Sadako holding a giant paper crane was erected in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in remembrance of the strong-willed girl.



Children's Peace Monument was a place I only ever dared to dream about visiting as a kid. I Googled incessantly for photos of Children's Peace Monument because I was so desperate to catch a glimpse of that place that inspired me to be a stronger person, to believe in peace, to fight my demons, to live. It was this exact Children's Peace Monument that began my love for war history.

I silently wiped away a tear that flowed down my cheeks as I realised that words aren't — will never be — adequate to describe the initial overwhelming feelings of seeing Children's Peace Monument upclose and personal.

Children's Peace Monument

Children's Peace Monument

Address 
1 Nakajimacho, Naka Ward, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture 730-0811, Japan

Growing up a history buff, Hiroshima was the part of my solo travel that I looked most forward. I first learnt about Hiroshima when my primary school teacher introduced my class the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Immensely touched by Sadako's strong will to live, I vowed to visit Hiroshima some day. It took me 13 years, but I knew the wait was worth it the moment I laid my eyes on the A-Bomb Dome. It was surreal, very very surreal, to know that my dream came true — all because of my own hard work, no less.

Hiroshima was never in my itinerary and was an extremely last minute stop. My itinerary initially consisted of the mainstream tourist spots, going Osaka – Kyoto – Tokyo. Making the last minute stop at Hiroshima meant I travelled back and forth Japan, and I was shot curious glances when I told people aout my itinerary but Hiroshima is worth it. So worth it.

7 hours on Willer Express from Kyoto to Hiroshima

Being my chatty self, I made friends with a backpacker from Paris and shared travel stories. I guess that's the best part about travelling solo — you open up easier compared to travelling with a companion. In turn, you tend to make more friends, often of different cultures.


By then, I was halfway through my solo travel and thoroughly exhausted. I removed my make up on the overnight bus and zonked out almost immediately. Tip 1: Bring make up removal wipes as they are much more compact to bring around. Or just abandon make up completely, which was what happened nearing the end of my travels.

Tip 2: if you're travelling on overnight buses like Willer Express, bring an eyemask so the lights switched on and off randomly throughout the bus ride will not affect your sleep. I had my earpiece on because I listened to music to sleep, but you might want to bring noise-cancelling earpugs.




My bus was originally scheduled to arrive at Hiroshima at 5:55am but as with Japan's efficiency, we arrived a little ahead of schedule, right before daybreak. Since my pick up point later that night was also going to be at Hiroshima South Exit, I took photos of my surrounding area in case I can't find that place at night.

Hiroshima Station South Exit (in front of 7-11 'Hiroshima matsubaracho-ten'), where Willer Express overnight buses stop

My phone was running out of battery at this point because I stupidly placed my travel adapter on the floor in Kyoto Station and walked away without it. Walked into a Seven Eleven expecting to find a travel adapter because have you visited Seven Elevens overseas? They have everything — except travel adapters and earrings.

By now, I learnt to show photos instead of hoping for someone who can understand English or Chinese. Unfortunately, the shopkeepers didn't recognise the travel adapter photos I found on Google for some reason, and I had a hard time explaining what I needed. I kept repeating, "Japan, Singapore, different. *plugging in socket hand gesture*"

A Japanese lady saw me strruggling at the counter and she was kind enough to download a translation app for me to type in what I wanted so she could give me directions! My heart :'))) Japanese are sooooo amazingly nice; they really go beyond everything to make sure you get the help you need even if it doesn't benefit them in any way. Thank you Japan, for reminding me what kindness is all about.

Bought cheese tart in 7-11 in case I got hungry

Because Hiroshima Station was under renovation, I sturggled with finding the lockers in a bit. The lockers located right opposite the taxi bay, near a police station.


I bought the 1 Day Streetcar and Ferry Pass for ¥840 (approx SGD $10.50) and it gives me access to all lines on the Electric Railway (Hiroshima's version of trains which gets you to virtually all the tourists spots), and Ferryboat from Miyajima-guchi to Miyajima and back.

Hiroshima was slightly different from Osaka and Kyoto — I bought my 1 Day Streetcar and Ferry Pass after boarding the Electric Railway, while you typically purchase your transport passes from the stations itself in other cities. The early hours probably contributed to this change as well; I read online that tourists usually can buy the 1 Day Streetcar Pass at Hiroshima Station Streetcar Information Desk (in front of the departure platform).


When all that was over and done with, I travelled on the Electric Railway to Genbaku-Domu Mae Station, and I found myself facing the A-Bomb Dome. It was glorious, magnificent and breathtaking... But my face wasn't. I darted into a toilet nearby to put on some make up because I looked exhausted — not that I expected any otherwise from a overnight bus ride. And that was when my earrings fell out again -___- Told myself to relax this time, and just enjoy Hiroshima first so that's what I did.


Tears welled up in my eyes as I re-approached A-Bomb Dome. I had to choke back tears every step I took. I was there. I was there. I was finally there! I gasped. I was conflicted and confused — was I crying because I had accomplished my childhood dream, or because I was standing right in front of a building with such rich history? Maybe a bit of both, but does it really matter at that point?

I took a short stroll around A-Bomb Dome, making sure I've taken in every bit of what it has to offer. The solemn atmosphere. That one action which changed history. The fact that I'm a Singaporean, how the fate of A-Bomb Dome — the death of thousands of mere Japanese — directly impacted the lives of my ancestors and in a way, me. It was intense and overwhelming, and I was glad I was there alone because no one in the world would have understood how much this meant to me.

It's been ages since my last hair dye update — the last when I was still studying Mass Comm in Ngee Ann Poly, and now I've been working full time for almost a year! I went from dip-dyed pink to brown hair for my internship with Singapore Airlines, bleached it twice for grey hair for my graduation ceremony, had it fade to an ugly copper before dyeing it blue with dip-dyed purple ends, then dyeing my entire head completely purple. Now, my purple hair has faded into dark blue. Gonna find time to take y'all through my hair journey from 2015 to 2017 from now on :)


In my last proper hair update, I dip-dyed my hair with La Riche's Carnation Pink at a friend's house. The pink was gorgeous on my already bleached hair, but it only lasted about 9 to 10 weeks before it faded into an ugly salmon orange colour.






The ends of my hair were still blonde from my blonde hair days with Salon Vim in 2013 (yes, my hair grows at a ridiculously slow pace!) so that was pretty awesome — except that my hair was still rather damaged from all the dyeing I've done.


A few weeks later, my ex-boyfriend's mom helped me dye my hair fully brown in preparation for my internship with Singapore Airlines since SIA is a MNC after all, and I wouldn't expect them to put up with my blonde ends.

When was the last time I saw myself in formal clothes?

In the end, the blonde ends still came out to play because once you go blonde, you'll never go back *wags fingers*



I then decided to cut a few inches off my hair because I quite liked how refreshing I look in shorter hair.



The brown eventually faded to orange, which I stuck with despite hating orange just for convenience's sake. That's the end of my boring hair days while I was interning with Singapore Airlines, and my ex-colleagues were already always commenting on how brightly coloured my hair was! Imagine their shock if they witnessed my blonde days LOL.

Up next: Ash Grey, Midnight Blue x Plum, Violet hair diaries. Stay tuned!

Words from Anne Frank, a timely reminder.

I read a lot as a little girl and I always loved this quote. If Anne Frank can say this while hiding during World War II, what's my excuse? So I always tried living by this quote. I always told myself everyone can be nice if we give them a chance, and I trusted everyone that came my way. And I always prided myself in that.

When people told me not to be so trusting, I laughed at them for I thought they didn't know what they were missing out on by when so suspicious of the world. Yet lately, I've been proven wrong time and again. Thrice in a month. I can't believe that I've been the fool for so long. I lost my faith; the world is a nasty place, whether you want to believe it or not.

If I were to be honest, I don't understand how the world works anymore. You be nice to someone expecting them to treat you the same. Indeed, 知人知面不知心。These were the people I defended when someone spoke ill of them and in turn, they spoke nasty words behind my back, choosing to run away from problems instead of solving them. And I thought these actions were left behind when we graduated from school.

I try to think of the bright side but it ain't easy. At least I know who's worth my time and who's not before I spend too much of my life on them. This is just one of the many setbacks I'll face in life and I know I can get through this. Some say they will receive their karma; after all, the world is round and what goes around comes around right? But I don't care about them or what happens to them in the future. They're not worth my time anymore.

I only care about my beliefs being shattered. I wonder what Anne Frank meant when she wrote those words. Were she as trusting as I was? Is there really good left in the world or was she just too naive because she was denied the chance to experience the real world? Is it worth it to give up on my beliefs for people who are not worth it or is it essential to do so to survive in society?

Should I still live by Anne Frank's words or become tough like the rest of the world?

(Written 12 March 2016)

It's been exactly a year since I first started on my lifelong dream of seeing the world. I conquered 11 cities in 5 countries since then, and spent 52/365 days overseas. Each time, I returned to Singapore with post-travels depression and bought tickets for my next holiday almost immediately; the shortest, only a week break between my travels.

I travelled alone most of the time, and I had no problem dealing with loneliness. The gaps in between — the times I wished I had someone by my side — were filled with adventures I had, the things I would have never done if I weren't alone.

A wandering soul who constantly craves for adventures, I knew I wanted to spend my future travelling. I wanted to be in anywhere but Singapore. I gave myself three years, I worked hard for a month-long backpacking travel, and I planned to relocate in a country I fell in love with. But all of my plans came crashing down when I turned down a travel opportunity, initially scheduled to be in March.

I knew what was wrong.

"How dangerous," she paused then sighed, 
"and beautiful to meet someone worth staying for."

I acquired new knowledge with every travel, learning more about people as I travelled. I learnt what having feelings can do to someone, and the human's fickle mind scared me. I flinched when someone inched closer; it usually takes only one month before I'm out again. I never thought I was ready, much less capable of feelings again.


I fell for him, but I'll drown myself in three bottles of whisky before I admit it.

(Written 22 Feb 2017)

9 Hours Narita Capsule Hotel Review

It's as if heavens answered my prayers for cheap and convenient accommodation in Japan with capsules hotels, which have been steadily gaining popularity with Japan tourists. For my budget Japan solo travel, I stayed in 9 Hours Narita Capsule Hotel — the airport's answer to my hatred for early morning flights.

9 Hours Capsule Hotel is named after Japan's belief that you only need nine hours to recharge yourself after a busy day: one hour to shower, seven hours of sleep, one hour of preparation. Popular with tourists for its unique concept, 9 Hours Capsule Hotel has four capsule hotels around Japan — in Kyoto, Narita, Sendai and Shinjuku-North.

Similar to my stay at Imano Tokyo Hostel, I booked 9 Hours Capsule Hotel via Booking.com, and checking in was super convenient! A few taps on the iPad and confirmation with my passport was all it took. The staff at 9 Hours Capsule Hotel then passed me a key to my locker, and a bag with a body towel, face towel, a bathrobe and bedroom slippers.

God, I was already impressed by the service provided by 9 Hours Capsule Hotel — I didn't expect much because a capsule hotel is meant for guests to just check in, sleep, check out but I guess Japan has its way of surprising everyone with its hospitality.