April 2026

Hi friends, happy Monday. It’s time for part two of our Japan trip recap, and today I’m covering our Tokyo itinerary. Our time in Tokyo included two days in the city on either side of DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland (but I’ll share all about those two amazing days separately in upcoming posts). I thought I would recap our Japan trip mostly by city rather than by day. Hopefully, this way it will be easier to follow, since we moved around quite a bit, packed in so many sights and experiences, and didn’t stay in one single place for long. So, let’s go to Tokyo 😊 Tokyo Itinerary: City Highlights and Travel Recap Ueno Park First stop on our very flexible Tokyo itinerary was Ueno Park. What a perfect way to start, because it was calm and exactly what we needed. Oh boy, I didn’t know it at the time, but over the days we spent there, my senses got a major workout in colourful, bustling Tokyo! How lucky were we to be there and catch the end of cherry blossom season? This was the first week when we saw a few of them — so pretty, aren’t they? By the second week, the blooms were mostly floating away in the wind. After that calm start, Tokyo quickly shifted gears as we made our way into busier parts of the city, including Shibuya. Onitsuka Tiger Before our trip, I made a mental wishlist of places I would love to visit. If I saw them, it was a bonus, and if I didn’t, that was all ok too. Visiting Onitsuka Tiger was one of them, but I didn’t want to waste time hunting for the store, especially knowing how busy it got. When I did spot it (I couldn’t believe my eyes!) I cleared it with the group and went in. I love travelling with my cousins, and one of the reasons we work so well is that we give each other time and space. We mostly stayed together on this trip, but occasionally we split up to visit places or do things we were individually interested in. If one of us spotted a place or shop we liked, we went in while the others did their own thing, then we met up again or dropped a location pin to find each other again. Inside the Store Experience It was crazy busy inside, with people trying on shoes and waiting to pay. The upstairs section, where they stocked the sneakers I wanted, had a queue for the cashier wrapped around about three times. It was nuts! Luckily, I already knew exactly what I wanted and in what size. Then the stars aligned, and I found a lovely sales assistant who helped me try them on and let me pay downstairs, where it wasn’t so busy. If that hadn’t happened, I would have had to wait well over an hour and probably wouldn’t have bought them. It was a total madhouse in there, full of tourists like me, all hoping to get their hands on a pair of iconic Onitsuka Tigers at a better price than I could ever find in Australia. I still can’t believe I got the pair I wanted — the same style Uma Thurman wore in Kill Bill. What a win! Shibuya Crossing Later, we ended up at the iconic Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world. We crossed the crossing a couple of times while we were there. On one of them, I saw my husband trying to get a photo, so I ran right into the middle and struck a pose. Bucket list wish ticked! I’m more on the reserved side (less so as I get older), and my family have said they can clearly see my mum comes out in me when we are overseas. She wasn’t reserved, she was a riot! Akihabara On another day in our Tokyo itinerary, we visited Akihabara, the district known for everything to do with anime, consoles, retro gaming, and Pokémon cards. Oh my goodness, the streets were lined with endless shops going up so many levels, absolutely packed with it all. The gacha machines were everywhere, and the choice was incredible! We also came across a whole mix of animal cafés, from cat cafés and reptile cafés to owl cafés and even hedgehog cafés. There were also so many maid cafés, where staff dress in costumes and create a playful, fantasy-like, over-the-top experience for guests. Outside almost every one I saw, there was a maid standing out front waving and trying to encourage people to come in. I was so curious because I’d read about them when we were doing our Tokyo itinerary, and truly, where else in the world do you see anything like that? I really wanted to go in, but we ran out of time. Friends in Tokyo Sam is so friendly, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my son; he really is. He met some Japanese students when they were living in Sydney last year, and they had since returned to Japan, so he got in contact with them before our trip. They spent a couple of days with us and were such lovely guys. This is them with Sam when it was time to say goodbye. They had travelled three hours just to meet us in Tokyo. Even though I had only known them briefly, I felt sad watching them leave. Don Quixote In this building is a shop called Don Quixote,and again it was on my mental Wishlist as I had seen it on Instagram. So in we went but what I did not know was how overwhelming it was going to be! Inside, there are rows and rows of everything you can think of. Souvenirs, keychains, shoes, bags, clothes, food, sweets, games, you name it, it’s there. The lighting is also quite strong, and the music is loud and constant, including the Don Quijote jingle on

Hi friends, and happy Friday! Today I’m doing my first travel recap, and I thought I’d cover Singapore. We spent roughly 20 hours there on the way to Japan. And about 15 hours on the way back, I think that’s right. But I have to admit, the time difference and catching red-eye flights to and from our destinations had me all sorts of confused. Anyway, we definitely spent enough time to explore, discover and enjoy some amazing sights. We booked hotel rooms so we had somewhere to shower and leave our things, but sleep was not on our agenda. So, although we may have been walking zombies, we still made the most of every minute. So I thought today I would just share all about Singapore. Hope this makes sense. This is trip number two for our group of 7. Just like our USA trip, we travelled with my husband, younger son, and my cousin, her husband and their two teenage kids. The magnificent 7, haha. Singapore on the Way to Japan We “stayed” right near Changi Airport at YOTEL The room reminded me of a space capsule. Nice fluro lights, aye! We had a quick shower and changed into some cooler clothes because, oh my goodness, the humidity! I will never complain about the humidity we get here in Sydney again because Singapore is on a whole other level. Changi Airport sure is beautiful! It was bright and sunny, and our first stop was Gardens by the Bay. So far, so good, and my keratin-treated hair was working hard to stay relatively smooth in the overwhelming humidity. Then it got cloudier and cloudier. Until it started raining on and off for the rest of the day. We kept going and ended up in Chinatown street market. We actually met up with a friend of Sam’s who lives in Singapore but spent a year in Sydney, where he met Sam through mutual friends. He was a lovely guy and showed us around. I asked him if the humidity was always like this, and he said it felt pretty much like this all year round, which was one of the things he didn’t love about Singapore. He said he missed Australia. We had the most delicious Hainanese chicken rice right here at Tian Tian, where Anthony Bourdain also visited. After lunch, we kept exploring and found a shop dedicated to Tintin. I’m not quite sure how Tintin is associated with Singapore, but it was a great shop! Next stop–a visit to a temple. Then I found a shop that sold foldable rain hats, and I was very happy! That was a wrap on our first day in Singapore, and the next few photos are from our return trip after we had visited Japan. Singapore on Our Way Home We stayed at YOTEL, but this one was on Orchard Road, and in the foyer, there was a robot cleaner. I had to take a photo of it because its name was Yolanda. My cousin and I are related to an aunt called Yolanda, who was very strict, clean and tidy, so we thought it was funny. This time our group split up — some went to the pool, others had a business meeting, and Steve, Sam and I went to tick off Steve’s bucket list wish of eating Singapore chilli crab. According to Google, The Fullerton Hotel in Singapore served up one of the best chilli crab spots. Well, the crab was delicious, but I can’t say the staff were very friendly; they were a bit on the snobby side. But oh well, we had a lovely time. Now this was our first time eating a whole crab, and when they served it up, it looked amazing but very daunting. All I could think was how on earth we were going to eat this and not look like cave people. I started googling and searching YouTube frantically, and it confirmed what I suspected. You just had to go for it with your hands, sauce and all. Luckily, we were given aprons. But they failed to tell us about the gloves. When we arrived at the restaurant as eager beavers, we were the first customers. After a while, other diners came in, and we overheard the nicer waiter explaining to the couple next to us that they could use the gloves the restaurant supplied. Well, it was too late by then. We had sauce all over us, and Steve was tucking in like there was no tomorrow. And oh my goodness, we looked down and saw the gloves on our table still neatly in their packets. We had all assumed they were wet wipes. So messy, and look at the tablecloth! I felt better when I looked around, and everyone’s tablecloth looked the same. Phew! After lunch, we stopped to look at the view outside the restaurant. There was a dragon spouting water nearby, and it must have been famous because it was so crowded, with people filming themselves doing unusual things. I’m not sure what that was all about, so we moved a bit further away from the chaos and took some photos. Then we walked about 20 minutes to a waffle place. We went back to the hotel, where Steve had a nap, Sam went to the pool, and although I could have easily curled up and fallen asleep, I thought no way! Sleeping is for the plane; Singapore is for shopping. I raced out to find the nearest shopping centre. The shopping centre was called ION, and I had Google Maps guiding me. My sense of direction, even with Google Maps, is interesting. I was looking for Zara as I had seen a few people carrying Zara bags. Then I turned a corner and gasped out loud when I saw a Massimo Dutti shop! We don’t have them over here, and I’ve seen so many of their clothes on Instagram that I love. I had actually looked up the