2017 - Vikingess Voyages

2017 - Vikingess Voyages

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

To Do in Tokyo: The Yebisu Garden Place Christmas Illumination

Anette 6:46:00 PM

Christmas is a time for dating here in Japan and you can find many places both in and around Tokyo where they are having special winter illuminations to help get you in the right mood. Some of my favorites so far include the Red Brick Warehouse Christmas Market in Yokohama and the Country Farm...

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Monday, December 25, 2017

Norwegianclass101

【Norwegianclass101】 How do Norwegian People Celebrate Christmas?

Anette 7:06:00 PM

Hi there! It is time for Christmas again and here in Japan I've been spending the 24th celebrating with friends and sleeping in a capsule hotel after renting out my home on AirBnb (I guess that's a story for another time). In Norway we celebrate Christmas mainly on the 24th so it's already a bit...

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Monday, December 18, 2017

10 Top Rated Hotels in Osaka Chosen by travelers for 2018

Anette 10:22:00 PM

Osaka is a popular destination for visitors to Japan, and along with the increasing number of tourists, there are also more and more accommodational options available for visiting tourists (check out my list of new Osaka hotels 2017 here). I've consolidated a list of Osaka's 10 best-rated...

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Monday, December 11, 2017

10 Top Rated Hotels in Tokyo Chosen by Travelers for 2018

Anette 10:09:00 PM

As Tokyo is getting ready for the upcoming 2020 Olympics the number of hotels offering accommodation to foreign visitors has exploded. Every year a number of new hotels are opening up their doors to the increasing number of visitors from all over the world (check out my list of new Tokyo hotels...

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Tuesday, December 5, 2017

[Hotel Review] Tokyo: A night at the upscale Centurion Classic Akasaka - Premier Family Suite

Anette 10:56:00 PM

More and more of the hotels opening up in the Japanese capital Tokyo are catering towards foreign guests. With an increasing number of visitors preferring apartment-style accommodation that can accommodate larger family groups as well there are also hotels that try to adapt to this trend by offering...

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Sunday, November 26, 2017

Gunma: Fishing & Hiking Weekend at the Lake Nozori Camp Site

Anette 4:10:00 PM

Autumn is here, and the kouyou (紅葉) foliage is yet another great reason to travel out of Tokyo and experience the great outdoors. A couple of weeks ago we had a small three-day weekend (sanrenkyu/三連休 in Japanese), which was just perfect for a short visit to Lake Nozori (野反湖) in Gunma pr...

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Sunday, November 19, 2017

Tokyo Restaurants: Fish your own meal at the Fishing Restaurant ZAUO

Anette 10:46:00 AM

Tokyo might not be the first destination that you'd think of for your next fishing trip. But if you want to try and catch your own dinner without the risk of having to go home with an empty stomach there are indeed options available for you. As an expat living in Tokyo I usually would cook my own...

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Monday, November 13, 2017

[Hotel Review] Manila: A night at the Hotel H2O Aquarium Hotel

Anette 9:20:00 PM

On our way back from holiday in Brunei my darling Yuma and I had a one day layover in the Pilipino capital Manila. With only one night to spare we wanted to make sure we could get a memorable stay, and after having done some research about accommodation I stumbled about Hotel H2O, a hotel that...

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Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Brunei's Best Hotel: The Empire Hotel and Country Club

Anette 10:08:00 PM

Have you ever wondered how it's like to stay at Brunei's best hotel? For the last part of our trip to Brunei my darling and I had the pleasure of staying at The Empire Hotel and Country Club, a self-proclaimed seven-star hotel where even the Sultan himself occasionally comes to play polo. The...

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Sunday, October 29, 2017

Sightseeing in Brunei: A Visit to an Iban Longhouse

Anette 10:50:00 PM

For the second half of our day trip to the Ulu Temburong National Park we went to visit the house of a local Iban tribe called a "longhouse". As the word "longhouse" indicates this is literarily a long house. Once upon a time it started out just as one small building ment for a single couple,...

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Sunday, October 22, 2017

Brunei: A Day Trip to the "Green Jewel of Brunei" Ulu Temburong National Park

Anette 8:14:00 PM

During our stay in Brunei the most exciting experience we had was when we went for a day trip to Brunei’s first National Park called Ulu Temburong. This area is a part of the Batu Apoi Forest reserves and it has been under protection as a safe haven for nature since 1991. In fact, up until...

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Sunday, October 15, 2017

Behind the Scenes of the Kawagoe Festival: Pulling the Festival Floats

Anette 11:47:00 PM

Every year on the third weekend of October the charming town Kawagoe, also known as "Little Edo" (Koedo), gets ready for one of their biggest events of the year; the Kawagoe festival. The town attracts around 6.2 million visitors a year, with the 2-day long Kawagoe festival being the liveliest event...

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Saturday, October 14, 2017

Asap SCIENCE Study Tips to Study Smarter instead of longer

Anette 10:12:00 AM

Just came across this video from AsapScience about how to study smarter instead of longer. As a full-time employee it is hard for me to find time to study outside of work. This video gave me some interesting tips that might make it easier for me to keep up with my studies while also doing my...

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Monday, October 9, 2017

The Palm Garden Hotel and Brunei's Best Health Club the Fitness Zone

Anette 1:22:00 PM

During our visit to Brunei we stayed for the first half of our trip at Palm Garden Hotel Brunei, a 3-star hotel in the outskirts of Bandar Seri Begawan. There were a few other interesting hotels to choose from in the area, but what finally made us go for this hotel was the reasonable price (around...

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Monday, October 2, 2017

Sightseeing in Brunei: Eating Like A Local at the Pasar Gadong Night Market

Anette 10:14:00 PM

Above: My favorite at the night market called Roti Boyan Finding authentic Bruneian food while in Brunei can be a lot harder than one would expect. Most restaurants serve food originating elsewhere, and during our stay we ran into restaurants serving anything from Nashi Goreng to Japanese teriyaki....

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Friday, September 29, 2017

Featured on TourRadar: The Most Affordable Places to Stay in Kyoto For Solo Travelers

Anette 7:46:00 PM

This week I had the honor of getting by blog featured on Days to Come, an online travel magazine by the tour booking site TourRadar. In the post you can read about a number of great accommodation alternatives in Kyoto that you can stay at for a reasonable price. I've added my quote from the article...

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Saturday, September 23, 2017

Sightseeing in Brunei: A day of downtown sightseeing in Bandar Seri Begawan

Anette 3:00:00 PM

As the travel enthusiast I am I always seek to explore new places I haven't yet been to. When I was in university I would spend my holiday backpacking South-East Asia, and recent years I've had the pleasure of visiting countries like Myanmar, Palao, the Philippines and the Maldives. This year my darling...

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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

[Hotel Review] A Night at the Majestic Hotel Okura Tokyo

Anette 10:38:00 PM

It has already been 7 years since I first moved to Japan as an exchange student, and my darling and I had decided to celebrate the event with a little dose of luxury in between our busy daily life. With its long history as one of Tokyo's greatest hotels it was clear that there was no better way to...

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Thursday, September 7, 2017

[Hotel Reviews] Shikoku: Rotenburo Heaven at Hotel Kazurabashi

Anette 7:58:00 AM

Among my favorite parts of traveling around Japan is to stay the night at traditional Japanese ryokan hotels. Although small in size and often operated by families they often provide a service that would be worthy a five-star hotel (check out my introduction to Japan's 10 best ryokans here). During...

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Monday, September 4, 2017

Sightseeing in Shikoku: The Peeing Boy Statue of Iya Valley

Anette 11:02:00 PM

The famous Peeing Boy Statue Tokushima Prefecture is known for its beautiful nature, and if you'd like to explore some of the more untouched areas of Japan then a visit to this island won't let you down. One of the most popular places for tourists is the Iya valley, a place written 祖谷 in Japanese...

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Thursday, August 31, 2017

Sightseeing in Shikoku: Kazura Basket Weaving and Soba Making at Experience Atelier Tsuzuki

Anette 10:37:00 PM

If you have the chance to travel around Tokushima and are looking for some unique cultural experience to try out along the way then a stop at a vine weaving experience might be a fun option for you. The vine tree is known in Japanese as "kazura", and is particularly known in Tokushima as an important...

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Monday, August 28, 2017

Sightseeing in Shikoku: The Kazurabashi Suspension Bridge of Iya

Anette 8:00:00 AM

Tokushima Prefecture in Shikoku is an area blessed by lush green nature and picturesque valleys. While the prefecture is struggling with a declining population resulting in abandoned villages and schools closing down there are still areas in the prefecture that are benefiting from the quiet natural...

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Monday, August 21, 2017

Shikoku: More dolls than people!? The Scarecrow Village of Nagoro

Anette 9:42:00 PM

Tokushima Prefecture is situated on the Shikoku island, and as many rural areas in Japan the small prefecture is struggling with a decreasing number of people who can sustain the local community. I recently had the pleasure to travel around Tokushima (you can also check out my post about my visit...

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Monday, August 14, 2017

Sightseeing in Shikoku: The Abandoned School Cafe Haretoke (ハレとケ珈琲)

Anette 8:00:00 AM

As many other rural areas of Japan the Tokushima Prefecture is struggling with the side effects of an aging society. Surrounded by nature the number of people is steadily decreasing, leading to abandoned villages (or villages with more scarecrows than people) and empty buildings. During my recent...

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Monday, August 7, 2017

Traditional Lodging in Japan: Top 10 Japanese Ryokan Hotels chosen by Experts Part 2

Anette 7:34:00 PM

Above: Gero Onsen Suimeikan This is part two of my post about Japan's top ryokan hotels, based on the annual award “Top 100 Hotels & Ryokans Voted by Industry Professionals” (プロが選ぶ日本のホテル・旅館100選) for 2017 presented by the Ryoko Shinbun (you can find top 1-5 here). The list...

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