Flores Island -- Tips on Booking Your Tours / Adventures

And now…. the more important topic regarding your tour activities and trips: 

How to book for your Flores adventure tours (Komodo dragons, snorkeling, diving) without breaking the bank and which agencies are good and trustworthy??

Indonesia: Labuan Bajo, Flores Island

view of Labuan Bajo town

For our 3^rd year anniversary and Christmas holiday, Michael arranged a trip to the Flores Islands. Seeing the Komodo dragons has always been a dream for us, not only because they are part of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World (according to the UNESCO Heritage Site) but we were interested to see these giant lizards in action as well as experience the beauty of the island. 

What’s also highly fascinating is that the Komodo Dragon is one of the very, very few surviving representatives of the Pleistocene era, where creatures and fauna were of gigantic proportions. And now these beautiful lizards are endangered – currently there are only more or less 4,200 dragons left! Their endangerment is highly due to the diminishing fauna and food available to them on the islands they inhabit plus the changes their environments are going through.

Fishing on Rainbow Lake, Arizona

Normally, Mike and I would just hang around California whenever we're in the US. On this August trip however, we revisited Rainbow Lake at the White Mountains and spent some good quiet and relaxing time with nature and doing Mike's other favorite hobby: fishing.

The White Mountains is about a 9 hour drive from San Diego. The trip is long but very scenic. Some good car games, stories, tunes, and a camera will be handy for road trips like this. A couple of years ago, we had a white Christmas here so it was nice to experience the lake at summer time.

Here are some photos of what got up to this summer:

Singapore: Hawker Food Review

                   Lao Pa Sat  vs  Gluttons Bay  vs  Newton Food Center

Apart from the night life, shopping, amusement centers, and lifestyle, Singapore is actually more known for Good Food. The eating culture in the country is huge that most everything is centered on eating and who has the best dish or dessert.

I admit, I do make trips to Singapore just to eat (well, okay apart from my regular visa runs). In fact, I hardly shop unless there is a huge sale on an item I want, but I don't hesitate getting out of the airport even on a few-hour lay-over just to get some delicious and very affordable Sg food. Hawker food to be exact.

So, Mike and I decided to eat at Singapore's top 3 popular hawker food centers and compared them:

Singapore -- Exploring Little India

Singapore -- BUGIS JUNCTION

Since Michael was confined at Raffles Hospital, I took the chance in exploring the area of Bugis, and man, did I love it!

What used to be a notorious night spot for sailors has been reinvented to a massive urban shopping district and has quickly become very popular with the locals and tourists.  More so, it isn’t only for shopping, beauty salons and restaurants can also be found here. In fact, massages and beauty services are more affordable here than other parts of the country.

Anyway, here are the reasons why you shouldn’t miss visiting this stop on the MRT especially if you’re craving for some cheap retail therapy:

Kristin's TOP STREET FOOD choices in Bali

To be honest, I am not a fan of Indo cuisine. I guess this is due to my coming from a place with amazing food and flavors, the Philippines. Also, I find dishes in Indonesia being too rich in MSG and artificial flavorings. Plus, the sambal (shrimp paste) gives me allergies.

However, there are a few that I actually really really like.