Europe - 7 countries , 14 cities for 30 days S$2140 (Updated 2017)

My boyfriend and I decided to go Europe backpacking.

Let's GO!

Yes, we did it within our small budget. We had visited 7 countries, 14 cities for our wonderful 30 days. We total spend S$2140 per person in transportation and accommodations. 

We visited (in Sequence):

1.  Milan, Italy

2.  Verona, Italy

3.  Venice, Italy

4.  Paris, France

5.  London, United Kingdom

6.  Cardiff, United Kingdom

7.  Tonypandy, United Kingdom

8.  Swansea, United Kingdom

9.  Brussels, Belgium

10. Porto, Portugal

11. Barcelona, Spain

12. Madrid, Spain

13. Geneva, Switzerland

14. Ferney Voltaire, France

Flights 

Qatar Airline (Multi-City)

Singapore -> Doha -> Milan 

Geneva -> Doha -> Singapore

Total cost: S$878
website: http://qatarairways.com

In-flight Food!

EasyJet Airway

EasyJet Airline is a British low-cost airline carrier based at London Luton Airport. Booking and online check-in was easy and smooth. However, this budget airline was very strict for the allowance baggage. Please don't try your luck to carry-in. The fee is very expensive. 

Venice -> Paris 

Cost : S$70

Madrid -> Geneva

Cost : S$60

website: http://www.easyjet.com/en/

Ryan Air

Ryanair airline is an Irish low-cost airline headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland, with its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. This airline required to check-in online or you will be charged at 45 EURO fee per passenger. Please read their term and condition for their size and weight restrictions on hand luggage. This is the best budget airline for short distance because the seats are not comfortable as no support for lower back, and width restricted by armrests containing meal tray. 

Brussels (Zaventem) -> Porto

Cost : $38.50

Porto -> Barcelona

Cost: S$39

Total cost: S$77.50

Vueling

Vueling airline is a Spanish low-cost airline based at El Prat de Llobregat in Greater Barcelona with hubs in Barcelona-El Prat Airport and Leonardo da Vinci- Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy. Online check-in was easy and smooth. Don't expect much for this budget airline.

Barcelona - Madrid

cost: S$66.50

http://50skyshades.com/news/airlines/vueling-will-hire-up-to-200-pilots-as-market-demand-grows

Total cost of flights: S$1092.00

*tips: Always subscribe newsletter from the Airlines so that you will know the latest promotion.

Trains

Milan -> Verona

cost: S$19
website: http://www.raileurope.com.sg

Verona -> Venice
cost: S$19

Paris -> London
cost: S$75

London -> Tonypandy
cost: S$50

London -> Belgium
cost: S$75

website: http://www.raileurope.com.sg
*tips: Below 26 years old, you will be able to get student price.

Milan, Italy

Accommodation @ Hotel Brasil Milano 

cost: 22.50 EURO ~ S$32.23 (per person for a night)

website: hostel world

Hostel Brasil Milano was average. We booked a double bedroom with no private bathroom. The hotel is close to the metro station and close to city center. It's a good place for a short stay.

Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. It is to dedicate to St Mary of the Nativity, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Angelo Scola. It took nearly six centuries to complete. It is a wonderful place to visit if you are architecture and history lover. 

random street in Milan

Verona, Italy

Accommodation @ Sleep Easy Hostel

cost: S$ 26.48 (per person for a night)

Website: Hostelworld

Sleep Easy Hostel was beyond my expectation. The hostel is quite far from the train station and not easy to find. There were bedbugs!!

Arena of Verona

Romeo and Juliet

Case di Giulietta (Juliet's house) is the nice place. However, it too crowded and nothing much to do. It's worth for a short visit.

Venice, Italy

Accommodation @ Airbnb (whole apartment)

cost: S$ 88 ( per person for 2 nights)

website: Airbnb

The host was very friendly and told us where to go and what to eat. He also recommended us to buy tourist travel card (Actv). We bought a Junior pass (age 6-29) for 29 Euro. It's included rolling Venice city pass and transport. It's validity for 3 days (72hours). 

St Mark's Square Venice

Glass factory

Paris, France

Accommodation @ Vintage Hostel Gare du Nord

cost: 30 Euro ~ S$45.65 ( per person for a night)

website: Hostelworld

Vintage Hostel Garu du Nord located 5 min away from the Anvers metro station. The room was very clean. The receptionist was very friendly and welcome us with a smile. I love their breakfast especially their croissant bread. 

Arc De Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

London, United Kingdom 

Accommodation @ Airbnb (private room)

cost: S$37 (per person for two nights)

website: Airbnb

We stayed at nearby Stratford station. The room was very clean. 

St. Pancreas Railway station

Cardiff, United Kingdom 

Accommodation @ my aunt house

cost: FREE!!

Barry

Pierhead Building

Pierhead Building 

Tonypandy, United Kingdom 

Accommodation @ my aunt house

cost: FREE !!

my aunt house's rooftop

a small hill at nearby Tonypandy

Swansea, United Kingdom

I didn't stay at Swansea. It's just a short visit over there. The place was very beautiful and relaxing to chill at.

Swansea bay beach

Swansea beach bay

Brussels, Belgium

Accommodation @ Airbnb (private room)
cost: $47 ( per person for two nights)
website: Airbnb

Our hosts were very friendly and even show us where to go and what to eat in their area. We booked the area was very near to all the popular attractions. We had saved a lot of money in term of transportation. I will definitely recommend you to book Airbnb. It's worth for everything!

Brussels

Manneken Pis 

Porto, Portugal

Accommodation @ Airbnb (Whole Apartment)

cost: S$30 (per person for two nights)

website: Airbnb

The apartment that we booked was very clean and convenient. We had our own kitchen to cook for our breakfast. Porto is a very n

Heritage Tram

Porto Cathedral (Se Cathedral) outside

Ponte de D.Luis

Rabble Boat ( wine wine wine !)

Bolhão Market

Barcelona, Spain

Accommodation @ Airbnb (private room)

cost: S$160 ( per person for 5 nights)

website: Airbnb

La Rambla street

Barcelona

La Boqueria

Madrid, Spain

Accommodation @ Airbnb (private room)

cost: S$64 ( per person for two nights)

website: Airbnb 

El Oso y El Madrono ( the Bear and the Strawberry Tree)

La Puerta del Sol

Outside Airbnb apartment

Geneva, Switzerland 

Accommodation @ Airbnb (private room)

cost: S$117 ( per person for two nights)

website: Airbnb

Our host very friendly and he even drew a map for us which places to go to and where to eat. I just love this place because it is very clean.

Random street

High cost of living that why we were sad

A nice piece of art

Jet d'Eau

Giant chess board

*tips: If you arrive at Geneva International Airport, you can get your 80 minutes ticket for Geneva Public transport (Zone 10) for free. The ticket machine is located at the luggage retrieval hall and prints the free ticket without any requirements or limitations upon the pressing the button.

Free ticket entitles you to take an airport train, bus, tram, and mouette. 

Free transportation ticket for 80minutes

For your referrence 

• Train Ticket - www.raileurope.com.sg
• Flight Ticket - www.vueling.com , www.ryanair.com , www.qatar.com , www.easyjet.com
• Accommodation - www.airbnb.com , www.hostelworld.com

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Shipsomnia 2016 - At Sea [Part 2]

Second day mostly will be at sea with the ship cruising along the Malacca Strait. What will be great than to spend the time suntanning or heading to the activities that are planned throughout the day.

Sailing with a cruise speed of 17.0 knots, traveling along the SW coast of Malaysia Strait, and by the late afternoon the west coast of Malaysia in order to arrive at 08:00 by Phuket Anchor Position. The ship has onboard communication services by yours truly - MCP NO (Maritime Communications Partner) which offers full support of GSM and CDMA standards platform.  Enabling users to make and receive voice calls, SMS, MMS, send and receive data, or access internet. There's onboard WIFI service throughout the service with a service fee cost ranging from 1hr, 3hr and full day usage.

Image by MCP - Maritime Communications Partner

Sunny and breezy makes it the ideal and perfect weather to be out in the sun.

The Aquarium - Concorde Plaza Deck 7

I spent the day going to the gym, running around the ship's jogging track and ended the day chilling inside this place (picture above). It's cool that they take the extensive décor to fit the theme of every location.

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Shipsomnia 2016 - The Search For Lost Rhythms [ Part 1 ]

Ahoy Matey!

I was invited to an exclusive event on board a cruise ship, Costa Victoria, that sails along the Malacca and Andaman Sea on a 5 days / 4 nights trip that made a stop in Phuket (Banana Beach) and Langkawi stopever (Resort World Langkawi). The main purpose of the event? There's a lot to say but firstly....

Would like to thank the event sponsor for inviting me on this maiden voyage. This is my first ever invitation as a travel blogger and onboard a cruise ship. Couldn't be more grateful and I'am thankful for it.

The event has a special slogan to it - The Search For Lost Rhythms. Without a doubt the first thing will be thinking about will be

Music, music and more music! Live performances with DJs spinning to the tune

That what I was excited too when reading their website on this voyage and could't be more happier than waiting till the day to arrive. 

Day started out when I head out to Harbour Front Cruise Terminal which is conveniently located near the MRT station and Vivocity. I had to come earlier as I don't even know how and what I was going to be expected with the boarding processes as this is my first time to encounter checking in a different kind of terminal. 

So checking in was very easy with number tagging collected after deposit my heavy luggage and a simple health questionnaire given out too. There was a lot of time left for me to roam around the vicinity of Harbour Front shopping area and Vivocity.  

COSTA VICTORIA (ITALY AT SEA) ~ Victoria-class cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Crociere. She debuted in 1996 and was refurbished in 2004. She was designed to reflect the spirit of Italy.

As the tide was low when check in was open, I waited around for 45mins - 1hr before even given clearance by the crew to being the process again. Even though it cause confusion, but even when this happened, it didn't stop the fellow shipsomniacs to be crazily hype with warm conversations among fellow crowds.

The complimentary room given during my stay is a double occupancy room with an outside ocean view cabin.

There's a TV, kettle, cups and the usual items which normally a person would stay in a hotel. Air-con has very good air flow. Thumbs up for that!

Each person were given a pamphlet of the activities of each day and where you should be at. I came inside the room around 7 pm plus and I couldn't resist walking around the ship. But first thing first, food! It's a must to visit the self-service buffet on Deck 11 as they cater to a wide variety of food that range from international cuisine to Italian home foods. We went for a quick bite as every passengers were required to attend a drill at 10 pm for those who embarked from Singapore. But fret not as there was a lot of time to eat. 

As the ship set sails from Harbour Front, the view from a cruise ship is really an awesome experience!

Activity for day 1

Within minutes the ship started to come alive

First day was all about familiarisation and I was quickly getting to where the facilities inside the ship. But what can not be forgotten about.... the code! Aye, keep to the code!

1. Befriend Others - thou shall not dance alone.
2. Respect Ye Ship - if you wouldn't do it at home, don't do it here.
3. Protect Yourself - use sunscreen and stay hydrated.
4. Walk the Plank! - [this was seriously reminded lots of time even before the festivities started] No drugs. no outside booze, no weapons, no stealing and no fighting. There's no parlay when it comes to these actions.
5. No smoking inside - please use ashtrays and not the ocean!
6. Have a Blast - let's party responsibly and have tons of fun!



p/s : sponsored by MadFreshEvents 

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Getting to Kuala Lumpur by train from Singapore

Taking a train to Kuala Lumpur is an ideal way to relax and enjoy the scenic countryside view. But there's a catch when taking a train from Singapore. Now the Malayan train operator, Keretapi Tanah Melayu ( KTM ) has made the journey starting point in Johor Bahru. There's various method to reach Johor Bahru Sentral but you still can get a train from Singapore as long you take the shuttle train from various timings.

For example, I have taken the morning train, shuttle train no.64 from 6:30AM (06:00) and reach JB Sentral at 6:35AM (06:35). From there I took another train, Express Rakyat train no.2 to Kuala Lumpur from 8:40AM (08:40) and arrive there at 4:00PM (16:00). Do take note that timings are based on 24HR.

I heavily recommend that you buy the ticket online with minimal fee charge as the most convenient and flexible way. You may search different train route and timings of your preference. Prices are based on SGD for Singapore - Johor Bahru, MYR for all other routes in Malaysia and cross border journey in Thailand.

https://intranet.ktmb.com.my/e-ticket/login.aspx - Your gateway to purchasing ticket online

You may search different train route and timings of your preference. But register first to proceed on purchasing the ticket for the payment and choosing the seat. Payment agent will be from Maybank Malaysia.

Prices are as follow:
Singapore Woodlands CIQ       -    Johor Bahru Sentral        ~  SGD 5   ( Free seating )
Johor Bahru Sentral                  -    Kuala Lumpur Sentral    ~ MYR 33 ( Air-con second class )

It will exactly look like this when have successfully purchase your ticket.

The inside of Shuttle Train no.64 for the Singapore Woodlands CIQ - Johor Bahru Sentral. *Do take note that video and photo taking is strictly prohibited at Singapore Woodlands CIQ as it is a restricted area.*

Arrival at Johor Bahru Sentral. With facilities of escalator and elevator at your convenience.

Breakfast at Johor Bahru Sentral is very convenient as there are variety of shop such as KFC, Starbucks, Rotiboy .etc.

Boarding the Express Rakyat No.2 from Johor Bahru Sentral - Kuala Lumpur Sentral

As this train there's a label and seat number, you're required to board the specific number in your train ticket.

Second class seating coach by PT . Industri Keret Api Indonesia ( INKA ). More info on this new coach at http://railtravelstation.com/2015/07/12/ktm-intercity-inka-asc/

 Too comfortable to resist till can make you fall asleep. Tray table are adequate and each side have a power socket.

KTM Class 26 Blue Tiger

While along the route, best part of a trip is without a doubt the buffet car.

Prices are kept affordable but it can quickly ran out of supply soon with the popularity of choices.

Arrival at Kuala Lumpur Sentral.

The ride is really smooth but at first part of the section from Johor Bahru Sentral to Gemas Railway Station, trains will have to comply the restricted speed limit of some sections and will be kinda rocky as it is still a single track along the route. From Gemas Railway Station onwards you can expect the train to be reaching higher tier speed at 110km/h thanks to the newly build double tracking.

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Penroads - Travel a smaller world.

Do you want to see the world differently ?

Do you want to travel every three months to different part of Asia ?

You don’t have time to plan your trips ?

Travel with other travelers ?

If your answer is YES ..

I have a good news for you..

Penroads at http://travel.penroads.com/ are a travel subscription company . They are a social travel platform that helps you find travel partners and meet travelers/locals at your travel destination.

For $99/month, they will send you once every 3 months to a destination in Asia. The fee included flights and accommodation for your 3D2N ( Friday evening – Sunday) trip in Asia.  So , you will never worry about planning your trips. You just need to bring your passport along after your work and FLY OFF.

They also have a few options to choose from at the start of every 3 months. They leave on Friday and return on Sunday. You also does a small online test to see what kind of hliday you would prefer to.

If you are unable to make it on the third month, they will credit the money to your next trip. Hence your next trip you can choose a destination that is further or stay for a longer period. Additionaly, there will be no extra charge if a public holiday lands on a weekends.

Sound good ?

Yes, they want you to connects with other travelers before or while traveling from other country.

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