Oh My Janey

Wat Pho Massage School: Honest-to-Goodness Thai Massage Review

I recently went to Bangkok and planned to have a massage everyday while I was there. It was a plan unfulfilled as I didn’t get to go for one on my first day.

However, I made sure to go to Wat Pho Massage School for a massage, because apparently this is where all the Thai massage magic started. It was like Hogwarts but for massages. Of course I had to try it!

I could barely find any decent or recent review of the massage school and the official website looks sketchy at best. In fact, I wanted to ask if they need a new website and I’m willing to do SEO for free in exchange for a lifetime supply of massages.

Happy to report that when I got there, it’s actually a pretty great place to go for a massage after spending hours walking around Wat Pho under the scorching Bangkok sun. It’s nothing fancy like other Bangkok spas, but it’s definitely pricier than the massages you’d find in the street. The price is somewhere in between, but I’d like to think that I was not just paying for a one-hour Thai massage. I was also paying for the heritage, the history, the tradition. It was damn well worth it.

[Read more…]

Penang Misadventures

After years and years of wanting, I finally went on an overseas solo trip!

It’s a plan I almost didn’t want to tell anyone, worried that they’d stop me or worse, worried that I’d chicken out and not go through with it. But for safety, I did tell a select few that I was going on a solo trip before my birthday, something I had to do for myself.

I didn’t tell my family till I was on the boarding gate because I knew they wouldn’t approve. If I were them I wouldn’t approve either. I mean, I’m an absentminded klutz, how could I survive alone?

But I survived!

Dear reader, I am suprised, too.

Of course, the trip didn’t go as smoothly as planned, though I do admit that I did very little planning. But there are two things that I know to be true:

  1. For four days, I explored Penang, Malaysia by myself and enjoyed it.
  2. I managed to go back to Singapore alive and whole.

And despite every mishap that happened during the trip, I am glad I did it and I’m excited to do it again.

[Read more…]

Nami Island and The Garden of Morning Calm: Day Trip from Seoul During Spring

gapyeong day tour

On our second visit to South Korea together, my sister and I decided to explore nearby towns and provinces instead of spending more time in Seoul. Of course, it’s impossible for us to get tired of Hongdae or Myeongdong, but there were tons of nearby cities and towns perfect for a day trip from Seoul as well.

Let’s start on our Nami Island and The Garden of Morning Calm day tour, shall we? We made sure to allot a day exploring Gapyeong and Chuncheon, and it’s also one of the more popular destinations nearby Seoul that’s perfect for a day trip.

I had been to Nami Island in autumn, but I hadn’t been to the Garden of Morning Clam. My sister hadn’t been to both, too. We decided to skip Petite France just because, and we chose to visit the arboretum instead since it was used as a filming site for Moonlight Drawn By Clouds. My sister was having her Park Bogum phase that time, lol. (She’s now on her Park Woojin phase!)

It seriously feels so long ago, but I’ll still try to keep the post as detailed as possible. Forgive me if some details would escape me. [Read more…]

Package Tours Versus Independent Travel: Which One is For You?

Dalaguete Beach

Over the past few years, I get a lot of questions on whether I prefer package tours over DIY traveling. It’s a difficult question to answer, because the answer is always a case to case basis.

Though most of the traveling I share on my blog are independent traveling, my first overseas travel was actually one organized by my parents when I was just 17 years old. Everything was arranged by a travel agency, and my sister and I just had to join tour groups to make sure we wouldn’t get lost in Hong Kong. It was convenient, and for a minor, it was the safest mode of touring.

Since I started organizing my own trip, booking my own flights, and making my own hotel reservations, I enjoyed planning my travels so much that I usually plan everything myself without joining any tours.

But still, I am always careful when answering this question because there are different types of travelers. There are no ideal traveler and no wrong way to travel. There’s just finding what suits your needs and wants as a tourist, or a traveler, if you’d prefer being referred to that way.

So, what really is it? What’s the better way to travel? [Read more…]

Seohwa Hanbok Rental in Seoul Near Gyeongbokgung Palace

wearing hanbok in gyeongbokgungEverytime I visit South Korea, it’s mandatory to try on a hanbok and pretend to be a sophisticated lady from the Joseon period. Out of all my hanbok experiences in Seoul, the most recent one had to be my favorite. We usually just rent hanbok for free in tourist centers in Seoul, but I got offered the chance to roam around Seoul wearing the traditional clothing. It’s an experience that I just couldn’t pass up. I mean, how can you say no to wearing pretty traditional dresses, right? [Read more…]

Klook.com