Off to Gyeongju & Daegu

Another early morning train ride was scheduled to take us to the nearby city of Gyeongju. 

Autumn leaves

The autumn leaves are long gone, but before they fell, we visited a pond known for it's beautiful reflection of the surrounding leaves.

The deer deities of Nara

Nara has long been on my list of must-go places in Japan; I love parks where wild animals are allowed to roam freely, and one of my fellow travel buddies was doubly enthusiastic.

Mount Nemo

I rarely drive very far, but when I do, it is usually for hiking-related reasons.

Allan Gardens Conservatory

Earlier this month, during the long weekend, we headed downtown for brunch at Chez Firenze. 

Berry picking

Our original plan of peach-picking turned into berry-picking, and we made our way to Andrews' Scenic Acres.

A walk in the park

I've been sick. I feel like I've written this sentence way too many times this year, but I have caught a nasty cold during the heatwave, and I've reluctantly dipped into the world of nasal sprays and cough syrup.

Strawberry fields

It has been a few years since my last strawberry-picking adventure. My remaining memories from my last visit: red-stained fingers, pants, and eating warm, overripe strawberries in the fields.

The flooded island

A visitor from the other side of the pond (the other, other side) came to visit, and seeing that the summer solstice called for a full day of sun, I suggested we head to Centre Island for some cycling fun.

Suwon

We visited Suwon on my first trip to South Korea, but I only briefly covered it in my single post covering the week we spent there. I wrote it about a year and a half after my visit, so I had tried to condense the memories that remained into that post, but over the years, bits and pieces of the day we spent in Suwon came back, and I decided to write about some of the fond details I remembered from that day.

Eldred King Woodlands

I rarely take Tofu on walks outside of the neighbourhood; we just got used to our usual routine, and I felt it was a perfect time to go on an little adventure together.

Fuji-san

This isn't a new trip, but our trip to Japan in 2015 mainly consisted of exploring in and around Tokyo, as it was all of our first time in the country, and there was lots of do in the city. As I was responsible for part of Hong Kong and Seoul, this leg of the trip was planned mostly by my travel buddies, but my one request was that we visit Mount Fuji.

Seaton Trail

There aren't many things that sound more pleasant than a Sunday morning hike. Our morning devolved into noon, but nevertheless, we were on the road to Seaton Hiking Trail.

Blossoms in the park

Thornton Bales

Wandering around downtown

The original plan was to head to High Park for cherry blossom viewing, an activity I haven't partaken in for the last several years. The night before, there was news that peak bloom would be about 4 days later, but we decided to chance it anyways.

Freshly cut

2018 was the year of flowers. After the sunflower farm disaster, we noticed a lot more flower-related articles filling our feeds.

Walk into the past

This past summer, we drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the Lavender Festival. The festivities took place next to an antique store adorned with furniture on the outside. When we left the festival, I decided to explore more while others were browsing the lavender shop.

Flowers of the sun

The original plan was to visit the lavender fields and eat lavender ice cream. However, the day before we planned to go, my friend suggested that we also stop by Bogle Seeds to see the sunflowers, after pictures flooded everyone's feed from the previous weekend.

Tai Mei Tuk

One of my friends was studying at CUHK (香港中文大學) for the term, so I went to visit as it is also my mother's alma mater. Afterwards, we headed over to Tai Mei Tuk to see the area and walk around the reservoir.

First stop: Chinese University of Hong Kong - 香港中文大學
If you can see the white speck at the right of the photo - while at CUHK, we saw it and wondered what it was...

Tai Mei Tuk - 大美督