Jennifer McKenzie

I absolutely LOVE it! I stayed in Shinjuku, Tokyo for a whole 2 weeks and it wasn’t long enough. There is an abundance of things to do, so it’s impossible to get bored. From the high-rise buildings, sparkling city lights, luscious green spaces and the mouth watering restaurants everywhere you turn, it really is a captivating city. I thoroughly enjoyed eating Japanese cuisine every single day, feeding cats at a cat café, shopping in Harajuku, picnics at Yoyogi Park (look out for the dogs in prams and funky haircuts), Tokyo Disney Sea on Halloween and exploring the Emperor’s Imperial Palace East Gardens. Another highlight was visiting Mount Fuji 5th station, riding a sky gondola, sailing across Lake Ashi, eating lunch in Hakone, visiting a crater that boils eggs and of course the Shinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo. Absolute perfection!

I would do this trip again in a heartbeat. We landed in Los Angeles and headed straight to Santa Barbara for a few nights. My personal highlights was sailing on a catamaran doing some celebrity house/boat spotting, trolley tour where you can get on and off, wine tasting at Jamie Slones and looking at the pumpkin patches for Halloween. Onwards we went to Morro Bay for the day for a bite to eat at Dutchmans Seafood House and were lucky enough to spot sea otters whilst on a glass bottom boat tour. We stayed in San Luis Obispo for a couple of nights which is handy for Pismo Beach where we rode on a dune buggy! If you are into organic farming there is a very quaint farmstead called Windrose Farm 40 minutes away from San Luis Obispo, where you can spend the evening learning how they produce their food, drink fresh organic apple cider and eat a hearty meal. I also enjoyed more wine tasting at Ancient Peaks in San Simeon which also included a zip line across the whole vineyard. Later in the evening we went to a few dive bars and sang (using that term loosely) karaoke. The following day we visited Hearst Castle - WOW! What an absolute treat, a real feast for the eyes. On our drive to Monterey, we stopped by the famous Bixby Bridge along the Big Sur for a photo op. I
highly recommend to eat at the Rocky Point restaurant which has stunning views. Monterey is a fantastic place to visit along with Carmel, which feels like a fairy tale land. As the end of the week came we took a flight to San Diego and drove into the desert to a spectacular place called, Borrego Springs. We ate, sang karaoke and laughed the night away. You HAVE to do this trip at least once in your life!

I was very fortunate to fly business class to Penang, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur a few years ago. Malaysia is a magical place with a ton of activities to engage in. The food is out of this world, from local/hotel restaurants, street food and even opportunities to learn how to cook traditional style Malaysian food at a famous chefs home, you will not go hungry. I jet skied around the archipelagos of Langkawi, swan in a fresh water lake, ziplined in the worlds oldest rainforest, sipped cocktails on the beach from a beach cart watching a fire show and had my picture taken in the glass KL Tower Observation Deck. Malaysia can offer you the beach and the city, what’s not to love?