J A P A N /// X10?
Kelven Ng
T O K Y O
O S A K A
K U R A S H I K I
Les Petites Choses
S I N G A P O R E & B A L I
Kelven Ng
S I N G A P O R E
B A L I
S T O R M W A T C H E R
Kelven Ng
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After a long winter and being stuck indoors with a toddler in the midst of a pandemic, we were really missing being able to travel. I love reading CN Traveller magazine and I came across a post about this house out in Tillamook down in Oregon with the craziest view of the coast. Within minutes I hopped online to book it (mind you this was months in advance as they were fully booked already for the next 3 months). Come May, we took our first long road trip (5 hours) down to Tillamook! The house itself resides on the hill in a very small part of town called Oceanside. The beach is literally a 2 minute drive away. The moment we stepped into the house (which is called The Stormwatcher), our jaws dropped. The photos that we had seen from CN Traveller were representative of the actual view. We were greeted by these floor to ceiling windows with an unobstructed view of the beach and the ocean as far as the eye can see. I honestly can't remember the last time we stayed at a place with this kind of view. Maybe in Greece? |
| The house itself had 3 floors, with the master bedroom suite on the top floor, and 3 bedrooms on the bottom floor. The living room and open kitchen were on the main floor. The best part about this house is that all the rooms also have the full view of the beach and ocean. Did I mention that there are also a few patios that you can dine out on? We ended up inviting some friends to come stay with us as we hadn't seen them in a long time and it was not a super long drive for them coming from Portland. The kids had a great time running around in the open space (and loved it) while we caught up over wine and great food. The beach at Oceanside was also one of the cleanest we've ever been to. N got to run on the beach and dip his toes in the ocean for the first time. We also got lucky with the weather and it was sunny for the first two days. |
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Every one of the 3 large bedrooms had the same incredible ocean view. Not a bad scene to doze off and wake up to, I'd say. The tub wasn't so bad either.
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The Stormwatcher was one of the most impressive spaces that we have stayed in ever - anywhere in the world. From the moment we got out of the car, to the first sights we saw when we entered that door, we were amazed and struck with awe. If you can get a reservation here, we would highly recommend it!
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C A M P H O W A R D
Kelven Ng
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It occurred to me that this is the first post that I have made since the birth of N and since COVID hit the world. We have not taken any opportunities to travel for what seems like 2 years now. It probably sounds like we are privileged when I say it like that - though what I am trying to say is that it feels weird to not travel and see the world. We want that for N as he grows up too and while it has felt routine and safe to be at home, going through the same daily schedule every day, it's also important that we stretch ourselves and expand our horizons. Anyway, long story short, J decided that we should head out to this amazing accommodation near Leavenworth, WA for a short trip to take a break and celebrate my birthday. From the pictures, we could tell that the location would be amazing and the space even more so. We didn't do much when we got here except relax, stare out into the quiet of the mountains and the forest and just take a breather. It was much needed. The pictures below do not do this space justice. Camp Howard |
T H E S P A C EAs soon as we drove up to the backyard of Camp Howard and walked inside, a few design aspects of this space drew our attention first. The clean lines, the open space, the floor to ceiling windows and the use of high quality wood in its construction all stood out. The light flowed into this space so beautifully. Below are a few pictures of the parts of this space that we were most impressed with. |
| It wasn’t just the indoor space that was designed beautifully. The patio and the outdoor space was a wonder to behold as well. Luckily the sun had come out during 2/3rds of our trip so we could sit outside and enjoy some fresh air. |
D E T A I L S A N D L I G H TThere was something magical about this place and it is not just about the architecture. The reason this place has floor to ceiling windows is to take advantage of that magical mountain/forest light. I am not great at spotting artistic and creative crops/angles but this place was too good to not even give it a try. I mean, just look at the last few photos in this strip below - the light changes so beautifully throughout the day and it becomes absolutely mystical at golden hour. |
O V E R A L LWould we want to come back here? Was there ever a doubt? ;) But book early because Camp Howard is very, very popular. Links above. |
Cotswold
Kelven Ng
The trip to the Cotswold’s took place way back in 2011 (close to 8 full years ago) when I was living in London. To this day, this road trip holds some of my most fond memories living in Europe. It wasn’t a particular event or anything. Instead, it was just the feeling of being overwhelmingly fulfilled at the experience, of seeing, of feeling that I was… in a way, free.
I was lucky to have moved to London and I was even more lucky to get to know a few good, welcoming friends. When the idea came up to take a weekend road trip to the Cotswolds and visit Oxford, I was not going to refuse. At this point, I wasn’t too familiar with the UK outside of London so it was meant to be a chance at seeing the world outside of the bustling city. What I saw was an incredibly beautiful and simple, countryside. Some of my favorite photos that I have ever taken were taken during this trip.
The lady in many of these photos was someone I met through Flickr - knowing that I was also from Vancouver and moving to London, she reached out and I am so glad she did. She was a budding photographer who clearly saw the world from a unique lens and her vision has now culminated in her being an amazingly well respected and gifted photographer - Nadia Hung. She now shoots weddings, maternity shoots and her work has been recognized and published multiple times. Her website is https://www.nadiahungphotography.com/. Visit her when you get the chance. I’m just glad I got to know her before she got famous :)
Fields, field and more fields
Some of my favorite memories of roadtripping in Europe was being able to stop on the side of the road whenever you saw something you wanted a picture of. We saw plenty of great fields during our drive to Oxford and in spite of some “Do Not Trespass” signs, we dove right in and took as many photos as we could - as fast as we could. No regrets here. I still dream of the green wheat field every so often. I remember the wind blowing through the field, making the wheat bow in unison. It was a sight that I had seen in pictures before and longed to see in person. I’m just grateful that we found this. We also found a yellow flower field as well which we had loads of fun in. After taking some silly pictures of one another here, we were back on the road.
Oxford
When we arrived at Oxford, we did some exploring. The architecture was impressive. I loved the light that we saw that day, filling the room and its extremely high, beautifully decorated ceilings. We also stumbled upon a bit of a surprise - we found the room that Harry Potter’s cafeteria scenes were filmed! It was a pleasant surprise, though, the room was not nearly as grand and as big in scale as the movie made it look. Goes to show you the magic of post processing and CG.
Overall
My memory of the UK is not about London. It’s about exploring Europe and the UK countryside. Cotswold was my first exposure and I still day dream about it from time to time today.