The world is your oyster, or in this instance, this experienced bilingual radio and event host’s hobby.
For 88.3JIA radio DJ Jimmy, travelling has always been about the thrill of experiencing new places, cultures, and people. With his hobby having been curtailed for the past two to three years due to the pandemic, Jimmy has finally got the chance to reacquaint himself with the pleasures of getting on a plane to a new destination now that borders have reopened.
NSman suss out his favourite places to visit, and how travelling has changed for him after the pandemic.
Q: What do you love about travelling?
I enjoy travelling because I get to experience new culture, sights and people. I am not exactly a street-smart person and I usually have ridiculous travel stories.
Q: How many countries have you visited?
Before the pandemic, I visited Los Angeles and China. After the travel measures were relaxed, I began on my revenge travelling spree in Asia – Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand to name a few.
Q: Do you prefer to travel solo, with your friends, or with family? And do you prefer to plan your own trips or purchase an off-the-shelf tour package?
The funny thing is, nobody has asked me to travel with them so far! I guess the perks of travelling alone is that you can get your travel ticket last minute. And if I’m feeling particularly lazy for the day, I will just stay in the hotel to rest. I think this is the luxury of travelling alone, but it can be a little dangerous for me as I get lost all the time.
After the pandemic, I started booking off-the-shelf tour package (day trip) to save time on travelling to the touristic locations. I can just sleep in the coach and wake up to the attractions.
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Q: Tell us your most memorable moment overseas.
I was in Beijing and it was my birthday. I was alone in a bar and was randomly chatting with a bartender. When he found out it was my birthday, he disappeared to get me Longevity noodles and egg which was not on their menu and it was delicious!
Another occasion was when I was at Las Vegas and drove for hours to go to the Grand Canyon. However, I totally did not account the sun sets earlier in winter and by the time I reached the entrance of Grand Canyon, the sun had set. I had to drive back to Las Vegas. At the Grand Canyon airport, I saw some cute dogs, which I proceeded to pat and took Instastories. My friends immediately messaged me and told me they are Coyotes and they are dangerous!
Q: How has travelling changed since the pandemic?
I think travelling is slowly resuming back to pre-Covid days. However, I realised there are not as many tourists as before in some of the popular tourist attractions. Probably not everyone is ready to travel yet. However, getting a travel insurance will definitely give me a peace of mind.
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Q: Based on your experience, where would you recommend people travel to?
If you have time, visit Inner Mongolia. Try sliding down the sand dunes, riding on horses across a wide grassland. Sleep in a Mongolian tent and gaze at the millions of stars in the sky.
Q: Are there any travel hacks that you’ve picked up over the years?
Travelling is a hobby that will incur a certain amount of expenses. So, I made sure I budget this “hobby” into my expenses and cut-down on unnecessary expenditures like handphone games and Pop-Mart so I can travel more.
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Q: Lastly, if you were to only be able to travel to one country for the rest of your life, where would it be?
It will probably have to be a country with 4 seasons. Top of my mind would be Korea. I’ve been there during summer and winter seasons. It looked so different!
Join Jimmy as he hosts 夜晚玩不完 on weekdays from 9pm to 12midnight on 88.3JIA.
Follow Jimmy on Instagram: @883jimmykoh
Photos were provided by Jimmy and taken from his Instagram with permission.
