Todays the day... left for the airport early at 5pm.. bro-in-law arranged a 9 seater bus to pick all of us to the airport... special rate ... it has a special rack for luggages also... he he.. excitement till forgot which terminal the flight was leaving from. We alighted at T1 and realised that the flight was leaving from T2 instead... oh well lucky we were early... made our way using the sky train.. after dinner , the kids had some fun time at the play corner in the waiting area after immigration clearance.
First leg of the flight , we took MH610 to KLIA .. arrived at gate B2.. and had to take the train to Gate C14 which was on the other side of the airport... this got me worried as our luggages were still on this plane and how fast could MH work???..well i was surprised...the plane that we took from SIN-KL was a very old plane.. till the air steward/stewardess had to do the safety demo.
The new terminal was nice.. and spacious... but when we arrived there.. most of the shops were closing as it was near midnight... one thing i learnt... dun fill up your AVENT milk bottle with water... both our family kids bottle leaked water during the short 1 hr flight... lucky mylaptop was not damaged.. and the kids jacket were not wet...lucky us... we boarded the flight to Osaka at close to midnight and the flight took off on time.
平成21年11月18日水曜日
Nov trip 大阪行きの便はありますか
**Note This post will always be at the top till i leave on 18 Nov**
Decided :
- firm.. its from 18 Nov nite till 9 Dec Nite back...
- Decided not to get the JR Rail Pass with kids its just dun make sense.
- Will spend most of my time in the Kansai Area, Kyoto , Nagoya and a week+ in Hokkaido by plane up.
- will not go to Kanto area... not worth the time and effort...If i want.. i will take a plane up from home...next trip ok Brenda.
- Definite Hokkaido its a must go... hope it snows.. then it will be a complete experience for the kids... cold weather.. but snow!!!...
The Plan.
Duration : 21 days ( at least 2 days fly time )
Date of visit : 18 Nov till 9 Dec ( 12 days Annual leave , as 27 Nov is Hari Raya Haji )
** .. still planning .. **
Nankai Rapid Service
Nankai Rapid Service trains run along the same tracks to the same destination, but like their JR counterparts stop more often and may get crowded. The trip to Namba takes 42 min and costs ¥890, making this the cheapest of the four options, unless your final destination is a JR station in Osaka (e.g. Universal City). If you are considering a multi-day Kansai rail pass, consider this before buying your ticket, as it includes transport on the Nankai Rapid Service (not rapi:t). You can buy multi-day Kansai rail passes at the information desk at the airport.
Some interesting places
Will be visiting more Kansai Area.. Hiroshima we will exclude again as domestic tickets once issued cant be changed ... slight change in plans.. but will also be going to Hokkaido!!!.. at least i pray there will be light snow...
Some Interesting Links
Kyoto Visit Page - here
Osaka Promo - here
UltraMan Town , visit?? me not a ultraman fan tot - here
Major School Holidays in Japan
Spring break (March 1 - Apr. 10)
Summer break (July 20 - Sept. 10)
Winter break (Dec. 10 - Jan. 20)
Hotels
Osaka - where to stay this round in Osaka??? most probably will stay at Business Inn Sennichimae Hotel .. right at the heart of Dotobori and Namba Walk...
Kyoto - ???stay here at Nagoya??? still not decided yet... but at least 5 - 7 nights at Kyoto / Nagoya ...some listing in order of perference
*SUPER HOTEL KYOTO SHIJYOKAWARAMACHI - MAP
Nagoya -> Toyoko Inn Nagoya Marunouchi ... near No. 8 exit of Marunouchi Station on subway
Nagoya -> HotelWing Chain of Hotels in Japan - Nagoya Branch typical rate around 9K JPY per night..
Rail passes
- Kinetsu Rail pass , have to get this ticket from the Kansai Airport Travel Agency upon arrival.
Found a really good site for Train Ticket calculation.. Link ハイパーダイヤ
Sights Visiting
Osaka
Kyoto 京都
- Gion Street
- Arashiyama / Tenryuji Temple / Bamboo Groves
- Fushimi Inari Shrine
- Nishiki Market
- Amanohashidate - one of the top 3 views in japan
- TagataJinMae Shrine
- Toyota KaiKan Plant tour / area
- Nagoya Port / Aquarium
- Nagoya Station / Oasis 21
- Mt Hakodate
- Goryō-kaku Tower
- Morning Market
- Odori Park - to see also the white illumination
- TV Tower
- Asahikawa Zoo
- Morning Market Nijo
- Ishiya Chocolate Factory
- Noboribetsu Valley
update : 12 Oct 2009
平成21年11月17日火曜日
its less
than 36 hours to my flight time...
things i still need to do
- clean up house
- wash toilet
- bring in the bicycles ( 30 mins before we go )/ slippers
- turn off all power points except the fridge one ( including the mosiquto one )
- turn off water from the shutoff valves
what else
things i still need to do
- clean up house
- wash toilet
- bring in the bicycles ( 30 mins before we go )/ slippers
- turn off all power points except the fridge one ( including the mosiquto one )
- turn off water from the shutoff valves
what else
平成21年11月15日日曜日
Kaohsiung to HK...then HK back to home...
morning flight to HK.. skipped BF which the hotel served as i would be rushing like mad...if i had stayed for the buffet BF which starts at 630am.. my flight was 8am.. tot the airport was 20 mins away.. i decided not to take the risk...
Checked in smoothly.. and seems that taiwan custom outgoing are more laxed than my home's country ones.
I was on DragonAir.. funny hearing the taiwaness dialect announcement of the flight safety etc....hehehehe arrived HK on time.. smooth flight..
Upon touchdown .. i decided to have my goose meat and shrimp dumpling noodle.. even tot the airport is not the best place to have these in HK.. no choice....loitered around the airport.. and saw the Disney store was having some sales... bought a couple of snacks from them.
this time round.. after the HK trip , i checked and made sure my departure gate was nearby which was GATE 2 .. need not rush to catch a connecting train to other gates. Then i took my time shopping....
flight was not full .. and had a short nap on the flight...
arrived at airport 3pm.. cleared customs fast as i had no checked in baggage.. i really travelled light this round...hahahaha...
Took train over to T2 to pick up my parents car which my brother parked in before he flew off to HK in the morning... got home 4pm.. tired but happy...
Checked in smoothly.. and seems that taiwan custom outgoing are more laxed than my home's country ones.
I was on DragonAir.. funny hearing the taiwaness dialect announcement of the flight safety etc....hehehehe arrived HK on time.. smooth flight..
Upon touchdown .. i decided to have my goose meat and shrimp dumpling noodle.. even tot the airport is not the best place to have these in HK.. no choice....loitered around the airport.. and saw the Disney store was having some sales... bought a couple of snacks from them.
this time round.. after the HK trip , i checked and made sure my departure gate was nearby which was GATE 2 .. need not rush to catch a connecting train to other gates. Then i took my time shopping....
flight was not full .. and had a short nap on the flight...
arrived at airport 3pm.. cleared customs fast as i had no checked in baggage.. i really travelled light this round...hahahaha...
Took train over to T2 to pick up my parents car which my brother parked in before he flew off to HK in the morning... got home 4pm.. tired but happy...
平成21年11月14日土曜日
Free day today
had sometime today to explore parts of Kaohsiung... left hotel at 8am after the breakfast and made the way to the ever famous Lotus Park.
i decided to take a cab to Lotus pond so that some time can be saved.. and glad i did that. Arrived at the pond close to 815am ...
View Larger Map
Told the drive to alight me at the location where the tiger and dragon was so that when i walked towards the Confucious Temple , it will be on the way to the train station Xing ZouYing. Xing ZouYing Station is also one of the stops where the HSR(High Speed Rail) stops. i walked nearly a half hour from the tip of the Lotus to the Confucious temple. On the way , passby alot of temples... which was one thing i noticed.
When i arrived ,the temple was still not fully opened yet. The temple was a bit disappointing. I tot that it will have a big open square in front of the temple but apparently it was a small little open area. oh well i can say i have seen it(Confucious Temple) After lotering around the area , i made my way to the MRT station ZouYing.
On the way , passed by a wet market where crowds of ppl were doing their weekend grocery. This sort of wet market are now a seldom sight locally back home.
Arrived at ZuoYing MRT station and the station is pretty huge. One thing i noticed is that the trains in Kaohsiung are seldom packed, what i mean is the MRT not the HSR. I think the reason is partly many Taiwean residents at least own a scooter. The ladies here rides scooters.. a also seldom seen sights... and they can be pretty good at riding them.
Took the train from ZY to arrive at Kaohsiung Main station. KH station does not have many exits.. and having the train station beside the railway tracks makes travelling a bit troublesome... ok let me orientate you around. Firstly KH station front is referred as Qian zhan , and the rear is referred as Hou Zhan , but one thing you
only can enter and exit the station from the Qian Zhan... to make your way to the attractions or sights ( Dalian Street and An Ning Street) you need to find the bridge which crosses over to the rear portion of the station.
View Larger Map
Train station here are pretty much similar to ours back home.. even the inside of the train is similar.
how to get across to Da Lian / An Ning jie
exit1 from Kaohsiung MRT and you turn left and another left.. you will see this green fence... like in this picture below.. walk along the green fence towards the railway tracks.. and
you will see this bridge.. go up and cross over
once you reach the end of the path , you will see this sign which directs you to the Front of the station...so now you have reach the rear of the station.. ask ppl for direction to Dalian or An Ning.. its popular.. every one knows where it is....
So my first stop will be Dalian street to see if any shoes can be bought for the kids or mrs. Took me awhile to find it.. but in the end i found it... you should see this at the Entrance ( 3 words.. leather shoe street)
Went about looking for shoes or the kids.. in the end found a shop which has the design i wanted.. he he i drew the kids feet on a piece of paper to bring it there to match the sizes.. the salegirl laughed when she saw the paper...
the so called shoe street.. with shoes lined on both sides of the street, in the end, gotten the kids each a pair.. and mrs a pair of fluffy boots . . . had to make a detour back here later as the size i bought was a tad too big for the girl... had to make a switch to a smaller size.
On to the computer street , Computer Street extends for one kilometer along Jianguo 2nd Road..had a long walk here.. but bought nothing....heheheh... in the end rerouted back to Da Lian street to change the girls shoe to a smaller size....
After the shoe changing fiasco... i proceeded to An Ning Street which had heaps loads of ladies fashion... i think i was one of the few guys seen in this area on a Sat afternoon... in the end i bought some kids clothing... pretty cheap price of NT100 ($4.50) per pc...
some other sights.. while i was looking for a underpass back to the area which is the Qian Zhan ( Front of KaohSiung Station )..Note : it will take a while to look for the underpass or overpass to get across.. pls ask around...i walked about 3 to 4 km here..
Some sights...while i was searching for a while to get across..
In the end managed to find one.. and cross over....by now it was 2-3pm.. and i was pretty tired from the whole days walking...
a typical train signage in the station..
the entry/exit gate for the station
single trip token just like a casino chip... trip charge is min NT20 to NT60... pretty decent price.
Next stop : Central Station 捷運中央公園站...laze around the station surround for a while .. and also took a short 30 mins nap on the grassy patch here... hehehehe... close to nature..before i begin my walk back trip to the Splendor Hotel.. you can see it in the picture with me in it. its above my head... a far distance away... 2 train stops if i took the train.. but i decided to do the walking.... about 2.5km...
TaLee Kaohsiung
on the way back to the hotel , heard some music in the air .. and realised it was the garbage truck going on its rounds to collect recycling material.. residents have to wait along the road for the truck to arrive .. then they dispose those that can be recycled.. Taiwan is very into recycing and environment conservation.. even at the supermarkets.. plastic bags are not supplied.. unless you are willing to pay for it..
..after the long walk back .. to the hotel 5pm .. i rested and soaked myself in a cooling salt prep bath.. to rest my tired feets and legs... long day indeed... but at 6pm , i decided to venture out again.. to the last planned stop.. Dream Mall夢時代, a large 7 storey building of shopping... nothing grand.. just cost me NT20 two stops from my station to R6 Kaisyuan Station.. outside exit 3 there is a free feeder bus which fetches ppl who takes the train to the mall... great!!!
basically its one hug building in the middle of no where... hahahaha... one thing i also noticed.. taiwaness likes japanese food too... many japanese theme food stalls around....
waiting for the bus back to the train station to catch train back to Hotel....
now then i realised i am staying on glory floor... oh well thats the end of the trip.. tomorrow i will be on the first flight out to HK from Kaohsiung for my trip back home... またね
i decided to take a cab to Lotus pond so that some time can be saved.. and glad i did that. Arrived at the pond close to 815am ...
View Larger Map
Told the drive to alight me at the location where the tiger and dragon was so that when i walked towards the Confucious Temple , it will be on the way to the train station Xing ZouYing. Xing ZouYing Station is also one of the stops where the HSR(High Speed Rail) stops. i walked nearly a half hour from the tip of the Lotus to the Confucious temple. On the way , passby alot of temples... which was one thing i noticed.
When i arrived ,the temple was still not fully opened yet. The temple was a bit disappointing. I tot that it will have a big open square in front of the temple but apparently it was a small little open area. oh well i can say i have seen it(Confucious Temple) After lotering around the area , i made my way to the MRT station ZouYing.
On the way , passed by a wet market where crowds of ppl were doing their weekend grocery. This sort of wet market are now a seldom sight locally back home.
Arrived at ZuoYing MRT station and the station is pretty huge. One thing i noticed is that the trains in Kaohsiung are seldom packed, what i mean is the MRT not the HSR. I think the reason is partly many Taiwean residents at least own a scooter. The ladies here rides scooters.. a also seldom seen sights... and they can be pretty good at riding them.
Took the train from ZY to arrive at Kaohsiung Main station. KH station does not have many exits.. and having the train station beside the railway tracks makes travelling a bit troublesome... ok let me orientate you around. Firstly KH station front is referred as Qian zhan , and the rear is referred as Hou Zhan , but one thing you
only can enter and exit the station from the Qian Zhan... to make your way to the attractions or sights ( Dalian Street and An Ning Street) you need to find the bridge which crosses over to the rear portion of the station.
View Larger Map
Train station here are pretty much similar to ours back home.. even the inside of the train is similar.
how to get across to Da Lian / An Ning jie
exit1 from Kaohsiung MRT and you turn left and another left.. you will see this green fence... like in this picture below.. walk along the green fence towards the railway tracks.. and
you will see this bridge.. go up and cross over
once you reach the end of the path , you will see this sign which directs you to the Front of the station...so now you have reach the rear of the station.. ask ppl for direction to Dalian or An Ning.. its popular.. every one knows where it is....
So my first stop will be Dalian street to see if any shoes can be bought for the kids or mrs. Took me awhile to find it.. but in the end i found it... you should see this at the Entrance ( 3 words.. leather shoe street)
Went about looking for shoes or the kids.. in the end found a shop which has the design i wanted.. he he i drew the kids feet on a piece of paper to bring it there to match the sizes.. the salegirl laughed when she saw the paper...
the so called shoe street.. with shoes lined on both sides of the street, in the end, gotten the kids each a pair.. and mrs a pair of fluffy boots . . . had to make a detour back here later as the size i bought was a tad too big for the girl... had to make a switch to a smaller size.
On to the computer street , Computer Street extends for one kilometer along Jianguo 2nd Road..had a long walk here.. but bought nothing....heheheh... in the end rerouted back to Da Lian street to change the girls shoe to a smaller size....
After the shoe changing fiasco... i proceeded to An Ning Street which had heaps loads of ladies fashion... i think i was one of the few guys seen in this area on a Sat afternoon... in the end i bought some kids clothing... pretty cheap price of NT100 ($4.50) per pc...
some other sights.. while i was looking for a underpass back to the area which is the Qian Zhan ( Front of KaohSiung Station )..Note : it will take a while to look for the underpass or overpass to get across.. pls ask around...i walked about 3 to 4 km here..
Some sights...while i was searching for a while to get across..
In the end managed to find one.. and cross over....by now it was 2-3pm.. and i was pretty tired from the whole days walking...
a typical train signage in the station..
the entry/exit gate for the station
single trip token just like a casino chip... trip charge is min NT20 to NT60... pretty decent price.
Next stop : Central Station 捷運中央公園站...laze around the station surround for a while .. and also took a short 30 mins nap on the grassy patch here... hehehehe... close to nature..before i begin my walk back trip to the Splendor Hotel.. you can see it in the picture with me in it. its above my head... a far distance away... 2 train stops if i took the train.. but i decided to do the walking.... about 2.5km...
TaLee Kaohsiung
on the way back to the hotel , heard some music in the air .. and realised it was the garbage truck going on its rounds to collect recycling material.. residents have to wait along the road for the truck to arrive .. then they dispose those that can be recycled.. Taiwan is very into recycing and environment conservation.. even at the supermarkets.. plastic bags are not supplied.. unless you are willing to pay for it..
..after the long walk back .. to the hotel 5pm .. i rested and soaked myself in a cooling salt prep bath.. to rest my tired feets and legs... long day indeed... but at 6pm , i decided to venture out again.. to the last planned stop.. Dream Mall夢時代, a large 7 storey building of shopping... nothing grand.. just cost me NT20 two stops from my station to R6 Kaisyuan Station.. outside exit 3 there is a free feeder bus which fetches ppl who takes the train to the mall... great!!!
basically its one hug building in the middle of no where... hahahaha... one thing i also noticed.. taiwaness likes japanese food too... many japanese theme food stalls around....
waiting for the bus back to the train station to catch train back to Hotel....
now then i realised i am staying on glory floor... oh well thats the end of the trip.. tomorrow i will be on the first flight out to HK from Kaohsiung for my trip back home... またね
平成21年11月13日金曜日
RuiFeng Night Market 高雄瑞豐夜市
高雄瑞豐夜市... nice night market recommended by the locals...i prefer here then the popular tourist Liu He Night Market.. at Rui Feng , there are more eating stalls etc... and variety is more...
View Larger Map
we finished our meeting at about 830 pm.. and by the time we adjourned back to our hotel , it was close to 9pm..afterwhich we had another short discussion which ended at 930pm...the guys decided to have a night out again.. so we proceeded to Rui Feng for snacks .. and some shopping... taxi to there was close to 250NT ($12SGD).
Place was crowded with crowds.. and the stall owners commented that this was not the full crowd... i was like ok... i rather have this crowd than a crowd which pushes you when you move....
by the time we returned back to the room , it was already 1am.... hahahaha.... had lots of eating... and shopping.. i bought a couple of mask cover .. for my upcoming japan trip... to keep the area below the nose bridge warm...how it looks you might be asking...heheheheh
View Larger Map
we finished our meeting at about 830 pm.. and by the time we adjourned back to our hotel , it was close to 9pm..afterwhich we had another short discussion which ended at 930pm...the guys decided to have a night out again.. so we proceeded to Rui Feng for snacks .. and some shopping... taxi to there was close to 250NT ($12SGD).
Place was crowded with crowds.. and the stall owners commented that this was not the full crowd... i was like ok... i rather have this crowd than a crowd which pushes you when you move....
by the time we returned back to the room , it was already 1am.... hahahaha.... had lots of eating... and shopping.. i bought a couple of mask cover .. for my upcoming japan trip... to keep the area below the nose bridge warm...how it looks you might be asking...heheheheh
平成21年11月11日水曜日
Kaohsiung , Taiwan
left for the Airport in the morning after my mom came to send Marcus to class.. he seems to miss me.. he told mrs.."mummy , daddy not around from Wed to Sun.. at night i sleep alone?"... the boy... he is too attached to me... and this morning before he left for his class he said to me thru the door "Papa , have a nice trip!"...
Got to airport at 930am flight was 1130am , and as i was travelling light(no check in baggage) i had heaps of time walked around a bit.. boarded the flight on time .. and arrived in HK using CX ... transited then transfered to DragonAir for flight to Kaohsiung.. a 1 hour flight...
Bus was at the Airport to pick us up... to our hotel... its a LandMark hotel in Kaohsiung... The Splendor.. a 85 storey building... and my room is on 67 floor...nice view of the city.
Got to airport at 930am flight was 1130am , and as i was travelling light(no check in baggage) i had heaps of time walked around a bit.. boarded the flight on time .. and arrived in HK using CX ... transited then transfered to DragonAir for flight to Kaohsiung.. a 1 hour flight...
Bus was at the Airport to pick us up... to our hotel... its a LandMark hotel in Kaohsiung... The Splendor.. a 85 storey building... and my room is on 67 floor...nice view of the city.
off i goooooo
off in a few hours time.. flying to HK .. transit to catch another flight to Kaohsiung using DragonAir... decided not to fly to Taipei as we still needed to make our way down to KH using the bullet.
Anyway its a business trip.. plus a day free on sat for me to explore around KH station.. Will try to post pics if i can... anyway i am putting up at this famous Splendor Kaohsiung
Anyway its a business trip.. plus a day free on sat for me to explore around KH station.. Will try to post pics if i can... anyway i am putting up at this famous Splendor Kaohsiung
平成21年11月8日日曜日
Yess...
settled Marcus's Orientation for Primary 1.. gotten the books , uniforms.. done the security pass and car labels. It was held on Friday afternoon. We left the boy with his assigned group , while the parents attended another briefing session.. ha ha there were some truth in the things that was mentioned. Like Chinese in ACS was below the national average .. when this was mentioned , you could hear a soft laughter among the parents. Same case as me , ha ha.
After that in the evening , he had his kindergarten graduation. so finally the boy has completed a small part of his education journey and starting on a whole new one. We are so excited of him starting in his new school... hopefully the peer pressure will not be that great in this school.
Ok another weekend has pass and its closer, gotten my spare batts for both my cameras.
Again looks like my Taiwan trip next week might not be possible , it would be only possible the following week it seems. The booking and the meeting agenda has just be finalised so it seems.
After that in the evening , he had his kindergarten graduation. so finally the boy has completed a small part of his education journey and starting on a whole new one. We are so excited of him starting in his new school... hopefully the peer pressure will not be that great in this school.
Ok another weekend has pass and its closer, gotten my spare batts for both my cameras.
Again looks like my Taiwan trip next week might not be possible , it would be only possible the following week it seems. The booking and the meeting agenda has just be finalised so it seems.
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