| Thursday, December 21, 2006 |
 Haha! Hubby was trying to aim at me but alas, his distance of throwing wasn't far and landed just nice at his back. I am laughing hysterically over his stupid action.  Hubby did not give up. He got another handful of soft snow. As Anson-san mentioned that hard snow will be too dangerous against any bodily contact. This time, he aimed directly at my back. I did not notice any slight action until I felt a huge impact and later found my coat and glove being watery.  This time, it would be my turn for revenge. Haha! I threw at him a huge scoop of snow in both my hands. In the end, we both are drenched. Wahaha!!! ||3:26 PM||
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| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 |
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My hubby has posted 38 photos in http://www.flickr.com/photos/74145768@N00/ or 503 photos in http://www.bubbleshare.com/users/profile/95507 This is because the website restricted us to post a certain number of photos each month. For the next few months, he will upload another batch of photos again. Stay tuned! He has also provided with some brief description of each photo taken. That's fantastic for viewing, isn't it? Our flight details: Singapore to Osaka --> SQ618 at 0110 Tokyo -Narita to Singapore --> SQ011 at 0130 Alright! This blog page does not stop here, I will add on when I am free anytime. Let's me begin with our Honeymoon story which most ppls are waiting for. First and Second day First night on plane and second night in Hyatt Regency at room number 2714. We begin our trip by assembling at Singapore Changi Airport for our flight to Osaka (Meals on board). Some thoughts run through my mind; How I wish I am in Japan at that moment to have all Japanese meals everyday? How I can get to enjoy myself in the cold weather? Will we be going to the hot springs? and so on... I am sitting on the plane, rather uncomfortable because of the buzzing and irritating plane engine sound that keep haunting my head. Not soon, I find that time passes real fast for nearly 6 hours plus. Perhaps I have fallen asleep unnoticingly. Upon arrival at Osaka, we meet with our Singapore tour leader (Jane) Third day Night stay at Ryokan Association at room number 413 in Awara We visited Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. Anson-san taught us how to pray by clapping our hands together and say some prayer of your own. After that, he mentioned that we need to wash our hands cos most ppls will do that before entering the temple. We need to wash the left hand before washing the right hand with the long scoop. After listening to the long story of the temple history, we somehow believe that Nightfall around 4.30pm in Japan bcos of winter time, therefore we need to proceed to spend a night at Ryokan in Awara. We reach Ryokan early becos of the Onsen Hot spring drip. That is what all of us are waiting for. Anson-san recalls that there is one person from his previous tour group who asks, can a long towel be bring into the hot spring since we are supposed to be naked in there? Then Anson-san replies that of cos cannot, cos a small square towel will be provided. And then Anson-san added that you can cover your private part with the small square towel (he meant for guy la = cover their penis). Then the funny part comes... An elderly woman asked Anson-san, then for woman, where should we cover? We got "san dian" (in chinese) . So how? Cover top and bottom will be seen, if cover bottom then top will be seen by others. Then Anson-san assured her that never mind aunty, you can use the square towel to cover your FACE and other will not know that person is you! HAHAHA! All of us in the bus laughed. Just nice, we reached the place. We have to check-in and get ready for our hot-spring drip . The hot spring area is split up into two places (one for female and another for male). Actually all of us are quite paiseh to be naked in the female side. Therefore the tour guide told us beforehand, if we dun look at others and others will not look at us too. We follow his advice and everything seems so miracle. We get used to it and even shampoo our hair and wash our body at the corner with all the lotion and cream provided for free usage. Fourth day Night stay at Hida Hotel Plaza at room number 1610 in Takayama After yesterday hot spring, we really have a hearty meal after that. We have a fabulous Jap meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then the tour guide intended to help us to order fresh sashimi as a boat or a plate with different prices. Since my hubby has been suffering from stomach upset, so there we go without the sashimi meal. Haiz. But we still manage to take a photo of it. We get to enjoy the natural scenic beauty of Tojimbo, indulge in a variety of Japanese sweets at Kagahan, a city of desserts and visit the timeless garden in Kenrokuen. Then we explore Takayama Castle Town and Shirakawa-ko. Along the bus ride, Tour guide told us that there will be Tax free for $10, 000 yen and above on the day itself in the shop if we showed our passport. I think this apply to the rich family in our tour group. Can you imagine them making a request to the tour guide that they wan to go to Burberry shop to buy something. And upon this request, we can our economy shopping to a branded shopping at Ginza street. This family makes us realise they are rich family and their children travelled with them in business class plane ride. No wonder, can see them coming out with huge paper bag from Burberry shop. And each item is about 38, 500 yen. 100 yen is about $1.50 and 1000 yen is about $15. And that amount is about 500 to 6oo sing dollars. You can imagine how much it is. And they dun jus buy one item lor. We also went to Kiyomizu Temple (one of the new 7 Wonders) - Check out this website--> www.N7w.com Fifth day Night stay at Saiko Hotel (Xi Hu) at room number 228 We also visit a fresh produce market (Morning market at Takayama), Ramen House, and Daloh Wasabi Farm +Seasonal Bonus which is playing with the snow and building my snowman. Anson-san told us that Wasabi must grow in areas with fresh water. Then they can taste superb and he shared with us the correct way of eating wasabi. He commented that Singaporeans can add a whole teaspoon or tablespoon of wasabi and put it in their mouth. That is a wrong way of eating. We should have the wasabi in the light soy sauce and for Japanese, they dip the sushi in a bit of wasabi and not a whole lotsa of wasabi. We are not eating wasabi but jus giving the special touch to the food nia. I told Alan that the stone statue is a Wasabi, he told me it does not look like wasabi but more like a penis. Actually I also a bit shaken by his comments until we see the real wasabi then we went back to the stone statue wasabi for photo taking. Haha! How hysterical he is! We also spend the night in Mt Fuji area. And therefore we managed to capture a view of the Mt. Fuji. "I do not get to see Mt. Fuji during both my trips to Japan. Such a disappointment!" (Quoted from Alan's colleague). You know how lucky Alan and I are. We can even managed to see during winter time and take a far camera shot of it. Sixth day Night stay at Excel Hotel Tokyu at room number 1110 in Akasaka We have a fun-filled and exciting experience which awaits us at Tokyo Disneyland. There is also a fun parade for the coming X'mas season showcasing Mickey, Minnie and other disney characters. Before the start of our walk inside disneyland, we are told that Japanese's favourite hobby is queuing. Only when there is queue, then there will be more ppls joining. And since so long, disneyland in Japan has earned quite a lots of profits, the profits do not come from the tourists at all. Anson-san shared with us that all the profits come from their own ppls. Cos they do not grow tired of going to disneyland at all, unlike hongkonger. Japan ppls have the patience and they are always visiting disneyland even during weekdays. No wonder Japan can earn a lot for disneyland as compared to the disneyland in Hongkong with the similar rides and attractions. Then we check-in Excel Hotel Tokyu. I am assigned the hotel number which is so much coincidence with my birthday "11th October = 11/10 = room number 1110" As compared to the five star hotel, the room is so much squeezy but we cannot complain cos the tour guide has informed us that the hotel room will grow smaller as we reached the last day. haha!!! Seventh day Last night on plane On the last day, we visit Asakusa Kannon Temple, Nakamise Avenue and Odaiba Park. We also do last minute shopping at Ginza (Refer to day 4) before transfer to the airport for our flight home. How I wish I can extend the day stayed in Japan but we are not rich ppls ma. So we have to go back no matter what. My hubby thinks differently. He missed Singapore food a lot. His mind is full of roti prata, fried guo tiao, rojak, chicken rice etc... He commented that I am suited for Japan life. Haha...Do you believe him? Other events that our tour guide mentioned or had happened during our Japan trip... (1) He said that the Japan has a high rate of molestation case. Out of 5 Kawaii girls, 4 of them are molested. The one not molested does not have a cute look at all. This is normally seen on Jp MRT where no handphone to be brought in and not a single sound must be made (If not, penalty or fine will be imposed). The girl being molested, can be so quiet and those heros... where are they? Oh! They know about the molested girl but they don't bother about it at all. They just ignored it or watched the scene from the side. How pitiful is the girl? But you know what, the girl actually smiles when the molester left the MRT? What on earth is the girl thinking about? She finds herself fortunate to be molested because only Kawaii girls are normally chosen. (2) Normally Japan has this vending machine whereby we order our food and a ticket will be dispensed from the machine. Then we pass this ticket to the counter and not long, we will have our food served. He also mentioned about the separated cubicle for each individual food consumer. All the cubicles are designed uniquely with 2 sides blocked and for the front view, it is also blocked except there is rectangular hole at the bottom for food to be served. If any foreigners have never seen this before, they will be scared that there is a hand stuck out of the hole asking them to order the food. Surely, they will be frightened. (3) There is this boy in my tour grp that keep vomitting in the bus. Actually before the incident, our bus is full of noises and laughter and even our tour guide's voice. However, bcos of that, we all helped by giving him medicated oil and all of us pray hard that he wud be alright. We do not want everyone to dampen their spirits bcos of this. So our tour guide and tour leader bring him to see a doctor. And he got a injection and 2 days medication. Anson-san mentioned that normally for his condition, with one day of medication, the next day he wud be alright. Just as he says, he recovered from his vomitting but he still has to abstrain from quite a lot of food. (4) In Japan, most ppls believe in god. So there we were visiting a lot of temples. We go to the guan yin temple on the very last day. The first temple (Kiyomizu Temple) I went to, both my hubby and I have draw lots for a "qian" and over there no one will help to decipher the "qian". They will just provide you with a slip of paper that reads "ji" or "da ji"= good or very good; "xiong" = bad. For my case, both "qian" I got a "xiong" which is bad. And can u imagine the both qian I got is from 2 different temples and 2 different days and with the same number "28". So coincidence ne! For my hubby, he got a better one. He got a "da ji". But the second one, he asks for his job. And it comes out as what he is thinking of. (5) During my trip, I got to know this girl and her mother by the name of Estelle and Jenny respectively. We always go in foursome to shopping or makan. They treat us to some sweets and tidbits too. And we are sitted on the tour bus next to each other. We also got to know another threesome family. The couple with their daughter, Calysta. This young girl is very Kawaii and she always dresses in pink. Haha! But her smile is so captivating to anyone who passes by her. (6) There is this radiation absorber label which is famous in Japan. Almost all the families have them all over their TVs, Fridge, handphones, computers, and other electronic sets etc.. This helps to cure their severe headache and reduce the radiation field effect around them. No wonder, even MRT in Japan oso disallow the use of handphones. They are more concern of their health then anything. (7) There is one special things that we have noticed. Along the streets or market areas, even aunty are dressed up very trendy with long black socks and boots. And most of the girls there are wearing mini skirts and they are not cold at all. With the strong wind blowing past your face, you can be shivering with cold hands and you can even think that you are staying in a fridge for hours. (That is Alan's analogy of me staying in the fridge) Wahahaha! (8) Another thing about Japan is that you can hardly find a rubbish bin. I do not know why. But we are told the very first day wen we arrived and mit up with our tour guide. And you know that I oso have difficulties finding toilet in Japan. You most probably can find in shopping centre nia. So inconvenient! (9) Finally, we are staying in Japan only for 5 days in total, minus 2 days on plane. So u can imagine how many tourist spots have we been to and every morning we wake up at either 6.15am or 7am, dependable upon the tour guide timing. On the very last day, we are told to write a feedback about Chan Brothers Travel package on 7D Japan Scenic Delight by SQ (Night flight). We simply like the tour guide's jokes and interesting sharing of his own experiences and his deep profound knowledge of Japan and some of the history that he shared with all of us. We also feedback about our dissatisfaction on the Travel consultant who din explain anything about our trip to us and do not even want to consider us as a serious traveller. Until we made payment (put $1000 deposit)for the trip then he changed his behaviour and attitude towards us. I detest such ppls. Overall, since last time we went on Free and easy trip to New Zealand also with Chan Brothers Travel. I have a prefer liking to free and easy than package trip le. I wud strongly recommend free and easy with Chan Brothers Travel but not otherwise. (Not done yet...Will continue in details for each day)
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| Monday, December 11, 2006 |
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Dearest Bubbly, Yesterday I have made Bubbly very unhappy because I talked about several things... This is so stupid of me and here I sincerely apologise to her... I am SORRY to you for causing so much distress, discomfort, displeasure, distaste, disappointment, disaster, dissatisfaction in you... Hope you can FORGIVE me and give me a chance to say I LOVE U very much... Let's FORGET the whole incident and enjoy our honeymoon... Your Hubby ||10:55 AM||
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| Monday, December 04, 2006 |
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Hi everyone, It has been a long time since I blogged. It was a day to remember for me. Though it is not a big deal but it is a personal achievement for myself. Yes! I have just completed the Standard Chartered Marathon. It was one hell of an experience. I told Bubbly that I can now at least tell my children that your dad has completed a marathon. It was no mean feat, it was tough, it was mind over body and ultimately it was pure endurance till the end. It was done with a price as I can't walk properly now and will need to see a chinese sinseh. Earlier on, I injured my knee and was scheduled to go for a MRI scan but have to postpone it later. I have been trying to run properly but with no success as my knee will hurt everytime I aggravate it. I have to listen to Bubbly now to keep away from running for a while until my knees heal completely. The run was an exciting one. My friend and I started off slowly and we see ppl gradually moving on in pairs, groups and individually. It was colourful as we can see ppl dressing up in spiderman, catwoman and suits. I also saw some comical taglines on the reasons for running. My favourites include "Girls, this is my number, xxxx6022, Ash", "Running for her -> + <- Running for him", "Overtake me!", "Isn't this a movie marathon???", "Beware of farts" and lots more, so funny. So what now? I am looking forward to my honeymoon with Bubbly to Japan. We had a pre-departure briefing at Grand Plaza Hotel with Chan Brothers. It was an annoying experience. I think I will not go back to Chan Brothers again to book any tours. The reasons were because I was told to pay an extra $200 for two of us because of a switch from Nippon to SQ. I was previously advised by the cocky travel consultant supervisor that I have already previously agreed, signed and fax back the documents. Lan-Lan...My advice that you should check the original carefully next time before signing anything. Lesson Learnt - Check documents carefully before you sign anything! Secondly, when we were about to redeem our free gifts, we were told that we can only get the coffee maker as the electric toothbrush was out of stock! Lame...they told us we can claim either the toothbrush or coffeemaker at the time of payment. What the fish! Crap man. Lesson Learnt - never assume everything promised is true! Now, I just hope that the trip will be an unforgettable honeymoon for us, a good one I mean! Cheerios Hubby ||11:34 AM||
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