North to Alaska - Day 2: Vancouver (Embarkation Day)

If I have thought that a nice bed would translate to a good sleep, boy am I wrong! Mother's mobile rang at 2am, from there broken sleep all the way till 1 & 1/2 hours before my alarm actually ring, all of us were awake. By the time the alarm rings, we were all ready to head out for a walk before breakfast!!!

We walked, took some photos, to say we are here (with the name of the hotel in the background - usual touristy thing to do), then at the agreed time, met up with Shirley and Peter to go for breakfast. It was Mother's and Aunt's 1st time/taste at IHOP (International House of Pancakes). 1 breakfast platter and 2 additional pancakes were more than enough for 3 persons!!! It has been awhile since having such a huge breakfast, but on hind sight, it was good that we had ordered this instead of something smaller!

We then checked out, and waited for the shuttle to bring us back to the airport where we were to board the courtesy shuttle provided for the cruisers by the cruise company for the ride to Canada Place. It wasn't that difficult but we had to stumble upon how we should go about it. Apparently, we were to leave our luggage at the cruise company counter, which was inside the building. Mother/Aunt stumbled upon it when the door opens and the cruise people saw them with the luggage, and told them to push it in (I was way ahead nearer to the bus queue, and had to push my luggage back a little and into the building).

Anyway, after leaving our bags at the counter, managed to hop into the 1st bus, and we were on the way. We saw the Gastown as the bus took the route along the Gastown to get to Canada Place - the steam clock was there, but unfortunately we did not time it right, so we did not get to see it blowing steam and making noises for the hour.

The ship we are cruising on for this trip is the Diamond Princess. According to wikipedia "Diamond Princess is a large cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises. She began operation in March 2004 and primarily cruises in Alaska during the summer and the Asia in the winter. Her only sister ship is the Sapphire Princess as both were built in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries although these vessels share many features with Ruby Princess, Emerald Princess and Crown Princess and together all five vessels are referred to as Gem Class." It hold 13 passenger decks, with 1,337 cabins, 2 specialty restaurants (Sabatini's and Sterling Steakhouse), 5 dining rooms (International Dining Room, Pacific Moon Dining Room, Santa Fe Dining Room, Savoy Dining Room, and Vivaldi Dining Room), buffet (Horizon Court), ice cream parlor (Sundaes ice cream bar), pizzeria (Prego Pizzeria), Trident Grill (burgers & hot dogs), 5 pools, gym, hair salon, and spa. It has 11 bars, casino, 2 dance clubs, library, 2 showrooms, and a video game room. In recently dry dock renovations done, they had added in Movies Under the Stars and The Sanctuary, a serene retreat exclusively for adults. Diamond Princess has 1,100 Crew Members, and can have a maximum of 2,670 passengers. It's width is 123 feet, and length of 952 feet, and gross ton of 116,000.

Now, in one of the threads in the forum mentioned about the chaos that happened on the 1st day the cruise season started. Read about it and was hoping that it would have been ironed out by the time we were there. Well, I don't think it was ironed out, but I guess they had implemented a slightly better system, although it still takes hours to get on!

The queue was split into 2 queues - Those with US passport, and those without. I believe the US queue is more shorter, and faster. While in the other queue, I felt like I was a cattle, herded through security (which all have to go through), then brought to an area which we were asked to sit in line, then after awhile, we were then herded into the queue, where we slowed inched toward the immigration.

We started queuing at around 11.40 am, and by the time we got onto the ship, which was a breeze after the immigration, it was already past 2 pm. That's like over 3 hours of queuing. I heard that it was worse for those that arrived after 12 pm. Now, mind you, there is only 2 ships doing their embarkation, and that would mean a maximum of around 4000 cruisers. Imagine what happens if there were 4 ships here?

Anyway, we went to look for our cabin, met the cabin steward, drop our hand carry luggage, and went for lunch at their buffet/breakfast restuarant - Horizon Court. The food there was ok, nothing special, very much like the usual buffet we find at the hotels. Whatever it was, we were pretty happy to find food to fill our starving stomach! Perhaps because the ship currently berthed, so we could feel the vibration of the engine at the location we were seated.

Once the food was settled, it was time to get to know the ship, with a small game the ship played - you were to move around the ship, looking for locations stated in the given paper and obtain a chop on the paper so that once it's filled, we could dropped it into the box, where there will be a welcome draw (can't remember what was the prizes).

There was supposed to be a Muster drill happening at 4 pm, half hour before the sailing time. However, due to the delay at the immigration, the Muster drill was pushed back to 7.15pm. Instead, we were back in our cabin, wondering where would the 3rd person be sleeping as there were only 2 (single) beds in the room.

The cruise provide 2 types of dinning. Traditional timing of 6 pm and 8 pm; or Anytime dinning. The difference between them is that Traditional dinning, you get a fixed table and server for the entire trip. For anytime dinning, when you are ready for dinner, you would head to 2-3 different locations that were designated for anytime dinning and would only get a table when you arrive at the location. There were cases where it may take awhile for you to get your table, or you may just go and get a table anytime, depending on the situation then. The menu for these 2 dinning are the same, there is no change in variation between the different locations. Of course, you could head to the buffet location if you want to. You could also try to book the specialty restuarant if you want to, but for this you need to pay addtional USD20 per person.

In our case, we were booked on the 1st sitting of the traditional dinning, so we make our way to the restuarant at 5.45pm. We had Ramil as our server, and Renaldo was the assistant. Both were Phillipinos, and pretty joval personality, and Ramil loves to talk. Don't remember what we ate, but since not everyone is on board, the dinning room was not really filled.

Immediately after dinner, we went back to the cabin to grab the life vest, and head to the designated location for the Muster drill. What is Muster drill you ask - according to Wikipedia - "A muster drill (also sometimes referred to as a lifeboat drill or a boat drill) is an exercise conducted by the crew of a ship prior to embarking on a voyage. The purpose of a muster drill is to prepare passengers for safe evacuation in the event of an emergency while on board the ship and to familiarize crew and passengers with escape routes. In a muster drill, passengers are educated on the use of life vests and escape routes from the ship. It is typically conducted approximately 30 minutes prior to the ship's scheduled departure time and all guests must remain silent during the drill so that everyone will be able to hear the safety announcements from the Captain. During the drill, the ship's general emergency signal (seven short blasts, followed by one long blast) is sounded to notify passengers."

Soon after the muster drill, it was sailing time. Grab the camera, and walked to the promenade deck, walked around the ship, took some photos of Canada Place and Stanley Park.

Canada Place, the location where we board Diamond Princess.

Sunset over Lion Gate Bridge.

North to Alaska - Day 1: Singapore to Vancouver

Time flies and the day of departure draws near. Shirley and Peter had, a few days before, departed for Vancouver and the Rockies. Followed their trail by means of Peter's photos and details that he placed in his Facebook page. I now know when I head to Canada, I want to make sure I make a trip to Kelowna for their vineyards. :P

As we were in the cab, heading for the airport when mother asked: "Jackets, where are the jackets?" Oops. It seems we have left our jackets back at home!!! Argh! The cab turned around and headed back to pick up the jackets. We seems to be starting a habit of leaving jackets behind - a few months back, I was just about to board the cab, when I remembered the jacket was missing.

Because of the u-turn we had to do, we were a bit late in getting into the airport than we planned, but good thing was that we were left the house pretty early - due to mother's insistence of going early, so we were still very much on time and with plenty of time to do our check-in and all. Good thing about China Airlines is that they allow online check-in, so we were able to select our seats.

Today's flight path was Singapore - Taipei (2 hr stop over) - Vancouver. Flight was ok, had a chance to catch up with movies - Green Hornet as well as No Strings Attached. I am sure I had some others, maybe it was some concerts or tv shows. If not, it was just plain music all the way... The selection is pretty good, better than some, and with VOD selection, while it does not match in terms of variety to SQ flights, it's still better than most. The aircon on the other hand, seems to be on the warm side. It seems like the aircon did not work during the entire flight, I did not really use the blanket that the airline provided - in fact after a while it felt warm!

Taipei was an ok airport, nothing to shout about, especially on the food part. Heck, I think it's seriously lack in that, but then again it might still edge out US airport transit area. We also had problems in finding food at the airport, perhaps we did not ask around. What I don't get is, why are the food there so salty!?!? Everything I eat is basically salty, so much so that I really had no appetite to finish the food. Thank goodness the meals on the flight was not that bad.

Finally at almost 8 pm, we landed in Vancouver airport, and managed to get our stuff from the belt, got pass the immigration without much issues, and then look for the location to get our free shuttle to the hotel - Accent Inn. By then we were all very hungry, had a quick checked in (thank goodness there were not a lot of guests waiting to check in at the front desk), dropped our luggage in the room, and head out, with our stomach growling, looking for food.

Of all things we were to eat in Vancouver, our first meal was McDonalds!!!! The only difference is that they have Angus beef for their beef patties, which we ordered. While the quality or taste should be the same in all locations, the fries seems to taste a little different from Singapore. Should have gone to the steak house just a short walk away from McDonalds, but we thought we would have a "lighter" meal, so chose Macs instead. The meals was nothing to shout about, but well, we ate and headed back to hotel to sleep.

North to Alaska - Trip (forming) history

Ever since watching numerous documentaries and travel shows on TV, Alaska has always been on the "to-go places" list. What moves it up to a "do-able" trip, I guess, was due to the lower prices that was advertised where you could go with a balcony cabin for only 5K (for both Rockies and Alaska cruise) in 2009. It became a "research" topic, in early 2010, to find out more about the trips available in the market, and what people would recommend. During this period, I had noted that a lot of people have pointed out that to go on such trips, I have to make early decision, and then be quick in our booking - as early as possible for a cheaper pricing and secure the trip itinerary that I would want to go on.

As I have targeted 2010 trip to be for a 1st trip to Japan (7 days trip to Hokkaido), it was left on the side burner, and simmer it for a while. Started to read online on what I could find, and if you check online on Alaska, there were a lot on cruises but I have no firmed plan on how I was to go about this. When Mother and aunt found out that I was thinking on going, they immediately say that they were interested, and tasked me to "find out more". They were interested, in fact excited of the prospect, but not enough to do research themselves (of course, their usual excuses is that they are not IT savvy enough to do research online!)

While I had plenty of resources online on this topic, there were also no advertisement in the local papers on Alaska. So, it was all just researching, trying to find out as much as possible and trying to figure out why people are saying to book early, but no companies in SG had any details!!! Anyway, Hokkaido came and gone, I had more time to work on the Alaska trip. There were also lack of details on the websites on what is available by the cruise lines themselves, but somehow people (then again, they are all in US/Canada) still managed to book their cruise and actual holidays.

The whole thing actually took flight after the week of NATAS fair in August. Yes, for the 1st time, I actually went for the fair, to squeeze with the whole lot of people there, who were planning for their Dec 2010 holidays! Here I was, planning for my May 2011 holidays! :P

Ironically, at that time, most of the companies don't have much details on Alaska, except for 2 companies - both were offering a combination of Rockies and Alaskan cruise (Princess). New Shan was offering Rockies + Inside Passage cruise, while the other, which I cannot remember which company it was, maybe it was Super Travel or 5 Stars, they were offering Rockies + Voyage of the Glaciers cruise. The rest were saying that the pricing is not out, so they don't have any firm confirmation on their decision on what to do, and all that. There were also RCCI, Princess, HAL and a few others booths but they don't offer direct booking!

However, I came across Stamford Travel in NATAS, and as they say... the rest is history. They were not promoting their tour packages, but rather the cruise packages - they were handing out all sorts of pamphlets. First pamphlet for Alaska was the Oceania pamphlet which was a 9 day cruise of Alaska, if I recall correctly. It was not something that I was looking, but they took my contact details down, and ask if they could contact me and work out something for me.

They called back and arranged for a meeting a week later. First meeting was a bit interesting as there were 3 of them and me - in Ya Kun near my office. Felt very overwhelmed by the numbers, ha ha... They were nice, and listen to what I had said, showed me a video to give me an idea of how the cruise will be like and the destination. Gave me a few pamphlets on Rockies + cruise. Telling me the difference between Inside Passage and Northbound/Southbound. They also added in about land section, basically the whole HAL booklet on Alaska 2011 was made available to me to have a look, telling me that I can find these details in the web as well.

By this time, the group number had increased - from just 3 persons, it was increased to a possibility of 7, or even maybe 8 people. But due to the length and leave application issues, it finally rested on the number 5. So, it would be a twin sharing and triple sharing. Triple sharing also means that there could be some changes along the way just as it happens.

We started by thinking about just Rockies and the cruise. Then the land portion of Alaska was mentioned, the itinerary grew to Rockies, Cruise and Alaska land. Added into the mix was the number of days of leave available. In the end, it was a mixed decision. Shirley and Peter went ahead with the Rockies section, while all of us will be doing the Cruise Tour, sea and land section of Alaska - making our way up to Prudhoe Bay.

Once the destinations were firmed, we then started by deciding on the HAL cruisetour, which does the 7 days cruise with the 6 days land tour. However, by the time we are firmed on the cruise company, HAL's triple sharing for the land tour part was fully booked. As we could not move the dates, we turned our focus to Princess instead. They still have availability for triple sharing on their land tour section, and they had the exact same itinerary (except they had 1 more day in Fairbanks), we quickly place our booking and paid up our deposit to secure it.

With our general itinerary firmed, I started to look at the excursions that we could go for at the port of calls - Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway and also the Denali section of the land tour. Having read a lot of reviews and also lurking in the forums, and then reading up on areas which was discussed and highlighted as a "must-do" in the forums.

After much deliberation, decided on the following for the port of calls. Ketchikan - floatplane sightseeing of Misty Fjord National Monument; Juneau - Whale watching tour, and maybe followed by a visit to Mendenhall Glacier; Skagway - White Pass and Yukon bus/rail tour. As Princess cruisetour includes only the Natural History Tour (NHT) which is going only 17 miles (approx) into the park (4 hours tour), I had asked the agent to try to get them to change it to Tundra Wilderness Tour TWT) which is going 53 miles, or to somewhere near Stoney Hill, into the park (8 hours tour). There was another tour, Kantishna Experience which goes the entire 92 miles into the park but it was only offer Jun 8 onwards which by then we would have been in Fairbanks according to the schedule. That tour is also about 11 hours which I am not certain if the rest of the group could take it!

Even the arrangements for the additional excursions also took some time to get it arranged. It seems that the operators have some down time during the winter period, so we could only start to make some arrangements after Jan/Feb. For Ketchikan, I had wanted to go with Island Wings which was highly recommended by the forum, but she did not have the slot available, so we went with Family Air. For Juneau, I wanted Harv and Merv, but because the boat size is small (6 persons max), the rest of the group was a little worried about seasickness, so we settled for a larger boat of max of 40 people with Orcas Enterprise. As for Skagway, did not think we would want to drive around ourselves, although a lot of people say we could. It was a toss between Dyea Dave and Chilkoot Charters, and since Dyea Dave was pretty popular, we made arrangements with Chilkoot Charters instead. The only snag we had was the Denali Park section where we somehow was not able to upgrade to the TWT instead.

So by the time the day came, we were pretty much firm on all our plans.

Oops

Time flies from the last posting. Yes, I went to Korea, and no, did not head for US, instead I was in Germany in April (was supposed to head to US then, but due to change of role, this trip was made instead).

So what change... Well, got the D7000 just before the Korea trip - so it was a birthday present to myself. First thing I did was to test it out with 50mm F1.8 lens on my nephew (technically speaking, it should be my cousin's son which in someway still nephew, but who cares right?). One thing that hits me with that testing - I don't know the camera well enough to figure out the way it works. However, the most important note which I am still trying to grasps is why half of my shots are blur!!!! I never had issues with D70, but man, it's weird to have half of the shots on the blur side. D70, pick up the cam, set the required settings, focus and shoot. No issues, but when I did the same with D7000, some were fine, some were blur. So, is there something that I am not getting right here!?!?

Having been reading up the DPreview forum on anything that talks about D7000 and it seems that I am not the only one. Some managed to overcome it by using some settings, like changing from AF-S to AF-C, from a single point to 9 point focus mode, etc. Some with success, some still having issues. I am still doing a lot of test shots, along with more pictures of my nephew and 2 trips to Zoo and a "free" trip to Bird Park (department held a workout session there, so we were give some time to enjoy some shows at the Bird Park - which means bringing out the camera!).

Along with that, I had also added in a new lens into my lens collection - the most expensive lens to-date on my collection, the venerable 70-200mm VRII F2.8. Purchased on the last day of 2010, along with the TC20III. Reason for it - simply, I am heading to Alaska (YEAH!!!), and this is the best possible lens that I can afford to hopefully bring home some good/great shots of wildlife that I hope to encounter during this trip. No, I cannot afford the 200-400mm lens (please, it's in the range of an MP's monthly income and I don't earn that much! It would have taken me a long time to save for that kind of $$$), and if I was to rent the lens, it would have come up to more than 1K just for rental! (Not taking into consideration what happen if something happens to that lens while I was renting it?!?!)

The count on the camera is now at range of 2930 shots already passed through that sensor. I think I am getting a hang of it, but I still get those blur shots at times, if not often. I have to start learning how to use it again in trying to take birds in flight, which I am still not able to do so. What have I brought onto myself... Haiz. Anyway, I am still scratching my head on this, and the only way I could think of it is that my hands are no longer as steady as it was, which does not seems to right, since I have no issues with D70. Could it be that with such a huge jump in the pixel size/resolution, it somehow made it a more demanding camera? Mystery continues as I try to get this issue righted.

Did I mentioned also that I was using this for some event shots like a dodgeball game (company) and team building games (department) held recently as well? No? Well, since I need more practice, even if it was something I am lousy with, it's still practice with the camera, I brought the cam down just for this reason. Was I happy, well, I got to learn more, and tried to get familiar with the camera, so yes, but still, the shots were, well, let's put it as still in progress!

Meantime... I am counting down the days - Yes, it's actually approximately 9 more days to flight for that trip (of a lifetime, hopefully, for me).

Finally...

Yes, been missing from here for a while... Not surprising since most people are now moving onwards to social networks like Facebook. Heck, most of them also started to post their photos there instead of having it hosted somewhere and link it here...

But I think the reason for me to be missing from blogging is that... Well, I have nothing much to blog about. Pretty much because I have been grounded since my last travel, and after retaining my silver in Krisflyer. As far as I can tell, I have a trip to Korea end Nov and a short trip to US in Dec, just before Christmas.

I have also not been taking any photos, except once, just to try my hand at event photography, and I have to say, I don't think I am cut out for it... This was for the YOG flame journey which my company has taken part in, and they were asking for volunteers to go and line the road to cheer the company representatives running that 100m stretch (in total 400m since there were 4 reps). Oh, had another event, also for the company - a training done at a local hotel, the marketing person wanted some shots which there was no budget to get someone to do it...

Which inevitably leads to this observation that people tend to have this perception that if any of your photos turn out nice/very nice, means you can take anything... So when they see my travel photos, which I had to point out that it does not usually include people and events, they naturally think that you can take any photo and will turn out good!

Tried my hand at events such as the golf tournament... not really that good, tried my hand at weddings... I'll leave it to the pros, although I did get some $$ out of it once, but that was like the most stressful time of my life! Did also a few trips of photography in Cambodia which was passable but I think not a lot of wow shots.

Anyway, the next big trip is finally firming up... Yes, Alaska here I come... Ok, sorry, not that soon, I have to wait till end May 2011 for it. However, I am counting down the days, looking for ways to improve my chances of getting a higher VCP, so that it can pay for the trip.

The other would be the soon to be released D7000 camera body. After the recent issues faced with the D70, I think it's time to move to a new cam body and well, what do you know, D7000 is coming out, and looks like the cam body to go for as the replacement.

Had actually looked at D300s, but since the announcement of D7000, been looking at the specs, and the previews... Seems to be a good alternative to D300s. Of course there is still some difference between them, since one is a semi-pro (I think) but flagship of the DX cam body, while D7000 is still considered a mid class but consumer (I think) cam body.

Compared to the D70, D7000 looks good!!! 39 AF points, 2,016-pixel RGB metering sensor, with ability to do some video, almost 100% viewfinder, 2 new custom user settings, ability to support GPS for geotagging, etc, etc, etc.

Need I to say more?!?!

Oh well... Will be heading to the D7000 launch on 29 Oct, where will finally get the chance to lay my hands on it to play with (I hope, but then there are like 120 people in the same event...). Need to find out when it hits the retail stores, which rumours has it that it will be on 28 Oct. Have a feeling it would be snap up fairly quickly, wonder should I just grab it or wait for the review to come...

Definitely need to get it by Hari Raya... My Korea trip will be the following week, want to get it to test it out in the field during this trip... Then there is the US trip... Hopefully by the time Alaska trip, I would be familiar with this cam body... That would save me a lot of issues to hassle with during the trip.

Bejing & Hokkaido Photos

Yes, it's finally out (well, out for a few week anyway). I also have my May's Hokkaido trip in there as well. It was a good trip, although I have never been to so many shopping centres before, and it's in Japan. I did not even know that they have outlets like those Prime outlets in US!

I did not have much time in Beijing to go around, only had Sat afternoon and entire Sunday before the training starts on Monday. So, I spent that afternoon walking around Beijing, went to the shopping area and then to TianAnMen and then took a taxi back to Hotel. During dinner, we were arranging for some way to get to the Great Wall, and thankfully our China colleague was kind enough to pick us up and drove us to MuTianYu.

This is almost the entire stretch of the Wall that I have walked (back and forth)!!

Did I mention that Japan trip was one of the most relax tour group I have been on???

Day 1 - Imagine, arrive at Chitose in the evening, not much to do, so we head straight for dinner which was at the hotel which we were staying for the night. Wanted to walk around, so went to the electronic store (yes, never seems to run away from these stores) next to the hotel with mother in tow.

Day 2 - Immediately after breakfast, we were brought to the Chitose Outlet Mall Rera - first of many shopping expedition. As usual, did not get anything but mother bought a COACH bag. Walking around it before the shops were open (yes, we were that early!!), it does reminds me a lot like those that I have been to in US.

Lunch was at some restaurant which has a shop downstairs, somewhere near the outskirts of Chitose, along the way to our next destination - where I had the most expensive, yet unsatisfying, Hokkaido crab. Nom don't get me wrong, it's not that it's no good. While the taste was very fresh, the crab meat was not filling its shell - like it has just shed its own shell - so the meat was pretty lean and slightly flabby. That translate to it being unsatisfying, as specially eating it as sashimi!

Next was on the bus for at least an hour to hit near Shiraoi town where there is this Poroto Kotan, where we visited this museum depicting a traditional Ainu village, nestled on the shores of Lake Poroto.

Panoramic View

Spent more than an hour there, where we had a short show to give us some idea of the life spent in such villages long time ago. They actually hang whole salmon near to their roof, something like the process of smoking the meat. They looked pretty eerie when the lights are down... Imagine looking up, seeing multiple "eyes" looking down at you or some angle of that. Had my first taste of Hokkaido ice cream at the shop here.

Next on the itinerary was Noboribetsu where you find their version of Hell's pit. Yup, sulphur pits which somewhat reminds me of Rotorua, except that at least here, the area does not have a monotonous colour; which is great for photography (which reminds me, I never did post anything on my 2009 Sept trip to NZ North Island... Hmm...)

By the end of that, it was pretty late, and we were not more than 1 km away from our stop for the night - Noboribetsu Manseikaku where it's the first night where there is an Onsen in the hotel. We also do get to try their traditional style room where you sleep on a futon laid on the tatami-matted floor instead of a bed - You get to wear a Yukata as well! The dinner was so much better than the 1st night.

Day 3 started with a long drive back from Noboribetsu, tracing most of the route we took yesterday, back to Chitose, pass it and even beyond Sapporo, to arrive at Otaru where we spent quite some time there, taking some photos of the canal, then spent time walking along the streets where there were some glass or musical box area which we were brought to, which we were not very interested in. Instead we spent time walking along the streets, going into shops to buy some specialty bsicuits or something which was recommended by the guide. We actually went into some wine shops, and bought a bottle of wine. The biscuits were nice, but I realised Japanese have very, very sweet tooth. Their biscuits are usually very sweet - very nice, great taste, but very sweet.

Lunch saw us at some Grand Park Royal hotel (if I recall correctly) in Otaru which again was not very satisfying for me as it was an International buffet lunch, and the deserts looked better than their mains - but was not very into their deserts due to the sweetness. So I took enough to ensure my stomach does not growl quickly but not much - no, there wasn't any sashimi or sushi that could help to fill my stomach. As the hotel was next to a shopping mall, yup you guess it.. more shopping time spent there.

We then head back to Sapporo where more shopping, again, was done - Headed to this shop somewhere in Sapporo town where the entire group bought a lot of the famous chocolate factory's products and also where mother bought this horse oil cream which the tour leader was waxing about - yes, horse oil, and was supposed to be very good for your hair and leaving it soft and manageable, and also to keep your hair black! Mother bought stuff almost enough to fill a box which was provided free by the shop and they did quite a good job of sealing it.

By then, it was dinner time. This time dinner was a somewhat tepanyaki meat (lamb and chicken) with crab in steamboat. Similar crab to what we had before, but this time meat was better! However, no sashimi for that...

After dinner, headed out to the hotel - Apa Hotel & Resort Sapporo for the night.

Day 4. Left the hotel immediately after breakfast, headed to Odori Park, which you can get to see the Sapporo tower (pity did not go up the tower for a bird's eye view of the Park and the surrounding area.

I never knew they were that big on dogs, but this is one of the dogs that I have seen while in Japan.

When we saw somewhat of Sakura in the Odori Park, it was a "let-down" as it was not as awesome as it was described by people who has seen it.

Between the 2, I still prefer the 2nd one, as it gives a better "feel" to me.

After an hour or so, it was then onwards to Mt Showa (passing Noboribetsu), where we had lunch (seafood tepanyaki type), and also taking pictures of the active volcano - You can see steam coming out of some areas on the mountain (does not look like mountain to me), and this is one of the most recent and still active volcano in Hokkaido. After lunch we were given some time to walk around (to the foot edge of the volcano, if you want, or the shops near the restaurant), and take photos.

Next was a very short (and I do mean short - you can actually walk there from the restaurant) bus ride, it was the Bear Ranch. Now, if I am not wrong, they tell us that these bears are still wild, but they have also been able to do some human actions such as putting their paws together downwards, making like they are "begging". So that you can throw apples or nuts at them as a "reward". Apparently, a few months back there were 7 cubs that were born in this ranch. I have to say the cubs are pretty cute.

More shopping to do, bought more horse oil, this time for the face - with collegen as well (don't play play ok!) Went into this glass shop which was pretty nice and mother bought some (small) glass pieces there. There was a cuttlefish store just outside this glass shop and they actually roast the cuttlefish at the store and it was pretty nice. No, did not buy as I think it was a bit on the expensive side, but did buy myself a 300Y ice cream.

Then it was time to head to Lake Toya. Where we had anticipated a nice evening as there were supposed to be fireworks!

Panoramic View

There was still time before dinner, so a group of us headed down to the side lake (which is just less than 100m from the Kanko hotel where we were staying) and managed to get on a small powerboat which took us to the island at the centre of the lake.

I believe dinner here was the best dinner we had and I believe this is a Keiseki dinner. We had entertainment as well - the tour leader surprising had a pretty goof voice for singing, some of the tour members did gamely joined in, while the rest were to shy (or just not willing to embarrass themselves in front of others). Time for the fireworks! Rush up to the room which gave a very good view of the lake and the fireworks.

Bottom 2 are collage of the different fireworks.

I have borrowed my cousin's netbook and was happily download (and watching tv at an angle) till I felt a neck strain, and it was pretty bad - bad enough for me not to have a very good sleep. Mind you, I think it's compounded with the fact that we were again sleeping on tatami-matted room (and yes, this is another hotel with onsen). I can only say that at least because of this, I was able to wake up and take photos of the only sunrise which I was able to view. I guess something good came out of it!

Day 5 see that we move from Lake Toya to Hakodate. Finally at Goryokaku Park, we get to really see what Sakura is all about - why Japanese could take a day off just to enjoy a day spent in the gardens among the blossoms. Most of us in the tour would say this viewing is worth the price we paid for the trip!

Panoview of a part of the Park.

Another dog, this time Husky! He looked magnificent among those flowers in the park.

Another panoview of another park of the Park.

Walking in the park and came across this kid and her friends and parents. Standing a little far from her, and with the parent trying to take her photo, had to do something to remove some of the distraction around her. But her happiness really shines through. (The extra length in 18-200mm finally paid its due! :P)

Final panoview of the Park.

Then had lunch somewhere, if I am not wrong, this is the other buffet, on this trip but this time, the buffet was great! Got to eat quire a fair bit as this place is a all Japanese food buffet, so you get to eat yakitori, tepanyaki, soba, ramen (no I did not take it), sashimi, sushi, and a lot more. Much better!

After lunch, what's the next thing to do? Shopping, or in this case, more walking! They brought us to this place near the habour, where they have a lot of small shops in these old warehouses. Pretty nice, but did not buy much - only ice cream again. :P

Another day gone, back to the hotel for dinner.

Day 6 was the day which we would leave Hokkaido and headed to Tokyo. Before we do that we would first head for the fish market in Hakodate. No, we did not head out early, so it would mean that we are actually moving around the shops near the fish market, not so much of the early morning activities in the fish market itself. More shopping to do as mother bought quite a lot of dried scallops for boiling soups, as well as some seaweed thingy which the tour leader say is very good - but damn smelly. Was looking out for Uni to eat, but all we see is sea urchin being grilled on open BBQ grillers. Not the sashimi type that I was looking for. Damn disappointing!!!

Next was the flight to Hanada airport in Tokyo. We then had a bus tour of the areas in Tokyo - went pass Ueno park (no cannot see it, we seems to be somewhere below it?), went pass Ginza area, went pass the area which the Imperial family lives. This is where there is this famous bridge which is the most photographed bridge in Japan, because you can only walk across this bridge to ensure the place twice a year.

No, we did not stop, this is taken from the tour bus, which happens to stop at a traffic light near it. Another 200mm shot.

Then was to this oldest temple in Tokyo - Sensō-ji in Asakusa. Spent an hour or so there where you get to walk through Nakamise-dori to get to the temple, and they were full of people.

Owner of this doggie was at the temple, so she left the doggie on the bike.

Finally, dinner and a drive to Narita (which we did pass by Disneyland), where the hotel we are staying for the night is at. Since it was early, we then head to the nearest shopping area (suprisingly it's Aeon, which I have seen some in Malaysia. Not sure if there are links) for final shopping. In my case, more like more walking after a filling dinner - a Chinese style dinner!

Day 7 was time to say goodbye to Japan. We basically headed for the airport after breakfast.

It was pretty short in my travel book, and by far the most relax tour (as compared to Spain), and as for food. Well, I won't say that I was very impressed with the food. It was fresh, nice, but it did not have that "wow" impact which everyone else had. Hmm.. Maybe I was expecting more sashimi and sushi! :P

Checking In....

Am currently in NZ, back to this site again, and the stay is coming to an end... This time had chance to visit Rotorua and Lake Taupo. It's a total different view compared to South Island - no mountain (well, they do have some, but...) pretty different feel altogether, more of the Maori culture and also the thermal activities. Yes, going round to see what is all those fuss is about... But because was using Hamilton as the base, I miss out on the Geyser outburst which occurs at 10:15am sharp (how they get that, I have no idea)...

As for Hong Kong, I think I have tasted most of the sushi chains that has popped up since my last visit. Thank goodness for them as, well, the food was still the same from my past visit. So, I had sushi for dinner for most of my stay there. Lunch were with my HK colleagues, so had to deal with the food (wash down with lots of tea!!!), the worst lunch I had was at this pseudo-Thai corner shop (but on 2nd level) opposite the office block. If I ever go HK again, not going there... Yikes.

But the sushi store at Sun Plaza (which happens to be part of the Genki Sushi group) was the best I had, followed closely by the Itaemei sushi chain at MongKok. I think Sushi-One was the lowest on my list. I am certain there are still more places which I had not tasted, especially those in HK Island - I practically did not go over to HK Island, except for that 1 half day visit to the customer site.

And I think the prices there is slightly cheaper than Singapore for the quality. Had sushi and sashimi all the way... Avoided any cooked stuff and other cuisines. Had wanted to try Korean, but I have a feeling it would not be the same as what we would get in Korea and it would have some added MSG on it.

Yes, I tell my colleagues I am sensitive to MSG, and almost like being allergic to it. :D So, they instead suggested sushi places to go... Ahahahah

Right, flying back from NZ tmr... If today seem smooth, I am tempted to be out of this place by 4, latest before 5pm... Time to go shopping (for gloves, at request of mother!) - they only open till 7pm!!!!

Out of Town... HK 1 week

Yes, I am going out of town for work again in HK. Did not had a very good time with the food previously (and that was like back in 1995/6)... Wonder what will it be this time round...

Amazing isn't it? Everyone I know loves Hong Kong - if not for the shopping then it's the food. I seem to be the only one who did not enjoy the food there - what's there to enjoy if the abalone has the same "after taste" as the Maxim's egg tart or even an unknown wanton mee shop along Causeway Bay?!?! In fact, of all the meals I had, the only one that I had no such issue was actually a sushi place that is no different from the sushi chain we have in Singapore!

So, if the food there is still the same as before, then sounds like I will have to survive on Japanese/Korean food... if not, I might get to lose some weight while I am there... :P

Let's see how it goes.. Bringing my cam (well, borrowed cam body as they finally found my cam body!!! Another story, another time...), but I doubt I will be taking much photos.. I think I am more interested in getting some BR/cam stuff instead... Hehehe

South Island, NZ 2009 - Day 14 and beyond

Day 14 - The last leg of traveling from a town/city to another. This time, it's from Oamaru to Christchurch. It was also the longest drive I had - 575.6 km according to the GPS datalogger! This was because I headed inland where the first stop was Elephant Rocks, near Duntroon. This place is mentioned in NZ's AA 101 Regional Must-Do list, and it was used as the location for Aslan Camp in Chronicles of Narnia.

The only place where the consecutive shots were able to be stitched into a panorama photo! :p

The "normal" view

Then moving a little further down the road, towards Omarama, you would come across a section of limestone area where it is caged. The reason was to protect the Maori art work that is left on those rocks. Some chucks of these art work are now in some museum(s) in the country. Perhaps due to the weather and all, it was not very visible, in term of the entire set, instead had to rely on the plaques there which show where the drawings were, and what it means.

Moving on, it was time to head to Omarama, where I had to ask for the local maps in order for me to get to the Clay Cliffs and lunch was again a mince pie. 10 km of private ($5 for cars, $20 for small bus and only gravel) road traveled at most, at speed of 30 km/h, was a long way to drive! It was so dusty that I had to wash the car the next day as the rear screen was literally covered with dust!

What I did not realised is that you could get a very far view of the cliff along Omarama Lindis Pass Road. But it was a good time (and $$$) spent, took quite a fair bit of photos - only for the camera to act up and I had to do some recovery when I got back to SG!!

Clay Cliffs. Except that it does not look as white as some other photos that I have seen from internet.

B&W shot of Clay Cliffs.

By the it was almost 2 pm in the afternoon. Time to speed up and head toward Mt Cook. The travel time was considered short, but given that I did not really do much other than visiting the information store kind of building... And took a shot of Mt Cook in the background, the only "fun" bit I had was to drive at around 140 km/h on those straight flat roads that leads to Mt Cook!

Since I could not do much there, time to head for Lake Tekapo instead. I had initially wanted to visit the Mt John Observatory (which till today I still do not have an idea where exactly is it!), but by the time I was heading that direction, it was not feasible, so I head for the Church of Good Shepard instead. I think that church is one of the most photographed church in NZ and it's a church that is holding service, although once every 3 weeks, rather than weekly service and is shared by 3 denominations!

Church of Good Shepherd in IR. The only way which I can offer a different view of the church, since almost everyone who visited South Island will have a photo of this place! Wait.. Did anyone took a shot of it from this angle?!?

Since the church is by the lake, we definitely will not miss a chance to take shots of the lake, right?!?!

Why is it that my shot does not show the lake's turquoise water colour!??! Hmmm....

Finally, being there, you would not have miss the dog statue that is less than 1 km from the church.

Yes, the statue looked small in the picture, but somehow I like this shot compared to the usual close up shots (which I did take)

By then, it was coming to 5pm, so it was time to head for Christchurch, and to Alexandra Court Motel.

What was not record above was the phone call I got while traveling (I believe it was from Mt Cook to Lake Tekapo) from the project manager from the site asking if I could extend my stay and head back to the site next week; as a heads-up, if he can't get resources. He would call again the next day to confirm and to see if I would want to...

Day 15 - Alarm rang at 4 am, and by 4.30 am, I was having my breakfast and called a number to hear that the flight is on. By 5 am, I was ready for my adventure - a hot air balloon flight over Canterbury region, which Christchurch is situated. It was a cold, cold, very cold morning - my fingers were not happy, as I had not thought it was that cold enough to warrant gloves for this trip!!!

We finally reached the place where the balloon was to be setup. As part of the experience, we had to help with the laying out of the envelope (the part which the hot air is held), as well a the wicker basket which we will be in... It's kind of interesting to watch and learn how they are able to create that amount of hot air to bring up the wicker basket and its passengers. They did it by using the burner to heat up the air, but along with it was this industrial standard huge fan, to blow enough air into the envelope for it to form that familiar shape!!! Finally, after an hour or so, in the super cold weather, it was ready, and we had to scramble into the wicker basket and up we go!

No, this is not the one I was in. Instead it was a smaller one, which is sometime used to chalk up flight hours for their certificate and to familiarise with the wind condition, etc. As it's smaller, it got up quicker than the one I was in. You could see a very small part of the one I was in at the top of the photo.

This was taken when that balloon was descending back to the ground.

When we landed (in someone's sheep farm), we had a glass of champagne to mark the flight, and someone read a balloon flight prayer (that's what I was told). It was only 9.30am when I was dropped off back at the motel. Rested for about an hour and had some more food as I was hungry by then.

It was time to head for Akaroa, which is famous for the French settlement by the harbour.

Wooden pier out to French Bay at Akaroa

Had m ylunch lunch there and by then, I was feeling tired and head back to Christchurch. However, I was to receive a call, which changes my itinerary. I was to head back to SG from Christchurch the next day, but with that call, I had to fly back to the North Island to the site for a week.

So, had to scramble for flights, and changing of my flights. Since I will still be around for the weekend, decided to get flight to Auckland, so that I could spend a day there, and change my return flight to SG from Christchurch to Auckland instead - cut down my NZ-SG transit time.

Day 16 - Had it not been that call, it would be flying home day, instead, I would be spending the day in Christchurch. Dropped the car off at the airport, and got on a bus service back to the hotel. Picked up the camera, and head to the centre. I thought it would be a nice day to get some shots of the Christchurch centre. Meantime, my clothes were having a wash in the washing machine.

Tower section of Christchurch Cathedral

It happened that this day was ANZAC day. So, they had a service that the Cathedral, and by the time I got to the place, the service had ended. There were stream of NZ uniformed personnel there, in different uniforms - Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, and even some other uniformed groups like the ambulance service, etc. The shops were all closed as well, till 1 pm because of this. So I just wandered around till lunch time. Had my lunch at a Japanese restaurant which turns out pretty well. I have also noticed that the variety of fish is not a wide range, but it's still very fresh.

By then, it was after 1 pm, and it was time to head to Kathmandu for their Easter sale. Yes, I do not often shop, but the weather reminds me that I should take the opportunity to stock up on such clothes especially since they are on sale!!! Bought 2 long johns for myself, and 1 cardigan and 1 long john for my mother!!! I could not find a pullover to replace the (thick, but not warm enough) sweater that I had. So, since I am already shopping, might as well head for the other (similar) shops to see if they do have any - None found.

Feet were complaining by then, and it was time to get back to the hotel to drop the bags of goodies and rest my feet. Back in hotel, open my emails, and found that the travel agent got the changes done, receipts obtained, and hotel in Auckland was booked. Time for dinner and then sleep!

Bad move that I did not download my photos, as I thought since it's only a few shots... I can wait... Bad move. Sigh. Camera acting up again...

Day 17 - It was packing time - I had earlier requested for a special breakfast of eggs on bread. With a filled stomach, head out to airport. I had to pay extra for the 2nd luggage as Air NZ now charges NZD15 per luggage when it's more than 1. So, they can allow you to have a large luggage with weight of 25kg, they cannot take 2 luggage bags that is lower than 25kg!!!

By the time I got to Auckland, it was slightly after 1 pm. Got my luggages, head out and got a little lost in terms of what to take to Sky Hotel. Should I take a shuttle or a cab. In the end, since I don't know which cab company or cab to get into, I got onto a shuttle instead.

When everything was done - got to hotel, checked in, found the way to the room, and then drop them off at the room, i headed downstairs for a light meal as it was 3 pm!!! Then took a walk down to the harbour front, but since it was Sunday, it as good as a dead town in terms of shops. There were people like me, walking around, but it like a stroll along buildings. Walked around to check out the Japanese restaurants in the area, and found most of them were closed, except 1. So, dinner was at that restaurant, then back to hotel to sleep!

Day 18 - Final day. It started off slow, I guess I was too tired/jaded by then, and there wasn't much for me, as I had time to kill before heading for airport to meet up with my colleagues who were flying that day.

Packed my stuff, and then I checked out. Saw the map and decided to head for Albert Park. What I did not know is that Auckland is pretty hilly. Sky hotel was on top of the hill, and in between Albert Park and Sky hotel, it was a walk down the slope and then back up again. Pretty tiring for someone who had not exercise for quite a while!

Fountain at Albert Park. The seagull is having some fun time, bathing using the waters in the fountain.

Headed to the harbour and saw that a cruise with lunch was only NZD38, so took it up and spend the next 2 hours in the boat.

Auckland Skyline

Beacon which the cruise passed by

So, that was the end of the activities as part of this holiday trip. 18 days... Can't remember if this beat the UK trip I had last year in terms of number of days I was in the country. Hmmm....

Anyway, That's the record of my NZ 2009 trip. Next target... was supposed to be Greece, but since mother wants to go Alaska. Looks like next year will be Alaska! Time to save up!!!