Asia / North East

We didn't do anything spectacular after leaving Japan except for shop and eat! Here's Winnie and I after a full night of shopping in Mongkok. Continue reading Day Nine, Ten, Eleven - Japan / Hong Kong »

Last day in Japan! This is the Asakusa Kannon Temple, which is also known as Sensoji. It is a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo. For lunch, we went to a BBQ Buffet. Our tour guide helped us order large abalones and Grade A and/or Grade AA Kobe Beef. Kobe beef cattle are hand massaged and fed beer to reduce their stress levels, maintain tenderness in their muscles and to increase their appetites so that they have a higher level of stored fat. As you can see below, the fat has a lovely marbled texture. The taste was amazing! Continue reading Day Eight - Japan / Hong Kong »

We spent the majority of today in queues. A cloudy day does not stop tourists! A great thing about Tokyo Disneyland in comparison to Universal Studios Japan is that the fast-pass is free! The limitation is that you're only allowed to take 1 fast-pass at a time, but each pass gives you an hour's duration to return to the venue. Later in the night, our tour guide arranged for these freshly boiled (delivered defrosted) Hokkaido Crabs to be delivered to our hotel rooms for supper. Hokkaido crabs are also known as Tarabagani or the Red Sea King Crab. The crab's meat was sweet and put a new meaning to "king" crabs... very satisying indeed! Continue reading Day Seven - Japan / Hong Kong »

Eejanaika is the new steel 4th dimensional roller coaster at Fuji-Q (Fujikyu) High Land, that was opened days before I had arrived in Japan. It supposedly translates to "ain't it great". Continue reading Day Six - Japan / Hong Kong »

Tonight, we stayed at the Royal Hotel Kawaguchiko, which had its own hot spa and was only 10 steps from Kawaguchi-ko Lake. Continue reading Day Five - Japan / Hong Kong »

Today, we arrive at Kyoto via the Shinkansen (bullet train). Kyoto has approximately 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines. The city exposes the well-preserved Japanese architecture and gardens. This is the Heian Jingu Shrine. Continue reading Day Four - Japan / Hong Kong »

For more information, refer to Universal Studios Japan and Shin-Osaka Esaka Tokyu Inn Continue reading Day Three - Japan / Hong Kong »

Abroad the Cathay Pacific flight to Kansai (Osaka) Airport, I was fascinated to discover that there was a channel to view the camera which was mounted beneath the plane. This shot was taken a couple of minutes after take-off. Continue reading Day Two - Japan / Hong Kong »

On July 17th, Mum and I set abroad QANTAS to Hong Kong for an 11 day adventure in Hong Kong (Mong Kok, Kowloon) and Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, Mt Fuji and Tokyo). Continue reading Day One - Japan / Hong Kong »