This is my story.....

Beary Best Hostel, Singapore

2012-02-07T15:13:00.015+08:00

Beary Best Hostel.

Just two weeks ago, I was in Singapore and staying at a nearby hostel. Since Beary Best was newly opened and I have heard of the many good reviews on the Beary Good group of hostels, I decided to give it a try this trip. I arrived at midnight and when the taxi stopped outside the hostel, I was a little sceptical and regret over my decision as I saw the newspaper coverings on the front door. The condition doesn't really look so "pleasing" to the eyes but then I was reminded that they are still undergoing renovation.

I was greeted by name when I stepped in and that feels good! The staff was expecting me. He was very welcoming and friendly. If I am not mistaken, his name was Salimi (sorry, if I spelt it wrongly). Well, it was comforting to know that the interior was not what I pictured in my mind when I was standing outside. It looks clean and cozy.

They do sell drinking water at the reception and it costs S$0.60 per bottle. That's very reasonable.

That's the lounge area cum breakfast place. It is crowded in the morning because the breakfast table was so tiny.

The corner table is the breakfast area. It's so tiny and cramp.

The kitchen / pantry. A small table is provided at the corner to make drinks.

The laundry area.

My bed was at the downstairs room and this is the walkway to my room. It has an attached bathroom and there is an additional bathroom outside the room.

This is the 8 beds female room. There was no window and the room has a strong damp smell. Lockers are provided but you need to bring your own padlock. The attached bathroom is big but then again, it is always wet and not so comfortable to use.

There is no bed lamp, just two power points on each bed.

The bathroom upstairs are cleaner as they have separate toilets and bathrooms. There is also a ceiling fan in the bathrooms so it makes the place windy and dry all the time. The bathrooms are basic and very small.

There is also a small patio upstairs.

Every hostel has its plus points and minus points so likewise here. Although the reviews of Beary Good hostel was excellent but I find Beary Best not as fantastic as it seems to be. The staffs here are excellent. Their service is great and they are all very friendly and helpful. Location wise, we had to take Exit A from the Chinatown MRT as Exit D which is nearer is closed for renovation. Exit A to the hostel is about 3 minutes walk.

Facilities are basic. The condition is just ok, not as clean as I expected it to be. The upper rooms seemed to be cleaner as there are enough ventilation upstairs but not the downstairs rooms.

There was a bus load of tourists checking in on my last day. I was glad I have already checked out as the moment the group of them came in, the whole place seemed like a market. It was so crowded and they were walking around with their shoes on! Anyway, whether you have a comfortable stay or not depends also on your luck - the types of room mates and hostel mates that you will get/meet during your stay. Personally I find this place not so cozy for the price that it is charging but overall it should be a satisfactory place if it is not so crowded and if you are lucky to have considerate and clean room mates.

5 Foot Way Inn, Singapore

2012-01-15T17:57:00.006+08:00

I chose 5 Foot Way Inn hostel after reading all the good reviews on them. This is one of the newest hostels in Singapore and the location is right at the Chinatown MRT Station Exit A.

The end to end train ride from Changi airport to Chinatown station took about 45 minutes. Prior to that, I had written to them to confirm my booking and let them know that I may be very late
which they replied promptly to tell me that they have taken note and their reception is open 24 hours.

From exit A of Chinatown MRT, the hostel is just a few steps away on your right.

For those who have not heard of 5 Foot Way Inn but have heard and been to the popular Beary group of hostels, 5 Foot Way Inn is opposite Beary Good Hostel. If you can find Beary Good, you can find 5 Foot Way Inn. They are at Pagoda Street. The blue signboard in the picture below is Beary Good Hostel.

I arrived at the hostel about 11pm. It was good to know that the main door to the hostel was locked. That is good security. I pressed the bell and was asked to identify myself before the door was opened for me. I was given an entry card upon check in as the main door is always locked.

The amount of shoes greeted me as I stepped into the reception. Hmm...business looks good.

My first impression as I stepped in. Reception is to the right. Clean, bright and looks cozy.

Checking in was brief and quick. The staff brought me around to show me the common areas and to my room. I booked a 6 bedded female room which is two doors away from the reception and faces the main street. The room is clean and the lower beds have curtains for privacy. It was clean and at a glance, it was comfy. However the room is also very cramp as you can see. As I was there just one week before the chinese new year, you can hear the chinese new year songs blasting away on the street. That was a little noisy but then the noise began to ease slowly after 12am.

Each bed has its own bed lights, power point and a small space to put your phone. The bed was a little hard and feels different from the rest of the hostels that I have stayed before. The blanket was a small one too....a single bed sized kind of blanket, so when I turned I need to pull the blanket properly to cover myself again. Not quite what I like but it's a small matter.

Each bed has its own locker assigned. The locker is very spacious, enough for a lot of my stuffs and they provided locker keys as well so I do not need to use my own padlock.

Now this is the part that puts me off and I don't think I want to stay here again. Room 1 which is right next to reception is separated from Room 2 (which is my room) with a frosted glass. On my first night there, the people staying in Room 1 was chatting away so loudly even after 1 am. They talked, they laughed and they even sang. No staff bothered to ask them to lower their volume even though the hostel has a policy of lowering noise after 11pm. In fact there were a couple of times when some loud talking and laughter at the reception area could be heard clearly from my room. I can feel that some of my room mates were equally disturbed by the noises but we were so tired and nobody bothers to knock on the door at Room 1 and asked them to shut up.

They have other rooms at the back and upstairs too so perhaps you can stay away from Room 1 & 2 and request that they put you somewhere further away from the reception area.

The second night was more peaceful as the people in Room 1 had checked out. Just when I thought that I would have a good rest till the morning, suddenly the door bell rang. It rang once, twice, thrice and a few more times. Suddenly the person started banging the hostel door. Someone must have arrived at odd hours and it was quite obvious that no one opened the door for that poor soul despite so many rings. Hmm...what happened to the staff? Not long after, I heard some conversations. Ok, someone, probably the staff had "rescued" the poor soul outside. Well, in case you are wondering why I didn't offer to open the door instead, it is simply because of security reasons. I can't verify whoever is outside and I don't think I want to simply let someone in without knowing whether this is an expected visit.

The morning and night view from my room.

This is the washroom for the ladies. There are only two toilets and two bathrooms so sometimes I have to wait if there is a queue.

The toilets and bathrooms are simple. They do have hair dryer if you need. Just ask from the reception.

The dining area. It's open 24 hours and the coffee machine is just great! They have free breakfast which is the usual stuffs - toast, coffee/tea/milo/milk. Oh yes, they provide free fruits too which is a bonus.

Here's the lounge at the attic. They have two Mac machines for our use too.

Well, the hostel staffs are indeed great, friendly and helpful and the hostel is also clean as mentioned by other travelers. Location is great too, only the noise if you stay at the rooms close to reception area. So if you are not so fussy like me over the noise, this is a good place to stay if you are on a budget.

5D4N Bandung - Oct 2011

2011-11-09T21:31:00.022+08:00

We stayed at Grand Serela Hotel at Jalan Riau and this proved to be the right choice for us. There are many factory outlets (FO) in Bandung but not all are worth mentioning or visiting. A few of the good ones are actually located at Jalan Riau and are walking distance from the Hotel. We visited so many FOs during our 4 full days at Bandung and if we go back to Bandung again to shop, we would just stick to the few good ones, namely Rumah Mode, Summit, Rich & Famous, Secret, Heritage. Except for Rumah Mode, the rest are at Jalan Riau towards the left of the Hotel as you exit.

The Hotel provides free airport transfer and free wifi. The Air Asia office is also located in the same building.

This is our room. It has a double bed on the mezannine floor with its own TV and a twin bed downstairs. Room is fairly comfortable.

We arrived late on the first day due to delay of our flight. We didn't know where to eat so we walked around the Hotel, towards the right direction as we exit. We saw this Bebek van Java and decided to try out their bebek. It was a total disappointment. The bebek(s) have some strong smell and it was all skin and no meat. None of us could finish the bebek because of the smell so we sort of ended up eating white rice with chillies. Feeling so hungry and dissatisfied after that, we hopped over to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to have our second dinner. The KFC is merely a 5 minutes walk from the Hotel and they opened 24 hours during the weekends.

The next morning was a Sunday. We asked the Hotel for alternatives to reach Rumah Mode and they suggested that we take the Hotel's taxi which cost 60,000 Rp. We didn't want to so we stopped a taxi by the road instead. We managed to bargain from 50,000 Rp to 30,000 Rp for a ride to Rumah Mode. The road to Rumah Mode was fairly jam that morning due to the nearby morning market.

Initially we wanted to have lunch at Bumbu Desa in Rumah Mode but we saw many flies inside the restaurant and some of the flies were resting on the food. Feeling disgusted, we went next door to Sosis n Sozis which is also in Rumah Mode. It's a food court with varieties of food choices.

Two of us ordered noodles from this shop called Tjwie Mie at the corner of the food court. It was deliciooooous! Hmm, now I am salivating .....

Durian coffee anyone? Didn't managed to try this but would love to hear your feedback if you did.

After lunch is dessert time. This costs 25,000 Rp each.

This is the Angkut, their local mini bus. We took a few times and each journey is 2,000 Rp per person. There are a few types of Angkut that goes different directions so make sure you take the right one. It is better to ask the locals and have someone trustworthy like the Hotel staff to stop the Angkut and tell the driver where to stop you. Also to advise you how much to pay and whether to take the Angkut or Taxi to your destination. It seems a ride will cost between 1,000 Rp to 3,000 Rp depending on the distance but we always gave 2,000 Rp and there was no complaint so far :-)

That evening, we visited Cihampelas Walk. It is just a shopping center.

We were told that Holland Bakery is famous for layer cakes. We went in to check the price of the layer cakes and came out empty handed. Know what I mean?

Continued shopping at Heritage FO at night.

Then we had our dinner at Dailycious which is next to Summit FO at Jalan Riau. There is free wifi here and the Avocado juice is superb.

Before we ended the day, we tried the massage at the Hotel's Spa on the 1st floor. The aromatherapy massage cost 150,000 Rp for 1 hour while Reflexology is 90,000 Rp for 30 minutes. Since there were 3 of us, they gave us a 30,000 Rp discount for the massage. After the first try, we didn't want to visit them again. They are not very professional. After they are done with the massage, my masseur actually walked in and out of the room while I was still changing and made small talk with me. I felt so uncomfortable, also because she didn't close the door properly when she walked in and out. After that, I found out from my friend that her masseur did the same thing while she was changing and even asked her for tips.

The 3rd day, we hired a car & driver from Mulia Rental company for 475,000 Rp for whole day. We visited Tangkuban Perahu in the morning. Traffic was smooth on a Monday.

Reached Tangkuban Perahu.

After the crater, we asked the driver whether we should have lunch at Sapulidi or Kampung Daun. He strongly recommended Kampung Daun because he said it is much cleaner. So we asked him to drop us at Sapulidi first to check out the place and take some pictures. This is truly an amazing place. It was so beautiful and relaxing. There were no mosquitoes and surprisingly it was very cooling to sit in the hut under the sun. This place is really an unique dining experience.

We decided to have a drink here to relax and enjoy the peaceful surrounding. The Avocado juice costs 23,000 Rp (with tax) and it was delicious.

Even the washrooms are so beautiful and unique. I couldn't resist not taking photos.

We proceeded to Kampung Daun for lunch next. We had very high expectations of the place after reading all the reviews of this restaurant. Well, we were kinda disappointed. It was not as unique as Sapulidi although the dining experience is also an experience. This place is very commercialised and there were many tourist buses here. Nothing wrong with this place but we still prefer Sapulidi.

Hit the bamboo when you need the staff's attention like ordering your food, asking for the bills and etc.

We had gurame here.

We asked our driver to drop us at Dago for shopping at the FOs there. Unfortunately we didn't find any interesting FOs at Dago area and none of us bought anything. We accidentally stumbled upon Akar Spa which is inside Edward Forrer's shop after a long walk. Prices here are reasonable and they were soooo good. Highly Recommended but far from Grand Serela.

That evening we had dinner at Sierra, a hilltop restaurant. Prices here are slightly more expensive than Cocorico next door. You get a very good view of the Bandung city here and the air is very cooling.

After that, we walked to Cocorico which is just next door to have our second dinner. Haha ...

My mushroom soup.

Day 4 - we started our shopping at Rich & Famous. The whole day is practically shopping for us. Besides Rich & Famous, we also shopped at Secret. Both are at Jalan Riau.

That evening, we had one of the best dinner at Bandung. You must try this place. It's a mere 15 minutes of walk from the Hotel. Walk towards the right direction as you exit the Hotel and go all the way straight. They serve very nice pastas and desserts. Nice ambience too.

These are the menus and the pastas that we ordered. Yummy!

Then the must try is the Blueberry Cheese Roll. The Banana Fudges is also not bad.

Air Asia notified us of our flight delay 2 days before our departure so we had some time in the
morning for more shopping before we checked out. Calamus FO is also worth checking out if you have a bit of time to spare. We also shopped at Cascade shopping center. They have some really nice clothes here but of course not FO price. Still very reasonable and not overly priced if you compare the price of the same quality back home.

Well, that's it. 5 days is a little long if it is just for shopping and now that we know which FO to target, I think 4D3N is sufficient. Will be back again.

13D12N South NZ - Glenorchy

2011-10-15T16:53:00.016+08:00

Day 12 - Glenorchy

Today was our last day at New Zealand. Should we be excited over the journey to Glenorchy or be sad that the trip was approaching the end? We wanted to extend our stay - very much indeed, but the cost to extend the ticket was more expensive than the return ticket to NZ (well, our NZ flight ticket was a discounted one). After some consideration and a little argument, we decided not to extend and if God willing, we shall be back next time.

We drove eagerly to Glenorchy after having read so much about the scenic journey. We have our cameras ready on hand to capture what we were expecting. We saw none. Err...., well, not exactly none. Maybe I should say that it was beautiful but not awesome. After having seen so much beauty earlier, we were not that charmed by what we saw along the way. Perhaps we were already used to the sceneries or the guidebooks have raised our expectations too high and we were expecting to see heaven on earth!

Upon reaching Glenorchy, the Visitor Information Center was our first stop. We went in to ask for some information about the area and also the location of our horse riding.

After that we drove a little further, parked the car and explored the area. There were only about 3-4 cafes and the whole place was very quiet and empty - as empty as the pictures below. We had fish & chips in one of the cafes before heading to High Country Horses for our horse riding.

It was about a 15 minutes drive to High Country Horses. We have made reservation for a 3 hours horse riding to the Paradise weeks before we came and were eager to view the LOTR filming locations during the horse riding journey.

We were asked to sign an idemnity form upon arrival and were given boots, coat and a head gear to wear. Why can't they make the head gear more stylish? I looked like I was wearing a motorcycle hat! After fitting on the full set of attire, we were assigned a horse each.

By the way, this is the horse that appeared in the LOTR's movie. Don't ask me his name or which part he appeared in because I can't remember :-(. He has retired from acting and his full time job now is to pose with the tourists. Well, at least he still has a job after retirement.

My horse is Tucker. He is quite a stubborn horse because he refused to walk in line and was always the last in the line. Whenever he sees patches of grass, he wants to eat and he almost flipped me over a few times when he bend down to eat the grass. He walked so close to the trees even though there was ample space. He forgot that there was a human sitting on him and I had to brush off the branches coming directly my way with one hand while the other hand holding on to Tucker. We fought many times during the journey - Tucker wanting to eat and me struggling to pull his head up so that he stopped eating and walk. That was the first time I rode a horse and there were many things that I didn't know about a horse. I also tried to kick him to make him move faster but he just ignored me and walked his own pace. Thank God he didn't threw me over.

We rode on flat land, up and down the slopes and the streams.

It was a boring ride after a while but what an experience! After the ride we drove back to Queenstown. We had our last dinner in NZ at Surreal and I tried the same pasta (some creamy mushroom wine sauce) for the last time. It was still delicious even though it was a different restaurant this time. Oh, I am gonna miss the pasta for sure.

The next morning, we flew off with Air NZ from Queenstown to Christchurch and took the next flight home. We have driven a total of 2500 km in NZ and spent NZ$389.42 in petrol alone. We pumped our petrol at Christchurch (NZ$74.52), Greymouth (NZ$56.90), Wanaka (NZ$83), Tekapo (NZ$61), Dunedin (NZ$54) and Te Anau (NZ$60).

God has surely blessed New Zealand so much with all the beautiful nature. Please take good care of them and preserve them for many generations to come. I am so glad I came, I am glad I've seen, I am glad I have experienced it and I am now back to my homeland with fond memories of NZ :-) Till we meet again some day.

13D12N South NZ - Queenstown

2011-10-14T21:54:00.025+08:00

Day 11 - Queenstown

We saw a small glimpse of blue sky and hoped the wind would blow away the clouds far far away. We were walking to The Station then, to buy our bus tickets to Coronet Peak which was about 20 minutes ride away. We bought the sightseeing package which is inclusive of the chairlift ride to the peak. No skiing lesson for us as we don't see a need for it. Afterall, living in a summer year round country, when would we get a chance to practice that skill?

Our Coronet Peak pass and the bus.

The ride up to Coronet Peak was very scenic. Make sure you sit on the right side of the bus.

Reached the base of Coronet Peak.

We don't ski and we were there to take pictures only :-) It was our first time on a ski resort as well. Seeing the young and old skiing there made me so envious of them, especially the kids. I wished I could just put on the gears that very moment and start skiing like them .... I heard it was not easy Well as you can see from the pictures taken, the blue sky lost badly to the clouds.

After a while, we took the chairlift up to the peak to see what was up there. What can I say but beautiful sceneries. It would have been much better if the sky was clear.

Again, we were just observing and taking pictures.

All of a sudden the weather turned very foggy and everyone was gone except us. A staff came out from the control room to inform us that the chairlifts were experiencing some technical problems and we won't be able to get down till they fixed it. We were invited into the control room to take shelter as it was really cold outside.

After about 20 minutes or so, the weather cleared and the chairlifts were fixed. People started coming up to ski again.

One of the medical team members, Dean, gave us a choice. He said that he can bring us down using the board which they normally used to bring the patients down to the base or we can take the chairlifts down. We decided to go with his suggestion and it turned out to be an experience that we would never forget. Now we know what it feels like to snowboard. Thanks Dean! You were great! By the way, what is the name of that board in the left picture?

After reaching the base, we thanked Dean, bid farewell to him and called Fly Paragliding to come and pick us from Coronet Peak for our paragliding. It appeared that we could not fly from Coronet Peak due to the bad weather and we had to detour somewhere else.

We ended up somewhere .... yeah it's somewhere because I can't remember the name of the place. I only know that it's about 1,000 ft above sea level. This was where we took off for our paragliding. Our pilots, Abe and Montano were preparing the parachutes in the pictures below.

After they put on the gears on you, you will look like a Ninja Turtle.

The running and jumping off was scary but once you took off, the experience was wonderful.

Me and my pilot, Abe. My flying gears as well.

We requested to be dropped off at the Skyline gondola after the paragliding. We spent about an hour at Skyline. It was very scenic, unfortunately it was also getting dark so we did not go for any short walk at the Skyline.

That was our Day 11, full of fun and excitement. Till today we remember clearly our "snowboarding" and flying experience and we know we will never forget that for the rest of our lives. While we look forward to our Glenorchy trip the next day, we were also sad that our holiday is coming to an end very soon.

13D12N South NZ - Arrowtown / Queenstown

2011-10-11T21:39:00.013+08:00

Day 10 - Arrowtown & Queenstown

We were hoping that the weather forecast was wrong. After all they made a mistake for Milford, remember? They could be wrong this time too. Oh boy, they were not wrong. They were so right and it was drizzling the whole day. We can't be sleeping in the whole day so we made a trip to Arrowtown which is a 20 minutes drive from Queenstown.

Arrowtown is so small. You can finish your sightseeing here in about 45 minutes.

On the way back to Queenstown, we stopped by the Shotover Jet location to snap some photos of the boats. We saw many excited and satisfied customers here, especially when they were viewing their videos after the ride. Ooops, am I giving them a free advertisement here??

Back at Queenstown, we walked a little around the city trying to see as much as we can in the light drizzle.

I stumbled upon a Thai restaurant having a lunch promotion of NZ$10. Without hesitating, I went in for my lunch. I missed Asian food after so many days in NZ. I really had a very satisfying meal, even though the standard was not worth complimenting but I have no complaints either.

That evening, we visited the Minus 5 Ice Bar at Queenstown. We were given gloves and a jacket each to wear. It was kind of interesting inside as everything was made of ice. The lights kept changing colours too. The entry ticket was inclusive of a glass of cocktail. After drinking, we have to break the glass and threw it into the dustbin. We were only allowed in there for about 30 minutes.

We walked around the Queenstown Mall and decided to have dinner at Pogs which was an Irish Pub. I didn't made a wrong choice. The pasta was so delicious. I think it was called something like creamy mushroom and wine sauce with bacon?

I crossed fingers again hoping that tomorrow will be a bright sunny day.

13D12N South NZ - Dunedin/Te Anau/Milford

2011-10-08T10:55:00.034+08:00

Day 7, 8, 9 - Dunedine / Te Anau / Milford

The weather from Day 7 of our trip onwards was disappointing. It became cloudy, gloomy, foggy and at some parts drizzle non stop. It really spoilt my mood especially after I had experienced the fantastic weather the past few days. From Lake Tekapo, we drove to Dunedin. Dunedin was just like any other city and there was nothing much we could do over there. We drove around the city to have a look and decided to visit Otago Peninsula. Our plan was to visit the Castle which was on the way but as we drove higher and higher up the hill, it started to drizzle, temperature dropped and it became very foggy. When we reached the Castle's entrance, the lady at the ticketing booth informed us that we would not have a good view of the Castle due to the thick fog and advised us to buy the ticket for the tour inside the Castle instead. We decided not to go for it and continued to Otago. The drive to Otago Peninsula is a coastal drive.

We head to the Yellow Eyed Penguin Centre but decided not to join the tour instead due to the drizzle. We then drove to the Albatross center and reached there 5 minutes before the center closed. A real disappointing day indeed!

There is a cafe inside the Albatross Center but was closed for the day.

These are some pictures of Dunedin city as we drove around. We also passed by the famous Dunedin railway station.

That evening, we went to the Dunedine railway station to take some night shots.

Well, that was how we spent our day at Dunedin. How miserable. The next morning, we took the Cadbury tour before we departed for Te Anau. The Cadbury factory was opposite Countdown supermarket. We parked our car at Countdown's car park and walked across. This is the only place that provides free parking, I think for about 90 minutes.

We were not allowed to bring in our personal belongings including our camera so I do not have any pictures to show of the factory tour. Each group was assigned a tour guide and as we move along from section to section in the factory, we were rewarded with chocolates. At the end of the tour, our plastic bag was full of Cadbury chocolates.

We drove off to Te Anau after that and stopped by half way for lunch.

Te Anau is a lakeside town. Quiet, peaceful and scenic. We didn't have any activities here as well, just walked around the lake and around the area.

Early the next morning, we took off to Milford. We were very excited with the day as we were supposed to take the Milford cruise. We have heard so much of how scenic the cruise is and no one should missed it. The hostel told us that the weather forecast was sunny at Milford. We were glad .... only for a while.

Not long into the journey, the weather turned gloomy, then dark and then the rain came. It drizzled and drizzled without stopping. The road to Milford was supposed to be a scenic one.....but nothing attracted me. It was an easy drive until the tunnel. After we exited the tunnel, it became quite scenic with the high snowy mountains but it was quite scary too. It snowed, the road was narrow and we passed by several avalanche areas. It was no longer a straight road but zig zag all the way.

When we reached the cruise terminal, we were told that the cruise had been cancelled due to the bad weather. The other cruise companies were also not moving :-(. Disappointments after disappointments. We went back to the hostel only to find out from the notice board that the Milford road will likely be closed the next day as heavier rain was expected and the tunnel may flood. After deliberating, we decided to forfeit our stay at Milford and left the place immediately before we get stranded at Milford.

I didn't have many photos of Milford to show as I was driving in and out of Milford and did not have any chances to take photos along the way. In Milford, it rained non stop and again no opportunity to take photos. The 3 photos below are my few precious memories of Milford :-(. Nothing can described my disappointments!

The journey to Queenstown. After leaving Milford, it was "heaven" again. We reached Queenstown around 7.30pm. It was already dark and we checked in to Nomads Hostel.

13D12N South NZ - Lake Tekapo

2011-10-07T22:16:00.016+08:00

Day 6 - Lake Tekapo

From Mount Cook, we drove 1.5 hours to Lake Tekapo. The route to Lake Tekapo is another scenic one. Just look at the pictures. They are taken along the way. While friend was driving, I was busy clicking away. That's why you can see reflections in some of the photos.

Lake Tekapo is a very small town and very "homey" to me. There are a number of restaurants here, a souvenir shop, a bakery, a supermarket and a few hotels/motels/hostels.

As we reached earlier than the check in time, we parked our car at the Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort which was where we will be staying and went to visit the Church of the Good Shepherd for some photography to kill time. It was about 10 minutes walk from the town center. The pictures were taken as we walked to the Church and the Church area itself.

This was where we stayed and the picture next to it was nearby.

The petrol cost here was slightly cheaper than Mount Cook, at NZ$2.149 per litre.

After checking in, we had our fish and chips lunch at The Godley Hotel's cafe. They had a lunch promotion and the fish and chips was only NZ$10.

After lunch, we drove to Mount John. It was a short distance away but the drive up was steep and the road was quite narrow.

These are taken from the top of Mount John. It was really beautiful.

They have a cafe up there.

The drive down from Mount John.

We went back to the Church in the evening to take some sunset shots.

I noticed that in most NZ travel itineraries, Lake Tekapo was merely a short stopover and does not include an overnight stay. If you are on a self drive holiday, be sure to spend a day here. Just relax and enjoy the beauty of nature.

13D12N South NZ - Mount Cook

2011-10-05T21:28:00.067+08:00

Day 4 & 5 - Mount Cook

Today we head to Mount Cook. It was a long drive from Fox Glacier to Mount Cook, about 6 hours so we decided to stop by at Wanaka for a rest and have our lunch. From Fox Glacier to Wanaka is 3.5 hours and the journey is a scenic one.

Upon entering Wanaka, you will pass by the Puzzle World on your left.

This is Lake Wanaka and the township of Wanaka.

We bought our lunch from this takeaway shop and crossed the road to Lake Wanaka. It was a cloudy day and there was a light breeze blowing constantly. We sat on a bench enjoying our lunch with views of Lake Wanaka and scenes of kids running, adults walking the dogs and chatting away and the birds flying in circles and in groups. How peaceful can life be at this place.

After lunch, we decided to visit the Puzzling World. It was a rather small place and not as interesting as we expected it to be.

We continued our journey to Mount Cook. The drive to Mount Cook took another 2.5 hours and was even more scenic. We stopped a few times just to take pictures. Trafiic was very low and the drive was pretty easy.

We reached Mount Cook around 6.30pm and it was already slowly getting dark. We stayed two nights at YHA Mount Cook which was a lovely place. That night, we went out just to take some night shots of the mountain.

The next morning we went hiking at some popular trails in Mount Cook. The first trail was Kea Point. It was an easy walk that brings you to a view point overlooking a bluish lake. I am not sure whether that is Lake Pukaki.

After that we continued with Hooker Valley trail. Unfortunately we could not complete the whole trail as part of it was closed for maintenance.

These are the only sections that we managed to cover on the Hooker Valley trail.

After completing two trails in a morning, we had lunch at Sir Edmund Hillary Cafe which is next to the famous Hermitage Hotel.

By the way, petrol in Mount Cook was about NZ$2.32 per litre whereas in other parts of town, the petrol cost was about NZ$2.20 or slightly less.

We rested for awhile after lunch and in the evening, we went for another walk to Tasman Glacier.

This walk requires a little climbing but it is a fairly easy climb as there are steps and rocks that you can use as your footholds.

I hope I have captured the beauty of Mount Cook because this place is really beautiful and a must visit if you come to NZ. Take your time to enjoy Mount Cook and don't rush :-)

13D12N South NZ - Fox Glacier

2011-10-04T10:11:00.022+08:00

Day 3 - Fox Glacier

Yet another beautiful day. We had clear blue skies and sunny cool spring weather. We were excited as we will be starting our first activity today and this was one of the highlights of our trip - a half day Fox Trot (half day glacier walk) at Fox Glacier.

We left for Fox Glacier at around 8.30am and on the way we passed by the township of Hokitika and Ross. The roads in NZ are mostly one straight road and to get from Point A to Point B, you will most likely pass through all the small towns in between.

This is Hokitika. A small town on the way to Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. We stopped by for some photographs and found a big Jade Factory. We went in to take a look and they were having a sale. We ended up buying some jades for our families back home. If you are looking to buy NZ jades as souvenirs, don't miss this place. They have varieties of jades and designs and the price is very reasonable too.

We continued our journey after an hour of stop at Hokitika. Again, the road is fairly easy to drive. By the way, we brought along our gps and that helped a great deal.

In NZ, you will come across many one way bridges like this. If you are coming from the direction in the picture below, this means that you have to give way to the oncoming car. The black thick arrow shows which direction should move first so if you see an oncoming car approaching, you have to stop and let the oncoming car pass first.

As you are approching Franz Josef township....

Entering Franz Josef. You will have to pass by Franz Josef before reaching Fox Glacier which is about 30 minutes drive away.

This is the new Kiwi Center at Franz Josef.

The town of Franz Josef. It's quite a nice place with the snow peaked mountain as the backdrop and rows of shops on both sides of the road.

Continued our journey to Fox Glacier after taking some photographs at Franz Josef. We can't spend longer time at Franz Josef as we have to meet the glacier guides at 1.45pm for our walk.

This is the township of Fox Glacier. It is even smaller than Franz Josef and I personally prefer Franz Josef over Fox Glacier after comparing the two places. Maybe because Franz Josef is more scenic and more "happening" to me. Franz Josef seems to have more shops and more activities whereas Fox Glacier is really a very quiet town. We checked in at Ivory Tower Lodge before proceeding to the Fox Glacier Guides shop for our walk.

This is the place where we were supposed to meet our guides for the glacier walk. It is a short distance from Ivory Tower Lodge and is in fact within walking distance.

There is a small cafeteria as well as a souvenir and travel desk inside.

We gathered here for a short briefing by the guides before the trip. We were also given socks and proper hiking shoes to wear. Rain jackets are also available for those who need it. Just before we board the bus to the start of the walk, we were given each a crampon to bring along for the trip.

This is the bus that brought us to the Glacier.

The start of our walk.

Have to pass a small stream to reach the foot of the glacier.

A little climb is needed but that's not a big deal. As long as you have a general fitness level, this is an easy walk up.

Our guides, Melissa & Cole giving instructions and information about the place. They are really a patient bunch. I was always behind the group and have to run and catch up with the group as I was busy snapping photos all the time. I hope they don't find me annoying :-p. Well, if not for that, how would you have these pictures to convince you to take a walk on the glacier, right?

Continue climbing ........

We came to a spot where all of us have to start putting on our crampons before continuing the walk. We were also given a hiking stick.

More pictures of the journey and what we experienced and witnessed throughout the walk.

I was glad that the weather only turned gloomy at the end of our walk. Dark clouds were forming as we walked back to the starting point.

After returning from the walk, we made our way to Lake Matheson. It was already about 6.30pm and the sky was slowing getting dark. I was disappointed as I could not view the much talked about Lake Matheson. We walked for a while and decided to detour back as there was nothing much that we can see in the dark :-(. These are the only memories that I have and hold on dearly to on Lake Matheson.

That's the end of our day at Fox Glacier. Is it enough? Of course not!! Half day glacier walk is definitely not enough for me and I want to try the full day walk if I have opportunity to step on NZ soil again. Melissa & Cole, thanks for introducing the glacier to me :-).

13D12N South NZ - Greymouth

2011-10-03T15:16:00.016+08:00

Day 2 - Arthur's Pass & Greymouth

The next morning, we took about 3 hours to explore Arthur's Pass before we continue our journey to Greymouth. We checked out from the hostel and walked around the area.

The Visitor Information Center which is a short stroll away from Mountain House. It is towards the right as you exit the hostel.

Towards the left of the hostel, there are some short trails to explore as well.

After about 3 hours, we decided to move on as we have sightseeing plans at Greymouth too. Greymouth is only an hour drive from Arthur's Pass. The road leading to Greymouth is a coastal road.

Just before reaching Greymouth, we stopped by Shantytown. We bought a discounted voucher from Grabone and decided to stop by for a look since it is on the way. This place is really deserted. I mean really deserted!

We had our lunch there at one of the restaurants and were the only customers there. We took the fish and chips for only NZ$8. And yes, it's kid's meal but the portion is enough for us.

This is the fish and chips. The size of the portion is really generous. I don't think the kids in my home country can finish that on their own. Even I can't finish it.

Incidentally they have a band that came over to play at Shantytown on that day of our visit.

Our tickets were inclusive of the steam train. They also explained to us how the steam train works. Again, we were the only two customers onboard the train.

We paid an additional NZ$5 for the gold digging. In case you are now asking, yes, we were the only two customers again. I am sure the guy must be very grateful with our visit, at least we kept him occupied and busy for 10 minutes or so.

The gold that we found and was given to us to bring home :-). Can you see the few tiny dots of gold? How much is this worth?

After that we walked around the area. There isn't much to see or explore. Maybe it was also because we seemed to be the only customers there so the mood to explore the place was not really there.

After we had enough of Shantytown, we continued to Greymouth and checked in at Duke Backpackers Hostel. When we left for Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, it was already towards the late evening. The visitors were already leaving the place when we reached there and it was very quiet. Well, it doesn't really matter. At least we get to take some sunset shots with no obstructions. Oh did I mention that the weather today was fantastic? It was sunny and cold with clear blue skies. This was the second day of spring.

The path leading to the pancake rocks.

More pictures of the area.

Greymouth is really a small township. If you are stopping by just for the rocks, I don't think it is worth the time but then don't forget that this is also the place to take the scenic TranzAlpine train to Christchurch. If you are lack of time, then skip Greymouth otherwise take your time to explore other parts of Greymouth that I did not managed to.

13D12N South NZ - Arthur's Pass

2011-10-03T14:09:00.008+08:00

Day 1 - Arthur's Pass

It took us a few months to plan out the route that we will be taking for our 13 days trip to south New Zealand. As we only have limited time to spend here, a detailed planning is critical to ensure that we maximise our trip and do not waste time planning for the journey from day to day in NZ. During this period, we also monitored Grabone and Grabaseat closely for offers and discounts on our activities that we have planned.

In brief, our 13 days journey covered Christchurch -> Arthur's Pass -> Greymouth -> Fox Glacier -> Mount Cook -> Lake Tekapo -> Dunedin -> Te Anau -> Milford Sound -> Queenstown -> Christchurch.

I landed at 1.50pm at Christchurch airport. The airport was very empty to my surprise and immigration was smooth and quick. Within minutes I was out of the airport and walked straight to the ground floor of the multi building car park where I was supposed to wait for my friend to pick me up to start the journey. The multi building car park is just outside the airport, in fact, opposite the airport as you exit. It is really a short walk away and this is where drivers can pick up and drop off the passengers for free.

We head off to New World Supermarket to buy some food and fruits for our breakfast and meals the next few days. We were told that food at Arthur's Pass is expensive and we should prepare our food before our trip to Arthur's Pass. After the shopping, we wasted no time and head straight to our first destination, Arthur's Pass which is 2 hours drive away from Christchurch.

Weather was gloomy and it started to drizzle not long after the journey. The road to Arthur's Pass is relatively easy to drive. It is a straight road throughout. Initially I didn't know that we were already driving on the highway until my friend told me and I saw the speed signage. Back home, highway is a minimal of 2 lanes up to 4 lanes but here, highway is just a one lane road. Anyway, drivers here are courteous and careful unlike the Schumacher drivers back home and the journey to Arthur's Pass is a scenic one. We stopped by the roadside a few times just to snap some photos before continuing our journey.

These are the various spots along the way to Arthur's Pass.

We reached Mountain House Arthur's Pass at around 7pm. For reviews of Mountain House hostel, refer to the hostel section in this blog.

Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort, New Zealand

2011-10-02T21:47:00.006+08:00

We booked our beds with Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort because we didn't know that YHA Lake Tekapo existed. We didn't regret at all. Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort has motels as well as dormitories and the price of the dorm bed is very reasonable. We stayed at the dorms. The location is fantastic as you can see. The resort is very easy to find. As you enter Lake Tekapo township, you will come to a row of shops. The resort is located behind, in between Run 77 shop and a bakery. See the first picture on the left.

The dorm does not face the lakefront but you just need to come out from the building and this is the scenery you get (picture on right). It is really peaceful here. From here it is about 10 minutes walk to the Church of the Good Shepherd. To get to Mount John, you need to drive. Otherwise just follow any tour from here. The Mount John Earth & Sky shop is just a few steps away from the resort. In fact the petrol station, the supermarket, cafes, restaurants, bakery, souvenir shops are all within a few steps away from the resort.

Parking within the resort's compound is reserved for guests of the motels. If you stay at dorms like us, you have to park off the street which is a few steps away from the resort. If the motels are not full then the resort would allow you to park within the resort's compound.

This is the female dorm. It is very spacious and there are sufficient power points for all of us. By the way, this resort also provides free 50MB wifi access.

The kitchen is very small and incomplete. Pots, glasses, plates, cutleries and kitchen cloths are all limited. They do have free coffee and tea here. Actually when you step into the kitchen and dining room, it looks like an apartment. Kitchen, dining room and the lounge are all located within the same hall. I didn't have many pictures to take here as the place is really simple and basic. There are 4 bathrooms/washrooms as far as I know. They are quite clean.

That's all I have. Fantastic location but simple and basic accommodation for the dormitories. And yes, free wifi. Fantastic!

Ivory Tower Lodge, Fox Glacier, NZ

2011-10-02T14:51:00.016+08:00

There are limited budget accommodation at Fox Glacier compared to Franz Josef. We chose to stay at Fox for convenience sake as our activities are all starting from here.

The parking at Ivory Tower Lodge is also limited. It can only accommodate 4 cars. You can still park off the street and walk a short distance to the hostel if the hostel's car park is full.

This is the hostel close up look and the reception area. Check in was smooth.

The access to our rooms via the kitchen.

Room is dark and a little messy. I guess this can't be helped as it really depends on the kind of roommates that you have. The heater is strong but power points are limited. What I do not like about this hostel is that they do not practice locking the premises. We were told by the reception that there is no key here. This means that anyone can walk in and out of the hostel freely as well as into your rooms! I felt a little uncomfortable knowing that anyone can walk into my room anytime. What's worse is that my bed is next to the door leading to the corridor outside the hostel. See the pictures below. Anyone from the street can always walk into my room and expensive items risked being stolen. Well, crime in Fox Glacier may be very very low but very low doesn't mean that crime is non-existent. Since it is only a one night stay here, I take this as an unique experience.

The corridor outside the rooms is a little narrow.

Bathrooms are ok, considered clean.

The computer room is in th lounge.

A nice cosy fire place in the lounge.

The kitchen is not spacious but it is not small either. When there is a crowd, it can get a little cramp.

This is the dining area besides the kitchen. You can find additional power points at the dining area and lounge to charge your devices if there isn't enough in your room.

Tv/Cinema Room. I thought this place seems a little untidy and dirty. I don't think I want to hang around here.

There is another internet machine outside the kitchen. Not sure if it works or is it just a piece of decoration.

The backyard. It is interesting to see how they recycle the boots and socks.

The sauna.

Well, what do you think of this place? Apart from the keyless system, I think it is still possible to make do with a one night sleep here if all you need is just a bed but given another opportunity to be there, I would choose to stay at Franz Josef next time :-).

YHA Dunedin, New Zealand

2011-10-02T13:20:00.006+08:00

I believe YHA around the world has a minimum standard of quality that they have to adhere to because after staying at so many YHAs, I found their standards to be reasonable and are generally clean to stay at. What do I look for when looking for a hostel? A clean, comfortable and convenient location. I can't feedback about the convenience of YHA Dunedin as I was driving around and did not experience how far it is to walk to the CBD and shops. However, it does meet my standards of clean and comfort :-)

YHA Dunedin is on a uphill location. Parking in YHA Dunedin is rather limited but you can always park at the roadside.

The entrance of YHA Dunedin. I like this place as it looks like a residential home from the outside. From the outside it looks small but it is actually quite a big hostel inside.

As you enter the hostel ....

This is the reception area. You need a passcode to enter the hostel after certain time in the evening.

The computer room

My bedroom is on the second floor. There is no lift here so you have to carry your luggage up the flight of stairs. Good for muscle training! My room overlooks the main street but it is not noisy at night. It is a little dark but not a problem for me. The room also has a small luggage cum open wardrobe area. Space wise is enough for us to walk around without having to tilt our bodies sideway when someone comes along. The bed is comfortable but it gives a squeeking sound whenever I move. I was worried that the sound may disturb the rest of the girls in my room so I tried not to move so much when I slept that night.

The corridor outside the rooms is a little dark too.

Bathroom is clean.

This is the way down to the TV room. It's like a secret passage to me, haha ....open the door that leads to the TV room and you see this staircase. Go down the staircase and you find the TV room. Inside the TV room there is another door/passage that leads to the laundry room.

The kitchen is big, spacious and complete.

I found another small kitchen nearby :-)

The dining room.

They have a rooftop garden that overlooks the city.

Personally I think this hostel has a cosy environment and is worth your consideration if you need a budget place to stay at Dunedin.

Milford Sound Lodge, New Zealand

2011-09-29T21:16:00.008+08:00

As I wrote this, I am reminded of my disappointments again. It was really a bad day as it rained throughout our journey to Milford. When we arrived at Milford Sound Lodge, the drizzle was already getting heavier. The entire mood was so gloomy. It was about 11 am when we arrived and as the check in time was 2pm, the reception does not allow us to check in but allowed us to hang around the hostel and so we did.

We can't go anywhere except to walk around in the hostel, sit around and lie around on the sofas at the lounge, day dreamed, made ourselves a cup of hot chocolate and starred into the rain and sky with a quiet whisper that the rain will stop and the sun will miraculously appear. Well, it didn't.

It happened that our cruise was cancelled due to the bad weather and with our sullen face, we made our way back to the hostel. More bad news .... once back at the hostel, we saw the notice on the board that said heavier rain was expected the next day and the Milford road will be closed. We checked out immediately and left Milford for Queenstown as we did not want to be stucked at Milford. We forfeited our stay as they have a no refund policy for 24 hours cancellation. So what can I say about this hostel? To be fair, I can't say much and do not have any feedback for you as I did not stay there. So let the pictures speak for itself and you decide if this place is worth a night stay on your trip to Milford. Anyway, it seems that this is the only budget accommodation at Milford and no other :-(

Nomad Queenstown Hostel

2011-09-27T21:10:00.012+08:00

This is Nomad Backpackers in Queenstown, New Zealand. We stayed here for 4 nights. Location is good and is walking distance to most of the shops. A few doors away is a supermarket and the next few blocks are Queenstown Mall, restaurants, tourist information centers and plenty of shops for tours and activities in and around Queenstown. The waterfront is also a short walk away and it is here that you take the TSS Earnslaw cruise and also the jetboat.

This is taken outside the hostel. Weather was quite bad when we were there early September so you can't really see the mountain at the background. Otherwise it is really a beautiful sight.

There are plenty of car parks outside the hostel but for limited time during the day. If I am not mistaken, parking is allowed for 20 minutes only. After 6pm, it is free till the next morning. It is difficult to find parking also directly outside the hostel as most of the time it is fully occupied. The hostel also has a basement car park for NZ$10 every 24 hours.

Check in is smooth and the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. You are given a keycard. After 8pm at night, you can only enter the hostel with the keycard.

The hostel also has a travel desk managed by two staff. There are plenty of brochures and information on Queenstown and nearby attractions. There are also many computer terminals here for use. Internet facility is via the Global Gossip card. If you need to use the internet and does not have a Global Gossip card, another alternative is to go to the Budget Communication Shop which is on the 2nd floor of a nearby mall and is merely a 3 minutes walk away. They are like internet cafes and charge NZ$3 for each hour of internet usage.

After carrying luggage from floor to floor at other hostels, it is really a relieve to see that there is a lift here. This is a 3 storey hostel. There is a cosy fire place corner at reception area.

I was given a 6 bedded female ensuite room. The room is very clean and spacious. The washroom and bathroom are equally clean. My bed is comfortable too and they have sufficient power point for our usage. However my room is above the bar and you can hear loud music from the bar downstairs till late at night so it may be a little disturbing if you are a light sleeper. The bar is not part of the hostel, but opposite the hostel.

I also noticed that among the hostels that I stayed during my two weeks trip in NZ, this is the only hostel that provides room lockers. The lockers are not big enough for your backpacks but is sufficient for you to keep some small expensive items like cameras, laptops and personal belongings. I did not see anyone using the lockers and throughout my stay, I did not loose anything in the room.

This is the washroom and bathroom in my room. Looks neat and clean isn't it? It is!

The left picture was taken just ouside my room. It shows the 3 storeys in the hostel and directly below my room is the dining area. There is also a sauna at the hostel but I did not have the chance to enjoy it.

The lounge is very big and spacious. Free breakfast is served every morning from 7am to 9am. Dining area looks a little like the school canteen to me with the long tables and chairs.

Kitchen is a little messy and untidy though. The area also becomes a little cramp especially during dinner time and breakfast. The staff will close the kitchen every night from 10pm onwards for cleaning. On the wall of the dining hall, you will see the daily activities arranged for hostel guests.

If you like to be among young people, this is the place to be. It is full of young energetic guests. Hostel is clean and comfortable, location is good and staff are friendly and helpful. The hostel is really being managed professionally. I enjoyed my stay here.

YHA Mount Cook, New Zealand

2011-09-24T17:30:00.008+08:00

YHA Mount Cook, a real gem in Mount Cook for the budget travellers. It is a short walk away from the famous Hermitage Hotel, about 20 minutes of normal pace.

As you can see from the pictures below, it is right in the center of Mount Cook. Isn't that lovely? When you walked out from the hostel, the first thing that you see is the beautiful mountain. It is quiet and peaceful here. Life can be so serene at this place compared to the chaos and all the traffic jams in big cities. When I arrived, I was greeted by a bubbly and cheerful staff at the reception. I can't remember her name but she is really friendly and helpful. In fact I felt so at home when I stepped into the hostel.

This is my room. I was fortunate to have the two bedded room to myself as the hostel was not full when I visited in Sept 2011. The room is clean and the bed is comfortable. When I woke up in the morning, the first thing that I see from the room's window is Mount Cook :)

There are also sufficient hooks in the room for your clothes. Something that is lacking in most hostels.

The bathrooms and washrooms are also clean and I have no complaints.

This is how the corridor looks like.

The walls along the corridor is full of information on Mount Cook and the hiking paths.

This is the reception area.

The lounge.

The kitchen is big and clean. The kitchen is closed at certain time of the day for the staff to clean the kitchen.

The dining room is quite big and spacious too.

Duke Backpackers, Greymouth, NZ

2011-09-16T17:48:00.009+08:00

We were here for a night stay, arriving from Arthur's Pass and before heading to Fox Glacier. On the way from Arthur's Pass, we paid a visit to Shantytown before checking in at Duke Backpackers. If you are driving, you can park your car behind the building.

Before we booked our beds with them, we had read reviews of the hostels in Greymouth and decided to stay here based on the good reviews about them and the free breakfast and soup.

This is the reception area. When we arrived, there was nobody but a short while after a call, the Manager came. I can't recall his name now. He was very friendly and helpful. He upgraded us to a twin room for free and that was really a pleasant surprise to us. Well, the hostel was not fully occupied at that time. It was quite quiet and I only saw a few guests here and there. After completing the administrative part, he showed us around the hostel and also recommended places for us to visit. We were given half an hour of free wifi each. When he found out that I could not stand the cold weather, he gave me another two duvets to keep warm at night. It was really thoughtful of him.

The twin bedroom has a small window and a small basin. The room is a little small and only one person can walk at a time. Well, it was a free upgrade so no complaints at all :-). I did peeped into some of the empty dorms and they looked quite spacious to me. The room has a heater on timer basis but the heater is not that strong and took a while to warm the room.

This is the corridor, a little dark but it is ok for me.

Rooms are numbered according to the number on the picture. Room 2, Room 10, Room 9 and Room 3 below. Interesting idea.

The bathroom is a little small but clean. Washrooms are clean too. There is also a small pantry upstairs for us to make hot drinks.

The dining area and the lounge is together. The lounge has limited seating area as you can see. I am not sure what it will be like if the hostel is full. Definitely not that comfortable to rest and relax with people eating nearby but since the hostel was quite empty at that time, we didn't experience this problem. There is also a fireplace that keeps the place warm in winter.

The hostel served free soup every evening and the soup was delicious. This was really a bonus as I have not come across any other hostels that served free soup on daily basis. They also provide free breakfast which is the usual coffee/tea and toast.

The kitchen is large and clean. It is also very complete.

Here you are .... this is the Manager that I was talking about. Don't worry, I have his permission to post his photo on my blog. Overall I am very satisfied with my stay at Duke Backpackers. Service is fantastic, free wifi, free breakfast and free soup. It is really a bargain. If you are looking for a budget accommodation in Greymouth, do check them out.

Mountain House, Arthur's Pass, NZ

2011-09-16T16:52:00.009+08:00

We arrived at Christchurch around 1.50pm and decided to take a slow drive and stay a night at Arthur's Pass before we head off to the West Coast the following day. So we booked our beds at Mountain House Hostel which is about 2 hours drive from Christchurch.

Next to the hostel is the Arthur's Pass Store, a petrol station and a cafe. There are a few more cafes along the road but the place is pretty quiet. It is recommended that you buy your food and cook here as the number of cafes available here is very very limited.

This is the Mountain House Hostel. The hostel does not provide free wifi or breakfast. Parking is available free of charge at the hostel's compound.

There are enough bathrooms and they are very clean, well, at least for the bathrooms at my area which is behind the main block. There are a few more bathrooms inside the main block.

That's my room. I was lucky to have the whole room to myself. It's a little cramp for a 4 bedded room. There are no lockers in the room. Heater is provided but it took a long long time to warm up. Powerpoint is limited too. I have no complaints about the bed. It's really comfortable.

The kitchen and dining hall is pretty big and spacious. It's also very clean here. If you need extra powerpoint to charge your device, you can come to the dining hall for the extra power point.

There is a lounge and TV room upstairs and it looks like a cosy area though I didn't have the time to hang around there. This hostel is generally a nice place if you need to sleep over for a night in your journey between the east and west coast.

3D2N Bangkok Shopping

2011-05-28T10:58:00.032+08:00

Sometimes Malaysia Airline has better promotions than Air Asia. After comparing both, I decided to go with MAS which is cheaper than the budget airline, AA by about US$20. It was a 3D2N weekend shopping trip to Bangkok to destress. I booked for a 2 nights stay at First Hotel in Pratunam because of its fantastic location that is easily accessible to/from airport by airport train as well as right in the location of all the wholesale centers and Pratunam wholesale market. I won't go into the details of the First Hotel as I have already provided my reviews at tripadvisor.com. If you are interested to know, you can read it at tripadvisor under First Hotel's review dated 24May2011.

After Immigration clearance at Bangkok Airport, turn to your right at the main hall and just follow the signboard to City Train which is at Level B1. Signboards are very clear as you can see below.

There is a customer service counter for the City Train just before the ticketing machines. If you are not very sure which line to take, you can check with them. They do speak English. You have to buy your train tickets at the machines and if you do not have loose change, you can change it at the counter next to the ticketing machines.

The ticket machine is simple to use. They have English as well. You just need to choose your destination, put in your money and collect your token. For me, I need to get to Phayathai Station which is the last station on the line. It cost 45 Baht.

The train looks kinda spacious. I only have one luggage so no issue with space. There are other tourists as well and there was enough space to move around. It was not crowded when I took the train about 2pm in the afternoon. At Phayathai Station, I can actully walk to my hotel, but I chose to catch a BTS train to Ratchathewi Station which is nearer to my hotel. So at Phayathai Station, follow the signboard to the BTS station.

At the Phayathai BTS Station, again queue up to buy ticket to Ratchathewi Station. It is only one station away and cost 15 Baht. After that take the train that goes towards On Nut. This time round, I was not so lucky. The train was very very packed but I managed to squeeze in with my luggage and stood right in front of the train door. Luckily it was only one station away.

This is the BTS train ticket. Snap a picture of it and use it as a map if you need to use the train regulalrly :-)

After alighting at Ratchathewi Station, take Exit 4 and walk down the staircase. Make a U-turn and walk to the road junction. At the junction, turn right. As you walk towards the junction, you will be able to see First Hotel in front of you, towards your right. It was a mere 5 minutes of moderate pace walk.

That is First Hotel on your right in the picture below and was taken at the opposite walking direction mentioned above. Opposite the Hotel is Petchaburi 20 Road. The airport bus stops at Petchaburi 20 according to the route in the Airport Bus website. However, I was told in the travel forum that Petchaburi 20 is a long walk to the Hotel but the map of the bus route shows otherwise so now I am a little confused. Maybe the bus is not stopping at the main road? Can't be, because the stop before Petchaburi 20 is the Platinum Mall which is on the same main road as the Petchaburi 20 signboard. Platinum Mall is only about 5 minutes walk (or less) away from the Hotel. Anyway, the airport bus ticket cost 150 baht and most likely it is gonna take you longer to reach the Hotel as the traffic on this road is quite bad. My train tickets only cost 60 Baht and I arrived at the Hotel in about 50 minutes.

Tuk tuk and taxis are plenty in this area. There is a message on the hotel's TV to advise guests against taking the taxis that are parked outside the hotel as they are touts and charge exorbitantly. Guests are advised to walk abit further from the hotel to hail the taxis on the road but how many guests actually know this? The notice is on the TV channel about the Hotel and if you don't switch to that channel, you would not know. As I was having breakfast at the hotel's cafeteria sitting next to the glass window, I saw many hotel guests that approached the taxis parked outside the hotel.

As you exit the Hotel, turn left. That is where all the shops and wholesale centers/maket is. A few steps away from the hotel is a massage center, looks very cheap (or inexpensive as the Americans will say) but I did not have a chance to try it out. From a peep, the environment looks very basic. As you walk along, you will see shops selling bags and luggage, shoes and a few small restaurants selling Thai dishes. Goods are basically cheap here and you don't have to bargain hard like in China. The neck tie selling for 50 Baht. Not sure of the quality though.

Further down, you will start to see many stalls and food carts selling all kinds of local food and delicacies.

This is just to show how congested the street is. The while building on the right is the Pantip Plaze, the computer center. Next to it is the Platinum Fashion Wholesale Center.

There is a Pizza a few doors away from the hotel. There is also a McDonald, a few 7-11 Stores, Starbucks and etc, all within walking distance from the Hotel.

As you continue walking, you will see more and more fooooooood ....

This was taken on both sides of the road on top of the overhead bridge to the Platinum Mall.

T Shirts anyone? 1 for 80 Baht, 3 for 65 Baht. The materials are very soft and cooling. It's also very thin! Good as pyjamas.

Looks delicious but didn't try. Next time maybe ....

Bags ... T Shirts ... they are everywhere and the best thing is they are cheap and you don't have to waste time bargaining. If you are buying more, they are willing to give you a lower price and it is always with a smile. In China, you will probably have to raise your voice, practise patience or get chased out at the end of the day if you change your mind!

The shops/buildings here are all wholesale centers. Inside there are many smaller shops in lanes after lanes selling wholesale clothings, bags, shoes and accessories. It's a woman's haven. Men's clothings are limited.
Between the two buildings below is the Pratunam Market.

This is Pantip Plaza, computer wholesale center.

This is the inside of Platinum Fashion Wholesale Center. Shops after shops selling clothings, shoes, bags and accessories. No trying is allowed and they are mostly free size. The shops are lined in lanes after lanes and in the lanes, there are more lanes. It is like a maze inside. No matter how I tried to remember where I walked in from, I will still get lost inside. Price is already cheap but if you buy 2 pieces and above you will get it cheaper. I bought some dresses here for less than 500 Baht each. They are good quality too.

This shop sells some nice woman and man's T Shirts. I bought a few from here and the quality is very good. The owner gave me her business card when she saw me taking picture of her shop :-p. They are located at 281, 1st Floor of the Platinum Fashion Mall. They also have another shop at JJ Weekend Market Section 20 Soi 5 according to the business card. JJ Weekend Market? Never heard of. Will explore in my next trip.

Another one is this. This shop sells mainly couple Ts but also has T Shirts for ladies. I am sure you have seen some of these being sold in the market and they are not cheap. You can get these T shirts here for about 120 Baht single piece to 240 Baht for couple T. They are at 329, 1st Floor of Platinum Fashion Mall.

More of the shops at Platinum Fashion Mall

There is a food court at the top floor of Platinum Fashion Mall. I had my dinner here on the first day.

This is my dinner. Tomyum chicken noodle and drink that cost me 120 Baht. The tomum is delicious but not spicy at all.

Oh yes, it is hard to find free wifi in Bangkok. Most places charge for wifi usage e.g. my hotel charges 110 Baht for half hour usage, McDonald charges 60 Baht and Starbucks charges 150 Baht. This is one place at Platinum Fashion Mall that I later found out has free wifi.

The next morning, I started my shopping at Krung Thong Plaza, same row as my hotel, somewhere opposite Platinum Fashion Mall.

It is the same concept at Platinum Fashion Mall with rows and rows of shops in lanes after lanes but it is smaller here. Less crowded too.

Next to Krung Thong Plza is the Platinum Wholesale Market (or directly opposite Platinum Fashion Mall).
There are even more stalls/shops here. All the pictures below are taken as I walked in the Wholesale Market.

Huh, I like this T Shirt shop but I refused to walk close to it because I didn't want to spend anymore money. So I just took this picture from afar, to prevent temptation.

I walked back to the Hotel to leave all my shopping bags before visiting Pantip Plaza.

There is also a small foodcourt here.

I bought my lunch from this stall and it was only 45 Baht.

After lunch, I hop onto the BTS again to Siam Station.

Walked around the Siam Paragon for a while but didn't buy anything. After shopping at the market, you just don't feel like buying anything at the malls.

They had an outdoor food center here and I went to take a look. The weather was so hot and I didn't have the mood to eat so just took a few photos.

Have a closer look. It's their Thai pancake.

Next, I took the train to Mah Brong Kong Mall (MBK). Your shoppin starts from the station itself. Then follow the signboard direction to MBK.

There are two ways to enter MBK. Either through the MBK entrance to the left or through the Tokyu departmental store to your right.

Here's the directory. It's very creative and useful. Just take the card of the shop that you want to find and keep it with you as reference.

I didn't buy a single thing here as the price is generally higher than the market/wholesale center. The quality looks about the same to me.

There is also an upper floor that sells all IT accessories and gadgets.

That night, I had my dinner at one of the small restaurants outside my Hotel. This is pineapple fried rice. It looks plain but it is tasty.

The next day, I made my way to the airport in the afternoon around 3pm. This time I decided to skip Ratchathewi Station and walked straight to Phayathai Station instead to avoid the BTS crowd. I took a slow walk, dragging my luggage and extra bag with all my goodies and reached Phayathai station in about 10 minutes. To get to Phayathai Station from the Hotel, after you exit the Hotel, turn right and walk to the end of the road. At the junction turn right again and the station is right in front. The escalator is at the opposite of the road so I had to carry my luggage up the staircase to the station. The train was quite empty and was really hassle free to reach the airport. Cost 45 Baht for 45 mins ride. Cheap!

Decided to have a quick bite at the airport since I am early. Went to the Food Village at Basement. They serve reasonably priced food e.g. my rice with fried egg and fried minced chicken with basil leave was only 55 Baht. I had an extra otak otak (spicy fish paste) for only 30 Baht. Coffee and Drinks are 30 Baht to about 50 Baht. Compare this with other shops around.

Well, looks like a satisfying trip for me. I shall be back!

Pillows & Toast Hostel, Singapore

2011-02-26T09:34:00.006+08:00

I had wanted to stay at two new hostels at Clark Quay, Singapore but because they were fully booked, I had to detour to Pillows & Toast. Pillows & Toast Hostel in Chinatown, Singapore is also a new hostel that was established in Nov 2010. It was right in the middle of Chinatown and is very conveniently located near to the Chinatown MRT station (less than 5 minutes walk).

One you come out of the Chinatown MRT exit, u-turn from the escalator and walk to the end of the road. Turn right and walk till the next road which is Mosque Street. Walk along Mosque Street until you see the hostel on the left. In other words, the hostel at Mosque Street is at the next street to your left as you exit the MRT escalator.

I booked a bed in the female dorm and it is located on the ground floor behind the reception. The reception is open 24 hours. If you are arriving late, just drop them a mail to confirm your arrival time. The female dorm has 8 beds and each bed has its own designated locker.

The room is very clean. In fact the whole hostel is very clean and homey. The bed is comfortable and each bed has its own lamp and two power socket to use.

I brought my own padlock along but unfortunately it can't be used at the locker. You need to have a certain size padlock (at least 5mm shackle) to use for the locker. I haven't seen any locker with such lock before from all the hostels that I have stayed in. If your padlock is not suitable, you can also rent a padlock from the hostel for S$1.

Oh, the hostel also sells some snacks and water at the reception. The prices are very reasonable for example, a bottle of 500ml mineral water is only S$0.70.

Unlike all other hostels that I have stayed in, the reason why I said this hostel looks homey is because it actually looks and feel like a home. Just outside my room, there is a small sofa with TV, a mini dining table and the kitchen. There are two dorm rooms on the ground floor.

That's the kitchen and the small table is the dining table. The hostel provides free breakfast which is coffee/tea and toast bread. Nothing special about the toast bread as it claimed in their website. You are given the plain bread and all the peanut butter, butter, kaya and jam. There is a toaster, so you just toast your bread yourself. That's it. The dining table can only accomodate up to about 4 persons max. To the left of the kitchen is the common bathroom and the laundry area.

This is the common bathroom and the laundry area. They also provide a hair dryer for use. There are 3 bathrooms and 2 washrooms at the ground floor.

What I don't like about the bathroom is that it is shared between the males and females. I felt a little strange and uncomfortable to be bathing halfway and a guy stepped into the bathroom next to me to bathe also. What makes it worse is the wall between the two bathrooms do not extend all the way to the ground. There is a gap of about 10 inches from the floor (see the picture on the right). When the floor is wet with water, you can actually see some reflection of the person in the next bathroom!

This is the bathroom. It's quite clean and there are enough hooks to hang your clothes. The heater switch is outside so you need to turn on the heater switch manually before you use it in the bathroom.

The lounge is located at the 3rd floor. It's quite a cosy area to hang around if you have nothing to do at the hostel.

Overall, I would say that this is a good hostel apart from the bathroom that I do not like. The staff here are very friendly and helpful, the place is clean and location wise, superb! There are many restaurants and shops in this area.

4D3N Chiangmai: Nov 2010

2010-11-30T20:32:00.097+08:00

Day 1

It was supposed to be the 2nd week into winter and we were expecting some cool weather . The weather forecast on the temperature was between 21 - 32 degrees. It turned out to be very hot throughout and nothing less than 30 degrees.

Surprisingly there was no flight delay and we arrived Chiangmai at 8.30am. Custom was smooth and our driver Keng was already waiting for us at the arrival hall with our names. We went straight to Amari Rincome Hotel, a 4 star hotel that is located at Nimmanhemin Road. They checked us in there and then and even upgraded our rooms to deluxe rooms. We were quite suprised that the hotel and rooms' condition were quite old and are nowhere close to the pictures in the internet. Just look at the safe deposit box. It looks more like a post box to me than a safe and I do not feel safe keeping my stuffs there. Anyway the hotel staffs are very friendly and it is safe. There are a lot of tuk tuk and taxis outside the hotel too.

After settling down in our rooms, we went for our buffet breakfast at the hotel. The buffet cost 375 baht and food was not that great. We had a few hours of rest after that a we were all tired from the early morning flight.

We went for street shopping after the rest. Nimmanhemin Road is the modern side of Chiangmai. You will find many nice modern cafes and funky shops here. Shopping here can be quite expensive. If you like the night bazaar and be close to lot of massage shops and high traffic then this is not the place for you. It is a little far to the night bazaar and you need to get a tuk tuk to reach there.

These are some of the funky shops that I mentioned. They are located to the left of the hotel as you walked out.

You can get some nice notebooks here. They sell for 190 baht but at the indoor night market they have similar ones for only 120 baht.

We stopped by for some cold fruity drinks. They have free wifi here. The hotel does not provide complimentary wifi but you can easily find cafes with wifi outside the hotel.

Incidentally, we found a place near our hotel that serves American breakfast for only 46 baht. We shall try this out the next morning.

That evening we had buffet steamboat for dinner. The choices are aplenty and only cost 120 baht per person.

Some of the selections of cooked food and fruits.

Our steamboat pot before and after we start :-)

They were obviously too engrossed with their food to pose for the photographer.

After dinner we visited the night bazaar. This is the indoor and outdoor night bazaar. They sell almost the same items at the outdoor bazaar. If you do not have intention to buy from the stall, do not even open your mouth to enquire about the price. Some of them can get quite offended and rude when you do not buy from them after enquiring the price and this is before we even start the bargaining process. We were only curious on the price of the item.

Some of the items sold in the indoor bazaar including the notebooks I mentioned above.

Day 2

We had breakfast this morning at the cafe that serves cheap American breakfast. They also have wifi here. The hotel does not have any complimentary wifi but you can find many cafes like with free wifi outside the hotel.

Our driver picked us from the hotel at 9.10 am for our day's activities. Our first stop was the Maesa Elephant Camp.

The first show was the Elephant Bathing. I didn't know that watching the elephants bathe can be so entertaining. The elephants were really enjoying themselves playing in the water.

The naughty one .....

Next, we moved on to more shows, watching the elephants parade, play hula hoop, throwing darts, football and many more.

Have you seen elephants paint? I have seen it in National Geographic but not as real as this. Yes, the elephants do paint and nice paintings too. At least better than me! If I can paint as well as the elephants, I wouldn't have failed my arts.

These were the paintings from the 5 elephants and 4 of them were sold on the spot.

We were also given the opportunity to get close to the elephants, feed them and play with them

Then, we moved on to the Nursery to feed the baby elephants.

There is also a shop there that sells all the elephant paintings. They are not cheap and it is hard to believe that the elephants really painted all of them. Sometimes I wonder how much torture the elephants must have gone through to be able to paint this well.

We had our lunch at the nearby Tiger Kingdom. Buffet here cost 120 baht per person if you pay through your licensed guide. The choices are limited but they do have some good food here.

You also get to take pictures with the tigers but you have to pay for it. The prices go by the size of the tigers and the smaller the tiger the more expensive it is. They have S, M, L and XL but the XL tigers are not opened to the public. The tiger below is a M size.

There were some tuk tuk and taxis outside the Tiger Kingdom so I took a picture of it to show. Some of us didn't realize that the red vehicle is a taxi until few days later. You can flag down the taxi anywhere on the street and they charge by person.

We visited the long neck Karen tribe next. We were told that they have two tribal villages there. One of the villages was developed by the government for tourist visits. The village was beautified and the tribal groups were brought here for tourists to see. They are also given jobs in this village. In other words, this is like a "human zoo". Because of the effort placed in this village, the entrance fee is 500 baht. The other village is the original village and cost 300 baht. We chose the cheaper village. We were the only visitors there and there are many stalls that sell the same thing.

Some of them just sat there doing nothing and I wonder how they pass their time.

The ones who worked are usually the kids while the adults manage the stalls.

The bracelet that we bought from there.

We visited the Sa Paper Umbrella Factory next. It is quite a boring place and if you do not have any intention to buy the unbrella, you may skip this place. The umbrella does not open and close smoothly so we did not buy any. Entrance here is free.

Some of the ready made umbrellas.

One of our main itineraries is to visit the Pandas in the zoo. You have to pay extra to see the Pandas, on top of the zoo entrance fees. We also paid 20 baht for the tram ride as the zoo was too large to walk.

They also have 2 white tigers and an elephant wth the longest trunk that I've ever seen.

There are 3 Pandas in Chiangmai. Aren't they cute? They must be so tired posing for the humans. Poor thing! And yes, they have a few koala bears here as well.

That evening, we went shopping at Tesco hypermarket which is a short tuk tuk ride away from the hotel. There are many street stalls outside Tesco and we had a good time tasting the food at the street stalls.

Some of the food at the street stalls.

We also had our dinner at Tesco's food court. This is Chiangmai's fried oyster.

That night we went out for a massage nearby the hotel. The name of the shop is Rada and is about 2-3 blocks away to the left of the hotel. The Thai massage cost 200 baht and aromatherapy is 400 baht. There were a few other places nearby but it was expensive, like 800 baht. Be careful when you have your massage at Rada because they have transvetite masseurs as well. He/she came in to massage for me but I was not comfortable to have a transvetite rubbing my whole body so I requested for a female masseur instead. Their service is merely so-so. In fact they made us wait quite a while to be serviced.

Day 3

Today is an adventurous day for us. We had booked a half day leisure cycling tour to the North of Chiangmai with Crank Adventures. Early morning at 8.30am, we were transported to the base where our 25 km cycling starts.

Our first stop was at a temple with a big paddy field.

These are our guides, Damien and Win. Damien followed us behind in his van just in case anyone of us was tired and wanted to hop onto the van. Win was the cycling guide.

My dad of 71 years old can take the 25km ride. Who says you can't? Well, they were complaining about knee pain and backside pain in the evening but the pain was gone the next day.

The cycling paths were mostly flat with very low traffic. We cycled through villages, paddy fields and the journey was quite scenic. This is what you won't get to see if you follow a tour.

My dad having his deserving break. We were also served with ice coke and some snacks here.

After that the journey continues.

Stopped for some nature lessons.

A brief stop at the dam.

This was our last stop. We had some drinks and chocolate cake here before we head back to the base.

That evening we went shopping at Kad Suan Kew which is a short ride away from the hotel. This place didn't interest us so we left quite soon after. We decided to experience the tuk tuk ride back to the hotel and it turned out to be a very fun ride instead. Our tuk tuks were chasing each other on the road and as the taffic was building up, the took all the back lanes intead. We reached the hotel in a very short time. If there is traffic jam, take the tuk tuk!

This is Keng, our driver. He is a very patient guy and very accomodating. Amongst all the prices that I have compared, I found his rate to be very reasonable. Overall, we enjoyed our trip very much especially the elephant camp, the zoo and the cycling. If you have extra time, I think you should go for the cycling for a different experience. We tried the ATVs in Phuket so we thought of trying cycling in Chiangmai instead and we never regretted it. There are a few companies that offer cycling trips in Chiangmai but we are very happy with Crank Adventure.

7D6N Tokyo - Oct 2010

2010-11-14T17:53:00.009+08:00

Day 6: Kawagoe

Today is the last day of my trip in Tokyo as I will be leaving for home the next morning. Kawagoe is also a place that I have accidentally stumbled upon when I was doing my research on places to visit in Tokyo. It is only a 40km north of Tokyo and can be covered on a half day visit. Kawagoe is famous for its merchant houses. Some places of interest within this small town is the Kurazukuri area, which is the most popular spot in Kawagoe and is the area where you will see all the merchant houses built in Edo period, the Tokino Kane or Bell of Time which is the main feature of Kurazukuri and lastly the Kashiya Yokocho, the sweets store alley.

To reach Kawagoe, take the Tobu line from Ikebukuro Station to Kawagoe Station. There are a few ways to reach there and this is one of them.

The one way train ticket to Kawagoe is 450 Yen and the day pass for the buses that goes around all the sightseeing area in Kawagoe is 500 Yen. Without the Pass, each bus ride is 180 Yen. I bought the round trip package that cost 980 Yen. This is inclusive of the return train ticket to Kawagoe and the day pass for unlimited bus ride at Kawagoe. You can get this package from the Information Office at Ikebukuro Station.

Once you reached Kawagoe Station, take the exit to your right. Go down to the bus station and wait at platform 3. If unsure you can double check the information at the Police Station just outside the Kawagoe Station (to your right).

Take any of these buses. The orange bus or the white colourful bus. Just show the driver your Pass. The Kawagoe map will be given to you when you purchase the package so just show the driver where you want to stop when you board the bus.

Well, this is Kawagoe. Lovely sight. There were a lot of tourists here, mostly Japanese tourists in their tour groups.

I bought some rice cookies from this shop. They have quite a variety of flavours.

More of Kawagoe merchant houses.

Some interesting sights for me. What does the words on the 4 boards say?

The alleys at Kawagoe.

This is Kashiya Yokocho, the sweets store alley. All the stores here sell sweets and there were so many school children here.

More of the alley and the sweets.

Just around the corner is the Tokino Kane.

I only spent about half a day here and went back to Tokyo after that. I continued my shopping at Akihabara Electric City. At Ikebukuro Station, I took the JR and stopped at Akihabara Station. Just follow the signboard direction to Akihabara Electric City after that.

There are also other stations and exits that you can take to reach the electric city.

This is Akihabara Electric City and it is full of electronic shops here. Most of them are selling the same stuffs from what I saw. There is also a Yodobashi Electric and Camera shop at Akihabara Station and this branch seems to be the largest compared to the ones at Shinjuku. There are two Yodobashi at Shinjuku, one at West Exit and one at East Exit.

The donut maker for 1100 Yen. Isn't this cheap?

I came across this shop that sells many good quality souvenirs at reasonable price. It is even cheaper from those I bought elsewhere and during payment, they even gave me some discounts. Great! I bought some Japanese bookmarks here, a knife sharperner, some mini fans and mini mirrors. You will see these in the souvenir pictures below. They also have a varieties of key chains.

Just before I headed back to the hostel, I dropped by the Tokyo Tower at Kamiyacho Station. It's a short walk from the station Exit 1, about 300 m away. Just follow the direction from the station.

These are the gifts that I bought from Japan to bring back. Those nicely wrapped boxes are all cookies and as mentioned earlier, I think they really make a good gift for family, relatives and friends.

My Tokyo trip ended here and what can I say, Japan is so huge and in 6 days here, I merely had a glimpse of it. It was fun and enjoyable for me, only if the weather was much better.