Tumago Town (妻笼宿）

Tumago Town (妻笼宿）

expressionless little kid keeps playing with his bear's ear

the boss of a bun shop

Nagoya City (名古屋）

Modegakuen Spiral Towers, Nagoya City

Nagoya Castle


Osu Kannon (觀音庙)


Kids in kimono @ Atsuta Shrine


Dinner in Nagoya JR Shopping Centre - Tonkatsu

Nagoya 名古屋 (15 Nov - 24 Nov)

Did this trip without the other 2... Guilty as I write, for this trip I didn't do much homework into the cities which I visited as it was just a tag-along trip with my cousin, aunt and my aunt's friends. The whole itinerary was fully planned by 2 of the aunties. And I do still have much problems getting my geographical orientation and understanding of Japan, so yes, don't ask me if these cities I name are part of Nagoya etc, frankly I don't have much of an idea. But in general this trip was meant to be visiting some of the Japan's World Heritage sites and also some of the preserved old villages. Some of the village houses do still have people staying in them, and some have been converted as exhibit grounds for visitors to see. I shall only be posting some pictures up and naming the cities which I think is worth a visit if you have time to explore. I don't want to end up feeding people with the wrong info, so people you have to do some research online.

These places are very popular with the local tourists rather than foreigners. Partially they are not that easy to get to especially when you do not know a single word of Japanese or read Chinese characters. This may pose as a challenge if you are travelling free & easy, especially when you have to take their local trains or buses. But of cause if you have will there's always a way.

Some tips which came on top of my mind when travelling in Japan (purely my personal opinion)

1. Bring stacks of cash (majority of the places don't accept credit cards. Only departmental stores do. Unless of course you are in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka. But don't bet on it especially when you intend to shop the streets. And if you are thinking of locating some ATM in some of the cities, good luck to you if you ever find one.)
2. If you are city hopping to some extend, be sure to check the train and bus schedules. And pls pls pls take note of their season's exception (meaning, sometimes in certains months, the bus only operates on certain hours.). We've learnt it the hard way... haha the day we arrived, we were left stranded at the bus-stop with NO bus coming coz of change in schedule for end of autumn, so we ended up having to haul a taxi to ferry us back to the station, which of coz was much more expensive. But thankful to the kind Jap souls, we did get on the taxi and reach our destination safely and timely.
3. Always always get a map of the place (including train routes)... get an English one & also a Japanese one. When you ask directions, the locals won't understands the English map, so that's where the Jap one comes in.
   
4. Check out for day passes for transportation, that can save you a lot of money on transport. Seriously. Especially local buses, the fare chart jumps like stock-market shares, and don't worry you will also be watching the chart like as if you are trading... Sometimes it does make your heart leap once in a while. Just that this "bus market" goes up and never comes down.
   

okies too long a post to digest.... this will be it... pictures will come in the next few posts.

Pictures - Koh Samet

some random shots

beach chairs @ Hat Sai Kaew

the old couple enjoying the sun & the view

the little jap boy entertaining himself

the clear waters

Ao Phai

Koh Samet - Our night out fishing

sunset view of Koh Samet from the boat

a little barracuda caught just few mins after we set off

our cute fisherman on board thrawling

the spotlights for attracting the squids


beautiful colours of the sunset

Koh Samet เกาะเสม็ด (23 Aug - 30 Aug 2008)

Koh Samet is a very small island in the Rayong Province of Thailand. Beautiful beach, clear waters & very fine white sand. What more can you ask for. This island is pretty well-visited by tourists considering it's size, but most of its crowd are still very much the local Thais. Thus for me this makes it an even better reason why I would recommend this place to people. Away from the tourists and commercialising. But if you are one who needs eh more entertainment in a town, then this island may not be for you... It is a perfect place for just pure relaxation by the beach and enjoy literally the sun, the sea, the sand and the breeze.

A lot of friends thought this "ulu" island is going to be hard to get to... especially when it is me who is travelling haha. But you would be surprised how convenient it is to get there.

The most convenient for most of us is via Bangkok. In Bangkok, take a BTS train to Ekkamai station. On your left, you can see the Bangkok Eastern Bus Terminal. Look for a counter that sells Express Bus tickets to Ban Phe (not Rayong. Ban Phe is the name of the small town in Rayong from which it's easier to get to Koh Samet). The bus leaves hourly (7am - 5pm, if I'm not wrong) and it only costs about 178baht per person per way. The whole bus trip only takes 3.5 hours in a luxurious VIP bus (mind you, these buses I dare say are sometimes much better & cleaner than those you take to Malaysia).

At the Ban Phe bus station, walk across the road and straight into a dry market (good beer snacks to buy along!), and after that's where the Nathip Pier is. There's a ticketing counter for the public ferry to Koh Samet itself. It costs about 100 baht for a return ticket, the whole boat ride is about 30 mins that takes you to the Ao Na Noi Pier in Koh Samet.

From the pier you can either take the sangthaew (aka local taxi) to your resort, otherwise you can just take a slow walk down the main road cutting through the town to the entrance to the beaches. Koh Samet itself is considered a national park, so an entrance fee is collected. 40 baht if you can pass off as a local, other foreigners have to pay 200 baht. If you look young enough you can smoke your way through to get a student / child ticket which costs 100 baht.

We discovered that you can actually try and avoid paying the entrance but this is only possible is you are walking from the pier to your ideal resort... haha there is a T-junction just before the main entrance to the beach. So if you know the exact location of your resort you could possibly turn to your left or right just before the entrance to get away with the entrance fee. If you take the taxi or if the resort has their opwn boats to ferry you from Ban Phe to their resorts doorstep, you can totally forget about avoiding it. The taxi drivers will definitely stop at the entrance for the guards to collect the fee from you and if you are at ferried in to the beach direct, there will be guards at the beach waiting for you... haha yes we actually saw that... so yah..forget it...

There are a lot of resorts lined along the beach lines, you can surf around in the net to find out more, but some of the pics can be quite deceiving I must say. The travel books probably can provide you with a better idea on which beaches has what characteristics.

Okies pictures will come in the next posts....

upcoming! Bangkok and Rayong

So, the blur squids & glaube will be heading to Bangkok & Rayong, a little island called Ko Samet, in 5 days, for a week. Looking forward to the break. I hope the storm doesn't hit then. We'll also be checking out some property in Bangkok.

Some sun, sand and sea would be good. Clear the mind over work and all.