http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Budokan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Budokan en-us Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:24:12 +0000 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:24:12 +0000 While reviewing my Shanghai Nanjing itinerary with my Shanghai experts HQ and SS last Saturday it was time for me to share my travel plans in 2010 and to bring this blog into the new year. This was going to be yet another short trip from me and my first and possibly my final trip to China. As a Chinese this was one place I should visit at least once in my lifetime. Even though I wouldbe sp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-462050.html Japan Hokkaido Honshu gtgt Malaysia Sabah Sarawak gtgt United Kingdom gtgt Vietnam gtgt Indonesia Batam Bintan gtgt Hong Kong ChinaNovember 2009 trip to Hong Kong basically summed up all my travel expectations and plans for the year. It was certainly timely for me to pen down my parting entry for this year. Let me wish everybody a happy early Christmas 2009 and a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-458346.html Thursday 26th November Sunday 29th November 2009We decided to spend sometime in Hong Kong over the Hari Raya long weekend in November 2009. Never mind that both of us had travelled to the former British Territory on separate occasions. Never mind that Hong Kong was never my ideal destination as the it reminded too much of home. There were always certain redeeming attractions such as the Hong K http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-457424.html Saturday 14th November 2009The Bintan trip was never part of our travel forecast for 2009. Ideas flew by during one of the nights in Halong Bay. Since none of us had left our footprints on the island we decided to give it a go. 1 month later we were on the island. Slight changes were made to the travel line up as SS was seconded to Shanghai for her business trip and Mapletree was simply caught http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Riau-Archipelago/Bintan/blog-453858.html Of Mondays Tuesdays of 19 20th October 2009When the morning sunriseBecomes a magic showBefore your very eyes Leave Yesterday Behind The Carpenters recorded 1978 released 2001 Heeding the advice from our tour guide we were wide awake by 4.30am this morning hoping to catch a glimpse of the morning sunshine over Halong Bay. The morning was especially chilly as I was trying very hard to r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-448364.html Day 3 Sunday 18th October 2009After saying goodbye to the friendly hotel folks at Hanoi we continued our voyage to Halong Bay about 3.5 hours drive from the capital. For USD95 per person we were given a night's stay on the midrange Halong Phoenix Cruiser including 4 meals on board. Fair enough even though we wished that there could at least be 2 bottles of drinking water available in each c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-447799.html Do yourself a favour this is the place to stay in Hanoi As part of my ongoing efforts to contribute to the travel community I would normally pen down my experiences TripAdvisor.com after a hotel stay for the benefit of prospective travellers. I've gained valuable information from the website and it was time for me to give back to the community. As this Vietam blog was under development my re http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-447753.html Saturday 17th October 2009Losing our way was never fun but it created instances for us to interact with the friendly locals on the roadCertainly we were off to a great start this morning after a couple of successful attempts to cross the busy streets of Hanoi the previous evening. Don't get me wrong we were still fearful of the notorious traffic. But this was the norm in Hanoi that we had t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-446906.html Day 1 Friday 16th October 2009Our Halong Hanoi Elegance discovery kicked off this morning when we boarded the Singapore Airlines flight to Hanoi about three and a half hours from Singapore. Located at the heart of the Red River Delta Hanoi is the capital city of socialist Vietnam home to about 3.7 million of the nation's 86 million people.Touching down at the Noi Bai International Airport at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-445458.html 2017022825313612898224515348802646928526209152345022238275972665730475304751229026366209602030926102652922479626085303402356723398240501998122797233842231212290251052431030528370272646529087247133034023567363353620821435122902281024180201972151865292 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-444041.html While exploring the Southern Ridges on National Day we chanced upon this wonderful Museum. Housed in a restored colonial house and nestled among the hills of Pasir Panjang the average visitor would have easily overlooked its mere existence. ldquoReflections at Bukit Chandurdquo was established on 15th February 2002 to commemorate the heroic efforts of the Malay Regimen who stood by the then http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-427977.html On JetstarThe holiday mood was still burning in me even though we had cancelled our Bali plans. At the time of writing we haven't given up harassing Jetstar Asia for our flight issues. Calls had been made and a polite I read through and it wasn't nasty letter sent to the Customer Care. We hoped that a miracle would materialise even though chances are extremely remote. Afterall Jetstar had alr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-422224.html Afterall we are not going anymoreThe illfated Bali trip was supposed to take place tomorrow 23rd July 2009 but it was never realized due to a sudden turn of events both in Indonesia and at home. While Jakarta hotels were in the limelight for the bombings the same spotlight was shone on 3 of us by outsiders who werenrsquot involved in the trip to begin with. Afterall we tried our best to re http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-420931.html Debuts Thursday 16th July 2009 8pm on Channel UI had to agree to what 3846324067 had remarked during the show.There's a limit to what we could do to help them given a shortage of time and resources. What's more important was to let them feel that somewhere out there there's someone who truly cared for them.This was one of the rare occasions which I wouldn't want to miss an episode. For a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-419147.html While the world is mourning for the loss of yet another pop legend MJ these days mourning took on a different meaning for me ..... From a traveller's point of view the greatest loss would be the closure of Taipei's Maokong Gondola for an indefinite period of time. Never mind if my tribute came 9 months late. It was only while dishing out information from the tripadvisor forums that it occured to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Taipei/blog-416344.html History unfolds itself at the Changi Chapel and Museum on Saturday morning. Delicated to the living memories of the many who suffered during the Second World War this small scaled museum contained artefacts and haunting testimonies of the Japanese Occupation.70 minutes from home and after 3 buses and 2 transfers brought me to the Museum grounds on the morning of 4th July 2009. Alighting from the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/Changi/blog-415253.html The gathering was at the homely Hachi Tei Restaurant located at Tanjong Pagar. Tucked away along the quiet street of Telok Ayer the family restaurant boasts a relatively comprehensive menu modest prices. From bento sets to soba to sashimi there was a bit of everything for everybody.Eight of us gathered AL Ms C EK XMM Mr K Mr KFC and JC for my 29 years 363 days and XMM 2x years 361 day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/Chinatown/blog-412100.html The English Heritage Series Presents .....Thursday 28th May 2009 to Saturday 30th May 2009Coming close to my last few days in the United Kingdom and possibly my final entry in this series. I decided to devote my remaining time in UK to the appreciation of the English Heritage. 1 The historic Dover Castle and the White Cliffs along the south eastern coast of UK.....Dover Castle was never part of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-408674.html Day 7 Wednesday 27th May 2009A day return trip to Shakespeare's hometown StratfordUponAvon did not come in cheap. I had to slice 66 from my travel budget for the transportation. Another 24 was spent for the admissions to the three houses of the Shakespeare's family. Straford was highly recommended by my great pal B who believed that I would fall in love with this charming town for its tudor http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Warwickshire/blog-407787.html The hometowns of William Shakespeare StratfordUponAvon and Roald Dahl Great Missenden are well within striking distance by rail from Central London. After staying committed in London for the past few days it was time for a change to embark on a series of daytripping excursions to complete my UK campaign. Day 6 Tuesday 26th May 2009London Marylebone Station was where my love affair for t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Buckinghamshire/blog-407437.html