Trip - Tokyo and Osaka

This is our usual birthday trip, every January :)

Japan is never really high on the list, given that it's EXPENSIVE... Haha... But thanks to AirAsia, we bought our tickets at ab. S$400 round trip, cheaper than the Shinkansen! But we are damn kiasu, we got the tickets last April! Unbelievable right?

The timing isn't fantastic though, we landed in Haneda airport near to 11pm and by the time we got to the hotel, it's already past midnight... Luckily the hotel is right next to the JR Shinagawa station, direct from the airport.

Lotsa public transport and walking, as usual... rented a portable wifi for 7 days, which means data connection!! Yippee!! But.. But.. The battery life really sucks and the device powers on for less than 3 hours... :/ A bit the cheat money feeling...

We took SLOW train and connections to Gotemba Factory Outlets... Should have used our JR Pass and taken the Shinkansen! But tourist mah, don't know how to read the map... Haha... For those of you reading this, you can skip the factory outlets in Japan... The discounts are nowhere near those you get in the States.

We actually spend most of our shopping time in 2 places... Daiso and UniQlo!! Haha... And something we found... Cameras are cheap in Japan! Skip Sony, only Japanese domestic version, so unless you read Japanese...

We tried Kobe beef in Kobe! Smooth and tender, but a tad too oily for me though... Hee...

We tried Universal Studios, having tried the ones in LA and Singapore. Well, the characters all spoke Japanese! A bit difficult to comprehend, esp. the jokes... //HA HA//

Highlight of the trip is definitely the Onsen at Hakone... Wendy found a nice (a bit expensive) hotel/resort facing Mount Fuji... The outdoor onsen faces Mount Fuji... even our room faces Mount Fuji!!! Quite an exotic experience getting to the hotel itself, cos we got to take the train, transfer to local train, transfer to tram then transfer to cable car (ropeway)...

Now with a sneak preview of Tokyo and Osaka, maybe next time we will return for some more focused short trip... ie. if Yen remains relatively low and air tickets are still cheap. :)

First post.. after a long break. Happy CNY!!

It has been more than a year since our last post on this blog, notwithstanding the fact that most of our photos and happenings are posted onto Facebook instead.  It is really interesting to see how technology changes and evolves... and also how our daily life changes and evolves around it.  Friends are now just a "Facebook"-click away, and even if we have not meet up for donkey years, it seems like it's just yesterday that we chatted over a cup of coffee.

Wendy has been complaining that I changed the blog format to a funny theme and colors, etc etc... So now I put it back to simple color themes and rearranged the layout.  Hopefully it looks less cluttered and more user-friendly? :)

And the header photo is also updated to a recent one taken in Switzerland... Nice?

I removed those bits relating to our wedding planning... I mean, it's dating back to 2008 so perhaps the information may not be so relevant after all.  Just few days back, a friend during our house gathering was casually mentioning the "market rates" of wedding photos and so on... and it seems inflation has caught up.

Some more housekeeping on this blog may still go on... It's a New Year isn't it? :)

In loving memory of Yuki - 31.03.2011



Yuki was brought home with us in early Aug-2009 when she's just 6 weeks old. 

In that glass cage full of small little hamsters, she stood out as the most active little one, and instantly we knew she's the one we wanted.

I remember fondly when I bring her to my nose and she will push me away with her little hands... and also that day when she dips one leg into our birthday cake and got chocolate all over her!

I also remember how she likes to burrow herself in her bedding, or sleep belly-up in that yellow tube leading up to her mezzanine hideout.

Meow meow likes to hold Yuki up in 2 fingers and shake her around.  Interestingly, I think Yuki enjoyed it!!

The very first time we went on holidays, we still thought, how can Yuki survive??  We left her with a bundle of nuts and grains, and a full water bottle... and boy is she a survivor!!  Our longest trip away was when we went to USA in Oct/Nov-2010.  During that 3 weeks, Yuki was home alone and she took real good care of herself.

Yuki is really fun to play with.  She loves her cage so much that even if we leave the cage door open, she will just stand out to take a peek, go around the cage and circles it a few times, then she will climb back in again.

Meow meow can relate one night when Yuki climbed up from the top of the cage when we left it open, and the whole night Yuki was just trying frantically to get back in.

Just few days ago, we bought a new ball for her to play, and also a big new pack of food and bedding.... from a pet shop in JB!  I still commented that it's gonna last more than her lifetime!! :(

On 28.03.2011 (Mon), meow meow notices that Yuki's right leg looks swollen.  I thought she might have hurt herself while climbing up the sides of the cage.  Taking no notice, we thought maybe she will just recover on her own.

On 30.03.2011 (Wed), I did some Google search and numerous sources suggests that maybe Yuki might be suffering from indigestion and constipation, and hence causes her adomen to be swollen.

That night, we feed Yuki some small pieces of carrots and banana, hoping that it will help her ease her condition.  I was still thinking that if things don't look good, we should bring her to the vet the next day.

On 31.03.2011 (Thu), I went to Yuki's cage to see how she's doing...

Sadly, I found her motionless inside her favourite dino egg.  My heart really drops when I saw her lying there and not answering when I call her name.

Yuki has brought much laughters to our house and bore witness to the many celebrations, dinners and home parties.

In her short Hammy life as a member of our family, she will always be remembered dearly as our Yuki.

Madives... Preview

Wow... I am in Maldives!!!

Me too!!! I am jumping out of the picture!!!

hehhee....is this my ring??

2nd year anniversary!!!

hehhee.....its our 2nd year anniversary....!!! yeah yeah!! where is hubby bringing me to celebrate lei??

hehhee....see hubby so happie with the food!!!

*he must be very hungry*

hehhee...we are ready to start loh!!!

hubby's favourite!!

Nice view lei...hehhee...

I love my hubby!!! *muacks*

Apr 2010 : Penang Makan Trip!!!

First Dim Sum Lunch in Penang :)

 Meow meow is hungry liao!!!

OMG!!! Nothing left liao!!! Its too yummy!!! 

  

Papa / Mama birthday lunch...

Meow Meow... on business trip again...

meow meow is going to jakarta !!  7am flight... yawn... must wake up early... :)

He is asking for more more more...

did u see him asking for more??

u see this "thousand handssss goddess"?

Our Little Nephew

hehehe...our little nephew Damien loves kobi....whenever he sees kobi, he will lean towards him or drool at him!! haha! keep wanting kobi to carry!!! hehehehe....

2010 resolution : Vegetable Curry

Yeah yeah!!! Hubby says he likes to eat Veg Curry!! This is my 2nd attempt and I made it!!!

Adventures in Angkor Wat - Part 2

Well... Meow Meow always say I write story only got Part 1 but too lazy to include Part 2... :)

So here comes Part 2 of our trip in Siem Reap...

You see... The sun is so small... Meow Meow is poking the sun... Hahahaa...

Now my turn... I will eat the sun... Hahahaa.... Okay jokes aside, this is the sun set on top of some Wat mountain... Can't remember the name, but every tuk-tuk will insist you go there and see sun set... Some folks we see trying to climb up the "Bukit Timah" gave up half way... And somehow we can hear them commenting "Aiyah, it's actually nicer to see the sun set through the branches..."  Hahaa... LOL

This is Photographer Meow Meow trying to capture a Cambodian kid roaming in one of the ruins...

Another shot of our Photographer... And do you notice??  The pink umbrella will follow Meow Meow everywhere she goes.... Very smart move considering that Angkor Wat is so so hot!!

In a shopping mood... This is at one of the night markets... The open air one, nicer... :)

Bargain tactic... Try, see, bargain, price not right, walk away... Hehehee...

Now back to Angkor Wat.. This time round, we have our tripod ready... I love the Canon multi-shots function... Hahaha...

Climbing up a seemingly difficult pyramid... Well, should not say seemingly, 'cos it's really difficult... Hahaha... For this photo, we attempted a few steps... Ssshh... we din go up to the top... Hehehe...

Stylo mylo me... and Meow Meow admiring me... :)

Cheaper than JetStar... Hehehe... Taking off lor...

Look at our couple t-shirts... Very nice hor? :)

Yeah!! Very nice!! Jump for joy!! Look carefully, we're in mid-air and not just standing at the edges of the step... Hahaa... Took us a few tries...

Now ending off the day at a Mexican cafe... Food is real cheap and nice in Cambodia... :)

Tip 1: Ice Cold Beer does wonder to cool you from the heat

Tip 2: If cold beer you don't like, try hiding in a air-conditioned ATM counter... Hehee... It sure works fine for Meow Meow... :)

Adventures in Angkor Wat - Part 1

Arriving in style.... This is Cambodia's very own style of Tuk-Tuk.... Very interesting, they simply build a carriage and hook it onto a normal scooter!!  Well, it could be hooked up to maybe a horse too.... Hahahaa....

Anyway, this seems to be the mode of transport we get accustomed to.... A short 5-10min trip costs us US$0.50.  We booked the Tuk-Tuk for 2 days to bring us around the Angkor Wat park for US$28.  Highly recommended as an authentic way to explore Siem Reap, unless you prefer the "greener way" and paddle yourself around... :)

We woke up at 4.30am to get ready for the early morning ride into Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise!!  Well, we din really catch anything fantastic....

To get to where we are, the Tuk-Tuk stopped us like in the middle of nowhere, and we just followed the crowd of people holding torchlights and finding their way around.

Angkor Wat is just one of the many many temples and tombs and "castles" in the park.  We really wonder why there are so many of these old old structures around.  But it's really a nice background for taking photos.... and we took thousands..  Hehee....

This is me trying to "catch" the sun... See, it's really setting into my hand!! Hahaa...

We have many interesting multi-shots taken using our Canon IXUS.... catch it in the next posting... :)

Happy Birthday to Meow Meow !!

Taking photo with meow meow... and our hamster Yuki... and a small (Yum Yum) chocolate cake...

Hamster looks quite delicious... Yum Yum too... Ahh...

Oh no Oh No!!  Yuki is rushing towards the cake!!

Alamak... Hamster dropped into cake.... : (

Our hamster, after washing off the chocolate from her butt... Hahahaa...

Let's continue to cut the cake... : )  with hamster add-on flavouring... Hahahaa... ; )


Happy Birthday to my wifey Wendy !!

Cheers to a magarita... Hehee...