Thanks to ZamboniSam recommendation, here's the Countries I've been to so far. I've only been to 28% of the world so far and have yet to go to the Middle East and Africa.
US states I've been to. Not too many in the heartland.
Yes, Miss Mo is on another trip again. I promise it's the last of 2006. This time, we chose to go to Shikoku, the little island south of Honshu. It's a new itinerary so maybe we could be the first few Singaporeans to step foot on the island.
On route to Shikoku, we stopped at Kobe and had some Kobe beef. We went to a beef restaurant. OMG, the beef was so tender and juicy. All the customers had it teppanyaki style and it cost about 3,000 yen per person. Not a bad deal.
As most visits to Japan, the itinerary is always filled with visits to castles and this one is also similar. Actually, all the castles look the same to me and they don't look that spectacular to me.
Oh, we flew into Osaka and went to another island, we had to pass a few bridges to an fro. We passed through the supposedly longest bridge in the world, 3.9km long. The Verrazano bridge seems longer to me though.
Oh we went to a shrine. We had to climb about 700+ steps to reach the summit. It was pretty ok for me, thanks to my regular runs. I'm so proud of myself.
We also went to the Kerokuen garden, which is one of the better Japanese gardens around. The trees, plants and flowers are so carefully manicured such that the garden looked so picturesque.
We also took a boat ride in the valley of these beautiful not too high mountains. The weather was still mild so there wasn't much foliage yet. The boat tour was conducted in Japanese so I couldn't really catch what I was supposed to look out for. Oh well, at least the scenery was great!
We also went to this old village where the Yoshidas used to live. The architecture of the houses are different from the typical Japanese house. This old man even offered to show me scenes to take nice pictures. How nice!
Of course, I wouldn't forget the wonderful Japanese cuisine I had. Because we stayed near the coast, the sushi and sashimi was great. The food in Osaka was awesome too. Yummy!
Here're more pictures I took in Japan. Hope you like them!
Labels: vacation
Two Fridays ago, Miss Mo went to the Academy Bistro. Having heard so much of Jimmy Chok, the chef, and that the restaurant only opens for dinner on Friday evenings, I had to try it.
The restaurant is located in the lobby of the Supreme Court. We literally had to go into the building and of course, we had to go through security. I had purposely brought my camera to take pictures of the cuisine. Alas, I had to sacrifice the pictures for good food.
It's been a while since I had the meal so I can't really remember what I ate. I think I had scallops for starter. I had lamb for the entree and rich chocolate for dessert. The 3-course meal just cost $38+++. It was not a bad deal for the quality of food. The service was excellent. The waiter and waitresses were very experienced and knew their food.
I'd definitely go back there and remember to only go there for Friday dinners but they open for weekday lunches.
Hey, c'est moi again. I was out of town again! It seems like I like Thailand too much. I was in Bangkok this weekend. The last time I was there was when I was 18, which was about 5 years ago. LOL! Anyway, my friends asked me to join them on a short trip so I thought I should pay Bangkok a visit since everyone has been raving about the shopping there.
We went to Sua Lum night bazaar the first evening. We had dinner at an open hawker centre with a stage of singers and screens showing EPL games. The food was delicious. We took the ferris wheel ride. That was more fun than the shopping. I didn't see anything I fancy. Most were t-shirts that were of not too quality. I have simply too many t-shirts.
We took a boat ride to the Grand Palace the next day. It happened to be Loy Krathong festival that day. We could see those floats sold at most places.
As I have remembered, the Grand Palace has remained as grand as before and I forgot that it could get pretty hot in Bangkok too. Scorching!!!
I thought the architecture of the temples and halls were beautiful too!
I know this was put up in respect of the Buddha but the sign seemed kind of funny the way it is written.
We did more shopping at Jatuchak, Siam Square area and MBK. But I only bought an Oscar t-shirt. Of course the foot massage was the best!
The highlight of the trip was of course the food. We first had sharks fins. Delicious! We also had seafood - gigantic prawns, steamed fish with lemongrass and crab cooked with curry egg sauce (yummy!), not forgetting the bird's nest dessert and other delicious Thai cuisines. Yummy!
Here're only the stuff I bought. Not a lot but I think they are pretty cute stuff!
My offsite training finished at 4pm today so I decided to go check out the infamous sushi bar that Doraemon has been talking about, before my hair appointment.
The infamous restaurant is Wasabi Tei at Far East Plaza. According to Doraemon, the owner/chef doesn't smile and has a very bad attitude but the food is good. I was kind of nervous when I entered the restaurant and I made sure I made up my mind on the order before placing it. I had a near mishap though. I ordered a "beer" on the menu and he asked me what beer. I said what beers did he have. He pointed to these few cans displayed by the wall, without answering me. I was at his mercy to give him a quick answer so I chose randomly the Sapporo beer. Phew!
There was this family of 5 who sat next to me. They took a long time to decided and when they placed their orders, they hesitated and changed their minds. The chef told them off and said that they'd better made up their minds and place their orders all at once. The rest of us were kind of laughing secretly to ourselves about the family not knowing the 'rules' before coming to this restaurant.
The fish is fresh and the sushi's great. I didn't try the cooked food but I'd definitely return again for the cooked food.
Check out these lovely pictures taken by my travel mate, Calvin, during my Phuket/Krabi trip.
Phuket and Krabi Oct 2006
It's Thursday evening. I just finished a very mentally-draining training class today at the Regent Hotel. I went to check out Iggy's today and it was indeed a very small restaurant but I'd definitely check it out when it's no longer popular.
Usually, I'd rush home to go run but there hasn't been much motivation after the GE run. That's kind of bad. Sigh! I wanted so badly for a drink so I called Superstar and she suggested Brix at Hyatt for a drink. That was 7pm.
Brix used to be the old Pete's Place. When did it change into Brix? Anyway, we were kind of waiting for the hos to appear. Around 9pm, they appeared and they all sat at the bar, just like us! First Ho #1 in leopard skimpy dress appeared at the bar. She didn't make eye contact with anyone since there weren't many guys at the bar then. Then Ho #2 sat next to Superstar. She spoke with a Thai accent. She was kind of sucking her fingers with her mouth, dancing to the beat of the music, just to attract this old white man sitting near her but to no avail. Her hair, as we both agreed, was very silky. Then a bunch of hos appeared all of a sudden. One sat next to me and she was wearing a pseudo Chinese olden bra, similar to a halter neck. But the funny thing was she was also wearing a black bra with straps. LOL!
But I finally get to see real hos in Singapore. So exciting!
