Umeda 11 Jun 2015

I drove down to Umeda. It was a shopping day. 

We met up with Ayumi Chan at Grand Front Osaka, a new shopping complex. 

Rika brought us to The Cosmopolitan Restaurant for lunch. A very hip place, somewhat like fine dining. 

The food was exquisite and tasty. And it just cost us about S$30 per person for the set lunch. So worth!

We did our shopping really unhurriedly. The whole day was just Grand Front Osaka and Lucua. 

Had buffet dinner at almost the same price as lunch. 

Tired out after a day of shopping, though was doing it leisurely. 

Osaka 10 Jun 2015

It was a rest day for Rika and for ourselves. Yoshi left about 10 for his work trip to Tokyo. 

The morning was spent relaxing at home.  Then we went out for lunch at this nice Udon restaurant. 

After lunch was just some casual shopping at Aeon. 

A relaxing "zho-bo" (doing nothing) day

Kobe 9 June

Today, we broke camp, not literally though as we were supposedly on a camping trip. It was raining the whole time the night before and we were glad that we managed to book a cabin for the second night of our camping trip. 

We headed straight to Kobe and was praying in my heart that we would not encounter an earthquake. That night, my friend text me that there were earthquakes in Japan and Greece, Athens. Thank God. 

First stop in Kobe was a restaurant which was converted from a church. Five of us shared three breakfast sets. 

Then it was shopping at Kobe Sannomiya in the afternoon. We went to Tomorrowland and just opposite, there was a building that has a level that sells cloth. And I bought $80 worth of cloth. 

By the time we reached home, it was about eight. Rika cooked us Yoshi's favourite pasta dish - Cod Roe Pasta. It was a simple dish but was delicious. 

Put the cod roe, some butter, a little cream and soy sauce in a big bowl, then put in the boiled linguini into the bowl and mix well. There you go, we have the delicious Cod Roe Pasta. 

Oishi neh!

Awaji Island 8 June

I survived the camp in the tent, waking up with a neck ache and suffering from restless sleep. 

Though it's summer, it's like Singapore's weather in December, cooling. 

We left the camp site for breakfast at a bakery cafe known as Posche, which serves sumptuous breakfast set at 500 Yen only. The breakfast comprised of toast with ham, mash potato, salad and coffee. We also ordered Ala carte assortment of bread. The bread were soft, chewy and flavorful. I always wonder why bread in Singapore always taste so different from these. 

After breakfast, we met up with Acco san who brought us to this garden. Not all flower beds were blooming with flowers, but the air was cooling and refreshing. 

Most of the afternoon was spent in a home run cafe having lunch and coffee. 

Dinner was good, we went to this supposedly the number one udon restaurant in Awaji. The soup bases were flavorful. We had duck and Yuzi, onion and beef soup and they all tasted different and of course very delicious. We also had 关东煮 and all cost us only 3000 over Yen. Gone are the days that people cry "expensive" in Japan. 

An unpleasant episode happened at the close of the day though, something which I thought will

Not happen in Japan. The beach bar waiter refused to let us use the toilet as we did not purchase anything from the bar. We were trying to avoid using the common toilet at the camp site. I was disappointed and really displease by this incident. 

What a way to close the day!!!

Awaji Island 7 June 2015

Today, we made a trip to Awaji Island. 

Rika has planned a camping trip. We will be putting up in a 5 men tentage by a beach. It was pitch dark at night and the tent was lit by a few oil lamps. 

For lunch, we stopped by a restaurant for Japanese food. 

We also dropped by Seapa Onsen for bath before heading for BBQ beef dinner.

 

6 June 2015 Osaka Day 1

We set off to Osaka today. 

When we arrived at Kansai Airport, it was already 9.15pm and to our shock, there were such a huge crowd at the immigration. 

We had to catch the last bus to meet Yoshi so that he didn't have to come all the way to the airport. 

At first, the queue inched forward as there were not many immigration counters open. But thank God, so more counters were opened and we also managed to be at the queue which cleared faster. 

Once cleared the custom, we dashed towards the luggage collection to grab our luggage and then made a run to the bus stop. 

While looking for an information counter to asked for direction, I spotted bus stops outside the airport. At last, we manage to be at the bus boarding point 15 minutes before time. 

The bus journey too us an hour which was faster than the scheduled duration by half an hour. Yoshi picked us at the station and we went to have supper at the usual Ramen place which served hot and cold Yuzi Ramen. Each bowl was only 800 Yen and the ramen was delicious. 

We slept only at 2 am after presenting our gifts to our ever friendly hosts and catching up a little. 

让我们看云去

多漂亮的云海！

多漂亮的夕阳！

柜台的小姐 Julia 说，

云海不是每天都可以看到。

如果看到云海已是美景的八十分

要是有夕阳， 那就一百分了。

很幸运，

今天我们看到了夕阳慢慢的掉入云海。

太美了！

谢谢你上帝。

青青草原

这次玩台湾，

四人同行。

刚刚好，一辆德士，

两间客房。

四个不一样性格的人，

不一样的心境，

不一样的体会，

但同样的享受。

10 days at Cambodia

Many were dumbfounded when I told them I'm going to Cambodia for 10 days.

What's there to do for such a long time?
Well, apparently we just eat, relax, eat, relax and sleep. Of course we do shop around but the little town has not plenty to offer in terms of shopping. There are many markets and night markets but mostly selling the same things.

Derrick bought a bronze Apsara figure at the old market. We managed to bring the price down from USD140 to USD 95.

For the 10 days, we stayed at three hotels, Raffles De Royal, hotel De La Paix and Le Residence De Angkor. Of these, I like De la Paix most for it's modern clean cut feel. Next I love Raffles for it's colonial English ambiance and third on my list will be Le Residence, which has it's charm with the lush greenery surrounding it's green tiled lap pool.

Very relaxing indeed!

Angkor Wat

 We woke up at about 4 am to get ready to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat. The driver was waiting for us at the hotel lobby when we were there at 5 am.

It was a short distance from our hotel to the temple. It was still dark when we reached there. There were already many early risers there all surrounding the pool on the left side of the temple. We guessed it must be the best spot to catch the sunrise.

The sun took it's time to rise, more slowly than I expected. The sight was not spectacular, not as I've imagined it to be, whole sky colored orange.

Nevertheless I'm glad that I made the effort to go see the sunrise. If you made effort to accomplish something, I guess it's rewarding when you finally savour the reward.



Temple Ta Prohm, made famous by the movie Tomb Raider.
The most interesting site of the temples.





Tree roots of Ta Prohm





Monks robed in brght orange hired by
professional photographers for photo shoot.



The blue pumpkin

The blue pumpkin is an ice cream parlour cum cafe. I love the ice cream - tried the passion fruit, Ginger n black sesame n dark chocolate.

Also love the setting, there is bed-like lounge sofa against the walls where you could lie down n relax.

Prefer the outlet at Phnom Penh better, bright and spacious overlooking the Mekong river.

Siem Reap

Having breakfast at Hotel De La Paix courtyard now. We are sitting on this huge suspended platform. The morning breeze is really cooling, it's winter season now and I really love the coolness.

We arrived at Siem Reap yesterday after about 5 hours car ride from Phnom Penh. We were debating of what transport to take, but the camry Toyota which we hired was comfortable enough. We paid USD60 for a one way trip.

Today have to try to arrange for a tour to Angkor Wat tomorrow. Trying to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat.

Raffles

Having breakfast at the balcony of the hotel cafe over looking the colonial courtyard and swimming pool.

I'm glad I have this opportunity to stay at a Raffles hotel. Oh! Love the scones and croissant!

Flying High

At Changi airport waiting for my flight to set off to Cambodia.
I didn't finish my work but just don't really care, I needed a break and will just have to finish up when I'm back.

Grasshopper

I'm in Vietnam now and learnt how to make a grasshopper out of a leaf.

It took a while to learn how to fold the pleats.

Once the critical step was mastered, it was rather easy to make the grasshopper.

Penang 5-7 Aug Part 4

Vibrant colours along the streets of Penang

Penang 5-7 Aug Part 3

Yam cake that's soft yet rich in taste

Fried oyster egg with oysters so huge and juicy

Hainanese fried spring rolls from a restaurant at Batu Ferringi known as the Beach Corner

Do Miao that's fried to the right texture - crunchy and springy

Bean sprouts, a simple but difficult to master dish but the restaurant managed to do it just right

These are some of the Penang delicacies I ate this time in Penang.

They are simple food but really taste fabulous.

Penang 5-7 Aug Part 2

Friends we met over at Penang

Penang 5-7 Aug Part 1

These are the friends I went Penang with.

Bus ticket

It has been a long long time since I hold a bus ticket in this form.
It our modern city where everything goes electronic, bus ticket is something of the past.
Taking public transport in Penang allowed me a chance to relive the past.
In fact, Penang gives me a sense of nostalgia, it shouts the 70s!