Langkawi weekend (Jun12)

To speed up my posting I'm gonna do a photoblog for this trip. Just photos and captions thank you. =)

Accommodation @ The Andaman (~220sgd a night). Just slightly worn but clean & spacious so I'm totally happy about it. Room service char kway teow is tasty. Photos courtesy of my sis.

Started the day with a morning swim and spotted our first animal - a carefully camouflaged flying squirrel!

Hotel provided free shuttle (prior booking required) to town area: monwedfri to Kuah Town & tuesthurssat to Cenang Beach if I'm not wrong. Pick-up at 11am and back from town at 4pm. We went on a sat and were dropped off at the Underwater World after a 33km 40mins ride. Simple seafood lunch at Langkawi Eagle House. Nothing special but decent food at least.

Motorcycle convoy spotted (some travelled from as far as Singapore). Followed by the Cenang Beach itself where lots of water activities were going on. Then massage and fish spa at a spa joint beside the restaurant. Good service. Went back twice. First attempt at being gnobbled by fishes. Nobody said it was this ticklish! (see expression on face)

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Other photos of hotel and its surroundings: Corridor. Restaurant front. Volleyball court among the trees. Swimming pool. Evening at the beach. Sunset. Humongous lizard. Elderly monkey ♥

Langkawi Cable Car & Oriental Village. Not to be missed!! So much more enjoyable than expected. Too bad the suspended Skybridge was closed for maintenance. I love the blue that engulfed us. Not for the faint-hearted though. Feels higher than the stated 700m above ground.

Other information:

• Seven Wells Waterfall might be worth a visit, although we could see it at a distance from the cable car.
• Dragon Dynasty Restaurant near Kuah Town. Chinese seafood. Air-conditionned. Cheap and good. Love the signature crispy duck.
• Langkawi Taxi (http://taxilangkawi99.blogspot.sg/): Super convenient to book a taxi for the day. It's like having your own car/van without having to drive it. Price is 210rm for 7 hours (add 50rm if you stay at the faraway Andaman hotel like us).

Tokyo/Kyoto Apr12 - Day 5

Booked a Kyoto 4-Day Train & Hotel Package by Hikari Shinkansen on JAPANiCAN.com (way in advance as well). JPY28,400 (S$450) per person. We chose the Late Departure option whereby the bullet train departs between 1030am to 1210pm - a much more comfortable timing. The tickets and final itinerary were delivered to our Tokyo hotel 2 days prior to departure. You can find out more about the package on their website.

It took us about 45-60mins to get from our hotel to the Shinjuku station then to Tokyo station and finally to the Shinkansen platform. DON'T BE LATE because the trains, despite running on a tight schedule, are super duper punctual! They arrive on the dot, stop for approx. 3 mins, then off they go.. no questions asked. Efficiency's the word man.

It took almost 3 hours to get to Kyoto but the ride was very comfortable. Huge leg space with recline seats. The high frequency also means that the trains are not too crowded, so it's easy to relax and perhaps catch a nap. The pushcart that's supposed to serve food and drinks is quite miserable though, so be sure to prepare some solid snacks for the journey.

The hotel (called Hotel Hokke Club Kyoto) included in the package is located right opposite the Kyoto Station. Perfect! Upon arriving at the station at 130pm, we lugged our baggages and walked there. Check-in time is strictly 3pm so we went off to have lunch in the vicinity.

Initially S and I were very fearful about the condition of the "free" hotel. But what can I say, hotels in Japan are really, more often than not, clean & pleasant. No frills, no windows, but excellent location. So no complaints :) Everyone was a bit tired from the commute so we stayed in and r&r until night time. Because they're so many attractions to visit in Kyoto, I decided that we had to start somewhere that night. And Yasaka Shrine it is. Was very happy to find that this place is always open! Phew. Just strolled around in the nice cool air.

We walked further in until we found the Maruyama Park (see, killing 2 birds with 1 stone). I knew immediately that this would be the highlight of my trip. Look at how beautiful it is. I love everything about a) the brightly illuminated pink flowers b) the temporary platforms & tables for dining c) kneeling/sitting cross legged traditional style d) cold weather f) hot pot g) hot sake and h) the light-hearted atmosphere! It's a hefty price for the "cover charge" (JPY500 per person) for dining at the tables so if you want to save on it, bring your own picnic gear and plomp yourself somewhere near, like what all the local youngsters did :) This is one truly memorable experience.

And of course, not forgetting the famous Weeping Cherry Tree. Looking at other photos online, I'm convinced that this tree looks better at night with that pitch black background and the flowers being the only illuminated object around. ♥

Tokyo/Kyoto Apr 12 - Day 4

Went back to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden again as S' parents have yet to experience the real sakura atmosphere. It was apparently the last Sunday for Hanami and we expected a large picnic crowd. True enough some trees were beginning to "shed" and they look quite different from what we had seen 3 days ago. Hardly any full and plump trees left. Nonetheless, the remaining sakuras still hold their beauty and we were once again mesmerized by the sweet dreamy colours.. Not much of a crowd so we were quite comfortable strolling around.

Here's an interesting sight. Do you realize that there are 3 different colours of sakura flowers branching out from the same tree? Pretty cool right? No wonder it attracted a crowd. Photo on top right shows a zoomed in shot of this one tree. On bottom right, flowers still waiting to bloom. So rare for this time of the month. What a late bloomer!

Glad that the oldies loved it. Who wouldn't? One thing I love about the end of the season is the carpet full of fallen petals that looks so soft you feel like you can open your arms wide & fall back onto all that fluff . Romantic ttm ;)

Moving on to Roppongi Hills, we dropped the oldies at Mori Tower so that they could go up the observatory deck (S and I had already been) and enjoy some ongoing exhibition. There was a separate ONE PIECE exhibition that seems to be hugely popular with the locals (meaning long queue). I read the comic before and I enjoyed it but not to the extent of wanting to wait in a queue. Oh, you can read more about Maman (the spider sculpture) here. S and I stopped by the Joel Robuchon bakery as the pastries look so colorful & fancy. Tried the No. 1 popular bread (some curry bread thing) but it wasn't good. Perhaps their desserts are better. Spotted sakura macarons at Starbucks! Wanted to buy some back to sg but I couldn't find them anywhere else :l

Sashimi dinner in the hotel again. Favourite. But given our greediness, it wasn't enough. So we ventured out to find some yakitori supper that we've been craving for. It's not bad but not the best. We need to go back Yokohama again for THAT best yakitori that's always etched in our memories!

Tokyo/Kyoto Apr 12 - Day 3

Mt. Fuji & Hakone 1-day tour

Booked this guided tour way in advance on JAPANiCAN.com for JPY13,000 per person (option inclusive of lunch). Started the day bright and early at 8am. Took a short 5-min taxi ride from our hotel to the nearest pick-up point (Keio Plaza Hotel) where a bus then took us to the Hamamatsucho Bus Terminal. There, we were transferred to a coach heading for Mt. Fuji. ~2hrs after departure, we were stopped off at the Fuji Visitor Center for some souvenir shopping, traditional performance, and a welcome documentary film.

Soon after, we were on our way up the mountain. It had been raining since dawn broke so fog was inevitable. Thank goodness we were still allowed to proceed to the 5th station on Mt. Fuji (highest station reachable by coach). The previous time I was there the weather was so bad we could only make the 1st station.

Immediately upon arriving at the 5th station, it started to snow..quite heavily. This really came as a surprise. I thought the day was a goner because with all that fog, there was absolutely nothing in sight. What a silver lining! Even though nobody was prepared for this kind of cold, we were excited enough to rush in and out of the souvenir shops -- just to snap some photos out there, head back into the shops to warm up, then out again for a next round of shots =D

You should at least buy some snacks/biscuits here. I used to think that you'd be able to get them anywhere in Tokyo but seems like several items are unique to the area. If you don't want to miss out on any goodies, be sure to JUST BUY IT if you there's somethin you fancy! Next, we had a pretty bento lunch that's included in the tour. Quite tasty I must say..although not exactly enough for me :p

The tour continued with a cablecar ride up Mt. Komagatake. It was supposed to boast a stunning view of the Hakone National Park but the rain and fog evidently did not give in. More souvenir/goodies shopping at the top. Our tour guide told us that the Black Eggs here are very popular. Legend has it that for every egg you eat, you add 7 years to your life. Ha Ha. Obviously popular with tourists. Hence be prepared as they get sold out easily. We were lucky to have snatched up the last of the eggs. Apparently these Black Eggs (Kuro Tamago) are normal eggs cooked in boiling sulphorous volcanic springs (which turns the shells black). Anyhow they tasted no different from hard-boiled eggs.

The tour came to a dramatic end with a cruise ride across Lake Ashi. Spent a good half hour enjoying the beauty and serenity. One of the best boat rides.

Returned to Shinjuku at about 8pm and had dinner at a random beef tongue chain restaurant called Negishi (website in japanese). Awesome food once again!

Name: Gyutan Negishi

Loaction: 東京都新宿区西新宿1-6-1,  新宿エルタワーB2

Expenditure: ~JPY6,500 for 4

Sansui @ Clarke Quay

Went to the restaurant on a Groupon deal. With all the congratulatory flower stands lining the entrance, it seems like they just opened their doors. Really quiet on a weekend lunch (probably the same for other CQ restaurants at this time of the day). There were only a couple of servers, and the one who served us was kinda disorganized and inexperienced. She had to confirm our order thrice. Not a good first impression of the place.

When we tried to order, several items were not available..which obviously caused some disappointment! I mean, the lunch menu is already concise enough. What am I supposed to do if you don't have half the items there? Grrr. Thank goodness I have S to make the smart choices.

Ordered cold sake which thankfully they were quite generous with. That calmed me down a little. Then came the food. From the left, we had crispy Japanese fried yam (from the bar menu), Negitoro bamboo sushi, Tako salad, and Warm Foie Gras bamboo sushi. The fried yam was nothing like I've tried before and we both love it. It's quite light and you could just pop it in your mouth one after another. Definitely something I'll go back for! Bamboo sushi is interesting and they're generous with the negitoro. Salad is not bad but I don't really like the texture of the tako octopus (too soft). Warm foie gras was also superb. So we went for another one.

Just when I thought they've salvaged themselves from the poor first impression, the 2nd foie gras sushi came in a smaller bamboo!! The inconsistency is such a big boo-boo. I order a 2nd one and you give me less? C'mon...

Not enough to fill our tummy so we ordered one $15 nett set lunch. Excellent value I must say and the selection is pretty good. The beef we chose came in a very decent portion. Nonetheless it tasted too beefy and I suspect it's the cut they use. Stay away from this. I'm sure the others are a safer bet.

We'll be back only because of the 2nd Groupon voucher (and also for the fried yam la :P) so let's see how they fare the next time.

Name: Sansui @ Clarke Quay (website)

Location: Block 3B, The Foundry, Clarke Quay

Expenditure: Would have been ~$150 without Groupon promotion