Hiroshima, Japan
Royal Park Inn Nagoya
3-27-5 MEIEKI NAKAMURA-KU
Nagoya 450-0002
Japan
Price Per Room Per Night : SGD188
Inside the Shinkansen Train
It was a long journey to Hiroshima from Nagoya. Although the two cities were more than 400 km apart, it only took 2 hours 20 mins for the Shinkansen. At Hiroshima Station, you could see many stalls selling “pasalubong”. We encountered many tourists around; Westerners around and old Japanese on group tour. From Hiroshima Station, we expected to reach Horoshima Castle for 30 mins walk (according to Google Maps). But it took as a little bit longer because we followed one group of Japanese seniors which was heading to Shukkeien, on the same way to A-dome. At the Shukkeien, we followed the group and didn’t realize that there was an entrance fee. After taking some pictures of the cherry blossoms, we quickly went out. We then walked to the Hiroshima Castle.
Inside Hiroshima Train Station
Hiroshima Train Station
City view of Hiroshima
Bicycle Parking
Shukkeien
Address: 2-11 Kami-nobori-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-221-3620
Access:
From JR Hiroshima Station
Walk 900 meters.
Take a Hiroshima bus bound for Asahi-machi or a Hiroden bus bound for Yokogawa Station, and get off at "Shukkeien Iriguchi".
Open Hours: From April to September, 9:00-18:00, From October to March, 9:00-17:00
Admission Fee:
Adults 250 yen
High school students or college / university students180 yen
Elementary or junior high school students 120 yen
Hiroshima Castle Gate
Hiroshima Castle Cherry Blossoms Trees
Hiroshima Castle
Address: 21-1 Moto-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-221-7512
Access:
15 mins walk from Kamiya-cho-nishi/Kamiya-cho-higashi Sta. on Tram from JR Hiroshima Sta.
Open Hours: 9:00-18:00(9:00-17:00 weekdays from Dec. to Feb. ) Entry permitted until 30 min. before closing time
Admission Fee:
Adult: 360 yen
Children: 180 yen
Instead of going directly to A-Dome, we first decided to have lunch. From the map we though Sogo was an affordable place to buy our lunch. But we were wrong; Sogo was an upscale Department store in Japan. So we just looked for food in a supermarket just beside Sogo.
After our lunch, we headed to A-Dome which was another 10 minutes walk. After taking pictures at A-Dome we went to Aioi-bashi Bridge and Peace Memorial Park. From Hiroshima we took a tram for Y150 each. Albert played and talked gibberish with an old Japanese lady who only spoke in Japanese. They were laughing and tickling each other as if they knew for a very long time.
Aioi-bashi Bridge, Ota River
The Bell
Peace Memorial Park
Address: Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-247-6738
Access:
From JR Hiroshima Station
Take a bus bound for Yoshijima ,get off at "Peace Memorial Park".
Take a Tram bound for Eba, get off at "Genbaku Domu-mae" and walk 3 minutes.
Children's Peace Monument
A-bomb
Atomic Bomb(Genbaku) Dome
Address: 1-10 Ote-machi Naka-ku, Hiroshima City
Access:
TRAM "Genbaku Domu Mae"
BUS "Kamiya-cho" or "Hiroshima Bus Center"
After Hiroshima we were supposed to stop in Osaka but we were very tired so we decided to skip Osaka.
3-27-5 MEIEKI NAKAMURA-KU
Nagoya 450-0002
Japan
Price Per Room Per Night : SGD188
Inside the Shinkansen Train
It was a long journey to Hiroshima from Nagoya. Although the two cities were more than 400 km apart, it only took 2 hours 20 mins for the Shinkansen. At Hiroshima Station, you could see many stalls selling “pasalubong”. We encountered many tourists around; Westerners around and old Japanese on group tour. From Hiroshima Station, we expected to reach Horoshima Castle for 30 mins walk (according to Google Maps). But it took as a little bit longer because we followed one group of Japanese seniors which was heading to Shukkeien, on the same way to A-dome. At the Shukkeien, we followed the group and didn’t realize that there was an entrance fee. After taking some pictures of the cherry blossoms, we quickly went out. We then walked to the Hiroshima Castle.
Inside Hiroshima Train Station
Hiroshima Train Station
City view of Hiroshima
Bicycle Parking
Shukkeien
Address: 2-11 Kami-nobori-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-221-3620
Access:
From JR Hiroshima Station
Walk 900 meters.
Take a Hiroshima bus bound for Asahi-machi or a Hiroden bus bound for Yokogawa Station, and get off at "Shukkeien Iriguchi".
Open Hours: From April to September, 9:00-18:00, From October to March, 9:00-17:00
Admission Fee:
Adults 250 yen
High school students or college / university students180 yen
Elementary or junior high school students 120 yen
Hiroshima Castle Gate
Hiroshima Castle Cherry Blossoms Trees
Hiroshima Castle
Address: 21-1 Moto-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-221-7512
Access:
15 mins walk from Kamiya-cho-nishi/Kamiya-cho-higashi Sta. on Tram from JR Hiroshima Sta.
Open Hours: 9:00-18:00(9:00-17:00 weekdays from Dec. to Feb. ) Entry permitted until 30 min. before closing time
Admission Fee:
Adult: 360 yen
Children: 180 yen
Instead of going directly to A-Dome, we first decided to have lunch. From the map we though Sogo was an affordable place to buy our lunch. But we were wrong; Sogo was an upscale Department store in Japan. So we just looked for food in a supermarket just beside Sogo.
After our lunch, we headed to A-Dome which was another 10 minutes walk. After taking pictures at A-Dome we went to Aioi-bashi Bridge and Peace Memorial Park. From Hiroshima we took a tram for Y150 each. Albert played and talked gibberish with an old Japanese lady who only spoke in Japanese. They were laughing and tickling each other as if they knew for a very long time.
Aioi-bashi Bridge, Ota River
The Bell
Peace Memorial Park
Address: Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-247-6738
Access:
From JR Hiroshima Station
Take a bus bound for Yoshijima ,get off at "Peace Memorial Park".
Take a Tram bound for Eba, get off at "Genbaku Domu-mae" and walk 3 minutes.
Children's Peace Monument
A-bomb
Atomic Bomb(Genbaku) Dome
Address: 1-10 Ote-machi Naka-ku, Hiroshima City
Access:
TRAM "Genbaku Domu Mae"
BUS "Kamiya-cho" or "Hiroshima Bus Center"
After Hiroshima we were supposed to stop in Osaka but we were very tired so we decided to skip Osaka.
Nagoya, Japan
Royal Park Inn Nagoya
3-27-5 Meieki Nakamura-Ku
Nagoya 450-0002
Japan
Price Per Room Per Night : SGD188
We started our Japan journey in Nagoya. Nagoya is the third largest city in Japan and is located in the Chubu region.
Our Singapore Airlines flight reached Nagoya around 830 am. We took a metro to Nagoya Station and reached the hotel around 10 am. Unfortunately, no rooms were available for early check-in so we went to Takashimaya and checked the shopping mall where we found the supermarket. In the Basement 1 of the mall, we found all kinds of Japanese food from Bento to Sushi. We always bought our food when traveling because it was much cheaper. I managed to take one picture but I was informed by the security that I can’t take any picture. After roaming around we went back to the hotel.
Our hotel, Royal Park Inn is just less than 3mins walk from Nagoya Station. It was very convenient for us since we were traveling daily across Japan by JR (Japan Rail). The hotel also has a free high speed internet and just few steps away from two convenient shops. The room that we booked was small but it was clean and well organized. We were very tired so after eating our Bento lunch, we took a rest because we didn’t manage to sleep in our flight. After 3 hours of snoozing, we all woke up and got ready to explore Nagoya.
We headed back to JR Nagoya Central Tower and bought our Metro ticket from a machine which was all Japanese. We didn’t see any single English letter and after a minute of staring at the machine we saw button that said “English”. We bought tickets to Hisaya-Odori at Y200 each. From the exit Nagoya TV tower was already visible. We walked from the Central Park or Hisaya Odori Park all the way to Oasis 21. Albert wanted to eat at McDonalds but we just bought him fries instead and find other restaurants. We dined at Saizeriya, a Japanese chain of Italian family-style restaurants. The restaurant was high-tech (of course, what else can we expect in Japan). We didn’t know that you needed to press a button for a server to come to your table. Luckily, Albert accidentally pressed the button and a waitress came to our table.
After our dinner we had a short walk in small street near the restaurant and headed to station. When we reached the central Nagoya station, we went to the JR Information Centre and activated our Japan Rail Pass. And that’s for all for our first day. The following day would be a very long day for us.
3-27-5 Meieki Nakamura-Ku
Nagoya 450-0002
Japan
Price Per Room Per Night : SGD188
We started our Japan journey in Nagoya. Nagoya is the third largest city in Japan and is located in the Chubu region.
Our Singapore Airlines flight reached Nagoya around 830 am. We took a metro to Nagoya Station and reached the hotel around 10 am. Unfortunately, no rooms were available for early check-in so we went to Takashimaya and checked the shopping mall where we found the supermarket. In the Basement 1 of the mall, we found all kinds of Japanese food from Bento to Sushi. We always bought our food when traveling because it was much cheaper. I managed to take one picture but I was informed by the security that I can’t take any picture. After roaming around we went back to the hotel.
Our hotel, Royal Park Inn is just less than 3mins walk from Nagoya Station. It was very convenient for us since we were traveling daily across Japan by JR (Japan Rail). The hotel also has a free high speed internet and just few steps away from two convenient shops. The room that we booked was small but it was clean and well organized. We were very tired so after eating our Bento lunch, we took a rest because we didn’t manage to sleep in our flight. After 3 hours of snoozing, we all woke up and got ready to explore Nagoya.
We headed back to JR Nagoya Central Tower and bought our Metro ticket from a machine which was all Japanese. We didn’t see any single English letter and after a minute of staring at the machine we saw button that said “English”. We bought tickets to Hisaya-Odori at Y200 each. From the exit Nagoya TV tower was already visible. We walked from the Central Park or Hisaya Odori Park all the way to Oasis 21. Albert wanted to eat at McDonalds but we just bought him fries instead and find other restaurants. We dined at Saizeriya, a Japanese chain of Italian family-style restaurants. The restaurant was high-tech (of course, what else can we expect in Japan). We didn’t know that you needed to press a button for a server to come to your table. Luckily, Albert accidentally pressed the button and a waitress came to our table.
After our dinner we had a short walk in small street near the restaurant and headed to station. When we reached the central Nagoya station, we went to the JR Information Centre and activated our Japan Rail Pass. And that’s for all for our first day. The following day would be a very long day for us.
How We Taught Albert to Read
Now, Albert can read more than a hundreds words
Click here At 60 months (5yo) old
The stages:
click here At 46 months (3yo & 8mons) old
click here At 46 months (3yo & 8mons) old
click here At 47 months (3yo &10mons) old
click here At 47 months (3yo & 10mons) old
click At 48 months (4yo)
Here are some of the tips that I got from the book (How to Teach your Baby to Read by Glenn Doman) which I think are quite effective based on my experience:
1) Show your child the words in lower case letters except first letter of a proper name and in large font.
2) 5-minute sessions several times a day in order not to tire out your child (Vocabulary of the family environment; Vocabulary to build sentences structure; Phrases)
3) Follow text with your finger as you read
4) Teach according to your child’s mood. Do not force!
5) Build up the confidence of your child, appreciate his accomplishments
6) Don’t start a session when one of you is tired, hungry or bored.
7) Have fun together; take this as your bonding time with your child.
Click here At 60 months (5yo) old
The stages:
click here At 46 months (3yo & 8mons) old
click here At 46 months (3yo & 8mons) old
click here At 47 months (3yo &10mons) old
click here At 47 months (3yo & 10mons) old
click At 48 months (4yo)
Here are some of the tips that I got from the book (How to Teach your Baby to Read by Glenn Doman) which I think are quite effective based on my experience:
1) Show your child the words in lower case letters except first letter of a proper name and in large font.
2) 5-minute sessions several times a day in order not to tire out your child (Vocabulary of the family environment; Vocabulary to build sentences structure; Phrases)
3) Follow text with your finger as you read
4) Teach according to your child’s mood. Do not force!
5) Build up the confidence of your child, appreciate his accomplishments
6) Don’t start a session when one of you is tired, hungry or bored.
7) Have fun together; take this as your bonding time with your child.
Bali Indonesia trip in May 2010
Seven months before our trip, I purchased our discounted tickets from Airasia.com. It was the 0 fare promo and I only paid S$84 which was the taxes for the three of us. Our accommodation was complimentary from Marriot which we haven’t claimed for almost two years already.
Our plane was delayed for about 30 minutes. We arrived in Bali at around 8pm and took a cab to Ayana Resort (formerly Ritz Carlton), Jimbaran and paid 90,000 rupiahs for one-way. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the friendly staff of the resort and they also adorned us with garlands and offered us fresh fruit drinks. We got in our room around 9pm. Then we hurried to the restaurant for our late dinner because we are really hungry. We had a sumptuous dinner, Alvin ordered Jimbarayan dinner while I ordered Tom Yum soup rice and Albert took a kiddie burger.
Then next day, I woke up around 630am and it was raining hard. I called up our day tour driver, Mr. Putu, and told him that we might cancel our trip if the rain would never stop by 10am. We had our breakfast at the hotel restaurant and before we finished our breakfast, the rain finally stopped. Our transport arrived around 1030am. We headed to Ubod to eat our lunch. We went to an eatery that sold Balinese sucking pig (Lechon in Philippines and Guling Babi in Bali). The package meal is suckling pig, veggies and rice. When you order, they serve the food to your plate using bare hands without serving spoons or gloves. Interesting, isn’t it? I was expecting stomach problem after eating but luckily it didn’t happen. On the table, there were mangosteen and when you pay they would ask you if you’ve eaten any of the mangosteen in your table. I thought I was complimentary and I ate four of it. We paid 80,000 for 2 plates of rice, 2 coke drinks and the mangosteen.
After our lunch we had some photos in the temple in front of the Babi Guling and went to the nearby the tourist market. There were a lot of handicrafts, bags, beach clothing and I bought some t-shirt souvenirs.
Then after that we headed to Tegalalang to see the rice terraces. On the way, we stopped at two two painting shops. We bought one abstract painting in the second shop.
Rice terraces
After seeing the rice terraces we went to Seribatu village for coffee tasting. I didn’t try their coffee I tried cocoa instead. We dint bought coffee or any spices we bought fruits instead.
It was already 4pm and according to Mr. Putu, it was raining hard in the Kintamani area so we couldn’t have a glimpse of the volcano and lake Batur.
On the way to our hotel, we asked Mr. Putu to drop by the nearest Mc Donald to our hotel. We bought chicken with rice for our dinner. We reached hotel around 7pm and quickly took our dinner. The taste of the fried chicken that we got from Mcdonald was like Mcchicken in the Philippines.
After our dinner, we had a short walk to find some stars but sad to say, there were no stars because it was quite cloudy.
The next day, the sun was UP! So I was so happy. I woke up the boys around 7am and the breakfast was delivered to our room by 730am. The hotel was on the cliff so to reach the beach we still needed to take the shuttle for around 5 minutes. At the drop-off point, needed to go down by stairs by around 150 steps. From the steps you could see the magnificent view of the Kubo beach. The waves were really strong…it was worse than our Phuket trip two years ago. Maybe we’re not that lucky when it comes to beach vacations. However even if the red flag was up (meaning that no swimming was allowed), they still allowed us to have fun in the beach. The waves just kept on getting bigger. After a while, we decided to go back to the hotel and just swim the pool. We had pizza and pasta for lunch. After that we played billiards before using the swimming pool. We had a great time at the pool and didn’t realize it was almost sunset.
On our last day, we woke up early and were still lucky enough to have a sunny day. We didn’t go back to Kuta beach because we only had time until lunch because we needed to check-out by 2pm. At the airport, our return flight was delayed (again) for almost an hour.
End of almost free vacation.
Our day tour was not that successful because of the weather. A month before, I arranged a Kintamani day tour from a driver who has a blog.
1. Cultural performance (Barong dance at Batubulan Village)
2. Lod Tunduh Village (painting center)
3. Ubud
4. Tegalalang (rice teraces)
5. Kintamani (volcano and lake Batur)
6. Holy Spring Temple at Tampaksiring
7. Any places on the way you are interested in for example: coffee
tasting at Seribatu village (if there is enough time)
The cost is only Rp 400,000 per full day.
And tour cost will include:
- driver/tour guide
- airconditioned car
- petrol
- parking fee
- flexible time
For more details about Mr. Putu visit his website http://www.probaliguide.com
Hotel:
AYANA Resort and Spa
Jl. Karang Mas Sejahtera
Jimbaran, Bali 80364, Indonesia
Phone: +62-361-702222
Fax: +62-361-701555
Website: www.ayanaresort.com
Airline: www.airasia.com
2010 School holidays activity: Sentosa Luge
Alvin took a leave and we went to Sentosa. We had a lunch picnic at Siloso Beach and after that Albert enjoyed the beach for an hour. He was mostly excited on our main activity which was the Sentosa Luge and Skyride. We took a Family four ride so we can enjoy twice. Albert rode with Alvin in the luge. During the first luge ride, Albert kept on asking that why I was too slow. It was my first luge experience so i was not that very adventurous. I enjoyed the second ride as i was more relaxed with it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)