‘Excuse me sir, you take care of your children, let me take care of your bags’. Never in all our travels have we heard such a statement from the hotel rep who greeted us at the airport. Sure, they are supposed to do airport to hotel pick-ups but this lady staff's intention was not to load the bags quickly and bus us off to the resort. Instead, she put the kids' welfare first. Such is the family-centric care that is so much within the fiber of this established resort which we will spend … [Read more...]
DIY Japan – Hakone Part 3: Romance in Hakone (Lake Ashi, Mount Komagatake, Gora Park, Ancient Cedar Path and Hakone Open Air Museum)
I’ve been deliberating on this last post of Hakone for a while. We’ve shared about our first Onsen experience, our encounter with the Little Prince and introduced you to the beautiful flora at Hakone Botanical Gardens of Wetlands. Now reluctantly, it's time for our final post on Hakone...a place we've fallen so in love with and I can't really describe why.Well, like most love encounters do…it started with some flirting…with the Grand Lady herself, Mt. Fuji. Like a shy … [Read more...]
DIY Japan – Hakone Part 2: Enchanting Botanical Garden of Wetlands & The Little Prince Museum
The next leg of our DIY Japan trip couldn’t be more of a contrast: From the dense, busy streets of Tokyo and Asakusa plus our ‘high-octane’ experiences in Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, we took the Shinkansen to the idyllic town of Hakone (90 minutes away). Honestly, we were so close to abandoning Hakone prior to our departure due to seismic activities from the nearby volcanoes (yes…plural). As it turns out, just like how we took a gamble to visit Hualian, Taiwan years back … [Read more...]
Fast and Stable connection anywhere with Changi Recommends
Holidays are a great time to relax, unwind and spend meaningful time reconnecting with our loved ones. Recently during our family's DIY trip to Japan, we rented the Overseas Wi-Fi Router from Changi Recommends and the reliable Wi-Fi connection it provided eased many of our worries and woes. The Overseas Wi-Fi Router is a small and lightweight Wi-Fi router that enabled us to stay connected to the internet from virtually anywhere in the world! Clarity in Confusion - A fast and stable Wifi router … [Read more...]
There’s just something about Jen – Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore
Jen says 'Hello'. Nestled in the quiet part of Tanglin Road, close to the start of Singapore’s famed Orchard Road, is a rather unassuming hotel which has much to offer her guests. Formerly the 'Traders Hotel', it has taken on a entirely new identity in a major re-branding exercise last year and reinvigorated with a major overhaul to its image. The Club Lounge, 15 Suites and 550 Guest Rooms have all been newly refurbished and the last phase of refurbishment is expected to complete soon in … [Read more...]
DIY Japan – Hakone Part 1: Naked Truths from the Onsen
“Excuse me Mr. Yoshida. Regarding the Onsen, can I wear swimming trunks in there?” I had taken a quiet moment during our mountain train ride in Hakone to ask our goodwill guide this question. I had hoped he would say ‘yes’ (since we are tourists after all) but he was much too polite. “ That would be very odd, Mr. Sim. It’s not usual...” came his reply. A photo with Mr. Yoshida, our goodwill guide before my polite question on board the Hakone Tozan Mountain Train. Someone's cheeky smile … [Read more...]
DIY Japan – Maximising Your Day at Tokyo DisneySea
The landscaping at DisneySea - detailed and realistic. Set against the evening sky, it is stunning! Fresh from our resounding conquest of Tokyo Disneyland the day before, we were psyched to explore the world’s one and only Tokyo DisneySea. This time, we aimed to conquer all the Fast Past (FP) rides and some of the major shows recommended by travel websites. Introduction to DisneySea: Ariel's Mermaid Lagoon - colourful and playful with lots of fun for the whole family. The Waterfront … [Read more...]
DIY Japan – Maximising Your Day at Tokyo Disneyland
Yes, we did it! We took 16 rides, watched two parades (the Springtime Parade in the day, the Electric Parade in the night) and caught the stunning fireworks display all within 1 day! This being our 1st visit, we never thought we can conquer so much of Tokyo Disneyland but we did, all thanks to the unique ‘Fast Pass’ System it uses. We would like to share how we maximized our visit to Tokyo Disneyland. Disneyland rides are catered more for children and pre-teens. The G-forces here are much … [Read more...]
From Medieval to Manga – Touring Asakusa, Sumida and Odaiba
“We’re going shopping today” my wife teased and I raised an eyebrow. After 16 years of marriage, one of the things Angie knows is that I want our trips to be educational and enriching whenever we travel (in fact, I’m keeping tab on the number of World Heritage sites we’ve visited so far). We didn’t spend money, flown great distances just to be thrown into commercialized air-con malls buying meaningless souvenirs that will eventually be kept in the store room or thrown away. It’s the … [Read more...]
Tokyo in a Heartbeat – Tsukiji Fish Market and CupNoodles Museum
Whenever I hear of families going to Japan on Free & Easy, I always assumed it is an impossible task without basic Japanese proficiency. When the hubby finally gave me the green light early this year to plan a family Summer holiday to Japan, I worked on it without delay, trolling TripAdvisor forums and relying on helpful real-time websites like Hyperdia to plan the itinerary for our 10 days Free & Easy Trip which will take us from Tokyo to Hakone and southwards to Kyoto and Osaka. … [Read more...]
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