This post is dedicated to the instructors at GoSnow, particularly Mel, Alexandra and Connor whom we are indebted to for initiating the love for skiing in my daughter. It’s not everyday that this happens – me standing in sub-zero temperature with snow blowing in my face, fingers frozen but standing mouth wide open, in awe as I saw my 8 year old daughter skiing down unaided on the ski slopes of the Grand Hirafu in Niseko – one of the top ski slopes in Asia no less… AND WAVING AT ME! 4 days … [Read more...]
Self-Drive Hokkaido: Winter Driving Tips
Hokkaido is a popular winter destination for families like us wishing to experience fresh pure ‘powdery’ snow without having to travel halfway around the globe. For those who wish to travel at their “own time, own target”, self-drive is an attractive option. We recently did a self-drive Hokkaido trip and here are some useful driving tips to share. For the record, we rented the car only for 3 days: picked it up in Sapporo, drove to Lake Toya, Noboribetsu and returned the car … [Read more...]
Packing for a Winter Holiday (Kids’ Edition)
All Mommies will concur that packing for vacations for the entire family is no laughing matter, much less packing for winter holiday. How are we supposed to pack light for cold weather travel when we need so many items to keep us toasty? We’re leaving for Hokkaido this week for our first snow trip and after several weeks of planning, I've finally completed my packing list. The Key to Packing Light The key to packing light for Winter holiday is layering. Always start with a base … [Read more...]
Japan – The Complete Journey: Summer, 2015
As a family who loves travelling and soaking in the culture and the character of the place, it was just a matter of time before we step foot into Japan. But never in our wildest dreams did we ever expect to get such an in-depth taste of local life on our first trip there, all thanks to the meticulous planning of my wife and the impassioned volunteer goodwill local guides who showed us their Japan. Finally, never did we expect ourselves to ‘conquer’ and cover so much of the trilogy of theme parks … [Read more...]
DIY Japan – Kyoto…and a fond Sayonara
I have a couple of confessions about this post. Confession 1: This is a long delayed post and I have very good reasons to procrastinate – I just didn’t want to say ‘farewell’ to our first Japan trip which we did DIY-style. Confession 2: Kyoto is chronologically not our last stop. Osaka was but I’ve decided to make Kyoto our last post to wrap up the entire ‘epic’ Japan vacation. Why Kyoto? Quite simply because of all the places we’ve visited this trip, Kyoto left the most … [Read more...]
Swissotel Nankai Osaka Hotel – Unsurpassed Centrality, Unparalled Hospitality
Osaka was the very last stop of our family's DIY vacation to Japan. The very last visual memory I have of this wonderful country was not a bowl of steaming Ramen or a plate of fresh succulent sashimi. Nope, given that we travelled in June, it was also not of the pretty cherry blossom trees. Instead, it was the sight of a hotel bell hop, a pint sized Japanese lady (yes, lady!) pushing our luggage from the Swissotel Nankai, Osaka Hotel lobby, accompanying us all the way … [Read more...]
DIY Japan – Maximising your day at Universal Studios Japan
This visit to Universal Studios Japan completes our ‘trilogy’ of the 3 large theme parks in Japan during our inaugural trip in the Summer of 2015. Despite having ran and screamed our way through two of the most popular Disney theme parks (namely Disneyland and DisneySea), our visit to Universal Studios Japan (USJ) still gave us some unexpected surprises in more ways than one - lots of ‘thrills, spills and excitement’ in their many movie-themed rides. In all, we conquered 8 iconic rides and … [Read more...]
DIY Japan: Osaka – Of Deers, Whales and Seriously Stunning Temples!
Exploring Nara Deer Park, Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN, Tōdai-ji Temple, Kōfuku-ji Temple. The next leg of our DIY Japan trip brings us to Osaka – the 3rd largest city in Japan and it is from here that we will fly back to one of the smallest countries in the world – Singapore. While I’m sure there are lots of eating, shopping and taking ‘KAWAII’ photos in Osaka, I made sure we incorporated some educational experiences (this is what happens when you have a teacher in the family). For this … [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...]