SQ Travelogue

Tokyo Business Trip

2017-02-17T13:33:00.000+08:00

My business trips are coming in "fast and furious" and I don't really fancy my upcoming schedules.

I have done two trips so far. One to Tokyo and the other to Hong Kong. I have decided to "blog more" to keep you entertained. so here you go.... Some irrelevant non financial retirement stuff from me. 😝

SQ to and fro Tokyo

It is now much easier to travel for business to Tokyo. I love flying in and out through the Haneda airport. Narita airport for biz travel are just too painful. It also helps that SQ now fly a brand new A350 aircraft on some of its flights to Haneda - so choose wisely 😂.

The business class "Japanese" food on SQ is always an art itself. It comes in two nice bento boxes, served one after the other.

Traveling is the only time I catch up with sleep and movies. I chose a Korean movie this time, which in recent years, has overtaken Japanese movies. More action, less draggy, better plots. Lucky Key is a funny comedy, watch it if it is still screening.

Night view of Tokyo is always beautiful except the hotel which I stayed in, Imperial Tokyo Hotel, is really in need of a major upgrade. They didn't even provide a queen bed and the room looks really dated. There are better business hotels around, so I will skip this next time...

If you are flying back from Haneda, the ANA business class lounge is great. What I have learned over the years is that the lounges are better if you get to use the lounges run by the dominant airline. Example using Turkish airline lounge in Istanbul instead of a SQ lounge or Virgin lounge in London etc. unfortunately this rule doesn't apply in USA. The lounges there CMI (cannot make it) all the time.

So if you haven't had enough of sake in Japan, you can drink to your hearts content before your flight home at the ANA lounge. They are served chilled in nice porcelain containers.

Here is the view of the new A350 aircraft from the lounge and more bento sets on my flight back...

... Which I regretted almost immediately ... I will give them a miss next time.... 😂

Sayonara.

Countries Mr. IPO visited

2015-02-01T19:04:00.000+08:00

I have a passion to travel and am already planning for my next trip in June this year.

It's my way of keeping myself motivated at work by having something to look forward to and feeling "deserved" that I have earned it.

When I am younger, I will want to cover as many places as I can. As I aged, I prefer to do it more leisurely and independently from tour groups. The idea of someone telling me what time to wake up, where to go and what to have for dinner is just not too appealing.

The countries i visited are compiled here. It is to be updated each time i visit a new country but at the rate where i keep going back to the same few countries... i think my progress will be pretty slow. I have been visiting Japan almost every year for the last 8 years and this year the Yen/SGD rate is one of the most attractive ever!

On that note, no bonus points for guessing where i will be heading this June. The Euro is trading at 5 years record low and i have started to convert some Euros for my upcoming trip. If you want to get more bang for your dollar, it may be good to keep tab on movements in the forex market too ^_^

I received a pleasant surprise recently. I had previously blog about my Uber experience and why you should use it when you are in USA. Now someone actually used the code rotib when they downloaded the app! Thanks to whoever you are, i received an email from Uber saying that i have earned a free ride! :)

I have decided to create a tab called "Freebies for readers" for this blog and if there are freebies pertaining to the relevant blogs, i will create those tabs as well. Maybe next time you will see "free stock tips if you sign up for ABC" Lol

Time flies and it is Feb 1 already! As usual, i am overwhelmed with work and below are some of the pictures from my recent working trip to Hong Kong.

Flight to HK

The menu looks good but... the roasted pork is as hard as a rock.....

This should be called roasted "Jiok Tao"

Cheese anyone?

View from hotel and local breakfast

As usual, the HK hotel is full and they put me in a suite knowing I will be gone first thing in the morning. I hate suite. It's pretty scary when you are travelling alone. Hahaha. I would rather have a smaller room anytime.

Local breakfast at "Kam Fong"

I started with the egg tart. No good.

I have to say... even the standard for milk tea has fallen off the clift. It tasted bland. Must be a bad morning for the staff

Now at least this instant noodle tasted yummy. Maybe because I have a weakness for runny egg. The luncheon meat tasted great too!

Happy travels! You only live once :)

Uber then!

2014-10-12T09:36:00.001+08:00

I apologize for being so "quiet" for a while. I have been travelling quite a bit, plus of course, the market hasn't been too interesting and I am wary of a black October crash looking at how volatile the markets are lately.

I had the chance to tick off one of my bucket list in October where I was in transit for 7 hours in San Francisco for a business trip but the experience is probably half baked and disappointing.

Golden Gate Bridge

Some of my to do items including a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge and to Alcartraz. My client who is a local in SF advised that Alcartraz is probably like our Changi Prison. How can it be?! So he said to me, "why not we do it this way. I take you to the coastline, send you across the harbor and you take the ferry back. You will get to "see" the bridge and the Alcartraz at the same time."

Sounds like a plan for a short transit trip. The coast line is quite scenic and you can see the whales migrating when it is in season.

Wow I crossed the famous Golden Gate Bridge seen in the movie Monsters and Gozilla? Anyway this bridge is featured so many times in Hollywood movies that I was quite disappointed. It wasn't as impressive as I what I have imagined. Probably due to the heightened expectations caused by Hollywood movies.

I didn't realize SF is quite foggy on one side and clear and sunny on the other side. So if you stay on the left side of the bridge, you are covered in fog quite a bit.

Anyway to cut the long story short, I missed the ferry at 6pm and watch it moved away. I have to wait for the next ferry at 7pm by which time it is too dark to see the bridge and the Alcartraz from the ferry :(

Might as well enjoy some fresh calamari and a glass of wine while waiting for my ferry :-P

Here comes the ferry at 7pm and I was crossing the bay like one of the locals. The one way trip cost US$11 and I see no bridge and no Alcartraz. Urrggggg... Too dark.

Fisherman wharves

One good thing about Google and Internet is information is at your fingertips. I visited Alioto for dinner and it is like the "must eat place" here. Probably locals will not go and cater to tourists like myself. Hahaha. Alioto was started by Italian family that migrated there and you can probably Google the information yourself.

Eating alone for business trip can be an art. You either love or hate it. I like to do it once in a while but not too often.

Anyway I am a "crab" fanatic. Haha. This is the local Dungeness crab caught off the SF bay. It is hotly baked and tasted sweet with a dash a lemon. Simple and nice.

What has the title got to do with my post so far?

Uber then?

Today I am going to share with you the art of saving money in USA if you are travelling there.

After my dinner, it's time to go back to the airport to take the flight back. This is the first time I am trying uber.

With a simple click of the button, the app accurately pointed the place where you are waiting for the cab and magically one Toyota Pirus with the face of the driver appeared in 3 minutes.

The few advantages are:

1. You can have a fee estimate of how much the fare will cost you before clicking that you want a cab.

2. It will cost you $15-30 cheaper than a regular taxi.

3. No tipping is required and no cash changed hands. You will get an email for the trip thereafter.

4. Simple to use and your first trip is heavily subsidized. My trip to the airport cost me about $5 after netting off the $30 first time use promotion.

5. The car is very new and clean compared to the cabs I have taken in the past and it is "safer" due to authentication requirement. You know exactly who you are expecting to pick you up as you will have his name and a picture.

Promotion for my readers

Anyway here is the promotion for you in case you are interested to get a discount of your first ride. Just key in roitb when you book the cab via uber.

Pls note that the amount 10,000W is in KRW is because I first downloaded the app when I was in South Korea this year. I had wanted to try out the app back then.

Uber is pretty controversial

Uber has been a very controversial app because the cab companies and taxi drivers couldn't handle the impact of the app.

According to the uber driver, it has put many taxi companies out of business. Singapore has also been trying to restrict the use of the app citing that it is illegal.

The driver is financing his new Toyota Pirus with side income from Uber. He receives 80% of the proceeds he make and get paid once a week. The income can be pretty substantial and he works only when he is free.

Actually if uber is successful, many of us can have a side income and the taxi system can be really efficient.

Imagine you using your own car to send someone home when you leaves office and get paid for it? This will give you a side income but for the consumer, it will also mean a faster ride home and at a much cheaper fare than a regular taxi.

This app will revolutionize how people travel but only if regulators are able to accept this change and the impact it will have on taxi drivers livelihood.

Will it change the world and how people travel? I will be keen to know but for sure I will be using the app the next time I visit USA and countries that support this.

If LTA accepts Uber, maybe I can earn some side income too!

The most exciting football league kicks off tonight.

2014-08-16T18:27:00.001+08:00

The most exciting football league is going to kick off tonight. Why do I say so? In most league, you have one or two clear favorites running for the title.

I have shared with your previously the CEO (aka as the Manager) is very important. Look at what David Moyes has done to a Championship team and you will know what I mean.

This season, I think it will be hard to predict who will be the league winner and that is what makes this league such a money spinner.

Manchester City was the defending champion and played attacking football last season. The team remained mostly intact. The coach is low profile and very effective. Won the title in his first season so you really have to give it to him. I would rate it as a title contender.

Liverpool was second but unfortunately, despite the good work done by Brendan Rogers, I don't think they managed to find a replacement for Luis Suarez. Whether the proceeds from the sale of Suarez is well spent remained to be seen. With Championship football back, they will not be able to focus fully this time. I think they will drop out of the top 3.

Chelsea was third and has bought well during off season with one proven goal scorer in Diego Coasta and one proven mid fielder in Cesc Fabegras. I think they will be a title contender this season.

Arsenal is a perennial no. 3 or 4 for the last few seasons. This Arsene Wenger is too much of a value investor and in recent years have finally be enlightened to spend more money on proven players. Their football is always exciting but can never have enough injury free players to last through the season. If the manager is willing to "invest" more, I am sure they will become a title contender.

Manchester United is not to be ignored. The Louis Van Gaal is a genius and yet full of guts. He will be a great coach for Man United after seeing how Holland was unbeaten at the World Cup. With no champions league to distract them, the coach will be able to get his act together. I will rate Man United a a title contender again. (You see how I rated David Moyes last year). A good coach is half the battle won.

Tottenham will be the dark horse this season with a new CEO in place. However, don't expect him to create magic overnight.

My prediction as follows:

1. Manchester United (new CEO plus no champion league distraction)

2. Chelsea (even Jose needs to give face to Louis)

3. Manchester City (no more hunger)

4. Arsenal (jinxed)

5. Liverpool (no bite left after Suarez left).

Here you go. The unbiased predictions from Mr. IPO. Mr IPO declare that he has no vested interest and does not punt. Je is also not a die hard fan of any club. He firmly believes that a CEO ("manager") is one of the most important success element and as in any organization, the top sets the tone.

Happy BPLing.

Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York

2014-06-12T04:46:00.001+08:00

I pop by the MMOA last evening. It was first set up in 1870.

It's my lucky day. Free today. ^_^ but I made a $10 contribution of the usual $25 ticket.

You can see many visitors to the musuem. According to the website, it is one of the most visited museums in the world. These are private collections that were contributed by rich prominent businessmen over the years and I have to admit the collection are awesome.

To be honest, I walked away from the musuem having mixed feelings. Why is that so...

You see this mummy above? It is contributed by JP Morgan. Yes the famous JP Morgan which you know. But aren't these treasures supposedly bought from tomb raiders in Egypt?

There is the bronze portrait of Alexander the Great with many other Greek treasures. It also feel ironic that many treasures of Egypt, Greece, China etc are found elsewhere rather than the country of origins. The price to pay for losing wars?!

You will need to spend days here if you intend to go in depth into each section of the museum.

They even brought the entire temple back to United States, but at least in this instance, it was a legitimate gift from that country at that time.

The museum is huge with many treasures on display. I only managed to cover the first floor. The second floor consist of East Asian artifacts and other relics. I am sure I will see more treasures here but will not try to dwell into how these treasures were acquired. You have also read for yourself how our Asian Civilisation museum got into trouble for buying allegedly stolen relics from supposedly trusted sources.

A sleeping Cupid for you before I end this post. You can see that I mix business and leisure pretty well :@P

I will be going on holiday soon and clearing off one of my bucket list this time round. Will keep you guessing for now but the picture above will give u a hint of my next destination.

Happy holidaying.

Namsan Park - Seoul

2014-06-07T23:00:00.001+08:00

If you are staying at Grand Hyatt Seoul, there is a park just outside the hotel which you should not miss. I think it's worth taking an hour jog and stroll into Namsan park.

There are nice pathway with trees, stream and bushes along the way and you should head towards the Seoul TV tower. The journey is probably 3-4km to and fro.

The way up is not easy as it can be pretty steep at times but there are many benches along the way for you to take a breadth and enjoy the scenery.

You can get a great view of Seoul as you head upwards towards the Seoul TV tower. You can see Grand Hyatt in the background.

Seoul TV tower is the target and I am only half way there.

You can see some old walls along the road side.

The tower is the reward at the end of your walk but this is also the place where you will meet hordes of tourists who came up by buses and missed smelling the flowers along the way.

At this point, you can either take the lift up to the top of Seoul Tower or you and your loved ones can "lock" your love in the trees.

The locks are for sale inside the shops!

Seoul long. Don't miss this walk if you are staying at Grand Hyatt. ^_^

The CEO of a Company is critical!

2014-05-13T11:21:00.001+08:00

If you remember my post last year at the start of EPL Season, i predicted that the top 5 teams will be

1. Chelsea

2. Manchester City

3. Tottenham

4. Manchester United

5. Arsenal

I only got 3 out of the 5 correct but interestingly there are some management lessons to be shared.

3 of the teams have a new CEO (aka Manager) last season - Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United. If you are a Man U fan, i am sorry to say that a wrong CEO was chosen from the start. The shoes was too big for him to fill. His mid-table mentality can never make it.

I always respect Managers who have the winning mindset, who can bring out the best in its players and most importantly, win it with style. I have to say that this year, i think both Manchester City and Liverpool managers deserve credit for trying to do it the "right" way.

Pretty disappointed with Chelsea for employing the "parking the bus" tactics and stifling creative play. Since Manchester City probably bought their way to success, i would have preferred to see a Liverpool victory but she has already exceeded all my expectations. Liverpool wasn't even in my top 5 prediction. Similarly in your pursuit for financial freedom, remember to do it with style and taste, don't live life like a miser - you will never be happy and do whatever you need to do before you die....like watching a premier league match live if you have the opportunity.

Winning with style

Similarly, the CEO of a Company is absolutely critical The top sets the tone. This is always the case. Invest in a Company whose management you like and trust. However, having said that, it is always the most difficult assessment to make. If you haven't read the book on Steve Jobs, go read it. It is quite a easy to read book and give insights as to how he wanted Apple to become and he sets the creative tone. One of the most important philosophy he has that stuck with me was that "A performers only want to work in a team of A performers. If you condone a "C" performer in the team, the A performers will feel unappreciated and leave and you will be left with a team of C performers"

Handpick your CEO and invest wisely! ^_^

China biz trip

2014-02-01T14:24:00.001+08:00

Think I am having a overdose of flying these days.

Morning 830 SQ flight to HK

Flying to HK followed by BJ. Having a bad experience with Air China last time where my flight was delayed by 2 hours, this time I will try Dragon Air for my HK-BJ sector instead.

The menu today was brunch but I have to tell you I have the most disappointing breakfast on SQ. Won't pick this choice for main course again.

Starts with a fruit platter followed by yogurt.

The main course was a wrong choice. Pls pick the grilled pork next time. The passenger beside me choose that and it looks good.

One look you know the noodles taste like rubber band. With all due credit, the air stewardess offered to change for me when she saw that I didn't finish my food but maybe I am just too overdose with flying...

Dragon Air 7pm flight to Beijing

I have to say that Dragon Air offered better food and service than Air China! Unfortunately my experience was marred by another flight delay where my 7pm flight only took off at 915pm and i reached Beijing after midnight.

The food was so much better in terms of both presentation and taste.

The appetizer was scallops and prawns. Followed by steam rice with beef.

Then it ended off with a few choices of Hagen Dazz ice cream and I picked the mango flavor. Yummy.

Shangri-La World Summit

It was always ironic. I get to stay in good hotels but never get to enjoy it

The lobby is at 64th floor so you can imagine the view outside.

Nice his and hers washing basins and the toothbrush comes with Colgate.

Nice bathtub which I am too tired to use.

Welcome fruit basket and chocolates which I didn't get to enjoy.

A very comfortable bed which I only get to sleep in at 2am and my meeting is at 9am the same day.

This room is huge but I think the corporate rate was reasonable at RMB 1580 before taxes.

Don't know what to say about the view. It feels so dirty and polluted. The PM2.5 is for sure more than 100 and that is on the low side this morning.

A day full of meetings after meetings and I caught the last flight out at 00:10 feeling exhausted but just in time for my CNY eve dinner...

Seoul biz trip

2014-01-25T19:43:00.001+08:00

Recently flew to Seoul for a business meeting.

I never thought the streets will be layered with frozen ice as well and it was pretty slippery. I have never visited Seoul in Janaury before.

I was hiding in coffee bean waiting for my meeting to start at 10am and watching the world goes by.

The lunch venue was located in an old building. Sometimes when clients bring you for lunch, you can't really take out your camera to take pictures can you? Too "unprofessional". Haha

There was a man made water fall and pond and they are all "frozen" as well.

SQ flight from Seoul to Singapore

Here you go. My dinner menu. Satay for appertizer (again)

Followed by scallops that is not too fresh but ok.

The beef was the recommended as the "chef's recommendation". It tasted good but the condiments looks like "black beans" and don't really blend in but once you wash down with the French wine, it tasted good.

Ended with a mango cake and a platter of cheese.

Not exactly the most healthy dinner but the cheese was great! The smellier the better. I left the cheddar untouched.

Arsenal is top in 2013

2014-01-01T08:34:00.001+08:00

The half season has just passed and we will see another round of kick offs today.

This must be one of the tighest premier league I have seen for years. The top 5 are just separated by 6 points. The bottom 8 teams are also apart by only 6 points. Even the relegation race will be exciting.

I watched the Arsenal Vs Tottenham live in Sep and now the coach Villa Boas is gone! If you are a BPL fan, I would strongly encourage you to book ahead and catch a live match. The atmosphere is simply awesome. :) I think my visit made a positive impact on Arsenal. 👍

http://www.sqtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/09/you-only-live-once.html?m=1

I made the top 5 prediction last August. Let's see if it stands true eventually as it is difficult to predict now.

http://www.sqtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/08/epl-season-kicks-off.html?m=1

The surprise package to me this year is Everton. They have the tough team to beat with only 2 defeats. Ironically, Everton is above Man U and we will see if Man U will make a comeback under David Moyes for the second half of the season.

Another surprise was Liverpool. Hopefully they make it to the top 5.

Happy BPLing.

Day 10 - Taipei

2013-12-29T18:17:00.001+08:00

This trip, I didn't know we are going to be part of the history records. I only received the article from my Taiwanese friend later.

The rainfall in Dec was the highest ever in more than 100 years! How is that for our holidays. Hahaha.

Anyway for day 10, we cover the remaining sites in Taipei.

Taipei Zoo

Before I go further, my rating is don't bother. Maybe I was bothered by the rain but I felt it wasn't worth my time.

The animals were poorly displayed and there are no close interactions with the animals. They didn't even bother to let you know that 团团 and 圆圆 will not be on display until Jan as they were renovating the panda enclosure and we were there to look at the political animals.

Anyway, the zoo covers a wide area and poorly designed vis a vis our Singapore zoo although I have to admit that it is really much cheaper to visit Taipei zoo. 2 adults and 2 tickets based on my recollection was less than NT$200.

Perhaps another way to describe it is that they didn't focus a lot on end users experiences. I will give it a miss.

Maokong 猫空

Compared to the zoo, I will say this is better in terms of user experience.

My little tip is if you want to take the crystal cabin, do it on the way down as there will be less crowd and another tip is never try to take the cable car from inside the zoo! You will have to wait for a long time to get an empty cabin. Somehow they are not so flexible to send empty cabins up to pick passengers from the zoo. The station inside the zoo is the second stop.

See the tea plantation below our legs? This is the crystal cabin for you.

Anyway, there are many trails on top and you can wander around. However, not for us today as it was still raining non stop.

We had a fun time snacking delicious sausages and oyster omelette at the top of Maokong station. After all, the breakfast at the hotel was bad...

If you are a Hello Kitty fan, this is the place for you! There are many memento which you can take pictures of. The entire line is decorated with cute kittens.

Ding Tai Feng 鼎太丰

This is after all the place where it was founded. The famous dumpling that won a Michelin star in Hong Kong.

It started life as a cooking oil retailer until

the founder decided that it has to switch business for survival. And here you go, a flourishing dumpling business was created all over the world. I have to say that the standard was pretty consistent in Taiwan and Singapore. (Breadtalk holds the franchise in Singapore).

Now this is something you don't get to eat in Singapore. The smaller "soupy" version (don't be jealous). It is only on sale on weekends and has limited supply. (We ordered in advance).

You are supposed to dip the smaller

Dumplings (there are 20 of them) into the soup and then eat it.

It is very very crowded and we waited one hour for it. Go early if you can.

Le Jardin

To celebrate our last night in Taiwan, we decide to visit the French restaurant. (You can locate this from Tripadvisor).

Amazingly we are the only family there compared to our visit to Osteria.

The dinner is actually better than Osteria and it has a very comprehensive and impressive wine list. This is because the owner is the distributor of good wines from France. Don't bring you wine here, you can have a decently priced wine from its cellar.

I always pre-judge a restaurant by the breads it served. I have to tell you the meat and butter served was simply heavenly. We asked for a second portion.

I will just tell you what is good and what is to be avoided. The Iberico ham carpaccio is good. Can try

Skip the escargots. Too salty.

The pork ribs Tagliatelle is good. Can try.

The mushroom spaghetti with truffle is average. Can give it a miss if you are not a fan.

The ribeye was excellent. Cooked to perfection and medium. Best served with a french red wine.

The creme brûlée and chocolate larva cake was great and even i am not a dessert person.

Afterthoughts

Taiwan would have been a good trip if not for the lousy weather. I have not anticipated 8 rainy days out of 10, otherwise I would have chosen another destination. The weather always make or break a holiday.

The Taiwanese are hospitable but I am always weary after hearing some much negative news about the tainted

food products which is badly regulated. Nevertheless, we still drank the bubble tea and ate the taiwan sausages.

The hot spring culture in Taiwan was inherited from the Japanese. I have to say that I wasn't too pleased whenever I see some locals bringing their small towels into the onsen pool. It would have been a big No No in Japan and the hygiene level is definitively not as refined as in Japan.

Overall a pleasant trip but not something I can do on an annual basis like how we

visit Japan. Think it will be a while before I return here and I will cover the southern part next time. :)

Day 9 - Jiufen, Shifen

2013-12-29T17:02:00.001+08:00

Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park

金瓜石黄金博物馆

The gold ecological park near Jiufen is free, as such, expect to see many tourists.

It is quite a pleasant stroll around the park despite the rain. The main attraction in this park is a giant gold bar weighing 220kg!

If you have been following the price of gold, it has fallen from a high of $1,700 to a low of $1,200 per 100oz in the last 12 months.

The gold "bar" in this park is worth 220kg x 38,738 = USD8.5m. Hmmm don't seem to see many security guards around though.

We paid for the optional tour into the deep tunnel used to mine for gold.

It's a good place to hide from the rain though.

"Miners" are strategically placed to educate visitors about the past history. The Japanese used to mine the gold from here.

Anyway, I think it is worth a detour from

Jiufen to visit here.

Jiufen 九份

It is said that this is a old mining town and got its name from a group of 9 families who always asked for 9 portions of everything.

I think it should look good except that you can't get the feel of old town unless you wait till night time after all the tourists have left.

This place is just too crowded for me as hordes of tourists from all over the world make this little town a "must visit" stop as a day trip from Taipei.

It is enjoyable if you can stroll down the alley but there are just too many people.

However if you want to hide from the crowd, you can try visiting the tea houses. There are many tea houses here but be prepared to pay for the tea in order to enjoy the peace.

The pot of tea with 2 pineapple snacks cost me more than NT$1,000. Ouch.

Alternatively, you can try the local snacks. The round prawn crackers is good (too delicious and forget to take a picture).

We tried the onion cake and the fish ball soup. Not bad actually.

There are many different types of fish balls.

Shifen 十分

This is the place to release sky lanterns. 天灯. Its quite fun to do this on a real railway track. Trains will be passing through once or twice per hour.

There are shops to wander around and watch out for the moving trains !

Osteria by Angie

We had enough of Chinese food and tried the Italian tonight. Run by Italian. (You can check out the website) if you intend to visit.

The food is decent and ambience good. Be sure to reserve as it was quite packed when we were there.

Radium Kagaya Beitou

We stayed for 3 nights here and we came basically for the onsen baths and tatami beds. The water in Beitou is average although it has a huge bath area.

They served the same buffet breakfast 3 mornings in a row and I was appalled as there wasn't much variety to begin with.

You wouldn't need to stay here unless you want some "Japanese" onsen experience.

Beitou Hot Springs

Opposite our hotel is the hot spring park where you can make use of the public baths for a very low price in swim suits.

It is actually a nice park and you can see steam from the flowing river. The hot springs was first discovered by a Japanese during the occupation.

Further up the park is the 地热谷. This is where the hot spring flows up from the earth freely.

This are within walking distance from the hotel and you can do this during a morning stroll. You can walk to this place from the subway as well.

Happy hot springing.

Day 8 - Leofoo Resort

2013-12-25T08:28:00.001+08:00

This is the hotel lobby with a stuffed animal. The ringed tailed lemurs came into the lobby to hide from the rain while we were checking in, creating a little panic along the way as staff went chasing after them.

Imagine staying inside a room that oversee the animals while they graze. Sounds like a perfect idea for the kids. Except that the animals don't feel up to it in the cold and rainy weather. Haha

The deco in the room had an African theme and there is a nice high table with high stools to view the animals outside.

Even the bar stools have leopard spots.

This is the view from our room window. In case you are wondering, no poo poo

smell.

A lonely zebra grazing the grass with the flamingoes as companions.

Ok finally they managed to lure 2 rhinos out to eat "breakfast".

Accordingly to the hotel liaison officer, the giraffes are on MC today as the cold weather is not suitable. Keke ^_^

Conclusion

Come to this resort only when the weather is good but unfortunately weather is beyond our control. Most people stayed for one night with a side visit to the Leofoo Theme Park. However, not for us this time. How to enjoy theme park rides in the rain ah...

上引水産

We decide to leave for the restaurant beside the fish market in Taipei to enjoy a nice lunch.

If you want nice sushi and sashimi and don't mind standing at the counters to eat, then this place is for you to buy and pack out. Cheap and good.

However, if you want to eat inside, they have a real stupid system. You can only choose to eat raw seafood OR sushi OR hotpot OR grilled seafood. Notice the big OR ? You can't have grilled seafood with sashimi.

In the end, we choose to have grilled seafood. I have to say the standard is so so. Nothing special.

Conclusion

Buy the ready to eat sashimi and sushi for takeaway. There are standing tables for consuming them outside the shop.

They are pretty fresh and good value for money. Don't bother with the grilled seafood (also known as 烧烤).

Day 7 - Sun Moon Lake - Leofoo Resort

2013-12-23T23:00:00.001+08:00

Cable Car to 九族文化村

This morning we took the cable car to the theme park - 九族文化村.

It was cold and foggy and you can't see a thing once the cable car moved up into higher land.

If you purchase the theme park tickets, the cable car ride is included but then hor... 没东西看.

九族文化村

The last time I visited this place was when I was a student on school exchange program. During my time, it was considered "prestigious" to be selected as only students who have contributed to the school are shortlisted.

Anyway the place has changed in the sense that it was build some rides and converted into a theme park. I guess it couldn't survive on pure cultural grounds.

We spent more time doing archery and taking rides than understanding the culture of the indigenous tribes, which is sad considering this is not what it is built for.

And after all these years, i still cannot understand why there is a European garden within the compound. Totally doesn't make sense.

If you ask me, I would haven't given this theme park a miss except that it is a typical "check box" on the "tourist's to do list".

We spent about 4 hours in the theme park before calling it a day and headed out for our next destination.

Leofoo Resort Guanshi 六福村

I will talk more about the resort in the next post. However I have to tell you that during this period, when you sing "mari-kita" in the restaurant, all the people except for the waiters will probably stand up so we decide to give the buffet a miss :-P

If you stay here, don't go for the buffet, try the set dinner here instead. The chef is pretty good and they use organic ingredients. You can use the buffet vouchers for the set dinner. They probably don't offer this to tour groups.

Starter - Scallops slightly seared with sour berry.

Soup - pumpkin soup with croutons.

Smoked salmon with greens and special sauce.

Stewed beef on a hot plate.

Dessert with fruits.

We met a Singaporean tour guide who came with the CTC group and has stayed in Taiwan for the last 11 years.

She recommended this "仙草" dessert in the restaurant and it was pretty good! Try it if you visit this resort next time.

Day 6 Sun Moon Lake

2013-12-23T16:53:00.001+08:00

It's raining again. Very suay (in hokkien) as i "activate" the wet weather plans.

Puli Wine Brewery

Have to find some indoor stuff to do. Visited the wine brewery famous for its 绍兴酒. This is where Japanese has some influence in the brewing of sake as well.

This is similar to our visit to vineyards where instead of barrels of wine, you see jugs of wine with strong alcohol content.

Frankly I don't know how to appreciate "Chinese" wine except that I know my liver will be crying for help.

Wow there is even a "wine" bank. Haha. Liquid gold!?!

Anyway this is some place to hide from the rain. Not really a place I would recommend unless you are a fan or hiding from the elements.

Paper Dome Church

This was brought to Taiwan from Kobe after the earthquake hit the region in 2000.

It would be meaningless to visit here if you don't catch the person giving a talk about how the paper church came to Taiwan. We were lucky to catch one as there was a tour group before us. Heng ah...Haha

Sun Moon Lake

This is the view of the "mysterious" Sun Moon Lake from our hotel room. Since we paid so much for this hot spring hotel, might as well check in early to enjoy the onsen and facilities.

Fleur de Chine Sun Moon Lake

Expensive but good. Would have given it full marks except for the disappointing dinner set that was included in the package. On hindsight, i think the buffet dinner would have been a better option. Will not post pictures of my dinner but my younger son had a great time eating the child's set meal and I have to admit it tasted great.

The hotel is equipped with a table tennis table, pool table, gym, x box kinetic and table games. This help pass the time as we gave 慈恩塔 a miss since we reckon we can't see anything from the top anyway.

Urrg... Rain rain go away...

Day 5 - Cingjing

2013-12-22T09:33:00.001+08:00

Managed to catch sunrise from Energy Vacation Home at around 7am today.

It is a rare sight for me given that this has been an unusually wet December. Better enjoy while it last.

青青草原

Look at the clear blue sky today. It's wonderful! But lasted only a day. Haha

There is a show where the 2 sheep dogs gather the sheep from the highlands into a sorting pen before a sheep was chosen to shave off its crowning glory.

The concept is similar to the NZ farm where there are sheep shearing shows but here will only be twice a day.

There is also a horse show by Mongolian riders included in the price of the ticket. Anyway, this is a "must visit" attraction in Cingjing but you will meet a lot of tour groups here.

Taiwan sausages

There is a nice sausage stall with a queue and different flavors. The one in the middle is nice. Here is the stall owner below.

Local Lunch specialty

I got this place from a fellow blogger who blog about his experience. The place was also visited by the hosts of 时尚玩家. The view here is excellent and the chicken is worth trying. You can give the fish head hot pot a miss. I will not post the picture here.

This is the view from the restaurant and the famous chicken is below. You will need to "dissect" the chicken with the pair of gloves given.

Swiss Garden

There is a Swiss Garden, I think you can give it a miss. Nothing much in there and my suggestion is that you can sit on the balcony of Carton King that oversees the Swiss Garden and you have seen almost all of the Swiss Garden. The only "fun" thing you can do inside is probably to feed the ducks and watch the musical fountain if you are feeling nostalgia about Sentosa.

Carton King

Everything in this cafe is made up of carton.

We had afternoon tea in the balcony overlooking the Swiss Garden.

The drink box can be turned into a piggy coin box. Good way to start saving for retirement. ^_^

Happy saving up! :)

Day 4 - Taroko Gorge - Cinging

2013-12-19T07:31:00.001+08:00

Taroko Gorge

The next morning continue to rain non stop so the only trail we can do is the Swallow's grotto. The usual touristy stuff.

With umbrella in one hand and camera in the other and viewing the gorge in its majestic self. While the rain causes inconvenience, it added a little layer of mysterious "fog" which makes the place like 仙境.

We drove to our next destination Cingjing after lunch. The rain make the drive a tad more dangerous.

He Huan San

Amazingly, the sky started to clear up while we were on our way to Cingjing and we managed to catch a glimpse of the famed 合欢山 which cater to people who wants to see sunrise.

There is a tour bus that comes up to this platform every morning for NT$400/pax at around 3-4am. My take is that you should take the bus only when the weather report is good, otherwise you will see nothing... See the mist surrounding the platform.

Wu Ling

Not far from He Huan Shan is Wu Ling, the highest point in that region. The view on a clear sunny day is good and today is our lucky day considering I just had a few days of rain. You can imagine that weather can make or break a holiday plan.

You can see it is a small winding road up to Wu Ling. interestingly this is the place where Japanese had a big fight against the local tribes where both sides suffered heavy losses.

Energy Vacation Home Village

Accommodation for the next two nights is 爱力家 where it is operated as a 民缩. The place is decent and basic to stay but nothing luxurious.

It's location is rather good though as it is located on a high ground where you can see sunrise at 7am in the morning and is within walking distance to Swiss Garden and is central to all major attractions.

It's hot pot dinner at the hotel tonight (wifey calls it a motel).

If you want a more cosy place to stay, I would recommend Shangri-la Hanging Garden that is just located beside my hotel. The only catch is you need to book Shangri-la hanging garden pretty early. The family that runs it is the Lo Family which also owns the more expensive Old England and Shangrila Music Box Castle.

Happy Cingjinging... Will show you more places in Cingjing tomorrow. The wifi at Energy Home is bad and I had trouble uploading my pictures. Haha

Day 3 - Taroko Gorge

2013-12-17T02:28:00.001+08:00

Su Hua Highway

Day 3 involves a drive along Su Hua highway between Yilan and Hualien. It is supposedly one of the most dangerous and scenic drive but we met with torrential rain (has been raining for 2 days in a row). A local told me subsequently that we should avoid the eastern part of Taiwan during winter.

The most unexpected thing happened. The sky turned clear for one hour for the time we passed by 清水断崖 that is located along the Su-Hua highway.

清水断崖

This is the place where the cliffs meet the Pacific Ocean, creating a spectacular coastline alone the east coast of

Taiwan.

The parking area is just outside a tunnel, so you have to watch out for it. You can walk all the way down to the beach from here but the view is the same if that is what you are thinking. We then proceed to Taroko Gorge (太鲁阁).

慈母桥

Anyway, it's still raining non stop in Taroko Gorge. We just have to make use of whatever umbrellas we have. The picture below is 慈母桥 on our way to the hotel.

Below the bridge is a huge rock with a shape like a frog and the little pagoda like shelter is the "crown". Sounds like the fairy tale story of "princess and the frog".

There are plenty of "marble" or more commonly known as "大理石" on the riverbed which Hualien is famous for, as you can see in the picture below (the white part).

Hiking trails

Rain rain go away. We wish the rain would stop. I have originally planned for a few hiking trips to Shakadang and LuShui Heliu Trails but the rain has derailed the plans. Having said that, the trails at Baiyang, Tunnel of nine turns and Changchun remained closed for repairs. I understand from the hotel concierge that the Changchun will reopen in December and according to some websites, the Baiyang trail is not to be missed.

Silks Palace Taroko

I chose a hotel that is very close to the Baiyang trail which I originally wanted to trek but that is now derailed.

This is the balcony outside our room. We have specifically requested for a room beside the river overlooking the gorge. Seemed like this is the least we can do..., that is to enjoy the scenery from our room. Here you go. The view from our room. (Remember to ask for a view of the gorge if you are staying there).

There is a temple nearby which you can hike to the top but not this time...

We ended up playing ping pong at the hotel...and wishing the rain will stop...

Day 2 - Yilan

2013-12-16T06:47:00.001+08:00

五峰旗瀑布 Wu Feng Qi waterfalls

This morning is for healthy living. We are hiking to the waterfalls. There are 3 levels of waterfalls and will take about an hour to and fro. It is within walking distance from our hotel.

This is my youngest son. Still going strong and leaving all of us behind.

Level 1 waterfall

Level 2 waterfalls

A thing I really wished Singapore has is more natural hiking trails. Like those in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Not too many unfortunately.

It started to drizzle and we decide to give level 3 waterfalls a miss and "cheong" back to the hotel. Our hotel is in the far distance and beside the river.

Ok enough of healthy lifestyle and time for the more touristy stuff..

Lanyang Museum

I admit it. We are not the museum kind. Haha. We are here to take picture of the unique architecture. The museum looks like a building that has collapsed into the lake. Here you go. Half submerged in the pond.

Lunch at 掌上名珠

This is apparently a very "sought after" dining venue. It was recommended by my Taiwanese friend and the lunch took more than 2 hours. Haha. I have say that the venue is nice but the food is so so.

This is where the lunch is... Very atas setting, I have to say. A 8 course "Omakase" lunch.

The menu is written above. Can you decipher it?

珍味

Local prawns that is too well cooked.

刺身

Sashimi that is fresh. But Taiwanese has an interesting way of eating sashimi. They like to squeeze some lime 吉 onto the sashimi.

烤贝

This is simply steamed scallops.

蒸物

This is basically egg with sea urchin (also known in Japan as uni). I felt that uni is wasted cooking in this way but the taste is unlike the Japanese version which taste soft and sweet. This Canadian uni is probably frozen and the texture is not as pleasing.

时品

The next dish is wagyu beef in pot. A waste of Wagyu?

食事

The next dish is a wired looking maki with strawberry inside. Let me insert the pix next time when I extract them from my camera.

土锅

This is the hot pot of local fish. The fish is quite "Q" meaning "bouncy" in Taiwanese.

甜品

Dessert is water custard with whipped cream on top.

National Center for traditional arts

This is like a theme park with traditional arts being maintained on 2 sides. Some shops will be selling traditional sweets while others selling traditional paper crafts like tops. Same as the one you played when you are young?

Thought of buying one owl back to Singapore for my house but it is really not cheap. Haha.

And a perfect way to end the day with a traditional Taiwan sausage. Haha

Day 1 - Yilan

2013-12-14T18:23:00.001+08:00

Flight

Day 1 is basically a traveling day. Our flight SQ 876 is at 830am and the day is gone by the time we checked into the hotel. I always enjoy taking a picture of our A380, a big airbus which happened to park beside us.

Car

Here is the 4D number for you this weekend and we stopped by a 7-11 to stock up on water and tidbits (to keep me awake so that I won't fall asleep while driving).

I booked the car from Avis. They didn't give me the GPS I requested. I always trust Garmin, having used it on numerous occasions. On this occasion, I am using Tom Tom... And I can tell you that I still prefer Garmin. Hope this Tom Tom won't bring me to "Holland"....

Accommodation - Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi

I am staying for 2 nights here. Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi. It is on a highland offering views of the plains with a Japanese style beds and hot spring baths.

This is the view from the lobby and dining area. The package includes half board and have enough activities to keep the kids busy... Expensive but good.

Another dining area for those who prefer not to jostle with the buffet crowd.

There is a hot spring bath in every room, but we didn't really use it. We prefer the big onsen pool at basement 1.

Taiwan has a hot spring culture inherited from the Japanese occupation that lasted more than 50 years. If you are not used to the Japanese hot spring culture, then this hot spring hotel is not for you. The spring water is mild and odorless.

Interestingly, this hotel endorses Thann (a Thai brand). There is a spa as well but since we have enough things to keep ourselves occupied, we didn't try the spa.

Balcony with 2 chairs to admire the greenery.... Not that I have a lot of chance to use those. Haha.

This is the view from the balcony in the room. Pretty relaxing for the eyes isn't it.

That's it for today 1. I will share with you more things for day 2 tomorrow. It's pretty ironic but the rain has followed us from Singapore to Taiwan and has started to drizzle.... :-(

December T Holidays

2013-12-07T11:26:00.000+08:00

I went through the stocks on our local market, frankly nothing to talk about except it is likely to continue sleeping with downside bias. Seemed like i have not missed much during my busy work schedule in November.

I am more excited about my upcoming family vacation for which i think i really need one to recharge myself for the next year... (always have excuses to go for holidays).

We changed our travel destination from one T to another T this year. We have been visiting Japan for the last few years (central and southern part) and decided to finally give it a miss this year amidst all the unreported radiation north of Tokyo and visit another T instead... see the map and you can guess it.

I thought it will be a good thing to start blogging for my travelogue (to beef up some substance here) and to try doing it "live" 实地报导 daily, since it is my dream to go travel round the world one day so bear with me if you are a "friend" only for the IPO blog...the travel part comes with it as well since travelling is part of Mr. IPO's life. haha

Anyway, the last time i really toured Taiwan when i was there on a student exchange program. That was when i was 15.... and it has been so many many years since, other than for business trips in between to Taipei. So my travel itinerary will go like this. A - B - C - D - E - F for a total of 10 nights and i will be setting off next week. Cannot tell you the exact dates in case some burglars are reading my blog. haha but watch this space. :)

Happy holidaying and remember to take a break to recharge too.

My little planner

Air China

2013-11-16T20:57:00.001+08:00

I recently took a flight from Hong Kong to Beijing via Air China.

The takeaway is like this, you start to appreciate Singapore Airlines after you get to take Air China.

Let me share with you what went wrong.

Punctuality

The flight was delayed by more than an hour. Punctuality is a big issue! There were a few in my flight who missed their connecting flights to USA and those poor guys will have to stay over for one more night.

Food

The air stewardess came up to me and instead of asking what i would like to eat, she said, sorry sir. We only have the vegetarian rice left. Would you like to havr it? I was thinking to myself.. "Are you kidding? This is business class and you tell me I only have vegetarian food left?"

I told the air stewardess, "err what do you expect me to say?" But without losing my temper, I just said "it's ok, I will go without lunch". Somehow miraculously, a plate of main course of sesame chicken was served eventually but this incident has already left a bad taste in my mouth.

Anyway, the food was mediocre.

Smoking

After the flight took off, I went to the toilet behind the pilot cockpit only to find it locked. The next thing I know, the pilot came out and I went in only to find a light tinge of cigarette smell in the cubicle. My goodness, the pilot has been smoking inside!

In flight entertainment and seat

I didn't bother with watching any movie or trying out the entertainment system after seeing how manual the seats are. Haha. I definitely have been taking the inflight entertainment, large tv screen and comfortable leather seats in SQ for granted.

Singaporeans

Perhaps this is somewhat similar to Singaporeans? We never know how good and efficient our country is until we lose it?

The plane landed in Beijing 2 hours past its scheduled time. The "haze" appeared to be better than I expected. In fact, the air in Beijing was deceivingly better than Hong Kong.

Don't be deceived by the pictures above. It is still very unhealthy to run outside and no one is exercising.

Start appreciating Singapore?

Don't wait till you lose the clean air in Singapore before you start appreciating our air!

Happy breathing!

The Amalfi Coast

2013-09-29T09:43:00.001+08:00

The Amalfi Coast is one of those trips which you should do even if you are not a driving enthusiast.

It is located south of Rome in Italy and is a stretch of coast line starting from Sorrento all the way down to the town of Amalfi. There are many small towns along the coast line for exploration but given our short holiday schedule, we only stayed for 5 nights along the coast line with 3 nights in Sorrento and 2 nights in Amalfi.

I will highlight some of the towns we visited in this post and try to follow up with a more detailed post at a later stage on each town when I have the time.

Sorrento

Sorrento is a good place to base yourself because there are many day trips which you can do and there are enough places to wander around in the town.

You can also see Mt Vesuvius in the distant that bury the town of Pompeii.

There are many lemon and orange plantations in the town and they are for sale. The lemons is a critical ingredient for making Limoncello. A strong drink to end your dinner.

From Sorrento, you can make day trips to the following places.

Pompeii

This poor city was buried by a strong volcano eruption from Mt Vesuvius. This is a huge area and without many trees for shades. It will be good to come either early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid the tons of tourists that descend on it as day trips from Rome. To understand the history of this place better, it will be good to join a guided tour at the entrance. We only managed to cover a small part of the excavated site.

Island of Capri

You can get to this island on a ferry. This is the playground for the rich and famous. You can find many high class shops on this island such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton and spend many hours wandering along the streets. There was supposedly a blue grotto where one can take the small boats to visit the blue reflections in a small cave. I suspect that was probably a tourist trap and avoided it.

Besides doing day trips, you can also stay in one of the small towns along the coast. I highlight two of the small towns we visited.

Positano

Positano is like a picture from a post card. You can stay in some of the boutique hotels along the cliff that offer you a sweeping view of the small town and sea but be prepared for the many tourists that visit the town during the day. It is a good place to stay for a night if you intend to explore the small town at your own pace. Be warned, it can get tiring walking up and down the steps from where you stay to get into the town.

Amalfi

Unlike the town of Positano, Amalfi is a working town. You actually feel that you are staying with the residents here and it is definitely less feel touristy than Positano or Sorrento. There is a Cathedral near the entrance as well. We stayed here in an old villa perched on top of the hill and unless you are residents or hotel guests, you cannot parked in the town. There is an old paper mill where you can try to make paper and you can also take a cruise from here to the island of Capri and get a spectacular view on the Amalfi Coast from the sea.

Ravello

From Villa Cimbrone in Ravello, you can get a spectacular view on the towns of Amalfi below. In fact you can hike between the towns but we didn't try to do this.

Driving along the Amalfi Coast

This was my first time driving in Europe and I chose one of the most dangerous and spectacular coastline. Imagine doing that with a manual car on the left hand drive. Haha. I was careless in my booking as I have assumed all the cars to be automatic. This was a deadly assumption. Always assume all rental cars in Europe to be manual unless stated otherwise. The drive would have been much easier if it is an automatic car but nevertheless, it created a strong impression as it was more than 15 years since I last drove a manual car and you can imagine my car stalling when traffic is slow.

Parking is not cheap along the coast as it is scarce but nevertheless there are ample commercial parking if you don't visit during the summer peak of July and August. We were there during June.

That is it for this weekend. If you want to know more about the towns, feel free to drop a note but nowadays, it is so easy to google and plan your trip using the Internet. All of my trips have been self planned since 2002. You should try it too if you have always been on a packaged tour. I assure you, you will regret why you didn't do it earlier.

PPS Club

2013-09-21T17:37:00.001+08:00

Received this package this month. If you asked me one year ago, I probably would have dismissed it as impossible but a change in what i do in the last 12 months somewhat altered my "destiny" and I am fated to be a PPS member after all. More appropriately so since my travelogue is about our nation's airline.

Here you go. Some pictures of the meals I have been eating. There is a price to pay for the frequent travels. My waistline has expanded as well.

You only live once.

2013-09-02T02:34:00.001+08:00

This is my first time catching a live football match in England. It is one of those things which I want to do before I kick the bucket. That is where the term "bucket" list comes from.

The derby match between Arsenal and Tottenham is always full of rivalry. I am sure all derby matches are similar. It was an awesome experience and the atmosphere is electrifying. I must admit the "English" fans are crazy and passionate and this is what makes the English football exciting for foreign players and coaches as well. But watching this using "secondary" market is pretty expensive as all the official tickets were sold out way in advance. This experience comes at a "heavy price" of around 200 pounds... Ouch...Hahaha. But what the heck, I only live once and the Sunday kick off timing was "perfect" to let me combine leisure on a working trip. :)

Happy doing up your own little list and make it happen. ^_^