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Just shy of her 7th month old birthday, wifey and I brought Ashley back to Kuching to visit my parents, especially my dad who had yet to see her. At the rate Ashley is growing, I thought it would be important for dad to see her before she outgrew her “babyhood”. In addition, I was really looking forward to taking a short break after an extremely hectic past few months at work! Oh yes, and lest I forget, it had actually been years before I last went back to Kuching (that was when I brought Zhiyi’s family with me for a parent-meet-parent session right before our wedding). Yeah, it was that long ago.

A few nights before we were due to fly back, my mum called with news that Kuching was blanketed with haze thanks to mass “slash-and-burn” activities being conducted illegally by plantation owners in Sarawak and Kalimantan. Zhiyi and I were very worried as we didn’t want Ashley to develop any respiratory problems during the trip. If I recall, the last time Kuching was so severely affected by haze, people could barely see beyond a distance of a few meters and everyone except emergency personnel was ordered to stay at home. However, we really praise God that the night before the flight, it finally rained (and pretty heavily too!), and as a result the haze was gone the next day!

The Kwok family at Changi Terminal 2 getting ready to head towards the boarding lounge.

Ashley trying to wear her seat belts without much success.

I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again… (anyone don’t know this song? heh)

After a pretty uneventful one and a half hour flight, we finally touched down at Kuching International Airport. My first impression was “Wow!”. Compared to the last time I was in Kuching, the airport had transformed into a full-blown muti-story fully air-conditioned airport with glass walls giving it a very modern look. It’s encouraging to see that Kuching is modernizing its infrastructure!

We have arrived!

Home sweet home! Ashley with my dad in the living room.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping for baby food and another teether for Ashley. Her favourite flower-shaped teether was accidentally destroyed when we tried to sterilize it with water that was too hot. We ended up visiting many many department stores and supermarkets but many didn’t stock Ashley’s favourite Gerber brand. When we finally found a supermarket (Parkson) that carried this brand, we loaded up with more bottles than we needed to take back to Singapore since the price was rather cheap. Ah, kiasu-ism… Haha!

After dinner, Uncle Wilfred came over with a huge bag of durians (it was durian season apparently) and mum and daughter just went crazy with them. I swore not to get anywhere near Ashley’s diapers the next morning after seeing how much durian she ate (at least it seemed quite substantial for a baby!).

Till this day, I’m still amazed at how quickly Ashley took to liking the taste of durians. Definitely not due to my genes!!!

As 4 of my buddies – Changky, Merv, Princess & Guppy – are going to Japan in one week’s time, I thought I’d put up some pictures to provide further inspiration for their itinerary. As they are travelling there during winter, what better than to show photos from my Dec 2001 Osaka ski trip!

Thanks to my hamster memory, I can’t quite remember the name of the ski resort that I went to nor how I got there. But, what I do remember was taking a half a day’s journey from Osaka just to reach Yoka station (I vaguely recall this being north of Osaka). From Yoka, it was another 1-2 hours bus ride up the mountain to a small village where I spent the night in a ryokan (aka traditional Japanese inn).

Me standing outside the Yoka train station – full of energy and anticipation despite the long journey.

Staying in a ryokan is quite an experience. Firstly, you get to rent a very nice and huge room for a fraction of the price you would pay for a hotel room. However, unlike a hotel room, the rooms tend to be very sparsely furnished, providing only the bare essentials like a heating table, some mattresses and a television set. The ryokan I stayed in did not have an adjoining toilet and I had to walk a good 50 metres just to get to the bath area (it was quite a long ryokan!). For first timers in Japan, don’t be alarmed if you can’t find any cubicles for bathing. Communal bathing seems to be a part of Japanese culture. Furthermore, ensure that you’ve properly soaped and showered before jumping into the hot tub/pool/springs.

It was an amazing bus ride up the mountain as my arrival at the village coincided with the first snowfall of the season. Snow is soft and fluffy when it lands on you; and, it leaves you feeling all soggy after that.

Another highlight of staying in a ryokan is that you get to enjoy a nice home cooked meal prepared by the hosts. I’m not sure if this applies to ryokans in the city but it certainly applies to those in the countryside! During my trip, I had the pleasure of feasting on a traditional steamboat meal consisting of shitakke mushrooms, beef, winter crab and other assortments of vegetables.

After a full night’s rest, I proceeded to the foot of the mountain (which was just a 5 minute’s walk away from the ryokan) to take a ski lift up to the ski resort.

Unlike better developed ski resorts, the ski lift from this particular base station was quite antiquated, with each seat consisting of a mere pole and a 30cm by 30cm plank! Picture me clinging for my dear life with my oversized butt spilling off the edges of the seat, feat dangling in mid air 10-20 metres above 45 degree inclinations, arms delicately balancing metre long skis while nimbly trying to snap photos at the same time. All these without insurance coverage!

Me enjoying the majestic view of the mountains from the safety of the beginner’s slope. Sunglasses are highly recommended as the glare from the snow causes sunburns easily.

Finally, after reaching the top, there were only a good 2 hours of skiing left before having to ski back down in time for sunset. There were other resort buildings at the top and thanks to the year end holidays, the place was packed with parents and kids. In fact, it was quite embarrassing skiing at the beginner’s slope as the kids there kept on overtaking me left, right and centre. There were a couple of accidents too prior to me mastering the V-shape breaking technique, resulting in me landing many times in the soft and fluffy snow. Believe me, it is not easy to get up when your body is halfway deep in the snow and your metre long skis somehow found a way to knot themselves around each other.

Skiing down the mountain slopes, whizzing past the towering trees on both sides of the road at a blistering speed of 1 km/h. What to do… scared of going too fast and skiing off the edge.

And that’s was my winter vacation in 2001! I can’t wait for the next chance to go skiing again with my buddies whenever and wherever that will be! Oh, and here’s a great resource for anyone planning a ski trip up to Japan:
SNOW JAPAN

Zhiyi and I made a short getaway to Phuket on the 13th to 16th Aug for much needed break. Although I’ve never really been fond of Thailand (despite never being there!), I’ve heard many great things about its beautiful islands and experience as a shopping paradise. True enough, I wasn’t disappointed after this short excursion!

Upon arriving, we were taken for a city tour as we could only check into our hotel at noon. One of our destinations was the Phuket Gem Centre which is one of the biggest in the world, if their slightly outdated looking marketing video is to be trusted. Not only that, Phuket happens to be one of the largest producers of pearls in the world.

The workshop where gem cutting, polishing and setting is done.

Phuket’s most famous tourist location is Patong Beach, a few kilometre stretch of beach that is packed with hotels, eateries and shops. In fact, our hotel was a mere 3 minute walk from the beach (which also meant it was quite badly hit by the tsunami of 26th Dec 2005).

Not much watersports going on due to the huge waves caused by the monsoon season.

We were fortunate enough to be able to get accomodation at the Bura Sari Hotel as we found out later on that the hotel was fully booked. There were a lot of Western and Japanese tourists on the whole in Phuket although the number of Chinese tourists paled in proportion. I guess it has something to do with this being the ghost month or something like that. Despite there being over 2000 deaths in Phuket during the tsunami, I am glad to say that nothing went bump in the night and we slept very soundly in our beautifully decorated hotel room.

The pool right next the the hotel lobby. Some rooms on the ground floor even had steps going directly into the pool!

Patong is also famous, or should I say infamous, for its nightlife. Transvestites and scantily clad women prowl Bangla Street and discos blare loud thumping music all around. However, what we really enjoyed was the fact that many shops stay open until midnight and we had a great time shopping for clothes almost every night we were there.

The start of Bangla Street, the most crowded and happening street along Patong Beach. There was a huge two story disco called Tiger Disco that I couldn’t resist taking a photo of for my good friend (you know who you are!).

Seafood in Phuket is also very cheap compared to Singapore and we took full advantage of it by feasting on tiger prawns. Tiger prawns are HUGE, and they cost over $10 in Singapore. However, over there, they only cost around $3-$4 for one prawn (70-100 baht for 150 grams to be more precise and 100 baht = approx $4). Still expensive but just two of those deliciously fried critters are enough to fill our stomachs.

Sunday night: Tiger prawns steamed in garlic sauce and fried in butter sauce. Monday night: Tiger prawns fried with dried chilli and butter sauce. *BURP*

Finally, the good part! Our day trip to Phi Phi Island – one of the most picturesque islands along the west coast of Thailand. Our boat ride there took over 2 hours as we couldn’t travel by speedboat which would’ve been too bumpy for pregnant wifey. However, I found out that slow isn’t too good either as the smell of engine fumes and people smoking can also make one nauseous after awhile! Two very famous beaches on Phi Phi Island are Maya Bay (where the movie The Island was filmed) and Monkey Beach (where families of monkeys call it home). We had a chance to go snorkeling along Monkey Beach and the experience was simply breathtaking. Never in my life have I felt the sensation of so many fishes swimming alongside me as I explored the beautiful corals a few metres below.

Look at how clear and blue the waters along Phi Phi Island are. Imagine hundreds and thousands of those fishes you see in saltwater aquariums swimming right below!

Stopping at Phi Phi Island for a quick lunch and some shopping. Note: Jame Born was here!

The beautiful and intricately designed soap carvings really caught our eye. They look good AND smell good!

Sad to say, our wonderful adventure had come to an end. But, the fun activities, beautiful islands and hospitality of the people are some of the things that we definitely look forward to visiting again one day!

After suffering from many days of braindeadness, I’ve finally managed to muster up enough willpower to make another post, this time using the power of pictures to help me along (though, how I managed to be braindead for the last eleven days without anyone pulling my feeding tube is beyond me).

Anyway, da-da-da-dum, here are some funny pictures I took of Engrish in action during my recent trip to Tokyo. For the unitiated, Engrish refers to “humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design.” (definition taken from Engrish.com)

Who needs coffee when you have burgers that can do the job! Really needed this after a 7 hour overnight flight.

I wish all my snacks were produced with natural light and “wind in the greenery”.

Yes, Tokyo already feels like my hometown. Just a century more advanced…

I never cease to be amazed at Japanese innovation, like how they keep their used eggs fresh.

Ok this is not really Engrish, but it’s amazing how much Japanese love smoking that they even have bars for that.

Now, just what do you mean by hair “cut”? Am I MAD enough to find out?

Can’t stand being the other guy? I can’t even stand myself!

Happy bathday to me, smell me once and you’ll flee…

Speaking of bathday, I mean birthday, today we celebtrated the birthdays of Yixi and Alfred, a dear sister and brother in our caregroup. I must say how joyful it is to have these two folks in our CG as they are always so gentle, honest and sincere. Congratulations and Happy Birthday guys! Hope this coming year is the year that the Lord has made for you both, as you continue to walk and put your trust in Him.

Photos are up on PBase! Click on the pic below for the pictures.

And to wrap up this very Engrish post, this one’s for you guys:
Only one candle for each,
Only one decade apart,
Only one lifetime to outreach,
For the one God that lives in our heart.

Ever since seeing Charlie Sheen in Hot Shots say “I’m going to Disneyland!” after successful saving the world, I knew that Disneyland was a magical place that I simply had to visit in my lifetime. And what an adventure it was! We spent the whole day at Tokyo DisneySea lapping up the rides, performances and great scenery, all for the price of only 5500Y! How I wished we had a theme park like this in Singapore instead of the new proposed casino.

Click on the image below to view pictures of our day three adventures.

We were blessed with very good weather on day two. The sun was shining brightly, the skies were blue and the temperature was slightly warmer. We took the opportunity to visit popular tourist attractions like Akihabara (electronic district), Asakusa (old town district), Tokyo Bay and Odaiba Park.

Things seemed to be going well, almost too well, as we went from place to place lapping up all the wonderful sights that the city could offer us. Naturally, you can’t have too much of a good thing, and halfway through the day, my camera batteries died. Thank God, wifey and Ming were understanding and accomodated my request to return to our hotel for 2-3 hours to charge my camera (without which, the beautiful night shots of Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba Ferris Wheel would not have been possible!).

Click on the image below to view pictures of our day two adventures.

Check out my bro Tigerming’s blog too for a great and funny writeup of our day-to-day adventures!

Firstly, contrary to popular belief, I’m quite relieved to be back home in Singapore (actually my wallet is, not me).

Secondly, this post has got nothing to do with the movie whose title you see above (although it also stars two guys and a gorgeous babe).

Finally, for all the folks that told me 5 days in Tokyo is too long, I say, stop signing up for tour-groups and try exploring Tokyo free and easy. It’s only by walking around unhurriedly, braving the chaotic subway system, and sampling the exotic eateries, that one gets to truly soak up the vibrancy and atmosphere of this city that never sleeps.

So without further ado, I present to you day one of our adventures in the land that gave the world anime, manga and sushi!

Click on the image below to view pictures of our day one adventures.

Ever look back at your life and wonder how much of the world you’ve seen?

For me, no.

But!

Paying a visit to Hendrik’s blog and noticing this cool link, I decided to take stock of all those exotic destinations on this planet I’ve set foot on. The results? I need to get out of the house more.

The red spots you see account for all the places I’ve been to. Using complex mathematical and graphical analysis (aka sophisticated guesswork), it is not difficult to see that I’ve visited only 3% of the countries in this world. With much luck, and a fat pay rise, I might be able to colour more of that map red in the years to come.

Well, at the very least, I’ve gotta go Disneyland.

Update: End of 2010 – Still not doing that much better!