Journey of Life

The Natural hot spring Next on the second day of the itinerary was the Krabi natural hot spring located at Amphoe Khlong Thom, It was about 70 km from Ao Nang city center. The hot spring mineral waterfall comes down from the nearby mountain and there are many hollowed-out 'bathtubs' which are caused by the running water from the thermal springs. We were given 20 minutes and took a chance soaked in the hot spring.

Our long-tail boat number 15 We visited Phuket back in 2011, where we had an island hopping tour to Phi Phi and Phanga Bay. Phi Phi island is the most beautiful island in Andaman -- which I would highly recommend, depart either from Krabi or Phuket. So, this time around, we decided to get only one day of island trip, which is the 4 island trip. This full-day tour cruised on a traditional long-tail boat to 4 beautiful small islands near Railay beach. Swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing, and photography  the main activities to enjoy along the trip guided by Shai, Alex, Momo and Tata.

KLIA2 in the evening Sawa Dee ! We just got back from a year-end holiday to Krabi. What is it like to get tanned over the Andaman seabed or lush with greenery respite from the sun? Well, we will share our way of doing things. That day, it was bright. The AirAsia outbound flight departed as scheduled in the evening. Arrived at Krabi Airport nearly half past five, we booked a two-day trip at the travel agency available that costs THB 4,400 (2 adults, 1 child) for 4-islands day trip and hot-spring waterfall visit with elephant trekking. I've been told by the taxi driver that took us to Ao Nang, it is more expensive to book the trip at the airport. However, it was the same prices upon checking with abundant local agencies in Ao Nang. Anyway, the private transfer from the airport to Ao Nang costs us THB 600, and there is an option of a bus-ride for THB 150/person.

Stop over at Sungai Selangor dam. We succeed to book the Rumah Peranginan Perseketuan months earlier using the new system. It was quite troublesome as my wife need to make the payment at Putrajaya as opposed to the old online payment system. Anyway, the bungalow is really big coming with all the necessities. Let me share ours short retreat away from the bustling city on the November 27-29, It was short 2 hours drive, but really challenging when we uphill. The small and winding road made my drive difficult.

Sagano Scenic Railway The last two days of this trip ended with Sagano day trip. We opted to skip the Kinkakuji and Ryoanji Temple. It takes around 20 minutes to reach Saga Arashiyama station using Sanin Main Line from the city of Kyoto. Once we arrived at the Saga Arashiyama, there was another station, Saga Torokko Station, outfitted with nostalgic trains featuring wooden benches. The 25 minutes ride took us towards the Arashiyama station given us a pleasant view of the scenery through the forested ravine and rough river.

We started the 9th day with a Nara day trip. Embarked Kintetsu Limited Express at Kyoto Station, we headed to the Kintetsunara Station to meet Yoshiko Hatcho. She was our guide for that day, called Naramachi Walk. We met her in front of the Tourist Information Center. Luckily, only 5 people, the Helen's couple from Melbourne including us, joined this tour. Considered it as private tours, Mrs Yoshiko will guide us through the old-town of Nara. We also booked a private lunch at one of the local resident. We had splendid meal served with generosity. I recommend you to this link if you guys plan to visit Nara.

Some parts of the castle were  under renovation It was a fine day on the 2nd day while we were in Kyoto. We actually planned to visit the Kyoto Imperial Palace on the day, however, we were not able to book for a guided palace tour prior to arrival in Japan. There were only two English-speaking session, at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm that was fully booked. So we end-up to visit Nijo Castle, which we skipped on the day we arrived in Kyoto. We took Karasuma Line to Karasumaoike station and change to Tozai Line towards Nijo-jo. ICOCA card was used throughout our stay in Kyoto. While we were enjoying our morning brisk walk, it starts drizzling.

The iconic symbol of USJ. We didn't plan to visit USJ on the days we were in Osaka as we planned to do it on a weekday. So, we thought to visit USJ when we stayed in Kyoto, but we had to travel about an hour from Kyoto station. We had to change trains twice to get to the Universal City station. Starting early in the morning, we had to crowd in the train. While managed to reach the Universal City before 8 am, though the USJ scheduled to be opened at 9:30 am. We took the opportunity to wander around the city. We've been to Universal Studio Singapore few years back. But certainly each park would have their own uniqueness. Of course, the Harry Potter was the highlight of the day....

This is the Takamatsu Station integrated with the mall On the third day in Takamatsu, we both presented our technical papers. Then, in the afternoon we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto, about 2 hour journey, using the JR rail pass. Another 2 days left for the rail pass usage, as we planned to use it for the day of Takamatsu-Kyoto and for the Universal Studio Osaka trip, wait for our next post!

The ferry to Shodoshima Island was really cozy. We didn't plan any sightseeing trip because I was thinking just to visit attractions around Takamatsu city, but we had a short trip to Shodoshima Island. From the Takamatsu port, we bought one way ferry ticket to Tonosho port that cost us ¥1050 and ¥530, for adult and child, respectively for a 70 minute journey. There were two things that synonymous to this island, famous as the setting of the twenty-four eyes Japanese film and the first place in Japan that successfully grows olive. We visited both attractions apart from the other recommended sites

We supposed to attend the SNPD conference for 2.5 days, yet no one is willing to sit and hear all of the papers presented :-P. So, I chosen papers presented that most relate to my works and interests. After breakfast, we just wander around the Sunport Hall. Breakfast for the champions!

The Japanese breakfast meal  is so delicious I woke up early on the 3rd day and used the self-laundry service provided by the hotel. We were provided with two choices of main breakfast along with simple buffet-style add-on. We chose a western meal on the first day of stay and Japanese meal on the next day. Takamatsu was our next destination. Before heading to the city, we stopped at Kobe city to visit Kobe-Sanda Premium Outlet

Tennojii street and the Tsutenkaku Tower Summer in Japan, you have to wake up as early as 3am to have your Suboh prayer that lasted at almost 5am. As we skipped Minami attack yesterday, We started early on the 2nd day to cover Shinsaibashi later in the evening. After a simple western breakfast, we took a Sakaisuji line to the Ebisucho station in Tennoji. We took full advantage of the Osaka Amazing Pass on the second day.  We visited the Tsutenkaku Tower to enjoy the panoramic view of the Shitennoji area from the observatory deck in the morning. However, we missed the nostalgic Shinsekai (Osaka's new world) experience during pre-WWII as most of the shops still closed. The tower was constructed in 1912 after Paris' Eifel Tower also homed 'Wakuwaku Land' that brings big name Glico.

Good boy! We visited another one of east Asian country, Japan. This time we visited several cities in Kansai, Shikoku and Chugoku region. Our flight departed well at almost 12 midnight, and safely landed at the KIX airport on the early next day. It is just too early for hotel check-in, so we decided to have our first shopping at Rinku Premium Outlet. Just stone away from the airport, RPO is reachable either by train or shuttle bus provided at the airport. After settling down with the JR rail pass and the 'Osaka amazing pass', we took Kansai airport line to the Rinku Town station.