This is our fourth trip to Singapore but I am still excited. Singapore is a vibrant and constantly evolving city. I am sure this year we’ll have new things to discover again.

We’re also looking forward to a trip to Legoland Malaysia.

Legoland Malaysia is in Johor Bahru but I hear it’s only an hour away from Singapore. It just opened recently. If I am not mistaken, it opened middle of last year.

We’re going there because our son is a big fan of Lego. I am sure it will be quite an experience for him being there.

I have only booked our flight and hotel but I haven’t booked our tickets and transportation to Legoland yet. I will start researching this week.

How about you guys? Where are you going this year? Any special travel plans?

Manila fireworks seen from our hotel room.

We went to the Philippines to celebrate the holidays there. We stayed in my home province for Christmas and we went back to Manila for the New Year’s celebration.

It was a hectic vacay but every moment was priceless.  Nothing beats celebrating Christmas holidays in the Philippines.

How did you spend your holidays?

Here’s wishing everyone a year filled with love, happiness, prosperity and of course travels! May this year be the best yet.

xxx

My favorite airport so far is Changi International Airport in Singapore. It’s beautiful, clean, huge and with all the comforts a traveler could ask for.

The worst airport experience for me would have to be at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. There was not enough chairs at the boarding lounge (we were flying Emirates) and not enough dining choices inside.

Anyway, I am here to talk about Haneda International Airport.

When we arrived at Haneda airport, I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the place because we were in a hurry to catch our bus to the hotel. But I already noticed that it’s huge and orderly.

When we were about to fly out of Tokyo, we had ample time to roam around the airport.

Hubby and I loved the commercial area of the airport. It’s so Japanese (of course!). Here are some of our pictures.

They have an observation deck which we weren’t able to check because we stayed too long having our dinner. LOL! I would have loved to explore the rest of the airport but we had to check-in already.

For me, Haneda International Airport has just joined the list of my favorite airports. Where is your favorite airport?

We woke up a little bit late, around 8:30am probably. Took a leisurely breakfast at Starbucks Shibuya and went to ride the train going to Tokyo Station.

Hubby, inside one of Tokyo’s clean and efficient trains.

Inside Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station at the background, the prominent red brick building. Tokyo Station is one of the busiest railway station in Tokyo and home to a lot of high-speed train lines. It first opened on December 1914 and was destroyed during the world war in 1945. The present structure is undergoing renovation and is expected to be finished by next year.

After countless picture taking around Tokyo Station, we proceeded to Imperial Palace which is just walking distance from Tokyo Station.

The boys at the entrance to Imperial Palace

The Palace itself is actually not accessible to the public, only the park outside. I’ve read though that on the Emperor’s birthday (December 23) and January 2 (New Year’s Greeting), visitors are allowed inside the Palace grounds and garden and if luck is in your side, you might see the members of the Imperial family on their balcony as they make several appearances.

Are these bonsai trees? They look like bonsai but bigger of course.

View of the Marunouchi buildings from the Imperial Palace area

The Nijubashi Bridge, two bridges that form an entrance to the inner palace grounds.

After Imperial Palace, we rested at this park in front of the Palace. The weather was nice and it was a good day to just sit back and relax. But the curiosity to discover Ginza prevailed more, so we headed there.

Ginza is where you should go if you have stash of money to spend because from what I read, everything is expensive here. Our guide during the Mt. Fuji trip said, Tokyo people just go to Ginza to window shop.

But of course, that did not stop us from going there. In fact, it has made us more intrigued.

Ginza

Printemps, the famous Paris based department store is also in Ginza.

Ginza Station

At Chou Dori. One of the main streets of Ginza. This is where the flagship store of Uniqlo is found. Of course, we did not hesitate to go there.

Uniqlo flagship store in Ginza, all 12 floors of it! It’s a shopping heaven for budget shoppers like us! See, not everything in Ginza is expensive

Our last day in Tokyo couldn’t have ended better – a little bit of history, parks, and shopping.

Thailand is considered to be one of the top destinations in Asia, and one of the most cost-effective for visitors due to its plethora of budget-friendly activities, attractions, and shopping opportunities. Here, you can spend many a day surrounded by turquoise waters and warm beach sand, or take to the cities and explore the local culture.

1. Market Mayhem
The busy markets of Thailand are well-known, and you can get almost anything under the sun from within one. Items on sale vary from fresh fruit and toys, to a three-piece formal suit that’s tailored to fit – and it’s free to wander around and watch others bargain. One note to those who are new to haggling – do some research on the average sales price of certain items, so you don’t get ripped off, and so you don’t rip off the stall owner – they’re trying to make a living after all. If you’re after a unique market destination, take a water taxi to the Taling Chan Floating Market. A word of caution is that the Thai’s will vary their asking price, depending on which nationality you are – so if they think you’re from Australia, they’ll usually charge you double, whereas if they think you’re South African, the price is usually halved.

2. Beach Baby
The beach of Maya Bay. By ccdoh1 (Flickr)

With such a vast variety of beaches to go to, it can be hard to decide which you’d like to set foot on first. One of the most lauded areas to head to, which was shown in the film “The Beach” with Leonardo Di Caprio in the early 2000s, is Maya Bay in Phi Phi. It’s one of the best diving sites available in Thailand and the crystal waters, snow white sand, and some sunblock, are all you need for a great day out. There are three beaches here, with the longest being 200m. You may have to pay a small entrance fee as this is a National Park, which you are then welcome to wander through.

3. History

Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai Historical Park. By Paulrudd (Creative Commons)

Within the Sukothai Historic Park, visitors will get the chance to view a variety of ruins from the original capital city of Sukhothai, which was the Siamese seat of power in the 13th century. Sukothai translated means “Dawn of Happiness”. The slowly crumbling architecture showcases the start of the Thai style, and the various carved pillars, ornate friezes, and Buddha’s are still in a good condition, many still bearing traces of the original brightly-coloured paint flecks. The admission price to the park costs a mere $2, and you can spend a full day exploring on foot or biking between,the numerous points of interest.

4. Head to the Top
The western parts of Thailand, like Kanchanaburi Province, are an outdoor paradise characterised by lush forests, waterfalls, streams, and hiking trails. For those who are looking for a full-day trip, the Erawan Waterfall and Srinakarin Lake Tour are recommended. Here, you can swim in clear waters to revive yourself after a tiring hike through the jungle, as the sound of the waterfall echoes around you and lulls you back into a state of calm.

5. Cultural Stops

The Wat Chiang Man temple is the oldest Buddhist temple in the city. By Adam Carr (Creative Commons)

For those looking to enter one of the gorgeously ornate Buddhist temples, head to Chiang Mai where there are over 300 shrines and temples. Most are free of charge, provided you stay quiet and respectful of the monks – you’re entering their holy space after all. While here, take some time to appreciate the gorgeous gildings and decorations as you walk through the various rooms and chambers.

Author Bio: Roseanna McBain is a writer for TravelGround. She enjoys learning about the fascinating cultures around the world, along with their beliefs and myths. In summer you’ll find her out and about in Cape Town, likely along one of the numerous hiking trails.

I am not complaining though. The places we’ve been to: Paris, Brussels, Singapore, Hongkong, Bali, etc are also places I would want to visit myself. And our recent travel to Japan has also been a long wish of mine. We just have to include Disneyland for EJ.

Tokyo Disneyland on Halloween Theme

Park Tickets 1-Day Passport:
Adults (ages 18 and above) – ¥6,200
Junior (ages 12-17) – ¥5,300
Child (ages 4-11) – ¥4,100

If you live in Japan, you can buy the park tickets online. For international clients, you can reserve your ticket online but you still have to pick up and pay your ticket at Disneyland itself.

For an international client like me, I think it is better to just buy the ticket on the day of your visit. We went there on a Monday and there was no line at the ticket counter. I think it will be a different story though if it’s peak season.

Spookyville Parade

Chip N’ Dale

Goofy and son Max

Lilo

Here comes the star of the show

Here’s Mickey Mouse!

Daisy Duck

Minnie Mouse

Spookyville Parade

In our visit to Hongkong and Paris Disneyland, Mickey Mouse was available for picture taking right after the main gate. But in Tokyo Disneyland, you have to go to Mickey’s house to see him and photo with him.

Lining up to see Mickey Mouse inside his house

Mickey’s living room area

After an 80-minute queue, EJ finally met Mickey Mouse!

How are you, Mickey?

Happy to meet Mickey in Tokyo!

We know that one day is not enough to visit all the attractions inside so we only made time for those that are interesting to EJ.

Lightning McQueen is one of EJ’s fave characters

Waiting for the ride. EJ was so excited!

At 4:30PM, we were already tired and decided to call it a day. What’s nice in Tokyo Disneyland is that they have several parades throughout the day. On that day, there were four parades. You don’t have to wait at 7PM to watch the parade unless of course you want to see the fireworks which we decided we can afford to miss.

Bye Mickey Mouse!

See you in another place.

The previous morning, we had breakfast at Starbucks Shibuya.

Starbucks in Shibuya has the view of the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, perfect for people watching and drinking your latte. Just a little information, the cafe latte (tall) costs 340 yen (about $4.5)

On our second day, we had our breakfast at McDonald’s. It’s also walking distance from our hotel. At 9am on a Sunday, the place was already full of young people. By young, I mean early 20s.

Just had breakfast, still not finished with the McDonald’s coffee. We were about to cross the Shibuya Crossing.

That day, we were meeting our Japanese friend. They used to be based here in Cambodia but they’re back in Japan now. Their eldest son was EJ’s classmate for three years and bestfriend.

The first on our itinerary was Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo Tower, an Eiffel tower inspired tower is a communications and observation tower built in 1958. At 333 meters it was the tallest tower in Tokyo before Tokyo Skytree was built.

EJ, Hubby, Osuke (EJ’s bestfriend) and Mr. Kurata (Osuke’s dad) took the stairs up to the first observation deck at 150 meters or 500 steps. While the girls (me, Yuki and Chihiro) took the elevator.

EJ, exhausted already at 100 steps. He wanted to go home at the instant. LOL!

After sweating it out, they finally made it to the 1st floor. EJ is still dizzy and maybe a little disoriented here. Hubby who took the picture was obviously tired as well, based on this blurry picture he took of EJ. Anyhow, well done boys!

At Tokyo Tower

View from Tokyo Tower

Hubby at the foot of Tokyo Tower

Kids at the miniature Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower Entrance Fees:
820 yen for adults
600 yen for kids

Our next destination was to meet up with another Japanese friend who were also based here in Cambodia but are now living in Tokyo. Their youngest daughter was also EJ’s classmate then.

We met up at Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, the building just opposite the Sensoji Temple. At the background is the Asahi Beer Building and the Tokyo Skytree.

At the first gate of Sensoji Temple called Kaminarimon. Sensoji Temple is also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple. It’s one of the popular Buddhist temple in Tokyo.

After the first gate, you’ll be entering a shopping street called Nakamise. If you’re planning to buy souvenirs, there a lot to choose from: folding fans, japanese snacks, etc. I bought two paper dolls here.

Entering the second gate..

This is the second gate called Hozomon.

At the main hall. Here’s a little bit of history about the temple from japan-guide.com:

The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built nearby for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo’s oldest temple.

After Sensoji Temple, our friends brought us to a restaurant nearby and had an authentic Okonomiyaki or Japanese pancake.

In our table, Mr. Kurata was in-charge with “cooking” of the okonomiyaki and the monjyayaki.

Okonomiyaki  and Monjyayaki. Both are very delicious and filling. From what I have seen, the ingredients are almost the same but monjyayaki doesn’t firm up. You eat it directly from the grill using a small spatula.

It was a lovely day with friends and we couldn’t thank them enough. I hope we would be able to repay the favor one day in the Philippines

I thought it was expensive and wanted to arrange the tour by myself. But I did not have  a lot of time to plan everything so I opted to just book the tour.

The tour includes pick-up at hotels. But  not all hotels in Tokyo are included. We stayed at Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu and it was not in their list of hotel pick-ups. Luckily, Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel is and it’s walking distance from our hotel.

The tour starts at 9:00 from Hamamutsucho Bus station after all the guests are picked up from different hotels.

The guide told us it’s usually under 2 hours to reach Mt. Fuji area by bus. But that day, the traffic was heavy even in their expressway as it was a Saturday. So instead of going to Fuji Visitor Center, we had our lunch first somewhere. I forgot the name.

Our Japanese lunch. Yummy!

After lunch we went to Mt. Fuji 5th Station. If you’re climbing up to the summit, 5th station is halfway though. It’s 2300 meters above sea level.

Mt. Fuji 5th Station. Go inside one of the shop to get free your lucky bell and buy some Japanese snacks to munch during your tour.

Family picture at the 5th Station

Husband and Wife moment The leaves have just started to change colors. It’s pretty. But I’ll bet it’s more beautiful now that autumn is already in full swing.

Our next stop after 5th Station was Lake Kawaguchi and Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway. We were supposed to go to Lake Ashe and ride a ropeway for a view of Mt. Fuji and Hakone National Park. Unfortunately, traffic was getting worse so the guide brought to an alternative location.

My boys at the Lake Kawaguchi before our boat cruise

Mt. Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi

Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway

Sweeping view of Lake Kawaguchi from Mt. Tenjo

At Mt. Tenjo with an obstructed view of Mt. Fuji

Hubby and EJ. This time Mt. Fuji is visible.

The Bell of Tenjo. The guide said it’s believed that your wish will come true if you ring the bell while looking at Mt. Fuji.

Our last stop before we took the bullet train (Shinkansen) back to Tokyo was the Fuji Visitor Center. I did not go out of the bus because I was already tired but hubby did. He took this picture of Mt. Fuji with a beautiful cloud formation.

I love the composition of this photo.

Our ride back to the city, Shinkansen. EJ was so amazed and happy that he finally get to ride the famous bullet train.

The Shinkansen ride back to the city only took 36 minutes from Odawara Station. If you take a bus/car it’ll take around 2 hours.

We did not get to see Hakone because of the traffic. So if you’re planning a day tour to Mt. Fuji and Hakone, maybe you should go on a weekday. But then the guide said, that’s also not a guarantee that traffic will be light. Oh well.

This whole day tour was a bit exhausting for me, to be honest. Maybe because I only had 3 hours of sleep before going on this tour. And the traffic made it worse.

But that doesn’t mean, I did not enjoy the trip. We plan to go back there one day. I think Mt. Fuji will be majestic with a snow cap.

For our Tokyo trip, I booked Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu. There are a lot of hotels in that area so choosing the best hotel for us really took a lot of my time.

Depending on where you book your hotel room (Agoda.com, Hotels.com, Booking.com, etc) and the season (peak, off-peak), Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu’s premier double room rate is around  $275 – 350/night.

I booked our room thru Hotels.com because at that time they had the best rate.

Premier Double Room at Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu. Picture from the hotel’s website. We had a late check-in so I forgot to take a picture of our room.

My husband and son enjoying the Shibuya view from our room. We were allocated a room on the 19th floor and we had the view of Tokyo Tower.

The Shibuya Scramble Crossing made famous by the movie Lost in Translation. This picture was taken from the hotel’s elevator hallway.

Okay, let’s get down to business.

We had a pleasant stay at Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu. I could easily recommend this hotel for the following reasons:

1) Accessibility. The hotel is conveniently located near the Shibuya Station. When you are in a big city, I think it’s best to stay where the train station is for easy hopping in and hopping off.

2) Location. Shibuya Scramble Crossing is a tourist destination itself. And you don’t have to travel for it if you stay in this hotel. You’ll see it from your room (depending on your room allocation), from the elevator hallway and when you go out of your hotel room. Another thing, the hotel itself is on top of a mall called Mark City. Right there, you’ll have plenty of food choices if you’re too tired to go out.

3.) Affordability. Well, this one is relative. But then again, hotels in Tokyo are very expensive. I say affordable because in that area, I find Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu’s rate to be reasonable compared to others.

4.) Room Size. I heard Tokyo’s room are very tiny (14sqm, 16sqm). But our room wasn’t too crowded. I checked their website and it says the premier double has 30sqm of space.

5.) The Vibe. Our Japanese friend said our location was in a “noisy” place, more suited for the younger people. It’s true. But we are still young, so we belong with the crowd. LOL!

Anyway, after this Tokyo trip, hubby and I decided that our next destination should be in winter wonderland for a luxury ski holiday experience and a white Christmas.

I think I have mentioned already that our son is a fan of cold and snow. And we’re thinking, we might still be able to squeeze in another trip before the year ends.

We’re thinking of skiing in Lake Tahoe, USA.

Photo Credit: SUPERTRAVEL.co.uk

I know it’s a random choice but I am doing more research about this place. I am sure I am going to be neck deep again in research after the Tokyo trip. Plus, I’ll have to prepare documents for the USA visa application.

There’s not much time to prepare but with travel, I will always find time

Let’s see where this plan will leads to.