Winter in Japan: From Tokyo to Nagano by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Winter in Japan: From Tokyo to Nagano by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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Apologies for the lack of updates here lately. I'm away in Japan (again), battling some crazy winter weather but generally having a ball. I promise some updates soon.
Here are some fun signs I've seen in Japan to keep you entertained for the moment.
I guess what happens on this ferry, stays on this ferry.
That's very reassuring of my hotel breakfast.
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Yabuli! The name conjures up a mysterious and exotic land! When I was first told we were invited by Club Med to stay at this resort, my first reaction was "Ya Boo Where?".
Turns out it was near Harbin, China, near Mongolia, in the province of Heilongjiang.
A midnight six-hour flight to Beijing, then a layover of two hours, then another two-hour flight to Mudanjiang, then a two-hour van ride later, we finally reached Club Med Yabuli at about noon.
The room we were given was lovely: a two-bedroom suite with a view.
We had one checked-in luggage that carried some of the bulkier stuff like boots and ski jackets, but the kids, the wife and I mostly carried our own stuff in our Tom Bihn carry-on bags. This wasn't the family's first winter (we were in France around the same time last year) but this was the first time the kids and the wife have ever experienced below zero temperatures, and for the kids, it was their first time seeing snow, so it was quite exciting. I did Finland in winter some years ago, so I kind of knew what to expect, but my biggest worry in the run up to the trip was to ensure they were all sufficiently warm and appropriately dressed for the trip.
As they say in Norway, there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.
The important thing to remember is not to have too many layers, or you won't be able to move. So the layers have to work well. I made sure no one was wearing cotton (cotton retains perspiration and doesn't wick, and you end up very cold because the moisture becomes icy). Our basic set up was a base layer (we used Icebreaker Merino wool leggings and tops), then a t-shirt (either merino wool or polyester), then a merino wool or fleece cardigan as the mid-layer, and then a wind-proof, water-proof ski jacket with a hood (we were mostly wearing Montbell jackets).
Hands were protected with an Icebreaker merino wool glove lining and then a waterproof Montbell glove on top of that. We all had an Icebreaker merino wool beanie to keep our heads warm, and a Polar Buff around the neck that could also double as a face cover.
Our feet were kept warm by Icebreaker merino wool ski socks, and we were wearing insulated boots from Columbia. The boots are lined with fleece and can apparently be worn to -32ºC.
We had Uniqlo fleece-lined pants on, and I have to say they worked very well with the Icebreaker merino wool leggings. I think if the weather was slightly warmer (like -10ºC and up), one could do without the leggings even. I try not to wear base layers if I can help it, because they are such a pain.
The layers help you keep the warm air trapped close to your body, and the wind proof outer shell keeps the wind chill from coming in. We carried an extra down jacket each in our backpacks too, in case we needed another layer inside, but you don't need it if you are skiing or doing something rigorous.
We never worried about food in Club Med. We had three major meals a day at the buffet restaurant, and in between there were always drinks and snacks on hand. We had one Mala Hot Pot dinner at the Mudan restaurant one of the evenings too.
We spent the first day after we checked in exploring the place, and sorting out the ski equipment and ski clothes rentals. Note that while the group ski lessons are included in the price, ski equipment rental is not. Also bear in mind that the ski instructors from the Sun Mountain ski school may ask you to try personal one-to-one lessons, which cost extra. It's up to you whether you want to pay extra for personal lessons, but I didn't see a need for it for my family. The free group lessons were enough to learn the basics.
We signed Isaac and Joy up with the Mini Club for kids, and the Club Med GOs took care of them from 8.30am till 4.45pm. For two days, my kids spent the time learning how to ski with other kids, and also had lunch and played indoor games with them. That left the wife and I time to either relax in the room, or go out to explore the snow ourselves.
We also managed to do a ski lesson for ourselves. I am pleased to say that after an hour or so of instruction and practice, the wife managed to ski downhill on the gentle beginner's slope without falling. And she could even stop.
You can see the wife and I in the photos below, dressed in our blue rental ski gear. We look like winter factory workers.
Of course, I didn't want just to ski. I did want to explore the surroundings a bit more. Unfortunately, the week we were there, the local authorities decided to do maintenance of the gondola that could take you to other ski areas and to the mountain top. So we didn't get a chance to take a cable car up higher, not that we were going to ski down the more challenging slopes, but it would have been nice to see the view up there. I mean, who does maintenance during a peak ski season? I suspect Club Med had no control over this maintenance timing by the authorities, so it was out of their hands.
We did manage to go snow trekking, and that was good fun. We donned our winter clothes and geared up for a morning walk in the forest around the resort.
Our first two days in Yabuli were dreadfully cold, at -21ºC and wind chill during the DAY (which is why you see the wife and I all covered up in the earlier photos), but the day we chose to trek was a nice and sunny day, a warm -11ºC with just a little wind.
I know. -11ºC doesn't sound very warm but it is all relative. We didn't even wear our balaclavas and we could sometimes take off our gloves.
Sam, our Club Med GO guide, was the friendly chap who took us trekking. He even brought some mini-sleds for the kids to try riding down the slopes we encountered along the way. Even my wife tried the sleighing.
The photo above was taken by my 12-year-old son, after we finished our family trek. I am quite fond of this photo and I think he is getting the hang of photography.
We also played a while outdoors, at the giant igloo at children's area.
I think my kids are better at this sliding-down-the-roof-of-an-igloo thing than I am.
We also tried the heated indoor pool and outdoor jacuzzi. There is an indoor swimming pool (and gym too) that is heated to about 27ºC. Swimming in it is quite pleasant but the most fun thing is the outdoor jacuzzi. YES, you heard me, OUTDOOR.
That outdoor jacuzzi is heated to 45-49ºC and to get to it, you have to walk out of the pool area into the open. It was a mad dash in -16ºC that day, but once you get into the hot water, it is heavenly. It is surreal to be inside the heated jacuzzi and see ice forming around the edges of the pool.
Don't do what I did: After swimming in the indoor pool, I covered myself with my damp bathrobe and made my way outside to the heated jacuzzi, thinking I was very smart to keep myself covered and warm. By the time I got out of the heated jacuzzi, the wet parts of the bathrobe had already become super cold from sitting out in the -16ºC air. It was like putting on a robe of ice. I think some of my tender bits may have fallen off.
I have to say our first family skiing trip in below zero temperatures went very well. No one felt too cold and all had fun. I think we are ready to try the Club Med in Hokkaido, Japan next. I hear the snow there is like powder. And I want to use the winter clothing I bought for the family as much as possible. Kids outgrow clothes so darn fast.
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After a hectic Christmas season, we packed our bags and flew to Yabuli on Boxing Day. Where is Yabuli, you ask? It's near Harbin, China. And it s very very cold here. -22°C during the DAY kind of cold.
We are here for our very first ski holiday, at Club Med Yabuli. The wife, Isaac and Joy are with me on this adventure (Faith is home with grandma and Aunty, because she doesn't do long flights well). We took a flight to Beijing and then a connecting flight to Mudanjiang, which is two hours away from Yabuli by car.
I will update you guys more when I get the chance. I'm sure you would like to see me in my winter clothes, layered up like a polar bear.
Brrrrrrrr.
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Greetings from Perth!
After a spell at Margaret River, our three families drove back to Perth itself. From wide open spaces to a cityscape. The weather is warmer here than down south but it's still pleasant because it's not humid like Singapore.
Down south of Perth, where we spent four days, we visited the Ngilgi Caves, Busselton Jetty (longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere and where an Iron Man would be held end this week) and some sheep shearing and animal petting farms.
I would also like to add that I think Australian coffee tastes very good. No wonder Starbucks died a tragic death here. Why would you drink inferior American coffee if you have Aussie coffee?
Pro travel tip: Never let the wives enter a supermarket. They won't come out until they've bought everything.
That said, I am pleased the wife was wise enough to buy bread and scones yesterday when we drove past Bunbury or we wouldn't have any breakfast this morning.
The balcony where we are staying is huge and overlooks the city. So we have decided to do what we did in Yallingup and have breakfast outside. Very lifestyle hor?
We haven't decided where we are heading next, probably Fremantle. So far, we've done the play-it-by-ear style of travel and it's working out nicely. Sometimes it's nice just to drive around and discover stuff, like the sheep shearing farm we found near our Yallingup place. And the countless wineries we stumbled on.
You can take a rock and throw it in the Margaret River region and hit two or more wineries.
Not that we're complaining, of course. Mmmm, wineries.
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A reader emailed me to compliment me for my photo essays from my Japan trip with my son. and asked me why I chose to shoot with a Fuji X100T, a fixed lens mirrorless non-full-frame camera.
“Why not a DSLR or some other mirrorless interchangeable lens camera?” she asked, considering that the price of an X100T can get you a pretty good interchangeable lens camera.
The X100T and the X100 series of cameras are an acquired taste, I have to say. I use DSLRs and mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras too but if you ask me why I prefer to carry just the X100T, it is harder to explain. I will try.
1. Quality. The APS-C sensor on the X100T is the same one in the top of the line Fuji XT-1. It gives 16 megapixel images that are sharp and as good as any full frame sensor. I often shoot at 3200 ISO without an issue. The X100T handles low light with very little ugly noise.
Frankly, the quality gap between APS-C and Full-frame isn’t that big a deal, as some pro photographers like Zack Arias have shown. The gap between full-frame and medium format, yes. But not for the former, especially if you don’t plan to print huge prints. And frankly, you can print fairly large and detailed prints from this camera anyways.
I know. It sounds sacrilegious to say it but full-frame matters very little in the current scheme of things (please don’t start an APS-C vs Full-frame flame war in the comments below).
And Fuji is one of the few companies that make lenses and film. So their color and glass expertise is incredible. I love the various film simulations on their cameras.
2. Lens. The lens is a fixed 23mm f2, which is equivalent to a 35mm full frame field of view. And because they fix the lens into the camera, they can make the protrusion very small and optimize the lens to the sensor. You can’t do that with interchangeable lens cameras due to the variance in the lens mounting.
I like shooting in 35mm for travel, it is one of the most versatile focal lengths. Though for my recent Japan trip, I shot slightly wider with a WCL-X100 wide-angle adaptor which gives me about 28mm full frame equivalent.
Fixed lens has its pros and cons. The con is that you can’t shoot everything. The pro is that you can’t shoot everything. Let me explain.
Not being able to shoot everything means that you end up focusing on making good photos with what you have, and focusing on composition. I find that liberating.
So I cannot shoot that bird 2km away with my X100T. I don’t shoot it then. It’s not a big deal.
You take the camera you need for the type of photos you want, of course. If you are on a trip to shoot birds, you are going to need a camera that has 200mm to 600mm options. But for general travel, I don’t think I’ll need my telephoto lens.
And being able to zoom can sometimes make you lazy. You think you can get something by zooming instead of trying to move to a better spot for the shot.
The fixed lens also sometimes means you have to move up close to the subject. It often means more intimate photos.
3. The camera is small and light, and doesn’t call attention to itself. Interchangeable lens cameras, both DSLRs and mirrorless ones, are usually big and loud (unless you are using small m4/3 cameras with tiny m4/3 primes, like the LUMIX GM-5). People can see you a mile away. And sometimes you don’t want that. Also, lugging big lenses and a heavy body is a real pain, especially when you get to my age.
4. It looks CHIO (beautiful). It’s a funny thing but having a camera that looks retro-nice makes you happier. Who knew?
5. The Viewfinder. The X100 series has a hybrid viewfinder. You can choose to shoot in optical or EVF mode. Some people like the feel of optical. Some like the what-you-see-is-what-you-get nature of EVFs. I like having both options available to me.
The viewfinder position is also very useful for a rangefinder shooter like me. I can see the viewfinder with my right eye and see the rest of the real world with my left eye, and having that visual worldview is important to me.
6. The Silence. The X100 series uses a leaf shutter. It is literally silent. For a stealth street shooter like me, it is a godsend. I even turn off the fake shutter sound provided. And because it is a leaf shutter, there is next to no vibration. I can shoot handheld below 1/15 and still be fine.
Some current cameras have electronic shutters that do the same silent thing but I’m old school and I guess I’m fond of the good ole leaf shutter.
7. The High Speed sync. The leaf shutter means I can shoot at high speeds with my flash, doing stuff like using flash during a bright sunny day.
8. The Built-in ND filter. I can shoot at f2 in broad daylight by cutting the light up to 3 stops, to shoot portraits of people in the sun, with shallow depth of field. Or shoot long exposure shots.
9. The Controls and Handling. The X100 controls are intuitive and very familiar to someone who used to shoot manual film cameras. The only other camera I like as much for controls is the X100T’s big brother, the XT-1. This is of course a subjective thing. But feel matters a lot to me.
The X100T also comes with USB charging, which is a great boon for an ultralight traveler like me. I don’t need to carry the charger if I don’t want to. Or if I take the charger along, I can charge two batteries at once: one in the charger and one in the camera.
10. The Wifi. This model has wifi on it, compared to the X100S before it. I own both the X100S and X100T and love both versions, but the wifi on the X100T has allowed me to shoot and send my shortlisted photos to my iPhone/iPad to be edited and uploaded immediately, and as a backup. That’s handy for a social media addict like me.
I’ve traveled with both an interchangeable lens camera and the X100T before. Like for my recent SF trip in June, I packed an X-T1 with three lenses (I had an event to shoot) and my X100T. But when I reviewed my photos for my SF photo essay, I found that 80% of that trip was taken with the X100T. It tells me that I enjoy shooting with it a lot and my hit rate of favorites is higher.
So that is why for my trip to Japan, I decided just to take that (also, with my son along, I didn’t feel I’d have the time to fiddle with lenses or a more elaborate camera).
Now if Fuji will make an X100 with a flip screen next. That will be neat. Then I won’t need to lie down to do low shots, and look like a bozo on the streets of Japan. Oh and make it weather sealed too, while you’re at it.
P.S. Check out some of my more talented friends who shoot with the X100T, like Gent Ho and Aik Beng (site and Instagram).
This article originally appeared on my Medium blog.
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This is the pocket wifi I used on my Japan trip. It is from Changi Recommends and it was an essential part of my trip. It cost me $8 a day (discounted) and it was usable the moment I landed in Tokyo. I got 4G speeds most of the time (except in the mountains) and a generous fair use limit of 1GB a day. Some days, I would even use this rather that a hotel's slower wifi.
The pocket router battery lasts pretty much the whole day. In my nine days away, I only had to charge it once but that was a day we were out from 5.30a.m. till midnight.
I used to have my own pocket router but the hassle with that is that I had to hunt for a local SIM card when I landed and that isn't always practical depending on the time you landed and the city. Not every country has easy access to prepaid local SIM cards with decently-priced data.
Using my own iPhone to hotspot drains my phone's battery, so I don't use that method.
Another method I used to get internet for Japanese Internet was to book a pocket wifi from an Japanese online service. But that method meant having to pick up the device at the post office at the Japanese airport, which was a problem if you do not reach Japan during their post office opening hours.
The Changi Recommends booths are open at the Singapore side 24 hours a day, so you can pick up and drop off your device regardless of your flight time.
With the Changi Recommends pocket wifi, I can share the data over wifi with more than one device so my iPhone, MacBook and my son's iPod Touch could all access the Internet. Heck, I'd get it even if I was traveling alone, I think.
Booking one is simple. I called the hotline a few days before my departure and gave them all my details. Then on the day of my flight, I went to their counter at the T3 arrival hall (they have a counter at every Changi terminal) and picked up the device. It comes in a black pouch with the charging cable and universal travel plug.
I added the wifi SSID and password printed on the back of the device to my iPhone and I was ready to use it when I landed.
Charges begin one day after you depart, which I think is very fair since you may be flying to a faraway land that takes 18-24 hours and won't be using it in the air.
When you return, just drop it off at the Changi Recommends counter and they bill you right there. It cannot be simpler.
The data service is reliable and stable and they cover quite a lot of countries, like the States, Japan, South-East Asia, and Europe. This is me using the service in my recent September San Francisco-Portland-Seattle-Yosemite trip.
The Europe one is interesting. Their pocket wifi works across many European countries so if you are doing an EU trip that crosses different European cities, you don't need to buy and change SIM cards like we did on our last European trip.
I tell you, this thing is a lifesaver. When you land, and you need to get online to use Google Maps to find your hotel or Airbnb, the pocket wifi is ready to go. I'm a fan already.
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(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co)
DAY 9: GOING HOME
All good things, as they say, must come to an end. And so we were finally on the last day of our time in Japan.
We slept in till 9:00 a.m., bathed, packed our stuff and left the apartment at 10:45 a.m., just before the stated 11:00 a.m. checkout time.
As per my usual practice with Airbnb apartments, I taught Isaac to make the bed and carry our own trash out, and to leave the place as close to the condition we moved in as possible. It's only good manners when you are a guest in someone's home, even if you paid for it.
We had one more stop to make before our 9pm flight: Akihabara, for one more round.
We took a train to Shinjuku Station and picked a block of lockers in the path towards the tracks for Narita Express.
The Narita Express was going to be our ride back to the airport at 5pm, and so it made sense to place our bags in a locker near our departure track 5.
I took a photo of our locker number and a few photos of the surroundings, so we won't be lost when we came back for it later.
Then, armed with just our daypacks, we took the Chuo-Sobu line to Akihabara. Or what I called the Chiobu line. I was corrected by my son on this though.
I set a return timing that we had to leave for Shinjuku station by — 4:00 p.m. — to give us ample time to get on our Narita Express.
Brunch was at a ramen shop outside Shinjuku station, after some hunting in the backstreets. No, I do not know the name of the shop but it was very very good. As you can see from the photos. The shop allowed noodle refills up to two times.
I saw a petite lady next to use polish off two helpings of the already generous portion. Isaac and I only managed one serving each.
We had a mission in Akihabara. One, to get a present for Joy, who liked Hatsune Miku, and two, to spend the $50 that Isaac received from his maternal grandmother.
We walked from building to building, floor to floor, evaluating each toy for replay value and coolness. The streets of Akihabara were closed to traffic on Sunday and we could walk freely on a street normally used for cars.
And boy, they were serious about the pedestrians-only rule. The wardens even pulled over moms riding their mamachari bicycles ferrying their kids, to tell them they were not allowed cycle across the road. The moms promptly apologized and dismounted to push their bicycles.
In the middle of our toy mission, we stopped for octopus balls and ice-cream. Every time I mentioned my love of octopus balls, the boy laughed. Same pattern one, the humour.
At 3:46 p.m., we finalized the items we wanted for his younger sister and himself. And precisely at 4pm, we left Akihabara to take the train back to our locker in Shinjuku station, and then onto the Narita Express to the airport.
I had one final mission at the airport after we checked in. To buy Tokyo Banana, Japanese Kit Kat and other random Japanese biscuits that I planned to give away to my mom, my mom-in-law and my own family.
I did a guesstimate of how many boxes I would need and when it came to payment, I used every last Yen note in my wallet and almost all of my coins. Swee swee.
Our flight home was nice and smooth. I watched Ryucho and His Seven Henchmen (a comedy about aging Yakuza) and then zonked out for the rest of the flight. Isaac finished his Ant-Man movie (continued from the Singapore flight to Tokyo) and watched movie after movie until we landed.
Mommy came to pick us up at the airport, which was sweet of her because it was 3:00 a.m. in the morning. I told her we could take a cab but she insisted on coming to get her boys.
When we landed, Isaac reminded me to return my Changi pocket wifi device (lifesaver, this device). Good man.
Isaac couldn't stop telling her all the stories of our trip on the car ride home.
When we reached home, a banner drawn by Joy was stuck on the door. It said, "Welcome home, Pa and Koko! ♥U!"
And with that, Koko and Papa finally completed their first Father-Son trip abroad.
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Day 9: Isaac and Papa go to Japan: Going Home by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co)
DAY 8: TOKYO
It is our last night here in Japan and our feet hurt. Hurt a lot.
Mainly, it came from standing for two hours and twenty minutes for the Tower of Terror ride at Tokyo DisneySea.
But we are home now. Home as in our apartment in Tokyo. And I just drank some Calpis and Isaac ate his fave Family Mart spicy fried chicken cutlet. So all is well.
We started today not knowing where to go. As usual. But Isaac whispered into my ear in the morning, "Disneeeeeey… Disneeeeeey… Papa… Disneeeeeey…".
I had grand visions of taking a Shinkansen to Hakone or Nikko to show him the beauty of the Japanese countryside. But all I heard in the my ear was "Disneeeeeey…"
It is amazing what gentle persuasion will get you, compared to whining. The boy learns fast.
So off to Tokyo Disneyland we went. Or rather DisneySea. I decided that since he had already seen Disneyland in France, it was no point repeating the experience in Japan except with another foreign language.
DisneySea is pretty neat, I told him. He looked skeptical. "Trust Papa. Papa knows his theme parks."
His first ride was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He liked the undersea ride a lot.
I regaled him with tales of Jules Verne and all the cool books he has written, with the suggestion that he should read his science fiction and maybe also check out the 1954 Disney movie.
"Is there a reboot?" he asked.
No, I told him, laughing. Though I'm sure one is in the works.
This reminded me that our kids live in an age of reboots. The good old stuff is made new again. Or made worse again.
We also took the Journey to the Centre of the Earth ride. It was very popular and wait time was 150 minutes, with Fast Pass tickets already all given out. So we moved on.
Later in the afternoon, we found out it was closed for maintenance indefinitely. That was an even bigger bummer. It looked like we would miss this ride completely.
But a few hours after that, as we walked by on the way to another ride, we saw a few extra staff at the closed Journey to the Centre of the Earth ride.
"Let's stay and see if they reopen the ride," I said.
"Are you sure?"
"Trust Papa. I have a good instinct for these things. You hear that? The rumblings of the ride being tested."
Sure enough, a few minutes later, a manager walked around the area inspecting things. The extra staff was for crowd control as there were other hopeful lingerers like us. And then one of the staff announced the ride was open again.
The boy and I moved fast and were the second in line of the regular queue. 30 minutes later, we got our ride. Little victories.
Some of the "lands" in DisneySea were a little kiddy but we didn't care. As long as the line wasn't too long, we joined it. So we ended up on the Sinbad Storybook Voyage ride (kind of like the It's A Small World ride in Disneyland), the Flounder's coaster ride (a milder roller coaster for kids), and even bigger ones like Stormrider and Indiana Jones.
We just focused on the rides. Ain't got no time for any shows. The Tower of Terror was the most challenging queue. 150 minutes, it said. And it was one of the scarier rides in DisneySea.
Challenge accepted.
For two hours, we queued. We activated the deepest Singaporean Queuing Gene in our body and went the distance.
Isaac kept himself entertained by reading the backstory of the Tower of Terror's fictional founder, Harrison Hightower III and retelling it to me, with fan fiction he added himself. He just rattled on for two hours, and in a bizarre way, time flew by.
Only our sore feet reminded us how long the wait was. It was worth the wait though. We enjoyed the drop tower experience.
We bought extra drinks and sandwiches from the convenience store near our place before going to Tokyo DisneySea. So we managed to avoid eating in the park till about 5pm. As I tucked into my scallop burger in Mermaid Lagoon, land of Ariel the Little Mermaid, Isaac quipped, "I wonder what Ariel feels about us eating her friends."
When we took our Indiana Jones ride, I told Isaac some trivia about Indy.
"Did you know the actor who plays Indiana Jones is the same guy who plays Han Solo?"
"No way!" Isaac exclaimed.
"Way."
We managed to squeeze in a second round at 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Sinbad Storybook Voyage rides. Isaac seemed to like those two rides a lot.
I enjoyed watching him take the Sinbad Storybook Voyage ride. He sat there, staring at the singing animatronic characters in wonder. A sense of wonder is a beautiful thing to have and to behold. We lose that so quickly as we grow up.
Throughout the day, sometimes I would explain how some of the rides work. And other times, I would just leave out the technical explanations.
It is good to let some experiences remain a little magical.
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Isaac and Papa go to Japan: Day 8, Back to Tokyo by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co)
DAY 7: OSAKA
We started Day 7 at 4:45 a.m. By the end of the day, we would clock two Shinkansen rides, and would bounce across three cities.
From Hiroshima, we decided that we would catch the first train out, the 6:17 a.m. to Shin-Osaka and ultimately to Universal Studios Japan. That meant we had to get up early, check out of our hostel by 5:15 a.m., walk to the Hiroshima station about 900m away, so that we could have enough time to board our train.
Isaac was a real trooper about it. Got up, bathed, changed and packed without any prompting.
We grabbed some sandwiches and drinks from the combini at the station platform before boarding the Shinkansen and ate our breakfast on board. It was about 9:30 a.m. by the time we got to Universal in Osaka, just nice.
We placed our backpacks in the lockers (Pro tip: The lockers are the Universal City station are cheaper than the ones at Universal itself), took out what we needed for the daypacks, and off we went.
On hindsight, we should have bought some bentos for lunch from outside. Lunch inside was an expensive ¥2700 meal of Mel's Burgers.
My mother, bless her, used to make fried rice in the hotel room and pack them into Tupperware when we were kids traveling to Disneyland and Universal Studios in California. Back then, the exchange rate was USD1 to SGD3, so you can imagine the savings. Don't ask me how mom cooked entire meals in the hotel/motel room with just an electric hotplate. It was her magic.
Lunch time was also a life lesson in chope-ing. It's not something they teach for PSLE. I told him to stand near the tables of people finishing their meals while I queued to buy the burgers. He needed to overcome his inner paiseh and really cover his territory like a hawk. We managed to get a table in the end but it took a bit of gesticulating from me to ensure he secured the table.
"Behind you, behind! They finish already. Now. Sit down now. Don't let the other party that just came in take your camped table…"
I said all that with gestures and pointing. I looked like a kiasu uncle.
So we had only one meal in the theme park, which wasn't so bad. And we refrained buying all the popcorn and random theme park souvenirs. The boy didn't even ask for any of it, which is a sign of his maturity.
We didn't do all the rides. It was just impossible. For one, the Japanese were out in force. It was Halloween and kids, youth and adults came dressed in costume. So the queues were super long. Secondly, the Express passes were sold out by the time we got there, you have money also cannot buy.
But we didn't need to try everything so it was okay.
Isaac and I had a go at the Spider-man ride (like our USS Transformers one but with Spidey), Back to the Future (nausea-inducing motion simulator with ancient tech, it's an old ride), Backdraft (fire display), Terminator 2 3D, Jaws, and the Jurassic Park ride. We also took a roller coaster ride at Harry Potter land.
Our trick was to always queue at the Single Rider line. It was usually about half the queue time. But it meant we may not sit together but hey, you saved a lot of time.
We gave the Hollywood roller coaster ride a miss because the queues were just insane. Also, we were a little afraid. Hey, Limpeh not young punk anymore. Play Call of Duty also can get giddy and motion sickness, so forget about a backwards roller coaster ride, ok?
To kill time while we queued, the boy and I would chat. And here is what I realized. Most of the movies referenced by Universal Studios are totally outside of his pop cultural universe. Not very Universal leh.
I had to give him a summary of movies like Terminator 1 and 2, Jaws, Back to the Future 1-3, Backdraft, Alien and Aliens, AVP, and Harry Potter.
I felt like IMDB: Isaac's Movie Database.
Because it was Halloween, there were many new horror maze walkthroughs. We managed to queue for the Alien Vs Predator one, which was quite well done. I tried to make my squeals of fright sound like I was scolding the Aliens.
As evening fell, we needed to wrap it up because we had an 8:37 p.m. last Shinkansen to catch at Shin-Osaka to Tokyo.
We managed to squeeze our second Spider-man ride before we left. Though we aimed to leave by 6pm, we left by 6.40pm in the end, which was within the buffer I created.
We even got to Shin-Osaka by 7:30 p.m., queued at the JR ticket counter and switched our tickets from the 8:37 p.m. train to the earlier 7:40 p.m. one, and made it to Track 25 by 7:38 p.m. Boom, one minute later, our 7:40 p.m. bound for Tokyo pulled up.
Dinner was a bento box each from the Shinkansen food trolley lady. It wasn't cheap but man, the boxes are so beautifully made that you don't feel like eating them. The bento box food tasted as good as it looked.
Ate a meal from a bullet train trolley: check.
We reached our Tokyo apartment close to midnight. In one day, we did Hiroshima-Osaka-Tokyo. Not sure if all that train hopping was more intense or the theme park rides.
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Isaac and Papa go to Japan: Day 7, Osaka by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co)
DAY 6: MIYAJIMA ISLAND
On day six, we took a ferry to Miyajima Island, said to be one of the top three scenic spots in Japan.
It was nice to be outdoors with nature. He didn‘t even ask me for the iPod Touch the whole day. Mother Nature kept us occupied.
We were on the ferry fairly early and the island looked like it just woke up. Isaac was very fascinated that cars could drive up into the ferry itself.
On the island, the first thing we heard was the announcement declaring that the deer on the island are wild and during mating season, they can get aggressive. So please don‘t approach them, especially the deer with antlers.
So we tried to stay away from the horny deer.
The deer though, did not stay away from us. They are very brazen and will eat anything. Even paper and plastic bags.
Isaac was accosted by one such deer at the pier while he was eating his soft serve ice-cream. We managed to get away.
We bought some bottled water because we were going to hike up Mount Misen.
Uncle Pro Tip: It‘s ¥130 at the shops nearest the pier. But it‘s ¥110 at the small provision shop deeper in.
While I sat on a bench enjoying the view at the coast, I heard a rustling sound and thought Isaac was trying to get his bottle of water from the plastic bag.
But when I turned to look, it was a deer looking into my plastic bag for food. I went “Oi!“ and tried to take the bag back but the fella bit on the bag and fought me for it.
When I finally pulled it away from the deer, it shifted targets and grabbed the map of Miyajima from my back pocket. I fought to get that back too but lost half my map, as the deer walked away chewing the other half happily.
Isaac laughed his butt off.
Later, as I was taking a photo of Isaac, in the background was another man wrestling with a deer for his map too.
The deer on this island are gentle and yet pretty in your face at the same time.
For some reason, the deer reminded me of my oldest daughter. Faith has the same doe-eyed innocent look when she comes up to us. And also the same assertiveness when she wants something. Perhaps she has the soul of Bambi.
We took a leisurely walk up to the cable car station. It usually takes about 30 minutes from the pier but we took longer, since we planned to spend the day here (and we had all those deer incidents).
We had udon at a small eatery on the slopes and took a long, lazy lunch there, sitting at a low table without our shoes on, and just soaking in the view.
Then we hiked up to the first cable car station and twenty minutes and a transfer later, we were at the highest station. It wasn‘t over. To get to the summit, you still have to hike another 30 minutes uphill.
This is where I realized my son has way more energy than I do. He hops his way up the slopes, I grunt my way up.
Out of kindness (or pity), he would stop for me to rest, usually looking for a bench or tree trunk for me to rest my aching feet.
But we did reach the summit in the end. And there was a nice observation station built there. You can even take your shoes off to lie down on the platform.
The view was quite lovely and we tarried there. As I laid on the deck, the boy went out to explore the surrounding rocks.
One lady climbed one of the higher rocks to take a selfie. I had to keep reminding Isaac not to attempt that himself.
He said, “Don‘t worry! I can do it!”
“Don‘t climb that tallest rock ah. It‘s dangerous.”
“But I can!“
Then he disappeared down the stairs and went out there to the rocks.
I walked over to the balcony to check on him, worried he might really climb up that tall rock but he didn‘t. He was at a lower, safer rock, just sitting there playing out some imaginary scene in his mind.
“I only climbed to this lower rock,“ he declared.
I nodded in acknowledgement and returned to my lazing but at a spot where I could still see him.
We have to trust that our children know what their own limits are. But it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on them too.
We made our way down in time to catch the sunset at 5:30 p.m. By then all the shops selling street food and little cute cakes were closed. I was happy to see the sunset and capture it, but a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to have rock oysters for dinner.
We did manage to buy some pastry filled with vanilla ice-cream though, and shared that between us. Then Isaac gasped and said, “Pa! There is deer ahead!“
So we scrambled to finish our snack. You don‘t want to mess with the deer here. They can smell your food and your fear.
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Isaac and Papa go to Japan: Day 6, Miyajima Island by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co)
DAY 5: HIROSHIMA
Today, we traveled back in time.
We set off at 9:00 a.m. and managed to get on the 11:13 a.m. train to Shin-Osaka and then we transferred to another bullet train to Hiroshima. By the time we reached Hiroshima, it was 1:30 p.m.
Our room at the hostel wasn‘t ready yet so we left our bags there and took a tram to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
Today, we traveled back in time.
We saw the devastation of Hiroshima from the A-Bomb dropped in 1945, from the Enola Gay. Wiping out a city in seconds.
Today, we traveled back in time.
Stories of children melting from the fire and the heat. Stories of families torn asunder. Stories of radiation killing people invisibly.
Today, we traveled back in time.
We looked at the articles of clothing, covered in black rain.
We saw a nail, black and curled, saved by a parent to remember a dead child. We saw a shoe belonging to a girl, not much older than Isaac, with a piece of paper stuck on the sole so she could wear it longer. But she was no longer around and the shoe was all that was left of her existence.
Today, we traveled back in time.
We listened to a man, a Hiroshima survivor, tell his story of how he carried his friend home, despite being burned badly. His friend was worse off, because the soles of his feet were burned so badly he could barely crawl.
We saw how far the damage was from the hyper-centre of the blast. At a 2km radius, everything was destroyed. I told my son, if that bomb hit our home in Lorong Ah Soo, it would destroy everything from our home to Serangoon MRT station. And cause further damage beyond.
We learned 80,000 died immediately. And 100,000 or more died within a year.
We saw drawings depicting a mother trying to save her child inside a burning house but could not make a hole big enough and had to leave the child behind, because the fires were going to engulf them all.
Today, we traveled back in time.
And we wept.
Then Isaac said we should sign the petition to end nuclear weapons, and I said sure, write all our family names on the paper.
We departed the museum, our hearts still heavy. Then we stood on the bridge and looked out at the Ota River and the sun was setting, casting a glow over the city.
We heard some jazz music and stopped to listen to a duo performing at the park by the river.
Cyclists were riding home from work, dressed stylishly.
Dusk fell, and the city of Hiroshima looked like a phoenix that had risen from the ashes of destruction.
We hopped on a tram to head home, which tonight, was a backpacker‘s hostel with a shared toilet and shower facilities in the common corridor.
Downstairs, travelers from various lands gathered in the common room to chat, use the computer, and to eat their store-bought dinners.
Isaac and I ate a bento box set each, bought from the 7-Eleven around the corner, while I waited for the washing machine to finish the cycle in the shared laundry room.
While eating we chatted with John and Wendy Egan from Melbourne who are retired and have five adult children. Wendy played Monopoly and Jenga with Isaac while I chatted with John about politics. Then it was time for bed and Isaac got to sleep on a Japanese-style futon and use a shared shower outside the room for the first time.
Today, we traveled back in time.
We traveled back in time and glimpsed at what war can do to fragile lives.
And I hugged my son a little tighter as he slept, giving thanks for every precious second we have together.
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Isaac and Papa go to Japan: Day 5, Hiroshima by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co)
DAY 3: LEAVING TOKYO
We bid farewell to our Tokyo dwelling and wrote a note in Kai-san‘s Guest Book thanking him for the stay, and made our way to Shinagawa station to catch the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
We stopped for breakfast at Gotanda station, eating a small meal at Mos Burger. Which means we will be hungry soon. Mos is tasty but always not filling enough.
Even though we left after 9am, we still had to deal with the remnants of rush hour and the commute to Shinagawa was fairly packed.
We got our 7-Day JR Pass validated and received our boarding passes for the 10:10 a.m. Hikari Super Express 467 train for Kyoto. There are trains that depart for Kyoto from Tokyo every 30 minutes so we were not too worried about not being able to get a seat.
While waiting for our bullet train, we tried to take some not-too-successful wefies.
Isaac was given permission to play with the iPod Touch while I slept. When I woke up, I was charged and the iPod was drained.
We just reached Nagano station. I think the next station is Kyoto. I will check the scrolling electronic signboard again.
Kyoto! Finally we arrive and the city has a different vibe from Tokyo. It looks more old school, feels more laid back and exudes a strong sense of history and culture.
We were too early for check-in at our guest house so we dropped our bags and walked to the Kyoto Manga Museum nearby.
Along the way, we popped into a Japanese bookstore because I love photo books by Japanese photographers and secretly, Japanese stationery too. Isaac complained that most of the books in the store were in Japanese, even the English novels. Fair point.
We paid ¥800 for me and ¥100 for Isaac to visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum. The building used to be Tatsuike Elementary School, a school with more than a hundred years of history.
Inside, you can find more than 300,000 manga and manga-related items. People read at the library-like tables, in sofas, and most popularly, on the lawn. Yes, the museum had a lovely lawn on the grounds and you can just sit or lie down and read your manga in the lovely 20°C weather.
We spent a good two hours there, looking at the exhibits and reading the comics. I enjoyed reading on the grass, like a kid.
I spotted a comic I enjoyed reading as a teen, called Lone Wolf and Cub, and wanted to introduce the son to it. Then I flipped through the pages and remembered it had some er, adult scenes. So I left him to read Young Justice and Superman, and read Lone Wolf and Cub Volume 1, myself.
We made our way back to the guest house and our bags were already placed in our room. I spotted the washing machine and smiled. It will save me from the sink washing.
We rested a hour or so before setting off for dinner. We had a Mos Burger breakfast and a McDonald‘s lunch (we were hungry after getting off the Shinkasen, don‘t judge us) so we were hankering for some ramen.
The streets of Kyoto near our guest house are bustling with shops and fashion. I think our location is pretty central. As we walked, we tried to look out for a good ramen stall.
Isaac had almost given up hope when I saw legs under a curtain. This was one of those hole-in-a-wall ramen shops.
My senses told me the food would be good and Hakata Nagahama Ramen Miyoshi ramen was awesome. I ordered two char siew ramen for us and a side of kimchi and sujin (beef brisket). He had his first taste of kimchi and drank an entire cup of water. I guess it was a tad too spicy for him.
The beef brisket was more to his taste and he helped himself to that.
We wandered around the shopping district a little more and spotted a street protest. I decided to show Isaac how to take photos with my X100T.
“Get closer, son,“ I said. “Don‘t take the protesters from across the street like this, cannot see anything one.”
He crossed the street with me and stood right next to the column of protesters going by. I have to say he caught a few good shots of the protesters.
As Robert Capa says, “If your photographs aren‘t good enough, you‘re not close enough.”
We shared a crepe dessert together before heading back.
While hanging up the laundry of the day, Isaac and I discussed important issues like whether Kylo Ren could be Luke Skywalker in Star Wars VII.
Then we FaceTimed mommy and his youngest sister, Joy, as we did every night, telling them about our day and giving them a tour of our room.
Joy also showed her autistic older, Faith, the phone and we waved to her. “Hi Cheh Cheh! Papa and Isaac are video-calling from Japan!“
My firstborn Faith giggled and grabbed the phone, and then to our surprise, she waved back at us. Even when we are overseas, Faith surprises us and makes us feel at home.
DAY 4: KYOTO
Day four was a day of buses. We bused everywhere in Kyoto. Got lost once. But generally got to where we wanted to go.
We started the day early. So early that when we walked through Nishiki Market, it wasn‘t fully open yet. They sold all kinds of produce there and traditional foods.
We wondered into a small temple while in Nishiki Market and Isaac was fascinated by this machine with a mechanical horse inside that picked fortunes.
I told him it was a waste of ¥200 but he seemed keen to see what the horse did. So I gave him the money and the horse gave him his fortune. Under “Studies“, it said “Don‘t give up.” We had a good laugh at that.
Then we just kept on walking and ended up at Kamo River. The view was very nice so we bought some breakfast at a Family Mart and I showed him how to buy the Yong Tau Fu there.
We sat on a bench overlooking the river and ate our stash. Isaac seemed more interested in the black pepper fried chicken cutlet he picked out than the Yong Tau Fu, so I had to eat the rest of his bowl.
Next to us, an elderly lady was having her photo taken by her husband. She came over and asked us where we are from and I said, “Singapore.” “Ah, then we are neighbors! We are from JB! We heard your accent and thought you must be either Singaporean or Malaysian! Haha!”
We had a nice chat about places we had already visited and she told us where they went in Japan. And she said that Hiroshima was totally worth a visit, including an island near the city called Miyajima island.
I thanked her and while I finished the last of my breakfast (Isaac had gone back to the Family Mart to buy another chicken cutlet and Kirin Ice Lemon Tea), I made a room booking for Hiroshima on my phone. Next destination settled.
Next stop was Kinkaku-ji, or the Golden Pavilion. I checked out Google Maps and we took a bus 205 there. It took us about 45 minutes.
You board Kyoto buses in the middle, and exit at the front. And you pay only when you disembark. You have to wait till most of the passengers have disembarked before the middle door opens for the new passengers to board. This confused us at the beginning but we got used to it after five bus rides.
I had to ensure we had ample coins because the bus took exact change. It was ¥350 each ride because it was ¥230 for me and ¥120 for the son.
The Golden Pavilion was lovely but we still had other places to go. So we hopped onto bus 59 to go to Kiyomizu-dera, up on a hill. The walk up was packed with school children, tourists and ladies in kimonos.
Some of the kimono-clad ladies is bluff people one. A few were Japanese but many were Hong Kongers, Taiwanese and PRCs.
There were many touristy shops along the way up to Pure Water Temple, but no suitable place for lunch. So we delayed our lunch and just aimed for the top.
“Never have a meal near tourist spots, the restaurants usually tai lang one,“ I shared this sagely travel advice with my son.
Kiyomizu-dera really is lovely in autumn. We hung around for awhile taking photos and then made our way downhill, only to meet an even bigger crowd going up to see the sunset.
We were pretty hungry by 3:00 p.m. so I told Isaac we should eat a bit first. I bought us some vanilla custard puffs from Yatsuhashi Cream Puff near the temple.
I also tried the rice balls from a shop down the road, though Isaac politely declined.
On the bus ride back to our area, I got up the middle of bus 207 and a friendly couple greeted me. “Hi, mrbrown! We follow you on Instagram, we love your photos of Japan.”
What a small world.
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Isaac and Papa go to Japan: Day 3–4, Kyoto by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co)
It was a very much a spur of the moment thing. I had some frequent flyer miles, my son had just completed his Primary School Leaving Examinations, and I had a window from work to for a week. The idea had been percolating in my mind for quite a long time though: to go on a trip with my kids, just Father and Child.
We as parents spend much of our waking hours working, making a living, running the home and just generally being busy, while our kids are tied up in school, faced with an endless stream of homework and exams. Some days, we work late, and by the time we are home, the kids are asleep. And when the kids wake up for school at 5am (because the school bus comes at 5.45am), some of us are still a sleep. Which leaves the weekend, or late in the day, to know each other.
So I redeemed my son and I a pair of tickets to Tokyo, bought two Japan Rail 7-day Passes, and off we went on our first Father-Son trip. No plans, no fixed itinerary, and no luggage.
Yes, we had no luggage. Just our Tom Bihn backpacks, a 26-litre Western Flyer for him, and a 30-litre Aeronaut 30 for me, packed with a 12-inch MacBook and with clothes that could deal with the Japanese autumn in October, and even winter temperatures (just in case we decided to go up a mountain). I carried my Fuji X100T camera in my Co-Pilot satchel.
This is a journal and a photo essay of our time there.
DAY 1: TOUCH DOWN
We made it. We got a little lost traveling from the airport to our Airbnb place in Shinagawa, but we finally got there, a little tired and hungry.
Our host kindly met us at the station and it was just short walk to his place.
It‘s pretty basic but clean and cozy. We plonked our things down and went straight for dinner nearby. It is Isaac‘s first meal in Japan and he was fascinated with ordering and paying for our meal through a machine. I‘ll say this, the boy can eat.
We also went to the nearby convenience store to stock up on some drinks and snacks because we have a little fridge in our room. I introduced him to the wonders of Kirin iced lemon tea.
I‘m waiting for the washing machine to finish the cycle while the boy is playing with my iPod Touch. He has 30 minutes of screen time.
I still don‘t know what we‘re doing tomorrow but we‘ll figure it out.
DAY 2: ELECTRIC TOWN
It is our first day out and about and we grabbed a train to Akihabara. Where else would two boys go to first in Tokyo?
Isaac was determined to get something for his younger sister, who is into Vocaloids (she likes Rin and Len). I told him that Vocaloids isn‘t real music, he agreed.
We grabbed a quick meal at the corner shop just in front of the station and went straight for the toy and hobby stores.
Floors and floors of toys, figures and card games. There is no way to see it all. We climbed narrow stairs, scoured the wares and stopped for an arcade game or three.
He made one of my ¥100 coins last for quite a while at the Gundam game.
Then we stumbled upon a very cool Prime 1 Studio exhibition of Batman and Transformers on the top floor of a toy store. Very very cool.
We also checked out the huge Star Wars displays, some with limited edition Japan versions of Star Wars figures.
As we passed another arcade, the boy exclaims, “Pa! Star Wars Battle Pod arcade game!“
“Ok, you play one round. Then my turn.”
We are just two boys in Tokyo, trying to destroy the Death Star.
DAY 2: OLD TOWN
10 hours. We were out for ten hours. Walking. Taking the train. Walking. More walking. After Akihabara, which Isaac called Anime Town, I took us to Asakusa.
Asakusa was packed. Everyone came to shop and to seek blessings. Everything was about touching something for luck.
A huge crowd gathered near Senso-jī Temple because of a dragon dance. The golden dragon snaked through the crowd with an accompanying carriage of lady musicians. People reached out to touch its body for luck and to take photos of it.
As we checked out the shops in the alleys, the boy complained about his boots. He had outgrown them since the France trip a year ago and didn‘t tell me they were too tight. And the walking was taking a toll on his toes. So we went to a shoe shop and I got him a pair of Kenneth sneakers. What is a Kenneth sneaker? It‘s a fake Converse sneaker costing only 1600 Yen. The relief was obvious on his face as he walked in his new shoes.
Then we found a ramen shop in Asakusa that had a queue. And you know what that means to a Singaporean. It has to be good. And it was. The son ate his char siew ramen and I had a wanton ramen. Yes. Wanton. In Japan. Made of chicken fillings. It was surprisingly good.
It was getting late and the sun was setting. One last place to take him. I said come, we take the Ginza line to the end.
We fell asleep on the train ride. The conductor had to wake the two of us up at Shibuya station. He looked a little annoyed at us but it was a good nap.
“This is Shibuya,“ I announced with aplomb, “Look at that crossing.”
We did the tourist thing and crossed one of the busiest traffic junctions in the world. Then I took him to Starbucks Tsutaya, where one can buy a drink and enjoy the view of Shibuya Crossing from the second floor.
It took a while find a seat at the window but eventually we got our spot. And we spent a good 30 minutes just watching people cross a road.
“I‘m hungry now,“ he said.
“What do you want for dinner?“
“Ramen. Let‘s have ramen again.”
I smiled at the boy after my own heart and we took a train back to our place where we had another awesome bowl of ramen in Seiya, a shop near Togoshi Station.
Nothing like a good hot bowl of ramen to end a day in Tokyo.
(Read the full post and see more photographs at brown.exposure.co or view the embedded version below.)
Isaac and Papa go to Japan: Day 1–2, Tokyo by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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How my day ends when I travel:
-Charge Camera 1 battery
-Charge Camera 2 battery
-Charge Apple Watch
-Charge portable wifi router
-Charge iPhone 6 Plus
-Charge 12-inch MacBook
-Charge my Soul (prayer time)
-Charge Self (Sleep mode)
-Wake up at 3am and charge Camera 1 second battery
-Charge Camera 2 second battery
-Return to charging Self.
Good thing I travel with a five-way USB charger. And these days, a camera that can charge via USB as well.
[Photo taken at sundown, in Halsey, Oregon, where we stopped for gas, with miles to go before we slept.]
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It is my last day in San Francisco and we decided to just relax after driving 66 hours in 12 days for more than 3000km up and down the West Coast. I'll share those hiking and road trip photos and stories soon.
No better way than to sit outside a coffee shop as the sun sets, watching hip cyclists go by at the Mission District.
We stumbled upon Four Barrels Coffee after visiting the Mission Workshop store at Valencia and 16th. So many nice cycling bags and clothes in that store.
I watched the vintage roasting machine chug away and asked, "Do you roast your own coffee here?"
"Yes," the man replied with a smile, "We roast for twenty hours a day here!"
I liked the coffee so much, I drank two cups. I am paying for it now because I cannot sleep and so, I am blogging this.
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I am traipsing through the West Coast of the U.S. for two weeks and before I left, I realized I didn't have any more travel-sized toothpaste for for my 3-1-1 travel toiletries pouch and I ended up buying a Barbie Kids toothpaste.
That was all the pharmacy had. Not even Batman toothpaste was available.
It even tastes kiddy, a kind of berry flavour. Yucks.
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Chilling in one of my favorite American cities: http://mrbrwn.co/1K6YpyX
Click on the link above or view via the embedded version below.
I Left My Heart in San Francisco by Kinmun "mrbrown" Lee on Exposure
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I know some of you are probably thinking, "There is a Club Med in Bintan?". Like many of you, I thought Club Med only existed in Cherating, Phuket and the Maldives, and was more of a singles place. But it seems the place is more family-oriented these days.
So when Club Med invited me and my brood to their resort in Bintan, I thought, why not? I told them I would be objective with my views as a newbie to the whole Club Med experience, and they seemed fine with that.
The idea with a Club Med holiday is you pay a per-head price, and you go there to play, eat and drink without needing to pay any more. It is a package deal. There are three buffets a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and the spread is actually pretty impressive.
In between meals, you can grab small bites at the bar area and also a free flow of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. A special Kid's Corner is set up there for kids to order mocktails with silly names, like "Don't Tell Mama".
You can do nothing or do everything there. There is a program lined up all day for adults and kids so we did both.
The kids did everything (we dropped them off in the care of the G.O's (Gentil Organisateur) who led them from program to program from morning till evening, including lunch. Thanks for watching my two younger ones, Refa and gang!
And the wife and I did nothing. We chilled out and even had time for a two and a half hour massage/spa treatment at the Club Med Bintan Island Spa by Aramsa.
This is me after our Tropical Java Lulur spa treatment at the treatment-room-with-a-view. Can you see my skin glowing from the full body exfoliation and full body yoghurt wrap? I feel so beautiful now. The wife was also pleased with her 150 minutes of relaxation.
My mom happily watched tv in the room, and sometimes went to swim. And Faith also went swimming at the pool and went for walks at the beach with us.
The journey there was fairly painless. A 45-minute ferry ride from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal was all it took. Because we had a nasty experience the last time we went to Bintan many years ago, when choppy waters made almost every one in my entourage sea sick, we came prepared. We came equipped with seasick pills but thankfully, the ride there and back was smooth.
The rooms are decent and they had enough tv channels to keep the kids entertained (though the signal was a little fuzzy because they don't use digital). The air conditioning was sufficiently cold which is super important to Singaporeans. And my rooms faced the open space in front of the sea, which was lovely.
My only complaint was that the wifi was spotty where we stayed. We only got decent wifi internet in the common areas and restaurant. Then again, it was nice to not be online so much. This is after all, a vacation.
In the evenings, there was a performance by the G.O's themselves. These enthusiastic hosts who look after you by day, become talented performers by night, led by their chief, Marco.
They even managed to get us dancing at the finale. We conga-ed our way to the bar area after the performances and then we led the kids to the rooms for bedtime. After which the wife and I snuck out for a final drink ourselves.
I have to say, we all enjoyed ourselves. I wish it didn't rain as much but we did have a full Saturday with great weather. I didn't have to plan too much and worry about the logistics. The kids had enough to keep them occupied and my mom, the wife and I even managed to get some time for ourselves. Food was never a problem: if the kids wanted to eat pizza, spaghetti and nuggets during meal times, they could help themselves while we adults had our beef steaks, lamb chops and grilled fish.
It is nice to be taken care of from start to finish. I could get used to this kind of family vacation.
If you are interested, there is a Kids Stay Free promotion going on for Bintan Island, Bali, Cherating Beach and Phuket. Go check it out.
Me, I am now thinking that a Club Med Hokkaido Sahoro ski vacation may be worth looking at.
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