KOTOBIAN TADAU TAGAZO DO KAAMATAN !

I was in Nexus Resort and I chanced on this display at the lobby. I realized it will be Harvest Festival in a couple of days. Wishing all my friends "Kotobian Tadau Tagazo Do Kaamatan " (Happy Harvest Festival) !!!

KOREAN DINNER

I love hot and spicy Korean food especially the charcoal "Yaki" (grilled) meat. On the last day of my Japan trip, I had a dinner with my Japanese friends at a small Korean restaurant in Tokyo. We started with the traditional Korean salad with hot and spicy sesame dressing.

Buchujeon - Korean vegetable pancake served with soy dipping sauce.

Hot favouite - The bubbling hot and spicy Kimchi pork and bean curd stew.

The main course was a mixture of beef, ribs, tongue, pork and scallops for us to "yaki" (grill) As it was oyster season in Japan, I placed a side order - fresh and delicious osyters. Thanks to Miura san and Sato san for a pleasant evening despite their busy schedule.

LOW COST CARRIER TERMINAL KOTA KINABALU

I did not realized that the Kota kinabalu Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) is already more than 3 years old until I went to pick-up a friend last week.While waiting for the flight to land, I met an old friend who is working for the Malaysia Airport Behad. According to him, this terminal started operation since early January 2007 and could handle 1,200 passengers per peak hour with the support of 26 check-in counters, a departure and arrival hall and six aircraft parking bays. Currently AirAsia is operating their Domestic and International flights from this terminal. The other carrier is Cebu Pacific on thie MNL-BKI-MNL route. A taxi driver told me that the departure and arrival driveway is normally jammed with heavy traffic during peak hours.

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This terminal is a two storey building. Passengers movement is mainly on the ground floor where the check-in counter, arrival and departure halls, flight information, car rental and shops are located.

Check-in counter area.
One section of the ground floor
A dried and frozen seafood shop.
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There are two restaurants on the second floor - a cafe and KFC on each side of the floor. For those who want to check their e-mail or to surf the internet on their laptops, there is a Wi-Fi at KFC.
Entrance to the departure hall.

AirAsia aircrafts on ground.

JAPAN TRIP - MT. FUJI AND HAKONE

We returned to Tokyo for the last leg of our Japan trip. Miura san made a booking for us to tour Mt.Fuji and Hakone, the most popular day trip tour in Tokyo. As we were to leave early in the morning, we had "room service" for breakfast to avoid the rush in the coffee house of the hotel. Just before 6.30AM, breakfast was wheeled in by a cheerful waitress to our room - a combination of American and Continental. It was the morning rush hour when we left the hotel. It took us about 30 minutes to get to Hamamatsu Station (浜松駅, Hamamatsu-eki) to join the tour.

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The tour bus departed at 09:00 sharp from Hamamatsucho Bus Terminal heading for the countryside going through the heavy city traffic. On our way, we passed the Tokyo Tower - the icon of Tokyo City. There was less traffic as we entered the highway. Our guide who spoke fluent English was well trained. She was absolutely fantastic, providing comprehensive information about the Japanese culture, history and details of the places on our route. She even gave us an "origami" (The traditional Japanese folk art in paper folding) lesson on-board. According to her, as it was a cloudy day, we might not be able to see Mount Fuji at all.

However, it was otherwise. The Magnificent view of Mount Fuji was in front of our bus as we reached the mountain area. Our first stop was the Fuji Visitor Center. There were the display and history of the mountain and off course souvenir shops. The breathtaking picture of Mount Fuji taken from the Observation deck at the Center.

My wife and daughter were happily posing for photos.

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Our tour continued to the first station of Mount Fuji - going through the winding and narrow road. Stopping at the first station.

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Normally the bus would drive up to the fifth station but unfortunately the road was closed because of the slippery condition due to heavy snow. A traditional Japanese lunch was included in the tour package - simple lunch but it was good enough.
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Fascinating Mount Fuji view all the way as we continued on to Hakone National Park.

Arriving at Lake Ashi jetty and boarded the ferry for a cruise to the Hakone lake Side Park. It was a comfortable 20 minutes scenic ride. Approaching the jetty of the Hakone Lake Side Park
The main attraction was the cable car ride to Mount Kumagakate for an aerial view of the Hakone National Park. The sweeping views of the lake and surrounding as we were on the way up. Unfortunately, when we arrived there, the mountain was covered with thick mist and we could not see anything! The return trip was a scary experience as the cable car "zoomed" into the thick mist on the way down.

Back to our bus.

Proceeding to our last stop via the narrow countryside road.

The last stop was the Odawara Station where we took the "Shinkansen" (Bullet train) back to Tokyo - arriving there just in time for dinner.

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Overall, it was a well organised trip from start to finish. We had a great time as the tour guide was friendly, polite and caring. She is a real professional. Thanks to Miura san and Yoneda san for the tour arrangement.

JAPAN TRIP - OSAKA

This is the continuation on my Japan trip after leaving Fukuoka.

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As our aircraft was descending to Osaka, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge or known as the Pearl bridge came into view. If I am not mistaken, this is the 1991 meters or 6532 ft longest suspension bridge in the world. View of the Osaka city from the aircraft as our flight was preparing to land.

Osaka is the third largest city in Japan after Tokyo and Yokohama. Located at the month of the Yodo river in the Kansai region of the Japanese main island of Honshu. It is only about an hour flight or 3 hours by "Shinkansen" (Bullet train) from either Fukuoka or Tokyo.Landed at Itami airport. This airport was formally known as Osaka International Airport. Since 1994, it became a Domestic airport when the Kansai International was opened. Today, Itami Airport handles flights from/to more than 30 destinations across Japan. We took the Highway bus from the terminal to the city which was about 30 minutes away. The fare was 620 yen or about RM21.00 per person. The streets were crowded as our bus entered the City. It was the rush hour in the evening. A friend recommended us to stay in the Hotel Monterey Grasmere which is situated just next to the OCAT bus terminal. This hotel is well located, close to Namba train/subway stations and shopping. Part of the city view from our hotel room - No green and nothing except concrete buildings.

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Our "guide" Kogano san took us to Shinsaibashi area where many boutiques, big department stores, restaurants and shops are located. According to him, Shinsaibashi is the largest shopping and entertainment area in Osaka. Kogano san is an old friend of mine and I have known him since 1991. It was so kind of him meeting us at the bus terminal and took us to our hotel. We had him as our "escort" for the evening.

What a sight - with thousands of people in the streets of Shinsaibashi. My wife and daughter posed with the "Glico Man" bill board in the background. I was told that many people would take their photographs at this spot because "Glico man" is the icon there.

A popular restaurant in Shinsaibashi - The "Kani"(crab) restaurant. Tako Yaki (Grilled or fried Octopus in batter) - the famous delicacy of Osaka.

It was a wonderful evening - we had some delicious Japanese cooking and nice sake in an "Izakaya" (Japanese style restaurant) before returning to our hotel.