In search of Animate

Tokyo train map, where are we again?

Monday, July 31, 2017

With all of our shopping for animate souvenirs, Levi wondered

if he could get a little something for himself.

I realized today that I am not a teenage Japanese girl.  Floors upon floors of animate.  Books, figurines, life size pillows with pictures of the animate girls on them.  Cannot see myself buying one of those and then having to walk out into an extremely busy street with that under my arm.  No, really, it is for my nephew.  Anyway, Tokyo has a district that is huge into animate.  We even got to pop into an Alienware store, which Luke informed us was very high tech software for gaming.  After our animate fix, we then headed to the Sony building to see their newest gadgets.  The 100 inche UHD TV looked really good, but would have difficulty getting it onto the plane.  Then back to the apartment for an earlier evening.  We are off to Hiroshima on the Shinkansin tomorrow.  Tokyo has been enjoyable, but glad to be heading on.

Crowded, but oh so quiet

Saturday, July 30, 2017
First day in Tokyo, the world's most populous metropolitan at almost 14 million people.  It certainly had a different sound that our other Asian travels... it is quiet.  The streets are quiet, everything is just several decibals quieter.  It can also be more crowded that we have experience before.  Exiting one of the subway stations today took quiet some time.  We were absolutely packed in our slow exit out.
In the morning, we head off to Shinjuko station, the world's busiest train station, to activate our Japan Rail Passes.  We purchased these expensice
passes back in Surfer's Paradise, about two and a half months ago, and have been carefully carrying them arouind ever since.  The world leader in technology still issue a paper pass that, if lost, cannot be replaced.  Cindy had worked out all the train trips that we would like to catch for our two weeks in Japan, now hoping that this all works.  Within the hour, we had our passes and all of our train trips booked, exactly as planned.  Cindy is amazing!
We then went out for lunch and I had my favorite Japanese dish, Katsu Don - steamed rice with pork and an egg on top that is cooked by the steamed rice below.  Not only is it good, it is really the only dish that I can say and therefore order without pointing at a picture.  Then off to the 45th floor of the Government Metropolitan Building for a view of the city.  We could see the SkyTree in the distance.  The SkyTree is the second tallest manmade structure in the world.  Does not look that impressive in the distance.  A bit more hiking arouind, but legs were starting to get very tired on all of us.  After a quiet dinner in our apartment, we went to the Donki which is just down the street from us.  This is a store that is open 24 / 7, and has everything.  Reminded my of Caprice Distributor's on Midland, but with more stuff.  The boys had fun looking at the sporting goods, which included doiuble chin wraps and canes.

The Tokyo Sky Tree in the distance.  Top picture has the famous line of vending machines that our found on the streets of Japan.  Middle picture has Cindy and Luke checking out menu items.  It is common for the dish to be shellacked into place.

Farewell KL, hello Tokyo

Saturday, July 29, 2017
We are off to Tokyo today.  Our flight left at 2:15 pm, and our trip out to the KL airport takes about 90 minutes in total.  And that is without any traffic issues.  We elected for the public bus vs the taxi, as the taxi seemed really expensive.  Ninety minutes of driving, guess there is a reason for the cost.  The flight is excellent, and All Nippon Airways has our approval.  We land at 10 pm, and then start our journey into Tokyo to our apartment.  First a monorail, and then a switch to another line.  Out of the subway, we then follow pictures sent by our host to direct us to our apartment.  Street names are a challenge as they are in Japanese.  Talk about being in a foreign land.  Still lots of English, but not compared to all our other destinations.  The Japanese tourist information people are excellent, and give us accurate information which is very helpful.  Finally into our apartment at about midnight.  Fairly spacious for Japanese standards, but there are a lot of brown stains on blankets.  The boys elect to sleep in their sleeping bags.  Another great day.

                     Breakfast on the 30th floor.                                Luke under the tallest twin towers in the world.

More monkeys

Friday, July 28, 2017
A train ride into KL Sentral started our morning where we found the bus we will take to the airport tomorrow.  Then off to the Batu Caves, a Hindu religious site.  Cindy and I had been there 20 years ago, and it still looks the same, but the parking lot is paved now.  No one was overly keen on climbing several hundred stairs to see another deity in a cave, so it was a short trip.  We have told the boys that anytime you have a combination of monkeys and dogs, the dogs always look horrible, seemly suffering from mange.  This continues to be true, as many of the dogs looked like they needed to be put down.  The monkeys are very brave for food, and one lady who gave her stroller strapped infant a cookie had a monkey jump on the infant and wrestle the food away.  Then the monkey went after the lady, who quickly gave up on her food by throwing it far away from her.  Luke did not have any encounters with monkey on this occasion, but he did keep his distance.
Back at the pool, Cindy's fear of heights continues to amuse us.  As I demonstrated my Phelp's like prowess in the water, Cindy was worried that I might lift out of the water and go over the side.  I am lean, mean, and fast in the water.  Nate was going to the salmon going upstream, but decided to give Cindy a break.  Then, someone (sorry, but it was an Asian family) showed up with a five foot high pink flamingo floating device.  The guard stopped that one from going in the water.  I thought it was to keep the floatie being blown over the side, but Cindy felt it was to prevent people from floating over the side.  I imagine we will not see another infinity pool on the 52nd floor again.
We then had a quiet evening, packing up and preparing for our flight to Japan tomorrow.

Hidden dangers on a walking tour

Thursday, July 27, 2017
A stroll to the park.  It is a kid's playground covering two acres, and is the backyard to the Petronias Twin Towers.  Fairly impressive backdrop.  First game of tag in a long time, but it is still hot, and we are quickly drenched, yet again, in sweat.  But it is good.  After a swim on the 52nd floor, with poor Cindy fretting everytime anyone gets close to the edge, to cool off, we are off on a walking tour of a Malay community.  It is actually right under our noses, as the whole tour is within a km of our hotel, and we can see our apartment for most of it (if we could indeed determine which window was ours).  Our guide is excellent, combining humour and information to tell us about his culture through clothes, food, and herbal medicine.  At the mid point of the tour, a child (younger and definitely smaller than Nate), tried leaving the parking lot (slightly uphill) we were in on a full sized moped.  He lost balance, gunned the motor, and drove into our group.  No one was hurt.  He then got the bike upright (with some assistance), and proceeded to gun the motor again and drive straight into our tour guide, ripping his pants and cutting up his arm.  The boys then got up a third time, gunned the motor and managed to drive the bike into the street, again off balance and for a moment in time heading into traffic before getting straightened out.  A future casualty of the dangerous roads of Malaysia.  Then the tour resumed.  Back at the apartment we had a feast of gyoza and rice, and some mango for dessert.

Quiet neighbourhood with our Platinum Hotel standing tall in the background.

Rags to Riches

View out guesthouse window

Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Our guesthouse for the night is a pleasant little place.  From the outside, it looks very uninviting, but get inside and there is a nice little common area, a kitchen for basic breakfasts, and nice clean rooms.  We have two rooms, one with a bathroom, and the other with its own bathroom down the hallway.  With our planning ahead, we arrived in KL a day earlier than we had booked our apartment so needed a layover place.  After breakfast, we head over to the central market.  It is nothing like the central markets of places like Phnom Penh.  This is fairly new, despite the open since 1888 sign.  After some wandering, and Levi getting a batman belt, we end up at a tourist information.  They are nice, but do not know much.  Walking the streets of KL is unlike other places in Asia, and we deem it to be more dangerous.  They drive wrecklessly and there seem to be no rules for crossing the road.  Pedestrians are truly on their own.  We witness a two motocycle collision, but both riders seem to escape injury.  Our crossing streets usually end in sprints and counting heads on the other side.  We then head back to our guesthouse and grab out gear to go to our apartment.  This "Faces" apartment has been the cherry on the cake for the kids travelling in Asia.  Advertised with a pool on the 52nd floor overlooking the twin towers, the kids have been geared up for this.  After getting off at the wrong bus stop, we end up walking what we feel is the wrong direction.  Then Nate picks out a face on the tall building in front of us and we are somehow here.  Our view out the floor to ceiling windows on 30th floor is great, but the infinity pool on the 52nd floor is even better.  Luke and Cindy are very worried about falling over the side and down 52 floors.  I get into a discussion with Luke about when the last time he accidentally fell out of a pool.  I also point out that if he did fall, it is only 42 floors because the hotel juts out at floor 10.  He is not impressed with this part of the discussion.  I reassure him that the only way of going over the edge is on purpose.  We then walk to the mall down the street, and find out that there is a cinema playing the new Spider-Man movie.  The kids feel this is the best Spider-Man movie yet, and are thrilled.  Our first movie theatre experience of the trip.  We get back for a late evening dinner.

View from the pool area on the 52nd floor.

So long Singapore

Singapore at night

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

We are off to Kuala Lumpur, by train.  The train leaves at 10 am, but we leave the hostel at 6 am because we are not sure how long this is going to take.  It is a little confusing in an organized way.  The subway ride is about 50 minutes, but trains are delayed so we end up waiting for about 15 minutes for our first ride.  We have to change trains to get to the edge of Singapore, and the train is packed.  We manage to eventually get seats for the remaining 40 minute ride.  We then get off the subway and onto a bus for the Singapore passport control station.  The buses are lined up, but the guy next to me says we are lucky as there are no traffic jams today.  This is good today?  Oh yes, you should see weekends when everyone is heading home.  Amazingly for the mass of people, there is no line up to get our passports stamped out of Singapore.  On the otherside, we then jump on a bus (amazingly the same bus and driver as what got us here) that takes us across the causeway to the Malaysian passport control.  Again, we are packed and there are dozens of buses.  However, once again no line up to go through customs.  Immediately after getting through, Cindy decides to take a picture of a sign.  One guy walking by tries to discretely tell us not to do that, but too late, and an official calls Cindy over and views her photo gallery.  After satisfied that no picture was taken, we are allowed to leave.  We get to the waiting area of the bus about 45 minutes ahead of schedule.  Over three hours to get to the edge of the city and checked through customs.  Glad it was not a weekend.

The trains of course are airconditioned to the max.  As this is being typed, my fingers are freezing.  As we explore southeast Asia, all day we sweat, but on the train we have are sleeping bags out to keep warm.  The ride is an amazingly quick seven hours.  When in Vietnam, we would have to wait in steaming hot crowded waiting rooms, never knew what was going on, and then the trains were discussing.  Here, it is like boarding a plane, nice air conditioned waiting area, and you get paged when your train is ready.  

Arriving in KL, we board the monorail.  In our full backpack gear, we squeeze onto the train during rush hour.  It is like sardines, and we keep Nate close to us for fear of losing him and he gets pushed off the train before our stop in the swarm of people herding on and off.  When it is our turn, we use our mass and try to gentle bowl our way out.  A short walk and we our at our hostel.  Dinner is on the food street only a couple of blocks from us.  Lie everything else today, it is crowded.  No one wants to explore tonight, as all our very tired.  But they are excited for the upcoming days, as we discover there is one of the top playgrounds in the world by the twin towers.

Transferring to our second train at Gemas.  The trains are nice, but oh so chilly.

Yes!!!

Monday, July 24, 2017

Started our day at Clark’s Quay.  Very quiet in the morning.  Then there he is!  Our walk comes across a man selling our ice cream sandwich.  Could it be the same guy?  He has been selling them for 27 years.  It could very well be.  He looks the same from what I remember, but has expanded to having a cart with an umbrella, not just the milk crate table.  Amazingly, the price is the same, a dollar for a slab of ice cream between either to wafers, or an additional 20 cents if you want it with a slice of bread.  He has also expanded his flavour selection from just vanilla and chocolate, to about eight choices.  It is wonderful.  Singapore is complete now.  He is not overly friendly, but seems to smile when 30 Asian tourist flock to his cart.  We vow to return later in the day.  Then off to Little India.  Picture India, but clean and with pleasant smells of food.  Not the urine everywhere wonderland we visited years ago.  Lunch was very good, and Cindy picks up some fabric.  We then grab the subway to Chinatown.  It is a sensory overload, as are most Chinese shops.  Cindy tracks down Hawker Chan’s, a little restaurant that has earned a Michelin Star.  For under $15, we have lunch at one of the top restaurants in Singapore.  We feel that if this place is worthy of a Michelin Star, our ice cream guy should definitely get one as well.  With that in mind, we make our way back to the ice cream sandwich guy and have one more.  Still delicious.  A walk to the waterfront gets us in place to see the laser show from the other side of the bay tonight.  Although the lasers in the mist are not visible, the lighting of the Sands Bay mall and hotel are great.  Another fantastic day.  Feel we could have easily spent another couple of days in Singapore as there is so much to do.  

The Merlion, Singapore's mascot

It's a science fair

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Today we head to the Science Centre as they are having a special weekend presentation.  As with everything in Singapore, is is incredible.  The goal of this city is to do what others do, but on a grander scale.  We end up being over six hours at the centre, and the kids believe it is incredible.  The adults are fairly impressed as well.  Lightning shows, explosions, and lots of cool illusions.  Two girls had made a computer program that would make topographic images of their sand pit.  They were going into grade 9.  Levi quickly left but I did manage to catch up to him and let him know the expectations had just gone up for his schooling.  He told me not to be too optimistic. 

 In the late afternoon we then head for the Gardens by the Bay.  You guessed it, they are spectacular.  There is a water park, so the kids have a run in the water.  Levi and Nate end up spending their time on the run, as the game is for a group of boys to chase our boys, but the other boys look a little violent.  Levi does enough to keep tormenting them, and both our boys are quick enough to keep out of dangers way.  The other father finally has enough with his kids and hauls them home.  Good.  We then head for the laser show that we missed last night.  You guessed it again, spectacular.  The 20 minute show happens twice a night, every night.  They blast of giant streams of mist, and then use the water as the screen for the lasers.  Lots of fountains going off, loud orchestra music (with a electric guitar solo at the end), and laser and spotlights going off everywhere.  All used to describe the history of Singapore.  Not sure I picked up on the storyline that well, but the show was amazing.  Returned home at 11 pm.  Another full day, Wow!

Laser show at Marina Bay

Welcome to Singapore, now lets practice

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Air Asia departed ahead of schedule and we arrived in Singapore 30 minutes early.  Cindy and I recall being in Singapore with Kenny and Karen 20 years ago, and there was a guy selling ice cream sandwiches on the sidewalk for a dollar.  He was set up with a cooler on a milk crate, and had a cardboard container of ice cream that he would cut a one inch slab off and put it between either two wafers or a slice of break.  Brilliant, and we are hoping that we can find this marvel again.  Also remember that the back of the visas are the same.  The back of the visa states, “Death is the punishment for drug trafficking under Singapore Law.”  Seems like a fairly good deterrent, but I recall that they hang people every Friday for trafficking. 

 This might be the best organized city that we have ever been in, everything (subways, signage) is very easy to follow.  So, what to do?  We hear that on the Saturday’s leading up to their National Day (August 9), they rehearse their fireworks.  We head into the city centre and find a mall that puts poor Penang to shame, and any other mall we have ever seen before.  I took a bunch of pictures before I realized that I was taking pictures of a mall.  Outside, on the other side of the bay is the Junior Olympic Park, and it is packed to capacity.  As we question what is happening, a bunch of military sky divers drop into the Olympic center, coming right over top of us.  We then walk inside the mall before a mighty roar has us scrambling outside to see several fighter jets doing a fly over.  One of the jets goes straight up, and the rumble and roar is deafening.  Then helicopters come in, dropping divers into the water, followed by rescue boats.  Then gun boats chasing guys on sea doos, shooting at them.  Luke wonders if the guys on the sea doo’s are the drug dealers, told to get on the boats and drive for their lives.  After more fly overs and helicopters, we get an impressive firework show.  And this is just the rehearsal.  Wow!  They do it all over next Saturday.  The boys are wondering if we can reroute our fly to Japan to pass through Singapore.  We were going to stay for the laser show over the bay, but this occurs every night, so we elect to call it an evening and return tomorrow night.

Big lizards and angry monkeys

Friday, July 21, 2017

Went for a bus ride to the Penang National Park.  The road was lengthy and windy, not good for those who struggle with motion sickness.  Levi was happy to get off the bus.  Our walk in the park had us once again on a wildlife tour.  The first beast to scare us was a five foot long monitor lizard.  He was walking across the path while we walked.  He was the first of about five of the mighty beasts that we saw for the day.  At the beach, the little crabs were lightning fast and very entertaining.  On the way back, we encountered monkeys.  One of the apes stepped toward Luke, causing him to yell at the killer to back off.  Was started was an exchange between the two that left our family laughing, an Asian family very confused, and Luke running down the path full speed.  Lyle would have been proud of the pace.  Our bus ride back had the Asian Hamilton Lewis driving.  Levi entertained himself by hanging onto the overhead handles and swinging all over the place.  There was no one faster on the road, and a near rear end collision that sent an elderly lady stumbling.  That night we walked into old George Town for some food and eventually got fed.

This is the monster in the process of terrorizing Luke.

George Town Walking Tour

The original Bruce Lee

Thursday, July 20, 2017
Free walking tours are available all over the world.  They are an excellent way to learn about the history of a city, and to see parts you would not normally see.  We have done walking tours in Brussels, Melbourne, Sydney, and now here in George Town.  Our guide was excellent, and explained that the street art we saw yesterday was created to be interactive.  Several of the pieces, all by the same artist, have items mounted to the pictures and people are invited to be part of the picture.  The history of the city is that it is the mid point port between China and India.  With the British controlling India, and therefore the spice trade (which at the time was worth more than gold), they founded George Town as their main port.  They brought many people from India to work and therefore the large Indian population.  Tin then became a huge commodity and very important to the George Town economy.  The local population were farmers and fisherman, so not good for this type of labour.  The tin tycoons therefore brought Chinese workers from SE China in, basically as slave labourers.  The tin tycoons were actually the leaders of the Chinese Triad, or mafia, so they were not much into worker rights.
That evening we checked out the local mall.  Wow.  Eight levels of major stores.  Penang is a major port of call.

Luke's revenge

Wednesday, July 19, 2017
We hike to the tourist information office in Georgetown.  Penang is the island, and Georgetown is the city, first established as a port by the British.  Georgetown is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, and walking around find the place to be very interesting.  Still coming across these signs pointing toward Jalan Sehala.  There is a very interesting collection of street art, with some interactive pieces, some of which are very famous for Penang.  Penang is also considered one of the top food destinations in Asia, and we will agree.  Food here is delicious, and very cheap.  With the British settlement, there are many Indians here (people from India), so we also get our fill of samosas.  Temperatures are still in the high 30's, so Slurpees from the 7 Elevens are a must, but no one makes a Slurpee like we do in Canada.  We try the night market for a meal in the evening, but it is difficult to order and very crowded.  As we are walking back, Cindy and I mention to the boys about the Jalan Sehala signs that point everywhere, but never seem to have a final destination.  Luke explains that these are one way street signs.  After all the teasing he has taken about the no boomerang sign in Australia, I believe he has redeemed himself, and did so in a very dignified manner.

Little India, with music blasting

Street art

Penang, Malaysia

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Air Asia for the first time.  We took our 5 am taxi for the 60 minute drive that only took us 40 minutes.  Considering that the speed limit is 40 or 50 km for the entire trip, we were not below 100 km very often.  After arriving safely, we had a pleasant flight to Kuala Lumpur, then walked several miles in the airport, before clearing customs and getting to our next flight for Penang.  We finally arrive in Penang and have a taxi ride to our Airbnb apartment.   On route, I keep seeing road signs pointing toward Jalan Sehala, but we never seem to arrive at the destination.  Not sure if it is directions to a mosque or what?  At the apartment, we are on the 20th floor, so we have a view.  The boys are very excited as we cook our own pasta and eat in tonight.  Been a long day, so the soft beds are welcome.

Hmph!

Monday, July 17, 2017

Gravol for the kids please.  The ferry ride back to Phuket was a little rough, and there were a few people heaving, but not from our family.  The saying on the scuba trip was “Swallow your pride and go over the side”.  Not possible for the poor people up front.  Phuket gave us a great little hotel with pool side rooms.  We walked and checked out the beach, and wandered the market.  A little restaurant gave us our first taste of really good Thai food.  Back at the hotel, an Asian couple asked if we were looking after our grandchildren.  It was upsetting that they insulted Cindy about her age, but I held my cool.

Last day of Phi Phi

Sunday, July 16
Tough to match a day like yesterday, and we successfully do not.  We do go for a walk to the viewpoint, which is also the tsunami gathering area.  The view is fantastic of the beaches of Koh Phi Phi.  The boys are not thrilled, as it was a lot of steps.  We then return for a swim with some boys from the Netherlands.  Good when the boys can play with other boys.  The girls sun tanning by the pools edge were not overly impressed with the splashing, but the adults were not feeling overly sorry for them.  Did not seem to matter where they moved their deck chairs, the splashes seemed to reach them.  It ended up being a fairly early evening as the boys were tired.  I watched Roger Federer win his eighth Wimbledon title before packing it in.  

The boys were thinking of putting their new skill set on display, but needed to be 18 in order 

to get drunk first before climbing into the ring.

Best experience ever!... so far

Brazilian boy and mom look on.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

 Wake up early and when I look out I see overcast skies and lots of wind.   Arg!  And then by 7 am it is sunny out.  The boys are debriefed by their instructor Mateo (from Italy) who is a hit with the boys.  We then take a 30 minute boat ride over some fairly rough seas to our dive spot by the island opposite Phi Phi.  Once guarded by the island, the sea is much calmer.  A Brazilian family is upset when they see our 10 year old diving, and their 10 year old was told he could not.  We are thinking something is adrift with their story and the boy is acting up because of this.  They seem to have money as we picked them up off their sailboat, and then returned them to it later.  The mom told her son to not worry about it, they would take him diving in Antigua as it is much nicer there.  The boy refused to snorkel in the second round but eventually was coerced into the water by his mom.  Our boys were told that sometimes things don’t work out, but they better never act like that.  They agreed.  Then they had was Levi described as the most amazing experience of his life.  The boys were under for two sessions, both over 30 minutes each time.  Lots of fish life, and the closest one can get to experiencing flying.  Cindy and I snorkel and after some adjustments on our masks, have a great time checking out the fish life.  The coral is not all that sensational as I believe it is still recovering from the tsunami in 2004.  We are back at the hotel around 2 pm, and these prairie folk crash for the afternoon.  We are good in the water, but it is not our usual element, so we are exhausted.  Nate on the otherhand is still good for an evening swim.  We came to Phi Phi for a snorkel experience.  After Friday I was worried that it was going to be a bust, but today made the venture out here well worth it.

Ready to go.                                                                 My best ever photo bomb

Rough waters, but a great view

Friday, July 14, 2017

Luke seems to have improved again.  We have to vacate our room as we are being moved to a different section of the hotel.  We sign up the boys to do two dives tomorrow, and then go and rent snorkel gear.  The walk to Long Beach brings back some memories of us being here 20 years ago.  However, we were here in February when the water was very calm.  July is wet season, and this means rough waters.  The snorkeling is a fail, and the shore dump and undertow are severe, so our time on Long Beach is a disappointment.  Back at the hotel, Nate spends over two hours in the pool snorkeling.  We even snorkeled through a rain storm.  Finally forced him out.  Of course he is nervous about diving tomorrow and informs me he might just snorkel.  I inform him that he is diving, and is not allowed to back out.

There are cats everywhere.  As we have a bite to eat in a restaurant on the water, Cindy comments that this restaurant has a million dollar view – and it does.  Shortly after, we watch a male cat on a thatched roof next to us take an extended pee, and at the same time another cat jumps on the table between us and our view of the ocean and go to work licking itself.  At this time Nate agrees with Cindy with the comment, “Yes, million dollar view”.