Experiencing Hello Kitty Flight Fever
by Administrator on May 6, 2012
Interestingly, one of my frequently viewed photos on Flickr is the “Hello Kitty airport waiting room”. It was taken last year at the Taoyuan airport in Taiwan. This year returning to the airport, I noticed Hello Kitty theme has expanded into a nursing room, a phone booth, and an area decorated just for people to take pictures with.
During our March trip, we were on EVA Hello Kitty Airbus going and returning from Japan. At checking in to Japan, the staff that was assisting us apologized profoundly for running out of Hello Kitty theme boarding pass. He asked very politely if it’s okay to give us the standard boarding pass instead.
At first I thought they messed up our seatings, but then I was a little puzzled the apology was for something in my opinion, really minor. I guess I didn’t realize how serious the airline and the passengers taking this Hello Kitty theme so very seriously.
Before entering the waiting area, we were handed a Hello Kitty notepad that printed like a passport. At the waiting area, the sight of Hello Kitty Airbus stir up excitement amongst passengers.
The inflight entertainment screens played Hello Kitty animation the moment we were seated. Looked into the front seat pocket, there are Hello Kitty puke bag, Hello Kitty flight safety instruction, and Hello Kitty shopping Guide.
But wait, there’s more! It’s chow time, and my meal tray also littered with Hello Kitty – Hello Kitty utensils, Hello Kitty napkins, Hello Kitty salt and sugar packets, Hello Kitty shape fish cake, and wait for it… Hello Kitty donut cake.
Hello Kitty also showed up at places one least expected. For example, the bathroom tissue paper. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, soiled something so cute for my own selfish needs.
The year 2007 was my first encounter with Hello Kitty jet. Back when it was just an experimental thing. Now it seems almost all the EVA flight going and departing from Japan are Hello Kitty themed. There’s no doubt Hello Kitty Flights are here to stay.
Also this past trip, I spotted a Pokémon Airbus at New Chitose Airport. Personally, I would be more giggly if I were in the Pokémon flight. I wonder if the Pokémon flight is also pimped up like the Hello Kitty one.
Hualien, Taiwan 2012
by Administrator on March 14, 2012
I had a hard time writing this post. Maybe it’s because my previous visit to Hualien was rather bland and uninteresting, but the most recent visit I had a really good time. Writing this post had me thinking why the bipolar experience? I think I know the answer, but let’s get to that later.
For the big kids, Hualien can be lots of fun. There’s the sun, the ocean, acres of grass fields, then the mountain, gorge, and the rivers. And let’s not forget the local food scene. We hit all the right spots this time, starting with where we stayed.
Seven Star Lake
We stayed at Bayview in the Seven Star Lake area. The view from our room speaks for itself.
There was a bicycle path along the Seven Star Lake coastline. The path was well maintained and flat. It stretched over several seaside parks and a hidden botanical garden. While Ktula likes his cycling path hilly and treacherous, I enjoy more relaxing ride such as this. I was goofing off and having a blast doing it.
The south end of the bicycle trial lead to grassy fields with the grand view of the entire Seven Star Lake vista.
Within walking distance, there’s also a dry Bonito museum, restaurants and coffee shops, a local fish market, gorgious sunset and sunrise… Seven Star Lake was a bag of chips and then some.
Taroko Gorge National Park
We hired a taxi for a day to the nationl park. Taroko in the local indigenous language means “magnificent and splendid”. The gorge is known the world’s deepest marble canyon. It attracts thousands if not more tourists every year. Many of them come in tour bus.
The striking bluish green river was what attracted me to Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑). Wondering along the cliff-side trail until we reached a path we can walked down to the bottom. There were school of fish chilling in shallow water. They weren’t too skittish of me joining them. In fact, they were comfortable enough to nibble on the dead skin off my feet. I was ecstatic about this unexpected contact with these river residence.
We visited few more places in the National Park – Swallow Grotto, Motherly Devotion Bridge, Eternal Spring Shrine… Shankadang Trail was my favorite. There were a lot more to see at the park, one full day can only get a taste of it.
Local Food Scene
Personally, the food here is not much different from Taipei or other parts of Taiwan for that matter. It’s not to say there’s nothing special here. In fact, we enjoyed everything we had during our stay, and these were restaurants we randomly chosen.
One item that’s famous here is shaved ice and brown sugar syrup with hot tapioca on the side. The eatery staff taught us to first enjoy the refreshing ice, then take a bite of the warm tapioca. The idea is to experience the contrasting cold and warm sensation in the mouth….. My taste palette must be dumm as a brick, the shaved ice was good, but I didn’t understand what the cold hot sensation was about.
Sunfish was the other uniquely Hualien item but was a lot more interesting for us. We chose to try the fish stir-fried with vegetable. The plate served to us consisted of the meat and the gelatin layer underneath the skin. According to the restaurant’s owner, the texture of sunfish is similar to squid, only more delicate. I suppose she was right. We had no problem finishing the fish and everything on the plate.
So why did I not liking my previous visit but totally loving it this time. Last time I was with a tour group. My parents preferred the convenience and package deal offered by travel agency. The problem with tour group was they tried to cramp as many points of interest in the itinerary so folks in the group get the impression they’ve seen a lot. In fact, the tour bus barely spent 15 minutes in each destination. It’s hardly enough time to get a good look at anything. We had a good family time but I did not see much of Hualien. This time around, we planed our schedule more flexible and allowed more time to destinations we know we like. Even though we didn’t see everything, but what we saw was enough to say, man, what an awesome place Hualien is!
Langkawi, Malaysia 2012
by Administrator on March 8, 2012
Prior to the trip, all I knew about Langkawi was it’s a tropical island. Having been wrapped in coats and heavy boots for the past several months, anywhere warm and sunny was more than what I could ask for. Langkwai was the getaway I was looking for. Little did I know Kangkawi was also about adventure and discovery.
We arrived Langkawi after a short flight from Singapore (getting from Malaysia to Singapore in morning rush hour was a different story). We stayed at the Andaman, a resort located at the north west side of the island.
Far from city conveniences, the Andaman was surrounded by ancient rainforest and a coral sand beach named by National Geographic in 2010 the 9th best beach in the world. Within the hotel premise, the calls of tropical birds and insects echoed in the air; couple monkey communities come and go as they please; guests should expect encountering exotic creatures when you least expected…. We heard the ocean waves in our guest room, we didn’t waste any time and went straight to explore the beach.
The uniqueness of coral sand is that it’s softer than “sea-shell” sand, and it won’t get too hot like the other type of sands. Quickly we noticed bunch of fast moving tiny sand crabs busy running away from us or making “sand balls”. ktula and I took turn chasing them. Eventually ktula caught a bigger one. We took some photos and let it went on its way.
Soon we were distracted by other finds: coconuts, corals, seashells got washed ashore, hermit crabs, unknown plants and flower, and finally, settled down on couple beach chairs and later some chilled mojito. Ah, this is the life. All the sudden I’m motivated to work harder and save up, so I can plan my next trip here.
The only thing we weren’t too impressed was the hotel food. So dinner time we ventured out about 30 minutes cab ride to a road side restaurant called Shin Mi Seafood Village. The restaurant was brightly lited with Christmas lights for a good reason. It’s in the middle of nowhere, passerby can easily overlook this amazing little joint.
We did more of the same outdoor exploring for the rest of our visit. In the morning, we joined a natural walk guided by the hotel naturalist. That’s when we met Francis, a knowledgeable and charismatic local who showed us the plants and critters living in this 10-million-year-old rainforest.
In the afternoon, we took a kayak ride in the Andaman sea. Aside from soaking in the wonderful sun and gorgeous scenic, we were picking up plastic bottles and containers floating in the sea. It saddened me to see pollutions even in paradise land.
Another fascinating attraction at the Andaman was the coral reef. It is estimated to be between 6,000 to 8,000 years old. The tsunami in recent year destroyed most of the live corals. But what’s left of it after the disaster still teeming with lives. Sea cucumbers, crustaceans, sea urchins, school of fish were within reach during low-tide. But be careful with the sharp coral edge. Even a light touch will leave a cut on the skin – this was speaking from personal experience.
During the nature walk with Francis, the tour was interrupted briefly by a sudden heavy rain. We took shelter at V Botanical Spa. I took note of the individual spa villas and the tranquil setting. I decided to give it a go and booked a 80 minutes sensory aromatic message. The price was comparable to a spa treatment in North American. But the enclosed, dimmed light room that I’m accustomed to in the US / Canada did not come close to the open space experience here. For my message, I was lead to a private spa villa fully equipped with bathtub, outdoor shower, washroom, locker, sitting area, message beds… The villa located in thick forest vegetation and outlooking the bay of Andaman sea. It was secluded from hotel guests and yet surrounded by nature. The spa staff asked about my choice of music during my session, I chose to turn off the music, to enjoy my message in the sounds of forest and sea. How often do we have the luxury of that?
For our last full day, we wanted to go on an island hopping geo-tour. By the time we contacted the hotel front desk, we’ve missed the booking deadline. Needless to say, we were very disappointed. Came the next day morning, ktula tracked down the natural walk guide Francis, asking if he can arrange a last minute geo-tour for us. Francis left briefly, then came back with good news. The geo-tour was on, and our guide was none other than Francis!
Francis drove us to a marina to board a jetty. Blue sky, green water, again we were enjoying Langkawi’s pristine nature beauty. First stop was snake island to see the mangrove & limestone formation, then dip in the emerald green water at the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden, finally some snorkeling at a beach. Unfortunately other than monkeys, we didn’t see much underwater life. The tour ended with fresh coconut juice from roadside vendor, courtesy of Francis.
After visiting several online resources on Langkawi tourism, I noticed we missed most of the “must-dos” and tourist attractions – Eagle Square, Underwater World, Crocodile Farm, Snake Sanctuary, Duty free shopping just to name a few. Funny thing was I did not feel the slightest regret for missing out. In fact, I was relieved for skipping the “recommended” activities. Because of our off-beaten itinerary, the Langkawi we experienced was truest to it’s natural beauty. It’s not just another tropical island, not another man-made theme parks or strip malls. Langkawi will be that special place I had so much fun with mother nature.
Chilly Hilly 2012
by Administrator on February 26, 2012
I’m a fair weather rider, and I don’t enjoy climbing hills. Prior to registering this year’s Chilly Hilly, I demanded to scout out the course. ktula and I took Mango for a road trip to Bainbridge Island, drove around Chilly Hilly route. The hills scared me. But the breath-taking scenics had me excited about the ride.
The day of Chilly Hilly was cold but fortunately, not wet. As we got closer to the waterfront, we saw cyclists in group making their way toward the ferry terminal.
What a sight, the ferry to Bainbridge was packed with cyclists and their bikes. We caught up with my friend Ted and his fixie, worked out a plan to avoid chaos when hundreds of cyclists rushed out of the ferry to start the ride.
We had a slow start – too many on the road, too polite to cut in front of others. I didn’t mind it, as I was enjoying the scenics and preserving energy for the 33 miles ahead of us. The route went from well groomed residential streets to forest to beach with hills along the way.
The first big hill was the hardest for me. As we started ascending, I quickly fell behind Ted and ktula. The only reason I didn’t quit was I didn’t want to mess with cleats on a steep hill. The second hill appeared shortly after, I got off to push. Then I had a moment. I realized if I were to push every time there’s a hill, I’ll be pushing bike for a good part of the ride. Once my mindset switched, I was able to pedal away the rest of the course, including couple of the bigger, longer hills.
Before I knew it, we were at the finish line. Alright!
Shiba loves snow day
by Administrator on January 18, 2012
While we were soaking in the warmth and stuffing our pie holes in Austin, TX, Mango was taking his little vacation at Leslie’s. The day after returning from Austin, this winter’s biggest snow storm hit Seattle hard. In the morning, we wanted to pick up Mango from Leslie’s boarding but was advices not to due to road condition. Later in the afternoon, the storm calmed down somewhat. With chains and autosocks in the trunk, we braved the snowy road, heading Redmond to get Mango.
We made it to Leslie’s after nearly an hour. All’s well the moment we saw our boy jumping and waggling his tail out of excitement of seeing us. Leslie suggested a little playtime before heading back.
Outside, the playground was covered in inches of snow. Mango was joined by his sister Hana, playmate Kiba, and a handsome black and tan JC. This small herd of shibas went nuts in the snow. They took turn chasing each other, with occasional yelping out of excitement.
Hef the Leonbergers watching with envy from outside the fence. Leslie decided to let Hef joined the party. All the shibas ran over to greet him. Everybody was excited to see Hef.
Then Leslie let another black and tan in. She is JC’s sister, and a sweetheart just wanted to be loved. She kept jumping on me and ktula, which is something Mango never does.
After some good chases, Mango did his business and was ready to go. Driving out of the beautiful snowy passageway, both Mango and I look forward to our next visit.
Living in the Seattle area, Smelly is a user experience designer by day, a running, cycling, gardening type of girl when she wasn't wearing the designer hat.
