I just found out that there is a code called YQ (and YR) in airlines tickets.
It actually means fuel surcharge, according to ehow.com. Maybe they were looking for a combination that would not appear anywhere in the English language.
Maybe I should have chosen a better twitter handle/wordpress.com subdomain. But it’s my name!
During my 10-day trip to Japan last October, my mom and I spent 6 days in the Kansai region and visited Kyoto, Fushimi-Inari shrine, Uji, Nara and Osaka.
Since we wanted to see many sites in Kyoto as well as the Jidai Matsuri, we used Kyoto as a base and took day trips to the other Kansai cities. But if you are more of a city person, you’d probably like staying in Osaka better than Kyoto.
Our itinerary was like this:
Day 1: Arrive in Kyoto
Day 2: Kyoto – Fushimi Inari – Uji – Nara – Kyoto [Kansai Thru Pass]
Day 3: Kyoto
Day 4: Kyoto – Osaka – Kyoto [Kansai Thru Pass]
Day 5: Kyoto – Nara -Kyoto [JR]
Day 6: Kyoto (Jidai matsuri)
My mom and I are temple, old building lovers so three days in Kyoto was fine. (Although we did spend a large part of our last day napping in the public bus.)
Continue reading “How we used Kyoto as a base to explore Kansai”
I was inspired by The Traveling Writer’s post on writing a bucket list. She said it’s not just a list of goals but of dreams.
Unfortunately, I’ve never gotten around to writing a bucket list, mainly because I was afraid of disappointing myself by not crossing out every one of the wish.
Acrobatic Lion Dance while I was home for the lunar new year.
Before this year, I really disliked Lion Dances because the drums make my heart uncomfortable.
But this year I enjoyed it better because I thought I must *feel* the Chinese New Year. Do I make sense>?
I blame my stinginess to being a Taurus. I love bargains and cheap buys. But most of all, I LOVE free things.
For this fortnight’s Travel Local series, I’ll be sharing some of the free things you can do in Changi Airport right after you land (or before you fly off)!
(Most of these are available in the posher terminals and might not be present at the budget terminal where airlines such as Tiger Airways leave.)
Changi Airport lost to Hong Kong International Airport for Best Airport 2011. I’ve not been to HK’s airport but can it really beat all the free stuff you can get at Changi?
I’ve bought a return trip ticket to KL for the Feb 11 weekend. This will be my first time taking the overnight train in Malaysia.
I named the trip the “KL light bulb trip” because I’m joining N and her boyfriend (whom I’ve not met) who are both coming in from overseas. “Light bulb” in colloquial Chinese means a third person among a couple. (Coincidentally, my first overnight train trip in China was with N.)
During my first trip to Japan in 2008, I bought a 7-Day Japan Rail Pass–JR Pass which currently costs 28,300 yen/US$ 367.90–and took the Shinkansen from Fukuoka to Tokyo, stopping in the Kansai region for sightseeing.
While the Shinkansen was speedy and comfortable, I decided not to buy the JR Pass during my last trip to Japan in October for four reasons
This was the book that inspired my round-the-world trip dreams. By inspired, I mean “to really make plans” instead of just jotting it down in my mental bucket list. I actually borrowed it twice from the library.
Long story short, Taiwanese indie traveller 943 shares how she went on a RTW in 80 days by only spending slightly more than NT$100,000 (US$3,340). She used point-to-point flights instead of a RTW ticket.
She flew from Taipei to Singapore to Europe (overnight at Bahrain) where she hopped around a bit. Then she flew to the US then to Central and South America where she took long distance buses. She then flew back to US where she flew home to Taipei.
I think it’s absoluteley brilliant that anyone can do a RTW with less than US$10,000! Speaking of which, here are a few examples of how much other people spent on a RTW.
From what I’ve read, she mostly saves money on lodging (which is a killer!) by bunking with Couchsurfers. She also does her research to make sure that she’s using the cheapest transportation. It’s chock full of indie travel gems if you read Chinese. Besides being full of tips, her book is quite humorous. I laughed at many parts.
During her Central and South America trip, she deliberately not learn Spanish beyond numbers 1 to 10 and the word for toilet (baño–pronounced ban-nyo, if you are interested). Instead, she experimenting if she could get by with body language. Apparently, it worked.
Other travel related tips that I really like from her book are her sample Word and Excel files for pre-trip flight/accomodation/transport comparison, during-trip schedule. I’ll be testing out both tips for my trip to Yogyakarta in April and share how that tip helps me.
I’d totally buy this book if I see it on offer. Yes, I am that cheapskate.
My mom was peeling mangos one day and I thought it would make a good blog post since it’s one of the best tropical fruits around.
Wikipedia told me that the “hedgehog” style is a common way to eat mangoes. But I can assure you, none of the people I know actually eat it that way. (Trust us, we have mango trees in our yards.)
I’m going to teach you another way of peeling a mango. Using this method, you are able to eat two different parts of the mango: the juicy flesh and the fibrous flesh around the stone.
You will need:
I use a Web app called “Countdown to Disney” to track how many days there are left to my round-the-world trip.
But I must admit. I have not done much in preparation of my round the world trip, except thinking up which locations I want to go and telling people who are willing to listen that I am going on a round the world trip.
YQtravelling 
