Mar 252017
 

Missed posting yesterday because J and I took a girls’ trip out to higher elevations, colder temps and warm hot springs in Gunma’s Ikaho Onsen area. 

It was a short trip out of Tokyo (about 1.5hrs from Ueno Station to Shibukawa). We did the famous 365 steps up and down from the shrine to the bottom and back. It is a popular tourist location in the fall, but it was still a lovely trip – even more so because it was a free stay due to J’s hubby’s family. (ありがとうございました。) 

Pictures probably say more than I can, so will let the pictures speak for themselves! 

~T 😀

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Sep 062015
 

Back to my updates on summer travels – it is fun to look back at all that I did in such a short time!

So, our last stop in Norway was Bergen. We took another ferry from Belastrand to Bergen. It was a fairly chilly ride, so we stayed inside for most of this one. Plus, the joy of seeing the fjords was lessened after taking it all in the day before.

Bergen was by far the coldest place we visited despite going through snowy mountains. Since it is a harbor town, the sea winds blew in during the late afternoon to drop temperatures, so we were not as keen to be out in it for too long. Therefore, most of my souvenir shopping happened here. 😀

Bergen’s street shops are quite famous in photos – maybe you’ve seen them before and are just as picturesque in person.

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24-Jun-2015 15:32, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 9.0, 50.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100
 

J and I walked around the town exploring. It’s not a big city, but a good size town that took us about two hours to walk around. Then, we took the funicular up to the top of the hill, which many people like to walk (crazy!), for a view of the area. It is quite beautiful to see.

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24-Jun-2015 15:25, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, ISO 32
 

We had a pretty good time and ate a really nice meal here, but we were definitely happy to skip out on the cold!

Here are all the pics from Belastrand to Bergen:

More to come,

-T 😀

Aug 232015
 

One of the main reasons to head to the west coast of Norway is to see the fjords. It was beautiful just to wake up to the view of the lake and we got to watch a bit more of the parasailing competition before we hopped on the three-car local train from Voss to make our way to Myrdal, which is higher up in the mountain.

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23-Jun-2015 13:53, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 11.0, 10.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100
 

Then, we crossed the platform and got onto a small old-fashioned (tourist) gauge train to Flam. Along the way, we made a brief stop to see a pretty cool waterfall

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23-Jun-2015 12:27, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 2.65mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 32
 

and then ended in Flam, which happens to be a stop for cruise ships touring the fjords. Thus, there really is nothing to do there. We had a couple of hours to kill, so we stopped into a little supermarket for a drink and snacks to enjoy in the park.

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23-Jun-2015 13:47, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 2.65mm, ISO 32
 
From Flam, we took a ferry to Belastrand about 1.5 hours through the fjords. There were a number of picturesque moments along the way. We braved the wind the whole time to take as many photos from the back and then fought our way forward from time to time to get some different shots. Although it was beautiful overall and I definitely enjoyed it – I wasn’t overly impressed….I know, I’m spoiled!!! 😛
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23-Jun-2015 16:46, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, ISO 40
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23-Jun-2015 17:38, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 9.0, 10.0mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 200
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23-Jun-2015 16:06, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 32
 
The town of Belastrand isn’t that big and seems to be just a stopover for those touring the fjords.The main attraction in town seems to be Saint Olaf’s church.
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23-Jun-2015 19:46, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 10.0, 35.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
 
Since there weren’t  a lot of food and drink options in the town, we paid the hotel prices for a nice dinner with a view of the water, which was worth it!
So, that was a lovely visit of the fjords! Here are the pics:
More to come,
-T 😀
Aug 172015
 

After our fairly short visit in Oslo, we took the train from Oslo to Voss. Voss seems to be the European destination for sports, camping and general ‘outback’ family holiday. It is a beautiful town located on a lake and my hotel room looked out on the mountain caps and lake.

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22-Jun-2015 20:01, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 9.0, 13.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100
 

Poor J, got a view of the train tracks….:( 😀

One of the best parts of the journey to Voss was passing the snow!! We were chatting along and suddenly saw out the window a land of WHITE! It was quite amazing and beautiful. Neither of us had seen snow in ages, so it was quite a treat. Plus, the weather was so gorgeous compared to the desert heat we had left behind.

It also happened to be some parasailing/hangliding championship the weekend we were there, so we got to see quite a few competitors fly up high into the clouds and come down with spins and tricks. Quite cool!

We were also a bit giddy from the freedom and escape of the desert. So, everything seemed really wonderful to us. Furthermore, it was still light out even at midnight – we had dinner at 10:30 forgetting the time! It is definitely worth the visit out to Voss if one is going to be in Scandinavia. If I were to return to Norway, I think this would be a must-return-to-place!

Here are the pics:

More to come,

-T 😀

Aug 152015
 

Our next stop on our Scandinavia adventure was Oslo. So, we took the train on a rather wet morning through the countryside and found ourselves in the small capital of Norway.

While people in the touristy areas were friendly enough, no one was overly friendly. We still did a lot of walking and found ourselves seeing a few interesting places within the downtown area. However, when we hit the tram to find our way to Frogenparken and Vigelandsparken, we were amazed by the sculptures and monument created there. It was very moving to walk around seeing the faces and sculptures of people from all walks of life designed as loving in unity.

We also took in the greenery as we do not see much of that in the desert! 😀

Here are the pics:

Overall, aside from the park, it wasn’t a very memorable city as far as sights are concerned. What is memorable is the extremely high cost of just about everything…! 🙁

More to come,

-T 😀

Aug 132015
 

After the couple of days of “work” in London, I flew off to Copenhägen, Denmark to meet my friend, J, for our Scandinavia adventure. We had booked a 12-day ‘tour’ to see the region and I couldn’t wait!

We started with Copenhägen for two nights and fell in love with the sights, people (aka tall men!) and food. Everyone was very friendly to us – perfect strangers – and helped us with ideas for food or things to see. It’s just the right size city that is fairly walkable, but not too small that you’d get tired of it. We did a lot of walking and exploring of the entire city.

Some highlights included the caramelized pork burger smothered with potato salad on a bun and walking through the ‘cannibas’ quarters with its graffiti and liberalism. 😀

Here are the pics!

P.S. I will keep most of these posts fairly short, as I plan to do some travel writing on another site where I have published a few stories before. I’ll update these posts with the links once I get to them. 🙂

More to come,

-T 😀

Apr 122015
 

My parents have hit the full retirement life and spent the last four months in their ‘winter’ home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. So, I decided to go for a visit during my spring break this year to see what the fuss is all about.

Well, let me tell you – it was excellent and I definitely see why they chose to live there. There’s tons to do and the weather is fantastic. Besides that, it’s absolutely beautiful with the colors of the mountains, canyons and water all mixed in with desert blends and blue skies. It was a really nice 10-days, even if the 28-hour trip from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to Atlanta to Las Vegas to Lake Havasu was a bit exhausting. 😛

Here are the pics from the holidays!

Aug 232014
 

On our second day, we decided to do the Big Bus Tour so that we could see the city and get our bearings.

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23-Jun-2014 12:32, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 12:36, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.007 sec, ISO 32
 

We started out on the Red Line, but that line offers a live commentary on the city and my mom had a bit of trouble with the accents. So, we switched to the Blue Line, which has the recorded commentary. 😉 Although it is a hop-on hop-off tour, we just stayed on for the full loop, which was about 3.5 hours. Mom was a bit jet lagged, and it was easy to get the full picture.

2nd Day bus tour of London
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2nd Day bus tour of London23-Jun-2014 10:08, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.4, 2.15mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 50
 
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23-Jun-2014 10:51, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 32
 
Harrods
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Harrods23-Jun-2014 10:50, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 11:07, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 12:02, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 11:42, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 10:56, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 12:21, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 12:33, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 12:42, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 12:42, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:18, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:18, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:01, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:25, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:25, NIKON COOLPIX S51, 6.6, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:27, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 32
 

After completing the loop, we decided to ride a bit around again to see Big Ben and the Parliament building. This fulfilled my 8-yr-old dream! It was a very impressive sight and even better than the pyramids! 😀

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23-Jun-2014 14:09, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:58, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:59, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 20:01, NIKON COOLPIX S51, 6.6, 6.3mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 100
 

Our Bus Tour ticket included a river boat cruise, so we went back in the evening and cruised the river Thames where we also got to see the Tower Bridge in full. It was a full and tiring day, but all good!

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23-Jun-2014 17:53, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 17:53, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:37, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:37, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:37, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 13:36, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 17:54, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 17:54, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.4, 2.15mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 80
 
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23-Jun-2014 18:01, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 32
 
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23-Jun-2014 18:01, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.4, 2.15mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 50
 
Aug 152014
 

**I am going to try on the weekends to update on my summer travels – until the last chapter is submitted. So, here we go!**

The beginning of my summer holidays started with some drama from work as I had to miss the last two official days due to my second-to-last coaching course and then I flew early to meet my mom in the UK for our mother-daughter trip. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but as fate would have it, the students had to cause some trouble at the last minute…. Anyway, with that, I flew away to leave all thoughts of the desert behind me!

Throughout all of my travels I have always avoided having to go through Heathrow as people have always said it is a terrible airport. Although I couldn’t imagine it was all that bad, this was my first time there; and, well, now I fully understand.

Upon arrival, I was completely amazed at the disorder at the luggage belt. People stood right up along the belt and would not get out of the way when my suitcase came by.

Initial impression was not good...Everybody was hoarding around the baggage belt - couldn't grab my suitcase because nobody would move!!!!
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Initial impression was not good...Everybody was hoarding around the baggage belt - couldn't grab my suitcase because nobody would move!!!!22-Jun-2014 16:54, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.042 sec, ISO 320
 

So, my first impression of Londoners was not great.

Luckily, I was able to find my mom quite easily and we got ourselves on the train and to our hotel without too much trouble. It was not great to lug our suitcases in the Tube, but I suppose it could have been worse and some people did help, which lightened my initial impression of people. 😉

In the evening, upon recommendation from M, we ventured out to the West End for dinner. We found a really nice Naplese restaurant and had a delicious dinner.

First night's dinner in West End - Napolese restaurant = delish!
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First night's dinner in West End - Napolese restaurant = delish!22-Jun-2014 21:35, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 40
 

We explored the area a bit and did a fairly epic walk around for our first afternoon/night. We were off to a good start!!!

First ride on the Tube!
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First ride on the Tube!22-Jun-2014 21:04, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 320
 
Piccadilly Circus
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Piccadilly Circus22-Jun-2014 22:50, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.4, 2.15mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 50
 
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22-Jun-2014 22:53, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 32
 
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22-Jun-2014 22:57, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 32
 
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22-Jun-2014 22:57, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 40
 
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23-Jun-2014 10:04, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 32
 
Apr 092014
 

It was back to the real world for the Suzuki household yesterday, so I took the time to actually get some PhD work done. Yep, you heard that right, I worked on my PhD!!! The morning was fairly quiet with that. Then, I headed out to meet J for lunch as our last lunch date for my visit. Of course, before I got on the train I needed to indulge in a little treat….

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08-Apr-2014 12:31, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.4, 2.15mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 50
 

Then, we met near E’s school for an organic lunch, which was really tasty and I got to satisfy my curry craving. I think I’ve eaten nearly everything I possibly could here!

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08-Apr-2014 13:23, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 32
 
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08-Apr-2014 13:22, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 40
 

After that, I headed in to Shinjuku, which was not exactly planned before, but as I was meeting a grad school mate and former colleague in Yoyogi, it seemed worthwhile to make a stop. I had waaaaaay too much fun shopping at BicQlo (Bic Camer and Uni Qlo). I got to see the weirdness of Tokyo (see dog pic) Plus, then I went to Isetan’s B2 Beauty Apothecary for the organic health and body care products – wow!

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08-Apr-2014 15:52, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 40
 
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08-Apr-2014 15:56, Apple iPhone 5s, 2.2, 4.12mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 32
 

So, I came back with quite a bit of loot and all caught up with Ro, which was really nice. Overall, a pretty good day survived in the pits of Tokyo central! 😛

Sadly, just one more day left and then it’s back to the Dhabs….

-T 😀

 

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