Travel – Page 2 – d.x.l on the road

2017年9月13日2017年9月13日

Travel in Hokkaido ~Big city Sapporo and deserted town Yubari

I want to write about 1st day of our 11 days Hokkaido trip. If you want to see the overview of our 11 days trip, please visit the summary post.

The first day was moving day from Tokyo to Shinchitose. I wanted to meet my wife in Tokyo but her flight from China was badly delayed. Her first flight was from Hangzhou airport to Beijing airport in China, and this flight delayed about half a day. She needed to stay in Beijing airport and airplane company compensate only 30$, which is cheaper than the cheapest hotel around airport!

Anyhow, she was still in Beijing when I arrived Hokkaido. So, my parents and I went ahead to one of the most deserted town in Japan, Yubari. Yubari is an economically collapsed town, and now a young mayor is doing big efforts to reconstruct the town.
Yubari prospered as a coal-mine town before 1950, and gradually declined afterwards. There was a movie about this city “The Yellow Handkerchief “. We visited the town to see filming location of this movie.
There was a parking to visit this location. It looked like a free visiting site, but actually there was a gatekeeper to collect the entrance fee of about 5 $. In this site, you can feel the life in coal-mine town.

The filming location of “The Yellow Handkerchief “

Just by looking, the Yubari town was just a country town. But, I did not see many people in this town. I would like to visit this kinda small town, but life should not be that easy. BTW, Yubari is very famous for melon. If you like melon, it is worth trying “Yubari melon”.

After Yubari, we visited Sapporo city. It took only 1 hour. In contrast to Yubari, Sapporo is the biggest city in Hokkaido. There are not so many tall buildings, but you can still find a lot of people.
After checking in the hotel, we visited Sapporo JR train station. In japan, big train stations usually have a lot of shopping and eating place. We visited a “Sushi-go-round” restaurant in the station.
I would write information about hotel and restaurant at the bottom of this post. When I was eating Sushi, my wife X arrived Tokyo HND airport. Finally at midnight, she could arrive Shinchitose airport. Fortunately there was a last train to come back to Sapporo. FYI, there should be buses till midnight from Shinchitose to Sapporo even if you miss the last train 🙂

Hotel: Toyoko Inn Hokkaido Sapporo-eki Minami-guchi, Sapporo (東横イン)

If you want to just sleep in the hotel (no complementary dinner), Toyoko-inn is one of the safe choices. Plus, Toyoko-inn provide complementary breakfast. The room is small but it has bed, shower and some amenities. There are some this type of hotels so called “business hotel” in Japan. The room is relatively cheap and has standard quality. Of course, you can find cheaper hotels, but you may get good or bad experience by your luck.

Lunch: “restaurant oyama”, Yubari（おーやまレストラン）

This was a nice restaurant. The price is a bit expensive but we need to think that they are maintaining the restaurant in this small town. They have many order menus so you should be able to find one you like. I tried their speciality using yam which is well-known product in Yubari.

Dinner: “Hokkaido Shikisaitei”, Sapporo station（北海道四季彩亭）

Actually, we wanted to go to a different famous sushi restaurant (根室花まる), but almost 100 people were waiting at that time. So we visited the sushi restaurant （北海道四季彩亭）. Actually, this restaurant did not have very good review. I say the restaurant is good enough unless you are expecting something special for Hokkaido. At least, it was good that we did not need to wait long time to eat :*)

D & X

2017年9月11日2017年9月21日

Travel in China – Huangshan/Yellow Mountain – Tips

Huangshan, or Yellow Mountain, is truly my favorite place to visit in China. It is not far from my hometown, Hangzhou. The first time I visited Yellow Mountain, I was about 10 years old. At that time, there was no cable car, so we climbed up on foot. The second time was in 2016 summer, when I took D there. Although most people are using the cable car to climb up and even come down, we chose the tougher way.

Chinese people say: you do not need to visit any other mountain after you come back from Yellow Mountain. Maybe that’s why I have not been to other famous mountains in China 🙂

Yellow Mountain is known for “Four Specialties”: unique pine-trees, strange rocks, cloud sea, and hot springs.

yellow_mountain_4 — Welcome Pine Tree (迎客松)

yellow_mountain_19 — Monkey watching the cloud sea (猴子观海)

However, my favorite part is the newly opened West Sea Canyon (西海大峡谷). I will talk about it more in the next blog, but here is a photo:

yellow_mountain_14 — West Sea Canyon (西海大峡谷)

In this blog, I would like to share some tips.

How many days in Yellow Mountain?

Depends on how much you want to see, and whether you plan to use the cable car (which significantly saves time). We climbed up from the front (慈光阁) side of Yellow Mountain, which is the more difficult side. In order to see sunrise and sunset, we stayed in Yellow Mountain for two nights.

Day 1 Hangzhou –> Tangkou (汤口) Hotel

Day 2 Tangkou (汤口) –> 慈光阁 –> 迎客松 –> 光明顶 –> 飞来石 –> 排云亭 (sunset) –> 排云楼 (hotel)

Day 3 排云楼 –> 丹霞峰（sunrise） –> 排云楼 –> 狮林大酒店（hotel checkin） –> 排云亭 –> 西海大峡谷 –> cable car to 天海 station –> 光明顶 –> 狮林大酒店
–> 狮子峰 (猴子观海, sunset) –> 狮林大酒店

Day 4 狮林大酒店 –> 始信峰 (sunrise) –> 云谷寺 –> Tangkou (汤口) –> Hangzhou

* Day 2 was tough. Probably better to have stayed at 白云宾馆 or 光明顶.

* Tiandu Peak was closed due to weather. Lotus Peak was closed till 2019.

* In my opinion, it’s worth to spend a day in West Sea Canyon, if the loop is fully accessible. West Sea Canyon is like a fairyland, and is very quiet. Tour groups do not go there, because they do not have much time. We really enjoyed the peaceful hiking there.

Transportation

Bus from Hangzhou: Buses depart from Hangzhou West Bus Station. Attention! The destination should be Tangkou (汤口), from where one can take shuttles to Yellow Mountain. Private cars are not allowed to drive to Yellow Mountain.

Shuttles from Tangkou (汤口) to Yellow Mountain: There are two shuttle stations inTangkou (汤口): East (东岭) and West (寨西). When you buy tickets there, you need to specify whether you are going to the front (慈光阁) or back (云谷寺) side of Yellow Mountain. One-way ticket costs about $3, and the ride takes about 25 minutes. Shuttles run every 20 minutes. We used the East Shuttle Station (东岭) to go to the front side (慈光阁) of Yellow Mountain. The station is quite small. In comparison, the West (寨西) Shuttle Station is huge, and it’s close to Tangkou (汤口) Bus Station, which harbors inter-city buses.

Here is our itinerary:
Hangzhou West Bus Station –>
Tangkou Bus Station — >
picked up by hotel staff to go to hotel –>
walk to East Shuttle Station –>
front side (慈光阁) of Yellow Mountain –>
Yellow Mountain –>
back side (云谷寺) of Yellow Mountain –>
shuttle bus to West Shuttle Station –>
walk to Tangkou Bus Station –>
Hangzhou West Bus Station

Hotels and Restaurants

[Day 1] In Tangkou (汤口): 黄山自游人客栈, close to the East Shuttle Station. ~ $20 per night. Basic and clean. They have a very nice and popular restaurant. We had dinner there: spicy pepper fish (泡椒鱼) and mountain veggie, both are delicious. Actually we intended to order some local specialties, but were warned that we probably wouldn’t like. We also had breakfast the next day: noodle soup, and it’s really good. We then ordered a fried rice to take to Yellow Mountain (as our lunch). The hotel offers free pick-up from Tangkou Bus Station, so just give them a call when you arrive. It’s a very short ride. The owner of the hotel is nice. He sat down with us after dinner to discuss about our plan! They also have wooden hiking pole free to borrow.

[Day 2] In Hunagshan: Paiyunlou (排云楼), three star hotel. $125 per night. It is located on one end of West Sea Canyon (西海大峡谷). It is very close to Danxia Peak (丹霞峰) and Paiyun Pavilion (排云亭), two good locations for sunrise and sunset. Seems like many tour groups like to stay there, probably due to the good location. The room is good size, but quite wet, very wet. Interestingly ,winter coats are available for use. Breakfast is provided, but better to get there early to have good selections.

[Day 3] In Huangshan: Shilin Hotel (狮林大酒店), four star hotel. $140 per night. Photographers’ pick. It is very close to Lion Peak (狮子峰) and Qingliangtai (清凉台), great for sunrise. In the lobby, there are a lot of photographs on the show. The hotel is newer, thus the room is clean, bright and dry. The restaurant is good as well. We had great dinner and breakfast there.

Tickets

Tickets to Yellow Mountain can be purchased from hotels, to skip the lines. Or, you can get tickets at the gate.

Preparation

You should definitely buy a disposable raincoat (no more than 5 Chinese yuan a piece)! It rains a lot in Yellow Mountain. Umbrellas just won’t do.

Hiking poles are very helpful, but not necessary.

Water and snacks. In the mountain, there are not that many places selling stuffs.

Only take necessary things – travel light!

2017年8月28日

Why I will visit Yellowstone again

Yellowstone is probably the most famous national park in the USA. I visited it in the early summer in 2014. Every time I think about Yellowstone, I tell myself that I will definitely go there again. Why?

I want to stay inside of the park. Two reasons: (1) I want to be waken up by the sound of forest, not by alarm; (2) I do not want to spend at least two hours a day on the road going in and out of the park. The lodging inside of Yellowstone is so popular that it has to be secured several months in advance. I would love to stay in the Lake Lodge! Last time when we passed the Lake, I really wanted to just sit there for some time…

I want to look for those secret spots for amazing photos. Or, just have more time to take photos… Meanwhile, I also want to have more time for my eyes to enjoy. Yellowstone’s beauty is everywhere; it varies in different parts of the park; it changes over time within a day.

yellowstone cistern spring in Norris Geyser Basin — Yellowstone Cistern Spring in Norris Geyser Basin

yellowstone grass land — Flatlands and River

I want to meet with more animals. Yellowstone is home for many species. I was lucky to see a white mountain goat in somebody’s binoculars (wish I could take a photo). And … I was excited to come across with a bear family, while I was thinking I would never see a bear in Yellowstone…

yellowstone animals three bear — Three bears

Yes, Yellowstone is full of surprises.

2017年7月19日2017年11月14日

11 days in Hokkaido ~Japanese best nature place

Summer in 2016. We traveled Hokkaido! Hokkaido is one of the best nature places in Japan. It is very famous travel destination not only for foreign visitors, but also for Japanese. I invited my wife X to Japan before our marriage and we traveled Hokkaido during her visit. We used rental car to cover broad area in Hokkaido. We write summary in this post and will make a link from day ~ to the posts for travel details .

day 0 ~HANEDA Airport

I and my parents stayed nearby from HANEDA Airport (HND). I planed to meet X in HND this day. BUT, she could not arrive to HND because of very bad flight delay. Poor X needed to stay in Beijing airport and she could arrive to Shinchitose airport next day midnight.

day 1 ~Yubari and Sapporo

I and my parents took a morning flight to Shinchitose airport which is only an hour away from Sapporo, capital of Hokkaido. Because X were still in Beijing this time, we decided to go ahead to see Yubari. Yubari is economically collapsed city in Hokkaido due to the population decline. They are doing a lot efforts to make the town better again. After eating lunch here, we moved to Sapporo. After checking in to the hotel, we went to Sapporo JR station to eat Sushi. When we are eating, X finally arrived to HND. When I went to pick her up at Shinchitose, it was already around 12 midnight.

Hotel: Toyoko Inn Hokkaido Sapporo-eki Minami-guchi, Sapporo (東横イン)
Lunch: “restaurant oyama”, Yubari（おーやまレストラン）
Dinner: “Hokkaido Shikisaitei”, Sapporo station（北海道四季彩亭）

day 2 ~Sapporo, Biei and Asahikawa

We woke up not that early this morning because of X’s late arrival last night.
We visited Biei at first. Biei is very beautiful rural area in Hokkaido. Biei has a lot of flower gardens and trees, and so on. We visited “zerubu-no-oka” and “shikisai-no-oka”. They are very beautiful hill with bunch of flowers. We also visited “aoi-ike” which is very famous recently because it is used for the wall paper of macintosh computer.
We moved to Asahikawa city after additional a few stops in Biei. We checked in a hotel in Asahikawa and ate “ra-men”, Japanese soup noodle.

Hotel: Toyoko INN Asahikawa, Asahikawa (東横イン)
Breakfast:Toyoko INN has complementary breakfast!
Lunch: “Furokkusuhoru “, Biei Shikisaino-Oka（フロックスホール）
Dinner: “Matsuda”, Asahikawa（まつ田）

day 3 ~Asahiyama Zoo and Lake Saroma

We visited Asahiyama Zoo in this morning. Penguins, polar bears and sea lions are very famous in the zoo. We left the zoo around 3 and arrived to “Saroma-ko”, saroma lake. We checked in Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort. This hotel has very good hot-spa and excellent dinner!

Hotel: Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort, Kitami
Breakfast:Toyoko INN has complementary breakfast!
Lunch: “GARDEN TERRACE LION”, Asahiyama Zoo
Dinner: Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort provides good complementary dinner

day 4 ~Lake Saroma, Lake Kussharo, Lake Mashu, Mount Iou, Taiho Sumo Museum, Kaminoko Pond and Abashiri

The final destination of this day is Abashiri which is very close to Lake Saroma. So we decided to explore south side of this area. Main stops were Lake Kussharo and Lake Mashu, very popular lakes in Hokkaido. We also visited Mt. Iou. Iou is the Japanese word for sulfur. As you can imagine, this mountain is very smelly. We also visited “Kaminoko ike” which is nowadays getting attention in this area. Transparent water and fallen trees in the pond make the view very special.

Hotel: Toyoko INN Okhotsk Abashiri station, Abashiri
Breakfast: Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: “Poppo-tei”, Mashu station (御食事処ぽっぽ亭)
Dinner: “Victoria station Abashiri”, Abashiri (ヴィクトリアステーション網走駅前店)

day 5 ~Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum, Syari and Shiretoko

We visited Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum this morning. Abashiri is famous for Ryu-hyo (floating ices on Okhotsk sea). Unfortunately it was summer, so we decided to visit museum of Ryu-hyo. The museum was actually pretty good. Next, we drove to Shiretoko, the north-east pole of Hokkaido. After check-in to “Shiretoko daiichi hotel”, we saw extremely pretty sunset from “yuhi-dai”, which is one of the eight Shiretoko must-go.

Hotel: Shiretoko daiichi hotel
Breakfast: Toyoko inn’s complementary breakfast
Lunch: “Soba dokoro Ajisai”, Shari (そば処味彩)
Dinner: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet dinner

day 6 ~ Okhotsk Cruise, Shiretoko Goko and Star Gazing

Shiretoko was the main destination in this trip so we stayed in the same hotel two days. We tried the cruise tour in Okhotsk sea in the morning. Then we went to “Shiretoko Goko” in the afternoon. At night we went to see the beautiful stars in Shiretoko. We enjoyed the beautiful nature in Shiretoko using whole day.

Hotel: Shiretoko daiichi hotel
Breakfast: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet breakfast
Lunch: We bought lunch in seven-eleven
Dinner: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet dinner

day 7 ~Shiretoko, Rausu, Notsuke-Hantou and Nemuro

We ate good breakfast in hotel. We drove east coast of the Hokkaido to south. We stopped notsuke peninsula. This peninsula is very weird shape and we could see unique plants and trees. We checked in the hotel in Nemuro. We slept early not to miss the sunrise next day!

Hotel: Nemuro Kaiyo-tei
Breakfast: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet breakfast
Lunch: “Restaurant Nobana”, Notsuke (レストラン野花)
Dinner: Nemuro Kaiyo-tei provides complementary dinner

day 8 ~Sunrise, Nosappu-Misaki, Nemuro, Kiritappu, Akkeshi, Kushiro

We woke up 1 hour before sunrise and drove to Nosappu-Misaki. Nosappu-Misaki is the most east point except for the small islands. Therefore it gives the earliest sunrise in Japan most days of the year. We could enjoy very impressive sunrise. After eating breakfast in hotel we went to see a few wetlands in this area, Kiritappu and Kushiro. We took a hotel in Kushiro, so we enjoyed beer and famous robata-yaki (kinda seafood BBQ).

Hotel: Toyoko-INN Kushiro Juji-gai
Breakfast: Nemuro Kaiyo-tei provides complementary buffet breakfast
Lunch: “Yachibouzu Cafe”, Hamanaka (やちぼうずカフェ)
Dinner: “Gannpeki Robata”, Kushiro (岸壁炉ばた)

day 9 ~Kushiro, Akanko, Tokachi

This day’s main target was “Marimo”, very rare round green alga. Marimo is living in Akan lake so we could see it during the tour cruise. Next, we moved to Tokachi. Tokachi is famous for plain land and hot spring. Especially Tokachi has so-called moor hot-spring. This hot spring is heated by the conversion energy from ancient plant to brown coal. So it has very blackish color! We picked the hotel which provides this moor hot-spring.

Hotel: Hotel Daiheigen
Breakfast: Toyoko INN provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: seven-eleven
Dinner: Hotel Daiheigen provide complementary buffet dinner

day 10 ~Tokachi, Obihiro, Kouhuku eki, Sapporo

After leaving Tokachi, we went to Obihiro to buy sweet snacks as gifts. “Rokkatei” is very famous sweets shop in Hokkaido and main shop is located in Obihiro. Then we went to “Kohoku station”. In Japanese, it means happy station, so it is very famous for Japanese people, especially for young couples. Finally we came back to Sapporo. We ate “kaiten-sushi” to celebrate safe and sound travel in Hokkaido!

Hotel: Toyoko Inn Hokkaido Sapporo-eki Minami-guchi
Breakfast: Toyoko INN provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: Michinoeki Nakasatsunai
Dinner: “Kaiten-Sushi Toriton”, Sapporo-Hiragishi (回転寿しトリトン平岸店)

day 11 ~ Sapporo, Shinchitose Airport

We walked around Sapporo a little in the morning. Then we drove to Shinchitose airport. We returned the rental car and ate lunch at the food court in Shinchitose airport. We also did a little shoppings in airport since they have good gift shops.

Breakfast: Toyoko INN provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: Food court in Shinchitose airport

D & X

2017年7月15日2017年7月15日

Aloha Hawaii – Pearl Harbor Memorial – Beautiful Plumeria

After we returned from the Big Island to Oahu, we picked up a rental car at the airport, and drove to our hostel. The driving was easy, but finding a free parking spot was not. After all, the hostel was located in the center of downtown. I circled around for quite a while, and finally got an on-street parking.

On the early morning of the next day, we checked out the hostel, and drove to Pearl Harbor. Before the visiter center opens (7 AM), there was already a long line waiting outside. People, including us, were trying to get tickets for the free tours to the USS Arizona Memorial. For us, we had to get morning tickets, because we had a flight to catch. Since one person can get several tickets, I was anxious while waiting. Unfortunately, when it’s our turn, the earliest tickets available were afternoon. We had to give up!

pearl harbor USS Arizona Memorial — USS Arizona Memorial

So, we just walked around the Pearl Harbor Historic Site. To be honest, I found myself more interested in Hawaii Plumeria 🙂

pearl harbor USS Bowfin Submarine — USS Bowfin Submarine

Then, we headed to the airport. I really enjoyed our Hawaii Trip. I actually wish I skipped more sessions in the conference 😉

Hopefully I will visit Hawaii again, and spend more days there.

2017年7月12日2017年7月12日

Aloha Hawaii – Mauna Kea Observatories – Big Island

To me, Mauna Kea Observatories was the main reason to visit the Big Island. Simply because astronomy has been my thing since I was little. Before this trip, I had never been to a real observatory, and suddenly I had the opportunity to visit one of the best ones! So, driving to Mauna Kea Observatories was exciting. On the way, we saw some sheep … wild?

And, there were … volcanoes! A bunch of volcanoes!! Volcano-looking volcanoes – I mean, they are different from what we saw in the Volcanoes National Park. These volcanoes have a bowl-shaped dip at the top.

Mauna Kea Observatories Volcano closeup — Colorful volcanoes have a bowl-shaped dip

After driving for a while, suddenly we were in clouds – and soon above the clouds. We could see more and more volcanoes. It’s a strange feeling – to be close to so many volcanoes. There were also dried lava visible in the far place.

The driving was not difficult, but we liked to drive in the center of the road. It’s a little bit scary when passing cars (only met a few). Finally we arrived at the top. It’s sunny and chilly. And the view was breathtaking!

Mauna Kea Observatories Volcano — Volcanoes

Mauna Kea Observatories Volcano road — Where does this road go to

There are many telescopes. I only knew Keck.

Mauna Kea Observatories Keck — Keck (one of the two)

Mauna Kea Observatories Keck IRTF — Keck and IRTF

Here are some other telescopes I don’t even know their names.

Mauna Kea Observatories — Other telescopes

Mauna Kea Observatories Radio Telescope — Radio Telescopes

To me, this place is heaven.

I regret that we didn’t spend one more day on the Big Island. I really want to go inside of those observatories, and see what I can see. I heard they have very good stargazing programs. In fact, on the way there is a complex for amateur astronomers. People there seemed to be waiting for the night. I wish I could join them!

2017年7月7日

Aloha Hawaii – Volcanoes National Park – Big Island

Volcanoes National Park was our first stop after arriving at the Big Island. Since we had an early flight, we were quite early at the national park (open 24h), weren’t we? Anyhow, there weren’t many people in the park. It’s like a lost world. If we had more time (if I go to the Big Island again in the future), I would love to try wondering on that black land.

Hawaii volcanoes national park lost land — The lost land

Hawaii volcanoes national park dried lava pattern — Dried lava pattern

We drove towards the seaside, hoping to see lava flowing into the ocean. Unfortunately, it was not possible that day.

Hawaii volcanoes national park dried lava — “River” of dried lava

However, we could see the the path of the flowing lava. Imagine that the black dried lava was boiling red and marching towards the ocean some days in the past…

Hawaii volcanoes national park dried lava river — Lava flowing into the ocean

Then we went to the Jagger museum to see Halema ‘uma’u Crater, one of the most active volcanoes on earth. It was easy to spot from far place, with high and big “smoke” (gas eruption).

Hawaii volcanoes national park — Halema ‘uma’u Crater from far place

The overlook in Jagger museum offers a closer view (still one mile away). I heard that the view would be much more spectacular in the evening. But we had to go to see the Mauna Kea observatories, where we could see a lot of volcanoes (although not nearly as active).

2017年6月29日2017年6月29日

Aloha Hawaii – Flying to my dream land – Big Island

I had one free day after the conference. The problem was there were too many attractions in Hawaii! Where should I go? The Big Island! Simply because the Keck Telescopes are there!

The round trip (HNL – ITO) airline ticket was ~$200 each. Hawaiian Airlines. We had an early flight, at 5:32 AM. It’s a short flight – 49 min. The returning flight was 8:59 – 9:48 PM. From our hostel to the airport, we arranged a shuttle, which came to pick us up. At Hilo Airport on the Big Island, we had a rental car. Originally I booked an economy car from Advantage, for $37. However, at the counter, the Advantage lady highly recommended us to get a SUV (after hearing us going to the Observatories). I forgot how much I paid to upgrade the economy car to SUV. I guess it’s a right decision.

It was an enjoyable early morning flight. We saw beautiful sunrise:

Hawaii big island sunrise

Hawaii big island sunrise 2

After the sun was up, we were descending.

Hawaii big island sunrise 3

Hawaii big island sunrise 4

After picking up the car, we headed towards Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Then we went to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. The garden is close to the ocean.

The garden is not very big. We followed the trail, and saw a lot of strange plants.

2017年6月15日

Aloha Hawaii – A different world – Waikiki and more

Several posts will be devoted to my Hawaii trip. Here are some general information.

Time: July 2013

– I was attending a conference in Sheraton on Waikiki beach. Why not have some fun? I took my mom to Hawaii as well.

Flight: From Las Vegas to Honolulu (on Oahu island), 6 hours, time difference is 3 hours, ~$ 220 per person one-way.

– Before going to Hawaii, we stayed in Las Vegas for two nights. Our flight to Honolulu was delayed. At first, the plane was called back from the take-off lane to add more fuel (wasn’t it weird?). Then, we had to wait for the storm to pass by. The airline blamed weather for the delay, and only gave us drinks. We were supposed to get to Honolulu by 9PM, but we ended up arriving after 1AM. Not a good start!

Accommodation: Hostel International (HI) Honolulu Waikiki, $25 per person per night.

– I booked two beds in a six-bed female room. Surprisingly, the staff there gave us an individual room! The room has a bunk bed and a restroom. The location of the hostel is super – just two blocks from the BEST part of Waikiki Beach. They also have various beach stuffs – we always borrow a bodyboard.

– I hope one day we can take Fu to Waikiki. Beach is surely the heaven for kids!

Places visited: Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor, the Island of Hawaii (Big Island)

– I am so glad that we went to the Big Island. That’s the best part of this trip 🙂

Restaurant: Marukame Udon (丸亀製麺)

– We went there three times. Every time there was a long line. Luckily the line moves fast, as the service there is fast. Basically you pick the type of soup (pre-made) for the udon noodle. They have tasty tempura too!

2017年6月4日2017年6月4日

CitizenM Hotel @ Paris CDG – I am a citizen now

When we traveled from France to Finland, we stayed at the CitizenM hotel at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The review of this hotel is exceptionally good, so I was a bit curious. Now I am convinced that this hotel totally deserves the high rating.

First of all, as a four-star hotel at the airport, its price is very modest. When I booked through Hotel.com about two months in advance, it was only a little more than US $100 (with a 12% off coupon though). Paying just 20~30 dollars more to stay right at the airport – why not? The hotel is located next to Hilton, close to Terminal 3. RER station is close-by. An airport train, TGVVAL, links all the three terminals.

Secondly, the hotel is very modern and high-Tech. I found the painting on the outside wall very attractive. The inside decoration is also stylish – every touch is full of design. The words on the walls are interesting. I believe that every single piece of decoration is picked/collected carefully. People, including me, cannot help taking photos. The checkin and checkout are done at a round table with computers. Not sure about the checkin, but the checkout is self-service. You just put the card key on a reader, and then check out on the computer. It takes a few seconds. Every room is equipped with an iPad mini, which can be used to control almost everything in the room: light, shades, TV, etc.

Thirdly, the staffs are nice. Since we traveled with a baby, the staff assigned us an accessible (larger) room, and offered a baby cradle. At the bar & restaurant, the bartender gave us a free beer 🙂 BTW, the food is good, and the price is ok – €24. Breakfast is about €18, with good selections of high quality.

Lastly, the room is extremely clean and quiet. The king bed and pillows are very comfortable. Wifi is stable and fast. Additional freebies include two bottles of water and MOVIES! Old movies and relatively new movies. I watched Passengers.

If I will stay at CDG again, I think I will go for CitizenM again. I heard it’s a chain hotel as well, so I will also look for it whenever I need a hotel.