Grand Canyon

Why I said the service is very poor in NYNY.
We arrived late afternoon to LV on the 10th. Our Grand Canyon south rim trip booked much earlier was scheduled pick up at 6am on the next day where I planned to spend my birthday! 
Due to jetlag, we slept around 8pm that night and woke up early for the day trip. However, due to the US govt shutdown, the south rim was closed, we waited for almost an hour at the hotel side entrance with no sign of our tour bus coming. The rest of the other tours came and left. There was no one around for us to ask. Finally we went to the conceige for help. They finally agreed to help us call the tour company and to our horror, they tried to contact us via hotel about the cancellation and possible replacement but the hotel did not inform us.
From then on, we used our international mobile to make arrangement with the tour company and replacement the trip to the west rim on the next day. It actually took us the whole morning to reschedule everything. Time wasted! We could be out walking on the strip!

I ended up spending my birthday shopping at outlet mall :) Another blog on that later.

Well I must say I don't regret coming to the west rim. It is very grand. 

The distance from vegas to west rim is shorter than south rim. The tour included breakfast, lunch and bottled water were provided throughout unlike the Mt. Fuji tour.

 

See the picture above, can you spot the eagle flying toward you?

 That's the lovely eagle point.

Day 2 - Shinjuku

We wanted to see the world busiest subway station!
So we planned our lunch time around this area.
This is not the first time I am here but it is for the family.

 

We had sushi buffet for lunch & shop in Takashimaya.

Day 2 - Tokyo - Skytree (last stop for the day)

Our last stop for the day was Tokyo Skytree. The latest attraction in Tokyo.

It is very easily to get to skytree, once you reach Oshiage train station, it is directly link to the skytree town.

 we took another exit from the train station to get above ground and were rewarded with this view of the tower. if you go directly into the skytree town, you will not be able to view the outside of the tower.

long queue at around 3+pm , at this timing, we get to see day and night views when we were up there.

 I like the graphics electronic display while queuing for tickets

This is a see thru glass panel on the floor. The japanese students are all jumping on it. I was so worried it will break and tried to stop them :)

after getting down from the tower, it is time to buy this tokyo milk cheese biscuit, delicious. as we are leaving for USA, we bought a box to eat on the way. now really miss it.

Tokyo convenience store

This convenience store at hamamatsucho train station is well stocked

from sushi to toast and drinks

it is very convenient to grab and go

Our hotel booking did not come with breakfast, we just walked around in the morning and chose what we want to eat. There is a bread shop too and this is a sample of what they sell.

Tokyo Day 2 - Meiji Shrine

Day 2 was a fully packed day. We intended to cover 3 major places.

We started the day to Meiji Shrine. Taking the JR Yamanote line to Harajuku Station from Hamamsutcho.

The convenience store at the train station selling all sort of snacks.

At Harajuku, this drugstore is huge and sells many many beauty items. There is also a long line queuing for Garrett popcorn!

We had breakfast at Mac!

After breakfast, we proceeded to the entrance of the Meiji Shrine. It is next to the Harajuku station. To go to Meiji Shrine after getting out of the station, the direction will be:-
From the station facing the road, turn right and walk towards a bridge (神宫桥

), turn right again at the bridge and cross a side road to see the entrance of Meiji Shrine. From then on, walk inside the lovely greenery ground of the shrine to reach the main area. Along the way, you will see this display of wine containers.

When you reach the main area, most visitors will cleanse themselves just outside before proceeding in. Above is the wishing place. We are lucky to chance upon a wedding during a weekday noon.

Tokyo Day 1 - Odaiba

Landed in Narita Airport before 2pm and we were out of immigration by 2pm.
The direct airport limousine to the hotel is not leaving until 4pm.
So we took the alternative to T-CAT (Tokyo City Air Terminal) which runs very frequently and transfered to a taxi to Intercontinental Hotel at Tokyo Bay area, a short taxi ride away.

                            Luggage tag - very professional

                                        The cost of bus tickets


The full journey took about 1.5hrs. We check in with a awesome view from the room. 

                   Awesome view from the room - skytree at the far-away 11o'clock area

After freshen up, we proceeded at plan to odaiba as the subway is just right outside the hotel.

                          The automated Yurikamome transit system within 10m walk from hotel

Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo.

The train crossed the Rainbow Bridge and we alighted at Aomi Station as we wanted to go Venus Fort, a Venice-themed shopping mall for dinner and shopping. The is a pretty well-stock good size Burberry Blue Label outlet. Automatic tax refund at payment counter. Venus Fort shopping was pretty quiet on a weekday Monday. We did not have to jostle around with crowd. It suited us pretty well as we had a long day started at 4am. We decided to go back early to the hotel to rest as the sky turned dark by 6pm+.

                                                    This carbonara was awesome




On the way to Aomi station, you can alight at the earlier station to shop at aqua city. Here, you can get to see the replica of Stature of Liberty near to Aqua City Shopping Centre.

At night, from our hotel room, we get excellent bay view
 

Night view - lit-up skytree tower right at the left edge of the picture

The travel plan for FALL 2013

The great fall travel from Asia to America.
This is my pre-departure note. The idea of this trip was mooted sometimes in July. The objective was a overseas exposure on basketball cum holiday for the family after the big exam PSLE!
 
Hence the itinerary will have to designed / planned around the basketball event.  
When come to basketball, we are definitely talking about USA & NBA. We want to see Miami in action. Therefore, the state to visit is definitely going to be Florida. Since we are going to Florida, we might as well go Disneyland!!! 
Yes! I am a Disney fan. So far, I have been to Tokyo, Paris and HK Disneyland. 

I started to research on the available flight options. As usual, our first choice of airline is SQ since we are going half way across the globe..

Although options were aplenty, I can tell you it is not easy to get a reasonably priced, minimum hours route, comfortable airline. I am not keen on UA as I had bad experiences with them, engine failure and poor service. Talk about it on another post.  
My first choice was going via New York by Singapore airline which was our favorite. However, the transit and pricing were both not ideal. I spoke to some friends and there were suggestion to go via London direct to Orlando. It is always good to talk to more people to get ideas and opinions. We were seriously considering this option when we visited the travel agency to make reservation on multi-cities option because I couldnt find on internet to do this. It was at this point that the agency recommended delta airline.
Since delta flies via Tokyo, the thought of going for a quick stopover in Tokyo took place as a by-the-way trip. *happy
Slowly from August when the dates of travel became clearer, I began to make arrangement.
As I was planning the itinerary, there were a few days to spare. At that point when I was about to make reservation for air tickets, the Las Vegas sector popped into my mind. Grand Canyon was one of my must-visit places! I definitely want to take this chance to go take a look. So finally, our multi-cities fall trip read as follow:-

Singapore-Tokyo-LV(viaLA)-Orlando(Atlanta)-Bradenton-Miami-Atlanta-Tokyo-Singapore.

Wow! I even get the chance to celebrate my birthday in Vegas! I am so blessed!

 

After Disneyland, we even have time to visit an old friend in Florida.

We are looking forward to watch the season opening match between Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. How wonderful! I thank God for all these possibilities!

Next I started to plan the daily itinerary.

We have hotels booked in Tokyo, Las Vegas, Orlando & Miami. 

Mt. Fuji day tour check. Grand Canyon explorer check! Disneyland 2 days park hopper check! Miami Heat tickets check!

We are almost ready! We pray for smooth traveling.

I am so looking forward to the outlets shopping, photography, theme parks and Miami opening basketball match. How can I use words to describe my excitement?