Sapporo Snowmobile

It started snowing in earnest when I was at Hokkaido during my Hokkaido 8day tour. JC, our tour guide, suggested that if we wish to, he can bring us to the Sapporo Snowmobile instead of the ice-cream factory visit. We all agreed that the snowmobile is more interesting than the ice-cream factory visit, even though we need to pay this ourselves. I never imagined that it could be so much fun. :p


The above picture is the reception of the Sapporo Snowmobile. Rental of one seater snowmobile will cost about 10,000 yen. Rental of a double seater snowmobile is 15,000 yen. They actually ban girls from driving the double-seater snowmobile. Girls can ride the single ones, but the instructors there are afraid the girls will not have enough strength to handle the double-seater. You need at least one guy in-order to rent the double-seater. According to the tour guide, we have about an hour to "play" with the snowmobile. The instructors there will teach us how to operate it. There was a family who didn't join us so they went to walk around the area, and started building snowman. :D

Pay the rental, grab a helmet and a pair of gloves, and you're ready to go. Note that you must dress warmly for this occasion. Even with the gloves provided by them, my hands were practically freezing. I believe the temperature up there was close to -8 degrees that day.


The above are the snowmobiles I rode on. The ones in front are the one-seater snowmobile. The bigger one behind is the double-seater. Before we started, the instructors briefed us on some ground rules like no overtaking, keeping a safe distance, using the brakes, etc. One of the instructions was that no taking photos when you're driving the snowmobile. Oh well... :p The instructors all speak Japanese only. I can understand a bit, but luckily, our friendly tour guide was there to translate for us. After that, we were ready to go.

We were warned that we have to press the accelerator gently but one thing they never did warn us was that the engine takes some time to rev up. The trick is to press the accelerator until you feel your snowmobile move slightly. After that, just keep the same pressure. It will move off. If you increase the pressure, your snowmobile will lurch forwards. That's what happened to me. :p

We started off at a big field where we started to go about in circles. Turning left is harder for the double-seater snowmobile. Just needed some time to get used to it. We started turning quite a few rounds. The instructor snowmobile was in front and all we had to do was follow him. Suddenly, he veered off the circles we were going and started going up the mountain. I had no idea that the trip includes going up the mountains. It's hard to describe the fun I had going up the mountain. We also did some speeding across a stretch of flat land. Shiok...


The above picture was taken at one of the stops we had. Some of us in the tour group also started throwing snowballs at each other. :p We stopped at some places to take photos, and rest.


By the time we came down, the sun was shining once again. It was snowing slightly when we started. The experience is something that I will remember. In fact, I would say its the most memorable event for me for this tour. Its really money well-spent.

The Carrot Seed

A little boy planted a carrot seed.

His mother said, "I'm afraid it won't come up."

His father said, "I'm afraid it won't come up."

And his brother said, "It won't come up."

Everyday the little boy pulled up the weeds around the seed and sprinkled the ground with water.

But nothing came up.

And nothing came up.

Everyone kept saying it wouldn't come up.

But he still pulled up the weeds around it every day and sprinkled the ground with water.

And then, one day, a carrot came up.

Just as the little boy had known it would.

And that was a story called "The Carrot Seed" by Ruth Krauss.

Success in Life

I quote from the Slice of Life:

Will power is the courage to make a certain decision, and stick to it, regardless of any internal or external opposition or difficulties. It is the ability to carry a chosen task from conceptualisation to fruition regardless of how uncomfortable, painful or unnerving it might be.

Self-discipline involves rejecting or postponing a short-term gratification in favour of something more beneficial in the long run. It is the strength to stick to certain thoughts, actions and behaviour that lead to the betterment of the self in some way - physically, mentally, academically or spiritually.

Will power and Self-discipline. This is the 2 most important ingredient to be successful in life. Anyone can do it. Its more of a question of whether are you willing to recognise that the only main hindrance is you yourself. You must always do a task from start to finish. Never do things halfway.

Creating temporary network drives in command prompt

There might be some instances where you will need to connect to a network drive by using the command prompt, especially in some cases where you're troubleshooting some problems. There's actually a way to do it in Windows.

1. Goto Command Prompt (WinKey+R > cmd)
2. Type pushd \\computername\network folder

That's all to it. A temporary drive will be created for that command prompt session that will enable you access to the network folder. For me, I tend to think that copying files using this method is slightly faster than using Windows Explorer. Or maybe it's just me. :D

Hope this helps...

Genus 2008

Details of our ticketed annual concert, a performance by the NUS Guitar Ensemble, member of NUS Centre For the Arts. Featuring Libertango, a fiery tango dance that became the theme song for the movie The Tango Lesson, and Cadiz, a piece dedicated to the spanish city Cadiz. Conducted by Dr Robert Casteels.

Date: 23rd Feb 2008, 8pm
Location: University Cultural Centre Hall (NUS)
Price: $11, $9 (Different tier seats, excluding gatecrash $1 booking fee)

You're able to get tickets from http://www.gatecrash.com.sg , hotline 6222 5595, Singpost branches and SAM kiosks.

General Sales discounts:

• NUS Students - 15% off all categories
• NUS Staff and Alumni - 10% off all categories

Expose will be playing the following:

• The Incredibles
• FF7 Medley

Stress time is here again. :p Here I go again...
You can see a video from this post.

Shopping at Hokkaido

Updated 10 Aug 2009: Link to Hokkaido accommodation in-case if DIY

I will just dedicate one post on shopping at Hokkaido during my Hokkaido 8day tour. :D

My impression of Hokkaido shopping is food, food and more food. Basically, every place of interest that you go to, like Noboribetsu and Bear Ranch, there would be specially created chocolates or snacks that is specific to the area you're in (e.g. Bear shape snacks in Bear Ranch). However, there is one place in Hokkaido that I went that you can get relatively cheap normal shopping stuff. By that I mean bags, clothings, Yukata, etc. That is at a place called Li Xiao Lu.


There are 8 streets altogether. The picture above shows the 2nd street. They are all linked by covered walkways. Basically, the more interesting streets are the 3rd street and 4th street. The things here are quite cheap. I know someone in my tour group who bought shoes in a place called ABC Mart. You can check it out there. There's also a Daiso near the area where I took the above picture. If I remember correctly, there are 7 floors. The Daiso there is also known as the 100 yen shop. However, take note if there is any price tag. Not everything in Daiso is 100 yen.

There are 2 things that you must get in Hokkaido. That is the Squid Rice and Yubari Melon, which is unique to Hokkaido.


Squid Rice
According to the instructions, you just need to put in boiling water for 15mins, and its ready to eat. There is rice inside the squid. So far, I've not tasted it yet but I heard that its quite good. Another way to cook this is to microwave it, according to the tour guide. However, note that if you have stopped at any pitstop, the squid rice sold there is relatively cheaper by about a 100 yen.



Yubari Melon Chocolate

Hokkaido is suppose to be famous for its Yubari Melon. This particular chocolate is a Yubari Melon white chocolate. Everyone, including me, agree that its very good.

One thing about Japan is that the prices are relatively similar in any place you go to. At most the price differ by about 100-200 yen, but so far, most of the prices are the same for the same product, regardless of whether its a shophouse at the back, or a shop facing the main road.

Hokkaido is also a place where the White Lover Chocolate is made. The place is called Ishiya, also known as the White Lover Chocolate Museum. They produce the chocolates here.


The whole place looks like a castle. If I'm not wrong, there is a shop at the bottom left hand side of the picture that sells the chocolate.I did not go there because I was too busy taking pictures of the area. However, according to the tour guide, only 900 boxes of chocolates are sold there every day.

There are actually many side attractions surrounding this place. The tour group is suppose to go in but when we arrive there, the factory has been shut down because they sold chocolates that were expired. It was due open after we left Hokkaido. Oh well...

We have also been to a place called Otaru that sells very nice music boxes.


The above is the picture of the place that sells all kinds of music boxes. You can even make your own music box, with your choice of the music. The music includes songs by many popular Japanese singers (e.g. SMAP) Very cute place.



The picture above is one of the unique music boxes you can see in the shop. The color changes every minute I think. So far, I've not seen such music boxes anywhere before. Quite unique. The ice-cream at Otaru is not bad too. 5 tier ice-cream. :D Now I know why people eat ice-cream in winter. Shiokkk...

Hokkaido is also famous for its seafood. You can actually order crabs and bring it back to Singapore. I know because some people in the tour group actually brought back crab pincers to Singapore. Here's a picture of the seafood market we went to.



This seafood market is just below the restaurant. Basically we can order the sashimi, crabs, lobsters and oysters and they will cook it at the restaurant for you to eat.

All in all, shopping in Hokkaido is mainly fooooooooood!! :D Alot of crabs and scallops in our meals for the tour. You can refer to my previous post about food here. If you really want to try, you can try the Alaska crab, and Abalone in Hokkaido (pay yourself). They are suppose to be very good, and big. :D

Hokkaido is quite a fun place to go to, and I do not mind going there again on a more flexible schedule that is. Have been keeping an eye out for DIY hotels booking and I came across this Hokkaido Accommodation website that is quite user friendly, and comes with user reviews too. You can find out more information there.

Proposed MRT Lines

For those who are interested in the future of our MRT, I have gotten a map of the proposed MRT lines from Citigroup. Quite interesting to see how the roads are linked up. However, whether is it a reality I have no idea. :) (Click on the image for a bigger map)


Based on the map, it does seem that most towns will be linked to the rail. My idea of an ideal transport system would be all the major town centers are linked by MRT, and all town centers MRT stations double up as bus terminals. Buses will service the town area with no more than 8mins of waiting time. If something goes wrong with the MRT, buses can be deployed to ferry passengers between bus terminals, which is also a MRT station.

This is my ideal transport system, and it should connect the whole of Singapore. However, this would require a radical change to the current setup now. Oh well... It doesn't hurt to dream.

For some reason when I look at the map, I see similarities between the Japan JR line and this map. Hmmm...

Open to possibilities

I quote from the Slice of Life:

When we're open to possibilities, we see further and are more inclined to take risks. Risks that may not always yield the results we want, but which create more paths towards our goals. You're only a failure if you stop trying. Because opportunities for success are limitless - when one doesn't pay off the way you imagined, there's always the next, and the next. One of them will be the one to catapult you forward, and it could just be the next one.

Being open means that you have to stand confident in the realm of possibilities - no matter the competition and no matter your fear. If your entire focus is on what your competitors are doing, your attitude will be passed on to your employees, and, ultimately, your clients. But if you focus on what you do best and how to better satisfy your clients and engage with them in new and powerful ways, your results will be quite different!


I guess we're always well tuned to stay within our comfort zone. It's natural instinct I guess. However, when working towards somethings that are not "conventional", very often we find things that we'll never notice if we did not take that path.

The hardest part I guess is always the first step. Once the first step is taken, do not look back and just try your best to reach the goal. Failure is the mother of success. Most important is to recognise your goal and work towards it.

Hokkaido Food!!

Updated 3 Feb 2008: Shabu shabu! :D

I have taken most of the photos where I had set breakfast, lunch or dinner for the Hokkaido 8day tour. In general, if you wish to eat a full meal (for a guy at least), you'll need to prepare at least 500 yen to 1000 yen average. I average around 700-800 yen for an average meal. Luckily I only had 4 meals where I had to pay myself. :p

Note that in general, Japanese seems to like pork and beef. I rarely see anything with chicken. :p

Feeling hungry?? Well, after looking at these photos, you might be. :D


Yummy lunch where we also had steamed crab.

Shop at Ramen street. Ate Wanton Ramen for about 800 yen, and fried dumpling for about 400 yen.

Shabu shabu! Look at the pork and beef. :)

Set Breakfast. :)

Set Lunch. The Udon was originally in the basket. You can add chilli powder into the "steamboat". The covered box on the left contains rice and scallop.

Set Dinner... The rice is brown fried rice with scallop.

Seafood lunch set. The hairy crab is in the pot. :)

The hairy crab is out of the pot. :)

Set Lunch. The pork is on top, and all the vegetables are below it. Just take all the vegetables and push it on top of the pork. The pork will cook better in this way. You're suppose to take the pork, dip it into the egg, and eat it. Japanese way. :)


Set Dinner. :)

Set Breakfast. The bowl in front is porridge. :)

This is a half eaten dinner from Akihabara. Indian food. Cost about a 1000 yen. Very filling. Look at the Naan. It comes with a salad which was already finished. :)

food. Cost about 700 yen. The pancake is suppose to be Korean pancake. This lunch however, is more japanese than korean, taste wise. :)

Back from Hokkaido!

Updated 27 Jan 2008: Batteries

Just came back from the 8 days Hokkaido tour. It has been a long time since I had so much fun. Joined the tour group organised by Hong Thai Travel. I have to say that out of the tours I went in my memory, Hong Thai Travel so far has been the best. The guide, J.C., has been quite informative and very friendly. In every place, he explained the culture, and history of the area, which was what I was looking for. When we had time, he squeezed in some extra stuff not from the itinerary. These extra stuff of course you have to pay, but its well worth it. The extra stuff is based on group consensus. You can don't join in if you don't wish to. The tour group was also quite good, and we're mostly on time. :p

If you forgot to do your shopping (which is near impossible), Hong Thai allows you to order selective snacks and tidbits near the end of the Hokkaido tour. The snacks are generally quite good. However, if you ever stop at those pitstops for toilet breaks, take a look at the food they sell there. Its generally cheaper there. :) The pace of the tour was surprisingly quite okay. I don't feel the urgency associated with my previous tours experience.

The highest temperature in South-West Hokkaido was -2 degrees. Lowest we went should be around -10 degrees, when we were up in the mountains playing with the snow mobiles. :D Boy was that fun... I would be posting some of the interesting parts of the Hokkaido trip.

Just some things to take note before you go to a cold country:

1. Thermal wear is a must! I had a good winter coat from G2000 (Down coat) so I did not need to wear my thermal shirt (even in -10 degrees). However, thermal pants is a must. I was only wearing T-shirt, pullover, winter coat, thermal pants and jeans. :)
   
2. Do not forget your ears. Best if you can get a hat that can cover your head, plus your ears.
3. Good gloves is a must! I got a cheap pair of gloves and most of the time, I did not feel that there's any difference between wearing the gloves, and not wearing it.
4. Try not to wear sports shoes because the front part of the shoes are "open". I wore my black leather shoes there, and my feet was alright, even at up to -10 degrees, with good warm socks of course.
5. Ensure that you keep your battery operated devices (e.g. handphone, camera) in a warm place. I kept mine in my winter coat pocket. Reason is that in cold weather, the battery will run out much faster. You do not want your camera battery to run out halfway through the tour. :)
   

When I came back to Singapore, Narita check-in is also slightly different from normal airports. It seems to be similar to Jakarta check-in. There are no shops once you go into Narita International Airport Terminal 2. You have to check-in first. In general, the sequence to check-in at Narita is as follows:

1. Check your check-in baggage at the scanner
2. Check in your baggage
3. Do some last minute shopping at the 2nd floor after you check-in your baggage. Mostly food stores up there, but they do have stores that sell Yukata, electronics, etc.
4. Check-in. Ensure that you remove whatever that can cause the detector to beep. If it beeps, you might need to take out your shoes. :p
5. Check the gate that you're going in. The gate might be in the satellite building attached to Terminal 2. In that case, you will need to take the sky train to the other building. You have to factor in that time.
6. There's some duty free shops after you check-in. I saw a small Akihabara there. However, I had no time to check out that place.
   

Oh yes... Bring lots of yen. You'll find that you'll keep buying and buying. :p Darn... I'm much poorer now. Oh well.. At least I had lots of fun.