Brissy Life: Trip to Moreton Bay

Has it been two weeks since my last update! Time passes so quickly!

It's already the fourth week of school for Clayton and we are getting used to the time table and schedule. Every friday, I help up in the class after their swimming lesson and it's interesting to see them in action. Clayton loves Tuesday where he has technology and library and Friday for swimming. He is still trying to find some true friends but I'm glad he's happier now.

As for me, I've been busy exploring and experimenting recipes and trying to find time to enjoy the Brissy lifestyle. Last weekend, we went to Moreton Bay and we had a great time with my cousin and her family. The boys had so much fun and the waters at Tangalooma was fabulous. We even bought tickets for another trip as they were offering a 50% discount on the trip. I only wish Rachel and family could join us again as Clayton loves to play with his cousins, Gerald and Gabriel. Alex snorkelled with Alvin and they had a nice time. But let me tell you what was even better... we went boom netting and it was incredibly fun! It was our first time and everyone else's and Clayton enjoyed it 101%! I was glad that the twin boys did it even though they were frightened. It was a fantastic trip and we are now looking forward to visit STradbroke Island with them in one or two weeks' time!

I'm also liking shopping online is deals site and private shopping sites here in Oz. Sometimes it can become addictive! These private shopping sites sell from homeware to baby gifts and the bargains are real and attractive.

It's weekends again and we are heading to the beach if the sun is smiling tomorrow... we can't wait!

perhaps a vacation is Phuket is coming!

DH is talking about a trip to do his kite surfing. I volunteered to be the babysitter and he could see that he wasn't too excited. Then again, I reminded him that the hotel rates will be the same whether he's traveling alone or with us so that sort of settled his uncertainly.

After doing a quick search on Phuket vacation, AirAsia seems to offer a good deal of around RM400 (incl taxes and fees) for the month of June. As for hotels in Phuket, it depends on where you plan to stay. Since his kite surfing would most likely be in Nai Yang Beach, we would probably choose a phuket accommodation in that area. So the TOP 5 Phuket hotels for your next Phuket vacation:

Indigo Pearl, Nai Yang (see above photos)

JW Marriott Spa & Resort

Mom Tri's Boathouse Hotel

Amari Coral Beach Resort Hotel

Holiday Inn Resort

reminiscing Hakone Ginyu

I posted another video taken at our favourite ryokan in Hakone - Hakone Ginyu... the autumn leaves and scenery was just magnificent. I find myself reminiscing the wonderful moments spent in Hakone Ginyu once again...

book hotel accommodation online

I'm a big believer for online accommodation reservations - I seriously do! It saves time, hassle and money! All you need to do is some research to compare hotel rates and if you need, read some travel reviews in the travel forums such as trip advisor or virtual tourist and you can get our travel planning going. It's that simple. Whether you are booking las vegas hotels or any asia hotels, online hotel reservation makes it so convenient and simple!

Of the so many travel search engines I frequently, hotels.com and travelocity top my list of travel booking sites. The nice thing about Hotels.com is that you don't need to make a prepayment and most hotel accommodations allow you to cancel 3 days before your arrival date, with no penalty charges. As for Travelocity, the Good Buy hotels require you to make a prepayment. In other words, you will forfeit your payment should any cancellation arises due to last minute change in your travel itinerary.

If you are planning to book your hotel accommodations this holiday season, check out these travel coupons and savings from hotels.com:

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search and compare hotels to save

No matter what the economy is like, life still goes on. Wedding bells are still ringing and couple are still shopping for wedding favors, engagement rings, bridal accessories, wedding venue...etc. Vacationers will continue to travel though the travel budget may be cut or reduced as one try to be more prudent. DH has already reminded me to stick to our family travel budget and I'm taking it seriously.

If anyone is planning to save on hotel accommodation, make sure you compare your hotel rates and shop wisely. For time savings, key in your destination city in the hotel comparison search box below and check out the lowest hotel rates from the search results:

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no more designer's unit in fraser place shinjuku

Hotels Combined

It was a great weekend in Singapore though I got a little stressed out when Clayton refused to sleep before the wedding dinner on Saturday.

Though it was one of the shorter trips, I did all that I needed to do - got my haircut, met up with the owner of Fuchsia Lane, had lunch with mom and surprisingly, no shopping spree this time. The current global meltdown is sending me some warning signals to my spending habits plus we are going on a family vacation in 5 weeks' time - I can't wait!

I suppose I may have to give up my desire to stay in one of the designers' units in Fraser Place Shinjuku though the photos on the official website are seriously enticing! For the spacious room in the one bedroom in Fraser Place Shinjuku, I'm expected to pay less than $200 per night while the studio premier room in the designer's unit cost around $250 a nite! I've decided to cut down on our family vacation accommodation options and use the savings for shopping instead.

Till then, wishing everyone a good week despite the current global financial meltdown... here are some shots from my hometown - Singapore.



The Arts House at Old Parliament Lane



Boat Quay, Singapore

save on your next online accommodation hotel

Image via WikipediaI can't believe that I haven't been back to Singapore for almost three months! It's one of the longest time I have been out of the country. That would also mean I'm looking at a mob since I haven't cut my hair for three months! I know, friends are still shaking their heads that I only cut my hair in Singapore :P Not that I haven't tried looking for a reliable hairdresser here but I just haven't found one I'm happy with.

I would be taking a couple of days break from blogging since I won't be lugging my laptop with me. Plus it's only a short trip. For those who are thinking of traveling far in the next coming months. Here are some coupons if you are booking your accommodation hotels online. Do take the opportunity to save on your online accommodation booking:

Get $20, $30, $50, $75 or $100 back with your next Hotel Stay!



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I found fraser place shinjuku, tokyo!

PR: n/a I: 3,310,000 L: 1 LD: 130,075,682 I: 361000 Rank: 9 Age: Oct 12, 1999 I: 0 whois source Robo: yes Sitemap: no Density Links: 9|4

Just when I thought that I had settled for the Somerset Roppongi for our family vacation to Tokyo, I stumbled upon the Fraser Place Shinjuku, Tokyo. And all thanks to this fantastic accommodation hotel comparison tool I have been faithfully using, I found out the lowest and best rates for Fraser Place Shinjuku, Tokyo was almost the same as the Somerset Roppongi.



What's cool about it is that the Fraser Place Shinjuku is located in Shinjuku and most travelers who have been to Tokyo know that Shinjuku is Tokyo’s largest skyscraper district where some two million people converge for work and play on a daily basis. Shinjuku is also Tokyo’s largest sub-centre and most cosmopolitan area. If you have been to Tokyo, you may also know that most accommodation hotels in Shinjuku offer small hotel rooms due to the space constraints and high property prices in the area. But at Fraser Place Shinjuku, the one bedroom deluxe apartment is 37 - 55 sqm - that is very spacious by Tokyo and most accommodation hotels standards. I'm one person who would choose an apartment hotel anytime over a hotel room. I love the flexibility of a kitchenette, a washing machine and the home away from home ambience. For those who prefer a smaller apartment, there are different categories of studio rooms available and families can choose from one bedroom to three bedroom apartments.

After much comparison, it seems that the guys at Travelocity is offering the lowest rates for Fraser Place Shinjuku... all thanks to my faithful hotel accommodation comparison tool!

search for discount hotel rates and the best accommodation deals in a breeze

Ever felt like you have lost track of dates and time? I do. The past few days have gone so fast that I didn't even know that we are already approaching October! With so many tasks on my plate, I'm finding it hard to juggle with the little quality hours left for my internet marketing work.

There are currently two internet marketing projects brewing in my home office kitchen and as I work on these in the next couple of weeks, I also need to confirm our family vacation itinerary and plans. Comparing discount hotels rates and the best accommodation deals for our family has been a breeze with the following search hotel search tool I've been using. If you haven't tried it, you should. Simple enter your destination in the hotel search box and you will be presented with hotel search results of more than 30+ travel search engines. It's hard not to find good discount hotel rates and the best accommodation deals that way.

find cheap discount deals and cheap hotel deals in just one step

Searching and finding cheap discount hotels and cheap hotels rooms can be a tiring one if you don't know just where to search. For those who are new to booking your hotel accommodation online, you are missing out a great deal. Not only does online hotel accommodation booking saves you time, it saves you money too.

But with so many travel and hotel search engines out there, it can be difficult to identify which hotel booking site is offering you the cheapest discount hotels or best hotel deals. Instead of searching through one, three or five online hotel booking sites, you can now find out the best hotel deals in just one step. Don't believe it? Why not enter your destination and watch how this travel search engine find you the best cheap discount hotels and lowest hotel rates.

discount deals in hotel accommodation

Yesterday, I had a fun time playing around with my Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens. Like I said before, photography is one addictive hobby. I'm truly thankful for technology which makes it cheaper and more affordable to practice my photography skills! Even though the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens is the cheapest in the Nikkor lens range, it delivers great results for portraits, close objects and nice bokeh effects. Hubby was impressed with the photos and thus, he didn't nagged about my expenses - LOL.

I've been spending much time with the search engines in the last week - searching for discount deals in hotel accommodation, reading reviews, deciding on which Hakone ryokan to stay. Some hotel travel sites are better and more efficient than others. But to be a savvy traveler, you should compare the discount deals in hotel accomodation amongst the various travel sites before making your decision. Here are some of my favourite discount accommodation booking sites:






And if you are looking for student travel, the STA Travel is the place to start your search:



Today, I may have to see if I need a pair of walking shoes for our coming Japan/Hong Kong trip. Camper shoes, Birkenstock, Asgi shoes... what else?

awesome travel photos of a friend

I was so blown away by these awesome photo shots of a friend I got to know in a travel forum. I can only say that anyone who wants or plans to travel to Japan and need real local's advice should visit Optimistk's blog... here are some of the photos taken from Optimistk's Flickr (with permission, of course!)



Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur

Himeji, Japan

Yamanashi, Japan

planning for Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka and Hong Kong

It's been thursday and I'm still waiting for my 50mm f1.8 lens - can't wait to play around with it!

Over the last week, I've been spending alot of time in TripAdvisor, reading reviews, asking questions in the forum and reading travelers' feedback and stories. I don't know if my other half knows that planning for a family vacation is not such an easy task! This year, we have a strict budget to keep so I'm working hard on checking on the hotels and accommodations and seeking good deals for our family travels.



So now, it's Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka and Hong Kong. It amazes me that November accommodations in Kyoto are hard to find and even if you can find - they are expensive! Then I found out that November is popular among locals and tourists for Kyoto's beautiful autumn foliage... I pray that they will still stay golden and red when we are there! What's cool about technology is that it makes travel much easy with the heaps of online resources available. Gone are the days where you need to depend on your travel agent to book your hotel accommodations! Not only is the online technology so powerful for travelers and globetrotters, but people use it to search, popular jobs, find free giveaways, shop for good deals, gather information and most of all, communicate and networking!

Search and compare the best accommodation deals and hotel bargains in Osaka.

Search and compare the best accommodation deals and hotel bargains in Kyoto

ryokan research and macau accommodation for our family vacation

As much as I'm excited about our upcoming family vacation to Tokyo and Hong Kong, I have been so swamped with my new online webstore that I'm stealing bits of time here and there to read reviews from Trip Advisor.



gondola in The Venetian, macau

In the last few days, I've been doing my research in Hakone ryokans and our Macau accommodation. Yes, we have decided to spend a night in Macau. After reading some updates on Macau, I believe this is one place we shouldn't leave out during our 5 nights in Hong Kong. I'm really glad that DH has agreed to my Hong Kong trip request. Macau is no longer the same since I last visited the island in 1998... the developments over the last 10 years were spectacular and I'm looking forward to witness it. After all that research, The Venetian looks like one cool hotel to stay. All rooms are suites and one thing you must note when booking your stay in Macau. Hotel rates from thursday to saturday can be 50% more than the other weekdays. I'm not kidding. For that reason, I have to time our stay in Macau to be a 'monday' so that I am paying HKD1000 lesser!



(http://www.ito-yamatokan.jp)

And the ryokan research has been fun though it's rather confusing when it comes to choosing the right ryokan in the right location. Due to the language hindrance, it is not so easy to pick and choose so those ryokan websites with English explanation helps a great deal. If you like an English ryokan booking site, check out the following:

http://www.ryokancollection.com
http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com

More ryokan updates for our family vacation coming...

Compare the best deals, compare prices and get the best travel bargains for hotels in Japan

Compare the best deals, compare prices and get the best travel bargains for hotels in HOng Kong

summer vacation and cheap travel deals

Summer is always a busy time for airlines and hoteliers as summer breaks are popular among those who live in the Middle East, UK and the US. This is the time where airline travel can be expensive and accommodation prices at its peak. Though summer is coming to an end for some, there are those who will stretch their summer vacations till September. So if you are still searching around for cheap hotels, vacation deals and bargains, here are some travel links and resources for your pick:

New York City Sightseeing

New York City Tours


Book your Travel on Black Friday to complete your holiday shopping in person. Click here for great deals in New York

Non-Stop Flights to the biggest skiing in America


$100 off with 12 night booking!

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Lowest hotel rates and read hotel reviews

a memorable trip to Kuala Selangor

Just when I thought Clayton was all well on Sunday, I was wrong... his fever persists and I can't wait for him to get well soon!

Last Sunday, we headed for Kuala Selangor with a group of good friends for a seafood dinner and a fireflies exploration that evening. It was a lovely excursion and it was exciting for me to see the 'glowing trees' in the dark of the night. Clayton kicked a fuss with the lifejacket but finally had to give in after much coaxing and 'forcing'. He couldn't wait to get the lifejacket out of the way and he was perhaps too young to appreciate the wonders of these light giving fireflies. We went out in a sampan (small boat) in a group of four (five including clayton) with the boatman that night.

One of the fireflies fell into the water and the boatman was nice enough to 'save' it for our close exploration. For me, it was amazing to see the little firefly running around the palm of my hand with a twinkling light... it was so cute. We learned a little more about these wonderful creatures from the boatman and though it was a short 15minutes boat ride, it was an experience worth taking. It was hard to believe that these fireflie had existed in this river, among the mangroves, for more than 40 years!

I must admit that this was a memorable tour for me during my eight over years of stay here in Kuala Lumpur. I would recommend it to any visitor planning to visit Kuala Lumpur. A trip to Kuala Selangor for fresh seafood and an evening encounter with the fireflies will be an experience that speaks volumes in your travel diary.

*We can't take any pictures of the 'glowing trees' and fireflies.. it was just too dark. And even if we can, the flash from our cameras would have scare those cute fireflies away.

all inclusive for stress free vacation

The last thing you want when traveling with a child is to start worrying about finding a child friendly restaurant during your summer beach vacation. With proper planning and research, you can find lots of ideas for family friendly travel and all inclusive vacation packages seem to be the best thing to do if you have no time for your travel planning. All inclusive vacation are popular with families who like to pay one price and not worry about accommodation, food and even recreational costs. There may be times where you may need to pay a little fee for an excursion but for most times, recreation within the hotel premises are included in the package. So if relaxation and total peace of mind is what you want to achieve in your upcoming summer or year end vacation, all inclusive is the way to go!

Book your Travel on Black Friday to complete your holiday shopping in person. Click here for great deals in New York.

the beauty of big bear lake

I'm still running through our photos taken during our US trip and somehow, I cannot forget the beauty of Big Bear Lake, which is only about 2 hours drive from LA. This is a popular vacation spot for families and ski enthusiasts. The most fun part was that we found a frozen lake on the mountains where we could glide and slide around - the kids had so much fun! Sometimes, I wondered if the frozen lake would crack while we jumped on it too much...