Hi Caro!
All good, they paid. Off to bangkok now with a dissapointed 14 yr old that had to spend his last afternoon in Hua Hin in a hospital waiting room rather than the entertaining hotel pool.
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Glad to hear al is good.
Back to adviceā¦
@JohnRain and other Tokyoites: please suggest best non-touristy things for a first time visitor. My daughter will be in Tokyo over Christmas-New Year. She works in the hotel industry and will have done her own research but it would be nice to offer her some local knowledge from resident Blitzers.
Happy to offer any local travel tips, however, I have no idea what your daughter is interested (and uninterested) in, AT. A few additional clues would be most helpful.
A female mate of mine (who visited last year) really enjoyed donning a kimono, having her photo taken at a studio and also wearing the kimono around the streets for a few hours. Itās too hot/humid in summer to enjoy the experience, but winter is just perfect.
Funky shopping - spend a day wandering around the streets of Harajuku & Shibuya.
Is she a foodie? Can recommend a few joints. Lemme know. Same goes with music. Iām a horrible singer and avoid karaoke boxes as much as I can. Saying that, if a group of mates visit, I always take them out (one evening) for some drinks and karaoke. Just so much fun. Need the drinks to lose the inhibitions, though.
If she is into temples, Kamakuraās Zen Buddhist temples (near my home) are worth checking out. A few of them offer āzazenā (seated meditation). Alternatively, she may be interested in a quaint tea ceremony or just sipping a cup of matcha looking over a bamboo forest.
I could go on, but best lemme know a bit about her preferences. Feel free to PM as well.
Your daughter will have an amazing time. And Tokyo is ridiculously safe.
p.s. And there are plenty of unique festivals to choose from. Attending a Japanese festival at any time of the year is also a fun experience.
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Great - thanks very much!
I will pass this on and she may PM you. (She first posted as a Blitzer in 2003 or so).
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Webjet are advertising a 25 day middle east tour of Egypt, Jordan and Israel for 7G a head and then some.
Weāve never been on an organised tour as such but this part of the world seems to demand oversight, at least for a couple in their respective 7th decades.
Sounds good on paper and ticks off plenty of bucket list items. Has anyone been on something similar? Sounds like you have to travel with fellow skips, which Iām not keen on, but to be honest our recent solo tours taxed us a bit, especially China where my better half got sick.
Reckon weāve got 2 or 3 OS trips left in us and itās sort of now or never.
Iāve got a big customer/distributor in Singapore so Iām taking the family over for a week next year. Its one of the few major Asian cities I havenāt spent much time in (only the airport) so Iād love to get some tips from Blitzers on your favourite eating places & in particular a suggestion for a great high end dining experience to entertain my contact.
Iād also love to get some ideas for the kids - Universal is already top of their list but not really sure what else there is. Any advise would be great.
RIP
2 or 3 trips?
Do it now.
Never is not an option.
Iām not a fan of organised trips personally but can see how it works for some people.
Iām keen to head back to that neck of the woods but my wife has zero interest in it unfortunately
Salt Grill is our favourite. Itās ran by Luke Mangan and is on the 56th floor of the ION Orchard so has spectacular views over the whole of Singapore. The food is first class and whilst pricey (everything in Singapore is) it is something special.
For the kids Sentosa island is awesome, the Zoo is amazing and one of the best there is. Plenty of other stuff to interest them like the Gardens by the bay and the tree top walk
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My main concern is weāll get to somewhere like Petra and theyāll say 15 minutes of free time and then weāre off to the prearranged souvenir store jaunt. I need someone to tell me itās not like that.
Ask Noonan. He does tours all the time.
Depending on the company it may or may not be like. I hate having a regimented holiday, if Iām a little tired or want a sleep in or eat brekky later I will. I hate being herded to brekky and then on a bus by a set time each day. I also like wandering around sights at my own pace. The bonus is a tour group will get priority access and skip many line ups but they may only get a small window of visitation before getting back on the bus
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Canāt comment on that sorry.
Can you do a collection of shorter modules through local operators instead of a full tour? Thatās what we would typically do - e.g. our recent 5 day safari in Kruger NP was pre-organised within an independent 3 week trip. Takes a bit more organising, but gives you some freedom between modules.
Either way, you should find a way to go. You know you will regret it if you donāt.
(I canāt stand it that my wife has been to Egypt & Israel and I have not).
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I vividly remember spending four or five fascinating hours at the Hue palace complex in Vietnam and watching in horror as the tour groups arrived and departed within an hour. But Iām getting olderā¦
Iāll be honest, I read the itinerary to my better half whoās gone a bit cold on travel since our China issues expecting her to be ambivalent but she said she loved the idea for the first time in two years and was willing to live with the idea of regimentation if it meant someone else did the organising. The days of us turning up in a town, parking the bags at the train station and heading off to negotiate last minute accommodation are long gone Iām afraid. At least in the Middle East. They were good days though.
I was thinking more along the lines of, say, a small group guided tour of Jordan with free time in Amman, fly to Cairo, spend a couple of days, join a small group guided tour of Egypt etcā¦ So instead of 25 days with the same group, you have 3 or 4 shorter pre-booked tours joined together with free time in an interesting city with pre-booked accommodation as a base.
Just a thought.
Of course the 25 day tour would be much simpler, but there is the small risk of a bad group.
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Amman, not Damascus! That would be the death of things if you floated a side trip to Syriaā¦
We just did 4 days in Singapore and at a Hotel in Clarke Quay which has lots of restaurants and bars. Though I reckon with kids a Hotel on Sentosa or near the Marina Bay would be better.
Lots of good restaurants, and most are Melbourne prices, alcohol is expensive, especially after being Vietnam.
We did breakfast with the Orangutans at the Zoo, food is good and the animals were fantastic. It is a great Zoo by any standards and needs a whole day to do it properly. The Bird Park is also great, as are the Botanical Gardens and the Orchid Gardens.
The Garden by the Bay and Towers are fantastic, and kids will love them, especially the indoor waterfall and the very high walking paths.
We also got Big Bus Tour 2 day ticket and it makes it easy to get around all the attraction, though taxis are cheap enough and underground railway is very very good.
Singapore is a wonderful place to visit, but it leaves the wallet empty.
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