Japan Trip Day 11: The Snow Monkeys of Jigokudani, Nagano

We've heart about Snow Monkeys in Discovery Channel that it's a "must see" when in Nagano, Japan. And so we tried it. We were so excited and viola, no one told us that we have to walk 3.2 kilometers (back and forth) on an icy pathway. The challenge was, we have a stroller for our 4-yr old son. We can't afford to slip or who knows where we are going to end up :). Half way going up, hubby and I were thinking that it maybe best to go back and wait for our friends in the bus stop.  Glad  that we "break the arrow" meaning we continue to go up.  The view up there was so breathtaking and beautiful.

Here's some of the pics.

Park entrance, this is where one can decide whether to go up or not :).

Meet the snow monkeys:

If it was a challenge going up, i find it more challenging going down since we need to hold the pram and make sure it won't slide.  I was pushing the pram so i was extra careful and i think my motherly instinct is working so well while my hubby slipped twice. Although he was not the only one who slid, it should not deter people to go up and see the snow monkeys.  After looking at the pictures, i find the trip worth it.

Some facts about the Snow Monkeys (copied from (http://www.snowjapan.com/the-snow-monkeys-of-jigokudani-nagano):
The Jigokudani Yaenkoen park opened in 1964 and since then many thousands of people from around the world have visited the park to observe the lifestyle of the Japanese Macaque.  The Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) is a monkey species native to northern Japan, and is the most northern-living non-human primate, surviving winter temperatures of below -15 °C.  They have brown-gray fur, a red face, hands and bottom, and a short tail - and often seem remarkably human like.

In the wild they spend most of their time in forests and feed on seeds, buds, fruit, invertebrates, berries, leaves, and bark.  The monkeys have a body length ranging from 80 to 95 cm.  The males weigh around 10-14 kg while the females are usually around 5.5 kg

Hong Kong Trip Day 3 and Day 4 (December 27-28, 2012)

Day 3 and Day 4 - Macau

We booked a room in Venetian Hotel which is so cool and instead of sight seeing around Macau we end up sleeping since it's very homey :).

The hotel has a winter light show which captured the attention of our little one. He enjoyed it a lot and even after going back to Singapore he keep looking forward for Christmas and go back to Macau.

Here's some of our picture.

Hong Kong Trip Day 6 and 7 (December 30 and 31, 2012)

Day 6 and 7 - Avenue of Stars and New Year Firework

A long overdue post, but better late than never.

It was so cold on that day and probably conducive for our little one to sleep.  He was asleep when we reached to the Avenue of Stars.  We took some pictures then headed for dinner.

Here's some of the pics in Avenue of Star, buildings are decorated with lights and it's entertaining to watch. My son appreciate it a lot, we purposely awaken him so he can see it.  Although we can see similar skyline in Singapore but in Singapore, buildings has no Christmas lights so it's dull to watch at night.

I forgot to bring hand gloves for my son, so he end up putting his hand in his jacket pocket all the time.

When we got to the hotel, our little one has a good time  playing in hotel's bath tub with his dad watching him while mommy is doing some shopping with friends.

On new year's eve, we decided to see fireworks.  We watched from Marco Polo hotel courtesy of my friend's sister who is staying there. It's probably one of the best hotel to book at new year time.  It was still a fun experience although the fireworks was not as grand as the one in the year of the dragon's fireworks.

                                              playing with daddy while waiting for the fireworks.

From Marco Polo parking area, cars were not allowed to park on that day.  It was reserved for guests who would like to watch fireworks.

Indeed, when bringing kids on holiday, the schedule is more relax.  The more important thing is our little one remembers the trip and looking forward for another holiday.

Hong Kong Trip: Day 2 (December 26, 2012)

Hong Kong Trip: Day 2
HK Disneyland! Here we come!

Marriott SkyCity Hotel has a shuttle bus going to disneyland every day @ 10AM but unfortunately we missed it.  We took a cab going to Disney Hollywood Hotel.  One thing to take note though that there's additional charges for every luggage :).

Disneyland Resort is a little bit far from Hollywood Hotel but not to worry since the hotel provides shuttle bus going to Disneyland Park.  It was almost lunch time when we got there.

I kinda regret missing the train going to disneyland!  Next time we will definitely try it.

Disneyland Resort Entrance

My son love's the Mickey's PhilharMagic the most, so it's a must see for those with kids.  It's 3D show, when jewels floating around, my son would try to catch it.  Since it's his first time to see 3D show, it was fun seeing him doing it. He loves Tinker Bell so naturally, he would try to catch her as well.

We mostly spend our time in Fantasyland. The queue to have a picture with Mickey is time consuming, almost an hour but it was worth it since my son loved his picture with Mickey Mouse and proud of it.   We missed "The Many adventure of Winnie Pooh", didn't know that it's a nice show since it doesn;t look attractive from outside. Just recently when we were reading some reviews that we realize it was actually different experience and must see.

It was only after dinner, we had a chance to go to TomorrowLand.  We were able to ride Autopia, all 3 of us were on the same and it was so tight :).  Next time, Janjan can already drive his own.  He was not so keen in riding some rides as well, so we need up just taking pics and walking around.

Main street, U.S.A at night time.  There were some bubble snow, makes it more fun for our little one!

And of course, the most awaited fireworks.

Hong Kong Trip: Day 1

 Hong Kong Trip: Day 1 (Dec 25, 2012)

We arrived quite late on Christmas Day @ 11:00 PM, pick-up our luggage and wait for our hotel shuttle bus.  For our first night, we choose Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel which is very close to the airport. 

Here's the shuttle bus would look like:

Here’s the map where to wait for the shuttle bus.

 Our room for the night.

Let's Play TAG!

My son has a new cool toy! It's a LeapFrog Tag Reading System.

Do you want your kids to love reading books?  Have you ever wonder how to make reading with your kids enjoyable and fun?

I am writing this to share with you how enjoyable and fun reading with leapfrog TAG.  It reads each page to you.  It can even read each word one at a time if you point to them!  There are also vocabulary games, picture finds, and a few other activities built in for each book. When my son got the toy, he couldn't stop playing with it.  He points it to the words and pictures in the book.  He is so happy with
it, it's the first thing he looks for in the morning and the last thing he play before going to sleep.

Here's  some of the picture of his book collection :)

bought the books in amazon.com 

You can buy this device in AMAZON.COM