our winter Japan itinerary 08/12/14 to 21/12/14

This is something of a whirlwind trip, but it allows you to take in some of the best that Honshu has to offer. Day 1 – 8/12 (MON) Arrived at Tokyo - checked in hotel – rest - explored nightlife at Shinjuku – Plenty of love hotels here!!! Went into a cat cafe, what an experience! If you don't like having 40 cats roam around while you're having a drink..then forget it. It's not a cafe for everyone. For dinner we had the best shabu shabu (Jap hot pot). Day 2 – 9/12 (TUES) 1. Tsukiji Fish Market:  got there before 9am to see all the action. Had the freshest Sushi and sashimi in a restaurant inside the market. Turn up at 4.30am if you wish to register for viewing the tuna auction. Take oado subway directly from Shinjuku station to Tsukiji shijo station. 20 mins ride cost 260yen 2. Asakusa : to see Senso-ji temple Look out for a panda bus free 40 mins ride around asasuka area ride from asakusa. Here you can pay to get dressed in a kimono and walk around for the whole day (fun! Lots of tourists may ask for a picture to be taken with them!) .  Night time you can go to Tokyo sky tree because it’s only 20 mins walk 5 mins train from Asakusa. 3. Akihabara : cheap electronics, Manga, anime… Café @ home (Maids Café) 5th floor Donquixote Akihabara. 4-3-3 Sotokanda Chiyoda-ku Tokyo Day 3 – 10/12 (WED) Mt Fuji: Fuji five lakes – better view from lake kawaguchiko. We decided to join one day tour with tokyotravelpal www.tokyotravelpal.com . This tour includes lake ashi and hakone national park. Took us all the way to the 5th station (best view here) they say if you are lucky enough to see the tip of Mt Fuji, you will have a lucky year. Day 4 – 11/12 (THURS) Explore Shibuya (young hipsters, famous crossing) – had whale for lunch @ Kujira Ya restaurant! Located behind the Shibuya 109 building Imperial palace (closed sun & mon) See robot show in the evening in Shinjuku (the one and only show you don’t want to miss!!!) Day 5- 12/12 (FRI) – (cancelled due to time constraint) Hakone (85 mins by train): traditional Hot spring, Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Resort, coffee spa, sake spa, Green tea spa 85 mins non jr train, get day pass from shinjuku station. Here I heard you can taste the black sulphur eggs of Owakudami, believed to add a few years to your life span. Day 6 – 13/12 (SAT) Yokohama (Chinatown, cup noodle museum, 0.5 hr south of Tokyo station) wandered around the cosmo clock 21 area until dusk. Why go to Sky tree & Tokyo tower which will cost you money. We went to Tokyo Metro Govt Building instead (free entry) for night view of the city located on observation deck 4th floor Day 7 – 14/12 (SUNDAY) Departed for Kyoto by shinkansen (bullet train) – Kyoto city, got to Kyoto Gion Corner early so we could see Geisha show at 5.30pm (lined up at the door before show time for tickets – 2000 yen, show lasted for about one hour. After the show, we were given time to take pictures with the Geishas) Had a peep inside one of the newly open capsule hotels nearby after the show. Very clean. Most of the capsule hotels are for male only. Range from 2000yen to 4000yen per night. DAY 8 – 15/12 (MON) Arashiyama bamboo grove (checked out the snow monkeys up on the mountain (Arashiyama Monkey Park), abt 20 mins walk uphill, 500 yen entry fee),  Fushimi inari taisha -thousand torri gates (missed this one too I suggest you do this one on your way to Nara as it’s on the same train) DAY 9 – 16/12 (TUES) NARA: saw bowing deers roaming in the Nara Park (42 km from Kyoto) & the oldest Todaiji wooden temple, golden temple and Big Buddha DAY 10 – 17/12 (WED) Departed for Osaka by shinkansen (Bullet train) Osaka Castle ( similiar to the Forbidden City in Beijing), Osaka Museum of History… DAY 11 – 18/12 (THURS) Osaka aquarium 2300 yen (the biggest in the world apparently!!!– started on the 8th floor and slowly spiral down floor by floor around the central tank.   DAY 12 – 19/12 (FRI) Am: Departed to Hiroshima very early in the morning by shinkasen– visited the atomic bomb dome and the Hiroshima memorial park. Pm: Took ferry to Miyajima : famous for its Torii gate float on water (Unesco world heritage site) DAY 13 – 20/12 (SAT) Osaka: explored more places, free and easy, more shopping. Dotonbori (the best place for shopping, eat and play) sampled the city’s famous octopus balls, Japanese cheesecake, pancakes etc Had Wagyu beef and sushi train here (oh heaven!) Our last stop : from 8pm-12am midnight - World Spa (one stop after Namba station) – for Stone saunas, onsen (hot springs) DAY 14 – 21/12 (SUN) Checked out hotel. Sayonara Japan! Had so much fun! We left Japan with so much fond memories. Will definitely go back again to see Sakura (Cherry blossom) in Spring 2016 or 2017.

Thing 7 : IGoogle

I love iGoogle! I can personalize my page with all my favourite gadgets! yay!

http://www.google.com.au/ig

Thing 6: QR CODES

Just experimented this new concept of 'QR code' - oh you can't do it without a smart phone.

Firstly, I went into the android market and searched for the QR SCANNER and found the application called QR droid which can scan these so called 'QR codes'. They are similar to barcodes but can store a lot more information such as photos, contacts, text messages, product information, websites etc.
After I discovered the application I went onto google images and searched for QR code images and tried scanning a few images which all came up with pictures or links to websites which was very amazing.
Here is the QR Code I have generated myself from my phone, why not take out your smart phone and scan this code and see what you'll find!
Amazing stuff!

and...just for fun...this one is an image of the cheeky "ME"

Thing 5: Museum of ME

Ok, If you like technology or not, This is awesome! Very Well done Intel Australia

http://www.intel.com/museumofme/en_AU/r/index.htm

Do you want to create a MUSEUM OF YOU ?
Please click on the above link, wait for a few seconds...then click on "connect to facebook"(only if you have a facebook account)...voila! now you can explore a visual archive of your social life.

Thing 4: I've been to these countries

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Thing 3 - ebooks and eAudiobooks

I have successfully logged in to the eAudiobooks account with Bolinda (just entered my library card no.) and placed my reservation using my ipad. Disappointingly, I couldn't downnload straight onto this device. argh!

Anyway, just to show you this is the email I received from Bolinda:

Your loan was successful!
To download your eAudiobook, Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood, follow the link:
https://fe.bolindadigital.com/wldcs_bol_fo/b2i/myLoansPage.html?b2bSite=1505&id=76124
The loan period is from 11/03/2012 to 24/03/2012.

Ok I've downloaded this title to my PC, will transfer to my Samsung Galaxy when I have time or do I have time? It says due 24/3/12. My question is...Does this refer to the date one must download the file? Then once transferred to my mp3 player or smart phone, I can keep the story for good?

umm...I don't really like ClipperEBSCOhost as there are a lot more steps involved eg: ‘Create a New Account’as oppose to just log in with our library card. You also need to install the Download Manager Software...all too hard! Maybe others disagree?

Thing 2 - Twitter and RSS

I have re-activated my twitter account after 2 years of absence. Must admit "Hashtag" is totally new to me, ie. adding #mvlibs at the end of tweet, very good idea! btw did you see the twitter updates on the right hand side of my blog? For a while now the link was broken but hey I've managed to have it fixed...tweet tweet.

Re. RSS ? Umm...touched on in web 2.0 learning 4 years ago. Heavily used it in the beginning, but die down after a while (information overload I guess, difficult to keep up), even more so after Twitter and Facebook came into play.

Ok, like it or not, I have to start again just for the sake of completing this activity. The Reading Room blog is now on my subscription list. Having been exposed to rss feeds before, I find it very useful in terms of keeping me up-to-date with my topics of interest. Eg.RDA, Libraries Australia, ALIA, Cataloguing Interest Group etc....

My 1st post in 2012

I am back having survived 2011 & a warm welcome to 2012 everyone!!!
This year I am taking part in the MVLS's web 2.0 refresher course. What a great way to revisit my blog!
As you can see, I am very much into family and travel so I would like to extend them to incorporate some of these aspects into my existing blog..
Alright!...let the fun begins! Thank you Leslie, the topics look very interesting and I can't wait to move into week 2.

Yes! Captain!!!

Congratulations Vivian for being selected as a Middle School Captain at GWSC 2010. Very proud of you my dear!

Online library resources

It was a slow start but I am happy to have finally completed the MVLS training wiki .

This wiki, a wonderful concept, is designed to help me improve my knowledge of the library's online resources so that I can answer any reference questions from the public with style and confidence!