We arrived in Osaka Sunday night. This was a trip I was hesitant to take because of the wrong timing: we planed in two days after the devastating earthquake slash tsunami that rocked Japan. And the cherry blossoms won't show up till end of March yet. A few factors that made me decide to push through with the trip: my expiring Japan visa and a non-refundable, non-rebookable ticket. So much for promo fares that don't protect you otherwise from acts of God and natural calamities. My only consolation is that we booked for Osaka which is far from the chaos and power ... Continue Reading...
China visa requirements
As always, the hassle with travelling is getting a visitor visa, especially for countries which require them. It seems I've been applying for lots of visas recently starting with Taipei last year, to China and our forthcoming trip to Japan. I always have to make a checklist because completing visa requirements isn't easy, and if you don't organize your list well, the task looks daunting. The requirements for China visa look the same as the one listed by the other embassies, except for one. If you're a first time visitor, you have to get an NBI Clearance for Travel ... Continue Reading...
Best budget tour to the Great Wall of China: DIY (do it yourself)
Touring the Great Wall is the high point of any tourist's trip to Beijing. Prior to this, I made a lot of reading on the internet on how this can be done. First thing, I realized that there is not just one Great Wall, it's so vast that you can go through as many six entrances - each with varying degrees of distance, restoration and photogenic factor. It was tempting to just consider one of those Great Wall hiking companies with an online presence. Unfortunately, most of them quote a price depending on the group size. Since February is still winter in China and was ... Continue Reading...
Taking the CRH fast train from Shanghai to Beijing, and back!
Last year, we took the fast train from Taipei to Taichung. It was modern enough. But nothing prepared me for the massive expanse of glass and steel that is the Shanghai Hongquiao Railway Station. It looks bigger than our airport terminal in Manila. Okay, I will vote for the next Philippine president who will build a train station like this :D (riding PNR is something I never tried, or plan to do) Flying to Beijing from Shanghai was tempting. But I guess taking the night 'D' trains with soft sleepers that depart around 9:30 p.m. and arrive at 7:30 a.m. the next ... Continue Reading...
Shanghai, China: great views, big city
I female student I met on this trip told me: "Shanghai is not the real China." Maybe like me, she came from the typical small town (in my case, small country) who was in awe at seeing the mega city for the first time. Still, modern Shanghai is an apparent indication of what China will be in the very near future and what it is now... an emerging economic powerhouse of the world. State of the art architecture greets one upon arriving in the Pudong International Airport, accessible via subway and the super-fast Maglev trains. As a tourist, I loved being in ... Continue Reading...
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