明日望大嶼

八百萬個願，八百萬個想。一千萬個來，解一個問。來年明日，黃土遍地，昨天孩兒，明天父母。浮雲無問，大地無决，風來漂雨，碧海依然。

The inside, Icon Siam, BKK

The Floating Market, Icon Siam, BKK

Icon Siam, the outside, BKK

This mall wasn't too well prepared in the first few days of opening.  However, those problems weren't too nice for this iconic mall.  It's still very dusty in most of the entrance areas.  Another interesting thing is that they have a 7-11 right at the entrance.   When you took a long time to come to this mall, wouldn't you feel a bit ironic to first see a 7-11 when you get off the car.

The flocking blocks, Hulhumale beach, (airport island) Maldives

There were times I often wanted to go to this swimming floating blocks off the middle part of Hulhumale beach.  There I saw a seaplane flying over.  In reflection, that was where I saw this block from above.  I could be up there and I could be down here.

Kaiyotei (開陽亭), Sapporo, Hokkaido

This restaurant is originated from Hakodate.  Naturally it served the Hakodate's famous fresh squid.  Sashimi, oyster, sea urchin shouldn't be missed.  Another signature dish from this restaurant was their deep fried crab cake.  

An array of dessert, Sapporo, Hokkaido

It was quite interesting to try ice cream with sea urchin flavour.  However, if we can accept salted caramel, why not go further?  As compared to the other puddings, this ice cream was simply outstanding.  The Hagen Daz new flavour raspberry tiramisu is another delight though it's a bit more expensive than the other common Hagen Daz (about JPY550, vs JPY390).

Yotei Mountain, Hokkaido

The weather was too snowy to have a clear view to this famous iconic mountain in Hokkaido.  This scene appeared only for a minute but then the winter cloud covered it again.

I find a recognition from this warm cozy restaurant, Muzu, Hirafu, Niseko, Hokkaido

As this area is quite westernized, I felt like trying some western food.  There I tried a very nice burger (avocado blended sauce and mixed with a zesty tomato sauce).  The fries was also not to be missed.  Time to put aside the calorie count.  The view of the cafe was awesome.

There was an incident that I said "thank you" to the waiter of this restaurant.  Some inconsiderate (actually it's quite a norm nowadays) "phone" people listened to the voice clips from the others.  So the waiter came to their table and asking them to turn down the phone's volume.  As he noticed my affirmative supporting gesture, he gave me another "cool" look.  When he passed by, I told him "thank you".

Sometimes I really hate people abusing their phones for using it as a low band device - walkie talkie or memo taker, pager.  Why pay for over US$1k for a high tech device but use it in low tech!  They even forgot one important function "calling".  When it's just only one person to one person communication, why not make a call?  

Hirafu, Niseko, Hokkaido

Hilton Niseko provides a shuttle bus service to this nearby town (famous for skiiing too).  It's a bit stressful to take this hotel bus because the skiers took 2 seats for 1 person - 1 seat for their skiing equipments.  Ain't it "environmental"?  Where are those environmental advocates?  So I had to climb up to the ski centre (the first stop) for getting a seat.  Besides, in considering such a big hotel as Hilton, they shouldn't serve the shuttle bus every 1-2 hours.  Some smaller resorts even runs their shuttle service every 10-15 minutes.

Back to this town, it's quite westernized as it's crowded with many Canadians, Australians (those working holidays).  Naturally some very western food can be easily found.