Photos - Day 1 - Harbin

Harbin is China's northernmost major city and capital of this most northerly Heilongjiang province. The city has a lot of Russian influence, especially after the Russian Civil War of 1918. The influence remains very noticeable in the architecture of buildings and food. In early January 2008, we spent two days visiting the northern city of Harbin in China. Known for it's world famous ice festival, Harbin attracts many visitors during the month of...

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Photos - Day 2 - Harbin

Day-2 and it's a visit to the former Japanese Army Unit 731, to watch ice swimming and the St Sophia Orthodox Cathedral. More photos > Day 1 > Day 2 Unit 731 of the Japanese Army was set up in 1935 as a biological warfare research and test centre where it conducted cruel experiments on humans. According to historical records, about 3,000 people were maimed and killed as subjects at this location. It was a very sombre visit to this museum. The...

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Trip Itinerary - Harbin

In early January 2008, we spent two days visiting the northern city of Harbin in China. Known for it's world famous ice festival, Harbin attracts many visitors during the month of January. We went with a group from the Chinese Culture Club (now called Chinese Culture Center) from Beijing. Day-1A. Siberean Tiger Park B. Harbin Snow Park C. Harbin Ice Festival View Day 1 Photos Day-2A. Unit 731 B. Ice Swimming C. St Sophia Orthodox Cathedral View Day 2 Pho...

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Things to see and do in Tokyo for free

These are some of the places we visited and things we did during our Tokyo trip... all for free. Harajuku Meiji Shrine Senjoji Temple Tokyo Metrolitan Government Building Imperial Palace Gardens Basement Food Halls  1. HarajukuThere are a few interesting things to do at Harajuku:  People-watch - Observe young people in unique street fashion.  Takeshita Dori - Walk down and take in the atmosphere at Takeshita Dori. Here you will be...

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Trip Expenditure - South Hokkaido

This is a breakdown of our expenditure for a 7-day self-drive trip to South Hokkaido in October 2011 for two persons. I have done the conversions at the prevailing exchange rates at that time, and present it here in Singapore dollars, US dollars and Japanese Ye...

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Trip Itinerary - South Hokkaido

We did a 7-day South Hokkaido self-drive trip in October 2011. This was our daily trip itinerar...

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Photos - Day 1 - South Hokkaido

View Larger Map A. Chitose AirportB. Toyota-Rent-a-Car C. Bibi Beef Restaurant D. Lake Shikotsu E. Nororibetsu Mahoroba Hotel More Photos > Day-1 > Day-2 > Day-3 > Day-4 > Day-5 > Day-6 > Day-7 Our flight took us from Singapore to Chitose via Nagoya. Upon arriving at Chitose, we were transported to the Toyota-Rent-a-Car facility to get our rental car; a Toyoto Prius fully equipped with English-speaking GPS. Loved the license...

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Photos - Day 2 - South Hokkaido

View Larger Map A. Nororibetsu Mahoroba HotelB. Ano Kanko Fruit Farm C. Onuma Quasi National Park D. Hotel Hanabishi More Photos > Day-1 > Day-2 > Day-3 > Day-4 > Day-5 > Day-6 > Day-7 Breakfast at Nororibetsu Mahoroba Hotel. A 5-minute walk from the hotel is Jigokudani (Hell Valley). Jigokudani (Hell Valley) - A place where clouds of steam, hot water and volcanic gas are given off from the surface giving the whole place...

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