Showing posts with label traval. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traval. Show all posts

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Hawaii Trip - Day 2

Nov 24, 2018

One beautiful day starts with a great breakfast, so I checked Yelp for nearby highly rated brunch/breakfast place. On seaside ave, there is one called Heavenly which is quite popular. There is a waiting line before 8am. I ordered their first item on the menu called Loco Moco. On their website (http://www.heavenly-waikiki.com/menu/), the description to this item is as follows:
Heavenly's Organic Veggie & Beans Loco Moco. 100% Big Island Kulana beef, local eggs, local ginger soy glaze, and 10 grain rice with local farm green beans, broccoli, organic carrot, organic lentil beans, and organic black beans. It is delicious, and total cost is $20 after tax and tip.



After the breakfast, I took TheBus to Pearl Harbor (Route 19 or 20 from Waikiki). The most famous and most visited place on the island. It took around 50 minutes to arrive, passing downtown, airport etc in the north direction. USS Arizona Memorial is one of the four POI to visit there. Usually visitors also select to visit another one like Missouri battleship. It is free to visit the Memorial, but there is a $5 bag deposit fee as they don't allow any bag into this historic place due to security concern. I didn't know to get the free voucher first before taking photos, which caused me stay 1 hour longer than my plan. Ideally right after entering the Pearl harbor, I should head to the ticket office to get the free Voucher which allows me to take the ship tour to USS Arizona Memorial. The free tour starts with history, theater movie, and ship tour. The attack to Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941 forced USA into world war II. Japan, German, and Italy were finally defeated.The world needs peace rather than war.







I ate hot dog and soda on site. After lunch, I headed to Polynesia Culture Center via TheBus. This is a long ride but nice coastal ride. If you sit at the right side, you will see fabulous coastal scenery. There are more than 100 bus stops, so be patient to enjoy the bus ride. Finally I arrived the PCC center at 3:30pm, got a late entry discount ticket with center visiting, buffet dinner and night show at $78. The business address is 370 Kamehameha Hwy, Laie, HI 96762. The discount is not a real deal because most travel agents ask for $80 to $100 per person for PCC visit.


There are six different villages and live shows which open till 6pm. For me, it is a bit tight schedule, but I got enough time to tour the six villages as they are small. However, I could not find time to enjoy all villages' live shows as they present every half an hour. I took the canon tour for sightseeing from different angles. Frankly speaking, the culture center is small, and half day is enough, but it deserves watching the shows from different villages. I am impressed by the show from Tango village which made me laughing a lot. They also provide tram tour to some nearby places like church etc. After I talking to one staff in the visitor center, I learnt that this PCC center is owned by an non-profit organization, and provides funds to its college and its church. After 6 o'clock, I went to the theater to watch movie about Hawaii. It is a great one, highly recommended, as it provides many island views from the sky.







The dinner buffet was good. After enjoying the buffet, it was time to watch the show. The seating position was okay to watch the show. HA in Hawaiian means breath of light, the show tells a story about HA from birth to king. I don't fully understand the first half of the show, so many local music, dances, but the second half about fighting, fire show etc are great. It is worth watching if you have never watched a Hawaiian-style show. I also took TheBus back to hotel, which cost around 1.5 hours. Again, Google map helps a lot for self exploring.





Keywords: Heavenly, Pearl Harbor, Polynesia culture center

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Top 25 Amusement Parks

Universal's Islands of Adventure
Orlando, Florida

Magic Kingdom Park
Orlando, Florida

Le Puy du Fou
Les Epesses, France

Universal Studios Hollywood
Los Angeles, California

Universal Studios Florida
Orlando, Florida

Disney's Animal Kingdom
Orlando, Florida

Europa-Park
Rust, Germany

Tivoli Gardens
Copenhagen, Denmark

The Island in Pigeon Forge
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Disneyland Park
Marne-la-Vallee, France

SeaWorld Orlando
Orlando, Florida

Beto Carrero World
Penha, Brazil

Disneyland Park
Anaheim, California

Disney's Hollywood Studios
Orlando, Florida

Disney California Adventure Park
Anaheim, California

Silver Dollar City
Branson, Missouri

Walt Disney Studios Park
Marne-la-Vallee, France

PortAventura
Salou, Spain

Universal Studios Singapore
Sentosa Island, Singapore

Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong, China

Busch Gardens
Tampa, Florida

Efteling
Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands

Leolandia
Capriate San Gervasio, Italy

Paultons Park
Romsey, United Kingdom

Universal Studios Japan
Osaka, Japan

Thursday, August 11, 2016

坎昆之行 (Day 4)

Day 4 (Tuesday)
Xplor

没有想到六月下旬的天气尽然出奇的好,今天又是太阳高照,但也不太热。今天的目的地是另外一个主题公园Xplor, 著名的项目就是zipline. 这个公园也是靠近 Playa del Carmen,所以从坎昆的Hotel zone跟去Xcaret的距离差不多。由于公园里玩的项目不适合达达这个5岁不到的小孩,所以我们兵分两路,我跟ss去Xplor, 妈妈跟达达去swim with Dolphin.

早上7:30am起早在大厅等Travel Agency的车,BD Travel的大巴准时到达, 可我们定的Dreams Vacation左等右等还没有等到,只好去前台请工作人员帮忙催。催了后又等了10几分钟才有一个很破的面包车过来,把我们接走。本以为就是坐面包车去景点了,没有想到尽然是到Flamingo Mall那边去汇合,要转大巴。注意这个Mall, 很破旧,早上只有一家店开门,所以只好干等,最恶心的是等了2个小时后,让我们出去排队,太阳出来后还是在外面站着还是蛮热的,本来以为可以上车了,没有想到又让我们转到一个中巴车去Xplor. 看到这里,大家可能会认为就是耽搁了2个小时,谁知道这个中巴一路竟然绕道去接了2家人,跟我们一起从Flamingo Mall出发的夫妻两人也是被搞的郁闷无比,不停问什么时候可以到公园,可以想象我们家ss会有多心急。最后我们到达公园基本上快12点了,要知道公园5-6点就关门,因为晚上有Fire zipline. 留给我们的时间很少的。这段经历告诉我们Dreams Vacations的确是一个垃圾旅行社,导游的素质也比BD Travel差,强烈建议考虑BD Travel或找私人地陪,这家能绕过就绕过吧。除了价格便宜10-20%外,其他真的是一团糟。

到了公园后,我们就check in取了安全帽寄存好衣服后,就直奔著名的Zipline了。这个时间段人真的很多,应该先去吃点buffet, 因为11点就供应免费自助餐了。门票包括中饭和饮料的,但忙着玩,基本上没有时间享受,因为我们到了公园后就中午了。排了大概1个多小时,终于轮到了,绑好安全带后,就冲过去准备玩了。可是一进后又傻眼了,里面的队伍也很长,大家都在一步一步的缓慢向上走,目标是一个很高的Tower。漫长的等待,只好跟看看远处的风景,跟队伍里的人聊聊天。

Zipline有2条线路,每一站都会有些不同,因为Tower在的地点和高度会带给游客不同的View。我们边玩边拍照,大多数的滑道ss因为体重不够,都不能独自滑翔。第一条router不知道玩了多少个塔,最后回到了出发地。我们结束后立即赶去吃中饭。吃完中饭后我们赶紧把其他的项目玩了下。Xplor公园的项目不是特别多,但zipline和越野车还是比较特别的,其他公园没有看到。整个公园以大大的心脏为中心,走近心脏区就听到心跳的声 音。我们先后玩了Zipline, 越野车,地下长河游泳(这个地下长河结尾的地方还是很特别的),rafting走了 shortcut, 不过可以近距离的看到大量的钟乳石。

玩好了主要的项目后,我很想再去吃点东西,但ss兴致很高,要求去玩另外的一个路线。这个时候已经快5点了,我们去了后发现人出奇的少,每个Tower等待的时间大概5分钟,不过太阳落山后越来越冷。辛亏人少,不然估计要冻坏了。第二个滑道线路跟第一个还是有些不一样的,这个有一个很长的水泥滑道,在天空滑多了,跑到地上还是感觉很特别的。划完了第二个,ss还是意犹未尽,很想再滑一次。不过由于时间关系,我们只好换掉安全帽出去等车了。在等车的时候,ss买了套纪念游泳衣 ,价格60刀,以为质量不错,谁知回来后发现掉色太厉害了,洗了一浴缸的水都是粉色的。回程还是非常顺利的,中间没有停,这样我们可以赶上晚饭的时间。

达达跟妈妈一天估计也很忙碌,在酒店的泳池和沙滩上玩,去水族馆swim with Dophin, 还把房间搬到了1号楼的无敌海景套房。旁边还有一个Maya建筑的遗址,非常不错。

第四天心得
1.  不要找Dreams Vacation 这家旅行社
2.  Xplor比较适合大小孩玩,早到可以转转放松放松,赶去Zipline也是排队,晚到公园可以考虑先去餐厅吃点东西,因为Zipline排队很长
3.  不要买纪念品商店的衣服,质量太差,价格比Costco还贵

Thursday, July 28, 2016

坎昆之行 (Day 1)

Day 1 (Saturday)
SFO -> Cancun

我们是6/18 周六上午的飞机,邻居开minivan送我们去SFO. 本以为周六不会太挤,没有想到机场上人还是非常多,等了半个小时有机场人员大声喊去韩国仁川和坎昆的乘客到快速窗口check in. 我们有一个大箱子,除了checkin麻烦,美联航还需要付25刀的费用。到机场晚了些,所以从check in到安检到登记都急急忙忙的,所以也忘掉出示我们的UA Mileage 会员卡号了。不过美国的管理就是科学啊,除了让我们走快速窗口,见到小女儿,安检也是快速通道,所以到了候机大厅,稍微等了5分钟就可以登机了。

美联航上的电视需要付费的,上了飞机就刷卡,可以一直看,我们是小孩要看动画片才刷的,估计就是看了一个动画片,感觉有点亏。最不好的就是没有免费午餐,连想买都买不到,我们是经济舱比较后的,所以到了我们这边只能买点snack了,还好饮料免费,不然要饥渴大半天了。建议自己准备些干粮带上飞机,这样买不到不会饿到。

上午10点多的飞机,下午6点当地时间到达坎昆。飞机滑翔的时候看到地面上的积水,可以判断下了很大的雨。天空也是雾蒙蒙的一片,心里不由担心接下去的行程了。如果天天有雨不见太阳,估计会郁闷坏的。

接我们去酒店的旅行社叫BD Travel, 后来才知道是一家比较正规上规模的公司,服务特别好,尽管价格稍微贵些。这个具体的细节在第二天的行程上会写。面包车很干净,司机不太讲话,不过倒是开的很稳,还高速我们车上有免费 wifi。到达酒店后,check in, 当天没有全海景房,但前台说周一可以换,我们也只好作罢了。我还以为她不肯,就用最近学到的$20 tip trick,她红着脸说真的没有,周六人比较多。

因为是连锁酒店公寓,房间装修跟我在国内住的都差不多。套房面积很大,一个沙发床刚好給老大睡。我们安段好,2个小的吵着要方便面,因为有厨房,弄什么都比较方便。期间收到前台电话,说有什么welcome package. 我们当然不知道是什么,所以就去大堂了。后来才搞清楚,是酒店 timeshare的推销节目,让我们参加他们的一个timeshare的presenting, 然后就给我们去旅游景点的discount。我因为没有做功课,所以也不知道这个是怎么回事,所以就预定了hotel preview的时间和第二天去Xcaret Eco Theme park的门票。dada是5岁以下,除了XICHEN,其他景点都不要门票,所以我们定了2个大人和一个小孩,一共$248. 这个价格还是不错的,而且Xcaret主题公园值得去。原因下回介绍。