Have You Climbed Mount Fuji?

Apart from the countless questions on us three visiting Japan over and over again, people tend to ask me whether we've climbed Mount Fuji. The answer to that is, we've enjoyed the view from afar, but yet to attempt to reach its peak. I've gotten plenty of incredulous remark about me wasting my time going to Japan and not attempting the conquer the peak.

Some would go to the extent to tell you that you have not traveled Japan until you have scaled Mount Fuji. But do you know that only 1% of the Japanese ever experience climbing the mountain?

Of course, there is a saying that goes : "He who climbs Mount Fuji is a wise man, he who climbs twice is a fool" or "You are a fool if you never climb Mt. Fuji and you are an even bigger fool if you climb it more than once.”

If anyone is planning to climb Mount Fuji, the "official" climbing season begins on 1 July and ends on 31 August and it is most popular to ascend the mountain overnight to see the sunrise.

We'll leave Mount Fuji (or Fujisan) climbing out of our planning for now though. So, if anyone planning to do the climb, we are totally the wrong people to ask for tips! On the other hand, over 80% of the Japanese countryside is hilly or mountainous terrain so we'll hopefully be hiking or climbing something on our next vacation. Nothing too high, and instead of Mount Iwate, a hike to Mount Mitake is a consideration too. We'll just view Fujisan for far, for the moment.

Kak Lela of Awan Okinawa Berlalu, who resides in Okinawa did manage to make the climb in 2007. Bravo to her! For me, I think I'll head for Mount Kinabalu first before attempting the Fujisan. When will that be, I wonder? LOL

A Dip In An Onsen?

I am currently cutting back my time reading blogs and EC dropping and spending more time browsing and looking up travel information on Japan with Zaini. Although we have yet to confirm whether we can actually go for our vacation in late Nov/early Dec, there's no harm planning. Planning for our vacation and poring over train schedules and maps is always a fun activity for us.

Anyway, if we can't go through with this vacation plan, our backup plan is to head to Thailand for a more affordable vacation.

At the moment, we are looking at several options for a night in a ryokan and a dip in onsens. Currently, going to Nyutou Onsenkyo in Akita looks like a good option to us.

Photos from Nyutou Onsenkyo official website

Both Zaini and I agree that Tsurunoyu Onsen looks the most appealing for us in terms of room choices. Its rustic accomodation (no modern plumbing and electricity here) kinda appeals to us. Tsurunoyu Onsen is the oldest operating ryokan there and is one of eight hot-spring baths that belong to Nyutou Onsenkyo located near the foot of Nyutou san. Of course there is a newer addition to Tsurunoyu onsen, Yamanoyado; that offers all the modern comforts of a modern ryokan complete with internet connection too.

Taenoyu looks great too, with a myriad of baths to choose from, but the rooms wasn't exactly what we wanted. Choices, so many choices...I guess it'll be easier if money is no object, but at the moment, we are looking at a 50,000yen night stay in a ryokan. That is equivalent to 5 nights at Toyoko Inn. Gasp!

And oh! Nyutou Onsenkyo has mixed gender bathing available, apart from the seperate and private baths. Would you enter a mixed gender bath if you have the chance?

And going there, we'll have the chance to take the Komachi shinkansen (Akita Shinkansen) and on our return trip, we thought of taking the Tsubasa shinkansen (Yamagata Shinkansen) with a few stops along the way before making our way back to Tokyo.

Yasashii Mareshiago Katakoto Kaiwacho

I would like to congratulate Nash (a fellow Malaysian in Japan) on his first published Japanese-Malay Language book entitled ‘Yasashii Mareshiago katakoto kaiwacho’. Check out about his post on this here.

I love the cover of the book because it is so colourful and playful too. For only 1,300yen, you can learn Malay (for Japanese buyers or if you understand Japanese) and for those who understand Malay but not a word of Japanese, this book can be for you too to learn Japanese.

I wrote this post without him knowing my intention to do so but I hope he doesn't mind.

The book will be available from June 29 but I'm not sure whether we can get it direct from the writer (I'd like to get my hands on one if possible) or whether it's going to be sold overseas. I'll ask Nash later, if anyone is interested. :-) Or you can check the book out at Subarusya site. Also check out Amazon Japan to buy the book.

Update: Nash will be coming back to Malaysia end of year, so maybe for us Malaysians, we can wait for him to return and get them direct from him.

Selecting a JR Pass To Buy

If we are planning to visit several places around Japan and they are a few hundred kilometres apart, it is important for us to get a JR Pass. Last year we got ourselves a two-week JR Pass at 45,100yen each. The year before, we got a 7-days JR Pass at 28,300yen each. These passes are quite a bargain if you plan to do extensive travelling on the Shinkansens. And we do travel A LOT on Shinkansens. The super efficient train system is our favourite thing about vacationing in Japan. We can spend days just hopping on and off trains; comparing the different train features and be completely happy. Weird? Maybe.

Anyway, we got to travel from Kyushu all the way to Tokyo on JR trains with plenty of stops in between and not have to worry about additional ticket fares.

For this year's visit (if we get to go, that is) we are not planning to go all over the country and will concentrate mostly to the East side of Japan. So a JR East Pass looks like our best option.

There is a promotion for a 3-day flexible JR East Special Pass available for sale from Sep 1 - Dec 1, 2009 and can be used from Sep 1 - Dec 31, 2009. The pass is to be sold at just 10,000yen. As a comparison, a flexible 4 day pass is sold at 20,000yen which is the same rate as a 5 consecutive days pass. That is a lot of savings! The JR East Pass can be used to ride the Izu Kyuko Line (Super-View Odoriko, Odoriko), the Hokuetsu Kyuko Line (Hakutaka, between Echigoyuzawa and Naoetsu) and the Tobu-Nikko Line (Nikko, Spacia Nikko, Kinugawa and Spacia Kinugawa trains). Cool! (Zaini can be a complete nerd when it comes to trains)

Maybe this time, I get to go to Nikko.

So far, our rough plan is:
2 days at Disneyland/Disneysea to celebrate Raimie's birthday on Dec 2 which is to be towards the end of our vacation.
Hiking to Mount Iwate, Morioka
Railway Museum in Saitama
Yokohama to check out Heroes Base (and meet Ultraman) among others there
A day or two for shopping : Karuizawa & Gotemba Premium Outlet came to mind
another 7 days worth of vacation days yet to be planned. Hmm... I wonder if we can afford going to a Ryokan and soak in an onsen this time around?

Danna Crawford - Powersellingmom.com

Through our stages in life, I think we have to look up to someone and admire their accomplishments and hope to learn just a tiny bit from them.

http://powersellingmom.com/

One such person is our friend Danna Crawford better known as Powersellingmom.com.


We met Danna and her husband Jimmy at YABIE’s Kansas Jubilee, an eBay event, in Hays, KS in Oct. 2008. I have blogged about our meeting before but briefly we rode together from Hays to Denver after the event.

And that started our deep and caring friendship.

Danna started her eBay life as a single mom of 3 children - 1 boy and twin girls, selling Beanie Babies. Time went by and her eBay career evolved. She became an Education Specialist, teaching others how to be better eBay sellers and has written several e-books, too. Besides being a teacher she has been a motivator, inspiration and mentor to thousands, not only in her classes and teachings, but by example.

Part of Danna’s career has been to become involved with MissionFish – eBay’s charity arm. Non-profits register with MissionFish and then sellers can donate all or part of the proceeds of a sale to their favorite charity (as long as it is registered.)

http://powersellingmom.com/TwitterWall.php

Not one to be complacent Danna is constantly investigating new ways to promote her teaching,

eBay and the non-profits. Right now her Twitter Wall is hot.

http://powersellingmom.com/radio.php

About 18 months ago she started her radio show on BlogTalk Radio every Friday night at 8 PM ET. 3 out of the 4 weeks she has a guest that she visits with. Everyone who sells on eBay has their way of selling, obtaining product and their own business practices. Danna has a talent for getting hints from these successful sellers. The 3rd Friday is reserved for call in tips and conversation.

In recognition of Danna’s loyalty and commitment to eBay, she was inducted into the eBay Hall of Fame last year at the eBay Live convention in Chicago. Process this thought, there are over 8 Million users on eBay and only 30 or so people in the Hall of Fame.

What an honor! And she really deserves it, especially at this time when so many are branching off and trying other venues or bad mouthing eBay’s policy changes, Danna has remained eBay loyal in word, thought and deed.

In addition to the Hall of Fame she also received an award from MissionFish for not only her work with the charities but with promoting them as well. Picture is at the Kansas Jubilee with Jason Minor (from PayPal) and Joyce Banbury (organizer of the event) with a traveling lab coat that was auctioned for a school that was devastated in a tornado in KS.

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/ASK-DANNA__W0QQ_armrsZ1

Her web site has so many opportunities for sellers to self promote and to learn – all for free. Her slogan is “There is enough eBay for everyone to grow and prosper”. On the web site one is able to find wholesale lots and promotes shipping ‘green’ besides this eBay loyalist loves to blog; is always on Twitter; and has several BUMP opportunities on the PowersellingMom.com home page. (You will have to visit that page to see what they are – fun to do and profitable!)

I love the calendar she sells too. Each month has a featured charity, and there are lists of positive thoughts & phrases and another list of chores to be accomplished that month. She includes a CD with each one that instructs how to make best use of our time and best use the calender.

We were able to visit with Danna and her family when we were eBaying in the RV and visiting Florida last winter. She is really just a down to earth gal who puts family first. She is passionate about helping people and works hard to help everyone.

I am proud to call Danna Crawford friend and learn from her all the time. Her model of no drama in her life has led me away from situations & people that have caused stress in my life and made me so much more productive in our own career. THANK YOU DANNA.

Tasting My New Boh Green Tea

Typically when you think of Boh tea, you think of Boh's endless selection of black teas, right?

I got two new packs of tea to try. I bought a new pack of genmaicha before we went to Cameron Highlands and in Cameron Highlands, I bought a pack of Boh green tea for me and another for Zaini. Plenty of tea for us!

Boh tea pack and genmaicha pack.

Boh's 25s teabags pack cost me RM4.70 (interestingly, it is cheaper to buy in Jusco!) and the Yukino genmaicha 20s teabags cost me RM16.80. I'm always excited to try new brand of tea in my quest for a good cup of (unsweetened) tea but I sure can't afford the high-end products. All my tea are supermarket bought anyway and never cost more than RM20.00! But it is always funny when my Chinese friends and colleagues seemed somewhat taken aback when they see me drinking green/chinese tea or when they see me with my selection of teapots brewing tea in the pantry. Somehow, a Malay drinking green/Chinese tea seems like an anomaly to some people.

What's my verdict of the Boh green tea? The taste was a little too delicate for my liking and the aroma was too subtle. The bitterness of the green tea was only evident after I steeped the teabag for more than 5 minutes because otherwise it didn't have the taste that I want. A light tasting tea, but for someone who is not a connoisseur, it tasted somewhat similar to other chinese tea in the market.

I'm going to finish this tea first before I opened my genmaicha pack. Unlike the genmaicha tea which is individually foiled packed, the Boh teabags are not. Anyone up for a cup of tea?

Boh Green Tea

Can't believe that it's been a week since my last post! We went back to my hometown to attend two weddings and then we were off to Cameron Highlands for a cool break.

Got some new packets of green tea for both me and Zaini. I've already ran out of Japanese green tea so I'm looking forward to trying out the Boh green tea.

We went to tour the tea plantation too, which was rather fun. Afterwards, we went to do some strawberry picking at a nearby farm. I've always wanted to go to ichigo gari in Japan, but doing this in Malaysia was rather fun too.

I'll be posting some photos up at my other blog about our break in Cameron Highlands soon.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo, Texas

Can you believe the size of this steak???

Remember the Burma Shave signs along the highway? Well, as you approach Amarillo, Texas there are many signs for The Big Texan and they sorta reminded me of those signs of years gone by.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is a steak house famous for the 72 oz. Steak contest. If anyone can eat it in 1 hour it is free.

When we 1st stayed in Amarillo, a year ago, we thought HA! too cliché or hype for us. But then when we got our motel key (no RV yet) there was an ad on it that said they had free limo service. So we called and they picked us up in a white stretch limo that had the long horns on the front with a very friendly driver. OMG too funny. So on our way home from FL this year, they picked us up at the RV park. Very kewl!!

The inside has all sorts of stuffed animal heads and is very western, rustic.

When we visited the restaurant again this time we requested the exact same table as the 1st time right next to the platform where the contestants sit to eat the huge steak. Did you notice the garbage pails next to the table? Well, if they have to use them they are disqualified. Lovely thought!!!

The nice thing about having the limo driver doing the driving is that we could have a drink and not worry about driving ourselves. Gene had the beer sampler. It was 4 small glasses of his choice from over 12 different kinds of beer.

In order to cook the steak properly it has to be filleted, so it fills the plate even more.

This night 2 men were attempting to eat the steak, but there is a twist. Not only do they have to eat all the meat, they have to eat a salad, 2 fried shrimp, dinner roll and a drink

One of them was beginning to look like he was going to use the pail, so it was time for us to leave.

Besides all the decorations, the strolling musicians and hype, the staff is all very friendly and amazingly the food is great with huge portions. Love the gift shop too.

http://www.bigtexan.com/

Camping at Indy Lakes, Indianapolis, IN

4001 West Southport Road Indianapolis, IN 46217 (317) 888-6006.

The RV campground we stayed at in Indianapolis, IN is Indy Lakes. I found them a camping guide book and then checked out their website. Our spot was #10. All RV spots are back in. The young couple is the 3rd generation running the lakes.

http://www.indylakes.com/campgrounds.html

There are 3 lakes with a road around all of them. The RV sites are on the other side of that road and the edge of the lake is wide enough to allow primitive tent camping. It was lovely after dark when those campers had a small fire and the flames were bouncing off the water
The lakes are mostly stocked with catfish and carp. The Sat. we were there, the stock truck came from Ohio and we watched them put in over 40 carp. None of them were smaller than 15 pounds and the largest was 30 pounds. They actually weighed it before they put it into the water


Even though a license is not required, since it is privately owned, it is pay to fish. They have ongoing fishing contests all season with the top prize of $10,000.00. The fishermen catch the fish and net them in. Then bring them to the office to be weighed and put into a tank. The fish are held in the tank for a few days and then re-released. They say there is still an 80 pound carp in there.

I loved this power line. Folks were just a little ambitious with their casting.

Gene wandered over to talk to this man who is over 90 years old. He lives nearby and has been fishing here for many years. He told Gene that these lakes are formed from ground water in abandoned gravel pits. The deepest part is over 30 feet.

We had 6 tickets to the race and Gene’s daughter Kathy and Ray came from Maryland and my cousin Ed and Terry came from Florida. It was so special that they drove so far to visit and then to enjoy an event like the Indy 500. I was especially good since they are family.

There are more than RVers, campers and fish living in and around the lake. These 2 Canadian geese families would travel together and take the babies down to the water 2x a day and then wander off.

The whole area has lots of trees including female cotton wood trees. We do not have them in CO but know them from NM. They make long clusters of seedpods that look like grapes, only smaller. At this time of year they burst open and the cotton inside flies and it looks like snow.

There are thousands and thousands from each cluster. Each one looks like 1 piece of dandelion fluff, only smaller and more compact. As the wind blows them, they will build up along the curb, or stones or in the grass.

After the race and everyone was gone and the eBay packages were sent, it was time to kick back and enjoy. Notice the white spots on the water? It is the 'cotton' floating.

We highly recommend this campground and anytime we are crossing the country on I 70 we will drive the few extra miles to stay here for a few days.

Self Empolyment Self Promotion Time Management

Being self-employed requires a lot of discipline especially when it comes to time scheduling and advertising

Having an eBay or any online business has obstacles that a brick and mortar business does not have. Working at home can have many distractions, all in the name of becoming more educated to enhance the business.

I have found recently that learning is great, but does not sell product. I have eliminated a lot of the excess and am concentrating on listing and listing and listing. As a result May was out best month ever and June is starting off just as good.

We reached 5.0 on all 4 stars several times during the last 6 months with the longest run being 22 days. We also received the 20% discount for the 9th consecutive month and because a lot of our listings have free shipping, we also got a 40% discount on the FVF on those items.

At least with a real store, you have certain hours you are open and know where your customers are coming from. Deciding where to advertise and how to self promote is a constant concern for online sellers .

There are all the social networks now, like Twitter and Facebook, to help promote us and offer social interaction. Truthfully, I guess I don’t know Twitter well enough to say, I get it. I sort of get Facebook but then I do not have as many followers there as I do on Twitter.

But the other venue that is becoming more popular is blogging. At first I thought of it as a personal diary and also as a way to promote my business and then as a way to share our travels with friends and acquaintances. I never really decided which one was most prevalent but do think a blog can be all of the above.

So how to write an effective blog? Great question. I can only talk from our limited experience. My biggest suggestion is to outline the blog in your mind with the tags (keywords) you want to include. Then write it, hopefully with pictures or illustrations.

If it is a lot of information divide it up into several posts. I have found that within minutes of posting a blog Google notifies me they have found it. (You can set that up on Google to be notified each time a name or term is searched including your eBay name & / or store!)

Last week after I did the Indy 500 Car race blogs, I landed on the first page of Google 2x. One search was Police Escort and the other was Balloon release. Holy smokes!! How much money is spent each year on paid per click advertising and there we were.

Someone did a search for “crafts to make with herbs”. We were number 6 on the 1st page out of over 3 million possible answers.

Then yesterday someone did a search for White Castle Hamburgers in Branson, MO. Well I had done a blog on White Castle and several weeks before that done one on a certain theater in Branson. Obviously Google remembered all those tags and out of the 14,000+ possible answers we were #1 of the free listings. Yep #1 – even above White Castle Corporate.

So my bottom line is to not be distracted or lured into activities that take me away from promoting our business and to remember those tags.

How Important Is Good Service To You?

How would you feel when a favourite restaurant of yours, which used to have a crew of bright, cheerful and efficient wait staff no longer offer the same level of service?

I don’t know the reason but I noticed since April, the staffs that we regularly see at Pasta Zanmai, Mid Valley were no longer working there. In their place, a completely new bunch of staff that unfortunately seemed clueless about their job; be it about the menu and taking orders, making sure food served or even giving us our bills when we asked for it.

Nothing sets me off like bad service, so pardon my rant here. (I’m revealing myself as a really fussy, hard to please, grumpy old woman here, right? LOL)

What we had for our dinner on Tuesday:

Raimie's Hamburg. He will order this every.single.time we go to Pasta Zanmai.

The staff asked us how we’d like it – rare, medium or well done which surprised us as Hamburg is not a steak, it’s a beef patty and the cooking style was always standard. It took the staff another two visits to our table to get this one right. Zaini’s curt answer was he wants the patty COOKED, just cooked.

It took ½ hour for this order to arrive to our table, and that was after Zaini threatened to leave the restaurant without paying. We would’ve stormed out if not for Raimie who really wanted to eat Hamburg that day. Cannot show tantrum at the expense of one’s own child, right?

Zaini had a mini combo of Chicken Teriyaki Pasta and Hotate Pizza . A good deal at RM22.00.

My Gyu Shabu no Spicy Pasta (RM23 ala-carte, RM29 for set) was really nice. Don’t be fooled by its look – this spicy pasta really packed a punch. My lips were tingling from the heat when I ate the pasta. The beef strips were nice and tender and didn’t taste dry at all.

After the boo-boo on Raimie’s order, our pot of tea (RM3) was replenished continuously so we had plenty of tea to drink that night.

Good to know that while the service wasn’t good, the quality of food served wasn’t compromised yet. I sure hope it won’t deteriorate any time soon because lackluster service + average food does not equal happy, repeat customers.

Anyway, thank you to Pasta Zanmai for the complimentary Hamburg and ice cream for desert. While it was a nice gesture (and the nice supervisor did apologise profusely to us afterwards) we are not looking forward to a free meal at the expense of a raised blood pressure any time soon! So there!