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<rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content"><channel><title>EveryTrail Feed</title><description/><link>http://www.everytrail.com</link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 07:13:51 -0200</lastBuildDate><pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 07:13:51 -0200</pubDate><image><url>http://www.everytrail.com/images/everytrail-logo.png</url><title>EveryTrail</title><link>http://www.everytrail.com</link><description>GPS travel community, geotagging, geotagged photos, Google Maps, GPS tracks, waypoints, coordinates</description><width>144</width><height>41</height></image><item><title><![CDATA[Kenting driving]]></title><description><![CDATA[26 April 2011A driving trip to several attractions in Kenting. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2735500-20110426_092249_P4267173.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2735501-20110426_101901_P4260577.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2735502-20110426_102023_P4260579.jpg"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/2735503-20110426_110323_P4267254.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1071216</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1071216</link><pubDate>Mon, 2 May 2011 08:55:23 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 10]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 10: 札幌 薄野/狸小路 - New Chitose Airport - Haneda Airport - Hong KongIt's the last day of our summer trip to Hokkaido. We spent the morning at&amp;nbsp;Tanukikoji (狸小路) and the nearby Department stores at Sapporo.&amp;nbsp;We had our lunch at &quot;Crab Shogun&quot;&amp;nbsp;北海道かに将軍札幌本店http://www.kani-syougun.com/The lunch set are more affordable than the dinner set but they are equally delicious.&amp;nbsp;We returned the car to ORIX at New Chitose. ORIX had a mini-bus for us to go to the airport. I drove 1176KM totally for the journey.&amp;nbsp;We took ANA domestic flight from New Chitose Airport to Haneda Airport before we board international flight from Haneda to Hong Kong. As my seat was in central&amp;nbsp;aisle, the Garmin could not register the track from New Chitose to Haneda.&amp;nbsp; <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/3827569809_181329b225_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/3828368690_305681c43a_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3528/3827572921_91eaf05390_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2494/3827578733_ed8410443a_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367234</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367234</link><pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:46:39 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 9]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 9:&amp;nbsp;滝野すずらん丘陵公園&amp;nbsp;- 札幌駅&amp;nbsp;It's a day for kids. We spent nearly a whole day in&amp;nbsp;滝野すずらん丘陵公園 (Takino Suzuran Hillside National Park). The park is at South of Sapporo central area and it took about an hour's ride to reach there. The park is very family and kids friendly. Every amusement facility and gadget is designed with kids in mind and from their perspectives. As far as I could see, People there were nearly all local with very few tourists (apart from our family) from other countries. The signature Ant's nest, Nine Slides, Rolling Red Balls Uphills, Bouncing White Domes, Rainbow Cocoons were all funny and well thought-out. We really enjoyed a good time there. Bigger kids could also ride a rented bike along the bike course. Our kids were not big enough to ride the bikes there. Staff were very helpful and introduced mini 9-holes golf course to us. Apart from the amusement facilities, the scenes there were also great for photo. I believe they open a beginner ski course in the winter. Splendid.  <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2611/3827501303_2b0e86d14e_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3447/3828299700_59b90b1098_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/3827503437_5267ed66da_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2667/3827505331_4b476c33e8_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367231</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367231</link><pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:43:35 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 8]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 8: 洞爺湖 - 小樽 - 札幌駅 &amp;nbsp;Leaving early from the onsen hotel in Lake Toyo, it took about 2.5 hours to go to Otaru via the expressway. The misty weather was gone. Sunshine and blue sky welcomed us in Otaru.&amp;nbsp;We parked our car near 淺草橋 and then walked along the canal. The old warehouses on the other side and the canal make nice composition for photos. It's pretty awkward that there many jellyfishes in the canal. By this, I knew that there was seawater in the canal.&amp;nbsp;We walked along Sakaimachi in the town and visited many shops selling glass ornaments, music boxes and kaleidoscopes. We took our lunch in a restaurant serving sashimi don, simply fresh and delicious.&amp;nbsp;Many buildings in the town were very old. Some of them were enlisted as Japanese heritage protected by the government.&amp;nbsp;We sent a postcard from the post office there with a simple message, &quot;We're here in Otaru&quot;. The postcard arrived Hong Kong in a week.&amp;nbsp;Driving from Otaru to Sapporo central area was just 30 minutes ride. A thin cloud clinging in the sky near the Sapporo JR Tower made it look like a chimney.&amp;nbsp; <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/3827016532_e38976800e_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/3827022896_557e83be83_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3542/3826226679_16e3100bf3_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3504/3827026744_76456efac4_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367226</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367226</link><pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:39:44 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 7]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 7: Lake Hill Farm - 昭和新山 It's the second day we stayed at the Lake Toyo region. The original plan was to take the lake cruise to 中島 and to go to several tourist spots in the region.  The weather was however dull and dark on the day. We had a leisure walk in the morning on the lake side near our hotel. There were lots of statues with various themes along the promenade. As the visibility was not great at all, we called off the boat trip and drove to a farm nearby - Lake Hill Farm. The place should be great to view the whole 羊蹄山 on a fine day. The poor weather was a pity. The place was popular for its gelato and other diary products. The cheese / butter experience workshop required prior reservation. We'd know next time ...There was a large piece of grass field stretching out from the farm house. People are free to walk and play ball games and other interesting things on the field. Both our kids loved playing discus a lot. The elders could sit under shade to enjoy a relaxed time. We had our lunch in a small sushi shop run by an old couple at the Lake Toyo onsen region. In the afternoon, we drove to 昭和新山. It's still steaming after the latest eruption. Both 昭和新山 and 有珠火山 were also covered with mist and cloud. Therefore, we did not take the ropeway to the observation deck of 有珠火山 - perhaps next time we visited Lake Toyo. Nevertheless, the kids had a great time posing different funny ways to have photos with steaming 昭和新山 as backdrops. :)In the evening, the onsen hotels of Lake Toyo held the firework display as usual. The visibility was much better than the night before. While we enjoyed the show on the balcony of our room, my wife and my daughter watched the whole firework show in the open-air onsen on the roof of the hotel, embraced by the great sound, light and smell of the fireworks above their heads. What an experience.  <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2485/3826162043_134ff89532_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/3826966282_e379fc8cb7_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3549/3826176337_161cb0f281_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2643/3826977318_80f84b7e5a_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367212</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=367212</link><pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:18:17 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 6]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 6: Pension Jacatra - 親子の木 - 苫小牧港市場 - 登別地獄谷 - 洞爺湖畔亭 HotelThe trip ahead for the day was a long one. I should have had adequate sleep to prepare for the long driving journey. However, I woke up near the time of sunrise, 4:11AM in a Hokkaido August. I did not regret that 'cos the sun rise over the mountains on the fields was fabulous. The morning mist covered the Biei fields, making the tree tops just like islands in the sea.&amp;nbsp;We left Pension Jacatra shortly before 8AM to start the journey to Lake Toyo. Before we hit the expressway, we visited some famous woods, Parent-Child Wood and Woods of Mild Seven in Biei.&amp;nbsp;Heading North to Asahikawa, it's then all expressway to go through Sapporo, Chitose and then Tomakomai. Tomakomai is a busy sea port and it's famous for hokkikai (ホッキ貝)&amp;nbsp;cuisines. We stopped by and went to a restaurant near the market for local people. It's packed with patrons. We waited for about 15 minutes before we could find a seat. The&amp;nbsp;ホッキ貝 sashimi and don were simply delicious.&amp;nbsp;We then went to&amp;nbsp;地獄谷 of Noboribe Hotsprings. The weather was absolutely fine and we had a great time there.&amp;nbsp;We arrived at the Hotspring hotel at Lake Toyo just before 6PM. The weather then turned misty. The firework display show at 8:45PM was to large extent affected by the mist.&amp;nbsp;Really tired for the long day, it's time for me to have a good sleep after a hotspring bath in the hotel.&amp;nbsp; <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3826865652_30219dcbc5_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3826068815_ef9f80575a_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3527/3826870796_39e491f4ce_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3826882328_1fd6a29885_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=330595</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=330595</link><pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:06:02 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 5]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 5: 青い池 (白金溫泉) - Panorama Road - Chiyoda Farm (千代田の丘FAMUZU牧場) - 四季彩の丘 - 美瑛市We planned to have a farm activities in Chiyoda Farm on that day. The farm is part of the &quot;Panorama Road&quot; in Biei. We spent some time as a short excursion to a nearby new tourist spots in the region - 青い池.&amp;nbsp;The small stream collection pond is fed by nearby hotspring. We read from the recommendations from local magazines that it's a &quot;secret scene&quot; (秘景) spread by Japanese netizen. The local government then made some preparation for a small car park and road sign.&amp;nbsp;The blue color is due to rich minerals from the spring water. As we arrived early, we saw only a few cars of Japanese tourist. It's interesting to see and take a photo. A short stay for 30-60 minutes is more than enough.&amp;nbsp;The Panorama Road in Biei is full of breath-taking field scenes. We stopped by road side to take photos on corn fields and rolls of wheat stalks.&amp;nbsp;One can drive in Chiyoda Farm to go to different parts of it to participate in the activities. It's pity that Cheese / Butter Making needed reservation and Belly picking was basically off season. The kids could finally ride a pony, milk a cow and play with some small animals.&amp;nbsp;A teenage staff showed us how to milk a cow. It's interesting that the cow simply follow his instructions to cow shelter house. The cow is quiet eating its feeds while the kids tried to milk it.&amp;nbsp;The highest part of the farm has a observation deck where a good panoramic view of Biei can be seen.&amp;nbsp;As this part of activities ended before our expected time, we went to nearby flower land again -&amp;nbsp;四季彩の丘 this time. I would say that this farm has its special merits of having both near and distant views so that photographic composition for photos in this farm can be very interesting. Do remember to book a buggy to visit the farm. Otherwise, walking through the slopes in the flower land can be quite taxing.&amp;nbsp;We finished the day by visiting the Biei town. Although many buildings stated that the original house could have been half a decade old, I believe many of them were renovated significantly. The streets are clean, in good order and pleasant to stroll around.&amp;nbsp; <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2564/3826750378_e6273a564a_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/3825952901_5726dfb414_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3461/3825962769_b3b3c1edd7_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3421/3826767424_58dbb5d1dd_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=328849</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=328849</link><pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:35:21 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 4]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 4: (花畑行) 富田農場 - 北星山町營薰衣草園 - 彩香の里 - 羊の丘 - 富良野Grape Juice Plant - 富良野車站 - Kanno FarmWe spent the whole day in Furano region for its flower lands.&amp;nbsp;

To prepare for the long day trip, it's refreshing to take a bath in the open bath of the Pension before the journey. In order to avoid the crowd, we arrived Farm Tomita earliest possible for us. Early birds get the worms and we&amp;nbsp;were well rewarded because there was lots of parking space and it was more easy to get a better position to take photos. The sky was&amp;nbsp;cloudy in the morning. Although I could not get those blue sky and flower shots, the diffuse light of a overcast sky gave more pleasing lights to people's eyes. Then again, lavender season was largely over, the color and shape lavender there was not at its best.&amp;nbsp;

The melon shop outside the farm had very good business. The melon was indeed nice. It's a pleasing surprise that kids could try riding Segway at 800 yen. The kids were thrilled.&amp;nbsp;

We then set for&amp;nbsp;北星山町營薰衣草園. What attracted us was a short ride to the hill top. The views of Kami-Furano from there was spectacular.&amp;nbsp;

We then took lunch in a small local restaurant in Kami-Furano. Simple Ramen, Curry Rice and Pork Don were all delicious. Grandma and my wife gave approvals for its fresh ingredients and tasty cooked rice.&amp;nbsp;

We then visited&amp;nbsp;彩香の里. The flowers were not at their full blossom. The flower land required considerable amount of walking without shade. Elders and young kids may not take it as pleasure.&amp;nbsp;

We then visited&amp;nbsp;羊の丘. We saw people camping in the park. A herd of sheep was willing to be fed. The small rabbits were too timid to go out of their shelter, or was it too hot?

Then we drove to visit the grape wine factory and the grape juice factory. The grape wine &quot;factory&quot; was actually a shop and a restaurant. The grape juice factory was not operating its assembly line when we visited it - reservation required? Anyway the grape flavored ice-cream tasted good.&amp;nbsp;

When we drove back to the Pension, we saw Kanno Farm and stopped by. The farm in evening was interesting. Some nice shots were taken.&amp;nbsp; <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2492/3825783035_d230e56c8f_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/3826584222_5579317439_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3826601762_0f4b7748b7_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/3825819017_4fc4ece83c_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=323996</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=323996</link><pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:51:57 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 3]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 3: 北西の丘展望公園 - 亞斗夢の丘 - Asahiyama Zoo (旭山動物園) - Patchwork Road's Ken &amp;amp; Mary の木 The breakfast in the Pension was highly regarded by our family - The bread was fresh and crispy. All local ingredients - fruits, potato, milk, sausages were nice.&amp;nbsp; 

On the day, we planned to visit&amp;nbsp;Asahiyama Zoo which was about 1 hour ride from our Pension. On the road to the zoo, we were attracted by two parks -&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;北西の丘展望公園 &amp;amp; 亞斗夢の丘. We arrived the former pretty early. There were only few tourists and we could photograph the field with ease and leisure.&amp;nbsp;

It's a pity that lavender had been largely off season. Otherwise, it had to be spectacular for the whole field&amp;nbsp;in dark purple. The former park attracted people easily as it's by&amp;nbsp;the main road side&amp;nbsp;in Biei. The colorful flowers would easily catch your attention. We rode on the tourist cart and then rode on the buggy to visit the field.&amp;nbsp;

We arrived at the zoo at around 11AM. The free car park was all full so we had to park at the paid car park. Unexpectedly, the zoo was packed with people on a weekday (Wednesday) - it's summer afterall.&amp;nbsp;A queue to visit the main attractions - penguin, polar bear, wolf could easily take you 30 minutes. I hope the terrains of the zoo could be more level so that elders did not need to climb slopes to go to different attractions.&amp;nbsp;

The zoo was designed with interactions between people and the animals in mind. Most of the animal environment was designed from animals' perspective as well. Some animals were brought together in same environment if they were not antagonistic by nature to each other. In a section up the hills, the kids were given hamsters to touch. They enjoyed it very much.&amp;nbsp;

On our ride back to the Pension, we saw large rolls of wheat stalks on the fields. We stopped our car at curbside and went to the fields to take some photos of the rolls. It's the privilege to drive your own car so that you can stop wherever the scenes attract you. We then visited the wood of Ken &amp;amp; Mary in Patchwork Road region in Biei before we arrived Pension Jacatra. <br><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/3825684039_e9bb0570b4_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3466/3825684503_694d35e8cd_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/3826486686_fe30ea8d4b_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3074/3826493778_1c89b6b138_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=323951</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=323951</link><pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:03:58 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hokkaido Summer Trip 2009 - Day 2]]></title><description><![CDATA[Day 2: 札幌 - 北滝町 「ひまわりの里」 - Biei (美瑛) Pension JacatraWe spent day one of our trip mostly on the flight from Hong Kong to Japan. We arrived Sapporo quite late in the evening. The Summer Hokkaido trip literally begun on Day two.&amp;nbsp;

We booked a 8-seater Honda Stepwagon from ORIX. The Sapporo branch was very close to the hotel we stayed in Sapporo and it's just several streets north to Sapporo JR Station.&amp;nbsp;

The first thing for me&amp;nbsp;to get familiar with the car was to learn how to use the GPS, how to get onto the express highway and how to pay the highway fee. Paying is simple - the entrance gate would give you a ticket according to your car types. The tickets were dispensed from 3 slots of different heights according to the car type. You paid at the exit of the expressway.&amp;nbsp;

There were SA (Service Area) and PA (Parking Area) on the GPS screen when you drive on the expressway. These area were for short stop and there were washrooms,&amp;nbsp;eatery&amp;nbsp;and sometimes gasoline.&amp;nbsp;

We drove from Sapporo to Biei and stopped at Hokuryu Town (北滝町) for lunch and visited the huge sunflower fields.&amp;nbsp;

We stayed in Pension Jacatra in Biei for 4 consecutive nights. Because we could only confirmed the trip 5 weeks before we set off, we were not able to book the cottage there. We had 2 rooms on 2/F (1/F in Hong Kong language) of the Pension. One was western style and the other was Japanese style with tatami floor. Toilets and bathroom was communal. There were two bathrooms - one inside the Pension and the other in open space. The bathrooms were of Japanese style and were meant for use by the whole family together.&amp;nbsp;

The Pension served very nice&amp;nbsp;Genghis Khan style BBQ lamb feast. The night sky was fine, dry with bright moonlight, making star gazing not possible.&amp;nbsp; <br><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3825817152_115beb2a20_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3825819774_02e488a156_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3825020029_e2934e3e86_m.jpg"/> <img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3522/3825025845_d126249b2c_m.jpg"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=323903</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=323903</link><pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:28:25 -0500</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
	