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Hong Kong and Macau Itinerary

Reference: Exchange Rate: 1 USD = ~7.2 HKD Day 0:   Day 1: Macau While the official currency of Macau is the Macanese pataca (MOP), Hong Kong Dollars are widely accepted in the city. They have a fixed exchange rate of 1MOP to 1.03 HKD (US$ 0.13). How to go: There are several ferry companies that operate from Hong Kong to Macau.  Boats depart from Central and from Tsim Sha Tsui , leaving every 15 minutes or so between 7 am and midnight . The journey takes between 60 and 75 minutes and costs between 115 HKD (US$ 14.76) and 175 HKD (US$ 22.47). Macau Outer Harbour for Macau downtown or Macau Taipa for Casinos What to Eat Lord Stow's Bakery Portuguese Egg Tart What to Eat The Venetian Macao Ruins of St Paul's Senado Square Macao Giant Panda A-Ma Temple Day 2: Lantau Island Tung Chung Station then take Tung chung cable car or Bus 23 Great Buddha of Tian Tau in Lantau Wong Tai Sin Temple Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden Mongkok Street Night Market Day 3: Man Mo Temple Victoria...

Google Maps Link for Vienna Christmas Markets

Found this on the internet. Link to the Google Maps

SoCal Wildflower Hotline

Gets updated weekly   https://theodorepayne.org/learn/wildflower-hotline/ A nza Borrega State park wild flower page https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=28694

My Japan Tiktok Recommendations

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 Tokyo Nihonbashi Kaisen Donburi Tsujihan Nihonbashi There are three locations. The one near Tokyo station always has a line but the one in Ark Hills ( Ark Mori Building ) seems to not have a queue Tonkatsu Hajime Nihonbashi there are two around there. Go to the Second Store (Hajime) as there is no line. The main store which is a block or two away always has a line. Tsujihan Godaime Hanayama Udon This the flat noodle. There are a few branches near Tokyo Station and Ginza. Apparently, there is one now in Haneda airport and no lines there. At Tsukiji Market Tsukiji Unitora Nakador i: Famous for their Uni Bowl. Line was ridiculous. Tsukiji Koromo Sushi : Famous for their Sushi and Sashimi Bowl. No line. Shouru: for Omelette Stick. Line was kinda long too. Shinjuku Unatoto Shinjuku Center Building All Seasons Cafe Soba House Abebe Bakery -  Jeju X Tokyo  Azuki to Kōri (Dessert) Harajuku     Menchirashi Carbonara Udon 11.30 AM to 10 Zeniba Rice Bowls!!! Insta...

Tokyo

Tip: Book your hotel and bus tickets early.  In places like Kawaguchiko, especially going back to Tokyo, all the buses were packed and you can't buy tickets on the day itself. So better reserve and buy the tickets early. You can still change it (one-time change only) if needed.  Lake Kawaguchiko Express Bus from Shinjuku Express Terminal to Kawaguchiko Station  Price: 2200 Yen (one-way) Durationg: ~2 Hrs Kusatsu Onsen Express Bus from Shinjuku Express Terminal to Kustatsu Onsen Bus Terminal  Price: 4000 Yen (one-way), if earlier you can buy 3100 Yen Duration: ~4 hrs Nikko Direct Odoriko Train from Shinjuku  Only one train per day Leaves 9.39 AM arrviving 11.35 from Shinjuku Leaves Tobu-Nikko Station at 4.39 PM, arriving 6.35 PM Kawazu Direct Train from Tokyo Station to Kawazu Duration: ~2.5 Hours

Japan Travel Tips

JR Pass  I bought a 7 day JR Pass for ~33K Yen in September 2023 and apparently, it will go up in October (got lucky there). Instead of going thru agent, I just directly bought it at  https://www.japanrailpass-reservation.net/ , I think it's slightly more expensive but just a few hundreds yen (really not much) but you can easily refund and you can already use the same site to book for a trip as long as it's within one month of the scheduled date. Here are some tips when booking It's pretty easy to get seat reservation, do book early, I tried booking on the day itself and couldn't get reserved tickets. I have to either gamble to try Nonreserved seats or find a later train.  It's a bit weird though it was fully book, seems like people don't really use the reservation. When you book, you may not want to issue it till you know you are going to use that train, otherwise, you can't cancel or easily rebook it.  Once it is issued, you have to go to the JR center an...

Japan Trip

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