Dinner at the ryokan

The ryokan or Japanese Inn stay comes with 2 meals, mainly dinner and breakfast. The guests are not allowed to take photos of the hot spring bath due to privacy concern.
One day stay is about $300 to $500 per guest in a twin sharing room. It is expensive but worth every penny. The food is superb and the service is excellent. Besides, the room and hot bath is clean and refreshing.

Ryokan,Onsen at Beppu

Vacation in Southern Japan (Beppu, Oita, Japan)

Flying on SQ to Fukuoka, Japan for a short winter vacation. The destination is Beppu Onsen in Oita where a ryokan has been booked.
On approaching FUK Airport for the landing, the captain alerted the passengers to the cold weather, possibly with some snow. Temperature was 1C.
Boarded a train and off to the resort city of Beppu for a hot spring bath and a lovely meal.

Yufuin, one of the best hot spring resorts

We were at a ryokan in Yufuin, South Japan for a vacation some years ago. Yufuin is one of the most popular onsens or hot spring resorts in Kitakyushu. Hope you will enjoy the video.

(Photos taken from my apartment around 5:45 am)
A short respite from the haze in the form of a sudden shower  at 5:30 am. The rain came and gone within a few minutes. It must have been a passing cloud. However, the PSI still stands in the unhealthy range of 102. Perhaps the PSI reading at 6 am will show an improvement.

7:35 am:

The PSI has improved to the moderate range of 81 as at 7 am. It rained a little more since I last reported at 5:45 am. It looks like the north east monsoon wind has arrived and if it does, the haze should be gone.

10:30 am:

The PSI is 29 which is in the good range. We have not been in this range since early this year. According to the weather man this is a temporary respite and the haze could be back in the next couple of hours unless the wind direction from the north east does not change.

I live in one of those units of the block of flats. This photo was taken early this year when the haze from Indonesia had not arrived yet. The sky was blue and it was a sunny morning. Hopefully we can go back to that sunny and haze free weather again.

Visiting Japan hot spring (onsen) again this winter:

Local shop cheated tourists hauled back to court

Mobile Air became notorious after a video of a tourist going on his knees to beg for a refund at the shop went viral. The Vietnamese customer had paid S$950 for an iPhone 6 but was told he had to add S$1,500 in warranty fees.
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A Kleptomaniac stewardess

A Kleptomaniac is a person who is afflicted with Kleptomania, a compulsion to repeatedly steal "worthless" items, such as keychains, panties, stockings and handbags.
According to medical science, Kleptomania is a mental illness that inflict mostly women. It is may be caused by some form of depression.

Jenny was a typical Klepto and she would steal especially during her layover at oversea stations. She couldn't resist the urge to steal from departmental stores, supermarkets etc. She has been stealing or shoplifting for many years and was fortunate not to be caught.
However, her luck ran out when she was in London during one of the long layovers, 3 days to be exact. Jenny was caught shoplifting a bra.

She was handed over to the police and charged. She called her IFS and pleaded with him to come to the police station where she was held.

Jenny was charged in court the very next day and found guilty of theft. She was fortunate as it was a Tuesday. Her IFS paid the fine on her behalf and she was released from custody. They flew back to Singapore on Wednesday.

Till today, her employer does not know about her case. She was lucky to have an IFS who was understanding and helpful towards her.

This case was related to me by that IFS recently.


Burger King's whopper beef burger with cheesy fries

One of my favourite beef burgers

My dessert from Japan