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Wednesday, 10/10/07, Actual Day
Small cake to celebrate the actual day. Bigger cake on Friday’s BBQ celebration.

(l - r) Ruijie, Wayne, Leon, Ling, An, Jd, Rex, Uncle Ho and Panda!

My lovely panda looks so cute! Together with small cake and a bouquet that we received that day. One bite from everyone and the cake was finished, haha..

Friday, 12/10/07, BBQ

This picture of the Pearl Shoal Falls in Jiuzhaigou Valley, China has been published on the September issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine, . Page 16, full page.

C.S.Ling describes China’s Jiuzhaigou Valley as “Fairyland on Earth”. Located in the northern part of Sichuan province, the magical landscape is covered by more than 100 lakes, 17 groups of waterfalls, lush forests and snowcapped mountains. Ling returned to the Pearl Shoal Falls for several days before capturing this image on an azure blue sky day. She says the photo combines the “essence of the four seasons - the red and yellow foliage of autumn, snow-capped mountains of winter, evergreen pines of spring and cooling waters of summer.”

The trip itinerary is written from a Singaporean point of view If you happen to live outside of Singapore and wish to join me for the trip, just minus off the SIN -TOKYO - SIN flight fare. All the prices listed are in Singapore dollars. Go to http://xe.com for conversion.

Destinations: Nagano region and Hokkaido region.
Dates: 30th Jan - 13 Feb 2008
Plane tickets: All Nippon Airway SIN - TOKYO - SIN (2-way ard $750 ) plus 2 domestic flight TOKYO - KUSHIRO - TOKYO ( SGD$160 each flight )= $920SGD - $1080SGD.
the more people going, the cheaper the ticket.
Train & Bus : Using Japan Rail Pass for 2 weeks is ard $600SG for unlimited rides.
Accommodation including breakfast and dinner : Ard $70SGD - $90SGD per day per person. So if 13 days, ard $1k SGD.

Adding the above together is ard $2720SGD.
We set aside another 1k for admission fees, other foods and boat out in sea ice to shoot stella sea eagle ( $120SGD per person per boat trip, depends on how many we want to go on. ) and other misc stuffs like souvenirs if you want…

Total Budget : ard $3.5k - 3.7k

30th Jan 2008 (Wed)
ANA overnight flight from Singapore - Tokyo
Fare ( from Chanbrothers) : $800 SGD (2 passengers) , $640 (4 passengers)

Have to book before 28-Sep-2007

For train and bus travel, We will get the Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass) which will allow us to travel unlimited JR train and Bus ride throughout Japan.
For 14 consecutive days (2 weeks), it cost 45,100 Yen ( $600SGD). You might think this is expensive at first, but it really does save in the long run and we don’t have to go blur at the ticketing machine each time we want to take a train. And of course, taking the bullet train, Shinkansen, saves us time also.

31st Jan 2008 (Thur)
Arrive at Narita, Tokyo airport and take the Shinkansen (the fastest train) to Nagano. We will travel to a famous family-run lodge at Yamanouchi. We can have the rest of the day exploring the surrounding areas.
Duration ( Tokyo - Nagano) : 90 mins
(Nagano Station - Yamanouchi ) : 60mins
Lodge Rate: ard SGD 50. If plus dinner and breakfast at the loge, total will be ard SGD80.

Birds you may find here include Whooper swans, goldeneye and goosander, to white-backed, Great spotted and Japanese pygmy woodpecker, Hawfinch.
Mammals like the elusive Japanese Serow and troops of Snow Monkeys!
Japan’s Winter Wildlife In National Geographic
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/…geographic.com

1st Feb 2008 (Fri)
Jigokundani, aka Hell Valley, in Shiga Heights (shigakogen). To shoot the wild snow monkeys troops in snow and hot-tubbing together in the onsen. These monkeys are famous for their cultural transmission behavior (young monkeys learn from their elders novel kinds of behaviors, from grooming techniques to hot-tubbing to food preparation). They are the only animal other than humans and raccoons that is known to wash its food before eating it.
15min JR bus from lodge to Jigokundani. We will spend the whole day there. From 9am to 4.30PM. Admission Fee is $7 SGD.
Some Great Snow Monkeys in onsen Photos here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ommphot…7594434322919/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mangani…7600011544427/

2nd Feb 2008 (Sat)
Another day at Jigokundani, aka Hell Valley, in Shiga Heights (shigakogen). To shoot the wild snow monkeys troops in snow and hot-tubbing together in the onsen.
15min JR bus from lodge to Jigokundani. We will spend the whole day there. From 9am to 4.30PM. Admission Fee is $7 SGD.

3rd Feb 2008 (Sun)
We will head of next to the famous birding site, Yacho no Mori (also know as Karuizawa Bird Forest). At the lodge, you may see the Asian Azure-winged Magpies in the trees outside our window. We are 10 min walking distance from the best part of the forest.
60min JR bus to Nagano Station. Nagano-bound Shinkansen from Tokyo Station and get off at Karuizawa. From there catch the local train to Naka-Karuizawa.

Birds you may find here include Willow, Varied and Japanese Tits, Grey-capped Greenfinches and Long-tailed Rosefinches Great Spotted and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, Dusky Thrush, Coal Tit and Nuthatch Copper Pheasant, Crested Kingfisher, Japanese Accentor and, if we are lucky, Japanese Waxwing, Red-flanked Bluetail, Bull-headed Shrike and Rustic Bunting. At nearby Yokokawa we should find Brown Dipper and Japanese Wagtail in the river. On the reservoir, colourful Mandarin Ducks are normally present. Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Jay, Winter Wren, Ural Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Grosbeak (fabulous song), Yellow Bunting, Brown Dipper, lots of Narcissus and Blue-and-white Flycatchers and Siberian Blue Robin.

4th Feb 2008 (Mon)
Another day at Yacho no Mori (also know as Karuizawa Bird Forest).

5th Feb 2008 (Tue)
We are off to Hokkaido.
Local train to Naka-Karuizawa and then JR Shinkansen to Tokyo Station and then Internal flight from Tokyo to Kushiro, Hokkaido. Total journey altogether from Nagano to Hokkaido should be ard 3 hrs.
ANA domestic flight is only ard $140 SGD coz of Travel Japan Fare.

Arrive at Kushiro. Take a JR Bus to Shimo-Kuchoro in Tsurui-mura Village to stay at a Farm Lodge ( $70SGD per night per person. )

6th Feb 2008 (Wed)
Nearby Lake Kussharo , Akan National Park, for cranes and Whooper swans as well. Hokkaido’s most scenic crater lake, and flocks of vociferous whooper swans gliding among the steam and morning mist.
Some Great Whooper Swan Photos here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kclama/8079831/
http://www.mattonestonia.com/images/search/whooper+swan
Birds you may find here include Smews and Harlequins. With luck, have a “steller time” with the likes of the Steller’s Sea-Eagle, Steller’s Eider, and Steller’s Sea Lion. Pelagic Cormorant,

7th Feb 2008 (Thur)
Red-crowned, or Japanese, cranes, the largest and most northerly of the cranes in Japan. Expect to see and photograph flocks of 100 or more of these magnificent birds at ranges down to just 50 feet or less. At this time of year the cranes will be dancing a truly spectacular ritual. May also photograph white-tailed eagles, black-eared kites, and possibly red foxes. Whooper Swans at the Kawayu area.
Great Red-Crowned Cranes Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildpho…7594243601929/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuckiba…dcrownedcrane/

8th Feb 2008 (Fri)
Another day for Red-Crowned Cranes.

9th Jan 2008 (Sat)
Stay at nearby Furen Ko. The famous lodge whereby the owner speaks good english and good birding knowledge. Brown-eared Bulbuls, Eurasian Nuthatches, Asian Marsh and Japanese Tits, and Eurasian Tree Sparrows at the feeders outside the room window.
Birds you may find here include Blakiston’s Fish Owls, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Marsh Tit, Harlequin, Black and Asian Scoters, Long-tailed, and Red-breasted Meganser
Mammals : Sika Deer, Red Fox.

10th Feb 2008 (Sun)
Another day at Furen-ko

11th Feb 2008 (Mon) -13th Jan (Wed)
Travel to Rausu. Basically this place is famous for Stella and White-tailed sea eagle on the sea ice. We will go on the sea-eagle boat trips (ard $120 SGD which only applies to Photograpers ) which we have to make reservation as soon as we arrive in Rausu. There’s a morning and evening boat. So i guess we could go for both times to get thee best. However, note that on some days, the boats may not go out due to weather or ice conditions. So i’ve decided we stay her for at least 3 days just in case.
Birds you may find here include Blakiston’s Fish Owls, Brown Dippers, Teals, Spectacled Guillemots, Asian Rosy Finches etc etc….

Great Stella Sea Eagle Photos
http://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/thumbnails.php?album=search&cat=0&page=4
http://www.johnchapmanphotographer.co.uk/gallery/2512601#133532526

13th Feb (Wed)
Kushiro - Tokyo - Singapore!
Back to Singapore!