Japan Day 6 - Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port

01 Nov - For our first weekend in Sendai, we decided to visit the Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium and the Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port which is nearby. For our hotel, we chose the Dormy Inn EXPRESS Sendai Seaside which has a 4.4 out of 5.0 ratings over 1500+ reviews on Google Maps. We checked out of our existing hotel promptly at 10am and took a train to Nakanosakae Station, before walking about 30mins to Dormy Inn.

One interesting fact we found during this Japan trip is that all the hotels do not allow early check-in when you arrived early. When they say check-in starts at 3pm, they will only give you the room key at 3pm! If you want early check-in, you need to pay for it!

Anyway, we deposited our bags with the receptionists and off we go to Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port.

Dormy Inn EXPRESS Sendai Seaside

Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port

Usually for outlet malls, we will find some good deals but this time, it is not the same. After doing the currency conversion, the price is actually more expensive than Singapore, especially foreign branded goods. In addition, most shops are selling winter wears, which are not suitable for Singapore tropical weather. In the end, we camped inside the food court as *OEE* catches his nap and left the site empty handed. Well before we left, we rode the ferry wheel to take a look at the night scene, which is kind of ......... boring. Haha

Lighted ferry wheel inside the outlet mall

Night scene at top of the wheel

One last look before we left Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port

We made it back in time for the traditional complimentary supper served by Dormy inn from 9.30pm to 11pm. For this Dormy, they are serving the Yonaki Soba Noodle. It sure tasted good! After which, we took a bath at the onsen and retired for the night, to recover energy for tomorrow aquarium visit!

A typical Working from Hotel Day in Japan

Mitazono (The place we are staying) overall I feel is a pretty chill and relax town. There are not many people and pace of life is much slower compared to Singapore. The weather helps too as it is coming to the start of Autumn where temperature is at a nice spot to enjoy strolling on the street. A typical day spent while *OEE* is at his preschool is as below:

Morning

We try to make the 7.45am timing for the hotel breakfast where they served up Sendai specialty - Beef Tongue Stew. Well, it certainly feel tasty for the first few days but you will feel quite sick of it if you continue eating it every single day. Besides the stew, the pastry available are fresh and tasty, along with other dishes which they will rotate every day for the whole week. 

Typical breakfast variety at Super Hotel Mitazono Sendai Airport

After breakfast, we take a 45mins walk to the preschool to drop *OEE*, after which, we will either drop by a convenient store or we will head to the Aeon mall near Morisekinoshita Station to buy back some sandwich for lunch. One interesting thing we did for the first few days was to stop by 7-11 to try the self made smoothie that is only available in Japan.

7-11 self made smoothie

Aeon mall - our favourite hangout for the next 2 weeks

One discovery - Gong Cha tea is really nice! It certainly does not taste the same as Singapore

Afternoon

After the grocery shopping, it is time to head back to work. Before fetching *OEE* from school, we take the opportunity to visit the onsite hotel onsen to have a quick shower when it opens at 3pm. At this time, usually we can have the whole onsen to ourselves. One fact that I discover is that Japanese typically only stays a few mins to soak inside the onsen, unlike the perception that one should stay soaked as long as possible. Haha

Onsite hotel onsen 

(Disclaimer: photo taken from Trip.com due to no handphone policy inside onsen)

Beautiful evening

Evening

For dinner, we usually made our way to the Aeon mall food court to have our favourite ramen. I got myself the Nagasaki Champon, where they served a generous portion of soup, noodles and vegetables at an affordable price of 1100 yen (S$9.45). Yes, the champon is so good that I went back to eat it almost every single night!

Night

Night time was usually spent on bathing *OEE* at the onsen, catching up a bit on work while waiting for the clothes to finish washing at the laundromat before retiring for the night. If we do come back early after dinner, we will spend some time at the hotel self served alcohol bar that is open from 6-8pm, where a variety of wine, gin, whiskey, vodka, and sake are made available to drink to your content.

Japan Day 1 - Start of 3 weeks journey

26 Oct - By God's grace, this is a special trip that was made possible as we are bringing *OEE* to experience a 2-week Japan Pre-school exchange! We only started exploring the idea some 6 months in advance around May 2025 where there are still a lot of things that needed arrangement. The trip seems impossible but we prayed and somehow, He made all the things clicked into place:

1. Manager is supportive of me Work from Hotel for 2 weeks instead of taking annual leaves.
2. Managed to arrange 2 make-up lectures which I will miss during the time I am in Japan.
3. The platform vendor (Japan Preschool Exchange) recommended a pre-school in Sendai which fits all our requirements:
• School must be walkable from our accommodation as we are not intending to drive.
• Accommodation must be easily accessible via train.
• School must have teachers who can speak English for communication.
4. Special bonus (which we later found out. Thank God!):
• We can arrange our own accommodation and not strictly followed the platform arrangement. This alone shave off 20% of the cost.
• He lead us to find our accommodation - Super Hotel Mitazono Sendai Airport, which is the only hotel which allow triple sharing of room.
• This Super Hotel is top notch! Though considered budget, it has an onsite onsen.
5. *OEE* transport fee is FOC as child ticket is only required for 6 years old and above. Child ticket is priced at 50% of normal adult price and this applies to Shinkansen as well.
6. Fall of Japan Yen nearer to the trip which made things even more cheaper!

We flew via Asiana red eye flight to Sendai International Airport, transiting Incheon. Not much to see over at Sendai Airport, except an exhibition on the 11 March 2011 tsunami, which Sendai was hit pretty hard. Super Hotel Mitazono Sendai Airport was easy to get to. Just take the airport train and drop off the next stop!

Super Hotel Mitazono Sendai Airport

Vietnam Day 6 - Sun World Hon Thom & Kiss of the Sea Show

18 Sep - Today, we switched battleground to the south of Phu Quoc, visiting the Mediterranean inspired Sunset Town, riding the world’s longest oversea cable car into Hon Thom island and ending the day with the spectacular Kiss of the Sea Show.

After a 90mins car ride from the north to the south, our journey begins on the Hon Thom Cable Car, the world's longest oversea cable car, stretching nearly 8 kilometers and offering breathtaking panoramic views of turquoise seas, lush islands, and endless skies. If not for the rain and gloomy sky, the view can be nicer.

Hon Thom Departure Terminal - Sun World

7,900m above the sea

Sunworld Hon Thom island is still pretty much a construction work in progress. Many of the island facilities are still constructing leaving visitors to contend with Aquatopia Water Park and and Exotica Park which features only 1 wooden roller coaster. Since it was raining and there is nothing much we can do, we linger around the station exhibition hall.

Hon Thom island when fully built

Venue where we are catching the Kiss of the Sea show

Fake Colosseum 

Going to the top of the Kiss Bridge

Getting ready for the spectacular and wet show

Kiss of the Sea Show is the world’s largest water-fire-laser performance that lights up the night sky and mesmerizes the audience, and followed up with fireworks at the end. Due to the large usage of seawater mist which kept the air moist for the laser effect, there was no photos about the show. However, the fireworks was really generous and low, so that audiences have a close look.

Vietnam Day 5 - Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc

17 Sep - Today is reserved for our Safari day, but things are not off to a good start. The sky has been gloomy all morning and threatened to pour. We took the free shuttle bus after breakfast from our resort which bring us to the entrance of Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc and off we go to catch the first performance of the day with the birds.

Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc Entrance

Map of the safari

Bird Show! But rain started pouring halfway

With the torrential rain that came pouring down halfway into the show, the performance was halted as both birds and employees ran off seeking shelters. For the audiences, we are faced with 2 choices: either wait out the rain under the shelter, or purchase a poncho and be on our way. For us, we chose the poncho option and slowly make our way to visit other animals within the safari since the opening hours of this park is only until 4pm.

One interesting point about this safari is that for certain exhibits, the birds and animals are allowed to free-roam and have close interaction with humans. So beware, phones and food might be snatch away from you if you are not careful.

Gorillas - Back facing us

Golden fur chimpanzee showing off its skills 

Free roaming (I think) civets

Birds enjoying water melons and corns

Having covered half the exhibits, we came to the second part of the safari, where we get to sit in an air-conditioned bus and be driven around free-roaming animals such as tigers, lions and giraffes, simulating a real safari! Really an interesting experience.

We ended the visit feeding the giraffes at our lunch restaurant, before retreating back to our resort to rest.