Monday 30 June 2008

Flight Back from Buenos Aires

The flight back to Malaysia would about 24hours from Buenos Aires to Kuala Lumpur via Cape Town and Johannesburg, but by the time I arrive back in Kuala Lumpur it will be tomorrow morning at 0530hrs. On the last sector, Johannesburg to Kuala Lumpur, I was lucky that I was on the same flight as Auntie Yvonne, what a coincedence. Anyway it the flight back was very good.


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Overall, it was a good trip except for the first 3 days of arrival, as I was still not use to the time differences, but other than that it was a great trip. On this trip, I have visited two New Wonders Of The World,
1) Machu Picchu, Peru
2) Christ The Redeemer, Brazil

Visited 8 Cities / Town in 4 Countries
1) Lima, Peru
2) Cusco, Peru
3) Aguas Calientes, Peru (Machu Picchu)
4) Puno, Peru
5) La Paz, Bolivia
6) Santa Cruz, Bolivia
7) Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
8) Buenos Aires, Argentina

Flew on 5 airlines,
1) Malaysia Airlines (8/10) for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Buenos Aires, Argentina (via Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa) v.v.
2) LAN Peru (9/10) for Buenos Aires, Argentina - Lima, Peru
3) Star Peru (7/10) for Lima, Peru - Cusco, Peru
4) AeroSur (6/10) for La Paz, Bolivia - Santa Cruz, Bolivia
5) Aerolineas Argentinas (6/10) for Santa Cruz, Bolivia to Buenos Aires, Argentina / Buenos Aires, Argentina to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil / Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Numerous Taxi Rides but one journey
1) Cusco, Peru to Ollantaytambo, Peru

One train ride in Peru
1) Ollantaytambo - Aguas Calientes / Aguas Calientes - Cusco

Rode on 3 Buses from Cusco, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia
1) Cusco, Peru to Puno, Peru
2) Puno, Peru to Copacabana, Bolivia
3) Copacabana, Bolivia to La Paz, Bolivia

One motor-boat ride across Straits of Tiquina on Lake Titicaca,
1) San Pedro de Tiquina to San Pablo de Tequina

One Helicopter Ride,
1) 8 Minutes turn around from Sugarloaf to Christ The Redeemer.

Memorable City Train and Bus rides
1) Miraflores Open Top Double Decker bus from Lima to Pachacamac
2) Bus ride from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu Entrance
3) City bus from Caminito to Once, Buenos Aires, Argentina
4) City train from Belgrano "C" to Estacion Retiro, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The following would be best and worst,
Best Ride :
Worst Ride : Local Bus from Copacabana, Bolivia to La Paz, Bolivia
Most Scenic : Bus ride from Cusco, Peru to Puno, Peru (could have been the train ride from Aguas Calientes to Cusco but we were on a night train)
Less Scenic : Taxi ride from Rio de Janeiro Airport to Copacabana Beach, Brasil (cloudy)
Best Scenic Flight : La Paz, Bolivia to Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Most Memorable Flight : Helicopter Ride from Sugarloaf to Christ The Redeemer
Favourite City / Town : Cusco, Peru

Daddy and Mommy favourite food,
1) Churrasco @ Carretao, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
2) Best Pizza and Pasta @ La Paz, Bolivia
3) Best Roast Chicken (Pollo) @ Lima, Peru
4) Best Parillas @ La Brigada, San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina (but overpriced)

I have travelled a total of 27,407.47 miles calculated on direct route in Google Maps.

Lunch : Baby Meal (Cereal)
Dinner : Baby Meal (Oat)

Some photos taken today
(coming soon)

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Today's Movie -

Sunday 29 June 2008

Last Day In South America



Today will be my last day in South America before taking a flight back in the night for Kuala Lumpur. We checked out from the hotel around noon, which they actually needed the room by 1000hrs. Neither did daddy or mommy packed the cloths a night before since mommy wasn't feeling very well and daddy called the reception in the morning trying to request for a late check-out.

We then took a walk towards Florida again since there wasn't anywhere to go. We stopped to visit San Martin Statue and Falkland War Memorial before doing our last minute shopping along Florida. Since there wasn't much to walk around Florida, daddy decided to take a walk to Puerta Madero before heading back to Florida again.

As daddy was trying to buy some chocolate, a man came and picked the camera which was hang over my stroller. Luckily a couple saw the man taking it from the stroller and informed daddy, we found the man and took the camera back. Daddy and mommy thought the camera would have been gone since neither did mommy or daddy saw the man. It was a very lucky day.

We then took a cab from the apartment to the airport at 1730hrs and got into a "crazy" airport. It took us more than 2 hours to check-in plus immigration clearence before we could board the flight at 2020hrs. The flight was delayed for approx. 40mins because of the airport mismanagement. This is the worst airport I have been so far in this trip.

Lunch : Oats
Dinner : Milk (while queing up to get into the immigration area)

Some photos taken today
(right : Malaysia Airlines Stewardess sleeping with uniform on flight - CPT - JNB)

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Today's Movie -

Saturday 28 June 2008

Hard Rock Buenos Aires



Since daddy could not locate the korean shopping street in Once, daddy thought it would be a good idea to visit the authentic Korean town in Buenos Aires located in Carabobo Street in Bajo Flores area. It was not what daddy and mommy expected it to be, walking in this area did not feel safe and most of the shops were closed. Not many Korean restaurant are located here and there isn't any shop selling korean goods either. But it was a good experience to visit a local barrio.

After having lunch in one of the "open" korean restaurant, daddy thought it would be a good idea to visit the chinatown instead. Since it located on the opposite side of the city, we first took a bus to Belgrano "R" and then taking another taxi to Chinatown (Arribenos and Mendoza Street), located at Belgrano "C" train station. At least the Chinatown was more lively with supermarkets and small eateries. Mommy got a bottle of Soya Bean, Steamed Vegetable Bun and a cookie. But later in the night, mommy had diarhoea from one of the above.

Later we took the train back to Estación Retiro and walk around Florida before taking a taxi to Hard Rock Buenos Aires for dinner. We were supposingly to meet up with Uncle Calvin and Auntie Irene but they did not turn up. At lease Hard Rock Buenos Aires is so much better than Hard Rock Rio de Janeiro.

This will be my last night in South America before flying back home tomorrow.

Lunch : Oat
Dinner : Cereal

Some photos taken today


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Friday 27 June 2008

From Recoleta to Caminito

Daddy got better today and it was sightseeing day today.

The first stop, Nuestra Señora del Pilar church was build in the 18th century located right next to the Recoleta Cemetery. It was a church which used to be a hiding place in the17th century before the Jesuits arrived and completed. The baroque altar inside the church was brought in from Peru finish with jujuy silver.

Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried together with presidents, poets, scientist and wealthy characters. It did not take mommy with Uncle Calvin and Auntie Irene long to locate the Eva Peron's tomb. After taking a few photos, we left the cemetery and took a cab to Caminito since it would be difficult to take a bus with me as there isn't a direct from where we were.

The taxi ride was only about 20mins and cost about 20pesos which came to about 5 pesos per person compare to 2 pesos if we have taken the bus. Caminito is a street located in La Boca area and it still has a strong European influence since most of its settlers were from Genoa, Italy, it is also home to South America's top football club, the Boca Juniors. We had lunch in a restaurant with tango performance. Wasted most of the time in this restaurant waiting for the show to start.

After dinner, this time we took a bus since the queue for the taxi was too long to Once, as daddy was looking for the korean shopping street. Unfortunately, it was no where to be found as most of the shop were already close and daddy could not remember the exact location of the street as well. No one seems to know where it was either.

We walked back to the apartment after stopping in Disco to get some grocery.

Lunch : Porridge
Dinner : Oats

Some photos taken today


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Today's Movie -

Thursday 26 June 2008

Buenos Aires Again



This time would be my third time landing in Buenos Aires. The first was flying from Kuala Lumpur, second time was on transit from Santa Cruz to Rio de Janeiro and the third time, which is also the last time for this trip. Buenos Aires, the largest and also the capital city for Argentina located on the southern shore of Rio de la Plata, which is also daddy's favourite city in South America.

But this trip, the city isn't so cheap anymore compared to 4 years ago when daddy was there. Four years ago, daddy could have a set of Parilladas for 2 with a personal wine bottle for 18 pesos but this trip, the minimum would be around 40 pesos (50 pesos at the same exact restaurant along Lavelle Street). This city is no longer as cheap as how daddy thought it would be, but anyhow it is still a charming city with lots to offer, from food to nightlife to tango!

Anyway, it was a slow day since daddy wasn't feeling well and did not want to do anything too tiring. So we walk around Av. Florida till Casa Rosada and visited the Metropolitan Cathedral, before going back to the apartment to rest. Before walking back to the apartment, mommy went to Zara and bought some dress and shirts for me. Mommy also bought a jacket from Montagne since mommy never had a winter jacket before and it would be useful to cold countries.

Lunch : Oats
Dinner : Porridge

Some photos taken today



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Today's Movie -

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Leaving for Buenos Aires


(view from the apartment - 703)

We left Rio de Janeiro today after spending 4 days here. It was a good stay except for the terrible weather until today when we left, bright sunny day. I could see both the Christ and Sugarloaf from afar clearly.

Daddy did not wake up today until around noon unlike me and mommy which got up early thought of walking on the beach but it rained for a while in the morning so I stayed in the apartment with mommy packing the bags. Then around noon, mommy starting waking daddy up since the car rental time was up and daddy needs to return the car before noon.

After checking-out from the apartment we took a taxi to the airport at 1530hrs for our flight at at 1835hrs since daddy was afraid we might missed the flight due to traffic congestions. We got to the airport in 45mins and checked into the our flight without any problem even our luggage was slightly overweight due to daddy's coca-cola bottle.

The food serve today was much better than both flight I had, Santa Cruz to Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro. Both flight, we were only served with sandwiches but to daddy and mommy surprise we were given pasta instead this time.


We arrived in Buenos Aires at 2150hrs and checked into our apartment by 2300hrs without any problem.


Lunch : Porridge
Dinner : Oat

Some photos taken today


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Today's Movie -

Tuesday 24 June 2008

O Christo Redentor


Since we did not manage to visit it yesterday daddy said we will have to visit it today as we will be leaving tomorrow and this will be the last full day we will be spending in Rio de Janeiro. Today, the weather isn't very good either or it hasn't been good at all since we arrived. We left around 1000hrs this morning hoping that the sky would be good but it was worst than yesterday. It was so cloudy that we could not even see the sugarloaf at all and only part of Copacabana.

The drive up was easy and daddy used a different route since daddy did not want to drive through the city as the traffic out was quite bad leading to the tunnel. When we got to the foot of the Corcovado, there were some guys try to stop daddy from driving up but luckily we drove up a day earlier and knew it was possible to drive all the way to the ticketing counter. There was no problem driving up except there has been a landslide a couple hours ago but it was cleared by the time we were driving up.

The entrance was only 14 reals which the entrance and transportation up to the main entrance or you can pay 30 reals by train, which take a longer time but supposingly more scenic. We opted for the van and in a few minute I was up looking up at the second wonder of the world, Christ the Redeemer, build in the 1930s. This statue stand at 130ft atop a 2300ft Mount Corcovado. In 2007, Christ The Redeemer was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

We did not stay too long here since it was too cloudy and daddy thought it would be nice to take a drive to the city instread, and visit Carioca Aqueduct, which was build in the 18th century, bringing in fresh water from the Carioca River to the city population. Now it longer served as an aqueduct but a tram bridge connecting the Lapa and Santa Theresa neighbourhood.

We walk around centro but daddy was afraid to take photos since he did not feel safe carrying the camera openly.

Later in the afternoon, daddy thought to drive to South America's largest malls, Barra Shopping, but it was a total dissapointment, it wasn't as big how its being advertise. There were nothing much to buy and a total waste of time. The restaurant isn't that interesting either, I would suggest Rio Sul anytime for mall shopping in Rio de Janeiro.

As we were driving back to the apartment, daddy saw the Hard Rock Cafe and could not resist stopping over to check it out. Mommy wasn't so keen since I was already sleeping but daddy insist to have a look since we are already here.

Since daddy did not manage to get any souvenirs from Rio and it would be our last night in Brasil, daddy was determine to get a few souvenirs from friends so we drove to the night street market along the Copacabana beach.

Lunch : Oats
Dinner : Cereals

Some photos taken today



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Today's Movie -

Monday 23 June 2008

My First Helicopter Ride!



Daddy woke up late today since daddy did not sleep for more than 24 hours since we left La Paz. Mommy had to wake daddy up to send the cloths to laundry! Today started with daddy checking out the price of car rental prices since it would be easier and safer to drive around Rio. Daddy got a, Fiat Palio Mark IV 1.0, Four Door hatchback. It a small but powerful car since daddy manage to drive up to the entrance of Christ The Redeemer (O Cristo Redentor).

After getting the car, we drove to the Sugarloaf (Pão de Açúcar) mountain cable car station ($30 Reals per person) which is located not far from our apartment in Copacabana. Daddy thought we were going to spend a couple of hours up in the mountain but we spend almost 4 hours up there. The sky wasn't very good and we had to wait for the cloud to pass before we could take photos. But it was definately an experience going up to this city icon. When we were on the way down to Morro da Urca, daddy wanted to try the heli ride arond Christ The Redeemer, one of the seven wonder of the world.

After that we took the cable car back to the car deciding to visit Christ The Redeemer but the weather was so bad and it was getting dark, daddy decided to go the next day. Hopefully the sky will be clear and daddy remembers to bring the zoom lenses. Then daddy thought of driving to Centro for some food but we got lost and ended up in one of the suburd. Anyway it was an interesting day out.

Tomorrow, daddy will be trying his luck and hopefully the sky would be clear for Chrst The Redeemer and also visit Lapa, a colonial aquaduct and maybe some shopping in Barra Shopping, supposingly the largest shopping mall in Latin America! Supposingly 6 times larger than the Asia largest, Future Park Rangsit in Bangkok.

Lunch : Porridge
Dinner : Oat



Some photos taken today





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Today's Movie -

Sunday 22 June 2008

Arriving in Rio De Janeiro

It was a short rest before I woke up again to take another flight to Rio de Janeiro on the worst airline so far I have taken on this trip. My flight was at 0610 and we arrived in Rio de Janeiro at 0930. Again on this flight again, daddy and mommy only had the choice of tea, coffee or water! not even coke. Anyway arriving in the capital of Carnival was exciting since daddy wanted to be come in his previous trip but daddy went to Foz do Iguacu. Me and daddy had some problem with the immigration again, (previously daddy had his problem in Chui) they asked for the visa! which obviously we did not need one. When we got to the apartment office! It was a sunday so no one was actually working and we had to wait for another hour or so to get it sorted out. But the apartment I got was nice and clean, with a small kitchen that mommy could cook for me as well.

Since daddy had not sleep the whole day, it was a quiet day until the evening when daddy took me out shopping at Rio Sul, which is about 10mins walk away but we took a cab instead which cost us 7 Reals.

Rio Sul is a nice shopping mall with some nice restaurants located on the second floor, but the price of goods wasn't very tempting though but mommy did buy me a toothpaste, First Teeth, which daddy has been looking for quite some time now. Anyway the shopping mall closes at 2100hrs and we only spend just less than 2 hours here.

Tomorrow I will be starting my sightseeing, first to the Sugar Loaf and then to see Christ The Redeemer, but it will all depends on the weather if its going to be clear day unlike today! No sign of the statue all the way from the airport to the apartment.

Lunch :
Dinner :

Some photos taken today



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Today's Movie -

Saturday 21 June 2008

Breakfast in La Paz, Lunch in Santa Cruz, Dinner in Buenos Aires

It was a full day travelling again today. We started off with a wake up call at 0545hrs for a pick-up to the airport at 0630hrs for our flight departing at 0830hrs for Santa Cruz on AeroSur, which was pretty good eventhough it was flying with an old 727. We were served with some cookies and bread for this flight, arriving in Santa Cruz at 0930hrs.

In Santa Cruz, we took a taxi out to the main plaza, Plaza de Armas, but there isn't much to offer in this largest city (in Bolivia). So took another taxi back to Viru Viru International Airport at 1300hrs to check for our flight at 1600hrs bound for Buenos Aires. The security check was very tight, daddy has never been to another security check like this before.

Anyway our flight on Aerolineas Argentinas wasn't very pleasant, it was a 3 hours flight but the service on board were almost similar to an hour flight services. Daddy was surprise that the airline only served sandwiches with either, Tea, Coffee and Water. No other drinks with available! Anyway, the flight was arrived in Buenos Aires on scheduled and we checked into Santo Hostal, which was introduced by the cab driver. Stayed for a couple of hours before we left to the airport for our flight bound to Rio de Janeiro at 0610hrs on June 22.

Lunch :
Dinner :

Some photos taken today








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Today's Movie -