Recently my son, the fourth grader, seemed to briefly learn from his school about electricity and basic circuits. He wanted to re-conduct the same experiment that he did at school at home and asked me to buy basic electronic circuit kits. I could not deny his request for the electronic circuits because the circuits can lead him to the career of scientists or engineers in the near future. So, I googled to find out electronic circuits that I can buy. Some goofy stuff was available at Amazon.co.uk, which seem to look down on modern kids' intelligence.
My ever-googling electronic circuits turned me on Elenco's Snap Circuits (http://www.snapcircuits.net/). I purchased "Snap Circuits Extreme® Educational 750 Exp" from an European distributor of Elenco. This circuit kit was simply awesome. This was not too complicated for kids to handle but was quite challenging. My kids loved it. They built some circuits to fly a flying saucer, listening a FM radio channel, make annoying noises and record their voices, by simply following instructions of the manual.
They noticed another kind of electronic toy at Elenco's website - Circuit Rover - and pestered me to buy it. I purchased two sets of Circuit Rover for them. My kids could control the rover with the remote controllers, shoot some small dishes, and record their voices in them. Of course, they loved it. But, the rover made some noise which annoyed me.
While playing with the electric circuits and the rovers, my kids noticed that something was wrong. My daughter's rover did not move and some parts of the circuits did not work. I emailed Elenco, asking how to fix the problems. Elenco simply sent new parts for the rover and the circuits from the US to Belgium, without asking what happened to the parts. It was a really amazing after service.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Monday, December 30, 2013
DHL Redelivery Request in Belgium
This year my wife wanted to buy some clothes for our kids as Christmas gifts. She postponed the purchase until the Christmas sale. However, the clothes that she wanted to buy had been being sold away even before the start of the Christmas sale. She inevitably decided to buy them even before the sale. However, the problem was that we had to go to Austria to ski during the Christmas holidays and the clothes that she purchased online was likely to arrive at the house when we would be absent.
Her worry came true: DHL attempted to deliver the parcel when we were not at home. She came to have another worry that the parcel would return to the seller and wanted to ask DHL to redeliver the parcel on a certain day that she wanted. We could not find any information about redelivery on Belgium DHL website. Thus, we googled several times with such key words as "reschedule" and "redelivery" and discovered a website. Whereas UK DHL website provided redelivery request on its website, Belgium DHL had a separate website for redelivery request (http://dhlredelivery.be). We typed in the reference number for our parcel on the website and requested redelivery a few days later.
When we returned to home, we found a notice that DHL left for us that we would need to pick up the parcel at a DHL station. However, next day the parcel was delivered to us. We realized that if we did not requested for the redelivery, we had to go to a DHL station to pick up our parcel.
Her worry came true: DHL attempted to deliver the parcel when we were not at home. She came to have another worry that the parcel would return to the seller and wanted to ask DHL to redeliver the parcel on a certain day that she wanted. We could not find any information about redelivery on Belgium DHL website. Thus, we googled several times with such key words as "reschedule" and "redelivery" and discovered a website. Whereas UK DHL website provided redelivery request on its website, Belgium DHL had a separate website for redelivery request (http://dhlredelivery.be). We typed in the reference number for our parcel on the website and requested redelivery a few days later.
When we returned to home, we found a notice that DHL left for us that we would need to pick up the parcel at a DHL station. However, next day the parcel was delivered to us. We realized that if we did not requested for the redelivery, we had to go to a DHL station to pick up our parcel.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Skiing in Alpbach
This is the third year of visiting Alpbach to ski. I guess that now I am a little bit familiar with Alpbach and can say something about Alpbach (www.alpbach.at).
Alpbach is a small village of Tyrol, Austria. From Brussels to Alpbach, it took more than 11 hours, although Google Map says that it takes 8.5 hours. There were several road construction areas in Southern Germany through which we had to pass and there were heavy traffic jams around the border between Germany and Austria.
Last two years, my family stayed in Kramsach. This time we rent a holiday apartment in Reith im Alpachital. Kramsach is smaller and less developed than Reith im Alpachital. Reith im Alpachital looked smaller than Alpbach but cozier and more beautiful than the other nearby villages. However, it is not easy to get an accommodation in Reith im Alpachital.
Many Austrian people in Alpbach, Inneralpbach, and Reith im Alpachital can speak English. Although most visitors are German skiers, Dutch and English skiers were also noticed.
I put my kids into a ski school named "Ski school Alpbach-Inneralpbach (http://en.skischule-alpbach.at)," whenever I came to Alpbach ski resort. The ski school provides several programs according to skiers' skills. The programs usually begin on Sunday. Joining on Monday seems to be acceptable. On Friday, the ski school has its students attend races. Regardless of their records, they can get certificates and medals. These certificates and medals are a good gift for kids.
It seems that Alpbach ski resort named after the name of village Alpbach. However, there is no decent ski slope except a nursery / practice slope in Alpbach village. Two Gondola lanes that take skiers to ski slopes start from Wiederbergerhorn, a bus stop on the road to Alpbach village and from Inneralpbach. Of course, there are several lifts in the middle of the mountain.
Alpbach ski resort seems to include not only Alpbach village and Inneralpbach but also Reith im Alpachital and Kramsach. However, main ski slopes can be accessed from Wiederbergenhorn and Inneralpbach. By car, it takes 20 minutes from Reith im Alpachital and 30 minutes from Kramsach to Inneralpbach.
In Kramsach, there is no decent ski slope. Although Alpbach ski slopes map says that there are ski slopes in Kramsach, the slopes are barely operative. In Reith im Alpachital, there is a gondola lane and a good nursery slope.
Last two years, my family stayed in Kramsach. This time we rent a holiday apartment in Reith im Alpachital. Kramsach is smaller and less developed than Reith im Alpachital. Reith im Alpachital looked smaller than Alpbach but cozier and more beautiful than the other nearby villages. However, it is not easy to get an accommodation in Reith im Alpachital.
Many Austrian people in Alpbach, Inneralpbach, and Reith im Alpachital can speak English. Although most visitors are German skiers, Dutch and English skiers were also noticed.
I put my kids into a ski school named "Ski school Alpbach-Inneralpbach (http://en.skischule-alpbach.at)," whenever I came to Alpbach ski resort. The ski school provides several programs according to skiers' skills. The programs usually begin on Sunday. Joining on Monday seems to be acceptable. On Friday, the ski school has its students attend races. Regardless of their records, they can get certificates and medals. These certificates and medals are a good gift for kids.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Marginal University
Today I just noticed that Time magazine selected 25 best blogs.
techland.time.com/2013/08/05/the-25-best-bloggers-2013-edition/
Most of them, from my perspective, look like miscellanea. But, one of them has attracted my attention. That is Marignal University, which seem to provide free Economics courses online. Economics participating in the university look great and lectures are also not bad.
mruniversity.com/
techland.time.com/2013/08/05/the-25-best-bloggers-2013-edition/
Most of them, from my perspective, look like miscellanea. But, one of them has attracted my attention. That is Marignal University, which seem to provide free Economics courses online. Economics participating in the university look great and lectures are also not bad.
mruniversity.com/
Saturday, September 7, 2013
How to get Swiss Family Card
This summer my family went to Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn with my brother's family. The two families consisted of four adults and three kids. We had to buy some type of Swiss Passes in order to get discounts in using transports for going up to the two mountains. It was very expensive to buy each ticket for cable cars or trains without help of Swiss Passes. There are several types of Swiss Passes. Because we took cars to Switzerland, we did not need regular Swiss Passes. I narrowed the several options of Swiss Passes to two: Jungfrau VIP Pass and Half-Fare Card. After pondering over the pros and cons of the two discount passes during several weeks, I decided Half-Fare Card for the trip. I will explain why I chose Half-Fare Card instead of Jungfrau VIP Pass.
According to the official Switzerland Tourist Office's website (www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html), if Half-Fare Card is combined with Swiss Family Card, kids do not need to pay transport fares. So, I ordered four Half-Fare Card and three Swiss Family Card online. A few days later, I received a DHL envelope containing the tickets. When I received the tickets, I did not count the number of the tickets, assuming that all tickets that I had ordered were included, A day before leaving for Switzerland, I checked the tickets. Oh my god, only four Half-Fare Cards were included in the package. They did not send Swiss Family Cards to me. I did not have time to get the Family Card from Switzerland Tourist Office by mail. Believing its website's message that I can get the Family Card at any transportation station in Switzerland, next day, we left for Luzern. After seeing around Luzern, I visited a Luzern train station. I looked for an information center at the station. However, around 4:00 p.m., the information center was already closed. I was frustrated at the moment. And, I visited a SBB booth just to know where I could get Swiss Family Cards. SBB staff had them. For the Family Cards, a SBB lady asked me for my kids' identifications. After checking my kids' names and dates of birth, she simply put down the names and dates of birth on blank Swiss Family Cards.
Actually, unlike their names, Half-Fare Card and Swiss Family Card do not look like cards. I had thought that the two cards' shape would have resembled that of a credit card. The two cards looked like goofy airplane tickets.
Despite the goofy appearance of the Family Card, it was quite useful. Whenever I took trains or cable cars, I did not worry about my kids' fares.
According to the official Switzerland Tourist Office's website (www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html), if Half-Fare Card is combined with Swiss Family Card, kids do not need to pay transport fares. So, I ordered four Half-Fare Card and three Swiss Family Card online. A few days later, I received a DHL envelope containing the tickets. When I received the tickets, I did not count the number of the tickets, assuming that all tickets that I had ordered were included, A day before leaving for Switzerland, I checked the tickets. Oh my god, only four Half-Fare Cards were included in the package. They did not send Swiss Family Cards to me. I did not have time to get the Family Card from Switzerland Tourist Office by mail. Believing its website's message that I can get the Family Card at any transportation station in Switzerland, next day, we left for Luzern. After seeing around Luzern, I visited a Luzern train station. I looked for an information center at the station. However, around 4:00 p.m., the information center was already closed. I was frustrated at the moment. And, I visited a SBB booth just to know where I could get Swiss Family Cards. SBB staff had them. For the Family Cards, a SBB lady asked me for my kids' identifications. After checking my kids' names and dates of birth, she simply put down the names and dates of birth on blank Swiss Family Cards.
Actually, unlike their names, Half-Fare Card and Swiss Family Card do not look like cards. I had thought that the two cards' shape would have resembled that of a credit card. The two cards looked like goofy airplane tickets.
Despite the goofy appearance of the Family Card, it was quite useful. Whenever I took trains or cable cars, I did not worry about my kids' fares.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Don't need to buy a ticket to walk around windmills of Kinderdijk
I have visited Kinderdijk three times so far to see dutch windmills. Whenever I have visited there, I have purchased tickets to enter the area where windmills are located. There are 18 windmills and only one windmill is still operative.
When I visited there for the first time in 2012, I purchased tickets at the ticket office. I did not experience anything strange there. For second time, when I visited there with my brother-in-law two weeks ago, I purchased tickets online in advance in order to get discounts. After arriving at the site, I showed the print-out tickets at the ticket office. An old man at the ticket office asked me to go to a tourist center which was over a canal in order to get the tickets scanned. It sounded really silly. The ticket office did not have a scanner to read tickets that were purchased online. I asked my brother-in-law's family and my family to stay in front of the ticket office and went to the tourist center to get the tickets scanned. At the tourist center, an old lady asked to watch a video at the center. In order to watch the video regarding the dutch windmills, I had to go to the ticket office to bring my families to the tourist center. It was really troublesome. I gave up watching the video and returned to the ticket office. I told the old man that I had my tickets scanned and he just let us in the area where the dutch windmills were without ensuring the tickets were scanned. It looked strange. Anyway, we took some pictures and my kids rode bikes there.
A week later, I went there again with my brother's family. This time I did not purchase tickets online in advance in order not to commute between the ticket office and the tourist center. In addition, my brother and his kid did not like to watch a documentary film. Thus, I purchased tickets at the ticket office and entered the windmills area. Again we took some pictures there. This time, we got into a windmill that was operating with the tickets and had an opportunity to see inside of the windmill. After seeing inside of the windmill, I thought that the ticket might be to get into the windmill, not enter the area of windmills. When we returned to the ticket office to move to somewhere, I heard from other tourists that they did not need buy tickets to walk around in the area of windmills and the tickets were to get into the windmill that is still operative. I felt like being betrayed. The website for the windmills of Kinderdijk (www.kinderdijk.com) says that tourists should buy tickets in order to enter the area where 18 windmills are.
When I visited there for the first time in 2012, I purchased tickets at the ticket office. I did not experience anything strange there. For second time, when I visited there with my brother-in-law two weeks ago, I purchased tickets online in advance in order to get discounts. After arriving at the site, I showed the print-out tickets at the ticket office. An old man at the ticket office asked me to go to a tourist center which was over a canal in order to get the tickets scanned. It sounded really silly. The ticket office did not have a scanner to read tickets that were purchased online. I asked my brother-in-law's family and my family to stay in front of the ticket office and went to the tourist center to get the tickets scanned. At the tourist center, an old lady asked to watch a video at the center. In order to watch the video regarding the dutch windmills, I had to go to the ticket office to bring my families to the tourist center. It was really troublesome. I gave up watching the video and returned to the ticket office. I told the old man that I had my tickets scanned and he just let us in the area where the dutch windmills were without ensuring the tickets were scanned. It looked strange. Anyway, we took some pictures and my kids rode bikes there.
A week later, I went there again with my brother's family. This time I did not purchase tickets online in advance in order not to commute between the ticket office and the tourist center. In addition, my brother and his kid did not like to watch a documentary film. Thus, I purchased tickets at the ticket office and entered the windmills area. Again we took some pictures there. This time, we got into a windmill that was operating with the tickets and had an opportunity to see inside of the windmill. After seeing inside of the windmill, I thought that the ticket might be to get into the windmill, not enter the area of windmills. When we returned to the ticket office to move to somewhere, I heard from other tourists that they did not need buy tickets to walk around in the area of windmills and the tickets were to get into the windmill that is still operative. I felt like being betrayed. The website for the windmills of Kinderdijk (www.kinderdijk.com) says that tourists should buy tickets in order to enter the area where 18 windmills are.
Paris Museum Pass vs Individual tickets purchased online
Unlike my brother-in-law's family, my brother's family did not want to buy Paris Museum Passes, claiming that they wanted to visit only Musée d'Orsay, Musée de l'Orangerie, and Palace of Versailles. When comparing the price of a two-day Paris Museum Pass (39 euro) and those of individual tickets for the three attractions (34 euro = 18 euro + 16 euro), they were right. Thus, when I tried to purchase two tickets of combination of Musée d'Orsay and Musée de l'Orangerie online on behalf of them, it was a little bit different from it was known. Each combination ticket was supposed to cost 16 euro. However, if we purchased it online, we had to pay a processing fee of 1.6 euro as an extra cost. Well, it could be understandable because this was French way. Another surprising thing is that even if I purchased the tickets online, the website did not give me the tickets that can be used in museums. In other words, I had to visit a third place, not museums, to get real tickets. My brother and I had to visit Auchan, a French supermarket, to get the purchased tickets in the morning. The supermarket was supposed to open at 08:30 a.m. However, it opened at 09:00 a.m. An employee in charge of tickets for museums and other events did not know how to operate the computerized system to print out my tickets. She made a call to somewhere to operate the system. When I got the tickets, it was almost 10:00 a.m. Why do we buy tickets online? It is to avoid a long queue to buy tickets in front of a museum. I wasted 1.5 hours to get my tickets that I purchased online even though I paid 1.6 euro processing fee. If I had purchased the tickets in front of museum, I could have saved time and money. I guess that this system is to make tourists buy Paris Museum Passes.
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