I'm Back - Just want to share this with you - Shore Excursion Port Guides and It is FREE!

well, it been a crazy summer and I still haven't finished my trip planning to Euro.

Thanks to internet, I saved lots of money and got lots of good tips on hotel booking and redeemption of air tickets etc.

Today, I found this webiste on qyer.com, and I am so touched because it is FREE!

Thanks toTom for writing these guides for cruisers, hope my readers will also be benefited from Tom's guides.

http://www.tomsportguides.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TomsPortGuides  his facebook page also has lots of updates on the ports.

[Travel With Monkeys] Recommendation for a Useful Blog about Amex FHR - 推薦介紹美國運通白金卡FHR酒店的一個網頁

自從申請了Amex Platinum美國運通白金卡後，就開始看卡帶的優惠。
其中一項就是FHR - Fine Hotel and Resort 的 預定。是特別為Amex用戶推出的高級酒店預訂。

以下引用自3798 網頁的介紹：

Fine Hotels and Resorts：简称FHR，是针对白金卡及黑卡持有者专门定制的酒店预订项目，共有600多家全球的合约酒店，基本都是当地顶级的，价钱通常和酒店官网最低灵活价一样，但附送以下权益：入住时视情况享受房间升级（通常为一级）、免费双人大陆早餐（但不少酒店提供自助早餐或全早餐）、保证4pm退房、如有空房12pm入住、和一项每家酒店特有的赠品（如100美元水疗抵用券、100美元餐饮券、100美元酒店credit、双人晚餐、或双人按摩疗程等等）。除此之外，不少酒店还参与住三送一甚至住二送一的优惠活动。此活动非常划算。仅以我在拉斯维加斯的例子来说。我用FHR住过一晚AAA五钻的The Palazzo，是著名的威尼斯人的姐妹酒店，装修比威尼斯人更新，是一家全套房酒店，基础房型Luxury Suite去年暑假最低价199美元，我用FHR预定升级到了Luxury View Suite（正常购买＋40美元），双人早餐是40美元的credit，还赠送100美元的餐饮券，所以住一晚，不算升级的价值，仅餐饮一项就抵消了140刀。59美元入住五星级酒店不再是梦！此外，我还 住过一晚四季酒店，当时最低房价是179美元，赠送早餐52美元的credit，以及一顿正餐（不超过85美元）。相当于42美元入住。

因為12月要去拉斯維加斯Vegas過聖誕，我就一直在網上尋找比價網頁，想用優惠的價格，定個高級的酒店。但是從來沒有用過FHR，一看覺得她就是原價，可是細比，就會發現雖然是付了原價，但是往往會提供房間升級，美金$100的餐飲或Spa credit！還有快速ck in/ck out 服務！去過Vegas的就知道酒店都有多忙，每次浪費不少時間。。

通過google，搜索出www.FHRNEWS.com 這個網頁。這裡詳細介紹了主人Tom搜索的各種FHR優惠和資訊，讓大家可以更清楚的享受Amex提供的福利。 每個星期他都會發newsletter給大家最新的資訊，這樣就不用自己每天都上網看FHR推出的優惠了！

在這裡推薦給大家咯！

[Travel With Monkeys] Amex Platinum Card 美國運通白金卡

昨天回到家,看到門口郵箱塞了個超大的包裹,心想是買了什麼不記得了嗎?

打開一看,原來是AMEX寄來的卡. 週六申請,週三就收到,這個速度太快了!

盒子裡裝著黑色皮包裝的會員資訊.包括各項權利的介紹,當然還有那張白金卡!

$699的年費,真的不是很捨得.不過念在是我的生日快到了,需要獎勵一下自己! 而且今年還有3次旅遊,這張卡帶來的福利以及60,000+15,000 的點數獎勵,就值得一試了.

可是呢,自己申請的時候貪得意, 名字改成英文名,等我收到的時候看見,才想起這會帶來很多麻煩. 打給Amex, 說可以填張表改名字.不過這一來一回,起碼得2-3個星期..所以呢,我就先用英文名字,申請priority pass 用着先吧.月底要去San Francisco 舊金山, 可以體驗一下溫哥華和舊金山的休息室了!

不過還是要大贊一下Amex的客服, 每次打完我都覺得很開心,給的年費非常值得.第一,接通電話不超過30秒! 第二,他們很有禮貌,速度飛快的幫你解決所有問題.

因為我提了下月底就要搭飛機,需要用到PP,問可不可以加急,客服馬上說沒問題,並在第二個工作日給我回電話通知我具體能收到的時間.而且免了我加急的費用! 聽到免費加急,對Amex的好感又增加多點了..

這張卡還有很多會員福利,有待我慢慢研究再跟大家分享吧!

How to become a responsible blogger? 如何做個負責的部落客？

最近在研究加拿大的信用卡，在加拿大10多年，因爲多年前不小心申請了一張president choice 信用卡導致我信用分被惡意的降低后，我就很久沒有申請過信用卡了。 去年，正好cga協會發郵件，申請amex rewards gold有一個member only 的優惠，只要99年費。比普通的便宜了50.看了下條款，覺得附加的benefit 蠻多的，就申請了。用了一年多，是我最滿意的信用卡!沒有之一！ 昨天申請了amex platinum后，覺得有必要把手上的visa and mastercard做個洗牌。換上有獎勵的信用卡。在國外和國内多個網站做了仔細的研究后，我決定申請TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card. 

看中的就是下面幾項： Air Canada® benefits5 - when travelling using an Aeroplan Flight Reward redeemed with miles from your Aeroplan account on flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada rouge® or under the Air Canada express® banner, such as: Complimentary first checked bag5 - 一件免費托運行李 Priority check-in and priority boarding5 - 優先辦理登記手續和登機 One annual One-Time Guest Access Benefit5 to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge™ - 每年一張加航楓葉貴賓休息室的通行證。 真的我是看了不少部落格推薦這張信用卡。大力鼓吹他們多好！可是多少人真正用了呢？無非就是人云亦云！ 如果不仔細閲讀條款的附屬説明，根本不知道原來是以下這樣的： All Air Canada benefits are fulfilled by Air Canada, or its designated affiliates or other third parties, and are subject to change at any time without notice. The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its affiliates are not responsible for fulfilling these benefits. For more details about these benefits, please contact Air Canada directly. Air Canada Benefit Eligibility – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge One-Time Guest Access Benefit: With the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, the Primary Cardholder will receive one Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge One-Time Guest Access Benefit once every calendar year (January 1- December 31). The Primary Cardholder may access an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, where available, upon presentation of an active TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card with a valid, same-day boarding pass for travel using an Aeroplan flight reward, only, on a flight operated by Air Canada, Air Canada rouge or under the Air Canada express banner. To access this benefit, thePrimary Cardholder must redeem their Aeroplan flight reward (defined as a ClassicFlight® or Market Fare Flight RewardsTM) with miles from their Aeroplan account. Each Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge One-Time Guest Access Benefit applies for a single entry during the calendar year for which it was provided by the Primary Cardholder only and cannot be carried forward to the next calendar year or transferred to another person. Additional conditions apply and are outlined on aircanada/tdbenefits. Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge access is subject to availability and all other then-current terms and conditions located here [http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/airport/maplelounges/tc.html] that are subject to change at Air Canada’s sole discretion from time to time. Please allow two weeks from receiving your Card for these Air Canada benefits to be in effect. Air Canada Benefit Eligibility – Priority Travel Services: With the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, Air Canada benefits (the complimentary first checked bag, priority check-in and priority boarding) apply whenever the Primary Cardholder travels using an Aeroplan flight reward, only, on a flight operated by Air Canada, Air Canada rouge or under the Air Canada Express banner.Flights operated by other airlines are not eligible. To access these benefits, the Primary Cardholder must redeem their Aeroplan flight reward (defined as a ClassicFlight or Market Fare Flight Reward) with Miles from their Aeroplan Account. To access these benefits, the Primary Cardholder must also ensure that the name on the Air Canada flight booking is identical to the name on the Aeroplan Account profile of the traveller. Where zonal boarding is available, the priority boarding status will be recognized by a Zone 2 descriptor for the Primary Cardholder and companions travelling on the same reservation, which will be displayed on the Air Canada issued boarding pass. Priority check-in may also be extended to companions travelling on the same reservation as the Primary Cardholder. To access priority check-in and priority boarding, the Primary Cardholder may be required to show their TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card to the Air Canada agent. Please allow two weeks from receiving your Card for these Air Canada benefits to be activated. The complimentary first checked bag, up to 23 kg (50 lb.), applies whenever the Primary Cardholder travels using an Aeroplan Flight Reward only, on a flight operated by Air Canada, Air Canada rouge or under the Air Canada Express banner. Flights operated by other airlines are not eligible. To access this benefit, the Primary Cardholder must redeem their Aeroplan Flight Reward (defined as a ClassicFlight or Market Fare Flight Reward) with Miles from their Aeroplan Account. To access these benefits, the Primary Cardholder must also ensure that the name on the Air Canada flight booking is identical to the name on the Aeroplan Account profile of the traveller. The complimentary first checked bag applies solely to the Primary Cardholder, and service charges for additional/oversized/overweight baggage may apply. To access this benefit, the Primary Cardholder may be required to show their TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card to the Air Canada agent. Please allow two (2) weeks from receiving your Card for these Air Canada benefits to be activated.

紅字部分説明了，必須是信用卡主卡才能享受這些優惠，而且必須是用自己的賬戶兌換市場价的獎勵機票！這代表，購買普通的機票是不能享受以上優惠的。

可是啊，基本所有的部落格都沒有仔細説明這一點，不但銀行很欺騙顧客，就連博主都沒有對他們的粉絲負責！

這讓我需要反思一下，究竟寫部落格的初衷是什麽？我要如何寫一篇文能夠讓粉絲收益？

[Eat With Monkeys] 夏威夷美食

之前开博，就是想分享吃喝玩乐给大家。我跟C6就是在温哥华的一个food lover meet up group认识的。知道他是个吃货后，我就痴心的跟着他了。然后要留住一个女人，不一定要大大的钻戒！对于我这个吃货，每天给我买好吃的，就是最好的办法！

代价嘛。。。就是胖了30磅+继续增长中。。。

今天看看最近发的，居然没有一个是吃的！太让大家失望了吧。。

那么这个就给大家看看夏威夷的美食！图片有点混乱，大家不要见怪。

图中可见，都不是夏威夷的传统美食。但是图2-9，是茂宜岛大家都推荐的mama's fish house..

味道嘛。还可以。甜品比较有特色！但是真心不值 $200+美金的消费！具体的等我回头一个个贴图介绍！

[Shop with Monkeys] Amex Platinum Card 美国运通白金卡

冲动是魔鬼！今天天气比较热，在朋友那bbq一个下午，回家后头脑发热的想要申请多一张旅游信用卡。

手上的amex gold居然不包括travel cancellation。这对于我们经常因为工作需要取消行程很不方便。比较了几张信用卡后，都没有合心意的。一直以来最符合我要求的，还是amex这张白金卡。

可是考虑到在加拿大，接受amex的地方实在不多。特别是我们经常去一些小店吃饭，更加不可能。所以今天申请了TD的Aeroplan Visa Infinite。看中的就是第一年免年费，外加25000的AP。结果啊！讨厌的TD，居然要review application.不能马上make decision. 真不知道他们对于信用分有什么标准！

也许因为我之前开了他家账号从来没有用过？对于一个隐瞒开户优惠catch的银行，我真心不想跟他们打交道。。最后居然屈服于小小的FYF和AP 优惠。。失策！

结果呢，就是脑子发胀，接受不了这么残酷的现实。登陆自己的amex账号，做了个self-referral。就是推荐自己有15000（成功申请后）外加60000的Amex Rewards.

其实值不值得？这个见仁见智了。。今年正好还有至少3次出行。也算是699买个经验了。

如果你对这张卡有兴趣，可以麻烦你点下面的链接，多10000点bonus points，也帮我赚一点点积分。感谢！

Amex Platinum

[Travel With Monkeys] American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Bonus to Avios (Amex 積分獎勵- 兌換Avios/BA 里程）

今天超級開心的，TGIF！ 在flyertalk論壇上面看到美國運通Amex的積分兌換Avios/BA 里程有25%的獎勵！鏈接如下Flyertalk！

正好可以用最低分加現金購買去巴塞羅那的單程機票了！希望去歐洲的夢想今年能夠實現！（哎， 猴子們已經迫不及待的付了郵輪的押金啦！）

申請Amex信用卡的鏈接如下- 麻煩大家要申請可以用我的鏈接，幫我賺點積分吧！

Apply For AMEX

Work with Monkeys - CPA in Canada

Just read this on the linkedin CPA group. A member post the following discussion:

CFE leave for CPA Students working in Industry

Hi All. I wanted to get some feedback on this topic. I was just talking to the CPA student in our office, and we discussed that it is common knowledge that CPA students in public practice are tying up loose ends before taking the summer off to study for the CFE. For industry students under the legacy programs there was no such thing as a summer off to study PA1 or 2 without burning up vacation time. Are there Industry managers out there dealing with how they are going to handle their CPA students asking for equal time to public practice students to study for the upcoming CFE's? I'm feeling pretty bad for the Industry CPA students.

ref: https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/6744553-6016343509399859203

No offence, but this is so HILARIOUS 

1. Is this a Joke? Are there Industry managers out there dealing with how they are going to handle their CPA students asking for equal time to public practice students to study for the upcoming CFE's?

2. I need sympathic too! I'm feeling pretty bad for the Industry CPA students.

A. It is industry standard in Public practise that not ALL public practise firms give bank hours and over time pay for students during tax seasons! Therefore, the 2 days day off for CPA exams are kind of compensations for the busy season overtime, and it is much less than the time we worked!

B. No one in public practise ever have a easy day like only work 2 hours then chat with co-workers for 7 hours! We cant' even day dreaming! Every minute counts towards our work days and have to bill 7.5 hours! If not, what happened? With so many competitions out there, how dare you do it?!

C. Why there is a standard that Industry never want to hire a candidate from public practise? We worked our ass off and never compliant and asked for more ---> Look at the above discussion as comparison! We worked more, have more knowledge and competencies in all area than single industry candidate. So don't judge our experience by our public practice experience! 

看得泪流满面，生活中那些苦难与这个比起来真不算什么，停止抱怨吧！

Watched this, I am so touched and encouraged. I should stop complaining so much.

Travel With Monkeys - AwardWallet

Thanks to Miles Worker, I got the AwardWallet upgrade code from their website.

Can't believe I have never researched for any programs like this to manage my points. This is so convenience to monitor all rewards programs in one place with expiration date!

Now I am gonna spend my whole day (hopefully just few hours) to add all our membership numbers..

If you are interested in upgrade your account, feel free to use the referral link below.

Award Wallet Referral Link

Free upgrade coupon: free-rbemkz

10 coupons available as of the 16th June.

Enjoy!

[ TravelWithMonkeys ] Maui - Snorkeling at Kaanapali Beach

Shop with Monkeys - Credit Card

still organizing my photos, so just write something simple!

Highly recommend AMEX to everyone, and to the reader in USA, you guys are so lucky! Lower annual fees and more rewards!

APPLY AMEX

Although AMEX in Canada is not widely accepted, especially they have been removed from Costco shopping, I am still recommend this card over Visa and Master Cards.

1. The customer service is excellent !
2. Easy to read monthly statements
3. More flexible on points - redeem for hotels, air tickets or aeroplan/avios points
4. Best part - as a CPA member, my supplemental card is free (vs $50) finally feel my dues are worthy!

There are lots of reviews and comparisons for Canadian credit cards, but in generally, this AMEX is easy to apply and more coverage/benefits for my daily use.

Below are some bonus points for first time applicant!

Earn our highest Gold Rewards Card points offer of 25,000 Bonus Membership Rewards points through this referral offer when you charge $500 in purchases to your Card in the first 3 months of Cardmembership⁵ –enough for a round trip flight almost anywhere in North America.⁶ Offer subject to change at any time. Plus you pay no annual fee for the first year.

Go To AMEX Site

Travel with Monkeys - Honolulu (Oahu) - Day 1

今天先用中文写吧。

tax season结束，终于可以享受一下假期了。这次本来只是去Maui 茂宜岛的，可是老公妹夫建议我们先去Honolulu 逛逛街，就傻傻的定了YVR - Honolulu & Maui - YVR的单程机票！

这个决定显然是很不明智的！虽然省去岛间再飞一次的时间，其实并没有省很多！什么逛街嘛， 美金一直在高涨，我们的加币明显不够用！实在没有兴致给多30%在美国消费。

连DFS 去了都买不了（因为买了也是要给税的）想到本来可以省个税，现在要给多即使5%的税, 也就没有去逛的闲情了。

当时定机票的时候在2月最忙的时候，看到westjet的特价机票，没怎么想就定下来了。当时忘记考虑时差的问题，以为夏威夷比温哥华快！结果定了礼拜五下午飞,晚上9点半到。单程加币$226/人。 这个选择十分错误，因为C6喜欢一早到机场，结果我要3点就下班陪他一起去！而且到了后又要取车，耽误不少时间。等到了酒店，就是10点多了。选择酒店也是个错误，这些错误的遗憾留到下次再改善吧。

所以第一天，就是晚上10点多到酒店，随便吃点就睡了！

这里提出几点建议：

1. 定机票一定要留意飞机带的娱乐设施！5个多小时飞机，westjet居然没有小屏幕可以看，要花$5 USD 租个tab 看电影！ 早知道背上ipad了。 C6还背了2个电脑，我们也没想到下载点电影。

2. 不要为了省钱定便宜机票。其实加航没有贵很多，这2间公司经常一前一后的推特价！起码坐加航可以积累点aeroplan 点数！

3. 还是住waikiki 吧！当时考虑到价钱，还有环境，选择住Ramada Plaza Waikiki, 其实离了20分钟路程。开车出去找停车也不方便。waikiki 跟vegas 很像，越中心越热闹，吃的多！！每个街口都是ABC store，东西也很便宜！下次带父母去，我一定会选择waikiki 上的酒店了！

4. 选择白天的时候到吧！ 下飞机就看到美丽的景色，会开心很多！这是第一次到外地是晚上，还是工作了一天以后。真是看到黑天黑地的，十分压抑！

5. 租车！ 谁说出门坐bus的！有钱就打的！不要为了省钱什么的浪费美好的时间等公车！ 虽然很便利，但是去远点的地方（包括diamond head) 还是建议开车去！光是走上去就已经累死我啦！这次租车是在costcotravel 租的avis. 只是提前2个星期定的。没想到只要$70美金3天。真是很划算。当时还给我们选择加$10/天 升级到敞篷，结果C6 说没必要。大家可以试试取车的时候再要求升级。价钱似乎便宜不少！

6. 至少5天吧。我们喜欢走马观花的，不按行程走。这样比较休闲不会太大压力。这次只有3晚2天半时间，最远去到 diamond head 而已，又是一个再回去的借口！

Cruise - Last Minute Deal - Alaska 7 Nights $449 only! (阿拉斯加7晚只要$449美金！）

wow! what a deal. only $449 for outside! Although I have not compare this price to the historical prices, and I have never research for the Alaska cruise, I still believe this is a great deal for last minute escape!

Unfortunately, I don't think I could take any more vacation before September.

在上网找秋天的东地中海邮轮，无意中看到7月1号加拿大日去阿拉斯加居然只要$449美金海景房（就是窗口不能打开）！
7个晚上平均不到$90/晚每人，包括吃住。还真是很便宜呢！
可惜我刚放假回来，估计9月前都不可能再拿到长假了！

Multi-blogs

I am still learning how to use the blogger and add users. However, I have no idea how to add users to my original blog - lovethemonkeyspot.blogger.com. So I have decided to move all posts to my old blog. It might be confused for first few blogs, I will try to write as little as possible. 

Brainstorming -准备事项

So many ideas that I want to put into my blog, but it really takes time to learn how to create and design the blog. I haven't been created website and wrote blogs over 10 years. Ever since there are wechat and weibo, I am just getting more and more lazy.

Ok, I really need to go to bed and get up early to finish my work (before get to the office)

Here are some of my ideas - just in case I forgot tomorrow:

1. Food blog - I have been thinking about writing food/restaurant reviews for decades! As a food lover, same as C6, we want to share all our experience and favorite dishes to everyone. So this is our main focus for this blog!

2. Travel reviews/tips - I used TripAdvisor a lot to on hotel and attractions reviews, and am a contributor of several reviews. So why not share in my blog as well?

3. Saving tips - to be honest, both C6 and I are high rollers on food. We spent all our money on restaurants, but I do love finding good deals, even just to save a penny. So, I will share my findings here.

4. Cooking recipes - I really enjoy cooking, but don't like to clean up. Ever since I moved in with C6, I haven't cook delicious dishes for a while. I really need a dishwasher to clean up my mess. But, given I have more time than before, I should start cooking more for the family and save more money for our trips!

5. to be continued

我的小学生级别英语应该很通俗易懂（看不懂的请原谅我的语法）从来都是语法超级烂的！再不睡觉就起不来上班了。狮子座的人是不是都是想做一件事情巴不得马上做好！（工作除外）。我希望通过blog记录一下平常的吃喝玩乐，分享给大家，所以列出几个重要事项提醒自己。通常我睡醒就不记得自己前一晚有多么的热血了！最近工作比较少跟同事说话，请原谅我比较话痨了！

About The Monkeys

The first picture was taken in Vegas on top of the Linq in July 2014. It's the first time we brought all monkeys to travel! （from the left, GG, 3G, Bibi and DD) And after the trip, C6 got 2Gor (the 2nd pictures) back from his 5 years old niece, added 5th Monkey to the family. So during our trip to Hawaii this year, I have to put all 5 monkeys into my backpack!

We really love those monkeys and think each of them has different characters! And we hope to use our Monkeys to show you guys the restaurants, food, sight seeing, good deals tips in Vancouver, Canada, as well as our travels.

Since English is my second language, please bare with me for my gammas. I will ask C6 to input more English when he has time to contribute to our blog! And we look forward to introduce more about us and our Monkey family!


为了吸引更多人的眼球，所以只好中英文一起发了。当然说回自己的母语，必须打多点的！ （其实是英文不好，想说多点也写不出来。）

首先介绍一下我们的猴子家庭吧，其实我跟C6都不是属猴的呢，也不姓候啊！但是自从他的侄子有一只小猴子后，C6突然疯狂的买了一只又一只！左边照片是4只 ，右边这个叫2Gor，其实是第三个加入猴子家庭的，可惜后来被侄女夺走了！（也幸运的一直都保持非常干净！） 我们觉得这些猴子做的非常逼真，每次看他们眼睛的时候都觉得有灵魂的，而且每个猴子感觉都有不同的性格。 

所以我们（其实就是我）希望，可以用这些猴子代替我们，为大家介绍加拿大-温哥华的美食，美景，好康！也会不定时的发我们的游记（希望越来越多吧）。

猴子妈每天对着一堆数字，天生语文不好(英文也不好），请大家多多包含，觉得我废话多了就跳着看吧！

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