Free internet access???

The stupid hotel did not have my booking, and therefore had no room for me. So, I had to come back "later" for a room. Finally i got a room, a nice room- top floor... yeah!!).Alright, it is a disabled person room with no bath tub, no minibar, no drinking water. Fine. Then i realised that the ironing board did not work, one of the light bulbs was not working, and that made the room dim and difficult for me to do my work, except when I sit at the table. No reading on sofa, or bed. Nvm.. the best thing was the water began to flow out of the shower because the bloody drain hole was choked, despite the low water pressure (that was another annoyance, it took me a long time to shower!). I called the housekeeping many times, but did not even get through. the reception then asked me to call later. I did as instructed and some dim wit told me that it is too late already. Maintenance & housekeeping no longer operate, why didn't I call earlier???!!!

I then asked about my internet access, only to have them tell me that my room has no access. I can use the business centre, go to the lounge on 2nd floor(which was full) or pay for the wired broadband! I was going to scream! My boss booked this hotel because she thought that will give me free internet access, in my room! Doesn't this sounds free?

"Complimentary High Speed Internet Access
Benefit from complimentary high-speed Internet access during your stay at The Xurlington Hotel. Wired broadband access is available in every bedroom and wireless access is available to guests using public areas including the lobby and business centre "

Then the smart aleck offered me a solution, asked me to change rooms. Bloody idiot, changed me to a lousy room, and internet access worked for a while. Then, it all stopped. I feel so cheated. I feel like this was revenge for my complaints. Now I sit at the executive lounge, because they give me a "nice room" (which has many broken things, including a shaky table). I will get all my water supply from this lounge, since this stupid hotel charge so much for a bottle of distilled water from the minibar, since for some unknown reasons, I started to have diarrhoea a few hours after I boiled some water with old looking kettle and drank it... Hotels in Europe and US often irritate me. May be I am too demanding, but they really suck compared to Asian hotels. Forget about sending people here to train for hospitality management. Asian countries can start offering courses about how to give good services to these block heads.

Hong Kong 2007 July

The "Central"- totally colonised by Filipino maids on a Sunday!


The world's longest escalator, at central. It brings you to mid levels, and to the Tai Cheong bakery for yummy egg tarts... and loads of other good food!
This building looks really interesting, and I wonder if it is a mafia den. Hahaha too imaginative.
Apparently, the wan tan mee store next to it is really really good. Photo taken to remind myself to try the Wan tan mee. With such an eye catching neighbour, it is impossible to miss when you take the mid levels escalator.
The skyline....
Hui Lau Shan- the place for mango desserts, and bird nest too!

Do it like a European - Adult rated- kids go away

Since I am now an old woman (birthday coming again- soon...woah!!!), I think I am entitled to post rude things on my blog. Why not? I am old enough to be your grandma soon!

of all the information about Europe which flashed in front of my eyes, this one caught my eyes in Brussels. And I am sure I am not the only one who liked it, since they sold out the post card sizes ones! Buying the big poster back just won't do! Imagine my colleagues ask me - what is it, show us! ...

Unfortunately the poster do not turn up that well in my blog. you can see a clearer image at http://www.paulhitz.com/college/european.html

This world do have thieves- and the travel insurance was useless

I was not feeling very well that day, but decided to go for a walk anyway. I did not have much choices- since I have already checked out of the hotel. Somehow, I felt that I better split my wallet into 2. I think that if you feel not well or look tired, thieves will spot you from a mile! These were sharks after your blood!

I think I must have lost my small wallet within 1-2 hours of leaving the hotel most-likely while taking the tube or while I went to the toilet. No one else had been in contact or near me. I was walking around in the park opposite the palace and at the Royale square. I called hubby immediately. Luckily it was a relatively small "loss". Imagine if my real wallet was taken! Just a couple of credit cards, my name cards some cash and the metro ticket. The leather wallet was probably the most expensive thing. Tried to walk around following the "politie" sign, which are obvious in all tourist areas, but the signs seemed to lead me nowhere. So, I gave up and rested in at the small park at Sablon square-wasnt feeling well again, but did not dare to let my guard down.

At last, found a police station at the Midi station- the eurostar terminal. There was a big group of Thai students. Someone lost a laptop, and a policeman was busy telling them the do's and don't in Brussels. Apparently, at least 10 laptops will be reported lost each day, on average, just in that station alone! The thieves are really efficient and employ many tactics to get hold of these things. The group of kids were going "wow", as they were told not to answer anyone who ask them questions, not to stop or look at interesting things, like people fighting, quarelling etc etc etc etc...

Then, my turn to file the report. Both the policeman and I agreed that I was quite "lucky" in that sense- could have lost more. Brussels have lots of problems with petty crimes in the past couple of years. I was asked to recall what I did between when i last use the wallet and when i found it missing. It narrowed now to two suspects- the pregnant woman with 2 kids- 1 in a pram who needed more "space" as she squeezed past me when i got out of the toilet at the metro station, and the woman sitting next to me at the metro. Those were the only two places where someone could have been near me. The police man was quite sure it was the pregnant woman! Pregnant woman with pram and kids are frequently the culprits!!! Wow!!! He reminded me to claim back from my travel insurance...

My moods were lifted.. but when I return home, and read the "schedule"... TMD... full of "excess" conditions! cash-£50, travel documents £50, purse/wallet £50... blah blah blah.. every single item has at least £50 excess. Grrrrr..... This travel insurance from the company have not given me a single compensation yet- whether it is my flight delay (it did not qualify, as this package only give you £20 for every 12 hour of delay) of lost of stuff. From the terms and condition, my biggest hope is when I am dead, where I will receive £10,000 or when I permanently lose all my limbs £20,000. I am starting to think that this insurance package is an insult to my value as an individual. Am I so worthless??? After these incidences, I think we should all go back and read about how our value to the company should we die while traveling, and then decide whether we need a separate travel insurance!

Brussels- more than just sprouts

Brussels is a pleasantly small but interesting city. If you only have 1/2 hour, you just need to go to Grand Place, and take a dash to see the pissing boy. That is all you need to see to take in the city.

For a start, this is a very very multicultural city.... there is a wide variety of good food.

Food to try: Chocolates!!!! Belgian waffles, traditional belgian food, Belgian beer, French food (apparently, the standards here are really high!), seafood!

But if you have more time, then you could go to one of those touristy alleys teeming with seafood restaurants. Yes, these are tourist traps, but they make severely seafood deprived Londoners happy, especially when there is someone else to pick up the bill. Every shop essentially have the same menu. The Brusselians (is this how you call them??) tell me that there are only two good restaurants in that alley... so you have to choose your restaurant carefully, and go where the locals go!

For some authentic Belgian food, hit the In't Spinnekopke-which means spider's web at 1, Place du Jardin aux Fleurs-1000Bruxelles ( www.spinnekopke.be). You really must make a reservation for this one! There were still huge queues when we left at about 10 pm. The menu was literally huge and in French! However, the waiters speak good english, and you basically have 4 choices if you want something authentically belgian. Chicken, beef, or salmon cooked in creamy sauce, or just mussels in white wine! All are really good! Of course, you have to take these with one of those Belgian beer. They dont call brussels beer city for nothing. This is a beer city, and the stench of urine which greets you at some Metro stations will confirm that is indeed an alcoholic city.

However, my most satisfying meal was at a Chinese la mien restaurant! It was an accidental find. I just say this pregnant woman doing her la mien at a glass window, and i thought she looked really serious, although not too experienced. The la mien did not disappoint me. Really good! Yummy! The soup was really tasty, and i could taste beef stock in it. I finished every drop of it, but did not get any Chinese restaurant syndrome. That was a miracle for someone who is so sensitive to msg! I will usually start to flush and feel nauseous after just a few mouthfuls of soups when eating out. The duck meat turn out really good too, although i was disappointed that it was fried, not roasted. The name of the restaurant is Au Bon Bol, at 9 rue pau devauxstraat, at a street opposite the La Bourse. I was really impressed with these chinese women who spoke excellent French, English, and yes, you can still tell the distinct china accent in their mandarin!


Food pictures to come soon. And by the way, I actually bought souvenirs and presents- and finished spending all my money on my first day here!

The path traveled...

As a traveler in life..


I have been to:
Austria-Vienna (including Vienna Woods), Wachau Valley, Melk
Belgium-Brussels Oct 2007
Denmark-Copenhagen
Hong Kong
Ireland-Dublin
Japan- Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Osaka
Malaysia-Only the west coast!
Netherlands-Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Einhoven
Singapore
Thailand-Bangkok, Ayuthya
UK-except Ireland
US- Washington DC, New York City, Philadelphia

Going soon....

Rome?

I want to go to.......soon..
Switzerland
France
Italy
Greece

UK Hit List
England-London, Oxford, Bath, Bristol
Wales- Cardiff, Breacon Beacons, Rossili Bay
Scotland-Glasgow, Edinburgh, Isles of Skyes, Fort William, Eilean Donan Castle

Waltz & Vienna

Time flies. Tomorrow I will fly to Vienna. I glorious week.
What a shame I am going unprepared.

I just hope to

• eat some good pastry, and enjoy the cafes-done- many times!
  
• get some Strauss therapy. Nope, not a fan of Mozart. Tickets which I see are all so pricey!Hope that I can get some cheap tickets. Any tips???-nope cheap tickets :(
  
• Check out the Vienna Woods- done!!!
  
• Check out the Blue Danube-Yes!
  

Netherlands April 2007

The photos were taken in Keukenhof Gardens.
That place is a MUST go in spring. The entrance fees is about 13Euro. If you can cycle, you might want to get a package of bicycle rental + entrance ticket for about 20 Euro. That will allow you to visit the tulip fields around the garden. That was my BIGGEST regret. I will do it again one of these springs :). That was my best holiday since I came to London. Totally breath taking, and I finally understood why everyone wanted to visit Europe in April. Timing is everything. A few days make a lot of difference to the state of the blooms.

Here were the photos in our quest for the tulip blooms-2007 Easter weekend.

The "perfect tulip".... (according to hubby)
The flower beds...
The cherry blossoms + tulips = BEAUTIFUL


The windmill, where I climbed up (and refused to come down) to check out the tulip fields outside the garden.....

The tulip fields....

A month of travel

The last two months have been busy-business trips and also my holidays.

The Doha transit was a "first" for me :) and the experience was like...hmmm hard to describe. The plane had good leg room, but the food sucks. Well can't complain much when it is so cheap.

The London Doha leg wasn't that bad, not that many "locals".The terrorist attacks started the day we left. So, security was very tight, and the queue was snaking so long that I could not see the end. We were oblivious to what happened, until we got on the plane. I was joking my hubby whether there would be terrorists escaping in our flight. If there were, that would have been difficult to tell if someone is hijacking the plane or not. It was just plain weird that these people all stood up, took open overhead cabins, and take off their things when the plane was still moving pretty fast on the ground. The air stewardess tried to get them to sit and tie their seat belt, but it wouldnt work! hahah... they just ignored her and get on with getting their luggages out etc... faint. Not only that, they people would also happily chat loudly. I have never been in a plane that is so "pasar".

The HK-Doha leg was terrible. We queued so long just to check in. It was funny what these people try to check in or carry as cabin baggage and how they can argue with the ground staff. Salute!!!- one guy tried to bring in a rubbish bag containing some toys. I managed to watch a few movies this time, and then snozed happily from Doha to London. oh yes, Doha airport had very cheap cosmetics! Better than Changi! However, they only have a few brands like Clarins, Clinique, Lancome, Esteee Lauder etc.

Ban these people from flying!

On my way back from Newark, the mad German woman beside me stood up when the plane was taking off and grabbed her digital camera from the overhead compartment. Apparently, the night view of Manhattan was beautiful enough to risk her life and ours!!

She turned on her huge SLR digital camera to take photos! I was rather horrified, the captain had just announce the usual safety things just minutes ago. I was like, "hey, i don't think you can use a digital equipment when the flight is ascending". She still insisted, pushed me aside (since I had the window seat), and still snapped!!! The idiot used the flash, and of course, she could not capture anything, because of the reflections! She looked at me angrily, screamed "too late", cursed, and said "Bitch!".

Bitch!??? What a bitch!! She should be grounded! How can we have people like that happily flying here and there, and risk the lives of other people? The Americans were so angry with the TB guy, who still flew despite being told that that is a significant risk to others. How about this woman? Who happily did what she wanted, even when it is told that it could interfere with the flight safety?? Is there a fine for a bitch like her?

Home- tired

I am home, after an "exciting" flight. Manhattan night view was beautiful enough to have someone risk the lives of a plane full of people! That selfish woman used a digital equipment when she should not! Ban her from flying!
Photo: Manhattan view from my hotel

I really hope that people like her will be banned from flying!!

That was the exciting part. Other than that, I was so tired, and drugged with dyphenyramine, that I slept soundly until breakfast was served. As I always take low fat meal on flights, I was only given a banana and juice by BA.

If you take a night flight and hope to sleep as soon as you get on board, take any "special meal". That means you get your food first, and then you can go to sleep. Naughty trick, but useful when you really need to sleep. But beware, if you have a b*tch sitting next to you, she may grumble and grumble because you get your food first.

1/2 day in NYC

If I am not uselessly jet lagged, I will have 1/2 day in NYC.

Where should I go/what should I do?

Should I "see" or should I "shop" ?

Theory is proven-Fate like to play play with me

My theory is proven.

There is this perverse "arrangement" which "test & tease" me all the time!

After days of holing up in my hotel room, doing my writings and working in a perfect weather Washington DC, I made my way to the airport. Cursing beneath my breath, "So, this is Washington DC, well at least i know how the famous Arlington Cemetery look like!"

Oh yeah, thanks to my friend's friend getting lost on the way to find "rice", I saw the National Monument and the park, and a glimpse of the Capitol Building roof from the car. That is all!!

Bye bye washington DC!

As the grumpy me walked to the counter to get my boarding pass, a guy gave me a chesire cat grin, and asked me whether I "wish to fly off tomorrow".

I was like, so you read my mind?? Of course??? I haven't seen anything!

My wish was granted.

He explained to me my flight was overbooked, and if I were to be kind enough to give up my seat, I will get a free hotel stay and a pair of free return air tickets for my next flight to Washington DC or another similar US location!!!!

WOooooo hooooooooooooo...I have taken countless flights! This is my moment! The "bump off" deal!

Errr.......no thanks. I got to work tomorrow.

No? Sure? We will give you a free return flight, you choose your US destination, and we will put you in a nice hotel tonight. You can spend another day here. Weather is beautiful.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. NO thanks. Not this time. :((

Really? You can think about it.

Bloody hell. Is he tempting me to quit my job???? That is a good reason!!! Especially when I was coming back to clean up shit. .... but i got to pay rental and the deposit for the new rental flat, and pay for lots and lots of things :(

Sigh........not this time. I have to give a lecture tomorrow. :(

Perverse. Perverse!!! Why does life have to treat me this way????? I had this almost out of body experience: watching myself walking away sadly with my boarding pass, "someone up there" was having a good laugh at me.

Hong Kong- Got the rooms!

I also got the HK hotel rooms booked. I actually booked YMCA through Expedia! It comes up to £34 per night, which is really cheap! The trick of hunting cheap accomodation is try a few websites! yeah, it is hard work, but you could save load. For example, my sister found Standford at 63 USD at www.hoteltravel.com. That is about 30% off the prices of other websites which asks for USD 90+ to even USD 110+!!! However, YMCA is much cheaper in Expedia compared to this website, which asks for USD 77! That is about USD 10 more expensive per night. Asiarooms, my fav for BKK rooms is even much more hopelessly expensive!

Hopefully I can get another 5% cashback through Quidco, and that makes it even a better deal. All travel bugs/shopping queens based in UK should really consider registering at www.quidco.com to get % money back off their shopping and travel expenses.

Haha. This is the first time I try YMCA. I hope that it is as good as the reviews say about it. If not, die!This is the first time I bring my parents on a holiday and I put them up in YMCA- feel like a bum already. Was really tempted to do Nathan/Prudential or even Holiday Inn. However , after calculating and see that the sum differs by 400-500 SGD easily, sis & I decided that the money will be better spent eating, since we will be only sleeping in the rooms. Besides, doing 2 trans Atlantic flights, & 2 flights back to Sg within 2 months means my credit card is beeping & turning AMBER. At the rate I am going, I will hit the max this month! My boss better give me back my conference fee money soon!

HK trip preparation-hotel

Good news- special fireworks display on 1st July to celebrate handover. Woo hoo!!! What a great co-incidence.

Bad news. The hotel of our choice-Stanford Hotel is fully booked! %^&^+?
Got to find another hotel that is:

• -within our budget
• -where you can pop down anytime at night to have supper
• -you get nice "cha chan teng"s at your door step- which serves superb congee & chue cheong fun & yaw char kuay for breakfast!
• -You get another cha chan teng with yummy nai cha & wan tan mee.
• -When you walk down the street in teh mornings, you nose will lead you to bakery which produce yummy luncheon meat "bo lo pau"
• - you walk pass 2 "hui Lau shan" on your way to the MTR!!!!
• - you can shop at the "Ladies market", and bring your things back to hotel; then think you have not bought enough, and return to get more- all within 30 minutes. :)
• If you are hungry or just itchy, just pop down for some "yue dan"(fishball) & stinky tofu!
  

Stanford's size is crap, and life is hell on weekends if they allocate you to a smoking floor. The hotel is populated with weekend visitors from mainland-they are SCARY. Despite all these Stanford probably has the best location. And the price- less than SGD 95 per night leaves you with $$ to eat and shop. Sigh......... Suddenly Stanford seems so good.

If I got $$$$$, i would stay at LMO. Nvm that is can be not so "clean". The service is superb!!! Just remember not to accept a hot drink when you ask for hot water (No kettle in room! They don't expect the guests to lift fingers to put the kettle on! Probably their typical guest wouldn't know how to switch on a kettle). Hot drink, with cookies thrown in cost about SGD 90! That is the most expensive cup of hot chocolate & cookies I had for supper in my life.

What other hotels can fit the bill & replace Stanford??

- where do asparagus come from?**Farm outing** & blue bell valley day

We went to Rectory Farm in Oxford to "pluck" asparagus yesterday morning. May is the British asparagus season, and I wouldnt want to miss the experience. If I did not go yesterday, I would have to wait till next year because all my weekends are gone until mid June (which will be the strawberry season!).

[list of PYO farms in Oxford]

The day started off grey, and MS was somehow delighted, I guess. He hated the sunlight, but I was wondering why are you so worried when you are in a farm? There should be some cover! Wrong!

When we entered the farm and SH pointed out the asparagus plots, my eyes strained to see where the asparagus were! Those looked like bare plots! Nothing there! Rows and rows of brown-greyish land. Where is the asparagus? I finally understood when we got off the car (and given plastic bags to PYO-pick your own).

Asparagus are some kind of sprout- we need to pluck- ie bend it, break it, tear it off and pop it into the plastic bags! The asparagus we saw were nothing like those in the supermarket. Firstly, the colour is purplish, not green. I know why it is green in supermarket- By this morning, some of mine turned greenish. Therefore, green= not so fresh anymore. We pluck those thick juicy looking ones- thicker than the size of most fingers! I even tried one on the spot. I found it edible& crunchy. The rest found them horrible.

I plucked quite a bit and was expecting to pay at least £10. Just 5-6 sticks in the supermarket comes up to £1.99. Guess what we paid? About £3 for just less than a kg. WOW!

Yesterday night we had asparagus-juicy, crunchy, sweet. Much better than the usual stuff! We had it again during lunch, and will have enough to last use till Tues, at least. :) Thank goodness it is the bank holidays, and I can afford to let our urine stink. Asparagus gives you urine that smells like heaven.

After plucking the aspragus we went to the town centre to have lunch, before hitting Wytham woods(Woods of Hazel) for blue bells! We missed the "season", but found a patch in the valley which was still blooming. It was as if we were in a fairy woods. I will post photos when I am done with my mugging.

Related sites:
www.asparagus.org
http://www.asparagus-in-kent.co.uk/growyourown.htm

Flying on a prayer to HK

Tickets booked. Q****Airways- the airways that my friend told me dun pray pray, insider news say safety is heck. I thought hard hard hard, and decided what the heck! It it takes me to HK on less than 400 quid, and the savings from taking QA to HK, and then take budget airlines to Sg makes this HK stopover arrangement even cheaper than direct flights to Sg. That means, I will get to "do" HK again. woah hahahaa.

Things i must eat
*******Egg Tarts*******
Roasted Goose
Hui Lau Shan --- all those bird nest, mango, steam milk etc etc. This time I must plan such that I eat once during day time, eat again for supper hiak hiak hiak.
Won Ton Mee
Congee + yau cha kuay + soya bean milk breakfast
Nai cha
Lau po peng


ok , back to work. Yes, work! I cannot believe how busy I am this month, that I look forward to June!

Wales- Cardiff and Swansea

This is all we could catch- Cardiff Castle was closed by the time we reach. Cardiff is an interesting city and a place where I would come back and chill out. The atmosphere in Cardiff Bay is just cool!

But if I want to live, I might want to live in Swansea. Small city with most houses built prettily on the hills.

Wales-Gower Peninsula II: Rhossilli Bay

The cliff are stiff, and one slip means bye bye. Perhaps that is why is it such an exciting place to make out. I saw a couple having a picnic at the edge, and start necking passionately. Regreted not taking the photos. That is a perfect example of loving dangerously.
Sheep actually graze on these cliffs- you can see the evidence: lots of sheep shit on the green green grass.

Hubby was wondering how many sheep went down.


The Worm Head. You can walk over there during the low tides.



Rhossili Bay

Rhossli Bay is breathtaking, and it would have been wonderful if we caught the low tide period, and walk across to the Worm Head part

Wales-Gower Peninsula

Here are the photos of the beach hopping day at Gower Peninsula. It is a pity that some photos taken at earlier parts of the day were "greyish" because it was cloudy and misty.