Mumbai, India>, Aug 29, 2010
This is the best hotel in India from both business and leisure point of view, now this is back with renovated old wing. I am looking to stay at this historical icon of Indian Hotels.
Archive for the ‘ Asian Travel News ’ Category
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia>, Sep 02, 2010
Hi Guys,
If you feeling blue after a big fight with ur mate while travelling in KL and it happened on the first Thursday of the month; don’t jump over the window; you need to get laugh and the only place you can get great jokes by Malaysian is at Velvet Underground, Zouk, KL.
From 9pm till midnite, with RM25 if you walk in or RM15 if u book the ticket online at events@mongooseasia.com, I promise, your visit to KL is going to become the most memorable travel for you.
Velvet Underground Zouk makes their stand up night regular event happening on the first Thursday of the month with drink promos on all night long, you can enjoy booze with your comedy.
Bringing Malaysian and International acts together on one stage, Comedy Club KL aims to give everybody a glimpse of the comedy scene in Malaysia beyond our shores.
You don’t have to be Malaysian or Canadian (So far, these 2 Nationalities that I know, really loves to do jokes and live life with laughter) hehehe…no, I’m just saying..:) but Russel Peter is Canadian :p
Anyway, Time Out Comedy Thursday KL is full with a terrific line-up that threatens to be even funnier and wilder breaking show. Literally hundreds of people laughed themselves daft at a line-up of the highest order. Hehehe..
There was also a first appearance for the catchily-titled ‘Three Men, Three Minutes, Two Sen, One Mic’ segment for first-timers to comedy. Due to the hilarious, horn-blowing success of the feature and the emerging line-up of individuals keen to start a career in comedy or just love Stand Up Comedy.
Check it out Guys !!!
From Malaysia with Love.
Mt. Semeru, Indonesia>, Sep 02, 2010
The highest volcano in the island of Java. Mt. Semeru also known as Mahameru, represent the exotic of tropical forest in Indonesia.
With the romantic lake view at the 2500 m above sea level, you can reach from Ranu Pani, the last village of the mountain. With about 6 hours hiking from Ranupani and you can lay your back on the grass of Ranu Kumbolo, refreshing your body with a splash of the lake water.
The sun will waking you up as the shine just in front of your tent. It is an amazing scenery to be seen.
At the 2nd day, you can go straight to Kali Mati. The last check point, and for mountainers, this place is use to be the flying camp before the summit attack at night.
This is the view at night from the Lobby Lounge at the Intercontinental Hotel in Hong Kong.
You can sit there and watch the nightly laser light show against the buildings on the Hong Kong side, across the water.
Yes, it is divine (and their gin and tonic is none too shabby, either.)
It is my hands-down pick [...]
Tokyo, Japan>, Sep 25, 1996
We headed out to LAX again, on board America West flight 2043. I was in coach seat 7A on the 737-300 aircraft.
Just as the day before, we went over to the Japan Airlines counter to try for Tokyo again. This time we would be successful. We had an enjoyable flight on board JAL flight 063, a 747-200 to Narita. I was in coach seat 56J. In Tokyo, we just stayed in the airport and awaited our connection to Hong Kong. As an aviation enthusiast, I was very excited to be flying into Kai Tak airport. Our connecting flight was on board Japan Airlines 735, which was a 747-400. I was in coach seat 35K and slept most of the way, just waking for the dinner only. The food on JAL was fantastic! I had a window seat on the right side so I had a great view of the HK skyline on landing. The customs and immigration was long and slow. It was late and we were tired. When we finally got out, we took the bus to Taikoo Shing and found my friend Jim’s uncle waiting for us. We went up to their apartment, which was 30 floors up in a high rise building. We all went to sleep quickly, excited about seeing HK the next day.
Legian, Indonesia>, Jun 08, 2009
Bagus means good by the way.
So yeh, as predicted I have had a highly uneventful couple of weeks since my last post. Many a day spent lounging on the local beach, umbrella overhead and book in hand. I’ve never been much of a beach bunny but with the help of a comfy lounger and the large umbrella to shield my pathetic pasty skin it’s been rather relaxing. I spent most of the time at the lovely local place where my friend Alice is staying, getting hooked on both Entourage and Weeds (those are TV series mum, don’t worry) but unfortunately my room was pre-booked by a french hippy so I had to move out a couple of days ago. Have since been in another cheap place with a horrible cold shower but tonight is my last night there as I’m off to Lembongan!
Lembongan is an island off the south east coast of Bali. I did want to go diving there but in order to save the pennies I’m going to opt for snorkelling instead. I’ll save my final bit of diving allowance for the great barrier reef. So two days relaxing and snorkelling on Lembongan with Alice and Deborah (American, we’re representing the western world!) and then, on friday: Australia. Boo hoo. I’m still not keen on leaving Asia, I’ve had an extra six weeks more than I had originally planned and have enjoyed Indonesia. Asia is just so different from home, I’m worried Australia is going to seem dull in comparison. Not to mention expensive…. Never mind, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it once I’m there! I have 2.5 weeks on the east coast so it’ll be a bit of a rush job and then I’ve got 3.5 weeks in New Zealand.
New Zealand is the country I’ve been looking forward to from the start. I was going to work there, but given the economy and lack of jobs there at the moment I think I made the right decision spending longer in Asia instead. So I shall see it only as a tourist and I’m really excited. It’ll be winter and freezing cold but the scenery just looks soooooo beautiful. Anyway, just thought I’d better make some sort of update, its late and I’m exhausted. Have to be up by 6am for the boat. So yup, I’m off!
Legian, Indonesia>, Jun 19, 2007
This is a memorial of Bali Bombing event in 2002. The carved statue was created with marble and carved with every names and nationalities of the viction of the bombing.
We walked passing through and stop for a moment to take a closer look. That was a dark evening and it felt sad seeing the monument, which shouldn’t even have to be there at all.
The Bali Bombing happened 2 times, one in 2002 and the other one in 2004. During the first bombing, it destroyed one popular bar along Legian Street named Paddy, where the monument is located now.
Currently they re-build Paddy not so far away from the monument.
Legian, Indonesia>, May 23, 2009
Greetings all,
This will be a short one, largely because I haven’t been doing anything very much! Having done a quick VISA run to Singapore, from where I uploaded as many photos as possible (see last post) I am now back in Bali for a few weeks. I wasn’t terribly excited by Singapore, I spent most of my time enjoying Roti (indian bread I got slightly addicted to in Malaysia) and in the internet cafe. However, I was lucky enough to bump into Eff from my Komodo boat trip, who was there as a hospital outpatient due to some problems with her foot. I was just wandering along the street and there she was, sitting outside a cafe. So I was lucky enough to have some company for a trip to the famous Raffles Hotel. It was posh, but the architecture wasn’t as impressive as I had expected. I did very much enjoy a couple of glasses of white wine though at an extortionate 20 singapore dollars a pop, which we followed up with a cheese platter at a german restaurant.
So a happy ending to my brief visit and now I’m back in Bali for three weeks. I’ve found a ridiculously cheap place to stay, about 75 quid for 3 weeks with TV, hot showers, kitchen and laundry room. Lazing about bliss! So far I’ve spent hours lounging under an umbrella on the beach, drunk a fair amount of arak and got hooked on some new TV series. It feels odd to be in the same place for so long and I’m having to fight a bit of guilt about how lazy I’m being but I’m happy enough. It’s good to have a break from the lugging of the bag and the ’so where shall I stay tonight?’ dilemma. I’m planning on doing a couple of excursions to other bits of Bali, and in particular to do some diving at Lembongan (guaranteed manta ray sightings) and Tulamben (Liberty shipwreck). I may even be brave and make my first night dive, as its supposed to be spectacular at Amed.
Anyway, thats me for now, I’ll make the odd blog post but seeing as I shan’t be doing anything very much I doubt I’ll have much to say! Have recently started thinking about the dreaded return to the UK and what on earth I’m going to do with myself. It may well be three weeks of procrastination!
Tokyo, Japan>, Sep 02, 2010
Trains in Tokyo are really convenient but might pose a challenge for a newbie. However there are English signs posted in all stations so there is no need to worry.There are 2 major Railways in Tokyo… the “JR Trains” and the “Tokyo Metro”(the later being mostly subways).. I suggest you download and print english Maps for both(see links below).. If you are coming from Narita, you’ll have to take the JR (Narita line) up to “Ueno” then transfer to Metro (Hibiya line) to get to “Kamiyacho” which is 7mins from Tokyo Tower.
be careful not to ride the “Green Cars” or “Skyliner” since there will be additional fees.
If you can, I would advice buying “Japan Rail Pass” (which can be bought only outside Japan) to get unlimited access to all train lines including “Shinkansen” (bullet trains).
As for karaoke, there are tons.. I usually go to the inexpensive ones like “Utahiroba” joints which can be found near most Train Stations. there are also Special “Western” stlye Karaokes like “Fiesta” in Roppongi where you can sing on stage.(slightly pricy though).
regarding dance clubs, there are tons in Roppongi, Shibuya and Daikanmaru.. try searching online since the type of music depends on which Guest DJ is available on that night. There are however multi-level(underground) clubs where they play different genres per floor (usually, techno, trance, disco and House music).
Since you’ll be here in Spring, I suggest going to a “Hanami event” (cherry blossom viewing) which is very popular for Japs and “Gaijins”(Foreigners) alike.. usually Picnic at major parks like Ueno park, Shinjuku Gyoen and Yoyogi Park. Also Akihabara(Electronics and “Otaku” district) is advisable for gadgets, Manga and Anime. You can also visit Odaiba, Roppongi, Ginza, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku for shopping and sightseeing (popular among Japanese teens)
here are a few links to help you out:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/info/map_a4ol.pdf
www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/rosenzu/pdf/rosen_eng.pdf
http://www.hyperdia.com/#
fell free to ask any questions.. ^^
Seoul, South Korea>, Sep 02, 2010
Since I’m asian, I’ve seen the drama ofc. Therefore, I liked the idea to visit the actual coffe shop, since I already was in Seoul.
I went with a new korean friend and on the way we met two japanese travellers. Also looking for the coffe shop. We only took the metro to Hongdae-area, and from there we just asked two times for the instructions to the coffe shop. They pointed one way, and we went that way, and voila!- We found it. It was quite discret, but very cool. I was rather surprised, I thought it would be bigger, but it was quite small, but cosy.
We ordered ice tea and N.Y cheesecake, it was quite expensive. Compared to prices at other cafés in Seoul, but this coffe shop is a huge tourist-attraction for asians- so no wonder, and besides- it is worth it. The service was nice, the waitress spoke japanese, chinese and korean. A little bit of english. The menu was written in korean and english.
There were no hot men working there. Just one waitress and one chef who kinda looked like the crypt keeper. Oh well, but it’s a quite popular place for teens to hang out. There were lots of couples there and I even met an korean celebrity there. The Lady who played Dae Geum Jeum’s mother in the drama Jewel of the Palace.
If you’ve seen the drama, you’ll probably like it. It’s kept like the coffe shop in the drama, the only difference is the autographes and souvenirs from the actors from the drama.
It was worth the trip, and if you’re in Hongdae- why not just stop by for a drink!