Category: Uncategorized

Bern is the capital of Switzerland and is roughly half way between Zurich (money!) and Geneva (self-important, overpaid bureaucrats…). Since I’m on my way to Lake Geneva, I thought I’d stop over and check out this UNESCO World heritage city.

The figures on top of the Parliament building



The building looks like a concert hall, not a hall of politicians!
BTW, “rathaus” means “town hall”. If they only knew how easily that would apply to San Francisco City Hall!

The famous clock…

With the guy that rings the bell on the top
The old part of town has remained pretty much the same since it was rebuilt in sandstone during the middle ages. Most of the buildings have shops and boutiques and lots of fast food inside, just like the buildings of the middle ages did. It gives it a Disneyland vibe, especially when the tram rumbles by.

Here’s the postcard shot of the old city

And the Disney-feeling main street

complete with leftover Carnival musicians!
The Old Town had a neat feel for the first 30 minutes but there’s only so many times you can see a kabob place or a McD’s. This part of the city is the big draw here. Once you get outside of the old town, it looks like a very expensive, well kept city.

I like corner houses!
BTW, Bern means “bear” in German and they have five of them as mascots near the tourist center.

Don’t interrupt while he’s drinking
Speaking of drinking, the legal age for beer and wine is 16 and for liquor it’s 18.
There’s not much here and instead of staying overnight, you can visit here on a day trip.

Well, it’s not really “中環” but just plain “Central”. Except here it’s just a stop where 6 tram lines collide. Not a station, just a sign and a spot on the map.

Some things you should know if you ever decide to visit here.
•Food is HELLA expensive. Booze is too. Think of the Redwood Room as your regular hangout with their prices. It’s like that.

•Beverages (as in comes in a bottle) costs CH3.50. For a bottle of water or a bottle of Diet Coke (500ml). Anywhere except the grocery stores, where it’s a bit more like it should be (cheaper)
•Did I mention that all the stores are closed on Sunday except for the stores connected to an airport or railway station? They’re open and since they’re the only game in town, that becomes the hottest place to be! On Sunday. That’s not just a Zurich thing, it’s a Swiss thing.
•Lodging is hella expensive also. It’s Manhattan level prices here. The friggin’ hostel is CHF30+ a night for a bunk. Again, like Manhattan…
•The Swiss Federal Railways. Almost JR like efficiency and density. They don’t play silly tunes on the platform though. This IS Switzerland!

•Canton (county) Public transit is a mix of buses and trams. Strangely enough, the fleet here is clean, safe and punctual. They run on something called a “schedule”. Now for those of us who live in San Francisco, this is a foreign concept (or something of fantasy that doesn’t involve purging the entire second floor of Silly Hall). This is what a “schedule” means outside San Francisco when the word is applied to transit:

schedule |ˈskejoōl; -jəl|
noun
a plan for carrying out a process or procedure, giving lists of intended events and times : we have drawn up an engineering schedule.
• (usu. one’s schedule) one’s day-to-day plans or timetable : take a moment out of your busy schedule.
• a timetable : information on airline schedules.

•Best of all, good Cuban cigars are hella cheap! A Ramon Allones Specially Selected sells at the La Casa del Habano for CHF10! Convert it yourself and you’ll see that’s half the price they are in Hong Kong, the other source for good quality Habanos.
Almost makes a CHF14.00 Big Mac Value Meal worth it! BTW, you get 30 minutes free Wi-Fi with that…

AKA Zurich HB

When you come in from ZRH, it takes all of ten minutes! All the trams and trains collide here so this is a building you will become very familiar with. It’s the largest train station in Switzerland and its major hub.

Traveler’s Tip: Free Wi-Fi?? What is this thing you call “free”? Even at the Hostel, they charge! The only place I’ve found so far with free Wi-Fi is McDonald’s which offers 30 minutes per day with purchase. And boy are these prices NUTS!! CH3.90 for a medium Coke?? And don’t even ask how much REAL food is elsewhere…
On the other hand, it’s very pretty here…and clean and safe!

Have I mentioned how much I luurve Japanese advertising? This was on the walls of the major train/subway stations during my last Japan visit in November. So loooong ago!!

It’s an advert for the Japan Economic Times (日本経済新聞), a publishing group that seems to be the Japanese counterpart to Dow Jones.
But the WSJ dun have advertising like this!!

So tonight I went with some frens to HK Disneyland to watch the Xmas parade and the fireworks.

“Sir, the mouse has been playing in the radioactive waste and is rampaging through the park”
The Xmas theme was all over the park. Here in Hong Kong, they say “Merry Christmas” which is the correct greeting/salutation during the Christmas season.

Beeeg treeeee
The actors were all in Xmas getups too

Now which one of use resembles an elf?
It’s not a Disney visit unless you take in the fireworks show. Here in HK, there’s a big “waaaaaaaah!” at the climax of the show.

…waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!
Unlike the other mickey mouse land in Anaheim, things here are not a complete rip-off. And the food is pretty good. Check out this spread. It was really good and it was only HK$130 per person for a party of four!

mmmmm taste the value!
According to one of my frens, unlike the other Disney parks, the characters don’t wander the park to camwhore randomly. Instead you go to a special area, queue and take pix that way. So much for random pix. There’s a really big fountain in front of the park that has the Moby Dick whale as its theme. Naturally, that’s Donald going down with the ship…

waaaak waaaakity waaaaaaaaaaaak waaaaaaak waaaaaaak!
And naturally, what HK experience is complete without the omnipresence of the MTR?

請小心月台空隙

So I get the question: “why do you do it”?
I can look out the window and see thing like this, that’s why.

Or like this

Somewhere over Alaska on SQ15 en route to Seoul Inchon
Because most of my flight, this is what I saw.

Of course, this is how flying SHOULD be. But not if you fly a US carrier!
Also nothing beats SQ service! That’s another reason…

From my last night in BKK…twas Model’s Night!!

One of the most oft-repeated questions I get about my travels is “how do you afford it”? Here’s the answer, one of the Jedi secrets. Ready? Here it comes…

I try to make sure that all my other costs don’t exceed the cost of my airplane ticket.
Generally, I do much of my travel off-season so tickets are cheaper and the travel budget gets smaller. I use that figure as a benchmark to budget. And yes, there’s method to the madness.
My normal SOP is to stay at hostels. They’re cheap, they often have character and you can meet fellow travelers and make new friends for hanging out. Now the caveat is knowing which hostels are great and which ones inspired horror movies. Hint: You don’t want to stay in the latter. Generally all the hostels I’ve blogged about are in the former category although I’ve stayed in some dives that deserved mention and warning about.
So my experience staying at HI-Sukhumvit would be in the “great” category. The place is a 5 minute trudge from the Thong Lo Skytrain, through a night market and then another 1/2 block. It’s a great location for exploring the city because many of the sights are within striking distance of the Skytrain or the MRT. If you arrive at night, give yourself a little more time as you’ll surrender to the sights and smells and wind up eating.

The patio in front of the hostel
The hostel is all of a 5 story building, with a lounge area and laundry facilities on the roof. They have both private rooms and dorms. The dorms have the firmest (that means it’s great!) mattresses I’ve ever been on in a hostel AND great air-con. The common bathrooms are almost Japanese in cleanliness.

View of the Rama IX bridge from the hostel roof

Firm beds in a dorm room! I like!
On the last two nights in BKK, I decided to treat myself (as do most flashpackers) to a hotel stay. BKK has very nice hotels and due to the exchange rate, they’re affordable. Let’s put it this way. For the price of a 1 star in Manhattan, I can stay at a 4 star boutique hotel. Which is what I did.

No more bunk beds and loud sleepers!
Dream Hotel BKK has a sister location in Manhattan that costs three times as much. The BKK one is a better deal and has better service. They have free wi-fi and the rooms were comfortable, but it wasn’t the essence of travel where you meet people and hang out and drink beer on the roof until 0400. This hotel, however, hit the perfect spot for decompressing before my return to “the world” two days later.

The desk and the flat screen HD TV with satellite and DVD player

My own can! WAHAHAHAHAH
Dream is located about 10 minutes walk from Asok Skytrain and the Sukumvit MRT stop; half of the walk is down Sukhumvit Road where you pass a McDonald’s, the Westin and the Sheraton. Twas not a bad location either.

What the Borg did after they were discharged…
HI-Sukhumvit
23 Sukhumvit Soi 38,
Phra Khanong, Khlong Toei,
Bangkok 10110, Thailand
+66(0) 2 391-9338
http://www.hisukhumvit.com
Dream BKK
10 Sukhumvit Soi 15
Klongtoey Nua, Wattana,
Bangkok 10110, Thailand
+66(0) 2 254-8500
http://www.dreambkk.com

A preview of what’s to come. I’m waaay too tired to do a proper post now. More later!

Wat Po, the reclining Buddha. He’s relaxing. I’m sleeping!

Aussie legs and others at the Bed Supperclub