Unlike Singapore, where the lodging market is bracketed by decent hostels and hotels whose rates seem to go ever higher into the stratosphere, Hong Kong has hotels that go even higher along with a veritable crap-shoot of choices for cheap lodging, many of them not being flashpacker quality. I’ve written about some of these places before (mostly in Chungking and Mirador Mansions) as well as some of the decent guesthouses in Causeway Bay (Noble Hostel and Wang Fat), that, although they were a good value, they were lacking in perks and style.
I recently found a small local HK chain of hotels called Mingle. They have two locations, one near Knutsford Terrace in TST and the other in Sheung Wan on HK side near the Macau Ferry Terminal.
Small bed for a very small (narrow) room! Very firm though…
The cheapest room is this one; very narrow and long. You get your bed at one end, a full and very clean bathroom on the other and a workspace, closet, hot water and a place to plug in your iPod. No window though. That comes with the bigger rooms, but since you’re in HKG, how much time will you spend here?? Oh yeah, did I mention the tech focus of this hotel?
There’s a flat screen TV where you can control the cooling and lights in the room. Also music and vids on demand!
Each room has a Linksys iPhone where you can log in directly to Skype. There’s also a FREE wireless access point in each room because the router that runs the iPhones also is an access point. And unlike my recent experience with internet at HKIA, the net here is fast and wide.
Even the cheapest room here gets your own private bathroom. With ensuite shower!
The showers are powerful and the water was very hot. Perfect!
Styish sink
Not bad for under US$100/night. This is the kind of mid-level lodging that I’ve been looking for for a LONG time! Now if only Singapore could have something like this too…
Mingle on the Wing
125 Wing Lok Street
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
http://www.mingleplace.com/
What your lodging dollar gets you in KL
One of the many questions I field from frens and acquaintances is “how can you afford to travel so much?”. I respond that it’s necessary to spend for your plane ticket but where you sleep is another matter.
Please keep in mind that most of these frens usually travel “5-star” and that’s a foreign concept to a flashpacker. Generally.
So I will begin to write about some of the places that I regularly stay at when I travel. Sometimes I will write about places that I don’t usually stay at. For example, I don’t usually stay at chain hotels when I travel overseas. Costs waaay too much usually.
That doesn’t mean that I’m above treating myself, if the deal is a good one. Here’s a recent example. During my last visit to KL where I flew out of the LCCT, I spent three days at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton.
Here’s the view from the 24th floor, where my room was
The word “Hilton” here in the states usually means at best, boring and corporate. At worst it means “uneven” and “second choice” for many of my friends who seem to prefer Starwood or smaller boutique chains. The KL Hilton, however, simply means “swish”.
This is the hallway to the room! My room has a hallway!!
Nice TV, small desk!
Bed and window and couch. By the window.
Tub in front, shower to the right and all open to the room via sliding doors!
This and the Le Meridian are in separate towers that are part of KL Sentral. The KLIA Ekspres terminates at KL Sentral as well as the LRT and the Monorail (sort of). Besides having a VERY transit friendly location, the bus that takes you to the LCCT boards downstairs on the other side of the building. No muss, no fuss. I’ve read on the net that the Hilton is nicer than the Meridian, both in service and in facilities. And I could always use the Hilton points! Not bad for US$135/night!
Compare that to when I stayed in Singapore overnight a few months back. I paid US$120. For a room. At a Hotel 81!!! KL has better deals!
Short Entry
Just a quick note: Am still alive!
Did a bunch of quick turns this trip. SFO-NRT-SIN. One night in SIN. Then off to HKG. One day/night in HKG. Then a four day weekend in TPE.
My floating head…at a birthday party in TPE
Another day back in HKG. Then 3 days in Kuala Lumpur. Then back to SIN on Saturday.
I think I’m getting used to the weather here, kinda. Instead of nonstop whining, I only whine half the time about the humidity.
So far it’s been the usual blur of food, booze and flying. More of that upcoming…
KLIA LCCT Adventure
I flew AirAsia from KUL-SIN last weekend.
AirAsia A320 really close to the doors!
This is a big deal because this is the first carrier that has been able to break the price barrier between the two cities. For over 30 years, Singapore Air and Malaysia Air have operated an oligopoly, keeping prices very high between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. And despite MAS’ loud objections, AirAsia and JetStar have been allowed into the market, albeit with only two flights per day in each direction.
It’s still cheaper though. I was able to purchase a 3 week advance one-way flight from KUL-SIN for just under US$60. Beats the SQ price of US$300!!
One thing to keep in mind that AirAsia IS a low cost carrier and flies from KLIA’ Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) which is located in the boondocks of KLIA, near the Malaysia Pos building and the kargo warehouses. It’s almost as they’re ashamed of LCC flyers and somehow it will ruin their “Best airport in Asia” ranking that they got two years in a row..
Anyway, as soon as you get off the bas and enter the warehouse LCCT, it’s like entering a very clean Chinese train station (and keep in mind how oxymoronic THAT statement sounds).
Clean, yes?
To its credit, the LCCT recognizes that people here need to eat and that’s not a privilege granted to passengers who fly out of the real KLIA. There’s a Coffee Bean, a McD’s, a Secret Recipe and the usual Duty Free shop. If you’re hungry, best eat first before clearing immigration because there’s only a coffee shop and another Duty Free on the secure side of the terminal.
When you check in, you get your bags scanned but once you’ve checked in, you can step out back into the main hallway. Passport control is facing the check in area from the opposite side of the building.
Looks like a train station in China. Except it’s more clean than a Chinese Train Station will EVER be
Once you’re there, it looks like a train station. It reminded me of the Shanghai South railway station (except it was a whole lot cleaner and better ventilated). There’s no skybridges here; this IS a LCCT and these passengers don’t deserve shelter from the heat and/or rain!!
The doors to the plane…
You WALK onto the tarmac, partially protected by an awning. Once that awning ends after about 20 meters, there’s a lot of umbrellas that are handed to you to make the final dash to your flight where you surrender the umbrellas back. No free souvenirs here!
Now about the AirAsia experience. They have a STRICT 15KG checked baggage limit. Any more and its something like 25 ringgit/kg over. Hella expensive. If you’re flashpacking here, use a backpack or get one of those fancy new unbreakable light polycarbonate plastic suitcases. My Kirkland 26″ roller weighs close to 8 KG by itself so even with only three day’s worth of clothes and stuff, I still went over by 2 KG. Also, splurge on the Priority boarding. It’s truly worth it because it’s practically a scrum boarding the plane and it’s all open seating. Note: Get the bulkhead seats; they have more room and these were the first seats gone. 1C was taken by yours truly. Other than that, the stewardesses were pleasant and professional and the flight took off and landed on time. And the best thing was getting off the plane at Changi’s T1. Beats the LCCT any day!
Everyone here was going to SIN; the priority line is on the right!
How to get to the LCCT: From the KLIA Ekspres stop at KLIA it’s another 20 minute bus ride (and 1.5 ringgit!) and more waiting around. Or you can get up hella early, pay 9 ringgit and take the bas ekspres that goes direct to the LCCT.
A word of advice: getting up early is worth it because there’s NO traffic on the road at that hour and the 75 minute transit time I was told was only 45. Which kinda tells you how bad the traffic is over there.
Yebisu Beer Girl
My favorite beer! Delivered in my favorite way!
The A’s and the Red Sox brought their mascots along with the rest of the team. This is Stomper, the A’s mascot. He’s an elephant. Here’s Stomper, passing along some A’s baseball cards to a very confused Yebisu beer girl (the same one).
Stomper also attracts fans that jump up on the dugout and yell and dance along with him.
The neat thing was that when the cops showed up, they waited for him to finish his singing. And after a round of applause, he jumped down and walked off with the cops. No handcuffs or fighting. How civilized!
And now for something kinda different
Well, I figure this would happen eventually. Parts of my life colliding in print. I luurve ramen, I have a Boblbee backpack (but not these fancy ones) and Star Wars. Behold!
Stormtrooper eating ramen
Cuz even Stormtroopers, the defenders of the Galactic Empire, need ramen! Of course, this has been done before by Tokyo’s Stormtrooper in Residence. One megacity, one stormtrooper.
The ad is for a limited series of Star Wars 30th Anniversary commemorative Boblbee backpacks. Only available in Japan, natch! I picked this ad up when I was in Tokyo last November and stumbled upon Waseda University’s 125th Anniversary party.
Baseball beer here and there
Part of the fun of going to a baseball game in Japan is appreciating the differences in how the game is enjoyed compared to back home.
For example, let’s look at the consumption of beer or “ビール” as it is known over there. For example, at PacBellPark, where the SF Giants lose play, the beers are close to US$9.00 for a small cup, the kind of beer dependent on where in the park you buy it. Some of the kiosks sell PBR and Bud for that price and others sell Sierra and other microbrews. Best to hunt around because I’m not going to pay THAT price for PBR!!
An example of the lack of service culture that pervades the west is that you have to get up from your seat and actually hunt down a kiosk that sells your particular brand of tipple, thus missing the game from the comfort of your seat. Did I mention the 7th inning cutoff? No more beer after the 7th inning. BS!
“hey there, you KNOW you’re thirsty! You want a Suntory MaltS!”
Compare this attitude with how beer is served at Tokyo Dome, home of the Yomuri Giants. Unlike in the US where you have to get up and miss the game, annoy other patrons and risk spillage to get a beer, in Tokyo, the beer comes to you. The Tokyo Dome beer girls, each one representing a different brand (Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo, Suntory, Yebisu plus Coca-Cola beverages and others) work the aisles, hawking beers, beverages and snacks that can be thrown. All the major brands are represented by these girls who use minikegs worn like backpacks to dispense beer. How refreshingly progressive!
Besides beer, the girls have snacks too.
Make it Suntory time! Try getting THAT at a MLB game in the US…
This was the first beer of the night for me…a Kirin!
…must concentrate…
There’s other silliness that happened at the game that will be written about later!
Tokyo 警視庁 Bikes
During my last visit to Tokyo, some motorist got pulled over by two of Tokyo’s finest for some reason. The real reason, I think was so I could continue the semi-regular installment of “world’s police bikes”.
When I came running out of the restaurant (where I was having a snack) with my camera, the cop waved me off until I asked him if I could take pictures of the bikes. He then gave me a thumbs up and stepped out of the way. Guess it happens a lot.
I like the Suzuki! I have one, ya know…
Sakura in SF
Saw this the other day while riding by (and made an illegal u-turn to photograph!)..
This sakura, one of many on the block, bloomed first because it gets the most sunshine. Too bad you can’t have hanami out here. You’d get a ticket first then you’d have to pour out all the booze…! Bleah.
I luuurve Advertising (again)!!
Continuing my series on excellent advertising…here’s a couple that were plastered all over JR Akibahara eki.
This one I took as I was going down an escalator
This was the other one. I couldn’t get a picture of it (too many people to explain why I’m taking pictures of adverts) so I pinched it from here.
This ad is part of a spring campaign. It’s sakura season in Japan, ya know! Deets on the ad campaign here. Minami Akina’s (the model) website here.