USA, here we come!!!!! We will be leaving tomorrow afternoon for our 5.5 week trip to the west coast of USA. We are renting a campervan and will be doing a road trip from Los Angeles inland to San Francisco and back down the coast to Los Angeles.
Our itinerary is Los Angeles- Palm Springs- Joshua Tree National Park- Grand Canyon- Lake Powell- Antelope Canyon- Bryce Canyon- Zion National Park- Snow Canyon- Valley of Fire- Las Vegas- Death Valley- Mono Lake- Yosemite National Park- San Francisco- Santa Cruz- Monterey Bay- Carmel- Big Sur- Morro Bay- Santa Barbara- Los Angeles.
Come and follow us here. I will try to update as often as possible :-)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/zwergliazrael/1/tpod.html
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Burning in Venice
We were in Venice for a long weekend from 14-17 August. Venice had been on our "to-visit" list for a long time and we were really looking forward to the trip. The weather forecast was also very positive, with sunshine, clear blue skies, 28 degrees temperature.
However, when we got there, it was clear that we'd done zero research on the best times of the year to visit Venice! It was HOT, HOT, HOT!!! It was more like 40 degrees than 30!!! And it was peak tourist season!
I am generally crowd-averse anyway, but I was really taken aback to find that most of Europe, half of USA and worst of all.... a quarter of China were there!!! I find the China tourists (note not "Chinese" but "China") most unbearable. They tend to be the nouveau-rich and they normally flock in bus loads on their "Europe-in-10-days" tours. They stand in the way of every photo, and they take up the whole street when they walk. It was particularly bad in Venice, as the alleyways are just oh-so-very narrow. Grrrrr......
As a result, we just quickly took a look at the major tourist sights and then ventured out to find the local stuff and to walk around where the locals live. Unfortunately, most of the bars and restaurants we wanted to go to were closed!!! Once again, due to our lack of research...... all the locals were on holiday!!!! So it turns out that we really were just amongst tourists!!!
Taking the Vaporetto (water-bus) was another experience in itself. They are not the newest, not the biggest, but they do work. Unfortunately, getting on one was pretty close to getting on a bus in India, where the people are all squashed in like sardines. It was stifling, even standing out in the open section, facing outside.
Nevertheless, despite the heat and the crowds, I found Venice incredibly fascinating. In this day and age, it is not easy to imagine a car-less city. It surprised me that people did not even resort to using bicycles around the city, but just got around by foot and water-bus. It is this very aspect that fascinates me, more so than the Piazza San Marco ever could!
It was very interesting to see the local traders wheel their goods around in a cart. More intriguing was the way they managed to push their trolley-carts up and down the steps of the oh-so-many bridges with such ease!
When we encountered the first couple of bridges, we wondered to ourselves, how a wheelchair-bound person would get around. "Logically", my answer was that a wheelchair-bound person would not live in Venice, but rather move out to the mainland. Strangely enough, in the 4 days we were there, we saw more wheelchairs than I'd ever seen in any other city before! Clearly, their aides had a method for pushing chairs up and down the steps.
I found myself imagining what it would be like when a 14 year old boy from Venice meets a boy from elsewhere.
Mainland-boy: "Oh I can't wait to turn 17 and get my driving licence. My dream is to have an Aston Martin/ Ferrari/ Porsche".
Venice-boy: "Huh? What's that? Why would you want that? My dream is to have a Blöhm & Voss yacht!
In spite of everything, I did have a great time. We were lucky to have a B&B in the Dorsoduro area, which is further away from Tourist-Central. There were lovely squares in our neighbourhood, where we could just get away from it all.
For the moment, I am totally Venice'd-Out, but I would really like to go again another time, perhaps in November, when it is cooler. Perhaps there would be less people then?
However, when we got there, it was clear that we'd done zero research on the best times of the year to visit Venice! It was HOT, HOT, HOT!!! It was more like 40 degrees than 30!!! And it was peak tourist season!
I am generally crowd-averse anyway, but I was really taken aback to find that most of Europe, half of USA and worst of all.... a quarter of China were there!!! I find the China tourists (note not "Chinese" but "China") most unbearable. They tend to be the nouveau-rich and they normally flock in bus loads on their "Europe-in-10-days" tours. They stand in the way of every photo, and they take up the whole street when they walk. It was particularly bad in Venice, as the alleyways are just oh-so-very narrow. Grrrrr......
As a result, we just quickly took a look at the major tourist sights and then ventured out to find the local stuff and to walk around where the locals live. Unfortunately, most of the bars and restaurants we wanted to go to were closed!!! Once again, due to our lack of research...... all the locals were on holiday!!!! So it turns out that we really were just amongst tourists!!!
Taking the Vaporetto (water-bus) was another experience in itself. They are not the newest, not the biggest, but they do work. Unfortunately, getting on one was pretty close to getting on a bus in India, where the people are all squashed in like sardines. It was stifling, even standing out in the open section, facing outside.
Nevertheless, despite the heat and the crowds, I found Venice incredibly fascinating. In this day and age, it is not easy to imagine a car-less city. It surprised me that people did not even resort to using bicycles around the city, but just got around by foot and water-bus. It is this very aspect that fascinates me, more so than the Piazza San Marco ever could!
It was very interesting to see the local traders wheel their goods around in a cart. More intriguing was the way they managed to push their trolley-carts up and down the steps of the oh-so-many bridges with such ease!
When we encountered the first couple of bridges, we wondered to ourselves, how a wheelchair-bound person would get around. "Logically", my answer was that a wheelchair-bound person would not live in Venice, but rather move out to the mainland. Strangely enough, in the 4 days we were there, we saw more wheelchairs than I'd ever seen in any other city before! Clearly, their aides had a method for pushing chairs up and down the steps.I found myself imagining what it would be like when a 14 year old boy from Venice meets a boy from elsewhere.
Mainland-boy: "Oh I can't wait to turn 17 and get my driving licence. My dream is to have an Aston Martin/ Ferrari/ Porsche".
Venice-boy: "Huh? What's that? Why would you want that? My dream is to have a Blöhm & Voss yacht!
In spite of everything, I did have a great time. We were lucky to have a B&B in the Dorsoduro area, which is further away from Tourist-Central. There were lovely squares in our neighbourhood, where we could just get away from it all.
For the moment, I am totally Venice'd-Out, but I would really like to go again another time, perhaps in November, when it is cooler. Perhaps there would be less people then?
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Magnificent Musical Fireworks @ Fêtes de Genève
This year, to escape the madness of the Street Parade in Zurich, we headed to Geneva to see the famous Musical Fireworks, which is regarded as one of the most impressive displays in Europe.
We arrived in Geneva early in the afternoon and had a chance to walk along the promenade on both sides of the lake, taking in the atmosphere and sampling the delicacies offered by the hundreds of stands. We finally settled on a spot at about 9pm with our wine and waited for the show to begin.
The spectacular display started promptly at 10pm, and boy was it worth wait AND the 6 hours travelling time! It was the most incredible fireworks display I have ever seen in my life and there is no way I can possibly begin to describe it. It was a "musical" fireworks show, so the fireworks had been choreographed to music, which had the theme 1001 Nights.
The show lasted for almost an hour, with various Pyrotechnic companies trying to out-do each other with their choreography. The fireworks were launched from 15 launch pads on the lake, so they were really coming from every which direction.
The display at the end of the second song was like the big finish in a "normal" fireworks. I could not believe that there would be more, and bigger, and better! I found a highlights video on YouTube, so check it out if you get the chance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VY1nX9KYk8
Simply magical!
We arrived in Geneva early in the afternoon and had a chance to walk along the promenade on both sides of the lake, taking in the atmosphere and sampling the delicacies offered by the hundreds of stands. We finally settled on a spot at about 9pm with our wine and waited for the show to begin.
The spectacular display started promptly at 10pm, and boy was it worth wait AND the 6 hours travelling time! It was the most incredible fireworks display I have ever seen in my life and there is no way I can possibly begin to describe it. It was a "musical" fireworks show, so the fireworks had been choreographed to music, which had the theme 1001 Nights.
The show lasted for almost an hour, with various Pyrotechnic companies trying to out-do each other with their choreography. The fireworks were launched from 15 launch pads on the lake, so they were really coming from every which direction.
The display at the end of the second song was like the big finish in a "normal" fireworks. I could not believe that there would be more, and bigger, and better! I found a highlights video on YouTube, so check it out if you get the chance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VY1nX9KYk8
Simply magical!
Hamburg Highlights
I found Hamburg to be a thoroughly enjoyable city. Not too big and not too small, perfect for a long weekend trip. Here are the highlights of our trip:
- Perfect weather all four days of our trip, scorching 26-34ºC during the days.
- Beautiful view of the city from our 22nd floor hotel room in the Planten und Blomen park.
- Walking tour of the Altstadt (Old Town). The Rathaus is a magnificent structure, made all the more impressive by the fact that it survived intact, through 7 days of bombing by the British and Americans during WWII.
- Azrael's birthday dinner at Doc Cheng's Restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten was one of the best meals I have ever had. The food was fantastic and the service was faultless. The only better meal I have had was at Jun Tanaka's Pearl Restaurant in London.
- Boat Tour around the Hamburg Harbour - who would have thought that a harbour could be so interesting! The ships, cranes, containers and warehouses along the river were a sight to behold. The sheer size of the ships and cranes were just unimaginable. Don't underestimate their size based on these photos!
- We did not manage to complete the entire Harbour Tour as they found a bomb in the Elbe and the river was closed off as they recovered the bomb.
- Roman Abramovich's mega-yacht is still being constructed and can be seen at the Blohm & Voss shipyard. It is gigantic (555ft long), complete with 2 helipads, military grade missile defence system and its own submarine! Won't he feel slightly lost in the yacht?
- Boat Tour around the Alster - Hamburg is probably the only city where one can tour the city from the water. The villas along the riverside were interesting, especially with detailed information from the tour guide.
- There is so much water around Hamburg that it is the city with the most bridges in the world. There are more bridges in Hamburg than London, Amsterdam and Venice combined!
- World Infamous Reeperbahn - it was quite disconcerting walking past rows of hookers. It is one of those really awkward moments, where you are just not quite sure where to look. Looking at them could illicit a "whatcha looking at, bitch" reaction, but totally avoiding them could result in a "ya think ya so much better than me, bitch?!" reaction. I was glad when we got past that street... and it wasn't even Herbertstrasse!
- Herbertstrasse is a street where there are prostitutes waiting behind windows, like in Amsterdam. The difference is that there are large gates on both ends of Herbertstrasse and women are "strongly discouraged" from entering the area. Apparently the prostitutes will react towards women, by spitting, jeering and throwing filled condoms at them. Azrael did not dare venture alone into the Herbertstrasse, but we did catch a glimpse inside from the upper deck of our open-top bus.
- The Hamburger DOM was also being held whilst we were there. It is just like a big beer fest and funfair in one. They had some really cool rides for the mere price of EUR 1.80!!! Unfortunately, we did not go on any as we were too stuffed from dinner. (I digress, but... the same EUR 1.80 rides cost between CHF 10-13 at the Geneva Festival in Switzerland!!! Can you believe that???)
- To escape from the madness of the Reeperbahn and St Pauli area, we found style, sophistication and tranquility at the Dedon Island bar at the East Hotel. Fabulous cocktails, something very special.
- The Speicherstadt (Warehouse District) is very pretty, with the old warehouse buildings from the 19th century still in use. They use the large "balconies" to lift their wares into the building.
- HafenCity is a new quarter in Hamburg, which is very similar to the Docklands in London. It is still being developed with beautiful modern apartments, offices and hotels. Due to the current lack of public transportation servicing the area, the property prices there are still considered reasonable. I saw an ad for a Philippe Starck designed large apartment for about €750K. A pretty good deal, me thinks.
- HafenCity is also home to the Hamburg Cruise Center, where the RMS Queen Mary 2, largest Ocean Liner in the world, came to dock on our last day in Hamburg. Words cannot describe the grandeur of it. It dwarfed all the buildings around the harbour. We were very lucky indeed that we got to meet her, as it was only a mere coincidence that she was there when we were.
- Another good meal we had was at the Schlacterbörse, which is next to the Meat Market (a real one). Once again, the service was impeccable and the food was wonderful. Unfortunately, this is one restaurant catering to Germans and their portions were just way, way, way too big.
- We adopted yet another 3 Kidz from Karstadt, and have named them Baxter, Woozy and Bubbles.
It was a fantastic trip and a visit to Hamburg is highly recommended. The only drawback about our whole trip is that we did not manage to take very many photos, as the sun was always in the way. But hey, we are definitely not complaining about the sun!
- Perfect weather all four days of our trip, scorching 26-34ºC during the days.
- Beautiful view of the city from our 22nd floor hotel room in the Planten und Blomen park.
- Walking tour of the Altstadt (Old Town). The Rathaus is a magnificent structure, made all the more impressive by the fact that it survived intact, through 7 days of bombing by the British and Americans during WWII.
- Azrael's birthday dinner at Doc Cheng's Restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten was one of the best meals I have ever had. The food was fantastic and the service was faultless. The only better meal I have had was at Jun Tanaka's Pearl Restaurant in London.
- Boat Tour around the Hamburg Harbour - who would have thought that a harbour could be so interesting! The ships, cranes, containers and warehouses along the river were a sight to behold. The sheer size of the ships and cranes were just unimaginable. Don't underestimate their size based on these photos!
- Roman Abramovich's mega-yacht is still being constructed and can be seen at the Blohm & Voss shipyard. It is gigantic (555ft long), complete with 2 helipads, military grade missile defence system and its own submarine! Won't he feel slightly lost in the yacht?
- Boat Tour around the Alster - Hamburg is probably the only city where one can tour the city from the water. The villas along the riverside were interesting, especially with detailed information from the tour guide.
- There is so much water around Hamburg that it is the city with the most bridges in the world. There are more bridges in Hamburg than London, Amsterdam and Venice combined!
- World Infamous Reeperbahn - it was quite disconcerting walking past rows of hookers. It is one of those really awkward moments, where you are just not quite sure where to look. Looking at them could illicit a "whatcha looking at, bitch" reaction, but totally avoiding them could result in a "ya think ya so much better than me, bitch?!" reaction. I was glad when we got past that street... and it wasn't even Herbertstrasse!
- Herbertstrasse is a street where there are prostitutes waiting behind windows, like in Amsterdam. The difference is that there are large gates on both ends of Herbertstrasse and women are "strongly discouraged" from entering the area. Apparently the prostitutes will react towards women, by spitting, jeering and throwing filled condoms at them. Azrael did not dare venture alone into the Herbertstrasse, but we did catch a glimpse inside from the upper deck of our open-top bus.
- The Hamburger DOM was also being held whilst we were there. It is just like a big beer fest and funfair in one. They had some really cool rides for the mere price of EUR 1.80!!! Unfortunately, we did not go on any as we were too stuffed from dinner. (I digress, but... the same EUR 1.80 rides cost between CHF 10-13 at the Geneva Festival in Switzerland!!! Can you believe that???)
- To escape from the madness of the Reeperbahn and St Pauli area, we found style, sophistication and tranquility at the Dedon Island bar at the East Hotel. Fabulous cocktails, something very special.
- The Speicherstadt (Warehouse District) is very pretty, with the old warehouse buildings from the 19th century still in use. They use the large "balconies" to lift their wares into the building.
- HafenCity is a new quarter in Hamburg, which is very similar to the Docklands in London. It is still being developed with beautiful modern apartments, offices and hotels. Due to the current lack of public transportation servicing the area, the property prices there are still considered reasonable. I saw an ad for a Philippe Starck designed large apartment for about €750K. A pretty good deal, me thinks.
- HafenCity is also home to the Hamburg Cruise Center, where the RMS Queen Mary 2, largest Ocean Liner in the world, came to dock on our last day in Hamburg. Words cannot describe the grandeur of it. It dwarfed all the buildings around the harbour. We were very lucky indeed that we got to meet her, as it was only a mere coincidence that she was there when we were.
- Another good meal we had was at the Schlacterbörse, which is next to the Meat Market (a real one). Once again, the service was impeccable and the food was wonderful. Unfortunately, this is one restaurant catering to Germans and their portions were just way, way, way too big.
- We adopted yet another 3 Kidz from Karstadt, and have named them Baxter, Woozy and Bubbles.
It was a fantastic trip and a visit to Hamburg is highly recommended. The only drawback about our whole trip is that we did not manage to take very many photos, as the sun was always in the way. But hey, we are definitely not complaining about the sun!
Thursday, 19 February 2009
Valentines Weekend Pig-Out in Geneva
Most of you will know that I do not do Valentine's Day. It is not just because I do not have too many romantic bones in my body, but because I truly believe it to be nothing more than a cash-generating commercial event.
Nevertheless, Azrael and I wanted to do something for the weekend. Our initial plan was to go skiing during the day, and to go out for a meal in the evening. We had planned to have an Asian meal on Saturday night for two reasons. Firstly, the Thai restaurant we had in mind is not a place one would consider "romantic", hence we could expect to dine at normal prices, with the normal menu, without a reservation. Secondly, due to our Alcohol Ban, Asian food works best for us as we would not feel the need to order some wine to go with the meal.
As the weekend drew nearer, it seemed that skiing would be unlikely as the weather forecast was not promising. It was then that Azrael came up with the brilliant idea of popping over to Geneva.
Almost immediately, my mind started racing with all the dining possibilities!! My mom had told me about a Malaysian restaurant, Jeck's Place, which had been featured in the Malaysian newspapers and I was keen to check it out. Azrael on the other hand, needed to get his Dim Sum fix. The quest was on! I immediately got down to finding the best restaurants in Geneva.
We were all set, with restaurant reservations for Saturday tea (z'vieri), Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch.
It was only when Azrael sent me a link to the fancy hotel where we would be staying that it struck me that this was his idea of celebrating Valentine's Day! My old friend Ainelle wisely advised me that if he wants to make a gesture, just let him do it and accept graciously. So I did not make a fuss, graciously accepted and hoped that he would not buy me a Valentines Day present as I certainly was not going to get him one!
When we arrived in Geneva, we walked around the old town in search for a light lunch as we were saving ourselves for the z'vieri. I was hungry and starting to get grumpy when we stumbled upon a small farmers market. We saw a stall selling hand-sliced Serrano and Pata Negra ham and decided to have that with some bread.
We had our nice little lunch by the lake. It was delightful, but extremely cold! Hence our next stop was a cute little French tea-house cum patisserie, where we enjoyed pots of tea and shared a delicious chocolate-praline cake.
The old town of Geneva was very cute, quaint and reminded me of the quieter streets of Paris.
We then headed to our z'vieri appointment at a teeny-tiny Chinese tea house called Le Thé. It was in a very quiet part of town. It must have been the business district. The shop is so discreet that you would not notice it if you were not looking for it. They had tons of little Chinese tea sets and hundreds of variations of Chinese tea! Most importantly, they had homemade Dim Sum which were supposed to be good! We had a pot of tea each and tucked into some lovely dumplings. The food was pretty good. We were quite impressed.
Nevertheless, Azrael and I wanted to do something for the weekend. Our initial plan was to go skiing during the day, and to go out for a meal in the evening. We had planned to have an Asian meal on Saturday night for two reasons. Firstly, the Thai restaurant we had in mind is not a place one would consider "romantic", hence we could expect to dine at normal prices, with the normal menu, without a reservation. Secondly, due to our Alcohol Ban, Asian food works best for us as we would not feel the need to order some wine to go with the meal.
As the weekend drew nearer, it seemed that skiing would be unlikely as the weather forecast was not promising. It was then that Azrael came up with the brilliant idea of popping over to Geneva.
Almost immediately, my mind started racing with all the dining possibilities!! My mom had told me about a Malaysian restaurant, Jeck's Place, which had been featured in the Malaysian newspapers and I was keen to check it out. Azrael on the other hand, needed to get his Dim Sum fix. The quest was on! I immediately got down to finding the best restaurants in Geneva.
We were all set, with restaurant reservations for Saturday tea (z'vieri), Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch.
It was only when Azrael sent me a link to the fancy hotel where we would be staying that it struck me that this was his idea of celebrating Valentine's Day! My old friend Ainelle wisely advised me that if he wants to make a gesture, just let him do it and accept graciously. So I did not make a fuss, graciously accepted and hoped that he would not buy me a Valentines Day present as I certainly was not going to get him one!
When we arrived in Geneva, we walked around the old town in search for a light lunch as we were saving ourselves for the z'vieri. I was hungry and starting to get grumpy when we stumbled upon a small farmers market. We saw a stall selling hand-sliced Serrano and Pata Negra ham and decided to have that with some bread.
We had our nice little lunch by the lake. It was delightful, but extremely cold! Hence our next stop was a cute little French tea-house cum patisserie, where we enjoyed pots of tea and shared a delicious chocolate-praline cake.
The old town of Geneva was very cute, quaint and reminded me of the quieter streets of Paris.
We then headed to our z'vieri appointment at a teeny-tiny Chinese tea house called Le Thé. It was in a very quiet part of town. It must have been the business district. The shop is so discreet that you would not notice it if you were not looking for it. They had tons of little Chinese tea sets and hundreds of variations of Chinese tea! Most importantly, they had homemade Dim Sum which were supposed to be good! We had a pot of tea each and tucked into some lovely dumplings. The food was pretty good. We were quite impressed.
Later that evening, we went to Jeck's Place for dinner. The restaurant was packed and they even had to turn away some customers. We had an incredible meal there, and the kangkung belacan was the best I have ever had outside of Malaysia! It was that good!
After dinner, we made our way to Gab's Music Lounge, which is a new-ish jazz piano lounge. We were just lucky enough to nab two seats by the bar as we were very nearly turned away since we did not have a reservation! Doctor Gabs was the pianist and the party was just getting started when we arrived. We were impressed with the lounge as a whole and the pianist himself was just awesome. His repertoire encompasses jazz, swing, blues, boogie-woogie, but you name it, he plays it. And he sings too! We had a great time at the lounge, even if only with our overpriced fake fruit juice mocktails and Cola!
The next morning, we had only one mission at hand, which was to have a proper yum-cha Dim Sum brunch at Hung Wan, a popular Chinese restaurant just by the lake. I encountered some difficulty ordering the dishes as the Dim Sum "checklist" menu only came in French and Chinese, neither of which I can read! Thankfully, I managed to get a waitress who could help me out in Cantonese. Unfortunately, this meant we could only order the stuff we knew. There could have been many other interesting dishes on the menu.
The Dim Sum certainly did not disappoint, and the prices were very reasonable. They even refilled the teapot with hot water free of charge! What a rare find in Switzerland! I would definitely consider making an occasional day trip to Geneva for yum-cha, especially now that the train journey only takes 2 hours 45 minutes!
With our full bellies in tow, we headed for the train station to make an early-ish start back to Zurich.
I had a lovely weekend away with Azrael and I am making a note-to-self to do this more often. Since we have the GA, train travel does not cost us anything in Switzerland. Just a couple of hours on the train and we can find ourselves in a totally different city, where they speak a different language, have a different demographic of people and it feels like a whole different country out there.
Next stop...... Ascona.
P/s: Full review of the restaurants and photos will be posted shortly on http://spicyzwergli.wordpress.com
After dinner, we made our way to Gab's Music Lounge, which is a new-ish jazz piano lounge. We were just lucky enough to nab two seats by the bar as we were very nearly turned away since we did not have a reservation! Doctor Gabs was the pianist and the party was just getting started when we arrived. We were impressed with the lounge as a whole and the pianist himself was just awesome. His repertoire encompasses jazz, swing, blues, boogie-woogie, but you name it, he plays it. And he sings too! We had a great time at the lounge, even if only with our overpriced fake fruit juice mocktails and Cola!
The next morning, we had only one mission at hand, which was to have a proper yum-cha Dim Sum brunch at Hung Wan, a popular Chinese restaurant just by the lake. I encountered some difficulty ordering the dishes as the Dim Sum "checklist" menu only came in French and Chinese, neither of which I can read! Thankfully, I managed to get a waitress who could help me out in Cantonese. Unfortunately, this meant we could only order the stuff we knew. There could have been many other interesting dishes on the menu.
The Dim Sum certainly did not disappoint, and the prices were very reasonable. They even refilled the teapot with hot water free of charge! What a rare find in Switzerland! I would definitely consider making an occasional day trip to Geneva for yum-cha, especially now that the train journey only takes 2 hours 45 minutes!
With our full bellies in tow, we headed for the train station to make an early-ish start back to Zurich.
I had a lovely weekend away with Azrael and I am making a note-to-self to do this more often. Since we have the GA, train travel does not cost us anything in Switzerland. Just a couple of hours on the train and we can find ourselves in a totally different city, where they speak a different language, have a different demographic of people and it feels like a whole different country out there.
Next stop...... Ascona.
P/s: Full review of the restaurants and photos will be posted shortly on http://spicyzwergli.wordpress.com
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Vietnam, here we come!
We'd been planning a trip to Vietnam to visit my cousin, Willet, who had moved to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We have also had Angkor Wat on our list of places to visit, so last summer, we decided that we would incorporate the trip into our next pilgrimage to Malaysia, which is to take place over the Easter period in 2009. Although we had the dates blocked out, we had not made any bookings or travel arrangements as some extensive research needed to be done.
Planning the trip to Vietnam and Angkor became one of my projects to do during my time off. I spent a good part of the last 3 weeks painstakingly researching the destinations to create the ideal itinerary, and making travel arrangements, including flights and hotels.
To add to the challenge, my mom and aunt would be joining us for the first week, and my old friend, Feather and her husband would be joining us for the second week. I therefore had the task of coordinating the logistics of each couples' travel arrangements.
After weeks of research, reading travel guides, travel blogs, hotel reviews, destination reviews, travel forums, and whatever else I could find, I have more or less finalised the itinerary and travel arrangements.
Anyone who has ever planned a trip with me will know that I am stickler for the best quality hotel at the lowest price. I troll the internet like a hawk, making sure that I get the best deal available out there.
One thing I discovered about hotels in Vietnam is that the best deal to be had is the one made directly with the hotels. So the booking process involved many emails to and fro in order to finalise the reservations. Another interesting thing about hotels and travel agents in Vietnam is that most of them are available online to chat! This tool also proved to be invaluable during the booking process.
The final piece of the itinerary which I struggled with was the Halong Bay junk cruise. This is supposed to be the highlight of our trip as we planned to charter the entire junk, so that we could dictate the itinerary of our cruise, and just chill out without screaming kids on the boat.
Upon my initial search, it was looking like it would cost us upwards of USD 400 per person for a 3D/2N private cruise. Although Azrael and Feather and her husband had ok'd the cost, I still found this to be incredibly steep, so I continued the hunt for the perfect junk at the perfect price. I can now definitely call myself an expert in the Halong Bay private junk cruise department.
Bearing in mind what I'd learned from the hotel booking process, I proceeded to look for the owners of the boats I had shortlisted, and emailed them directly. If the hotel owners gave me the best deal, then surely the boat owners would be in the position to give me the best deal as well! Alas, I managed to secure the Lagoon Explorer for USD 350 per person, compared to USD 430 I was previously quoted.
Today, I had my biggest success yet. I had found another 2-cabin junk called the Petit White Dolphin which is pretty new. I managed to catch the the sales person to chat online and we discussed my requirements and she answered my many questions. I have just received a quote for USD 248 per person which we are definitely going to take!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!! AND.... it is a much nicer boat than the Lagoon Explorer! You can check out the pics here http://baitulongjunk.com/photos/
I am so pleased with the final itinerary for the trip and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process from the research, to the coordination, bookings and negotiations. Perhaps my true calling is to be a Travel Agent!
Planning the trip to Vietnam and Angkor became one of my projects to do during my time off. I spent a good part of the last 3 weeks painstakingly researching the destinations to create the ideal itinerary, and making travel arrangements, including flights and hotels.
To add to the challenge, my mom and aunt would be joining us for the first week, and my old friend, Feather and her husband would be joining us for the second week. I therefore had the task of coordinating the logistics of each couples' travel arrangements.
After weeks of research, reading travel guides, travel blogs, hotel reviews, destination reviews, travel forums, and whatever else I could find, I have more or less finalised the itinerary and travel arrangements.
Anyone who has ever planned a trip with me will know that I am stickler for the best quality hotel at the lowest price. I troll the internet like a hawk, making sure that I get the best deal available out there.
One thing I discovered about hotels in Vietnam is that the best deal to be had is the one made directly with the hotels. So the booking process involved many emails to and fro in order to finalise the reservations. Another interesting thing about hotels and travel agents in Vietnam is that most of them are available online to chat! This tool also proved to be invaluable during the booking process.
The final piece of the itinerary which I struggled with was the Halong Bay junk cruise. This is supposed to be the highlight of our trip as we planned to charter the entire junk, so that we could dictate the itinerary of our cruise, and just chill out without screaming kids on the boat.
Upon my initial search, it was looking like it would cost us upwards of USD 400 per person for a 3D/2N private cruise. Although Azrael and Feather and her husband had ok'd the cost, I still found this to be incredibly steep, so I continued the hunt for the perfect junk at the perfect price. I can now definitely call myself an expert in the Halong Bay private junk cruise department.
Bearing in mind what I'd learned from the hotel booking process, I proceeded to look for the owners of the boats I had shortlisted, and emailed them directly. If the hotel owners gave me the best deal, then surely the boat owners would be in the position to give me the best deal as well! Alas, I managed to secure the Lagoon Explorer for USD 350 per person, compared to USD 430 I was previously quoted.
Today, I had my biggest success yet. I had found another 2-cabin junk called the Petit White Dolphin which is pretty new. I managed to catch the the sales person to chat online and we discussed my requirements and she answered my many questions. I have just received a quote for USD 248 per person which we are definitely going to take!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!! AND.... it is a much nicer boat than the Lagoon Explorer! You can check out the pics here http://baitulongjunk.com/photos/
I am so pleased with the final itinerary for the trip and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process from the research, to the coordination, bookings and negotiations. Perhaps my true calling is to be a Travel Agent!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Bargain blitz visit to London
I spent Monday and Tuesday on a blitz business-trip-style visit to London in a quest to nab myself a netbook at a "bargain" price. With the Sterling at a record low, the price difference between the UK and Switzerland would pay for the entire trip! Obviously, the trip would have to be done on a tight budget all the way.
I scoured the high street electrical shops, all the tech shops on Tottenham Court Road, and even tried to negotiate with the sales assistant in Selfridges! Finally I settled on a beauty of a netbook, a white Samsung NC10 for the handsome price of GBP 299 including VAT. After filling out some forms for a VAT refund, the total price paid was GBP 270 (CHF 429). The price of the equivalent machine in Switzerland is CHF 599. Success!!!
During my 34 hour stint in London, I also managed to get my eyebrows done at the Estee Lauder Brow Bar, catch up with some friends for lunch, dinner and drinks and squeeze in a little shopping. Last but not least, I managed to takeaway a whole host of treats from Chinatown - 2 types of Malaysian char kuey teow, Nasi Goreng Kampung, roast duck, roast pork and char siew.
The cost breakdown of my trip was:
Easyjet flight Basel to Gatwick = CHF 40
Ryanair flight Stansted to Basel = CHF 40
1 night at Easyhotel = CHF 40
Total cost = CHF 120
Total saved on netbook = CHF 170 (Wicked!)
It was one of the most tiring trips I have ever made, but as I share the yummy food with my loved ones here, and think of my friends whom I managed to see in London, I think it was well worth it.
I scoured the high street electrical shops, all the tech shops on Tottenham Court Road, and even tried to negotiate with the sales assistant in Selfridges! Finally I settled on a beauty of a netbook, a white Samsung NC10 for the handsome price of GBP 299 including VAT. After filling out some forms for a VAT refund, the total price paid was GBP 270 (CHF 429). The price of the equivalent machine in Switzerland is CHF 599. Success!!!
During my 34 hour stint in London, I also managed to get my eyebrows done at the Estee Lauder Brow Bar, catch up with some friends for lunch, dinner and drinks and squeeze in a little shopping. Last but not least, I managed to takeaway a whole host of treats from Chinatown - 2 types of Malaysian char kuey teow, Nasi Goreng Kampung, roast duck, roast pork and char siew.
The cost breakdown of my trip was:
Easyjet flight Basel to Gatwick = CHF 40
Ryanair flight Stansted to Basel = CHF 40
1 night at Easyhotel = CHF 40
Total cost = CHF 120
Total saved on netbook = CHF 170 (Wicked!)
It was one of the most tiring trips I have ever made, but as I share the yummy food with my loved ones here, and think of my friends whom I managed to see in London, I think it was well worth it.
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