Great Wall of China - Mutianyu 慕田峪 Section

We visited Mutiayu Section of the Great Wall too on this trip. We shared ride (private car with chauffeur) with another two Taiwanese girl. Cost per person was RMB150 and includes transport to Mutianyu, Sacred Passageway and Ming Tomb.

We visited Jinshanling section of the Great Wall during the earlier part of the trip. All of the open sections at Mutianyu is well restored compared to Jinshanling and personally I love the scenery of the former than the latter.

"Great Wall of China - Mutianyu Section" by gardenchime

"Mountains of the autumn at Mutianyu" by gardenchime

"Great Wall of China - Mutianyu Section" by gardenchime

"Great Wall of China - Mutianyu Section" by gardenchime

Beijing - Prince Gong's Mansion (恭王府)

We came across this Chinese tour guide leading a group of local Chinese tourist while we were at Prince Gong's Mansion (恭王府) in Beijing. She was giving a narration of the juicy tales from the past at the prince's mansion. Some very good local tour guide's narration is much more colourful and interesting compared to the same language audio guide available for rent at all the attractions. If you can understand Mandarin, try to tag along with a local tour group to listen to the narration by the tour guide.

"Local Chinese tour group and guide at Prince Gong's Mansion" by gardenchime 

"Prince Gong Mansion Entrance Ticket - Front" by gardenchime

"Prince Gong Mansion Entrance Ticket - Back" by gardenchime

Beijing - Super 8 Beijing Xisi's

We stayed here for 2 nights before moving on to the next accomodation. It is located in one of the small alley (hutong) and it's within walking distance from Ping'Anli subway station in Xicheng area. To go to the hotel from Ping'Anli station, go out the station at Ping'Anli South street and walk south towards Xisi North Street. Cross the intersection at Ping'Anli West Street. Turn into the Xisi North 7th Alley - the second alley on your left. There are signboards but I can't exactly remember if they have it in English or not. Buses are available too at the main street (Xisi North Street).

Friendly staff and clean place, although the hotel can improve a bit on their housekeeping effort - beds were not made by the hotel during our entire stay there. Toilet paper was only replenished on day 1 and we had to ask for those from the front desk on the other day. The in room phone was not working too but it was not fixed by the time we check out. There were funny rubbery smell in our bathroom but nothing intolerable.

We were actually booked on another hotel (Hostel 161) which is Super 8 Beijing Xisi's (formerly Lotus Courtyard Hostel) sister hotel. Booking for the hostel was made online via booking.com and we only learned that the hostel was closed for renovation 1 week prior to our departure to Beijing when we wrote in to confirm our stay. We were indeed very apprehensive at that point but Hostel 161 has assured us that they have transferred our booking to Super 8 Xisi with no extra cost incurred.

The hotel required RMB100 as deposit upon check in, which is refundable. Hair dryer and mosquito mat heater was available in the room.

We are happy as we have only paid for a 2-night-stay at a hostel but ended up staying in a courtyard hotel. We had to change our itinerary a bit but it was worth the stay.

Unique Qualities: Courtyard setup. Close to Xisi subway station.
Address: No.29 Xisi North Qi Tiao, Beijing, Beijing Region, 100034, China
Price Comparison: less expensive than average
*Similar review by the same author under the user ID gardenchime is also available at Tripadvisor.com*

Bnagkok - 2011 vs. 2012

I was excited when I first traveled to Bangkok in 2011. I have heard so much about the city and finally I was going to experience it myself!

The Grand Palace by gardenchime

Bangkok is indeed a mix of old Siamese charm and a fast growing metropolitan, not forgetting a true street food paradise! In 2011, we stayed at Bangkok Boutique Hotel at Sukhumvit. There were many street food vendors just outside of the hotel and that was enough to satisfy our appetite for local fare. Pork was everywhere! Street food were available from early till late morning on weekdays, to cater for students and working adults commuting to school and work. There were only a few stalls operating during the weekends. There were a wide variety of selections, from pork satay to friend rice. Prices were relatively reasonable.

Whereas in 2012, we opt to stay at the Pratunam area. Street food choices were not as many as what was available in Sukhumvit, but one would still be able to get by.

Sukhumvit grilled pork stall (2011) by gardenchime

Bangkok - Siam Star Hotel

"Siam Star Hotel? This way please!" by gardenchime

I am not very picky about accommodation when it comes to budget holiday trips, and neither did my friends. We pondered for weeks on where to stay this time around. In the end we decided to go with Siam Star Hotel. We did our booking via Booking.com.What Siam Star offered is very basic and reasonable for the price we forked out (THB1200 per night for a triple room). Credit card was needed as a guarantee but no charges was imposed for booking. 

Initially I thought the closest station to the hotel was Makasan station of the Airport Link Express. We took the express link and alighted at Makasan Station. A sense of deja vu suddenly enveloped me and Lee Peng - we have been to the same station before during our last trip! Then we realized that we were suppose to get off at Rajchaprarop instead of Makasan. The mistakes were mine, I got a little confused :D So the three of us walked back and got ourselves tokens for City Link Express to Rajchaprarop.

We took a little bit of smart guessing (with a little help from the free city map available at the airport) upon getting out from Rajchaprarop station and walked towards the hotel, with the prominently visible and recognizable (from the station itself) Baiyoke Sky Hotel tower as our landmark. Siam Star is very very close to Baiyoke.

We actually walked past the soi to Siam Star. Luckily, we were pointed to the right direction by a gentleman sitting outside of another hotel that looked really nice (PR Place - and they brand themselves as a boutique hotel, but that's another post!) located just in front of Soi Rajchaprarop 5. Siam Star is located at the other end of the soi, after passing by KC Place and KC Apartment.

The hotel only accept cash and we didn't know this beforehand. So better be prepared with extra cash in hand if you plan to stay here. 

Our room is located on the 3rd floor. It was clean, albeit the size and more importantly, there were no funny smells or cockroaches were not seen lurking around the room.

"Triple room n the 3rd floor" by gardenchime

There were 3 plug points available in our room, just nice for the three of us. There was a standard single door refrigerator in the room too but we didn't switch it on. Clean towels and drinking water were provided on a daily basis. Water heater was functional and water pressure was good.

"Siam Star Hotel's clean toilet" by gardenchime

"Daily supply of drinking water and toilet paper" by gardenchime

Front desk staffs were friendly and spoke good English but the staffs at the cafe were a bit ambivalent. There were several breakfast set meal to choose from at the cafe and it cost THB69 per set, with drinks (coffee, tea or Milo) included. 

Baiyoke Sky is located just behind Siam Star and one can just walk to the hotel via it's back entrance which is not far from the hotel. Platinum Mall is about 15-20 minutes walk away from the hotel. There is also another mall that is nearer (within the same building as the Indra Regent Hotel).

Not many street food vendors were available here compared to Sukhumvit - we stayed there during our last trip. There were a few food stalls and a kiosk selling freshly made coffee located just beside Rajchaprarop City Link station.

Honestly speaking, I am not really keen on making it a point to come back and stay here, even though there was nothing really really bad or wrong about this hotel. I would not stay away from or make bad publicity about Siam Star either, simply because there are plenty of other places with better locality and offer to choose from in Pratunam area. 

If you ask me to describe Siam Star Hotel in 3 words, it would be: basic, clean and decent.

Unique Qualities: Close to Rajchaparop Airport Link Station (about 200m away)
Baiyoke Sky is just next door.

Price Comparison: about average
Directions: Get off from Rajchaparop Airport Link Station. Cross the railway upon exiting the station. You'll see a small coffee kiosk across. Walk along and take the right turn at PR Place. Walk past KC Place/Apartment. Siam Star is at the end of the alley.
Price: less than US$20
Theme: Hotel
*The same review by the same author under the user ID gardenchime is also available at Tripadvisor.com*

Bangkok - from Dannok to Hatyai

Van stand in front of 7-11 by gardenchime

We hopped on to a taxi outside the railway station, RM60 per taxi (that is RM20/person). Initially driver promised to take us up to Malaysian-Thai border. However, there were already a long queues at the Malaysian Immigration check point so we decided it would be quicker for us to walk to Dannok instead. And so we did. After the immigration, we took a van to Hatyai International Airport. The fare to Lee Garden Hotel in Hatyai cost THB57 per person (I think it was THB55 in 2011). They put an extra charge of THB100 per person for going to the airport so total cost per person was THB157. 

The van stand in front of 7-11 has a more reasonable fare compared to the 1st stand one encounteres after the immigration check point. Be sure to shop around for the price, the stands are quite near to each other.

We arrived at Hatyai International Airport in time for our flight after passing by Hatyai Bus Terminal.

Bangkok - From Alor Setar

We gathered at the railway station.

"Alor Setar Railway Station (KTMB)" by gardenchime

It was a beautiful morning.

"Alor Setar Railway Station - breaking dawn" by gardenchime

"The railway" by gardenchime

Our spirits were high and we were excited. 

We waited for the train to come

And then, we found out that the train had been delayed for an hour.
(Nope, we had to call KTMB to find out about that. Another note was that there were no KTMB staffs at the counter nor anyone of them were within our sight while we were waiting at the station)

But that didn't dampened our spirit.

The initial plan: take a train to Hatyai via Padang Besar in order to catch our flight at Hatyai International Airport.

ETD from Hatyai 17/8/2012 @1230 local time.

We were determined not to miss our flight.

We took matters in our own hand and got ourselves on a taxi to Bukit Kayu Hitam instead.

The race was on.

"Buy your ticket on board" by gardenchime