A Simple Place (Taipei, Taiwan)

This new budget hotel is conveniently located and a fun place to stay. Rooms are large and spacious (although mine was upgraded), mine had a small comfy couch, large (comfy) bed, a flat screen tv and a small desk (with free water and snacks). Attached bathroom had a shower and a toilet, both rooms were very clean.

Every second floor has a shared fridge, with a free washer/dryer on the top floor. Tea making facilities and a (free) computer with internet are also available in the top floor. Free WiFi on each floor. Hotel has been decorated in a very fun way, and staff are very friendly and helpful. Location is very convenient (perhaps a 5 minute walk to the main Ximending area). Loved my stay here.

No breakfast included – but use this as an opportunity to explore the local eateries – fantastic Taiwanese omelette place around the corner.

Toyoko Inn Busan Jungangdong (Busan, South Korea)

Staff were friendly and helpful, didn’t speak a lot of English, but spoke fluent Japanese. Rooms were clean and spacious (bed in the single room was actually a semi-double bed). Location was great, about 5 minutes walk from the ferry terminal, and a 10 minute walk to the main train station. Fantastic and cheap Korean Barbeque restaurant up the road (ask the staff). Free internet and breakfast were a great plus.

Business Hotel Hakata Seagull (Fukuoka, Japan)

This was the cheapest hotel we could find in Fukuoka, and believe me, we looked.

Rooms were spacious and clean – we stayed in two different twins whilst here. The first one was larger, with a small couch. The second was a little smaller, but without the couch it was actually more spacious. Both had tv’s, aircon and private bathrooms (small tub/shower and toilet). On the fourth floor there is a large (traditional) bathroom that you can lock, so you can have a shower in a larger room. Free wireless internet.

The checkin staff didn’t speak much English, but was more than willing to help us, and made checkin very smooth. Also helped us book another room. Attached to the hotel is a great Korean/Filipino restaurant with a Pirate theme – fantastic food, and the guy there spoke great English (we managed to get vegetarian food, a reasonably hard feat in Japan).

Shanghai Airlines Travel Hotel (Shanghai, China)

This hotels main redeeming feature is that it is extremely close to the South Railway station (about 5 mins by taxi). Prices includes breakfast and the room price is quite reasonable. There are good options for dinner nearby and the room has free broadband internet (the cable is in the drawer).

However, the beds were really hard. Really really hard. The breakfast wasn’t so good – toast wasn’t hot, there was no juice or cold water (there was hot orange tang), some of the dishes were ok, but most were just mediocre. Breakfast was served on the 8th floor, to get there, you had to take the elevator to the 7th floor, then walk a flight of steps to the 8th floor, not suitable for someone who has trouble walking. The wiring in the rooms was bad – when you sat on the bed, the lamp flickered on and off, scary! In the middle of the night, someone tried to enter our room, they had a card that worked, all that stopped them was the bar that we put across the door from our side.

Overall? It’s really close to the train station, so if you’re coming in really late/leaving really early, it’s an ok option, but the beds were hard, the wiring scary, and the overall feel of the place not too clean. Plus the incident with someone trying to break in to the room left an unpleasant feeling.

Home in time for the end of Melbourne’s winter…

Asia ~ China ~ Hong Kong

Whoops – I might have been a little lazy in writing my last blog for my China trip… I’ve now been home for nearly a month (wow, time flies), and thought I’d better write that last post. But, honestly, I don’t have the time or the energy to write a nice long post like I normally do, so instead it’s a photo blog.

Chunking Mansions

My “deluxe hotel” in Hong Kong – these buildings consist of many, many low budget hostel/hotel/guesthouses, ranging in grime from slightly grimey to total uk. I managed to stay in one of the better ones, Taiwan Hotel, for only HK$200 a night (for a twin room with a window, AC and private bathroom).

Hong Kong

Looking over the waterfront, waiting for the night-time lightshow. As far as cities go, I’ve decided that Hong Kong is actually a pretty nice one to look at, plenty of greenery as soon as you step away from the city, and interesting buildings in the middle of town.

Hong Kong Nightime

Watching the ships go by, just before the nighttime light-show

Watching the skies

Stanley Beach in Hong Kong, just near the famous Stanley Markets

Life Savers in Hong Kong

Bringing in the boat – the beach “closed” at 6pm – complete with announcements to tell us to get out of the water!

Me at the beach

Enjoying a summer’s day – later it will become apparent just how sunburnt I really was…

Me, at the top of the peak

Nice view – but my mind wasn’t really on the view that particular day. Probably can’t quite see it in the photo, but my legs were the same colour as the red hat Matt was trying to “rescue” (see below). Owwwwww!

Matt, playing monkey

At the top of the peak, “rescuing” a McD cap…

Matt & Ronald

Just hanging out with our new friend at a local resturant…

Tian Tan Buddha

The world’s tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha – a whopping 268 steps to the top!

Matt taking a rest-stop

It’s a long way to the top – heading up to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island

So, now I’m home again, eagerly awaiting the birth of my neice/nephew. Off to Sydney, then Brisbane next month, then home for birthdays and Christmas. Hope all are well – this will be the last post for a while, until the next trip (China in January?)

xoxo