The Case Of The Missing Slippers

When Jam, his friend and I visited Phnom Penh in Cambodia for 3 days, we stayed at this hotel called Asia Hotel.



Guess what? Our stay here was fully paid for by a nice friend in Phnom Penh. He also acted as host and tour guide during our 3 days in this capital city of Cambodia. When we entered our hotel room, I saw something on the table.



Wow! They were fruits and tidbits courtesy of our good friend! Nice.



The room was huge! Too huge for just 3 people. But I loved it!



The room came with two bathrooms so we did not have to fight when it was time to shower or use the toilet. I did not take any photos of the bathrooms, though but they were clean.

There were three beds in a row. Beside each bed was a pair of slippers. One pair for each of us.



My stay at this hotel was pretty pleasant. Except for two interesting events that took place in this room. The first is the case of the three female hookers, which I shall blog about in a future post. The second is the case of the missing slippers.



Every night, before we jumped into bed, we would leave our slippers by the bed side. One morning, right after I woke up, Jam complained that his pair of slippers was gone. He searched around and eventually found his slippers in the waste paper basket near the bathroom!

Jam immediately asked if any one of us had thrown his slippers into the waste paper basket. His friend denied doing any such thing. I of course did not do it so replied in the negative. Instead, I jokingly told Jam that perhaps he had a bout of sleep-walking during the middle of the night and threw away his own slippers!

Jam's friend then suggested perhaps someone came into our room while we were sleeping during the night and did it. But we had locked our door from inside and it was not possible for anyone to come in. And even if it's true that someone had managed to enter our room, nothing was stolen from us. Why would he or she went through all that trouble just to throw that pair of slippers into the waste paper basket?!

It did not make sense. The only conclusion we could come up with was this - it was the work of a mischievous ghost! What other explanations are there?

The next night, we had an interesting case of the three female hookers in our room. More about that soon. Luckily, none of our slippers went missing that night.

Angkor Friendship Inn

Last year, I went for a 6-day trip to Cambodia with blogger Jam and his friend. We spent 3 days in Siem Reap and another 3 days in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.

It was my first time to Cambodia and I was pretty excited!

We took an early morning AirAsia flight at 7am from LCCT and reached Siem Reap International Airport 2 hours later.



A few days before our trip, I had a scare when Jam told me that the hotel in Siem Reap which he booked a few months back was no longer in business! Luckily he managed to book another hotel within a short period of time. Otherwise, we would probably be sleeping in the streets! Haha!

It is not easy to find a 3-bed hotel room, but Jam managed to locate one at Angkor Friendship Inn.



This may not be a luxury 4 or 5-stars hotel, but that's OK. I seldom stay in luxury hotels during my travels. As long as it is clean and comfortable, that is all that matters to me.



The good thing about Angkor Friendship Inn is that they provide free airport pickup upon your arrival in Siem Reap. Yes, the three of us sat on this "tuk tuk" all the way from the Siem Reap International Airport. It was fun!



The reception area was basic and simple. The staff were nice and friendly.



Every morning we had simple breakfast at the area next to the reception.



This is the picture of Angkor Wat on the wall behind the reception counter. We would be visiting Angkor Wat on our first day in Siem Reap.



Guests can get free coffee or tea at the lobby.



Our 3-bed room was located on the second floor. It was pretty clean and comfortable. At only USD27 (RM81) per night (which includes breakfasts), it was a steal!



I still remember watching the James Cameron movie Avatar on the TV in our room. I was amazed they were already showing Avatar (although dubbed in Cambodian language) when it's not even available on Malaysian TV even to this very day!



Even though Angkor Friendship Inn is quite small, it does have a swimming pool. A tiny one though. However, we did not swim or laze around at the swimming pool.



What I like about Angkor Friendship Inn the most is its location, which is perfect. It is just 5 - 10 minutes walk to the Old Market, the happening pubs and restaurants and to Artisans D'Angkor which I shall blog about in future.

FIRST COMMENTER

Lotus Garden Hotel In Manila

I did not stay at a luxury hotel in Manila like what I did when I traveled to Bangkok last year. Instead, I stayed at a budget hotel called Lotus Garden Hotel in Ermita.

Located within walking distance to the US Embassy and within close proximity to popular Rizal Park and Robinsons Place, Lotus Garden Hotel was almost the perfect budget hotel for me!

Why almost? Well, I'll let you know in a moment.



From the map above (click to enlarge) you can see that the hotel is situated at the corner junction of A. Mabini and Padre Faura streets. Location wise, it was pretty convenient for me as there's Jollibee (Philippines' most popular local fast food chain) within a stone's throw and 7-11 store a little further at Padre Faura street.

Oddly for some reason or other, I did not take any photos of the hotel's front entrance.

I checked in at the hotel at around 2pm after traveling for more than 2 hours from Clark International Airport. Read how I traveled from Clark to Manila and finally to this hotel in my previous post HERE.

The front desk was pretty efficient. I was led to my room on the 4th floor almost immediately. It was a Standard Room.



The room was neither big nor luxurious, but it was good enough for me. Most importantly, it was clean!



Did you notice that unique looking table lamp?



Here's a close shot of the table lamp.



Of course, the first thing I checked when I entered the room was the bathroom. And to my pleasant surprise, it was very clean!



The sink was spotlessly clean too!



I actually looked forward to my shower during the five days I stayed in this hotel!



Room service was good. They replenished the soaps and shampoos whenever I finished using without having me to call and request for them.



The bath towels were clean and did not have unsightly spots like in some budget hotels I stayed before. You can bet I was really happy with the bathroom!



The hotel room had water boiler which I made use of everyday!



And a nice mini bar too, although I did not take anything from the bar.



On top of the bar were snacks and instant cup noodles with the price list clearly stated.



One night, I was so hungry I just had to cook the instant cup noodles. Only after cooking it did I realize that I did not have any fork or chopsticks with me! How was I going to eat it?

I called the hotel room service and asked for a pair of chopsticks. The person at the end of the line apologized and said they had ran out of chopsticks! Can you believe that? Then it dawned on me that I was in Philippines, not Malaysia! Filipinos don't use chopsticks, or do they?

No chopsticks? No problem. I settled for a fork instead.

Two minutes later, there was a knock on my door. That was fast! I opened the door and the man outside smiled and handed me chopsticks! Not one, not two ..... but three pair of chopsticks! Oh my!

I was so happy I actually tipped the man! Not a lot, mind you, but enough to have him smiling bigger than just a moment ago. I don't usually give tips when I stay in budget hotels, so this must be my first time doing so! Haha!

So, here's my 3 pair of chopsticks and my cup of instant noodles!



One thing I don't like about Manila is that it seems to get dark very early. By 6pm, the sky would already be dark and it would look something like 8pm in Malaysia.

Although I am a night owl by nature, I find that during my Manila trip, I slept quite early every night! There are 3 possible reasons for this strange phenomenon.

One, it gets dark too early in Manila and that makes me feel as if it is very late and it's time for bed!

Two, I walk all day long and so gets tired by early evenings.

Three, I have to wake up early for the complimentary breakfast every morning to avoid the crowds. Yes, I woke up at 6am everyday while staying there and would be down at the Cilantro Restaurant by 6.30am for my daily breakfast!

Oh well, it's probably a combination of all the three reasons above. Haha! But even though I went to bed early, nothing would stop me from watching the TV on my bed before I sleep! Well, it was cable TV complete with over 72 channels to choose from!



I was glad that the air-conditioner was working in perfect order. Manila is hot, just like KL in Malaysia, so air-conditioning is a must. The good thing was this air-conditioner was quiet and did not make a lot of noise like what I encountered in some other budget hotels.



Ok, here are some random photos taken from my hotel room.


The photo above my bed


The hanger and cabinet


Slippers

They provided two pair of slippers but the slippers were chargeable and not included in the price of the room.


The Fire Escape Plan on the door

There were instructions in case of fire as well as earthquake. I actually read the instructions for the earthquake as I seldom come across such guidelines in Malaysia or any other Asian countries!

Remember I told you earlier that the Lotus Garden Hotel was ALMOST the perfect budget hotel for me? Yes, I love everything about this hotel!

✔The location was perfect - it was walking distance to the largest Robinsons Mall in the whole of Philippines. It was also very near to Rizal Park and the famous and historical Intramuros which I will blog about very soon. There were also LRT stations nearby all within walking distance!

✔The room was clean, tidy and comfortable - I loved it!

✔The hotel staff were friendly and the service provided was good. Although I must say their tour and travel counter was not exactly helpful to me. More about this in my future posts.

✔The breakfast was not bad, but could be improved with more variety of food.

✔The hotel provided free wifi, which was good. I was very happy with the wifi as I could update my tweets and read my emails in my room using my iPhone! It proved to be invaluable when I could surf the Internet and check out on the places I wanted to go in Manila!

✔It was reasonably priced - I paid about RM700 for 5 nights stay. That's about RM140 per night.

So it's all good, but there is ONE thing I was unhappy about. Just one thing.

If you look at the Fire Escape Plan above, you would notice that my room faces Mabini Street. Herein lies the problem. The traffic along this road could become quite noisy during the night and it was disturbing me from sleeping peacefully at night!

I did not sleep very well on my first night due to the traffic noise despite my windows being all closed tight! Somehow, on subsequent nights, the noise did not seem to affect me anymore. Probably I was too tired or I had gotten used to it.

Anyway, if you choose to stay in this hotel, make sure you get a room that does not face the street. Alternatively, bring an ear-plug!


Front entrance photo courtesy of yamadatrans

For more info on Lotus Garden Hotel, visit their website HERE

Coming Up Next : Shopping At Robinsons Place Manila

FIRST COMMENTER

From Clark International Airport To Manila

It was my first time traveling to the Philippines! Needless to say, I was excited.

I had targeted Manila City and its surroundings for my 6D/5N visit. I was looking forward to see many things in Manila and to meet up with two Filipino bloggers there!

So on one fine early morning in January 2011, I found myself at the LCCT airport checking in my luggage. It was a breeze doing so as there wasn't a big crowd. Probably doing my own self check-in on the AirAsia website at home the night before helped me escape the normal crowd.

The AirAsia plane departed at about 7.20am and reached Manila at 11am. I did not have proper sleep the night before so I tried to sleep in the plane, but found it impossible to do so. I don't know if it's just me, but I always have difficulty falling asleep the night before I travel to a foreign country! And AirAsia seats were just not conducive for sleeping!

Upon landing at Clark International Airport, I was asked by the custom officer how much Philippine pesos I brought with me. Well, I actually brought 11,000 pesos but it was against the law to bring more than 10,000 so I said 10,000. LOL!

I forgot to take picture of the Clark Airport (also known as Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) so here's a picture taken from this site HERE.



It was a small airport serving only budget airlines like AirAsia and I knew before I went to Manila that I had chosen the wrong airline and the wrong airport!

Why wrong airline and wrong airport? Well, because AirAsia only lands at this airport and not Manila International Airport (also known as Ninoy Aquino International Airport) which charges higher landing fee and which is just within 25 minutes to Manila.

The Clark Airport on the other hand was located far away from Manila in Angeles City, Pampanga. To get to Manila, I had to take a bus from the Clark Airport to Pasay Bus Station in Manila. I bought the bus ticket which was priced at 350 pesos (RM25) at the counter near the airport exit.

The air-conditioned bus, operated by Partas was however quite comfortable. I did not manage to sleep in the bus though I wanted to. It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach Manila.

So for those of you who want to go Manila, do not fly AirAsia unless you don't mind the long journey from Clark Airport to Manila City!

When I reached Pasay Bus Station in Manila, it was already almost 2pm. A few people approached me asking me which hotel I would be going to, but I did not trust them. One said he would charge 300 pesos (RM22) to take me to my hotel. I slashed it to 150 pesos (RM11) and he shook his head. Oh well, I was not going to be cheated!

I walked out of the bus station and down the road with my luggage in tow, trying to flag down a taxi. But it was quite impossible to get a taxi at that time, so when I finally got one, and the driver agreed on the 150 pesos (which I knew was still too expensive but what the heck!) I quickly jumped into the taxi feeling totally relieved!

It took about 20 minutes to reach Lotus Garden Hotel where I would be staying. Located at the corner junction of A. Mabini and Padre Faura streets in Ermita, the Lotus Garden Hotel is a budget hotel and quite a comfortable one at that!

More about Lotus Garden Hotel in my next post, so stay tuned : )

FIRST COMMENTER

Walking The Streets Of Bangkok

I enjoyed walking around in Bangkok.

During my Bangkok trip late last year, my friend and I spent most of our time walking around and shopping.

There was this statue located opposite Dusit Thani Hotel where we stayed. It was actually the statue of King Rama VI, who reigned as King of Siam from 1910 to 1925.



The statue stood at the southwestern entrance to Bangkok's famous Lumpini Park at the junction of Rajdamri Road and Rama IV Road. It was a pity we did not have the time to visit the park as it has a man-made lake where visitors can rent boats. It is also a good place to jog and cycle and it contains a public library, an indoor stadium and even a dance hall!

Well, I will make sure I visit Lumpini Park the next time I go Bangkok! Oh! I even found a map of Lumpini Park HERE.

By the way, I saw these below the King Rama VI statue.



Although walking is good, I actually enjoy traveling around in tuk tuks! Here I took a photo while traveling in one!



Tuk tuk is one of the fastest ways to travel in congested Bangkok roads. The drivers simply know how to weave in and out of the traffic at breakneck speed! Sit in a tuk tuk if you want to get somewhere fast!

There are lots of temples to visit in Bangkok, but this time I chose just one, if you don't count The Erawan Shrine. But I forgot the name of this temple!



I was told that it was not good to take pictures of humans with these holy statues together inside a temple. However, taking pictures of people with Buddha statues outside the temple is OK.

This is the front view of the temple. It is not a very grand looking temple, I must say.



Although I stayed at Dusit Thani Hotel, that did not stop me from visiting other hotels along the Rajdamri Road.

This is the Grand Hyatt Erawan. Yes, it's the one just next to the famous Four Faced Buddha or the Erawan Shrine which I blogged about previously.



The lobby looks rather grand, doesn't it?

I took this photo of the Rajdamri road when I exited from the Grand Hyatt Erawan. Notice the Skytrain line that runs parellel with the road.



The next hotel my friend and I stopped by was the Four Seasons Hotel.



I like the elephant!

The hotel had a nice pond outside the main entrance.



Inside, I was awed by the pictures on the wall!



I think it was beautiful but it would be quite dangerous if you lose yourself looking at the picture while climbing up the stairs!



Love this tall tree at the courtyard. (not sure if I can call it a courtyard)



From the first floor, looking down at the lobby below.



Thai people seems to like elephants a lot! I saw an elephant while walking along Silom Road. Of course, it was not a real elephant.



But then again, I heard that they were so crazy about the pandas at Chiang Mai Zoo that an elephant was painted black and white just like a panda to get some attention! See the picture of that "panda" elephant HERE!

Ooh! I love it that Ronald McDonald is doing the wai (ไหว้) here!



Did you know that there is a Madame Tussauds wax museum in Bangkok? Yes, there is and it is located on the 6th floor of Siam Discovery. It was in fact, the 10th Madame Tussauds to open worldwide on December 4th 2010.

Unfortunately, my friend and I were in Bangkok in November and the wax museum was not ready yet! So we were just contented to read about the launch from a counter selling the tickets.



Looks like there will be wax figures of Michael Jackson and Brad Pitt from the brochures.

If you plan to go Bangkok, don't miss Madame Tussauds Bangkok! More info HERE.

I came across Mr. Bean Coffee & Internet shop at MBK Mall and took a photo of it. It was a shop selling coffee, sandwiches and cakes but I did not eat there. Well, don't worry. I will visit Mr Bean the next time I go Bangkok!



Another shop or restaurant I must visit next time I go Bangkok is Yum Saap! I saw the advertisement while boarding the SkyTrain. This restaurant franchise is famous for serving traditional Thai food at cheap prices!



One night after shopping at MBK Mall, my friend and I were walking to the SkyTrain station when we saw a busy night market right next to the station! We did not buy anything though.



After shopping the whole day, we just wanted to go back to our hotel to rest. It was fun walking around in Bangkok.



I am falling in love with Bangkok all over again!

FIRST COMMENTER