Reviews – South East Asian Adventures

Review: Guesthouse Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Japan

serena — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 08:13:39 +0000

This is a small, cosy guesthouse located 15 minutes walk from the JR Asahikawa train station.

Front of Guesthouse

Location

It is easy to find the guesthouse. As you get off the train at JR Asahikawa head towards the west exit. When you walk out the Aeon mall will be on your left hand side. Keep walking for 15 minutes until you see a laundry place and it is on the left hand side of the block. The doorway is next to the vending machine.

Dorm room

There is a mixture of females only and mixed dorm. In the mixed dorm there were 8 beds in total, each with a bright light and a power socket. There is a hook outside your bunk to hand your towel etc and if you can find a clothes hanger lying around. It’s quite cosy, but there is enough space to place you backpack into your living space. If you want more space go for the beds near the back, but these beds are also warmer. There is no aircon inside the beds, but a fan located outside the room.

Tatami style bed

Bathroom

– Despite (I think) there being only 3 dorm rooms, there was only 1 bathroom for the entire guesthouse. Sometimes they put up a sign to say you should shower early to avoid the queue. There is also one toilet for females and one toilet for males. 2 sinks are located outside the toilets so you have to brush your teeth and wash your face in front of everyone. They also have no hot water besides the hot water in the shower. A hairdryer is also in the bathroom. Besides that everything is kept clean despite the numerous number of people using the facilities.

Female Toilet

Other facilities:

– A self service kitchen with everything you need to cook up a meal – cups, plates, frying pan, microwave, sink and cutlery.

– Green tea and coffee – it is polite to leave a tip

– Fast wifi – had a little problem but they have 2 wifi connections

– Luggage storage – free and they will look after it

– Information guides and road maps. The owner has information about car rental for £20 a day too.

Kitchen

Common Room

Sinks

Overall it’s a good hostel with a good atmosphere and mix of people. It’s also close to the JR station and there are lots of shops, restaurants and bars nearby (ask the owners about the secret base). However a bit pricey but this is Japan, prepare to cough up more money. 3000yen per night.

There details are below:

Website: http://www.guesthouseasahikawa.jp/dish.html

Address:

〒070-0036
北海道旭川市６条通7丁目
３１－１０
日昇ビル２F

Email Address: [email protected]

Telephone: 0166 73 8269

Review: Le Village Guesthouse – Cebu City

serena — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 11:25:35 +0000

As we wanted to head south of Cebu to swim with the whale sharks we spent a day here and there at Le Village Guesthouse as a stopover.

We arrived at Cebu Airport and then took a metered taxi from the entrance of the building. The total fare does vary because there are lots of traffic jams in Manila. We hadn’t really experience any in Manila but we were thinking how great it was to get a metered taxi and not having to barter with the fare and getting ripped off. However we were so wrong. The sat in a traffic jam all the way from the airport into the city. At one point it was 45 minute and all you can do is hope that the cars start moving. There was a lot of road works at the time but mainly because there were too many cars. The total fare amounted to 350 Pesos when actually it would have been a lot less as it was only 20 minutes away.

The hostel is nice with tables at the front to socialise and relax with. There is also a pool table and a free beer or soft drink for staying the night. There are a lot of dorm rooms here and we stayed in a what seemed to be a recently refurbished room. However the second time we stayed in the room next to the reception and it was terrible – noisy and smelly as it was attached next to the bathroom and you could smell the sewage. We did get use to the smell and it was only for one night so try to get the dorms away from the reception.

Reception

The dorm beds are nice, basic and clean. Not all of them have power sockets that were working. There was a big cabinet to store our belongings and also lockers near the bathroom to lock away valuables. Note that the lockers are very small. The aircon worked really well too. The bathroom was basically 3 showers and 3 toilets all lined up next to each other in a big room. Sinks are available on the other side. The one problem was the flushing situation as Cebu was experiencing a draught you could only flush the toilet using a bucket and pail, which was really annoying because a trickle of water would come out to refill the bucket and many people did not flush the toilet properly. I don’t think the staff cleaning the toilets would have been happy.

Dorm room

Bathroom

Seating area outside

Pool table

Other things to note:

The wifi is okay (although to be fair it is slow anywhere in the Philippines!). You can only access it in the reception or outside seating area.
There is 2 ATMs nearby – BDO, which charges a 200 Peso fee for a withdrawal and the Metrobank further down the road, which doesn’t charge.
Sometimes the electricity goes out (again, common throughout Philippines).
The lockers are small and they have a key provided already.
They do cooked food and cold drinks and a free water dispenser. You can use the kitchen area but it is self service only.
There are also food shops nearby and a fruit shop right outside.
Taxis cost roughly 70 Pesos to the bus terminal if you are catching a bus to Boljoon.

Small lockers

Kitchen

Overall for the price of 450 Pesos it was a good nights sleep and we learnt a lot of places and things to visit by talking to other people, who also stayed there.

Review: Nordzee Hostel – Boljoon

serena — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 10:52:45 +0000

Noordzee Hostel is situated in Boljoon, which is in the south of Cebu city. This hostel is a very popular stopover for backpackers who have come to visit the whale sharks in Oslob. Another reason is because there are no other hostels in the area like many other places in the Philippines!

Noordzee Hostel

The hostel is about a 15 minute walk to the town center. There are no big shops but just small family owned places to eat bbq meats, bread and a small market to get some fruits. It has its own private beach and bamboo hut on the front to just relax and admire the view of the sea. The waters around this area is pristine clear and often you will see fisherman on their traditional boats going out to hunt fish during the day.

Sleepy town center

Private hut

The dorms start from 450Php and the one we stayed was a mixed dorm. There were other dorms with a private bathroom, which were 550Php per night. Generally in terms of thePhilippines hostels are on average more expensive than other Southeast Asian hostels we have stayed in. Expect to pay around £4.50 and above for a bed. Everything was very clean from the bed, which they made every day and to the bathroom, landing areas and the beach outside. There is also no aircon at this hostel but you do get a fan. At times it did feel cooler outside than inside our room, so we did manage to borrow another fan, which meant we all had a fan to ourselves. Top tip – get a bottom bunk or you will be sweating all night.

Mixed Dorm Room

Balcony

Landing

The hostel also offers a lot of activities such as spear fishing, going out on a traditional boat, advice if you want to trek to the 2 waterfalls or see the whale sharks and the staff are friendly. They also cook up an awesome meal!

Reception and Restaurant

Other things to note:

– There are many animals around the hostel – chickens, ducks, puppies, goats which is super awesome.

– Laundry was expensive here – 100Php per kilo!!! Do not do your laundry here as there is nothing special and if you’re next stop is Dumaguete or back to Cebu city wait and do your laundry their for as low as 20Php per kilo.

– Even though this is a hostel the prices of the restaurants were on the expensive price – way past my budget. Average cost of a meal was around 280Php and upwards. I say it is expensive but we did have a really nice meal there!

– If you are a backpacker and want to drink they prepare to pay a lot for a beer. A small bottle of water was 30Php.

A really good hostel but besides the really nice clean bed, everything else is not really catered to a backpackers budget, which is a real shame. Nevertheless it is here or sleeping on the streets and my basic requirements are it has to be clean.

Check out their website: Noordzee Hostel

Sakura Hostel Saigon – Ho Chi Minh

serena — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 10:05:09 +0000

It’s hard travelling around a lot of cities. You move around a lot and sleep in different places. Each time you learn something new. This time was no exception. I’m not a fussy person – the bed can be hard, the sheets maybe not to fresh, they don’t have to provide towels however cleanliness is a must. And so it should be, there’s no excuse because it’s all down to the management and staff who are incomplete control of this.

We had researched accommodation in Ho Chi Minh and came across Sakura hostel Saigon. Situated in a small alleyway not far from the backpackers area and the bus station. A lot location to start of with. $5 a night is a good price too. The reviews were average but as long as there is no mention of bed bugs I will give anything a go. If there is even one mention of bed bugs we do not take the risk and move onto somewhere else.

We always see the room first and I inspect the mattress for any creepy crawlies noticeably bed bugs. Next we check in which is a simple process. I notice the tour board which has a few tours and bus routes and prices but not a lot of information at. The receptionist is nice and friendly but with our conversation over the booking her English is just basic.

There is one bathroom per room, I actually didn’t check the bathroom and wish I had. It was terrible. Mould and mildew covered the bathroom screen which didn’t close properly. I didn’t really want to touch it either. It smelt of damp. The shower floor was unstable and even though the water pressure was adequate the shower flooded quite quickly. Last but not least, going for the shower in the middle of the night I saw a cockroach scurrying across the bathroom as I turned the light on. I did tell the receptionist that they needed to clean the bathroom which should have been done on a daily basis. 2 rooms with 12 bunks so 24 people in total were using 1 single bathroom. Sometimes I would have to wait because the bathrooms were all occupied.

The beds are packed into 1 medium sized room. 7 bunk beds side by side. A brown cloth separates you from your next neighbour which offers not really much privacy but we’re only there to sleep so it doesn’t matter. Although the bonus is home beds are comfortable and the screen is great to help block out some of the light of it hadn’t been switched off yet.

This is someone’s house that has been converted into dorms on the upper levels. There is not much of an atmosphere but if you just want to stay the night it is fine. We survived three and then moved out of the city to a hotel on District 13. The price was roughly the same for 2 people sharing $11.50. The number 13 bus to get us there cost us 28000 VND (74p!) and the trip is roughly one hour and stops outside of the hotel.

Sakura Address:

39/26 Nguyen Trai, District 1, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Chai Lai Orchid Lodge in Chiang Mai – Review

serena — Fri, 22 May 2015 10:43:13 +0000

This was a bit of a treat for us in Chiang Mai but we thought it was worth it because:

a) we were in the middle of an elephant camp (yes elephants walking past our windows every morning)

b) the location is high up in the mountains and you’re surrounded by fruit trees, forests and nature!

c) the profits go to provide educational and paid vocational training opportunities to at-risk girls, young mothers and the local people

Most of all this is an unique experience for the both of us, living in a hut all built entirely out of bamboo right by the elephants.

Nature Bungalow

The location is about an 1 hours ride from the centre of Chiang Mai backpackers central and the cost for the two of us was 700 Baht.

You have to cross a bridge to get over to Chai Lai and it’s a bit scary when it is completely dark when we arrived there and not knowing we were so high up.

The place is fab and the girls are really friendly. The atmosphere is great there’s so much adventure to do here – ride, feed, play with the elephants, go bamboo rafting, hiking in the mountains, visit a waterfall or local hilltribe, partake in a homestay, or do some kayaking. They have an endless list that includes some of the Chiang Mai attractions such as temple hopping and Tiger Kingdom.

The bungalow is super cute and cosy. It’s really good fun staying in one of these. They are quite cool at night (they have a duvet for you) and we had both windows open. There is one fan that accommodates the whole room, one fridge and a bathroom. Towels, shampoo, conditioner and bodywash are provided. Everything is pristine clean and a mosquito net protects you from the mosquitos. The bed is super comfy and we had a great sleep before embarking on some crazy activities. You can read what we got upto here.

Room 6

Comfy double bed

Bamboo Towel Rack

Toilet

Shower

Breakfast is included in the price, which was fab. There was a huge selection to choose from: fried rice, soup, cereal, a selection of fruits, yoghurt, bread, jam, tea and coffee.

The chill out zone is really cool as you are overlooking the bridge and river below. Meals were a bit out of our budget but nonetheless if you are not a backpacker this is the perfect resort to be in.

Chill out zone

Reception

Their website: http://chailaiorchid.com/

Price per night – £24

Can be booked on Airbnb and/or Tripadvisor or reserve directly with them.

Review: Friendly Green House Hostel in Georgetown, Penang

serena — Tue, 05 May 2015 13:21:15 +0000

I have been wanting to write about this hostel for a while now. It was recommended to us by someone we met at the hostel in Ipoh.

I think this is one the best hostels we have stayed at so far. Not only was it cheap but best of all was the owner, Danny who was really great guy and spent a lot of time with us – taking us out to have breakfast and dinner, taking us to a hilltop to see Penang at night and really wanting to get to know us. The best thing about travelling is not only going to explore the city on your own but meeting different people and understanding their way of life firsthand. Hands up to Danny, a great host who made our stay in Penang so special!!

So what is so special about Friendly Green House, Georgetown, Penang?

For a backpacker, this is heaven, the mixed dorm is 17RM per night!

(17RM is the weekday price whereas at the weekend it is 19RM per night).

The front of the Guesthouse

Facilities:

Dorm Room – Full air con

Lounge area to socialise in

Kitchen area that is you can clean up after yourself

Free drinking water

2 bathrooms

1 separate toilet

Free lockers

Free breakfast – selections of jams, tea, coffee

Free towels

Free bike hire

Toilet

Free water, tea, coffee, bread

Bathroom

Location:

It’s not in the centre of Georgetown but to walk there it is very easy. The walk to the centre is not far at all and there are shops and places to eat dotted around the hostel.

The Komtar – 10 minute walk

The free CAT bus – 5 minute walk

Food and shops – around the corner

Final thoughts:

We had a great time staying at this guesthouse. It’s our favourite so far – it’s not fancy or high class but we had so much fun with the other backpackers and Danny himself. Danny is very welcoming, friendly and he does go out his way to help you.

The hostel is also clean, which is very important for us. We were given our own towels and the bed is not too bad! We got a lot of good sleeps staying here.

To book:

I would definitely recommend booking in advance as there were a few nights that were fully booked.

You can either book via the booking system below or call Danny on 011-3172 7993 to reserve your bed.

Friendly Green House Hostel

No 16. Lorong Ceylon,

10500 Georgetown,

Penang.

Malaysia.

Tel: 04 266 5182

Hostel Directions

Thank you Danny for having us!

Penang at night

Review: Orchid Lodge Hostel in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

serena — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 14:13:47 +0000

Orchid Lodge in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

We intended to stay at a different hostel when we arrived in Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands: CH Travellers Inn http://chtravellersinn.com/. They do dorms for 25 RM per person and were one of the recommended ones on Hostelworld. However, the dorm room was fully booked and so was there private double room (60RM per night). This was the second hostel we had asked that was fully booked and April is their low season so we were getting slightly worried. The owner was lovely and he said don’t worry, his sister had recently opened a hostels a few doors down so he took us around Orchid Lodge to have a look at the dorm rooms, which were 25RM and perfect for our budget.

Orchid Lodge in Cameron Highlands

The place was great. The owner was really friendly and warming. You could ask her anything and she would try her best to help you out. She explained:

the hostel and the facilities
the local area and what attractions there were
tours and if you were interested you could book them through her (she will call them up, book you onto the tour and get the car to pick you up right outside the hostel)
a few local places to eat that were good

The dorm room:

had 3 bunk beds spaced evenly around the room. There was enough space to place your backpack and not feel packed in like sardines. The bed was comfy and everything was clean, we did not worry at all. As the Cameron Highlands has a lower average temperature than the rest of Malaysia, there was no fan or air-con. It was not needed anyways.

There is a bathroom attached to the room. Again it was quite large and spacious. The hot shower was good and everything was in working order.

There are also lockers in the room, quite small and each have their own key. The balcony outside was a nice touch, if you wanted to sit outside for a bit to read a book or people watch.

Overall for the price, this was a really good find!

Mixed Dorm – 6 Beds

Bathroom

Price

The price for the dorm was 25RM per person.

Check-in: 1pm

Check-out: 11am

Facilities

Hot showers
Free tea and coffee making facilities
Bread and jam for breakfast
Small lockers
TV in the lounge area
Kitchen
Wifi (although it was only available in the kitchen because it wasn’t working in the rooms)

Common Area

Local Area

The hostel is part of a larger block of buildings. There are lots of places to go and eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner right on your doorstep. The famous Gossip Corner is located on the second floor – you can try their big burger challenge if you wanted it.

It’s 5 minutes away from the tourist information shop.

The bus terminal is 10 minutes away.

There is a laundry service nearby that washes and cleans your laundry for 5RM per kilo of clothes. It is a few doors away from the pharmacy. Note: it closes on a Tuesday.

It is a good location in Tanah Rata.

Location

Location of Orchid Lodge

82D, Persiaran Camellia 4
39000 Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 010-3951247

Their website is http://orchidlodge.cameronhighlands.com/

We had a lovely 2 nights stay here at Orchid Lodge.

Review: Eagle Creek Pack-It Shoe Sac

serena — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 20:04:17 +0000

Preview – Cocoon Grid-It Wrap for MacBook Air 13 Inch

andrew — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 14:43:17 +0000

I got this as a Christmas present from my sister and I think it’s great for organising my techie gear while I go travelling.

Essentially it’s a grid of interconnected elastic straps that hold onto everything and stops it moving, but also allows you to see and get access to anything without having to hunt around in a bag.

You can see in the photo that I’ve got lots of stuff in it

Pens
iPhone
Kindle
Multiple chargers
Multiple cables
Headphones
Spare batteries

I can take out each item use it quickly.

The version I got also has a protective, cushioned pocket for my 13″ Macbook Air which I’m taking with me.

I think I will have just this one thing that will hold all my techie stuff in one place.

I’ll report back after using it for a while with how I got on with it.

Here’s their video

Review: The North Face Trekker Convertible Pants

serena — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 19:28:50 +0000