Attractions: Alive Museum

Attractions: Alive Museum

Hi all, its probably the first time im gonna do a review on a attraction itself, although i actually have a lot of them in storage that needs time to put into writing such as theme parks and zoos or gardens.

Since in Singapore, there recently been a sudden opening of not 1 but two such photo taking attractions called the Trick eye Museum which is in Sentosa, and Alive Museum in Suntec City, it would make sense to do a bit of a review on the one I visited. These museums are the latest in thing that was brought over from Korea which first opened this kind of photo taking museum. The draw of these places are that there are many pictures painted on the floor and walls and you can take pretty artistic real looking pictures. There are some photo spots with other additional props. Heck might as well show you what pictures I took to let you know what I am talking about before I focus on the ratings!

This is the place, or at least the signboard of the place!

This is the place

 Not sure whats the relevance of the dragon little creature!

These are the rates!

 Note that if you pay with certain cards such as for me it was POSB DBS master card, there are discounted prices. Heard you can get the tickets from groupon also. Mine cost me 20 SGD so you can use this as a reference!

So this is the first picture that I took and as you can see, where you stand is important, and also hoping that the shadows from the lights don't screw up your picture. Will give you all a veryveryvery important tip at the end of this review so don't miss it!

So what kind of pictures will you get, here you go! Obviously I did not upload all the pictures, but all the pictures that chose to upload will have a specific reason that I uploaded it. There might be some advices given to help you guys take better pictures there!

Must Cover nudity!! THERE ARE CHILREN HERE!

 First of all, this is not the place for you to bring your kids if you cannot take nudity... even those of the arty farty kind... There is nude bums as well as breasts in this place so don't say i didnt warn you! Of course they are all just pictures but you get what i am saying

Me the king! Muahahah

 There are some more elaborate setups with 3D figures all around to create the scene. But note that when you take the picture try to make sure the edges of the picture are within the scene itself. If you look at the top of the picture you can see the black backdrop that takes away from the immersion

ME and my mama!

 Some pictures are pretty safe like this one here, you have to climb into the belly that pays with perspectives. As long as you take the picture from the prescribed photo points, this picture will look nice. Don't stand at an angle for this picture though. You can also see that this whole picture is within the scene itself. So make sure you zoom in if necessary.

Me and my good bud Michael having a moment

There are some shots that are slightly physically exhausting and you might not be able to hold the pose for a while.. so make sure you are well rested and fit! like me :) with my giant muscles and all that

I'm supposed to be falling somewhere i guess

There are some shots that are pretty hard to take to have the effect shown. Like this one for example, the lighting is very bright which means most likely your faces will be dark. I seen some people just put their feet around and take the photo directly downwards.. Guess that might work...

Hanging over Singapore!!!

There are some pictures that span across the entire room or floor like this one. Only problem is, for this picture, the door is directly behind the pole which means if people keep not cooperating and coming in, you are going to have a nightmare taking the picture.

Me and my trademark 1 finger handstand! Still need
the wall for some support

As you can see, some of the other photos require you to be extremely physically fit... so sorry if you guys can't take the picture like me... but I mean my fruits of training are finally showing... No worries about this picture if you can't take it...

BAD KITTY Why do u catch me instead of delicious mousie

 Some of the exhibits sometimes get angry and might squeeze you a bit too hard. So dun be afraid to scold the naughty little kitty. Also for girls be careful of the cutie mouse over here. Such a darling mousey.. by the way, some pictures will have places to sit on and stuff, so try to make sure you hide them using your body, or the photo angle. Look closely in the picture above and see the box That i was sitting on. It would have disappeared if the photographer was slightly more to the left.

Woops so this is how I did it

Okok the picture 2 pictures above was really taken like this... If you wanted it to look more real however, you can try making your shirt hang down a little bit as if pulled down by gravity... Floor remember... might not be necessarily clean.. So I won't recommend a white shirt or dress for the ladies... Also... SKIRTS!! you may need to lie on the ground so just note this..

NIGHT FEVA NIGHT FEVAAA

There was also this other room that was filled with mirrors and because of that, you may mistakenly take strangers into your pictures like what you can see behind me. Also again here.. SKIRTS! The floor is a mirror in this room and it is lighted so be careful if you are going with "Just friends" and your friend is a guy and you are a girl and you get the idea

DIE ZHANG FEI you are no match for me
I am a true dynasty warrior!

There are some air shots that you need to take so you need to be able to jump high..... Ok fine just kidding. Here is another shot where you need to lie down so make sure you place yourself nicely. For this picture, your legs must definately bend to look like you are jumping. If you keep it straight it will look totally strange..

Finally showing my Olympic talents at table tennis

Ok some learning points in this picture, first, enjoy yourself and exaggerate your pose a bit! only then it looks fine... next you can now see what happens when you dont zoom in enough. You can see the two ugly corners!! So just take note of this when you take your pictures

Besides being immensely strong, I am also
immensely flexible see??

Ok at this point you probably already know that thats not my body, because my body will be a bit more slimmer then that.. but nonetheless, for these pictures try to make sure other parts of your body are not seen such as my shoulder and the blue shirt I was wearing!

AHH The picture is spilling penguins!

Finally, the last thing to take note of when taking pictures, make sure you don't reveal stuff that you are not supposed to reveal.. If you look closely in this picture, you can see that I am actually doing a rather sexy advertisement for Calvin Klein so unless you are as sexy as me, try to double check all this!

I will now do the review and after that summarize all the tips that I got from my visit there!! Being my first attraction review I will also write what are the areas covered!

Fun Factor 3.5/5 (The amount of enjoyment derived by smiles, laughs and happiness)

There is a good amount of sculptures or wall paintings with different styles and methods of taking a good picture. The joy when you get a pretty good picture is pretty good and you will see many people posting the nice pictures online. Overall, it should be enjoyable to most people especially people who are going to this type of museum for the first time.

Family 3/5 (Is this place really suited for family fun inclusive of children)

Kids will be entertained by the pictures, but lets be honest about this, this place is not meant for kids. The pictures are all already painted on and at best you probably only have about 10 pictures that the kids can do something with. Stuff where you will put your heads in will look terribly tiny for kids.

But why not fail on the score department?!?! Because kids don't bother! They like the nice color and they will be happy with whatever pictures you put them in even if they do not turn out nice. So no worries, bring your kids, they will have fun and if that is what makes you happy it will be good enough. Note that you gotta make sure your kids dont go photo bomb other people's picture too

Price Worth 3.5/5 (Cost of ticket versus time spent and fulfillment)

Ok the stated price for an adult is actually 25 dollars, but i paid 20 dollars to go in. 20 dollars easily will give this a 3.5 rating whilst 25 dollars might be a bit too pricy for me and it might just be worth a 3 dollar.

Compared to a movie that will last 2 hours at 13 dollars, this attraction took us about 2 hours to clear and we did it relatively slowly. Of course the results of this attraction can last for a while and I see no reason to return in the next 4 to 5 years its a reasonable price.

Atmosphere 3/5 (Service and overall feel of the attraction)

The atmosphere was ok, the service staff were quick to tell you how long the wait was going to be but of course there are some sad quirks like there is no readmission as well as no toilet within the attraction.

There is too little staff spread across the grounds also and not many were willing to give advise on how some pictures were to be taken. The attraction also feels entirely cramped with some of the photo sets impossible to take. The wolverine claw picture in this place is impossible to take without people behind you or without a person who is thick skinned enough to chase the people away.

Accessibility 3.5/5 (Ease of getting to attraction and getting into attraction)

Being situated in Suntec city means it is extremely easy to get to. There was a short queue however but it was on a Saturaday late afternoon from about 3 to 6 so expect this if you are going at that time.

Spectacle 3.5/5 (How does this place stand out among other similar attractions)

From the results of the picture taken, it seems to be pretty similar to the results from the other attractions such as Trick eye of the one in Korea so a fair score is given here. Even though the pictures were nice however, it was not a fantastic superb experience as there were issues such as lighting and too little backdrop causing u to need to zoom in quite a bit on the cameras. On the other hand, the queue overhere is slightly smaller and it seems like it is a bit more bigger then trick eye museum.

Overall

Fun: 3.5 (It is fun to get a nice pose and also keep the picture as a memory and share it around)
Family: 3 (Kids will enjoy it although not meant for it, there are many pictures for couples too)
Price worth: 3.5 (Reasonably 2 hours spent in this attraction and you probably will only feel the need to go there once in a blue moon like 5 years)
Atmosphere: 3 (Service staff a bit too little, no music or anything to help entertain.)
Accessibility: 3.5 (Central of Singapore, has a queue but not spectacularly long)
Spectacle: 3.5 (Has good picture taking spots with different styles but the overall ease of taking pictures and lighting made it a bit difficult)

Overall: 3.33 (This score is indicative of a place that you should go to at least once in your life, you probably wont need to go back to the same place after that but also make sure you are prepared cause the whole experience probably won't go as well as you planned such as long queues and other inconveniences, its worth the 20 dollars admission but for a even cheaper price, it will help interest people to go back again)


Now for a summary of advice to those who intend to go

1. Check for discounted prices cause there might be discounts even at the counter
2. Try to plan to go on a weekday morning as much as possible as the thinner crowd will allow a better overall experience (more time to take pictures, less need to chase people out of your shot)
3. If you are bringing kids, be prepared that not all exhibits can be fully utilized and control them to not create fuss for others
4. Dress correctly, skirts would require extra care to not allow people to see things they shouldn't and also there will be some lying on the ground 
5. Don't bother bringing tripods, no time for you to set up, be prepared to ask others (even strangers) to help you take pictures cause they won't have enough staff to help you out. Best if you can bribe someone to be your photographer
6. Not all pictures taken from the photo points turn out best
7. Zoom in if needed to make sure you don't take any corners or undesigned walls
8. Remember to go to the toilet first before you enter, there is no toilet (although you could try to convince the guy at the exit to allow reentry)
9. Be creative with the pictures, exaggerate and have fun!
10. Set aside about 2 hours to for the entire experience
11. Bring a professional camera if you want but MOST photos can be done with your normal handphone cam as they already have some lighting
12. Refer to the notes on the walls for ideas on how to pose
13. When taking pictures, make sure shots of your underwear are not seen, unless they are like mine :P

With this advice, I hope you will have a good time at the Alive museum, but one final piece of advice which is the most most most most important!

PLEASE REMOVE THE TIME STAMP FUNCTION ON YOUR CAMERA OR PHONE CAMERA OR ELSE ALL YOUR PICTURES WILL TURN OUT LIKE MINE!

Hotels: Shamrock Hotel

Hotels: Shamrock Hotel

Another popular place that many people will visit in Asia is the city of Hong Kong or more correctly termed as the special administrative region of China, Hong Kong. It is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Hong Kong also has a very comprehensive transport network which makes going around the area pretty easy. Most people go there with the main objective as shopping, with a bit of sightseeing in the itinerary and we will cover this in the review on the place itself. For now, here is the review on the hotel that I stayed in during our visit to Hong Kong. Do note that actually Hong Kong is divided into two regions which is the mainland, which borders China, and Hong Kong Island itself. This hotel is in the mainland Hong Kong.

Details of Hotel

Name: Shamrock Hotel
Location: 223 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Jordan, Hong Kong
Number of Stars: 3 stars
Room of Review: Standard
Highlights of Hotel: Near MTR, Located in tourist area, located in shopping belt, nightlife
Date of Review: Beginning March 2014

This is the hotel's main door and actually its quite easy to spot as long as you go down the correct road. Just try following the map given in this blog and it should be fine. In anycase, this is one of the bigger hotel as it has its own building which is maintained by the hotel itself. There are other hotels that just take a few floors off a residential or shopping building which might or might not look older.

Comfort 3/5

From the pictures of the room here,

Pardon the mess

Even has a cool looking chandelier... interesting location at the aircon vent

Apparently, in Hong Kong, rooms are supposed to be miserably small... i have heard stories about how only one person can be standing at a time and the other must be seated on the bed to have space to move around... Fortunately, this was not the case of Shamrock hotel! In fact, it seems that this hotel room was actually even bigger then my hotel in Taiwan!

So as you can see here, there is more then enough space to leave your bags around. The room also has a control panel right next to the bed that controls the air con temperature and lights and everything else including an in build alarm clock. Of course in the end it all boils down to how much did i pay for this hotel so we will cover that in the last category.

Airconditioning and bed softness was all pretty comfortable with nice thick blankets although it was slightly creeky. Would recommend keeping the windows closed most of the time though as there is nothing nice to see outside the windows and it seems a bit messy. Room was also not entirely new and has a slight bit of musty feel.

Service 3.5/5

Services that i was able to experience in this place was door opening service and also holding on to your luggage before check in and after check out just in case you wanted the additional shopping time.

There is 24 hours service and the staff are able to understand English with little problems. There was also a rack with information on tourist attractions although it was not very detailed. Overall they seem rather profession. There is also the need to put a 300 HKdollars deposit though and checkout was fast and painless.

They do daily cleaning of the rooms as well as replenishment of towels although this is the kind where you need to dump the towels into the bathtub for replacement. They didn't help to tidy up the room however. (I had one hotel whereby the staff actually folded all the clothes that were strewn around and even arranged all the clutter on the table. Not sure if you appreciate that though)

There is no water provided to you though although there was extra pillow and blankets. The lift was quick to get to the floors and there are two lifts so this is a plus for this hotel.

Front desk

Lobby sitting area... or actually WIFI area.

Overall they seem pretty willing to please although they are similar to Puri hotel in that they are not totally able to exceed expectation and go the further distance.

Amenities 3.5/5

Starting at shower amenities, this is what you get for the price.

Yep there is a tub

As you can see, its compact and yet spacious enough for a tub. Didn't manage to utilize it during my stay there too but you can see this hotel does provide quite a bit in terms of amenities. Soap, shampoo and tooth brushes were also provided.

There was also a kettle and cups that you can use to make your tea if you are that kinda person. There was also enough alternate towels for floor mats as well as two big towels for the normal bath.

There was a full bar fridge provided under the television that is permanently switched on that you can use to keep the drinks you buy outside cool. No microwave or other cooking amenities nor was there any laundry capabilities although they did have the laundry bag so you probably can get your things cleaned... for a price.

They do have a closet that you can use to hang your clothes with a safe this time provided with English instructions. THERE IS ALSO NO FREE WIFI IN THE ROOM which is why the lobby is crowded with people looking for internet connection. A sad thing for a hotel in this time and age.. In fact its so sad i shall deduct a 0.5 score right now. This will not be an issue if you are planning to get a data plan for like the 4 or 5 days that you are here in Hong Kong.

Overall, they have slightly better then average amenities. Obviously, pools and other recreational facilities are pretty rare in these kind of cheaper hotels and this is non-existent here.

Location 4/5

There are two aspects of location that are particularly strikingly good. The first is that it is literally almost next to the station for the MTR.. like a bit more then 20-30 steps to the MTR entrance. You probably can see a pattern that I love hotels near the public transport. Also the location of Jordan is between two pretty good shopping area which is Tsim Sa Tsui and Mongkok. Mongkok is where the night market is and TST is the more expensive shopping area. It is also quite easy to get to Hong Kong Island itself from here so this is probably another of the pros of this place. There was actually a night market street called temple street in walking distance from this hotel so it might be an additional plus to the hotel.

The other advantage is that this place is directly along the route of a few buses that come from the airport itself. So instead of spending 100HKD for the fast rail after which you still need to change train, you can actually take a 33 HKD for A21 or 39 HKD for A22 bus straight down ALMOST to the door step of the hotel. The hotel will be like maybe 50 m from the bus stop itself. Just get out when they say Jordan.

Just to make it clear though, because this area is in the shopping belt, meaning that you have small shopping centers all around, it is also apparently located pretty near to the red light district of Hong Kong. That being said, it seems that in Hong Kong, you are not allowed to publicly solicit for business so it is overall pretty safe and I did observe some police presence in my time there.


Cost Efficiency 3/5

The cost of the room was actually just above 300 SGD for 2 nights there whilst in taiwan I got the room at Puri hotel at SGD 330 for 3 nights. Over here you probably have to consider, what are you here in Hong Kong for. Disneyland train stop is actually closer to the airport and there is also an outlet shopping center nearer to the airport and this is about 40 mins away by train. So if you are bringing kids along you might prefer to stay closer to the airport especially if you are not spending too many days there. On the other hand, the public transport to Ocean park as well as Victoria peak which are other popular tourist destinations are on Hong Kong Island itself which is where this hotel is closer to. Young couples might prefer this hotel for the reasons listed above.

The over cost is just SLIGHTLY a tad bit pricy but if you really are conscious about the room size this price might be just right for you.

Comfort: 3 (Does feel slightly old, but not till its uncomfortable. Rooms seem bigger)
Service: 3.5 (Service is there, but not exceeding impressive)
Amenities: 3.5 (No wifi is a big deal, but actually provides quite a bit of good amenities)
Location: 4 (Fabulous central location for most of the activities that one will do here)
Cost Efficiency: 3 (Pricey, probably for room size and location but there is overall a good feel because it is really easy for you to get anywhere.)

Overall: 3.4 (Incidentally, this hotel actually got worse then Puri hotel although it was bigger. Probably because this hotel didn't manage to score in the small parts which was like Wifi and probably the price point too. None the less i would say this score indicates that it is a fabulous place if you want a above average comfortable room to stay in but if you plan to spend alot of time in the room, maybe not a good idea.)

Thats the end of the hotel review section of my Taiwan and Hong Kong trip. Shall start on the other categories soon, probably weekly.

Hotels: Puri Hotel Ximen

Hotels: Puri Hotel Ximen

Introduction

There are many places and countries to visit in the world. For the people living in Asia however, one place that they will visit in their lives is probably Taiwan. Taiwan is actually quite a big place and when you go for tour fairs, there are many choices of whole island tours of Taiwan that can be from 6 days or more or tours for smaller sections of Taiwan that can be for 4 days or more. For those who are not interested in the hurried itinerary of a tour group especially if they are going with friends, you can always op for a simple holiday in one of the many main cities of Taiwan.

One of these cities is Taipei which would be the area of interest in this review. Along the way i will list down some of the considerations that i made in choosing this hotel and see if these are the same considerations you have

Details of hotel
Name: Puri Hotel Ximen
Location: 108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Ximending
Number of Stars: 3.5 stars
Room of review: Standard Twin
Highlights of Hotel: Close to shopping area, restaurants and MRT station
Date of review: End Feb 2013

This is the hotel entrance

Comfort 3.5/5

This is the bed room

As you can see, the room is REASONABLY sized, with two good beds... actually the begs are fantasy.. its the kind of bed which is very very soft.. those you sink into. Also the provided blankets are extremely thick and feels kind of fluffy.

Everything is very very well placed so there is more then enough room to move about the place but you probably won't be able to fit more then 2 extra friends into this room if you wanted to.

Note that not all rooms have windows, but to be honest given the location of this hotel, your window will have little of a view. None the less for those who are slightly claustrophobic this might be a consideration for you, to request for a window at least.

The toilet which is pictured further below is pretty well spaced and you wont feel TOO squeezy inside although the shower and toilet bowl are pretty close to each other and the water can flow from one end to another. At least the decor is nice.

There are no extra pillows or blankets given in the room itself. The aircon is pretty good and strong but since it only functions when there is a key card inserted, you should make sure you have one key card in all the time. Thankfully, the hotel actually provides you with two key cards so you can actually leave the place and have all your switches and air conditioning powered up.

The lift also seems kind of old and fortunately we were on the first floor. We did see some people waiting for the lift so its quite likely that if you were on the other floors, you might take just that bit longer to get out of the place thanks to the slow lift.

As the hotel is small, there is actually some sound seeping through from other rooms although it was never significant for us that it hindered us from sleeping. Just for your information here.


Service 3.5/5

Services provided by this hotel includes, water replacement daily, bathroom replacement, daily cleaning of the rooms.

The staff are also pretty friendly looking, and on our last day, they were recommending methods on how to get back to the airport early in the morning. They might not be too conversant in English though. It is good also that at night the receptionists are guys, so you might feel a bit safer. The guys also look really nice and friendly so I wouldn't worry about them.

Still, there are areas for improvement like to help you open the door (although the door is tap once and it will open automatically), and also maybe bringing you to the room itself and introducing you to the amenities of the room. Will tell you more later.

All in all, they seem "ready to serve" but it is more of those where you can ask them for anything and everything, but they will not aggressively volunteer their services. They are also not really aware or aggressive on giving recommendations on where or what to eat.. they did recommend a famous oyster bee hoon to us which means they are somewhat aware, but in the morning when we asked where we could do breakfast, we were directed to some place which only had one open shop.. So this can be someway they improve, maybe have a map inhouse that can help tourists find their bearings and eat some of the recommended food here.

Amenities 3/5

This is the shower

Lets talk about the shower amenities first! Shampoo and soap are all provided as well as toothbrushes, shaver and shower cap. There are also towels for both face and body and a floor mat. Its interesting that the mirror is heated so it will actually not fog up, which is a very interesting consideration they made.

There is tea and cups provided with a kettle for those who like their tea in the room. They also have a safe and a mini fridge.. problem is they did not really come and tell us how to start up the fridge and remember earlier how i said that the key is needed for the electricity? Yep.. that means that if you are using the fridge, you must have one key inside the slot at all times. Its also those kind of 6 pack fridge as opposed to a bar fridge so you should expect to only put only some drinks inside. The instructions to the safe was also not entirely clear and we actually had problems getting it to work for us. Of course you can just ask the staff member.

There is no cooking or microwave here... probably cause this is taiwan and if you want anything, you can really just go outside and buy... unless its 1+ am.. in that case your only choice is the nearby macdonald as everything else is closed.

There is also no explicit closet here but they provide you with 4 hangers at the mirror for you to hang your stuff. After dumping all our luggage on the floor there was still enough space to walk around so I would say its still ok. They also provide a desk with a chair for you to do any work or writing.

Location 4/5

The whole reason this place was chosen was because of location location location... Its location is so fantastic, after leaving this exit, you probably just need to walk about 80-100 steps and you are there. Note that you need to turn right into a smaller alley and the hotel will be on the left. It is slightly blocked by the billboard signs so you WONT be able to see the hotel's name till you walk slightly into the small road.

But anyway back to location, this hotel is one stop away from Taipei Main station and from the main station you can go almost everywhere. Hotsprings at Beitou, yep. Pingxi rail, yep. Airport via High speed rail or public bus, yep. Night markets are also pretty convenient although this hotel is nearer to Shida night market as opposed to Shilin although Shida is said to be the 2nd biggest night market... Nonetheless lets not forget the fact that you are actually right next to Ximending which also has a movie theatre along the area. Thanks to the strong rail network however, you can pretty much be where ever u wanna be in max 1 hour.

Basically, living near a shopping area has this benefit. Do all your eating and touring for the entire day towards evening, come back at 10 plus.. OH too early?? Just go out of your hotel and walk the streets for awhile and get some snacks. Tada. Full use of your time. If you stayed in the more traditional main area hotels you probably wont be able to justify leaving your room at 1030 and since you need to be back before the public transport stops, you might only have maybe 30-40 minutes of extra shopping time.

There also seems to be a bar area behind the red house at Ximending so this info is for those interested. Finally, this hotel is really almost directly opposite the Ximen police station so you may have a bit more peace of mind when staying here.

Cost Efficiency 3.5/5

I seen the price for this hotel range from 80 to about 100 SGD per night. My room was 100 dollars per night and it tends to get overbooked pretty quickly. It was full on the Friday we were there. Given the more modern decor and since it doesn't look or feel old, it is pretty above average kind of cost efficiency especially when you think about the convenience that the location brings.


Comfort: 3.5 (Fabulous especially if you are those who want just a place to sleep, but its above average for the common user also.)
Services: 3.5 (Has room for improvements but at least the staff are doing some work)
Amenities: 3 (The basic amenities are provided but some amenities like the safe and fridge are mini versions)
Location: 4 (This is the main advantage of this hotel and should be the major reason you choose this hotel, everything to visit is convenient from here)

Cost Efficiency: 3.5 (I personally felt i paid slightly above what i was comfortable with [was expecting just about 80 sgd] none the less i could justify this by the good location)

Overall: 3.5 (If it was slightly cheaper, this hotel would be a definite get for me. None the less its not a place for big families though as the rooms are really well arranged to maximize the space already so there is no running place for kids, but for couples and solo travelers its a decent place to stay and you won't regret staying here especially when you leave your room to begin your tour and when you come back home, you realize that you have a shopping area at your backyard.)

Hotels : Travelodge Garden City Hotel

Hotels : Travelodge Garden City Hotel

INTRODUCTION

During my trip to Australia, what made it interesting was that the intention was to do a bit of travelling by car, not to be entirely cooped up at the usual main tourist destination like Brisbane and Gold Coast, so i was provided an interesting experience as due to my trip itinerary, i had the chance to stay in out of the outskirt hotels. This hotel is situated in the suburb of Sunnybank, an area with a bit more Asians then usual.  When looking at the hotel map via Agoda, these hotels are those that are situated pretty far apart from the usual hotel areas.

Travelodge is the 2nd hotel icon from the right, just above the information box

So as you can see, the whole chunky hotel area is the Brisbane City area where Mantra on Queens is also inside, while Travelodge is really a highway away from the City area. So would this be a different experience from staying at a City Hotel? Most definitely! Read on to find out what I did in that area and whether this will suit your travelling interests!

DETAILS OF HOTEL

Name : Travelodge Garden City Hotel
Location : Upper Mount Gravatt QLD 4122, Australia (Considered to be in the Sunnybank Suburb)
Number of Stars : 4 stars (NOTE on Travelodge Garden City own webbie, its 3 stars)
Room of Review : Standard Queen
Highlights of Hotel : Free carpark, Satellite TV (And thats about it, at least when you look at the hotel itself)
Date of Review : June 2013

The entrance of the hotel

Interestingly, you can see that it has no usual amenities like swimming pools, spa and sauna, so does that mean that this hotel is not worth the stay? Well lets read on to find out more

Comfort 3/5

Here is how the room looks like as taken from their website and this is the one that we stayed in

Unfortunately, although i do have a picture of the room I stayed in, there are some elements of the picture that cannot be used such as a person sitting there. Will try not to make that mistake in the future. None the less the room floor area is pretty above average and everything looks neat and tidy.

Only problem is, although we got a queen room, the bed that we actually got was smaller beds placed beside each other. You might go on to say "Oh but the overall bed size is bigger!". That is true and should in fact be beneficial to the score until you realise that.... You can feel the separation of the beds. This is precisely the difference between a queen size and twin beds put together. The gap in the middle is sometimes not supported by both the twin beds and as a result it will be felt and might even slope in.

This might not be an issue for some, but if you were to stay for longer periods of time, I am sure that this fact will be bugging you ever so slightly when you lay down to sleep every night.

Air conditioning and heating however is pretty good and it meets the expectations of any hotel guest. It is however located above the door way and in plain sight which is a bit gaudy looking. None the less, it serves its function reasonably well.

Service 4/5

Checking in and out of the place is extremely simple. It was pretty fast, just needing to fill up some documents and we were on your way in. For the way out, its just a simple returning of the key.

I did make a phone call before i made it down to the hotel as I was curious if they could check me in earlier. They were unable to do so but stated that they had no problems keeping hold of my luggage which is good service. There is also reception staff all the way into the night so it should be a relatively safe place.

The reception was also good as they gave directions to how to walk to the nearby shopping centre. This shows that they could at least try to help you find something to do in a place slightly far off from the city.

When checking out, I asked the same question I asked the Mantra staff as to whether i could check out slightly later. They did say to me that they would need to stick to the fix timing, but after a while, they called back and gave us 30 minutes extra to prepare to leave. Pretty good to be somewhat flexible.

Overall, the impression of their staff is that they are pretty chirpy and cheerful, and this helps brighten up the atmosphere and makes it a more pleasant stay.

Amenities 3/5

Their Toilet!

For the room we got, there was no bath tub and generally all that you see over there is all there is to it. Towels and floor cloth is provided, along with soap and shampoo. I do think their shower design is pretty smart as this was the hotel where most of the water stays in the shower area. None the less its a average shower but there is hot water and all that.

Oven and others.. actually thats all about it

There is a microwave oven and other cutlery provided as in many of these Australian hotels. Their wardrobe is kinda just open, and ironing board and iron are all provided. These hotels are probably targeting to those on business and would spend not as much time in the room. There is a large desk that is helpful for doing work too.

On the whole hotel side however, there is nothing really impressive. There is a restaurant that is probably for those who want breakfast. There is no pool for extra activity choices and there really is nothing else around in this hotel. What else is there to do? It will be covered in the location criteria. For amenities however, this is about all that you have.

Location 3.5/5

Of all the outskirt hotels, I would have to say, this hotel is probably the best price for location. This hotel is right behind or beside a whole shopping center. This takes care of all the entertainment elements should you not be interested in taking a long drive up to other places or to Brisbane area. It seems to be near the bus station also which kind of allows public transport to be used.

It does have free parking also but I would say that it will be quite a feat to try to get to this place from the airport, by using public transport in the first place. Hence, the moment you bring a car there, you probably could use it to get into Brisbane city whereby you do need to contend with finding parking places and paying for them if needed.

There are however, many nearby shopping centers nearer to this area that serves Sunnybank residents that you could choose to visit.


Cost Efficiency 2.5/5

At a price of SGD 140+ per night, this is perhaps the most costly room of my entire trip when looking at cost efficiency. Mantra at queens is 10 dollars more per night, but saves on your car prices and transport costs in terms of fuel and public transport as you are able to walk to places. For Travelodge, you need to have a car none the less to really go around as 1 big shopping center is  useful for a day or even for your whole trip worth of food choices, but its not a place for things to do. Also looking at amenities, it is not very well equipped as it lacks a bathtub and swimming pool or fitness corners.

As stated on their website however, this is probably more intended for business users and perhaps big groups that need many rooms and can easily afford a bus service to pick them and bring them into Brisbane city. Or for people who dont need to stay in the city as they probably only wanna spend on day there, and move on to other places for entertainment such as the theme parks. Granted the theme parks are closer to Travelodge then any other hotel in Brisbane due to their further South location, but in those cases, you should have been staying in Gold Coast instead.

Comfort : 3 (You will be able to sleep here, its cosy, but it can really be better)
Service : 4 (The people are nice, they seem to like their job and serving people)
Amenities : 3 (Its the bare minimal for someone who will need to stay in the room for a while such as for business conferences, not for enjoyment though)
Location : 3.5 (You can have things to do, and for the usual tourist spots its just a drive away, just slightly more hassle)
Cost Efficiency : 2.5 (The price is pretty steep for this place, I am not entirely sure why)

Overall : 3.2  (It is quite interesting to consider who are the people who would find a need to stay in this area, but if you do need to stay here, this is a fair choice. There are a few more motels in the vicinity that are about 10 dollars more or less so you probably cannot get that much better deal elsewhere. That being said, this place might still be preferable cause at least there is a shopping center that is walking distance away. If you were to stay here, you will still be able to get a good night sleep, but that's about all that you should really expect. Nonetheless, I am appreciative of the fact that due to my needs to attend an event in the vicinity, I was glad of the presence of Travelodge Garden City Hotel.)

If you stayed here, feel free to leave a comment too!


AGODA review below.

Travelodge was a place that we booked because we had to attend some event in Sunnybank area. When I was scouting the other possible areas in the Sunnybank suburbs, I settled on Travelodge because unlike all the other hotels, this is the hotel with direct access via walking to a shopping center. This is its one biggest attractive point that sets it aside from other places. 

The hotel itself has pretty friendly staff with a fast check in and out. Parking is free and safe and there are a few other places that one can go for a short shopping trip within driving distance. You could even go down to Brisbane City for a day or two via car although parking would be the only issue. 

Unfortunately, it is pretty above average priced and at those prices, you could get a hotel in Brisbane area itself. The queen bed that was given to us was not really a single bed, but two twin beds together and it was felt when sleeping. All in all, its an alright place to stay should you need a place to lodge in Sunnybank!

Hotels : Mantra On Queen Hotel

INTRODUCTION

Hi all, now begins another type of review that I think should be good to embark on, which is to review on the hotels I have been. This would be similar to those that you can read online on Agoda.com or Bookings.com but I think it would be nice to give a personal down to earth review that has more details to those who might plan to go to the same places. This was a problem that i had when i was choosing hotels, as some of the reviews were already outdated or the only pictures available are those of the hotels itself. So these review will help put things into perspective. Not only that, I will also mention items such as location and convenience so that future patrons can have a better idea what to do.

As with every new category of review, there needs to be a set of criteria to follow to allow for some comparison and consistency. Hence I would now have to come out with the criteria to do the rankings and this criteria might be subject to change or improvement as time goes by. Nonetheless we all have to start somewhere, so here goes.

For hotel reviews, I think it will be useful to start with some general details of the hotels itself and these information can be found on the hotel booking websites or the hotel sites themselves.


Details of Hotel

Name : Mantra On Queens
Location : 570 Queen Street, Spring Hill QLD 4000, Australia (This is actually the Brisbane CBD area)
Number of Stars : 4.5 stars
Room of review : Hotel Room
Highlights of Hotel : Sauna, Swimming pool, Spa, Fitness Center, Car park (charged at 20 AUD per day), restaurant at hotel ground level
Date of review : May 2013

Below are the criteria set for hotel review

Comfort 4/5

As you can see from the above picture, the room is a bit more nicely shaped then your usual hotel room, and it has a small sofa chair that seats one right next to the bed. It also has a tiny table top with a chair that you could probably use to do some work over here but overall it is a bit of small surface area. With regards to comfort, the television is well distanced away from the bed and the bed is large and is a singular complete bed. Do note that in some of my other hotel review, you will see that some of the beds are actually two smaller beds beside each other to form the queen size or king size bed, and in some cases you can actually feel the gap. Mantra at queens however has no such issue.

Pillows are plentiful but note that the blanket is actually the brown cloth. There is no additional blanket below the white bed surface. This is unlike the hotels i been to in Thailand where there is a outer and inner blanket.

The bed is pretty good, not too hard, nor was it too soft so it should be able to provide you with a cozy sleeping environment.

Next important issue for comfort is the air conditioning and heater system. In Mantra the air conditioning is hidden from view but is controllable. It does pretty well at keeping the temperature at whatever you set to, which was about 26 degrees for us during this winter period in Australia.

The room is spacious enough to allow good walking room and even if you want some more people over for a while.

Service 4/5

For a 4.5 star hotel, service becomes a very big issue. Checking in was pleasant and the staff was cheerful and very helpful in introducing the area as well as drawing out important areas on the map.

During our stay there, we had some problems with the washing machine. Calling the reception at 11 plus in the night, we had a cheery receptionist girl who wasted no time in coming up to help us try to solve the problem. Admittedly she was not trained in how to fix the washing machine, but she did good in actually volunteering their laundry services to help us wash and dry our clothing, at no extra charges.This is what we expect of a 4.5 star hotel in terms of service and she did this on both nights that we were there.

There was also no problems in helping us get an early check in when we reached there before 12 noon. Also, at the end of our stay there, we did not realize that the check out time was supposed to be 10 am. However, with a call to the reception, they allowed us to check out at 11 with no extra charges which is a very understanding and reasonable gesture by the hotel. Admittedly however, there should have been some way to inform us about the checkout time at mantra especially for those like us who come from overseas and are not used to the Australian style.

There was housekeeping daily and everything was done very neatly with refills of tea and coffee as well as toiletries.



Amenities 3.5/5

For amenities, Mantra was good in providing coffee, tea, microwave, as well as all the cups and cutlery for some sort of cooking within the hotel room. However, there was no facility for cooking such as electrical stove although this is understandable for a hotel room.

Shampoo and soap are all provided as well as ironing and washing machine that has the drying function. Of course some points are taken off due to the fact that the washing machine didn't work while we were there but all in all, it was pretty complete for a hotel room of that size.

The bathtub was actually strangely small and there is a bit of awkwardness in trying to keep the water in the bathtub when showering as the glass did not really prevent water from coming out. Hot water was readily available however and there was good water flow.

There was not too many spare power sockets and I probably could count about 3 spare sockets in the entire room.

Television and channels were probably the standard as all 4 hotels I visited had about the same mix of shows complete with working remotes.

The hotel did have a tiny tiny pool and sauna but these are really not used much during the winter periods. Nonetheless, its good to have the option.

Location 4/5

This criteria is pretty interesting and i would say it might be pretty subjective in a sense. Good location basically depends on whether you would actually want to go to various places. But of course if you are from overseas, you probably would want to explore much of the place. So this current points is indicative of how close the place is from the many many unique or must-visit places of Brisbane!

Mantra on Queens scores high because it is basically on the very outskirts of the CBD area, so its not in the place with many of the main hotels. Yet it is within walking distance to the Queens street mall area, about 10 to 15 minutes, walking distance to one of the stops for the free red ferry city hopper and unlike many of the other hotels in the CBD, this one is close to Chinatown, where there are many shops selling food not only of the chinese culture but many many various foods like vietnam cuisine as well as fast food. Perhaps the furthest location of interest from Mantra would be southbank where there are many eateries and shopping. Still, it makes for good walk and is probably not more then 30 minutes of walk and you can always use the ferry to get there also.

It is also in between the train stops of central station and fortitude, so no matter where you get off, if you are using the train, you will need to walk there. Of course if you stay there for many days, then the time where you will spend carrying and lugging all your luggage will be pretty minimal. Aside from that, right below the hotel is Europcar rentals. So if you have a second leg to your trip like I did, you don't need to rent a car on the spot, but can get one when you are leaving. Remember though that parking at Mantra is charged at $20 per night so I personally won't recommend it cause parking in the city area is troublesome and probably not worth the time. Get there via public transport and leave there via a rental.

There is even a woolsworth (super market) right opposite the hotel that saves you a lot of effort if you want to cook food or get instant noodles or supplies like that. I believe the apartments might have cooking facilities but please check this yourself.

Cost Efficiency 3.5/5

My two nights there were at about 150 SGD per night. So this is probably not a cheap choice especially for long stays. But Brisbane itself is probably a good place to visit for about 3 to 4 days maximum unless you plan to do a lot of shopping. Plus it did have all the amenities such as washing machine and dryer so you can travel slightly lighter.


Summary

Comfort : 4 (Good beds and all around cleanliness. Almost everything functioned properly)
Service : 4 (Cheery staff from start to end, plus very helpful at solving guests problems)
Amenities : 3.5 (Nothing too fancy, but at least they are there as an option)
Location : 4 (Pretty convenient and I guess it is already one of the best locations around)
Cost Efficiency 3.5 (Pricey, but you do get quite a lot of things that you will use like washing machines, driers, and you could save on the transport since you can walk)

Overall 3.8/5 

Overall, my experience at Mantra was a good one. When I entered, I did feel that I was going into a highly rated hotel, but that was only after the difficulties in finding out where the entrance was in the first place. The cheery service that was provided from then at giving us our early check in, helped improve the impression. Even after the washing machine did not function properly, the accommodating and helpful receptionist was there at the late hours to troubleshoot although she didn't know much, but more importantly, she volunteered the hotel's resources to help us get our clothes washed. This should be the service standard expected in every hotel. Wrote a feedback card at the end of everything and I even received a response to my email after that. Mantra obviously wants to improve and do well, and for that I wish them all the best. Maybe some day, I will visit their other branches and do another review for you guys.

Thats it for the first review on the hotel i stayed at in Brisbane. Share your comments if any. I will try to get up the other reviews soon!



This is the review for agoda that i just attached for a summary

Mantra is located in walking distance from the following places, CBD area, Queenstreet Mall, Chinatown, Ferry terminal for free red citihopper ferries, Southbank. In fact, the furthest location that should be visited is Southbank and you could ride the ferry there. Besides that, Mantra would probably be one of the few hotels that is closest to Chinatown area where you can fulfil your asian food cravings. It is also in between central station and fortitude valley so if you take public transport there on the first day, you probably do need to lug your luggage for a bit. But after that, you do not need to worry about transport as the rest is all walkable.

Aside from that, Mantra has good customer service. We had problems with our washing machine at 2300hrs and even then, Hayley at reception was able to come up to our room and attempt to help us. Even though she didn't solve the problem, she offered to help bring our clothes to the hotel's laundry and we could collect it from reception the next day. It is this kind of service that makes Mantra a 4.5 star hotel. 

All in all, for all the sights of Brisbane, put 3 or 4 days in Mantra and you can have a very carefree shopping experience. However, don't bother driving around as parking is charged. We enjoyed our stay there and I believe other people will too.

For a more complete review, visit http://d-d-reviews.blogspot.sg/2013/06/hotels-mantra-on-queen-hotel.html

Trip: Krabi, Ao Nang

INTRODUCTION

Its been a while since I did a trip review, not because I didnt go on short trips but probably because those short trips were just 2 days long and could not warrant any substantial content. Also trips must have pictures! So there weren't too many pictures for those places and it probably would be too boring to do a review about it. Anyway, for those who don't know where Krabi is, its actually a state or province or city within Thailand! I am sure most of us know about Phuket and Bangkok. Krabi could actually be called a more serene version of Phuket, with about the same sights and things to do as Phuket. In fact, if you checked the map, you will realised that Krabi and Phuket are just right across each other, with Ko Phi Phi island being in the center, about the same distance from both places. That is why some of the Phuket tours to the islands are the same as those provided in Krabi.

For those who want info quick, this is what you expect and the highlights of Krabi.

Tom Yam, Plenty of it

Rocks sticking out of the sea.. plenty of this too

Clear waters, snorkeling spots

Beaches on the islands

A bit of  canoeing under rocky formations

Mangrove canoeing

Without further ado, lets move into the review part of this article!

By the way, I have modified the review scheme slightly to be able to give more essential details to those who want to go to the place. Will do an independent post some time, to actually explain these review points.

Activities

So what exactly are the things to do? Is there a good variety? Is there fun for everyone?!?! These are the questions that you would ask.

As stated above, Krabi is a less crowded area as compared to Phuket. However, the activities and things you do there are pretty similar. When you reach Krabi, or Ao Nang which was where I stayed, you will notice the plentiful activities and short tour kiosks spread all around. Most of the activities will be the same no matter which kiosk you use. From all my research that was done, these are the activities.

1. Scenic visiting to places. The first and more popular visit is to Phi Phi islands which was the one we went on. Besides Phi Phi island, the other 2 more popular visits are the 4 Island tour and also Hong Island tour. Below are some pictures of the Phiphi Island. These activities are mainly focused on just visiting, but there are snorkeling options as well as canoeing options provided.

Beach where they apparently filmed "The Beach"

Viking Caves

Some tiny beaches trapped between rock formations

This was Maya Bay, another beach stop

Name of the place

PhiPhi Island itself

2. The next activity that we went on was a Canoeing expedition at Bor Thor. I believe that there is another place to canoe but i cannot remember the name exactly. This would be more physically strenuous as it requires you to canoe for about 2 hours but of course you can always rest occasionally. There is also a longboat option which is like a speed boat and in this case you do not need to exercise as much but i believe one of the areas which is a lagoon surrounded by hills is only accessible by canoeing, however its not that unique in honesty. Anyway the main difference is that this is more mangrove based and adventurous feeling as compared to the open sea. Here are some pictures

Docks where you would set off from

Lagoon accessible only by canoe

Another shot of it, low tide you could stand up in the lagoon

Many Many rock formations inside the caves that you would canoe under

And at times it is pretty dark and adventurous feeling.

3. They also have inland tours such as visits to hot springs,  emerald pool and they would usually join this with elephant shows to make it a full day tour.

4. They also have scuba diving excursions which you can even book right there when you land on the island, probably for people with more time and budget

5. For the adventurous there is also options that are focused on white water rafting as well as ATV... which is off road driving with those vehicles.

6. Another famous activity in Krabi is the many spa and massages that you can have. There are many types of shops but many are not as private as I would like it to be.

Didn't have the time to do all these activities but for most cases, there are quite a variety of tours and things to do there.


Scenery

As per my experience, for Krabi, its scenery is probably considered above average. It has nothing majorly specatular such as giant structures or ruins, neither does it have very amazing natural structures like mountains or volcanos unlike Bali. Its unique points probably would be those Island rocks and mangroves but these are not that rare in the world.

Rocks.... 

More rocks!

Some caves that you can move around in

This was a natural swimming pool that people could swim in. Meaning there are fishes inside but no control on depth or ground quality.

The non-crowded beach of Ao Nang

Shopping

Lets just get this out there, Krabi is no Bnagkok. I stayed at the more popular town of Ao Nang in a hotel that advertises its pros as being near the Ao Nang town itself. There are no real giant malls in the entire of Ao nang area and the only other place that we did go for shopping was the night market down in Krabi town. Apparently the night market is only open during the week ends including Friday so take note of that when making your plans. Also the transport there might not be entirely cheap. A van ride there was 300 baht to and fro so probably you might need to consider tuktuk. But that would mean the ride would be not as comfortable unfortunately. Here are some pictures of the night market though :)

Night market.. its a bit smaller then it looks though

Has many food stalls...

This is the view of Krabi town.

A single shopping center that we found in Krabi town, next to the night market

In Ao Nang itself however, the shopping area is more of a horizontal style just spread along the road. Most shops are selling about the same things and due to the prevalence of food stalls that takes up the stall lots, there really is not much to shop. All in all, Ao Nang is probably not a shopping place and if you have to shop, your best bet is to try Krabi town although I am not sure how you would get around in Krabi town itself.

We also had a stroll out at about 2 am but at that time, it is safe to say Ao Nang city is completely non active. The roads are really pretty dark and lonely at that time so do take care.

Food

Now we move down into the food section! Food in Krabi is rather.... confusing.. there are plenty.. and i mean plenty of stalls that sell european food and ALSO thai food at the same time.. problem then is.. is the food any good.. there is macs and Burger king that is strangely expensive in the Ao Nang stretch and also has stuff like Star Bucks and Black Canyon. Of course when you are there, this is what you should eat..

How many Tom Yam do you see here...

So these were the food we ate. If you eat at those mixed euro-thai stall.. it would set you back at about 250 baht (10 SGD) per person. The bottom left meat platter cost an amazing 279 Baht that is good for 2 people as its a steak, porkchop, sausage and fish all in one. That was at the night market. There are also many seafood shops that displays the freshness of their food all around. All in all, there is some variety of food and you can find the traditional thai food especially tom yam in almost all the food shops. For comparison however, a road side (the store is basically a motorcycle with a cooking extension) tom yam soup that i would say was pretty nice costs 80 Baht (3+ SGD). Those at the shops will cost about 150 Baht (6 dollars).

People

As with many touristy asian destinations, the people are rather assertive and might just border on rude especially for those who want customers for food. They are generally able to speak english and you should not have big problems telling them what you want as long as its something common.

The guides are also english proficient but they tend to not be as nice as some tour guides that i know of, probably because they are just gonna guide you for a day. So they sometimes do show their annoyance and its not always CUSTOMER is always right. In the end they are basically functional and probably a bit jaded by the many tourists that they have served.

Here a pic of our driver cum canoeing leader cum tour guide

You will also see quite a few westerners around especially tending to those scuba diving shops. All in all the people are ok!

Accomodation and Ease of getting around

There are actually many hotel choices for all budgets and all types of people. We personally stayed in Ao Nang Princeville hotel which was a 4 star hotel that we chose because it was really in the city center and near the beach. In all honesty though, don't let the locality of the hotel affect you too much because the walking area is really very tiny for Ao Nang so even if you got a place at the outskirts, its really not that far from anywhere else. There is also no real need for a pool unless you are a pool lover because the beach is really pretty convenient and not crowded. Just note that if you are picking hotels at Railey or at Phiphi there is probably a need to consider how you can get there in the first place. Here is some pictures of the hotel

Beach right in front of us

Room is big..

Toilet has shower and tub

The hotel is also pretty smart in giving us umbrellas and even extra towels daily for all the water sports. They even have a bag for the towels so these are all pretty good perks. However at 100 SGD per night i would say that for this hotel it might just be a tad bit pricey. It is also considerably more run down and old. The food in the morning was average but i guess it should be pretty consistent across the other places.

Transport wise, for any tours that you get you will be assured you have some form of transport to bring you all around. Question to ask however is whether you will be alone on the tour. For us in the first day we had a big bus to bring about nearly 16 - 20 people out including the speed boat itself. I have seen slightly bigger boats which might affect how you enjoy the tour. 2nd day however we were on those open back vehicles with a 5 passenger cabin on the back. As a result we got to make friends with Natalia and Alfredo from Spain who were alot of fun on the mangrove canoeing ride. Someday my muscles will be as big as his. :) But if you are those who don't like to socialize too much.. consider this before you make your booking. They probably would not accede to your request though...

Getting to the hotel is also not free! So make sure you are prepared, but you could just get a taxi to whatever area you have at a reasonable price, it was more expensive to get a ride preplanned from the hotel actually. The taxi limo vehicles are pretty cool though. Still he was smart to stop as at a "Tourist stop" where some guy came down and asked us to book for a tour on the spot.. remember.. prices for tours using this style of selling... not particularly competitive...you could try to squeeze out a deal from him but at the very best it could just be reasonable only...

From Airport to Hotel

Cost


Overall I would say that this trip was the most expensive, but part of the reason was because of how late we booked the hotel and the tickets. Hotels and tickets went up to about 475 per pax for a 4 day 3 night stay, but the hotel price was considered rather steep.

Food was from 140 for a tom yam and phad thai combo, and the most expensive that we ate was a 600 baht at the black canyon, admittedly we did buy pretty expensive stuff there. Just put about 250(10 SGD) baht per person per meal and it should be fine. Stuff sold at the night market is considerable cheaper so put that in mind when searching for souvenirs. Burger king was particularly expensive. I tink its 250 baht per meal inclusive of drink.

Transport is not cheap also, considering that the taxi from airport to hotel was 600 Baht which is about 13 dollars. So dont be expecting Bali's cheap 1 USD tuktuk prices here.

When booking tours please make sure you check a few stalls. For example the Phiphi island tour flyer price was actually 1800 baht, but when we asked around we could get as low as 1100 baht per pax which is 44 dollars. For the 2nd trip it was supposed to be about 1300 baht for a Bor Tor trip but we managed to bring it down to 950 baht per pax. Note that most trips do include lunch during the tour which although is simple, but generally gets the job done.

Massages would be in the range of 200 to about 350 baht. We managed to go for a few different massages at about 300 baht a piece which is just above 10 SGD so its reasonable.

Overall we spent about 300 per person for the 4 days that we were there and the grand sum for airfare plus hotel plus tickets

Overall

Activities : 4 (There is a good choice as there are sea activities, land tours and things to do here and there. Lacking in night activities but if you were there for more then 3 or 4 full days you probably can still have many different tours to go for.)

Scenery : 3 (There are nice places to see and be at, but it just loses out to those places that were made for scenery.)

Shopping : 2.5 (Passable shopping, at least it still had the night market. This shouldn't be your choice for a place for shopping at all.)

Food : 3.5 (The extra .5 marks is for those who love Tom Yam, but in general you should only expect to see Thai food, European food such as pasta and pizza and thats about it. No jap or korean or variety in that sense. Food is pretty good tasting though if you go for thai cuisine.)

People : 3 (The people are at best ok. They aren't entirely genuinely there to please as they are there to get your business. They however are still able to get their job done and even will call you in your hotel room when your ride is here. The reason is probably cause other customers are waiting for you too)

Accommodation etc : 4 (The variety is there but of course hardly any of the accommodation will be considered extremely good as they are merely just trying to be as functional and efficient as possible. Transport is easy to obtain to get to anywhere but they won't be entirely cheap also.)

Cost : 3 ( Same as Bali i would say. Due to its touristy nature, nothing is really cheap and everything can be said to cost at best slightly cheaper then things here in Singapore. Except massage which is cheaper, but also not as professionally carried out in terms of the massaging shop)

Overall : 3.29 (Overall its a good place to go for a getaway of possibly up to 5 full days. So probably if you want to experience everything, set aside a week there and you would have enjoyed all that Krabi has to offer for the rest of your life. And probably would have relaxed sufficiently there too. Of course if you have been to places like Phuket, then Krabi might be just too similar so this should not be a choice if you want something different.)

This is my 3rd travel review that I have done! Comment if you want to know more!! Thanks for tuning it, hope i have many more trips to share with you about. Will publish it first and maybe make some changes if i tink about it