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

Movies : Star Trek into Darkness

Movies : Star Trek into Darkness

Its been a long time since my last review, and in reality, it seemed that from my last review till now i didnt really see many movies. But finally, I managed to get a chance to see a movie recently and in all honesty, I went to the theater with zero knowledge of what I was going to see that day. I was thinking of watching Ironman 3, but when i realised that the movie only had one more remaining movie slot, I took the next best movie to come to mind.

Its been said that Star wars and Star trek fans do often debate about which is the better style of science fiction, with Star wars proponents focused on the epic scale action sequences of large scale space battles as well as close up jedi fights, whilst the supporters of Star trek praise the stronger story line. Admittedly, I would consider myself leaning more towards star wars as I personally am of the impression that Star Trek does not have as much action scenes and would not impress an action lover like me. However, after seeing the movie, I do understand what star trek lovers mean when they say that Star Trek has a pretty good storyline. And behold, here is the review


Storyline 4/5

The storyline is refreshing to say the least, and i believe the fact that I did not see or read any of the books actually helped make the movie that bit more enjoyable. Like many fantasy movies, some of the enjoyment actually comes from being introduced to the new world that this whole story takes place in. This movie is no different and although it does not take too much time to introduce the world to the audience, but it is relatively easy to follow if you look at it like how the world would be like in a few hundred years from now.

There are a few other races or aliens in the movie but the movie only emphasizes on one of them which is the vulcan race. The rest are too humanoid to really warrant a clear or unique introduction. The technology introduction is also pretty interesting and only helps to keep the audience involved

As far as the storyline goes, it manages to stay interesting throughout the entire 2 hours as it adds slight twists along the way. Hence the movie is not like the usual action flik whereby at the very beginning, you already know how it is going to end. Of course there is still some cliche storyline elements to it but all in all, for the length of the movie, it does its job pretty well of keeping the audience on the seat.

Finally, the movie also focuses on the emotional interactions between the characters and this adds a second story arc into the movie.

Character 4.5/5

Like previously stated, there are many characters in this movie that are unique and each of them have very clear distinctions from each other regardless of whether they are alien or not. As such, there is a good amount of entertainment value to be derived just from how the characters are like and how they will react to situations.

There is also a good focus on the vulcan and human relationship in this movie in proper set up for many future movie sequels that are definitely in the works. Also adding the twists of this movie into the picture, it is mostly on human nature and this movie does well to put all of them into gray areas as opposed to clearly black and white, which is more involving and easier to relate to.



Cinematography 4/5

The movie starts off extremely fast paced, putting you into an action sequence of quite a enormous scale and this sets the tone for the movie perfectly. It makes the audience sit up, and ready to accept more and when you as the audience have a good impression at the very beginning, the rest of the movie becomes much more enjoyable as long as the movie does not do anything to suddenly wipe out the immersiveness.

Star Trek does this well by using some good angles and perspective shots, but there is always room for a tiny bit more of this although the attempt is very much appreciated and does add to the movie and the thrill factor.

There are good action sequences but not entirely jedi scale, nonetheless it was important to keep the audience involved especially given the length of the film.

Music 4/5

Music is definitely good and very important in this movie to add to the scale of epicness. The music also helps heightens all the emotions in the various scenes of the movie. Definitely a welcomed and important factor for this type of movies.

Spectacle : 4/5

Its a good movie, in terms of action and story line. Its definitely above average on both counts and add to it the length of the movie, worthy of even a weekend movie outing. However it probably tells slightly too little and at the end of the movie, if you were to be a book fan, you might feel that it has only merely skimmed across a tiny tiny fraction of the entire star trek universe and wish it could give more.

Overall

Storyline : 4 (Good and intriguing story for the length of the movie)
Character : 4.5 (Nice introduction to characters, will make you want to learn more)
Cinematography : 4 (Good shots, but has that tiny room for improving, still entertaining)
Music : 4 (The composer is probably the best for movies, and all music is very much suitable)
Spectacle : 4 (Covers both genre pretty well)

Overall : 4.1 (Definitely worth the movie price and should be able to entertain both star trek fans and non fans alike. Of course this is majority due to the introduction to a new world as well as focusing on action and storyline that is the major attraction for most movie goers anyway.)

A shoutout to heroes fan here :) Zachary Quinto is a pretty good actor

Star Trek Version

Killer Version

Movies : CZ12 (Chinese Zodiac)

Introduction

Movie involving Jackie Chan will always be linked directly to action genre. In fact not that long ago, there was this other movie about chinese history, that still had its token moment of action. In CZ12, Jackie does not try to do any excess story telling or documenting but really goes out to be creative in the action genre.

To that end, you could actually even ask if the 12 Zodiacs are necessary, and to be honest, it is really has hardly anything to do with the story.

Probably the link that Jackie is trying to bring is that the most expensive zodiac character which is Long (Dragon) is also part of his chinese name. And as classic Jackie fashion, he says that this is going to be the last movie he directs and acts... of course reading it completely means that if we see him again next time, he might just be directing, or acting.. separately. But thats not what this review about.. this review is on the movie, so lets get started.


Storyline 3/5

The storyline is pretty ordinary, a bunch of people out to get some Zodiac statues for some big company that is trying to play the system. Its similar to spy flick, but i guess the aim of the whole show is just to provide all the opportunities for Jackie to look cool, in terms of his moves and his technology.

The show adds a few other little story lines in the picture but to be honest, none of them are fleshed out enough to actually add value to the show. They all seemed very half baked and random.There are also some background relationships that are not really elaborated on and just suddenly introduced.

As far as things go, this leans more towards a true blue action flick with the storyline being more of a medium to allow all these actions to take place

Character 3.5/5

The number of characters are actually pretty massive in the show. There are many introductions of new people to keep the story going on. Its just like in every major new location of the show, they will introduce a couple of new characters. Given the short time budget however, none are really fleshed out and even Jackie himself does have a background but it is not really elaborated on. Hence you probably will not feel much for all the characters even with their crying and all that.

The only plus point and characteristic that keeps it all together is that all characters are there to entertain. Yep, this is some kinda strange action comedy flick that keeps every thing cordial except the action.

Cinematography 4/5

Interestingly, the action in this movie is pretty well supported by the shots. There are also many different places that this movie brings you to and the action itself is at the very least, pretty impressive.

Hence if you wanna see how interestingly a person can fight in today's world, this could be a show for you. There is many innovative styles that JC employs to keep the fights fresh and non repetitive in that aspects.

Also the cinematography tries to keep the show entertaining and comedic and for that, it deserves its better then average score. Only qualm is that it is still not superb to those hardcore action flicks but these usually require a darker tone to the whole show.

Music 3.5/5

The music in this show is forgettable, but it is very visible in the shows. Only problem is the songs are not unique enough that people would want the soundtrack upon movie conclusion. But during the moments when you hear the movie, it does add to the overall immersion of the movie and this is pretty advantages in keeping the audience entertained.

Spectacle 4/5

This movie does well for an action flick and the comedic touch gives it quite a good entertainment value. However, if you are looking for a strong storyline full of twists or meaning in this show, this movie offers little of that.

Overall
Storyline               :3 (Average storyline, usually the type you see in action flicks)
Character             :3.5 (Too many characters, but at least they entertain)
Cinematography  :4 (Impressive shots all around that increase entertainment value)
Music                   :3.5 (Its there and it helps, but its not fantastic scores)
Spectacle             :4 (There is action, with some comedic spliced on top. Its fine and does the entertaining job pretty well)

Overall : 3.6 (This is an entertaining movie, able to keep you impressed and happy throughout the duration of the movie. Pity they didn't focus on a better storyline but they did take the safest route to appeal to the biggest market share. Its a good movie to past the time but its not something that you would be sad or regret if you let it pass over.)

Here we go, another review of a chinese movie. Add your comments if any below

Movies: Hobbit

Introduction

Finally, the next "installment" to the Lord of the Rings Franchise is here. Focus is no longer on the tall humans and pointy eared elfs, but rather on the cutsy hobbit and his dwarven friends.

None the less this show of the many vertically challenged people gives a different angle into the world of the Lord of the Rings. So should lovers of the LOTR franchise find 169 minutes to see the entire show? And if you see it, would you really get what you want? Read on to find out.

Storyline 3/5

Storyline... to be honest, it is really really similar to the LOTR. Basically the whole purpose of everything is revealed at the beginning, the whole gang wants to take back their castle. LOTR was, the whole gang wanted to get rid of ring. So on that aspect there is little room for twists and turns. Probably not a show for that either considering the books that have been out for a long time.

With that fact out in the open, the Hobbits is merely a show that documents the path that this gang takes all the way to meet their goal, and the many many things that they meet along the way. Considering that this is going to be a trilogy and the aim is already revealed, it would be pretty safe to say that they are going to meet with many many many many many things till they reach their goal.

Problem that is faced by the Hobbit is that the LOTR world is already so well fleshed out and shown previously, that there is little to really bring this show apart.. Yea they do go into big mountains where things happen but besides that there is not really a lot of new introduction to keep things fresh.

Actions scenes are relatively little and they tend to be really cluttered with nothing particularly unique happening unlike the previous LOTR that had the benefit of having giant epic war scenes to cater to the action fans. But storyline wise, these battles are expected and nothing really unique or with twists given the clear cut good vs bad battles.

At times, I would even go as far to say the storyline dived into being draggy with little extra entertainment value. Perhaps there are many aspects of the book that i missed out...

Characters 3.5/5

As compared to the previous fellowship of the ring with the 4 hobbits 1 wizard 1 dwarf 1 elf and 2 humans, this movie just uses 12 dwarfs 1 wizard and 1 hobbit. 9 vs 12 people means that for the 12 people there is a lot less time to flesh them out.

Other characters do make a nice cameo and play minor parts in the movie but perhaps the only character that really added to the show would be gollum and his strange eccentric ways. The rest didnt leave much impression on me. Its more like a movie with 1 dwarf 1 hobbit 1 wizard and tons of filler dwarfs to put it clearly.

Cinematography 3.5/5

This is supposed to be one of the selling points of this movie, but as far as it seems, there could have been a lot more done to add to its action value. The current movie is just a mish mash of far away shots, and closed in shots, then back to far away shots and back to closed in shots. A bit of a waste given the ability and opportunities of this show to do much more then that. Not forgetting the large budget.


Music 4/5

Music however is still as fantastic as it was. Using original and rehashed tracks that still bring about the charm that we remember in the previous LOTR movies, the music really add to the feeling and atmosphere of the LOTR world.

Spectacle 3/5

Using two aspects to look at this show, action plus story telling, the show seems lacking in both. In honesty, at the end of the show i was thinking to myself, was that it? there was hardly any progress made in the movie. On the other hand, was there any action that made me say oh wow that's impressive... I would only go so far as to say some battles were just not bad but as a whole, pretty forgettable.

I would say that this movie has tough shoes to fill as it comes after the LOTR franchise. Had it been the other way, this movie would have stood out, but now it is nothing more then a simple side story telling with everything else toned down.

Overall
Storyline                : 3 (It's simple but really a bit too little for the time and content given)
Characters             : 3.5 (Too many dwarfs, but we have no clue who they really are)
Cinematography    : 3.5 (Expected LOTR shots, but could have really done more spectacularly)
Music                     : 4 (Good music as expected of a movie of this budget)
Spectacle               : 3 (Sadly, it feels really lacking and unsatisfying for me at the end although there still were many people that were full of praises for the movie. I guess I might have expected a bit too much from this)

Overall : 3.4 ( I would say that this score is pretty accurate. For LOTR real fans, this would be a good show to see even for the reason of passing the time because you can be assured u have 2 more installments in the movie to see. For those who do not care about the LOTR franchise, it might be a bit harder for you to enjoy this movie. For action fans, you could be moderately appeased but if you liked LOTR action, then this show might be a bit of a downer. Don't set your expectations too high and you probably still could enjoy this movie.)

Do you guys feel the same way? Share your comments ya :)

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

Movies: Looper

Movies: Loopers


Its been a long time since i last reviewed a movie... hahah it was probably cause of work and also lack of time to catch movies... BUT I HAVENT disappeared from the world! And although i did recently see shows like the assassin but nothing really that amazing for me to review because those movies were already towards the end of the running time and stuff...

Either way, heres a movie that I saw in place of Resident Evil that i wanted to see.. and a particular other movie that i cannot recall that also ended its running before i could see it.

So what was this show supposed to be about? I did actually manage to see some sort of trailer before i saw the movie proper, and as trailer goes, guy with shotgun, time travel, many scenes of shooting.. anyone would conclude that this should be a action flick with some time travelling elements.. In fact I was even thinking this could be like Jumper.... well..... Read on to find out if it was true....

Storyline 4/5

This is the kind of show that tries to intrigue you with the different world. It introduces you a new world with new concepts, new ideas, new lifestyles and new way of living. In this world, the future and the past are somewhat interacting together in a very interesting manner of body disposal.

Then it starts to add that since its only 30 years into the future, people that exist now are most likely existing 30 years into the future... which means that... YOU COULD THEORETICALLY KILL YOURSELF!

And thats how the show manages to last for the entire 2 hrs plus of the show.. i didnt really find out how long the movie was, but it did feel long.. whether long as in draggy, or long as in too much content.. that will actually depend on one factor.

Are you here to see an action flick, or a show with a interesting concept. So if you are here for the action bit... this movie will become draggy... because unlike the trailer, this movie is actually more focused on telling the story.

That being said, the story does not end up being too draggy for those who enjoy a new world because this movie talks about gangs, telekinetic powers, time travel and even put in some teachings about what is really important to a person and how it would drive someone to do extreme things. Because of that, the movie does have sufficient content to prevent it from being draggy or bland storywise. But for action, you got to look somewhere else.

Characters 3.5/5

The main characters should number about 2. They are the two guys on the poster on top. What this movie then moves on to do is that it introduces characters along the way so that most of the side characters are only  present in either the first half or the last half of the movie. This is probably because of the way the director wants to tell the story but as a result, for the side characters who do play important story line roles, it is a bit harder to feel too much connection to them or really understand why they do the things they do because they are not present for the entire show.

The two main characters however, because the story focuses so much on them.. its easier to feel what they feel and understand why they do things. They also do have some characters to add to comedic value so overall it is a pretty good job.

Cinematography 3.5/5

There are some good attempts to use perspective shots for the show and there are quite a few nice scenes in the movie. Aside from that, the movie pacing is also pretty good considering how much they want to show in the time allocated for them. That helps to make the show feel flowy and not overly draggy. However, there will be little bit of confusion because of the time travelling element that is common for many of these types of shows. But overall, the movie does put in effort to try to explain the story to the audience so that they will not completely be lost.. That being said, my companion still got lost by the storyline so if you do not really want to think during the show, you probably will not enjoy it much.

Also, there is one particular actor at the 2nd half of the show that adds alot of entertainment value because of the way he acts. However, to reveal who he is it would spoil the surprise of the show so i am going to have to leave it at that.

Music 3/5

There was some usage of music to add familiarity to the show, i.e to be playing our oldies or more western songs that we would have heard a long time back to contrast the past with the future. But besides that, there is nothing too unique about the music choices and it is on the whole pretty forgettable.


Spectacle 4/5

Finally, for the spectacle part, I have to be clear with you. If you expect to see an action movie and just enjoy the scenes, you will be sorely disappointed and this is clearly a show you should not see. Unless, you do have some appreciation for time travel, and also are willing to think and draw the lines between past person to future effects and then you can enjoy the show. This should have been the way the show was marketed and not using action scenes like some kind of action flick. On that aspect however, the show does a pretty good job of making the show entertaining till the end with the introduction of fresh concepts slowly during the show and not everything at one go.

Overall

Storyline                : 4 (Different storyline even when you compare with other time travelling show)
Characters             : 3.5 (2 main characters but the rest are really a bit too shallow)
Cinematography    : 3.5 (Good attempts at shots, perspective story telling, good actors but slightly confusing)
Music                     : 3 (Normal music, did have attempts)
Spectacle                : 4 (Its a different take to the time travel genre whereby the time travelling guy comes back into the past instead... so its a pretty fresh take and interesting introduction to a new world.. But this is no action movie)

Overall : 3.6 (A good attempt into the time genre sci fi genre that is able to stay interesting right from the beginning all the way to the end. For those who are going to see it, as long as you already know that this is not a true blue action flick, and are willing to go for the story, this movie should be able to keep you entertained for a fair amount of your time. Just be prepared for the slight headache that might come with too much thinking and understanding the whole flow of the story)

So hopefully i can get back into writing reviews if i have the time:) Tell me if you have any other movies that I should watch :)