Food: Tim Ho Wan

Food: Tim Ho Wan

Hi all again! Its been a while since I did an update on food, but after hearing about the hype about Tim Ho Wan, and finding out that there was one in Toa Payoh which incidentally is pretty near where I live, I decided to give it a shot to see whether this place is worthy of the legendary queue that the branch at Plaza Singapura is. Of course this review is on Tim Ho Wan and its food in general although I ate at the Toa Payoh Branch. However, there is no reason to suggest that the standard and style of food is different although there will be adjustments in other criteria depending on the location.

This time I took pictures a plenty of everything I ate :)

Heres the logo for those who still dunno what i am talking about

So here goes the review:

Here is the menu, you can zoom in and take a look

The first picture is basically the menu. It seems like in Tim Ho Wan, this is the entire menu already. As you can see the there is maybe about 20 items at most which I guess is a fair enough variety, although i distinctly remember that if you eat dim sum at other places there is just a bit more variety such as when you eat in Malaysia or Hong Kong. Even some other outdoor coffee shops in Singapore has a slightly larger spread.

Nonetheless lets try looking it as quality over quantity.

Baked Bun with BBQ pork

This is supposed to be their signature dish, alongside their egg cake, vermicelli roll with liver and turnip cake. I only tried the bake bun and not the rest just for your information. Admittedly however, their bake bun was cooked fresh, and has very good texture. Its the first time I ate a bun like that as compared to our usual white colour bao at the other dim sum places. It is also quite filling and the "filling" was nice and hot. If you were to visit, you should go there and try this, but given the choices in the menu I believe you will buy one set at least.

Beef Balls with Beancurd Skin

This was another dish that I never ate before. I ordered it cause it was beef. Cooked in different style with the beef held together by some kinda glutinous goo. Sadly, this one was way off my expectation in that I didn't really taste anything at all, neither was the meat chewy or anything like that. The texture was too unimpressive.

Siew Mai or Pork dumpling with Shrimp

For people who know me well, they will know that this is the thing I will eat when ever I go for Dim Sum. In fact this could very well be the only thing I eat and I will still be satisfied! This siew mai is a little different from what i am used to as there is a relatively stronger mushroom taste. Coupled with the provided chilli sauce which is not your "Maggie" brand, this was pretty nice. At least above average in taste. Not sure how you would react if you hate mushrooms though...

Vermicilli Roll with BBQ pork

This Chee Chong Fun with BBQ pork is ordinary to be honest. The sauce that is provided as the gravy is not really strong on taste and in the end it merely tastes the way a CCF is supposed to taste. Nothing too impressive but it will do as the source of carbo.

Prawn Dumpling

This one was pretty good. The prawn feels very nice and chewy and even the dumpling skin is pretty chewy with good texture. It is also relatively larger then other prawn dumplings. Its a must try if you were to go there. At least get one basket.... well with a menu like that you will get one basket anyway

Rice with Beef and Fried Egg

 I bought this because I thought i might not have enough food to be full. However this proved to be a mistake. This rice with beef is the same beef as the one above, and the sauce provided is most likely the same as the CCF one. So put rice with tasteless and strange textured beef along side unimpressive sauce you get a clump of beefy rice. Probably not a necessary buy over there unless you really like rice. If you like beef you also probably wont get your fill from here.

All in all for food in terms of taste, texture and variety, I would give this....

Food 3.5/5

Atmosphere 3/5

As far as the atmosphere is concerned, the place is generally cramp both in TPY and PS which would mean its small, and crowded feeling. However the arrangement of tables and chairs do allow a fair bit of space between tables so you don't feel entirely congested kudos to them. Of course this does mean that people will have to queue longer for their food but overall it will probably help the full experience. The staff are pretty fast to respond and in generally good workers, the kind that will attend to your needs and not the kind that will purposefully look away from you. It's a workable arrangement for maximum efficiency and the food will come pretty quickly as  you expect in a Dim Sum place.

Price 3/5

This is where I think there could be some improvements. For two people eating there you would probably expect to spend about 20 per pax. We spent about 50 for two people for the above mentioned dishes. The price for one basket of stuff is about $4.20 although admittedly they do come in stack of 4 instead of someplaces where they come in 3s. Still there are some Dim Sum places outside that charge quite a bit cheaper in those coffee shops. I would say that you will get what you pay for in terms of food quality and the concept that this is something brought over from Hong Kong with a more restaurant atmosphere.

Of course for Singaporeans however, or at least the lay person, it could always be cheaper :) especially when you read the next section.

Accessibility 2.5/5

 The locations of the two branches in PS and TPY are fantastic, easy to access to via MRT especially for PS. The TPY branch needs about 3 mins walk from the TPY MRT but it is relatively convenient. Tell me if you need directions cause in this time and age, you probably could just use the location that I provided in this blog and google map it.

That being said. The queue is probably the main determining factor of whether you would actually want to come here to eat or not. Both sides have excessive queues which will be filled up during peak times like dinner. Probably expect to wait for even more then 1 hr which was what my friend told me when he queued at PS. I personnally skipped all the queue when I went there to eat at 3 pm so this could be a way you can experience THW without this hassle.

The shops are obviously too small for the expected crowd but that being said, expanding the shop without consideration could harm the food or service quality.

Overall

Food: 3.5 (Food has the Hong Kong taste, but not everything is entirely palatable or tasty)
Atmosphere: 3 (Also has the Hong Kong feel, not too crowded but I wont say its very comfortable)
Price: 3 (Noting that things come in 4s and not 3s, there is a slight premium price on its branding and restaurant like status.) 
Accessibility: 2.5 (Queue is the deal breaker in this case and it has a easy to get to location, but once you are there, you need lots of time to GET IN)

Overall: 3 (This score is a good reflection of what I believe you should do. 3 means its a place you should at least go to once, in fact go there during your weekdays off and skip the queue. Had this place have zero queue, I probably would go there more often but factoring the queue and the not too exemplary quality of food, you could coax yourself into alternatives elsewhere. It doesn't seem to have reservations either. Malaysia and Hong Kong would have better overall packages that you could live with. I personally don't feel any extreme urge to eat there again unless I have friends who do want to try it out for experience sake or they are great fans of some dishes. Even then, probably not during the peak hours.)

Ate at Tim Ho Wan before? Wanna share your experience? How was your queue there? Share them with us in the comments below...

Movies : The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones

INTRODUCTION

Hi all, it is fortunate that this time i managed to catch another movie right at its release and am able to give you guys a review on the movie so that most of you will not have already seen the movie and can consider whether to catch this 130 min action flick in the theatres. OR perhaps its merely worth a weekday ticket... or maybe not seeing at all. In most cases, helping you all manage expectation will definitely help make the trip to the movies more worth your time and money. So its a win-win situation no matter how I look at it!

So for those who don't know about the movie, heres the poster below

Nice looking City.. doesnt really look boney

Lets be realistic though, as far as this movie is concerned, the city is not the STAR or the main character but rather these little fellas below.. and of course the one in the middle is the biggest role!

Star is in middle, the one beside are co-star and the furthest away probably supporting cast.
The natural progression of things. So make sure your always in the middle of your pics!

Next curious question... Why is there a "THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS" in front of the City of Bones? So is this movie the mortal instruments or the city of bones?? Confusing yea? Well basically the City of Bones is part of a bunch of books by a Cassandra Clare. The main title would be The Mortal Instruments and amongst this title there are several books that start with City, namely City of Fallen Angels, City of Glass and City of Ashes. She also has another main series called The Infernal Devices.... which is a three parter series.

BUT, all the above information is for the book fans. Lets be realistic... I would rather watch a movie compared to reading the entire book cause its just paying a few extra dollars to see a book brought to life. And... I don't have to read.... So this review is for those who have NOT read the book. I am not going to talk about how this movie is in line with the book blahblahblah, but rather, how is City of Bones as a movie itself! So there is zero bias for me as I have not read the book at all!

So back to the movie itself, how does it fare on the layman's scale?!?!


Storyline 3/5

We have entered into a age of fantasy books started by the Harry Potter series, then into the Lord of the Ring Series, the into Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and this is next in line, the Mortal Instrument series. The advantages that all these fantasy shows have is that, in terms of storyline, it is more difficult to do badly purely because it is an introduction to a new world and because of that, it feels fresh generally.

Unfortunately, precisely cause its probably the 5th movie to come out in the same style, it feels slightly more ordinary because like all these movies, this first movie is the introduction into the Mortal Instruments world. You will be following the main character's learning of her uniqueness in the world and how to make use of her abilities and all that.. and this is similar to at least 2 of the 5 movies i listed above.

Next, this movie also leans towards the werewolf, vampire fantasy world that we have alongside hunters and the like. As a result, from both this aspects the storyline is fine, but its not spectacularly different in fantasy when compared to movies like underworld and twilight.

As a result, this movie plays out pretty much the way you expect it to, with little elaborate twists in the movie. Don't get me wrong, there are some twists but when you see it, you will think to yourself.... oh so its that kinda movie again. Also, it did get slightly confusing towards the end part and some of the stuff that was done is somewhat unbelievable. (Read, doesn't seem in-line with the character)


Character 3/5

Like in your usual fantasy books, these movies tend to have quite a bit of characters as they probably need to have some important character in every other fantasy race that exists.

At least the 5 characters above have SOME bit of personality, but it is nothing really distinctive or special amidst all the movies that you have now. They also generally seem to be from the same fantasy group so it is not really striking out as totally interesting.

There are other supporting casts that do play a reasonably significant role in this movie and they do try to make an effort to distinguish each of the fantasy races to a certain extent. However, the movie does not focus too much on elaborating on the culture of these races even within the 130mins of the movie.

But just for fun, here is what you will see... its in the posters so its not really spoilers..

The standard Hunter

The usual star of the show who was somehow CHOSEN for some reason

A handsome guy :P

The characters are also conflicted in this movie ala Twilight style but somehow or other, there is a bit LESS connection that you will feel towards them. I am not sure why but its a bit harder to feel the spark...

Cinematography 4/5

There is pretty above average cinematography in this movie in particular why one of the character in this movie loves to throw his weapons into the ground for seemingly no reason. There are also a few good shots and effects in this movie but if this movie is really trying to be an action flick... its just lacking in some areas to make it clearly better then the rest.

Music 3/5

Music is actually pretty forgettable... As per my usual comment, if i know there is music its a 3... if there is some impact called by the music.. its more then that.. if its a full fledged musical.. then the score will be higher. That being said, you could in theory still create a movie whereby the music does have a real positive impact... but thats not this show.

Spectacle 3/5

All in all, this movie tries to be like the movies before it which were converted into the big screen. Unfortunately, due to the many other movies preceding this, it tries pretty hard, but is not, in my opinion, able to stand out well enough from the other movies.

In terms of it being an action flick also, the sad thing about this movie is it did have much potential to go further in this term of action, to make it more exciting and larger on scale. However, they probably took too much time trying to expand on the storyline, which is probably what you should do for the book fans, but took out the action time. In fact, some major clashes or fights were resolved within seconds which probably wont really appease the action lovers.

As a result, thanks to the forgettable and not as unique storyline, as well as the non strong action showing, it didn't do enough to be great. Finally, a little let down point in this movie is that for a movie that could go into a tri or quadlogy, it actually ended properly in this movie itself. As a result, you will have a feeling that the movie is completed, and if you didnt know about the books, you will actually feel it as such. Hence hampering the look forward to next instalment feeling.

Storyline : 3 (Cliche storyline, it would have done better if it was the first one to do this type of story, not really entirely engaging for its 130mins of showtime)
Character : 3 (Many characters, some from different fantasy line, but all give little impression)
Cinematography : 4 (Good try for good shots, there is some immersing value, but not enough)
Music : 3 (Its there, but does not add anything particularly unique)
Spectacle : 3 (Not strong in the storyline department, neither was it strong in the action department)

Overall : 3.2 (Overall, a show you COULD see if you had the time to spare especially during the weekdays. Action fans might be slightly disappointed by the action, storyline fans might be slightly disappointed by the normal sounding story. So the only people who would probably enjoy this movie would be those who dun mind a merely above average story with above average action when viewed together in a package. Still for 2 hrs of time you probably would still be able to sit still and watch the movie till the end but you probably should lower your expectations a bit for the movie if you want to enjoy it.)

Saw the movie? Disagree with my opinions? Share it with me :)

Movies : Pacific Rim

Movies : Pacific Rim

INTRODUCTION

Finally, a opportunity whereby my review will be of maximum use to readers! I am finally able to see a movie on the release date itself.. or actually just right after its release date. Well those are just semantics! So, like i said before in the previous review, I finally got down to seeing Pacific Rim and I won't lie, I saw it only because WarZ was not yet out. But thanks to this opportunity, I will be able to share with you the review before you go see it for youself and hopefully, you would agree with my review and make the appropriate choice of whether you should spend your 212 mins in this movie!

For those still unaware despite the advertisements all over the trains, this is the show

Whoa, thats a big poster.. well probably because this is a BIG show! it has a budget of $180,000,000... thats alot of zeroes!

So on the left you have the robot or in this movie the Jaeger and on the right its GODZILLA's Brother-in-law! Yes thats right! In this movie, you not only get to see "Transformers that do not transform" but also Godzilla's pen pals from another universe!

Anyway lets dive into the review


Storyline 4/5

The storyline has an advantage over the recent movies that were released just this and the previous months. This advantage is that this movie is not a sequel. Hence it does have the novelty factor that allows it to stay interesting longer merely just because it is an introduction to a new world. It introduces the new background as well as all the jaegers and kaiju which is a good thing in keeping the audience intrigued.

This movie also does well in not restricting itself to the usual good guy not dying rules and there is a fare bit of killing off of people which makes the story line more believable and less predictable. It also has clearly two different story arcs that helps split the 212 mins movie and prevents monotomy.

There are however some storyline inconsistencies with reality but I feel that we should not be too critical on this as it is clearly a work of fiction in a different world which gives room for alternate natural laws of the world.

Characters 4/5

There are quite a number of important HUMAN characters in this movie, lets make it clear first, this is not like transformer whereby the emphasis is on the robot itself. Its more like those plane pilot shows where the emphasis is on the pilot instead.

I would say that there is 2 main characters and nearly 5 or 6 sub characters with quite a good character fleshed out. They are clearly distinct from each other and do have significant screen time. This is of course because of the two different lines that the story is trying to tell.

But of course this movie still has other key elements, which are obviously the robots/jaeger itself. Sadly, this show is meant to represent the last stand of the humans which means we wont be seeing lots of robots vs lots of monsters. None the less, all robots are clearly distinct as well as their pilots and its good that the monsters too are quite distinct in the way they do battle. So you wont always be seeing the same types of fights.

Still, its not full marks due to the lack of exploiting the potential of the distinct robots and their entertainment value in battle. You will get what i mean if you see it.

Cinematography 3.5/5

Epic battle is epic. These battles are all large scale and very dramatic with all our cities being nothing more then battle locations for these giant robots. Many many overhead shots as well as action shots that try to convey the impact of every punch and kick in the movie.

What it lacks however is a bit of perspective shots and also it is occasionally pretty hard to see due to the dark setting of the movie and hence you might not enjoy the movie as much as you could have.

There is also quite a bit of slow motions, and then suddenly quick movements that is a bit unsettling during the movie. When the fights move underwater also, the movements tend to be slower which is realistic, but not as action packed as our usual movies would be.


Music 4/5

Music is very relevant in this movie. The score even has chinese undertones especially for the scenes involving Hong Kong. Hence it is a pretty significant effect on the audience and makes the movie that much more immersive.

Also, the sound effects are good and impactful that makes people all cringe and feel the pain that the robots or monsters feel.

Spectacle 4/5

Overall, for an action movie, this movie has alot going for it. A strong and interesting story, many angles and stories to tell justifying the long movie timing. Great epic shots with good introductions to most of the monsters and the robots. Lots of death and destruction even of seemingly important  characters.

There are spaces for improvements in all these areas, but by and large, the epic scale of action and fighting coupled with a coherent storyline put this movie well above the average grade of an action movie in this few months.


Storyline : 4 (It is entertaining and different angle means it fills up the time well)
Character : 4 (Many people to introduce and given what else the movie needs to introduce, it does a well above average job)
Cinematography : 3.5 (Bit dark at times but the actions are made better due to the shots)
Music : 4 (Good music that supports the atmosphere of the movie)
Spectacle : 4 (Does well in comparison with the action movies in these few months, but is not really a trend setter that has set itself clearly apart)

Overall : 3.9 (As with many action movies, it is easy to cater to most of the audience especially when coupled with a new world, coherent storyline and long movie time filled with action. Hence, I would say that this movie will probably entertain anyone who is looking for a cost effective movie for its pure entertainment value. People who would regret seeing this movie would be few, but it just stops short of a truly MUST see movie.)

Thought the movie sucked? Or maybe the storyline was too inconsistent with reality for you? Well feel free to share your views :) Till next time!

Movies : Despicable Me 2

Movies : Despicable Me 2

INTRODUCTION

Somehow, when movies come out they seem to like to target exactly the same audience and fight for viewership. This is the case of Despicable Me 2's release alongside Monsters University. However, in the fight for advertisement place, Despicable Me 2 was the clear winner with more people having knowledge of this show as compared to Monsters University. In fact, chances are that many of you would have seen this movie way before this review... which is a sad thing, but nonetheless, for those few who are still out there contemplating whether they should see this show, read more to decide and find out.

So for those few who are still unaware, heres the poster for the movie!

One of the many minions

Heres another

The boss Grue and his minions

Here goes the review

Storyline 3/5

The movie's main story plot is supposed to be emphasizing on how a villain can provide much assistance to the police because of their knowledge of how a villain thinks. Only problem is, this villain happens to be a budding father of 3 girls as well as the owner of a team of evil (READ as CUTE) minions that assist him in doing his bidding and all his manual labour.

The storyline for a cartoon type of movie is pretty much what you would expect. There is a whole overarching plot with very minimal twists and turns probably to cater to its supposed younger audience. Nonetheless, it is a good enough plot to provide the substance to actually focus on its main draw, which is its characters.

Character 4/5

This is probably their principle focus of the entire movie. In fact, from the posters seen above, some might even mistake this movie to actually be focusing on the minions itself. Alas the core character in this movie remains to be the human (or rather ex-villain Grue which is the hunch backed pointy noise person in the 2nd poster or if you are lazy to refer.. this guy here)

Look at his pointy nose!

He would be the main focus, and the secondary focus actually falls onto his supporting cast... WHICH is still not the minions, but rather his 3 "daughters"

The 3rd most screen time type of characters would then finally be the minions right at the bottom.

With so many characters to focus on, this movie creates a problem of too little screen time with any one of them and hence although they are entertaining, they don't really have much to remember about themselves. You could probably only describe all of them in 2 sentence and struggle to come out with any more descriptions. 

Still, this is probably a good move to attract the younger and cute loving crowd which actually was the draw of the movie for many people.

Cinematography 3.5/5

Cinematography is normal, at best it would be slightly above average due to some shots focus on providing comic relief via good perspectives, and also the occasional unique perspective shots such as a first person view. Its not action movie impressive though and there are little wow shots. 

All in all, the shots are trying to be funny, rather then to impress and those far off shots taken are just too colorful to look epic.

Music 3.5/5

Music as with many cartoon movies is above average, probably worth listening during the movie and does add some immersion value but after that, its pretty forgettable.

There are some fun moments when the minions start to do some singing, but its at the end of the show and just seems to be for the purpose of generating laughs. Its funny and cute, but thats all it is.

Spectacle 3.5/5

This is the place where its harder to give a score. I am facing this problem because many people seem to enjoy it, but it really was not impressive in the action front, neither was the storyline good. The only aspect that was going for the movie was actually the minions, which like i said, was the main draw, but actually had not very significant screen time.

I would even go so far as to say that perhaps this show would have been more fun had it focussed entirely on the minions only. This probably would be the direction this movie would take, to flesh out the minion's story and lifestyle more instead of Grue and the kids. Still, the movie was almost able to be entertaining all the way to the end for me and I guess that would be good justification to see this show, but only if you 1. are a fan, 2. have a lot of spare time, 3. Have kids who wanna see the show, 4. Have excessive money!, 5, Have a girlfriend who wants to see the show, that sort of thing.


Storyline : 3 (Generic animation kind of storyline, pretty one sided and simple)
Character : 4 (Many characters, some of which are particularly lovable)
Cinematography : 3.5 (There are attempts, but nothing to impressive)
Music : 3.5 (Just above average, like above, there are attempts but its more for fun then for music)
Spectacle : 3.5 (Provides entertainment value but does not excel in anything else besides cute factor)

Overall : 3.5 (Overall, a 3.5 score shows that fans will be able to enjoy the movie, casual movie goers probably won't regret seeing the movie, but they would probably not regret NOT seeing the movie either. Thankfully it appeals to some ladies and children which will most definitely help it up in the box office. The tons of free advertisement out in the net and on you tube also helps.)

So heres my very late review of Despicable Me 2, thought I would have had a chance to see War Z this week but was busy with something else, would also probably watch Pacific Rim so stay tuned for a review!

To end, heres a music clip from youtube!

Movies : Monsters University

Movies : Monsters University

INTRODUCTION

In this time and age, whenever you see a movie like Despicable Me 2, or shows like Madagascar 3 or maybe even shows where there are clearly trilogies such as Twilight, Star wars, you would immediately feel the affinity and the need to see the show especially if you have seen the previous movie.

For those who do not know,

See this poster, guess which year it is, the answer will be posted all the way below.

But here is the relevant poster for this year!

And just to make things clear, this is the movie that we are reviewing today! And note that the first two characters at the front.. are the exact same characters on the top poster!

Storyline 3.5/5

The storyline starts out pretty strong, introducing the audience to the wonderful world of Monsters, their need to scare people and what gave the main character his motive in life. And they did it with the smaller version of the green eyed fella which was totally cute and a good start.

Then it moves on to introducing the university and their first day, and also the other characters and then the gist of this movie, the problems that they face in becoming SCARERS which is like what every other monster wants to be.

The score is pretty above average, because it is a pretty direct storyline although the ending might not be as happy as you would think. Nonetheless for the duration of the movie, the storyline is not draggy and it is pretty entertaining all the way through because of the many parallels it draws with the usual American University life.

Character 3.5/5

The movie does have quite a few additional characters besides the first 2 although it does get somewhat massive then the other groups of monsters come into play. However there is a bit too little done to try to differentiate our monsters from the other groups. I would say that they are distinct enough during the introduction, but after that they really could have made it a bit more fun.

The closer characters to the 2 main characters are fleshed out slightly more, but they could still be even more distinct with some fun twists or side stories. 

Here are all the chums

Cinematography 3.5/5

There are very nice top down shots of the monster world and this movie does a fun job of making good funny shots. There was also a short since of the real human world in the duration of the show which makes it pretty fun and is a good distraction from the monotony of the show.

Still it could have a bit more perspective shots that i believe a few other animations have done to improve the entertainment factor.

Music 3.5/5

Music is there, but not entirely memorable. None the less it does positively add to the movie itself which gives it slightly better then average points.

Spectacle 4/5

For this movie, I would like to add comedy to the genre because this movie is really good fun. It is also able to keep the interest up although not in the usual action movie sense. It is kind of like the first Harry potter movie in the monster world whereby the life of the new student is introduced and how the student comes to gain acceptance. There is also a bit of storyline weaving towards the end of the movie whereby the end of Monster University is weaved into the beginning of Monster INC which would entertain those people who saw the first movie!

Storyline : 3.5 (Pretty clear cut storyline with a clear aim at the end, but has some fun twists)

Characters : 3.5 (Many cute and fun characters, but could use a bit more fleshing out)

Cinematography : 3.5 (Above average shots with a unique real world section, can be improved)

Music : 3.5 (The standard music expected from a PIXAR animation)

Spectacle 4 (Has good entertainment value due to its comedic value)

Overall : 3.6 (It is good that this movie does not require you to be invested in Monster INC first and it also tries to reintroduce the monster world to the audience. However since this movie focuses on the university life and how a student gains acceptance, there is some similarity to many of the other movies which does not make it entirely distinct from the other shows besides the world it is in as the issues faced are similar. None the less, it is a worthwhile movie to bring the kids to for a weekday ticket as they would probably have quite a bit of family fun there.)

This movie also has to content with Despicable Me 2 for the intended audience which might cause people to compare and maybe like the movie more or less. 

Finally, to answer the question asked in the beginning, Monster INC was shown in the year 2001 which is like 12 years ago. What this means is that after seeing this movie, your family could perhaps be entertained by a rescreening (or fresh screening for kids who did not see the movie) of Monster INC. 

Please leave any comments if you have them, and i am planning to see WarZ and Despicable Me 2 in the near future. Cheers!

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