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August 29, 2005
3 types of massage in China
I went to China for the weekend. It was my first time, but I knew things would be fairly cheap and I like cheap massages. So after checking into the Century Hotel, we get a call asking if we want a special massage for 1,000 Yuan (over 100.00 US). I said no.
We went down to the front desk to find out where the sauna was (next door). I asked them what to do if we changed our mind about the special massage (I knoew the hotel had offered it because they called our room and asked for us by name). They said we shouldn't talk about the special massage and we figured it was something dirty.
We went to the sauna and after a bit of heat and a nice swim we asked them about massages. After the special massage phone call, my wife wanted us to get the massages together. However in the sauna men and women are separated. They said we could get the massages in our hotel room; it didn't matter - same massage, same price. They were 78 each (about 10 US dollars).
It did matter. Our first clue was the that the masseuses who came to our room looked like 20 year old girls (or younger) and were wearing tight jeans, tight tank tops (showing some belly and cleavage). One of them was carrying Johnson's baby oil.
They spoke no English but we communicated no babyoil to them and got on our stomachs. They motioned for us to get on our backs and started by massaging our heads, then right arm (while siting next to us), then pelvic region. My masseuse tried to take off my pajamas.
My wife said, "What's going on over there?"
I said, "I don't know but my... "
Anyway, we asked around and to get a professional massage your best bet is the sauna. Women get naked and get massaged by naked women (in a room with glass walls but only other women to spy). Men get naked and massaged by a presumably naked man (I don't know any men who did this so I'm not sure).
Anything in the hotel room will be a dirty massage or so I'm told...
August 26, 2005
Hsintien Chinatrust Executive Taipei Taiwan
The Hsintien Chinatrust Executive is not technically in Taipei but it is on the Taipei MRT. Our flight from Hong Kong was delayed so we arrived after midnight and paid 1300 TWD for a car to the hotel (it was 1200 from the hotel to the airport).
The location is not inconvenient since it is so close to the MRT, maybe a 2 minute walk. The room was plain and clean. The breakfast was not Western, and I received a terrible shock when I stuck hakf a hard boiled egg in my mouth only to learn that it was pure salt.
The night mangaer spoke excellent English, but getting directions from the day people took a bit of patience. If the next time I'm heading to Taipei the Hsintien Chinatrust Executive hotel has the best price (not including hostels and the like they did have the best price this time but were running a special) I'll stay there again.
August 24, 2005
Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong
This is a 4 star hotel with small, modern, and clean rooms. It's about a 10 minute walk to Times Square which has the nearest MTR station (Causeway Bay).
I saw on Yahoo travel that rooms at the Cosmopolitan start at 80.00/night but we paid 65.00 through Priceline.com. Of course that didn't include breakfast which was 110 Hong Kong dollars each (about 15 US dollars). We decided to explore the Hong Kong breakfast scene instead and ended up paying 20-30 Hong Kong dollars (3-4 US) instead.
The internet was 40 Hong Kong dollars/hour sold in one hour blocks only.
All in all, the Cosmopolitan is decent. There may be better options but there must certainly be worse choices.
August 22, 2005
Can't trust myleisuretravel.com
Travelleisure.com made me laugh with this exaggerated description of Clinton new Jersey, a small town I lived in for 4 years. As I read the article I kept wondering what they were thinking until I got to the part about staying in the Holiday Inn Select. Recommending this hotel several times without mentioning other options makes it pretty clear that the entire misleading article is a long ad for the hotel.
August 20, 2005
Hong Kong and Taiwan
I'm back from Taiwan and Honk Kong and had an excellent time. I'll try to post a full itinerary with comments soon but for now let me start off with a few general impressions.
Food in each city can be cheap. Most of our meals were 5 US dollars or less. We made an effort to eat only Chinese food, and in some cases this caused us a bit of discomfort as places that seemed to be poular with the locals occasionally had food that was not so great for us. I had a couple of stomach aches actually.
The subway systems (MTR in Hong Kong and MRT in Taiwan) are easy to navigate, easier than those in Seoul and New York for example. Buses are more complicated. In Hong Kong there are several bus stations around Central/ Star Ferry Pier and we wasted a couple of hours walking between them on a few occasions trying to figure out which was the one we needed. But riding ona doubledecker bus can be pretty neat if you've never done it before.
There's more English spoken in Hong Kong than in Taiwan, but not as much as in Malaysia. Outside of hotels and large restaurants we did a lot of pointing and I don't know if I ahve crooked fingers or what but several times I got the wrong meal or drink. Normally I would point to waht I wanted and read the English. That's not always enough in either Hong Kong or Taiwan.
As I said earlier, I'll have more for you soon. I'm still organizing my thoughts...
August 10, 2005
I'm off
My flight leaves in a few hours and I have to get a little sleep. I'm traveling light, my backpack and my little NuSkin bag (shaving stuff, skincare, toothbrush and toothpaste, vitamins, etc.). I should be fairly comfy on the way there but may have done some shopping on the way back...
I'll try to check in once or twice from Hong Kong and Taiepei. I'll certainly let you know how things turn out on my vacation! I should have a Thai Air review, as well as reviews for Hsintei Chinatrust Executive House (Taipei) and Cosmopolitan Hotel (Hong Kong). Plus some information on sights as well as our starting schedule and what we actually end up doing. Have fun while I'm gone!
August 4, 2005
Hong Kong & Taipei culinary travel
Hong Kong and Taipei are both known for their food so when I was planning a vacation with a colleague who suggested the theme for our trip be authentic Chinese food and culture we chose theses two cities (nothing on mainland China because we didn't know if we had enough time to get visas).
In addition to food, we're going to try to see some Chinese opera, as well as some art in museums like the National Palce Museum in Taipei. We're working on a fairly detailed schedule tthat I should be able to post in a few days.
August 2, 2005
Taipei online hotel search
Priceline quicly found us a nice 4 star hotel in Hong Kong for 65.00/night. However, we've had no luck with either three or four star hotels in Taipei on Priceline. That leaves Lonely Planet suggestions and internet searches.
One internet search turned up Hsintien Chinatrust Executive at 219 2 CHUNG SHING ROAD SEC 3, Hsintien Ta, TW. The directions indicate that this is near the Da Ping Ling MRT station. A quick look at the Taiwan MRT map reveals that Tapinglin station is 8 stops away from the main train station. Assuming Tapinglin and Da Ping Ling are the same station, that's not so bad considering that the hotel is a 2 minute walk from the station. At 70.00 night including breakfast and internet access the price seems reasonable enough.
The hotel chain web site is http://www.chinatrust-hotel.com.tw/ which turned up a hotel actually in Taipei (the other is in Hsintien) - Tamsui Chinatrust Hotel.
Taipei Teachers Hostel, Taiwan Normal University, Friendship House, and Taiwan Normal University, Guest House also showed up on http://www.siddharthasintent.org/chinese/Dzongsar%20Jamyang%20Khyentse%20Rinpoche%202002.rtf which seems to be a document for people doing some sort of retreat in Taipei.