OznAsia

I wrote a review of Tune Hotel in Kuala Lumpur some time back. Have returned there recently as I stopped over in KL on my way to and from India. I think an update is appropriate.

They now have a safe in the rooms, big enough to hold a laptop and more. I had some difficulty reading the instructions which are printed on the door. The positioning of the safe on the floor means that one needs to get down on the floor to read it and if your eyesight is not great for reading, the small type size is not going to help. On the first of my recent visits I only stayed one night and gave up trying to figure it out. On the second visit I stayed two nights and ended up asking the front office staff for instructions. It's easy when you know how: just enter a pin number of your choice followed by the hash key and the door locks. Repeat the same pin and hash and the door opens again. Just don't forget your pin.

If you want air-con at Tune it's an optional extra. I'm not big on air-con. I prefer to live without it. As regular readers of this blog know, a little heat doesn't bother me. In my room in Bangkok I would turn on the air-con when I came in on a hot day and leave it on for about ten minutes. That was enough to bring the room to a temperature that suited me. On a really hot day I would turn it on again no more than once an hour for about five minutes.

At Tune you pay in advance for five or twelve hours of air-con. This is registered electronically on your keycard. On the first of my recent visits I probably used about half of my five hours. When I checked out I asked if the balance could be credited for my next visit. They said 'no'.

On the second visit I once again took five hours. I used my usual method of conserving electricity. In fact the weather wasn't hot. I arrived during the evening. I went out for breakfast and a walk the next morning. When I returned the air-con was not working. I figured I'd used less than an hour of my five. I went to the counter and a staff member, ever-polite, came to check it for me. He had an electronic card that he said could check to see if there should be any balance in my account. The card showed I had none.

Now there are two possibilities, either I made a mistake or the card did. If I made a mistake I am a long way out. I reckon I'd used less than one hour. You figure it—five minutes maybe five times, even if you double it, that's less than an hour. But five??? I suggested the technology was faulty but he politely told me it is never faulty and if I want more air-con I'd have to pay for it. Well, I'm afraid I don't believe in paying for something twice. I declined.

Watch this space. Next time I go to KL I'll be reviewing another budget hotel.

Labels: Asia, hotel, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, travel

My friend Nee has been working on Koh Samui for about five months so it's always been on the cards that I'd visit sometime. When Colin, an Australian friend, said he was heading there I decided it was time to make my trip.

There are many ways to get to Samui. You can fly in but it seems none of the budget airlines go there now. I took the train option. I got a sleeper from Bangkok (Hua Lampong) to Surat Thani and then a bus to the coast and a ferry to the island. Samui is about 20 kilometres wide and 25 from north to south. Roads take you close to the coast rather than straight across. The ferry from the mainland will bring you to Nathon on the west coast. Most of the action is on the resort beach towns of Lamai and Chaweng on the east coast.

For my Australian readers I'd suggest that Samui is like the Gold Coast without the high rise but with a very strong Thai accent. It is very touristy with probably more foreigners there than Thais. If you decide to visit Samui, I suggest you consider flying into Kuala Lumpur rather than Bangkok. You can fly on AirAsia from Coolangatta and save a packet. The train that links KL and Bangkok passes through Surat Thani.

I've started posting my Samui pics on my flickr page and assuming I have time will add a few more blogs on different aspects of Samui so drop back in a day or two for more about Samui.

Labels: Asia, Bangkok, holiday, KL, Koh Samui, Kuala Lumpur, Nee, thailand, travel

I sometimes wonder where fear comes from.

If you've ever looked at my flickr pages you may have noticed that I enjoy having my photo taken handling snakes. Yes, I'm showing off but the only reason it gets attention is that others find snakes—maybe reptiles in general, maybe spiders too—scary. Why? I have a feeling that this fear is learned. My siblings are not quite so comfortable as I am with reptiles so I wonder why I didn't pick up this fear.

One of the good things about my childhood was the environment we grew up in. Our home was on a half-acre block. Most of the houses around us were on similar blocks and on one side were several acres of bush. And it was crawling with reptiles—many species of lizards and quite a few snakes. We were warned to keep clear of the snakes as they could be poisonous—and some were. If Dad ever caught a snake it was killed.

Bearded dragons were extremely common and still are in Brisbane backyards. I realise that in some countries now they keep them as pets. If they are handled regularly from birth they become tame but ours were wild. They grow to about 60 cm long. When they are babies it is OK to pick them up by the body but the big guys will bite. There is a trick. You have to get their feet off the ground quickly. When they see you they puff their 'beard' out to try to scare you but it is mostly bluff. If you grab them by the end of the tail and quickly get their feet off the ground they are almost helpless. They try to reach you but they can't if you hold them at arm's length.

That was the technique I used as a kid. Bear in mind that this lizard might be 2/3 as long as I was tall at that time. My macho brothers were not brave enough to do this. But once I got one off the ground they were happy to take it from me. One day one of my brothers had one that I'd picked up. I'd asked for it back but he wasn't returning it. I reached out to take it from him. The lizard reared up and bit my thumb. I lost some of my enthusiasm for picking them up after that.

Snakes were another matter. I accepted what my parents said but I was probably also reading and learning for myself. Carpet snakes—Australian pythons—were relatively common. I knew they were almost harmless, at least not poisonous, and they were easy to identify by their strong pattern and their size. The bush next to our yard ran down to the Brisbane River and there was a boat shed on the river bank. One day there was a lot of excitement because one of my younger brothers had found a carpet snake hibernating in the rafters of the shed. My two younger brothers were with some friends. They managed to force the snake down with a stick, held it with a forked stick and one of them was returning home victoriously with it across his shoulders. One hand was holding its neck tight the other hand its tail. As I said, the snake was hibernating, but now it started to wake up. As I came on the scene it was starting to wrap itself around his neck and he was calling, 'Get it off! Get it off!' So I helped him to carry it up to our house where they made a pen for it from some pieces of old iron roofing. Many of my brothers' friends would come around to see this snake which was about two metres long. Even though the snake was hibernating and was not going to attack anyone they had a ritual to go through whenever they handled it. First its neck was pinned by the forked stick and only then would one of them grab it behind the head tightly and boldly lift it out of the pen. One day there was quite a crowd there and I was watching this procedure. I could see that the snake was too sleepy to attack anyone. I calmly reached over the side of the pen, picked the snake up and dropped it into the middle of the crowd of kids. They sure ran fast until one of my brothers came back with the forked stick. I just stood there and laughed.

Through my life I've treated snakes based on the following knowledge. A snake will usually only attack you for one of two reasons: 1). It is planning to eat you; or 2). It thinks you might attack it. When you consider this, you realise that at most times we have very little to fear from snakes. Most Australian snakes are too small to consider eating a grown human. However you have to be careful not to put a snake into situation number 2. They will attack to protect themselves. But generally, they will be trying to get away from you faster than you from them. There are exceptions, some species like the Australian taipan are both aggressive and poisonous but they do not live in the area where we lived so they were not an issue for me.

A little north of Sydney at Gosford there is a reptile park that was started by a man named Eric Worrell. When I visited they had a pit which was about 3 x 5 metres. It was literally crawling with tiger snakes. Tigers are one of the world's deadliest snakes. There were so many of them in the pit that if you were brave enough to get in with them you would have had difficulty finding somewhere to put your feet. While we were looking over the wall, Eric Worrell jumped over, into the pit and walked among the tiger snakes. One by one he picked them up and in front of the small crowd that had gathered milked them for venom.

On one of my early visits to Thailand a storytelling camp was held in Mahasarakham. After the camp was over, I was staying one more night at the campsite and some of the students had stayed back to keep me company. We were chatting in a circle when someone came from outside and said, 'There's a snake over there.' I immediately got up and started heading towards my room. 'Where are you going?' I was asked.

'To get my camera.' I came back with the camera and started walking towards the snake.

'Where are you going?' they asked again.

'To take a photo of the snake.'

'No! No! No! It might bight you.'

'That's OK. I won't get close enough.'

'Don't go any closer. You don't know anything about Thai snakes. It could be a cobra.' I was perhaps about 5 metres from it. I stopped. They were right. I didn't know anything about Thai snakes. It might be a cobra.

I followed the advice and took the photos from that distance. This was my old Kodak camera. It doesn't have the zoom I have on my fz20. With the fz20 I wouldn't have needed to get any closer but it wasn't invented at that time. Still I got this photo. I've cropped a lot of background here.





A few days later I was in Bangkok and I paid a visit to the Snake Farm. They had a show which included cobras. The handlers were working very close to the cobras. After the show I asked a few questions. I showed them my picture, told the story and asked if they could identify the snake. He did and said it was harmless. I asked how close it was safe to get to an unidentified Thai snake. He said one or two metres. 'What if it was a cobra?' I asked.

'One or two metres,' he replied.






After that they allowed me to hold one of their Burmese pythons and my friend took a few photos.

When I was in Kuala Lumpur not so long ago my friend, Shuenhuey, took me to Batu Caves. At the entrance to the caves there was a guy with a large python that for a small fee you could handle and take photos. I gave Shuenhuey my camera while I held the python. I wanted to get some photos that I could use to show off to my grandchildren. We got a few good photos and went into the cave.

On the way out Shuenhuey said she was thinking about getting her photo taken with the snake. I was impressed. For me this is no big deal but she had grown up with the same fear of reptiles that most people have. Seeing how casually I had handled it she had decided that perhaps she could face her fears. I encouraged her and as you can see, she did it. (But check out the kid in the background.)

People have all sorts of mistaken beliefs about reptiles. How many people, for example, think that snakes are 'slimy'? They're not. Sadly we also often take on beliefs about other people who we've never met. Just as we do with snakes and lizards we think that people of this race or religion are all .... You fill in the gap. Me, I do my best to travel to exotic countries, meet people and find out first-hand what they are like. Just as I do with reptiles.

Labels: Asia, Australia, DC265, fear, fz20, KL, Kodak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, reptile, snake, trust

As a perpetual traveller it is necessary that I find accommodation within my budget. I live on a small pension. I live simply. I can keep up this lifestyle so long as I can find accommodation that won't break my budget. I can splurge occassionally but I can't afford to stay in four star hotels all the time.

In countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and in many parts of Malaysia I can find guesthouses and the occasional hotel with rates that are under $A10 per night. While these are certainly not luxurious I expect them to be clean and have basic comforts. In Singapore such rates are impossible so I simply don't stay there long. In Kuala Lumpur I either have to pay a little more or settle for something less than I like. In the past in Kuala Lumpur I have stayed in Wheelers Guesthouse. It scrapes through on price and barely scrapes through on standards.

Last year Tune Hotel opened in Kuala Lumpur. It has connections with AirAsia and has been promoting itself on the internet. AirAsia is a successful budget airline that I use often for getting around Asia. If I book early enough or am flexible about dates and flight times I can usually get a pretty cheap fare. Why spend a day sitting on a bus when for only a few dollars more you can fly?

Tune Hotel has similar promotional methods. If you book early enough and are prepared to pay in advance you can pick up some pretty good rates. They advertise rates as low as RM10 per night. That's about $A3. For special promotions they even advertise as low as 1 cent a night. To clarify this, advertising in Malaysia is not subject to the trade practices laws that protect us in Australia. As with AirAsia, advertised rates are not what you actually pay. There are a few extras that are added on. But it can still work out as a pretty good deal.

On my previous trip to KL, I tried to book for some particular dates but couldn't get a suitable rate. It was back to Wheeler's Guesthouse. This time I had a little more flexibility. After four months in Cambodia my budget is looking pretty good. Besides I was only staying for eight nights. I was able to get in at about $A24 per night all up.

Initially, I only booked one night. Having never stayed there before, I wasn't prepared to lay my money down and then find after the first night that I hated the place. Nor had I been able to find a review on the net. Hopefully this blog will remedy that situation for other travellers. Tune Hotel is on a very busy intersection close to the centre of KL. The traffic rarely stops and the monorail runs right past. I pictured myself spending a sleepless night with the traffic noise. So, how was it? Read on.

Reaching the hotel is quite easy. Unless you're loaded down with luggage you can reach it on public transport. You'll find the directions on the Tune website so I won't repeat them here.
Staff are very professional and helpful. I give them full marks. Before I went to my room I asked about the rate if I decided to extend my stay. Fortunately it was under the amount I mentioned above.

Travellers from Western countries might be surprised by how small the rooms are. I've stayed in a similar hotel before so knew what to expect. BTW, I took a double room. It was only a couple of ringgit more for that than a single so why not? The room itself was only just a little bigger than the bed, ie there was room to walk around the bed. There are no chairs. There was simply no space for chairs. There is an entrance hallway and alongside that a bathroom. I was able to put my backpack in a corner where it wasn't in the way. I thought about a couple travelling with several suitcases. They might find it a bit tight. There are no wardrobes, just a couple of hooks on the wall and a shelf above the head of the bed.

Rooms either have a window opening onto the street or onto a void in the middle of the building. I got one of the middle rooms. Yes, it's boring not having a view but if you want somewhere to sit around and relax go a bit more upmarket. Tune is for people who just want somewhere to dump their stuff while they explore the city and come back to sleep. This outlook turned out to be a blessing for me. I could hardly hear any noise from the road. I could open the window and still get a good night's sleep. There was occasionally a little noise coming from other rooms but not so much that it was an issue. Once I realised this I booked the room for the rest of my stay.

Tune took over this building last year and refurbished it. It was previously another hotel. Generally everything is new and works. Unfortunately they've economised on one or two fittings that were perhaps there previously and this is a weakpoint but generally the standard of fittings and decoration is excellent. My room was tastefully decorated with a mural that was pleasant to my eyes. The walls both inside and outside the room are also adorned with advertisements. A fold-down table has been fitted to the wall at the end of the bed. It's been carefully designed so you can sit on the bed while using it as a desk or to eat a meal.

About the bed—the Tune website calls it a five-star queen-size bed. I don't agree. Maybe Asian queens are smaller than Westerners. I think in Australia the bed would barely be able to be called double. I slept diagonally. If two six footers slept in it their feet might hang over the end. The bed has plenty of comfort padding. This probably would suit most Westerners but in this regard I'm more like an Asian and prefer a really firm bed.

The room has several choices of lighting that can be adapted to suit your needs. There is one power point that takes a variety of plugs. I usually buy an adaptor plug in each country I visit. It was not necessary this time. I have several types of plugs that I've picked up in various parts of Asia and they all fitted. The room has four largish mirrors so there's no excuse for walking out looking scruffy (unless that happens to be your style).

The bathroom is adequate with hot and cold water and a shower with an excellent flow. It has an exhaust fan that comes on with the light. Towels are not provided but are available as an optional extra. There's a team of cleaners who do a good job.

Entry to the room is by electronic card that also controls the power once you are inside. If you don't close the door properly it beeps a friendly reminder. I found security to be quite good. There are also security staff on duty in the lobby.

Free internet access is available in a little internet 'cafe' in a room off the lobby. There are only five computers and occassionally they were all busy. Download speeds are reasonable. The computers appear to have no software installed other than Explorer. Other guest facilities include a coin-op laundry. There's a convenience store and couple of eateries in the lobby area.

If you are looking for some variety in food, there are plenty of eating places in the general area but they are limited. You have a choice of Western fast food, Malay or Indian.

That's about it. I found Tune met my needs for this stay. I'll probably return. Not sure when. They also have branches opening within the next year in other parts of Malaysia. Check out their website for details.

Footnote 28/12/08: I've returned again to Tune Hotel and have updated this post: here.

Labels: Asia, hotel, KL, Kuala Lumpur, travel

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday and will be here for a little over a week. I've been catching up with friends, trying out a different hotel, doing a lot of walking and learning to find my way around different parts of the city. But the main purpose of my visit has been to apply for my new visa to Thailand. Before I came here I looked up the embassy's web site, google maps and a few other sites to see if I could pinpoint exactly where it is. I got a rough idea but not a lot of detail. I've since found the embassy and successfully applied for my visa. There were many people at the embassy. I wonder how many had difficulty finding it. For the sake of other travellers I'm giving my directions here. Hopefully google will bring you here if that's what you're looking for.

The embassy is in Jalan Ampang. If you are new to Malaysia, 'jalan' is the Malay word for street or road. The best way to get there is to take a train on the Putra line. Get off at Ampang Park station which is right below Jalan Ampang. When you surface in Jalan Ampang look around for the Petronas Twin Towers. Walk down Jalan Ampang away from the Twin Towers. You will soon come to a major intersection with Jalan Tun Razak. Cross over and keep walking along Jalan Ampang. You will find the Thai Embassy on the left-hand side, perhaps a five minute walk from the station.

When you get inside the gate you will be given a form to fill out. You can do that at the tables they have in the open area before proceeding inside. When you get inside you are required to take a number and wait until it is called. When you submit your application you have to pay the fee and you must have the correct amount. They don't give change! Mine cost RM220. Yours may be different but I suggest you have a few RM10 notes so that you are not delayed while you try to find change.

Good luck.

Labels: Asia, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, thailand, travel

Last year I lived in Cambodia for nine months. I went to teach English at the Buddhist monastery, Wat Xam (sometimes spelled Ksam). At the time, I gave serious consideration to becoming a monk. I chose to not do so. I'm sure it would have helped me on my path. However I look at it this way, I'm the sort of person who creates rules for myself about how I live. Monks live by the rules of the vinaya—200+ rules handed down by the Buddha 2,500 years ago. While I'm sure all those rules are admirable, I wonder how relevant they are for me today. Some are, and those I willingly adopt without wearing robes, but I prefer to have the choice of rejecting those rules I consider irrelevant to me. As a monk I would have been obliged to follow every one. I chose to not do so.

Even so, I was offered a room at the wat. I could have gone there and lived among the monks without having to follow the rules. Once again, I seriously considered this. I love those guys and really enjoy hanging out with them. But had I done so I would have had to reduce my standard of living way below what I am used to.

As someone who has chosen a life 'on the road' I have to choose accommodation that fits within my budget otherwise I can't survive in this lifestyle. If I was travelling for a short holiday I could spend a lot more on accommodation but in my situation, whatever I spend has to be sustainable permanently.

Within my budget what I get depends on where I am. In Cambodia I was able to rent a half-reasonable house for way less than the budget. In Thailand I can usually find something reasonably comfortable. In Melaka I can stay at Sama Sama guesthouse which isn't five star but certainly has a lot of charm to make up for what it lacks in comfort. In Singapore I can't reasonably stay for more than a few days. One night in a budget place in Singapore costs the same as a week in Sama Sama. You get the picture?

For the past two weeks in KL I went way downmarket. KL's not as expensive as Singapore but for the price I pay at Sama Sama you don't get much there. You get a bed, reasonably comfortable, in a tiny room, shared bathroom and not a lot more. It's reasonably clean but I certainly don't get excited about it. I think of my friends, the monks at Wat Xam and for that matter many of my friends in Cambodia who aren't even monks, and I know I can cope for a week or two.

Yesterday I flew from KL to Hanoi—my first visit to Vietnam. As I was arriving in the evening I didn't want to be mucked around. Many of the cheaper guesthouses in this city have a reputation for not honouring bookings (check out the travel forums for details) so I booked myself into a two-star hotel. Still not exactly grand but a little better than I've become used to. They picked me up at the airport. My room has air-con. It has its own bathroom with hot and cold water, good plumbing and it even has a real bath. It has a wardrobe. And most importantly, it has an ethernet connection in my room.

My original plan was to just stay here one night and then move into something more within my budget but hopefully better than I had in KL or would have had at Wat Xam. But I'm liking it here and decided I can afford to extend my stay a little longer. Not sure how long that'll be. I'm enjoying Hanoi so far. It's possible I could stay a whole month. Watch this space.

Labels: Asia, Cambodia, Hanoi, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Melaka, thailand, travel

The picture shows Sungai Klang (Klang River) at its normal level. At times I would look at it and wonder about the depth of the banks. I estimate there's about four or five metres between the water level here and the bridge. With the added width above the current water line the banks should be able to contain quite a large amount of water.

This is the rainy season. The rain usually falls in the evening. The river is quite close to where I'm staying in KL but until last Sunday I hadn't been near the river at night. Sunday I spent the day with a friend exploring some interesting areas out of town. It started raining before I returned. It was still pouring down at the time I reached Pasar Seni station. You can see it in the top left of the picture. From the platform I looked down to the river and the water was lapping the bridge. I was told that one hour of heavy rain is all it needs for the rain to come up like this. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the flooded river, it was too dark.

Labels: Asia, flood, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I've always admired people who can photograph butterflies and wonder what the secret is. Butterflies don't often stay still and no matter what I try I rarely get a good shot of one.

Not far from the bird park in Kuala Lumpur is the Butterfly Park. The setup is similar. The whole area is covered in mesh and the butterflies fly free. It costs RM15 for a person to get in and RM1 for a still camera. Video cameras are a little extra. I decided to spend a few hours there and see what I could do.

Spending time in the park is quite pleasant because the environment they have created for the butterflies is a very attractive one for humans too. It's also environmentally friendly. They have to control pests by biological methods so they don't kill the butterflies.





And how did I go with the photos? At first there were quite a few blurred ones. I reminded myself that I had all day if I wanted and there were thousands of butterflies. So I took my time, tried a few different settings and soon I was taking photos like this one.






While I'm a long way from being an expert, I think I have discovered the secret: patience and a plentiful supply of butterflies. A good camera also helps. If you'd like to see more of my butterfly photos, I'll be uploading them to my flickr page in due course. Hang in there; I've been taking a lot of photos lately.

If you are in KL and decide to go to the Butterfly Park you'll get better shots, of the stationary butterflies at least, with a tripod but don't bother, they won't let you bring it in. I don't know why. I forgot to pack mine so it wasn't a problem.

PS: to see a larger version of these pics, click on them.

Labels: Asia, butterfly, camera, flickr, fz20, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Lumix, Malaysia, Panasonic, photography