Saturday, May 26, 2012
Arizona Salt River Tubing
River tubing : to float down a river on a tube for 4-6 hours in hot weather while drinking
Sounds like summer vacation right? Well, it was the beginning of mine. Memorial Day weekend consisted of 2 days of tubing in the Arizona salt lake river. I was lucky to have been invited by my great friends Emily and Mike who are experienced tubers that thanks to their preparations, helped make this an easy and fun experience.
When tubing, you have to think about your parking pass, what part of the river you will start and end, transportation out of your river exit, foods and drinks to bring, coolers and cooler tubes, music, tube hole glue, designated drivers, etc. As a tuber, you have to plan how to get there, where to stay, what tube to use, and buy river shoes and 1 bottle of spray sunscreen a day. Tip, apply cream sunscreen first and that will help the spray stick. Also, re apply every half hour instead of 2. I don't know how much of a difference it makes but I didn't get very burned .
The Arizona river scenery is very picturesque. It's wild west desert meets Arizona red rocks. You have dry land with cacti and large red square shaped walls. I tend to zone out when I get very relaxed, so the large crowds, marshmallow fights, and loud noises didn't bother me because they occur sporadically. What is uncomfortable was the random water shooting because the river is icy and it was an 80 degree day (if it was 97+ I would have been ok). The river can be relaxing but don't fall asleep as the current occasionally brings you to the sides where the rocks and trees and crocodiles are. The crocodiles only nip lightly at your butt, don't worry. Just kidding.
During the evening we were able to enjoy what Tempe has to offer. Tempe is 45 minutes from the river and 15 minutes from PHX. It was very easy and convenient flying in and the car rental service process is remarkably easy and comfortable, and fast drop off process. I used Enterprise and got a 3 day rental for $75. Here are my restaurant reviews:
-Z Tejas Tempe . Good quality Mexican food! So good I actually took the leftovers to a club and was dancing with it (holding it not to it, well, maybe a little). Make sure you try the Antioxidant Martini .
-Robbie Fox. Nice attractive crowd, decent music and dance space.
- courtyard Marriott. Convenient location to the bars and restaurants on Mill St. Their breakfast sandwhich is pretty good but on the pricey side at $7+
- Basha's . This grocery store saved me with its $5 (but should be $12) boat shoes.
-Tavern on Mill . Sports bar with really delicious mouth watering carnitas and interesting pineapple beer (heard it was good, did not try it).
-Gordon Biersch . food is cool. Amazing Martzen Beer. Smooth rich amber ale that makes you feel like you're in Munich.
-Hyatt . The rooms and hotel must be newly renovated because everything is so intuitive. The location of the towels, sink, suite couch, breakfast plates are impressively convenient. The breakfast area was a few steps up from continental without crossing the fancy schmancy line. The room balcony offered a beautiful 180* unobstructed view of Tempe and Phoenix. It helps that Arizona is pretty flat. I would stay here again. It does not have a nice hotel or pool hang out area though.
-Sheraton. I'd probably not stay here again, but they do have a nice pool and bar area. So if you're not planning to stay in the room too much, this is a great group location .
This was a very enjoyable vacation and I had my great friend Rhiannon alongside this whole journey which made it all the more memorable. It's not just where you are, but who you're with. :)
Monday, April 9, 2012
Priceline
Priceline bidding has become a hobby of mine. While there is strategy involved, getting a spectacular hotel deal also involves luck. Many of the hotel prices that I mention in my blog entries are nightly rates that I've obtained at a discounted price through sites such as Hotels.com, Hotwire, Orbitz, Kayak or Priceline. The upside of bidding on Priceline is that you can get unbelievably cheap rates. The downside is that you won't know where you are staying, which is undesirable when traveling on a tight schedule, and usually don't get the best room at the hotel.
My job requires me to commute 40-70 minutes each way. I absolutely despise commuting. My ideal drive is under 7 minutes and I will tolerate up to 30 minutes. I've looked for a place to rent near work and decided that I since I was fortunate enough to work at a location full of nice hotels, that I would stay at a hotel on nights I don't feel like driving.
I've inquired about long-term rates at the nicest nearby hotels and learned interesting things I'm willing to share to those who read my blog.
At first I thought I would be negotiating with the hotels on parking, breakfast, non-smoking rooms to get to a desirable rate. I found that the best the Westin can offer was a $149/night corporate rate. The Hilton could provide a $99/night rate for consecutive stays of 3-weeks or longer with advance payment, or my $155/night corporate rate which includes breakfast and business services. And the Holiday Inn Express came in at $89/night and the Courtyard Marriott offered a corporate rate of $114/night. By the way, thank you Hilton and Westin for the superb customer service.
I was actually recommended to continue using Priceline if I am able to obtain great rates. The hotels are not able to offer those low prices. The way it works is that Priceline buys 1-2 rooms at a rate that is negotiated by the hotel's power-that-be, uncontrolled at the local level. This rate becomes unavailable when the hotel reaches 70% capacity.
Happy bidding!
My job requires me to commute 40-70 minutes each way. I absolutely despise commuting. My ideal drive is under 7 minutes and I will tolerate up to 30 minutes. I've looked for a place to rent near work and decided that I since I was fortunate enough to work at a location full of nice hotels, that I would stay at a hotel on nights I don't feel like driving.
I've inquired about long-term rates at the nicest nearby hotels and learned interesting things I'm willing to share to those who read my blog.
At first I thought I would be negotiating with the hotels on parking, breakfast, non-smoking rooms to get to a desirable rate. I found that the best the Westin can offer was a $149/night corporate rate. The Hilton could provide a $99/night rate for consecutive stays of 3-weeks or longer with advance payment, or my $155/night corporate rate which includes breakfast and business services. And the Holiday Inn Express came in at $89/night and the Courtyard Marriott offered a corporate rate of $114/night. By the way, thank you Hilton and Westin for the superb customer service.
I was actually recommended to continue using Priceline if I am able to obtain great rates. The hotels are not able to offer those low prices. The way it works is that Priceline buys 1-2 rooms at a rate that is negotiated by the hotel's power-that-be, uncontrolled at the local level. This rate becomes unavailable when the hotel reaches 70% capacity.
Happy bidding!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
In Progress
Bear with me while I update my blog. Just finished writing about the 2010 Europe trip finally and am halfway done with Asia 2011 trip and then will work on U.S Roadtrips. Keep checking back !
Monday, February 13, 2012
Roadtrip: Austin to Los Angeles 2/13-2/15/12
Outline of the journey from Austin, TX to El Paso, TX to Tempe, AZ to Cabazon, CA to Los Angeles, CA
Day 1
Start: Austin 12pm
Road foods:
1) Church chicken: First time eating it, thought it was just ok. I would not have it again.
2) Wendy's : Can't go wrong with Wendy's chili. They were out of potatoes which baffled me.
Drive-by scenery:
1) Downtown El Paso : Arrived at night and there must be a curfew enforced because there was no one (not a single pedestrian or open store or sign of life) in sight at 9PM on a Monday.
2) Border view of Ciudad Juarez : Scared thinking about it on the way to El Paso, while in El Paso, and on the way out of El Paso. Ciudad Juarez is notoriously known as the most violent city in North America. The violence comes mainly from drug wars amongst the cartels. In the year before August 2009, Juárez's murder rate was the highest reported in the world, averaging seven homicides per day, or in other statistical words, 3075 homicides in 2010. Quite a thrill to have peeked at the city from afar!
Hotel : Camino Real El Paso : The "American" hotels are twice as much per night, and this hotel also had its historical appeal to offer. You can see into Mexico if you face South and are above the 10th floor.
Day 2:
Start: El Paso, Texas
Drove by:
1) UTEP
2) Heavy dust storms visible from the highway
3) 11 tumbleweeds (have never seen them before and loved it! They come out of nowhere and one had a 5ft radius!
4) Snow storm near Tucson
Fun stop:
1) Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson, AZ : one of the world's largest, non-government funded aerospace museums. Took the bus tour of "The Boneyard," the largest aircraft storage and preservation facilities in the world. It was a cool tour. I got to see models of the President's helicopter, the last remaining of some B52 before it is to be destroyed as per treaty, fighter jets that can be refueled while in air, and planes being gutted for parts.
Hotel: The Buttes, a Mariott Resort (if you laughed when you read this, welcome to the immature club. I called it the "butts" the whole trip.) Snagged an awesome $99 before tax rate through Hotwire. They had 4 jacuzzi and everything was resort-tastic. There are very few things more comfortable than a jacuzzi in a secluded section amongst the rocks followed by filet steak dinner followed by walking around the resort in a bathrobe holding a glass of wine. It did coincide with Valentine's Day, but this hotel was serendipitously booked the night before.
Day 3:
Start: Tempe, Arizona
Sights:
1) Drove through dust storm near Salton Lake
2) Drove by the "Do Not Pick-up Hitchhikers" sign located near the Blythe State Prison area
3) Admired the pastel-colored, flat landscape with mountains
Fun Stops:
1) Morongo Casino: You know it. Brian wanted to gamble and persuaded me with their buffet deal. Blackjack tables, giant slot machine, normal slot machine (biggest win was $30), and roulette. No matter how much money you lose, you can cheer yourself up with the fact that you can eat as much as you want after. Their buffet is not bad and this was a fun 5-hour stop.
Day 1
Start: Austin 12pm
Road foods:
1) Church chicken: First time eating it, thought it was just ok. I would not have it again.
2) Wendy's : Can't go wrong with Wendy's chili. They were out of potatoes which baffled me.
Drive-by scenery:
1) Downtown El Paso : Arrived at night and there must be a curfew enforced because there was no one (not a single pedestrian or open store or sign of life) in sight at 9PM on a Monday.
2) Border view of Ciudad Juarez : Scared thinking about it on the way to El Paso, while in El Paso, and on the way out of El Paso. Ciudad Juarez is notoriously known as the most violent city in North America. The violence comes mainly from drug wars amongst the cartels. In the year before August 2009, Juárez's murder rate was the highest reported in the world, averaging seven homicides per day, or in other statistical words, 3075 homicides in 2010. Quite a thrill to have peeked at the city from afar!
Hotel : Camino Real El Paso : The "American" hotels are twice as much per night, and this hotel also had its historical appeal to offer. You can see into Mexico if you face South and are above the 10th floor.
Day 2:
Start: El Paso, Texas
Drove by:
1) UTEP
2) Heavy dust storms visible from the highway
3) 11 tumbleweeds (have never seen them before and loved it! They come out of nowhere and one had a 5ft radius!
4) Snow storm near Tucson
Fun stop:
1) Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson, AZ : one of the world's largest, non-government funded aerospace museums. Took the bus tour of "The Boneyard," the largest aircraft storage and preservation facilities in the world. It was a cool tour. I got to see models of the President's helicopter, the last remaining of some B52 before it is to be destroyed as per treaty, fighter jets that can be refueled while in air, and planes being gutted for parts.
Hotel: The Buttes, a Mariott Resort (if you laughed when you read this, welcome to the immature club. I called it the "butts" the whole trip.) Snagged an awesome $99 before tax rate through Hotwire. They had 4 jacuzzi and everything was resort-tastic. There are very few things more comfortable than a jacuzzi in a secluded section amongst the rocks followed by filet steak dinner followed by walking around the resort in a bathrobe holding a glass of wine. It did coincide with Valentine's Day, but this hotel was serendipitously booked the night before.
Day 3:
Start: Tempe, Arizona
Sights:
1) Drove through dust storm near Salton Lake
2) Drove by the "Do Not Pick-up Hitchhikers" sign located near the Blythe State Prison area
3) Admired the pastel-colored, flat landscape with mountains
Fun Stops:
1) Morongo Casino: You know it. Brian wanted to gamble and persuaded me with their buffet deal. Blackjack tables, giant slot machine, normal slot machine (biggest win was $30), and roulette. No matter how much money you lose, you can cheer yourself up with the fact that you can eat as much as you want after. Their buffet is not bad and this was a fun 5-hour stop.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Austin 2/11-2/13/12
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| Chicken & Waffles at Moonshine |
We checked into the Super 8 North of the University where we got a $59/night rate. After resting for a bit, our friend Erin picked us up for dinner at Trudy's. This restaurant is a Tex-Mex with a clientele of mostly undergrads. It's loud, lively and probably a good place to get you hammered if you like Margaritas. They serve a drink called the Mexican Margarita that's supposed to be incredibly potent. It was probably the coldest nights of the year while we were in Austin. Being out in 38-degree weather limited our options while we were visiting, but we did end up going to Spider with Erin after dinner.
Spider is a coffee house that serves beer. Austin has many establishments like this. You go in and decide then and there whether you will have coffee or beer that night and you can count on it tasting good. We got ourselves a few craft beers and chatted the night away. The decorum of Spider is welcoming. It has the same brick-and-woods-interior as Moonshine. Very relaxing.
Austin Day 2
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| Barton Springs Pool - panorama |
The Hilton Garden Inn hotel is located conveniently near 6th Street, which is where the nightlife happens in downtown Austin. It was too cold to partake in being outside at night, but the outdoors jacuzzi was perfectly hot paired with the chipper air. I was able to get a great rate for the hotel via Priceline ($75 for a Sunday night). Here's a tip if you are able to get metered parking in front of the hotel : street parking is free on the weekend and if you are parking overnight onto Monday, you can put in money (via credit card) the night before and it will automatically start counting at 8am Monday morning. I was not fortunate enough to see this and made a 7:50am trip to the meter on Monday morning.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Shanghai 12/20/11-12/23/11
Arrived in Shanghai in the morning. It is about a 2 hour flight from Shenzhen. Found the Taxi line and took it to the Qibaozhen. It was 10C so we had to get the house warmed up, then we left to explore the city.
Could we possibly tour Shanghai in 12 hours?
First, we had lunch nearby Cloud 9. It's a Taiwanese cafe/restaurant, and we ordered some decent wonton soup. I preferred my dad's seafood broth than my beef broth. We took a taxi to the nearest subway station. The Shanghai subway system has grown into a huge system that looks like a spider. There are 10 different routes/lines and they are most easily distinguished by the number rather than the color or name of the route.
Our first tourist stop was Pudong. It is the area east of the Huangpu River. It used to be an undeveloped agricultural area, but is now considered the new area of Shanghai. It is the new business district where all the foreign banks and the famous Oriental Pearl Tower (the building that looks like a funky space shuttle) are located. You will see many IFC (International Finance Center) buildings while walking through it. We took the ferry to the Puxi side, the historical side. This takes you to the best view of the city. It is marvelous to look at Pudong and from Puxi (not so much of a view from the Pudong perspective). The promenade or bridge area is called The Bund. It was an especially good day to walk through The Bund because it was rainy and cold. This means that we were experiencing enough space to run in circles and do cartwheel in the usually over-crowded Shanghai. The Bund walk was one of my favorite activities. It has a London meets modern China feel. There are some locations, such as the area near the Penninsula, where you will feel like you are in Europe and makes you forget you are in Shanghai. After taking quite a few pictures we walked into the commercial area a bit more.
Navigating through the rain is challenging, but it helps that most people stay out of the street when the weather sucks. Line 1 gets you to People's Square, a large open area for crowds to gather with many shops and restaurants. We took the trolley through this area for 2RMB a person.
We took Line 10 to YuYuan (pronounced ee-yuen) Garden. This is a great spot to check out. They have very ancient Chinese architecture that has been around for years. It looks particularly memorable at night once they have the buildings lit up and there's an orange glow around the whole place. All of Shanghai hot spots are advertised to look amazing at night once the lighting hits the area in all the right ways. Personally, I found it unfortunate that the city comes alive only at night. There is no leisurely feeling during the day anywhere. Everyone looks to be hurrying to get somewhere. The traffic is insane, and it was really hard to get used to being a pedestrian and super scary to cross the street. Even when you're indoors I felt like I was going to get run over by a car. YuYuan is a great place to shop. I got a gorilla pod for 20RMB (originally 85 and offered at 40). You'll also find the best price for quality scarves here. Hopped on Line 10 again to XinTianDi. This is a Western area with newly developed shopping malls and very little Chinese writing in sight.
I would say we successfully walked through most of Shanghai's hot spots in Day 1.
Day 2
We had a driver for Day 2. It was a welcomed break from having to fight through the crowds and being exposed to the elements. We visited a developing town, Dishui, an hour away. Beautiful city design revolved around a lake that is built into the infrastructure of the city and very peaceful atmosphere. Dad thinks it will be the next vacation spot for Shanghai residents looking to get away. Met with Mr. Gu who treated us to a delicious farm to table lunch. The dishes he ordered were excellent and a wonderful variety: river fish, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, soup, incredible mushrooms, organic meatballs, tofu like you never had before. Best restaurant meal I had in Asia.
In the evening, we returned to the city and visited my dad's best friend, Uncle Steve. Then, we had dinner with the Gu family at Belgian Brassiere in Hon Mei Lu. They serve good mussels with garlic cream sauce (the leftover soup is unexpectedly good and light enough to drink).
Day 3
On our last morning we got a hairwash and Chinese massage at Hon Mei Lu. The massage at Bamboo 7 is hands down (heavy hands with adequate pressure) one of the best I've had. The staff is legitimately skilled and the price affordable at 180RMB (~$30) for an hour massage.
View my Shanghai photos here.
Could we possibly tour Shanghai in 12 hours?
First, we had lunch nearby Cloud 9. It's a Taiwanese cafe/restaurant, and we ordered some decent wonton soup. I preferred my dad's seafood broth than my beef broth. We took a taxi to the nearest subway station. The Shanghai subway system has grown into a huge system that looks like a spider. There are 10 different routes/lines and they are most easily distinguished by the number rather than the color or name of the route.
Our first tourist stop was Pudong. It is the area east of the Huangpu River. It used to be an undeveloped agricultural area, but is now considered the new area of Shanghai. It is the new business district where all the foreign banks and the famous Oriental Pearl Tower (the building that looks like a funky space shuttle) are located. You will see many IFC (International Finance Center) buildings while walking through it. We took the ferry to the Puxi side, the historical side. This takes you to the best view of the city. It is marvelous to look at Pudong and from Puxi (not so much of a view from the Pudong perspective). The promenade or bridge area is called The Bund. It was an especially good day to walk through The Bund because it was rainy and cold. This means that we were experiencing enough space to run in circles and do cartwheel in the usually over-crowded Shanghai. The Bund walk was one of my favorite activities. It has a London meets modern China feel. There are some locations, such as the area near the Penninsula, where you will feel like you are in Europe and makes you forget you are in Shanghai. After taking quite a few pictures we walked into the commercial area a bit more.
Navigating through the rain is challenging, but it helps that most people stay out of the street when the weather sucks. Line 1 gets you to People's Square, a large open area for crowds to gather with many shops and restaurants. We took the trolley through this area for 2RMB a person.
We took Line 10 to YuYuan (pronounced ee-yuen) Garden. This is a great spot to check out. They have very ancient Chinese architecture that has been around for years. It looks particularly memorable at night once they have the buildings lit up and there's an orange glow around the whole place. All of Shanghai hot spots are advertised to look amazing at night once the lighting hits the area in all the right ways. Personally, I found it unfortunate that the city comes alive only at night. There is no leisurely feeling during the day anywhere. Everyone looks to be hurrying to get somewhere. The traffic is insane, and it was really hard to get used to being a pedestrian and super scary to cross the street. Even when you're indoors I felt like I was going to get run over by a car. YuYuan is a great place to shop. I got a gorilla pod for 20RMB (originally 85 and offered at 40). You'll also find the best price for quality scarves here. Hopped on Line 10 again to XinTianDi. This is a Western area with newly developed shopping malls and very little Chinese writing in sight.
I would say we successfully walked through most of Shanghai's hot spots in Day 1.
Day 2
We had a driver for Day 2. It was a welcomed break from having to fight through the crowds and being exposed to the elements. We visited a developing town, Dishui, an hour away. Beautiful city design revolved around a lake that is built into the infrastructure of the city and very peaceful atmosphere. Dad thinks it will be the next vacation spot for Shanghai residents looking to get away. Met with Mr. Gu who treated us to a delicious farm to table lunch. The dishes he ordered were excellent and a wonderful variety: river fish, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, soup, incredible mushrooms, organic meatballs, tofu like you never had before. Best restaurant meal I had in Asia.
In the evening, we returned to the city and visited my dad's best friend, Uncle Steve. Then, we had dinner with the Gu family at Belgian Brassiere in Hon Mei Lu. They serve good mussels with garlic cream sauce (the leftover soup is unexpectedly good and light enough to drink).
Day 3
On our last morning we got a hairwash and Chinese massage at Hon Mei Lu. The massage at Bamboo 7 is hands down (heavy hands with adequate pressure) one of the best I've had. The staff is legitimately skilled and the price affordable at 180RMB (~$30) for an hour massage.
View my Shanghai photos here.
 |
| Panorama View from The Bund |
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Hong Kong
This is my third time in Hong Kong. It is a nice city to dine in, but I disliked many of my experiences there interacting with strangers or workers. I arrived at HKG early in the morning after a red eye flight, and took the subway to Kowloon. I embarked on the free hotel shuttle to the Intercontinental and explicitly told the driver where I was going. I was 1 of 2 passengers, and after he dropped the first guy off, he drove to another hotel and dropped me off. I got off the shuttle and went into the hotel only to realize he took me to the wrong hotel! It was a bit my fault for not checking where I was before getting off the bus, but a lot his fault for driving to that hotel for no reason and telling me we arrived (I was the only passenger left and he wasn't picking up anyone).
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| View from Intercontinental Hong Kong Restaurant |
We walked out to the Avenue of the Stars for a little stroll. The panorama sight there is incredible still.I decided that's all I wanted to do in Hong Kong that day and was ready to see Macau next. However, it was already noon and we missed the ferry. Thank goodness - I was beat! Just wanted to go home and relax in good ol' Shenzhen.
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| Hong Kong (view from Ave of the Stars) |
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