Author Topic: Around the world  (Read 33886 times)

Offline Armadillo

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #60 on: June 06, 2010, 08:01:18 PM »
keep it coming...

Offline Dan

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #61 on: June 06, 2010, 11:12:23 PM »
Great job on the report!
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Offline ash

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #62 on: June 07, 2010, 01:33:21 AM »
awesome trip report ...........thanx

Offline Deal Guy

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #63 on: June 07, 2010, 04:21:32 AM »
Great job! Great to hear it in full detail. (and SUPERFLYER don't forget that you are also in middle of yours!)

Offline moish

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Day 4-5 Hong Kong
« Reply #64 on: June 07, 2010, 08:58:11 AM »
Day 4-5
Originally the plan was to connect in HKG to Shanghai and spend shabbos there, but since damaxer convinced me that shabbos in Hong Kong was a great experience, and the lack of options for shabbos in Shanghai, I paid to redeposit the miles and make a new ticket with HKG now as a full stopover. Arriving in Hong Kong, we were planning on taking the train to Kowloon station and from there a short taxi to our hotel, but while on line for train tickets, one of the van companies convinced us that it would be too difficult to schlep all of our luggage, and after some bargaining, agreed on a price. We then went to our hotel, the Sheraton in Kowloon. It's not a luxurious hotel but its comfortable, not too far from Kehilat Zion, a great deal with cash + points and I knew they upgrade plats. Another option we were considering was the new Hyatt, but we decided on the Sheraton after learning it was more shabbos friendly. A few weeks before our trip, I emailed the hotel requesting a suite upgrade, and initially they told me they couldn’t upgrade in advance. I wrote back that because of shabbos, I needed a suite on the low floor (they have some on the 5th floor) and once that came up they put the upgrade through. At check in they gave me the option to get a regular room with a view of the harbor or keep the suite without. Apparently they don’t give platinums the suites with views. We chose the suite since the view wasn’t too great as it was misty/rainy, and we had tons of luggage plus a crib. We decided to turn in for a bit since we didn’t get too much sleep on the red eye and the ugly weather. When we awoke, we arranged with the hotel to provide us with a babysitter to walk the carriage to shul on shabbos. We then walked to Kehilat Zion to learn the route and eat at the restaurant located there. Since it was close to shabbos, all they had was schnitzel which was a let down since we were coming from Israel, aka schnitzel heaven. The shul was a little hard to find at first as the address put us in front of a commercial shopping mall until we realized that its located inside the mall, a few floors up. Other than it's pretty straightforward from the Sheraton. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped off to get a custom shirt made. I used a place recommended by damaxer, and they did a decent job. They also were able to put my name on the sleeve in Chinese characters which was cool. Total price was $35. They keep a record of your measurements so you can always order more. Shabbos in KZ was an amazing experience. There were 180 people there mostly on business, and the food was amazing with plenty to be had. They definitely know how to milk those Sephardim by saying that everything was a segula for parnassa. They must have raised over $25,000 throughout the course of shabbos. The meals are free but donations are requested. All in all it was a wonderful experience with great food, zemiros and divrei torah. After shabbos we took a stroll along the waterfront and watched the light show which was "eh". We then took the obligatory Star Ferry over to the other side, to the shuttle which brought us to the peak tram. The tram took us to Victoria peak where you have a shopping mall and a viewing platform with supposedly amazing views of Victoria Harbor. Unfortunately, when we were there, there was zero visibility. Adding insult to injury, the Wonderfish! spa located in the mall, which we very much wanted to go, was closed. It's basically a bath full of fish and when you stick your feet in, they nibble at it which is supposed to be cool. Oh well, maybe next time.
« Last Edit: June 07, 2010, 09:03:58 AM by moish »

Offline Dan

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #65 on: June 07, 2010, 11:17:55 AM »
Nicely done.
So why was the Sheraton more shabbos friendly than the Hyatt?

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Offline moish

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #66 on: June 07, 2010, 01:07:34 PM »
the chabad rabbi in kowloon told me "Shabbos is indeed a problem there since the building is new and there is no access to stairs what-so-ever". i also heard that the lobby isnt even on the first floor. its not so simple a non jew can press the elevator for you, so i stuck with the safe option

sorry that the report is coming out in bits and pieces, its just that when i get a burst of inspiration i write up a day or two then post

Offline Dan

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #67 on: June 07, 2010, 01:32:00 PM »
the chabad rabbi in kowloon told me "Shabbos is indeed a problem there since the building is new and there is no access to stairs what-so-ever". i also heard that the lobby isnt even on the first floor. its not so simple a non jew can press the elevator for you, so i stuck with the safe option
That seems hard to believe, every hotel has to have stairs in case of fire. Is this the Grand Hyatt HKG?

I know in Waikiki the problem with the Starwood hotels is that using the staircase causes the lights to go on, which trapped us in our room for shabbos, but with the suite we had we survived just fine.

In the Park Hyatt Paris the stairs take you outside the building, so you can't access the lobby on Shabbos, but that's no big deal at all.

I wonder what the story is in Hong Kong...

sorry that the report is coming out in bits and pieces, its just that when i get a burst of inspiration i write up a day or two then post
Trust me, I know exactly what you mean
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Offline Mikeoracle

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #68 on: June 07, 2010, 01:36:03 PM »
the chabad rabbi in kowloon told me "Shabbos is indeed a problem there since the building is new and there is no access to stairs what-so-ever". i also heard that the lobby isnt even on the first floor. its not so simple a non jew can press the elevator for you, so i stuck with the safe option

sorry that the report is coming out in bits and pieces, its just that when i get a burst of inspiration i write up a day or two then post
Dont worry- its great reading, Like a weekly serial :D dont leave us with too many cliffhangers!

Offline steve2

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #69 on: June 07, 2010, 02:41:47 PM »


I know in Waikiki the problem with the Starwood hotels is that using the staircase causes the lights to go on, which trapped us in our room for shabbos, but with the suite we had we survived just fine.


 Dan U wrote '..with the Starwood hotels.." with an s an the end l, is that the case with the Priness and Wakiki and is it true for all the wings of the Westin?

 Others have stairscases but when you finally get to the bottom there are warning signs on the door that Opening it will trigger the alarm, had that problem at The Marriott in Berlin even thou you ended up in the lobby! So it was back up to a floor level and then to a differemnt staircase that led me outside.

 I stayed 1 time at the HWV (Hilton on Hawaii or called The Big Island) the only way from the lobby to the floors was via the elevator, there was a stair case but it led you outside and around back where it would take a 15 min walk and thru the underground service roads and then an elevator to get outside and in front of the building. Or a much longer walk to circumvent the serive areas to get out front, eitehr way not a place to stay for Shabbos this was in the I think its called Palace Building its the middle of the 3. Ocean to 1 side and Lagoon to the other, didnt check those out to see what the case would be

But many Hotels in China and Asia have their Lobby well above Ground Level as they are located in mixed use buildings.

Offline Dan

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #70 on: June 07, 2010, 03:04:44 PM »
The Sheraton Waikiki and the Westin both have sensor staircases.
At the Sheraton we did find a service staircase that did not have sensors that was hard to find, not sure if that is still true today or not.
At the Westin if you stay in the old wing I think there may have been 1 floor that was accessible to the lobby staircase, but no suites there.

The Princess is a true dump, would never dream of staying there after reading the reports.

At the Park Hyatt Paris it had those alarm warnings on all exits, but I was told to ignore them and indeed they did not go off.  Similarly at the Westin Maui they have those warnings, but they're also fake, you can go right through without issue.
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Offline steve2

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #71 on: June 07, 2010, 03:26:46 PM »

The Princess is a true dump, would never dream of staying there after reading the reports.


 well Ive stayed there plenty of times as the price is right and will do so again if the price is right.When doing a MR out to HNL and staying for 1 night its a great way to score a Stay credit especially when all you need it for is 1 night

 It reminds me of the ole Jewish owned Hotels in Miami but w/o all the mildrew and molds to it, most people hear *W and think it means Luxury and that ticks them off. But why blow the $$ when all you need is a 1 nighter

Offline Deal Guy

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #72 on: June 08, 2010, 04:05:27 AM »
Moish, I hope you keep them coming :D

Offline Avid Reader

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #73 on: June 08, 2010, 09:34:33 AM »
Moish thanks for the report. Very interesting.

Offline moish

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #74 on: June 13, 2010, 03:49:32 PM »
Note: Some things might seem trivial and irrelevant, but i figured if im anyways doing it, might as well keep a record for myself

Offline moish

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Day 6 Shanghai
« Reply #75 on: June 13, 2010, 03:56:41 PM »
We woke up early to make our 10 AM flight to Shanghai. Miraculously, we were able to fit in one taxi with their elongated trunk.

HKG-PVG on Dragonair
Business was nothing special, just a wider seat but again we got delicious Hermolis meals. They actually sent us a lunch and a dinner for the short flight, so the stewardesses packed it up for us to go.
Upon arrival in Shanghai, we opted to take the Maglev train to the city. It’s the fastest train in the world reaching speeds of 431 km/h (268 mph) for the 8 minute journey so we figured it would be an attraction by itself. Big mistake. As it turned out, during the time of our trip it only went 300. Besides for that, they don’t let luggage carts past the elevator down to the platform, so we had to schlep our heavy luggage in shifts. You also have to take a 10-15 minute taxi from the arrival station to reach the hotel. Of course, the taxi drivers attempted to rip us off by quoting us prices 4 times the normal amount, and refusing to turn on the meter. Left with no choice, schlepping heavy bags and with rain starting to fall, we took two of the taxis. When we arrived at our hotel, however, we told the bellboys how much the taxis wanted, and they basically fought our battle for us. We booked into our hotel, the Park Hyatt Shanghai, using FFN nights from moe. It's the world's highest hotel (not sure if the new hotel in the Burj Khalifa, Dubai is higher), located in the 79th to 93rd floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center, the third tallest building in the world. The views were spectacular. It also holds the record for highest swimming pool in the world as well as the highest bar (which is ironic as the building looks like a gigantic bottle opener). The rooms were modern (the hotel recently opened) and many electronic controls. The rain shower was also pretty cool, but the Toto robo toilet definitely took the cake. To quote from the great Johnny Jet, "if you sat on this Toto thing, you would be just as enamored as me. It was so incredible that I needed a moment alone before we left, just to say goodbye. At times, while we were out sightseeing, I wanted to cut the day short, just so I could get back to the room to sit on my friend. First of all, this special little toilet is located in its own separate room for privacy. Secondly, the moment you walk in, the toilet seat cover rises like it's bowing to you and a night light goes on so you can see in the dark without flipping the bright lights on in the middle of the night. Then, when you walk away, it automatically flushes. And I haven't even told you about all the buttons it has … just like a luxurious European car. For starters, the seat is heated (love that!). It's got a built-in bidet, with mechanical nozzles that spray warm water on your bum just how and where you like it. Okay, that part might take a second to get used to but the moment the anxiety of not knowing what those noises are and what's going to happen wears off, it feels so good you don't ever want to get off." But enough about toilets. We then went to take a stroll on the pedestrian only Nanjing Road where we got our first taste of bargaining in China. There were these guys walking around selling laser pointers that shine very far, which were cool, but something I didn’t really need. Since I had the luxury of walking away knowing full well I might not make the purchase, and convincing them of that, I was able to get them at the rock bottom price. So in this situation, the starting price was around 400 RMB ($50) but I ended up getting it for 40 ($6). (it just so happens that these were the most popular things we brought back to the family, but unfortunately we only bought 2. if anyone's going to be in Shanghai, please buy me some more and I'll pay you back.) After our stroll, we went to see the acrobats. There are two types of shows. The regular one and a new one called ERA. The ERA was more expensive, but they had some better acts, so we decided to splurge. Let me tell you, if you haven’t seen Chinese acrobats, you ain't seen nuthin'. There were two standout performances in my opinion. In the first one, he balances himself on a board atop a cylinder. He then proceeds, without getting off, to place cups by the corners and adding another board. He did this until he had four boards. Then he put a bowl on his foot, and kicked so it ended up on top of his head. Then with two, then with three. Then he kicked up a cup that landed in the middle, and lastly a spoon. If I wouldn’t have seen it, I would never have believed it. The second standout stunt was with motorcycles, but it's too hard to explain. Hopefully I'll post some video at the end.


Offline Deal Guy

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #76 on: June 14, 2010, 12:37:49 AM »
If only your meals would have been more nutritious........

Offline Avid Reader

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #77 on: June 14, 2010, 01:11:31 AM »
Really like your reports. You would do good as a news reporter.

Offline SuperFlyer

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #78 on: June 14, 2010, 02:17:03 PM »
aa laak de staaal

Offline moish

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Re: Around the world
« Reply #79 on: June 14, 2010, 03:05:35 PM »