Hostel At HK

Hostel is not a pure cheap accomodation option for travellers. Often travellers pick this option for their atmosphere to meet other travellers, to meet friends, or to share their travelling stories. We have met many friends at hostels that hotels or B&B cannot offer.  There are certain quality to be qualified as a hostel such as a place to hang for travellers to interact, travel information, kitchen facilities. 

I have a few friends who passed by HK to visit have asked me for hostel recommendation here.  There are lots that claim to be hostels but they are just cheap hotels with bed in a room.  That is not hostels!  There are a handful that are sort of like hostels with common area but lacking some nice to have ammenities.  But why?

We have a friend who attempted to open a hostel in HK but gave up mainly because of the ridiculous rent and it was difficult to get landlords to sign lease longer than 2 years, which makes it hard to recover the rennovation cost he needs to put in.

On top of all these, the HK government do not give any slack to hostels in terms of requirement over "safety".  Hostels owners needs to put in a significant investment to match these standards that are shared with hotels. 

All these make it awfully difficult for potentially hostels owners with limited fund to start one up on top of the fact that you cannot make huge profit from running a hostel (may be in some countries you can).

It is shameful that HK does not nuture this alternate type of accomodation to travellers.  Aside from shopping, HK has so much to offer that are not promoted.  One of the things I love about staying at hostels is the opportunity to interact with the staffs who are locals and go to places recommend by locals that are not in any travel books.  Travellers can get a deeper exposure to the local culture through hostels.   HK is such an interesting place with a mix of Western and Eastern culture that it is shameful that we do not support the passionated locals to run hostels and give travellers an option to be closer to our local culture and people.

JoCharvel Christmas @ Taiwan: Yilan (宜蘭) Road Trip #1 - Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup

Life can be quite simple especially when I am traveling.  We got the pleasure to spend our Christmas holiday in Taiwan.  Though it has rained non-stop since we arrived, the food and people totally made up for it.  A big bowl of warm and tasty Taiwanese beef noodle soup (臺灣牛肉湯麵) in the town city of LouDong (羅東) on Zhong Hua Road across the car park (老牌牛肉麵) at a rainy winter day gave me a super satisfying sensation.   It tasted just like the familiar flavour in Vancouver.  Now, that I visited Taiwan, it was so surprising to find out my daily diet back home was influenced so much by Taiwanese cuisine! It is completely because there were so many immigrants from Taiwan in Vancouver and our largest Chinese supermarket , T&T, was own by Taiwanese.  I had the great pleasure to enjoy countless authentic Taiwanese food in Vancouver!!!!

The beef noodle soup was in good filling size with well made soup base that is meaty but not too salty and very generous amount of braised beef that you can never get in HK for the money we pay (well....even if you are willing to pay extra, you won't get such a well made and generous portion).  It is said to say  that as we have more tourists from China, I feel that the food in HK has not only gotten more expensive but the portion and quality are not like before anymore.

I am really in food heaven in Taiwan!

2013 - A fascinating year.

(Her: Joanna)

2013 was a fascinating year for me.  We relocated, found a home in HK, been a house wife, found a job, got married, changed jobs, reconnected with families and started a new life in Asia.  There were a lot of exciting changes but adjusting to them didn't came as easy for me as Charlie.  I struggled and hung onto my life in Canada.  I have doubt whether the move help my career.  Along the way, Charlie helped put myself back on course time after time.  I realize, then, we are in this together and in this life together with many years to come.  

Have I consider move back to Canada? Yes.  Did I regret coming? No.  

I'm struggling to embrace my life while I am here.  It has always been a challenge for me when I move.  In 2014, I will look to unique things in HK to discover and enjoy and less on how different HK is to what I am used to in Canada.     

JoCharvel – 1 Year in Hong Kong!!

(Him: Charlie)

Looking out the window from our Shatin apartment – City One is unsparingly radiating its suburb sleepiness and laziness on this late fall Saturday. With mild sunshine and cool northeasterly breeze soothing the otherwise distressed crowd, the busy intersection below seems particular calm and, believe it or not, tranquil today. It is the best season in Hong Kong after all (fall). And it is the beautiful weather that reminds me that Jo and I have been here for 1 year! I still remember the first weather-related news when we first landed in Hong Kong, that a cold weather warning was forecasting a temperature drop to 19 deg C. Interestingly, a year later, we are bracing for another significant drop to 16 deg C in a few days.

Time flies, but looking back the last 12 months, there’s much worth reminiscing! Out of everything, the biggest milestone is definitely our memorable Koh Samui wedding. In my opinion, it couldn’t have been better. I like its simplicity, its fun, and most importantly, with many great friends, family and relatives. Having another person entering my day-to-day life is a change to both of us and it comes with challenges, but the companionship and the ability to share life is exactly what marriage is about, so I am quite enjoying our journey together, especially an adventurous one. Over the last year, we made new friends, grew in our career, explored new places both locally and internationally, and personally, I completed one o the greatest physically challenges of my life – completing the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker! We look forward to another amazing year ahead!

JoCharvel’s 1st SE Asian trip – Part 2 – Fascinating Penang!

After 4 days filled with sun, beach and “open water” on the gorgeous Perhentian Island, we had a quick layover in Muslim-centric Kota Bharu, before we switched over to the other main part of our trip – Penang! If the first part of our trip was pampered by tropical paradise, then the second part in Penang was dazzled and indulged by the Malaysian multiculturalism, delicious street food, exquisite Nyonya cuisine, and the lively art scene! Both Jo and I agreed that we had a fantastic time in Penang, and it is absolutely worth visiting!

If the Canada is seen as a melting pot to the Canadian multiculturalism, then Penang is a big piece of three-colour jelly, where Malays, Indians and Chinese maintain their distinct identities prominently, sometimes even ostentatiously. On the day we arrived in Penang, it happened to be the “Ghost Festival” (Yu Lan ), which ghosts and spirits are said to visit the human world on this day. 

Traditionally, Chinese people would worship and pay tribute to ghosts by offering food, paper money, and even entertainment. This tradition has largely disappeared in most of China and HK today, but it is still going strong here in Malaysia! Walking around town, we noticed that joss paper and money are burned everywhere, and in addition, many shows are put on to entertain ghosts with some of the performers even flew in from China. It is probably safe to say that the Chinese population here is among the most traditional in the world.

 (actors pay tribute to spirits before performance)

(performance on stage)

Another great example of the multiculturalism is the “walk of faith”, a self-guided tour that traverses through the core of George Town while spotting sites of various religions and legacies. The amazing part of this walk is that the sites are totally unique to each other, yet they are so closely located, with some of them just few meters apart.

(Church of Assumption) 

 (St George Church)

 (觀音廟)

 (Hindu Shrine)

 (Hindu Temple)

 (Islam Mosque strongly influenced by Indian style)

 (my favourite, 韓江家廟)

 (Indian Muslim Shrine)

(Taoist Temple)

Penang is renowned for its food. Thanks to its multiculturalism, Penang not only offers authentic food from Chinese, Indian and Malay cultures, it also cultivated new breeds of fusion cuisines like Nyonya food. I am not usually a foodie, and definitely don’t take food pictures everywhere I go, but in Penang, I became so appreciative to the delicious food culture – no wonder Penang is also called Food Paradise of Asia!!!

 (肉骨茶, in Kota Bharu actually)

 (Delicious street food)

 (Exquisite Nyonya food)

(What's left after a feast, beautifully delicious)

The last thing I have to mention is the vibrant art scene that developed in Penang. Paintings and other forms of art works dotted the old town, many of which serve to tell the rich history of the city! The City even published a map that identifies the locations of the art works – much like the “Gnome hunt” in Wroclaw, Poland, except this one allows you to discover the city’s history too!!

JoCharvel’s 1st SE Asian trip - Part 1

(Him: Charlie)

Malaysia received the honour of being the first SE Asian country that welcomes JoCharvel. =P

According to our wish list, Malaysia wasn’t going to be the first, instead it should have been Burma; however, it just happened that Aug is Burma’s peak rain season, and we could not say no to the low fare of HK$1,500 for HK-KL return. So the plan had to be changed!

After some last minute adjustments in trip planning, our first destination is the tropical paradise – Pulau Perhentian, where I would pursue my long overdue PADI Open Water. Joanna threatens to ditch me on future dives as she’s going to get her Advanced certificate.

Anyways, so after a comparatively short delay at the HK airport by the late storm, Utor, and after nearly 24 hours of flight to flight to bus to boat, we finally landed on the BEAUTIFUL Island of Perhentian. It totally didn’t disappoint us – the water is crystal clear, the sand is fine and smooth, and not overcrowded by tourists!!

In the next 3 days, I went on with my Open Water course, while Joanna took her Advanced and Deep Dive specialty courses. Having dived a couple times before, Open Water is like a breeze, but what really impressed me was how organized PADI put their info together. I began to really appreciate the significance of taking classes especially for the understanding of potential risks at depth. By the way, our diving school was Quiver Dive Team on Kecil Perhentian, and our instructors Alex (mine) and Ed (Jo’s) were super knowledgeable and cool! Alex and Ed introduced a lot of creators to us, to which we could only refer to as “fish” or “colourful fish” in the past. For instance, parrot fish, pipe fish, stone fish, barracuda, puffer fish, etc. The waters near the island are full of amazing coral reefs and wrecks, which I would not be able to see if I didn’t have my Open Water!!! Pretty cool I have to say.

Having been in Malaysia for 5 days now, and having spent most of time in rural areas (Perhentian Islands and Kota Bharu), I’ve noticed that Malaysians are really laid back and chill. A prime example is the bus ride from Kota Bharu to our ferry dock across Perhentian – a very nerve wracking but hilarious experience.

So when we got off the plane from KL to Kota Bharu, we needed to get a town called Kuala Besut to take a ferry across to Perhentian. We knew the last boat would leave at 5pm, and we were told that the bus would take 1 hour. So we took the bus at 3pm thinking it would give us lots of buffer. However, little did we know that the journey would take 1 hour for a normal car, but a bus would take much longer because it goes around different towns en route to drop off and pick up passengers.

With 25min to 5pm, we were still 20km away from the dock, and I was really nervous!! As the clock ticked, my heart pounded harder and harder. At 4:50pm, and Kuala Besut was only a few kilometers away, the bus driver suddenly took a turn into yet another town. At that moment, I was almost having a heart attack! I walked over to the bus driver, asked how much longer before we arrive, and told him we needed to be there at 5pm to take the boat. He simply waved, and said with that classic chill smile, “10min, no problem!!” I was really skeptical because we would clearly be late. A couple minutes later, around 4:54pm, after we went back on the right track, the bus driver gave me the biggest surprise by suddenly stopping in front of a store and food vendor. He got off, went to the fridge to find his favourite drink and ordered some fried fish from the vendor, still with that chill look!!! Gosh, I was drenched in sweat and practically paralyzed at the point!!! Joanna and I must look like lunatics as we stared at the bus driver and watched his every move from getting off to getting back on. “We just lost 3 min and 40 sec!!!” Joanna vented. At this point, we got all our backpacks by the bus door and were ready to dash out as soon as we arrive.

Finally, a few minutes later, probably passed 5pm (who had time to check time?), we slowly rolled into the ferry dock! We breathed a big relief as we were greeted by a young lady who then sold us the ferry tickets. The next time we checked our watch was 5:07pm when we sat in the boat still waiting for it to fill up! At that moment, we realized why the bus driver was so chill - 5pm was never a set-in-stone schedule, and time is not an essence in this part of the world!!!

Lesson learned?! We are too tensed up, and we are too used to punctuality and following “schedules” religiously. How pathetic!! Apparently, the mentality from our previous big trips was completely washed out by the life in HK! Time to enjoy the vacation and forget time, at least during the precious 10-day vacation!

Aug 4-11, 2013: Piggy-backing a technical visit to Japan and Korea

(Him: Charlie)

Visiting Japan and Korea was never high on my list to do, as I am more of an adventurer in exotic (and more than not poor) backpacking destinations. But the world always throws things at you when you least expect it, and here I am in the two most developed countries in Asia, on a technical visit to a number of wastewater treatment plants. To be exact, the trip is just in Tokyo and Busan. Worked is not to be discussed here, so I am just jotting down my encounters during off-hours during this week-long visit.

My first impression of Tokyo is exactly how I imagined – spotless public space and courteous people. But for some reason, owing to the black, old school taxis, faintly lit Ueno streets and the fast moving crowds, I was frequently reminded of the Resident Evil, where zombies lurk in dark corners.

Overall, comparing Tokyo and Busan, Tokyo definitely shows a much higher degree of sophistication. Tokyo did amaze me by its courteous, and sometime robot-like people - the three customer service reps at the shopping mall almost melted me with their synchronized bows, electrifying smiles and soft voices. On the other hand, I am not sure if Busan adequately reflects the image of South Korea, but compared to Tokyo, Busan people are less fashionable (I would say miles off), and definitely not as behaving as people in Japan – many tourists would have the experience of being shoveled by elderly, without warning, on buses or subway.

The food in both cities is impeccable, with great variety and superb taste. Oh, the ticket vending machines in noodle shops is quite interesting. And to my surprise, eating out in Busan is very affordable. In the last two days I stayed behind when I went out with the hostel people, a meal with lots (too much) sojo, octopus sashimi and lots others only cost 12,000 won (US$12) per person!!

Another thing I noticed in both Tokyo and Busan is how conscious the public is to energy conservation. From the plants we visited to subway cars, ventilation or air conditioning was never excessive. It is common to see people cooling themselves with paper fans on subway in Busan because the temperature in the car is a bit warm, but nobody seems to fuss about it, especially when the temperature is 39C outside. You know where I am going this, don’t you? Yes! I am comparing this to Hong Kong, where every indoor space is cooled like a fridge year round!!  You see, having people using their paper is not happening in Hong Kong and I guess it’s grown to be not acceptable. Well, what can I say, have it your way, the City of Complaints!

A highlight of the trip is visiting Gamcheong Cultural Village in Busan. Developed ages ago and boomed after the Korea War when thousands refugees poured in, this village has always been the home for Busan’s poorest crowd. Even though the entire area looks just like favela in Rio, surprisingly, the village, which sprawls the local hills, has actually been properly planned such that each house was built without blocking the view of the house above. The result is layers of pastel houses connected by a maze of narrow alleyways and steep stairs.

Since an art project in 2009 to revitalize the village, Gamcheong has attracted chic and funky artists to move in, resulting workshops and gallery dotting the otherwise sleepy hillside village.

The quirky village is sometimes dubbed Machu Picchu of Korea, but in my opinion, that would be a disgrace to this lively village. I say it actually resembles closer to Baret, the Albanian city of thousand windows, except the monotone is nicely refreshed with bright and colorful touches.

Even though the village has seen a lot of changes, its rustic charm is still largely intact - elderly chit chatting and chilly picking from rooftop garden for sun drying can be seen in every other corner of the labyrinth of alleyway and stairs. The unique mixture of vibrant art scene and original Korean rural life scene makes getting lost in Gamcheong the serendipity of the trip!!

 (Gamcheong Cultural Village)

(Gamcheong Art Work)

(Gamcheong Art Work)

 (Busan International Fish Market)

 (Busan International Fish Market)

 (Subway station)

(These are the culprits who got me drunk!!)

 (Haeyundae Beach - supposedly the best beach in South Korea, but there's the sand?!?!)

(Hilarious Maxi from the US standing on her toes to get a glimpse of her favourite Korea Star!)