Chiangmai free and easy : Airport taxi transfer and Dustin D2 Hotel

There is no direct flight from Singapore to Chiangmai.

Therefore, we have to transfer plane and bangkok. 

BEautiful skies at Chiangmai

Waiting for the luggage.

There are two taxi company after you walked out of the luggage collection area They charge a fixed price. The small car is 120 Baht but the big taxi is 200 baht.

A small taxi can fit 4 person and 2 big luggage but usually they will try to advice you to take a big taxi.

 Waiting for our cab to arrive

 First impression of our hotel Dustin D2 Chiangmai. Looks good.

The lobby. There is a bar and a restuarant at the first floor.

Everything looks new and pretty.

 Welcome drinks.. The cup is supposed to tilt. :D

  We were upgraded to a suite and the room was big and spacious and clean

Location wise is fantastic.

We could walk to the night market which has fantastic food and shopping. It took us only one minute to walk over.

For people who just want to play it safe, there are starbucks, pizza hut, burger king and macdonalds nearby

KOrea Seoul free and easy : Dongdaemun and accomodation city days inn

Stayed at city days inn for the last visit.

This hotel is just beside the train station dongdaemun exit 5. After you exit from the station, you can see city days inn.

We had a bad encounter with the taxi driver. As the hotel is relatively unknown. We took a taxi down as it was peak hours and we did not want to try to squeeze ourselves into the train.

We came from Busan by KTS so we are cabbing from Seoul station. we expect the taxi fare to be quite reasonable. However, the stupid taxi driver decide he do not where the hotel is, he just drop at some unknown hotel at some quiet and dark lane where there are only a handful of people who are surprised to see tourist dragging their luggage around.

We have to ask for directions to the train station and look for the hotel ourselves. We spent around 30 minutes looking for the hotel. He did dropped us at somewhere quite a distance from our hotel ( need around 15-20mins walk)

We choose this hotel firstly because it is not easy to find triple sharing hotel (Skypark is another hotel with triple sharing) and I wanted to shop at dongdaemun,

The hotel room is not big but is ample for us because we are seldom back home.

Bed is comfortable.

It is clean, new and bright. (brightness is important, as dark rooms seems eerie.

The staff do know English but is not very fluent.

You have to walk around 5-10 mins to Doota and the other shopping malls.

There are no lifts so we had to carry our luggages and shopping up the stairs.

There is always so much talk about dongdaemun being the wholesale market for clothes.

I did have a lot of expectations.

Why I still prefer Ewha women's university and Hongdae.

1. The price is stated clearly. HAve to ask for the price for every item. No special price for tourist, some of the shop owners take a good look at me below quoting the price. Some reduced the price when I walk away by as much as few thousand won, wondering how much they charge me if I did not walk away. I am not really a pro at bargaining.

At EWha and hongdae, the price is stated clearly. 

2. I like the environment at ewha and hongdae as it is small little shops. There are cafes and snacks shops around for good food and well deserved rest. The place is more vibrant and happening.

If you are looking for more mature clothings for mums and dads and clothes with bigger size like uk12. It is better to shop at nandaemun. 

siam square at 1030 due to protest

I just got back from bangkok.
1 dec: I went to chatuchak and samboon seafood at chamburi square and also silom.
Did not realise anything is wrong. We wanted to visit siam square at night, but when I reached the station. there was no night market and the malls are closed. We checked with the station staff and they told us there are protests nearby. We walked back to our hotel at national stadium. It was fine but it was just very quiet that it feels weird. Our hotel area at national stadium was normal, lot of tourists walking around

2 dec: We visited pratunam and platinum mall. We checked with our hotel staff and they say is safe to go. We choose to take the train to avoid traffic jam. We went mbk for dinner and went to siam square for massage. everything was peaceful. Just weird as siam square was quiet as all shops were closed early and there was no night market.

3 dec: We went to yaowarat but we checked with hotel staff that it was safe to go. After that we went to siam square for lunch and chit lom for massage. 

Actually just checked with hotel staff before you set off and asked them if it is safe to go. The protest moved around to different protest areas and is always around government buildings.
REgister with MFA before your trip and they will text you if there are any important notices. They text me regarding the curfew on 1 DEc

Siam square last night

At least the view from my hotel is still beautiful

Singapore eats: Professor Brawn cafe at novena

Interesting looking restuarant..that highlights the cafe's cause.

No worries about the service. Is definitely good because service is best when staff put their hearts in it.

Actually I find it no different from normal cafe except they seems to be more attentive and serious

The main course..

We ordered almost one of everything..

Chicken, fish &chips, rosti with sausage, spaghetti with meatballs

The best dish should be the ribs..was tendered so we did not even need a steak knife to cut and eat..

Cakes.. how can any meal be without any cake..

Their variety of cakes is not big but is good. especially the chocolate cake

Yummy free ice cream with the main course if you used UOB card for payment

http://www.professorbrawn.com/

#02-78/79 Novena Square,

Korea seoul free and easy : Hongdae free market art market ( life meets art)

 The place is interesting and worth a visit.

I shall let the photos do the talking

VEnue : hongdae( hongik) playground

hours: 1300-1800

EVery saturday ( march to november)

Korea free and easy : seoul HOngdae University, trick eye museum

Had breakfast at a cafe monobloc before going to trick eye museum.

Was quite hard to find as most of the shops opened around 10 and we looking for a cafe that is not under the normal franchise

Look out for pink signboard.

There signboard at hongdae to help you locate

Try to visit it in the morning. 

There are less people, so less waiting for each photo.

have lots of fun there, trying unconventional poses at times.

Even the lifts and toilets are funny

Shopping at hongdae university.

some similar item found at ehwa.

Ehwa should be generally cheaper but there are some good buys at hongdae too.

 My favourite sugar biscuit.. sugar rush.. not for people who do not have a sweet tooth

Found a cute pastry shop while walking around hongdae. 

The pastry are just beautiful but delicious.

Wish I tried the strawberries cakes.

Yeolbong Jjimbak

It is delicious. even the breast meat are tender.

You get to choose the spicy level.

Unless you are a big eater, and don't intend to snack..

usually a small will do for 1-3 and medium is for like 4-6

Must visit even if you are not a fan.

GRapefruit juice?

Local korean snack

We left hongdae in the late afternoon, the place is getting so crowded.. 

I heard Hongdae is quite happening at night when performers and etc..

Write up on Hongdae free market will be on another post as there are too many photos..
hongdae free market