Tag: hotel

Flamingo by the Lake Hotel

The Flamingo Hotel was one of the earliest suburb hotels. Since then, there are now other neighbourhood hotels such as Maluri Hotel in Taman Maluri and Sri Petaling Hotel in Taman Sri Petaling. Flamingo hotel is now correctly branded as Flamingo by the Lake. If you get a room with a balcony facing the lake, it is quite nice. Seems like a quiet hidden getaway and a suitable honeymoon suite with the romantic and picturesque surroundings.

I can’t remember if they had flamingos on the lake but in the early days, there were probably a few pathetic swans, I think. If you want to see flamingos, drive to the zoo nearby.

They say 2 star hotels and a pair of tight jeans for men have something in common. There is no ballroom. The hotel is more than 2 stars and it has a grand ballroom that can accommodate 1500 pax.

I remember attending Malaysiakini’s 5th anniversary dinner here in 2004 where it was joked that should the ceiling collapse that night in the ballroom, the government would have unwittingly gotten rid of all opposition members, critics, dissidents, anti government cartoonists, bloggers, candlelight vigil types and NGO members in one fell swoop. Haha.

I have also stayed there after all night drinking sessions to avoid getting into trouble with roadblocks. It is never a good idea because when you get up with a massive hangover, it is already check out time. This was why Japan came out with cheaper capsule or pod hotels to cater to drinking executives. People just want a simple roof when they missed the last train. But this a story for another day.

We KLites may scoff at the congested Ampang Jaya junction location but for the out-of-towner, it may be a quick drive to the National Zoo or an easy drive to or from the city by the Ampang Elevated Highway or by DUKE. The nearest similar or higher class hotels are De Palma Hotel Ampang and the new Elements @ Ampang Hotel (behind Gleneagles).

Book Flamingo By The Lake here.

Address: 5  Tasik Ampang, Jalan Hulu Kelang, 68000 Ampang, Selangor Darul Ehsan

The U Hotel Penang

When I was last in Penang, I stayed at the area known as Bayan Lepas at the U Hotel. It is a budget boutique hotel in a relatively peaceful and unknown part of Penang. Even Penang island friends don’t know where it is. They know the exact area when you mention Tesco Extra Sungai Dua though, which is just behind the blue hotel.

Address: 676, Jalan Sungai Dua, Taman Pekaka, 11700 George Town, Pulau Pinang.

I know there is a U in Blue – I like blue. But what is the U in its name then? It is explained vaguely in their web site as “Urban. Unpretentious. Utterly Unique”. Sounds Like Utter Marketing Speak Bullshit to me. Undisguised 🙂

It is also near the campus of University of Science, Malaysia or USM in Gelugor. I don’t like that its car park is at the back and very dark at night, Same shit as Tune Georgetown  Penang Hotel that I stayed previously and liked. I wanted a fairly cheap hotel as I needed a hotel for several nights to attend the annual St Anne’s Feast in the mainland town of Bukit Mertajam.

Getting on and off either Penang bridges was quite easy due to its location. I also like that the hotel is near food places and many food courts. For its price, it is comfortable, serviceable and functional for someone like me who spends 18 hours outside. Not cheap at about RM150 a night though.

Better book in advance if you are going to St Anne’s in July. See also Hotels in Penang at http://www.mycen.my/hotels-in-penang/

Check a room availability and book the U Hotel Penang.

Find around 700 hotels in Penang here.

Hotels In Tashkent Uzbekistan

The region stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. I have met in Kuala Lumpur many students from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.  At one time, many of the students moonlight as workers in IT shops and as waiters or waitresses in pubs and bars.

The countries all have the Persian suffix “-stan”, meaning “land of”. The closest I’ve been was going to Kazakhstan embassy in Jalan U Thant to apply for a visa to Kazakhstan. The Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome was to be the launch site of the rocket carrying the Malaysian astronaut to the space station. I asked the late Science Minister in a briefing as to why the selected hotels were so expensive and he said it was best for the the media and accompanying entourage to stay in top hotels for maximum security.

The great thing I remember about the Kazakhstan embassy officer was he asked me what telco I was using then (Maxis) and he told me there is service since there is a roaming agreement. I mean how many embassy officers even know or care about those things.

Fast forward to ten years later and I have a Instagram friend  (@gsmile_elf) or Gulnoza Nazarova from the It is just south of Kazakhstan. The elfish, impish and beautiful Gulnoza is now studying Chinese at Lanzhou University in north west China. Coincidentally, Lanzhou is the origin of beef lamian or pulled noodles or mee tarik, I wrote about recently.

I asked Gulnoza to suggest a Uzbekistan hotel and she spoke glowingly of the Hyatt Regency Tashkent. It is a luxury hotel in the capital city and it is not cheap either.

Book the  Hyatt Regency Tashkent

She sent me a bunch of pics of the hotel which I cannot use since I don’t know the source. It is shown here in a pic by Booking dot com and a pic of Gulnoza celebrating her birthday in March.  I have added links to over 70 hotels in Tashkent below.

Book the  Hyatt Regency Tashkent

Link to over 70 hotels in Tashkent

 

 

Bei Boutique Hotel Muar

Sorry, Babe.

Beiby, I found another Muar Boutique Hotel. Somehow the Bei Boutique Hotel escaped the radar of search engines and hotel searches when I was compiling a list of hotels in Muar, headed by the new Muo Boutique Hotel.

If you are looking for a room for the upcoming Raya balik kampung holidays. you have another option. I was introduced to the hotel by my Fb friend Dr Yia Hua Jern, the consultant nephrologist whose workplace, Hospital Pakar KPJ Bandar Maharani is located near the hotel. Thanks, doc. Nothing beats local knowledge like how another thoughtful Muarian Yusof Noi who pointed me to the Muo Boutique Hotel.

You know the Bei Boutique Hotel is a boutique or hipster hotel when they have a bathroom with flat tray washbasins, honeymoon suites and a lobby with sit down office table arrangement as check in counter AND violins on the wall. I must say the decor is quite classy and modern. I have added it to the list of booking links of Muar hotels at:

http://www.mycen.my/muo-boutique-hotel/

You can also book the Bei Boutique Hotel directly from here

Address: 8-3, Jalan Abdul Rahman, 84000, Muar, Johor.

Check it out.

Mongolia Matters

Cold As Ice.

I was standing near an ashtray in KLCC Park when a very beautiful woman came to ask me for a light. I didn’t have one as I no longer smoke. Asking for lighter in a club years ago was how gay people determine a stranger’s preference or interest by the way you hand over the lighter. I can’t remember the mechanism now.

Anyway, it was an innocent request and I got to know her. She was Boloro Dendev on Fb (@tina_hk on IG). In-spite of her trademark icy demeanor, she turned out to be a very warm person with a great sense of humour. She spoke English with a Hong Kong accent and she looked Chinese.
After a long chat, I found out she is Mongolian but lives in Hong Kong where she is known as Tina. We became Facebook and IG friends and I saw her posting about being afraid to go outside at her home in her country when temperature was -30C one day in February. Wanted to confirm with her and she replied saying it is can be as low as -65 C ! Yikes. How many can remember the song “Cold As Ice” by Foreigner?

Mind you, she is a native of the country and grew up there but yet she found it unbearable when she is home. Maybe it was her years of living abroad.

I was thinking of visiting the capital Ulaanbaatar during summer one of these days. I asked Boloro for a hotel she likes and she mentioned the Shangri-la Ulaanbaatar. There are many Mongolian hotels listed in MyCen Hotels, should you decide to go there.

Picture of the enormous Statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia and a ravishing selfie by Bolorov Dendev. Located 54 km east of Ulaanbaatar, the Chinggis Khan Statue is currently the biggest and tallest equestrian statue in the world. Visitors can walk inside an exhibition hall inside the horse’s body.

Find a hotel in Mongolia at http://www.mycen.my/

 

See over 150 hotels in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia by clicking here

#mongolia #ulaanbaatar #genghiskhan #chinggiskhan #asian