Tag: hotels

We Used To Head Straight For The Beach In Penang

Before Georgetown in Penang was accorded UNESCO status as a World Heritage site, many visitors liked staying at the beach hotels at Batu Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah.

I was driving with my freind Alex Wong along Gold Coast Sepang the other day. I usually write my travel stories in my mind as they unfolded. Every keyword, adjective or noun that I wanted to use was a name of a hotel in Penang. The story can end up sounding like a list of beach hotels in Penang; Bayview, Golden Sands, Casuarina Beach Resort, (now Hard Rock Hotel), Lone Pine, Lost Paradise, etc.

Tanjung Rhu Resort was in Langkawi though. Penang owned catchy Beach Hotel names since the 80s. During pre-Penang Bridge days or before Georgetown was accorded UNESCO status as a World Heritage site, many of us headed for Batu Ferringhi or Tanjung Bungah rather than the now newer, hipster and so called boutique hotels in Georgetown.

Many beach hotels had what they designated as their own private beach reserved for their room guests. Many locals will walk in through the lobby and swim at the beaches unfairly reserved for foreign tourists. A friend in the industry told me the hotels came up with an ingenious idea to protect their beach from free loaders. They hired Ang Mohs (white men) and stationed them like a Secret Service agent guarding the perimeter. It worked. LOL. It frightened locals away.

The bullying of locals worked in Singapore too. I went to a casino in Singapore and there was a Mat Salleh at the entrance screening people going in. Singapore has a set of casino restrictions for locals and the Ang Moh bouncer in a suit and tie terrified local rule breakers.

I suppose it is mere Asian politeness, shyness or a colonial day hangover.

Find around 700 hotels in Penang here.

Now with its heritage status, George Town saw many new city hotels being built and is attracting even more visitors. Hotels flourished at the Gurney Drive area as well. Gurney Drive is essentially a sea facing esplanade. Note that not all seafront hotels are sea touching and you may be required to a walk across a busy main road. Check maps of hotel you selected. Here is list of Penang Hotels, usefully sorted into their respective categories : http://www.mycen.my/hotels-in-penang/

Memories Of Ipoh

Even residents in Ipoh used to say it was a “sunset” city with little growth and a good place to live in retirement. So much has changed in the last ten years, with the city leapfrogging over night.

I can still remember the lonely D.R. Seenivasagam Park and the Ipoh Stadium, which was a popular make out place. Popular hotels such as the Excelsior was with audible loud thumping disco music from downstairs, much like the Hotel Anika in Kluang.

I remember the laid back Casuarina Hotel. It is now gone and reborn as the Impiana. The most recent hotel I stayed in was perhaps Tune Hotel Ipoh. It is is now renamed as Pi Hotel. Good to also see old favorites like YMCA and Tambun Inn are still around. Sadly, the vintage Majestic Hotel at the beautiful colonial railway station is gone.

What were fallen, are now replaced by many new and fancy hotels. Many of the newer hotels are exciting and luxury additions such as The Haven, Banjaran Hot Springs, Lost World of Tambun Hotel and the M Boutique Hotel.

I am guessing Ipoh’s unanticipated revival could be because of social media. The classic food outlets, chicken rice and nasi ganja became fodder for social media content hungry day-trippers from KL. There is now also a wave of new hipster cafes in Ipoh.

I remember going with Patrick Teoh when he wanted to visit the other famous Ipohan, Lat. We ended up for a drink at Malaysia’s oldest pub or bar, from 1906. The F.M.S, is now closed without ceremony. Glad we did. Oh yes, we then went on to tackle the iconic pomelo girls, they were another famous Ipoh icon.

Also remembered a trip guided by another Ipohan Adriene Leong in which we visited the very beautiful Masjid Panglima Kinta and had a real old town coffee in Ipoh old town. Can’t find the old pics. Sigh.

On another trip, I visited the late filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad at her film set in her adopted hometown Ipoh. Also went to see the Majestic Station Hotel where the cast and crew stayed.

The one and only modern mall at one time in Ipoh, for a long time, was Ipoh Parade. It is now joined by many new AEON malls.

Who can forget old Super Kinta Mall and the market? Remember the reverse T shaped logo? I think the complex may have been modeled after the original People’s Park in Singapore. Now I think it resembled the disorderly Russian Market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Who else here is “Ipoh Mali”?

Find an Ipoh hotel here. if you are visiting. Newer hotels included:

http://www.mycen.my/hotels-in-ipoh/

Info compiled with assistance of Ipohan Emily Lowe. Thank you.

With A Little Help From My Friends

With A Little Help From My Friends.

These are some of the hotels near and far booked by traveling friends. Not to brag but to remind other friends that the page can handle any hotel in any city. These are from of the people who voluntarily let me know that they supported me but I can’t name names to preserve their privacy. Some bookings were done anonymously and I can only thank those unknown, anonymous kind strangers in general. Appreciate it, all the same.

It is always heartbreaking when someone respond by saying they just booked rooms at so and so place moments earlier but will remember me the next time. Well this serves as a reminder for those who are planning to reserve rooms online. I need to reach the critical mass before it can help me pay bills. every little bit counts. Not there yet but with a little help from my friends, hopefully it can. Have a good trip ahead, all traveling friends.

In no particular sequence or order:

1. Best Western Chinatown Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar.
2. Holiday Inn Sukhumvit Bangkok, Thailand.
3. Imperial City of Hue, Vietnam.
4. Nhat Li Hotel, Da Nang, Vietnam.
5. Jinjiang Inn Shanghai, China.
6. 7 Days Premium Guangzhou, China.
7. V Garden Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
8. Palm Garden Hotel, IOI Resort, Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Pictures from Agoda.

Book or check rates from my page here:
http://www.mycen.my/agoda/

A Suggestion And Explanation

A Suggestion And Explanation.

Many well meaning and kind people wanted to help me by booking rooms through me when they travel. I thank you and appreciate your support greatly. I sometimes get private messages from these good people who asked “What was the link to the hotel booking page again?” I understand it is not easy remembering unless you, scroll back on my posts.

I thought about it and I may have a simple solution for you.

Photoshop users will know making the graphic with text is a pain. Cari makan is not easy, I know.

1. If you messaged me on Facebook, it means you can also view my Facebook. On the profile info you can see my website or blog at www.tvsmith.my

2.Go to the link and you will see a link Book A Room on the top menu on every page there.

3. On the portal MyCen Maps (www.mycen.my) where the booking and hotel search page resides, you will also see a link “Book A Hotel Room” on the sidebar of every page there.

4. On my long standing portal Malaysia Central (mycen.com.my), you can also find a link on the front page or you can also find an Agoda search panel in the hotel category.

5. Finally, bookmark the page in question directly itself, for future use: http://www.mycen.my/agoda/

I don’t mind you asking me any question as it means potential revenue no matter how small. One person asked me a seeming audacious question. The person asked if he or she must use the provided link.

Scary but perfectly understandable as not many people understand the mechanics of commission tracking and the technical aspects at the back end of affiliate marketing. It may be an easy process and it is transparent to the user for a good reason.

I am like an introducer who will get a commission for a deal closed. Agoda wont know I was the referral unless you used the correct link which has my affiliate account number properly referenced.

It is therefore essential you use the correct link, so I get my commission. The commission will not affect your rate as it is absorbed by Agoda and the hotels. Remember also you can use it from anywhere in the world and book a room at anywhere in the world.

Thank you for understanding and support.

Need Your Support

Since my hospitalization last year, I have been trying to develop a new revenue stream to be financially independent. Getting revenue from usual source is a struggle and that was why you saw me pleading for help for me and my cats. Many kind and generous people did help and I appreciate it greatly.

Many photography related websites rely on an affiliate partnership with an online camera store located in the US. It will be tough as our currency’s value is diminishing and the shipping costs from the US are astronomical.

I thought about it and think a hotel and accommodation booking partnership may be better.

Everyone seems to travel nowadays. I recently signed up as an affiliate partner with Agoda since I have so much travel and geographical related content on the web. If you travel, be it for business or leisure. you will usually need to book a hotel in advance. I know many of you travel regularly both for business and leisure.

Be it a weekend trip to Penang, a trip to Nepal or Japan or even a trip to London or Paris. Last I checked. Agoda has over 500,525 hotels that are located in every corner of the world.

I have used them myself when I traveled preciously. It is reliable, is competitively priced and used by millions.

No matter where you are going, why not help me out at the same time by booking through the Agoda links at my page.

No obligations and I will get a small commission and it won’t affect your rate. You probably might get a cheaper price because of ongoing promotions. I won’t know who booked what and where. I won’t have my commission registered until you checked out. It will be nice if you let me know you did but it is completely optional and all up to you.

Thank you for your support and for helping out. Bookmark or save the link or this post or if you lose the link, please PM me to ask.

http://www.mycen.my/agoda/

If you forget the url you can go to www.mycen.my and find the link on the sidebar of any page there. You can book from anywhere in the world to anywhere, as long as you have a valid credit or debit card.

It is my first time trying out such a venture and may not have the answers to all your questions. Feel free to ask me and I will direct your questions to Agoda if necessary.

I am still learning the ropes and will improve its implementation where possible.

Wish me luck and thank you for your support. I am kicking off this announcement with a suggestion to book Avani Goldcoast Sepang since I was featuring the gold coast in recent days.

Here is also a dedicated page where you can book or see the location of Avani Sepang Goldcoast Resort. Didn’t realise it looks so beautiful on a map too:

http://www.mycen.my/avani-sepang-goldcoast-resort/