March 2011

 by Red

My List of Essential Travel Gear

Flash traveling with Red. That is the name of the Facebook page associated with this site. Flash traveling alludes to two things: First, the fact that my traveling trips are short and they are over in a flash. Second, it also refers to my flashpacking style of traveling. This post will talk more about the latter. So what is flashpacking?  According to knowledgeable websites out there, flashpacking is the same as backpacking, but with fancier gear. Some other sites define it as backpacking on a bigger budget. Wikipedia’s take on it: Flashpacking.

Today’s post will then talk about what kind of gear goes into my pack. What are the must-have items and what are those I can do without. Hopefully, you will get some good ideas on what to carry with you when traveling. At the very least, you will have a right laugh discovering how obsessive I can get with my packing habits.

  • Asus EEE PC. This sleek little piece of work is a netbook to die for. It comes equipped with Intel dual core processors, a video card (on a netbook?!! meh) and enough juice to run for up to 5 hrs.  It is an upgrade from my 2.5 year old trusty Lenovo S-10. Back then, I was deciding between this Asus EE PC and the Lenovo S-10C when the HK service staff remarked, “I’m wondering why you would prefer to pick a Chinese brand over a Taiwanese brand.”

  • The Elecom Grast wireless laser optical mouse is useful for when I need to surf. At 9x5cm, it’s easy to store inside my pack. I suck at using touchpads, and a mouse is always useful when I’m on the road playing games
  • Bass speaker from Lifetrons. One needs to have a little bit of music when alone in the hotel room. Plugged into my HTC or netbook, this Swiss designed mini bass speaker blasts music that adds some life to an otherwise quiet room. Of course I have my earphones too for those long bus rides.

  • Durable anti-damage camera. Olympus U-tough. I use this because it is 1.5m shockproof, 5m waterproof and in general can withstand a great deal of punishment.  I can probably use it as weapon to smack potential muggers too. The only drawback is it’s lousy shutter lag.
  • Together with the Olympus camera, I bring along the underwater casing PT-048 whenever I might hit up a diving spot. It goes up to 40m depth. It’s a bit bulky, and since I’m a stickler for light gear, I leave this behind unless I know I’m going for some dives.

  • LED headlamp from Soundtech Electronic. It’s from a consumer electronics company and I got it at Challenger. Why they sell headlights is anyone’s guess, but at a third of the price of other brands, it’s a sweet deal.
  • HTC Tattoo. OK, I’m not proud of this, it’s not the latest gadget available out there, but it functions well enough. It’s due an upgrade soon though. =)
  • Multi-plug adaptor. This is essential and I got a nice portable one from MSD. All those electronics above need charging up and so I normally have a couple of these.
  • Mini compass and thermometer. I can be a klutz finding my way around, but I am pretty good with maps. Give me a map and a compass and I’ll get from Point A to Point B. So this Coleman compass is essential and one of my most important pieces of gear.

  • Collapsible bowl and utensils from Tupperware. For those longer trips where I end up cooking my own meals. It’s compact, fits snugly into my backpack pockets and mighty useful whenever I need a container.

  • Electric kettle. Again, for extended trips, this ends up being my best friend. Boil water? Check. Make tea? Check. Cook noodles? Check. I even use it to boil eggs.

  • Number coded Ziploc bags. To prevent losing things when I move from one place to another, I pack my stuff by putting them into Ziploc bags. Besides keeping things waterproof, it also gives me a quick way to keep track of everything. Pack 1: Clothing (Tops & undergarments). Pack 2: Clothing (Bottoms ).  Pack 3: Dirty clothes. Pack 4: Wires and charging appliances. Pack 5: Miscellaneous items like nylon rope, mosquito coils, mini sealed bags. Pack 6: Toiletries bag. Pack 7: First aid kit. Whenever I pack, I will do a roll-call of all my packs. I should have 7 at all times, and if you have traveled somewhere with me, you will probably know that it’s almost obsessive compulsive the way I keep counting my packs!

So that’s it. Some other things that I cannot live without are: Dental floss, a USB drive, trunks & goggles. Other must-haves for extended travel are sleeping bags, windbreakers and either the 36 or 50 litre backpack.

What are your traveling must-have items?

in Gadgets & apps / Travel Tips 0 comments
 by Red

Macau = Tasty Pastéis de Nata

Most people go to Macau to gamble. I go to Macau to eat Portuguese egg tarts.

The former Portuguese colony officially became part of China in 1999, as one of two Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. It still maintains a high degree of autonomy and runs its own currency, education and legislative systems. The official languages are Portuguese and Cantonese, even though almost all the citizens are Chinese, with only 2% or so being Macanese, a mix of Chinese and Portugese ancestry.

 

Besides the casinos, of which there are many, including those along the new Cotai strip touted as the Las Vegas of the east, the other main draw is the mix of Portugese architecture and culture here, the result of more than 400 years of Portuguese interaction with the Chinese.

So in the morning of 13th Mar 2011, we took the bus back from Kaiping, China to the Border Gate in Zhuhai and crossed back into Macau. That was about noon, and we had a few hours in the Macau Peninsula before taking the 530pm fast ferry to Hong Kong, the third leg of this trip.

We headed out by public bus towards the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was the main highlight of this UNESCO heritage area. It was crowded. You get all sorts of tourists, Westerners, Asians (mainland Chinese, Indonesians, Filipinos) all posing in front of the impressive façade, the only remains of the cathedral. Around the area, within walking distance, lies the Outer Walls of the old Fortress, whose interior has now been transformed into the ultra-modern Macau Museum.

That done, we walked down the narrow streets leading out from the cathedral towards the Largo do Senado, a pedestrian square where neo-classical buildings give the area a charming feel. And the mild weather adds to the general atmosphere. Interestingly enough, there was a protest by what appeared to be marginalized old wives (or something, neither of us spoke or read Cantonese).

The walk from the cathedral to the square was interesting enough, through the throng of human traffic, mostly camera toting tourists and souvenir hunters. The souvenirs here are the almond cookies and wife cakes and Portuguese egg tarts, of which I bought plenty. Almost every other shop on the stretch is a bakery selling these sweets.

Evening. An easy ride to the harbour, and we are on the fast ferry to Kowloon, Hong Kong. Next up: Hong Kong skyline by night and the symphony of lights in Hong Kong Harbour.

in Asia / China 0 comments
 by Red

The Watchtowers of Kaiping

The Kaiping Diaolou are a cluster of stone watchtowers located in Kaiping, in the Guangdong province of China, built in the 1920s and earlier. These watchtowers are fascinating because they are a mix of eastern and western architectural influences. You can see how pillars and domes are built atop the towers instead of traditional Chinese style roofs found during the time. Because of this, the entire area around Kaiping has been designated a UNESCO heritage site in 2007.

How do these towers come about? Apparently, in the early part of the 20th century, emigrants from China worked elsewhere in the world: in North America, Canada, around South east Asia (Malaysia), and when they returned home, they build these towers with features from buildings found from those places. So you get influences from baroque architecture, with inlets, domes, and plenty of lines and curves running around the towers. Actually I half expected to see one of those stone gargoyles perched atop these towers.

What are these towers for? Banditry was a problem back then, even way before the 1920s when most of the towers were built. So villagers, in an effort to combat the banditry, built these defense towers out of solid concrete, with grills on windows and big iron doors. In the event of a bandit attack, they would leave their homes and gather inside these towers. With some as high as seven storeys, the lower floors are for defense and the upper floors are living quarters. On the open roofs, turrets jut out from the four corners, where snipers can take aim at the bandits below.

Interestingly, the name Diaolou itself originated from two words, Lou which is tower, and Diao which means to toss. The story was that a wife tossed herself off one of these towers instead of giving away the location of her husband and child.

There are a few clusters of diaolou in the surrounding area of around Kaiping city. The tourism brochure I had lists five convenient clusters for tourists to visit. Li Yuan Garden has two diaolou within its premises. The garden, built by a returning Chinese American, Xie Wei Li combines Chinese traditional gardening, Southern China water-town style landscaping and Western architecture.

The second cluster is the Zili village cluster, totaling 9 diaolou, built in the 1920s by prosperous emigrants returning from Chicago and Malaysia. They are located overlooking paddy fields and several western style villas. The third cluster is the MaJianlong villages, five villages where emigrants returned from places such as the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Australia. The fourth cluster is Chikan town, which evolved from an ancient town established during the Qing dynasty to a bustling area when the local wealthy Chinese returned and set up their businesses and raised  buildings with the Western architectural styles they saw. Lastly, there’s also the JinJiang village cluster, whose family members returned home from US and Canada.

KW and I visited the first 3 sites, our tight schedule not allowing us to do more before dusk. OK. Getting there. Here’s how we did it. This is Day 1 of 3. We took the midnight flight on Jetstar Asia out of Singapore and landed in Macau International Airport at 2am. Since the border crossing into China opened only at 7am, we had 5 hours to try and catch some sleep at the airport. The public buses in Macau were easy enough to tackle, signs were informative and we were at the border control building soon enough. It was a bit of a sightseeing bus ride, since we passed by the centre, and the ubiquitous casinos found all around Macau.

Border Control. Macau borders Zhuhai, China. The border crossing is painless, but the amount of human traffic that goes through is tremendous. My first step into China proper, the immediate area is Zhuhai city, full of commuters who cross the border daily to work. We look for the long distance bus station, fail badly and ended up taking one of the tourist coaches to Kaiping.   Zhuhai, the city, is one of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) where the primary business is trade. And it shows, tall condominiums sprout everywhere on the outskirts of the city, and more are in construction.

We reached Kaiping city around noon, and had some Iranian la mian, or at least that’s what the signage says. The roadside joint was run by a Muslim Chinese family. Mummy cooks in the back, while daddy clears table and maintains order. Son makes the hand-made noodles while daughter serves. The place is pretty popular too, with a constant stream of customers. Me, I’m just happy to get warm food into my insides. The weather here is too cold, plus I never learn my lesson. I keep bringing too few warm clothing.

 

So we parked ourselves at a hotel before flagging one of the local tuktuks type of taxis to bring us around. I was expecting to be quoted stupid prices, so it was a pleasant surprise that the entire trip, including waiting time amounted to only 120 RMB for the two of us. So we headed towards the Diaolou clusters, a 150 RMB ticket per person covers all five clusters.

Local tourists are aplenty around the Diaolou clusters. Foreigners? Yes, but not many. Asians non-China tourists? Just the two of us. I seriously need to brush up on my vocab if I’m going to be traveling around China alone next time. The Diaolou themselves are fascinating structures, some of the interior are well preserved, and climbing up to the top, you can see a great view of the countryside.

At night, we were back in Kaiping city for dinner and a rest. It’s Day 1 of a three day blitz and the lack of sleep at the airport this morning was taking its toll. Check out this next post for Day 2, in which we get out of China, explored Macau, and hit Hong Kong, all in a day. http://www.thefuriouspanda.com/2011/03/27/macau-tasty-pasteis-de-nata/

in Asia / China 0 comments
 by Red

The Budget Airlines Guide to Flights out of Singapore

You are the cost-conscious traveler. You are travelling in South-East Asia. You don’t want the frills, you don’t want the bells the whistles. All you want is to get from Point A to Point B at the cheapest price possible. How do you do it?

Budget airlines rule the roost here when you are travelling within the region. They are cheap, safe and the choice for anyone watching the dollars. Of course, your air miles can bring you further, but for travel within the region, nothing beats the budget airlines.

So which are the budget airlines offering the most routes, and the cheapest prices? For the latter, it is very much dependent on the offers put up at the period. Booking an air ticket during a promotion can get you crazy prices.

This article assumes that you are flying out of Singapore. If you are flying out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then AirAsia is your best bet for cheap, unbeatable prices. In fact, if you have the time, taking a bus, train or flight out to KLCC (AirAsia’s low cost airport) and flying to your destination from there could actually net you lower prices than if you were to fly out of Changi, Singapore.

Ok. Let’s begin. The two largest operators out of Singapore are Tiger Airways and Jetstar. They fly to the most places, and the difference between the two is that Tiger Airways flies out of the Changi Budget Terminal, whereas Jetstar flies out of Terminal 1. Both charge extra for check-in luggage. Jetstar has many onward routes from Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, from its Jetstar Pacific arm in Vietnam. It also flies to various destinations in Australia, from the parent company Jetstar Airways.

Tiger on the other hand has its subsidiary Tiger Airways Australia, based in Melbourne, flying to various destinations around Australia. Thai Tiger, its joint venture with Thai Airways is scheduled to begin operations in May 2011, so expect onward flights to various Thai cities from Singapore. At the end of 2010, Tiger also has an agreement with Philippines’ South East Asian Airlines, to set a base in Clark Airport.

The third major budget airline in Singapore is AirAsia. Though not based in Singapore, it is nevertheless the largest operator in Asia, and has flights to major cities in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, with the latter two being subsidiaries operating out of Jakarta, and Bangkok respectively. AirAsia’s sister company, AirAsia X, flies long haul budget flights to faraway places like Paris (Orly), London (Stansted) and other destinations in China, India, Australia and New Zealand. These flights involve a transfer at Kuala Lumpur’s LCCT airport, but with its revamped on-line ticketing system, travelers can book flights from Singapore, transiting in LCCT on a single ticket. It’s great really. I’m a big AirAsia fan, and my only bone with AirAsia is that it’s flights from Singapore are often priced higher than elsewhere. However, once you get to Kuala Lumpur, you will revel in the dirt cheap prices! The discerning traveler with plenty of time at his hands would find some way to get up to Kuala Lumpur from Singapore.

Those are the three major players. If you have time, then AirAsia is hands down the cheapest. But if time is a factor, then Jetstar and Tiger Airways are your best bet.

Next, we talk about the other lesser-known airlines flying from Changi. With a little research, these airlines could actually net you cheaper prices on some well-known destinations that the three airlines above fly. For example, did you know that Indonesia’s Lion Air does flights from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam? It’s a stopover from Jakarta, and it’s worth checking out, prices are competitive, and unlike the three abovementioned, there is a 20kg baggage allowance that comes with the ticket.

Since we are on airlines based in Indonesia, a couple of Indonesian domestic airlines flying to Singapore are Sriwijaya Air and Batavia Air. These fly to a few destinations in Indonesia, chiefly Jakarta, from where you can take one of the multitudes of airlines to an onward destination in Indonesia. All three, including Lion Air, has online booking facilities, unlike many other domestic airlines. There was a fourth airline, Mandala Air, but they filed for bankruptcy recently, though there is a high chance they may resume operations.

Ok. Malaysia. Besides AirAsia, there are a couple of other players. Firefly is the budget arm of Malaysian Airlines, operating out of Subang Airport in Selangor. They fly to a few places from Singapore, namely Subang, Kuantan and Ipoh. Then there is also Berjaya Air, flying to the northern Peninsula Malaysia resort islands of Tioman and Redang.

Next we have destinations to the Philippines. The main player is Cebu Pacific, and they fly out of Singapore to Clark, Manila and Cebu. From these airports, you can easily get to further destinations in the north, or even east (Palau?!). However, there is a second smaller airline flying to Singapore. AirPhil Express is a domestic airline based in Manila, and Singapore is their one and only international destination thus far. They fly from Changi to Cebu and Manila.

Another interesting destination is Koh Samui, Thailand. Bangkok Airways, while technically is not a budget airline, flies to the holiday getaway, and is worth mentioning.

Lastly, an airline to note  is AirIndia Express. While AirAsia X flies out to Mumbai and New Delhi, and Tiger flies to Tiruchirapalli and Trivandrum, AirIndia Express adds other destinations, flying also to Tiruchirapalli, and to Chennai and Kolkata. With this airline, it is also possible to get to Dhaka, Bangladesh, via a stopover in Kolkata.
So that’s it. A list of budget airlines to help you, the cost-conscious traveler, make an informed decision. Online flight search engines often leave out the budget airlines when their search results come out, so with the information above, you can go to the airline’s website and compare prices for your destination.

in Travel Tips 0 comments