halfwhiteboy

Our living room for two nights at Kowloon Harbourfront Hotel. Most budget-friendly hotels in Hong Kong can be, well, small. You get what you pay for after all. But on a trip there last month, we got a very spacious room at the Kowloon Harbourfront Hotel at a steal. We booked what was described as a two-bedroom suite through Expedia and which also already included airfare. But my, when we saw the breakdown, more than 80% of the amount went to the airline! That makes our hotel quite an inexpensive find so to speak.

Forget about that debate on whether a person is a traveler or a tourist. Fine, I'm a tourist. While it certainly wasn't my first time here, it was my first in December where temperatures are much cooler. That in mind plus the anticipation over a whole day of walking led me to come up with this outfit.

Clearly I'm holding on to the last two days of the Holidays. It's gonna be all over soon and I'll be back to work once again. Oh well. Anyhow, I just got back from a short vacation with Kwittiegirl. It was nice to be able to go someplace and enjoy a much cooler climate even if it was just for a few days. And of course it was the perfect excuse to wear a coat. It's a much welcome relief for someone who has to live with temperatures between the high 20s to 30s (Celsius) every single day.

Woah, what's this? I've read that Hong Kong's cable car service last Thursday stalled, leaving around 800 passengers stranded at different points from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping 360º. They were left suspended in midair for about 30 minutes in freezing temperatures nearing 0º Celsius. That was scary especially since there was reportedly no announcement whatsoever, leaving passengers practically clueless as to what was wrong. Refunds were reportedly made and the whole service was suspended for 10 days since Thursday to get everything fixed. But I have faith in them and I know it'll once more provide tourists an enjoyable experience like I had the last time. Story from Yahoo! News; read here .

See related posts: Hotel Icon: Designed to impress Inside our room at Hotel Icon The Market at Hotel Icon Given that Hotel Icon had already impressed me a lot, I thought I had to check out the pool (which I don't normally do). And this was what beckoned: Fantastic views, alright? It was just nice to spend a lazy afternoon overlooking magnificent Victoria Harbour. No worries, no nothing. The pool, along with the gym and spa, are at the 9th floor. The gym, as you can see above, is also overlooking the same spectacular view of the harbor. You can also order some food and drinks to be served by the pool; and their pizza was fairly good. Too bad I didn't get some sun that afternoon since the rest of the hotel building was casting a shadow on the area, but it was fine nonetheless. Okay, more than fine. After getting off the elevator, going to the pool area was also quite an experience. We were promptly greeted by a receptionist who politely asked us to register. The re...

See related posts: Hotel Icon: Designed to impress Inside our room at Hotel Icon Not to be missed: The gym and pool area at Hotel Icon After missing breakfast and lunch altogether on our second day in Hong Kong (because we slept till 2pm), we got up earlier on our third day, early enough to catch breakfast at The Market. Among other stuff, look what I got: I wasn't really planning on them but I was intrigued by their pancake maker, which, at the push of a button, makes you a small-sized one in a minute. Besides, fresh blueberries and raspberries for toppings? It couldn't get any better than this. Hotel Icon houses three restaurants: Green, which is located at the ground floor ( you can get a glimpse here ); Above and Beyond, which is exclusive to guests staying in club rooms; and The Market on the second floor. We haven't tried Green and understandably, we never got to see Above and Beyond. The hotel bills The Market as "a restaurant like no other,...

Our recent Hong Kong trip was devoid of any pressure. There were no itineraries to follow, no checklists of sights to visit, no nothing. Well, except maybe Horizon Plaza in Ap Lei Chau, but more on that in another post. It may sound strange to some but My Bibe and I spent a considerable amount of time just locked up in our hotel room. Heck, we even slept till two in the afternoon on our first night! But could you blame us when this is what you see from our room: My Bibe and I aren't necessarily the high-brow type who fly first class or stay at five-star hotels (although I wish we were). Well, we do check in at such hotels in Makati on occasion but that's about it. For this trip, we decided on new kid on the block Hotel Icon because they had an offer that was simply too good to pass up: stay two nights and get the third night free. We booked a Harbour View room that cost us a little over HK$ 4,000 all in all. A bit steep for us but we never regretted our decision. Af...

I recently wrote a post about my dillydallying with my hotel choices for last weekend's Hong Kong trip. Anyway, we ended up at Hotel Icon, a new hotel that sits close to the likes of the Regal Kowloon, Intercontinental, and Shangri-la hotels in Tsim Sha Tsui. The hotel is still in a soft opening phase since April. It's that new! And it's that new that most taxi drivers don't even know where it is. So you need to show them a map or a hotel card. The grand staircase at the lobby. Right underneath is the concierge desk. Hotel Icon is a five-star hotel that boasts of an iconic roster of talents that comprise its design team, headlined by renowned architects Sir Terence Conran, Rocco Yim, and William Lim. The hotel also credits Dr. Patrick Blanc for its awesome vertical garden. And I tell you, the lobby alone already impresses. The lobby. I've seen much grander lobbies from hotels here in Manila but this one is stunning nonetheless. The hotel's design i...

We're already leaving next week for another trip and we still don't have a place to stay. A couple of times I've browsed through sites for hotels in Hong Kong but ended up undecided and all the more confused each time. Last time we stayed at boutique hotel Butterfly on Prat . I have no problems staying there again except that I want to try other hotels. And it doesn't help that I'm still undecided whether to stay in the Kowloon or Hong Kong side. Anyway, about Butterfly on Prat; it's part of a chain of three boutique hotels in Hong Kong, all of which carry the name Butterfly. Each hotel is distinguished by its location: Butterfly on Prat is located along Prat Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui, Butterfly on Morrison on Morrison Hill Road in Causeway Bay, and Butterfly on Wellington, which opened only in September last year, on Wellington Street in Central. Butterfly on Prat was a 2010 Trip Advisor Travelers' Choice winner, so I thought it must be good. Well, it was...