Withlocals.com

Withlocals is a brilliant website set up to help travellers and locals in the Asia region. I was recently contacted by the owners and it's my pleasure to do this special post dedicated to their project.

The website basically offers locals the chance to earn some extra money by doing what they naturally do - host a dinner or lead an activity with a local. Money goes straight into their hands, from the tourist. Tourists can get a more local touch to their trips and learn a lot about traditions and culture.

Here is a word from the owner of the site:

Get Local: great travel initiative in Asia!

"Have you ever heard tourist talking about their amazing trips? You will hear that the most memorable travel experience often was the one with the ‘local touch’. Apparently, in this era of large connections, booking a mass-organized tour is not on top of a travellers bucket list anymore. People from all over the world are more interested in one-to-one connections, like ‘having dinner in a local family’s home’ or ‘exploring the many faces of Penang island’.

This is why I was taken by the concept of Withlocals, an organization which connects travellers and locals from all over the world, through food and experiences. Locals can offer tours, workshops and even home dinner experiences directly to tourists. They use the principles of the sharing economy, by enabling people to earn a sustainable income by doing something they are already passionate about. This brings me to their vision: everybody is good at something, which is exactly what tourism in the 21st century should be about!

Withlocals.com gives you the opportunity to explore a city in a whole new way. You can book home dining experiences, activities and tours in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Thailand. For instance, Deffrey offers a great cycling tour in ‘One of the World heritage Zones’ (Penang) and Casey is willing to take you for a healthy evening run, followed by a dinner with a local in Kuala Lumpur. There are many options to choose from in Malaysia!

For locals: They can earn some extra money in a creative and fun way by simply doing something they do daily. Also, locals can meet new cultures and teach tourists about their own culture. For tourists: It is the ideal way to explore a culture up-close. You will discover non-touristic places off the beaten track!

It seems like a cool project to try out ourselves sometime! Definitely worth checking out the site to see what kind of options there are to become a host or a guest."

Spend a few moments to check out the website Withlocals.com, and next time you're travelling around Asia, you might want to consider getting involved in a more 'local' experience!

Our stay at M. S. Garden Hotel, 17th - 18th September, 2011

At the request of M.S. Garden Hotel we enjoyed a free night's stay at their lovely hotel over the last weekend.

The lobby design has changed a lot since I did a brief hotel survey two years ago, in particular the addition of Angelo's cafe, inspired by John Kars.

We checked in at 12 noon on Saturday after having lunch at Angelo's. The fried rice there is heavenly, and comes with prawns and chicken curry. It is just spicy enough to give you a flavour of Asia, but is also acceptable to the European tourist's tongue.

It was a lovely feeling to enter our room and to be greeted with a wide, spacious scene before us. There was a king-sized bed beside a balcony, wardrobe, dressing table and study table, including a small sofa and two more single chairs making up a living area. The wide open space proved to be a great dance floor for Lauren!

We had a nice view of Kuantan town from our 9th floor balcony:

In the daytime:

The South China Sea lies a short distance away on the horizon

When the evening rains were coming:

And at night:

The bathroom was nice, complete with sink, bath tub and shower, a nice large mirror, and a pleasantly funny shaped toilet seat!

We had real fun giving Leah a bath in the sink. However, we couldn't manage to keep the water in the sink! It kept slowly emptying when we thought we had plugged it!

At night we had a lovely dinner on the hotel at the Jade Terrace Chinese Restaurant at the Lower Ground Floor. We were joined by Kathy and Christina, and John and Beverley. The food was absolutely gorgeous and we left fully satisfied.

The back entrance, guarded by two Terracotta soldiers

The view inside the restaurant

Our food

Here are some more pictures of our lovely hotel room:

Guests and visitors are welcomed into the lobby by a large chandelier directly overhead:

Panorama of the lobby from the entrance

The Ground and Lower Ground floors of the M. S. Garden Hotel are connected by beautiful staircases. Here are some examples:

Finally, every good hotel has a good swimming pool. M. S. Garden Hotel is no different as it possesses a large and beautiful pool with some stunning rocks which act as a waterfall dropping into the children's pool.

We enjoyed playing in the pool . . .

We are thankful to the pleasant and helpful staff who served us during our stay at M. S. Garden Hotel. Kathy, Christina and Megat were all very professional and left a very good impression upon us. Also much thanks to our friends John and Beverley for keeping us in lovely company on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Overall, it was a most delightful stay at M. S. Garden Hotel and we would go back there any time because of the large and spacious rooms, excellent staff, great swimming pool, and vast array of good food.

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Blog Milestone

I'm closing in on 10,000 visits to my blog since its inception in June 2009. I'm estimating that in another week I will have had more than 10,000 visits to my site. I can't quite believe how many visitors I've had. It's a great blessing that we are living in a free world with the rights and privileges of free speech (with the sad exception of a few places, that is). In Malaysia, where I live, I have been able to access the internet, start up a blog, and write whatever I feel the need to send out to the world. In my case, that has been about my life in Kuantan, Malaysia.

These are great times in the history of the world, where the miracles of modern technology and communication make our lives so much more convenient. I'm able to talk with my family on the other side of the planet in England, using the medium of the internet, and I can see them too with the help of our webcams! It's truly amazing! I can send emails to anywhere on the earth and those same words I typed end up appearing on someone else's computer screen in England, or America! And it's the same with SMS through hand phones.

And so as I close in on 10,000 visits to my blog, I thank those who have visited, those who come here regularly, those who like it enough to follow me, and those who take the time to leave their comments. Please let me know how you feel about my blog so that I can continue to make improvements and ensure you have a great time exploring my blog.

It's good to know my voice is being heard, and that people are interested in hearing my voice. I hope that I may have been, and will continue to be, able to convince you to come to Kuantan, Malaysia. This is a beautiful, exotic place in South-East Asia with stunning nature (see my Asia's Nature blog) and a steady growth towards cityhood. Come here for your next holiday; Sample the luxury of the Zenith Hotel; Relax at Teluk Chempedak beach; Enjoy a scenic, tranquil stroll at Taman Gelora. . . . . 

Our home called Kuantan invites you!

Sentosa Boardwalk, Singapore

As Singapore recently unveiled the brand new Sentosa Boardwalk, a foot bridge linking the mainland with Sentosa island, Malaysia remains pretty much the same.

Once Singapore and Malaysia were one, known as Malaya, but since Singapore broke away and became independent, they are now like two different stories, worlds apart despite their close geographic proximity. I travel to Singapore regularly in 3-5 month intervals and the stark differences between the two countries can be felt when crossing the causeway. Fair enough, Malaysia now have their new CIQ (customs, immigration and quarantine) complex, but that is still inconvenient with a lot more walking and a lot more driving round and round in what seems like never-ending circles.

Crossing the causeway, it's remarkable to see Malaysia on one side disappearing into the distance, and Singapore so close on the opposite side, materialising into view. One can't help but wonder how these two countries became so far apart in economy, civility and development. Indeed, there is a different smell in the air when I enter Singapore's territory. Everything is clean and immaculately tidy. Rules and laws are clearly displayed on buses and trains, and people stick to them. The public transport is a joy to use, highly convenient, and I don't get locals staring at me the way I do in Malaysia. There is an upper-class taste about the entire island. Police regularly patrol the streets and MRT stations, ensuring order is being upheld by its citizens.

And every time I go to Singapore, there's always something new! The last time I went there I was amazed to see the stunning Marina Bay Sands complex standing tall over Marina Bay. What a sight it is! I spent hours walking around the grounds, taking pictures, viewing the shopping mall, the hotel, the funky bridge that looks like twisted metal etc. It wasn't there the last time I went to Singapore before that! I'm amazed at how fast they develop the island. Resorts World Sentosa is another project that has been finished fairly quickly, opening up Sentosa to a whole new host of visitors.

And now the most recent addition is the Sentosa Boardwalk, a foot-bridge linking the mainland with Sentosa island. It comes complete with retail shops, F&B outlets and travellators for the weary traveller. While the boardwalk leads tourists to the main attraction, being Sentosa, it in itself has become a whole new attraction, another tourist pull, another development that will leave a lasting longing in the hearts of all visitors to come back again. And, of course, there is the lovely question in the back of your head - What new development will have sprouted up the next time I come?

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Teo Chee Hean, gave a speech at the Sentosa Boardwalk opening celebrations on 29th January, 2011 at Sentosa. For the text of his words, please follow the link:

http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/asia/singapore-opens-sentosa-boardwalk-45579.html

Shortly after writing this post I came across an interesting blog about Asia and I'd like you to visit this link for an one person's alternative view about the fabulous city-island of Singapore:

http://www.blogofasia.com/the-real-threat-to-singapores-future.html

The Zenith Hotel Kuantan - October 2010

Excitement is building amongst me and my tuition students over the imminent grand opening of the Zenith Hotel in Kuantan on 1st December, 2010. The Zenith Hotel has been rising from the ground since April 2009 and is set to significantly increase the popularity of Kuantan in Malaysia and abroad.

We have enjoyed lengthy discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of the Zenith Hotel for Kuantan, ranging from the well-thought-out points to the ridiculous, like the Zenith Hotel will increase suicides as disturbed individuals will slide themselves down the magnificent arch attached to the Zenith Hotel!

We are hopeful that it will give the Kuantan economy a good boost. This will be achieved through the arrival of more tourists and visitors from other parts of Malaysia. These in turn will spend more money at the Zenith Hotel and the nearby East Coast Mall, China Town, Malay Town and Indian Town shops which is now known as Putra Square.

However, a drawback of this is that crime may increase, we concluded, as more wealthy people come to stay at the Zenith Hotel and a greater number of tourists walk around with large souvenirs cash on hand.

Another popular disadvantage that popped up over and over again was the threat of traffic jams around the Putra Square area. The roads are short and narrow, and with a bustling Zenith Hotel alongside East Coast Mall, with limited parking spaces, this could be a recipe for chaos.

Environmental factors were mentioned as a disadvantage of the building of the Zenith Hotel, but creating extra jobs was a great plus point for all.

My only concern is that Malaysia is not doing enough to really promote Kuantan to an international audience. Perhaps with the opening of the Zenith Hotel and Sultan Ahmad Shah International Convention Centre (SASICC), it may be slightly easier as the attractions will be in place. But as it stands I'm just a little worried about who, exactly, will be filling up 515 rooms each night at the Zenith Hotel? I doubt that most local Kuantanites could afford the expensive prices of this 5-star hotel (the cheapest opening rates being RM450 per night) and with minimal amounts of tourists around Kuantan, I just wonder if the Zenith Hotel is too much, too soon; a sparkling structure in a still small town that is just beginning to experience a significant degree of development.

The key will be how well the adjusted Kuantan skyline can promote itself to local and international tourists as the beautiful, beachside place it surely is.

The setting sun reflects off the windows of the Zenith Hotel

An entrance wall is erected as the Zenith Hotel's surroundings begin to materialise

The entrance of the Zenith Hotel is being modelled

A close-up of the unique 'steps' design of the Zenith Hotel

The Zenith Hotel swimming pool will be located on this ledge

Another image of the Zenith Hotel flanked by the SASICC

The white antenna sits in the sky above the 24th floor

Work goes on as materials are stacked up on the swimming pool ledge

From rubble to realisation: the Zenith Hotel and SASICC rise from the mud to re-shape the Kuantan skyline

The SASICC will soon be ready for action, guarded by the Zenith Hotel on the left, and the Putra Office block still a way behind, on the right

View of Zenith Hotel from the east

View of Zenith Hotel from the south

View of Zenith Hotel from the south-west, with East Coast Mall's distinguished yellow walls close by