My 3am Breakfast and stay in Novotel Suvarnabhumi

My short trip in Hua Hin ended with me on a two-hours ride out of the county to the airport, where I was to stay for a night for my ungodly flight hour at 6am the next morning. Don't get me wrong, I am, by all means, definitely a morning person, but try this:

Tucking into bed at 11pm and having to wake up at 2am, then have breakfast at 3am to be at the airport two hours before my flight.

That was how I ended up at this hotel in the first place; the Novotel Suvarnabhumi although I was originally booked at the Marriott in Bangkok, but upon hearing my flight hour, my kind Thai colleague helped to transfer me to this hotel to make it easier (and safer) to get to the airport in the early hours like these.

While I still think the flight hours are crazy, it is still a good business opportunity for the airport hotels which are definitely built to serve this purpose. Most of the people are either here due to layover/transit flights and maybe that's what these hotels are known as too; the transit hotels.

The hotel is fairly business-like and came with all the basic amenities needed for a traveler's good night's rest. While most of their guests may not stay for long here, the hotel still lived up to the expectations and did not compromise convenience with comfort. After all, this is Novotel we are talking about and even with the airport version, it lived up to its brand.


A good setting to get some work done; yeah, that was how I got to bed late when I am on business trips -  emails, work, presentations!




My place to put up for a few hours; a couple of hours of sleep and packed my bags, it's time to wheel the bag out again in the odd hours of 3am.
I was thinking of getting to the airport straightaway, when I was informed that they are already serving breakfast in their in-house restaurant.
I was like, "Are you kidding me, it's at 3am?!"

Oh ya, and I was kidding myself when I actually went to check out the restaurant at that hour and even the waiters and chefs were like, half-asleep.
I just sat myself and guess what, if you think I am crazy, there are also patrons at that hour!
I just kept thinking, this must be an illusion, this sounds crazy!
Apparently not, as this seems normal for the frequent flyers (I am one myself already)







This is by far, probably the most odd thing I have done while traveling, but it doesn't sound weird for I seemed to have slipped into the tradition of having my meals at all odd hours.
After all, we are all in different time zones and we are probably also having our meals at ungodly hours elsewhere, right?
So, no matter anymore.

How about you? What's the weirdest thing you have done, or the weirdest hour you've had your breakfast?

Hua Hin in a flash and Dining in the hills

Sad to say, besides the luxury hotel in my last post, I was mostly in business meetings throughout my time in Hua Hin and I did not have the opportunity to explore this little town much, though the opportunity came on one evening when our organizers transported our entire team in a convoy-style to breathe in the fresh air from the hills and dining out experience.

My images of Hua Hin were formed from the many slides traveling through my window on the bus; which was like my only window view of how Hua Hin town really looks alike, and mind you, these were captured when the bus was in motion and I was juggling between talking with my business mates and discussing our corporate plans (yeah, the working bug strikes!)
I can't comment much; with that sneak peek that I get of the local neighborhood, which, at a glance does looks pretty peaceful and less touristy compared to the other regions of Thailand.


Sad that my memories of Hua Hin consist only of these moving pictures in a flash, and I yearn for the day I return for that leisure trip. I can feel it, I will be there again soon *winks*

The bus ride was a long one; and we were busy chattering in the bus that we did not realize that we have transitioned from the soft hues from dusk to pitch dark of the night as the bus moved with its might to drive up the higher grounds where our dining location is situated.
It was a pleasant surprise and indeed fresh air beckoned as it was a vineyard valley with a breathtaking view; if only it wasn't so dark, or that I was using an actual camera instead of my smartphone.
The Monsoon Valley is their own vineyard which covers a rather vast area; though not clearly captured from where we were seated.


It was an event where everyone is supposed to mingle around, and we were also pleasantly surprised by the awesome hospitality from the folks at the vineyard here as they served us with cocktails, finger food and their locally produced fragrant yet sweet tasting wine which were also on sale at their vineyard store.



A sneak peek into the dining area - the whole place was reserved by my company I guess; as the waiters were rushing to serve and attend to all of our needs. It was quite a handful already, with the crowd we have among ourselves.




The upper deck

Garden salad with a rather unique periwinkle colored mousse as the dressing



Pan fried seabass served with asparagus and in their special stew



Home made fresh ice cream with their home grown grapes, with the little chocolate tag marking the Monsoon Valley Wines' 10th Anniversary celebration.

I may not have seen everything in Hua Hin, but feels like this was an experience which says everything, don't you think?

Road trip to Amberg

We had an opportunity to take a short trip to Amberg






Volkswagen showroom



A quiet little town





A circus near our destination

Trip to Nurnberg: Part 1 - Flying to Frankfurt

June 2008 was the most anticipated month since I was informed of my trip to Nurnberg, Germany for company training and that was when I started drafting out my plan to tour a few interesting places in Europe as well following the trip.

I flew out of our international airport at night; and thus began my round the clock 12-14 hours flight to Frankfurt Germany.

It was a really exhausting journey; especially when I had to travel during my sweet bedtime.
Thankfully, I managed to catch up on my beauty sleep despite the confined space in the airplane and also the constant revving sound of the airplane.
And again, when traveling across the timezones, be ready for meals at odd hours.
For instance, I was awakened at about 2am Malaysian time for dinner or something.
GOSH!

Then I had my breakfast or lunch; I can't even remember anymore!
It was a relief when I finally anticipate the plane approaching the airport.
My legs were so cramped that it felt painful at one point; I had to get up and walk to the end of the plane and started doing exercises to stretch my body and stimulate the blood circulation.

Landing in Frankfurt airport at 8.30a.m., I had to hurry to catch my connecting flight (domestic) to Nurnberg.

However, of course, I had to go through the immigration in Frankfurt airport.

By the way, looking at the appearance of Frankfurt airport, I felt so proud of our very own KLIA!
The interior looked so dull and unappealing that I had doubts whether I am in Germany; the country famous for technology.



I also found to my utter disgust that the people here are not really well-mannered; in fact they are quite rude; as a matter of fact. (No offense to the rest of you out there, I am probably unfortunate though to met those who were rude)

Anyway, I found my departure gate and proceeded to wait for my flight.


The domestic flight to Nurnberg was on this airbus; and we were transported by the airport shuttle from the waiting hall to the plane directly (not walking to the plane on our own; the land is too large for us to do so)


I am on my way to Nurnberg!~

(To be continued...)

Japan 2007 - Nagano-Shi

Nagano-shi, or the Nagano prefecture is surrounded by hills, and it was these hills with light mist which greeted me when I arrived at the railway station.

I was here only for a day in this region; which was appropriate too for this is the gateway to most of the sightseeing spots in Japan.


It was a memorable and peaceful walk down the streets after our meetings to enjoy the beautiful and quiet town of Nagano; neatly lined by the beautiful blooms and the unique oriental designs of the homes and shops.




(The streets were quite empty and quiet although it was only slightly after 5.30pm; but it got dark really quickly)

The architectures and designs of the houses and shops along the street were strong reminders of the oriental culture and heritage which we Asians have been proud of.



The famous landmark in Nagano-shi has to be the Zenkoji temple, and it was not that long of a walk for me to reach this symbolic temple.


At the Niomon Gate



The history of the temple; as taken from wikipedia
Zenkō-ji (善光寺?) is a Buddhist temple located in Nagano, Japan. The temple was built in the 7th century. Nagano City, established in 1897, was originally a town built around the temple. Historically, the Zenkō-ji is perhaps most famous for its involvement in the battles between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen in the 16th century, when it served as one of Kenshin's bases of operations. Currently, the Zenkō-ji is one of the last few remaining pilgrimage sites in Japan.

Zenkō-ji was founded before Buddhism in Japan was split into several different sects, so it currently belongs to both the Tendai and Jodo Shu schools of Buddhism, and is co-managed by twenty-five priests from the former school, and fourteen from the latter. The temple enshrines images of the Amida Buddha. According to legend, the image, having caused dispute between two clans, was dumped into a canal. It was later rescued by Yoshimitsu Honda. The temple was thus named "Zenkō," according to the Chinese transliteration of Yoshimitsu's name.

The main Buddhist image is a hibutsu (secret Buddha), a hidden Buddha statue, not shown to the public. This hibutsu is rumored to be the first Buddha statue to ever be brought to Japan. The commandments of the temple require the absolute secrecy of the statue, prohibiting it to be shown to anyone, including the chief priest of the temple. However, a replica of the statue (Maedachi Honzon) has been created which can be shown publicly once every six years in spring, in a ceremony called Gokaichō. This event attracts many worshippers and visitors. When the statue was on display in 2003, Zenkō-ji cooperated with Motozenkō-ji and Zenkō-ji of Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture. The most recent display of "Maedachi Honzon" took place in April and May, 2009.

The temple contains a statue of Binzuru, a physician who was said to be Buddha's follower. Visitors to the temple touch the statue in order to cure their ailments. The temple also contains an inner prayer chamber, accessible to visitors. Currently, a daily morning ritual is held there by the high priest or priestess. From the inner chamber, a narrow staircase leads down to a completely dark corridor. In this corridor worshippers try to touch a metal key hanging on the wall, in order to gain enlightenment. The key represents the Key to the Western Paradise of the Amida Buddha.

The Main Hall

After dark


The Nio guardians at the Niomon Gate

The Nio guardians were believed in the Buddhism context to protect from enemies or evil spirits.

I spotted some of these straw shoes with messages written on them; perhaps they were prayers offered by the locals to ward off evil? (I am not sure about these, need some local Japanese to shed some light on this)


These structures resemble structures of the Bodhisattvas


Most of the sections of the temple were closed when I was there, but I was still impressed with the peace and serenity surrounding the worship grounds.



There is even a souvenir vending machine available


Dinner was at a bistro restaurant nearer to the town of Nagano; where we stayed and along the way, there were also shops still open for business



Dinner






Hitting the road next to head to the capital of Japan...