Jakarta

Hey folks, time for another in depth report on beautiful Jakarta. Just keep in mind- get up late in the afternoon to explore what Jakarta has on offer as traffic get worse and worse. Lately it took me about two hours by car from Menteng to Kemang on a friday night. So be prepared and plan carefully where you go. Dinner options are plentiful but if you are looking for a decent pizza, pasta or even a steak the all time favorites Pepenero and Trattoria are the place to go. Booth have branches in Kuningan area. Not new to the club scene, but popular nowadays is Immigrant in famous Plaza Indonesia. New to me was a visit to Domain club and bar in Senayan City. This seems to be a rustic alpine style venue. Its more a bar than a club. A little boring music wise and no real dance floor available. One of my new favorites is 365 This is also more like a bar, but offers very good music and people are dancing.
If you are seeking some up to date party information and pictures about Jakarta nightlife, check out ILOVEGLAM
Jakarta is the upcoming New York!

Yangon

Yangon is on the the most interesting cities I had been to recently. The burmese junta is asking for a visa, so keep in mind that you apply for one before you take a very cheap Air Asia flight bound for RGN airport. Flight time from Bangkok is about one hour, but hurry up when leaving the aircraft as passport control takes ages. As there are no ATMs available in whole Myanmar, you have to carry all the money you need in USD with you. Credit cards are not accepted or just at a very few places. People tend to be very fuzzy about the bank notes- so just carry sparkling clean and new ones, as they might not accept older ones. I stayed at very popular Traders Hotel downtown. Its a little old but it is indeed a good choice to explore the city. Besides the very famous pagodas you should think about a train ride with the circle line. The round trip takes about 2 hours from the main train station, which is within walking distance to the Traders hotel. Foreigners have to buy a ticket at a special desk and have to register with their passport. The ride is simply amazing as you see a different side of the city and many beautiful smiling faces. Be prepared to be the only western guy!
If you wanna relax in style, go for the tea time at very famous Strand Hotel
Night life is limited but there are some local beer bars with entertainment. Just stroll around the streets in little india or china town.

Bangkok

Besides Jakarta, Bangkok is one of my favorite places world wide. Like in most asian mega cities you will enjoy the lifestyle most likely at night. If you are one of the lucky ones and able to stay longer you should think about one of the many serviced apartments. I had recently stayed in Somerset Suanplu
for a couple of times and admit that this is a very good alternative to a boxed hotel room. For sure its not luxurious as most of the five star hotels available in Bangkok, but offers a comfortable place to stay indeed. For "ONE NIGHT" in Bangkok or if you need just a shower before leaving back to the airport, there is a pretty decent Four Points by Sheraton.
Don't be late for the night out in BKK as many clubs will close quiet early. My favorite place to go out is still famous RCA area. Thats an entertainment area with lots of bars and clubs. Check out 808

Even if the webpage looks a little boring you should give Tapas a try. Thats a multi storey bar/ club within the gay area next to Sala Daeng station.
If you are looking for a decent place for lunch or dinner you should look out for Secret Garden restaurant on sathorn road. They do offer delicious thai food and yummy cakes from their bakery!
When you missed you breakfast or you are looking for a very special place to go, you should consider the diner @ THE ATLANTA - eggs and bacon served with style!

Bandung

Paris van Java- or even the City of Love. Bandung is not Paris for sure and Paris is not the city of Love for me, but Bandung is! Sometimes it is complicated, but thats how it is. For me is Bandung very special because of a very special person, so I am not really sure if Bandung is the place to be or not. Compared to Jakarta, Bandung is like a small village, but indeed its worth a visit. I would suggest to go there during week days as on weekends it gets crowded by many visitors from Jakarta. Most convenient way to reach Bandung from Jakarta is to take a plane. Susi Air offers a daily service from Jakarta Halim. If you are not fuzzy about flying you could easily take a minibus service. I can recommend Cipaganti which offers multiple departures daily with quiet comfortable mini vans. Depend on traffic, it takes about 3 hours including one stop on route. Once I took the train, but to be honest I am not a fan. The service from Gambir station should last about 3 hours as well, but delays are "daily business" if you take "kereta api".
My favorite place to stay is the Hilton Bandung. The Hotel is very new, modern and comfortable- located in the city center near the train station. Try to get an executive room on top floor for an amazing view over the city. The staff in the lounge is simply outstanding and the service received is top notch. What I really like is the pool- big enough for some laps.
If you don't have somebody to show you around, ask the concierge for one of the many restaurants in the hills around the city for a dinner with a view.
If you wanna go around I would recommend to rent a motor bike. The concierge now knows where to get one, as this is not common in the Hilton Bandung. There are some hot spring resorts about 20 kilometers outside of Bandung. Its a scenic ride, but the public hot spring pool is pretty basic!

Even if you don't fell in Love you might enjoy your trip to Bandung!

SUSI AIR

Air traffic in Indonesia is often an adventure or even dangerous. I never had flown with the cheap ones like Batavia Air, Adam Air or Lion as they seem all not safe compared to international standards. So the only option used to be Garuda Indonesia. During my recent trip my friend from Bandung told me that there is an alternative to the time wasting train or car service from Jakarta. Susiair offers charter or private Jet service on this route, so no doubt I had to get a ticket with them. Booking is not easy as I had to call them several times to confirm our flight, but finally we made it and got a private jet up in the air on route to Jakarta Halim Airport- thats more or less like Tempelhof in Berlin. Flight time is less than 30 minutes but the view over Java and later the skyline of Jakarta is worth every Rupiah you paid.

Stay tuned for more in depth reports on traveling Asia!

Citadines Quartier Jakarta

Jakarta is always good for a surprise as it is my place to stay during this time.
I do have a nice studio @ Citadines located right in the heart of the city in Menteng neighbourhood. This serviced apartment Hotel is pretty new and kind of stylish which give you the feeling to be in NYC rather than in Indonesia.
Its not a posh place to stay but it offers the basic services you might need. The roof top pool is big enough for some laps and the view is simply amazing. Lobby level has a cafe and snack bar where breakfast is served. To be honest you can skip that, but its a nice touch! Internet access is free and works well, even by the pool.
Stay tuned for more in depth reports on Jakarta!

Barber brothel

The day I arrived I was in urgent need of a manicure. As I had a motorbike already I simply drove onwards to Monivong, finding a barber shop/ beauty salon. I went in and was received a warm welcome and a women took my hand taking me into the back part upstairs. There I told here, that I am just looking for a simple manicue- nothing more. She was kind of confused, but took me down again into a private room with two girl on each side doing my nails. The worked really hard but I run out of time, so I left them without the intended extra service by the mama San...Welcome to Phnom Penh!

Phnom Penh

Its a couple of month ago since I had been in Phnom Penh, but now I am back and its kind of strange. I am not sure why, but it seems that the development of this beautiful City in beyond my expectation. I am sitting in Boeang Keng Kong 1 (BKK1) in "my" street. Its st.278, which used to be a small residential street with serviced apartments serving the NGO crowd. But nowadays it seems to be the favorite hang out place for "volunteers". The apartments are still available and as always a good choice if you are on a shoestring. I am staying normally at "Golden Bridge"- most places are golden anyway. Its a very basic chinese run place, but clean and very friendly staff assisting you wherever they can.
The former pretty relaxed hang out place Elsewhere moved into the street and it looks like it is the favorite hang out location for some sorry to say, fat and ugly volunteers relaxing in the pool from their very hard daily life out in the "real cambodia"...
To be honest- there aren't many places in the world where such people could behave like that- this bar is one of them.
To be fair- the passion nirwana ist still sooo yummy!!!!

Stay tuned for more reports on traveling asia!

Travel Asia

Its time for a change. Meet me around Asia from january until end of march. Be prepared on in depth reports on traveling Hong Kong, Bangkok, Yangon, Phnom Penh, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali, Bandung, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai.

Stay tuned!

Exciting

London

London is always worth the travel even so you had been there many times. Yesterday I celebrated 15 years returning guest with a traditional Cider @Piccadilly Circus. I used to have a couple of drinks there, during my first trip as a teenager. Long time ago, but still a very good feeling to return. London at all is best if you are slightly drunk. Just stop by any of the hundreds of pubs on your way and have a pint. Well to be honest the first one taste like pee..but you well get used to it very soon. Next weekend I gonna give you a in depth report on driving drunken throughout United Kingdom- so stay tuned!

Bucharest

I am going east!!! Its a long time ago I had been to romania. So keep in touch on my in depth reports on travel the east!

Sofitel Beijing Wanda

I stayed @ Sofitel in august for 4 nights. It was my first time to Beijing and I have to say location of the hotel is pretty good. Taxis are cheap but keep in mind that there is a lot of traffic jam during the day. At night its not a problem at all. You are able to reach the nightlife and entertainment area of Sanlitun in about 10- 15min. Next to the hotel are some local restaurants. Been there a couple of times, as these places are quiet nice to taste some local flavor. The overall style of the hotels is slightly "golden", maybe a little bit to much for my taste, but our Suite was very nice and the view facing the CCTV building was incredible. The Suite comes with a great bedroom, with a comfy bed, a huge bathroom with tub and extra shower. We had 3 TVs an Espresso-automat and fast Internet access- what else do you need? Well maybe a guest restroom, good room service and cool front office staff. I was quiet happy to stay @ Sofitel and will consider it for sure for my next trip to beijing!

Travel the world

My upcoming travel plans are more or less fixed. I will get in depth reports on travel St Petersburg, Tokyo, Seoul, Geneve and London. Can't go to United States again but might be able to check out Romania.
Stay tuned for more reports on travel the world!

Lantern Beijing

Beat Off Party - Beijing/China- at Lantern Club from Dorothée Sorbier °DOTHY° on Vimeo.

Lufthansa Beijing sucks!

After a great stay in Beijing, we left the Grand Hyatt right on time for the around 1 hours lasting journey to the airport by taxi.
Flight should have been a day flight leaving Beijing at 13.20pm and arrive @MUC in the evening same day. So we opted for LH Business Class, knowing well that there are better products in the air, but as premium costumers it shouldn't be a problem. Check in was a swift but security and passport control took ages as there is no priority lane. Still 30 minutes before flight we opted to check out the Air China Lounge which was more or less a nightmare as it was fu**ing hot at the airport. The Lounge offer free Internet access which is a plus. Just before heading to the gate I got told that there might be a minor delay. No problem so far, but I don't trust these guys and went to the gate to check. I asked Lufthansa staff at the gate about the delay and they said something about an hour and that we could go back to the Lounge again. i asked for the reason and they told me it is a "technical problem" with the aircraft. Well if you fly a lot you know, that technical issues won't be resolved within a couple of minutes. I went back to the Lounge to check my other option to reach my destination on that day and went back to the gate to request a rebooking to another flight or another night in Beijing. They refused and said that I will be fine as they intend to leave very soon. What a rubbish, got a text message right in this moment stating the flight will be delayed by another 4 hours! After long discussions with the flight manager, I got the OK from the immigration to leave China on another flight, which is not that easy, but besides there had been several more options he offered me to fly on my own cost to HKG and connecting on another LH flight to FRA. I refused as they should been in charge to make sure that I reach my destination on time. Later on I contacted the LH Station manager, a chinese Lady not willing to assist and lying to the costumers. She told me, that I am not allowed to leave the country on anther flight rather than the booked LH flight. That was the time I started to laugh even so it wasn't funny. I pointed out that I got the OK to leave already a few hours ago, she got really pissed off, why her flight manager was such a helpful person. End of the story- we left Beijing about 6 hours late, I missed my connecting flight in MUC and had to stay overnight. Did not got my luggage in MUC and had wear the same stuff again and again...
On top of that Lufthansa refuse to compensate us for the delay of around 14 hours and all the trouble caused!
Be aware as there is better way to fly!

Beijing

My recent trip took me to the chinese Capital and I must say I got flashed during my time over there. Besides people tend to promote Shanghai as the place to be in China I gonna let you know a secret- they are all wrong. Beijing is well worth the trip and even more exciting than Shanghai. For first timers to Beijing you will have to visit all the main tourist attraction like the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square e.g. For the day trip to the Great Wall I would recommend to use a private Car, as it is more flexible and comfortable as most bus tours will stop by some fabrics to buy some expensive rubbish. I did the tour with John - he is a very kind person and did a great job.
For inner City attractions you can easily take the subway or the plenty available cheap taxis. Just keep in mind that you need directions in mandarin, as the taxi drivers do not speak a single word english. Beijing is very huge and the traffic jam during the day is exhausting- so choose your place to stay carefully if you need to travel during rush hours.
My personal favorite is the new Sofitel Wanda, We had a very nice Suite facing the CCTV building! Location is great, as there are some cheap chinese restaurants near by and Sanlitun area is just 10 minutes by taxi. Another great option is the Grand Hyatt which is within walking distance to the Tiananmen Sqaure and Forbidden City. Its a very huge hotel with an amazing Pool and Spa area. The Hyatt is not really wow, but everything is solid 5 Star and the staff is very professional. Even if you don't stay there you should consider to indulge yourself to a traditional Beijing duck @ Made in China!
For a good night out you should head to Sanlitun and the streets around. There are plenty of bars, clubs and restaurants around.
My favorite is Lantern Club. Simply go for it!
If you need to relax and recover from your night out Dragonfly is a very good place to unwind. Its not posh at all, but quality is very good and prices are reasonable.
I did not try Herborist Spa but it seems to be a very nice place. So give it a try and let me know, as I gonna be back soon.

Stay tuned for my upcoming report on Beijing in winter!

Travel is Entertainment

Being in many places worldwide its not easy to find something really "new". Anyway traveling keeps me busy and entertained even so I am a regular guest to places like New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Jakarta. The upcoming month will be surprisingly new. I will head twice to all time favorite european destinations, namely Barcelona and Malaga. New places to explore will be Marrakech and Beijing. Yeah guys- I gonna explore the hot maghreb lifestyle and get spanked in the desert! If you wanna join: Hotel du Tresor!
And if you wanna dance the whole night you might check out Beijing nightlife:
You might find myself @White rabbit, Propaganda, Hei Hei or Suzie

Moscow

Moscow is a really huge city and could be hardly compared to any other place I had been to. First of all its not easy to get a permit to join the russian party crowd for a weekend. Its complicated and expensive at its best. I would strictly recommend to use an Agent to apply for the necessary visa documents. They charge you a relativly small fee and you do not have to struggle with the russian officers at the embassy. I used this Agent in germany and it worked well. Keep in mind to apply early to avoid extra charges. You should try fly into Domodevo Airport as the Airport is quiet modern with pretty good Star Alliance lounges offering nice views on the tarmac, free wifi and a relaxed atmosphere. But main plus is the so called Aero Express train. Offering train service for 250RUB, which is about 6 Euros or 8 Bucks. Train runs at least every hour and the journey takes about 45 minutes to Paveletsky railway station, where you have access to the metro network.
Places to stay:
Well as I told you already it is very expensive in moscow. If you are on the cheap side go to Berlin or spend some money that you are able to afford your stay in moscow in style. There are some hostels available, but I not sure about the quality. Please keep in mind, that you need to register while you are staying in moscow. Most bigger hotels will do arrange that for you free of charge, but the cheap places will charge you extra for that service. If you are seeking a "cheap", clean and safe place you should consider the pretty new Ibis ,
located about 10 minutes walking from the Paveletsky station. The hotel offers affordable small rooms with ensuite bathroom and double beds. Wifi is free of charge and staff speaks english. There is a Starbucks on the way to Dobrininskaya station where you can grab a coffee and watch very sexy boys and girls having a rest from studying.
If you are not a penny pincher and looking for a place with charm you should stay at the Hilton, which is nestled in a heritage building. Rooms, breakfast and service received is to notch, but its pricey. Internet access is about 960RUB per 24hour, which is around 24 Euros!!
If you wanna stay in style go for the Park Hyatt.
Enjoy:
Entertainment is a huge topic while you are staying in moscow. There are so many places to choose from, but even if you have a enough money, keep in mind that they do have Face Control to keep places very special!
My favorite place for a relaxed dinner and a few drinks afterwards is Krizes Zhanra. This place turns into a club late at night, offering mostly life music or even electro parties. Its a place for the younger, hip, gay, sweet and beautiful crowd. Well don't worry- guests are mostly very nice and its a good place to start your night out in moscow. If you wanna dance all night go for Propaganda. A small club offering mainly electronic music with top Djs experienced world wide. I did not have to pay a cover charge and drinks are not to pricey.

Getting around:
Московский метрополитен- the moscow metro network is the main form of public transport in moscow. Its not only safe, fast and cheap its also on of the main tourist attractions of the russian capital. So get your sight seeing trip started in the underground! There are a few official taxi companies offering their service in moscow but they are not reliable if you don't speak any word russian. Try the "lokal" ones. Just wait a few seconds on a bigger street for a private car to stop by and tell the driver where you wanna go, fix a price and enjoy your trip. Its easy as far as the driver knows the place you wanna go to. You should get anywhere within the city center for about 200RUB. At night it might be more expensive- so bargain hard or wait for another car.

Moscow Baby!

Well folks I gonna be in Moscow in march. Hope to see you there and stay tuned for my in depth report on moscow nights.