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!

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!

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

Merry x-mas and a happy new year

Dear fellow reader,
I wish you all happy holiday and a good start into the upcoming new year. I am already excited about my new destinations and you will kept up to date with my in depth reports on traveling New York, Brussels, Shanghai, Cairo, Bahrain, Bangkok (all are fixed already) and hopefully many more. Keep in touch and all the best- your Bule!

Shanghai

As I mentioned already Shanghai is simply an amazing City and I would rather say a must for a smart traveler nowadays. But go ahead and try yourself. Trust me its worth it.
Travel:
This time I flow in from Europe- so I would recommend to use Swiss for your flight as it is still the best option, even they use the "old version" of their C Class.
You will arrive in Pudong International Airport, which is a fairly huge and modern airport. Nothing special, but they do offer free Wifi in public areas. Keep in mind that some sites are not visible while you are in Chine- you will need a special program to enter some of the blocked sites. Before entering China you need to apply for a Visa back in your home country. There is no Visa on arrival service at the moment. The Airport is located far outside of the city, but there is the Maglev, a high speed train running between Pudong Airport the city within a couple of minutes, depending on how fast your train runs. Check schedules to speed up, but at least train will run with 300km per hour. Keep in mind that you have to change for the Metro or Taxi to reach you final destination. Travel between airport and city center will be at all around 1 hour, depending on traffic. Taxis are cheap and go on the meter. A taxi between the airport and the city is about 150 Yuan, depending on traffic and your loction. The Maglev is about 40 Yuan plus subway fare.

Place to stay:
As always in fairly huge cities you should choose your hotel, depending on where you need to go. In shanghai you have to deside if you wanna stay on Pudong side or in the city center in Puxi ( Bund area ). Pudong is the modern high rise building area, which is more the business district. nevertheless there are some very nice hotels around. First of all you should consider the Park Hyatt located in the highest building at time of writing. The hotel is top notch and the view over Shanghai is best. Next to it, in second highest building, the Jin Moa Tower is the Grand Hyatt located. For sure also an alternative if Park Hyatt is fully booked. On Puxi side I can recommend fairly priced Swissotel located in Jing an district, next to famous Jing An temple and to a subway station ( line number two connecting to Maglev train ).
Enjoy:
Shanghai do offer so much place you should consider to visit. As most of us lacking time I will give just a few hints.
Most of the action is on Puxi side- so came over for a long night out or start your evening with a drink in Park Hyatt's bar on 89th floor- well worth it!
Later you should consider Logo, Dada for a few drinks and even a good party and for dancing all night one of the Muse Clubs.
If you wanna hang out on the Bund you can drop in all time favorite Bar Rouge, but to be honest, I guess it is boring.

Shanghai

Well, I just returned from a fucking cool weekend in Shanghai and to be honest this City is amazing. So much fun- buy your tickets now!
When I have some more time left, I will leave an in depth report right here for place you should check out.

Travel the world

I completed planning so far for my upcoming trip. If you are around for example in Shanghai, London, Istanbul, Jakarta or Singapore please drop me a line.
Stay tuned for my fresh reports on traveling the world!

Shanghai soon!

Well Guys: Get ready for Shanghai in late september!!!!

Stay tuned for my report on traveling China.

Beijing

Well anybody in the mood for Beijing in late august?