Three New York Best Hotel Deals Below $300

1. Paramount Hotel Times Square

Paramount Hotel (broadway classic room starts from $209) is highly sought by travellers because of its location which is right in Times Square, just steps from the line of Broadway theatres. News said that the famous Daniel Radcliffe has stayed here before. 

The guest rooms feature clean lines, pretty sleek decor and bathroom equipped with ice-cream cone shaped stainless-steel sinks. There is a full length mirror in the room (all the ladies rejoice!). The rooms at the Paramount Hotel tend to run small in size, so if you don't really like staying in such a small room, you may want to book bigger room instead. Do try to request for rooms not facing the street as the street can be quite noisy. Well, New York never sleeps, doesn't it?

2. The Lexington New York City 

The Lexington New York City (queen room starts from $259) has recently undergone a multi-million dollar renovation. Its guest rooms are now styled with art deco touches. You can say that the Lexington is the boutique style extension of the Marriott's. The hotel is situated in midtown Manhattan and you can reach Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center and the United Nations headquarter within walking distance. 

The rooms at the Lexington come with 42-inch flat screen TVs and marble bathrooms. The rooms are small but they are clean so if you expect the hotel to cover all the basic amenities, well, it does a pretty good job. 

3. Holiday Inn New York City - Wall Street

Holiday Inn (standard king room starts from $279) offers a great view of the skyline of New York City as it is located only a block away from Broadway and three blocks from Wall Street near the southern tip of Manhattan. The metro station is located just steps away from the hotel entrance and this makes travelling around easy. There is a Starbucks right outside the hotel too. 

The rooms in Holiday Inn are small but functional. A business traveller will love the stay here as it is close to the financial district and it has comfy beds. Breakfast at Holiday Inn receives a lot of good compliments over the online world too. Do ask for the room as high as possible to enjoy the great skyline view (unless you are scared of height, of course). 

Travel Planning to Seoul, South Korea

See the lovely neighbourhood of Insadong

Being referred to as the traditional neighbourhood of Seoul, Insadong offers visitors the opportunity to transfer back to a time when women wore hanbok and men rode horses. There are a lot of wooden tea houses, traditional souvenir stores and street vendors selling traditional snacks. If you visit Insadong on Sunday, the streets become traffic free and there are a lot of street buskers performance that you can enjoy. One of the must visit place for tourists in Insadong is the Ssamziegil.

Ssamziegil is a shopping complex which houses over 70 stores that sell various items ranging from fashion and art to food and accessories. If you are interesting in finding traditional kind of souvenirs just like this traditional hanbok pouch, you should definitely make your way to Insadong. 

Eat the famous Jeonju bibimbap

South Korea is famous its bibimbap (re: mixed rice). It is basically a bowl of rice which is mixed together with a variety of ingredients such as beef, sauteed vegetables, gochujang (chilli pepper paste) and soy bean paste. A raw egg will be served on top of the ingredients. If you would like to try bibimbap, you can try out bibimbap at Gogung Myeongdong. You can try two variety of bibimbap here. One is Jeonju Bibimbap (which is served cold and it has raw beef in it) while the other is Dolsot Bibimbap (which is served on hot-stone bowl and the cooked beef). 

If you don't really like eating raw stuff, just stick to dolsot bibimbap. Don't forget to give their makgeolli (re: rice wine) a try. 

Stay the night at Lotte Hotel Seoul

Lotte Hotel Seoul (double room starts from $252) is located within walking distance from the main shopping districts in Seoul, Myeong-dong and Dongdaemun. The bedrooms provided by the hotel is known for its huge space. A continental buffet breakfast is served every morning and I heard it is quite good. Tips: Request for the room facing the road as it offers more interesting view from your window. 

Flight deals to Seoul 

A return flight from London to Seoul starts from $778.

A return flight from New York to Seoul starts from $1,067.

A return flight from Los Angeles to Seoul starts from $893.

A return flight from Paris to Seoul starts from $508.

A return flight from Berlin to Seoul starts from $733.

Travel Planning in Taipei, Taiwan

See the changing of guards ceremony at Martyr Shrine

Martyr Shrine was built in 1969 as a remembrance to the 330,000 lives lost during the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese Civil War and prior to the establishment of Republic of China. Everyday at 9AM sharp, the changing of guards ceremony takes place at Martyr Shrine. I have always admire these guards. Their moves can be precise and synchronised and yet, still able to maintain that expressionless faces.

Once the new guards are standing at their station, visitors are allowed to take pictures with them. I don't think you are supposed to touch them like what Mr Bean do in the movie (omg, I wonder if the younger generation know about Mr Bean). XD

Eat xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung

Started from a humble beginning, Din Tai Fung has now established in various countries around the world. However, if you want to try the original taste of Din Tai Fung's famous xiao long bao, you jsut have to come to Din Tai Fung in Taipei. The main restaurant is located at Yongkang Street and it always has long queue forming at its door. 

Some of the must-have dishes are the pork xiao long bao, pork chop, noodles with minced pork sauce and the stir fried greens. 

Stay at the Okura Prestige Taipei

Situated in Nanjing and Zhongshan commercial district, The Okura Prestige Taipei (double room starts rom $225) is located pretty convenient in downtown Taipei. The hotel is only three years old and hence, you can expect that the rooms are still in its new condition. The hotel is managed in Japanese culture and hence, the service given here is impeccable. The hotel is located within walking distance from Zhongshan subway station. 

Flight deals to Taipei

A return flight from Singapore to Taipei starts from $222.

A return flight from New York to Taipei starts from $770.

A return flight from Los Angeles to Taipei starts from $624.

A return flight from London to Taipei starts from $711.

Travel Guide to Singapore

SEE

If you want to know what can people do with $8 billion, well, Marina Bay Sands is the result of that investment. The integrated resort offers nearly everything that a visitor could ever need on their stay in Singapore. From a casino, to an entertainment theatres, to the 300-store Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands shopping mall, and an art science museum.

There is even a daily show provided at Marina Bay Sands resort which involves amazing combination of light, music, and sound. The daily show held at the Event Plaza at the Promenade at 8PM and 9.30PM from Sunday to Thursday and at 8PM, 9.30PM and 11PM on Friday and Saturday.

EAT

You can't say that you have visited Singapore without trying its local fare, Hainanese chicken rice. The hainanese rice is not the same as the white rice as the first is more fragrant than the latter. It does not matter if the chicken is steamed or roasted, it tastes superb when eaten together with the garlic chili sauce and black sauce. 

In Singapore, chicken rice is available in many Chinese coffee shops, restaurants and street hawker stalls. Among many good choices, two restaurants stand out in Singapore, Boon Tong Kee and Wee Nam Kee. Both originated from the Balestier area in Singapore but nowadays, you can find the branches of the main restaurants scattered all around Singapore. 

STAY

Naumi Hotel is a luxe boutique hotel situated at Seah Street, which is pretty near to Bugis and Suntec City in City Hall. Staying at a boutique hotels has become a trend amongst both local and international tourists in Singapore. A double room starts from $260. The roof-top pool is a popular place to hang out amongst the guests after a full day out in Singapore. 

FLIGHT DEAL FROM THE US

Qatar Airways is currently having a deal for its return flight from New York and Philadelphia to Singapore. A return flight from New York to Singapore starts from $935 while a return flight from Philadelphia to Singapore starts from $960.

FLIGHT DEAL FROM THE UK

On top of the US, Qatar Airways is also having promotion for its return flight from Birmingham and Edinburgh. A return flight from Birmingham to Singapore starts from GBP405 while a return flight from Edinburgh to Singapore starts from GBP505.

Macau's Travel Planning

See the ruins of St. Paul's

The remains of the greatest church is Macau is now the most popular attraction amongst tourists. The church has been enduring typhoons and multiple fires, it can be considered a great feat that the Ruins of St Paul's is still standing up to this day. A lot of reconstruction happened along the way, of course.

After you visit Ruins of St Paul's, you should continue your way east of the ruins to the oldest fort in Macau, Monte Fort. The walls of the fort and the cannons are still remaining until this day. Do check out the landscape surrounding the fort for the amazing view of Macau.

Eat the egg tarts

The Portuegese egg tart is one of the most famous food in Macau. It consists of a flaky pastry shell with a sweet egg custard filling and glazed with the caramelised top. It is best eaten warm as the egg tart tend to turn soggy after a while. Among many good choices, Lord Stow's Bakery at Venetian Macau and Koi Kei Bakery (there's a store on the way to the Ruins of St Paul's) seem to be the most popular with the tourists (based on the queue at both stores). 

Staying at the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel

The Venetian Macau is one huge complex in Macau which has casino, food court, shopping mall, grand canal, exhibition halls and hotel. There is a complimentary shuttle bus between the airport/ the ferry harbour and the Venetian Macau. The bus drops off at the Main Hotel Entrance and picks up at the West Entrance. The bedroom offered by the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel (a king/ double queen room starts from $300) is so huge, it can fit more than two people. Each bedroom is equipped with the living room area and massive bathroom with each wash basin for him and her. 

The hotel is connected to the shopping mall where you can ride the gondola along the grand canal inside the shopping mall. 

Flight deals to Macau

From New York to Macau starts from $1,170. 

From Los Angeles to Macau starts from $744.

From London to Macau starts from $662.

From Munich to Macau starts from $608.

From Singapore to Macau starts from $182.

Travel Idea to Kaohsiung

See the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center

Fo Guang Shan is a monastery and temple ground situated on a hilltop in Kaohsiung. There are a lot of statues and a story of the great path to Buddhahood around the memorial centre. At the end of the main square, you will see the 400 foot tall Golden Buddha statue. Visitors can pray to the Buddha at the building right under the statue.

Upon walking through the main gate, you can walk in the welcome center area which is equipped with the air-condition and heater (nice place to linger around when the weather is too hot or too cold). The welcome center kinda looks like a mall with a lot of shops, vegetarian restaurants, a 7-11 and even a Starbucks.

You can reach Fo Guang Shan by taking a direct bus no. 8010 from Kaohsiung Railway Station or Eda Bus no. 8501 from Zuoying High Speed Railway Station. 

Stay at 85 Sky Tower Hotel 

85 Sky Tower is the highest building and also the landmark of Kaohsiung. It houses a lot of offices and the grand 85 Sky Tower Hotel (double room starts from $132). Except for the great view of Kaohsiung from the top, there are not many things to see around the hotel's vicinity. Thankfully, the hotel provides shuttle to the nearest MRT.

Eat at Liuhe Night Market

Liuhe Night Market is one of the most popular night markets in Taiwan. It is always included in whichever tour group's itinerary in Kaohsiung so expect some crowds when you visit Liuhe Night Market. The night market is located within walking distance from Kaohsiung Train Station. 

Liuhe Night Market has a lot of variety of dishes from the fried sausage, black pepper buns, papaya milk, steamed shrimps and even pig blood's cake and snake meat. You would probably need a lot of courage to try the last two dishes though. 

Flight deals to Kaohsiung

Ticket from London to Kaohsiung starts from $782.

Ticket from New York to Kaohsiung starts from $1,164.

Ticket from Los Angeles to Kaohsiung starts from $726.

Ticket from Amsterdam to Kaohsiung starts from $926.

Ticket from Singapore to Kaohsiung starts from $341.

Take Me to Arashiyama, Kyoto

SEE

Arashiyama is famous for its beautiful bamboo path. The beginning of Arashiyama Bamboo Path is usually crowded with people but the most beautiful spot lies further down the path. When the bamboo groves grow further apart from each other, the bamboo become thick and beautiful. 

There are several ways for visitors to enjoy the bamboo path. One can simply stroll the path or rent a bike to enjoy the beautiful sight of the bamboo groves. You can also take a rickshaw ride from the Japanese strong men if you want. The rickshaw ride costs around 5,000 to 7,000 Japanese Yen, depend on where you want to go.

EAT

There are so many street food in Arashiyama, one should take his or her time slowly to check them out one by one. The four color ice cream (with the flavor of sweet potato, sesame, green tea and sweet corn) stall located at the junction leading to the entrance to the bamboo path has a long queue. To tell you the truth, queue can be a good indicator of a good food. Do get yourself a cone of ice cream to make your day sweeter.

If you prefer to eat something big, you should probably make your way to the nearby Tenryuji Temple and pray for it join the queue line (which is expected) at the popular eel restaurant in Arashiyama, Unagiya Hirokawa. 

The restaurant menu does not have much, however, it does best at what it is serving, eel dishes. The unajyu (grilled eel with special sauce on top of rice) taste perfect. The eel has the right texture and size and it is grilled perfectly without being under or over-grilled.

STAY

If you are looking for a ryokan staying experience with an impeccable service, you should try Arashiyama Benkei (10-tatami mat room for 2 person starts from $892). The room is facing the hills and it guarantees a beautiful morning view when you wake up the next morning. The room rate includes a 7-course dinner served in traditional Japanese kiseki style.  There are both public and private onsen for guests to try for a good and relaxing experience. 

RETURN FLIGHT DEAL TO KYOTO

London to Kyoto starts from $671. 

Berlin to Kyoto starts from $733.

New York to Kyoto starts from $1,061.

Los Angeles to Kyoto starts from $693.

Singapore to Kyoto starts from $411.

Jakarta to Kyoto starts from $478.