The Impressive Fairmont Peace Hotel

For anyone walking down the Bund, one building which will surely catch their eye is the iconic Peace Hotel. The Peace Hotel is located at a busy junction of Zhongshan Road and Nanjing Road. It is actually composed of two buildings, one at the north and one at the south straddling both sides of Nanjing Road. The large building is the north building now known as the Fairmont Peace Hotel. This building will not look out of place in New York City. This hotel used to be the place to stay when in Shanghai. The building was just renovated and once again open for business.

Swatch Art Peace Hotel

The most prominent feature of the north building is undoubtedly the triangular roof. The copper plated roof is now a bright shade of green and at night can be seen as one of the stars of the Bund. The south building on the other hand doesn’t look anything like the north building, which was why I was surprised to know that both come together. It is now the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. On the way to Nanjing Road, one would surely pass by these two buildings.

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Bank of China Building

Hall of Imperial Peace 钦安门

View of the Atrium from the Bottom of the Shanghai Grand Hyatt at Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

Of the numerous photos I have seen of the Jinmao Tower, none can be more memorable than the image of the atrium of the hotel. The hotel which occupies the upper half of the Jinmao Tower is the Shanghai Grand Hyatt. I normally don’t feature commercial establishments except when they are restaurants but this one is quite special. The Shanghai Grand Hyatt occupies the 53rd to the 87th floor. I took a lift all the way up to the 54th floor. The 53rd had some kind of bar, which I don’t think was a good place for me to wander around looking like a tourist.

Band Playing at the Cafe at the Shanghai Grand Hyatt at the Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

The 54th floor was the hotel lobby and cafe which turned out to be the perfect place for me to do my stuff. It was here where I took photos of Shanghai. However, the main feature here is the cafe and its grand atrium which goes all the way up the 87th floor. It is a truly amazing sight. It counts as one of the worlds highest atria. It would have been interesting to see the view from the top but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do that. I took some time exploring the rest of the nearby floors where there were restaurants and bars before finally leaving. The Jinmao Tower is truly one of the most beautiful buildings I have even been too, and I was fortunate to have visited it.

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Going Inside Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

View from Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

Buildings Nearby Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

I casually walked in the Jinmao Tower, not knowing whether they let random tourists in the building or not. Then again, they might not be able to tell anyway since they have a hotel on the upper half of the tower. I was definitely looking tourist material, which is probably why I got in without a hitch. There was a lift off to the side of the entrance and I just walked in. Some floors looked important so I took a chance an pushed that button to go up. What greeted me was some sort of restaurant or cafe area of the tower. I dared not go to the restaurant area lest they shoo me away. However, there was some interesting stuff I can do here.

Oriental Pearl Tower from the Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

The floor was surrounded by glass windows giving you a commanding view of Shanghai. I tried taking photos from there but the floor was too brightly lit to be of any use. I think the building has an even higher viewing deck but I didn’t go there anymore. I’m sure I would have to pay for that this time. The view was certainly amazing. The Bund can be clearly seen from here as well as the Oriental Pearl Tower. Countless buildings shine in the darkness, as if telling you how important they are in this great city.

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Going Inside Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

Shanghai Grand Hyatt Atrium

Entrance to the Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

I have seen photos of the Jinmao Tower and I’m ecstatic that I was right at the doorstep of this beautiful building. However, I wasn’t sure if tourists could just waltz right in and take photos. The exterior of the building is certainly a beauty, I wonder if the interiors will be just as nice. The entrance to the building was something quite amazing. You can say that this is modern Chinese design. The building is clad in glass and yet it still employs Chinese design elements. After all, the building was patterned after a pagoda.

Outside the Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

Surprisingly, I wasn’t stopped at the entrance of the building. Probably because of the camera that was hanging around my neck. There happens to be a hotel here at the Jinmao Tower the Shanghai Grant Hyatt which occupies the top half of the building. I couldn’t take too many photos of the inside of the building lest I raise suspicious about myself. Have a look at what I saw.

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Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

View from Jinmao Tower 金茂大厦

Shanghai Grand Hyatt Atrium

Jagged Rocks at Huangshan 黄山

A lot of visitors stay overnight to watch the famed sunrise here on the top of Huangshan. Uncharacteristically, I booked a hotel room from my hostel worth CNY 140, pricey by my standards. Actually, the Japanese student and I booked the hotel room. Our British and Chinese companion were to find a place themselves. Locating the hotel wasn’t that easy either, in fact I don’t really know how we managed to find it considering how big Huangshan is. There were stairs going in every direction it is actually not easy to know which way it going where.

Weather Station on the Top of Huangshan 黄山

From the top of the stairs we climbed another long set of stairs to the left and then down the mountain where a small village was built. It had a hotel there and it turns out that that was the place we were going to stay at. I think it was our Chinese friend who managed to locate it. Our hotel room wasn’t exactly luxurious since it was a dorm room with probably six people inside. There was an attached toilet and television. So it was actually not that bad.

A Look Down from the Top of Huangshan 黄山

The Chinese guy and British guy managed to score a dorm room very near our place. In fact, it was just behind it, and they got it for CNY 80. It was a good deal since you only need to sleep in it. The toilets were common though. The dorm room could hold probably more than twenty people. It isn’t exactly very comfortable since it wasn’t easy to get around the room with all the beds in the way. It looks more like a refugee camp than a dorm room but it is home, for now.

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Waiting for Sunrise at Huangshan 黄山

Sunrise at Huangshan 黄山

Going to Huangshan City 黄山市

The City of Chengde 承德

Again, I wanted to get out early the next day only to dilly dally until was a already quite late. The plan for the day was to go to the city of Chengde in the neighboring province of Hebei. It was easy enough to get the bus, and according to my research, there is a brand new highway connecting Beijing and Chengde, which still cut travel time down to two hours.

When the bus left, it was stopping a bit too frequently, as if it was a regular commuter bus. I was under the impression that this will be an express bus that will take us directly to Chengde. One of the passengers asked what time we would get to Chengde, the driver answered that it would take us six hours to get there. Six hours?! Apparently, we were not taking the highway as I expected. Estimating the time to get there it would mean that I would get to Chengde by three in the afternoon. This was way later than the ten o’clock I planned.

Clock Tower at Chengde Bridge 承德大桥

The bus stopped a couple of times to rest the drivers and the passengers but there was hardly anything interesting along the way. I could see the highway we should have taken and I was wondering if we were all taken for a ride, excuse the pun. When we finally got to Chengde, I decided that I would be spending the night there. As it was already three in the afternoon, I needed to make arrangements quickly.

Along the way, I saw a lot of tourist rooms for rents and when I inquired, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they are very affordable with the price of CNY 30, not bad at all. However, which the lady at the hostel asked for my identification card, I told her I didn’t have one. She told me that they don’t accept foreigners there and pointed me to a hotel nearby. I tried another hostel nearby and got the same response. I was puzzled and furious at the difficulty of getting an affordable place to stay here.

View of Chengde Bridge 承德大桥

I even went to that hotel they were pointing to and I was relieved to find out that they do have a relatively affordable place to stay in. However when they were processing my passport, and found out where I come from, they suddenly were unsure and changed their mind and apologized profusely. I don’t get it what is up with this xenophobia. I guess when in doubt, just turn down the visitors/business. I can’t understand why it was so difficult for foreigners to find an affordable place to stay here. The only place which I found accepting my passport costs CNY 500 a night, way beyond my budget. Frustrated at this turn of events, I decided to instead try another day. It will be cheaper for me to travel back to Beijing and come back another day than to spend one night at a CNY 500 room.

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The Lakehouse Hotel And Restaurant

I came to explore the Cameron Highlands in the hopes of see colonial style buildings, not like the old shophouses you can see in Melaka or Singapore but the real structures from the British era. The Lakehouse beside the Sultan Abu Bakar artificial lake is a perfect example of that. The Lakehouse is actually a hotel and a restaurant. For a hotel it doesn’t really have that many rooms, only 18. But each of the rooms have been priced quite high that it doesn’t really matter.

Entrance to The Lakehouse

I didn’t get to see the interiors of the hotel itself since it is after all, private property. There were, however, photos of the suites and it is really very homey. It looks like its been lifted from a page of a book. The staff at the door was watching us so I didn’t have any chance to enter the place. I guess they already know how attractive their place is so they need to make sure that tourist don’t just wander inside the hotel.

Approach to the Lakehouse from the Highway

The Lakehouse it built on top of a small hill overlooking the Sultan Abu Bakar Lake. This really makes an alluring scene which is quite attractive to couples. Unfortunately, The Lakehouse is situated far away from Tanah Rata, so you would need your own transportation to get here. You can however try their bus service which arrives whenever they please, but try to make your schedule flexible. Another thing is that because of its remoteness, there is hardly anything to do here. There is a row of shops at the foot of the hill where you can buy fruit and snacks but other than that there is nothing here. Still for those you want a taste of luxury here in Cameron Highlands and have a car, you can try out The Lakehouse.

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Hotel Puri

Ever since the designation of Melaka at a UNESCO World Heritage site, the place has undergone a tremendous amount of facelifting. Old shophouses have been repainted and much of the buildings have bene renovated to house either a shop, a restaurant and naturally, a hotel. There are numerous examples of these shop houses turned hotels. Probably one of the more prominent ones is the Hotel Puri which is along the quieter side of Chinatown.

Detail of the Hotel Puri Facade

Unlike the other structures in the area, Hotel Puri has three levels, it has retained the original design but it is now painted in a pleasant beige-baby blue combo. It would seem that the Hotel Puri is quite popular with tourists, particularly the ones from Singapore. I, for one, don’t have the budget to stay in such places, since it looks like it would be beyond mine. In fact, during my visit, there was a large bus parked outside the hotel unloading passenger/guests. If there would even come a time when I can afford to stay in a place like that, I will surely post it here. In the meantime, I would settle for some more affordable accomodations.

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Puri Padi

Peace Hotel 和平饭店

The Lakehouse

View of Manila Hotel

The Puerta Real Gardens has stairs that lets visitors to access the top of the walls of Intramuros. This part of the wall has views of the adjacent golf course and other important landmarks. Most significantly, you can get a good view of the historic Manila Hotel here. In my opinion that Manila Hotel has lost a lot of its grandeur over the years. The building itself has become more and more unsightly. Most especially with that huge “Manila Hotel” on its roof. You’d think that managers of a hotel would have more aesthetics than that.

Manila Skyline from Intramuros

To the other side you can see a nice view of the rising skyline of what can be considered Manila’s central business district. This place has a lot of condominiums and office buildings that are home of some of the largest corporations in the country. I really like this place most especially since you can just climb up the wall and even sit on it. In fact there is nothing that will stop you from plunging several meters down into the the golf course below.

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The Streets of Phuket

After wandering around the historic quarter of Phuket town, I decided to finally go to where all the excitement is – the beach! Having stayed at the cheaper option, I needed to take transportation to the beach area. This should be a short ride since everyone is going there, transportation should not be a problem. I took a vehicle that looks like a cross between a bus and a Philippine jeepney. This vehicle was huge, almost as big as small bus, but the seats line both sides ot the vehicle, so passengers sit facing each other, just like a jeepney.

Jung Ceylon Shopping Center

The amusing thing was that there were small fans to cool the passengers during their journey. I’m not any stranger to thing kind of thing, since Philippine jeepneys can also have fans, albeit only for the driver. This one was for the passengers. Obviously, they know they foreigners will also be taking these vehicles and should make them comfortable. It took us a while before the vehicle finally started to leave but I guess just like almost any other Southeast Asian city or town, vehicles need to be almost full before they leave to make the trip worth it.

Looks Like the Streets of Manila

Finally, with our haul of foreigners and locals we were off but it wasn’t a continuous journey since the vehicle needs to stop every now and then to pick up passengers. What was supposed to be a short 15 minute ride, dragged to a 30 minute one. Anyway, it was fun to see the outskirts of Phuket too. There were a lot of condominiums and shopping malls for retirees. I guess it shows since the foreigners with me in the vehicle were quite elderly. What’s with the naming of the shoppings malls, the Big C? Names like that make me wary of going in.

Endless Hotels

After passing through some mountainous terrain, the wondrous view of the sea came into full view. Coming down from the mountains we can see the beach area together with the many developments. I got off where everyone else got off, and tried to get my bearings, I didn’t know where the beach was so I just kept on walking. The road was Thanon Ratuthit Songroipi, try saying that. It was like a scene from the city of Manila, since it has been a while since I saw electrical/speghetti wires above ground. Okay, Myanmar doesn’t coun’t since they hardly have electricity at all.

Walking along the streets it was shop after shop after shop. Or hotel after hotel after hotel, obviously I would not be able to find a cheap place to stay here, staying in Phuket town was the right choice for me.

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