Wednesday, 28 May 2008

Cheap Hotel Bookings and Reservations

You know when you give family and friends really good advice that could save them hundreds of dollars and they thank you for telling them but in the end never really listen to you? Maybe it's telling your mum that she won't be able to take money out of Japanese ATMs with her Australian bank card only to be frustrated when she arrives at Narita with no money in her wallet and bitches for the next week about not having enough money on her.

Or maybe it's telling your friends that they should make a hotel reservation when they arrive at Shanghai airport as they could be staying in a 4/5 star hotel for what they're budgeting only to be shocked when they decide to stay in a dingy backpackers while you're in a 4.5 star double room overlooking the central park for the same price.

Despite the fact that I'm actually living in Japan, my mum (despite her best intentions) refused to change her mindset that Japan was as international as the travel shows lead her to believe and while I had been to China before and researched travelling in the country immensely, my friends were fixated on staying in a backpackers because logically that should be cheaper.

I'm sure everyone's (especially if you've ever had friends or family visit you in in a foreign country) had a similar experience.

A recurring cause of frustration for me is when I tell almost everyone that when travelling in most countries (with the exception of China. Seriously make a booking when you arrive at the hotel desks. You may get a 70% discount!) it's almost always cheaper to make your hotel reservations through an online system such as HotelCombined.com, Expedia or Hotel Club.

The sites (and numerous others) are a fast (especially HotelCombined.com) convenient way to make a booking. Most offer customer reviews of each hotel or service and provide photos of the hotel rooms. Also as mentioned before, making a booking online can end up saving you hundreds of dollars as these services don't charge extra like a travel agency would (or at least not as much).

If you're intimidated by using the internet for making purchases, try doing a Google search for information on the site you want use to see if any users have had a negative experience with it before you use it.

Everyone likes to do things their own way, but when someone with experience gives you advice, it's always good to consider it.

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Labels: Australia, Cambodia, China, japan

Sunday, 25 November 2007

Smoke Free Cafe in Shibuya

Have just enjoyed a rather nice day in Harajuku and Shibuya and am now just writing a new entry on a smoke free cafe in Shibuya for my other Japan blog, SmokeFreeJapan.com.

It's been ages since I did a review for that blog and I was honestly thinking of giving it up because I wasn't sure how long I'd be in Japan for but since I've decided I've still got some Japan loving to do I think I'll begin reviewing smoke free restaurants, cafes and clubs (anyone know any good ones?) once more.

I've also been getting a few emails from people who really love the idea of a smoke free guide to Tokyo so I guess I better give the fans what they want, right? ;)

Anyway, in Yoyogi Park today, a wonderful friend of mine Koky, was doing another fundraiser for his charity, BabyTreeProjects. Shizuko from work brought her son and several of his friends to help and their sales techniques were amazing, especially considering their age! Here's a video I just had to take!

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Labels: Cambodia, home movies, japan

Friday, 10 August 2007

Perth Hotels

On my next trip back to Australia this New Years I'm thinking about doing some travel around my home country. Frankly it's a bit sad how I've seen more of Japan than Australia but I guess most people see more of other countries than their own.

Anyway, I was thinking about Melbourne and possible Brisbane or Perth and while surfing around came across some nice Perth Hotels on RatesToGo.com.

It's a HUGE site and has a massive listing of cheap hotels sorted by location, star rating and price. I'm seriously going to be using this site this January. They've even got listings for Cambodia, where I'll be going after Oz!

While surfing the site I found it incredibly fast loading with zero ads popping up and blinding me. The whole page has a very professional look unlike other questionable hotel booking sites I've come across.

Having heard horror stories from friends about booking hotels online and then arriving in a foreign country to find the hotel full has left me so paranoid that I normally only book from established sites. Thankfully RatesToGo has been online since 2002 and offers real time booking (Very important! Trust me!).

Very nice! Have bookmarked this for use next month when I lock in my end of year plans!

Labels: Australia, Cambodia

Sunday, 29 July 2007

Australia, Cambodia and Okinawa, oh my!

While the Obon holidays will be pretty boring with me having next to no money (thank YOU city tax and health insurance!) my end of year holidays will be packed!

As of now I'll be staying in Tokyo for another "should be white but won't be" Christmas then off to Australia for my sister's wedding in Orange on New Years Eve, then after New Years up to Cambodia to help Koky with his orphanage/ school project and then working once more in Tokyo until about June 2008 when I will hopefully move down south the the beautiful Okinawa!

That's the plan anyway.

Tokyo's grown on me but I just don't want to spend a 5th year here. It's not a terrible city but well, recently in the news there was a woman who had defected from North Korea and after a few years in Tokyo decided to return to North Korea.

Kind of says it all really.

And now enjoy this great Jpop song: Feed and Email Readers Click Here