For those who love to travel alone

[xwei_00]

what's the reason? I was in china last week for another solo trip and really love the Great Wall. Is it a communication problem?

Generally don't like anything about this place esp food

 

[butterbarter]

Generally don't like anything about this place esp food

But if you've never been there, how did you conclude you don't like anything about that place?

Before I visited China for the first time about 5 years ago, I too had a lot of negative bias against it, and did not even consider visiting China at all. China is always making headlines for the wrong reasons: rude, uncouth people, disgusting behavior (eg spitting), bad pollution, unscrupulous businessmen, corruption, ruthless government, overcrowding, etc etc.

I once told a PRC colleague that I would rather visit other countries before bothering with China. Then I had to go Beijing for work related reasons, and I was blown away and it completely changed my view of the country.

No country is perfect, so focus on the positives rather than the negatives. The positives I think pretty much outweigh the negatives.

For a traveller, many of the historical/architectural/cultural sights are pretty awesome. The Great Wall. The Temple of Heaven. Tian An Men. Forbidden City. Terracotta Warriors. Great Goose Pagoda (which housed the scriptures Tang Shan Zhang brought back from India in the real-life version of Journey To The West), etc etc. Customer service is generally pretty good, usually no worse than Singapore, and in some cases, even better.

Since then, I've willingly visited China many times, and would visit it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Some-one]

But if you've never been there, how did you conclude you don't like anything about that place?

Before I visited China for the first time about 5 years ago, I too had a lot of negative bias against it, and did not even consider visiting China at all. China is always making headlines for the wrong reasons: rude, uncouth people, disgusting behavior (eg spitting), bad pollution, unscrupulous businessmen, corruption, ruthless government, overcrowding, etc etc.

I once told a PRC colleague that I would rather visit other countries before bothering with China. Then I had to go Beijing for work related reasons, and I was blown away and it completely changed my view of the country.

No country is perfect, so focus on the positives rather than the negatives. The positives I think pretty much outweigh the negatives.

For a traveller, many of the historical/architectural/cultural sights are pretty awesome. The Great Wall. The Temple of Heaven. Tian An Men. Forbidden City. Terracotta Warriors. Great Goose Pagoda (which housed the scriptures Tang Shan Zhang brought back from India in the real-life version of Journey To The West), etc etc. Customer service is generally pretty good, usually no worse than Singapore, and in some cases, even better.

Since then, I've willingly visited China many times, and would visit it again in a heartbeat.

hehehe...You remind me of one of my colleagues who also said he would never visit China. Not sure if it is his wife who tell him not to visit China or he himself. Beijing itself has strong significance in history and culture. Yes, there are scams there. I met 2 when I was there. It is scary especially when I was alone but I just ignore requests from any strangers. Sounds rude but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

As for customer's service, I think they are worse than Singapore and Hongkong. When I was buying the YiKaTong to travel from Beijing International Airport to DongZhimen. The counter staff just say no more, without even helping to see if there are other alternatives. There are no queue behind and she just say no and go do her own staff. It appears that they generally wants transaction to be done faster and leave them alone. Taiwan is still the best in terms of customer service.

 

[butterbarter]

I didn't remember any remarkably bad customer service in all the times I've been to China (at least 10 times). Customer service I've encountered are at restaurants, hotels, and shopping centers, most of which were good or reasonable. Taxi drivers are also generally OK as long as you don't kenna those illegal taxis.

In some places, like small eateries run by immigrants from other provinces, the service is fast and gruff, but that's no different from service you get from a hawker center or kopitiam in Singapore.

What I dislike though, are people who spit in the streets ( yucks ) and pimps who approach you on the streets, and some are very persistent and annoying. But I just ignore them.

As for customer's service, I think they are worse than Singapore and Hongkong. When I was buying the YiKaTong to travel from Beijing International Airport to DongZhimen. The counter staff just say no more, without even helping to see if there are other alternatives. There are no queue behind and she just say no and go do her own staff. It appears that they generally wants transaction to be done faster and leave them alone. Taiwan is still the best in terms of customer service.

 

[Some-one]

I didn't remember any remarkably bad customer service in all the times I've been to China (at least 10 times). Customer service I've encountered are at restaurants, hotels, and shopping centers, most of which were good or reasonable. Taxi drivers are also generally OK as long as you don't kenna those illegal taxis.

In some places, like small eateries run by immigrants from other provinces, the service is fast and gruff, but that's no different from service you get from a hawker center or kopitiam in Singapore.

What I dislike though, are people who spit in the streets ( yucks ) and pimps who approach you on the streets, and some are very persistent and annoying. But I just ignore them.

Oh... If you are referring to hotels, restaurants and shopping centres, they are generally ok. It's those in the metro station selling the 2 yuan tickets that are generally not good.

 

[ShinigamiX]

juz a little over 2 wks for my 2nd solo trip 2 japan..... cant wait!!

 

[QJPtheSE]

Do you know where I can download the e-guide books that I can refer to on my smartphone. Where can I find out more about the wireless and the 4G network of the country I am visiting?

 

[zjllee]

For offline travel apps, you can try tripadvisor cityguides (only for major cities) or just convert articles in wikitravel to pdf.

As for wireless and 4G, search online. Usually sites like tripadvisors, lonelyplanet or wikitravel will have some info on them. Good luck and safe travels.

 

[butterbarter]

Do you know where I can download the e-guide books that I can refer to on my smartphone. Where can I find out more about the wireless and the 4G network of the country I am visiting?

There are several free options.

1. Triposo, with guides on pretty much any country and city in the world. Data is gathered from Wikitravel, Wikipedia and other sites. Also includes maps and a bookmark(favorites) manager. This is my fav travel guide.
2. Wikitravel Offline, which compresses the entire wikitravel website into an offline download.
3. Wikisherpa, which is also based on wikitravel, which alllows both online and offline access.
4. Trip Advisor city guides.

My most frequently used is Triposo, but I also use Wikitravel/Wikisherpa to supplement Triposo on my Android phone. These are all free.

I also download vector maps for my destination country for Locus Pro and MapsWithMe. I have the Pro versions, but there are also free versions that are quite functional. These are all on Android, but some are also available on iPhone.

 

[excalibur324]

hi all,

wanna ask your opinion of this no processing fee for overseas withdrawal by Citibank. (Free global Citibank ATM withdrawal)

https://www.citibank.com.sg/global_docs/microsite/cc_travel/html/traveltips.htm

any comments and opinions?

i foresee it would be useful for those traveling long term and would need to withdraw money from time to time.. the processing fee may be like $5 for every transaction but for shoestring travellers traveling on long term it may be a good way to stretch the dollar.

 

[hawkwind]

hi all,

wanna ask your opinion of this no processing fee for overseas withdrawal by Citibank. (Free global Citibank ATM withdrawal)

https://www.citibank.com.sg/global_docs/microsite/cc_travel/html/traveltips.htm

any comments and opinions?

i foresee it would be useful for those traveling long term and would need to withdraw money from time to time.. the processing fee may be like $5 for every transaction but for shoestring travellers traveling on long term it may be a good way to stretch the dollar.

DBS and UOB also charge $5 per withdrawal. Nothing special.

 

[ShinigamiX]

There are several free options.

1. Triposo, with guides on pretty much any country and city in the world. Data is gathered from Wikitravel, Wikipedia and other sites. Also includes maps and a bookmark(favorites) manager. This is my fav travel guide.
2. Wikitravel Offline, which compresses the entire wikitravel website into an offline download.
3. Wikisherpa, which is also based on wikitravel, which alllows both online and offline access.
4. Trip Advisor city guides.

My most frequently used is Triposo, but I also use Wikitravel/Wikisherpa to supplement Triposo on my Android phone. These are all free.

I also download vector maps for my destination country for Locus Pro and MapsWithMe. I have the Pro versions, but there are also free versions that are quite functional. These are all on Android, but some are also available on iPhone.

thks 4 the recommendation... triposo is good stuff!

 

[butterbarter]

thks 4 the recommendation... triposo is good stuff!

Triposo is awesome. I use it for 80% of my travel info. The remaining 20% I get from online forums (usually tripadvisor or virtualtourist) and the offline wikitravel/wikivoyage.

Good as Triposo is, it has a major flaw : It does not specify the opening hours of the attractions, nor the way to get there. This is the biggest flaw Triposo has, but I can't really complain since it's free.

For these reasons, I always supplement it with another guide.

 

[dilphinus]

Erm. You can find Citibank almost everywhere but not DBS or UOB. HSBC is also almost everywhere. Though u probably can withdraw money from any ATM.

 

[excalibur324]

DBS and UOB also charge $5 per withdrawal. Nothing special.

ya wad i mean is dbs uob charge 5bucks for transaction. Citi offer 0bucks.

 

[excalibur324]

Erm. You can find Citibank almost everywhere but not DBS or UOB. HSBC is also almost everywhere. Though u probably can withdraw money from any ATM.

Ya. Have no prob withdrawing money as long as u have e cirrus or plus thingy.. But i will be travelling long term and most prob would need multiple withdrawal ..

 

[xwei_00]

I see.. I'm not really a fan of dimsums, except for those that are non-seafood fillings. Seems like hongkong alone would't be a good idea for me then..


Originally Posted by WadsUpDoc:
Dude, Hong kong is more than just dim sum. You can get heavenly roast meats and charsiew. Trust me, I've tasted some of the "best" charsiew/siuyok(roast pork) in Sg and Msia in restaurants and highly rated hawker stalls, and they are NOT as good as those in Hong Kong. They can come close, but cannot beat Hong Kong.

You can also get great beef noodles, beef parts soup, pig-red soup, awesome street foods which you can't get in Sg, silky smooth steamed milk custard, etc etc.

I've eaten in tons of great places, and Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand remain firmly in my top 3 places to eat.

And if you feel HK is not enough, catch a ferry to Macau or Zhuhai, or take a train to Shenzhen or Guangzhou.

That was not posted by me. Definitely not me cos I am obsessed with dim sum. I love love love dim sum and super like Hongkong

 

[xwei_00]

Going to Sydney tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! My 7th solo trip in 2 years!

 

[Some-one]

Going to Sydney tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! My 7th solo trip in 2 years!

Enjoy yourself. I am also going Sydney next year on another solo trip. But why are you there for only 3 days? How much you can do within 3 days?

 

[latermad]

anyone happens to be in europe Jan 2014?