Best Hostel In The World!

When staying in Singapore I knew ahead of time that it would be much more expensive then the rest of Asia, so I had booked one of the cheapest hostels I could find online to save a little money while there.  BAD MOVE on my part and I ended up just walking out of that hostel 30 minutes after checking in (which I have never done prior or since).

When bad things happen, good things appear and I found a new place to stay that was new and had good reviews about it.  The hostel was owned and ran by two ladies who said if they couldn’t travel, they wanted travelers to come to them.  It was and still has been one of the best hostels I have ever stayed at to this day.

The rooms were different and offered a real stylish bed that I hadn’t seen before.  Yes I know of the pods in Japan but the ones there literally look more like coffins then beds to me but these two ladies had created something more then just a pod, they created a kick ass place to stay!

I’m sad to report though this place is no longer open.  They didn’t go out of business but were forced out by the Singaporean government because of new development.  The two ladies decided that after having their hostel taken away after only a year that they didn’t want to have to start all over again.

Click here to see more photos from this hostel and my thoughts on it!

UPDATE: Looks like one of the ladies has opened a new hostel in Singapore that is like the one she had before.  Check it out, as it looks even better!

Cosplay: noun /ˈkäzˌplā/ – The practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game, esp. one from the Japanese genres of manga or anime.

While staying in Singapore back in 2009, I was chilling outside in front of my hostel when I noticed across the street a bunch of people hanging out.  Except these people all looked like they were dressed up for Halloween.  I quickly ran inside and grabbed my camera and told a friend about it.  The next two hours was me doing nothing but walking around these strange people photographing them.

I was told it was called “Cosplay” and that it’s very BIG in South East Asia.  That even some people wear these costumes to work or even when just out and about.  That day there was a festival going on in the park and there must have been at least a 100+ people dressed up.  Everyone was exceptionally fun to photograph, as all you needed to do was walk up to someone, point at the camera and start snapping away.  As soon as you did that, they would jump back into character and start posing.

To see more photos I took of these Cosplay people, click here!

One of the best things about traveling is trying new things.  I started a little folder a few months back of beers I have tried in different countries.  Sorry to say I didn’t get all them on film but I have been able to enjoy many beers on long nights.  When I do travel I try not to drink my favorite beer (Budweiser) because I can always get that at home.  Instead I always try to order a local brew to experience something new, because after all that’s what traveling is all about, right?

Without a doubt I have to say Germany has the best beers (that’s a no brainer) but have been surprised with beers from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Singapore, plus many more. To be honest, in the last year I can’t recall getting any real bad beers.  Probably the worse beer I had last was in Egypt.  That might have been more because they serve their beer hotter then a July summer but over-all going to a new country and having a local brew tops the list for me at times.

Below are a few pictures of beers I have sampled so far.  This post will be a work-in-progress…

Forget Obligation Go Global…it’s my odyssey!

Beer Chang, Thailand

Tiger Beer from Singapore

Hayward's 5000 Beer from India

San Miguel Beer from the Philippines

Pilsener Beer from Ecuador

Yesterday across from my hostel they were having a concert.  Never been to an Asian concert before so thought I would check it out, seeing how I was hearing the music all day.  It was at a Youth Park and the first thing I noticed was that Asians go all out, play and dress the part for concerts.  The ladies at the hostel said they call it “Cosplay.”  It’s where they dress up as their favorite Asian cartoon action hero and what not.  Made for some great pictures and had a blast running around getting shots.  All the people were more then willing to pose for pictures and with the music in the background it made for a great afternoon at no cost.

I didn’t make it to the club last night.  Desmond, my Dutch friend from the hostel, decided he wanted to cook a meal for everyone at the hostel.  So I went with him to the grocery store and got some stuff.  I made the salad/garlic bread and he made the pasta.  By the time we got done eating and talking I was to full and tired to go clean up and head to a club.  We ended up staying at the hostel, sitting outside and chatting about Singapore with Cheryl (hostel owner) and her boyfriend.  Found out Singapore has some very strict laws.  One being if a Singaporean went to, say Amsterdam, and smoked some weed that he could be put into prison for a year because of it on his return back to country.  Even though it is legal and no laws were broken the Singaporean government has the right to request drug test from citizens.  When Desmond (the Dutch guy) heard this he about flipped.

Was a chilled night and the highlight was playing a name game Desmond thought up.  He said his buddy thought it up one night while stoned in Holland and asked if we wanted to play it.  Minus the weed, the game goes like this: You have to say a name of a person that their first and last name start with the same letter.  It can be a famous person, a cartoon charter or super hero, a movie charter, whatever just as long as one person in the group can confirm its real.

Examples:

• Andrea Agassi
• Barry Bonds
• Marilyn Monroe
• Tony the Tiger
• Tim the Tool Man Taylor
• Ozzy Osbourne

Now try and keep that up for a few hours and see if you don’t rack your mind trying to think of names.  I woke up twice last night and found my self sitting up one time yelling “Mickey Mantle!” and another “Harry Houdini!”  Talk about messing up a good nights sleep.

Below are some a few pictures from Cambodia that I took.  Since I didn’t have this blog going when I made that trip.  Tomorrow I head to Malaysia for about 5 days before going back to BKK.  Will update soon!

Today I went to Little India with my Dutch friend, Desmond, from the hostel.  We had nothing better to do and thought we would check it out.  I had been there before but didn’t get to photograph it like I wanted.  I was in search of some people pictures this time.  I didn’t get quite what I was looking for but I did get a few guys to pose.  Was really hoping to get some shots of the Indian ladies with their nose rings and make-up on but as usual with the ladies I fell short again on that.

He hopped on the MRT and walked around for a few hours checking out the shops.  We ended up at some bar, had a few beers while watching a soccer match.  I got lucky and was able to shoot some pictures of a group of guys.  Actually they were all family; father and sons.  Tonight I think I’m going out to the most famous club in Singapore called Zouk.  It’s a must if you go to Singapore from what I hear.

Yesterday I spent the whole morning and afternoon catching up on some much needed blogging and picture editing.  By the time I got done it was mid-heat afternoon and the light was to harsh to do city shots.  So I bummed around the hostel talking to other people till about 6pm, in which I grabbed my bag and headed out.  After having such great success the night before with Mr. Wong shooting nights shots of the water front I decided I wanted to try some more at a different location.  I jumped onto the MRT and headed to Raffles Station MRT stop.  This is where you’ll find most of Singapore’s large skyscrapers.  I walked around for an hour getting lost shooting street shots of the buildings.  When it was about to get dark I headed for Merlion Park to set up for sunset pictures.

Merlion Park, with it’s lion shooting water out, is like their national statue, comparable to the US Statue of Liberty.  Across from it you can see the Esplanade Theater, Singapore version of the Sydney Opera House (and I think the Esplanade is much nicer).  The Singapore Flyer (worlds largest ferris-wheel) is across the bay, the new casino’s Singapore is building and the city back drop.  It really is a shooters paradise there.

I messed around for about 3-4 hours getting the shots I wanted and left out because I had drained all my batteries in my camera bag.  You could call it a rookie mistake but I thought I had a fully charged one in reserve but I forgot I used it already.  So went back to the hostel and hung out with the gang there for a bit watching a few episodes of Friends.  No matter where you go in the world there is always Friends being played in hostels for some reason.  A guy from Amsterdam that is staying at the hostel asked me earlier if I wanted to go out and have a beer that night, so I showered up (been taking 5 showers a day here in Singapore if that tells you how hot it is) and we went for a few brews around the corner at a pub.

I think tonight I will go out and actually go to a club.   Haven’t done much since being here other then photography, which I love, but I think I better put the camera down for a night and experience some night life before leaving.  Until then!

If you travel long enough there will be times when no matter how much you are trying to do the right thing something bad will happen.  You get a ticket for some law you didn’t know about, someone is rude to you and you know not why.  You get something stolen that breaks your heart.  Whatever the reason be it will happen at some point in your travels.  I personally believe in Karma, that if you try and be good that good things will come your way.  That if you go through life cheating that you’ll only cheat yourself later.  So for ever bad person I meet while traveling I like to think I will meet a good person.  Although on this trip I think the negative people are winning more then the positive (I must have messed up somewhere for it happen like this), yesterday I met someone out of the blue that has made my stop in Singapore unforgettable.

Mr. Waimong Wong was on the same fairy as I was when I went and visited the island of Pulau Ubin.  I seen he was carrying a camera bag and tri-pod but didn’t approach him about it.  Once I got to the island I rented a bike for $5 SGD and rode my butt off for 3hrs.  I was so dead tired that when I got back to the main port I decided I was done for the day.  It was fun for riding but lack for picture taking.  When I got back I seen Mr. Wong with his camera out and I noticed he had a Canon DSLR like mine.  So I walked up and asked him how his trip went and if he found anything good to shoot.

We talked for about 20min about photography and out of the blue he asked me what I was doing the next day.  I told him not a whole lot other then meeting Rob for lunch.  He asked if I wanted to go shooting with him and that I could decided the place, time and he’d pick me up from wherever I needed.  It was an offer I couldn’t refuse and quickly said yes I would be game joining him.  I gave him a travel card and told him to email me and we’d set something up.  To his word the next day after having lunch with Rob I sent him and email and text message to ask if it would be okay to do some night shots of Singapore from the water.  He text back in 5min saying he’d pick me up in an hour.  Right on time Mr. Wong did and we went down to Marina Barrage, at Marina Bay.

You can read about Marina Barrage if you want but an overview of the place is that it’s a damn that functions to collect fresh water for Singapore but it’s also a work of art.  I mean no where in the US would you find a development like this for a city center that they double it into a park/tourist spot.  On top of the pump house is a green path of grass that circles the whole place.  People go up there to have picnic’s, fly kits, see the water front exc exc and you wouldn’t even know it’s an industrial zone…very classy, very unique, very modern.

We both shot pictures for about 3 hours there.  We were able to catch the sunset and night shots off the water and was rather proud how well some of my pictures came out.  I can’t wait to see how Mr. Wong’s pictures came out.  After we got done shooting Mr. Wong again surprised me with asking if I would have dinner with him.  His wife was out of town that night and he said he wanted to show me what good people Singaporeans are.  I couldn’t refuse a free meal.  We went to real traditional Indian place that is a favorite for ex-pats.  It’s the type of place where they serve your food not on plates but on palm leaves and you eat with your fingers.  Was great food and I felt bad because it was to much food to eat.  I think I had a 6in stack of rice on my leaf and with all the sides around it it could have feed 3 backpackers easily.

After we got done eating Mr. Wong drove me back to the hostel and we parted ways.  It’s things like this that make travel so great and special.  A complete stranger invites you out to see his/her city, takes you to dinner and makes sure you get back safely all for the sake of good company and human kindness.  This I will have to repay back somehow, someway to someone else.  Thank you again Mr. Wong for making my first stay in Singapore a most memorable one!  If you would like to see his stock portfolio you can check it out at this link.

Kite runner...i stopped counting after 50

Robert Paetz: photographer/blogger of www.momsaysimrunningaway.com

Yesterday I was able to finally meet someone that I have been wanting to for a while now.  It wasn’t Jessica Alba or Hugh Hefner, both who are still high on my list though.  Robert Paetz has been blogging for the last 3 years on his trip around the world.  Like all good mustangs he has finally slowed down a bit and is getting married next month to a girl from Singapore, you can read about their up coming event here.  I have been following his blog for over a year now and admire his photography work very much.

When I seen that he was going to be in Singapore when I was going to be there I emailed him and asked if it would be ok to meet up with him for beers and talk shop.  He was down for it and we exchanged info.  Rob met me at my hostel and we walked to Little India for lunch.  A guy on the street gave us a flier for some little hole in the wall place to eat Indian food and we both said “Why not!” and gave it a try.  Was a simple yet nice place and for me I’m not the biggest curry fan but the owner came out and told us both that there was 7 levels of hotness.  One being the lowest, seven making you cry like a baby.  I asked him which level he eats at and he said “No higher then 2 my friend.”  He suggested we try a “chili test” first and from that we could make our own adjustments for later dishes.

We chilled out there for about an hour talking photo, his blog, travel, even a little politics, while drinking Indian beer and eating food.  We settled up the tab and left out to go shoot some pictures.  Not real sure all where we went, as Rob got a little lost but we ended up at a bar at the Raffles Hotel.  This wasn’t any old hotel, as its famous for making the original Singapore Sling drink.  Hotel was built in 1887 and has survived WWII.  It was remodeled in 1989 for about the tune of $160 million and is a gorgeous colonial place in the heart of Singapore.  We sat at the bar and had a drink, eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor (tradition from the day the hotel was built).

We finally had to jet as Rob was meeting Felicia up after she got off from work.  I met her and said my hi’s and bye’s.  I know maybe I’m weird but for me meeting a travel blogger was better then meeting Brad Pitt.  Yeah Brad would make for a good picture but someone who travels, does photography and writes all the time is 10x better in my book.  Check out his site…one day I hope this site will be unique as his.  Best of luck Rob & Felicia and maybe one day our paths will cross again!

The famous Long Bar

Thoughts on Singapore:

• It’s the cleanest city I’ve ever been to.
• If I was going to build and set up a city…Singapore would be the perfect example of how to do it right.
• There are a lots of Indians here…so much they even have a small part of the city called “Little Inida.”
• You can get fined for spitting here.
• Gum is outlawed here….I kid you not try and buy gum in Singapore and when you finally buy some in Malaysia I’ll say I told you so.
• They have more houses then people because the government is building more and more
• They have the best public transportation in the world.  They have an MRT stop every 500m and you can get anywhere by train or bus.
• The city is the country and other then the Vatican they are the only ones like that, that I know
• …and the winner is: 1/2 the giraffe population in Singapore has been wiped out because of lighting.  They had 4, 2 got struck by lighting and died…you do the math!

Made it to Singapore from Phuket.  Nothing special about the flight other then I noticed a flight attendant from this trip that has been on every single flight I have taken yet on Air Asia.  I took the MRT train from the airport and went looking for the hostel I had booked.  The directions from there website were the exact opposite from  reality and I got lost doing circles for 1/2 an hour with all my luggage in tote.  When I finally did make to the area I was suppose to be I did another 30 min or walking around in circles because I couldn’t find the building.  I mean how hard is it to find a place when it says “Opposite McDonald’s” right?  We’ll I finally gave up and asked someone for help and they pointed it out to me which was right where I walked by.  They had no sign on the door, there as construction all around it and in front of the door was a support beam that blocked the 8×10 photocopy page that all it said was the name of the hostel.  Frustrating but it gets better.

I check into the place and they aren’t expecting me, which might have been expected because I booked the place that morning before I left Phuket.  The guy asked me if I had the print off sheet with the confirmation#.  When I said no he kind of looked funny at me and went to explain that I should always print that off and bring it with me.  Remember rolling my eyes and thinking “who is this guy to tell me I need and not need to spend money at his place…as if this is the first hostel I have checked into.  No one prints that off because it’s done on-line and the record is there.”  Anyways, they finally get me my room and i was upgraded to a twin-private because the 4 man dorm-room was full.  She opened the door and my first thought was “I’ve had train sleepers bigger then this!”  I had about 2ft of room from the wall and the bed and that was it.  There was also a bunch of kids (maybe 8 in total) running around from the ages of 4-5 and old ladies staying at the hostel.  Was weird but I could let all that go because it was cheap but when I went to log onto their wireless network it wouldn’t work.  So I asked the lady about it and she just said “Works fine!” and turned away.

By this time I had enough and said was screw this I’m getting a better place.  I used their computer and found another hostel, wrote it’s directions down, went down stairs and asked if I could have a refund for the key.  I pretty much figured the room price at $11 per night was a loss and could just chalk it up later.  I grabbed my bags and on the way out they guy handed me some money.  When I counted it he had given me it all back, which was a surprise and have to give them credit for that.

So again I took off and was in search of a place to stay.  The new place I had found was called Habitat Hostel and was in a great location.   It was a little pricey, $28 USD, but was brand new, clean, looked very modern and had good reviews.  The place is kind of unique as it’s a hostel but it’s designed with pods.  You have your own walled in pod with reading light, storage locker and check this out…two pillows!  Guess in Singapore everyone gets two pillows which is great I think.

The ladies that own the hostel also run the place, Mag (25) and Cheryl (26) were great and got me checked in.  They have been awesome and every day after I get done editing pictures I ask them where I should go and they map something out for me.  These two ladies had been friends for 12 years and both wanted to do their own business in a new way.  One night over coffee they decided to start a hostel.  As Mag said “I always liked traveling but since I can’t travel all the time I decided a hostel would be a great place to meet new people.  Have them come to us instead of us go to them.”  With that idea in storm they started looking for a location to lease.  It took them over a year to find a spot but the location was perfect, even if the building needed a lot of work.  They both poured in their life savings and built one the of the most stylish hostels I have ever seen.  Bravo for two young ladies with a great idea and motivation to start something.  If you’re ever in Singapore you will not regret staying here…PROMISE!

So far my stay in Singapore has been great and couldn’t ask for more.

www.Habitat-Hostel.com.sg

133 Devonshire Road, Singapore 239888

(65) 6683-6368

reservations@habitat-hostels.com.sg

UPDATE: The Habitat Hostel is now closed.

Movie Room

Blue Room: 10 pods