Weekends away!

Travel Taiwan Travel
#1

I’m constantly on the hunt for good destinations for weekends away. Okay, I’m talking for myself ex-HK, but do see the need for a broader thread for folks in Taiwan. Ms Huang is in Bangkok and while I love the place, I’ve been there so many times now that I need somewhere different. What I want are good places within 2-3 hours flight/travel from HK. Obviously the Taiwan bound can plot their preferred from whereever.

Last minute HK have weekend packages, as too do Mango City and Ctrip.

Places I’m thinking of hooking up with Ms Huang over a long weekend include, Sanya (Hainan, China), Xiamen (China), Phnom Phen, Luang Prabang, Vientienne. Basicallly cheap flight destinations from HK and Bangkok.

Where to go?

HG

#2

Kota Kinabalu?

#3

Doh! Oh yeah. I’ve transited a couple of times through there and it has to be one of the best places to fly into since they closed HK’s old Kai Tak Airport. Always meant to go back.

And since I found it, here’s a freaky vid of a Korean Airlines 747 coming badly out of the maze of high rises for a high pucker approach on Kai Tak.

I’m increasingly convinced that landing a modern jet is only a controlled crash until they lose control and kill you.

Perhaps it’s years of riding Taiwan scoots in the rain, but I really, really hate when they do this in the wet. “Crosswind landings can be dodgy, as is made clear by this strangely beautiful footage of Boeing testing its 777 and 747SP aircraft in extreme crosswind conditions on an airstrip in Brazil”.

HG

#4

my dutch friend from taichung came to visit me for 4 days and he’s planning to return here in august with another of our common friend

these 4 days were way beyond his wildest dreams

#5

my dutch friend from taichung came to visit me for 4 days and he’s planning to return here in august with another of our common friend

these 4 days were way beyond his wildest dreams

#6

Puerto Galera, right? Timely getting there from Manilla, isn’t it? I’ve been once around ten years ago, liked it a lot, but it was like a half day getting there.

HG

#7

The sight-challenged frog wrote: [quote]my dutch friend from Taichung came to visit me for 4 days and he’s planning to return here in august with another of our common friend

these 4 days were way beyond his wildest dreams[/quote]

Are “You” the destination? Perhaps you could mention the location. :slight_smile:

#8

yes,puerto galera

it is true that from manila airport it takes 4 hours at least,but once ur here,you know it made sense.

and i wouldn’t recommend coming here with a wife.

we have another resort (dumaguete)where lovebirds and honeymooners alike will find great pleasure for a weekend break (1 hour domestic flight away)

#9

[quote=“almas john”]The sight-challenged frog wrote: [quote]my dutch friend from Taichung came to visit me for 4 days and he’s planning to return here in august with another of our common friend

these 4 days were way beyond his wildest dreams[/quote]

Are “You” the destination? Perhaps you could mention the location. :slight_smile:[/quote]

and we have the coldest beer on the island,we serve it wrapped up in the local wicker holder so you don’t get frostbite and gangrene :laughing: :laughing:

#10

Forget Phnom Phen, nothing there. Better go to Siem Riep instead, if you are interested in exploring Angkor that is.

Kuala Lumpur should be nice, too, if you haven’t been there before. Many things to see and lot’s of shopping to keep the Ms happy.
Or go to one of the nice islands on the East cost of Malaysia like Tioman or Pulau Redang for example, if you just want to relax on the beach and do some diving or snorkling. No direct flights though.

#11

That’s the killer.

dablindfrog, I’ve been to Puerto Galera, in fact I went as a friend with my Taiwanese ex-wife and returned as lovers. I was so ensconced with her I didn’t take in much of the other beauties. Mind you I did see one of the ugliest scenes of sex tourism I’ve ever encountered. Four incredibly fat and sweaty Germans swillig beer on a beachside bar and one motioning an angry and ugly local lass towards a bamboo shelter for some hanky panky. I was physically ill at the the thought then and remembering it now I can still feel that wave of nausea.

Still, some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. I am pondering a return to the Philippines, so who knows?

Cheers.

HG

#12

That’s the killer.

dablindfrog, I’ve been to Puerto Galera, in fact I went as a friend with my Taiwanese ex-wife and returned as lovers. I was so ensconced with her I didn’t take in much of the other beauties. Mind you I did see one of the ugliest scenes of sex tourism I’ve ever encountered. Four incredibly fat and sweaty Germans swillig beer on a beachside bar and one motioning an angry and ugly local lass towards a bamboo shelter for some hanky panky. I was physically ill at the the thought then and remembering it now I can still feel that wave of nausea.

Still, some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. I am pondering a return to the Philippines, so who knows?

Cheers.

HG[/quote]

i hear you,if you’re already blessed with an arm candy then it’s easy to turn a blind eye to what’s on offer here,but the fact remains that i see everyday some guys who kick their own arse silly for having brought their SO to “THE candy shop”.

we even have famous examples of dudes who have sent their wife and kids back home in order to extend their stays to sample the local “cuisine” :smiley: :smiley:

the thing you mentioned happens all the time and made me nauseous too when i arrived here,but after 8 months now i guess i have grown a thick skin and don’t pay attention to this anymore

#13

The other thing that surprised me about Puerto Galera was the proximity of NPA guerillas. When I was there I was surprised by a lot of military helicopter traffic one day and asked a fisherman what it was all about. He said the NPA had killed some soldiers not far from town and that the army were out looking for them. With that in mind I was rather mindful when I took the lass for a spin into the countryside on a bike and promptly got lost. At that time all the little villages we rode through had signs out the front welcoming the NPA and Communist Party of the Philippines.

A few years ago I read a small snippet in some obscure newspaper about how the NPA had broken a previous agreement and come into town shooting the place up. I also read that a civilian was wounded by a land mine planted by the NPA near the town.

I guess you just get used to these things in the PI? :laughing:

HG

#14

it was 10 years ago right?

we haven’t heard of anything,and i think that the tensions are between pinoys (political or religious)and foreigners are never targeted,
in the far south like mindanao or zulu it’s advisable not to go there,but puerto is very safe.
peoples aren’t stupid,tourism give jobs to 80% of the locals,scaring away the tourist would be a blow to many.

#15

Dirty Weekends are great.

48 Hours in ‘Mulan’ 沐蘭 in Taichung would be a weekend well spent.

http://www.mulan.com.tw/

#16

You don’t need to go to TXG for that. Go to ChenChi University. On the way is a primo venue.