Don’t Go Shopping in Sabah
We just got back from a short break to Sabah Kota Kinabalu. Sabah is a popular tourist destination and most travelers don’t go shopping much when they are in this lovely state. Instead, they will be climbing Mount Kinabalu or go island hopping in a cruise.
I was a little disappointed at the local malls though there was no intention to go shopping at all. We wanted to buy some souvenir t-shirts but they weren’t too attractive and they weren’t cheap too. The Magellan Sutera hotel where we stayed had a nice little souvenir store but they were expensive and the quality weren’t great either. But I have to say that The Magellan is a great place to relax especially if you have kids traveling with you. The kiddies club is enough to allow you some personal time off and you can either head to the pool for a swim or enjoy some of the water activities available. Put on your gym shoes and exercise in the gym if you are after a fast weight loss program. Otherwise enjoy a round of golf with your buddies.
Travelers will not forego a trip to the Sipadan islands is they are in Sabah and most of the time, Sabah is a great place to stopover if you are heading to the islands for scubadiving. I’d love to check out Karambunai one of these days and enjoy a few days under the sun and savour Sabah’s delicious seafood dishes!
Shop for Hotels and Read Reviews
One of the frustrating experiences I had encountered with making hotel reservations online is the poor customer service from the merchant. I just recently booked our hotel to the eastern state and wasn’t too happy with the delay in response from the merchant.
Shopping for hotels in the internet is quite a fun experience and despite couple of bad encounters, my experience has been good with most. Before deciding on the location, I usually head to trip advisor for some trusted reviews. You may not agree with all the reviews sometimes so the best thing is to head to the trip advisor forum.
In the forum, you can ask questions and expert travelers or destination experts will attend to your queries. I have seen all kinds of questions being posted in the forum, from where is the best shopping spot to tour itineraries. Some even use the forum to ask questions relating to the weather, jobs in healthcare, currency exchange, security issues, updates…etc.
When it comes to hotels shopping, I do take the reviews with a pinch of salt. A bad experience from one doesn’t mean the hotel is bad if the ratings are good. But it helps to know what others had experienced so that you can avoid facing the same predicament. Need to find a good accommodation for your vacation? Search Your Hotel and compare prices here.
Go Shopping for Silk in Hang Gai Hanoi
Those who love to go shopping for silk will love to have a vacation in Hanoi. For me, Bangkok does offer finer silk as I didn’t have time to explore more of Hanoi’s silk quality.
I visited a few quality silk stores in hang gai – Kenly, Tan My and KhaiSilk. I found the silk scarves in KhaiSilk to be overpriced while Kenly’s designs weren’t my favourite. Tan My is probably the best for me though I wasn’t impressed with the fashion clothing. I have to say that the home accessories in Tan My were great and like I said in my previous post, we bought quite a few lacquerware items which were practical and tasteful in design.
There are many little stores in Hanoi where you can go shopping for silk items and men would love those 100% silk ties which cost only $8 for the box set and $5 for just a plain tie. I mean, the quality was good and they matched up with those expensive ties in your upmarket boutiques. If time allows, you may like a suit tailored to your liking where you can choose your fabric and style. Well, you just have to make sure you don’t overindulge in the yummy Vietnamese pho and fresh spring rolls or you won’t need weight loss tablets to lose those pounds before fitting into your suit!
So Hanoi isn’t a bad place to go shopping but do ask for discounts as many stores tend to mark up the prices listed.
Go Shopping for Vacations and Accommodations
Not only do I like to go shopping when I need a little boost, I enjoy planning for vacations for my family too. Planning for a vacation is rather similar to checking out shopping deals online cos you still read reviews and compare prices to get the best deals.
I just booked our accommodation for Bali and Hanoi after spending weeks on the TripAdvisor travel site. This has to be my favourite when it comes to searching for good hotels and planning for travel itinerary. Like researching on shopping deals, I will visit the forum page for the destination and read what travelers ask and the answers given. I’m thankful for all the destination experts on the forum. Most of them will be helpful to offer ideas, tips and suggestions.
You can also send and receive private messages at the site when you are a member. Sometimes, planning for a vacation is like working on a project management software, you need to organize and make good decisions.
Shopping for accommodations is so fun cos you get to read about what travelers said about their stay and I enjoy comparing prices, facilities and screening the rooms for each chosen hotel. After all the search, we’ve finally settled for Ulin Villas and Spa for Bali and Hanoi Elegance 5 for Hanoi. And yes, we are going on the violet cruise in Halong Bay too… I can’t wait!
Shopping for Accommodation Online
All shoppers like to be savvy with their money and no one really likes to pay more when they can save. Most online stores offer free shipping when you accumulate your purchases while others offer coupon codes that grant free shipping to customers.
I was shopping for some good hotels for my Asia holidays in the coming months and was overwhelmed by the amazing choice of accommodation out there. It took me a few weeks to choose my Bali villa after reading all the reviews and comments at some travel forums. Forums are a great source of information as it allows you to learn from other travelers’ mistakes. Similarly, reading reviews of users can avoid costly mistakes. Even if you are comparing life insurance rates, you can find out users’ feedback in the worldwide web.
With so many travel search engines, shopping for an accommodation is both easy and hard. Easy because the internet is a great place to search for hotels. Hard because there are so many to choose and pick. By identifying your budget and preferences, shopping for the right accommodation is easier if you plan to do your search online. Search Your Hotel here.
