De Vere Village hotel , Swansea feedback

I choose a hotel with swimming pool and sauna to meet an old friend over the weekend.
The hotel is called De Vere Village in Swansea. Meaning, Village hotel ran by De Vere group. When I check about De Vere, it has a long story of business since 1760s, started as brewery, later changed to hotel and leisure activities.

In terms of hotel presentation, it looks great at its level with decent carpet and lighting. Car parking was enough for weekend visitors when I stayed there. A good thing is no bad smell you may experience in some hotels.

Unfortunately, there are a variety of issues while I was in that hotel of Wale's city, Swansea.

Thanks God. I was given the top floor with a nice view to dock and Swansea bay. I was so happy and I tried to take a photo. Gosh! The smell of dust came out from curtain once I touched it. I noticed paints of oil, most probably human origin, marked on the glass. It seemed hotel staffs never check the curtain and window glass or they wont bother it.

Visitors should thank for free wifi which is reasonably fast. I feel it is faster than Starbuck coffee wifi. I was able to communicate on line with contacts across the world.

TV is just OK to watch BBC news . It is Philip flat screen. For some reason, image was slightly blurred with gravels. To be honest, I have not seen such quality of Tv reception for such a long time in the UK.

The bath room looks good in a first glance with florescence lights and big mirrors. But the disappointing thing, if you are hygiene conscious, is that there were a couple of brown stains near the toilet paper roll holder. It looked fresh. You could argue that it was tea drop. If so, why it is in toilet near paper?

In the evening, hotel restaurant and bar were busy as it was weekend. We did not make reservation and no seat was available. We were advised to go to bar. We ordered foods with the starter as grilled chicken wings. Unbelievably, it was so sugary sweet. I saw a crust of sugar coat over the chicken skin. I never know British people eat such a sweet chicken. I must say , it was cheap. 22 pieces for only around 7 pounds ( I cant remember exactly) But we had to leave about 18 sugary pieces.

At night, I set the temperature at 25C as I felt room was cold when I came back from dining. I appreciate that bed was comfortable and no noise. But, in the early hours of morning, I was woke up by cold air blown from ceiling air conditioner. When I checked the thermostat, it showed 21C (Not 25C I set) . I suspect the hotel has central control system to keep the temperature at that level , regardless of customer need. They could argue that it is environmental friendly approach. Obviously, I am not really happy with it at all. I got sorethorat in the morning.

I did enjoy sauna and swimming pool. Well built and not crowded. Well facilitated. A guard has been standby at pool. Good for safety. But, disgracefully, I could not enter my room when I came back from at 10:20 Am from swimming pool. My swipe key had been rejected. Fortunately, a hotel staff was cleaning at nearby room. She kindly helped me to go into my room , saying that the reception locked the door because I am leaving on that day. Absolutely ridiculous. It has been declared that the check out time is 11am and check in time is 3 pm. ( usually, 12pm check out time in the majority of hotels I stayed previously ). The hotel administration indecently made inaccessible to its customers during the time paid for the stay. It happened in Wale's 4 star hotel.

To conclude, this 4 star Village hotel in Swansea is providing poor customer service. I would score 3 out of 10. I have a concern about De Vere.

Growing oversea Burmese community across the world

Last week, I was in a Christmas gathering party, led by London Karen community. When I received the invitation via email, my first thought was I could meet a few people there and I would have a chance to make a couple of new friends for fun and for information. I decided to join them. It took place in a church in West London.

I brought a bottle of wine as a routine whenever I go to gathering party. Surprisingly, over one hundred of Karens were already in the church, which has got enough space for attenders. Some were teenagers. Some were in their 30s. A few were over 50. They were speaking mainly Burmese and Karen. I found out some were using English. I felt that the atmosphere was pretty friendly and visitors were served with Burmese tradition fish soup ( Mont Hin Khar) , which was really tasty. Apparently a senior Karen man cooked it.

After praying God, young musicians started entertaining with fantastic music. I was told one of them had been working as music teacher after graduated in England. I was introduced with several people, who were ITs, nurses, doctors, accountants and others who were also working at decent professionals. I never come across previously Burma's ethnic minors in London who has made such an established society. I only heard before that there is a big Karen community in Sheffield which is in Yorkshire.

I notice Burmese are not keen to explore new places in history. Instead, they want to stick in the place where they were born. But the political and economic situation in Burma have been pushing more and more people to go abroad especially over the last two decades. As a result, at least one or two persons from each household emigrated. These days they can be seen in most countries, from east to west, including small islands like Seychelles and St Lucia.

Most people blame that it is the military government in Burma that leads to this situation. But if you think in different way, you can see a larger number of Burmese have been settling with their good status, already enjoying a good life style in affluent places. It will never happen if Burma is not in trouble.

Personally, I would encourage more Burmese to come out for the benefit of the nation and its people. Basically, once Myanmar, always Myanmar wherever you live. Take Vietnam for example. American vietnamese have been playing an important role in economic boost of that south east Asian country.

In the internet era, I feel that Brain drain theory is no longer applicable. Brain network has been established across the globe. What you need is "access"

Parker ballpen review

Basically I am fountain pen fan, not ball pen. But last time, I bought this Parker ball pen from local Pen Sense without intention while shopping around  at town. It looked nice . Only £18.

Unfortunately, my first problem with this stainless steel pen was the ball point which delayed to work, not enough ink even after forceful test strokes on white paper.


The next  issue is that it is too much slippery in my  fingers. Every time I wrote, I needed to concentrate not to lose from gripping point. I have no idea why tip end metal surface so smooth. 

Everybody knows that the Parker ball pen is  not posh in the world standard.. But wondering why the manufacturer did not test it properly before sending to market. Maybe poor  customer feedback system or they dont care feedbaclk. Another possibility is that rival pen producers have been managing to produce such non-user friendly product after putting their cells in production line of the Parker. Just thinking. My thinking may not be realistic.

I have Lamy pens which are really nice with comfortable hand grip. So I did not expect this kind of issue before buying this Parker ball pen.

IPad and Nottingham town centre

My ipad case

Bank holiday weekend!

I put on easy Autographs shoes. Sunny weather so I did not think I needed my old CK duck feather-filled jacket. So I chose Blue harbour beige coloured cotton one instead. I drove to town. I was sure the Costa was still open till late afternoon in this summer time. I was right. There were some coffee lovers still there. I bought medium sized Americano and walked out of the corner coffee shop, heading to the city hall area where people were sitting and standing  in groups.
My one hand was holding ipad as my idea was to read a book in open space. I love to do so. The coffee cup was in my other hand. After sitting there for sometime, I felt a bit cold. I walked around in the nearby small lanes. I saw some party goers.

After 5 min walk, I noticed that someone stared at me from one corner. He was an Afrio-Caribbean young man with a hooded jacket. He was shorter than me. 3 min later, I was on the pavement along the tram line. I found he was following me from 50 yardsbehind. I kept walking. And I suddenly sat down on road side chairs. And I looked around. He suddenly hid behind the one of the buildings. But he was still peeping at me. Nutter!. I showed him 2 finger sign. I was not sure he saw it or not. Then I rushed to my car I parked in nearby roadside.
I was checking myself. Why was he stalking me? What's wrong with me? Of course, I was holding my ipad in my hand . Usually, I put it in my bag.

I heard locals called their town "Shoottingham"  as a joke. Of course, a high shooting incidence in Nottingham. In recent new year days, apparently 3 shooting in first 10 days of 2011 . Other crime rates are relatively high as well.But Nottingham has got a good health care with the largest teaching hospital in Europe, called QMC. Of course, it is needed..

Photo:  Panoramio

Laptop not allowed to carry on Myanmar rail

 In many countries, the train operators make wifi internet access and power source  available on their carriages for travellers. But in Myanmar (Burma) it is different. Forget about the internet. If you carry a laptop, you may face a problem.

One of my facebook friends had to pay fine when he carried a laptop on Myanmar domestic rail.

One funny thing is the rail authority wrote down as "typewriter" in Burmese on the receipt instead of "laptop". Fine was 2100 Kyat (Myanmar currency)

Japanese quake and Burma Nagis

Recent Japan quake and tsunami  hit world's news head lines. I am really sorry for Japan and its people.

This disaster reminds me 2008 Nagis cyclone which left Burma with extensive damage and well over 100,000 deaths. For some reason, Burmese government declined to accept the majority of foreign aids. Moreover, many volunteers were arrested by charging with so called anti-government activities. I sincerely believe that governments normally prioritise their people's benefit.

Protected Singapore for being a tiny one

It is good to know a country's housing market when you are trying to buy a holiday home or when you want to run a property business abroad. Britain is a really flexible country to buy and sell property. It should not be a big deal so long as you have enough money and a property solicitor. But Singapore is not like that. There are a lot of restrictions to become a home owner. It is understandable that it is a small country and it needs full protection. Otherwise, rich countries will take over it in the name of new landlord. If you read the following piece of news from Singapore, you may get some idea about what is going on in that South East Asian nation.

HDB has decided to do away with the sibling scheme from Monday onwards. This means that unmarried Singaporeans and PR siblings whose parents live abroad will not be allowed to buy new or resale HDB flats.

This scheme covered siblings (brothers and sisters) who are unmarried and whose parents are not living in Singapore to buy new or resale flats. Currently, only unmarried individuals over 35 years old can buy from the resale market (which is another reason to get married in Singapore other than for love or money).
This decision has been made in light of the ease of renting single rooms or whole HDB units. Also, HDB has found out that unmarried Singaporean or PR siblings who buy new or resale HDB flats have only made up a fraction of the total HDB transactions, so it is unnecessary to continue with this scheme.

This only applies to transactions from Monday, 21st February, onwards. If you think you’d be affected by this abolishment, check out our 'HDB For Rent' section!
Source:

Holiday in San Francisco

Looking through the window of KLM aircraft, MD11, just after landed in San Francisco, the airport staffs with oriental appearance were busy with deloading baggage. The immigration officer gave back my passport, saying "Have a nice stay". He had got a typical American accent. He looked like a friend of mine from Shan state of Burma. Once I came out of the airport, I felt I had been in a different world. Friendly people, big cars and wide roads....


The air craft which took me to California.


People rely on their own cars, most of which are 4x4 (they call it SUV). Public transport is not as good as in London. The self service ticket machines in BART stations are not user-friendly at all while London underground provides modern touch screen screens. Apparently, the shooting incidence is high there, compared with London. It has been claimed that Oakland of San Francisco bay area is the 5th most dangerous city in the United States.



Taking a sight seeing bus would give you a general idea about a city you have never been before. Of course, you will be sent to many tourist attraction places. I booked it before travelling. In San Francisco, once you have visited the Fisherman's wharf (Pier 39), China town, Union square and the Golden Gate bridge, you are ready to explore further as you prefer.




a panoramic view of SF

I had been in the malls and supermarkets. The electronic stuff and clothes are relatively cheap compared with Britain. For example, A MacBook with £899 tag in London PC world had been selling with $899 there. One tricky point is that the prices are "before tax" which is 9 point something % . (In Britain, VAT 17.5% has been added in price)


somewhere in Down town

In San Francisco, there is a big China town with many shops and restaurants. I feel London counter part is tiny. I did not see too many Indians in downtown.



Bay Bridge


The Bay Bridge at night



The Bay bridge and city


The Golden Gate Bridge

...


Cable car is an icon of SF




ျမန္မာ တိုင္းရင္းသား ပေဒါင္မပံု



Down town

The commercial websites claimed that Alcatraz Island tours are a favorite of San Francisco visitors. I think it is one of the most recommended places of tour operators. If you want to see a former prison situated in an island situated in 1.5 miles offshore from San Francisco, you can purchase ferry ticket online or at pier 33, from where Alcatraz boats carry visitors to and fro every half an hour in average. I spent there 2-3 hours together with a crowd of visitors, looking around cells, dining rooms, light tower and partially ruined building.




The light house in Alcatraz island


Cells


A cell



Crab shops in Pier 39

My way back to England was convenient as my outbound trip. KLM provided nice foods and good service. Cabin crews were competent and efficient.

Weekend shopping and autumn memory

Recovering from a hectic night shift, I noticed that it was wet and drizzling outside in so-called Robinhood's county. Of course, we are in the last few days of British summer. Autumn will come officially from the 1st November this year. Time goes by quickly. I still remember everything about last year's autumn. I bought my DSLR camera last year this time, taking photos and sharing with my friends. It had been a wonderful time with multiple photo trips to the many parts of England and South Wales. Two local photo awards were my sweet memory ever.

Based on my photo habit, I gained many new friends. I think my interest in basic cooking also enabled me to get some more friends in facebook. At the same time, I have got some enemies from far east community probably because of my western orientated and liberal mind. Basically I feel sick if I came across someone who sticks at one atmosphere, refusing to accept new things and new foods. I tends to criticise such people. I know it is not a good habit. But still unsuccessful yet to give it up. In fact, I have been enjoying to do so.

In wet weather yesterday, I headed towards the city centre. After leaving my car at the Broadmash car park, one of the 4-5 shopping places in Nottingham, I joined people in chilling out and buying things. I took some photos randomly at the same time.


Watches with price tags over 5 grams


Traditional jacket potato kiosk


An ice cream kiosk


A tram coming


A street entertainer. He pleased as I gave him a pound coin.



Think about golfing in Autumn, I bought some sport wears from M&S. Of course, Marks and Spencers is for the middle class people like me. Blue Harbour is nice. 2 stripes 29.50 each. Polo shirt 12. Outdoor trousers 35 quids.

The Dell Streak review

Photo:

Recently, my O2 mobile phone was upgraded to Dell Streak, which runs on Google Android with loads of build-in applications such as facebook, twitter, gtalk, gmail, youtube, map and navigator. It comes with a 5 inch screen. It has got 2 cameras, a 5 mega pixel camera on rear cover side and an extra camera on screen side.

These days, Iphone is in a high demand and everybody around me has been carrying it. For some reason, I am not so keen on it. When I came across the fact that the Dell Streak had been available on O2 network. I decided to take it straight away.

According to my personal experience, I found out some good and bad things.

Good points:

• Big screen. Comfortable to use.
• Slim. Easy to put in trouser pocket
• Wi-Fi and fast HSPA connectivity
• No software required to sync with desktop computer
• If you are using Google calendar for your daily and montly plans, this Dell Streak will act as your best organizer. It will synchronise everything with your plans in google account.
• Gtalk facitly is really handy. I can keep chatting while I am shopping and eating.
• Expandable memory (micro SD). Mine is 16gig which is more than enough
• Easy access to application on Android Market. If you have Google check out, very quick to buy. Of course, there are loads of free Games and applications
• It is easy to locate yourself in big cities. You can share your location with your friends.

Bad points:

• Version 1.6 of Android is relatively old. For me, it does not matter. Anyway, version 2.2 will come soon.
• Back, Menu and Home buttons are vibrating on touch initially. After a few days, intensity of vibration getting less. Sometime, no vibration at all.
• Camera button is difficult to press it. But if you use touch button on screen, no problem.
• Slow camera focusing despite reasonable good image
• People might say it is a big mobile phone. I would say it is more than mobile phone. It is a tablet. So size is acceptable.
• No Skype application available.
• Gtalk is only for chatting. No voice call.

This is my impression on Dell Streak after using it in last 3 weeks.

My rating is 8 out of 10.

If you are a Google fan, Android phone is the best for you. Check here how you can do on google phone.

Some related video clips about this device.

Close-up photo I took with this Dell Streak.