Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Category: Travel

  • ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Tower

    resortquest-waikiki-beach-towerI recently stayed at the ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Tower and found it to be the perfect place for families. I had booked a two bedroom, two bath suite for a party of six. The kitchen allowed us to hold down food costs and accommodate the palate of the little ones even while we were away from home. Here are my comments about the facilities and our stay at the condo.

    1. Location. The ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Tower is at 2470 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii 96815. When I first drove to the condo, I could not locate it because I could not find their driveway on Kalakaua Avenue. As it turns out, I wasn’t mistaken. The building and front door is not directly on Kalakaua Avenue. All you will find on Kalakaua is a pedestrian gate that leads to an open-air walkway that ends at the entrance to the condo. The parking garage is only accessible from Liliuokalani Avenue. A Liliuokalani address would have made the condo much easier to find.
    2. Oceanfront. The condo is oceanfront in the sense that it is located across the street from the beach. It is not directly on the beach like the Moana Surfrider. Still, it offers easy access to the beach and is also walking distance to the Honolulu Zoo and Waikiki Aquarium.
    3. High Speed Internet Access. From the suites, broadband is available via an ethernet connection. I visited with an iPhone, so the ethernet cable did me no good. The condo does offer free wireless high speed internet access in the lobby and pool deck.
    4. Complimentary Valet Parking. Most hotels will assess a daily parking charge. At the ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Tower, we were not charged for parking.
    5. Free Sand Pail Crab. For children, the condo offers a free sand pail crab at check-in. This includes a pail, shovel, rake and sifter (in the shape of a crab). So save your luggage space and leave your child’s beach toys at home.
    6. Blender. The blender was underpowered. Tried once to puree food and gave up. Spoiled by the Vita-Mix.
    7. Rice Cooker. The kitchens include a rice cooker, an essential appliance for Chinese families. However, cooking rice in a saute pan really isn’t that difficult, especially if you watch enough cooking shows.
    8. Kitchen. Our kitchen was well equipped with a microwave, full-size refrigerator, toaster, automatic dishwasher, and range/oven. Pots, pans, plates, bowls, utensils, chopsticks, cooking gadgets were all included. You will also be given a sponge, dish washing liquid, and automatic dishwasher powder. Just buy food and you’ll be set.
    9. Washer and Dryer. Our suite had a washer and dryer. This wasn’t an appliance shared by the entire building or our entire floor. Instead, our unit had a washer and dryer stowed inside a closet. This proved to be extremely convenient since I could pack a lot less clothes. Also, if you have children, you don’t have to worry about them running out of clothes. The real surprise was that the condo provided a complimentary single-use box of laundry detergent every day.
    10. Wal-Mart. To stock the kitchen, I shopped at the omnipresent ABC stores, Safeway, Costco and finally Wal-Mart. Next time, whenever that may be, I will go to Wal-Mart first. For drinks, bread, cereal, rice and other food staples, Wal-Mart offers great prices and the right quantities. For vegetables, visit one of the many stores in Chinatown.

    I really liked the ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Tower because they nailed all the little touches. I already had given them an “A” for making a washer and dryer available within our suite. However, the staff got an “A+” for giving us laundry detergent each day. Totally unexpected.

    The day before we were to check out, the front desk called and asked if we needed assistance with our luggage. It didn’t even occur to me to ask since I usually drag everything out myself. However, with a large party and kids to keep an eye on, I asked them to return the next day. So, when I left to check out, their staff picked up our luggage, moved our car to the entrance, and loaded all our luggage into our car. An “A” for helping us bring our luggage down. An “A+” for loading into our car without asking. That easily saved me 10-15 minutes. Totally unexpected and totally welcome.

  • Asian Art Museum – Ming Dynasty Exhibit

    The Asian Art Museum is hosting a special exhibition entitled Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty from June 27-September 21, 2008. Fortunately, Target sponsors a Free First Sundays program that opens admission to the museum for free on the first Sunday of every month. This past Sunday being a “first Sunday,” I headed to San Francisco to see what Ming treasures the museum had in store. I arrived shortly before 10 a.m., which is opening time, and discovered a line that literally wrapped around the museum. You would think that they were selling the beloved iPhone 3G at the gift store or something.

    Well, San Francisco being San Francisco, the weather was overcast, cold and windy in the middle of summer. As we entered the museum (about an hour later), we were given tickets that indicated our assigned time for viewing the Ming exhibits. After some more waiting inside the museum, we finally entered the first room at around 11:20 a.m. An hour and 20 minute wait! The Ming art is distributed among 3 exhibit halls on the first floor of the museum. As we proceeded from hall to hall, we had to wait in a new line. Some lines were longer than others.

    If you are visiting with a large group, you will save a few bucks by attending the Free Sunday event. However, the experience is sub-optimal from the long lines to the crowded exhibit halls. If you really want to see everything, you need to be patient because each exhibit probably had 10 or so people around it. People packed around the exhibits. More people streaming in. Not quite the quiet and leisurely pace typically found in museums. I don’t know if the museum is less crowded when they charge admission. I should have asked, but was a bit too frazzled from the whole visit.

  • Seymour Marine Discovery Center

    Whale SkeletonThe Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz, CA, offers young children a close-up look into the world of marine life. The center consists of three small exhibit halls and an open audio-visual space. When I stopped by last weekend, the center was not crowded. Parking was easy and free.

    The center is located right along the Santa Cruz coastline. I couldn’t much enjoy the ocean view because it was extremely windy outside. Inside, the center offered marine-themed puzzles for kids, educational stations, many aquariums, and an interactive station where kids and adults alike can touch hermit crabs, sea anemones and starfish. You will not find the aquariums full of Nemos and Dorys here though.

    Plan an hour or so for your visit. That’s about the attention span for little kids anyways. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is about an hour away from Silicon Valley. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors (64+) and $4 for children (4-16). For older children, you can visit the larger and much more expensive Monterey Bay Aquarium.

  • Palo Alto Airport Day 2007

    palo alto airport dayI stopped by the Palo Alto Airport Day festivities this afternoon. I saw quite a few small planes on display, as well as helicopters from the Santa Clara County sheriff, U.S. Coast Guard and Stanford Hospital. The San Francisco Bay Area offers many fun activities and events. Many charge admission, but some are free. I really enjoyed the visit to the Palo Alto Airport. Wish I had time to join the Palo Alto airport tower tour though.

  • The Las Vegas of China

    New York Times: BiggerThanLasVegas?That’s Macao’s Bet. Las Vegas’s days as the capital of excess may be numbered. The $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort, scheduled to open here Tuesday, will give Sin City more than a run for its money.

    My favorite line from the article? “But Macao’s average gambler is still a day-tripper from Hong Kong or nearby Chinese cities in the Pearl River delta. These visitors are so frugal that they often bring their own food and do not rent hotel rooms.” 🙂

  • Vienna Teng at Bol Park

    Vienna TengI attended the free Vienna Teng concert at Bol Park in Palo Alto last night. For those who have never heard of her, Vienna earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, only to forgo software engineering for a career in music. Awesome performance. I’m always excited to see successful Asian Americans in careers other than medicine, law or engineering. Not that I have anything against doctors, lawyers or engineers, but I believe these artists, journalists, writers, actors, chefs, etc. all enrich our collective culture and experience. I’ve been listening to her music for some time (iTunes), but the concert was the first time I heard her live. She sounds very different live. She sang with a deeper and richer voice than I was used to.

  • Los Altos Art & Wine Festival

    Los Altos Art and Wine FestivalI stopped by the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival this morning. Even for those who aren’t big fans of art or wine, the Festival offers many interesting attractions. Of course, most of the booths featured arts and crafts items for sale, including photos, paintings, and assorted handicrafts. Also present were local vendors, such as Whole Foods and Elephant Pharm, offering free food samples and branded tchotchkes. The Festival also had inflated play structures for the kids, food booths with tempting treats, and entertaining music for those who wanted to sit down and just enjoy the sunny morning.

  • Macao Leaving Las Vegas Behind

    New York Times: Macao Surpasses Las Vegas as Gambling Center. Macao surpassed the Las Vegas Strip to become the world’s biggest gambling center in 2006, measured by total gambling revenue, according to industry analysts and government figures released today.

    I suppose this is good news if you own or run a casino in Macao. But, the last time I was in Macao, I just found the place to be utterly depressing. The place offers none of the glitz of Vegas. I walked into one casino and the first thing I saw was the pawn shop with all the watches that people had to leave behind to meeting their gambling obligations.

  • Top 8 Reasons to Learn English

    The United States requires applicants for naturalization to be able to read, write, speak, and understand English. However, the U.S. exempts older applicants who have resided in the United States as a lawful permanent resident for a long duration or those with a medical impairment that affects their ability to learn English. While green card holders that qualify for one of the above exceptions do not have to learn English to become a U.S. citizen, they should not view the exception as an excuse not to learn English. Being a U.S. citizen and being able to fully partake in the benefits of American society are two separate issues. The advantages of being able to communicate in English are numerous:

    1. America the Beautiful. You need to learn English if you want to travel outside of Chinatown. Though, many Chinese old timers may sniff at America the Beautiful. China has more history. The Grand Canyon can’t even compare to Guilin. They’ll even tell you all the great things about living in China while their two feet are firmly planted in U.S. soil. Learn English. Be adventurous. Visit the national parks and soak in the grandeur of America.
    2. Cold Hard Cash. Sure, there are jobs available to those who can only speak Chinese. So, technically, you don’t even have to speak English to find a job in America. But, why limit yourself to only seeking Chinese-speaking jobs? A little investment in education, pays dividends.
    3. Good Health, Long Life. Even when you visit your Chinese-speaking doctor, the prescription will be written in English. Learning English lets you understand what medicine was prescribed. You need to understand the proper dosage and side effects of all medicines you take.
    4. Law and Order. If you ever get into an accident or are a victim of a crime, you need to be able to communicate clearly with the police or fire department. Sure, some departments may have Chinese-speaking interpreters available. But, the unavailability of an interpreter during a critical situation could jeopardize of you or a loved one.
    5. Education. Education is a bedrock of the Chinese culture. To properly communicate with your children’s teachers, you need to understand English.
    6. Descendents. Your children were dutiful enough to continue your family line. But, these young rascals speak English! If your grandchildren grow up in the United States, they will face a challenging time holding onto their Chinese language. If you wish to communicate with them, teach them Chinese but also learn English on your own so you can meet them half way.
    7. Chinatown Has Moved. The Chinese American population has dispersed all across America. Life in the suburbs means all the stores and services usually are not within walking distance anymore. The further you have to travel, the more likely you will need English to read road signs or interact with others. Oh. Make that another reasons to complain about the United States. Back in China, I can just go downstairs and…
    8. Learning for Learning’s Sake. Sometimes, you shouldn’t need a reason to learn something. As a human being, you are blessed with a brain that is designed to learn new skills. If you start refusing to learn new skills just because there’s no reason to, well, then America probably isn’t the place for you.