9 tips for renting an apartment at Hong Kong

There are various kind of options for places to stay in Hong Kong, ranging from luxury hotels, star hotels, hostels, backpackers / guest house to an apartment. Location of the places was also influential in choosing the places. The accommodation is spread almost all over Hong Kong, but the majority located in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. The Limited land available has caused property prices to be very expensive. Buildings in here mostly comprises a slim tall buildings with small size and efficient.

Daily rent apartment option is workable alternative if our budget is limited, especially if we are traveling with a family. However, not so many apartements can be rented due to their regulation. Some of the apartment owner offer their places at web sites, ask for the rate they offer, review the pros and cons of previous tenants if any. Do it before we decided to rent.

Some points based on our experiences on choosing to rent apartment instead of staying at hotel when travelled along with kids:

• Kids are more comfortable and feel at home. Usually a rented apartment has a living room furnished with a sofa and televison sets. They can play as well as at home.
• We can save costs because we can cook ourselves. Find an apartment that has a kitchen set as they usually come with cooking utensils. Shop at the supermarket for cooking needs.

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An after midnight Shopping at Mustafa Center, Singapore

Mustafa Centre is one of Singaporean's 24-hour shopping malls which is located on Syed Alwi Road in Little India. Located at a walking distance from Farrer Park on the North East Line, Mustafa Centre is a retail hub which caters mainly to the budget market.

The department store at Mustafa Centre consists of two shopping centres: one retailing jewellery and household appliances, and has a supermarket in it; and the other selling books, CDs and DVDs, watches, electronic goods, footwear and clothing.  The business concept of offering other services such as Foreign Exchange, VISA Processing, Travels Booking, Gold Mart,  GST refund counter and all kinds of shopping item available under one roof.

photo credit: http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/shopping/shopping-malls/mustafa-centre.html

The place is huge and you need a couple of hours to cover all the departments, It is not the most sophisticated and classy place to shop in Singapore but it surely sells almost everything at a reasonable price and also open 24hours, thus making Mustafa a popular shopping place for tourists.

You can get almost anything from over 300,000 items displayed on four levels covering an area of 400,000 Sq.ft within the six story building along Syed Alwi Road. It has a wide variety of goods from souvenirs, food, spice to electronics. Just selecting carefully and patiently cause sometimes if you're lucky you will find the same things with lower price or better quality, like t shirt (Singapore-is-a-fine-country T-shirt), souvenir, etc. But remember, most of those items can be purchased from other places in Singapore, like Chinatown or Bugis Street market, even at Orchard Road with better quality and price.

If you have limited time for shopping around but wanted to buy some souvenirs before leaving for airport, Mustafa might be your best choice.  You can go there even after midnight, do your shopping and if you do not have enough space in your luggage, you can always buy extra luggage in Mustafa too, but make sure you refund your GST if you can. There are lots of Indian restaurant around Mustafa so don’t worry about getting hungry.

Getting Here
Take MRT of the North East Line (purple) - Punggol to Harbour Front and alight at Farrer Park station, do not alight at Little India station. Services operate from about 5:30 am and usually end before 1 a.m. daily with intervals of approximately three to eight minutes. For after midnight shopping, use the taxi services.

Some tips for shopping at Mustafa

• If you don’t mind the crowds, come by on a Saturday or Sunday evening, but if you want to do your shopping leisurely then go after midnight. 
• Before you buy the perishable products, please check the packaging and the expiry date. 
• Don’t rush, takes your time to look through every shelf through out the mall, some items might not be displayed at the same area, be sure to browse first unless you already know what you want to buy. 
• Don't feel bad about pushing your way through the crowd 
• Watch out your valuables. Beware of pickpocket 
• Ask your shopping bags to be locked with cable ties before entering the store. Sometimes the security guards may request for your personal bag (non-handbags) to be cable-tied as well. 
• There's a storage counter if you are carrying big bags. It's better to put it at their temporary storage because the passage ways are narrow, you won't want to knock things down. 

reference: http://www.mustafa.com.sg/aboutus.html

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Indonesia: Jakarta - Sea World

Sea World Indonesia or also known as Sea World Ancol is a marine aquarium located in North Jakarta, Indonesia, one of Taman Impian Jaya Ancol recreation parks. It has one Main tank, one shark tank, and several other tanks, and also the white crocodile exhibit. The Main tank of the Sea World Ancol is the biggest aquarium in the Southeast Asia.

 

SeaWorld Indonesia introduces the visitors many living organisms that live in the wild. A wide ranging collection we can see here: freshwater biota (22,000 fishes of 126 types and 28 reptiles of 5 types) and the marine biota (5180 fishes of 26 species, 79 invertebrates of 13 species, 30 reptiles of 5 types) and 1 mammal.

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