My Room @ 619, Radisson Hotel

At around USD136 per nite (room rate is USD110 + tax), u'l get to enjoy a nice stay @ Radisson Hotel...and their warm hospitality. I'd say their services is superb, and their staff never fail to greet you everywhere.

Excellent place, minus the frequent electricity trips.

 here's the view of the room that i stayed...it is at 6th floor of total 10 floors (i guess!).

from the room window, u'l see this

 the daytime gives u a spectacular view outside and in the room itself. The cream color of the wall is so soothing, not to mention about the posters decorating every facet of the room.

 artistic yet colorful

 at night, you will see the street activities and the shops/restaurant downstair...

 here's what i see from my room: above (nighttime) and below (daytime)

 the color contour was so nice over the evening sunray that i decided to take a picture of myself too!

the room service is so efficient that they even offer evening room services on top of the usual morning room service, meaning you'l get your room cleans up twice daily if you wish to!

plus, morning papers delivers right to your doorstep every day!

Breakfast @ Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu

My brief stay in Radisson Hotel doesn't hinder me from enjoyin' their good food, particulary the breakfast spread/buffet.

I normally eat heartily during the morning and skip lunch. Here's what i had during my stay...

Pork sausage, chicken sausage, scrambled egg, french toast, hams, hashbrowns, baked beans, dhal and indian pita bread. Thankfully i hav a very big appetite to gulp all these down!

 butter cake, fruit cake, choc chip in butter cake, donut...all are so yummielicious!

 some asian dishes, the fried rice, chinese style veggie dish, and salads

 see there? how greedy! too bad, i couldn't finish 'em all

 on other days, they served grilled fish fillet and fried fish cubes too...and i had pancake (plain, without the syrup)

 fruits such as watermelon is usual, but having lycees for morning is someting unusual

 and u can order omelette and/or sunny side up egg...the chef will fry one instantly.

bon appetit!

Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu

This hotel is worth every single praise...

well, not b'coz of its infrastructure, but the warm and friendly services by the staff.

They treat you like a VIP, never fails to greet you, smile and opens the door for you...

like sort of...well, royal guest?!

everywhere when i bumped into any of them, you will hear 'Namaste' (complete with hand gesture), good day ma'am, good morning...afternoon, evening...etc...

anyhow, let me show you around this place...

the below is the hotel cafeteria, it serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, buffet style

 the elevators at the lobby

 rooftop swimming pool

 rooftop alfresco cafe

 the corridor

 casino, yea, it is located at lower ground of the hotel

 the lobby

 some very nice flowers at the hotel main entrance

 colorful

 and mesmerizing!

 the Nepalese jst luv flags, and they are proud of their own country flag

 outside of the hotel, there is this bakery named after the hotel...it must hav been owned by them

 another hotel situated nearby, a smaller one (picture below)

 the street view just outside the premis, it has plenty of souvenir shops and a local supermart

 at the end of the road right at the junction, there is this mini shopping complex (mayb it is jst appropriate to call it shop), selling apparels, and souvenirs. It was so quiet with almost no one, except the tenants (of course!)

 lastly, back to the hotel, here's one big array of flowers decorating the entrance...how i wish i could hav this at home!

Indian Cuisine

Our business partner took us to a very posh Indian restaurant in Kathmandu, sort of acclaimed the best Indian restaurant in Nepal...

the ambience is nice with dimly lit yellow lights, very suitable for dating couples indeed (of course families or friends dining too!)

food is however so-so, mayb b'coz i m not used to having indian food...everything looks alien to me, mostly b'coz it is northern indian food?

 they served grilled prawns, mutton, chicken, fish...etc as starter

then followed by another round of servings...the various type of pita bread with condiments

and then came out this bowl of lemon water...

before i take a sip on it...i realize it is for cleansing your hands, luckily i did not drink it! 

 dessert was sort of yogurt and some pieces of 'dunno-what' and some noodle-like sweet stuff...the texture abit like jello....i jst can't finish it...but i saw the rest of them having the whole plate swept clean!

and i was wondering, is that really that delicious?

it jst doesn't suit my tastebud...

Kathmandu

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is none other than a cowboy town...

The city is huge, and highly densed. There were buildings on every corner, mostly old, and there are lotsa construction around. However most of it are renovation or rebuild, hardly i see any new buildings.

 old junks everywhere, plenty of electric cables extension, similar to the ones that you normally see in Hanoi...dusty roads (probably due to lack of rain), and unmanaged tar roads.

the major roads are better (but not much better than ours), however most alley or smaller trunks will either have potholes, uneven surface, or the tar being worn off. Most of their streets are narrow with 2 lanes, and hardly to see anything more than that. If you are travelling, i would recommend u to get a tourguide as most of the roads doesn't hav signboard, and looks almost the same!

b'coz of the narrow size, it gets jam almost at every part of the city. You will see trucks, old and dusty cars, motorbikes, bicycle, old buses and people on the roads...while some vendors jst pile their stuffs to sell at the roadsite. 

 the buildings are mostly 5 to 6 storeys high with mostly shops at the ground floor selling a variety of items from cooking utensils to domestics plasticware...and perhaps some small offices...all looks the same to me. The upper floors would be mostly for residences purpose.

 and in some building, i noticed that there is no proper staircase for the upper floor. Instead a ladder is used to connect the ground to the 1st floor!

Thankfully not in the case of my staying hotel. It is a much better place in Lazimpat, despite all the street chaos.

 here's one view outside of my room

 and another view from different angle of the hotel

 see those buildings?

it stretched so far and the buildings are so close to each other...such a densed place!

electricity is scarce due to the high population, blackout is a norm even in a 5 star hotel, plus there is very little street lights being lit up at night. It is advisable not to walk on the street at night or you might end up falling into some holes! (jst kidding!)

anyhow, great cultural place and nice people...

Come fly with me...to Nepal

Last week i was being assigned to attend a meeting in Kathmandu...a place with nice people and great cultural sight-seeing

Off I went...on some budget airplane...

Despite that, i had the premium seat, which is sort of the business-class-equivalent with wider seats, plenty of legroom, reserved and cleaner washroom and better services. Before touching down Tribhuvan International Airport, we were handed the visa application forms to fill up. The visa entry is a must for every foreigner from non-Indian continent. I paid about USD25 for 15 days, despite only staying there for 3 days...

 yea, i was on front row of the premium class!

 complimentary meal that comes with it

 nothing special, jst some plain nasi lemak (Malaysian meal)

 here's a snapshot of the airport from its parking lot...looks dull and old

 and the below picture was taken on my departure back...the airport is actually situated on a hill top...here you can see the city from afar

 and i was on front row again, but this time not on premium class :-(

 despite that, i still got my meal....just another plain Chicken Rice

i would have fly on MAS if not being fully booked :-(

so sick on flying on budgeted airline, not b'coz it makes me sick but the plane was shaky (air turbulence) throughout the journey, making me uncomfortable, that i hav to swallow some paracetamol during my both journey...