5種住hostel唔想遇到嘅人 5 types of people you don’t want to meet in a Hostel

最近啱啱去完旅行,有時鍾意「窮遊大地」嘅我,當中都住咗好幾晚Hostel,仲要唔平唔住,平均都係5-6euro一晚!一分錢一分貨,有時都唔會要求多多,但住hostel遇著以下啲咁嘅人,都咪話唔喊三聲囉!

1. 鬧鐘響不停嘅人

有一次住hostel,由其中一個同房嘅朋友(唔識嘅),鬧鐘係朝早6點幾就開始響,如果佢真係要咁早起身,我都唔介意,咁各有所需嘛!但弊就弊在佢又唔醒,個鬧鐘由6點幾響到8點半先起身!慘在我地呢啲無辜嘅人俾佢嘈醒晒…陰功!

2. 深夜講嘢大大聲嘅人

試過十一點幾瞓覺,已經訓著咗架啦,跟住有班人十二點幾返房,開始講嘢,係間房行嚟行去大大聲,結果嘈醒咗!但一山還有一山高,話說個Hostel都有少少舊,房同房之間嘅隔音麻麻哋,一點幾隔離房講西班牙文嘅朋友仲係度高談闊論緊,忍唔住都係要去同reception投訴下!

3. 飲醉酒嘅人

飲酒飲到醉醺醺,成身酒味仲要深宵嘈嘈閉嘅人。本人最怕就係遇到飲醉酒嘅人,佢都飲醉酒,你講乜佢都聽唔入耳,話佢佢都會繼續嘈,仲要第二日乜都唔記得晒自己做咗啲咩!真係有時都唔知點對付呢啲人!

4. 做兒童不宜嘢嘅人(唔係吸煙同飲酒)

即係住係一個mixed dorm,明明就係有好多陌生人,有男有女,但就偏偏要係咁多人嘅地方做一啲兒童不宜嘅嘢,發出一啲「奇怪」嘅聲音!可能佢哋覺得好刺激,但聽到啲咁嘅聲音嘅人就真係瞓得有啲唔係好安樂!

5. 話對你有興趣嘅人

即係傾咗一陣計,跟住就開始話覺得你好靚,對你好有興趣嘅人,如果佢仲要同你同一間房,都咪話唔驚。試過同個朋友一齊去旅行,佢就係個受害者,最後明明一人俾咗一張牀嘅錢都要嗰晚一齊孖鋪!

你又有冇喺hostel遇過啲唔想遇到嘅人呢?歡迎分享! DSCN7508 Recently I just got back form a trip, as usual, I would like to save some money and decided to stay in a Hostel for a few nights. Since some of them are really cheap, say 5-6euro per night, we decided to go for those hostel! When things are so cheap, I don’t expect too much from it. But if I met these kinds of people in a Hostel, sometimes I really think it’s a disaster!

1. Person with alarm clock keeps ringing

Once I lived in a hostel, someone in the room had her alarm clock starts ringing at 6.30am! I understand sometimes people may have to wake up early to catch their schedule, it’s okay if someone is waking up at 6.30am! But the thing is, this girl actually wakes up at 8.30am in the end. So she just keeps her alarm clock ringing at 6.30am,7am, 7.30am, 8am, 8.15am, 8.25am…etc. Pfffffff

2. Person who chats/speaks loudly in the midnight

I once fell asleep at around 11pm. Then I thought I could sleep till the next morning. But at around 12am, my dorm-mates came back. They started chatting, tidying up their things, walking around the room to get stuff…They were soooo noisy that they actually woke me up. What is worse was there were a group of 12 Spanish living the room right next. As the hostel is quite old, you can hear people speaking next room quite clearly. In the end, there was no way but I had to go to the reception and told them the situation and got it solved.

3. Person who is drunk

When it’s the middle of the night, and your dorm-mate came back drunk and talking to someone else, that’s actually quite horrible. I personally think drunk people are one of the hardest people to deal with. Because even when you talk to them, they can’t really control themselves and the next morning, they won’t even remember what happened last night. I feel that’s not much I can do under this circumstance.

4. People who do 18+ things in the room (i don’t mean smoking or drinking)

When you live in a mixed form, with people of all ages and both male and female in the room, sometimes I don’t really understand how people can do something like that, and making noise that makes people feel uncomfortable. Perhaps they think it’s exciting to do such things, but seriously, it just so awkward to hear something like that.

5. Person who said he’s interested in you

After chatting for awhile, the person told you you are so cute, so pretty, and he’s interested in you, and you are living in the same dorm with him! Ohlalalaaaaa Once I traveled with my friend and she’s the victim, just to play safe, my friend and I slept in the same bed together that night even though we paid for our own bed!

Have you met someone in the hostel that you would not like to meet? Please feel free to share your experience!

5 個可能會激死香港人嘅問題 5 questions trying to piss off someone from Hong Kong

去到唔同地方,難免會有認識來自不同地方嘅人,然後介紹下自己,講完叫咩名後,好多時就會講自己邊度嚟,然後間唔中就會俾以下幾條問題激死!(又無咁嚴重,不過有時都要花一啲時間解釋下。)

1. 你明明係中國人,做乜唔話你係中國人?

係身份認同嘅問題。無可否認,大部分香港人都留住中國人嘅血,而香港又回歸咗中國,如果點都覺得香港就等於中國,咁我都無言以對。但,你又知唔知香港有自己嘅政府,貨幣,法律,教育制度甚至奧運代表隊,當教育同成長文化有咁大分別時,如果你仍然要將香港人同中國人對等,我心底裏會暗暗地笑你有點兒無知。

2. 香港係咪係日本?

唔知點解總係有啲人有咁嘅諗法,但其實由香港飛去東京都要4個幾鐘。

3. 你係咪識打功夫架?

可能係李小龍同成龍太深入民心,有可能係佢哋聽講韓國小朋友會學跆拳道,以為亞洲小朋友都會,咁我通常唯有陪佢哋玩下啦,話佢哋知我哋個個細細個都已經學功夫,仲問佢哋信唔信我可以一隻手指整死佢!

4. 你可以用Facebook? (另加一個驚訝嘅樣!)

無錯!事實上香港係有400萬個Facebook註冊用戶,佔上網人數75%!

5. 下!你咁揀飲擇食嘅?你哋唔係乜都食㗎咩?

係香港,我哋主要食嘅肉類都係得豬雞牛魚海鮮,唔好以為我哋真係好鍾意食珍禽異獸!

如果你仲諗到其他,請你留言分享!(:

When going abroad, sometimes we have to introduce ourselves. It’s pretty common to tell people where we come from after telling our names, and sometimes it takes me sooo much time to explain and clarify when people asked me the following questions!

1. You are Chinese, why don’t you tell people you are from China?

Identity. Undoubtedly, most of our ancestors are Chinese, and politically and officially speaking, Hong Kong returned to China. So if you insist I should tell you I am from China instead of Hong Kong, I will be kinda speechless. But, do you know that we have our own government, currency, law, education system and even our own team in the Olympic Games. When there are so much difference in education background and culture, if you insist, I may feel you are so ignorant in the bottom of my heart. And seriously, will an American-born-Chinese tell people he’s from China?

2. Is Hong Kong in Japan?

Well, I don’t know why people have this perception. In fact, it took us 4 hours to take a plane to go to Tokyo from Hong Kong.

3. Do you know how to play Kung Fu?

Maybe the impacts of Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan are too influential, or maybe some people heard that Korean kids will learn Taekwondo and thought Asians kids will do the same. So I will usually tell my foreign new friends that ‘yes, we all learn it since we were really young! Do you believe I can kill you with only one finger?’

4. You can use Facebook? (With a SHOCKING face!)

You are right! I HAVE FACEBOOK! There are actually 4 million Facebook accounts from Hong Kong, it’s 75% of all the internet users.

5. You are so picky when it comes to food, aren’t you guys eat everything?

In Hong Kong, the meat that we mainly eat are pork, beef, chicken, fish and seafood. Please don’t misunderstand that we love eating all kinds of weird animals!

If you have some other suggestions or comments, please share! (:

5個旅遊或留學前的收拾小秘密 5 secrets when packing for traveling or study abroad trips

很多人在留學或旅遊前也有一個大難題,究竟要帶什麽?帶多了就好像笨了,忘記了一些東西又很不方便。但是與其給你一個packing list,不如讓我跟你分享我5個收拾留學或旅遊物品的秘密!

1. 電器轉換器/拖板

最小要帶2個轉換器,萬一一個壞了,還有一個後備!假如2個也壞了,那…你真的唔好彩,下一次不要再到這間店買轉換器吧!

特別給準備留學的你:帶一個有3-4個插位的拖板,那就可以方便同時讓電腦、手提電話、風筒等電器差電,不用常常更換差電器。

2. Layering的學問

特別是女生,layering可以讓你帶小一點衣服!本來女生就是有很多衣服,不同場合有不同的需要。但現在的天氣又變化莫測,時凍時熱,準備一些簡單薄薄的深色長袖T恤及leggings,加上夏天也能穿的短袖T恤及短褲,減小所需要帶的衣服。

3. 衣架/掠衫繩

帶備最少一個衣架,主要是沖涼後可以把毛巾掛起來,不用擔心要掛在骯髒的地方。

特別給準備長時間旅遊的你:帶備一條掠衫繩,需要在旅館洗衣服後也不需要擔心沒地方掠乾。

4. 旅遊毛巾

即使我是去留學或是住酒店,我也出發時也會帶備一條旅遊毛巾,這些旅遊毛巾比一般的貴一點,但假如你經常去旅行,也是一個值得的投資!

旅遊毛巾的好處是:快乾打開是大條收起來是很小

5. 旅遊書

千萬不要不要不要帶旅遊書!(除非你的行李有很多位或沒有超重的危機…)

現在在網上容易找到資料,假如你已一早為旅行進行計劃,那可以為所需的版面影印(請留意版權問題,我是從來也不看旅遊書的)或在網上列印相關的資料!假如你沒有為旅行進行計劃,那就去到以後去Tourist Information Centre或是旅店問問別人吧!

P.S. 上述介紹的產品沒有任何廣告成分,純粹是筆者以往的心得,圖片也是來自官方網站(假如你不喜歡我使用你的圖片,歡迎與我聯絡)。假如有其他好介紹或心得,歡迎分享!

It’s very common that we feel stressed before traveling or studying abroad, we worry about what we should pack along. If we bring too much, we may feel a bit stupid to bring along things we don’t need. If we forgot about some important stuff, it may create some inconvenience. Rather than sharing a packing list which you can easily find online, let me share with you 5 secrets I have when I am packing for my traveling or study abroad trips.

1. Socket adaptor/ extensions

Bring at least 2 socket adaptors with you! In case one of them is broken/not working, there’s one more to charge your gadgets!  What if both of them are broken…?! Then I would say, sorry, you are so unlucky, maybe you should buy your adaptor somewhere else next time! :P

Especially for the ones who are going to study abroad: Bring an extension cord with 3-4 sockets! This is very useful for lazy people, so you don’t have to un-plug, and plug, and un-plug your charger every day!

2. Learn about layering

Sounds abstract, what layering? It’s about how you prepare your clothing  For girls in particular, wear with layers can help you reduce the amount of clothing you need to bring! Preparing different occasions with different outfits, girls always need many different kinds of clothes. In addition to climate change, it’s hard to forecast how the weather be like, prepare some long sleeves t-shirt and leggings in black or some other dark colors  so you can wear them underneath your summer t-shirt and shorts!

3. Clothes Hanger/Clothes line

Bring at least one clothes hanger with you, so you don’t have to worry where you can put to dry your shower towel!

Especially for the ones who are going to travel for a long time: Buy/Prepare a clothes line, so you don’t have to worry where to dry your clothes in case you have to wash some of them in your hostel later on.

4. Travel towel

No matter study abroad or traveling, I always bring along a travel towel with me, this kind of travel towel is slightly more expensive than the usual ones. But if you always travel around, it’s something worth to invest!

Advantages of travel towel: Light-weight, quick-dry, big enough when you open it and small enough when you fold it!

5. Guide book

Never Never Never bring a guide book/travel book! (Unless you have a lot of space and weight limit for your luggage…)

It’s easy to look for travel information online nowadays! If you always plan well for your travel, maybe you can photocopy the pages you need for your travel (please aware of the issue of copyright, to be honest I never really read a travel book) or you can print the information online! If you are not planning to plan your trip, then why don’t you just go to the Tourist Information Centre or Hostel to ask for suggestions and your way after you arrive!

P.S. The products introduced above are not advertisements, they are just sharing that I have my travels. Photos of the products are from the official website (Please let me know if you do not want me to use the picture.) If you have any other recommendations or packing secrets, please share!

購買旅行用品相關網站 Related website about buying travel products:Go Travel, Muji

留學計劃相關網站 Related website about studying abroad:EF Education First 留學計劃

相關博文 Related blog article:5 tips to save money when studying abroad

5樣女生初次獨遊異地不可不知的事 5 things girls need to know when traveling alone for the first time

香港人很喜歡旅行,但假如係一個女仔想自己去旅行,都有一定既風險,想去旅行去得安心又開心,除左一般係人廣泛流傳的Top tips for safe travel 外,以下係第一次一個女生去旅行唔可以唔知既野!

1. 應慳則慳 

一個人去旅行,特別係窮學生,可能有時想慳多d錢,但一個人去到外地,有時有d錢係唔慳得,例如住Hostel定訓Sofa,或者去西歐定去東歐,可能有d選擇係會增加成個trip既旅費,但如果下下出街都要提心吊膽,咁去個旅行都唔會玩得暢快!即係老土d講句,要錢定要命?

2. 睇睇睇評論

無論最後選擇住Hostel定訓Sofa,一定要認真睇下d評論,見到個Hostel好高分唔代表一定好好,記住望下有幾多個人俾ratings! 例如Hostel A有99分,但得1個人俾分,而Hostel B得95分,但佢有100個人俾分。咁可能Hostel B會比Hostel A更可靠,起碼咁多人住過佢個評分都仲係咁高!而且睇下d人既評語,等自己有多d心理準備!

3. 萬事俱備

未出發前記住confirm好住宿,睇定點由機場/火車站去住既地方,去Google Map印定需要既地圖,有時間仲可以跟Google Map d實境圖試下行一次,等自己腦海有d印象到時會行d咩路,咁就唔怕迷路啦!可以睇定1間後備Hostel,假如本身既住宿有問題,去到都唔駛太傍惶!

4. 緊急電話

第一個緊急電話係當地既緊急電話,好多地方都可以打112,但最好出發前Check清楚!第二個係你屋企人既電話,即使平時可能係入開中文名,去旅行之前最好改一改做簡單的英文字,如Mom, Dad, Emergency Contact…Touchwood你有意外,外國人不懂中文都可以聯絡你的屋企人!

5. 切忌浮誇

雖然去旅行想影靚相,著靚d d相又好睇d,但著得越靚就越花招枝展,吸引左d壞人向你打主意!平平實實,俾人覺得你無乜錢,自然壞人都費事打你主意!仲有現金要分開袋,有人鐘意收係鞋、襪入面,外國d女仔鐘意放係bra入面,咁想放邊就隨個人喜好啦!

Many people like traveling. However, if you are a girl, and you are traveling alone, especially for your first time, there are certain risks that we have to bear. Other than those common tips you can find online, the following are some tips that a girl should know when she’s traveling alone for the first time in her life!

1. Safety is your Number 1 priority!

Especially when students are traveling alone, many travelers want to save as much money as they can. But when you are alone, sometimes you can’t risk your life over money. For example, whether you are staying in a hostel or doing couch-surfing, or you are planning to go to Western-Europe or Eastern-Europe. Though sometimes these tiny decisions can make a huge difference for your travel budget, if you have to worry too much every time you go out, how can you enjoy your trip? In the end, which is more important: your life or your money?

2. Take reviews seriously!

No matter you choose to live in a hostel or do couchsurfing, you have to read the reviews carefully. A high rating in a hostel doesn’t mean it’s a really good one. For example, Hostel A has 99% but there’s only 1 person doing the review, whereas Hostel B has 95% only but there’re 100 people reviewing. Probably Hostel B will be more reliable, at least there are so many people stayed there and the ratings are still that high. Also read reviews seriously, so as to give yourself some idea what kind of situation you are going to face.

3. Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best!

Confirm your accommodation before your departure; check how you could get to the place from the airport/train station. Google map can be a really helpful tool! Print out all the maps that you need, and if you have time, follow the ‘street-view’ of google map to walk virtually to your destination, so you will have some rough idea how you will get there! Research for a spare hostel, just in case there’s some problem with the hostel you were planning to stay, you still have an emergency place to stay in!

4. Emergency number!

The first emergency number is the local emergency contact. 112 is applicable in many countries, but better check it once again before leaving!  The second emergency number is the number of your family. Maybe you used to have their numbers in your own language in your mobile, but before you leave your country, better change it to some simple English words like ‘Mom’, ‘Dad’, or even ‘Emergency Contact’. Touchwood if you have any accident, people can try to reach your family.

5. Stay low profile!

When we are traveling, of course we would like to dress nicely so that we can take beautiful picture as memory. Yet the more glamorous you appear, the more you are trying to tempt the bad people! Remember to separate the money you brought with you, some people like to put under the shoes, some put inside their socks, some girls like to put inside their bra…etc. it’s up to you where you feel comfortable to put!

更多相關資訊 More related information: HostelingInternational, Google Maps

5個海外留學慳錢秘笈 5 tips to save money when studying abroad

[re-post from http://blog.yahoo.com/_S3GYPXIOORDWMRGPOW3PRQG744/articles/1003844/index]

留學生本身學費已經昂貴,加上外國的生活指數一般比香港高,想幫父母減輕負擔又或者留番多d零用錢做自己想做既野,以下呢五個慳錢秘笈可能幫到你!

1. 購買二手家具及衣服

隨著留學的普及,很多不同地方也有留學生,一般也是住一陣子便會離去,可以嘗試購買他們的家具。有些地方如英國,很容易找到不同的二手衣服店,多數也是慈善機構開辦的,衣飾由善長人士捐贈,所得的收入也作慈善用途,有些商品的質量還不錯的!

2. 申請學生火車證、巴士卡

各處鄉村各處例,不同地方有不同的學生優惠,即管問問不同的前輩,看看有甚麼乘車折扣。假如你在英國留學,英國便有火車證,申請費約30鎊,於非繁忙時間在倫敦乘地鐵也有減免車費三分之一的優惠。假如你踏單車的技術不太差的話,以單車代步也是一個好選擇!

3. 減少出外用餐

出外吃飯一般比較貴一點,可以嘗試自己烹調一些簡單的菜式,有勇氣的話也可以在網上找食譜,跟著試一些新菜式。假如有一群三五知己,也可以一起炮制晚餐,順道聯誼一番!電飯煲在外國並不是太普及,所以可以學習用一般煮食用具或微波爐煮飯,或是到唐人街買一個!

4. 減少出外娛樂

到朋友家一同耍樂,玩玩不同的遊戲,一同焗個蛋糕,看看電影!這些娛樂比到電影院或其他娛樂場所便宜得多!

5. 利用視像通話

出國留學家人少不免會掛心,從前科技尚未有這樣發達,長途兩話費是不可或缺的開支,現今科技發達,利用不同軟件如Skype,Whatsapp等,便可常常跟家人交談。〔Skype也有月費計劃,可透過網絡撥打至外地的手提電話,而月費一點也不昂貴!〕

As a foreign student, tuition fee is more expensive than usual. In addition, the living standard overseas is usually higher than that in Hong Kong. If you would like to alleviate your parents’ burden or save more pocket money to do something you want, the following 5 tips may be able to help you!

1. Buy 2nd hand furniture and clothes

As there are more and more foreign students around the world, it’s not too hard to buy their used furniture when they leave the country, because most of these students only stay in the country for a short period of time. Some places like the United Kingdom, it’s very easy to find some charity shops. They are selling second-hand clothes that people donate, the money they earn from the clothes are also for charity purpose. If you are lucky enough, you can find something cheap but with high quality!

2. Apply student travel card

Different cities may provide different student incentives. Try to ask some more experienced/senior students and check what kind of discount you may get. For example, in England, there’s a rail card for 16-25 years old youth. The application fee is around GBP30, but you can also enjoy 1/3 discount off when you are traveling with the London underground. Other than that, if you can ride a bike, traveling with a bike is also a good option!

3. Don’t dine out that often

Dining out is more expensive usually. You can try to cook some simple dishes or if you are brave enough, look for some new recipes online and try to make it! Maybe you can gather your friends, and make a dinner together! Rice cooker is not that common compared to Asia, you can try to look for ways to cook rice in normal pot or cooking with microwave, or if you really need it, go to China Town and get one!

4. Don’t always go out for entertainment

You can go to your friends’ place to play some games, bake a cake, or watch a movie at home! These entertainments will probably cheaper than going to a cinema or other entertainment venue.

5. Make use of video call

It’s normal that your friends and family will miss you when you are overseas. When technology was not that advance in the past, the expensive bill for telephone is kind of inevitable. But now, if you can make use of software like Skype, Whatsapp…etc., it will be so cheap and easy to communicate with your friends. (Skype also provide monthly plan, so you can use internet to call other’s mobile phone no., and the price is not expensive at all!)

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