Trip Advisor - My Top 5 Reviews

Little bit pissed this evening. Tough week. Easter weekend was pure madness at work, but damn good for the business. Have been enjoying it, both at work and at home, with the kids all doing really well, even with a few behavioral hiccups here and there. But hey, for 1,3 and now 5 yo's, they are doing just fine.

Anyhow, this post came about because I have just had a tiny inkling that I haven't been anywhere or done anything new of late. TripAdvisor https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ is a wonderful site and as well as contributing to it, it has been a source of useful info for me for a long, long time. I did realise today though, that I have not written a review in 2017 so far, and that's after doing over 200 in the few years before that, across many cities and countries. Such is our existence these days though. And you know what, it's not that "new and interesting" hasn't been happening to us, it's just that it has been happening in our own kitchen at home, which is pretty damn good I think.

Still, seeing that I had not posted a review in 2017, this prompted me to come up with this post, which is to sift through the 233 reviews I have done to date, and come up with my favourite 5! Wow, I just realised the first one goes back to mid-2012! So here goes with the Top 5!

Ok so I have now narrowed it down to 14 entries.

1) Westin Hotel KL****

2) Hong Kong Stadium*****

3) Le Meridien Jakarta***

4) BATS Jakarta***

5) Healy Mac's KL***

6) Club Motel Inverell NSW*

7) Hard Rock Hotel Penang****

8) French Hotel Ipoh**

9) WACA Perth****

10) Universal Bar Northbridge***

11) Gridiron Bangsar**

12) Cobba Paddleboat Cobram*

13) Zinc Kuching**

14) Highgate Cemetary, London*****

Interesting mix. So I reckon to narrow this down, and make it personal, let's rank these according to fame. Those most famous get 5 stars, down to 1 for unknowns. Bear with me, as I will be annotating the list above as I go rather than reproducing it....

Far out, this is interesting. I figured I would rank these in terms of fame, which I guess I kind of did. But rather than talk about the most famous ones, I think this post is going to be about the 5 least-known favourite posts of mine, which makes for more interesting reading rather than places 100 million people have been to. So here goes:

1) Club Motel, Inverell NSW

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g504252-d2008563-Reviews-Club_Motel-Inverell_New_South_Wales.html

This place deserves a mention as during our time in Texas QLD, whenever we went away, which was most weekends, this was our favourite place by far. Seriously, we had a couple of crazy experiences on our trips, one of which - in Toowoomba - scared the shit out of us. For many people, Inverell NSW is probably not on your bucket list of places to visit, but if you ever do happen to pass through there, this is the place to stay. An absolutely superb motel, professionally run, clean, excellent service, good parking, etc, etc, etc. It seems silly now, to put this on a "best of" list, but from my experience at many different hotels and motels over the years, this place sticks out, and deserves its spot.

2) French Hotel, Ipoh Malaysia

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g298298-d1220782-Reviews-Ipoh_French_Hotel-Ipoh_Kinta_District_Perak.html

This hotel deserves its mention for similar reasons to the Club above. Those who have ventured outside KL (and Penang and Langkawi) in Malaysia will know that "boutique" doesn't necessarily mean comfortable. In fact many of the hotels in smaller places in Malaysia are simply appaling, if not frightening! But the French exudes class, cleanliness, all while being housed in an historic part of Ipoh. I loved all my stays here, and it was a short walk to some of the best night spots Ipoh has to offer, which was even better!

3) Gridiron, Bangsar Malaysia

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g298570-d2551539-r266145456-GridIron_Sports_Cafe_Lounge-Kuala_Lumpur_Wilayah_Persekutuan.html

Ok I just realised I probably didn't use the right links to go to my specific review above, but oh well. Let's talk about Gridiron though. Sports Bars, at least those that don't just go for bloody soccer and perhaps a sprinkling of rugby and AFL on weekends, are few and far between in KL. So finding this place was a huge bonus for me during the last World Cup of cricket. The review says it all, but if you're in this part of KL of an evening (it doesn't really open during the day), this bar is the bomb.

4) Cobba Paddleboat, Cobram VIC

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g552152-d7915187-r317864772-Cobba_Paddleboat-Cobram_Moira_Shire_Victoria.html

Honestly there is not a lot to do as a tourist in my hometown, at least in terms of specific destinations. Yes the river and forest are the main attractions, but many of the other places are a little too tired and over-rated in my opinion. The Cobba however, is not. It is a fully refurbished and modernly appointed paddle steamer, with a wonderful top deck and also a heated cabin for those cold blustery days. They even have a small cafe on board. The trip lasts about an hour or so, and is a wonderful way to see the mighty Murray. We even spotted some koalas on our trip! If you're not going to the home of the steamer in Australia (Echuca) but want a similar experience, I can thoroughly recommend the Cobba!

5) Zinc Bar & Restaurant, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g298309-d7162248-r328124096-Zinc_Restaurant_and_Bar-Kuching_Sarawak.html

I went to Malaysian Borneo for the one and only visit of my 8 year stay in Malaysia only about 8 months before coming back to Australia for good. In hindsight I wish I had spent more time in this part of the world, particularly as my wife is from KK in Sabah. Kuching is a very cool city, with great character, and reminds me more of old town Ipoh than any other Malaysian city I can think of. There are numerous good eateries and bars in Kuching, but Zn is close to top of them all in my opinion. The pizza there was absolutely superb, as was the sangria, and they have a wonderfully diverse menu of both food and drinks, as well as live music. Really great atmosphere, and a wonderful place to spend a few hours.