What's "Camemberu"? It's the way the Japanese pronounce Camembert, the French cheese. First saw it i

OK here we go with my Hong Kong post series ! This rowdy bunch touched down at noon last Friday, ready to begin our four days of fun. Let me first do a quick intro of the Singapore Blog Award 2010 winners who came for the trip hosted italy rail travel by the Hong Kong Tourism Board . From left to right - Violet, Geck Geck, Gin, Pete, Darren, italy rail travel me, Lawrence, Sze Ping and Jerome. Elaine joined us the second day. Photo taken by Alvin of omy.sg, I think? I borrowed it from our HK Travellers Facebook italy rail travel page .
We had a nice and very smooth flight on Cathay Pacific. Had to be bright and early at the airport - none of us got much sleep the night before, and some were still on Facebook italy rail travel excitedly saying, "see you in a few hours!"
We soon arrived at The Mira (118 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui), ranked among "Coolest New Hotels in the World" by Conde Nast Traveller. Love the vintage London cab parked out front with the licence plate "The Mira" - I hear it actually runs!
The hotel is named after a giant red star in the Cetus constellation. Mira also means "foresight" in Spanish and "perfect, peaceful and prosperous" in Latin. italy rail travel And by chance, my World of Warcraft main character is called Miraviel, and gamers there would always call me Mira.
The hotel prides itself on being high tech - so at your work desk you have an array of gadgets including an all-in-one infotainment centre, italy rail travel and Bose speakers with iPod dock (it charges my iPhone too).
This is the all-in-one Sony Entertainment Centre, Blu-ray DVD player, and personal computer. You can surf, email, go on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, anything online using the huge screen italy rail travel TV as your monitor. Best of all - with the wireless keyboard, you can do all this from comfort of the luxurious bed.
They even give you a Nokia mobile phone that's cloned to your room phone - you can take it anywhere with you, and people can reach you by calling your room! That is freaking italy rail travel amazing. This feature is so new, most of us didn't realise it until the second day when Violet demonstrated it to us at lunch.
But of course, you can also have the silver shutters down for privacy if you wish. There are even controls for mood lighting, and a TV (I haven't quite figured out where it is, but I'm not one to find TV useful in a bath).
And in the early evenings, they give you a chocolate truffle as part of the turn-down service. The first night we had a black truffle (as in Périgord) flavoured chocolate truffle. I'd been wondering when someone would make something like that. Mushrooms and chocolate? It's a little odd, and not everyone likes it, but I do think it works. The second night we had chili truffles and the third night, vanilla (very white chocolate-like) ones.
Look who snuck along for the ride? Hubby insisted Yoda come along for company. Well, I did leave for Hong Kong on his birthday, and it was just too bad he couldn't come along and ENJOY THIS STUNNING SETUP!
Can I just show you the luscious lychees again? These became my lunch. We were all describing how they spurt with juice each time you bite into them! It's unforgiveable unthinkable to leave these untouched!
Wow..everything looks sooooo good...include the bathroom...by looking at it now makes me more prompting to book a trip over there this coming school holiday... :) Look forwards for the food posts soon :p Reply Delete charmaine July 28, 2010 at 12:59 AM
The Korean hotels have been giving their guests mobiles phones linked to their room phone for some time now, which is especially useful since they are not on the GSM standard (though 3G works). Mira used to be Miramar, but I guess that s no longer cool nowadays so they decided to shorten it after the renovation. Reply Delete Camemberu July 28, 2010 at 4:11 PM
Thanks everyone! :) Yes, Peech, this used to be Miramar. I thought it was quite clever of them to shave off the mar and suddenly become hip! Never been to Korea though. Reply Delete Jeffrey July 28, 2010 at 6:06 PM
whoa!! the amuse bouche italy rail travel (or whatever it should be called) of the cones with flavoured whipped cream is just a funky touch! italy rail travel and the minibar with full cutleries and gourmet chips is a much more glamorous notch than plain old double-deckers (though I do love them). I m in love with this annecdote (and opinion) expressed by social psychologist Robert Levine in his book The Geography of Time. One of the ways he and his team tried to measure speed of life, is by going to the post office and timing how long it took from handing over a note to the clerk with their request, to leaving the counter. Here s what happened in Japan: On the postal measure, for example, the Japanese had to settle for fourth, but where else besides italy rail travel Japan would our experimenter encounter postal clerks who sometimes wrapped the stamp in a little package, or without being asked or required, sometimes wrote out receipts? italy rail travel We tried to correct for these extra seconds in our final tallies, but can one really give due credit to postal clerks italy rail travel who operate at near capacity speed while luxury service? the clerks in Frankfurt may have scored a few seconds faster, but it is difficult to imagine consumers there leaving the post office feeling like they had just made a purchase at Tiffany s? heh that was a little out of point... but the wrapped Durex condoms reminded me of this annecdote hehe d= Reply Delete Camemberu July 31, 2010 at 1:22 AM
Jeffrey: Yes it is. It s on Nathan Road, overlooking italy rail travel Kowloon Park, surrounded by lots of shopping. Chenyze: Hahaha, you have VERY sharp eyes, and that is a marvellous anecdote! I really love how the Japanese go the extra mile. This hotel certainly did so too. Reply Delete KennyT July 31, 2010 at 6:54 AM
Whoa, I will definitely check out The Mira the next time I visit HK. It is definitely a hotel worth going to for the awesome experience. Thanks for sharing them with us. I m looking italy rail travel forward to try the different types of truffles they gave you every evening =) Reply Delete Travel Hong Kong March 7, 2011 at 11:44 PM
Hi Camemberu, Whats the room type u stayed in? We stayed in city room but did not have some of the perks you mentioned (i.e. macaroons, lychees, ferregamo tolietries etc?!?!?!). The room is still great and amazing service. They allow us to check in at 7am without extra costs! Reply Delete italy rail travel Camemberu June 23, 2011 at 5:15 PM
Thanks italy rail travel everyone. Hi Keke, I am not sure what room package we stayed in. Let me find out for you. Oh wow, 7am? I have never had a hotel allow me to check in so early (despite requests)! Reply Delete Keke June 25, 2011 at 12:53 AM
Hi there, thanks for the reply. Im typing in the mira :P the wide screen all in one sony entertainment is amazing! Yes they allowed us to check in at 7am! the service is really amazing. The Miraspa as well as the 2 michelin star resturant is very good. Thanks so much for the introduction,we actually book the hotel after reading your blog! but if we have the free perks, this will be heaven! :D Thanks for your introduction! Reply Delete gabrielaela March 16, 2012 at 10:35 PM
Does this really exists because italy rail travel I can t believe it s true. Hong Kong is definitely on my list to places to go . You don t have to take your computer with you, not even your phone (joking). Magazin imbracaminte online Reply Delete Add comment Load more...
What's "Camemberu"? It's the way the Japanese pronounce Camembert, the French cheese. First saw it in an anime series and it just stuck in my mind. Yes, I unabashedly love all things Japanese - the food, culture, people and spirit. Foodwise, they often add their own twist to something foreign and create something totally phenomenal.
This Singapore food blog also features travel and eateries in Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, etc. Occasionally I veer off into my other loves - books, movies, tech, games, gadgets, and my kids.
All photos and text copyright reserved unless indicated otherwise. Have a query or see a photo you'd like to use? Just email me - camemberu (at) gmail dot com. Please credit the photo to camemberu.com and link back.
While I prefer to share awesome things, my posts are not necessarily recommendations, just my personal take on the food/travel at that point in time. Your experience may differ. My recipes are usually works-in-progress, jotted down here as my kitchen experiments. These very often need fine-tuning. Any feedback is welcome. For contests and giveaways, the final decision lies with me. I prefer to award prizes to genuine social media accounts, not those set up just for contests.