RHK's start spring Asia trip, sadly sans Gpanda's
Jun 13th, 2010, 07:40 AM
#326
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Welcome back Bob & Karen and thank you for your wonderful report. Was waiting to hear how you still loved Korean Air. I couldn't agree more. Gpanda - are you kidding us? If so, I am really impressed. All that exercise would kill me.
Jun 14th, 2010, 03:18 AM
#330
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OK, lets see if i can finish up as i am up early this AM, having survived a bridal shower and a dinner with Gpanda's yesterday at our house...
The hotel had extended our check out to 5PM when we checked in so we are in good shape for our 2250 flight with the 5 c/o and then a couple of hours in the club lounge....
btw, we found the Singapore Intercontinental to be a perfectly located hotel to conclude our trip. The added benefit of the club access was fantastic...This is the best club experience we have ever had worldwide.
So with this in mind we set out for a few last things around town. We still had a second day on our hippo bus passes and we wanted to take the boat ride around in the river.
Directly across the street from the I is a hippo bus stop. So we went out there and took the bus a few stops to the interconneting stop for the other bus route and then went one stop to the boat landing....strangely enough when we got onto the bus the indian family we met on the bus the day before were there.... I'm not sure if i mentioned them above but they are living in S for 3 years while the husband works there. Currently the husband is in VA on business and the mother is taking the visiting grand parents on tours of S with the two boys, ages 10 and 14. It was very interesting getting the wife's perspective on living in S and the 14 y.o. was very friendly and added a lot to the conversation as well.
We arrived at Clarke's Quay where the boat docks. CQ is an area of restaurants along the riverside, and also site of a bungy jump. The boats are solar powered electric and thus very quiet. They perhaps hold 40 people and there is a live narrative. The ride is only 30 minutes, but quite honestly was one of my trip highlights. The boat cruises in a circular path and gives you a unique perspective of the skyline of downtown S, and some of the highlights include being so close to the water stream from the mouth of the Merlion (symbol of S today) that you can feel the spray. It also allows an unobstructed full side view of the newest S complex, the Sands casino, whose buildings are truly unique, with a boat like shaped structure connecting the tops of three of its high rises---its quiet a unique site...
After our boat ride we got back on Hippo and rode around a bit more and got off at the Raffles stop.... K wanted to visit the small museum in Raffles---how do you say toursity and boring... It was fun being back in the attractive Raffles complex however... Before you ask, it was lunch time and at $27+, i think, we did not have another Singapore Sling as we had had one many years ago in the Long Bar. We did however have a nice simple lunch in the Bakery shop---fresh cooked chicken sandwiches on a choice of delicious breads... We walked around the complex quite a bit.... K tried to enter the lobby but was refused as the lobby is now reserved for residents only... I gather they would however allow you to enter if you were patronizing one of their facilities.
There is a small Jim Thompson shop in the complex. There is also a JT restaurant at the same Dempsey Hill location as the curry house we went to the night before.
Raffles is only a block from our hotel so we walked back having basically completed our time in S. We did some last minute packing, took our last showers for the next 36 hours or so, and checked out of our room just before 5. We stayed in the Lounge until about 7 when we took a taxi to the airport ($22.10 S)---more expensive than arrival because of S's unique charges for "congested city traffic" during certain hours.... This automatically records on the meter system using electronic overhead signposts on the streets---fees change according to the hour..
Our 2250 flight on Korean to Incheon was delayed about an hour because the arriving flight was late. We just sat around in this fabulous airport and waited. The flight was uneventful and the pilot made up all but about 15 minutes of our delay. The Korean 777 was comfortable and we again had a two seater row. There was a 3 hour layover in Seoul and then we endured the next 13+ hours on the 777 flight to DC. I listened to music on my IPOD the entire time and dreamed about how much i will enjoy my new Bose earphone which i purchased on line while on the trip and which arrived at our house while we were gone (special deal through Delta, offering a 1500 mile bonus for purchase). We continue to be impressed with Korean Air and anxiously await our next encounter with them. We were seated in row 39, again a two seater (A&C is the prefereable seat choice). The flight was right on time, immigration and customs were virtually a non-issue with no lines at all. BTW, the charm school is working and we find the agents at US immigration to be vastly improved over the last few years.
We had a rental car to move us from Dulles to Reagan airports. We made a stop along the way for lunch at TGIF---0h was that cobb salad good. We had about 4.5 hours for the transit. When we got to Reagan, Delta had no flight for us as the 4PM had been cancelled. After some waiting and a very long telephone call, the rep placed us on a US Scare flight leaving at 4:30, which was perfect.
We arrived home about 7PM. So what do you do after a month in asia?? you order take-out chinese food for your supper.
Recap---WE LOVE SEA AND CAN'T FORSEE THAT THIS WILL EVER ABATE. The trip was splendid, well planned (thanks B and K contributed quite a bit of hotel details this time as well)and the only thing lacking was the companionship of our dear friends the Gpandas. We will, however, make up for that on future trips together.
highlights: for me, I loved the S boat ride; i liked the hotels we experienced; and i really liked the slow pace which we have adopted the last few years. For K some highlights were: the ceremony which Putu took us to at the temple; the khoo kongsi temple visit; and the east bali water temple stay.
Food: On this trip i would have to rate it as only good. We had a few excellent meals like our dinners at the Gem Restaurant and The Sire Museum Restaurant in Penang and Siam Sally's in Ubud. We never had a bad meal, except for Mamma's Nyonya Restaurant--- it was not bad, it just wasn't a cuisine that we enjoyed. We had a lot of average meals. We ate more than usual in our hotels this trip--never the best for quality, flavor, or originality.
I had a touch of bali belly which really lasted up until we arrived in Singapore, but it never impeded upon my activities or trip enjoyment.
Guides: as always we loved our time with Putu, and as andy said yet again last nite, "putu is simply the best guide any of us have ever had..." Mr. Lee added significantly to our enjoyment of the Penang area. We find that money spent on these private guides is some of the best expenses we incur on our asian trips. We also enjoyed the time spent on the Hippo system in Singapore. This is a well thought out set of routes at a very comfortable and reasonable cost.
So, what is next? A july 2 family wedding in Pittsburg (ugh) and lots of time in Maine (long island in casco bay and long lake in central maine) with family.... A visit from K's English penpal for 2 weeks in late September and of course the Boston GTG on October 8th weekend...We leave for SEA on Oct 27 again with an overnight in seattle on the way (Alaska Air and Delta). Our trip centers on lots of days in Bkk, 2 weeks in Vietnam travelling from hanoi to HCMC with stops along the way, a few days at Khoa Lak at the new JW Marriott Resort and serviced apartment stays at 2 marriotts in the Sukhumvit area (mayfair and sukhumvit park). And hopefully a GTG or two in Bkk with the usual November/December crowd and some time with our favorite bkk riot reporter and bon vivant Hanuman... We return home Dec 2 in time for decorating the Xmas tree.
While this report was not as 'meaty' as many of the reports we are all pleased to read on a regular basis on our beloved Fodors.com, it serves as an alternative to the rush about trip report of newbies and first and only timers visits to SEA. It offers SEA as a relaxing destination to both seasoned and unseasoned travellers and as a place to go for a rest where not every moment is accounted for or spent usefully...
thanks for travelling with us!!
The hotel had extended our check out to 5PM when we checked in so we are in good shape for our 2250 flight with the 5 c/o and then a couple of hours in the club lounge....
btw, we found the Singapore Intercontinental to be a perfectly located hotel to conclude our trip. The added benefit of the club access was fantastic...This is the best club experience we have ever had worldwide.
So with this in mind we set out for a few last things around town. We still had a second day on our hippo bus passes and we wanted to take the boat ride around in the river.
Directly across the street from the I is a hippo bus stop. So we went out there and took the bus a few stops to the interconneting stop for the other bus route and then went one stop to the boat landing....strangely enough when we got onto the bus the indian family we met on the bus the day before were there.... I'm not sure if i mentioned them above but they are living in S for 3 years while the husband works there. Currently the husband is in VA on business and the mother is taking the visiting grand parents on tours of S with the two boys, ages 10 and 14. It was very interesting getting the wife's perspective on living in S and the 14 y.o. was very friendly and added a lot to the conversation as well.
We arrived at Clarke's Quay where the boat docks. CQ is an area of restaurants along the riverside, and also site of a bungy jump. The boats are solar powered electric and thus very quiet. They perhaps hold 40 people and there is a live narrative. The ride is only 30 minutes, but quite honestly was one of my trip highlights. The boat cruises in a circular path and gives you a unique perspective of the skyline of downtown S, and some of the highlights include being so close to the water stream from the mouth of the Merlion (symbol of S today) that you can feel the spray. It also allows an unobstructed full side view of the newest S complex, the Sands casino, whose buildings are truly unique, with a boat like shaped structure connecting the tops of three of its high rises---its quiet a unique site...
After our boat ride we got back on Hippo and rode around a bit more and got off at the Raffles stop.... K wanted to visit the small museum in Raffles---how do you say toursity and boring... It was fun being back in the attractive Raffles complex however... Before you ask, it was lunch time and at $27+, i think, we did not have another Singapore Sling as we had had one many years ago in the Long Bar. We did however have a nice simple lunch in the Bakery shop---fresh cooked chicken sandwiches on a choice of delicious breads... We walked around the complex quite a bit.... K tried to enter the lobby but was refused as the lobby is now reserved for residents only... I gather they would however allow you to enter if you were patronizing one of their facilities.
There is a small Jim Thompson shop in the complex. There is also a JT restaurant at the same Dempsey Hill location as the curry house we went to the night before.
Raffles is only a block from our hotel so we walked back having basically completed our time in S. We did some last minute packing, took our last showers for the next 36 hours or so, and checked out of our room just before 5. We stayed in the Lounge until about 7 when we took a taxi to the airport ($22.10 S)---more expensive than arrival because of S's unique charges for "congested city traffic" during certain hours.... This automatically records on the meter system using electronic overhead signposts on the streets---fees change according to the hour..
Our 2250 flight on Korean to Incheon was delayed about an hour because the arriving flight was late. We just sat around in this fabulous airport and waited. The flight was uneventful and the pilot made up all but about 15 minutes of our delay. The Korean 777 was comfortable and we again had a two seater row. There was a 3 hour layover in Seoul and then we endured the next 13+ hours on the 777 flight to DC. I listened to music on my IPOD the entire time and dreamed about how much i will enjoy my new Bose earphone which i purchased on line while on the trip and which arrived at our house while we were gone (special deal through Delta, offering a 1500 mile bonus for purchase). We continue to be impressed with Korean Air and anxiously await our next encounter with them. We were seated in row 39, again a two seater (A&C is the prefereable seat choice). The flight was right on time, immigration and customs were virtually a non-issue with no lines at all. BTW, the charm school is working and we find the agents at US immigration to be vastly improved over the last few years.
We had a rental car to move us from Dulles to Reagan airports. We made a stop along the way for lunch at TGIF---0h was that cobb salad good. We had about 4.5 hours for the transit. When we got to Reagan, Delta had no flight for us as the 4PM had been cancelled. After some waiting and a very long telephone call, the rep placed us on a US Scare flight leaving at 4:30, which was perfect.
We arrived home about 7PM. So what do you do after a month in asia?? you order take-out chinese food for your supper.
Recap---WE LOVE SEA AND CAN'T FORSEE THAT THIS WILL EVER ABATE. The trip was splendid, well planned (thanks B and K contributed quite a bit of hotel details this time as well)and the only thing lacking was the companionship of our dear friends the Gpandas. We will, however, make up for that on future trips together.
highlights: for me, I loved the S boat ride; i liked the hotels we experienced; and i really liked the slow pace which we have adopted the last few years. For K some highlights were: the ceremony which Putu took us to at the temple; the khoo kongsi temple visit; and the east bali water temple stay.
Food: On this trip i would have to rate it as only good. We had a few excellent meals like our dinners at the Gem Restaurant and The Sire Museum Restaurant in Penang and Siam Sally's in Ubud. We never had a bad meal, except for Mamma's Nyonya Restaurant--- it was not bad, it just wasn't a cuisine that we enjoyed. We had a lot of average meals. We ate more than usual in our hotels this trip--never the best for quality, flavor, or originality.
I had a touch of bali belly which really lasted up until we arrived in Singapore, but it never impeded upon my activities or trip enjoyment.
Guides: as always we loved our time with Putu, and as andy said yet again last nite, "putu is simply the best guide any of us have ever had..." Mr. Lee added significantly to our enjoyment of the Penang area. We find that money spent on these private guides is some of the best expenses we incur on our asian trips. We also enjoyed the time spent on the Hippo system in Singapore. This is a well thought out set of routes at a very comfortable and reasonable cost.
So, what is next? A july 2 family wedding in Pittsburg (ugh) and lots of time in Maine (long island in casco bay and long lake in central maine) with family.... A visit from K's English penpal for 2 weeks in late September and of course the Boston GTG on October 8th weekend...We leave for SEA on Oct 27 again with an overnight in seattle on the way (Alaska Air and Delta). Our trip centers on lots of days in Bkk, 2 weeks in Vietnam travelling from hanoi to HCMC with stops along the way, a few days at Khoa Lak at the new JW Marriott Resort and serviced apartment stays at 2 marriotts in the Sukhumvit area (mayfair and sukhumvit park). And hopefully a GTG or two in Bkk with the usual November/December crowd and some time with our favorite bkk riot reporter and bon vivant Hanuman... We return home Dec 2 in time for decorating the Xmas tree.
While this report was not as 'meaty' as many of the reports we are all pleased to read on a regular basis on our beloved Fodors.com, it serves as an alternative to the rush about trip report of newbies and first and only timers visits to SEA. It offers SEA as a relaxing destination to both seasoned and unseasoned travellers and as a place to go for a rest where not every moment is accounted for or spent usefully...
thanks for travelling with us!!
Jun 14th, 2010, 04:42 AM
#331
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Bob - again, thanks for the great report. I laughed at your comment about returning home to eat Chinese food. The first thing I did was go out for lunch to get some Pho Bo after returning from Vietnam.
Jun 14th, 2010, 10:14 AM
#332
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Hey Bob great report, love the wrap up. Sorry Mommas wasn't for you (especially as i had recommended it! we loved the food)
As usual packed with tons of detail.
N
X
BTW K &C get married Saturday!!
As usual packed with tons of detail.
N
X
BTW K &C get married Saturday!!
Jun 14th, 2010, 04:59 PM
#333
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Great details Bob. I looked forward to reading your daily updates and am sorry that your vacation is over.
Interesting to hear that the Raffles is reserved for guests - we had hoped to take our daughters there in Oct on our Singapore layover. We were able to get FF routing to Singapore and have decided to stay 2 nights. That probably will equate to one decent day of touring.
Revisiting the Raffles Hotel is high on our list though I had expected to roam around the hotel freely, as we did the last time we were in Singapore - yikes that was 25 years ago - of course things have changed! Seeing the desk where Rudyard Kipling penned his stories gave me goose bumps and I vaguely remember the bar. I know those girls will want a Singapore Sling but at $27, that's crazy!
Interesting to hear that the Raffles is reserved for guests - we had hoped to take our daughters there in Oct on our Singapore layover. We were able to get FF routing to Singapore and have decided to stay 2 nights. That probably will equate to one decent day of touring.
Revisiting the Raffles Hotel is high on our list though I had expected to roam around the hotel freely, as we did the last time we were in Singapore - yikes that was 25 years ago - of course things have changed! Seeing the desk where Rudyard Kipling penned his stories gave me goose bumps and I vaguely remember the bar. I know those girls will want a Singapore Sling but at $27, that's crazy!
Jun 14th, 2010, 05:16 PM
#335
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Hi Bob-Welcome home. I've been following your travels with great interest and amusement. I love travelling vicariously with you and Karen. It's so time efficient ,no jet lag and I don't have to worry about taxi scams.LOL. We returned from Peru a few weeks ago. No trip report posted yet, but I hope to start it soon. Hope we can get together before the formal GTG.
Jun 14th, 2010, 09:48 PM
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We were lucky enough to stay at Raffles a few years go and they did let people in but after something like 7.30pm it was guests only! I guess it got too much of a tourist attraction in itself!! $27 each!!! it was $16 when we went aout 4 years go!!
Jun 15th, 2010, 02:21 AM
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Oh great! Lot's of pictures of Bob lounging by the pool and using his computer in his room. These ought to be great.
Is it a surprise that the alert staff at the Raffles deflected Bob's entry? Don't think so.
Is it a surprise that the alert staff at the Raffles deflected Bob's entry? Don't think so.
