Southeast Asia with a Splash of Hong Kong

[AJK]

The next morning, I ran over to the laundry place to pick up our freshly laundered clothing. We did five pounds of laundry which they washed, dried, and folded for.... $7.

...maybe one of the best buys of our trip.

I actually get nostalgic thinking about picking up that pile of laundry that someone else washed, dried and folded. That laundry honestly smelled so good I was reluctant to re-wash any of the clothing when we got home. We quickly packed our things and headed downstairs to catch a taxi to the airport for our flight.



The airport is no more than ten minutes away and we made it there in plenty of time to check in and go sit in the lounge for a bit. The ‘lounge’ is basically a room with couches and some snacks, nothing to write home about, but nonetheless nice. The airport is pretty small and there’s not that much to see. I did walk around to see if I could snag any last minute souvenirs, but the prices were all about one and a half times the price as at the night market, for the exact same objects. We boarded our flight and settled in for the quick one hour jaunt to Koh Samui.














The weather got noticeably nicer and the sky cleared into a beautiful, clear, bright blue as we neared the island.







We landed on the island’s one runway and embarked down a jetway straight onto the tarmac. We boarded little open-sided shuttle that took us to the baggage carausel.










[No, that isn't me on the right!]

The Conrad, where we were staying, was on the opposite end of the island from the airport about a 1 hour drive away. We opted to rent a car instead of taking a taxi, because this gave us the option of leaving the hotel that night or the next day should we want to do some touring.

Now, at this point in the trip we had done some pretty crazy and dangerous things. None of them, I repeat, none of them even rivaled the sheer danger of renting a car and driving from one end of this island to the other… on the left side of the road. AJK was actually scarily good at it, and after a few small hiccups where we turned into the wrong lane and found large trucks barreling down upon us, he got into a good groove and we were able to start enjoying the ride.

While I played navigator to his captain, we made our way first to the stunning Chabad for lunch.







Then we headed toward the hotel and down and up the twisty and curvy roads surrounded by jungle on one side and some of the most stunning turquoise waters on the other side. We stopped along the way at one lookout point to take some pictures of the gorgeous water and then headed back to the car to continue on our way.



With the aid of Google maps we made our way to the bottom of a very steep hill that the hotel, according to Google, was on top of. We started up this hill with some trepidation, as it was literally so steep that it was cut into about seven switchbacks. There was a guard at the bottom of the hill, who coordinated with a guard at the top of the hill to ensure that only one car at a time was on the road because it was just so steep. After going up halfway we realized the car was running out of steam, we had to turn off the air conditioner to allow the car to give everything it had to make it up to the top.

Once we got to the top and pulled into the Conrad driveway we realized that our drive and trip up the side of the cliff was all more than worth it. The ocean lay spread out before us, the sun glinting off the water in a thousand different places sending shimmering sparkles up at us. The Conrad is built literally on a cliff-face, with each room laid out on a separate pair of stilts. This not only affords you great privacy, but each room is afforded truly spectacular views of the water and of the ‘five island’ that stand a few miles offshore. 

[Marco Polo]

The wait has been worth it... Waiting for the rest of the Koh Samui report!

[damaxer91]

Looks like they got themselves a new Chabad House in Koh Samui.

When I was there in '11 it was quite dingy

[Dan]

Awesome, keep going!

[morgs]

Nice job!! (Still at the edge of my seat though

[rots5]

amazing! had no idea you went to samui! great stuff

[AJK]

Better late than never!

The lobby and check in desk are situated at the very top of the resort, where the driveway is. We handed our keys over to the valet and were shown to a sofa with breathtaking views of the water. The lobby has no walls, just a little glass fence and it has amazing and panoramic views. We checked in quickly and easily and were shown to a golf cart which would take us down to our room. Before heading down to our room I was introduced to one of the special Conrad touches: Each guest is given a choice of the scent of the soaps and gels in your bathroom. While we were sitting on the couch being checked in, I was given three bottles of lotion from which I could choose my favorite scent to be put in our bathroom. By the time we made it down the steep hill to our room, there was already a gorgeous amenity bag filled with my custom scent.

The room was truly beautiful, one of the nicest hotel rooms that we have stayed in yet.



It was very large with about half of it taken up by a bathroom which included a large, glass, rain shower, and a huge, round, stone soak tub.











Every room in the villa had wonderful views of the water and it was honestly, breathtaking. The actual bedroom itself had a little sitting area, a work desk and beautiful decorations.






Stepping out onto the porch took your breath away. There was the largest private infinity pool I have ever seen. The water of the pool just cascaded over the edge and appeared to be falling into the ocean, where the waves lapped against the beach only about thirty feet away. Because the villa is on stilts you feel like you are floating above the ocean and you can’t see another room so it feels completely isolated, just you and the ocean.







We got to watch the sun sink between two islands as the sky turned fiery shades of red, orange and finally a deep purple that faded to night.









I was exhausted and ready to sink into the fluffy, white bed that was calling my name. AJK thought we should take advantage of the one night where we could go exploring as the rest of the nights we were would be chag.  So off we went in a golf cart to the top of the resort where our rental car waited for us, with the keys already in the ignition and the air conditioner started by the valet to cool off the car for us. We headed back down the steep hill we had come up earlier in the day and began our journey back across the island on the wrong side of the road, this time however, it was pitch black outside.

Somehow, thirty minutes later we found ourselves driving down the main street, Chaweng, lined with bars, restaurants, and tourist shops. When we had passed Chaweng earlier in the day on our way up to the resort, we thought it looked like a fun area with great resort-town vibes. Unfortunately, Chaweng after dark is incredibly seedy, kind of scary and all together just kind of gross. We walked around for a little bit and then found a hookah bar where we got drinks, had some hookah, and observed the general drunkenness of the tourists around us. We decided we had put in our time among the other residents of Koh Samui and that it was time to retreat to the idyllic world of the Conrad.  We made it back up the island safely and headed back to our gorgeous villa for some rest.

The next morning we awoke to stunning views of the sun sparkling over the five islands in front of our villa.



We headed to the breakfast area where we were greeted by the head chef and the food and beverage manager. AJK had arranged for the hotel to obtain Kosher breakfast for us from Chabad in place of the free breakfast offered to Gold members. The hotel obliged and arranged to pick up food for us each morning for breakfast and also to pick up food for us to eat over Shavuot. Although breakfast was not as gourmet as the one that the other guests around us were enjoying, it was still absolutely amazing to sit at a table overlooking an expansive, sun-drenched, and stunning view while eating tuna, egg salad, rolls, Israeli salad, and a variety of dips.




After breakfast we explored the resort a bit, stopping at the main pool, which is huge, completely empty of other guests and offers beautiful cabanas for you to have some shade should you wish. There are lounge chairs directly in the pool on a ledge with water about two feet deep. It is quite relaxing to be able to read, nap and just lounge with the option of only having to roll over a few inches to enjoy a refreshing dip in the pool.







We also walked down onto the jetty that reaches far out into the water off the beach. At the end of the jetty one can look back toward the resort and be afforded an amazing view of the entire architectural wonder that is the Conrad. The entire resort is built entirely on stilts and it just climbs its way up the Cliffside of this beautiful area.



The resort’s beach is very rocky and not somewhere you would want to lay out or spend any time. The resort does offer a free boat ride twice daily to one of the more beautiful and habitable beaches across the water on one of the five islands.

We decided to head out and see if we could find one of the famous, gorgeous beaches lining the edge of Koh Samui. We were told about one beach in particular, Silver Beach, by the food and beverage manager who told us that it was one of the more beautiful and less touristy beaches. Having had our fill of other tourists the night before on Chaweng, this sounded like a good deal to us. The beach was about a twenty-five minute drive away from the Conrad, down the same main island road. We pulled off this road and parked in the parking lot of some random motel. We had heard that parking on the island was kind of a suit yourself situation and that chances are your car was not being towed at any point in the near future. We walked up the road a little bit and found ourselves standing on Silver Beach.





The beach is filled with golden white sand and surrounded by lush, green jungle on either side. We ventured into the water to test it out and found it to be the approximate temperature of a hot tub. The water stayed pretty shallow until about forty feet off shore. We kept wading out, waiting for the temperature to begin resembling that of a normal body of water. However, this never really ended up happening. The water merely fluctuated from very hot to mildly hot. Even when we made our way out to areas where the water was over our heads, the water was hot with some patches of cooler water. While not exactly the refreshing dip we expected, it still felt glorious and the surroundings were stunning. The beach, as promised, is not packed and doesn’t feel super touristy.

The thing about Koh Samui is that it probably has one-hundred tourists for every local at any given time of the year, so areas that are relatively less touristy still have tons of tourists, its just slightly less dense than other areas. We had plans to try and make it back to the hotel to catch a boat to one of the islands, so we headed back to the car and began our drive to the Conrad. We stopped to purchase some provisions for the chag ie: some fabulous Singha Thai beer (highly recommend.)

Unfortunately, we missed the boat by a few minutes and consoled ourselves with sitting by the main pool and receiving fifteen minute complementary massages from some of the spa attendants by the pool. We then made our way back to the villa where we got ready for chag.

[rots5]

AMAZING!

[AJK]

We had spoken with the chef earlier that day and placed an order for his staff to pick up for us from the Chabad in town. We ordered meals for each night of shavuos along with some rolls and wine. We explained that we couldn’t answer our phone for the next two days and so we told them in advance what time to serve us dinner in our room that night. After lighting candles, davening and watching the beautiful sunset there was a knock on our door promptly at our predetermined time. We enjoyed a beautiful dinner of szechuan chicken at a table outside overlooking our pool while listening to the dark water lap at the beach. The next two days of chag were wonderfully relaxing and were only punctuated with davening, eating, sleeping and reading some of the books we had brought along in anticipation of these days.

Although on initial check-in AJK had hoped for a villa higher up on the mountain-side, we ended up being so grateful for one on the lower levels. This meant that our walk up to the breakfast area was only up two little hills, instead of the longer and steeper walk we would have had, had we been where we initially wanted to be. We received the same spread for breakfast that we had the day before and enjoyed it along with some freshly squeezed juice and some iced coffee made with soy milk.

Because the main pool was on our walk back to our villa from breakfast, we stopped off there to enjoy some drinks at the pool-side bar with our complimentary Gold member drink coupons. The pool, again, was devoid of any other guests and we enjoyed the solitary beauty. We then headed back up to our room to nap and relax.

The second evening of chag we had arranged to eat dinner by the main pool. They light up this area beautifully at night and put out beautiful tables, strings of lights and candles to keep the bugs away. We were shown to a lovely table exactly where AJK had requested, to the side of the pool in a more private area. There they served us our second night’s dinner, stir fry with rice. At each meal they brought along all the appropriate plastic utensils, cups etc., and our meals came double wrapped and heated to perfection. Dinner by the pool was a wonderful experience and provided a nice change from eating in our room.

The final day of chag we had arranged for our Israeli friends from Chaing Mai to come up for a visit. They arrived in the afternoon and we enjoyed hanging out with them and hearing about their experience staying down on Chaweng. We also heard about their harrowing ride up the steep cliff to the Conrad on their rented moped. AJK and I had placed bets earlier about whether their little bike would make it up the cliff, and apparently it hadn’t. they ended up having to get off and push it up themselves and no surprise were quite winded and hot when they arrived on our doorstep.

After some time enjoying each other’s company, the sky darkened and a gorgeous lightening show began. Although it was beautiful, our friends decided to head back before the rain that seemed about to start, turned into a famous Thai tropical downpour. About an hour later we made havdalah and started making plans for our weekend in Bangkok. We emailed the Chabad to let them know we would be there for meals, booked a room at the Davis hotel near the Chabad and hired a driver to take us back to the airport in the morning. Our trusty rental car had been picked up by the rental agency erev chag. It hadn’t made sense to pay to keep it over the chag and so it was quite convenient that they would come pick it up for us. After arranging most of our necessary plans, we turned in for the night in anticipation of an early wake up call the next morning.

Our driver was arriving to take us back to the airport on the far side of the island around 7:45, so we woke up early and headed up for our final breakfast. Even on this last morning, which we hadn’t asked to have breakfast arranged for, we found ourselves being served the same meal from Chabad which was a delicious surprise. The driver arrived right on time and we got into his large, comfortable van for our trip to the airport. We arrived at the little airport right on time and proceeded to wait in line to check in. There aren’t that many flights leaving from this airport, so there doesn’t seem to be that much of a rush for anything. I think the flight basically just leaves when they finish getting through the line of passengers. Although AJK did his best talking the agents into upgrading us for this short one hour flight (hey, it’s a matter of principle for him) they were entirely unhelpful and so we headed over to the waiting area to board. The entire airport has no walls and just thatched roofs for shade. It is incredibly hot and buggy so we were glad when the time came to board. The same little shuttles that had picked us up from the tarmac when we landed made a reappearance and drove us over from the waiting area to where the plane stood ready for boarding.





The flight was short and uneventful and we soon found ourselves in an airport entirely different from the one we had just left. Bangkok airport is huge, modern and did I say that it was huge? We quickly found our luggage and decided to give the airport train into the city a try. Taxis were not prohibitively expensive, but we had quite a lot of time until Shabbos started and we figured why not? First though, AJK needed to reload his phone which took longer than you would think it would in a relatively tech savvy city like Bangkok. For some reason it seemed that everyone in the airport needed help with their cell phone at the same time and so it took us over an hour for this simple procedure. We found the boarding area for the trains below the airport and AJK figured out which tokens we needed to purchase to get to the stop we needed. The airport has these weird walking escalators that are flat but then descend down at a slant that will send you and your wheeled luggage rolling if you don’t hold on tightly. So hold on.

We boarded the train and as it was quite packed we ended up standing for the whole ride. This afforded us some interesting views of what looked like a quite packed, crowded and sprawling city. We disembarked at one of the main stops and switched to a different line to get us closer to our hotel. While it was an interesting experience, it is not one I would recommend doing with large suitcases and the fact that it was about 120 degrees did not make the experience any more pleasant. We finally arrived at our stop and found that this station does not have down escalators or elevators. We ended up having to carry our luggage down all stairs in the vicinity but finally found ourselves in a glamorous luxury mall that most importantly, was air conditioned. 

To get out of the train station it seems that one has to walk through this mall, but we also just may not have really understood where we were going. Either way, it was an excuse to see the mall and cool off. We headed outside on the ground floor and began following AJK’s phone’s direction to the Davis hotel. In retrospect, we should have taken a taxi. Although the walk was only 15 or 20 minutes, like I said, it felt like we were standing on the sun and dragging suitcases through the crowded, smoggy, dirty streets of Bangkok was a less than ideal pre-Shabbos activity.

After stopping at a 7-11 for some necessary hydration we finally stumbled in to the lobby of the hotel. The Davis is spread out among three different buildings that offer three different styles of accommodation. We chose a large suite as the price was pretty much the same as for a smaller room. Our luggage was handed over to a bellboy who walked us and it over to the building we would be staying in. we finished the check-in process in that lobby and were shown upstairs to our room. The deco of this hotel is more eclectic and boutique-y than our usual hotels and I found it quirky but a bit weird. The room was large with a kitchen, dining area, sitting area, a large bedroom and bathroom.

While anything following a stay at the Conrad was a step down, it was perfectly pleasant and would definitely do the job. We checked out the pool on the roof but found it a weird algea-green color and decided swimming wasn’t in the cards for the day. While initially we had planned to go check out the famous MBG mall where you can purchase knock-offs of anything ever created, we were just too exhausted by our trek from the airport and we took some much needed showers to rid ourselves of the Bangkok grime we had accumulated, and then settled in for some erev Shabbos naps.

[AJK]

We awoke a little before Shabbos, lit candles, and headed out to Chabad for davening and dinner. While there are a few Chabads to choose from in the Bangkok area, we had chosen to be near the one that attracts the most anglo-speakers; I think we had our fill of the Israeli backpacking scene in Chaing Mai.

The walk to the Chabad was a quick ten minutes, but the streets of Bangkok are hot, overcrowded and inevitably have an amalgamation of gross things all over the sidewalk that you don’t want to step in, so we took the walk slowly and carefully. The Chabad itself is not hard to find. It is a large, white building down a little side street. We headed in and found a sparse attendance of about twenty guys and five or so women. Davening ended and everyone headed downstairs for dinner.

This Chabad house is headed by Rabbi and Rebbetzin Kantor. Rabbi Kantor is the chief rabbi of Thailand and was sent to Bangkok by the Lubavitcher Rebbe over twenty years ago. We were blown away by their warmth and their accepting natures. We really enjoyed our time with them and were extremely impressed by the way they included every single person at the table in the conversation. It was a totally different experience than the Shabbat we had in Chaing Mai, and we loved that here it really felt like a Shabbos meal with conversation, divrei torah and warmth (it also helped that everything was in English).

We enjoyed a delicious dinner with dessert homemade by one of the rabbi’s daughters. We then braced ourselves for our smoggy and dirty walk back to the hotel. The hotel had no problem understanding that we needed access to the stairs and they quickly showed us the way and sent someone up to the room to unlock the door for us.

The next morning AJK arranged for us to have late check-out at 2 pm. We walked over to Chabad for davening and lunch. Lunch was just as enjoyable as the meal we had experienced the night before. The crowd was larger for lunch and included all different types, from a table filled with chassidim in shtreimels, to the completely uninitiated, to American ex-pats living and working in Bangkok.

The rabbi and rebbetzin again succeeded in making everyone feel at home and went out of their way to greet AJK and me. We met an interesting guy who had been living and working as a lawyer in Bangkok for years. He turned out to be from NJ and we enjoyed talking to him and learning about his experiences in Bangkok. He highly recommended the BMG mall and told us that it really deserved a visit. We slightly regretted our naps on Friday and wished that we had taken advantage of our one day for touring in Bangkok. We decided that we would do a quick stopover sometime in the future to see this mall.

It apparently is several stories with entire floors dedicated to just one type of product such as, jewelry, women’s wear, men’s wear, shoes, hats, tech products etc. It sounds like they mostly carry knock offs and prices are expected to be bargained with, the quality isn’t guaranteed but you’re sure to find some unique and interesting things (as AJK likes to say, they’ve already been selling the iPhone 7 in Thailand for years.)

We headed back to the hotel where we moved our suitcases into the lobby and proceeded to read and rest on couches until havdalah time. We then finished checking out and hopped into a cab to Suvarnabhumi int’l airport. We arrived back at the airport we had just come into the day before, but this time the experience was entirely different.

[AJK]

We made our way over to the entire half of an airport hangar devoted to Thai first class. This area is situated behind beautiful purple screens that separate this part of the airport from other check-in areas.



You are immediately shown a private little sitting area with cold towels and drinks while your passports and luggage are taken to be checked in. The agent arrived back at our little area with our passports and tickets and we were escorted through the special first class security line. We breezed through and were brought to the business class lounge where we were put on a buggy and driven all the way through the business lounge to the first class lounge.



The first class lounge is beautiful, royal and you cannot breathe too loudly without someone offering to get you whatever you want. We initially put our bags down and settled into some of the comfortable seats in middle of the lounge. We then realized that the entire lounge was lined with private little living rooms with doors where you can relax in your own private space. Each little area has couches, a TV, a computer with internet and plenty of people coming in to check on you every so often.




The lounge menu is provided to you on an iPad complete with pictures of each dish and drink. While everything looked scrumptious, we settled for some fruit platters and watermelon smoothies. The greatest part of the lounge though was yet to come. A few minutes after settling into our little area we were fetched by one of the young women in the lounge for our complimentary one-hour massages (yes, you read that correctly).

We walked out of the lounge and across the hallway into the Thai Royal Silk spa. There we were shown into a waiting area with waterfalls, relaxing music, snacks and drinks. We were each fetched by a masseuse and shown into separate massage rooms. The massage room was definitely the fanciest massage room we had been in on our trip. For one, the room had massage tables whereas traditional Thai massages are done on the floor. The room contained the largest rain shower I had ever seen, a changing room, a sitting area and the massage area. It was massive. The massages were a full hour long and afterward I enjoyed the longest shower of my life and the first shower I had ever taken in an airport. The room was so beautiful I didn’t want to leave and I took my time getting all refreshed and ready for our flight to Paris.





After the massages we went back to our little sitting area and relaxed until they came to notify us that it was time to board. We were escorted all the way from the lounge directly onto the plane where our seats were on the top deck of the huge airbus A380.














Seconds after settling in to the large, plush seat, I was being plied with champagne, pajamas and warm towels.  Thai first class is absolutely beautiful with personal mood lighting at each seat. The seats are wide, comfy and each seat has all the amenities one could wish for.

[Thai's A380 has a large lounge on the right side of the plane (which is where EK puts their showers, and LH has a second large bathroom). While nice, TG could have used this space better, especially since their F is 12 passengers on the A380 for one albeit large bathroom.]



AJK talking: After a restful flight, we arrived in Paris.



We made a quick transit on LH to the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt.











A couple days before arriving in FRA, I found out that my 744 on the FRA-EWR leg was slated to be the old product, and I'd be damned if I was going to fly the old F on the LH 744 -- not after what it took to get there! So, first, based on an old blog post I had seen, I simply asked the reps in the FCT if they could switch my flight to the FRA-JFK flight. There wasn't any award availability, but the blog post indicated that under the right circumstances, they could switch it over. No luck.

Then, I booted up my laptop, and found that there was award availability on the new F from MUC-BOS on the A346; so while my wife didn't love making an additional two stops, she understands my obsession and gave me permission to make the change. [We should all have such amazing wives, eh? ]

I fired up google voice, called UA, and made the switch, which for whatever reason didn't cost me anything...

At that point, because our flight to MUC was leaving in about an hour, I grabbed some Fiddich 21, a cuban, and relaxed my way to oblivion

Shortly thereafter, our FCT rep came and escorted us downstairs to our waiting Porsche (you get the car to the plane even if you leave FRA in J, so long as you depart MUC in F). We were joined by another gentleman for the ride to our plane.







I was taking pictures all the while, and on the jet-bridge to the plane, I motioned for the gentleman to go before me, and he said something along the lines of "No, no, why don't you go. This is obviously more important for you "

We settled in for the quick hop to MUC and had an uneventful flight.



We arrived in MUC and went to the First Class Lounge to wait for our flight to Boston.





After about an hour or so, we left the lounge (with no escort of any kind I might add, boo), and went to the gate and--to my sheer horror--I saw this:



So, wait, you're saying I subjected myself to this:



Instead of this:



And now have the possibility of getting this?



I fell to my knees, screamed to the heavens "WHY ME?!!?!?"

Finally, I gathered up the courage to hear the bad news straight from the horse's mouth, and went up to the gate agent...

To be continued...

[morgs]

Whoa!! nice installments! But There you guys go-you have me at the edge of my seat again!!!!!!!!!!!

[Yaalili]

Great report, the conrad KS is a beautiful and unique property. Waiting for what happened!

[yoruel]

Please keep it coming. as Paul Harvey would say" the rest of the story"

[Chapshnell]

just came across this thread. WOWOW

[BrooklynCPA]

@ Mrs. AJK: Thanks for the incredible trip report!! Waiting for the Capetown report!
@ AJK: You are even crazier than I thought!!

[rediplus]

1. can you please explain again how you got the conrad booked ? you sold Hyatt ?
2. what and how many points did you use to book LH F?
3. How did you manage to switch on the fly in Paris to FRA to MUC ? So Because you left via MUC F you got to use FCT and the porsche ?
4. How and Where did you make Havdala ?
5. Would you spend shavuos like that again ?

and of course amazing TR !!!

[AJK]

1. can you please explain again how you got the conrad booked ? you sold Hyatt ?
2. what and how many points did you use to book LH F?
3. How did you manage to switch on the fly in Paris to FRA to MUC ? So Because you left via MUC F you got to use FCT and the porsche ?
4. How and Where did you make Havdala ?
5. Would you spend shavuos like that again ?

and of course amazing TR !!!

1. 4 nights in Conrad using 145K Hilton, using an AXON award booked before the deval. Amazing, amazing value. Retail value of $4k. It'd now cost 300K HH.

2. Used 70K UA before deval to book TG F and LH F, ASIA-USA going west. (Weird that UA charged 80K ASIA-EUROPE, but if you traveled an additional few thousand miles they gave a 10K discount )

3. I actually changed in FRA. Just called up UA from FCT. Correct.

4. Made it at the resort.

5. Good question. My gashmius side says absofreakinlutely. My ruchnius side says I probably should stay somewhere within walkable distance to a chabad.

[rediplus]

1. 4 nights in Conrad using 145K Hilton, using an AXON award booked before the deval. Amazing, amazing value. Retail value of $4k. It'd now cost 300K HH.

2. Used 70K UA before deval to book TG F and LH F, ASIA-USA going west. (Weird that UA charged 80K USA-EUROPE, but if you traveled an additional few thousand miles they gave a 10K discount )

3. I actually changed in FRA. Just called up UA from FCT. Correct.

4. Made it at the resort.

5. Good question. My gashmius side says absofreakinlutely. My ruchnius side says I probably should stay somewhere within walkable distance to a chabad.

Amazing !! Maybe you can start giving DDS as well when Dan cant ?
i have to get better at this. A simple trip to spain in November and i cant find F anywhere. booked everything J. still on waitlist for SQ R to FRA.

[AJK]

So, as I approached the gate agent, my knees began to wobble and I thought I'd pass out. Surely this cannot be happening, I said to myself. As I made it up to desk, there were two agents there, one man and one woman.

"So, I noticed that there was a delay due to an aircraft change?"

"Yup," said the male agent, "they changed from A333 to an A346."

[Knowing that all 9 A333's had the new F, and only about 50% of the A346s did, my heart sank.]

"Oh gosh, do you happen to know if this has the new first class or the old?"

"Hmmm... let me check here on the computer," said the female agent. "Ah, yes, I see. Unfortunately, this plane has not yet been upgraded."