Author Topic: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days  (Read 49869 times)

Offline enwhycee

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #140 on: August 05, 2015, 05:14:53 PM »
I was booked as a Guest of Honor into a regular room. The Diamond account holder called/messaged and was able to get me upgraded.

Sounds like AJK hooked it up!  :D

Offline morgs

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #141 on: August 05, 2015, 06:26:53 PM »
Thanks for the awesome tr-love the live update style-enjoy SIN (and get ready to drop some serious cash :P)

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #142 on: August 05, 2015, 06:27:39 PM »
Thanks for the awesome tr-love the live update style-enjoy SIN (and get ready to drop some serious cash :P)
For what in particular?

Offline morgs

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #143 on: August 05, 2015, 06:29:50 PM »
For what in particular?
One of the most expensive cities in the world today (at least last summer it was)-we have never spent so much money in 2 days on a vacation like we did there....everything is just expensive!!

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #144 on: August 05, 2015, 06:36:47 PM »
One of the most expensive cities in the world today (at least last summer it was)-we have never spent so much money in 2 days on a vacation like we did there....everything is just expensive!!
Got it.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2015, 06:41:41 PM by Yehoshua »

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #145 on: August 05, 2015, 07:41:35 PM »
Sounds like AJK hooked it up!  :D
While AJK has been a valuable resource, he was not the one to book me.
Quaerite et Invenietis.

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #146 on: August 06, 2015, 08:20:15 AM »
Part Nine:

   Today was the latest we have slept the whole trip so far (7:00 AM), which was a nice change of pace. We did not have any concrete plans, but we knew we wanted to go around and see as much as we could. We decided we were going to walk around to different areas, stop at the Jewish Center for lunch, see some more places and take a cab back at the end of the day. And that is what we did.

Our Route:


   The walk from the Grand Hyatt to Little India was around thirty minutes and not the most scenic walk. There was a point where we had to carry the stroller up a big flight of stair to cross a busy intersection with no crosswalk. Other than that one point, having the stroller was no issue at all, and was a nice addition to put our bags on and not have to carry anything. Little India was a few blocks of shops and stores and lots of people trying to sell you henna tattoos. We spent around twenty minutes walking around and then headed to our next stop.

Bracelets:


Singapore Signage:


Aladdin Shoes:

 
   From Little India we headed over to Bugis Junction. Bugis Junction is a shopping area (one of many in Singapore) with indoor and some outdoors shops. There were also some market type shops outside which we spent some time walking around. While nothing much to do other than shopping, we found it a nice relief to get some AC during our walk.

More Singapore Signage:


Bugis Marketish Area:


Indoor Bugis Junction:


   From the shopping area we walked over to the Jewish Center for Lunch. We had to show our passports to get past the metal barricade, and then waited for them to vet us before getting our visitor stickers. Once inside, we went upstairs to the restaurant and were the first ones seated for lunch. While we were first to be seated, we were probably the only ones who ate there for lunch as well. We ordered some spring rolls and hummus, pita and falafel balls for appetizers, and had schnitzel sandwich and some kind of local pasta and meat dish for the mains. Considering this was our first freshly prepared meal in over a week, we were very much looking forward to this meal. The food was nothing special, but being able to have anything in a foreign country is more than one can ask for, and I am just happy it is an option. While at the center, we made reservations for the Shabbat meals and checked out their little store. Lunch came out to ~$38 SGD, which was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Jewish Center:


Our First Real Food:


   From lunch we were headed over to the Singapore Flyer where we had purchased tickets online at the hotel before we left. It had just finished raining (or so we thought) as we left and were enjoying the cooled down temperatures on the walk. About five minutes into the walk, it started raining really hard, so we hung out by some building with other people until it calmed down. Once at the Singapore Flyer, we checked our stroller and started walking through the mini exhibits on the way to the ride. We arrived at the line to board the ride and were the only ones there, thus ensuring we had a whole cabin to ourselves for the thirty-minute journey around. While it was not the nicest day (it seems like Singapore is perpetually cloudy/smoggy/always raining look, the ride offered some great views and some nice picture opportunities. Once the ride was over, we went to get our stroller and were getting ready to head over to the Helix Bridge and the Marina Sands Bay.

Singapore Flyer:


Singapore F1 Racing Starting Line:


View of the Gardens from the Singapore Flyer:


   Just before heading out, it started pouring again, so we had to hang around the Singapore Flyer. There were some shops, but we found an exhibit on Chinese business people in Singapore, which was being shown, so we sat down and watched that. Once that show was over, we got to walk around and see some placards with information on it, fill out a survey and get some SG50 swag. By this time the rain had stopped and we were set to go.

   We were going to check out the Skypark area on top of the hotel and decided to get a drink at the bar atop the hotel and not pay any fee to get up to see the view. We spent around 20 minutes taking pictures and hanging out there, then went back down to walk to the Gardens by the Bay.

View from the Singapore Flyer:


   As it was getting late, we just strolled through the free part of the gardens and took lots of pictures of their super trees. There were lots of nice quiet paths that we spent time circling around and finally getting our kid to take a nap. The nap was very short-lived, so we decided to head back to the hotel and get some swimming in before dinner and bed.

   The hotel pool is nestled in some odd corner on some connected building and a pain to get to. The pool itself was nice and not too busy, with plenty of lounge chairs and cabanas available for use. After hanging out at the pool, it was back to the room for a shower and a steam (yes, the shower has a steam feature!), then up to the lounge for some drinks. I will now leave you all to enjoy this beer as I wind down m day and let all (or most) of yours begin.

Sorry i do not have more pictures from the end, my phone died after the Singapore Flyer.
Quaerite et Invenietis.

Offline AharonInIsrael

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #147 on: August 06, 2015, 11:23:44 AM »
Really cool! Thanks again for sharing and for the live updates!

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #148 on: August 06, 2015, 11:45:37 AM »
That walking "tour" seems like a good idea. It'll come in handy for my trip. What did you end up doing for dinner?

Offline yochiek93

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #149 on: August 06, 2015, 11:47:15 AM »
Thanx MP

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #150 on: August 06, 2015, 06:17:39 PM »
That walking "tour" seems like a good idea. It'll come in handy for my trip. What did you end up doing for dinner?
We had some leftovers, tradition soups and some snacks. We weren't too hungry.
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Offline Yehoshua

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #151 on: August 06, 2015, 06:34:17 PM »
We had some leftovers, tradition soups and some snacks. We weren't too hungry.
Not bad. Seems that with only one restaurant bringing food like that makes sense for some meals.

Offline Dan

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #152 on: August 06, 2015, 08:02:15 PM »
You ordered Israeli food at Awafi over the local cuisine options?  :o :'(

Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #153 on: August 06, 2015, 08:03:10 PM »
You ordered Israeli food at Awafi over the local cuisine options??
We did get one of the local dishes. We didn't want to chance two new dishes right away. Sunday we will probably try out some of the other ones.

ETA: We got the Kuay Teow meat dish.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2015, 08:08:17 PM by Marco Polo »
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Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #154 on: August 08, 2015, 08:24:03 AM »
Part Ten:

   Friday started off with a nice long walk to the Quay area and a ride on a Bumboat with River Explorer tour. The tour is about 45 minutes and it takes you around the bay and has a prerecorded video explaining the different sites as you pass along them. On the way to the river and start of the tour, we stopped at the Coffee Bean and got something to eat for breakfast. From CB, it was about 15.20 minutes to get to the river area along some residential streets. While we did not get any Sim card or wifi device for our phones, preloading the route on Google Maps worked just fine for us. The river tour was reasonably priced and provided some interesting information. It also was a nice break from walking around and had a nice refreshing breeze throughout the tour. Once we got back, we did some walking around the Quay area and then headed off to Chinatown.

River Explorer Entrance:


On The Tour:


   Chinatown is every much the same as in most other areas and countries. There are lots of stalls setup with souvenirs and other items for sale. Most of the stalls had the same stuff, but it was fun to walk through and see some of the more interesting food shops. As we reached the end of the stalls, it started to rain We took shelter under some building and hung out there for twenty minutes until it stopped. While waiting, we were approached by some students looking for help with some school project and needed our advice/opinions.  Once the rain cleared up, we took a cab back over to the shopping plaza with the coffee Bean for some shopping and lunch. After lunch we headed back over to the hotel to hang out until Shabbat.

Chinatown:


Chinatown and Our Shelter From The Rain:


   We had made up to share a cab to the Jewish center with another DDF’er and his travel companion, which worked out nicely. Davening may have been a little longer than usual, but it was nice and I really enjoyed the actual shul itself. After davening, we had made reservations for the dinner and walked up the five flights to the dining area. There were many large tables setup with the option to just sit wherever you pleased. The food was very nice and the company was great. It is always interesting to meet new people and hear about their travels. Though I must admit, I do cringe every time I hear about people travelling so far in economy. Once the meal was over, we walked back to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning we left a little later as it was pouring, but still made it with plenty of shul left.  Many more people attended the lunch meal and we were able to shuffle our table a little to meet some new people. The walk back after lunch was a bit worse than the night before, but there was still plenty of shade along the way, which made the walk tolerable.  Tomorrow is the real start of al the SG50 celebrations, and we plan to go attend some of the festivities, with our own real festivity in EK F happening later that night.

Until tomorrow…
Quaerite et Invenietis.

Offline morgs

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #155 on: August 08, 2015, 03:22:38 PM »
Sounds like you are really getting a lot of rain there-I guess we were really spared last year as we only got caught in one downpour while at sentosa-Enjoy the festivities and your flight tomorrow ( and please make sure to try some of the local dishes at awafi for dinner-they were really pretty good; FYI-if you need to take sandwiches/food to go for the rest of your trip/flights-Awafi packs up to go boxes really nicely). Enjoy!! Thanks for the write up.

BTW-did you also find chinatown to be super smelly (the smells of the food they were cooking at the food stands almost made my wife and me vomit!!

Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #156 on: August 08, 2015, 07:57:33 PM »
There was a stretch of some kind of pork stand which was a bit intense, but nothing too crazy.
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Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #157 on: August 11, 2015, 08:27:38 AM »
Part Eleven:


     Sunday was the big day. Not only were we finally getting into EK F, it was Singapore's 50th birthday and there were lots of stuff going on. Though we would end up missing a lot of it, we wanted to try and see as much as possible. We started our day by walking to the Botanical Gardens, which is a UNESCO site as well. There was to be be some live music and other stuff going on there for SG50. It was a nice walk from the hotel and we ended up walking with a lot of other people as well. The subways were free for SG50, but with a stroller and all the people, we did not think it was a great idea.  Arriving at the gardens, we walked through some nice paths and got to see some of what was being offered, before we made it to the festivity area. They had some live music playing, some tents selling food and then there were some free tents offering henna, caricatures, face painting and some other kid stuff. We spent some time walking around and just enjoying the scene.

Garden Gates:


Pathway:


POW Bricks in a Garden:


    Our next stop was Haji Lane, which was the Arabic version of Little India. A lot of the stores were still closed, but we were able to spend some time walking through and checking out some of the stores that were open. From there, we walked over to Awafi for lunch only to find out there was a limited menu being offered. While not optimal, we had some food and started walking back towards the hotel. We took our time walking back and stopped off in some stores along the way. Once at the hotel, we finished packing, sent our luggage downstairs and headed up to the lounge to kill some time before our flight.

Haji Lane:


    We got a cab outside the hotel to take us to the airport, and got there pretty quickly as the streets were not crowded at all. From the cab we went straight to the Emirates First Class counter and started to check-in. I had asked the agent about possibly putting us on a later flight from Dubai home, and he mentioned going to the ticketing counter before he checked us in to ask. The agent at the counter was unable to help, even though there were plenty of seats available on the flight we wanted. With that news, we went to check-in and figured we would ask in the lounge for help. Once checked in, we headed to immigration only to be greeted by huge lines everywhere. We asked one of the workers if there was a line for First Class (always ask) and was pointed to the crew and dignitary line (not sure if it was because we had a kid, or our BP). Once through immigration, we headed to the lounge and were hoping our luck would be better there. We presented our request/question to the lounge agent who said they would would look into it for us. Meanwhile, we sat down, had some drinks, showered and waited. The agent came back saying we needed to speak to the agents in DXB as they could only help.

Drinks in The Lounge:


Our Plane:


   In SIN, they have the security setup by each gate and then there is a waiting area there for the flight. Not wanting to be sitting around too long, we walked around a little and came back for security. The First Class line was not setup yet, so they halted the regular line and sent us through, while we did get some stares, we got over it pretty quickly. We were told we had the cabin to ourselves, but it turns out we had to share it with one other person. With this information, i asked to shower twice, once after dinner and then again before we landed. I was told they needed to check if it was possible, and got the affirmative answer about five minutes later. Emirates F cabin is very ostentatious, but still gives a nice feeling. From the little vanity mirror to the non-chilled mini bar by your seat, it all adds up to a very nice product. Personally i did not care for it in bed mode, as my feet ended up in no-mans land, as the leg rest did not connect with anything. Additionally, i thought it was a bit off that they stored the bedding in the corner of each seat.  The amenity kit, pajamas and slippers were all nice, plus they gave a nice tote bag to keep all your goodies in. Before we knew it, we were landing in Dubai.

EK F Seat:








Tail Camera:




Shower:





« Last Edit: August 11, 2015, 10:18:08 AM by Marco Polo »
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Offline Marco Polo

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #158 on: August 11, 2015, 08:50:24 AM »
     Once we got off the plane, we started running around to different desks to try and get our flight pushed off. After an hour of running around and no real progress, we decided to just go to the hotel and try in the morning. We got a taxi and took the 15 minute drive to the Conrad Dubai. I had checked in online and our room, or our upgraded room was ready for us when we got there. I booked the cheapest room (IIRC ~$175) and got upgrade to the Conrad King Suite. As you can see from the pictures below, we walked into yet another huge room on this trip. There was a living room, hallway, multiple bathrooms, a kitchen and some other random space. Though we were only there for a few hours, it was nice to have a bed and not have to slum it in the EK F lounge.

Hotel:












View:



    We were up bright and early and planned to get as much done since we could not change flights. We first we to the Jumeirah Mosque, the largest one in Dubai, but got there to early to really see anything. From there, we took a taxi to the spice market which was really nice. After walking around for a bit (was about 106 degrees), we decided to make some purchases. As always, there was a lot of haggling and i think we got a good deal.

    From the spice market, we took a water taxi across the river/creek to the textile market for one Dinar a person. The textile market was shady, but still very hot and a lot of the same stores. We did get another couple of items there and then decided to see the mall. We weren't paying attention and our driver took us to the Mall of Emirates and not the Dubai Mall. The MoE is still a very big mall, with indoor skiing and lots of shops. We spent some time there and then took a cab back to the hotel and right on to the airport. While i can't say this will always work, there is a 25 AED base charge to/from the airport. We just had our driver run the meter at the hotel while we loaded our bags. I think this saved us some money. From the hotel, we were off to the airport and the EK First/Business class check-in.









Interesting Destination:



    Since we already had our BP's, i just went to check to make sure they were still good (wasn't sure with all the messing around they did to try and get us on the later flight). From there, we had a nice long walk t the train to bring us to our gate area. Once off the train, we took a couple of elevators up to the First Class lounge. We got checked in and walked around the desk to the lounge area. The lounge (or the parts i was able to see) was a ghost town. It took us twenty minutes to find another F pax that was using the lounge there. The lounge runs the entire concourse with boarding gates and multiple areas to relax, eat, sleep, drink, smoke, shop etc. I do not think i would be exaggerating by saying it was a 7:1 staff to pax ratio. Once settled and our kid running around the play area, we setup massage times and got something to drink. Once all our extracurricular activities were done, we headed to the gate entrance and took the elevator right down to the jet bridge and our next EK F flight. The flight was fully booked in F, but my kid was even better on this than the empty legs. About 14 hours later, a shower, some sleep and drinks later, we were touching down in JFK. From the plane out the door was nice and quick thanks to Global Entry and priority bags. Overall, we got to fly some really nice products, stay in some great hotels and had fun time. Until January, this report is done.

The End.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2015, 10:24:03 AM by Marco Polo »
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Offline AharonInIsrael

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Re: MP and Co's Trip Around the World in Thirteen Days
« Reply #159 on: August 11, 2015, 09:00:21 AM »
Thanks so much for sharing! Great TR as usual!