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Links to the actual TR

Part 1: Planning
Part 2: LAX-NRT
Part 3: Transiting NRT
Part 4: NRT-SIN
Part 5: Day 1 in Singapore
Part 6: Day 2 in SIN, Shabbos
Part 7: Day 3 in SIN
Part 8: Day 4 in SIN
Part 9: Day 1 in PEK
Part 10: Day 2 in PEK
Part 11: Day 1 in HKG
Part 12: Day 2 in HKG
Part 13: Day 3 in HKG, Shabbos
Part 14: Day 4 in HKG, flight to HND
Part 15: Tokyo; flight home

Author Topic: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo  (Read 65653 times)

Offline Dawie

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #60 on: January 27, 2016, 12:15:27 PM »
I'm taking her to South Africa in the summer. We'll be on EK F, QR 787 J, EY Apt and AA A321T F. That'll make up for a lot of it....I hope. :D
DO maybe?

Offline Feivish

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #61 on: January 27, 2016, 06:39:53 PM »
Nice TR! Keep it coming...

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #62 on: January 27, 2016, 08:47:11 PM »
DO maybe?
Sure, that'd be great! PM me if you're going and when.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #63 on: January 27, 2016, 08:47:26 PM »

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #64 on: January 27, 2016, 09:13:04 PM »
Friday, January 22, 2016: Day 1 in SIN
After finishing working in TPR, I got ready to leave the airport at around 7:45am. I davened shachris in one of the private rooms in TPR, changed into hot-weather clothes and was through immigration and customs in a matter of minutes (no queues).


An empty immigration hall

I ordered Uber to pick me up which was easy and convenient. After about 25 minutes of light traffic we were at the Grand Hyatt, my home while in Singapore.

Since it was only 8:30 when I got to the hotel my room wasn’t ready yet. I was invited to go up to the club lounge on the 20 (21st) floor and have breakfast there. The breakfast spread was decent, but the really good news for me was that one of the cereals they offered was from America and had an O-U! Big score! I was told by my LOR that the milk would be ok (chalav stam) at the hotels so that worked out really nicely for the duration of my stay. Between cereal and the fruit, I was set.

After breakfast I took a few snacks I’d brought with me and headed out for the day, leaving my bags with the concierge (the room was still not ready).

The first thing I did was walk to see the shul. I wanted to familiarize myself with the area and how to walk to shul so I’d be set for Shabbos. I also made sure to pass the kosher Coffee Bean in Orchard Central mall on the way so I’d know where that was.


Worlds smallest McDonalds?


Kosher CBTL in Orchard Central



Certification

I looked around the shul for a bit, took some pictures and checked out the kosher market but didn’t end up buying anything.


מגן אבות exterior


מגן אבות interior

After meeting an nice couple from London who’d flown in for the week for a (non-Jewish) friend’s wedding on a small Malaysian Island), I headed off walking to the Marina Bay Sands. I continued down the same road (Orchard becomes Bras Basah becomes Raffles) and checked out the famed Raffles hotel. I then walked to the Esplanade, which is a concert hall right on a small lake. I took the footpath all around the lake, staying on the edge of the CBD, to the Marina Bay sands. I arrived at the hotel at 11:50am, just 10 minutes before the Bar, Ce La Vi, opens. After cooling off for a bit I went up to the bar and got a drink to enjoy the views (instead of paying for the Skypark).


Esplanade path to the...


...Marina Bay Sands


Inside the MBS

Small Pirtzus Alert Ahead

Infiniti pool

A couple things to note about Ce La Vi: First it’s all outdoors, so don’t expect any air-con up there. Second, the tables fully in the shade are reserved for hotel guests, so you’re stuck partially in the sun. Third, the music is really, really loud up there and they won’t turn it down. Finally, the cheapest drink (water) costs SGD8++ in case anyone was wondering.

I didn’t spend too much time up there before heading across the street to Gardens by the Bay.


Gardens by the Bay

I walked around the free parts of the gardens (I skipped the Cloud forest and flower garden in the conservatories) for a while. It was nice, but I didn’t feel like spending that much time there and left after an hour or so.




Gardens by the Bay

From there it was a short walk to the Singapore Flyer. While I know going at night is supposed to be nicer, I went during the day and had a great time.




Views from the Singapore Flyer

By the time the that was done I decided to just walk back to the hotel, all the way up the street. It was cool going through all the malls, staying out of the rain (it rained intensely for about 20 minutes).

At this point I was quite hungry (I’d actually had some leftover sandwiches I’d brought from home for lunch at Ce La Vi), so I stopped by Coffee Bean for a salad and drink. That hit the spot!


Coffee Bean snack to go

I got to the hotel, got to my room, 837 (I requested a lower floor on purpose), and got ready for Shabbos. Mincha is always at 6:45p, so at 6:30 I tried requesting an Uber. It was torrentially down poring outside, and I didn’t feel like walking. It took Uber 10 minutes to get to the hotel. It also was surge pricing (2.4x) and the traffic on Orchard Rd. was horrible. It took about 25 minutes to get to shul, but I arrived at 7:10, a mere 7 minutes before shkia. The ride ended up costing more that the ride from the airport to the hotel (about SGD25). I lit candles at shul and made it in time for Shabbos.

The following are pictures of my room at the GH Singapore













Offline benjie1305

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #65 on: January 27, 2016, 09:44:42 PM »
Good stuff! Hope you are enjoying Singapore.

Are you planning on doing actual activities or just mainly looking/walking around the place?
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Offline AJK

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #66 on: January 27, 2016, 11:25:26 PM »
Friday, January 22, 2016: Day 1 in SIN
After finishing working in TPR, I got ready to leave the airport at around 7:45am. I davened shachris in one of the private rooms in TPR, changed into hot-weather clothes and was through immigration and customs in a matter of minutes (no queues).


An empty immigration hall

Love this pic.

Funny about uber to shul on Friday night. We had the exact same issue. Traffic was horrendous. However, unlike you, we weren't going to make shkia and had to jump out a couple blocks away.

Didn't try to get in MBS pool?
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Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #67 on: January 28, 2016, 12:17:10 AM »
Good stuff! Hope you are enjoying Singapore.

Are you planning on doing actual activities or just mainly looking/walking around the place?
Yup, I did activities on Sunday and Monday. TR to follow. It's written, just have to do the pics part.
Love this pic.

Funny about uber to shul on Friday night. We had the exact same issue. Traffic was horrendous. However, unlike you, we weren't going to make shkia and had to jump out a couple blocks away.

Didn't try to get in MBS pool?
Nothing like queue free immigration. Beijing was also pretty good entering, but a 1 hour wait leaving.

No one had written that about Uber on Friday before, so I figured I'd help the next guy by posting it.

Offline enwhycee

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #68 on: January 28, 2016, 12:27:40 AM »
Keep it comin!

Whats the deal with getting in the MBS pool? Is it tough?

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #69 on: January 28, 2016, 12:32:47 AM »
Keep it comin!

Whats the deal with getting in the MBS pool? Is it tough?
It's officially for hotel guests only. They have a subway style barrier you need to go through and a security person making sure people don't sneak in. Personally I didn't try since it was quite crowded and pritzusdik at the time.

Offline enwhycee

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #70 on: January 28, 2016, 12:53:40 AM »
Ah, gotcha. I'll have to give it a shot, those touristy pics of falling off the edge are pretty cool.  :P

Offline Feivish

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #71 on: January 28, 2016, 01:05:46 AM »
What room did you get at the GH?

How was the security getting into the shul like?

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #72 on: January 28, 2016, 02:42:03 AM »
What room did you get at the GH?

How was the security getting into the shul like?
Room 836. They let me in to shul without any problems. I did go on Friday and show my passport then though.

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #73 on: January 28, 2016, 06:38:32 AM »
Room 836. They let me in to shul without any problems. I did go on Friday and show my passport then though.
I mean what room type? I'm curious if you were upgraded as a GOH.

Offline D93

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #74 on: January 28, 2016, 06:59:52 AM »
I mean what room type? I'm curious if you were upgraded as a GOH.

It's a Deluxe King room, which IMHO is outdated.

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #75 on: January 28, 2016, 07:00:31 AM »
Great stuff! Looking forward to the rest :)

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #76 on: January 28, 2016, 07:01:30 AM »
I had about 25 mintues in the lounge which I spent on the outdoor terrace speaking to a Christian guy about why I don’t wear my tzitzis out. Go figure.

And why don't you?  :P

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #77 on: January 28, 2016, 07:05:47 AM »
Funny about uber to shul on Friday night. We had the exact same issue. Traffic was horrendous. However, unlike you, we weren't going to make shkia and had to jump out a couple blocks away.
No one had written that about Uber on Friday before, so I figured I'd help the next guy by posting it.

Interesting. When I was there this past summer we shared a regular cab with the MarcoPolo's, no traffic and cost $10SGD.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #78 on: January 28, 2016, 07:23:55 AM »
I mean what room type? I'm curious if you were upgraded as a GOH.

It's a Deluxe King room, which IMHO is outdated.
Correct, it was an upgrade due to GOH, but it is quite dated. Still nice though.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo
« Reply #79 on: January 28, 2016, 07:27:25 AM »
Great stuff! Looking forward to the rest :)
Thanks!

And why don't you?  :P
No good reason, I just wasn't brought up that way and CC in general doesn't make it a thing. The only people in CC I know who do wear them out do it because of a family minhag.

Interesting. When I was there this past summer we shared a regular cab with the MarcoPolo's, no traffic and cost $10SGD.
Hmm. You didn't have traffic? Maybe the locals were on holiday so the traffic was lighter. I asked the hotel about a cab just for the heck of it, but because of the rain they were in high demand and there was a 15 minute wait for the one (not including the time it'd take for the cab to get to the hotel.