Asia 2009 Part 1
Trip Start
Mar 03, 2009
1
5
Trip End
Mar 17, 2009
Singapore,
Singapore
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Sandy was once again a real trooper and got me to the airport by 5:45 am for my flight to Minneapolis. The reason for the trip was to burn Northwest frequent flier miles prior to a major devaluation due to the merger with Delta Airlines. I figured if I was going to spend the miles I might as well stay for a while as it is a major trip to get to Asia. I had originally booked a Business Class seat from Minneapolis to Hong Kong, as that is all I could get for the minimum number of miles. This flight left at 7:05 am on Wednesday, so I needed to book another award flight on Tuesday to to insure I got to the airport by 5:30 am on Wednesday. I could have driven to save the miles, but 10 hours in the car vs. one hour in the plane made my decision.
I arrived in Minneapolis, having booked the Cambria Suites Hotel near the airport. Never having stayed at a Cambria Suites, I was looking forward to the stay as the reviews on tripadvisor.com were outstanding. A shuttle was sent from the hotel, I checked in and then immediately came back down to be shuttled to the Mall of America which was about ½ mile from the hotel. I had never been to the Mall, I am not a shopper, but I had to go check it out. A huge mall with an amusement park in the middle, very cool!! I picked up a couple of things I needed, had lunch and then back to the hotel. I went down to the hotel bar and had a few and hooked up with a group of guys that were Delta Airline mechanics on a month long seminar to learn the Northwest Airbus A330 airliner. This is the transatlantic plane that I have flown 30-40 times. A great plane and it was neat to chat with the guys that are keeping the plane in the air. Early night to ready for the big trip. By the way, the hotel was great. Very neat room, great staff and would recommend it if you get the opportunity. Also Carl, the bartender, is a one of a kind. Made for a great night!!!
Wednesday 3-4 Minneapolis-Los Angles- Tokyo-Hong Kong
The same driver who picked me up at the airport and took me to the Mall, was waiting at 5:00 am for my trip to the airport. The plane departed at 7:05 for a 4 ½ hour trip to Los Angeles. Seated in first class, breakfast of a cheese omelet was served and I got a bit of a nap. Landing at LAX and then to the World Club to check emails and ready for the long flight to Tokyo. My Business Class seat was in the upper deck of the 747. A great spot as there are only 24 seats, 2 flight attendants and you feel you have the airplane to yourself. An 11 ½ hour trip to Tokyo. Neat to take off from LAX and immediately see the beach below, then the Pacific for the rest of the trip, next land Japan!! Had a great meal of braised beef short ribs and then breakfast of a Florentine spinach, egg and bacon thing.
Landed at Tokyo's Narita Airport at around 4:00 pm Thursday. Went to the World Club briefly, and then to the gate for the departure to Hong Kong on one the the Airbus A330's I had discussed with the Delta guys previously. A 5 hour flight to Hong Kong, my seat mate was a wacky Asian lady. She spilled a glass of wine on herself, was constantly talking out loud to herself and was very needy to the flight attendants during the flight. We landed in Hong Kong at about 10:30 pm and I was off to see what I could do until 11:00 am the next morning for my flight to Singapore. I wandered around and found an arrivals lounge with showers and a room for 6 hours for around $60. Cheaper than a city hotel and a shower and a few hours sleep was all I was looking for. The room was tiny, but very nice and the shower turned out to be the best I have ever been in. A 6x6 tiled shower with the biggest rain shower shower head I had seen really fit the bill. A wake up call at 6:00 am and then the included breakfast and I was back out into the terminal. I was flying on Jetstar Asia Airlines (???), a cheapo Asian airlines like Easy Jet or Ryanair in Europe. I checked in, headed to the gate and was soon on my way to Singapore, leaving Hong Kong in a monsoon rainstorm and a very bumpy climb out for the first 30 minutes of the flight.
Landed in Singapore and took the Skytrain to Terminal 3 to get the train to the City. The Singapore subway is the cleanest I have ever seen, I swear you could eat off the floor of the cars. I made one mistake and did not make a transfer to another line when I should have which added about 15 minutes to my 30 minute ride to the hotel. I have stayed at the Swissotel Merchant Court two other times, so I knew my way and got to the hotel around 5:30 pm. Checked in, then readied for a beer and dinner. I was pretty tired, so I knew it was not to be a late night. The hotel is right on the river and the river is full of outdoor eateries, bars, pubs and other ways to spend money. I had a beer at the brewpub next to the hotel and then off to a Thai restaurant on the river for some spicy food. A great meal, later, I was ready for bed, as the jet lag was kicking in. Back to the room, ready for my last day in Singapore and then on to Langkawi, an island off the northwest coast of Malaysia on Sunday.
Stay tuned............
