Author: JP

Immigration and customs was a breeze at MNL (the immigration officer thought the Mrs was Filipino – maybe thats why he was extra friendly). After picking up our bags, we met our friends who would take us to the Sheraton and spend time with us through our stay in Manila.

The Sheraton is literally located across the highway from the airport.

As is customary for all buildings, there was a quick security check on the car before we pulled up to the front of the lobby. We were helped immediately by staff and were directed to the check in desk.

The check in agent was very friendly during the check in and after a couple minutes, asked if I wanted to check in via the lounge since I was Titanium Elite. Not going to turn down a good offer. We were escorted up to the top floor where the lounge was located and handed off to the staff at the desk. In true Filipino fashion, the process was overly friendly and communicated well. Our room was not ready but it was a 15 minute wait till we got the keys in hand. In the mean time, we helped ourselves to some refreshments.

Check in area

Headed to our room located down on the 5th floor. I booked a base room on a cash rate and then used SNA’s to upgrade to a 2 bedroom loft suite.

The view from the elevator bank area. Funny point – it took 30 minutes to get to the hotel with the traffic under the highway. Without traffic, it would have been 5 minutes. Yay for infamous Manila traffic.

Quick room tour – little closet area to the left as we enter and full bathroom on the right.

Living area plus bed

Staircase on the wall opposite the bed leading up the loft area

One for me and one for Junior 😛

Wash area plus toilet immediately in front of the stairs

Shower

Headed over to the mall which is attached to the hotel. You can follow a path on the 2nd floor to get into the mall which is very convenient. Junior wanted Mickey D’s and was way better than what we get in Canada.

For dinner, we went up to the lounge and it was a very good spread. Service was also fantastic yet again from the staff.

Breakfast was provided and we had a choice between the lounge or the main restaurant. Tried the lounge on the first two days and did the main restaurant on the third.

After breakfast on the first morning, Junior and I headed to the pool for a quick dip. Since the pool was also located on the same floor as our room, it was an easy walk across to the other side of the building.

On check out day, we headed to the main restaurant for breakfast. Lots of western and asian choices.

We loved our stay at the Sheraton Manila – an all round hotel with good services. The only minus point is that since it is close to the airport, it is far from any attractions that you may want to visit.

I always complain about taking morning flights since I hate getting up early and yet I still take early morning flights. Guess I am sucker for punishment.

Grabbed a Grab taxi over to Changi at 6am and it was a smooth ride. The flight was out of T2 but we checked in at T3 since we (me) wanted to try to renovated SilverKris lounge.

Bit of a line up at the J class counters and we were directed to use the Premium Economy counters

Immigration was a breeze with all automated gates and we were off to the lounge

Lots of open space compared to the previous version of the lounge. It did not feel claustrophobic at all. Even at this time of the day, there were lots of people in the food station area but the surrounding area was quite calm and spread out.

Sat in the back area here

Good selection of breakfast – Western, Asian etc.

Yall know what I’m gonna get 🙂

The view outside

Left the lounge to head to T2 and on the way, we stopped by the Butterfly Garden

Found the Sunflower Garden at T2, so decided to check that out.

Bid farewell to my sister who was flying back home to YYZ. We went to our gate and went through the security formalities. Boarding was called shortly after we passed security.

The regional business class seat – comfortable for this 3.5 hour hop.

The menu – I chose BTC for my main

Pushback was almost on time and we made our way around the T5 construction area down to the new runway.

After 20 minutes of taxi time, we were off!

Seatbelt was turned off fairly quickly and the crew got into action for the breakfast service

My Book the Cook choice – Lobster Thermidor – absolutely divine!

After the service was complete, I put the seat into bed mode and relaxed for the remainder of the flight.

Smooth landing into Manila

Parked at T3

We were originally booked into the Serangoon House in Little India. After reading the terrible reviews, we cancelled and booked next door at the Park Royal which was part of the GHA Discovery program (10 nights get you Platinum status!). Check out from the Marriott Tang was simple and after a 15 minutes Grab ride, we pulled up to the new hotel.

Check in was processed quickly. No elite status meant a straight forward attitude from the check in agent but this was to be expected. Booked a family room with a king bed plus single for Junior. Room was ready at 1pm which was appreciated.

Headed out for lunch next door to Nasi Kandar

Fried rice

Mutton

Chicken Tikka Biryani – SO GOOD

Mutton biryani

Fried Fish

Sizzling chicken chop

Prawns

Chicken lollipop

The women went shopping again, so it was just a lazy afternoon for the boys in the room. That evening, we headed out to Geylang Serai to check out the nightly Ramadan Bazaar.

Packed to the gills

Meat

The famous Ramly burger

Headed back to MBS for some photos.

The next morning, walked across the street to Toast Box for some breakfast

Headed over to Sentosa Island to check out the Merlion, only to find out it was torn down 2 years ago. facepalm
Made the best of a bad situation and walked around until lunch time.

Headed back to the HarbourFront station and went over to VivoCity mall food court for lunch. Sampled a few items – all delicious.

Japanese Curry

Beef Noodles

Chicken Rice

Minced Meat Noodles

Dropped Junior back in the room with the grandparents and then headed to a nearby laundromat. Easy to use and highly recommended – multiple locations across SG.

Headed over to the Arab quarter for dinner. Started off with SG Zam Zam.

Mutton biryani

Chicken 65

Walked to the other side of the mosque for some tea

Bhai Sharbat

Ice tea to cool off

Ended off with some dessert – Iced Chendol

On our last day, parents decided to stay in the hotel and pack since they were flying back home that evening while we would be flying out early next morning. Rest of us made the best of the day – stopped by the Hong Lim food centre for breakfast.

First stop – legendary char kway teow. Line up was 15 people long but someone kept coming out to take orders and it was ready when you got to the front.

The crunchy lard bits were so sinfully good, didnt care so much for the blood cockles.

Chicken curry noodles next

Headed over to check out the Merlion.

Some day …

The shot …

After dropping the parents off at the airport, we headed out to Ion Orchard Mall for dinner. These restaurants started out as singular restaurants located at hawker centres or in other areas before opening multiple locations – lucky we were able to try all of them in one location.

Beach road scissor cut curry rice – chicken chop and cabbage

Shrimp frice rice from King of Fried Rice

Hokkien Mee from Nam Sings

With that, we wrapped up the night packing the last of our bags before heading to bed. It would be an early start to the airport.

Up next – SQ Business to Manila

I went out of sequence by posting the Marriott Tang pics – here is what happened during the past two days.

Started off breakfast back at Tekka Centre.

Junior wanted milo … there’s the milo dinosaur and then there’s the milo godzilla .. who made up these names? LOL

Egg Appam – the orange coconut powder was soooo good

Back on the MRT and headed towards MBS

Oh, hello again!

There was a ticket booth for the Cloud Forest right outside the MRT exit at street level. We also purchased tickets for the shuttle ride which was $3 per person round trip.

Thank goodness for the shuttle as it was a good 20 minute walk to the Cloud Forest and I was not ready to sweat in the swampy sun.

Thank goodness for AC INSIDE the dome. 🙂

There were exhibit pieces from the Avatar 2 movie added everywhere to enhance the experience – quite fun.

Junior being turned into a Na’vi 😀

View at the top of the waterfalls looking out.

Looking straight down

Junior using the flying simulator

At the end, passed through this glow in the dark thingy

Psychedelic

Back on the MRT to the Golden Mile food centre for lunch. Got the burger for Junior but couldnt get to take a pic as he just wolfed it down before I had a chance. They have the same one located at the Urban Hawker in NYC. Cheaper here though where a burger with fries cost $9 versus $20 in NYC.

This man doing this thing making delicious hokkien mee. Was first in line and then a line up of 15 showed up right after.

Was craving something spicy.

We rested for the afternoon before heading out for a celebratory dinner. I chose National Kitchen by Violet Oon located at the National Gallery. There are two other locations located at the Jewel and Ion Orchard Mall. Got a 6pm reservation and there is a 2 hour seating limit. Service was quite robotic and dishes were brought out very quickly but tasty nonetheless.

Entrance to the National Gallery

Up to the 3rd floor where the restaurant was located

There was a small line up of people who were also there for the 6pm seating but we were assisted very quickly. Guests were shown to their table and menus were provided.

For appetizers, we went with the prawn paste chicken wings and ngoh hiang

Then the main course – Garam Assam Fish, Beef Rendang, VO Chicken Curry, Lady Fingers (Okra for you US folks), Sambal Eggplant (so. fricking. good)

Finally, the sugar rush course – Gula Melaka Tea Cake with ice cream, Kueh Beng Cake with coconut milk, Sugee Cake with Ice cream, Sticky Date Pudding,

Grabbed another Grab taxi to the Marriott Tang. Service was not so swift after we pulled up. Finally, one of the staff helped us with the bags while we went inside to check in. Formalities were professional and not overly friendly. Was upgraded to a “Premier Executive Suite” but this turned out to be a joke.

Junior leading the way past the entrance

Check in area

The bathroom

Upgraded! LOL

After freshening up, we jumped onto the very familiar MRT towards Little India

Durians causing trouble again …

Yummy Biryani

Indian Rojak

Ice Chendol and Sugar Cane juice

Wife, mother and sister wanted to go gold shopping. So the boys went back to the hotel.

Rained in the afternoon, so we just relaxed until dinner. Took the bus over to Samy’s Curry.

The next morning, jumped back on the MRT to the Botanic Gardens. Popped into the Adam Road food centre for a quick breakfast.

I call this the Fully Loaded Nasi Lemak

Murtabak

With our stomachs full, we headed back to the Botanic Gardens to burn off all those calories.

This one portion took us an hour and a half to complete.

Two hours later and 10 lbs lighter (from all the sweat), we headed over to Chinatown for lunch.

Headed over to Maxwell food centre and needed something to cool off. wink

Aint no way I was standing in line here.

Shorter line here.

Pork chop, Cabbage, Rice

So. Fricking. Delicious.

The line for Tian Tian as we were leaving.

Came back to the room and there was another treat waiting for me.

Went to check out the M club for some afternoon canapes and cocktails.

Sitting in the back with a drink

Bar area with full service

Food area – really good selection

Junior wanted to hit up the pool

On our last day, I went to the main restaurant to check out the breakfast spread and it was a decent spread.

Noodle station – went for my all time favourite

Yum

Marina Bay Sands and Satay by the Bay

We were immediately assisted by the onsite staff as we pulled up to the front. One staff member took our bags away while another escorted us to the check in area. Since we came to Tower 1, it had a massive queue but there were at least 15 staff members on hand handling the check in formalities. We had a 15 minute way before a desk opened up. The process was pretty smooth and even got a birthday upgrade to a deluxe room facing the marina. Pro tip – there are check in desks at Tower 2 and 3 and the queues are barely there.

The room was way more cozier compared to the W.

View from our room on the 49th floor

After changing, we headed to the 57th floor where the infinity pool was located.

Father-Son time

Bucket list item scratched off!

Something to hold us until dinner

Dont mind me

In the evening, we headed to Satay by the Bay for dinner. It is a good 20-30 minutes walk depending on one’s pace.

Strolling through Gardens by the Bay to get to the dinner place

After 25 minutes, we finally arrived

Who doesnt love Satay?

Charcoal cooked Hokkien Mee

Chicken Wings … and my wife’s hand …

Fried rice for Junior

After dinner, walked towards the SuperTree Grove to catch the light show

Beautiful

Walking back to MBS

The staff dropped a little present for me

We woke up early the next morning to get one more dip in the pool

One final look before heading off to the next hotel

Next up – Marriott Tang Hotel

Since we landed around 7:15am, we had a lot of time to kill before checking in at the W Sentosa. I booked a room at the Yotel Changi for 4 hours via the Dayuse app. The hotel is located on the 4th floor of the Jewel and was easy to find.

I am literally standing in front of the door taking this pic. The room can be described as “cozy”.

At least there was hot water …

After quickly freshening up, we headed out for breakfast and also to explore the attractions.

Kaya toast, tea, milo

We headed upstairs afterwards to the Canopy Park located on the 4th floor. We bought tickets for the standard attractions which included a mirror maze, hedge maze, walking net and the canopy bridge. Junior was over the moon to experience all of this.

After resting for a couple hours in the room, we checked out and got a taxi to the W. We pulled up to the front and were helped by the staff. Our bags were taken care of and we were requested to head upstairs one level to the check in area.

Check in area

Things fell apart during check in and it just soured the entire stay at the W. The check-in agent completely lacked customer service and just proceeded with the formalities like a robot. No recognition of elite status, no small talk etc. On top of that, the room was not ready even though it was well past 3pm and this just triggered me. I know this is clearly a first world problem type of issue but for some reason, I was seeing red and in my rage, I cancelled an upcoming 3 night stay back at the W further in the week.

She said we would be notified via text message when the room was ready. We were given a temporary access card to access the pool area. We went downstairs to the spa to change into pool attire and when we attempted to access the pool area, the card did not work. Clearly, this wasn’t meant to be my day. Went back upstairs to get the card issue fixed and guess what, the room was ready. Swapped cards and up we went to our room.

First impressions of the room, the design is interesting and I guess W hotels are designed like this. The living room felt uncomfortable but the bedroom, bathroom and balcony was designed beautifully. The neon lighting gave a party type vibe.

The powder room to the right as you entered. The perfume in here was divine.

Living room

Bedroom

Bathroom

Bath with a view

We went to the pool and am glad to inform that the card actually worked. The pool area is massive with lots of loungers available. The pool never felt crowded and it was great just to hang out for a couple hours. Again, the service sucked as there were staff around taking meal/drink orders but no one came by to check in on us. I went to the bar area to grab a couple drinks.

Went back to the room to clean up. There was a cake waiting for me.

Killed two birds with one stone …

The night time vibe

Ordered some room service dinner. Average of $35 for each item. Char Kway Teow, Laksa and Chicken Rice.

Next – Breakfast and walking around the area.

W Sentosa – Breakfast plus walking around the area

I chose breakfast as our welcome amenity during check-in. There are restaurants on the marina area near the hotel as well.

Lovely view in the morning

Good spread overall – sampled a bit of everything and was impressed with the quality of food.

Noodle station

Went for a walk after breakfast to burn off some calories

Bottom most balcony on the left was ours

Went back to the check in desk to request a late check out and after a bit of back and forth, I got a 1pm checkout. At this point, I reached my limit with the staff and just took it. We packed up our bags and I threw the keys into the express check out box as I did not want to deal with them.

Got a Grab taxi to take us to our next hotel. 🙂

Up next – Marina Bay Sands and Satay by the Bay

Dropped off the rental in one piece and the shuttle bus dropped us outside the arrivals area of TBIT. Made our way upstairs to the departures area and found the SQ check in area.

Had a bit of a wait but was eventually helped and the check in process was smooth.

Thank goodness for TSA precheck as we were the only ones in line and the regular line was 200 people long. Once past security, we made our way to the Star Alliance lounge located on the 6th floor.

Gong show tonight as every seat was taken. Luckily, the outdoor terrace was empty and we had the space to ourselves. Food selection was meh at best but at least there was champagne!

Outdoor terrace

Instagram picture

One for me, one for her

Indoor terrace

A boarding announcement was made in the lounge and we made our way to the gate

Sixteen and a half amazing hours in this bird!

19K – snagged the bulkhead seats during OLCI which opened 2 days before departure

OJ offered as a PDB

The menu

Boarding was done quickly and we actually pushed back 5 minutes ahead of schedule

We were off into the night sky eventually. Once the seat belt signs were turned off, we put Junior to bed and the crew started preparing meals.

Appetizer to start with delicious garlic bread

Book the Cook Chicken Rice – sensational!

Made the bed right after dinner and went down for a few hours

Eventually woke up after a couple hours as I was not able to sleep much and ordered a snack

Champers to start

Something healthy with something full of carbs 🙂

Red curry chicken – yummy!

Choco cake to end

Junior woke up eventually and wanted something to munch on – he went with the seafood mac and cheese

For the final meal service, he went with the pizza

While I went with the beef with noodles

After 16 glorious hours, we eventually began our descent into Singapore

A familiar sight

As usual, the windows steamed up due to the humidity

Immigration was quick with the new automated kiosks and we waited for our bags which were among the first ones on the belt

Overall, a fantastic flight. I set my expectations low after experiencing SQ F pre covid but I was very surprised by the attention from the flight crew and overall friendliness, the delicious food and the comfort of the seat itself.

Booked the 8am flight as it was the only flight on a larger plane versus later flights. It was originally supposed to be a A330 but ended up being swapped to a B787 (which had a little more space). As usual, the morning bank of flights meant long lines everywhere but with priority check in and NEXUS/GE, we breezed through and we were in the lounge 20 minutes from curbside.

Gorgeous start to the day with a balmy 8c degrees.

Our ride to LAX

The obligatory seat shot

Lovely view outside

Ze menu – typical hum drum blah choices which have not changed in a long time

Quick de-icing at the worlds largest deicing facility

Then a super long taxi to the far end of the airport and then rocketing off into the morning sky

Breakfast was served eventually starting off with fruit and chia seed pudding (which was delicious)

Followed by my choice of the hot breakfast

Junior’s choice

Me relaxing with the ever so soothing flight map

Full cabin

Thirty minutes to landing

Parked at the gate

A pretty standard flight in AC J – nothing to rave about or even complain about. The service was punctual, the crew were nice enough, the food was neither good nor bad and the flight was very smooth.

After collecting our bags, we took the shuttle bus to the rental car company. Stayed one night before catching our flight to SIN.

Yay for Executive Elite status!

A month to recuperate from our February trip and we are all off again on another grand adventure. This time, we would be celebrating multiple occasions – my 42nd birthday, dad’s 75th birthday, mom’s 65th birthday and their 45th anniversary. We left it to my parents to decide where they wanted to go to celebrate and they bounced around the idea of Australia, Maldives and Spain before finally settling on Singapore.

After Singapore, we would all go our separate ways – they would head back home while the Mrs, Junior and I would head to the Philippines for a wedding plus some beach time in Boracay. Then we would close off the trip with a couple days in Bali before heading back home.

I helped my parents and sister build out their points balances over the past year and they were able to accumulate their own pool to book award flights.

My parents routing using Aeroplan and Alaska points:

My sisters routing using the same points bank:

My itinerary:
AC J – YYZ to LAX
SQ J – LAX to SIN
W Sentosa Cove – 1 night
Marina Bay Sands – 1 night
Marriott Tang Orchard Road – 3 nights
The Park Royal – 3 nights
SQ J – SIN to MNL
Sheraton Manila – 3 nights
PAL Express Y – MNL to MPH and return
Shangri-La Boracay – 3 nights
Marriott Manila – 1 night
Westin Singapore – 1 night
SQ J – SIN – DPS
Westin Bali – 2 nights
Garuda Indonesia J – DPS to CGK
Jakarta Airport Hotel – a few hours
NH J – CGK to JFK via HND
AC J – JFK to YYZ