Tag: asia

Qatar Airways Lounge Bangkok

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The flight to Doha was at 9pm and I could only secure a 2pm late check out from the WA. Dayuse to the rescue and booked 6 hours at the Divalux Resort near BKK for $42 CAD.

Booked the hotel shuttle service to take me to the airport which was efficient and after 20 minutes, made it curbside.

Found the QR desks. No F line, everyone in premium cabins were funneled through one line and was round robin to the F and J desks. I did however get checked in at one of the F desks.

The famous escalator as shown on social media as a sad reminder that the fun in Thailand was at an end. All premium passengers get to use the fast track lane for immigration and security which was on the other side of the check in hall. Happy to report that immigration is done via automated gates when exiting the country (hopefully they will introduce auto gates for entering the country soon).

After clearing all that, I headed over to the tax refund area and after 20 minutes, got my cash and made my way to the QR lounge. There is no separate section for F passengers but to be honest, the lounge was nice enough that you couldnt tell the difference. I had a small dinner in the dining area before heading to the other end of the lounge and found a quiet spot to myself.

As I entered, there were 3 staff members on hand to help me check in and one of them escorted me to the dining area and also gave a brief tour of the lounge.

Food items were all buffet style in the dining area. One item was not replenished and I asked if there was more. One of the staff members asked me to have a seat and brought a fresh bowl of the items directly to me – amazing service.

After dinner, I went to the other end of the lounge to find a quiet spot to relax.

As I sat down, a staff member came by and handed me another menu for a la carte items but I didn’t want to over indulge.

Service at the lounge was excellent and dare I say even better than the lounges at Doha. As an example – I was getting a terrible headache and I asked a staff member passing by if they have any tylenol or similar medication; he indicated no and that was the end of that. I went back to sit down and just tough it out till the flight was ready for boarding and then another staff member came by and gently inquired if I was feeling ok to which I replied that I was just closing my eyes to make sure my headache didnt get worse. After that, another staff member came by to let me know that there was a pharmacy close by in the terminal and that I could purchase medication there – she even came outside of the lounge with me and pointed me in the direction of the pharmacy. After buying the meds, I needed water to take the pills and when I came back to the lounge, the staff all asked if I managed to find the pharmacy and get the medication – to which I responded in the affirmative and just needed water to take the pills with. After that, boarding was called and one of the staff again came out with me and gave me directions on how to get to the new remote terminal where the plane would be departing from.

Up next – Qatar Airways First Class – Bangkok to Doha

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok

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After an uneventful 40-osh minute ride, we pulled up to the front of the hotel. Staff were on hand and immediately handled luggage and I was escorted to the elevator that would take me to the 15th floor where check-in was located. I was handed off to the check-in staff who swiftly processed me through the formalities.

Exterior of the hotel

Entrance

Ground floor lobby

Elevators

Check in area

Welcome drink

Base category room

Welcome treat

Room with turn down service

Bed side screen

Lighting buttons

Bathroom area

As a welcome amenity, I had a choice of points or breakfast. Went with the latter.

Choices included a buffet or a la carte

Breakfast – chilli egg with dried shrimp chili paste, chicken floss and crispy bacon

Bakery section

Good mix of Western and Asian food options

Lots of seating

Exploring the rest of the hotel. Bar area behind the reception area.

View

Cracks on the window from the earthquake in April

Went up to the roof top pool for a quick visit to catch the sunset.

Explored the Ratchamdari area. Walked into one of the malls and go figure the first thing I see is a reminder of home. 😀

Just like how all North American fast food joints serve better quality food out of North America, the same applies for Tim Hortons. The selection of pastries and other sweet treats was way better compared to what we get back home.

Crossing over the street via the overpass walkway

Walked around the Central World mall. People were taking pictures of some boy band group.

Temple outside the mall

Small lunch at Mickey D’s – omg, the fried chicken was so good.

After 2 days, checked out for the long journey back home.

Singapore Airlines Business Class – Singapore to Bangkok

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Back at Terminal 2 around 2pm to catch my 4pm flight to Bangkok.

One of the agents helped me with self check but for some reason, the scanner did not like my passport despite having a bag tag attached. Had to go back in line for 15 minutes before having the desk agent validate my passport and let the bag go through.

All of us waiting in line had a drama show unfold right in front of us. An Aussie couple were having issues and the husband/male partner (or whatever politically correct term is appropriate here) was drunk and loudly shouting at his wife/female partner (omg, did I misgender them? Dont cancel me please, im trying ok!)

The staff were exceptional and handled them in a very calm manner but was cringe to watch the drama plus not easy to ignore.

Needed the peace and serenity of the SKL to calm my nerves after that episode … and also some food and drink.

Yay for Laksa.

Was bored and decided to stroll through the concourse towards my gate. Lucky I left when I did because I got an E gate and it was the furthest one.

Security checks were underway when I arrived to the area, passed through after 5 minutes and sat to wait for the boarding announcement.

Once boarding was called, made my way down the tube.

K seat this time.

Menu

Pushback and taxi – we were delayed on pushback due to apparent airport traffic congestion.

See ya later, SIN

BTC Chicken Rice

Bangkok came into view a couple hours later

Coming in hot

See you in a couple days 😉

Twenty wait for the Grab to go to the hotel.

Serangoon House and a couple days in Singapore

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I’ve written about this hotel before, so nothing new to report other than breakfast which I tried for the first time. Check in was easy; I dont even remember if I was upgraded but as a single person, the room was more than comfortable for me.

The Gup Shup restaurant is located in the basement and everything is a la carte with your choices of 3 items (starter, main, drink).

Colorful vibe

Menu

For lunch, I took the MRT over to the Old Airport Road Food Centre.

Slowly getting through my to do list of restaurants to try out and finally got to try this one.

Roast pork and char siu combo

Got an avocado shake from the stall next door and it felt so good drinking it in the SG heat.

For dinner, went to Bistro Du Vin to meet up with some friends.

Menu

Beef Bourguignon

Creme Brulee

Last morning before heading out to the airport. Went over to the mall next to the hotel for breakfast.

Exterior of Farrer Park MRT

Ya Kun Kaya Toast for brekkie

Set A

Dhigurah Island – fun in the sun, diving and relaxation

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A far cry from the luxurious resort trips that are typical of the Maldives – no meet and greet at the airport, no seaplane transfer, no luxury dining, no butler. As mentioned in the intro, a friend organized group dive trips multiple times throughout the year. This included the hotel, daily meals, airport boat transfer, dives and excursions.

Once all the members of our group arrived through various flights, we jumped on the boat transfer to take us to Dhigurah island.

Very cozy with 3 and 3 seating arrangement. The crew were very particular about filling the seats from back to front in order to balance to boat.

After a 90 minute ride, we arrived at Dhigurah. Once bags were offloaded, the hotel crew collected everything and we were bused to the hotel.

Our ride. 😀

Definitely not in Kansas anymore … not that I’ve been to Kansas but you know what I mean.

Our hotel

Entrance

Lobby

A most welcome cold towel

Delicious mango drink

The room which was located in the Beach House building of the hotel – I was given the upgraded suite. 😀

Yes, very luxurious.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all buffet style. Usually there were 5 to 6 selections with breakfast always having the same items like roti, cold tuna, eggs, beans and sausage. For lunch and dinner, it was white rice, pasta in a white or red sauce, chicken or fish, a veggie and daal (lentils). There was also a salad, soup and bread station.

No alcohol but they did make fresh juices and had shisha selections. Fizzy drinks and ice cream were available at an extra charge.

Dining area

Sunrise at 6:15am

Sunset around 6:30pm

Walking around town – groups of us would usually do evening walks when the weather was pleasant

A local

Dive centre

With the exception of arrival and departure days, we had 2 dives everyday. We would set out at 8am and be back by 1:30pm. After that, we were left to do whatever we wanted. We did have one night dive and 2 excursions to two different sandbanks.

Dive boat

Dive briefing

Recovery time before the 2nd dive

Now you see me …

Now you dont …

One of our dive days was a long one and the hotel catered lunch for us.

Attempting to get a nice picture of the night sky after the night dive but failed miserably 😀

Dhigurah Island is the longest island in the Maldives. One half of the island is modernized while the rest of it is just jungle and a dirt road. The other side of the island has a long sandbar connected to it and this is where we went for our first excursion.

Travelling down the dusty road.

We were dropped at the end of the road after 20 minutes and walked through this path to get to the beach

After another 15 minutes of walking, we finally came to the sandbar. The island off in the distance is the LUX resort.

Looking back towards Dhigurah island

Enjoying an evening swim and the sunset

Walking back to the pickup point

Second excursion to another sandbar on our last night. The boat ride took around 20 minutes.

Tide was coming in and that was our queue to leave.

One last look

Beach BBQ on our last night

Last one breakfast before departure. Roti and tuna. 🤤

Sausage and cheese sammiches.

7:30am boat departure

See you in a few months – IYKYK wink wink.

Sheraton Jakarta Airport

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Despite being an F passenger, my bag came out in the middle of the pack and after submitting the customs form, was on my way to the Grab checkpoint.

An agent was kind enough to help me order a car via the app as I was having credit card issues and eventually got sorted.

Since I only had 8 hours before coming back to the airport to catch the return flight, I wanted to book a hotel that was either in the airport or close to it. Spooled up the Bonvoy app again and found the Sheraton and a Fairfield. While the FF was cheaper, I just went with Sheraton since its a brand I know well and thought it was just a regular hotel.

The ride to the hotel was convoluted because of how the roadways were designed – we basically did a full loop of the perimeter of the airport before turning off on a side road leading up to the hotel but it was fun nonetheless.

Imagine my utter surprise when I pull up and find out its a resort – LOL.

The staff were welcoming and the person checking me in was confused as to why I arrived so early but had to remind him again that the booking was from the previous night and I had requested to hold the room due to my ridiculously late (or super early?) arrival. Once that was sorted, I was directed to my room.

Lobby with check in desks to the right

Entrance

Lounge area

Garden View room

Walked through a courtyard and there are pools with lots of fish (koi?) in them. Funny enough that as you walked up close to the pool, the fish would swim towards you quickly, possibly in an attempt for food being given to them.

After dumping my things in the room, I freshened up and went for breakfast. Apparently breakfast was included in the room rate – so yay.

Lots of dishes featuring Asian and Western cuisines, plus a bakery section, fresh pressed cold juices and a noodle station.

After breakfast, took a walk out the pool area.

The heat was terrifically scorching at 9am and the pool looked really inviting.

Wanted to get back to the cold clutches of the room AC and walked down the path towards my room.

Checked out at 4pm to head back to the airport and found out the hotel had a shuttle service that ran hourly.

View of the resort from the highway.

Next up – SQ F – CGK to SIN

Qatar Airways Business Class – Doha to Chicago

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With no traffic at 5:30am, the cabbie made it to the airport in 15 minutes-ish.

Someday I will walk towards the right for the F check in.

US check in had a separate area and it was done fairly quickly. I just had to provide hotel info as I would be staying over in ORD for one night. After that formality, bags were quickly tagged and sent off into the void and BP provided. The agent was kind enough to provide directions to the Al Mourjan Garden lounge as it was closer to the boarding gate.

The other side of the check in hall.

Poor bear still has not been freed from its prison.

On the train heading to the C concourse.

Quick walk through in the Garden before heading to the lounge. Absolutely stunning.

After walking through the garden thinking about life, my existence and my place in this lonely universe, I headed to the lounge for breakfast. Followed the signs and then took the elevator up one level. As I got out of the elevator, a friendly agent gave me a small tour and indicated different areas of the lounge. I headed to the sit down area for breakfast first.

The LV lounge that charges an extra fee for entrance.

Eggs Benny

Self Service stations

After breakfast, I headed back to the front and walked over to the other side of the lounge where the quiet area was located.

Lovely view overlooking the garden.

The quiet area – so nice sitting here. Very open and airy.

Decided to leave early and check out the gate area and good thing I did leave as there was a line up for secondary security which was a bit of a mess. I made it through with no issues and waited in the holding pen. After 10 minutes, boarding was called with J passengers invited to board first.

Still havent hit the A350 on my QR bingo card.

Flew on the 777 with the all white Oneworld livery and could not get a good picture – so sad.

Welcome to 1K. The cabin crew member working my side of the plane came by to introduce herself and asked for my choice of PDB. Shortly after, the purser came by and introduced herself and gave flight details. Service overall on this flight was SUPERB and the crew were amazing.

OJ PDB

Menus

Pushback was on time and we made our way to the runway. It was a bit of the wait for our turn due to the heavy volume of birds but we were eventually on our way.

Geez, another new concourse.

Two Finnair birds.

Some more waiting …

Oh look, another Finnair – is QR leasing these birds from Finnair?

Oh yay, our turn finally.

Peace out DOH.

As the plane was climbing, one of the trolleys came loose from its station and a tray full of nuts and ramekins came crashing down onto the floor (made a very loud bang). Felt bad for the person who didn’t lock it up properly and took some time to clean it up after.

The aftermath …

An hour after take off, the first meal service began.

Setting the table. As a famous person once said, “Show time!” Keep forgetting his name though …

Bubbly to start.

Amuse bouche on deck

Cheers!

Soup of the day – I think it was cream of mushroom (can’t remember now) and it was yummy.

Qatari spiced barramundi machboos – insert perfection emoji here.

Warm poached pear in syrup – meh.

After the meal service, I went to change into PJs while the crew working my side turned the seat into a bed.

For the second meal service, I first went with the greek yoghurt and then the Bircher Muesli

Arrival into ORD was fairly smooth and uneventful – unless you count the heavy slam when the tires hit the tarmac.

Long taxi to T5

Stayed one night at the Sheraton Suites ORD as my flight back home was next day at 9am. Nothing much to write about other than the flight was on time and there was no meal service since the caterer at YYZ was on strike and we only got chips and water.

Business class on an A220.

Home after 2 weeks.

Thank you for reading and see you in the next TR!