food – Hooked On Points

Qatar Airways Lounge Bangkok

June 26, 2025Tagged asia, food, review, travel, travel-tipsLeave a comment

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

June 21, 2025Tagged asia, food, nature, photography, travelLeave a comment

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.

Serangoon House and a couple days in Singapore

June 17, 2025Tagged asia, food, photography, restaurants, travelLeave a comment

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

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.

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

Singapore Airlines First Class – Jakarta to Singapore

June 10, 2025Tagged airline, business-class, first-class, food, travel, travel-tipsLeave a comment

After being dropped off at the airport, I made my way to the SQ check in counters.

Requested the agent to tag my bag all the way to MLE and I would rough it out at the airport hotel overnight.

BPs were handed to me and I was informed that another agent would be escorting me to security. At security, she waved me through and I was on my own – seemed fairly counterintuitive for an F passenger but I wasn’t sweating it.

Departures screen

Into the PP lounge

SQ has its own lounge within the PP lounge and is located in the back of the PP lounge.

An agent scanned my BP and escorted me.

All the way to the back of the SQ lounge into the F lounge.

J section

F section

After enjoying the calm and serenity of the F lounge, I slowly made my way to the boarding gate.

Leaving the PP lounge.

Hello birdie

People were already neatly lined up when I got there and staff were making sure all passengers were waiting in the right line.

There was no F line, so I just decided to hover around in the area until boarding was called. An agent came by, looked at my BP and immediately escorted me to the plane before boarding even began. Snuck a quick peek at the PPS line up and all I got back was dagger stares LOL.