Tag: photography

Waldorf Astoria Bangkok

Tagged , , , , Leave 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.

Singapore Airlines Business Class – Singapore to Bangkok

Tagged , , , , Leave a comment

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

Tagged , , , , Leave 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

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

Singapore Airlines Economy Class – Singapore to Male

Tagged , , , , Leave a comment

No business class award seats available – so had to rough it out at the back of the bus. Truth be told – everything was good, set my expectations low and I got the opportunity to witness how the crew works in Y.

Checked out at 7am and the Jewel was quiet and peaceful. Followed the connecting bridge to T2.

The Wonderfall

Step 1 – check to see if my flight exists, check!

Got here just in time to see the show – love this thing.

No SKL access, so camped out at the PP Sats lounge which was good enough.

Didnt get a chance to take pics of the buffet but it was a good selection – even had a DIY laksa station.

Got early to the gate and the security line was long but move as quickly as it could. Unfortunately due to bad luck and bad timing, I could not snag a last minute cash upgrade to J as the couple in front of me grabbed the last two. After a short 10 minute wait in the holding pen, eventually made it onto the plane.

Going from 1A to 70A is a humbling experience. 😭

At least I had 3 windows 😀

Cabin crew were coming around with hot towels

STEAMY towel

No seat buddy for me, so more space.

Bit of a queue for the runway but we eventually made it to the front

Peace out, SIN.

After the seat belt signs went off, the crew were in action. Love these snax.

Drink service

Asked if I wanted a chicken or fish dish. Went with Chicken – forgot to take a pic, so imagine saucy noodles with chicken pieces. Was decent.

Crew came around after to hand out ice cream and WOW, it was good! Pro tip – if you dont like the dessert in F or J, you can request ice cream from Y.

The flight was as uneventful as it could get – I watched a movie to pass the time and before I knew, we were over the Maldives and began our descent.

Male

Taxi

Love remote stands

Last off the plane and on the last bus to the terminal. Once we got into the immigration area, a new lane magically opened up and I was able to bypass the snaking lines. Processed quickly, through bag scans and I was pulled aside to show a maple syrup bottle in my suitcase and show it was not alcohol. After that, I went outside into the heat of the arrivals area to find the boat to take me to Dhigurah island.

Next up – a sun filled week in the Maldives

Qatar Airways Business Class – Kuala Lumpur to Doha

Tagged , Leave a comment

Back in the departures hall and found the Qatar desks with long line ups for both J and Y.

It was a 15 minute wait till it was my turn for check in and the process itself took around 10 minutes. There was an unfortunate glitch in the system where it showed I was booked on a Y ticket even though I paid full J fare with Avios points. Due to this glitch, the system said I had no access to the lounge. It did not click in my brain until I was talking to a fellow FT friend and he said to fight it next time it happens and ask the agent to call QR HQ to get it fixed (lesson for next time).

Immigration was quick as there was a separate F and J line (the Y line was ridiculously long). While I was initially waiting in the Y line, I was complaining to fellow FT friend about the lounge kerfuffle and then mentioned the Y line. He responded with “There’s a separate J line, go find it”. I ducked under the rope and walked to the other end of the hall and breezed through LOL. Thanks to my saviour.
I did try to get into the MH golden lounge but because the BP said “No Lounge”, I was not allowed in. I have been in the lounge before so I did not miss anything. I did have Priority Pass access and went over to the Travel Club Lounge.

Overall, a very nice lounge with comfortable seating and delicious food. Even though it was early morning, it felt like lunch items were put out but I was in no way complaining as it was all very delicious.

Lovely view while lounging

After having my fill (of food) in the lounge, I made the semi long walk to the C gates where the bird was parked. Security was underway and after I was through, boarding began.

Love sitting in the mini cabin

One of the FAs came by to introduce herself and was super sweet. She offered a PDB which was freshly poured when I asked for champagne.

Cold towel and amenity kit – hot take but I prefer a cold towel over a hot one

The menus

Boarding was done and we eventually pushed back.

Lining up

Yeeting out of KUL

The first meal service started within an hour.

Cream of parsnip soup to start.

Chicken Ouzi

Pear and Almond pudding

An hour prior to landing, I went with the Prawn wonton and noodle soup

Doha in the distance

Arriving at our gate

There is a separate immigration for arriving F and J passengers that is inside the QR arrivals lounge. You can freshen up at the lounge before going to immigration and was quick.

Decided to take the metro to the hotel. The walk to the metro from the terminal was a bit longer than normal but easy to follow directions. Once at my destination, the hotel was right next door and was a 5 minute walk.

My FT bag tag is still hanging in there.

Turkish Airlines Business Class – Istanbul to Manila

Tagged , , , , Leave a comment

At T-60, I made the long trek to the gate as it was a good 15 minutes at a leisurely pace. IST is ridiculously large and the only negative thing about it is that there are no movators.

Really getting my steps in 😀

Got to the gate and boarding was underway. Despite a J line, everything got bottleneck in the long tunnel leading to the tubes.

The chariot.

Spied the J class tube and ducked in.

My seat for the next 10-ish hours. Same one used by SQ for intra Asia flights on their 787’s and 350’s.

Cabin crew came by offering PDB’s and went with OJ this time – very tasty.

Menu’s were provided shortly after.

Aircraft pushed back on time and we eventually whooshed our way into the night sky

Meal service started an hour after take off. Started with the smoked turkey, cheeses and veggies.

Followed by the poached eggs with shakshuka which was ok

We flew into a nice sunrise and it was good just watching the flight via the tail cam.

3 hours before landing, the next meal service started. Started with a small amuse bouche.

Followed by a cart of appetizers to choose from.

Creamy Avocado soup

Grilled lamb chops – delicious!

Finishing off with the eclair and bread/butter pudding – very good.

Landing in MNL

Parked at our assigned gate

Immigration was quick – was 10th in line and after the formalities, made my way to baggage claim. The bag was already on the belt by there. Was picked up by friends for the 5 minute drive round the bend to the Sheraton. Always loved the decor, vibe and hospitality here versus the Marriott next door. The check in agent asked if I wanted to go to the lounge for the formalities but I declined as I just wanted to get to my room – was “upgraded” to the club floor but I didnt care as I just wanted to get in for a shower and sleep.

Comfy for one night.

After a semi decent sleep, I woke up to a wonderful view – the wow factor for me is the airport views.

To wrap up on my TK experience – I have heard good things about it and I will agree to a certain extent. I set my expectations low for anything business class these days and I was not disappointed but I was also not wow-ed compared to SQ and QR. The cabin crew were good, professional and smiling. The food and drinks were delicious and the lounge experience was better than most (I’m looking at your Air Canada). The seat on this leg is just terrible for a long haul flight and felt a little tight when compared to other airlines with better business class seat products.