My Travels

Ended the year with a trip to Phoenix. Went over for an overnight stay. I originally thought to do a fly in fly out in a day but it ended up being the same cost as an overnight trip with hotel. Flew on United even though US Airways had more flight options. I used credit card miles to finance the ticket so the option was United. The flight also secured me into 1K status on United. It'll be interesting if this status will be a different experience than being a premier executive level next year. Grabbed a Chrysler 200 from National at the rental car facility. I was hoping that the Mercedes legacy would have impacted their engine design in this car. Alas, the influence has left the company and the car had no oomph. It wines more than a Mazda Miata. On the plus side, the interior is really nice. Checked into the Aloft Phoenix Airport hotel. This particular brand is designed for the cost minded luxury set - a less expensive version of the W hotels. Comfortable with modern design, in...

My last international trip for the year. Headed out to China on United Airlines over the holiday week and bring Thanksgiving to the expats in Shanghai. :) I was able to bring in a Honeybaked Ham for the dinner plus boxes of stuffing and instant mashed potatoes with gravy. On the way from the airport, stopped at a grocery store inside the Portman Ritz Carlton plaza. At least I call it that, there might be an official name that I haven't figured out yet. Grabbed some groceries before hitting the sack for the night. Unfortunately for me, the holiday week did not mean much of a break from school work so I spent most of my first day in Shanghai researching articles for my paper. Late afternoon/early evening, I went out to the fabric market to order some shirts and jackets. Now that it is winter, I thought it a good time to go order some warmer clothing. Apparently textile costs have gone up since the summer as the vendors were not willing to honor the same prices as my previous visit...

Decided to spend some time in the Santa Ana/Costa Mesa area for a night. Actually, I had an early morning event the next day and it being on the weekend, I thought it best that I stick around close. Checked into the Doubletree Santa Ana/Orange County Airport and got my chocolate chip cookie! :) I opted to grab dinner from Whole Foods . Had a Groupon and decided to spend it before it expired at the deli/hot food buffet section. I grabbed some garlic noodles which was really good and some korean fried chicken. I also had some sushi but it was ok. I've had better packaged sushi elsewhere. Went out the next morning to grab doughnuts for work. I've always struggled with doughnut shops in Orange County, I always feel that it can be better but yet to find that perfect shop. This morning, I ventured into Luv n Donuts on 1421 W MacArthur Blvd, Santa Ana, CA 92704. It wasn't too bad but still not on my top list. The search continues....

Planned a trip to meet a friend while using up some vouchers from United Airlines . I was able to sit on a PS (Premium Service) flight. United has a specific configuration for this Boeing 757 plane and all the seating in all three classes are fairly comfortable, every seat has a power port and there is wireless access available. Upon arrival, I checked into the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers . The hotel is conveniently located near Times Square. The rooms felt a little worn and the a/c unit was definitely on the old side. I cranked up the heat but it never felt warm in the room. In general, it was an OK experience. I called the front desk about the TV service not working and they said it was due to weather. It seemed they didn't really care much, so much for 100% satisfaction guarantee promise. Maybe this location didn't get the memo. :p I later lost a pair of new boots. It is my fault for leaving the bag unattended but it was right outside the hotel room door as I was g...

So, my week ended up in Texas for the weekend. American Airlines did a fire sale to Dallas and I jumped on the promotion. Decided to use this as an opportunity to visit some friends in the city to catch up on old times and deviate from Star Alliance . I don't typically fly American too often and it was interesting to experience a non-frequent flier status. One of the things I noticed is that even choosing seats in economy requires a fee when checking in online. I think that is more specific to American. I usually get on the plane pretty quickly so I wasn't sure what being in group 2 was going to be like. Even though both my flights were full, being in 2 wasn't bad. It is near the middle to back but plenty of space to still stuff your carry-on in the overhead storage. Any later, you'd have trouble finding spots for your carry-on stuff. Dallas Fort Worth airport is a nice airport for American. The terminals were nicely designed unlike the drab LAX version. Grabbed a ve...

Went down for an overnight stay for work in San Diego. Checked into the Doubletree Golf Resort . The hotel wasn't what I thought it would be but the room was generously sized. The hotel is a bungalow style layout. The hotel's website indicates there is a parking fee but when I checked in, it was complimentary. Makes sense as there isn't a high demand to park in the hotel's area. Not sure if this is routine or not. Before checking out the next morning, had continental breakfast in the hotel restaurant. If you're looking to have some toast and jam with coffee, it would be fine. I did notice that the locals seem to hang out here as there was a number of regulars inside the restaurant before they went golfing. An okay location, excellent cookie but not someplace I would choose to hang out.

For some reason, I also had a long layover at Narita International Airport . I had about 8 hours and decided to do some quick research in the United Lounge on what to do in Narita. Took a quick shower. I was lucky that most people had not arrived into the international terminal as the lounge was empty. It was packed when I came back in the afternoon and there was a line for the showers. At the airport, you can store luggage by the day in the arrival lobby. The storage is located near the baggage shipping area. Afterwards, I took the Keisei into Narita which is about 36 minutes by rail from the airport. In Narita, I visited the local temple Naritasan Shinshoji Temple . I found the temple grounds peaceful and really really big. It can take a couple of hours to tour the facilities. On the way to the temple, I noticed that many restaurants were slicing eels and preparing them for the day. It seems that eel is a really big dish in the town. Grabbed lunch at one of the restaurants; can'...

Arrived into Saigon in the afternoon. I had opted to fly out at midnight and had enough time to go back to my grandma's. Still feeling a little under the weather, my grandma's advice was to have some "medicine." Old school remedies, gotta love those. :) I didn't really do much as the typhoon rain storms was in full effect in Saigon. Apparently, it has been raining all week almost continuously. I left a request with my grandma for some Vietnamese desserts and she went a little overboard. It also didn't help telling her I could take 25 kg to the US. Packed up like a mule after dinner and went back to the airport. On my way from the airport, the taxi driver jacked up the price. I think partially because of my aunt's conversation. Luckily, on the way to the airport she avoided talking about money and it was the cheapest taxi fare I had seen. :p

Came back from KL to begin my travels back to the US. Rolled into the Conrad Centennial Singapore for my final night in Singapore. The second Conrad in Southeast Asia that I have stayed and my experience was reminiscent of my stay in Hong Kong a few years back. A pleasant hotel in the marina area, service was obviously their focus. Yet, I found myself preferring the Hilton Singapore even though the service was better at the Conrad. The lounge was a little small, I was actually asked if I would mind being in the conference room. I guess they get enough business to even have conference rooms integrated into the lounge. The room was nice enough and I always like the little bear and ducky. Feeling under the weather, I wasn't able to go out but I heard that going out to bars is really really expensive in Singapore. I will have to try a singapore sling next time. Headed out the next day back to Ho Chi Minh via Vietnam Airlines . An interesting note about the flight. I was told not to ha...

I was told that Singapore can be done in a few days and I would get bored. I haven't found that to be the case but had planned a one day excursion to KL prior to arriving in Singapore. Found a budget airline to fly, Jetstar based out of Australia. It was nice pleasant enough of an experience. Being on a budget airline, I didn't realize that everything is chargeable even water on the flight. For the price and shortness of flight, I suppose I can suffer through the flight. Landed into Kuala Lumpur International Airport . Not as nice as Singapore but I found it interesting they incorporated a jungle garden in the middle of the arrival hall; it is an outside garden. Took the airport express rail into KL Stesen Sentral Station. The website shows the stations in a very modern light but the station is still under heavy construction, so it isn't quite like the pictures online. Transition to the subway lines to the Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpar . The monorail was closer to the ho...

Flew out of Saigon on Vietnam Airlines . It's the second foreign carrier I've flown as part of the Skyteam alliance. Haha, too bad I don't fly Delta much. I also forget that foreign carriers still serve full meals even on short trips unlike the domestic carriers. It's like the 80's all over again for flight travel... Landed into Changi Airport . I'm once again reminded why everyone has such high opinions of this airport. It really feels like a high end mall that happens to have planes landing through here. The combination of Western chains and local tastes is interesting. I've become a fan of kaya toast and was able to have some at the airport. Public transportation is really easy in Singapore and took the SMRT to the Hilton Singapore. Located in a central location on Orchard Avenue and near a MRT station, it was nice getting out of the muggy weather. The humidity gets worse as you get closer to the equator. I'm impressed that the body odor smells are ...

It isn’t too often that I will hit multiple cities in an international trip but I will be doing so on this particular trip. In some ways, it reminds me of my trip in 2008 but a much shorter timeframe. Headed to Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City on United Airlines . Direct flights to Saigon are not possible from the States. One usually has to layover somewhere before getting into the country. On this trip, I had to do two stops (SFO and Hong Kong) before getting into the city. Funny thing, United gave me complimentary upgrade on the two short segments so I opted to use points and cash to upgrade the transpacific flight to pass the time comfortably. The planes were the Boeing 747-400 which is a double decker airplane. On the way over, I was on the main deck. On the return, I was sitting in the upper deck. I would say that it isn’t as convenient as staying in the main deck because of smaller overhead storage and luggage stuff up and down stairs. For those on a window seat in the upper deck, th...

Traveled out to the Valley of the Sun aka Phoenix for a college football game. Decided to make it a road trip and headed out late Friday evening. Since I was coming in late, I opted to stay somewhere relatively cheap without any resort amenities. Checked into the Homewood Suites by Hilton Phoenix-Biltmore hotel. The hotel was a little dated but the room was roomy for the group. The breakfast buffet was passable, I opted to have waffles since the buffet had a self serve waffle maker. I'm never a fan of scrambled eggs buffet style, just always too runny or dry... Hopped to the Sheraton Desert Oasis Villas hotel the next day. I wanted to hit the pool killing some time before the game in the evening. I didn't realize that this hotel was a timeshare resort. I would call this hotel a medium tier timeshare hotel and the clients tend to be retirees. At least as evidenced by the people in the pool. You can tell that the hotel caters to this group as the bathroom in the room was built ...

I decided to stay in town near work for work. Checked into the Doubletree by Hilton Santa Ana-Orange County Airport for the evening. Being near the airport, the hotel doesn't offer free parking but the front desk person was nice enough to give me a parking pass gratis. The hotel seems to share with an apartment/retail complex. There are parking but for residents and shoppers. It seems like the weekends are pretty dead for them so parking isn't that big of an issue. The room was pleasant and roomy for my purposes. The breakfast buffet in the restaurant was pretty basic although the servers does not seem to know english much. For dinner, went down the street to Rubino's Pizza . Ironically, a restaurant called Little Onion was next door. The only reason it caught my eye was that I saw a Living Social deal for it and had thought to myself, what's the likelihood of me being in this area to eat? One never knows! The pizza was adequate for me, the crust was think but the edges...

It seems this year I have the potential of hitting 1K status with United Airlines . I've been marginally close once before but didn't care enough to actual reach it. With more international flights in my near future, the benefits of 1K status is more appealing. Top it off with a Chicago promotion of double EQM miles and cheap airfare, the trifecta of a mileage run was born. Some friends were up for meeting in the middle of the night and met them at Miller's Pub . By the time I arrived, the kitchen was closed and I shared food with them. I will have to try their famous Canadian baby back ribs another time. Nothing major, half tuna salad sandwich and fries. Enough food for me to shake off my hunger and have a few drinks. Afterwards, I checked into the Hilton Rosemont. I originally thought to rent a car and tool around but found a really good rate which prompted me to stay indoors in the wee hours of the morning and catch a power nap. I will say though that navigating O...

Took a semi-road trip to Vegas. I'm reminded how and why I dislike car trips. In the idea of avoiding typical rush hour traffic, I was rewarded with even more traffic and accidents. :( Checked into the Las Vegas Hilton for a night. Tagged along with a group but opted out of sharing rooms. I'm bouncing around this weekend to work on my loyalty account. While watching the local news, I found out that the hotel was having financial issues. Hope they work it out and get more business. It has always been a reasonable priced hotel for my trips here. On this night, I was given the parlor room. Whenever someone says to me parlor room, I remember the first time I was introduced to that definition and it has always left a bad memory. I'm glad that the Las Vegas Hilton doesn't have the same definition. The next morning I grabbed an omelette from the buffet. I generally find the desserts average here but enjoyed the coconut cream pie to my surprise. Checked into th...

I've been hankering all year to go to Phoenix. With the unusual cold spell on the West Coast, I was just tired of the chill. So I made a weekend run to my favorite spa/resort, The Boulders . Before checking in, went on a mountain hike at Piestewa Peak . Not a Great Wall jaunt but it was a pretty good workout at 7 am in 90 degree weather. Having worked up an appetite, drove to Matt's Big Breakfast . The griddle cakes here are really really good, I didn't need any syrup. It was that good by itself. The Pork and Chick entree was very good as well. The entree was a pork chop with some eggs and potatoes. The restaurant is small and there is a line but they restaurant works hard at getting people through quickly yet graciously. Checked into The Boulders resort and promptly went to the pool to hang out for the rest of the afternoon. After a nice tanning rest, went out to Pizza A Metro for dinner. Ordered the meatballs pizza and linguine carbonara enjoying my meal immensely. The ...

I'm heading back to China for the second time this year. For this trip, I opted to go business on United Airlines. UA introduced a new route and offered miles bonus which was enough incentive for me to get the business class fare. Since I wasn't able to get upgraded using miles last time, I was motivated to avoid sitting in economy for twelve hours. United had been revamping the business and first class cabins touting the new seats for this route. I like the new amenities like iPod inputs, USB ports, and fancy seat controls. :) My meal was enjoyable but the braised short ribs was a bit on the dry side. Over the years, I have been able to work on my motion sickness and now able to watch movies for a little bit. So I was able to catch up on movies - Battle: Los Angeles, The Lincoln Lawyer, Win Win, Black Swan, Harry Potter:Deathly Hallows. All enjoyable except for Black Swan, good time to catchup on movies and reduce my Netflix cue! Arrived in the evening into Shanghai Pudong ai...