Bali

 My international trip of the year is to Bali, Indonesia! For this trip, I had to really think through how I was going to get to Indonesia and in what ways. So I ended up on two itineraries, one with United and the other with Singapore Airlines. There is no real easy way to Indonesia, most flights from the US will force you to layover somewhere. I was traveling with family on this trip and they opted to fly Eva Airways (even getting the Hello Kitty plane).

Airline

On this trip, we splurged to get onto Polaris Business Class on United from the US to Singapore and offset the cost with using points on Singapore Airlines Business Class from Singapore to Bali. Because of the Polaris flight, I was able to spend some time at the Polaris Lounge in San Francisco International Airport. Compared to the Los Angeles International Airport Polaris Lounge, I find the SFO location appealing because of the bartenders. The Asian gentleman that works there has probably worked there for decades. I always have seen him throughout the decades of flying through SFO. He makes the absolute best cocktails and made me things I don't normally drink and couldn't remember if you asked me but it was good! This location also has the restaurant option which I enjoyed my Dungeness crab benedict. For breakfast, the usual food options in the main lounge wasn't appealing to me so the restaurant was a nice diversion.

United Polaris Lounge Bar

United Polaris Lounge Restaurant Dungeness Crab Benedict

The usual business class meal options from the US and I opted for the steak and was happy to see the ice cream sundae is back with some minor modifications. Outside of the main meal, United was a little skimpy with the follow up snacks/meals. For a 20 hour flight, I was expecting more options than meat/rice and instant ramen.

United Polaris Business Dinner Meal

United Polaris Business Dessert

United Polaris Business Instant Ramen Option

United Polaris Business Snack/Light Meal Option

Since my memories have been refreshed and can easily compare, I marvel at the difference Singapore Airlines provides in business class versus United. From a seat perspective, I think the Singapore Airlines edges out because of the positioning of the seats. United is roomier and made for taller people but it sacrifices the walkway space in between chairs.

Singapore Airlines Business Class Seat

Singapore Airlines Business Seat Rest

Singapore Airlines Business Class Seat Storage

Changi Airport

On this trip, I spent a fair amount of time at the Changi Airport. On my inbound flight, I had a 10 hour overnight layover in Singapore and opted to book a 6 hour block at the transit hotel, Aerotel Singapore. The unfortunate part of booking this hotel blind is that I'm not sure what terminal I will land and leave from within Changi Airport. On this trip, I ended up landing in terminal 2. Luckily, it wasn't much of a distance via tram or walking to get to terminal 1 where the hotel is located. The hotel also has a pool that is open to the public. For those who want some exercise, bring your bathing suits in your carryon. The transit hotel rates are not cheap and definitely something to consider but at least they come with a meal (filling and satisfying) and a shower. 

Aerotel Hotel Twin Room

Aerotel Hotel Complimentary Meal

Changi Airport Garden

Although the airport is almost open for 24 hours, not all venues inside are open. If you land late in the evening (like I did), many eateries are not open. Shopping is readily available for the most part. For me the transit hotel was ideal given the timing. In addition to the transit hotel, I utilized Singapore Airlines Lounge as much as possible. Because my next flight out was on Singapore Airlines and in business class, I was granted access to their Business Lounge which is much nicer than their regular lounge. I was able to get full meals before my time started at the transit lounge and after. 

Singapore Airlines Business Lounge buffet

Word of caution, because you are leaving the country, the gates do require you to go through security check and you cannot bring any liquids into the gate area. In addition, the gates do have hot and cold-water fountains so you can snack on instant noodles and drink some water.

On my outbound flight, I landed in the afternoon and had a late-night flight time departure. I used this particular time to explore the airport a bit more and reacquaint myself. Besides getting food from the Singapore lounges, I wanted to eat at McDonald's and Crystal Jade. Since my outbound flight was on United Airlines and not in business class, I learned that the regular lounges are not the same in terminal 2 and 3. The bigger lounge is in terminal 3 and that location has showers. The smaller lounge is sit and snack only, even the restrooms are located outside the lounge (although very nice). The food is ok, the highlight was the option to have the signature Singapore Airlines Laksa but it was good that I ate outside the lounge. 

Singapore Airlines Gold Lounge Terminal 3

Singapore Airlines Laksa

I don't recall a McDonald's inside the airport last time I visited Singapore so I opted to check out the location and order a pie. I couldn't tell if you could order at the counter with so many kiosks in front. I didn't see the local flavor pie on the menu, only apple. However, I was able to get the fried corn pie when I got to the counter to pick up and asked them why only apple flavor available. So clearly the menu is not synced to what they have in the kitchen. If you're familiar with creamed corn or the Vietnamese corn dessert, that is basically the filling for this fried pie. If you like the taste, you'll love the pie.

McDonald's Singapore Fried Corn Pie

My other favorite is Crystal Jade because I think it is better than Din Tai Fung. There are several Crystal Jades from the fancy high end sit down to the takeout fast casual. The airport has a Crystal Jade Kitchen. Enjoyed some dumplings and fried pork chop.

Crystal Jade Kitchen Changi Airport

Because we had eaten at the restaurant, the airport was having a Hello Kitty promotion, so I got to buy a Hello Kitty bag. The other items were already sold out. Another food item that was on the list was Irvins Salted Egg Salmon Skin. After having some from the local Costco store, checked out the airport kiosk store to see what other flavors existed in the home country. Picked up an instant noodle pack and the jalapeno cheddar. Irvins is definitely everywhere in the airport.

Hotel

For this stay, I return to one of my favorite hotels - Conrad Bali. Unlike other Conrads in major cities, the Bali location continues to be a Hilton points value. The cash rates were not too bad about $100 to $125 USD per night and my family was able to book on that rate for the week. With the lifetime Diamond status, the hotel upgraded both my room and my family's room to suites avoiding having to pay an upgrade fee! From what I can tell, all the suites are double beds but they will join the two beds to make it a "king."

Conrad Bali Ocean Front Suite Living Room

Conrad Bali Ocean Front Suite Bathroom

Conrad Bali Ocean Front Suite Bedroom

Conrad Bali Ocean Front Suite Balcony

Dining

Most of my dining was done on site at the Conrad. I didn't really leave the hotel to eat except for the day of activity offsite. So my commentary will be on the hotel dining options within the Conrad. With the Diamond status, I had access to complimentary breakfast buffet at Suku, afternoon tea at either the East Lobby Lounge or the Suite Lounge, and happy hour at either the East Lobby Lounge or the Suite Lounge. In addition, dining discounts were automatically applied at a 20% discount.

Suku - the main restaurant for the hotel. In the mornings, you can only get the breakfast buffet which I found satisfying enough to last me most of the day. I enjoyed the combination of local and western foods. Of all the hotel breakfast buffets, I have found that the Conrad Bali does a good job of mixing the two. Some will go very Western catering to tourists or very eclectic to capture all general taste buds. I suppose if you don't find Indonesian food good, it would not be a good choice for you. I did like that they varied the Indonesian sweets/snacks every day in the buffet. In addition to the buffet, you can order specialty dishes from a menu. I greatly enjoyed the acai bowl they have. The kitchen staff made a favorite dish despite not being on the menu - lempur!

Conrad Bali Suku Breakfast Buffet

Conrad Bali Suku

Conrad Bali Suku

Conrad Bali Suku

For midday and evening meals, the restaurant serves local dishes from across the various Indonesian islands. For the variety, it would be hard pressed to find the restaurant boring. I enjoyed my dishes and desserts. Interestingly enough, I was next to an elderly couple in the dining room and overhead them tell the waiter they have been coming to the hotel annually for over 20 years!

For the week, I enjoyed afternoon tea and happy hour snacks/drinks at either the Conrad Suite Lounge or the East Lobby Lounge Bar. During the visit, I became curious if the food options were the same at both lounges and so I had afternoon noon tea twice and happy hour appetizers to discover that the food is actually different at both locations. I enjoyed the East Lobby Lounge options more than the Conrad Suite Lounge. So if your preference is to eat in air conditioning, you will have to forgo the East Lobby Lounge. If you have kids, you'll have to forgo the Conrad Suite Lounge (adult only).

Conrad Bali Lounge Bites

Conrad Bali Lounge Bites

Conrad Bali Afternoon Tea

Conrad Bali Lounge Bites

Activities

Nusa Penida (Nusa is island in indonesian) - After looking at various options through TripAdvisor, I opted to go with Nusa Penida Day Tour. After contacting them through Instagram, I was directed to their official website for payment and booking. Of their tour options, I opted for the all day snorkeling with speed boat transportation. I learned later that there were other people who only visited one or two spots on the island becaue the boat took half a day to make the roundtrip from Bali to Penida. So word to the wise, be mindful how long the boat transfer/travel time is when booking the tours.

The company appears to be growing because they pick you up super early in the day (around 7 am) and take you to their "transit lounge" inside the harbor area. It was nice, clean, and had showers. You can also rent gear and buy drinks in case you forgot. I opted to add transportation from hotel into the package and the driver offered to make stops before arriving to get any snacks. I did take him up on the offer on the return to make a McDonald's stop!

Of the four stops on the itinerary, we had a dip to see manta rays (not sure where along the coast), visit Crystal Bay, visit Gamut Bay, lunched at Amarta Pineda (multi-restaurant/event venue with pool), car tour to Kelingking Cliff, and visit Mangrove Point (turtles!). Overall, I was happy to have booked the tour with Nusa Penida Day Tour and the weather improved on the day I had chosen to book.