My Travels

I headed out to Chicago for my comp exams. Unfortunately, I was not able to convince my work to fund the trip but I was able to work remotely for a day to avoid using vacation time. I flew out on United Airlines on a red eye flight. I checked into the Doubletree O'Hare Airport hotel. They were nice enough to let me check in even though it was 6 am. I grabbed a quick nap before heading into work for the day. I don't usually hang out in the merchandise mart area and found it interesting. It isn't a touristy area but lunch options aren't bad. Switched hotels to the Hampton Inn Chicago O'Hare Airport  hotel the next day. Interestingly, this Hampton Inn uses the Thrifty car rental shuttle to shuttle guests to and from the airport. I guess the arrangement must work well for them. I wonder if there is a Thrifty discount for guests??? In the evening, I went out for happy hour at  Allstars Bar & Grill . I was told the burgers are great here. I was joshing for Porti...

Impromptu trip to NYC because of expiring credit airline vouchers on United Airlines . For this trip, I flew into Newark Airport . I haven't flown to Newark before this year (or have completely forgotten) and I find it funny that I've been to this airport twice this year. Although this time, I'm not laying over and went to NYC via train. The train takes about 40 minutes to get to NY Penn Station. After all these years of flying into NYC, I am not sure why I haven't done so since it is faster than taking the subway from JFK. The downside of the New Jersey train is that it runs on a set schedule and doesn't run as frequently as the NYC subway . Checked into the Conrad New York . This particular hotel is a conversion from an Embassy Suites near the World Trade Center before 9/11. The hotel opened in March of this year. It was interesting to see the bones of the hotel as an Embassy Suites. The hotel conversion was done really well and it isn't obvious that ...

I'm back in Hawaii!! I was a little sad that I didn't go to Hawaii last year and looked forward to this trip. I have never been to Maui before and wasn't sure what to expect. The reputation/impression I always had of Maui was a very resorty type of island where mainlanders outnumber locals. I flew out on United Airlines direct to Maui. During the flight, I was able to get a free Lonely Planet Hawaii guide book by participating in the trivia game onboard. UA likes to have people submit their estimates of when the plane will be at the midpoint of the flight path. Even though I didn't calculate the math, the answer was submitted in my name and it was the closest time; off by 45 seconds! The reason I was in Maui on this particular trip was influenced by a Westin Vacation Ownership  timeshare promotion. For some reason, I'm on the Westin timeshare mailing list. I had previously attended a presentation at the Sheraton Kauai and is likely the reason why I'...

Went out to Pennsylvania for a graduation. I flew into Philadelphia on US Airways as it was the closest city to State College. My friend lives out in the suburbs about an hour northwest of the city. After landing, went to visit my friend and was taken to a local cupcakery, Cups N Cakes . It did not compare to Sprinkles but the flavors were interesting. I tried the tequila lime cupcake and tres leches cupcake. If you check-in at Yelp , you will get a free coffee or tea. Afterwards, visited her workplace, Ursinus College , and wandered the small campus. Took a mid-day break and visited the King of Prussia mall. I also needed a meal; cupcakes for breakfast doesn't quite satisfy even for this sweet tooth junkie. After wandering in this gigantic mall reacquainting myself with the local Philly culture, I went back to Royersford. Being mindful of keeping with the local time zone, I powered through the rest of the day and had dinner at Daddy Mims in Phoenixville. I shared a braised por...

Back near the John Wayne Airport area for work. I have an early morning and opted to stay close by instead of going home. Checked into the Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Ana/Orange County . This is my first time here and is tucked into a business neighborhood near The District. One of the few area hotels that allows free parking, the rooms here are interesting. I believe it is an all suite hotel and my room is a French suite. I guess the French doors makes it French. I'm not sure why it is a window paneled doors but the room is very spacious. Still feeling under the weather, I went to Pho Saigon Pearl to grab a bowl of pho. A pretty good option in Irvine for Vietnamese food and the restaurant is open later than the typical American style restaurants in Orange County. Must be an ethnic thing to have late night eateries even if the neighborhood shuts down early. Diamond Jamboree plaza is probably the only thing in the area that is opened late. I popped into Bon Epi Patisserie...

My United Airlines flight was scheduled to leave Ho Chi Minh super early (read 5 am) and I could only arrive the night before from Bangkok. Unlike my earlier pass through, I was not hassled by customs. Last time both the passport control and baggage screening employees asked for some bribes. Given the timing and context, I gave them 100,000 dong ($5 US equivalent) and it seemed to make them happy. This time around I tried to look non-Vietnamese and spoke English only. Escaping the airport people did not save me from the people outside the airport. Being so used to having family picking me up at the airport, my one time coming through on my own led me to make a bad call to go with a driver to take me to Sheraton Ho Chi Minh hotel. No taxi fare should be more than 200,000 Dong into the city. Anyone saying that it should be more is pulling your leg.  Got to the Sheraton Saigon and hung out with some cousins during the night. Nice hotel, the room was fairly large and the shower had t...

It has been a few years since I have last been to Bangkok. Flew out on Thai Airways from Ho Chi Minh. I was surprised that the airline still served a full meal for such a short flight (less than 90 minutes). For this trip, I decided to use miles and was able to get a business class seat to Bangkok. The seat was nice enough even though it did creak when reclining. :p Landed late into Bangkok and was whisked to the Millennium Hilton Bangkok . I was only staying a night but did enjoy the hotel and its amenities. The Flow restaurant has a fabulous breakfast buffet and the river view is really nice. The rooms are a little small especially compared to my previous stay at the Sheraton across the way. For sightseeing purposes, the hotel is in a good spot between the old city and downtown. The next day checked into the Conrad Bangkok. The last time I stayed at this hotel I was only in the hotel for six hours as I had an early flight. This time I was able to spend more time at the property. The...

Heading to Vietnam for personal business for a couple of days. Flew United Airlines on this particular trip. This is my first trip post-merger and it is interesting to see the changes implemented. It was good to see that the United policy of free booze on international flights was still in effect so I did not need my drink coupons. On the way to Vietnam, I was given upgrades on the short segments which was unexpected but welcome. The segment from Hong Kong to Saigon was a change from the past. It appears that United is using Continental planes for Southeast Asia routes and this particular segment was a smaller plane. I did miss the bigger plane United used to use for this segment. I have found that the Continental equipment now being used is not as nice as the United counterparts. Also, the headphones are not as nice and it still uses the two prong adapter to use. I can only assume that it will all be consistent in the next few years. Landed into Ho Chi Minh without incident and was s...

A late night at work prompted me to stay near Disneyland. I checked into the Sheraton Garden Grove - Anaheim South Hotel . I haven't stayed in this area for a few years, last time because I was flooded out of my apartment and decided to stay near work. Spring break was definitely in full effect as I saw plenty of families in the hotel. One of these days I'll be motivated to see what the happiest place on Earth looks like nowadays. The hotel seemed like it went through a recent renovation. Rooms are pretty big, likely designed for families. The only drawback was the very slow internet speeds but I don't know if that is the norm or I was unlucky. On the bright side, I wasn't charged parking which is normally $12. The next morning, dropped by Cafe Tourane for beignets and coffee. Can't beat New Orleans but it was good enough and reasonably priced. Coffee was good too.

After leaving Agra Fort, journeyed another 4 hours to get back to Delhi. We travelled in a triangular route so the road back to Delhi was not the same road leaving Delhi. I did notice more universities along this stretch of highway giving me the impression that this area was more industrially inclined. Most of the universities were engineering or MBAs. ;p Arrived at Delhi and checked back into the Eros Hotel New Delhi Nehru Place . I was able to see the difference between "upgraded" rooms and "regular" rooms before leaving Delhi. The main things I saw that was missing was the amenities in the room and it was a little smaller in size. I was still glad to be in the hotel as my other friends were staying at a friend's aunt's house. The house was nice but it still lacked adequate hot water and no internet at all. :O One of the reasons might be because her neighborhood is not zoned for residential use but the owners of these lots have all decided that they were g...

Journeyed east of Jaipur to Agra, it took about 4 hours on the road. On the way to Agra, we made a pit stop at Fatehpuhr Sikri located 45 minutes outside of Agra. A World Heritage site, the palace is very impressive. As long as you can fight your way through the beggars and street hawkers, the interior is quite peaceful. It also helps that you have to pay to get in and I think it keeps most of the populace outside. There are still people trolling inside offering "tours" but one can waive them off easily (at least in comparison to other places in India). After touring the palace, the group decided to visit the mosque next door. Although a very nice looking mosque, the hordes of beggars and street hawkers inside this mosque should deter your interest. You can't walk in and view the area without constantly being harassed by the local population to either buy a trinket or give money. Unfortunately, the mosque is free to the public and hence the hordes of locals waiting insid...

It is a five hour drive to Jaipur from Delhi. Jaipur is home to the famous 'pink city palace' and is the state capital of Rajasthan. There are about 28 states in India with Delhi being the national capital/state. It is also home to many forts and palaces. In the evening, took some pictures of the Water Palace . Didn't linger long as the beggars and hawkers were a little overwhelming. This is my first taste of the local population in touristy areas. The persistence and aggressiveness of both beggars and hawkers leads me to think that people are very determined to eek out some kind of living even if off the hapless tourist. Checked into the Holiday Inn Jaipur . I usually don't stay in Holiday Inns but my first choice became too expensive and I figured the international locations would be nicer than the domestic locations. The room was nicely furnished and the breakfast was satisfying. I will say that the internet access was slow and unpredictable. If you are going to buy,...

Had a mixup at the train station in Ludhiana to Delhi but ended up riding for free in the "back of the bus." My advice is to not buy train tickets as a waitlist passenger and always get confirmed best class of service seats. That way, you might get something comparable to the Greyhound bus in terms of comfort. Checked into the Eros Hotel New Delhi Nehru Place . I didn't want to crowd out my friend as more wedding guests were arriving. It was also nice to be able to get stable power, internet access, and hot water. India is notorious for providing unstable power to residents as my friends have started their own generators during the various brown outs in the few days I have been in the country. The hotel was very nice, found out that Eros is a movie production company. Apparently, Indian companies go into any business that will make them money regardless of industry or specialty. The next day, hired a driver to head out to Jaipur and Agra. Compared to the train experience,...

Travelled via train north of Delhi to Ludhiana. Upon arrival, we went to a friend's house. Ludhiana appears more suburban than Delhi and the house is more of a compound than a house. :) I think in the end I preferred northern India as it didn't seem as cramped and teeming with people as the other parts of India I travelled through. The next day, travelled even further north near the Pakistan border. Went to a town, Amritsar, to visit the Golden Temple . The friend's family is Sikh and the temple is the holiest temple within the religion. On the way to Amritsar, there were two 'adventures.' The first was navigating the highway and experience Indian concept of passing. We even played bumper cars with another vehicle. Luckily, the rented car suffered the only damage and the driver took off immediately. The second event was the random checkpoints to Amritsar. The state is under military control until elections are over. During this time period, the army is trying to el...