Review: Sheraton Bandara (Jakarta Airport)
The Bandara offers a complimentary shuttle ride to the airport that runs every 30 minutes around the clock, but I’d recommend emailing the hotel ahead of time so they can co-ordinate a staff member to meet you on arrival.
After exchanging some dollars to Indonesian rupiah, we headed up to 2nd level where a shuttle was waiting. The shuttle bus is more like a van, with the seating a bit cramped, but the ride was a short five minute ride so it didn’t bother me too much.
Trip Report: Touring the Original Star Wars Sets in Tunisia
Djerba is a place of contrasts, where as you find tourist hotels filled with Europeans sun bathing on the beach, to conservative old town, where you’ll find most women are covered and minarets dotting the skyline.
Before heading to Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, I already had spent one night an appropriately named one star hotel, where hot water was scarce and the room was quite dirty. On the plus side, there was running air conditioning and the courtyard was beautiful.
Review: Hello Kitty Airport Lounge
As I headed to the departure gate, I passed by different themed waiting lounges that lie atop each departure gate. The most notable was the Hello Kitty waiting lounge, located adjacent to my gate.
To say it’s a sensory overload would be an understatement. The entire waiting area is covered in pink and even the floor was retiled with white and pink squares.
Trip Report: Cebu Pacific Economy Class
Cebu Pacific domestically does have a bit of bad rap, and when things go wrong, things can get ugly quite quickly. However, facing a long connection in Singapore, I decided to try Cebu Pacific’s international product.
Thankfully, Cebu Pacific uses the shares the same international gates as other foreign carriers flying out of terminal 3, which meant the seating area around the gate was plentiful and not crowded.
Trip Report: Singapore Airlines Suites Class – Tokyo To Singapore
After being informed that my flight to Singapore was in the final stages of boarding, I quickly headed down from the ANA lounge and boarded onto the awaiting A380.
Oddly enough, the suites cabin was covered with maroon lighting. I quickly settled in and was greeted by a flight attendant, presented with another set of Ferragamo amenity kit & comfy Singapore pajamas, and was poured a glass of delightful 2004 Krug Champagne. We soon took off from Narita and I was served a delicious Satay starter.
Trip Report: ANA Suites Lounge – Narita Airport
I headed to the lounge at Satellite 4, which was located directly above the departure gate for my flight. As I walked in, two lounge agents stood up and bowed before scanning my boarding pass and directing me to the first class lounge.
Another lounge agent greeted me as I walked into the lounge area. She then escorted me to my seat and brought over a glass of champagne, along with a hot towel.
Trip Report: Eva Business Class – Infinity & Star
Of all the lounges I’ve been to, perhaps there is no lounge that is quite uniquely designed like the Eva Air Infinity Lounge.
Lining the ceiling are twinkling lights designed to look like stars and the centerpiece is a tree shape like pillar with continuously changing neon nights.
Trip Report: Park Hyatt Tokyo – Club On The Park & Breakfast
One place I was really keen on checking out was the Club
Spa, located on the 47th floor. Access is severely limited, with
hotel guests having to shell out an extra 4000 yen per person. However, since I
was a Globalist, this charge was waived. This is no ordinary spa, in fact a short
scene in Lost In Translation was shot
here.
Be aware that Japanese spas are fully nude, so if you’re not
comfortable with this unique aspect of Japanese culture, you may want to give
the spa a skip.
Trip Report: Staying At The $1000 Park Hyatt Tokyo & New York Bar
Sitting on top of Shinjuku Park Tower, the Park Hyatt Tokyo was the first western luxury hotel to open in Japan in 1994. Since then numerous celebrities have called the Park Hyatt home. Director Sofia Coppola loved the hotel so much that she made it a centerpiece in her award winning film Lost in Translation.
Rooms at the Park Hyatt Tokyo don’t run cheap, with rates during the peak Cherry Blossom season starting at a staggering $1000 a night. Instead I used 30,000 Hyatt Points to book a one night stay for my dad and me at this iconic hotel, with no additional cash payment required.
Trip Report: Watching The Great American Eclipse With Family In Nebraska
It’s been 530 days since my first brush with totality and finally the day of the Great American Eclipse was here.
Morning dawned and I eagerly pulled back the motel drapes to check on the weather. I was worried a bit earlier as various news agencies predicted a high chance of moderate cloud cover. Thankfully, there was nary a cloud to be in sight and instead I was greeted by a bright blue sky.