Australia to Germany the long way

[TomVexille]

Is that a lucky duck, or what?

Only thing it could be

 

[Fifa]

Hey boomy - we stayed at the Conrad last month and received exactly the same suite as yours!
However only one bear and one duck (the one with the dice) in our room. Only stayed one night but I'll definitely be going back for a good look around.
The included Diamond afternoon tea in the lobby bar was fantastic , not to mention the great selection of evening drinks.

BTW - thanks so much for the TR

 

[boomy]

Hey boomy - we stayed at the Conrad last month and received exactly the same suite as yours!
However only one bear and one duck (the one with the dice) in our room.

I told the guy who checked me in the missus likes to collect the animals from Conrad. He then said that every month on the 15th they get a different bear & duck and offered me a couple

The included Diamond afternoon tea in the lobby bar was fantastic , not to mention the great selection of evening drinks.

A reason to come back again

 

[JMFK]

Great TR so far boomy!

Conrad Macau is one of the best for Diamonds...maybe even better than Conrad Bali!

Enjoy!

 

[JMFK]

P.S. Are the exec lounge reno's finished yet?

 

[boomy]

P.S. Are the exec lounge reno's finished yet?

Not yet but if all diamonds are offered an "open cheque" in the bar as I was then who really needs a lounge

 

[boomy]

Woke up refreshed after much needed good night sleep and went to have breakfast downstairs at a restaurant with an unusual name.

The place is huge with all kinds of different food stations. There were Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian and Western options with a few chefs ready to cook things to order at each station.


Interesting fresh squeezed juice options

This is what I was most excited about, I love egg tarts the best ones in Asia are found here in Macau.

 

[boomy]

Historic Macau.
There is more then fancy casinos and luxury shopping in Macau. The old part of town is very interesting and it's easy to walk around the historic landmarks.
After breakfast I managed to secure late checkout and headed to the city. There are two ways to get from Cotai to Macau: payed taxi or free shuttle that depart every ~15 min from City of Dreams. I decided to go for the free shuttle but it proved to be a mistake. There was a very long queue and the shuttle was only a mini-bus. I estimate that it would take at least 45 until my turn will come so I quickly switched to the second option and took a taxi from Hyatt. The cost was $70HK or $12AU, totally worth the time I saved IMO.
Last time I visited Macau it was in summer and the it was so hot during the day that I didn't enjoy sightseeing at all. This time the weather was cool 15 degrees and clear sunny day, perfect for walking outside.
Armed with a map from hotel with all the important landmarks marked I started to walk what proved to be a very small area. The streets were packed with tourists, mainly from the mainland who also took advantage of the nice weather.
I asked the taxi driver to drop me off close to the ruins of St. Paul's. It was originally called the Church of Mater Dei and was built in the early 1,600s and was destroyed by fire at 1,835 only the facade of the building managed to survive the blaze.

From there I climes up the stairs up to Mount Fortress, also built in early 1,600s to defend the city. Today the Macau Museum is located there.

The cannon is pointing Grand Lisboa hotel.

I went down, passed St. Paul's and slowly made my way towards Senado Square.
St. Dominic's Church established in 1587 by Spanish Dominican priests.

Xmas decorations and Spanish style buildings created special atmosphere and for a moment I forgot where is really was.

 

[boomy]

Traditional Post Office

Holy House of Mercy was founded in 1,569 by the first Bishop of Macau. It included, among other things, the first Western medical clinic.


Senado Square, the centre of old Macau.

 

[boomy]

Hong Kong
After catching the ferry from Taipa, arrived to Kowloon at 7pm and from there it was less then 10 min by taxi to Sheraton.
Peninsula hotel on the way, looks beautiful.

In recent years Sheraton became my favourite when staying in HKG. The location is great, status is well recognised and price is usually better then similar hotels in the area. This time I managed to get single bedroom (18 sq m) for $1,500HK. There was no way I was going to sleep in a single bed but I knew all I need is a minimal upgrade to the next level and I'll be fine. Eventually I got upgraded to Deluxe Suite plus 4pm late checkout which I really appreciated as my flight the next day was at 8.45pm.


There are a few lounges at this hotel, one of them is the Platinum Lounge dedicated only to platinum members. The lounge is divided into a few small rooms with 2-3 tables in each room. F&B on offer was ok, nothing special.
I sat there for a while waiting for my friend who lives in HKG to come over and then we went to check out a few bars in the area, one of them specialised in whisky and cigars. I don't remember from that point but it was good fun.
I woke up the next morning feeling dehydrated and decided to lay off the booze for a while. But then I remembered I have TG F with Dom champagne coming later tonight so it's not going to happen
After a good breakfast at the restaurant and two double-shot lattes I felt much better and was ready to start the day.
I spent all morning at our company headquarters catching up with everyone and hearing how they all want to move and work in AUS indeed HKG is a nice place to visit, maybe even to live there for a couple of years but in the long term life in AUS is probably better with less daily pressure.
They took me for lunch at Woolloomooloo steakhouse (I would prefer to eat Cantonese food but when someone invites me I don't complain). It was cold day, only 10 degrees but at least it was sunny. I'm not used to be in HKG in winter and by the look of it I wasn't the only one as I spotted some western tourists wearing only t-shirts. Time passed quickly and already had to go back to the hotel for checkout. Just realised I didn't see much of HKG this time. Oh well, there is always next time.

 

[boomy]

At the airport I met a fellow AFFer who also happened to be on HKG. He noticed my boarding pass and asked if I got invitation to use the shuttle service. Although I've done TG F from HKG a couple of times this year I was never aware nor was I offered this service but after asking for it this time at the F counter I did get a voucher.

You learn something new every day!

 

[boomy]

SQ F lounge HKG
Not many good options for *A lounges in HKG so this time I decided to try the SQ F lounge which is usually a safe bet. As expected it was nice, not crowded, reasonable drinks, small a la carte menu and attentive service.
The restaurant

The menu

The Champagne

 

[boomy]

Personal work stations

Relaxation area

Baked wild mushroom filo pastry with salsa.

 

[boomy]

HKG-BKK TG F
My original seat was 2A but at check in I changed it to 1A. When boarding the plane I was told the IFE in 1A is faulty so I was moved to 1K. All these changes in such a small cabin gives an idea how many vacant seats there were on that flight.
Old F seat, more then enough for 2.5 hours.

Food menu

Wine menu - white

Wine menu - red

My favourite drink on TG - Dom 2004

The flight was uneventful (in a good way) and as usual on this service I wished it would have been longer
After landing in BKK I had one buggy to myself and the other 3 pax shared a second buggy. I guess they all needed to go to immigration and I was the only one connecting.
I had only 30 min in the F lounge before boarding to ICN was announced.

 

[TomVexille]

Looking good Boomy, keep up the excellent work

 

[amaroo]

Excellent mixture of destinations - perfect way to end the year!

Looking forward to more....

 

[boomy]

BKK-ICN OZ J
I did this flight before so I knew already the seats are going to be angled but what OZ lacks in seat comfort they compensate big time on service.
I got to sit next to an interesting person who is a golf course designer from the US and won quite a few awards as well. In fact he told me Greg Norman is one of his biggest competitors in Asia. One of the things I like about traveling is meeting all kinds of interesting people from all over the world.
Being a midnight service it's important to serve the meal fast and efficient to allow the pax a few hours of rest and that's what OZ do best.
The menu - Western option

The menu - Korean option

Wine list - White

Wine list - red

Wine list - sweet

 

[boomy]

I selected the Korean option.
Starter

Main

This is what is printed on the napkins.

Coming from F service on an almost empty cabin to J service on a full cabin I should have felt big difference in service but in reality I didn't. Yes, the OZ service is THAT good! As soon as the seatbelt sign went off pre-dinner drinks were served, followed by 3 course dinner. When a plate was empty it was cleared immediately, when the wine glass became empty it was refilled immediately. I don't know how the OZ girls do it so well, it's like they have eyes on the back of their head, they don't miss anything.
I managed to have a few hours of sleep on the not-so-comfortable angled seats. I wish OZ will upgrade this service next year to complete a truly winning product.
Will be interesting to compare the service on my next flight on OZ F, can it be even better?!
But first I have few days in Seoul and Busan.

 

[boomy]

The first thing I saw after landing in ICN:

I didn't expect it to be that cold!
I hoped to at least experience some decent snow and indeed it snowed later on the day.
First stop after landing was at the hotel. Originally I booked the Conrad but then Grand Hilton had 50% sale so I changed the booking. It's easy to get from airport to the Hilton via shuttle bus and the ride takes about one hour (ICN airport is far from Seoul). The location of Grand Hilton is not the best because there is no metro station close by. At least the hotel provides completely shuttle to a few popular locations in the city. The shuttle leaves every hour. The first thing I spotted once entering the lobby was the Lufthansa crew with their fancy Rimowa luggage. I went to check in and was told that diamond members check in at the lounge. I noticed they love doing that in Asia and I don't really get the point. Is that supposed to make me feel special? I think it's a waste of time, a proper check in should take no more then three minutes.
They didn't have any suites available but we did get an upgrade to an executive room which was nice and modern.

Bathroom equipped with Japanese toilet.

I love the control panel next to the bed, a common feature in Korean hotels, very convenient.

The executive lounge

 

[boomy]

After refreshing in the hotel we had a walk in the old part of the city. The government did a good job keeping and maintaining these traditional houses in a modern capital city.


Each family used to have a few kimchi storage containers on the roof during winter season. No Korean meal is complete without rice and kimchi.