The Long Way Back From PEI.

[drron]

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[drron]

Time to finish off the last few days of this TR.Travel days,family and post trip inertia all played a part in ignoring what i should complete.
So the last of that night in Bangkok.The parade of boats on the Chao Praya.
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[drron]

Our last day in Bangkok was a wash out.It is after all the wet season and it bucketed down all day.All we did was go across to river City and visit mrsdrron's jeweller's new shop.No nothing bought.
We looked at the restaurants there but decided to eat back in the hotel.probably a mistake.At least I had a nice beer.
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For a change we had a dish each.I had the massaman curry.definitely not the best I have had.

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Mrsdrron had the Pad Thai.She has learnt to ask for it without chilli even though traditional Pad thai doesn't come with chilli.
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That was the second attempt.The first came with chillies on top plus throughout the noodles.She was not amused.
For the evening we just used the lounge.it was OK.
So now just the journey home.

 

[drron]

We were flying CX 717 BKK-SIN due to depart at 1145 so mrsdrron had us leaving the hotel before 0800.Fortunately there is a CX HKG flight about an hour before those so the checkins were open.It took ~ 30 mins to get to the airport at that time of morning.
Now security at the premium line at BKK has a body scanere-beauty I don't have to take of my belt and shoes.Soon dashed by the fellow on the body scanner insisting I had to take off my belt and shoes.
No lines at Immigration so soon in the CX lounge.We are obviously too used to lounge life.We each had a coffe but nothing else.The menu just doesn't excite me.

Fortunately as not heading for Australia no gate security check.So soon in our seat and after a little prompting a glass of champers in hand.Had time to get a refill but it just wasn't going to happen.
Fortunately there had been no swap of aircraft-an A350 with cameras.i do like this CX set up.
Quite a few pre deparure checks.
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But finally ready to roll.
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[drron]

Off to the runway.You could catch a glimpse of the planes taking off.good when you are not at a window.
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[drron]

You get to see a very different view below with the cameras.
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But the clouds took over.
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[drron]

The menus.
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And the food.We basically had the same meal.The Thai beef salad and the pork.
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OK but the peas were overdone and potato soggy.I had the French red-just 1 glass.I preferred the Islander on the trip up.I also had the sticky with the icecream.The wine wasn't to my taste.
Otherwise uneventful.The Captain was a Kiwi.the FAs looked happy and service was efficient.We got to SIN a little early.

 

[drron]

Low cloud all the way so it was only after wheels down you got much of a view.
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And at the gate.
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Now the long walk to get to the transfer bus to Terminal 2.The CX planes always arrive at the furthest gates I presume because that's where the 4 gates for larger aircraft are.Not a long wait for the bus.At T2 up to the Skytrain for T1 and another decent walk to the BA lounge.
Flying first you can access the Concorde bar.We both think it is dark and dingy.As well the food comes from the main lounge anyway.it is much more open,light and pleasant.This time didn't even have a glass of wine.just a few satays.

 

[drron]

We left the lounge a little early and walked slowly to the gate.There is a premium line for security at the gate but both lines had long lines.A fellow came out and checked our BPs and immediately stopped the people in the premium line.I could feel the glares at the back of my neck.
As usual I set off the X ray.A very perfunctory pat down.Went and sat in the seats nearest the actual gate and enjoyed the people watching.A young singaporean lass was actually policing the lines and she did move people if they tried to upgrade their line.Of course when boarding was announced it was the usual bun rush.
Despite about 20 in front of us we were the first into the F cabin apart from a woman in a wheelchair who was pre boarded.

We waited at the gate for ~ 30 minutes after departure time so as not to be too early into SYD.Captain,a woman,kept everyone up dated.But that meant time for 2 glasses of champers.However the effect was to make me more sleepy.
So to the wines.
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[drron]

And now the menu.
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[drron]

And now the food.The canapes.
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Neither of us were hungry.Mrsdrron went with the fish.
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Whilst I went with the pumpkin soup.
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The soup was very nice,the fish OK.
And that was all.I went to sleep after 1 glass of the Pinot noir.Didn't feel like brekkie either.
So uneventful.The crew were fine but obviously not that much interaction being asleep for the majority of the flight.
Arrived at 0500 into SYD just before QF 2-but their bags came out before ours

Now why in Australia do they always put the airbridge at the second door rather than the first.As the crew didn't police things the J pax were off first.I must ask #Tony Hancock where to send my complaints.
Our bags continued their wonderful run coming out first.Of course we wanted to wait a little while as i booked the Avis car for 0800-I didn't want to pay for an extra day for 3-4 hours.So we did have a coffee and did some people watching before picking up the car.

 

[drron]

Our stops in Sydney are for family.After we picked up our car it was off to Parramatta-so mrsdrron could do some shopping.then over to Wahroonga to have lunch with my sister who is out in Australia for a few weeks.We wanted to go to Butcher's block which gets good reviews but they don't take bookings and were full.So we went a couple of doors down to Redleaf Piccolo.A small Vietnamese restaurant.It turned out to be very nice.The dishes we had were not classical Vietnamese but were very tasty and quite cheap for Sydney.Friendly staff as well.
The women had the mango chicken salad and I had the noodle salad bowl with lemongrass beef.
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Happy to recommend for a quick lunch.

That evening it was dinner with the grandchildren as usual.Wouldn't miss it.
the final day was visiting mrsdrron's sister.
Next our digs for the stay.

 

[drron]

We were originally going to stay at the Marriott Circular Quay but with a combination of being unhappy with Bonvoy plus getting a good Virtuoso special saw us stay at the IC,Double Bay.Very glad we did change.
Now both being Plat Ambassador and a virtuoso booking give you an upgrade.We had booked a base level room but received a Courtyard suite.So the pictures.
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A dressing room.
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Bathroom with bath and separate shower.
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And a second bathroom with shower and toilet.
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The view.
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The courtyard of course.

 

[drron]

Our last night in Sydney was free so we had dinner at the IC-well we had a $US100 F&B credit so why not.We went down to the restaurant and it was closed.Oh no.Asked the bar staff who said it is closed as there were no reservations but you can get anything from the menu here.Phew.
Naturally we had a bottle of sav blanc for the dinner but i started with a Poor Toms G&T.
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Mrsdrron had the four pillars crispy gin chicken and I the White river Veal loin.
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Both were very good.We then had desserts.
Mrsdrron had the Black Fig and I the gin and tonic-lime curd,plymouth jelly,tonic rocks and lemon sorbet.Again both great.
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And not through planning,as I wasn't sure what the AUD amount would be,the bill came to $1 less than our credit.
I would certainly recommend this as well.

 

[drron]

Also with the Virtuoso booking was a full breakfast.Here is some of the buffet.Sorry a bit blurred.
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[drron]

After brekkie it was checkout and dropping the car back to Avis.
Then to the QF assistance desks for check in.We like to try and keep some customer service staff employed.
Now we have noticed this before.There is a premium line but it is for everyone from QP up.So the line was as long as the ordinary line.Unfortunately there were a few in the premium line that wanted to argue about excess baggage.Two women even had the supervisor out.They wished to carry on 2 blue canvas bags.The way they carried them suggested they were heavy.So the agent got them to weigh the bags.the 2 bags together weighed 50Kg.So obviously needed to be checked in and now a bill for excess baggage.They didn't think it fair.

Off to the J lounge to wait for QF524.Towards the end of our stay mrsdrron was approached by a man and woman doing a survey for Qantas.The main point was they wondered whether when purchasing a fare would she like to immediately have a bundle with hotel included or hotel and hire car and not have it as an option after you have purchased your ticket.A resounding no.

QF 524 SYD-BNE. An unexceptional flight apart from the fact it left early and arrived early and our bags came out 1 and 3.

The snacks.
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So a roast veggie salad for mrsdrron and a ham and cheese toastie for me.
And the best news.I arrived home only 2 Kg over my departure weight.
So that's it for now.possibly a short TR of our Fiji trip for christmas then May 2020 for the Chelsea flower Show plus some more Japanese Gardens.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for putting a lot of work in on this TR - and the first half as well. Lots of great photos. It was nice to catch up with some of the familiar sights in Canada. You must have been a bit tired by the time you got home.

 

[Julesmac]

Thanks for putting a lot of work in on this TR - and the first half as well. Lots of great photos. It was nice to catch up with some of the familiar sights in Canada. You must have been a bit tired by the time you got home.

Thanks Dr Ron for that very enjoyable and most comprehensive TR. I 'm very impressed by your weight - I swear I put on 2 kg just looking at the photos of the food.

 

[clipped_wings]

I feel a bit sad it's all over....have thoroughly enjoyed your TR and look forward to our next holiday!

(Did I say "our"? I meant "your"...)

 

[craven morehead]

Wow !! What a trip thanks again for a wonderful TR. I really enjoyed following and hope to get close to some of those places next year.