fpc552

I stand corrected.

kevincrumbs

Similar to you HK is also one of my homes and I went through a similar phase where I felt that way about HK. It'll always be home and I'll always love going back but sometimes it's easier to go somewhere else as I can delude myself that the negative things happening in HK right now aren't actually happening. I also used to feel the same way as you did in regards to shopping being the only thing to do. It obviously depends on your interests but merely walking around is one of my favourite things to do, along with some of the outdoor things like hikes and swimming at the beaches.

I flew them KOJ - KIX and KIX - FUK when they first started operations and thankfully, my expectations were low, so I wasn't disappointed. However, I did notice that the seat pitch was terrible and thought to myself that I would never want to fly them KIX - HKG. I think they're perfectly fine for short hops within Japan but for not for anything longer.

I also understand that the terminal situation at KIX is different now. When I flew them, we were bussed to an area next to the arrival levels at the terminal and all of the checked luggage was dropped off on the curb of the sidewalk. When departing from KIX, check-in and all the procedures took place in a series of rooms in the same building that houses the Nikko Hotel.

tng11

Being my first time outside of Tokyo and Osaka, I was quite excited to see what else the country had to offer. Both cities offer much in terms of food, atmosphere, character, but I feel they're somewhat lacking in sightseeing spots (aside from skyscraper, modern architecture views.)

Getting from KIX to Kyoto was rather comfy and reasonably priced - I bought an ICOCA card (transport card) with Haruka ticket for 3000 yen in total, where 1500 yen was stored on the ICOCA with a 500 yen deposit, and the Haruka ticket good for one journey all the way to Kyoto (1000 yen for a 75 minute train ride was a steal IMO!)


2014-05-20 17.43.58 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-05-20 19.04.53 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Kyoto Tower by night (first night here was rainy):


2014-05-20 19.10.15 by jurastudent, on Flickr

A morning stroll through Nishiki market:


2014-05-21 10.09.10 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Toji Temple Market (crazy how crowded it was - and how many westerner tourists there were all over Kyoto it seemed)


2014-05-21 11.16.22 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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Regional specialty of Takoyaki (octopus balls) for 500 yen:


2014-05-21 11.35.13 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-05-21 11.38.08 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Fushimi Inari Shrine (I was left bewildered by the endless spiral of red gates. I walked all the way to the top and was dying by then - the signs are deceptive!)


2014-05-21 14.55.13 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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The Imperial Palace (shame I missed the tour!)


2014-05-21 17.17.54 by jurastudent, on Flickr

A night time stroll in Gion:


2014-05-21 18.52.41 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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And dinner of Ramen:


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Kinkakuji Temple (amazing scenery but oh my was it crowded! Imagine thousands of screaming, rowdy schoolchildren running around the entire site! )


2014-05-22 13.05.50 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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Lunch of chazuke with salmon (rice with broth poured over it - one of the most underrated items in Japanese cuisine IMO)


2014-05-22 14.15.44 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Iwatayama Monkey Park (the climb up is quite intense, but the scenery oh so beautiful) - the monkeys were incredibly tame.


2014-05-22 15.58.19 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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Back in town (the monkey park was outside of Kyoto proper - it was in a rather quaint district.)


2014-05-22 16.06.04 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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Evening entertainment of visiting a cat cafe - I'm not a big fan of cats myself and wouldn't do it again. The cats were rather indifferent to human presence.


2014-05-21 20.01.59 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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And to finish, a day trip to Nara. Amazing how so many wild deer roam the town without issue. You may think these things are cute, but they can get vicious if you taunt them with food!


2014-05-23 14.29.27 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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More temples? Oy... And more crowds.


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All right, so this post was picture overload.

As much as I loved the diversity of temples and the abundance of sights compared to Tokyo or Osaka, it was simply overload for the four days I spent in Kyoto. I felt that near the end, I stopped caring about the history of the temples or being able to distinguish what made each one different, rather just checking off the key ones that people told me I MUST visit. I decided that I had enough of visiting temples for the rest of my trip.

tng11

After about a 3-hour ride from Kyoto to Hiroshima via Shin-Osaka, I had 2 days here.

My first stop was the A-Bomb Dome. A somber reminder of what war does.


2014-05-24 14.23.10 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-05-24 14.29.10 by jurastudent, on Flickr

The memorial park and museum are really well done.


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Hiroshima feuds with Osaka for the best Okonomiyaki - a noodle pancake dish that I also think is highly underrated in Japanese cuisine. Near the main arcade, there is an entire building with 3 floors of vendors that sell nothing but Okonomiyaki. Best part of all is you can have a beer and a full, freshly made pancake for just about $15 USD. You eat it directly from the hot plate, which I thought was pretty cool.


2014-05-24 18.50.49 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I had mine with Oysters:


2014-05-24 19.00.41 by jurastudent, on Flickr

And aside from the A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima looks just like any other Japanese city. It's lively, cosmopolitan, and arguably the people here were the friendliest out of all the Japanese cities I visited.


2014-05-24 19.42.14 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Next was a visit to Miyajima Island, touted as one of the most beautiful sites in Japan. Too bad it was mostly overcast for the day.


2014-05-25 10.12.53 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-05-25 10.16.06 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-05-25 10.19.27 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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Back in town, a very late lunch of Hiroshima Tsukemen (dipping ramen) for about $8 USD. I loved the free kimchi that a lot of ramen places in this region seemed to serve.


2014-05-25 13.28.11 by jurastudent, on Flickr

The day brightened up, and I went to Hiroshima Castle.


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But I couldn't leave with having Okonomiyaki again. This place was better than the one on the first night.


2014-05-25 17.55.37 by jurastudent, on Flickr

You can see the layers of vegetable, fatty pork and soba noodles.


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Yummy. Definitely the Hiroshima version of Okonimiyaki is better than the Osaka one.


2014-05-25 18.01.22 by jurastudent, on Flickr

And to wrap up, I checked out Miyajima Island by night (it was eerily quiet.)


2014-05-25 20.07.41 by jurastudent, on Flickr

tng11

I stayed only one night in Mount Fuji. The journey from Hiroshima to Mount Fuji simply took too long - it involved a change again at Shin-Osaka station after waiting a long time for the Shinkansen (as I couldn't take the Nozomi services on a JR Pass), another switch at Shin-Yokohama, then two very long rides on the local JR service and railway. All in all, it took me about 8 hours to arrive.

It was a shame that one could not actually hike Mount Fuji during May, as the trails aren't open yet.

But the walk around Lake Kawaguchiko was definitely worth it.


2014-05-27 09.02.56 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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Having seen how long it took to get from Yokohama to Kawaguchiko, I decided to take the bus to Shinjuku, which was a lot faster at just under 70 minutes.

tng11

I will assume everyone has seen pictures of Tokyo before, so I will take a slightly different approach to this post. One of my objectives in Tokyo this time around was for food, but the challenge was to stay within a budget of $100 a day, and still try some "top picks."

1. Menya Musashi in Shinjuku

This place pretty much only serves Tokyo style shoyu ramen or dipping ramen. I always order the soft-boiled egg at ramen places and this version was excellent all-around. I'm still not quite sure whether I prefer the Hakata style ramen with the rich, creamy and fatty tonkotsu pork broth or the Tokyo style shoyu ramen. The latter is definitely lighter and less heavy than the former.

Price (with beer): $15 USD


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I walked it off by going through the sketchy Kabukicho neighbourhood (me and my Aussie friend were endlessly harassed by nightclub touts)


2014-05-27 20.42.38 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Though this robot was uber-cool.


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2014-05-27 20.45.29 by jurastudent, on Flickr

2. Daisan Harumi in Shinbashi

Daisan Harumi is an interesting sushi restaurant. For one, it doesn't get mentioned in the Michelin guide, while it is rather highly rated on the Japanese foodie scene (it ranks somewhere within the Top 20 on Tabelog, higher than many Michelin-starred restaurants.) As a result, it's actually very easy to get a reservation here, and you don't have to deal with all of the BS of having only hotel concierges make reservations. It's something of a hidden gem, and I'd prefer it to stay that way.


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Chef Nazuo Kagayama is known for being somewhat of a stickler. He will very bluntly tell his guests the "proper" way to eat sushi and for them to eat "faster", not to rush them but so that they can savour the fish while it's still fresh. I greeted him, he asked me where I was from and I went for the 10,000 yen lunch omakase.

He is also known for having a true passion for Edo-mae sushi, all the way down to the marinating and cutting techniques, as well as where he sources his rice and nori from. He also authored a English/Japanese book on types of fish for sushi (which I am kicking myself for not buying right now.) For guests who don't speak Japanese, he has the waitress provide them with information cards on the type of fish they're eating which I thought was a really nice touch.

Watching him carefully craft each piece of sushi, grating wasabi using a sharkskin grater, only using small batches of rice and brushing off each piece with just the right amount of shoyu was truly amazing.


2014-05-28 12.16.13 by jurastudent, on Flickr

First piece of Madai (red sea bream)


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Aori-Ika (bigfin reef squid) - this was seriously the best squid I've ever had.


2014-05-28 12.03.30 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Torigai (surf clam) - this was still live, and it was oh so sweet and briny.


2014-05-28 12.05.15 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Kohada (gizzard shad) - perfect balance between vinegary, sweet and with a hint of fishiness.


2014-05-28 12.09.23 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Maguro (bluefin tuna) - the red colour could not have been more perfect


2014-05-28 12.12.05 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Chutoro (medium fatty tuna) - it was heavenly. In some ways I prefer the medium-fatty tuna more than the super fatty o-toro, as the fat/flesh ratio is more balanced IMO.


2014-05-28 12.14.44 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Kuruma Ebi (imperial prawn) - this one was freshly boiled and half-cooked. It was amazing.


2014-05-28 12.20.08 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Ikura (salmon roe) - fresh salmon roe is nothing like what you would get in North America or Russia, which can be too salty at times. This was perfectly briny and just popped in your mouth.


2014-05-28 12.23.15 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I forget what this was - but it was another marinated fish.


2014-05-28 12.28.25 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Aji (horse mackerel) - one of my favourites.


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Aoyagi (orange clam)


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Uni (sea urchin) - this was crazy good. Typically I'm not a big uni fan, but it was completely different here. Perfectly briny and sweet with very tasty and crisp nori.


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Then came the head/skeleton of the prawn I ate earlier. It was deep fried and put onto a block of salt which sizzled when some yuzu was sprinkled over it. It was like eating a chip.


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Grilled octopus tentacles to signal we were nearing the end.


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Fish soup:


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Hamaguri (orient clam), which was lightly poached and served with a sweet sauce (very similar to what I would expect with anago or eel.)


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And then the tamago for dessert. This isn't the typical style you might see at the high-end Ginza sushi bars.


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All in all, I was seriously impressed by Daisan Harumi. I found the quality very comparable to Sushi Yoshitake (which I ate at and reviewed back in January.) Yoshitake had more items in total with 5 appetizers including abalone and cod milt, while Daisan had a greater variety of nigiri sushi and more clams (but was notably missing anago and o-toro in the lunch omakase.) But keep in mind, Daisan was only about 1/3 of the price of Yoshitake! I felt that 10,000 yen (less than US$100) was an absolute bargain for a sushi meal of this caliber.


2014-05-28 13.23.21 by jurastudent, on Flickr

3. Pierre Herme Omotesando

I then treated myself to a dessert platter at Pierre Herme, around the "Celeste" flavour of the month, which was mango/raspberry themed. Cost was about $17 USD.


2014-05-28 14.34.26 by jurastudent, on Flickr

4. Chuka Soba Inoue

This is the ramen stand at Tsukiji that always seems to have a perpetual queue, with dozens of people standing alone the street slurping their bowls. They serve only one item, Tokyo-style shoyu ramen for 700 yen or about $7 USD.


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After a 15 minute or so wait, I had my bowl. The broth is a chicken-based, soy sauce flavoured and it was very light, yet flavourful. The noodles were thinner, and the pork slices were rather lean. All in all, a very well-balanced and seemingly "healthier" bowl of ramen than I'm used to.


2014-05-29 11.02.10 by jurastudent, on Flickr

5. Georges Charpentier Ginza

This shop has some of the best French style pastries in Tokyo according to quite a few foodies. The prices were rather reasonable - at $5-$7 per pastry. The lemon tart here was simply to die for. ^


2014-05-29 12.22.23 by jurastudent, on Flickr

6. Maisen Omotesando

This place is well known for just one thing - tonkatsu or fried pork chop. They come in varying levels, with the kurobata version being one of the most popular. A dinner set goes for about 3,000 yen.


2014-05-29 19.36.34 by jurastudent, on Flickr

It was literally melt-in-your-mouth. The sauce was amazing. Combined, this was one of the best pork chops I've ever eaten.


2014-05-29 19.38.02 by jurastudent, on Flickr

7. Tsukiji Fish Market

What visit to Tokyo is complete without a visit to the famous tuna auction? This marked my 7th visit to Tokyo, and this was the first time I actually had the courage to go out and queue up for a spot. I went with an Aussie friend at 2am from Akihabara, arriving at 2:30. After some confusion in finding the gate where to line up, we got the last vests for the 1st group of entrants. (The time you need to arrive has been getting earlier and earlier every year!)

People eventually began sitting on the floor:


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At just past 5:20, we were marched over to the auction area.


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Herded into a small corridor, we watched as buyers prodded the tuna tails with picks and tasting them.


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All in all, very underwhelming. In retrospect, it was not worth losing an entire night of sleep just to watch this auction!

8. Sushi Daiwa Tsukiji

I had great memories of eating at Sushi Dai about 7 years ago, where I waited only about 15 minutes for a seat. Well this time, the line was easily 50 deep and the wait was going to be hours. So the both of us went to the shop beside, Sushi Daiwa.


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I had the omakase, while my friend chose to just have maguro.


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First was the squid and o-toro (notably they were serving it 2 or 3 pieces at a time - the squid was chewy, while the o-toro was just okay)


2014-05-30 06.04.19 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Uni and Tamago (the uni was not good at all, it didn't taste very fresh)


2014-05-30 06.07.13 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Shrimp and Chu-toro. Again, very underwhelming.


2014-05-30 06.08.58 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Roll with negitoro, ikura and maguro. The ikura was way too salty.


2014-05-30 06.11.22 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Anago and kanpachi. The anago was cold.


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Aji. Not bad.


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Bonito.


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A huge disappointment in the end. Sushi Daiwa just felt lousy, as the rice was cold and the fish was very pedestrian, yet it wasn't cheap at almost 5,000 yen. I honestly feel that one of my favourite sushi bars in Toronto serves a better omakase than this place for a lower price.

9. Narutomi Ginza

Narutomi is rather well-known for its soba. Apparently it's hard to find good soba these days, as very few places actually use 100% buckwheat to make their soba. The true way to taste soba is to have it cold, served in a light dipping sauce, wasabi and daikon. I decided to order the cold soba, with anago tempura as a side dish for around 2,000 yen (USD $20)


2014-05-30 11.52.08 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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Soba is also one of those highly underrated items in Japanese cuisine. So simple, and yet it can be so tasty.


2014-05-30 11.42.29 by jurastudent, on Flickr

The anago tempura was definitely a highlight. Very light, soft and delicately prepared with a thin coat of batter and served with just a sprinkling of sea salt. Notice at the top right the fried skeleton of the eel.


2014-05-30 11.46.51 by jurastudent, on Flickr

10. Sadaharu Aoki Paris Yurakucho

Before catching the train to Osaka, I made a final stop at Sadaharu Aoki (which I had tried in Paris a few years back), for the "degustation" dessert platter. Sadaharu Aoki is interesting for its use of Japanese flavours in French pastry style. Everything on the platter was excellent, and was reasonably priced at 1,700 yen (USD$17.)


2014-05-30 12.34.11 by jurastudent, on Flickr

All in all, it was a rather satisfying time eating in Tokyo and exploring foods outside of just dining at expensive Michelin-starred restaurants (which there is no shortage of in Tokyo.)

nsolitude

So. Jealous.

Digital01

Your photos are great. Looking at your food photos (well except maybe the last sushi place - it just doesn't look as good of quality as the first place), made my mouth water! So hard to get good sushi around here! Look forward to the rest!

tng11

I arrived much later into Osaka than I had anticipated after a kerfuffle with the Shinkansen. I took the wrong "Kodama" train when I should have waited for the "Hikari", as "Nozomi" services were off-limits for me. The Kodama service stops at ALL stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen line, making the journey almost 4 hours in length compared to 2.5 hours for the Nozomi services.

With a night flight to catch, there wasn't much time to waste!

The craze of Dotonbori:


2014-05-31 13.36.10 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-05-31 13.47.52 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Kuroman Ichiba, the main food market in Osaka. It amazed me how packed it was with tourists from Hong Kong (and in general, I heard more Cantonese being spoken on the streets of Osaka than Japanese!)


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I indulged in some freshly cracked Uni for 1,500 yen. Not as good as the Hokkaido Uni I had at Daisan a few days earlier (two months later, my mouth still waters thinking about it)


2014-05-31 10.50.15 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Tourists were going nuts over seeing this tuna. Big deal! I saw dozens of these the day before at Tsukiji.


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Look at all that tuna sushi!


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There was one stand selling all kinds of beef. They also had a small stand with 4 chairs, offering samplers of wagyu and Kobe beef for relatively little money. I ordered the sampler of Kobe beef for 2,000 yen. It was a few bites of heaven - seared rare and it melted on contact with my mouth. It was sort of like eating pure beef fat, but not quite at the same time.


2014-05-31 11.05.28 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I also sought out one of Osaka's specialties, which is unagi or grilled freshwater eel. In the Kansai region, eel is grilled from raw, resulting in a more caramelized and intense smokey flavour, compared to the style in Tokyo where the eel is basically steamed before being grilled and basted with sauce.

Good unagi does not come cheap. It is one of those food items that North American restaurants, who serve frozen packets from China do serious injustice to. The real thing is supposed to be buttery and well balanced between the fish and the sauce with a distinct smokey flavour.


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Eerily, I was the only one in the entire restaurant (it was a late lunch at 3pm)


2014-05-31 14.01.38 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I ordered the lunch set for 3,100 yen. I love how simple, yet elegant presentation in Japanese cuisine is.


2014-05-31 14.08.20 by jurastudent, on Flickr

There was a appetizer of unagi rolled in egg, which was lovely. There was also a clear broth with eel liver which was quite good, albeit a little "earthy"


2014-05-31 14.08.24 by jurastudent, on Flickr

But the star of the show was to follow. And it did not disappoint at all.


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And, since my JR Pass expired I took the long way back to Kansai Airport for about 1,000 yen.


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But before leaving, I had to have dinner at the airport. Again, one of my favourites of rice porridge with salmon roe. I love how KIX has a number of very decent food options at regular prices (I used up my last 1,000 yen on this meal.)


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And that concluded a fantastic two week trip in Japan.

Though the very fact that my fitted jeans didn't quite fit anymore when I arrived back in HKG was a very rude wake up call that I need to watch my gluttony.

nsolitude

They are fantastic!!! So jealous! I won't ever have time to go to Japan now.

tng11

As noted earlier, I paid 29,110 yen for a 1-Week JR Pass. I got the following use out of it:

1. Kyoto to Hiroshima
2. Hiroshima to Shin-Yokohama
3. 4 days of public transport in Tokyo on the JR Lines
4. Tokyo to Shin-Osaka

Combined, I did save a bit using the pass. I can imagine had I tried to squeeze more cities in during the 1-week validity period I would have gotten more "value" out of it. But I think in the future, I would rather buy tickets individually as advance tickets are quite heavily discounted.

The major downside of the JR Pass is having to carry the passport-sized document around (and also have your passport around just in case), and you have to flash it to station attendants (i.e. you can't use the automated gates.) In busy Tokyo stations, it was a rather big PITA considering how busy the manned booths were.

The biggest downside of the JR Pass is the restrictions on using "Nozomi" services on the Tokaido Shinkansen (the busy gateway from Tokyo to Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Hakata) as it seemed almost 9/10 services were "Nozomi" services. The rest of the services were mostly the all-stop "Kodama" services which take twice as long (and can be had relatively cheap for 10,000 yen in advance from Tokyo to Osaka from what I saw). The Hikari is so infrequent, that I kinda felt ripped off by the Pass. Ah, rant over.

The Shinkansen itself was very comfortable. The economy class cabin had lots of room to stretch out and lots of room to recline. It felt like flying domestic US first class, though the layout was 2-3. Most of the times I had the entire row to myself, except on some busier stretches (Nagoya to Tokyo for instance.)


2014-05-30 15.54.06 by jurastudent, on Flickr


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tng11

Very true. After having spent a few weeks back in Toronto I've come to realize that HK is not as bad as I make it out to be at times. I love the New Territories for the outdoor activities (though admittedly it was too hot for many of my typical activities.)

Peach does have Terminal 2 now. It's rather basic, but it's a separate building from T1 and there's a free shuttle bus to get there anyways. I can see they're selling KIX-HKG for 8,400 Yen way in advance - but I'm not quite sure if the huge discount is worth those horrendous seats again.

Thanks Digital01. Granted, the lighting at the second sushi place (Daiwa) was not as good, but it was clearly inferior to the first sushi meal I had although they are in different price ranges. The difference was big, kind of like going to a gourmet pizzeria vs. school canteen pizza!

Thanks nsolitude!

tng11

Today was going to be a special day. It was going to be my mom's first ever experience in a premium cabin, and I only knew what a treat she was going to be in for. Sadly, Dad couldn't join us today for the journey to Frankfurt, but we were going to see each other the next day.

Knowing that the SilverKris lounge here wasn't much to rave about, I chose to spend the majority of my time walking with Grandma around the airport.


2014-06-10 11.34.02 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Strangely enough, the agent could not print our boarding passes for our SIN-FRA and FRA-YYZ flights, and we would have to go to the T2 Transfer counter to pick them up. Our bags were tagged, but we were informed that SQ would only give us Business Class tags. I chose not to make a fuss about it.


2014-06-10 11.50.44 by jurastudent, on Flickr

With about 30 minutes to go before boarding time, it was a cheerful goodbye to Grandma.


2014-06-10 12.16.12 by jurastudent, on Flickr

HKG security and immigration were lightning quick, and in 10 minutes we were already at the front of the SilverKris lounge.


2014-06-10 12.29.57 by jurastudent, on Flickr

My Mom's first reaction in the lounge was "Why is it so dark?" Oh Mom, you read my mind.


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After about 15 minutes of sitting, we headed for the boarding gate which was already getting crowded by all the gate lice. I had to get a shot of the 777-200 that'll be taking us to Singapore today.


2014-06-10 12.53.11 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-06-10 13.00.15 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Singapore Airlines Flight 863
Hong Kong to Singapore
Boeing 777-200ER
June 10, 2014
Scheduled: 13:30-17:15
Actual: 14:22-17:53
Seat: 15A/15C (Business Class)
Load: ~80%

Today's flight was with SQ's old longhaul product, the "Spacebed". It was among the best business seats in the world 10 years ago, but it was dated by today's standards. For a short 3 hour hop to Singapore, they'll do nicely (much better than the dreadful recliners that CX sometimes uses on this route )


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The seats were well-worn. Not to mention noisy and buggy (the seat controls didn't respond well) and the motor noise while reclining was rather disturbing.


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The cabin felt cramped somehow.


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As we settled down, we were offered a round of PDBs, where there was Champagne and this non-alcoholic cocktail of pineapple juice and bitter lemon. Another attendant came by to confirm my BTC order of Singapore Chicken Rice.


2014-06-10 13.14.36 by jurastudent, on Flickr

The cabin was rather hot. When we had passed 1:30, I noticed the doors weren't shut yet. Captain told us that because of ATC delays, we were going to be sitting on the ground for 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, he announced there was going to be another delay for another 20 minutes.

I've noticed as of late, the ATC delays at HKG have been getting worse and worse. In general, operations at HKG don't seem as well-oiled as they used to be (not to mention, the terminal temperature these days is more like a sauna! )

At HKG, I love seeing the row of Cathay aircraft. I still have a particular affection for Cathay, having grown up flying it so many times.


2014-06-10 14.11.22 by jurastudent, on Flickr

After takeoff, drink and meal orders were taken. I ordered a gin and tonic, while my mother had the Singapore Sling. She had one sip and sent it back, saying it was "too sweet" - just like my reaction back in December when I tried it on SQ.


2014-06-10 14.43.54 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Today's menu read as follows:

Like clockwork, SQ crews got to setting the tables quickly and delivered the appetizer. It was decent.


2014-06-10 15.24.34 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I love garlic bread.


2014-06-10 15.26.44 by jurastudent, on Flickr

My main of Singapore Chicken Rice, which was absolutely delightful. So simple, yet so tasty. Nuts to all those who think the Singapore dishes are "too cheap" to serve in J/F.


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It had all the right condiments too:


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My mother's main of the different curries. The mutton and rice were dry. Rather disappointing.


2014-06-10 15.40.43 by jurastudent, on Flickr

My dessert of Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream with berry sauce. Very refreshing.


2014-06-10 15.51.55 by jurastudent, on Flickr

While mom had the raspberry cream cake, which was way too big a portion (both of us aren't really fans of cake that are mostly mousse and not cakey.)


2014-06-10 15.52.06 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I had to have the cheese plate too. I left the Stilton untouched.


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And a cappuccino to wash it all down. Not nearly as good as the cappuccinos on EVA.


2014-06-10 16.03.39 by jurastudent, on Flickr

I kicked back and did some work on the laptop while Mom seemed to enjoy the entertainment. Her comment though was that the screens were tiny and of very low resolution.


2014-06-10 17.16.07 by jurastudent, on Flickr

All in all, it was another unmemorable SQ flight. Nothing outstanding, yet nothing egregious. SQ has its regional J product down to a science, and I've never been disappointed nor "wowed" by it.

tng11

With our late arrival into SIN, we had just about 4 hours to kill before our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. We decided to go for a very long walk all the way from T3 to T1.

SIN is one of my favourite airport in terms of things to do outside of lounges. There are good food options, a wide range of shops from the low-end to high-end, and some great people watching/aircraft spotting opportunities.


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Koi Pond:


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Butterfly Garden:

A really cool feature of SIN!


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T2 isn't as nice as T3 - the lower ceiling make it feel more claustrophobic.


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2014-06-10 20.17.43 by jurastudent, on Flickr

At the Lufthansa transfer counter, I was praying for a black swan event to occur tonight. I was hoping that my seat might be broken, or that the cabin would be overbooked and that we would have to be "unfortunately" rebooked in SQ Suites.

Alas, that didn't happen. The agent in her pink uniform was emotionless and abrupt. I asked about lounge access and she was like "You can only use Krisflyer Gold Lounge"... Ummm ok? I know *A F passengers get to use the F SKL lounge!


2014-06-10 18.53.58 by jurastudent, on Flickr

tng11

2014-06-10 22.13.45 by jurastudent, on Flickr

My first order of business was a good shower before the flight. Shower rooms were basically the same as those in the TPR.


2014-06-10 20.23.45 by jurastudent, on Flickr

The T2 SKL is not much different than the one in T3. Maybe it's somewhat bigger.


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It was very empty tonight, since only tonight's LX F, LH F and PPS Solitaire members on SQ flights were allowed in.


2014-06-10 20.34.47 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Still too dark for my liking. It would be better if there were views of the tarmac (I realize the layout of the gates at Changi make this not very feasible.)


2014-06-10 20.51.00 by jurastudent, on Flickr

The buffet selection pales in comparison to the on-demand menu in the TPR, though the selection was still decent.


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Having had varied experiences with the on-board dining in LH F, I hedged my bets and still had a light plate of salad, smoked salmon, sushi and fruits. My mother didn't have anything, but chose to have a go at the Singapore Sling again, which she said was much better here than on-board.


2014-06-10 20.50.35 by jurastudent, on Flickr


2014-06-10 20.58.04 by jurastudent, on Flickr

After about an hour and a half of sitting around, I realized that it was going to be a bit of a hike to Gate F42 and was a little sad that it was probably too late to be first on board to get some good pictures of the cabin.

On the way to Gate F42, I noticed quite a few passengers were being escorted to the gate (indicating to me this was a pretty HON-heavy flight). The queue for security was absolutely crazy. I'm not a fan of the security gates in T2, as there were only two screeners for an entire A380, while at least the way T3 does it is that the each holding pen is for a few flights at a time.


2014-06-10 22.23.42 by jurastudent, on Flickr

Though thankfully, they had priority service for F passengers in the J/F line. We were whisked away and brought to cut in front of the Y screening line (got quite a few dirty looks from those in line), and we were escorted to the jetway. The angle of the gate didn't allow me to get any pictures of our aircraft tonight, but boy oh boy, was I excited to be flying the A380 again!