prncess674

This is being double posted on my blog as I complete sections. I will probably only post the travel related info here. If you are interested in our nonsense fun part of the trip you can check out the blog.

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Ahh, yes another trip, another travel tale. For those not interested in my addiction to all things related to air travel you will probably find the following post tragically boring. I haven’t written a true trip report since Bangkok, which was well over a year ago. Lisa and I both were lamenting while in Sonoma about what to do for Labor Day weekend and seeing as I was in desperate need of United elite qualifying miles we determined that Singapore was the place to be. Tickets were booked and all should have been right with the world. Only things were terribly wrong the night before my trip was to begin. To my shock and horror my upgrade has not cleared and I was staring down the proverbial barrel of a 15 hour trip Chicago to Hong Kong in COACH. Yes, shock, horror and dismay were welling deep inside me Thursday evening. I literally have never flown that far in coach. Sure I have done DC to London in coach which is a short skip and jump (just over 5 hrs) but never this far.

Roomie Mike was a peach and drove me out to IAD, which is apparently another country because it is so damn far away. Seriously, calling this a DC airport is a joke. I showed my shining face at the 1K desk and pulled out my well worn thick with added pages sewn in passport and my 1K card peeking out from the middle of the passport. I put the biggest smile imaginable on my face and was like “I need an angel.” I proceeded to plead my case about the ORD-HKG flight being sold out in biz and the thought of 15 hrs in coach was creating knots in my stomach. She proceeded to bang away on the computer and figured out she could confirm me on the ORD-NRT-SIN flight in biz. There was some talk of having to call the rate desk to figure out the fare difference, but she then pulled out my 1K card and winked and smiled and said “How about we just forget about calling the rate desk.” My face just beamed! Confirmed biz instead of trans-pacific in coach!

Friday, September 01, 2006
IAD-ORD, Seat 5C
Boeing 757

I had wasted so much time fiddling with the ticket I had little time left to dilly dally before my flight. I made a quick stop in the Red Carpet Club (RCC) for a bathroom break and then made my way to C27 where a lovely 757 was waiting to whisk me off IAD-ORD.

This flight was just your standard short haul domestic first class. No meal was served and my water glass was kept full by the FA. I napped a bit and read a bit but a flight with less than 2 hrs of flight time really zooms fast. ‘NBC in flight’ was playing on the overhead monitors but I didn’t even bother with watching it since it is usually just a huge commercial, IMHO.

We landed and pulled up at the end of the C terminal in ORD. I had less than an hour prior to boarding of my NRT (Tokyo, Japan) flight so I made a quick stop in the RCC to collect free cocktail coupons and wait for Lisa’s flight to land from STL. Pleasantries were exchanged amongst friends and we made our way to the nearby gate C-18 to board our flight from Chicago to Tokyo.

Friday, September 01, 2006
ORD-NRT, Seat 26D
United Airlines #881


Lisa and I were in the last row of Business on the internationally configured 747. I know that others are fans of the upper deck on the 747 but the last row actually has more leg room than most other rows of seats. Welcome amenity kits and slippers were at each seat. Pretty soon the FAs were around passing sparkling wine, orange juice and water. Lisa & I both had the sparkling wine, which was your standard United swill, but I have been accustomed to the gross mediocrity of UA service.

The doors were latched, safety demos were performed and then we taxied out to the runway, but then nothing. We idled for close to an hour. I don’t like it when anything is out of my control. I realize I don’t know how to fly a 747 but it is still frustrating as all hell to be sitting on the tarmac. My mind starts racing to things petty, that REALLY shouldn’t matter, but alas it is the little things that always seem to send me reeling into a panic attack. My face and lips go pale, I become very quiet, my chest constricts to what feels to me like a dagger being driven into my heart. I have been fully worked up by a cardiologist and have been to the emergency room several times when the pain actually occurs and they have determined it must be all mental. Even knowing they are in my mind doesn’t make them any more palatable but I have learned to get them under control. I used to drop to the floor and curl up in a ball and cry till the pain subsided. This was before I knew that it wasn’t really a heart attack. The only thing that stops them is deep breathing and time. I was really aggravated that I was not allowed to carry my own water bottle on board and there is no way I can choke down 3 Advil which seems to ease the attack. Kokonutz is quite good at talking me down from an attack, and once again he didn’t fail me. His words of wisdom that made me laugh were “I would rather be having a panic attack on my way to Bali, than sitting at my desk at work. Relax! Enjoy!” As the engines finally roared into the sky my heart rate slowed and I was able to chat and catch up with Lisa, and thoughts of a panic attack were left on the ground in Chicago. Hopefully they will stay there for the rest of the trip!

Drink carts were out in the aisle and seeing as I wasn’t the one driving and it WAS after noon, Drinking was the order of business. Nuts in ramekins were passed out with the first round of drinks. Lisa and I both had the Van Loveren Sauvignon Blanc, which I found quite light and fruity, a perfect summer afternoon choice. Lunch orders were taken and Lisa and I both ordered the chicken. (more on the chicken later, because this gets really interesting.) When taking orders no mention of our status was made and usually something is said like “Thank you Miss Princess for flying UAL with us today. As a valued 100,000K mile flyer we would like to offer you first choice in menu selections.” The crew is Chicago based and so far seems pretty underwhelming.


I don’t like salmon and so I have no idea if it was any good. The pate just looked funny so it too went untouched. I am usually not this picky of an eater but I just couldn’t stomach either. The Wensleydale cheese reminded me of Manchego and I ate every morsel along with the raw veggie crudite. The salad was your standard mixed greens with one lonely olive and one lonely cherry tomato. Salad plates were cleared and we proceeded to watch them serve the rest of the cabin their main courses. I was glad that we were last since it gave me a bit of time to digest the cheese from the starter plate. They finally get to us and start to put down a short rib dinner. There was some story told that they didn’t heat up enough chicken meals, but we could wait while they heated it up if we wanted. Looking at the overcooked beef Lisa and I both opted to wait for the chicken, and wait we did. Everyone around us was served dessert before we even had our main courses.


They finally made it to our seat with two chicken entrees. However they weren’t the entrée listed above and it wasn’t the chicken dish served to the rest of the cabin. We were brought pecan crusted chicken with a side of rice and mixed grilled veggies. I have a feeling what happened is they didn’t count properly and they luckily had two first class chicken entrees left. Hence we got those. It was quite tasty and it wasn’t the horrid beef so I was happy. Main courses were cleared and we were offered dessert.


I was stuffed like a tick from the previous two courses so I declined on dessert but Lisa had a glass of port and a slice of cheesecake. Our first round of movies were ending so it was back to girl talk. Hell, we have 12.5 hours of flight time, we have lots of time to do everything! We are already talking of making a true stopover in Hong Kong on the way back. Should be fun! It is so much fun traveling with someone who is addicted to travel as much as I am!

Lisa is currently napping as I wrap up the first installment of the trip report. I am just happy that I am not stuck in coach! My trip report is already 3 typed pages. I have a feeling this report could end up being of epic proportions!

prncess674

We left our travelers somewhere over the Pacific. The flight over was nothing spectacular and approximately one hour prior to landing the galley was rumbling to life and the carts were brought out for the pre-landing snack.


Lisa and I both had the pie with a glass of sauvignon blanc. It wasn’t anything special and the crew seemed disinterested in the service. The galley FA came over just prior to landing and handed us a bottle of champagne and apologized for the earlier mix up with the dinner selections. The mix up wasn’t a big deal, I just think the crew did a poor job of keeping us informed of the problem.

We taxied to our gate in NRT and made our way through the efficient security. The US really should take lessons from other countries on how to efficiently run a security screening point. We then headed to the NRT RCC where we logged onto the free wi-fi and I posted the first installment of my trip report. There really wasn’t enough time for a shower so we passed the little bit of time just catching up on emails and such. It was soon time to board and we made the short walk to our gate and boarded a Boeing 777 bound for Singapore.

Saturday, September 8, 2006
NRT-SIN
Boeing 777
Miles 3332; Schedule flying time 7.0 hrs

The 777 was completely full but luck was on our side we were in row 9 in the mini cabin and once again had tons of leg room. The crew was NRT based and it was very evident. They had obviously read the service manual and understood the meaning of service. They were skittering about the cabin helping biz class passengers with storing luggage, offering pre departure beverages and they were so efficient that they even were offering refills. Most US based crews wait till the last possible minute to offer beverages and then run around basically ripping the drinks out of your hand saying it is time to go. That one never makes sense to me.

The service was by the UA handbook of pre dinner cocktails, followed by the appetizer, then main courses and then dessert. Here is the menu



All I kept thinking about was when would the service be over so I could get some sleep. The appetizers were okay and I Lisa and I both chose the chicken entrée. It was tasty but 5 minutes after it was placed in front of me, I asked that it be removed so I could get some much needed rest. We never made it to dessert. Lisa and I both slept for the majority of the remainder of the flight.

Not much exciting to say about that flight. It is still butt ... long (6.5 hour flying time) but I was tired and just wanted off the plane. We landed in Singapore and you could tell it was warm outside even considering the late hour of 11:30pm. We collected luggage and headed to the taxi line. We both were dazed and a little tired but we were excited to be in Singapore, a city we both had been to in the past. The taxi dropped us off at the Oriental Hotel where we checked in and showed to our lovely club level room. The room was a nice size and had two beds as requested. I didn’t think the room was any nicer than the Conrad Hotel, which is where I stayed last time. Everything I had read was the big difference came in the club level lounge service so I figured I had to wait till tomorrow to really make a decision on which I preferred.

Lisa and I changed into shorts and tees and hopped in a taxi to Boat Quay in search of Tiger Beer and pepper crabs, a Singapore institution. We were seated at a waterside table where a nice breeze was blowing and we indulged in beer and crabs all the while never stopping to catch our breath since we were both talking so much. It’s funny that Lisa and I can go away for a week together and manage NOT to run out of things to say to each other! We closed up the little restaurant and finally headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Being half way around the world is cool but all the flying and time change can wreak havoc on your body clock. Lisa and I were both awake at 6am. Uggh!!!! Not one to just lay around we both changed into workout clothes and headed down to the hotel gym for a nice morning workout. A morning workout was a great way to start the day and felt good after the long flight.

After breakfast we headed to the lounge to indulge in the complimentary breakfast at the Oriental Hotel. The breakfast spread was extensive and included all the American standards but also included more international items such as dim sum and some Japanese breakfast items. They also had Duval-Leroy champagne. We might have had a few glasses. ;-)

As we were finishing up breakfast our friend Stimpy walked into the lounge and we chatted about all manner of nonsense. Our flight for Bali was leaving later in the afternoon so we bid Stimpy goodbye in search of shopping on Orchard Road.

Now anyone who knows me, knows that I might have a small shopping problem. Shocking I know. The cabbie dropped us off at Takashimaya and we made our way down the street. I bought a cool pair of shoes and hip tarnished silver colored handbag, that is perfect for a Saturday night date. I seem to recall more bags but that is all I can recall.

The time was getting late and we needed to make our way back to hotel to pack and head back to the airport for our flight to Bali!!! I am going to leave the Singapore airlines business class lounge and flight info for the next post. This airline is simply amazing in EVERY way and deserves all the wonderful details in a single post!

ldsant

This is great! I love living vicariously - you make it seem as if I'm there Thanks. Looking forward to reading more!

ylwae

So UA's into cannibal cuisine now ?

prncess674

Damn spell check. Should have read HAM.

Kurt

Good on you for getting out and enjoying the post-midnight Singapore cuisine! If you're wide-awake at 1 a.m. you might as well see something while you're there. Looking forward to more ^

prncess674

All I can say about Singapore Airlines is OH! MY! GOD!
I am a true travel dork and have wasted countless hours reading trip reports and all I kept telling myself was no airline can be as awesome as the trip reports make it out to be, but let me be the first to say everything you read about SIA is true!! I was only a short haul biz class ticket, I can only imagine what long haul F class is like!

We left for the airport way too early but we wanted to have time to experience the lounge. The taxi dropped us off and we made our way to the biz class check in line where we promptly checked in. We checked in at two side by side counters and the two agents worked quickly and got us seats together. Our bags were tagged with Priority Raffles Class tags.

First stop was immigration where I got my second stamp of the trip. We then headed to the lounge which was absolutely huge. The food and drink selection was extensive. Tea sandwiches with the crust cut off, scones with clotted cream, a broth based soup, fried spring rolls, chicken drummets, assorted pastries and several other items I don’t recall. The full service bar didn’t open till 3:30pm but there were still full service liquors, wine, beer, bottled water, hot tea, coffee and soft drinks.

Our gate was pretty far away so we left early. In SIN you clear security at the gate. There was no one waiting in line and we were sitting in the boarding area for maybe five minutes before boarding was called. Landing and immigration cards were handed out in the boarding area so we filled those out while waiting.

Raffles class was called for boarding and Lisa and I were just a *tad* excited so we were the first on board the 777. It was the older Jubilee version, but it was still spacious and well maintained. Each seat also had a personal TV, deep recline, electronic controls and a leg rest. Overall a fabulous seat for our short 2.5 hour flight to Bali. We were assigned 12 D&F with the middle seat open. We began to settle in and the FAs were over immediately helping us store luggage and get situated. Once seated we were offered Piper Heidsieck 1999 Brut Vintage champagne in a REAL glass, no cheap plastic glass like UAL. Newspapers were then offered and I declined, she then asked if I would like a magazine. I figured I would be brought over some sorry cheap magazine. Instead she brought over a new latest edition of ‘Vanity Fair’ and ‘Vogue!’ Continental Airlines usually only has a 2 month old copy of ‘Latin Finance.’

The doors were shut promptly on time. Only 10 of the 30 biz class seats were full. Lisa and I had champagne as our pre-dinner cocktail. Printed menus were passed out. Since our flight departed at 4:40pm it was considered an in between meal time and was listed as a “light meal” menu. I would hate to see a full dinner. Just as a comparison, my flight from Washington, DC to Chicago was the same flight time and all we got was cookie and a soft drink in F.

The meal was beautifully presented with linens and a full set of silverware including a metal knife. It was still airline food and while tasty was nothing to write home about as far as taste. Lisa & I had tried several of the items in the lounge so we both picked at our chicken dish. Each time they came to our seat we were addressed by our last name.

After the dishes were cleared we settled in for a little nap before landing in Bali. Just prior to landing the FA kneeled by our seat, greeted us by last name and personally thanked us for flying Singapore Airlines and wished us a nice holiday.

Upon landing we gathered our things and purchased our VOA, (Visa on Arrival) which was USD$10. A full page Visa sticker was placed in our passport and a stamp. Lisa & I are both passport stamp junkies and found this way cool, yes travel dorkness at its height.

We then made our way to baggage claim and as soon as we made it to the belt our bags were just coming around. Perfect timing!! We went through the ‘nothing to declare’ door at customs where we found our pre-arranged driver to the The Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, A Luxury Collection Hotel. He immediately took our bags and deposited us into the nice air-conditioned Toyota sedan. Traffic was light and we were at the hotel in no time.

We pulled up to the huge entrance where the 5* service was very evident. The concierge was waiting at the entrance and greeted us by name, two Balinese girls were dressed in traditional garb and danced a small dance whilst three men played traditional music on small xylophones. We were immediately brought to our junior suite with lagoon view and balcony where we completed all the paper work, the bellman was busy turning on lights, storing luggage and asking if there was anything else we need. Within 10 minutes of pulling up to the hotel Lisa & I were in flip flops on the balcony sipping wine! Oh the rough life some of us lead! ;-)

das

This is a great report, keep it coming, it brings back great memories of Bali Do where many of us flew in Raffles SIN-DPS-SIN. Those "light meals" on SQ (and others like Emirates) seem like fairly grand dinners compared the slop served on domestic midcons.

Thanks again for pulling this together, your trip reports are always fun to read.

prncess674

It was dark by the time we finally settled into our balcony. We had plans of going into Kuta for dinner but somehow a quiet evening at the ocean side bar seemed to be all we were in the mood for that evening. We drank plenty of Bintang (the local Indonesian beer) in the warm air. It wasn’t nearly as hot and humid as I expected. The ocean breeze made it actually quite pleasant. The hour was well past midnight and Lisa & I hadn’t had a real full night of sleep in a bed since leaving the east coast almost 2 days ago.

The time difference was still wreaking havoc on my body and I was up at 6am. I grabbed my book and peeked out the curtains. The sun was shining, but the grass was still misty and damp. Hotel workers were buzzing around the pool and lagoons preparing for the guests. Lisa woke up a bit later and came out and asked if I wanted to hit the gym again this morning. It was too early to lay by the pool so I put on my running shoes and we hit the gym. The gym was nicely equipped with all the standard pieces. We were the only patrons using the facility before 7am! Working out on vacation is not something I usually do and here I was working out for the second day in a row. I have to say it felt good. After our workout we went by the spa to make appointments for facials. Our appointments were for 10am, which gave us plenty of time for a shower and a leisurely breakfast.

After our workout we made our way to the lagoon café for breakfast. Breakfast wasn’t included in our rate but was only $15USD per person and was extensive. We were seated at an outdoor lagoon side table and had a nice breakfast.

We made our way to the spa and we were promptly escorted to our treatment rooms. I had a hydrating mask. I figured if the dry plane air hadn’t sucked every bit of moisture out of my face already the Bali sun would sap the rest of it. It was quite relaxing and included an extra 20 min leg massage at the end, which was quite heavenly.

After all our morning activities we slipped into bathing suits and sunglasses and headed to the lagoon pools. The chairs were these huge teak loungers with big huge cushions. Very comfy, but you needed to get assistance to move them if you wanted to change directions to face the sun during the day. Not a bad problem since someone was usually waiting to assist. Lisa & I lounged and drank a few beers. I read the guide book looking for some evening activities. Lazing in the sun is one of our favorite activities but I didn’t travel half way around the world just to sit in the sun, though one full day in the sun always makes me happy.

I read out loud to Lisa several dinner choices and we decided on Ketupat Restaurant, which is just beyond the Jonathan Gallery on Jl. Legian. If you didn’t read the guide book you would never know this little gem existed. The tables surround a small pool. They also have 6 or 7 private cabanas with floor cushion style seating, these look like they could be fun for a group of 6 or 8 people. We were seated at an outdoor balcony table. We ordered two of the Indonesian style sampler platters. They were only $6USD a piece and each plate could have fed a small army. We also ordered a bottle of French sauvignon blanc. The menu price equated to $15USD and was the most expensive on the menu. While not a wine connoisseur’s wine it was quite good for the price. Most of the guide books said wine was expensive and generally pretty bad so we weren’t holding out hopes for anything great. Paying that much for drinks in Bali is expensive considering you would pay a $1 for a beer we were happy. We sat in the night air chatting away. They were finally cleaning up around us. We asked if they would sell us a bottle of unopened wine to take back to the room. Knowing that usually doesn’t fly in the US we weren’t holding out hope. They gladly obliged and brought it to us in a bag. Dinner and three bottles of wine ended up costing $60USD!

We weren’t really into hanging out in the clubs that night so we took our wine back to our lovely balcony where I changed into jammies and Lisa & I gabbed over our wine. 3 bottles of wine in one night is quite a lot so needless to say that solved our problem of being up with the chickens!

Our plan for today was to make arrangements for a driver to take us up to Ubud for shopping and sightseeing. The concierge was efficient in arranging our driver pickup for 11am. We stopped into the Lagoon Café again for the huge breakfast spread and headed back to the room so Lisa could send a few last minute work emails. Other than a few glances at the work email on the BlackBerry I really did a good job of separating work and play this trip. Literally a first for me!

Our driver was out front ready and waiting in a nice large SUV style vehicle. The drive up Ubud is a bit bumpy and me quite car sick .It is approximately an hour north. Ubud is the cultural center of Bali. I was so glad when we finally made our first stop. I didn’t really care what the site was at the time, but I was glad we stopped!

We stopped at the Monkey Forest, which was quite odd. All these horrid little monkeys run free through the park and accost visitors for the bananas which you buy at the entrance. Neither of us wanted near the rat like creatures so we didn’t purhase any bananas. We headed straight for the temple in the center of the park and made a pretty quick exit afterwards. If I ever go back to Bali, the Monkey Forest is something I can live with NEVER doing again!

We drove for a bit more and made our way to the center of Ubud. There is a HUGE market. It isn’t as huge as the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (which was awesome, by the way) but is pretty darn big considering the size of the town. I shopped for hours. The driver kept finding us and I believe thought we were quite nutty. He got paid to hang out while we shopped. Periodically he would take our packages and ask if we wanted to go see XYZ sight. Our response was “if there is time after shopping!” Yes I have a shopping addiction and I really had no idea how I was going to get it all home. We ate lunch at a little café near the market. I had a delicious yellow curry chicken salad sandwich. I think our lunch total was $5USD!

It was starting to get dark out and we decided we didn’t want to be on the dark back roads heading back to Nusa Dua, so we found our driver and started making the journey back. On the way we did stop at a painting gallery where Lisa bought a painting for $50USD.

Sufficiently shopped out we dozed a bit in the car ride home. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it past that point. I dropped all my packages in the foyer our suite and flopped into bed. I am positive I could slept all night but sleeping away a vacation is not a good thing. Lisa let me nap till about 8pm. We then decided to rally and I jumped in the shower to shock me back to life.

Just before 9pm we were headed into Kuta for dinner and a night out on the town. We got a bit sidetracked in finding our restaurant. We found the counterfeit DVD/CD store. They sell DVDs & CDs for approximately $1USD a piece. The quality is iffy on my many of them but most were just fine. I picked up approximately 20 and was happy with my purchases.

We were looking for one restaurant in the guide book but ended up stopping at another. I had read about this one in the guide book as well and it was charming. The name of it was Kopi Pot. The fish dishes were soooo fresh and delicious. The guide book really didn’t talk about the entrees too much but they really should.

This was to be our night out in the city. Lisa & I are NOT big going out clubbing people but felt it just wouldn’t be a Kuta experience without partying in the area. We made our way down to Paddy’s Pub and we were drinking a few beers, both with looks of how long do we have to sit here to say “been there done that!” The Aussie surfers ended up making our night at absolute blast. I won’t rehash that story again but it was a fun night and they did invite us to go surfing with them the following day! We closed down the pub and it was probably 3am when we were finally in a cab back to the hotel. The golden arches of McDonald’s were shouting out to us and our non English speaking driver must thought we were nuts when we kept shouting (after many beers) “McDonalds.” He drove us through the drive-thru lane and we picked up fries and Big Macs. Not exactly traditional Indonesian fare but a good hot order of McD’s fries tastes so good after a night of too much drinking. Actually I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually ate at a McD’s. I think it has something to do with the fact that I may have grown up just a tad in the last 5 years.

The next morning was ROUGH. Neither of us were even stirring before 10am. We laid around popping Advil and downing water saying we were WAY too old for partying till 3am anymore. By 10:45am we realized we missed breakfast in the café, which ended at 10am. I checked the room service menu and breakfast was served till 11am! I called room service and order two English Breakfast and a pot of tea! Our in room breakfast with all the service charges was less than café buffet, so if you decide that eating breakfast on your balcony is more your style you won’t spend anymore than the buffet.

The next best hangover remedy is lounging on the beach. Our previous sun day was pool side. Today we decided we would lay on the beach. Hardly any hotel guests were on the beach which was quite nice. It was like we had our own private beach. There were a few beach hawkers but they were all quite pleasant and weren’t pushy at all. I had a nice long beach nap, which is one of my favorite vacation past times, the warm salty air blowing, the sun kissing your skin and dark island men bringing me water to hydrate. The sun was setting and it got cold on the beach so I wrapped up in two big fluffy beach towels, just breathing it all in, the peacefulness, the beauty and the great memories swirling through my mind.

Deciding it was getting too cold to lay in the shade in swim suits we headed back to the room and showered so we could head into town for our last dinner. There was a traffic accident and the driver took us a different way and we had him stop maybe a half mile from Jl. Legian where we got out and walked in all the shops along the street. My touristy souvenir was a big oversized t-shirt with the Bintang logo on it. It will be my sleep shirt. We then headed to a little store selling paintings. Lisa bought another painting and I bought a very cool Asian inspired painting that is nearly 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall. It is going to look great framed over my bed.

Shopping got the better of us so we didn’t get to dinner till fairly late. I don’t even remember where we ate but it was good, cheap and satisfying. After dinner we walked past the bomb memorial and realized that only a handful of Americans perished. Many Americans couldn’t even tell you where Bali is and most don’t even realize what an event the bombings were in world news. It was past midnight and we were both pretty tired so we hopped a cab back to the hotel for our last night on the balcony.

Anytime Lisa & I travel together there is always talk of the next vacation destination and we did lots of chatting about what would be next on the balcony that night. Lots of ideas are being thrown out and I am sure a long weekend in the islands will be one trip, but other grander destinations are also being thrown around for Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

Close to 1am we finally both decided it was time to crash. Our return flight to Singapore was to leave at 1:10pm, so we set the alarm for 10am assuming we would be up way before that to pack and get ready for the flight. BIG MISTAKE!

The alarm blared and neither of us did a great job at moving. It was like we had switched to island time. The Bali airport was small and we figured if we left by 11:15 we would be there in plenty of time. Our room looked like a bomb exploded. Packages, clothes and wine bottles everywhere. We did a terrible job of estimating how much we actually bought and how much room it would take to pack it all away. My suitcase was bursting so the beach bags were put into play. Thank God for those, otherwise I would have been carrying a plastic laundry bag home on the plane!

It was nearing 11:30am when we finally walked out the door. Next time we should definitely pack the night before. Especially me, who shops like crazy! Our taxi was waiting at the door and whisked us off the airport.

The next post will cover the return flight to SIN, our afternoon in SIN, the flight SIN-HKG. We barely made the flight to SIN which made for an interesting morning.