puls

After last year's epic trips, all of which were somebody else's idea, I finally had a chance to spend some miles and go wherever. Somehow Hong Kong and Singapore popped to the top of my list, probably because a glut of AA and SQ miles from last year's cheap fare trip suggested one last pre-devaluation AA F award on Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific one way and another award in Singapore Suites the other way.

Mount Kinabalu had been in the news after the earthquake in July 2015, and upon reading more about Borneo and the trek up the mountain it seemed like a great adventure to put in between cities, especially for the sake of my outdoor-loving then-girlfriend-now-fiancée.

Table of contents:

1. Booking
2. Sakura Lounge, San Francisco
3. Japan Airlines First, San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo Haneda (HND)
4. A sushi-ful layover in Tokyo
5. Sakura First Lounge, Tokyo Haneda
6. Cathay Pacific First, Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Hong Kong (HKG)
7. Intercontinental Hong Kong
8. Three days in Hong Kong and Macau
9. Bo Innovation, Hong Kong
10. Hong Kong Airport Terminal 2
11. AirAsia, Hong Kong (HKG) to Kota Kinabalu (BKI)
12. Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu
13. Trek up Mount Kinabalu
14. Ferries Kota Kinabalu–Labuan–Brunei
15. Radisson Bandar Seri Begawan
16. A day in Bandar Seri Begawan
17. Sky Lounge, Brunei
18. Singapore First, Brunei (BWN) to Singapore Changi (SIN)
19. St. Regis Singapore
20. Five days in Singapore
21. Restaurant André, Singapore
22. The Private Room, Singapore Changi
23. Singapore Suites, Singapore Changi (SIN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT)
24. ANA Suite Lounge, Tokyo Narita
25. Singapore Suites, Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Los Angeles (LAX)
26. Alaska Board Room, Los Angeles
27. Alaska Economy, Los Angeles (LAX) to Portland (PDX)

puls

Booking

I booked right at 330 days out, and it wasn't difficult at all, with neither call taking more than about fifteen minutes. I also booked HKG-BKI on Dragonair with Avios and used the $100 stopover option to make our SQ tickets route BWN-SIN-NRT-LAX with Singapore as the stopover.

We decided against flying between Kota Kinabalu and Brunei, as this itinerary page on Wikivoyage somehow appealed to our sense of adventure more than yet another Airbus, even if it would be on a new and different airline.

A few months later, Dragonair significantly cut their frequencies on flights to Kota Kinabalu including the day we wanted to fly, so I made alternate arrangements by buying tickets on AirAsia. After saying yes to all of the upsells, the total cost was still less than $100 per person for the thousand-mile flight.

Hotels were cash, with the fourth night free in Hong Kong and Singapore thanks to the Citi Prestige card. The St. Regis in Singapore had a buy four nights, get two free promotional rate going, so after stacking with the Citi perk we paid effectively half price for six nights.

Total flight costs, per person:
67500 AA miles + $16.30
91375 SQ miles + SGD 672.90 (~$450, of which $100 was the stopover fee)
HKD 772.00 (~$100)

puls

Sakura Lounge, SFO

Our trip begins at SFO's international terminal after a horribly underpriced UberPOOL ride in from the suburbs. The lines for checking in two and a half hours before the flight were nonexistent and we stepped to the front of the First Class line.




After filling in our return details for immigration purposes, the agent handed us our boarding passes and tagged all of our bags with First Class tags.



We made our way to security, which had a priority line longer than the regular line, but we were through in about 20 minutes.



From past reports, I knew not to expect much from the lounge. But since this flight is the last one to depart SFO for the night, all of the other options would close and we'd have to eventually relocate here.



The agent at the door scanned our boarding passes and escorted us to the first class room, which was just a room with a dozen chairs and a nice view out towards the tarmac with all of the planes lined up for their late night departures.



While quiet, it was also a bit claustrophobic, so we decided to take our chances on the main area.



Most everybody was clustered in one half of the lounge, while the other half featured a gentleman (not pictured) snoring loudly enough to make it impossible for anybody else to relax.

Food and beverage spread was pretty meager, but I enjoyed an onigiri and some instant noodles before everybody eventually cleared out to head to the gate.

puls

Japan Airlines 1, San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo Haneda (HND)
August 28th, 2016
1:55 am–4:45 am (+1)
Boeing 777-300ER JA735J
Seats 2D/G (First)

One of my favorite parts of international terminal departures at SFO is the upper level walk to the gates and the first view you get of the plane.



The scrum at the gate was the least chaotic I've seen in a while, with the same brigade of agents we saw earlier manning the check-in counters.



We arrived just as business class boarding was called, but again, they were moving so efficiently that the queue took no time at all.

At the end of the jetway, we were met by the purser, who personally escorted us to our seats.

Gorgeous cabin.




Lots of space.



New Bose headphones.



USB and AC power.



The amenity kit was mostly an empty case (it had socks and an eye shade, but that was about it) but it was supplemented by some high-end branded cosmetics.




Wifi voucher, which I didn’t get around to using.



The purser then introduced us to her associates who were working in first class on the flight, one of whom returned with pre-departure beverages.




Another fifteen minutes or so later and the flight pushed back, some ten minutes behind schedule, and the safety video started.



I missed the opportunity to look out the window—being in a center seat—on the rare 10R departure from SFO.

As soon as the plane passed through 10,000 feet, the seatbelt sign went off and the flight attendant offered me menus and a beverage, explaining the meal service on this super late night flight.














She returned with a bottle of Salon Blanc des Blancs 2002, instead of the 2004 listed on the menu. Delightful.




The light snack of sushi and egg tofu was just perfect, exactly what you'd want at that late hour.



After finishing the snack, I went to change into pajamas in the relatively standard lavatory.




On my return, the bed was made up with a mattress pad and a duvet. After starting in on the latest and greatest movie I hadn’t seen (Captain America: Civil War) I got about six and a half hours of fantastic sleep.



When I awoke with a little over two hours to go, the flight attendant brought me a hot towel and a smoothie and offered me my choice of breakfast.




I went with the Japanese option, which was served on one tray.



Lobster with Two Color Jelly
Grilled Duck “Yuzu” Flavor
Braised Taro & “Yuba” Cake


Steamed Flounder Kelp Flavor with Grated Burdock


Japanese Pickles


After I finished, I got some coffee; the famed JAL ergonomic coffee mug seems to have disappeared, replaced by a fancy press pot with a cute hourglass for checking steeping time. Some of the best coffee I've had on a plane.



I resumed my movie, but I didn't have quite enough time to finish before landing at Haneda almost an hour early.



The review

This is a bit of a silly way to spend miles on first class travel, given that there's no full meal service and one spends most of the flight sleeping. Then again, this was a pre-devaluation AA award, so the premium over business class was minimal.

And I have nothing but praise for JAL and this crew after the experience, either; it was a fantastic flight. Probably a waste of miles, but a fantastic flight.

puls

A sushi-ful layover in Tokyo

After the early arrival, we had over six hours until our next flight, and Haneda isn’t far from central Tokyo at all. We cleared passport control and customs (the agents had us specify “transit” instead of “tourism” as the reason for our visit) and made the fifteen-second walk to the monorail station, which wasn’t even open for the next 20 minutes.

We purchased Suica cards from the vending machine and went up to the platform, where it was warm and muggy.






We took the monorail into Hamamatsucho station, switched to a train, and alighted at Higashi-Ginza station for our walk through a misty morning to the Tsukiji Market.



After seeing the lines at the two famous restaurants, we realized we simply didn’t have the time to wait and we went instead to the establishment with the friendliest person out front offering us seafood. It was about a 25-minute wait before we were seated, and once we were inside, it was only 60 seconds or so before our food came out.




We ended up with two assorted bowls of chirashizushi for a total of 6000 yen. Delicious.




Afterwards, we calculated our schedule and decided we had time to walk back to Hamamatsucho to see a bit more of Tokyo, which was waking up and full of scurrying commuters on a Monday morning.





To the Monorail station and back to the airport.

Silent Orange

Nice, loved that you squeezed in a trip to Tokyo during your connection. I would have just stayed in NRT for the fear of getting lost. How long was your layover?

puls

Thanks for reading, Silent Orange! Our layover was six hours, but it was also at HND, which is much, much closer to central Tokyo, instead of NRT.

puls

Sakura First Lounge, Tokyo Haneda

We had a few hours before our flight again, so we went upstairs to the observation deck before clearing passport control and security.



The plane spotting was a bit monotonous, with a China Eastern plane and an Asiana plane in addition to the chorus of local airlines.




Inside, a couple of cool displays.





Okay, on to the lounge. Japan Airlines has a couple of lounges in the international terminal at Haneda, but the main one is a common entrance for business class and first class.

One guess which way we turned.




Lots of nice seating areas, most of which were a little too full to photograph properly.






An extensive buffet—we skipped it entirely given the meal on the flight before, the meal in the city, and the meal to come on the next flight—with a made-to-order breakfast option.






Beverage options included the soda machine, the beer machine, and a fantastic selection of wine and liquor. The champagne on offer was Duval-Leroy 2005, of which we enjoyed a couple of glasses.





At the far end of the lounge, we eventually found… another entire lounge, decorated differently.




Its own champagne bar, featuring Laurent-Perrier.





Game room.



All in all, one of the nicest large lounges I’ve been to. Certainly no personal service or sit-down restaurant or most of the other trappings of first class that you might find in some airports, but still a fantastic place to while away a few hours. We decided to head down to the gate about 25 minutes before departure.

JohnRain

Great start to a very promising TR.
Looking forward to this.

puls

Cathay Pacific 543, Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Hong Kong (HKG)
August 29th, 2016
10:35 am–2:10 pm
Boeing 747-400 B-HUJ
Seats 1A/K (First)

I'm not going to lie; one of the main attractions of flying via Tokyo was to get another flight in seat 1A on a 747, something I've reviewed twice before on these pages. And even though an itinerary option via LAX with the long haul in CX F opened up eventually, we opted to keep this routing because of the 747.

There she is: one of CX’s last three 747s, just a hair over 21 years old and delivered to Cathay Pacific more than two years before Hong Kong was handed over from the United Kingdom to China.



Boarding was nearly complete when we arrived at the gate, so we walked straight on. I credit Japanese efficiency and the likely light load on the flight.



What a fantastic cabin. Nine seats, compared to 12 on United or 14 on British Airways in the same space. Five were filled.







Pre-departure beverage? You know it. Not sure why CX has a different medium-haul champagne in first class when they cost about the same amount, but I can't complain, as the Amour de Deutz 2006 was fantastic.




The purser stopped by to introduce herself and apologize for the delay, which she said could be as much as an hour. I looked at where I was sitting, glanced at my champagne glass, and realized I was okay with that.

I took a look at the menu.














More champagne and some snack mix to wait out the delay.



The flight pushed back a little less than twenty minutes late and allowed for some moderately interesting plane spotting on the extended taxi to the island runway. I guess this counts as the first time I've been in a plane on an overseas taxi?







The always-amazing takeoff view out the front from the nose of a 747.



During the takeoff roll, the top half of the flower at my seat fell off. I suppose it had been placed there the previous day before the plane flew to Tokyo.



After the climb to 10,000 feet, a brief look at the first class lavatories just aft of the first doors; they're really nice.





We decided to dine together, something we've never done on a plane before. The table extension made an appearance and the table was set.



With the first courses: Artisan “The Sands Block” Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2013.



Assorted sushi.



Smoked salmon and prawn.



Bread basket.



Grilled beef tenderloin, green beans, carrots, creamy polenta, and Madeira sauce.




With the main: Château Olivier, Pessac-Léognan, 2009.



With dessert: Ramos Pinto “Quinta da Evramoira”, 10-year Port.



Camembert, Gorgonzola, White Cheddar, Mimolette.



Fresh seasonal fruit.



Apricot cheesecake and mixed berry compote.



Coffee and pralines.



The whole meal service took quite a bit longer than one might expect thanks to an epic bout of turbulence: our water glasses were going back and forth and the table cloth was a great mess, and the flight attendants had to retreat to their seats and buckle in several times.



We finished up the meal service with about an hour to go in the flight. I tried to finish Captain America: Civil War again, but once again ran out of time in the flight.



On landing, we followed an El Al 772 to an adjacent gate.



One long people mover ride later, we cleared immigration super quickly and bought our Octopus cards from the MTR information desk to begin our trip into the city.




The review

It was a short but extremely sweet flight. Even more so than our Japan Airlines flight before and our Singapore Airlines flights after, the crew on this sector provided service with a certain effortless perfection. The hard product was the most comfortable of the trip, even if it wasn't the most spacious.

As for the soft product: the food was very good, even if the selections weren't the most exciting. The wine list included only a couple of show-off names (the Champagne and the two Scotch whiskies) but was otherwise solid, albeit mid-priced.

After this experience, I’d love to try Cathay Pacific’s long-haul first class product. Too bad the 747 is soon to be nothing more than a historical artifact, with its final flight in less than a week as I write this.

puls

Thanks, JohnRain! It's turning into a bit of a marathon, and I hope it remains entertaining enough.

offerendum

Nice report of the old lady! Unfortunately only have bad memories of CX 747

puls

Intercontinental Hong Kong

I became an IHG Rewards Club Platinum member (really, an IHG Rewards Club member at all) three months ago when I applied for the IHG credit card, and based on what I’ve read here, I wasn’t expecting much in terms of perks for it without paying again for the Intercontinental Ambassador program. But let me back up a bit.

We emerged from the MTR tunnels at East Tsim Sha Tsui station and picked our way past the construction for a block or so to find ourselves at the grand entrance.



Into the lobby.



I had booked a second-tier “harbour view” room, figuring that the view was the main selling point of this hotel. By the time we were checked in, I was flabbergasted to learn we had been quadruple-upgraded to a top-floor executive suite. My only guess as to why is that all of the regular view rooms were sold out, and this was the last room available with a view at all.

And oh, what a view it was.




The room was pretty nice, too.





The bathroom was even nicer, with a separate tub and steam shower and marble as far as the eye could see.







We tried the hotel buffet breakfast on our next-to-last morning; at 350 HKD ($45) per person, it’s rather pricey. Had we wanted to add breakfast to our room rate at the time of booking, it would have been about 65 USD per night for both of us. I guess it would be worth it had we been in the mood for a huge breakfast every day.

The buffet itself is one of these amazing endless assortments of everything you could possibly want.






















The review

Easily the best hotel experience I’ve ever had. I have no expectations that the experience would ever repeat itself, but maybe even without realizing it, I’ve started taking a much more serious look at IHG hotels as options when I travel.

puls

Thanks, offerendum! What happened to give you such bad memories?

puls

Three days in Hong Kong and Macau

We didn’t have a ton of time in Hong Kong, so we made a beeline for some of the biggest attractions, starting at the KCR Clock Tower:



The Peak Tram:




The Peak itself:




The Dr. Sun Yat-sen museum:



Ngong Ping 360:






Hong Kong Museum of History:



We also took the TurboJet to Macau, which cost 164 HKD ($21) one-way and had seats roughly equivalent to domestic US first class in a 2-3-3-3-2 layout:





Macau was rainy. There really isn’t much to see or do other than the casinos, though we did visit St. Dominic’s church.