nequine

Great to see pics of the Melbourne Marriott again, we had a fantastic 5 night stay there last year when touring Australia. The concierge staff were definitely the best I have ever known, very helpful is not describing them properly!

dctravels74

The Melbourne Marriott proved to be a convenient base for our 4 days in Melbourne.

Chinatown was a short walk away:




So were the malls:








and the many excellent coffee and pastries shops:


Visited old haunts and had late night coffee with an old mate at Chapel Street.

The second day we took a short Uber ride to my university for a stroll down memory lane:










Sat on the south lawn as the memories came flooding back. Cannot believe 25 years have passed just like that.

There was the obligatory visit to Victoria Street, Richmond for some Vietnamese goodness:






We also Ubered to Clayton so my wife could visit her university and spent half a day shopping at Chaddy (Chadstone Shopping Centre). The place was packed during the weekend. Had plenty of yummy Peking Duck and other Chinatown delights with family and friends.

On our final day, we met up with my wife's aunt for a yum-cha lunch at Docklands.

Final dinner of the trip was at Meat & Wine Co Southgate, a stylish place overlooking Queensbridge Square, the Yarra River and Melbourne's skyline:


We had assorted ribs as starters to share between the four of us (very, very good):


We ordered Wagyu ribeye, Wagyu New York (porterhouse) and two fillets as our mains:




Finished off with the crème brûlée and passionfruit tart:




Walked to Crown Casino for some coffee before calling it a night.

dctravels74

Our 4 days in Melbourne flew by and the time soon came to leave. We hailed our Uber from the Melbourne Marriott at 8:30AM and in less than half an hour we arrived at Tullamarine Airport:


The stretch limo outside the hotel was not our ride unfortunately, just made a better photo op than the Holden Calais we got.

The scene at the airport was chaotic: long lines and people everywhere. Apparently there was a global outage of the passenger passport identification system. Or something to that effect. There was only one counter for F passengers and we were fortunate to be able to check-in with no wait at all. We saw long queues even for J passengers.


Cleared the usual security hoopla with minimal fuss and made our way to the SilverKris lounge located near Gate 8:


We turned left to the tiny but serene F section of the lounge:


There were only a handful of passengers here compared to the huge but extremely crowded J section:


Very comfortable high-back chairs:


Food on offer was pretty limited:






The drinks selection:




Had some noodles, sausages and dim-sum washed down with juices and ice-cream:




Quick visit to the men's room before boarding (I love SQ's shaving kit):

dctravels74

A boarding announcement was made in the SilverKris First Class lounge at 10AM so we took a leisurely walk to our plane and our Row 1 middle seats:


There was a single row in the First Class cabin and the only other occupant (1A) was the brother of the Sultan of Johor. We were on the same SIN-MEL flight a few days earlier.

Anyhow, "Let's Begin":


Some plane spotting from the empty suite to my right:


The menu:








Changed into my pyjamas straight after takeoff and had the seat converted before starting with lunch.

Chilled Malossol Caviar with Melba toast and condiments:


The shot of vodka woke up my appetite.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with ricotta cheese dumpling and pesto (good):


Salad of Rocket Leaves and Cherry Tomatoes with honey mustard dressing:


My BTC Lamb Loin in Green Curry (lamb was poorly done, curry was tasty):


Chocolate cake with ice-cream (cake & ice-cream should be warmer):


Enjoyed watching Patriots Day, a powerful account of the Boston Marathon bombing. With Mark Wahlberg as the lead I started out skeptical but the movie did not degenerate into the action-thriller category (like xXx: Return of Xander Cage which I lasted barely 15 minutes).

Managed a few hours of rest, waking up with less than 3 hours to go. Refreshment time.

Fried Radish Cake in XO Sauce with prawns and chai poh (good):


Service from both FAs in the F cabin was top-class. My little quirks were figured out immediately as I found all my needs attended to, and then some. I suspect 1A had a lot to do with things. I couldn't care less to be honest and enjoyed the flight immensely. The purser Max was around from beginning to the end, setting a great example for the crew. He requested for feedback and I wrote a glowing review.

My prized souvenir from the flight:


Landed slightly behind schedule:


Well done, SQ. A flight befitting royalty.

dctravels74

Heard good things about the new JW Marriott in Singapore so I booked a one-night stay on points converting from SPG at the generous ratio of 1:3. We ubered to the hotel from Changi after our SQ F MEL-SIN flight, freshened up with a shower before meeting with my brother and parents for dinner at Intercontinental nearby.

The hotel's British architects Foster and Partners did an amazing job while the interior design is by French designer Philippe Starck:




Iain Nutting's scrap metal Gorilla sculpture at the entrance:


South Korean artist Lee Lee Nam's 7-metre video wall upon entry:


Hotel lobby:




I was informed at check-in I've been upgraded to a Club Premier Room. Enquired politely whether Platinum Elites can expect suite upgrades and the apologetic front desk agent said they had limited suites as some were "still under construction". I left it at that and made our way up:


Elevators featured custom RGB wallpaper and graffiti artwork:




Our room was on Level 16:


Did not really like the look of the corridor nor the room number signages as we made our way to the end:


Entry hallway:


The room proper:




Bathroom:


No Jo Malone toiletries but loved the tech:




Tip of the day: bidet only works when the switch near the main panels upon entry is turned on. I had to call to find out, using the wi-fi enabled phone (which shows your name on the screen and can be used property-wide):


The ID was just not for me. The table and chairs were tacky and lacked substance I thought. The heavy use of mirrors did little to disguise the relatively small size of the 452 sqft room.

Service was a bit hit and miss, not surprising given the fact that the hotel has only been in operation for 5 months.

The Executive Lounge was excellent. It is located on Level 2, accessible via a linked bridge:


The wife used it till midnight catching up with an old friend and we had a great breakfast the next day:










Really enjoyed the lounge and the space. Would have loved to spend more time but we had to depart by 1030AM to fetch my parents from their hotel and go to the airport.

dctravels74

We hired a MPV taxi through JW Marriott Hotel Singapore to bring us to Changi Terminal 2, stopping at the Intercontinental to pick up my parents and their luggage. Checked everyone in, dropped my parents off at the SATS lounge while we went shopping. Before long we boarded the plane, my parents were in J while we were in Row 7 of cattle class:



It was hot and stuffy prior to take-off. No amount of coaxing these babies could cool things down:


The minute we were able to the wife and I changed our seats and went towards the rear of the plane:


with space aplenty:


Our gourmet meal:


Take me home MH:




Landed on schedule and within an hour I was back in the office. That's how small Kuching is.

roadwarrier

Awesome TR and great photos!
I really enjoyed this - thank you.

BlackSkyuk

Great photos, thanks for sharing.

gonebabygone

Ah, even more! Thank you!

injian

thanks for sharing this TR. the mel SQ lounge does not look at good as the syd lounge. the green curry didnt look very green either.

nequine

The JW does look impressive and extremely contemporary!

Thanks for the trip report.

dctravels74

Thanks for reading!

Unbelievable service, also from Min in the executive lounge.

Appreciate it roadwarrier.

Thanks BlackSkyuk!

No it wasn't but tasted like green curry though so all good!

Thanks nequine!

nequine

Yes the executive lounge hosts are very good and engage with the guests too which is nice to see rather than being standoffish.

dctravels74

They really went above and beyond. Min even came to our room later on with chocolates and impressed us with her decorative towel folding techniques (after asking us what our favourite animals were).

The rest of the staff were equally commendable and proactive in their service. They were the highlight of our stay for sure.