opushomes

This is a work in progress.

Helping dad pack, first remove the old bag tags





5 countries, 9 cities, 9 airports, 6 airlines, assorted other modes of transportation

The countries: Singapore, Indonesia twice, Malaysia, The Philippines and Japan
Sarawak considers itself a semi-autonomous country within Malaysia with what it refers to as an Embassy in KL.

The cities: Singapore, Nagoya, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Balikpapan, Kuching, Cebu, Manila and Tokyo.

The airlines: NW, MH, JT, GA, QZ, PR

The Airports: PDX, NRT, SIN, KUL, CGK, BPN, KCH, MNL, CEB

Transportation: A330-200, 737-400,737-900ER, 737-300, A320, A330-300, 747-400
Numerous taxis, MRT, bus, A Van, Bemo

Background & Planning

SinDo is one of my favorite Do’s. It is always enjoyable and a great opportunity to catch up with friends and acquaintances from around the world, eat great food and experience the joys of Asia Lite without an imposed schedule except for some major events.

In March, 2008, I booked a standard business class award ticket on NW, PDX-NRT-SIN-NRT-LAX-PDX for 120k miles. The legs between NRT - SIN and return were waitlisted for business class. A few days later, I added a second business class award ticket to the PNR of KUL-MNL-KUL-SIN for 30k miles.

Malaysian Borneo is one of my favorite places to visit but I had never traveled to the Indonesian portion of Borneo (Kalimantan). In March, Batavia Air appeared to have a daily flight between Pontianak (PNK) and Kuching (KCH), so plans were made to visit Pontianak in West Kalimantan. The alternative to this flight if unavailable which seemed attractive at the time was the ten hour bus trip between the two cities. This eventually became much less attractive since the prospect was a ten hour overnight journey on poor Indonesian roads on an Indonesian bus during the rainy season. So the flight became an imperative, that or a return via Jakarta. Unfortunately, the flight was not available on line. It could not be found on the Batavia website or on any other booking site. A phone call to the reservation center resulted in the words, “this ticket must be paid for in Indonesia within 24 hours of booking”. Tough to do when one is in Portland, OR and has no plans to be in Indonesia until after the Do. Additionally, it appeared that only one acceptable hotel existed in all of Pontianak. This could be booked on www.asiarooms.com Without reservations for the flight I was reluctant to commit to a prepaid room. An email to the Santika Hotel was returned as “recipient unknown” so a refundable reservation could not be made. Well this could be dealt with later.

Later I changed the itinerary to begin in KCH rather than KUL because I was going to Kalimantan on this trip just not sure exactly how. The ticket remained at 30k miles plus minor fees. Malaysia Airlines (MH) was reported to collect their fees at the airport providing a possible significant budget shock.

Travel into June and CowDo in Buenos Aires interfered with thinking further about what to do about bookings. Additionally after our return from Argentina, Chile, Peru and Ecuador at the end of September, other events intervened including preparing for a property tax appeal as well as general malaise over the rapidly eroding economy. After achieving Platinum status on NW in June, no further paid travel was booked for the second half of 2008.

Finally, in the fall, I called the NW Platinum line and inquired if perhaps MNL-NRT-PDX was available instead of retracing via Singapore. A major concern was the possibility of significant fuel surcharges and other fees on the Malaysia Airlines portion of this trip as reported here on FT. By eliminating the return to SIN, possible additional fees would be reduced by 50% and 5 hours of additional flying plus 6 hours overnight in Singapore would be eliminated. It would be a long, long day even in business class from MNL via KL, SIN, NRT and LAX. The requested itinerary was not available on the days requested, but MNL-NRT was available with a 26 hour stopover at Narita and then continuing with the previous itinerary to Portland. So, it was booked with a surprise result, the reissue reduced the total award to 120,000 miles which allowed by my calculation: 3 stopovers and one open jaw with $56 in fees. Any further tinkering might be catastrophic therefore the itinerary was in my mind now locked in stone. Should I argue with Northwest’s revenue department and insist that they perhaps had erred??

Thus the major planning had been accomplished for the trip. How to deal with the Indonesian portion of the trip and what to do in the Philippines were decided much closer to departure, in fact the week before for Indonesia.

Researching the portion of travel from Singapore to Kuching was a major experience in frustration. A number of Indonesian airlines fly from Jakarta to Pontianak; none are book able on line. Every one was called and the response was consistent, “book on the telephone and pay within 24 hours in Indonesia”. Garuda does have a call center, unfortunately located somewhere in the bowels of India. They have a U.S. toll free number but the prices quoted were significantly inflated from those shown on line or even on www.expedia.com . The other airlines including Batavia, Mandala and Merpati were approximately 30% of Garuda’s price. Eventually a Singapore-based FTer figured out the Batavia schedule from PNK-KCH. They did not fly on the desired day and my thought process about the agony of a 10 hour bus ride (or a return to Jakarta) as well as further research indicating that Pontianak was actually pretty boring led to another decision.

Before I made my final destination decision, however, I stumbled upon a Malaysia Airlines zero SGD and zero RM fare, SIN-KUL and KUL-CGK. This was slightly less than the Qatar Airways non-stop from SIN-CGK and would allow me a night at a new-to-me Hilton property in Petaling Jaya – Kuala Lumpur, so this routing was booked. But of course not without major tribulations. I used to be able to easily book a ticket on MH from home. This is no longer the case thanks, I believe, to “Verified by Visa” and the MasterCard equivalent. I called Kuala Lumpur and they made the reservation but declined to charge the credit card. I had to call the U.S. toll-free number in Los Angeles the next day to give them the credit card number. I was able to pay with an AMEX. Of course a 6 digit booking code was mandatory but after a bit everything was settled and 2 e-tickets were sent to my Outlook inbox, as I recall they called Kuala Lumpur to sort it out. Too bad simple on-line booking is no longer available. The hotel was also super cheap so the decision was easy.

Perusing the “Lonely Planet Guide to Indonesia” (apparently the only guide to Indonesia-yes guides to Bali are available from multiple sources) suggested that Balikpapan in East Kalimantan might be a good alternative. My wife designs and makes necklaces and bracelets utilizing beads made from silver, glass and stones (both semi-precious and more mundane). Balikpapan was touted as having an extensive stone market of native stones including precious stones for attractive prices and really good seafood, so the decision was made to go there especially for more seafood. Balikpapan is also predominately an oil production and refining center which reduced its attractiveness, but not enough to change the decision. The problem still existed that I could not book any flights. Lion Air flies between Jakarta and Balikpapan as does Sriwijaya Air. Both airlines fly into Singapore. A call to Lion Air in Jakarta yielded the information that one could purchase a domestic Indonesian ticket at the office in Singapore (I was informed by others that perhaps YMMV) using a North American credit card. One cannot easily call Sriwijaya Air from most places so more on the experience with them later.

Before the final destination decision was reached, I stumbled upon an Indonesia Air Asia fare from CGK-KCH a day later than I wanted to travel and arriving fairly late in the evening but the price including express boarding and checked baggage totaled $29.00 U.S., so I booked it as insurance. Cheap is good when it is airfare. Air Asia books with my credit card on-line hassle-free even originating in Indonesia. I had planned to book an additional night in Kuching at the new 4 Points which purportedly was opening on January 15, 2009 for stay credit at a rate of approximately 215 RM. ($60 U.S.) but the late arrival jinxed this plan-good thing.

While I was working on the Indonesian portion of the trip, a decision had to be reached concerning what to do in The Philippines. Cebu has a Hilton Resort. It is reached from Manila using either Cebu Pacific or Philippine Airlines. Attempting to book on-line resulted in the same abysmal failure as attempting it for Indonesia. Cebu Pacific appears to be the Ryan Air of The Philippines. Round trip pricing was extremely attractive at less than $70 U.S. including checked luggage fee and seat assignment fee but it could not be booked nor could it be determined if there would be additional undisclosed costs. Philippine Airlines has a 1-800 number direct to Manila so PR it was. The agent was knowledgeable, she took my credit card plus provided a pleasant surprise with a price considerably less than that offered on the web-site. $69.00 RT MNL-CEB, 20 kg baggage, assigned seat in the exit row out-bound and row 31 (2nd row of economy) inbound with immediate e-ticket issuance was too good to pass up.

The reader needs to understand that my wife, a navy brat, grew up at Subic Bay Naval Base north of Manila nearly 50 years ago. She remembers the non-air conditioned Quonset hut that served as her home, the bugs, the alien smells, the snakes and general primitive conditions. She also remembers her two younger siblings. She believes that the country is as dangerous as the Congo or Rwanda. Just as she discouraged me from traveling to S.E. Asia for more years that I want to admit; she has been vehemently opposed to any travel to The Philippines. Finally, I booked a ticket and overcame her objections, “After all dear, I can’t change it now.” And, “I’ll be staying at a Hilton Resort, how bad can it be?” She understands those rationalizations. She still worried about staying in Manila. Eventually, after reading all the negative reviews of hotels in that fine city, I booked the Crowne Plaza (well, uhm actually the Holiday Inn) for the final night in country.

an addition to the plan

opushomes

What prompted me to volunteer is not part of my conscious memory. I hardly ever volunteer because generally that means copious amounts of responsibility and work.

Last year Blank Sheet, rtarbuck and I decided that we needed to do something with our empty Friday before the official start of SinDo, so we decided to take a jaunt to Batam as they had never been to Indonesia and needed to fill pages in their passports and, as it happened, drink beer in pleasant company. So, I volunteered to create an unstructured visit in 2009 to Batam for early arrivers. It turned into this:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...ub-thread.html

Which morphed from this

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/9583181-post85.html

I believe that the thought was that maybe 4 or 5 people would be foolish enough to go somewhere fairly boring for the day and probably three of us would be the original travelers. That belief was certainly shattered.

Once I get myself to Singapore more on this trip.

So next Portland to Singapore (the merry traveling flight attendants and the boys in the Club)

opushomes

Perhaps because of two weeks of being snowed in over Christmas in normally temperate Portland, OR, I was really looking forward to this trip.



On line check in was attempted about 20 hours out and the message read, “See agent”.

Marsha dropped me off along with my trusty Singapore Airlines carry on, the small backpack and the to-be-checked bag. I proceeded to the Business Class check in where I was rejected by the roving agent who told me to use the machine. It, of course, told me to see the agent who I was heading for when waylaid.. Visions of being displaced by a paying passenger or even worse being told that revenue management had made an error in pricing the award ticket flickered before my eyes. Actually the problem appeared to be that the machine could not understand how one could fly two airlines with 3 stopovers and an open jaw. Check-in completed, I got one of the TSA stooges with an attitude when I told him that it was my right knee replacement causing the problem. He seemed not to like that at all and took away my belt. Actually he calmed down and I was fairly rapidly on my way to the World Club.

Almost the entire staff was around including my favorite who thinks it is my job to keep the cell phone talkers out of the quiet zone. As usual there was not much on offer except newspapers. Just before scheduled boarding I made my way to gate D-15 and almost immediately boarded.

Part 1: The Merry Traveling Flight Attendants

Having settled into 5A, I noticed a disturbance of sorts at the door as a box of Ferraro Roche chocolates was handed over to the flight attendants. Obviously the three women boarding were FAs flying on free tickets. Indeed they were. Three AS employees on their way to Bangkok who had tried to get on TG through LAX and flew back to PDX to try another routing. One (5B) looked in the bin with my Singapore Air roller with its Flyer Talk tag, put her stuff up and sat down remaining quite silent. The other two settled into 5C (older one in sweats) and 5D (attractive Cambodian ancestry in her 30’s wearing spike heels and a low cut dress). 5B was short in stature and attitude and very quiet toward me, but effusive with her travel buddies.

Normally I would just ignore my seatmate except if they may be interesting. So I asked her who she flew for, “Alaska”. She proceeded to tell me about the various attempts to get a flight including going to Los Angeles and sleeping in the airport after working a flight from SEA.

We chatted a bit about where they were going, she to Bangkok and on to Laos for a first visit. Her companions were not sure of their destination after Bangkok. 5C introduced herself across 5B and started a conversation concerning where to go. I suggested Angkor over Patong.

Eventually 5B opened up a bit. She stated that she was very reluctant to sit next to me because she had seen the Flyer Talk tag and that I was, “one of them”. Apparently at some point in her career she encountered a mean Flyer Talker. “You people hate FAs!”
We people? “Yes, that website is full of negativity toward us”, was her response. “See if you feel that way as I resuscitate you in the aisle of an aircraft.” Well this is going to be an enjoyable trip, thought I.

We ended up talking in fits and starts all the way to NRT, however, I remained, “One of them”. We also eventually discussed her married life which was almost a weird as her comments about passengers and Flyer Talk members. She is married to a Brazilian living in Beijing who might meet her in Thailand if he felt like it. She stays in a 60 baht closet in Bangkok and carries a hammock and sleep sack. She was one of the strangest seatmates encountered in all the years flying commercial since 1965. Hopefully, I never need her resuscitative assistance.

Part 2: The Boys in the Club & flying to Singapore

In 2007, Blank Sheet and I met for the first time in the World Club in Narita. He always flies a typical route via HNL for the miles of course and arrives a few hours before my flight. It was the first time that he had left the airport despite having been on mileage runs there twice. Last year he and rtarbuck were waiting for me. This year they were again waiting for my arrival. This year they had news, B S had gotten an upgrade to Business on a low cost (only in NW’s mind) ticket between HNL and NRT. This was exciting news. When we went to the gate, I suggested that he go and present his boarding pass to see if they would repeat. He declined and settled into the seat behind 11G (the seat with no seat in front in the second row of coach). Why he sat behind his assigned seat was perplexing but turned out to be unimportant. I was in 5A and Bob in 5C. A guy flying home PEK-SIN was in 5B. While boarding was occurring, Bob and I were catching up in front of his seat. I had promised free drinks to B S as I had a number of expiring drink coupons so I went back and gave them to him. Shortly, he came forward and settled into 5D, his second consecutive upgrade. In the interim the occupant of 5B offered to swap for 5C so that Bob and I could sit together. It turned out that he was upgraded at the gate even though he was only an Asian Gold member. Thank you again Mr. Lim.

Part 3: Helping the homeless

Six or so months before the Do, hotel prices in Singapore were outrageous and escalating so I booked Friday through Monday at the Novotel Clarke Quay at a non-cancelable rate of $S145++ which at the time was excellent. My plan was to stay the first night at the transit hotel. I actually attempted to make a reservation there but, as usual, received no confirmation. My Batam volunteerism made it difficult to stay at the transit hotel so I was homeless on Thursday night (actually Friday morning). The boys knew I was homeless and kindly offered to share Bob’s room at the Hilton so that was the plan. The flight was painless, champagne supper excellent and we arrived early.

They needed cash. I needed a Singapore SIM for contact during the trip to Batam so we headed to the nearest exchange office. They got their cash. I inquired as to where a SIM could be obtained. Either a long walk to the Singtel outlet or for $S18 they would sell me a Starhub SIM with $S22 credit and roaming activation. Such a deal could not be passed up and the male clerk even taped my T-Mobile SIM in the carrier for me.

We cleared immigration, got our free candy from the agents and collected my priority tagged bags which were going round and round on the carousel. A quick taxi ride to the hotel with interesting conversation with the Indian Singaporean engineering student driver who complained about the system ensued and we arrived at the Hilton around 0130. The room was for 2, we were 3. B S sauntered over to the elevators and hung out. Bob and I went to register, actually he registered, I distracted. Registered, we all got in the elevator and proceeded to the wrong floor attempted to break into the wrong room (the one with the “do not disturb” sign on the door). After rechecking the room number we found the right one. Bob smokes and he needed one so he left for the front of the hotel. The luggage arrived with just 2 of us in the room. Thanks for giving me the other bed.

Hey mister, you want to meet a nice girl?

While Bob was enjoying his cigarette in front of the hotel at 2 a.m., a taxi pulled up and the driver lowered the window. Mind you that the Hilton is located across from the Orchard Towers, an internationally known house of ill repute. Not widely known to Bob, a resident of a not very big place in Northern Minnesota not far from the Canadian border who had no idea what the building across the street that he was looking at housed. The driver leaned over and asked whether he would like to meet a girl. Why would he need this intermediary when all that was required was to cross the street? Bob, somewhat confused retreated to the hotel and reiterated this tale upon entering the room.

Eventually we all settled down with the selfless “I can sleep anywhere” B S on the floor and we two each in a twin bed.

The next morning we arose fairly early (8ish) whereupon B S and I departed for our respective hotels each to unsuccessfully check in.

Next up: Batam

opushomes

on fitting in

In preparation for the Batam trip, I posted information that Indonesia (even Batam) is not Singapore. It is a conservative Muslim country although the conservatism is not immediately evident. Batam is not Bali where the tourist dollar and the drunken Australians rule. Yes, Batam is the entertainment center for Singaporeans in search for certain delights, but it is not heavily visited by people from other countries except for business (and most of those are expatriates). Amidst that information was a note that revealing clothing for women and shorts for men should not be worn. I believe that travelers should fit into the environment by being as inconspicuous as possible so as to appear to belong.

Some people are tourists never to change. I use the term “tourist” in a somewhat derogatory fashion; these people are experienced tourists and know everything there is to know about traveling especially if they are members of the FT community. They travel extensively for business and most never see the real aspects of where they visit. Fly in Business class or First, take the hotel or business provided top end car to the Western hotel, transact business often with people whose culture they do not understand, then go on to the next stop and repeat the whole process again. They certainly never see much of what they visit or understand the culture and mores of the country.

My belief is that one has a better experience and reduces the various dangers of travel by fitting in. Unfortunately, I have never been able to adequately describe this belief until karenkay finally did on this trip, “You better dress and act like an expatriate if you do not want to get in trouble”. Not that one will necessarily get into some form of trouble all the time or even some of the time, but the risks increase if you appear to be naďve or stupid. At the least, in an economic sense, you will pay more for many things, more than the expatriate and much more than the native.

An autobiographical interlude:

I grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York. My parents were from New York City and when I was 3 bought a fairly isolated 140 acres exactly 4.8 miles from the nearest village. Actually my father bought it, my mother went along as a wife as expected in the late 1940s.

Due to the isolation, I developed a couple of somewhat different interests during my formative years. They were cartography and listening to radio from around the U.S. and the world. We did not have a television until I was 11. I read a lot especially since I cannot sing a note so I spent music periods in the library.

Maps fascinated me so I learned quite a bit about the world. It was interesting to listen to Radio Pyongyang, Radio Moscow, Voice of the Andes, BBC, Radio Australia and others from around the world. Due to a quirk of geography our house was located so that I could receive programs from long distances. It was not unusual for KGO-San Francisco, XERF-Vila Acuna, Mexico and others in the Midwest and on the West Coast to be heard nightly.

Travel was limited to our weekly Sunday exploration of the local area crammed into our Dodge truck. At age 7, I was traveling by Short Line bus from home to the Port Authority Bus Terminal (a distance of about 180 miles) by myself where my grandparents would meet me. Later, trains became an interest from riding the Phoebe Snow to Hoboken or the Erie to Jersey City and then taking the ferry to the Subway to the Grandparents home in Flatbush.

My travels were relatively short distances until the summer of my college senior year when my roommate and I decided that driving to California in his 1963 Chevrolet Corvair was a good idea. Once there, I got a job selling cigarettes and what would today be dollar store items on Broadway in downtown LA. My roommate got a job pumping gas at the Shell station in Watts featured the next year in newscasts shown around the world.

While in high school, I had become friends with the daughter of one of my mother’s friends. She was 10 years my senior interested in “pop” psychology married to a fledgling TV producer at NBC and had actually worked there as well. She frequently visited her mother and we would talk for hours. She fostered my interest in Psychology.

I mention this because they had moved to Beverly Hills where he was working as a producer at documentary film maker Wolper Productions. He needed a gofer and I was hired as his production assistant ending up working on 2 films and 1 series (1000 Days, A Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a lesser piece on LBJ and some of the newly developed Biography series.). There besides getting coffee and Danish, I actually did lots of productive (sic) work.

What is the importance of this? Because after graduation with a major in “fun” and a degree in Psychology, I received an invitation that I could not refuse-a draft notice. Not wanting to take my chances with the other 550,000 inductees of 1965, I decided that it might be safer to become an officer. Who had the shortest commitment? The Army commitment could be dealt with in less than 3 years while the other services required at least 4. The Army was chosen and they even allowed me to sign up for Signal Corps OCS where I would fight with a radio rather than a rifle. One glitch was that the Army automatically assigned candidates a specialty of mortar operator or as an alternative bazooka operator if one failed to graduate as a 2nd lieutenant. So with this incentive in mind, I graduated.

Orders were received sending me to the Ryukyus Islands as a radio television officer, someplace that I was not familiar. In the interim, I was sent to the Special Warfare School at Ft. Bragg, NC for a course in Psychological Operations. I’m sure that you now get the theme, degree in Psychology, job in Hollywood as a gofer equals the above.

Eventually, I got to Okinawa, my first foreign travel other than the 1000 Islands and Tijuana where the first thing I saw on the way to my new home was the A&W, so much for a foreign environment. My job was already taken by someone else so I became a Propaganda Officer specializing in North Korea, secondly China and, for some obscure reason, Laos. I also supposedly was fluent in Korean. Having no knowledge of my areas of interest it was immediate immersion into everything I could find on the three countries. Fortunately, I got the English language Pyongyang Times daily, transcripts of all Radio Pyongyang broadcasts, transcripts of Chinese broadcasts and Time Magazine. Thanks to Time, I learned a lot and became one of the Army’s experts on North Korea. I never learned much Korean as all of it was picked up from young Korean women.

Besides a room in a house on base, I had an apartment in town. Thus I learned a little Japanese and became familiar with the culture on a cursory basis. I also developed a deep appreciation for Japanese cuisine.

Eventually, I got to go to South Korea for a training exercise where I functioned as the United Nations Psychological guru. It was during this time in Okinawa and South Korea that I developed the philosophy of the more one knows about a culture the more one fits in. This is a basic belief that continues today.

Early in 1968, two historic events occurred, The Tet Offensive in Vietnam and simultaneously the seizure of the spy ship USS Pueblo. I was immediately sent to South Korea by air with two trucks, trailers and a loudspeaker. On this trip, I managed to be involved in my only controlled crash landing as the wheels of our C-130 would not lower. Finally, they were partially extended by hand crank and chained in place. We landed without incident as they did not collapse. No stairs were needed to exit the side of the aircraft.

My trip to the Republic of Korea became rapidly a non-event. The loudspeaker was useless for its intended purpose and I spoke no Korean except “yobo sayo” The good thing was that I worked for the United Nations Command, The guy I reported to did not care what I did as long as I did not get into trouble. So I took one of the trucks and explored the country stopping at bases to get fuel and a place to stay. This is where I really learned how to fit in even as a member of our Armed Forces. Certainly, a lot more was learned about the South during this time than was learned about the North from Time.

After returning to the United States, I held a number of positions in a couple of industries. One required extensive domestic travel which one year totaled 50 out of 52 weeks. Does sleeping in a pie shaped room in Columbus, Ohio for six months qualify as a visit to another country? The other job also required domestic travel but in a lesser amount. Foreign travel was limited to the U.S., Canada and portions of the Caribbean (courtesy of an Eastern Airlines “fly anywhere we fly ticket”).

In early 1982, we were in recession, real estate was the pits, the dollar was strong, friends were getting married in England and we were invited. Why just fly over for the wedding? Why not spend a little time in Europe and explore a bit? So standby tickets were booked, our travel agent bought us a new car through Auto Europe for delivery in Munich and we were ready to go. One slight problem interceded in that the bride after selling everything arrived in Swindon, England to discover the new girlfriend living in the house. Plans changed and she traveled with us by train and ferry to Holland, toured Holland by train for a week, proceeded to Munich with a stop in Cologne also by train where we picked up the car at the factory and drove through Yugoslavia along the cost bypassing Albania to Athens. The educational aspect of this was excellent. Non-verbal communication skills were honed. Who the hell speaks Serbo-Croatian, Serbian, Greek or Finnish? The most difficult thing was figuring out what words meant a place to stay and where was the toilet. Often in the Southern countries the method of choosing one’s dinner is to rummage around the kitchen and point.

After 6 weeks we eventually left our friend at the Athens airport and spent a further 3 months visiting most of Europe. The car was shipped to Port Newark and eventually we traversed Canada on the TransCanada. In terms of travel, we have never looked back. Very rarely am I identified as an American because although quite outgoing when traveling, I attempt to fit in. When we first went to Europe, Nikes were not common, so I always wore leather shoes as did most European men. Today, of course, athletic shoes are ubiquitous. Observation has been the primary factor in determining what to do to fit in.

I have been accused of living my philosophy. Proudly, I say thank you to those who say this. It makes traveling so much easier and much more enjoyable.

With this background, we now proceed to the trip to Batam.

SanDiego1K

What a fantastic start. I'm hooked.

opushomes

“I want to go to Batam, Dad. When do we leave?”

Our trip to Batam

Explanatory note: Despite my brain infarction for volunteering to do a limited amount of tasks to get a few people to Batam for a visit, I expected that there might be a couple of additions to our original 3. Little did I know that twenty-one people would eventually sign up to go which considerably complicated the logistical challenge. The one person who was expected to be a no show obligingly was-but he had an excuse and actually did post that he would not be attending (although no one had read the post at time of departure so we waited for him until 10:15). So we were 21 at final count. Because of the size of the group, their countries of origin and passports and not knowing everyone’s travel experience, I felt obligated to post quite a number of explanations and caveats so as control expectations concerning this trip. They were posted and, should one desire, can be read through the links above.

The little girl and her father


One of the attendees e-mailed that he would be bringing his daughter with him. This caused a great deal of concern on my part because my expectations were predicated upon this




Visions of a little blond child in a third world entertainment center entered my mind but I figured since he was the daddy he could take care of the little darling. So I graciously added him + 1 to the list and figured that we would deal with any difficulties later.

The little girl who showed up contrasted considerably from my expectations. It’s hard to believe that the envisioned little Dutch girl is a vivacious MBA financial whiz victim of our economy.



that's her on the left, dad on the right

Friday morning dawned earlier that desired. At 9:00, I was at the Novotel, Clarke Quay driven their by a competent Singapore taxi driver who handed me my $S.40 change with a smile.




http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-5993...ay/index.shtml

The reception desk is shown staffed by the maximum number of agents ever available to serve the guests in the 401 “beautifully appointed rooms”. The photo has been obviously “photo shopped” to add the smiles.

Upon arrival, I discovered that the lobby where we were to meet was 7 floors above. I, the exponent of the importance of local knowledge in planning activities, was caught with my fly open. A bell captain and bellman were present in the taxi and bus arrivals area. Discussion ensued that 3 taxis were needed at 1015 with a probability of 2 more once it had been determined who would actually show for the trip to Batam

My bags were dropped with the bellman and I proceeded to the above-pictured reception to check in. Mind you, it was 9 a.m. and a room was not available as expected. During this discussion a woman who I recognized immediately excitedly ran up and hugged and effusively greeted me. B&BM had arrived.



I had not seen her since leaving Iguaçu airport as she and her erstwhile former travel companion cleared security for their LAN flight to Buenos Aires as we waited for our Aerolineas Argentina flight. She did later e-mail that the same travel companion was last seen being led away by customs agents in Los Angeles to a private room. Too bad they let him out, but that is another tale.

We chatted a few moments while I got my business done with the desk clerk. When I travel, I usually carry a fairly large sum of cash in various currencies in case the ATM rejects or eats my debit card. This trip I had Sing Dollars, rupiah, ringit, yen and U.S. dollars. Heeding my own warning not to bring large amounts of money to Batam, I inquired if a safe was available. “Yes” was the response. The carryon was retrieved and the wallet with the majority of the cash along with the zip-locs of extra Sing dollars, yen and ringit were placed in a large Manila envelope. The clerk and I both signed across the flap to preclude later argument about any stolen contents. He started off with the envelope, “may I have a receipt please?” This interaction became important later. One was provided.

The baggage was left with the bellman for storage and B&BM and I went in search of coffee for me. After wandering around looking for the entrance of the adjacent mall, we ended up at Starbucks even though my preference is something somewhat more local. Starbucks has provided income to our household through relocating employees so it is ok to overspend on their products. A vente Mocha ($4.28 US) (for the Starbucks-challenged in starbuckese this is a medium) and a chocolate chip muffin ($2.24 US) were eventually procured, in two transactions because after getting the drink B&BM thought that I looked malnourished as well as jet-lagged. We spent a pleasant ˝ hour catching up until it was time to search for the attendees. The search turned out to be simple: we left Starbucks by the side door; turned right and there they were greeting one another and chattering away. It was 0950 and at least 10 of the expected 22 were present.

Infoworks had earlier offered his taxi driver for us to use while in the city. Unfortunately arrangements for the three taxis fell through when Jerry (the driver) had a family emergency in Malaysia. I decided that herding 20+ yapping FT members to the MRT, getting tickets and riding the 3 stops to the end of the line would be too difficult, so the more expensive by $S1 ($US.68) per person option was chosen. Along with potential check in tribulations taxi arrangements were the reason for arriving an hour early. Being compulsively early with the result of never missing a plane in 43 years of commercial flying added to the mix.

At that point, the bell captain who had been instructed to schedule the three taxis for 10:15 ran up to tell me the three were ready to take us to Harbourfront. I asked him to have them wait for a few minutes since they were to be available at (can you guess what time?). By 10 a.m., all but 3 attendees were present. Reese’s peanut butter cups and M&Ms (for those with peanut allergies) schlepped all the way from the Tigard, OR Costco were passed out to provide sustenance for the journey ahead. B S and rtarbuck were sent off with the first 2 patiently waiting taxis with instructions to try for the 11:10 or 11:30 departures serving Nagoya. Upon getting a complete head count, I scheduled further taxis for a 10:15 departure which of course all arrived within 2 minutes. Finally, I broke a cardinal rule when traveling in Asia, uttering the “no-no” words, “what is it about 10:15 do you not understand?” in a louder than normal voice and with a scowl. Fortunately, Novotel is a “bus person hotel” full of tourists following flags from place to place or obnoxious Brits and Australians drunkenly b.itcing about everything so despite the faux pas everything was good. It is also located in Singapore where hotel service sometimes matches the attitude of New York and Las Vegas so they are used to being berated. Actually the two bell people treated me quite well for the remainder of the stay, wish I could say the same about those 7 and greater floors above.

transportation and taxis in Singapore

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/guide...guide.htm#Taxi

Four people maximum per taxi are allowed per Singapore Taxi Regulations so if 21 intrepid travelers showed up we would need 6 cabs.

More than one wants to know about taxis in Singapore can be found on multiple websites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_Singapore
http://www.taxisingapore.com/
http://taxisingapore.com/external/taxi-fare-calculator/
http://www.worldtaximeter.com/singapore#

The last two are very important since certain FTers believe that Singapore taxi drivers are dishonest. It has become their mantra at every SinDo which annoys me to no end especially since the loudest complaining one is from the corruption capital of the United States. Or could it be because his aging brain has liquefied and his hearing is failing? The other one who has recently decided to join the complaining is an expatriate who “goes ballistic” at drivers and has lived in S.E. Asia for over five years. Talk about cultural sensitivity. Now if the two of them buy WAP enabled phones they can immediately determine the correct charge. Using the last link they can even do it for New York, Chicago and Boston where one can really get screwed Well, end of digression.

Finally underway

At 10:15 exactly the final two taxis departed for Harbourfront. I gave instructions to the occupants of the first taxi of the two to meet us in front of the building at the taxi drop off. Well they were not there upon our arrival so we went to join the others. They did eventually show up as their driver obviously had better knowledge of the Cruise Ship Terminal than ours. BTW violist: our fare was $S6.80 including the extra for going around the block because the driver kept saying, “Sentosa.” No, “Batam Ferries.”

Thanks to Lili for these pictures of boarding and what the girls did (First 11 photos.)
http://picasaweb.com/1WHRLD/FlyerTal...Singapore2009#

http://picasaweb.com/1WHRLD/FlyerTal...27983228910898

That's B S to my left as we are boarding

Here we are still at the dock.




and underway



It was a really rough ride.

One of the rules of this trip is that there were no rules. People were expected to match up and do what they wished. I would get them through immigration and to the central meeting point, the Harmoni Hotel in downtown Nagoya. Alternatives were shopping, four of our more feminine members opted for this armed only their credit cards and 50000 borrowed rupiah. Sightseeing-no one opted for this. Go to the hotel, nosh and drink beer, wander around or as an alternative perform hobby-related activities such as . . . tasting McDonald’s French fries to see if there was a taste difference in Indonesia. Who would have thunk of such a hobby?

We ended our very rough ferry journey on the more expensive ($S48 RT), no credit cards ferry to the wrong port. Actually the right one as last year’s was 30 minutes away from the hotel. This year’s was five minutes away so everyone missed the thrill of a real Indonesian taxi ride through real Indonesian traffic. Although the shoppers reported that they had the experience.

The Harmoni Hotel Experience (or some things aren’t like they were)

Arrival at the hotel found that the doors to the wine and cigar bar were locked. Consultation with the concierge confirmed that the new opening hours commenced at 5 p.m. It was about 11:30 Batam time, one hour earlier than Singapore. They offered to call the proprietor and arranged for the bar to be opened as soon as it could be staffed.

Some of us decided that a bit of food might be nice since the restaurant was open; some decided to take a stroll to see the sights. BDesmond kindly provided photos of beautiful downtown Nagoya through this link http://bdesmond.smugmug.com/Asia%20Pacific/699585
Others disappeared for other activities including French fry sampling at McDonalds.

Those of us who decided to have some food and Bintang went to the restaurant. Violist kindly provided his perspective of the trip and the eating experience. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/11148786-post8.html

While we were eating, the one’s who had wandered around downtown Nagoya returned. They commented that the bar was open so I suggested that since the hotel was nice enough to open for us we perhaps should take advantage of their hospitality. The went to the bar and we joined them after lunch. In retrospect, perhaps I should have accompanied them and the incident might have been avoided.

why fitting in is so important, look and act like you belong

When I entered the room B S commented that the server provided them with cans of beer rather than pitchers (they are called jugs in this part of the world) and that he had tried to communicate with her but she seemed not to understand. He had also not considered something very important – determine what things cost. The previous year he had observed me get a discount on our beer by joking with the waitress. Please understand that at that point it was his first trip to a third world country and this was his second. He is a very quick learner who just needs more practice. The way he presented it before I could even sit indicated that here was a recognized problem. As anyone who drinks beer knows, draft beer served in pitchers is always cheaper per individual serving than cans or individual glasses/mugs. Strange at may seem to many readers bargaining is a normal part of many cultures other than Northern Europe and North America. It is alien to us although Europeans negotiate hotel rates upon arrival all the time. We also do not often check out the room before taking it. But back to business.

Many people think that this bargaining is just cheapness, but it is part of the process in many parts of the world. Many things are negotiable in SE Asia including the previous year’s beer in this bar. After awhile it becomes sort of second nature as part of establishing a relationship. It more importantly establishes that one is familiar with local customs and reduces the chances of getting fleeced. B S tried hard but he obviously had a group of “tourists” with him. Here my comments about dressing appropriately as if one belongs entered the picture.

One of the “shorts” guys was in the original group. I enjoy his company and have spent considerable time with him at various events. He is an experienced traveler and is eager to learn. Still he decided that his “comfort” was more important than heeding the warning.

Since B S seemed quite concerned about the beer situation, I immediately went to the bar area and located the jugs. They were in plain sight and non-verbally communicated that we wanted jugs and not cans. The waitress started filling individual glasses which required showing her that pouring them in the jugs was better. Finally all was sorted out and we had a very pleasant afternoon.

It was getting close to departure time. “Shorts Guy” was at the bar and called me over. He had handed over his Amex card; the hotel had run it and returned with the receipts. At this time it dawned on him to look at the bill and he had come to the realization that perhaps there was something wrong. He called me over, I reviewed the bill and it immediately jumped out that we were charged more than what the Conrad Singapore would charge for each item. Cokes were the equivalent of US$2.50, canned beer US$5 and pitchers US$17. The bill came to about $250 US and was completely out-of-line. I asked “Shorts Guy” if he had signed the credit card receipts. Fortunately, he had not.

He, another waitress who spoke fluent English and I proceeded to the hotel front desk. It was staffed by a mature woman who spoke fluent English. It seemed that the formerly fluent waitress suddenly had language amnesia and now spoke only Bahasa Indonesia (for those who do not know what this means, this is the predominant language spoken in Indonesia). I explained that the bill must be incorrect, always in a quiet un-modulated voice and with a smile, that we appreciated the opening of the bar for us but that the bill was unfair and inappropriate. She explained that the bar was a concession not run by the hotel. I asked her to translate for me to the now deaf and dumb waitress since I spoke no Bahasa Indonesia. She did and the offer was 10% off which I considered inadequate. At this point I explained that I was losing considerable “face” since I had brought the foreigners here based on past pleasant experiences and it was going to cause me difficulty with them. The offer remained at 10% whereupon I handed the waitress my cell phone and suggested she call the concession manager. She handed it back, but the helpful lady at the desk called him. Conversation ensued and the offer became 20% off. This made the bill exorbitant but they had opened specifically for us so the reduction was acceptable. Everyone returned to the lounge and we settled the bill in cash with smiles all around. “Shorts Guy” was reminded to rip up all receipts and put them in his pocket.

Not to pick on “Shorts Guy” but we did have a brief conversation about how to appropriately call someone over in Asia after he waved his arm over his head to get the server’s attention. This while motioning someone over is inappropriate in most of Asia. You’re an adult if you have to visit the toilet just get up and go, the teacher does not have to give you a hall pass. The correct way to wiggle one’s fingers with the hand held palm down.

the return

We taxied back to the dock, cleared immigration and endured an even bumpier ride back to Singapore. The line for immigration was long and moved slowly. Unlike Changi, candy was not available upon arrival.

opushomes

Being a Do organizer from a distance is a tough job. It is certainly much tougher than doing it in one’s home territory. It is often a thankless job often interrupted by complaints from attendees. It can be further compounded by:

1. lack of local knowledge
2. Living one country or more away.
3. becoming ill before commencement of the event
4. No one else volunteering to do it or help in dealing with logistics.

Friday’s night meeting place has been plagued by problems two of the last three years. The loud smoke-filled disco with the $US14 cover charge allowing one alcoholic or soft drink at the Swiss Hotel Merchant Court was a disaster. Last year’s at what is now the Concorde (formerly Le Meridien Orchard Road) lobby bar went quite smoothly other than the staff ignoring a written request to reserve space for us. The recovery, however, was excellent.

Here are pictures of that event, starting with the third photo the top row. Thanks to szg for posting them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2152007...7603771200614/

This year, we ended up at the Paulaner Brew Pub (who goes to Singapore to drink German beer?) across from the Conrad.

http://www.paulaner.com.sg/index.html

I’ll take responsibility in part because when communicating with the organizer, I suggested either the Concorde or the outside area attached to the hotel, thinking that the Concorde would be best if the lobby bar was unchanged. This required verification either by phone or a personal visit. Paulaner is not attached to the hotel, the area that I was referring to is actually Oscars, the Conrad restaurant, but couldn’t recall that.

After returning from Batam we took the MRT since queuing for a taxi at 6:30 p.m. can be quite frustrating. The group got split up at the ferry terminal and again at the station; I had three easy pass cards and one worked. Others had to buy tickets.

A quick trip to the Clarke Quay station got me to the vicinity of the hotel. Soon, I reached the reception and got my room key. The luggage, of course, had not been delivered to the room so I requested that it be. When the receipt for the valuables was presented, the female clerk looked at the receipt as if she had never seen one before. Actually she probably had not since it is seems to not be common practice to give the guest a receipt of valuables. It was explained that it was for valuables in the hotel’s safe. Later in the room, I verified later that hotel stated in writing that they had no responsibility unless valuables were lodged in the hotel’s safe. The clerk started rooting around behind the counter seemingly looking for the envelope. This was of concern because she eventually wandered off to the back, came back, rooted some more, and returned to the back. After 30 minutes of this nonsense she returned with the envelope. The signatures appeared intact and there was no evidence of tampering. I inquired as to the problem and she responded, “oh, the envelope is too large for the small lockbox that we use in the rooms, so I could not find it.” “You mean that you do not have a safe?” “No, only the room-size lockbox (same as in the rooms) in the back” I opened the envelope to insure that everything was intact and left for the room. So much for the security of guest's valuables. Luggage was soon delivered. The room was perfectly acceptable which was somewhat of a surprise since my previous Novotel experiences support a low expectation.

Earlier on Friday, B&BM had suggested that we meet at the Conrad executive lounge for drinks and snacks before going to Paulaner for more drink before finally ending the evening at Newton Hawker Center for dinner with the late arriving folks. Hawker center food is a Friday night/Saturday morning SinDo tradition.

She handed me her extra room key to expedite my entry into the lounge as she also expected me for Saturday and Sunday breakfast. After freshening up and relaxing for a bit, I took a taxi to the Conrad. Drinks and snacks were consumed with GVDIAD and JSWong joined us in the lounge before going to Paulaner. When we arrived at Paulaner, a number of FTers were at tables amidst the crowd. One of them who had not gone to Batam suggested that we pass on the beer as it was $S19 per mug. This made it very expensive in her native currency which lately has been in free fall. Oops, obviously the wrong place for an inexpensive pleasant evening of social intercourse especially with the crowds swarming around. Luckily in the mob no server ever showed up to give us the opportunity to buy very expensive beer.

The organizer sat with us and we talked for a few moments. Initially, plans had been made to have Saturday dinner at Jumbo East Coast. Correspondence back and forth had led to the conclusion that Jumbo Clarke Quay might be a better venue because of transportation logistics. Public transport is difficult from East Coast and taxis are always in short supply for the return trip. Finally, the restaurant was changed to Jumbo Clarke Quay (or so I thought). During this conversation it was discussed whether he had bought a Jumbo discount card. He had no idea what that was, so I offered to buy one the next day since my hotel was on the opposite side of the Singapore River from the restaurant. The card would be useful if it provided the 10% discount for a group of our size on a Saturday night.

Our previous correspondence also dealt with the issue of needing reservations for a group of 40, although a list of dinner attendees was never solicited or generated. On a Saturday night at 7:30 (prime time for dinner in most of Singapore and especially at either East Coast or Clarke Quay, it is tough to get into any restaurant in the area without reservations even as a single or couple. Eventually it was posted that we had a private room in the “small restaurant” and the required minimum spend was $400 per table. When asked if that meant that if we had 41 people would there be an additional $400 charge for the additional table. He responded that he did not know but thought that they would only charge a minimum of $40 per person. Remember, we had just returned from a situation where the cost was unknown, would this be an issue?

It was time to leave for the quieter and less expensive Newton Hawker Center.

Newton Hawker Center, meet the late arrivals

http://www.the-inncrowd.com/newtoncircus.htm

We tried unsuccessfully to get a taxi on the corner, finally returning to the Conrad where a taxi was called. A short ride to Newton ensued with our group of four being the first to arrive. Two large tables were procured at the entrance to the food hall so that others could see us. Soon we had filled one of the two tables and the beer runner was holding the other for our group.

Newton has been rebuilt and has a reputation of being more touristy than authentic and more expensive than most. Previous years were spent at Lau Pau Sat which IMO is comparable to Newton but less crowded during the late hours. Fortunately just before midnight all the tourists were snug in their hotels and the place was crowded with what appeared to be only local people and ourselves.

The protocol at hawker centers is to seek out the food one wishes, order, and point out where one is sitting and when it is delivered, pay. Additionally, a separate person deals with drink orders. Beer purchases are tracked by loading the empties into a case set beside the table and drinks are settled at the end of the evening. Normally, all at the table share each others orders.


During our trip to Batam WWBGD and his lovely little daughter, later renamed MashG raved about the satay and bbq stingray from stall #7, so on their recommendation, I sought out the stall and got the beef satay and stingray. They were correct; both dishes were excellent, the satay steeped in a soy mixture thus making it appear quite dark and the stingray tender and juicy in a thin yet hearty sauce. On the way back, I also stopped at stall 61 located adjacent to our tables and got an order of clams and garlic, very ordinary. No whelks this year. The satay was so good that I got another order. This order ended being shared with violist even though he was disappointed that they were not liver. What normal person orders liver satay? There was much animated conversation and greetings as various people arrived. SinDo 2009 was now officially underway

The two previous long days were catching up with others and me. It was decided to share a taxi with those going to the Conrad. As we were getting into the taxi, I heard a shout; Mad4Miles had arrived after being delayed into Singapore. Since the taxi was waiting our greetings were brief. The taxi dropped me at the Novotel; I rode the elevator to the lobby 7 floors above. Upon reaching the elevators two guests and a security guard were encountered. It seems that all four elevators to the guest rooms were inoperative. The only choice was to accompany the guard up the fire stairs to my room on 10. I was sure that my knees would make it 3 floors to my room. What I had not considered was that the lobby height was the equivalent of another 4. Finally, I got to the room, aching knees and all and fell asleep.

End of day 1

WWBGD

Great trip report, Opushomes. Thanks for the kind words, great pictures of me an +1, now known as Mashg.

Just one small correction for future reference. The stall at Newton is stall #7, not #3. Albert will always cook great stuff, and we like to throw him some business whenever we can...he supports 5 kids and his mother out of that booth, so whenever its possible, please send your business his way.

Thanks,

wwbgd

opushomes

The entry has been corrected. This trip was full of too many numbers to track accurately. You will see the relevance of booth #3 later in the report. Albert's people were superb. The food was excellent and I will be referring people to them in the future. Personal relationships, even if they are fleeting, are so important in Asia.

Keeping track of six currencies (including sometimes double conversions for the occasions when someone asked, for example, how much 10000 rupiah is in Philippine pesos), multiple hawker booths, room assignments and assorted other mathematical issues sometimes befuddles me.

opushomes

The wonderful thing about SinDo is that it is quite free form.

There are usually only two or three preplanned events. Friday night’s meet and late night dinner at a hawker center, drinking beer on Boat Quay Saturday afternoon, Saturday’s evening group dinner (traditionally at a Singapore seafood restaurant) and sometimes a daytime sightseeing-type event are the normal pre-planned events. Last year Infoworks set up an informal Sunday night dinner at a great Kopitiam (Chinese coffee shop) at Keong Saik Rd. Everything else is informally done by various attendees who post what they will be doing and people join in as they wish. Others may wander on their own through out the city. Even the preplanned events with the exception of Saturday’s dinner do not require much coordination.

Singapore has been described as “Asia Lite” in that it is modern, has a great local transportation system and through social engineering lacks much, if not, all visible poverty and deprivation prevalent in the much of Asia. It is compact, safe and easy to navigate. Some attendees particularly first timers seem uneasy with the concept of no set agenda for the week-end. Those from the German-speaking areas of Europe especially are initially uneasy about the lack of “einen Prospekt” but quickly adapt.

This year the organizer decided that a bus tour was needed. Being the contrarian, I disagreed with this concept. Part of the experience of another country is to mingle with those who live their, use the excellent transportation system and perhaps learn a little about the culture(s) through personal interaction. Being on a bus is similar to riding through a zoo staring at the creatures. By now the reader has figured out that I believe quite strongly that interaction is necessary for a visit to be successful. Flying half way around the world to interact with similar others who flew half way around the world sitting in a bus is not to me a totally satisfying experience. When we had a friend’s daughter as an exchange student, we observed this same phenomenon; she spent much of her time with other exchange students rather than expanding her friendships with Americans.

Further, I recall the curious stares of customers at No Sign Board Geylang last year as we exited the bus. “The tourists have arrived. What? They are not Japanese?” Never for me again. Besides, there are a number of excellent sightseeing tours available to visitors including the SIA hop-on bus http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_U..._bus_index.jsp
The Captain Explorer Amphibious Boat Tour http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_U...lorer_2008.jsp
DuckW tours for those inclined toward such things.
Various commercial bus tours
http://www.asiatours.com.sg/tour1.htm

All are easily book able and professionally run.

Finally the bus idea was nixed for lack of interest. Later a mystery tour was announced for Sunday (more on this later)


The day

B&BM had kindly invited me to breakfast at Oscars at the Conrad. After a too short period of sleep, I was off via MRT (the subway system) to City Hall Station to meet her at the hotel. My timing was good, giving me sufficient time to convert my three “e-z link” cards to the new, improved version as described in this thread.



http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/singa...hangeover.html

It took about fifteen minutes to walk from the station to the hotel. The trek has been eased now that the underground connector to Suntec (Singapore Convention Center) located just past the 7-11 has been completed. This connector eliminates the overpass with the oft-malfunctioning escalators and has contributed to greater unemployment due to eliminating the waiting place for the advertising flyer "passer-outers" who previously plagued this crossing.

We had arranged a meeting time late enough to get some sleep but early enough to eat a leisurely breakfast. Unfortunately the hours of operation differed from our understanding and we arrived a few moments before scheduled closing. The greeter was extremely professional and once she learned that B&BM was an executive floor guest she reassured us that there was no need to rush; they would stay open a few minutes extra. She was quite solicitous offering to get any items that might not be visibly available such as guava juice. Great service at what is basically a large, varied buffet. Both of us have always been impressed by Oscars choices and service levels. After a leisurely and filling breakfast, I had some business to attend to.



The Lion Air Saga

Earlier, I mentioned that during my futile attempts to book domestic Indonesian air tickets using a U.S. credit card, a call to Lion Air in Jakarta yielded the information that I could buy it in Singapore. Post-breakfast, we approached the concierge with an inquiry as to whether a Lion Air domestic Indonesian ticket could be bought in Singapore. He said that he thought so, but would check for us.

Consistent with the Conrad service levels he immediately went on-line to attempt to book the ticket. He was able to obtain a confirmation number but not pay for the ticket. Calls to Lion Air Singapore located in Stamford Court confirmed that my credit card was valid for a ticket purchased in Singapore. The concierge stated that he would work on booking my desired departure and that we should check with him shortly.

B&BM decided to spend the time “freshening up” and suggested that I spend the time in the lounge. During the ride to the 31st floor, she mentioned that there was a noisy apparatus in her room and the bath room was mold-ridden possibly resulting in the bad smell. “Why not ask for a new room?” In her typical manner, “Oh, I don’t want to bother them.” Upon reaching the executive floor desk, we requested a new room commenting upon the noisy box and the mold. The response was quite interesting, “you have an ozone generator in the room, oh those are not supposed to be run while a guest is there as they may kill you.” Whether an ozone generator will kill a guest is arguable since she is still quite alive, but they agreed to move her later that day. So "quick packing" was added to her “freshening up tasks”.

A few moments later we were once again at the concierge desk. He had not had time between other tasks to get the issue of the ticket settled. We determined which CGK-BKP departure was optimum and it was booked on-line. Of course, my U.S. “World MasterCard” did not allow the booking to be completed. Another call to Lion Air Singapore resulted in the requirement to pay in person with a warning that the office would close in 30 minutes and was not open on Sunday. So a quick trip by taxi was in order. Upon arrivingl at Stamford Court, we located a shabby office housing Lion Air. There were seven people waiting so B&BM decided to proceed to Orchard Road for a bit of shopping. I entered the very shabby office, looked around and noticed some pieces of paper stuck on a vertical nail on the counter. This obviously was the latest in number dispensing technology as practiced by Lion Air. Forty-five minutes after entering, I finally was served. Presenting my booking code resulted in the agent wandering off to the back, she eventually returned at looked at the monitor resembling the one that came with my first 8086 Acer in 1984 (15in. B&W). It probably was as functional as mine is after 24 years. Eventually, she was able to price the ticket at $S99($US68) for my desired departure. She typed more into the computer and then wandered off again, presumably to pick up my e-ticket. Perhaps 15 minutes elapsed until she returned with a paper ticket which she laboriously filled out (upon review, it had an incorrect departure time and flight #). So the process had to be repeated. Eventually, the handwritten paper ticket was complete. Upon presentation of the credit card she uttered the immortal words, “You can only charge a ticket of at least $S100”. Exasperated perhaps?? “Charge me $S1 more and put it on the card, I’m sure that you can figure that out.” Eventually a charge slip was delivered with $S99 for me to sign. With ticket and receipt in hand, I departed.





Crash and Burn

Diagonally across Stamford Road was a bus stop. Singapore buses are actually easy to use once one learns that all stops for each route is listed at the appropriate bus shelter. Included were multiple routes all stopping at Clarke Quay. So I hopped on the first bus and proceeded past Clarke Quay to the next stop. Now, I had another task, to pick up the “Jumbo Discount Card” for the evenings dinner. On the way to Jumbo Clarke Quay, I managed to fall on my face on the uneven sidewalk. Suffering only minor shoulder pain without the significant hematoma and persistent leg pain which resulted from the previous year’s fall entering the former Le Meridien Orchard Road, I picked myself up and made my way to Jumbo. Yes, the discount card was usable any day of the week, yes; a group of forty could enjoy the benefits of the 10% discount. The card would be sent within a month to my Singapore address, no foreign addresses allowed, just present the receipt tonight. Not having a real address in the city-state, I entered “[2 Temasek Road” expecting that eventually the card might reach me.

While the head waiter and I were talking, we decided to check the booking to be sure everything was in order. After going through all three booking lists, it was quite evident that we did not have a reservation. Perhaps, it got transferred to Jumbo-Boat Quay. A quick telephone call to the other location just down River Walk confirmed that we were booked there. BTW: River Walk extends at least from Boat Quay to Clarke Quay and on to Robertson Quay along the Singapore River.

The location listed for dinner was:

Saturday night main Doo dinner:
JUMBO ( http://www.jumboseafood.com.sg/special_branch05.html ), The riverwalk, Clarke Quay, 7:00pm

The problem was that this was the location that I was at, not this one, where the reservation actually was.

http://www.jumboseafood.com.sg/special_branch04.html

Fortunately they are not far apart. Unfortunately, attendees would show up at the wrong location and not know that there was another nearby and thus be disappointed. I arranged with the head waiter for him and his staff to redirect anyone asking for “flyertalk” to the other restaurant. At least one attendee later commented that she was redirected by the highly efficient Clarke Quay staff. The other concern was the $400 per table guarantee whatever it actually was. This turned out to be a non-issue.

Yokel

Wonderful style of Trip Report prose.

Also enjoyed the "autobiographical interlude", not just because it helps to give an idea of "where you are coming from", but also because I grew up just outside Swindon

opushomes

Note to self: the Novotel Singapore is definitely a bus hotel.

Definition: Bus people: tourists spending excessive time on buses being herded by a person with a whistle, flag, umbrella, balloon, piece of paper (all but the former held high above the head). Mandatory is that they mill around blocking all access to anything of interest while chattering loudly in a native language other than that of the place they happen to be. Also adept at blocking access to any person who is in a service capacity including, but not limited to ticket sellers, immigration agents, and hotel personnel. They are very skilled in decimating a buffet in 10 seconds or less.

Obviously the staff and physical plant of the Novotel had endeared themselves to me up to this point. Throw the valuables anywhere you wish, spend half an hour searching for them when they should have been in the safe and ensure that at 2 a.m. all 4 elevators are non-functional are endearing in their own right, but forgivable as a bad hotel bad day. More indignities were to follow. Upon return from Lion Air and Jumbo Clarke Quay, I was more than tired. A shorter than desired nap would be better than no nap at all.

Today, the elevators were functioning. The key card opened the door into the room that was exactly as I had left it before 9 a.m. Nothing had been touched. Bed waited to be made, cleaning waiting to be performed, towels waiting to be changed. I immediately exited intending to go to the front desk to complain because this was no longer forgivable. Instead, standing in the hall outside the room was the floor attendant. “My room is not made up”. “Oh, I will do it tomorrow” was his answer. What??

So it was off to the desk, fortunately at that moment none of the other 400 possible room inhabitants were waiting for the 2 agents to slowly help them. So, I voiced my displeasure asking for the manager on duty after explaining to the clerk that it was not his problem but required higher level intervention. “He is in a meeting.” Perhaps the General Manager then. “Oh, we cannot bother him.” “I will wait.” was my response. All of this interaction occurred in an evenly modulated voice with a smile on my face.

Finally, he wandered off the back room, the same one where they lost my valuables the day before. Eventually, he returned and suggested that I return to my room to wait for the duty manager. Since I thought that this was an inane request, particularly if the housekeeping staff decided to clean, I reiterated that I would wait. While this was occurring an overly obnoxious Australian woman, not that I all Australians are overly obnoxious, I know some perfectly delightful Australians, was loudly insisting that the 2 clerks find someone to help her because she had very important business. To the clerks’ credit, they ignored her. Better her than me.

Eventually, it was suggested that I take a seat in the small seating area so that they could get on with business. After a few minutes of irritation, I returned to the registration desk and requested the number for the Singapore Hilton. A call was placed to them to see if they happened to have a room at the $S155 that rtarbuck was paying. No, only the Presidential Suite at some ridiculous rate, but they suggested that I check for internet only rates. Fortunately the annoying children playing games on the four computers off the lobby had disappeared. Logging into www.hhonors.com yielded a rate in the $S280 range, not worth the effort of moving if the Novotel would release me from my non-cancelable rate. Maybe I could convince the Novotel powers-that-be to move me there at my original rate. So I suggested that to the clerk. He kind of smirked and returned to the back room. A few moments later he returned with an offer to upgrade me to a suite. “I have no need for a suite; it is just more space than I need.” Back he went to the secret room and eventually returned with the offer of the suite at my original rate with the previous night comped. This appeared to be the best deal that could be negotiated. After agreeing to the offer, the phantom assistant manager appeared to apologize.

They called a bellman who accompanied me to the original room which, now over an hour later, was cleaned and somewhat spiffy. We gathered up all my possessions and moved to my new suite, breakfast not included. I tipped the bellman for his help in moving and for his efforts the previous morning in getting taxis. It was now approaching the Conrad’s cocktail hour, no nap for the weary, so I was off to meet the Conrad contingent. Part of my evolving plan was to use the Conrad computers to notify dinner attendees at various hotels of the venue mix-up. During the long wait for problem resolution, I posted the correct address in the SinDo thread.

After arriving at the Conrad, I proceeded to the executive floor to notify B&BM that I had returned. Upon reaching the desk, the staff greeted my with a smile, stated that B was in the room and handed me the key to her room which I placed in my pocket.

Conrad key


B&BM arrived shortly; we were soon joined by JSWong and GVDIAD. Eventually restlessinRNO arrived. Notification about the correct restaurant was sent to those at hotels we were aware of using GVD’s laptop. Our conversation became increasingly animated so that eventually the staff moved us to a private room suggesting that we would be more comfortable. What they really meant was that we needed to stop disturbing the other guests. Mad4Miles showed up later after cabbing over from the Grand Hyatt.

Eventually, we grabbed a couple of taxis to Boat Quay where we met up with the beer drinking contingent. All the usual suspects plus a couple of new people were in attendance. They paid up and we were off to Jumbo Boat Quay.

Dinner was quite good. We filled the room to capacity. Violist covered the food offerings quite well in his report. Just to add, the frog’s legs at our table were on of the evening’s hits, not for everyone, but certainly for some of us. Pepper crab was peppery, Chili Crab was disappointing with very little sauce and what there was somewhat insipid.









Photos courtesy of the Jumbo waitress staff

After dinner a fairly large group walked across the river, after a stop at the world's smallest 7-11 to the suite at the Novotel. After some further spirtied conversation everyone departed and I crashed.

opushomes

On the economy, an interlude

Yesterday afternoon’s taxi driver was an irascible guy. His greeting was “the economy is the shiits”. Further explanation on his part yielded the information that less airport traffic meant fewer trips. Additionally, local traffic was down due to job and savings loss. People were relying on public transportation more. Yes, we definitely live in a global economy.

Why one cannot find a taxi in a Singapore rain storm
Sunday morning I awoke after a good night’s sleep somewhat later than usual so a taxi to the Conrad rather than the MRT was in order. Today’s driver was an interesting fellow who filled me in with a plausible explanation as to why taxis during rainstorms are so scarce. It seems that the driver corps is aging. Taxi drivers in Singapore rent the car at a rate of approximately $S90 per shift. They are responsible for all damage the vehicle. Since this is the case, the older drivers whose eyesight is not as good as it once was, park the car during periods of rain to avoid any possible accidents and the resulting financial liability. So we now know why is so hard to get a taxi in the wet when, of course, demand is at its highest. Obviously this caution is not evident among the NYC driver corps.

Breakfast and beyond

The previous afternoon GVDIAD and JSWong had decided to meet us for breakfast and we scheduled for a half hour earlier so as not to be rushed. The hostess seated us at a somewhat secluded table next to a couple with a grade school-aged son. Since we were seated directly adjacent to the neighboring table, I turned to them saying, “I hope that we are not disturbing you because we tend to be a little noisy.” “Not at all”, was the woman’s response. Thus we and the adjoining table had enjoyable breakfast discussing various topics of common interest. I recall from the ensuing conversation he was Singaporean and she was Philippina having lived in Singapore for many years. We all chatted for a number of minutes until they left. So ended another pleasant interlude with strangers.

After breakfast GVDIAD and JSWong went off to visit local attractions. On the way back from breakfast, the conceirge stopped us and asked it everything had worked out with Lion Air. I responded yes, handed him $S10 and asked that he keep his eye out for my "Jumbo Card".

Peranakan Museum

B&BM and I ended up going to the Peranakan Museum to see “Serenity in Stone: The Qingzhou Discovery” which had just opened.

http://www.peranakanmuseum.sg/exhibi...nts/events.asp

http://www.peranakanmuseum.sg/exhibi...xhibitions.asp

Despite not normally being a museum-goer, the continuing exhibitions were exceedingly interesting. Especially appealing was the photographic gallery with photos of various contemporary Peranakan and their bios. The other gallery of interest featured common household items from an historical perspective. Less so was the special exhibition which was certainly a hit with B&BM. I found it somewhat boring and repetitive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan
http://www.peranakan.org.sg/
http://www.visitsingapore.com/publis...xperience.html

Provided especially for SinDo’s resident foody:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan_cuisine

After our visit, shopping was in order for my friend while I decided to visit with the sunbathers at the Sheraton. Normally, I would browse the bookstore adjacent to Takeshima on Orchard Road and perhaps grab a snack in the food court or graze the samples in the produce section. Grabbing a bus to Dhoby Ghaut MRT was easy. Unfortunately, I did not recognize the station causing the bus driver to delay the bus until I got off. I thanked him upon exiting. Try that with a New York bus driver with the usual result being unceremoniously dumped at the end of the line.





A short MRT ride got me to Newton station. The area map showed the Sheraton nearby and I proceeded there. Since it was Sunday I got big smiles from a couple of Indonesian maids on their day off who were sitting on a wall at the exit of the station. The smiles were the result of their normal friendliness not because it was Sunday. Singapore is normally a friendly city full of interesting people.

Upon reaching the Sheraton, I encountered some difficulty in finding the pool. Who puts a pool on the 5th floor? Sitting there were spiff and Techgirl. Later we were joined by newself and seanthepilot. After a bit of chatting, I grabbed a taxi back to the Novotel for a bit of rest before meeting up for pre-dinner cocktails at the Conrad.

Another quick taxi ride ensued and the group expanded to include Condition One with whom I had spent a very pleasant weekend sampling BBQ in Kansas City the previous spring. We were once again placed in one of the very comfortable conference areas so as not to disturb the other guests. After more drinks and small nibbles, all of us with the exception of Condition One (“I get enough Chinese food at home!”) departed for the Komtiam on Keong Sek Road.







Dinner, once again, the highlight of the weekend.

Our driver was a quite cheerful guy who was concerned whether the Chinese New Year (CNY) festivities would block our access. A pleasant five way conversation ensued as he negotiated the back street route to the restaurant. Upon arrival, we wound our way through the kitchen to the alley in the rear (sans driver) where a number of people were milling around. Finally we ended up with three round tables in the alley. That was until further eaters showed up and we began a Chinese fire drill of rearranging the table tops which added approximately 8 inches to the overall diameter. This was quite an expansion from last year's one table of eight.

The proprietress attempted to provide menus. Both infoworks and karenkay waved them off. As per last year all items were ordered off menu for communal sharing. Again violist did an excellent job of describing what was consumed. Karen did the ordering and interaction with the wait staff entirely in Mandarin. The highlights this year was again the arrival of the garbage truck to serenade us with various clanking tones while we ate in the alley and the presence of jpatokal and StarwoodLurkerII, the local Singapore FTers. Ah, the ambiance of Singapore.



This is a Chinese Komtiam so pointing with the finger extended is acceptable. Not true in much of Asia where the finger extended is considered rude.



The car in the background was eventually replaced by the garbage truck









Our resident "foody"

Post dinner consisted of a walk thru the Chinese New Year’s market before grabbing another cab back to the Conrad for a brief cocktail hour. There was a bit of jockeying with some rather rude Europeans who felt that they could cut the queue by pretending that it did not exist. Sorry, rude people but I assume that you still are waiting for a taxi.

jpatokal

Interesting. I'd always figured that this was mostly caused by the fact that at periods of high demand (such as rainstorms), people will call taxis, which earns the cabbie a nice little bonus of $3-5. Cabbies thus park just out of sight of the nearest taxi stand or cruise aimlessly with the light set to "BUSY" until a call comes in...

opushomes

On to Kuala Lumpur

The day began bright and sunny as is often the case in Singapore. Unfortunately, I was not as bright and sunny. During the night some sort of bug had decided to attack my upper respiratory tract and I was not feeling particularly great.

Rather than provide the Novotel with any revenue beyond the bare necessities, I chose breakfast at the exorbitantly priced Starbucks on the corner. (Aren’t they all??) A chocolate muffin and vente Mocha (hot, not iced) made up my breakfast. The little necessary packing accomplished and the bellman called, again it was my friend from day one. I went to the front desk to settle the bill. Amazingly, the line was short, the wait time acceptable and to my complete shock, the bill absolutely accurate. At least they followed through with their negotiated offer without creating additional upset.

It was now approximately 1030 and my flight was at 1315. Better to hang out at Changi rather than watching the endless loop on CNN Asia. I had a plan since I did not have lounge access while flying Malaysia Airlines in coach.

A taxi entered the queue immediately after I exited the first floor doors.

Today’s driver was a woman, the first female taxi driver that seen in the six years visiting the city state. As is my habit, I specified the front seat to reduce the discomfort to my knees. After the luggage was loaded and tip (not necessary in Singapore, but deserved for his previous help) dispensed to my overeager bellman friend, we departed for Changi.

The quest for a taxi, I got a bus instead

Directly in front of me on the dashboard were two models of Comfort Cabs. In the course of the conversation, I learned that the cab models are available from Toys R Us.

This is the Toys R Us model



And the real one



Well, maybe the model is available at the airport, almost everything else is. A quick trip to the airport ensued and soon I was checked in with MH, exit row aisle.

How to perhaps buy a domestic Indonesia ticket on Sriwijaya Air in Singapore

While searching for the correct check-in desk, I noticed that the daily departure of Sriwijaya Air had just closed.

http://www.sriwijayaair-online.com/

So I after getting my boarding pass, I proceeded to its check-in desks to see how one buys a domestic ticket for Indonesia. Recall, that I only had a Lion Air ticket (obtained after significant effort) from CGK-BPN and still needed the return. The staff (employees of the contractor that deals with multiple airlines with limited schedules out of SIN who perform all duties normally done by airline staff) were packing up and preparing to leave for the next uniform change to whatever airline they would next represent. I approached the obvious supervisor and asked if I could buy a domestic Indonesia ticket at the airport. This very competent individual turned to what turned out to be a real Sriwijaya Air employee and translated my request to him. The translation consisted of repeating what I said in English to saying it in English to the other guy. The real employee was the most clueless person I have ever met in Singapore. He dragged out manuals, price lists, schedules and what may have been, in retrospect, the entire employee roster of the airline searching for whether I could buy a ticket. Final analysis was that I could go downtown to their office and perhaps I could buy one, but perhaps not. Finding the address required reviewing all the documents for a second time; finding pricing and schedule for the route seemed beyond his capabilities. Thanks for all the help Sriwijaya, you lost an easy ticket sale. I suspect that their aircraft maintenance is performed with the same dexterity and competence.

the actual quest

I thanked them for their help and proceeded through immigration. After getting yet another passport stamp and replenishing my candy supply, I went in search of toy stores who might stock the Singapore taxi.

Since Toys R Us does not have a branch at the airport (note to marketing: why not?), I found the list of other purveyors of things meant to amuse children and others. No one had the taxi, but one store did have a very nice Singapore bus in Sentosa livery.



In fact, the sticker on the box says it is, “Winner IAAPA Souvenir Award 2005” and only $S9.25 without GST in duty free $US6.15. It is constructed of sturdy metal, not plastic for those who care. Probably the paint is lead-based since it is quite heavy for its size.

A quick flight to KL and taxi to Hilton Petaling Jaya

Wandering the airport was good exercise and eventually it was time to board the 737-300 for the 25 minute flight to KUL, lunch included. My exit row aisle was as comfortable as one can find on this aircraft from a legacy carrier. Fortunately, one cannot count Garuda as a legacy. The noodles were fine. We landed and taxied to the main terminal, no satellite for us today. Immigration, unusually, was empty and quick.

A few moments of waiting in baggage claim yielded my checked bag and small backpack. A quick walk to the taxi ticket booth ensued. The quoted cost from KUL to the Hilton Petaling Jaya was RM58.5. The other alternative was KLIA Ekspres (Express) at RM35 and a taxi from Sentral (Central) for approximately RM15. See how much Bahasa Malayu this traveler knows. The difference in terms of cost, hassle and time made the decision simple. The ticket was purchased and I proceeded to the first taxi in the rank.

This Hilton is approximately 1 hour from the airport. The car was clean and appeared well maintained (not always true of Malaysian taxis) driven by a third generation Malaysian Tamil whose enunciation of English was as if he still was living in India. Topics of conversation centered about the upcoming inauguration, the abysmal economy and life as a minority in Malaysia. Despite being difficult to understand, the driver was quite interesting and informative. Upon arrival at the hotel, I booked him for an 11 a.m. return to the airport for my continuing flight to Jakarta. Same fixed price for the return as for today’s drive.

Hilton Petaling Jaya-Way better than the reviews say it is

Check-in was easy with an executive floor suite being assigned. Since my illness was progressing, I was not motivated to leave the hotel. The lounge provided sufficient food, Coke light and enough wine to leave me satisfied. Breakfast in the lounge was a varied buffet.

The hotel is close to public transportation to central Kuala Lumpur



View of the city from the room. Note Petronas Towers and Hilton KL in distance



After the lounge visit and light snacks, I returned to the room to watch the various reports on the upcoming inauguration. Tomorrow, I leave for a first time visit to Jakarta. Looking forward the lounge at the Sheraton Bandara and seeing the Indonesian coverage of our new president