Weekend in Philadelphia
Jul 21, 2013, 7:56 am
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Penang, Malaysia
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Posts: 1,025
Weekend in Philadelphia
Except for one cross country mileage run, I was grounded for the last month or so. Work was hectic with a project deadline fast approaching (12-15 hour days and working weekends aren't fun!) and the wife was finishing up her last semester of her law degree that she was taking remotely.
By the time we decided that Memorial weekend was a good time to get away, ticket prices to places we wanted to visit like Chicago and New Orleans were absurdly expensive. We had enough miles to hop over to Europe but we couldn't justify using the miles for just a short weekend. We finally decided on Philadelphia since there were some interesting tourist attractions like Independence Hall and the Rocky steps but more importantly, the plane tickets were reasonably priced at ~$350 a person. Not cheap or mileage run worthy but we couldn't complain considering we booked it a couple of days before. The outbound would be on United and the return would be on American.
Finding a hotel was also somewhat challenging. We initially couldn't find a downtown hotel for the first night and had to settle for an airport hotel but thankfully a Club Carlson redemption at the
Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel for 44,000 points opened up later. The hotel was asking for $350 a night so the 44,000 points was well worth the redemption. With the recent Hilton devaluation, I was done being loyal and wanted to try other chains. After reading rave reviews, I had status matched to Kimpton Inner Circle and decided to stay the final two nights at their Palomar Hotel.
I was disappointed that there was no earlier flight to do a free same day change to so we only left evening late on Saturday evening. After working out in the morning and finishing up some last minute work later that day, we were at the United club winding down the busy month with some beers while catching the end of the Champions league game between to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Only my upgrade had cleared for the short Austin to Houston flight. Lydia was the next person on the upgrade list but the cabin had already checked-in full. I guess someone didn't show up as the gate attendant came up the plane and upgraded Lydia to the seat next to mine right as before the doors were closed.
With both our upgrades already cleared for the Houston to Philadelphia flight, we skipped getting dinner at the airport and just headed to the nearest United Club thinking we would have dinner on the next flight. This turned out to be a big mistake as our 7.15pm flight was a snack service instead of dinner. The only food on offer on the 3 hour flight was a small serving of cold Mediterranean snack plate consisting of some cos-cous, pita chips, cold cuts and cheeses. The food was definitely disappointing considering we were drinking since we got to the airport at 4pm and needed some real food.
I did manage to stay awake for most of the flight watching Pi before nodding off to right before landing. We arrived on time a bit before mid-night when by now we were hungry and just wanted to get to our hotel and hoped there were still places open where we would grab a late bite.
Links to the other installments are my my blog:
Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia
Palomar Hotel Philadelphia
Dinner at Marigold Restaurant
Dinner & Lunch at Morimoto
Exploring Philadelphia
Philadelphia to Austin on American Airlines
By the time we decided that Memorial weekend was a good time to get away, ticket prices to places we wanted to visit like Chicago and New Orleans were absurdly expensive. We had enough miles to hop over to Europe but we couldn't justify using the miles for just a short weekend. We finally decided on Philadelphia since there were some interesting tourist attractions like Independence Hall and the Rocky steps but more importantly, the plane tickets were reasonably priced at ~$350 a person. Not cheap or mileage run worthy but we couldn't complain considering we booked it a couple of days before. The outbound would be on United and the return would be on American.
Finding a hotel was also somewhat challenging. We initially couldn't find a downtown hotel for the first night and had to settle for an airport hotel but thankfully a Club Carlson redemption at the
Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel for 44,000 points opened up later. The hotel was asking for $350 a night so the 44,000 points was well worth the redemption. With the recent Hilton devaluation, I was done being loyal and wanted to try other chains. After reading rave reviews, I had status matched to Kimpton Inner Circle and decided to stay the final two nights at their Palomar Hotel.
I was disappointed that there was no earlier flight to do a free same day change to so we only left evening late on Saturday evening. After working out in the morning and finishing up some last minute work later that day, we were at the United club winding down the busy month with some beers while catching the end of the Champions league game between to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Only my upgrade had cleared for the short Austin to Houston flight. Lydia was the next person on the upgrade list but the cabin had already checked-in full. I guess someone didn't show up as the gate attendant came up the plane and upgraded Lydia to the seat next to mine right as before the doors were closed.
With both our upgrades already cleared for the Houston to Philadelphia flight, we skipped getting dinner at the airport and just headed to the nearest United Club thinking we would have dinner on the next flight. This turned out to be a big mistake as our 7.15pm flight was a snack service instead of dinner. The only food on offer on the 3 hour flight was a small serving of cold Mediterranean snack plate consisting of some cos-cous, pita chips, cold cuts and cheeses. The food was definitely disappointing considering we were drinking since we got to the airport at 4pm and needed some real food.
I did manage to stay awake for most of the flight watching Pi before nodding off to right before landing. We arrived on time a bit before mid-night when by now we were hungry and just wanted to get to our hotel and hoped there were still places open where we would grab a late bite.
Links to the other installments are my my blog:
Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia
Palomar Hotel Philadelphia
Dinner at Marigold Restaurant
Dinner & Lunch at Morimoto
Exploring Philadelphia
Philadelphia to Austin on American Airlines
Jul 21, 2013, 7:57 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Penang, Malaysia
Programs: OZ *G, HHonors Gold, Aclub Plat
Posts: 1,025
Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia
It was a quick fifteen minute cab ride (via Uber) from the airport to the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia. The lobby was still busy at this late hour with wedding reception finishing up their festivities. There were two persons manning the lobby with one taking a long time to help two girls who were trying to check-in or had some issues with their room. The other was constantly on the phone and we were made to wait for about ten minutes before she got to us. It was not fun waiting considering we were really tired and hungry at this point.
When the staff that was on the phone finally got to us, she quickly apologized and informed us that there was a water leak so the room assigned to us was unavailable and they were already fully booked. She was trying to find us another hotel at their expense but as I already knew that most hotels were sold out, this was not going to be easy.
She continued to make phone calls to several hotels with all of them telling her that they had no rooms available. We continued to stay patient as it wasn't her fault and being DYKWIA would not have helped the situation. By some luck, they managed to changed out a toilet in one of their own rooms but needed some time to touch up the room. We gladly made the best of the situation and gave them time to clean up this room while we headed out for supper.
Read more....
It was a quick fifteen minute cab ride (via Uber) from the airport to the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia. The lobby was still busy at this late hour with wedding reception finishing up their festivities. There were two persons manning the lobby with one taking a long time to help two girls who were trying to check-in or had some issues with their room. The other was constantly on the phone and we were made to wait for about ten minutes before she got to us. It was not fun waiting considering we were really tired and hungry at this point.
When the staff that was on the phone finally got to us, she quickly apologized and informed us that there was a water leak so the room assigned to us was unavailable and they were already fully booked. She was trying to find us another hotel at their expense but as I already knew that most hotels were sold out, this was not going to be easy.
She continued to make phone calls to several hotels with all of them telling her that they had no rooms available. We continued to stay patient as it wasn't her fault and being DYKWIA would not have helped the situation. By some luck, they managed to changed out a toilet in one of their own rooms but needed some time to touch up the room. We gladly made the best of the situation and gave them time to clean up this room while we headed out for supper.
Read more....
Jul 21, 2013, 7:59 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Penang, Malaysia
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Posts: 1,025
Palomar Hotel Philadelphia
We arrived at the Palomar relatively early at 10am after breakfast and checking out of the Radisson. The staff manning the checking desk warmly welcomed us and thanking us for being Inner Circle members. We weren't too surprise that she couldn't find a room ready for us at that hour and she said they will call us when the room was ready.
Lobby
After exploring Reading Terminal Market and having a delicious lunch of Malaysian food at Penang restaurant in Chinatown, we got the phone call that the room was ready. I had booked the cheapest room available and it looked like we were only upgraded to a deluxe room instead of a suite I was hoping for. The room size was average but I liked the quirky deco and colors of the room - definitely much more fun than your typical Hilton/Doubletree.
Read more...
We arrived at the Palomar relatively early at 10am after breakfast and checking out of the Radisson. The staff manning the checking desk warmly welcomed us and thanking us for being Inner Circle members. We weren't too surprise that she couldn't find a room ready for us at that hour and she said they will call us when the room was ready.
Lobby
After exploring Reading Terminal Market and having a delicious lunch of Malaysian food at Penang restaurant in Chinatown, we got the phone call that the room was ready. I had booked the cheapest room available and it looked like we were only upgraded to a deluxe room instead of a suite I was hoping for. The room size was average but I liked the quirky deco and colors of the room - definitely much more fun than your typical Hilton/Doubletree.
Read more...
Jul 21, 2013, 8:00 am
#4
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Posts: 1,025
Dinner at Marigold Restaurant
Marigold came highly recommended on Yelp as one of the top restaurants in Philly. From the reviews, the food and concept looked rather interesting. DippinDots as an amuse bouche? We had to try it! The restaurant was on the outskirts of downtown Philly but it was an easy fifteen minute tram ride away from the hotel.
The restaurant offers a three, four or five course tasting menu. No ala carte options. We both went with the five course menu since we wanted to try more items and wasn't interested in the cheese course. We both ordered different items so we could try most of the items on the menu.
I'm not sure if it was some Philly thing, but the restaurant is BYOB, i.e. bring your own booze. We ended up bringing the bottle of sparkling wine that the Palomar had given to us.
Even before we got to our first course, we were served selection of amuse bouche. The DippinDots were unique and a nice blend of favors. My favorites were the foie gras cookie and the cauliflower foam soup. Both were so rich, decadent and yummy.
DippinDots of Brocoli, Cauliflower & Bacon
Beef with pomegranate and chilli foam
Read more...
Marigold came highly recommended on Yelp as one of the top restaurants in Philly. From the reviews, the food and concept looked rather interesting. DippinDots as an amuse bouche? We had to try it! The restaurant was on the outskirts of downtown Philly but it was an easy fifteen minute tram ride away from the hotel.
The restaurant offers a three, four or five course tasting menu. No ala carte options. We both went with the five course menu since we wanted to try more items and wasn't interested in the cheese course. We both ordered different items so we could try most of the items on the menu.
I'm not sure if it was some Philly thing, but the restaurant is BYOB, i.e. bring your own booze. We ended up bringing the bottle of sparkling wine that the Palomar had given to us.
Even before we got to our first course, we were served selection of amuse bouche. The DippinDots were unique and a nice blend of favors. My favorites were the foie gras cookie and the cauliflower foam soup. Both were so rich, decadent and yummy.
DippinDots of Brocoli, Cauliflower & Bacon
Beef with pomegranate and chilli foam
Read more...
Jul 21, 2013, 8:01 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Penang, Malaysia
Programs: OZ *G, HHonors Gold, Aclub Plat
Posts: 1,025
Dinner & Lunch at Morimoto
After eating at Morimoto in New York and savoring what is still today one of the best desserts we've eaten, we were set on trying Morimoto's establishment in Philadelphia. The location of Morimoto was in some non-nondescript shop but with most places in Philly, was easily accessible via public transport. The restaurant was relatively empty when we visited for dinner but I guess it was normal considering most people would be spending time with the family at home on the Sunday of Memorial weekend.
We went back and forth on whether to go ala carte since they were some dishes that looked interesting or just leave it to the chef and try the omakase meals. In the end, we both went for the omakase option with Lydia going for the cheaper $80 option and me going for the $120 since we wanted to see the difference between the two options.
I also decided splurge a little bit more and added the drinks pairing as well for an additional $60. I'll be honest and say that I won't be talking much on the drinks/wine that was served since I don't remember the details. What I can remember however was that there was some pretty good wines and sake that was served with every course and they definitely paired well with the food.
Dinner started with a tuna tar-tar that had fried onions that added a wonderful crunch and flavor to the dish. This course was excellently paired with champagne.
Read more...
After eating at Morimoto in New York and savoring what is still today one of the best desserts we've eaten, we were set on trying Morimoto's establishment in Philadelphia. The location of Morimoto was in some non-nondescript shop but with most places in Philly, was easily accessible via public transport. The restaurant was relatively empty when we visited for dinner but I guess it was normal considering most people would be spending time with the family at home on the Sunday of Memorial weekend.
We went back and forth on whether to go ala carte since they were some dishes that looked interesting or just leave it to the chef and try the omakase meals. In the end, we both went for the omakase option with Lydia going for the cheaper $80 option and me going for the $120 since we wanted to see the difference between the two options.
I also decided splurge a little bit more and added the drinks pairing as well for an additional $60. I'll be honest and say that I won't be talking much on the drinks/wine that was served since I don't remember the details. What I can remember however was that there was some pretty good wines and sake that was served with every course and they definitely paired well with the food.
Dinner started with a tuna tar-tar that had fried onions that added a wonderful crunch and flavor to the dish. This course was excellently paired with champagne.
Read more...
Jul 21, 2013, 8:03 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Penang, Malaysia
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Posts: 1,025
Exploring Philadelphia
I'll admit that I didn't know much about Philadelphia before this trip. It wasn't on our must visit list so we were pleasantly surprised to have learned the significance of Philadelphia in American history from the trip.
The wife had found a good deal for the hop on/off bus tour from Groupon. The bus tour provided an easy, flexible and informative way for us to get around and to learn much more about the city. Since the weather was nice, we also walked/took a jog during the early morning to spend more time at the sights that we drove by during the bus tour.
The Love Sign
Some random sculpture
Read more...
I'll admit that I didn't know much about Philadelphia before this trip. It wasn't on our must visit list so we were pleasantly surprised to have learned the significance of Philadelphia in American history from the trip.
The wife had found a good deal for the hop on/off bus tour from Groupon. The bus tour provided an easy, flexible and informative way for us to get around and to learn much more about the city. Since the weather was nice, we also walked/took a jog during the early morning to spend more time at the sights that we drove by during the bus tour.
The Love Sign
Some random sculpture
Read more...
Jul 21, 2013, 8:04 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Penang, Malaysia
Programs: OZ *G, HHonors Gold, Aclub Plat
Posts: 1,025
Philly to Austin on American Airlines
This would be my first time flying on American in a long time. I usually stick to United since I have Premier Gold status but tickets on United were priced double on the day we needed - no choice there. I was actually looking forward to trying out American since I've been mulling to switch over to American/Oneworld since I've been hearing good things about them and with Malaysian Airlines joining Oneworld, it would be more convenient to fly home to Malaysia on Oneworld than on Star Alliance.
Check-in and security was a breeze thanks to gifted British Airways Silver/Oneworld Sapphire status due to the status match that British Airways provided to BMI frequent flyers when they bought/dissolved BMI.
The only lounge available to Oneworld passengers at Philadelphia was the British Airways lounge. The lounge was definitely not shabby especially comparing other domestic lounges like the United club. The drinks selection was rather extensive with a couple of white and red wine to try from. There were also some snacks like chips, wraps and sandwiches.
Read more...
This would be my first time flying on American in a long time. I usually stick to United since I have Premier Gold status but tickets on United were priced double on the day we needed - no choice there. I was actually looking forward to trying out American since I've been mulling to switch over to American/Oneworld since I've been hearing good things about them and with Malaysian Airlines joining Oneworld, it would be more convenient to fly home to Malaysia on Oneworld than on Star Alliance.
Check-in and security was a breeze thanks to gifted British Airways Silver/Oneworld Sapphire status due to the status match that British Airways provided to BMI frequent flyers when they bought/dissolved BMI.
The only lounge available to Oneworld passengers at Philadelphia was the British Airways lounge. The lounge was definitely not shabby especially comparing other domestic lounges like the United club. The drinks selection was rather extensive with a couple of white and red wine to try from. There were also some snacks like chips, wraps and sandwiches.
Read more...