From the Heart of Africa to the Top of the World: SIN-LLW-LYR-YOW-PUS-SIN in C
Oct 13, 2005, 8:56 am
#62
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
Epilogue
And that, as they say, was it. I'd already completed my circle around the world back in BKK, Changi welcomed me home by making me pass through inbound security, and the machine scanning my thumbprint in Changi's Access Card lane still recognized me as me.
A final burst of utterly useless trivia:
Longest flight: SIN-JNB, 5381 miles, 11:20 (pipping JNB-FRA at 5380 by one mile!)
Shortest flight: GMP-PUS, 203 miles, 1:00
Best flight (nighttime): SIN-JNB on SQ, for Spacebeds and doing everything the way it should be done
Best flight (daytime): LHR-YOW on AC, for the best crew on the trip, DVD players and great food too
Best lounge: SQ Silver Kris, ICN (add in the massage girls from TG BKK and I'll move in permanently)
Worst lounge: AC Maple Leaf, YOW (only thing I liked was the wifi)
Best overall airline: SQ (surprise, surprise!)
Worst overall airline: SK (somebody remind me why I'm in their bonus program?)
Most expensive accommodation: Kafunta Lodge, Zambia (US$170)
Cheapest (paid) accommodation: Seoul Backpackers, South Korea (W27,000, c. US$27)
Best value for money: Four Seasons Vancouver, Canada (CDN$130, c. US$110)
Best accommodation: Kafunta Lodge, Zambia
Most expensive meal: Set C at Four Seasons Raw Fish, Busan, South Korea (W50,000, c. US$50)
Cheapest (paid) meal: Phat thai on the street, Bangkok, Thailand (B20, c. US$0.40)
Best value for money: Simo's Pizza, Chipata, Zambia (K14,000, c. US$3)
Best meal: Sadongmyenok, Seoul, South Korea (ranking undoubtedly increased by suffering through Norway and Canada on the way there)
And to you, my dear readers, thank you for sitting through it all. Gluttons for punishment can proceed onto Fly is Cheap: Low-Cost Adventures in Indonesia for more of the same, if somewhat disjointed and in less excruciating detail. Stay tuned for more and, in the meantime, vote early and often to get this thread on TalkMail.
And that, as they say, was it. I'd already completed my circle around the world back in BKK, Changi welcomed me home by making me pass through inbound security, and the machine scanning my thumbprint in Changi's Access Card lane still recognized me as me.
A final burst of utterly useless trivia:
Longest flight: SIN-JNB, 5381 miles, 11:20 (pipping JNB-FRA at 5380 by one mile!)
Shortest flight: GMP-PUS, 203 miles, 1:00
Best flight (nighttime): SIN-JNB on SQ, for Spacebeds and doing everything the way it should be done
Best flight (daytime): LHR-YOW on AC, for the best crew on the trip, DVD players and great food too
Best lounge: SQ Silver Kris, ICN (add in the massage girls from TG BKK and I'll move in permanently)
Worst lounge: AC Maple Leaf, YOW (only thing I liked was the wifi)
Best overall airline: SQ (surprise, surprise!)
Worst overall airline: SK (somebody remind me why I'm in their bonus program?)
Most expensive accommodation: Kafunta Lodge, Zambia (US$170)
Cheapest (paid) accommodation: Seoul Backpackers, South Korea (W27,000, c. US$27)
Best value for money: Four Seasons Vancouver, Canada (CDN$130, c. US$110)
Best accommodation: Kafunta Lodge, Zambia
Most expensive meal: Set C at Four Seasons Raw Fish, Busan, South Korea (W50,000, c. US$50)
Cheapest (paid) meal: Phat thai on the street, Bangkok, Thailand (B20, c. US$0.40)
Best value for money: Simo's Pizza, Chipata, Zambia (K14,000, c. US$3)
Best meal: Sadongmyenok, Seoul, South Korea (ranking undoubtedly increased by suffering through Norway and Canada on the way there)
And to you, my dear readers, thank you for sitting through it all. Gluttons for punishment can proceed onto Fly is Cheap: Low-Cost Adventures in Indonesia for more of the same, if somewhat disjointed and in less excruciating detail. Stay tuned for more and, in the meantime, vote early and often to get this thread on TalkMail.
Oct 14, 2005, 3:31 am
#64
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ G, Hyatt D, Shangri-La G, Hilton G, Marriott G, IC PrCl G
Posts: 231
Originally Posted by jpatokal
Best value for money: Four Seasons Vancouver, Canada (CDN$130, c. US$110)
Great report! ^
Last edited by LightSpeed; Oct 29, 2005 at 7:50 pm
Oct 30, 2005, 11:24 pm
#66
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PEK
Programs: Alas, the Gravy Train Hath Ended...just happy to be an OW Sapphire and a ST Ivory...whatever
Posts: 4,389
I've read many of the trip reports on this board, but this one takes them all. Thanks for your informative, humorous, and unnecessary-but-fun-knowledge packed report.
Cheers
Cheers
Nov 1, 2005, 2:14 am
#67
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Asia
Programs: NW, UA, Starwood
Posts: 315
Jpatokal, thanks for posting such an incredible and inspiring trip report. I'm envious, not so much over your trip, but your ability to write (and recall) such detail from your experience that it sounds like we're listening to your personal thoughts the moment it occurs. Would you mind giving us some insight on how you manage to get so much writing done on the road? I imagine that each installment must take several hours to compose, so it's hard to figure out exactly where you had time to do this (even with all the flying) and how it didn't wear you out in the end.
Nov 2, 2005, 4:59 am
#68
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
Originally Posted by Elite Addiction
Would you mind giving us some insight on how you manage to get so much writing done on the road? I imagine that each installment must take several hours to compose, so it's hard to figure out exactly where you had time to do this (even with all the flying) and how it didn't wear you out in the end.
The only thing I've noticed is that my excitement level and the number of things to do tends to be inversely correlated to the amount of stuff I type out -- which explains why three days on safari merited a few sentences and a visit to a ski jump in a podunk Norwegian town turned into a couple of pages of blather. But I try to compensate by throwing in anecdotes about alcoholic sportstar-cum-strippers to keep y'all awake
Nov 4, 2005, 3:45 am
#69
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: coastal Croatia
Programs: BAEC Gold, M&M Senator
Posts: 2,180
Really, really well done
It took me three days on and off to finish this report, but it was definitely worth it. As others have said, your blend of humor, insight, detail and off-topic commentary make for a very interesting read. Thanks for sharing with the FT community.
Nov 7, 2005, 4:18 am
#70
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
And a post-postscript of sorts -- comments posted here prompted me to go out and read my first book by Bill Bryson ("Notes from a Small Island", to be precise), and after laughing myself silly I'm humbled to be compared to the Dave Barry of travel writing. Hopefully my trip reports don't go quite as overboard though 
Sep 12, 2007, 9:30 am
#72
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
I'd be extremely interested in getting a copy of this -- if anybody could scan a copy of or mail the original article in question, I would be most obliged. ^