Portland to the Nines

By Robert | Published February 13, 2014

Introduction
A week in 2014, I found myself sitting at my desk at home staring at the screen with the usual desire to get up and go somewhere. Martin Luther King Day, which results in a three day weekend for me was fast approaching and I knew I needed to go ahead and get something booked to get me out of town. I’ve been trying to get to San Francisco for some time, so I was trying to find a way to make that work out for me. Hotels weren’t cheap that weekend, and with airfares pretty much identical to all the major West Coast cities, I started to look for other options. Since I travel to San Diego a lot for work, I crossed that one off; Seattle? Just didn’t feel like it; Los Angeles? Are you crazy?; Portland? Why, that sounds like an excellent idea!

The last time I had been out to Portland was a work trip I made back in May 2011, which didn’t really give me much time explore the city. After all I was out by the airport on that trip and was also traveling with co-worker (who I did manage to convince to go into downtown for a beer and a drink), but there wasn’t any time for anything else. The time before that was a “layover” on Amtrak in 2010 where I had a few hours between my Amtrak Cascades train from Seattle and the Coast Starlight that I took all the way down to Los Angeles. With that said, I had plenty of Portland to check out; and given my affinity for beer, well plenty of breweries to check out.

The Flights
One of the surprising bits was that I was able to get a ‘K’ Economy fare for both the outbound and return for the modest price of $420. Seeing as I still had one Systemwide Upgrade (SWU) remaining that was expiring in February I figured this would be a good opportunity. There was availability for an upgrade in advance on my outbound day, but it was much later in the day, so I would be losing valuable time in Portland, especially given that I was leaving on a Saturday. I was really crossing my fingers and just about a week prior I noticed that both my PDX-ATL and ATL-ECP legs on the return were available one night, and quickly jumped on getting my SWU applied and confirming First Class. There wound up being no chance for me on the outbound ECP-ATL-PDX flights in terms of getting the upgrade (and ECP-ATL is usually pretty easy for me as a Platinum Medallion; unfortunately I wound up being #1 on the upgrade list with no seats, which is one of the downsides of the Boeing 717 now being used on the ECP flights as there are 4 fewer First Class seats compared to the MD-88). For the ATL-PDX flight I wound up in 10D which was an aisle bulkhead seat on the 737-800. There was plenty of space, but my only complaint is that the flight was supposed to be a 737-800 with personal TVs, but there wound up being an equipment swap with one that only had overhead TVs. Luckily there was plenty of space to use my laptop for the duration of the flight.

Watching Jets Taxi From The Delta Sky Club at B25 in Atlanta

Before boarding my flight back to Atlanta, I had enough time to go and check out the Sky Club in Portland. This one definitely hasn’t been renovated or even had any of the current Sky Club style touches added to it, but that was plenty fine by me. It’s a decent sized club, not really big, but larger than a closet and did the trick. For the most part it was quiet until some Diamond Medallion decided to sit in the middle of the club and talk loudly on her cell phone for 30 minutes, which wouldn’t had been as annoying if she didn’t chuckle after every thing she said. Oh well; on another note the bartender at the club was very friendly and so were the agents. Overall, it’s a decent Sky Club, but next time if I go out there I might have to go and check out the Alaska Airlines Boardroom.

A Mountain Pokes Out From Above A Delta Air Lines MD-88 at the Portland International Airport

As for the return flights in First Class, there wasn’t anything that was out of the ordinary about them from a service perspective. The flight attendants were good about going through and checking on passengers and the meal was what I consider to be one of Delta’s better First Class meal options: Pizza with chicken, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes, salad, and a Dancing Deer cookie. Paired with an adult beverage, I was happy as I watched a movie and a couple of TV shows as we made our way to Atlanta. Near Atlanta I finally wound up talking to my seat mate who turned out to be a Captain with UPS; it seems like more than often I find myself sitting next to pilots on my flights…

Delta Air Lines First Class Lunch PDX-ATL

The Hotel
Actually, one of the things that I’ve often wanted to check out in Portland was the hotel I was staying at for the two nights of my trip: the Nines. Part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection brand, the Nines is located in the Meier & Frank Building starting with the lobby on the 8th floor. The elevators deposit you facing the windows and after walking around to the other side the shafts, the front desk is found. The agent at the desk was very friendly and offered me a few options for my room. I could have a higher floor or a larger room; not really sure what would be better or if one was an upgrade or a downgrade, I decided to go with the upper floor room. I didn’t need all the extra space, and as long as it had a large comfortable bed I was going to be happy.

I should also note that the concierge from the Nines had emailed me several days prior to my stay; I had not seen that from a hotel in the US before, so I knew in advance I was going to be in good hands with this hotel. I didn’t really need anything from the hotel in advance, but that introduction and responses to my questions was much appreciated. Throughout my stay the concierge staff was very helpful. Again, I didn’t really plan out anything about this trip (I’m pretty good about not planning), so when I was looking for places to go for food, drinks, or exploring they were definitely good at coming up with suggestions for me.

Getting to the room, I wound up in room 1108, which had a single King Bed a rather comfy couch next to the window, “standard-sized” TV, large bathroom (but small-ish shower) and decorated consistently with the rest of the hotel. Really, the way they’ve decorated this property really would make it fit in the W Hotels brand. Heck, the W Seattle isn’t even as flashy/modern as this place is. Anyways, as you can see the room was perfectly adequate and the bed was excellent. I was wondering if it was the W or Westin bed, because it felt like it could have been either one, but forgot to ask. As for the view, I could catch a glimpse of Pioneer Square from my room, but otherwise had views of adjacent buildings. I was located on the side of the building, so there wasn’t much to see.

the Nines, Portland – Entry

the Nines, Portland – King Bed

the Nines, Portland – Couch (Comfy!)

the Nines, Portland – TV + Desk

the Nines, Portland – Bathroom

View of Pioneer Square from the Nines

Also, located in the lobby is their restaurant Urban Farmer (open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) and on the top of the building, their lounge, Departure. My rate included daily continental breakfast, which turned out to be a $25 credit. I only took advantage of it my second morning there, as the first morning I had breakfast with a friend, but it pretty much meant you had free-reign of the menu. I went with the Eggs Benedict and a side of hash browns, because especially after a night of drinking, that just seems like a good idea usually. Well, in theory, they were decent, but I’ll be damned if they didn’t put too much hollandaise sauce on top. I definitely had to scrape some off, because otherwise it was just too overpowering. All for the better that it was free in the end.

Urban Farmer (Located in the Lobby of the Nines, Portland)

I checked out Departure, the rooftop lounge, the night before. I made it up there not long before they called last call, for one last drink to cap off my night on the town. It was pretty quiet and I would have figured that it would have been busier, but it is what it is. I will say, I have never sat in such a comfortable bar seat however. Almost like a really soft boat captains chair. After finishing up my drink it was back down to the room and time to rehydrate and eventually go to bed.

A Pretty Terrible Photo of the Hotel Bar/Lounge, Departure

The only real hiccup that I experienced during my stay was when I woke up that Sunday morning and took a look at the copy of the folio that the hotel emailed me. At first I was wondering if I was still drunk, because it was about $180 more than it should have been! Especially when it showed up as a line item as “Room Charge” of $91.21 for each of the two nights I stayed! Not knowing what in the world was a result of this, when I finally checked out, I asked and as the agent took a look at my folio, just said “Oh, not this again.” The explanation that he gave to me was that randomly, the system will improperly add the taxes at the incorrect rate and then post to the folio. It’s something I’ve never seen or heard of at any other Starwood property and I assume they all use the same systems for that, so I’m not exactly sure if that was a legit reason or not. He was however, very apologetic and fixed it right away, getting my total bill down to a correct and much saner $380.

Overall, I was impressed with this property. It was my first stay at a Luxury Collection property and they definitely delivered excellent customer service all around. Would I stay here again? Without a doubt, that is unless it winds up being prohibitively expensive. I definitely saved by traveling in January, and I still would like to try out the Westin Portland which is located not far from the Nines; it too looks like a great property.

Beer + Food
Ok, so I definitely enjoy my beer, and Portland is one of those cities that is great for beer lovers. There are breweries all over the city, and really the options are endless.
Henry’s Tavern
Located right off of Burnside in the Pearl District, this was my first stop after checking in at the hotel. Basically, I came here based on the front desk clerk telling me that they had something like 100 taps of craft beer. Seeing as I needed lunch still and beer is always good, I figured I would go and see what they had for me to try. I ordered the mac and cheese with prosciutto, which for some reason seems to be oddly usual for me to order in places like this…not really sure why either. Anyways, the food was decent and the beer selection was extensive. I sampled two different beers that from breweries that I had never heard of and quite frankly cant even remember the names of. They weren’t disappointing, but perhaps I should look into actually recording the beers that I drink so I can track these things?
Rogue Hall / Rogue Distillery & Public House
This is actually two locations; Rogue Hall, which is located on the Portland State University campus (actually on the ground floor of what looked like a dorm), and Rogue Distillery & Public House, which is located in the Pearl District. Both of these are outlets of the Newport-based Rogue Ales, which along with Stone of San Diego brew some of my favorite beers. I made my way through several glasses, including the Portland State IPA (how many colleges have beers named after them; I think someone needs to brew a UCF Pale Ale), the Chipotle Ale (which had a nice hint of the pepper flavors), Rogue Dead Guy (the beer that introduced me to Rogue in the first place), and many others. Both locations had plenty of choices to choose from, although the PSU location did not have has many as the one in the Pearl District. Also, I can vouch for the tater tots…
Bridgeport Brewery
This was my first stop on my Sunday of drinking and I had two beers here. Overall, the it was a pretty decent place, with plenty of seating and strangely with football on a good portion empty. Perhaps it was because I was at the upstairs bar, but I’m not really sure. Anyways, I went with the Hop Czar Imperial IPA, which I had thought surely I had before back home in Florida. That or I’m imagining things, but it made for a good glass of beer. I followed that up with a beer that had been tapped for the first time just a few days prior, the first in the Bridgeport Trilogy series, which was a Crystal Dry-Hopped Pale Ale. Turns out it’s their 30th anniversary this year, and they are releasing three “limited edition” beers throughout the course of the year. It wasn’t very strong, but it did not disappoint.

Bridgeport

Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House
Although I came here to drink, I really came here because I knew that I was going to need to have some food intake in order to balance out the beer I was drinking. Like many brewery brewpubs, there was a fairly extensive menu with me opting for a “spicy chicken pizza” which had peppers, onions, chicken, cilantro, mozzarella, all over a spicy jalapeno pesto base. First of all, I didn’t know such a thing as a jalapeno pesto existed, and second of all, I want to know how I can either make it or where I can buy it. As a person who loves pesto and jalapenos, yeah, it did a pretty good job. As for the beer, I had just one, although I don’t remember what I had…Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale or one of the IPAs.

Deschutes Brewery

PINTS Urban Tap Room
I stumbled on this place when on that Sunday night while looking for somewhere to get some local brews and a dinner. It seemed to have good reviews and it mentioned that they brewed their own beer, so naturally I was intrigued. I walked to their location near Union Station, and walked into a place that was definitely more relaxed and slowed down than the big brewery outlets. Actually the small crowd that was here seemed to all be locals, whilst I was the lone out-of-towner. I grabbed myself a sandwich and fries (which were both pretty good) and two of their beers: the Seismic IPA and the Rip Saw Red….I think. I don’t think either really stood out for having a unique flavor or anything, but it was still a good few pints. The thing that is interesting about this place is that in the mornings this place is a coffee shop; I don’t think you can get any more Portland than being both a coffee shop and a brewery.
Tasty ‘N Alder
I came here with a friend and his girlfriend on Sunday morning. They had talked this place up as having some pretty amazing food for brunch the night before, so I just had to try it. We did wound up having to wait about an hour for a table (the place was very busy), but I was not disappointed with my Tasty ​Steak & Cheddar Eggs ​with Cornmeal Pancake and Jalapeno Butter. The steak wasn’t over cooked and the cornmeal pancake with jalapeno butter was perfect combination of flavors, but yet very simple. If there is a long wait here, you can always go over to Powell’s Books to kill some time, like we did.
Sizzle Pie
I grabbed a slice of cheap pizza here and a cheap beer on Saturday after leaving Powell’s Books (the first of my two visits that weekend). Good for what it was, and it appears that they have a few locations across Portland. Important to note that they are open into the wee hours of the night, if one is craving some solid food after a night on the town.
Doug Fir Lounge
The Doug Fir Lounge is located on the east side of the Willamette River along Burnside. While it is a short taxi ride from the other side, I decided to walk from PINTS that night over to here, which is something I would not recommend if you aren’t comfortable with walking through slightly questionable area at night. Anyways, getting to the other side of the bridge I finally made to the bar and instantly my plan to see the show that they had that night were crushed. Sold Out. But, I didn’t come all this way for nothing so I settled into the upstairs bar and decided that I would at least have a few drinks. It seemed like a pretty nice establishment, and according to the menu on the bar, it’s one of the Top 20 Clubs in America according to Rolling Stone magazine (since I didn’t take any pictures, you can check out their website: http://www.dougfirlounge.com/). With not much else to do, I decided to hang out here for a while and when it came time to cash out my tab, I was pleasantly surprised that two vodka-based drinks and a beer only cost me $8. I was easily expecting something more like $20 just based on the pricing of places back home or quite frankly most anywhere. Maybe I didn’t get charged for something, but maybe it is just that cheap (or maybe there was a special that night?). All I know is that you can’t beat a price like that and a neat environment like that either.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters
I guess Stumptown is a bit of a Portland institution, or so I am led to believe. There’s a few locations around town and everyone seems to feature their coffees, so that has to be a sign, right? Being a fan of independent or small coffee shops (read: not Starbucks), I figured I would give it a whirl. Their location in Downtown was a short walk from the Nines, so I decided to go over there and have a latte. Given that it somewhat of the same feel as the coffee shop I frequent back home, it felt like being right at home. The only downside to their great coffee? Apparently it’s cash only.
Voodoo Doughnut
I had tried to go here when work brought me out here back in 2011, but their downtown location at that time was undergoing renovations. So this time after enjoying a cup of coffee from Stumptown, I walked down the street and got myself a doughnut. The “Oh Captain, My Captain” is what I settled on, which featured a serving of Capt’n Crunch! The frosting did make for a decent substitute for the milk and overall, it was pretty good. I was actually going to grab an assorted box to take back to Florida for the folks at work, but it being cash only and me only have $5 in my wallet, pretty much killed that idea.

Oh Captain, My Captain

Powell’s City of Books
Powell’s Books is quite the impressive place, that is if you like books. Taking up an entire city block, they pretty much have almost everything imaginable; new or used, common and uncommon. I spent probably a bit too long here browsing the stacks, trying to find a few books that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere, and pretty much getting lost. In the travel section I had found several books that I wanted, but not wanting to wind up taking a whole bunch of books back with me to add to my stack of books I’ve yet to read, I down selected to one, Thrilling Cities by Ian Fleming. Yes, the man who wrote the James Bond books, apparently has done some travel writing; the book contains several essays on various cities around the that were written for the Sunday Times in the late 50s / early 60s. I figured, that this could be a rather interesting look at some of the places that I’ve been to, especially since two of the essays are on where I had just gotten back from: Hong Kong and Macau.

Powell’s Books

There was only one thing that was disappointing about Powell’s: the science and engineering section. In fact, it took me forever to locate it, because I had not realized that it was located in different building across the street from the main building. But even then, once inside, I was disappointed by the selection of Electrical Engineering topic books or even what I would consider general technology books. I mean I figured that there this is where I might find some cool old engineering books, but that apparently wasn’t in the cards. But then, that’s not overly surprising, since the majority of the population isn’t going to care about those topics. They did have a pretty decent selection of books on software topics, so there was that.

Conclusion
Portland is a fascinating city and despite being a large metro area, it doesn’t have the crowded rushed feel that many cities have. Despite my running all over the place, it still felt laid back. Perhaps that was a function of taking it easy on that Saturday night and catching up with two friends that I hadn’t really seen since graduating from high school eight years ago or maybe it was just the vibe that the city of Portland has. Either way, I’m glad I finally made it back out here and actually have some time to explore the city, especially since the past two times didn’t give me that opportunity. Much like how I like to visit Seattle, I think I need to try to work in a trip to Portland more often; next time there’s plenty additional things I would like to check out, and I think my next trip is going to have to be in the summer when it is a bit warmer. Heck, I might even be convinced to bike my way around town…it is after all a very bike friendly city.

Posted in Delta, Hotels, Portland, SPG, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Hong Kong and Macau: W Hong Kong

By Robert | Published January 12, 2014

Index:
Introduction
Delta Economy Comfort ECP-ATL-SEA-NRT-HKG
W Hong Kong
Exploring Hong Kong
Conrad Macao
Exploring Macau
Conrad Hong Kong
Delta Economy Comfort HKG-NRT-SEA-ATL-ECP
Conclusion

Introduction
When I started planning my trip, I had a difficult decision to make as an SPG Gold member – choosing between the W Hong Kong or the Sheraton Hong Kong and Towers. Many people online will tell you to stay at the Sheraton because of the views of the skyline across Victoria Harbor on Hong Kong Island, but honestly a rather boring standard looking hotel room just doesn’t do it for me, even if the goal isn’t to spend much time there. I spend enough time in those types of rooms throughout the year traveling for work, so if I am going to be flying halfway around the world I might as well stay somewhere that I know is going to be a great experience. Plus being on top of the Elements Mall/Kowloon Station it isn’t in the center of tourists that is Tsim Shi Tsui (location of the Sheraton), means not getting haggled by touts offering cheap suits and knockoff goods.

Since the W Hong Kong was going for about $360-400/night I decided that I would pay for two nights and have one night on some of my SPG points to make a three night stay. As a Category 6 hotel in the SPG program that free night was going to cost me at least 20,000 points, but when I went to go make my reservation the only non-smoking rooms that were available were the “Fabulous Room”, so it wound up costing me 22,500 points for that free night. When you’re already going to drop 20,000 points for a night, what’s 2,500 more?

Arrival
The arrival process actually started several days before I even got in the plane in Panama City to start my 26+ hour journey to Hong Kong. About three days prior to me checking in, I received an email from the hotel’s “SPG Specialist” to confirm arrival time, checked if I needed any transfer assistance, and let me know that they would try to see what they could do for an upgrade (not that I expected anything being only SPG Gold). I didn’t really need any assistance getting from the airport and I was already staying in the room that I would have likely been upgraded to as an SPG Gold member, so it’s not like it was helpful in my situation, but I did appreciate that they did reach out prior to my arrival. It shows that they care about the total guest experience, should I have been traveling to celebrate a major event this would have been a great avenue to make any special requests. Being a single guy traveling alone, I didn’t need much. Upon disembarking for my train I started to journey through the maze that is the Elements Mall at 1AM. I decided to follow the signs from the side of the station that I came out of, which with my luck was the route that would take me on a thorough tour of the mall prior to reaching the entrance to the W. The next day I would discover that by going to the opposite side of the station you could find yourself just right around the corner from the hotel entrance. After a short elevator ride up to the sixth floor, I proceeded through the dark and quiet lobby to the only person working at the front desk that late Monday night. All the usual motions were went through and I selected points for my Gold check-in amenity (although as I now look at my SPG account, it looks like I never got them), given a quick lay down on the hotel, and handed me the keys to my room on the 38th floor. There would be no upgrade for me on this stay, but that’s hardly the end of the world.

Up The Elevator I Go…

The Room
As I mentioned earlier, I reserved a Fabulous Room which is two categories above the standard Wonderful Room of which there are two configurations of. Located on the 38th floor, I walked into Room 3805 at almost 1:30 AM, which also turned out to be the highest floor that had rooms on it. I should note that there’s a book theme going on throughout the public areas of the hotel, with the elevator landings having bookshelves and each room number placard being a “book”. Actually made for finding the down elevator button a bit of a challenge that first morning, because it was hidden on one of the “bookshelves”!

Floor 38 Elevator Landing

Come On In…

Although I was very, very tired and ready to hit the sack, I decided to check out the room first. Like one would expect with a stay at a W Hotel, everything had the modern look and feel to it and featured the always very comfortable W Hotels bed – hands down, my favorite hotel bed out there. Space was pretty good, I never felt cramped in the room as there was adequate space around the bed and between the bed and desk and the bathroom didn’t feel like a closet. Actually, speaking of the bathroom, it was interesting in its own right. There’s a separate shower and tub (which was a decent size that I didn’t have a problem feeling cramped in it), a toilet which shares a sliding door with the shower, a TV located in the mirror above the tub (admittedly I sat in the tub one afternoon soaking and watching college basketball on ESPN), and a decent sized sink/counter. On the counter, in addition to the usual toiletries, were all the items you normally would have to call down for if you were to forget your own such as razor, toothbrush/toothpaste, etc. Since I tend to usually forget something, having everything at the ready in my room makes for a better first morning when you realize what you leave behind. As for the shower, the water pressure was excellent, but I could never get the shower as hot as I wanted. It wasn’t that the water was cold or lukewarm, but I just happen to like very hot showers.

Fabulous Room – King Bed (After Turndown Service)

Fabulous Room – King Bed (Pre Turndown Service)

Fabulous Room – TV/Desk Area

Fabulous Room – Minibar

Fabulous Room – Bathroom Entrance

One thing that I really appreciated about the room was the view. Sure, it’s not of Central/Financial District on Hong Kong Island, like you would get at the Sheraton, but it’s still not a view to turn down. My room was a Harbour View room and as such I faced the commercial harbor that was located next to the hotel. There were plenty of ships and ferries that were anchored with partial views of Hong Kong Island and other areas. When I woke up that first morning and saw the sun shining I couldn’t help but to smile a little; it was the perfect way to wake up to Hong Kong.

W Hong Kong – Hong Kong Island View (South)

W Hong Kong – Harbor View (West)

W Hong Kong View – Commercial Harbor (North)

Food and Beverage
I took it upon myself to try out several of the Food and Beverage options located on the property, and there’s plenty of them. There’s Sing Yin Cantonese Dining located off the hotel entrance (never made it to this restaurant), Woobar (the main hotel bar located off of the lobby), Kitchen (the main hotel restaurant located off of the lobby), and the Wet Deck located on the 76th floor next to the pool which offered a selection of drinks and food items. All around I was very impressed.
Kitchen
I went to Kitchen my first morning in Hong Kong for the breakfast buffet. After flying half way around the world and living off of airline meals and what food I could get in the Delta Sky Clubs, I needed one heck of a proper meal. Let me just say, that it was beyond excellent. Going with the buffet lead to a multitude of options ranging from western (American and European) to Asian with plenty of options for all tastes. I had some mystery dim sum, a lobster Benedict, a salmon omelette, bacon, sausages, noodles, baked beans, potatoes, spring rolls, fruit, and more! In fact I barely even scratched the surface in terms of the offerings as there was much, much more. The quality of everything was superb and was definitely worth the HK$250 ($32 US). It was probably the best buffet breakfast that I have had. Ever.

Amazing Breakfast At Kitchen

Woobar
I only came to Woobar on my second night at the hotel and only stayed for one drink. I hit it at happy hour before I left for a night on the town, so there were some discounted drink options. With it being a bit on the early side on the nightlife time scale, it was pretty empty. I was the only person sitting at the bar and there were only a few others in the lounge area of Woobar. I’m sure it picked up a little bit, but on a Tuesday night, it was still probably on the dead side. I should note that later in the week after I had checked out, Woobar was hosting events during the Clockenflap music festival and from what I saw online it looked very packed.
Wet Deck
I think that the biggest benefit of the Wet Deck is the fact that it’s outside on the 76th floor and poolside. The only downside, it got a little bit on the cool and windy side while I was in Hong Kong. My first attempt was my third and final night at the hotel, but it was rather windy and chilly even with the heaters turned up around the tables, so I quickly aborted that attempt. However, the next day, having decided to take a leisurely approach to my day, after doing some morning roaming around town, I came back to the hotel for lunch before I headed to the ferry terminal to catch a ride to Macau. It wasn’t nearly as chilly as the night before, so up to the pool deck I went and settled down at a table. I was the only person up here and soon enough I had a large, very good Mojito in my hand and a club sandwich followed shortly thereafter. Really, the point of grabbing a drink or a bit to eat here is being able to look out to Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Island. I wont say that the views are overly spectacular, as several adjacent towers block the view a bit, but it does the trick. I sat there relaxed and enjoying myself until it was ultimately time to head back down to my room to pack everything up.

Wet Deck – Mojito!

Wet Deck – Pricey, But Tasty Club Sandwich

The View From Wet Deck

Overall Impression
Overall, the W Hong Kong impressed me and had me walking away with this easily being one of the top hotels that I’ve stayed at. All around the staff was incredible helpful and friendly, whether at the front desk, restaurants, or even just hailing me a cab to take me to a night on the town. All of the public areas and the room were very clean with obvious attention to detail to keeping it that way. If I were to ever go back to Hong Kong (I’m sure one day I will), I would not hesitate to stay here again; It’s nothing short of a fantastic hotel!

Pool Deck At Night

Posted in Hong Kong and Macau, Hotels, SPG, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Quick Review: Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front

By Robert | Published January 5, 2014

A few nights ago, I decided to make the two hour drive from Panama City Beach and head over to Pensacola to ring in the New Year with some friends. I’m through with celebrating locally and I didn’t make it out to the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix to see my University of Central Florida Knights take on the Baylor Bears, so this felt like a good idea. Being Hilton HHonors Diamond and SPG Gold, I usually have a few options in most cities for different hotels. Hilton clearly dominates the Pensacola area and Starwood has no properties in Pensacola, so the decision was pretty easy on that front.

The next decision was more difficult though. There were plenty of Hampton Inns near-ish to downtown as well as a full service Hilton located on the beach in Pensacola Beach. Some quick research online had people saying that the Hilton had great Diamond recognition and people reported getting upgrades easily even during the busiest of the summer seasons. Considering that there are approximately 91 suites at this property, I figured I had a pretty good chance, and at the very least I would wind up in a standard room, but at least looking out to the Gulf of Mexico. I made my reservation for $149/night for one night before taxes, even though there were Hampton Inn properties that were $20-40 less per night. I was betting that the internet was right.

I drove over to Pensacola that evening getting to the Hilton around 7PM. The lobby looked a bit busy, but it seemed to be just people waiting for rides or for cars to dropped off by the valet. Let’s start with first impressions as I was being checked in. To start, the agents just seemed indifferent about going through the motions. I was quickly thanked for being a Diamond member when I asked about an upgrade. I am fully aware that upgrades are on a space-available basis and tonight certainly had to be busy, so when I was told there was none and although I was disappointed, I accepted it. I had requested a King Room when making my reservation, so after being shot down for the upgrade I asked if they had any King Rooms available. Apparently there was just one available on the property and it was on the ground floor facing the parking lot. Passing on that option, they made my keys, gave me two bottles of water, and a breakfast voucher for the next day.

I took the slow elevator up to the 4th floor to find my room, 421. A room with two queen beds, it was a bit on the small side and had more of a Hampton Inn/Hilton Garden Inn feel to it. Especially my view: the parking lot. It was at this point that I started to think to myself that I would have been better off staying at the Hampton Inn in Gulf Breeze or by the Pensacola Airport. Heck, the room probably would have been larger at either. I quickly got ready and then had the front desk arrange for a shuttle to take me into Downtown Pensacola to meet with my friends who were staying at the Crowne Plaza.

2 Queen Beds Room

Work Area + TV

Fridge + Microwave + Coffee Maker

View From The Room

That night was pretty fun: bar hopping around downtown Pensacola at several places before winding up at the dueling piano bar at Seville Quarter. I drank my fair share during the night, especially since I knew I wouldn’t have to drive to get back to my hotel.

Panama City Beach Has Drops A Beach Ball, Pensacola Has The Pelican Drop

Dueling Piano Bar – Seville Quarter Pensacola

The next morning I woke up in my bed at the Hilton without even the slightest hangover. As far as I was concerned, 2014 was a great year thus far. Then I decided to take a shower. Quickly my morning turned upside down – there wasn’t any hot water at 10:30am. At best the water was lukewarm and as I took my shower, it only got colder. Who wants to take a cold shower? I mean that really did put me into a it of a sour mood and I wonder how this property can’t seem to meet the demand of guests using hot water; I don’t think I’ve really ever had this problem in a hotel before. Additionally, when I got out of the shower, I noticed several of the towels had holes in them! I mean really, how cheap do you have to be to keep reusing beat up towels; I don’t even expect that from a Super 8 Motel!

I will add that after making a comment on Twitter, someone from Hilton Worldwide did reach out to me via email to address my concerns. However it’s been three days since I responded to their initial email with no response. Wonder if I’ll get a response next week, I really would like some of my concerns to be passed on to the hotel, because I do believe in providing feedback whether good or bad. It’s the same reason that every time Delta sends me a survey about a flight, I almost always fill it out.

Needless to say at this point, my opinion of the hotel seemed contrary to what I had read online. Those who say that this property excels at treating Diamond members must have low expectations as this hotel is barely doing the bare minimum of what is required by Hilton Worldwide. Great properties go out of their way to ensure a great stay for loyal customers; I honestly have averaged better treatment at Starwood hotels with SPG Gold than I got at this Hilton as a Diamond customer. Other Hilton properties, including the Doubletree Mission Valley, will continue to get my business, but next time if I’m in Pensacola, this wont be the place for me.

Posted in Hotels, Road Trip, Trip Report | Leave a comment

My 2013 Travel Year in Review

By Robert | Published January 5, 2014

Now that we are solidly into 2014, I thought that like previous years it would be good to sit down and look back at 2013 and some of my travels. While 2013 had me on the road more than the previous two years, I flew fewer miles, fewer segments, fewer times, but managed to rack up a lot more time in hotel rooms. In fact I spent at least approximately three months over the course of the year in San Diego. That alone kept me from being able to travel much for my own reasons; it was bad enough that due to work and work travel constraints I wasn’t able to use my MLK Day holiday until mid-April.

Spending all that time in San Diego made me rather fond of the area, especially due to my enjoyment of beer (San Diego County has the most if not nearly the most number of breweries in the US). I would venture to new places (Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Macau), return to old favorites (New York, Montreal, Seattle, Orlando, DC) and generally have a good time everywhere. This year would also feature two flight diversions; one to Denver for a medical emergency and one to Kansas City due to a mechanical issue. I had never had a flight diversion prior to that, so two in one year is notable to me at least.

So let’s take a look at the numbers…

Flights:
Number of Flight Segments: 54
Number of Airlines: 2 (Delta (52), Air Choice One (2))
Total Miles Flown: 49,237
Time Spent in the Air: 5 days, 15 hours, 9 minutes
Average Flight Distance/Length: 912 Miles / 2 hours 30 minutes
Longest Flight: NRT-SEA (Tokyo-Narita, JP to Seattle, WA) – 4,757 miles, 11 hours 5 minutes
Shortest Flight: STL-BRL (St. Louis, MO to Burlington, IA) – 146 miles, 1 hour 10 minutes
Aircraft Flown On: MD-88, 757, DC-9, 767, A330, 717, CRJ700, CRJ200, C208B, ERJ145, A319, 737, A320

Had My Fair Share Of Flights Up Front This Year

Airports:
Airports Flown Into/Out Of/Through: ATL, BNA, BRL, BWI, DEN*, ECP, HKG, JFK, LGA, MCI, MEM, MKE, NRT, ORD, SAN, SEA, STL, YUL
Top Five Airports: ATL, ECP, SAN, SEA, NRT
Number of Connections in ATL: 22
*Diversion due to inflight medical emergency

2013 Flights Completed

SkyMiles Earnings:
SkyMiles Status: Platinum Medallion (Re-qualified for 2014)
Total Medallion Qualification Miles Earned: 81,000 (An additional 10,000 from American Express for spend threshold pending)
Total SkyMiles Earned: 175,000
Total SkyMiles Redeemed: 97,500 (3 Award Tickets)

Travels:
Countries: Canada, Hong Kong (New), Macau (New)
Cities: San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Montreal, St. Louis, Burlington (IA), Chicago, Seattle, Everett, Orlando, Atlanta, Hong Kong, Macau, Pensacola
Other Places: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (National Air and Space Museum), Border Field State Park (CA),
Number of Trips: 14 (11x Air, 3x Road)
Days “On The Road”: ~93 days
Average Trip Length: 6.5 days (Although four of my trips were 2-3 weeks long)
Days Trip Frequency: 1.167 Trips per Month

2013 Trip Reports:
Yet Another New York Weekend Trip
19 Hours In Las Vegas
Montreal Part 1, 2, 3, 4
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles – A Journey Across The Midwest
UCF Homecoming 2013

Posted in Travel, Year In Review | Leave a comment

Hong Kong and Macau: Delta Economy Comfort ECP-ATL-SEA-NRT-HKG

By Robert | Published December 27, 2013

Index:
Introduction
Delta Economy Comfort ECP-ATL-SEA-NRT-HKG
W Hong Kong
Exploring Hong Kong
Conrad Macao
Exploring Macau
Conrad Hong Kong
Delta Economy Comfort HKG-NRT-SEA-ATL-ECP
Conclusion

Background
Well, when I was originally planning this trip I kept going back and forth between booking a paid flight in Economy or using miles to book an award ticket in Business Class on Delta or perhaps one of their SkyTeam partners (since they now have quite a few Asian partners other than Korean Air Lines). It was a pretty tough decision; If I decided to fly in comfort in Business Class then I would only earn enough Medallion Qualification Miles to get Gold Medallion, but if I paid for this flight I would just barely re-qualify for another year of Platinum Medallion status. While both would be decent to have and net me Sky Priority on all my flights, I’ve noticed the uptick in frequent flyers and having Platinum has been a saver for getting upgrades as well as giving me Systemwide Upgrades (Now Regional Upgrades starting in 2014) that have made the difference to me flying in comfort on domestic long hauls. The other factor in play is that starting in 2014 Delta is additionally requiring a spending requirement for hitting each of the Medallion levels. Since I don’t know how next year will play out in that regards, although I do assume I’ll hit $25k of spending on my Amex which will exempt me, I figured I would go ahead and at least get another year at the higher tier of status and aim to at least make Gold Medallion in 2014 for the 2015 status year. Hopefully, I’ll have some work travel to help out with that.

As you can tell my the title of this post, I went with the paid Economy Class option. I booked myself into Economy Comfort for most of my flights, which thankfully is free for Platinum Medallion members. I wasn’t really expecting any upgrades, especially on the SEA-NRT-HKG segments nor on ATL-SEA. The flight to Seattle is notoriously difficult to be upgraded on; my only success in the past 4 years of being a Medallion member was this summer when traveling on a full Y fare on a very last minute business trip. That alone is part of the reason I miss the Memphis hub; I got upgraded three times in 2011 as a Silver Medallion flying SEA-MEM.

Delta Air Lines #371
Panama City, FL (ECP) to Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Depart: 6:00AM Arrive: 8:08AM
Aircraft: Boeing 717-200 Seat: 1B (First Class)
This would mark my first flight on a Boeing 717-200 operated by Delta.  I’ve flown on what will soon become Delta’s 717 fleet when these were operated by AirTran (who is currently in the process of transitioning the leases over to Delta as they integrate more into Southwest as a result of the merger).  Although I had seen some interior shots online of the refurbished aircraft prior to the entry into service, I was still curious how they were going to be outfitted.  The new First Class seats are actually pretty nice; compared with some of the other aircraft in Delta’s fleet the seats featured an adjustable head rest as well as both 110V AC and USB power for each passenger.  The seats I believe are of a “slim-line” construction, but they are still comfortable, even if they appeared to be a bit narrower.

“Brand New” Delta 717-200 At Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport

This was the only flight on my outbound journey that I managed to get upgraded on and it was only at the gate that it occurred.  Not like it really matters on this short of a flight, but it is nice to be able to have a couple cups of coffee on an early morning flight like this.  Everything about this flight went smoothly and once in Atlanta I made my way to the A17 Sky Club to grab some oatmeal before heading off to catch my next flight to Seattle.

A Sky Club Breakfast

Delta Air Lines #1929
Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Seattle, WA (SEA)
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Depart: 9:40AM Arrive: 12:10PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-900ER Seat: 12D (Economy Comfort)
Delta only very recently started getting brand new Boeing 737-900ER aircraft, which ultimately will be used in place of some of the older 757s that are in the fleet due to their comparable size.  Just the fact that they are already being flown on traditional 757/767 routes like ATL-SEA is exactly a sign of that.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-900ER in Atlanta

The seats in Economy Comfort are a vast improvement over the seats on the majority of Delta’s aircraft, especially taking into account the Inflight Entertainment.  For starters, like the 717s have the new slim line style seats, that even in Economy/Economy Comfort aren’t actually that bad.  Legroom is sufficient for long domestic flights, adjustable headrests and in theory there should have been sufficient space for me to use my laptop, but I never got to test that out.  Why?  Well, combined with the fact the 737-900ER is very new to Delta’s fleet and the Government shutdown earlier this year, a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) had not been granted by the FAA before my flight.  Hopefully, by the time this is being read, Delta will have received all of the paperwork in order to activate the service.

With the WiFi service non-operational, it gave me plenty of time to explore the inflight entertainment system.  The layout of the system was identical to other aircraft, such as the 767-300ER, but what was impressive, especially for the Economy Class cabin, was the fact that there was a 9″ screen.  Much larger and of a higher quality than anything I’ve encountered in a Economy Class seat which meant being able to actually watch a movie and tell what is actually happening on the screen.  Not to mention that the headphone jack was moved to just under the screen and there is a USB port as well in order to charge devices such as phones.  Back to the entertainment options, the selection onboard was rather extensive or at least more extensive than what I’ve encountered on other domestic aircraft.  Essentially, I was able to keep myself entertained for the 5 hours I was in the air.

As the aircraft neared the Seattle area, I rather wished I had a window seat.  It was a clear day and there were some amazing views of the mountains.  At one point while looking across the other side of the aircraft it almost seemed as if we were lower than the mountains!  Luckily on my last flight to Seattle in July I had been treated to those amazing views while seated in First Class.

Oh Look…A Mountain!

Delta Air Lines #155
Seattle, WA (SEA) to Tokyo-Narita, JP (NRT)
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Depart: 12:55PM Arrive: 5:00PM +1
Aircraft: Airbus A330 Seat: 12C (Economy Comfort)
Upon arrival, I had the unfortunate pleasure of landing in Concourse B instead of the South Satellite.  This made me a little nervous, as I had only a 45 minute layover and we were more or less on time.  Luckily it didn’t take long on the tram to the get over the S Gates, but by the time I got to the gate they were already well into boarding Zone 2.  Luckily, the Sky Priority lane was clear so I was able to quickly get onboard the aircraft and get to my seat to settle in.

The last time I was on one of the A330s was back in December 2012 when I took BusinessElite between Minneappolis and Amsterdam as part of my almost Christmas vacation to Europe.  Those aircraft were still in the Northwest Airlines configuration which meant the “pod” seats in BusinessElite (former NWA World Business Class) and a pretty average Economy Class seat.  As I entered the aircraft, I noticed that Delta obviously had done some refurbishment.  In BusinessElite it looks like a herringbone seat similar to what is on the 777 fleet had replaced the former terrible NWA seats – but those weren’t the seats that I was going to get enjoy my 11 hour flight across the Pacific Ocean.  I would be getting to enjoy Economy Comfort for another segment.  On the plus side, it was a fairly light load to Tokyo, and I lucked out with the seat next to me being empty.  Not only did I have a little extra leg room, but a little extra space to the side as well.  Plus, I will say it is always nice to be able to use the tray table on adjacent seat as a place to put drinks or snacks.

As part of this refurbishment, the Economy/Economy Comfort seats are the same as what is onboard the 737-900ERs – if this is where Delta is going in terms of upgrading seating and the onboard experience, then this is a great sign.  The seat had the exact same new and large IFE screen and an even larger selection of onboard entertainment options.  Not wanting to sleep, I definitely took advantage of this and found myself watching many movies and TV shows and not finding myself in the usual position of getting bored with a limited selection.

Not long after take off, the flight attendants sprung into action and started with the first beverage service and snacks as the meals were prepared. It was a pretty standard economy class meal – chicken with rice, a small side salad, a cold shrimp appetizer, roll, and desert. Nothing really stood out about it, and I really wish my layover in Seattle had been longer so that I could have grabbed a good filling meal before getting on the plane. After dinner, I spent the next 5 or six hours watching movies and attempting to sleep; the watching movies part I was successful at, the sleeping part not so much.

Getting Close To Japan – This Is The New IFE System Delta Has On The A330s and 737-900s, An Improvement Over The Older Systems!

The arrival to Tokyo-Narita was more or less on time, but it took longer than I expected to clear the transit security – even going through the Sky Priority lane (which was difficult to get to in the first place due to the number of other passengers coming off of other arriving Delta flights. Since I only had layover a little less than 2 hours, I made my way to the Sky Club in Satellite 1 since it was the closest to my gate.

Landed In Japan

Delta Sky Club – Satellite 1
By the time I got to the lounge I think there was only about 20 or 30 minutes until boarding was slated to begin, which pretty much killed my desire to try to get a shower. After flying for almost 20 hours by that point, I really could have used one – even if just to help me stay awake on the final 5 hour flight to Hong Kong. But since that wasn’t going to happen, I decided to grab myself a snack (the Tokyo Sky Clubs actually have a limited food selection – sandwiches, sushi, fried rice, and other little options) and a beer. And of course when you are talking about beer from an airline lounge in Japan, that means beer machine. Why bother screwing up pouring the perfect glass, when you can press a button and have a dispenser give you a perfect no foam glass of Japanese Beer? Especially, since despite the fact that I drink a fair amount of beer, I definitely suck at pouring it. After a quick chat with one of the agents about swapping out of my Economy Comfort seat to a seat with an empty next to it a few rows back, it was time to head downstairs to the gate.

A Perfect Pour Everytime

A Few Snacks In The Sky Club

Delta Air Lines #155
Tokyo-Narita, JP (NRT) to Hong Kong, HK (HKG)
Monday, November 25, 2013
Depart: 6:55PM Arrive: 11:25PM
Aircraft: Airbus A330 Seat: 18H (Economy Comfort)
This wasn’t the exact same aircraft as the inbound from Seattle, however it also was a recently refurbished A330. As I first started to settle into my seat for this last 5 hour leg, I was immediately happy with no one around me. It meant that perhaps I would have a relatively quiet flight and space to stretch out. However, as I started to stretch out, I realized that the recline button for my seat was jammed and therefore my seat couldn’t lock into any position. Althoguh I figured that the flight was going to be relatively empty, I flagged one of the flight attendants down who promptly called over to the Delta Maintenance. A valiant effort was put forth by the three technicians that came on board, but after 10 minutes of trying they could not fix the issue. Not that it was a very big deal and despite them being very apologetic I just moved up one row and resettled.

Settling In – It Wasn’t Exactly A Full Flight

The remainder of the flight was quiet. Dinner was served not long after take off and consisted of a chicken and noodle dish, dinner roll, side salad, roll, and a piece of cake. The meat and noodles were not really that great, but that is more or less expected. For the remainder of the flight I continued to watch a movie and a couple of TV shows and trying not to fall asleep. At this point, I was going to be getting into Hong Kong late, so I wanted to be ready to pretty much pass out the minute I got to my room.

Economy Class Dining At It’s Finest

In The Middle Of The South China Sea, There Was Light (Oil Rigs Or Cargo Ships?)

Hong Kong Arrival
It didn’t take very long to get off the plane once parked at the gate in Hong Kong and I made my way quickly to Immigration and Customs. I’m guessing that the peak arrival time is earlier in the day for long haul flights, so there really wasn’t many people to go through the checkpoint. In fact I have to say it was one of the quickest and least hassle Immigration/Customs experiences that I’ve experienced in a while; no wait, no questions, and straightforward. Compare that to some other places, like Canada where I always have to play 20 questions with the Immigration officer…

After changing the $60US in my pocket to HKD I made my way to the Airport Express station where I unfortunately had just missed a train into Kowloon. They do however run at regular enough intervals and I was whisked away 20 minutes later. Much like Heathrow Express (London) or Narita Express (Tokyo) this serves as a limited stop service linking the center of Hong Kong with the airport. The Journey maybe takes 20-25 minutes to Kowloon, which was super convenient given that my hotel, the W Hong Kong, is situated in the Elements Mall complex which sits on top of Kowloon Station. After spending 26+ hours traveling to get here, you can’t argue with that kind of convenience.

W Hong Kong….

Posted in Delta, Hong Kong and Macau, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Hong Kong and Macau: Introduction

By Robert | Published December 9, 2013

Index:
Introduction
Delta Economy Comfort ECP-ATL-SEA-NRT-HKG
W Hong Kong
Exploring Hong Kong
Conrad Macao
Exploring Macau
Conrad Hong Kong
Delta Economy Comfort HKG-NRT-SEA-ATL-ECP
Conclusion

Introduction
A couple of months ago, as my end of the year work travel started to fall into place, I started thinking of trip ideas that would take me far away from Florida for a week. Obviously, there are a lot of places on my list that I want to visit, but it had ultimately come down to South Africa and Hong Kong/Macau. Obviously, I had never been to Africa before and Asia had been limited to Japan (and if you want to count it, Bahrain, as technically the Middle East is on the Asian continent), so either one was definitely going to be an exciting new opportunity. I spent hours and hours pricing out options, coming up with itineraries, but I kept winding up torn between the two. After staring at my notes and thinking hard late on a Saturday night, I finally came to the conclusion that I just had to go to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong and Macau have always been very interesting to me, mostly due to the years of European influence and they relatively recent return of those two territories from the UK and Portugal respectively to the People’s Republic of China. I think it’s a bit the ‘east meets west’ mash up of cultures, but a part of is too is just the unique histories of these territories. Plus, you’ve got all the typical tourist sites, such as Victoria Peak, Victoria Harbor and crossing it on the history Star Ferry, Markets, the food, museums, food and on and on.

Unusually for me, I also booked this trip unusually early for me, securing my flights over two months before hand. I didn’t catch some of the really good deals to Hong Kong (I think there had been some flights out of Atlanta for around $900), but I still feel the $1250 that my airfare cost still was under what I had seen in the past. Some might be asking why didn’t I use miles, as I certainly have more than plenty to get there in Delta’s BusinessElite or even some other SkyTeam carrier’s Business Class product. Simply it boiled down to requalifying for Platinum Medallion for 2014. Although I have been on the road more this year than previous years, my trips were less frequent and longer so I didn’t rack up as nearly Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs). It boiled down to barely having Gold and flying in Business or putting up with Economy and getting earning at least 18,000 MQMs to guarantee Platinum for another year. Considering that I have rather enjoyed being Platinum, I decided that I’d put up with flying Economy (Economy Comfort) to guarantee myself yet another year of the benefits. On top of that I had to take a less than direct routing, and found myself flying ECP-ATL-SEA-NRT-HKG and back. It made for a very long day of travel each way.

As for the hotels, I waited until much closer to the trip to get all of my rooms booked. Part of this was the fact that I was waiting to get more Hilton HHonors points from a three week work trip that would gain me over 140,000 points and allow me to secure two nights at the Conrad Macao (40,000/night) and the Conrad Hong Kong (80,000/night) for the second half of my trip. The first three nights wound up being at the W Hong Kong in Kowloon on a combination of two paid nights ($365/night) and one award night (22,500 points). With only two nights being paid for, it kept the per night cost fairly low, and as a result I got to stay in some amazing hotels, two of which I can easily say are in my top hotels list now.

With all of my travel arrangements booked, I started looking towards what I wanted to see and do. As always I picked up a copy of the relevant Lonely Planet guidebook and starting looking for sites, restaurants, bars, activities, etc that sounded interesting. All sorts of things started looking promising, so I started making my list. It wasn’t but after going through a few that I realized that using foursquare for this purpose would be extremely useful. I could read reviews and other details in advance of my trip, save it to a to-do list and then while on the ground, I could refer to the list to find nearby places to check out. As a result, my “Places to Check Out in Hong Kong” list got started. Surprisingly, despite using foursquare for almost three years, I never once had that idea before…

With all of that done, it was time to sit back and relax and get ready for an adventure. I’ll be filling in the next several posts over the next few weeks, but in the mean time here’s a few samples of my trip until then…besides I have almost 1200 images in RAW format that I need to process in Lightroom!

W Hong Kong View – Victoria Harbor


Central – Hong Kong Island


Stanley Street Food Stalls


Victoria Harbour At Night


Which Way Did I Go?


Enjoying A Mojito at W Hong Kong Wet Deck (Rooftop Pool And Bar)


Conrad Macao – Suite


Ruins Of St. Paul’s, Macau


Small, Quiet Public Square In Macau


Taipa Ferry Terminal, Macau


Stanely, Hong Kong


Delta Air Lines A330 At Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)

Posted in Hong Kong and Macau, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

UCF Homecoming 2013

By Robert | Published November 23, 2013

Every year I always try to find an opportunity to get back down to Orlando for at least one UCF Football game and this year was no exception.  Despite the fact that it’s rather easy to get down to Orlando, due to work that kept me busy both in the office and on the road, the homecoming game was my first and really only opportunity to get back on campus for a weekend.  Like my last several trips this would be a road trip; ever since Southwest ended their Panama City to Orlando non-stop flights, the cost just doesn’t usually work out anymore.  Delta still sometimes has ECP-ATL-MCO roundtrips for around $200, but usually it takes some advance planning and even at that price it usually just isn’t worth it from a cost perspective.  So, instead I get behind the wheel of my BMW and spend the 5-6 hours wishing that I could still fly non-stop in 45 minutes.  Perhaps Silver Airways will expand service to Panama City Beach some day (after all, they do serve PNS, VPS, and TLH…so what’s another panhandle airport?).

I could write about the drive in both directions, but I have a feeling that it would bore just about anyone.  I mean really, the section of I-10 between Tallahassee and I-75 is probably the most boring, straight, highway that is anywhere near Florida.  There isn’t much in the way of cities or towns, and most exits are just a single gas station and restaurant.  Even on the radio, there isn’t much out there…unless you want Friday night high school football, country music or a religious station.  For about two hours it’s more or less the middle of nowhere.  Other than the boredom that is that stretch of highway, the drive wasn’t actually too bad, and having left Panama City later than I wanted to, I still made it to Orlando a little before midnight.  On the way back, the drive took a bit longer, but that’s because I stopped in Gainesville to visit a friend from college that now lives there.  Always good to catch up with friends that you haven’t seen in a long time!

Sheraton Orlando North Hotel
The Sheraton Orlando North Hotel in Maitland is my usual go-to hotel in Orlando because of ease of access off of I-4, relatively cheap rates, and usually pretty good treatment as an SPG Gold member.  I was only staying here for one night before switching to a different SPG property in Orlando, to help ensure that I would without a doubt qualify for Gold again for next year.  Checking in late, I didn’t expect much, but this hotel had been pretty good about upgrading me as a Gold to the club floor for my stays there.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t any such luck this time, but that didn’t matter so much when you consider that I was just using it as a crash pad for the night.  The only negative comment I have about this stay is that they put me in a room on a side of the hotel where they were doing some work (potentially pressure washing?) on the exterior.  As a result, I was startled up at 7AM by voices and equipment moving around.  Not exactly how I wanted to wake up after driving 400 miles and getting into town late, but once I was up there was no going back to sleep.  I just took it as a sign to get moving and just decided to check out and get on with my day.

Westin Orlando Universal Boulevard
Ever since I graduated from UCF and started making trips back down to Orlando for quick weekends I had always wanted to try this hotel. Unfortunately, it had more than often been priced at a point where it just didn’t make sense as a crash pad in between football games, visiting friends, and so on. This weekend though I finally lucked out and there were rates at about $100/night. Not much more than the Sheraton Orlando North, I figured this would be the time to try it out.

Since I wanted to ditch my bags before heading over to campus for the game, I quickly swung by the hotel to check-in.  The lobby wasn’t terribly busy, and you can tell that they definitely keep this hotel looking very clean in the public spaces.  The front desk agent who checked me in was also very quick and friendly and got me setup with my room on the 10th floor.

Now, as I’ve mentioned I have SPG Gold status, which usually entitles me to (on a space-available basis) an upgrade to a room with a better view, higher floor, etc.  Usually that does not mean a suite; in fact in the 2.5 years that I’ve been SPG Gold, I’ve never once have been upgraded to a suite from a standard room, but then it was never expected either.  Well, that changed that afternoon…they had upgraded me to a one-bedroom suite and I have to say, it was very nice.  With a kitchenette/bar area by the front door, a four-person table, couch, chairs, desk in the living room, a very large bathroom, bedroom with a king bed and a balcony overlooking Universal Boulevard and the Orange County Convention Center.  I was impressed…in fact impressed enough that if I can continue to find reasonable rates, I think that this may become my new Orlando hotel.

Westin Orlando Universal Boulevard – Suite Entry

Westin Orlando Universal Boulevard – Suite Living Room

Westin Orlando Universal Boulevard – Suite King Bed

Westin Orlando Universal Boulevard – Westin Weekend

Westin Orlando Universal Boulevard – Suite Bedroom

Westin Orlando Universal Boulevard – Suite Balcony View (Orange County Convention Center)

The Game: #19 UCF Knights vs. University of Houston Cougars

The whole reason I came to Orlando on this weekend: Homecoming weekend at the University of Central Florida.  Although it is always good to get back to campus (especially since every time I come back new buildings pop up – even since my visit in May for my younger brother’s graduation!), but really it’s an excuse to see a few friends and enjoy some college football.  This year, UCF had moved up to The American Athletic Conference (formerly Big East) from Conference USA, putting us in a BCS Automatic Qualifying (AQ) conference for the last season of the BCS structure.  On top of that, the Knights have been doing exceptionally well, having broken into the rankings after taking down conference foe Louisville and remaining undefeated in conference play.  An exciting time for students and alumni, so I knew I had to get down there.  Despite being ranked, I was able to score some very affordable lower bowl seats for about $25/each…not bad at all!

There are plenty of stories out there recapping the game on ESPN, Bleacher Report, the Orlando Sentinel and more, so I’m not going to go into detail about the game, but I will say that this was a tough game to watch.  Houston matched us pretty well, and when it got down to the final minutes I kept telling my friend that this was probably going to end very badly for us.  I was being pessimistic, because as a UCF fan now for 7 or so years, I’ve seen that all too often.  Much to my amazement, the UCF defense managed to keep Houston from scoring in the final seconds of the game and the Knights were the victors!  I was a happy fan the rest of the night and it looked like almost everyone else was too (well aside from the small contingent of Houston fans that looked oh-so-very disappointed).  Even better than the win, I think, was the fact that nearly everyone stayed until the end of the game.  UCF fans have a problem with showing up late and leaving early, making the stadium very empty even during some exciting last minute plays to win the game.

Tailgating on Memory Mall

Onwards to the Stadium

UCF Cheerleaders

Marching Knights Pre-Game

UCF Enters!

That’s Not Gone Well…

Every Day Is A Great Day!

UCF Wins! The Crowd Went Wild!

The Rest…
I drove back to Panama City Beach on Sunday, but before I could leave I was going to meet up with my friend again and grab breakfast and head over to Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando to test out my new Sony Alpha A65 DSLR (SLT); and the fact that in the 4 years I lived there, I never once went to the park. Anyways, we settled on a French bakery located on Magnolia near Church St, called Le Gourmet Break. It had some pretty decent reviews, and I wanted something different…which resulted in my getting an Omelette Croissant. What is that you ask? Well, it’s an omelette (in my case cheddar and ham), stuffed into a very light and tasty croissant. It’s like a hot pocket, but not. Was definitely a different way to present it and tasty.

After that it was off to Lake Eola Park, where we roamed with our cameras for a while before I decided I needed to head out on the road.  Without a circular polarizer, though most of my pictures of the swans on the water pretty much turned out terrible, but still managed a few decent ones.  After picking up a few things at Publix I said goodbye to my friend and off I went.  On the drive back I even managed to catch a friend/former roommate in Gainesville for a late lunch that I had not seen in over a year.

Lake Eola Fountain

That Guy Really Is Recording Video Of That Tree….

Only Picture Of A Swan That Turned Out Decent

Swan Boats

All things considered this was a great trip, even though short!  Although I don’t think that I will wait until next year’s football season to get back down there, as I found out my friend has a season pass to Disney, and I’m feeling the urge to nerd out at Epcot.  Yep. Epcot really is my favorite park in Orlando (although the lack of roller coasters do suck; but that’s what Universal Islands of Adventure is for).

Posted in Road Trip, Travel, Trip Report, UCF | Leave a comment

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles – A Journey Across The Midwest

By Robert | Published September 15, 2013

Introduction
The Labor Day Weekend – the end of summer and that point when many Americans try to get away from it all one last time.  As usual (well except for last year when I went to Puerto Rico), I needed to head up to Iowa to visit family and celebrate my grandfather’s birthday.  It’s a time to also see my father, my brother (who just moved to Wisconsin) and many aunts, uncles and cousins.  Essentially, it becomes a fly-by family reunion each year.

Although my destination is Burlington, Iowa, I typically fly into the Quad Cities (Moline) and make the two hour drive to Burlington or stay with my Dad, who lives about half-way between the two.  This trip, I decided that I wanted to do something different.

For starters, Delta Air Lines had announced several months back that they would be shutting their Memphis Hub operations down as of September 3, 2013.  It was an airport that I always liked to connect through despite its narrow hallways and low ceilings; you always had the option of getting some delicious BBQ and connections were always a breeze thanks to how they had defined banks that were scheduled to optimize connections.  On top of that, I decided that I wanted to also try to fly direct into Burlington, which is served by an Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidized carrier called Air Choice One to both St. Louis and Chicago-O’Hare.  That meant trying to find a ticket that would get me to either ORD or STL via Memphis on Delta and then buying separate tickets on Air Choice One.

In short, I lucked out.  When searching for an award ticket on Delta, the lowest options that were coming up would route me ECP-ATL-MEM-STL on the outbound leg and playing around a bit further, I found availability not out of MDW or ORD for the return, but from Milwaukee (MKE).  Given that MKE has a dedicated Amtrak station that is served on the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha Service, it seemed like a no-brainer to me, and given the flight arrival to ORD that Monday morning, I would get almost the entire day to run around Chicago.  Essentially I would be running around three cities in three states over the four day weekend.  That’s just how I do things…

Friday, August 30
Unfortunately, because of how the final MEM-STL leg was timed, that meant getting an early start to my day out of Panama City (which would become the theme for this trip). On the ECP-ATL leg, I was confirmed in advance for an upgrade to First Class, so at least I had that going for me, but on the ATL-MEM flight I wasn’t so lucky. By the time I got to Atlanta I think I was #9 on the waitlist for two remaining seats, so that obviously didn’t pan out. However, given the flight length (it’s short) and the fact that I was in row 6 (plenty of legroom – first row of Economy Comfort), I wasn’t complaining…too much.

Delta MD-88 – ECP Gate 4

Delta A330 Pushing Back From ATL Concourse E

As I deplaned and entered the concourse in Memphis, I noted how quiet and empty it was right at that moment.  My flight arrived outside of one of the banks of flights, so there was just the few people who probably came from other Delta hubs waiting to connect through to a destination or locals.  I purposefully scheduled a 2 hour layover in Memphis, so that I could run around for a bit with my camera and catch a few photos of operations during these final days of the hub.  I wandered up and down Concourse B, finding entire gate areas that were devoid of any persons (workers or passengers), but ultimately a sign of the state that the Memphis hub was in.  When Delta merged with Northwest in 2008 there more than 200 flights a day, but in it’s final days as a hub, there were only 97.  After the cuts, it was taken down to 60 flights a day (including a weird distribution of flights to cities that are not hubs, which has me thinking later this fall we will see that number reduced even further).  As I wandered taking photos of the empty concourses and aircraft parked outside the window, I eventually was approached by an airport employee who was curious as to what I was up to (it’s a bit hard to be discreet with my DSLR).  I explained that, I’m a bit of a travel and aviation nut and was just taking some photos before the end of hub operations on my layover…and that no, I did not work for Delta (although thankfully I was able to drop the name of a former employer that is pretty important in the airline/airport industry).  Eventually, he was satisfied that I wasn’t up to anything nefarious and we started chatting about aircraft spotting, including a few good photos he had taken earlier that day of a new American A319 and a C-17 coming into the Air National Guard base at the airport.

MEM Concourse B – Very Empty…

No One Here Either..

Concourse A Was Just As Empty

Strangely This Delta A319 Was Bound For Baton Rouge, LA (Normally CRJs I Think…)

Ramp Between Concourses B And C – It Never Looked Much Busier Than This

Delta Sky Club Entrance

You can find even more photos from my wandering around of the Memphis International Airport over on Flickr.

I waited out the rest of my layover eating a BBQ sandwich and then spending a short amount of time in the Delta Sky Club, which still has that very Northwest Airlines feel to it.  I wonder if some day they will restyle it in the same manner that many of the other clubs have been updated to.  I made it back down Concourse B at the last minute to my gate where a CRJ-200 was waiting; I boarded at the beginning of Zone 1 and settled into my seat for the short flight up the river to St. Louis.

Interstate BBQ

As I deplaned in St. Louis I noted how hot the jet bridge felt…it wasn’t until after riding the MetroLink train to my hotel that I looked at my phone and noticed that it was indeed, in the triple digits…At 5PM it was a cool 100F outside, and later that night I think around 10PM, it had only dropped to 96F.  Heat like that kills any motivation I may or may not have had and as a result I got pretty lazy in my hotel room for a few hours.  Eventually though, I did head out, and went for a walk down towards the Arch before heading south of downtown to find the 4 Hands Brewery.  It was recommended to me by a local, and it was only a 15 minute walk so I made my way there.  There was a good selection of beers, including a good seasonal IPA (Resurrection) and there was some decent food selections from a counter set up at the end of the bar called The Fifth Wheel.  Although I just had some Nachos…

Gateway Arch

4 Hands Brewery

With the heat and having to catch a flight the next day at 10AM, I ultimately decided to just head back to the hotel I was staying at, the Westin St. Louis.  I had been given a room in the “executive building”, but as far as I can tell, it was exactly the room I had reserved.  Had a great view of the interstate, a corner of Busch Stadium, and a parking lot.  It didn’t seem very busy, so I could have/should have asked if there would have been a possibility of an upgrade to a room facing the stadium.  Otherwise, the room was on the large size, especially the work area (which had some of the most space for work that I have seen) and the bathroom which featured a separate shower and tub.  I didn’t take advantage of any of the hotel amenities, but just based on the room, I would say that it was pretty decent overall.  If for some reason I find myself in St. Louis again, as long as the Cardinals aren’t playing, I would stay here again.

Westin St. Louis – Main Entrance

Westin St. Louis – Entry

Westin St. Louis – Bathroom

Westin St. Louis – King Bed

Saturday, August 31
It’s supposed to be a vacation and yet, here I am getting up at 630am to ensure that I can get ready and make the train to take me back out to the Airport to catch my flight to Burlington, Iowa. Initially, I struggled to get up, but eventually I managed to get my act together, check-out and get to the MetroLink station right outside the hotel quick enough and was on my way to the airport.  It was a beautiful morning and with the sun shining through the large windows of the Terminal 1, it created a very bright and open feeling, something that many airports lack.

Lambert-St. Louis Ticketing Hall

I had never flown on Air Choice One before, nor any other carrier operating an EAS route (e.g. SeaPort Airlines or Cape Air), and so I wasn’t exactly sure how this would work.  When I approached the counter, I found no one manning it.  There was a sign that had the hours of operation (which I was in), but also that if there wasn’t an agent available, to call a number to let them know.  When I called them up, I was told the agent (yes, “the agent”) was working a flight at the gate and when they were done, they would come up to check me in.  So there I waited, for the single Air Choice One agent to come back up and to get checked in for my hour long flight up the river to Burlington.  There would only be six of us on the flight this morning out of eight possible.  75% load factor isn’t bad…

“Please Wait For The Agent To Return”

They Use A Rubber Stamp For The Airline Logo…

Security was a breeze and I didn’t even think about trying to use the priority line given that it wasn’t busy at all.  Once through I grabbed breakfast at Schlafly Beer restaurant, where I shouldn’t have been surprised to see people already putting down pints of beer at 9AM.  At the Air Choice One gate around the corner, I watched as one person boarded the earlier flight to Decatur, IL (oh, how that would have been awesome), before they boarded my flight to Burlington.

Air Choice One Gate In St. Louis

The boarding process was a bit different.  Since there was only six of us, the agent walked around everyone in the gate to collect boarding passes and then gathered us all up at once to head to the Cape Air gate next door to an elevator.  Once on the ramp there was a curious tool chest covered in ATR-42 stickers (a quick search online showed that TWA/Trans World Express operated those back in the day), as we were led to the waiting Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.  A single engine prop aircraft, it doesn’t really feel like that you are on a scheduled airline flight.  Especially once onboard, the seats were arranged in a “club configuration” where four of the seats face each other, with me having picked 2B, which faced the rear of the aircraft.  You reach the cruise altitude pretty quickly, since it is a whopping 6,000 ft – after all, the aircraft is unpressurized.  That meant flying low and slow and being able to appreciate the world down below.  Flying over small towns and farms, and ultimately on approach into Burlington, being able to spot my old neighborhood just south of the city.

Walking Out To The Aircraft

Somewhere Over Illinois

Getting Close To Burlington (Burlington Power Plant)

The Old Neighborhood – Moments Before Touchdown

Upon disembarking I walked into the tiny terminal, picked up the keys to my rental car at Avis and then claimed my checked bag.  As I stood there for the minute, I remember how much larger this tiny terminal seemed when I was a little kid.  I remember in the early 90s instead of one subsidized carrier flying into BRL, there was American Eagle, United Express and Trans World Express all offering flights.  Obviously times have changed, but at least this small town in the Southeast corner of Iowa still has at least one carrier bringing in passengers.

Burlington Arrival – Walking To The Terminal

Disembarking In Burlington

Southeast Iowa Regional Airport – Air Choice One Counter

I had time to kill before meeting my Dad and brother who were driving from Sheboygan, WI and so I found myself driving around Burlington reminiscing of my elementary school years.  I drove out to the old house and neighborhood, around downtown, stopping in several of the parks, and lots of aimless driving before checking into my room at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Burlington. I unfortunately had to reserve a suite here after discovering earlier in the week that I never did actually make a reservation at the Holiday Inn Express down the street and as such instead of paying about$200 after taxes for two nights, I found myself shelling out $300 to stay in a small town in Iowa.  Damn you Old Threshers Reunion…

Driving Through The Old Neighborhood

Northwards Along The Mississippi River From Mosquito Park

Great River Bridge

Fairfield Inn Burlington – King Suite

Fairfield Inn Burlington – King Suite

After getting checked in, the rest of the day would be spent with family.  First, there was lunch with my Dad and then moving on to the dinner for my grandfather’s birthday.  It’s the one time during the year that I see all of all of my extended family on my Mom’s side, so it’s usually good catching up with the cousins, etc.  Plus, I don’t think that I’ve ever had anything bad at The Drake in Burlington, which is where we always seem to go for these mini-family reunion dinners.  I went with a filet this time (versus the elk steak I had last year), and it did not disappoint.

Sunday, September 1
Pretty much everyone in the family was heading back home on Sunday to their respective cities across the Midwest, including my brother.  So, that meant having the day to roam about Burlington some more after breakfast with some of the relatives in the hotel lobby.  Even though I had drove around for a few hours the day before between landing and meeting my Dad, I took my brother around to a lot of the same spots: the old house, downtown, past our old school, through Crapo Park – where we even decided to try out the rickety, but ancient curly-slide that has been there since they beginning of time (ok, maybe not, but I think it’s been there since the 1920s or 30s).  After cheating death on the slide, we headed out to Maid-Rite to enjoy a couple of Maid-Rite sandwiches before heading over to our Grandparent’s house for a bit to visit before my brother had to drive back to Wisconsin.

Curly-Slide In Crapo Park…WEEEEE!!!

After visiting, I still had some exploring I wanted to do, so I headed west on US34, getting off in Middletown, driving a few up the old US34 to Danville and then down to old IA79 heading into Geode State Park.  Geode State Park is where we would often go when I was younger during the summer to visit the “beach” along the shores of Lake Geode.  It’s changed a bit since I was last here in the late 1990s, in fact unlike how everything else seems smaller from when I was that age, it seems larger.  There was even new facilities installed and it looks like the old boat rental and concession building had been abandoned.  Actually what was a bit surprising was getting out there and there being practically no one there; I would have figured with the holiday that perhaps there would have been some people cooking out, but perhaps it was just too late in the day.  If I had gotten out there earlier I would have gone for a short hike, but as the sun was setting, I opted just to drive some of the park roads, which with their little traffic and many turns made it fun to drive even if I was in a Ford Escape.  Would have been better in my BMW though…

The Exciting Town Of Danville

Geode State Park

Geode State Park “Beach”

At that point it was time to head back into town, so I made the short drive back, had Jimmy Johns for dinner and then headed downtown for a drink.  I settled on Paddlewheel, which seemed like a decent bar from what I could tell on Foursquare, and to my delight they had some great pricing on beer.  I mean when you get used to a bottle of crappy beer such as Bud Light costing $4.50 back home (hooray for living in a tourist-town), when you can get a liter of Goose Island IPA for the same price, well that’s something to be celebrated, even if Goose Island IPA isn’t on my list of excellent IPAs.  It being a Sunday was obviously slow, but being “out on the town” beats just sitting back in the hotel room for an evening.  And with a very early flight the next morning, I headed back to the hotel a bit early so I could pack up and get to bed.

Sunset Over Downtown Burlington

Monday, September 2
Getting up for early morning flights, despite being a frequent flyer, is always a bit suspect for me.  Since my BRL-ORD flight left at 6AM I figured I would get up at 430am so I could get ready, get checked out and head to the airport.  The one good thing about flying in/out of a small airport like Burlington, is that departure time is pretty much the boarding time (it doesn’t take long to board eight people).  So, by getting there around 530AM meant that I wasn’t even cutting it close.  I checked in for my flight at the Air Choice One counter, by the sole agent that was working at the time (I just remember when the space that Air Choice One takes up used to have 2-3 different airlines) and received my boarding pass to ORD.  After that, I walked outside to the “observation area” for a bit where I remember coming and watching planes a few times when I was younger before going back inside to wait until Security opened.

Southeast Iowa Regional Airport

Outside The Terminal

BRL Waiting Area – Waiting For Security To Open

Even for a small airport, they sure did have quite a few TSA employees working.  In fact I would say there was at least three employees to screen the eight of us on this flight….one to check IDs, one to scan luggage, and one to work the metal detector.  Once everyone cleared security we were all led outside to the waiting Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.  In fact it was the same aircraft that had brought me to Burlington on Saturday – not unexpected, I think Air Choice One has only four aircraft from what I remember.

The Waiting Air Choice One Cessna 208

The flight was longer than the one from St. Louis, but was relatively smooth accompanied with some great views out of my window as the sun rose over a sleepy Midwest.  I spent a good chunk of the flight listening to music and just looking down below (it’s a bit easier to make things out when the cruise altitude is 8,000ft versus 38,000 ft).  Here’s what I’m talking about:

Sunrise At 8,000ft

Flying Over Farms In Illinois

It was an on-time arrival into ORD and unfortunately since I was in a rear facing seat again, I wasn’t able to watch the landing through the windshield.  After disembarking from the aircraft and being led into the concourse I made my way to the CTA station to take a train into downtown.  Since I was flying out of Milwaukee that evening, I would have the day to wander around Chicago, of course after I left my suitcase in a locker at Union Station (which, by the way is very expensive – I should have just gone by the W or another hotel and had them store my bag).

Chicago-O’Hare

Chicago Union Station

Suitcase free I began to roam the streets that I had explored back in December.  It was all still familiar in my head and I didn’t have any end-game goal so I walked from Union Station to Millennium Park/Grant Park, then along Wacker Drive to the Boeing HQ (was hoping the Boeing Store would be open, but alas it was not), then to a Corner Bakery Café to grab a smoothie.  At this point, I was definitely not sure what to do or where to grab lunch, but luckily someone I went to High School with had noticed that I was roaming about Chicago, and considering that she is attending Medical School there, we made impromptu plans to meet up for lunch.

 

Walking Around Chicago

Beginning Of Route 66

Chicago Sky Line

I had really wanted to get a deep dish pizza, mostly since I failed to get that last time I was in Chicago, but by the time I met her, I didn’t think there would have been time, so we walked to Portillo’s instead.  Both her and one of my cousins said it was good, and they were right – the hot Italian beef sandwich was pretty tasty, if not greasy.  After a quick visit to where she and her boyfriend lives (have to admit, I wish I lived in the big city), it was off to Union Station to buy my ticket to the Milwaukee Airport and catch the train.

Every time that I take an Amtrak train, I’m reminded how I think we could be doing better with rail transportation.  We treat it too much like boarding a flight.  You wait in an un-air conditioned room that clearly has less space than there are seats on the train before you can board through a “gate” to be led out to the platform.  I don’t understand why we aren’t able to have open access to the train platforms, like pretty much everywhere else in the world.  Yes, I suppose it is in the name of security, but imagine how much more laid back it would be that if you got to the station 30 minutes before departure, that instead of standing around, you could be settling into your seat and beginning a relaxing journey.

Boarding Amtrak Hiawatha Service To Milwaukee

Anyways…the Milwaukee Airport is unique in that it was one of the very few airports in the country that has a dedicated Amtrak station.  It may not be in the terminal like one would find in Europe, but a short shuttle bus ride isn’t bad either.

I had never flown out of Milwaukee before and as such I was not familiar with the terminal layout.  Especially considering that ticketing is on the lower level and the concourses (and I believe baggage claim) were all on the upper level.  That had me confused for a bit, since I expected to find a checkpoint next to the counters like in many airports.  Clearing Security wasn’t bad, and even found this humorous sign on the other side…

“Recombobulation Area”

Since I had a little bit of time prior to departure I made my way to the Sky Club where I sat and watched as a delayed flight to Atlanta pushed back, waited and then ultimately returned to the gate…I’m guessing there must have been an issue with the aircraft.  The Sky Club at MKE wasn’t busy by any means and shortly before boarding was called I hit up the deli across from the lounge to grab a small bit to eat for the plain.  Which, by the way, it wasn’t very good considering the $8 cost – I wouldn’t recommend it.

Delta MD-88 at Milwaukee Airport

I secured an upgrade in advance, so the flight down to Atlanta was comfortable and there were no delays.  For a domestic flight, it pretty much went according to plan.  A short layover in Atlanta and another upgraded flight and I was back home.  It had been a long day involving way too many forms of transport, and I was definitely feeling worn out.  By the time I made it back to my apartment I was ready to pass out, not just from the day of travel, but constantly getting up early over the weekend to catch flights or be places as well.  It wore me down, and of course I had to be work the next morning.  Thankfully, being fairly young, I don’t seem to drag as much, but that still doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck to a certain extent.

Posted in Delta, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Canada – Où il est toujours hiver: Départ

By Robert | Published August 17, 2013

Index:
Introduction
Delta T4 Expansion Opening
The Wet, The Windy, The W
Départ

Départ / Departure
Sadly, on Monday morning, my time in Montreal would come to an end. The worst part about this was that this was perhaps the most beautiful day all weekend. It was exactly what I had been hoping for and I would only get a few hours to enjoy it.

As soon as I managed to wake up (which wasn’t too difficult, since I didn’t stay out very late), I got ready and headed out to at least enjoy a stroll through the old city before I caught the bus back to the airport.  I was glad that I got at least that short period of time to enjoy Montreal as I wanted to, but given the fact that I had a 1:02pm departure from Montreal, there wasn’t much time for me to wander before heading back to the hotel to check out.  While, it would be great if Montreal extended the Metro to the airport, the 747 Express Bus at least is convenient; just a short 5-10 minute walk and then plenty of waiting (seriously, like two buses should have been by according to Google Maps by the time one finally showed up).

Place de la Grande-Paix de Montréal / Place d’Youville

Rue Saint Paul Ouest

Place Jacques-Cartier

Checking in at Montreal was effortless as was my previous trip; using the Sky Priority lane resulted in no wait to see an agent, but even the regular line had practically no wait either.  I admittedly was a bit confused for the signage for the a premium passenger lane to get through security, but eventually figured it out and sped through security and US Customs and Immigration.  Since my passport will expire at the end of 2014, I asked the agent to stamp my passport, even if they are US stamps, I’ve still got a little less than half of the pages that I need to fill up.  I better get busy!

One Stamp Closer To A Full Passport…

Once through all of the process, I had more than plenty of time to kill.  It would be nice if Delta would contract with Air Canada for First/Business Class and/or Gold, Platinum, Diamond Medallion members with lounge access, but I have a feeling that is a bit of a pipe dream.  Instead I wandered around the Concourse, trying to find any excuse to buy something at a duty-free shop (surprise, it was nothing more than a Tolberone), and eventually just admitting defeat and picking a spot to sit down and wait.

Eventually, my flight was called for boarding, and being one of the first onboard I quickly reached my favorite seat on the CRJ900/700, Seat 1A.  For starters, you’re in First Class, then you have a ridiculous amount of leg room, and then you have both aisle access and a window.  How could you not be happy?  I had a pre-departure beverage of Coke Zero while I waited for the rest of the plane to fill up, which did not take long at all.  After all, it is a regional jet.

Departure was quick and before I knew it we were airborne and back within the airspace of the United States.  Montreal isn’t that far from the border and ~20 minutes after departure we were solidly over Upper New York State.

Actually, It Was Probably Less Than 20 Minutes

The fantastic weather that morning in Montreal continued into the US as well, and as lunch was served, I was treated with some great views out of my window.  There really isn’t anything better than sitting down at 30,000 feet, looking down to the world below, especially with a drink in your hand or while enjoying a meal.  To me, the airplane is like the ultimate scenic restaurant (well, when you’re in First or Business Class, because let’s face it, food in Economy isn’t usually the greatest).

Never a Bad View

Since Montreal isn’t a long enough of a flight to get a hot meal, a cold option was served.  It was a corn and bean based salad with a cold chicken breast and tortilla strips.  It was a new one to me and, honestly if given the option there are a few meals that I’d rather have this over that Delta offers in First Class (Club Sandwich, I’m looking at you).  Only downside, was it was a bit bland, but one somewhat expects that with airline food.

Delta Air Lines First Class Lunch (YUL-ATL) – Cold Corn And Bean Salad With Chicken

The rest of the flight was enjoyable and the arrival into Atlanta was on time.  Upon disembarking when I turned around to look at the gate podium, I found out that I didn’t have very far to go for my flight to Panama City…it would be using the same aircraft I flew in on.  I still had time to kill though, so I made the short stroll down to the Concourse D Sky Club to hang out for a bit.  Nothing remarkable to note, and eventually I made my way back to the gate to get on the very standard flight back to Panama City.  Only thing to note was that I cleared an upgrade on that flight as well and found myself in Seat 2A.

Same Gate

Conclusion
In my two trips to Montreal over the past year and a half, it really has become one of my favorite places to visit. There’s a lot the city offers and combined with the history and culture it makes a great quick escape from life in Florida.  I can’t say enough how I wish the weather had cooperated more, but I’m still glad that I went and saw and did the things that I set out to do.  Perhaps I’ll have to try again sometime soon and book an extremely last-minute trip when I can know for a fact that the weather will play nice.

Of course I still want to plan a trip to Quebec City too.  Perhaps, I need to visit there first before I make another trip to Montreal….

Posted in Canada, Delta, Travel, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Canada – Où il est toujours hiver: The Wet, The Windy, The W

By Robert | Published August 2, 2013

Index:
Introduction
Delta T4 Expansion Opening
The Wet, The Windy, The W
Départ

The Wet, The Windy, The W
As I have mentioned already, the weather during my weekend in Montreal turned out to be a bit of a bummer.  I had to deal with a cold, soggy city, and try to figure out a new plan of attack for my time there.  Since the last time I had been to Montreal was for NYE 2012, in the dead of winter, I found myself somewhat repeating my previous trip and the things that I did.  Nothing wrong with that, but I was here to explore new things in a supposedly different season!  Luckily some of the things that I neglected on my previous trip or were closed during that time weren’t an issue.  That meant I got to check out several of the city’s museums, one of the markets, ride a bike through the streets, and a few other things.  I was going to save this trip!

The W: W Montreal
I had read many good things about this hotel online, with a lot people commenting on that it might be one of the best Starwood properties in North America.  Many have said this because of the upgrades, especially for Platinums (too bad I’m only Gold), but also for the location (short walk to the old city) and service from the staff.  Since I’ve become a bit of a fan of W Hotels (as pretentious as they can sometimes be), I figured I just had to try this hotel out.  With that said, I booked a stay for my last two nights there, getting a Wonderful Room for about $270CAD/night.  A little bit on the steep side, but then since I used miles to get to Montreal and Hilton HHonors points for my first night at the Embassy Suites, it didn’t seem so bad in the end.

When I woke up at the Embassy Suites on that Saturday morning, the first thing I did was check my reservation for the W online, and to my surprise they had pre-upgraded me to a Mega Room for my stay!  Considering that they sent me an email offer to upgrade to that room for $20/night and I decided not to act on it, this was a good thing!  I’ll continue to say it, loyalty does have it’s perks!

W Montreal – Square Victoria

Upon check-in, my room was unfortunately not ready yet, as I was a bit early.  They did offer to store my bag as I continued to roam about the city.  On my return, later in the afternoon I was promptly given my room keys for Room 713 and I headed up while someone went to fetch my suitcase.

Room 713 – Mega Room

I knew right after I entered the room that I had made the right decision.  While I didn’t get a room facing Square-Victoria (interior “courtyard” view), the room itself was pretty much awesome.  It was huge, had a huge comfortable W Bed, massive bathroom with a large tub, a rainfall shower that must have been half the size of the bathroom in my apartment!  The room also had this contrast between dark gray and this shade of bright blue that worked out pretty well.  Actually, I really liked the nightstands which had translucent bases that were lit with a blue light.  I don’t normally comment on things like that, but I wouldn’t mind something like that in my apartment…

W Montreal – Mega Room

W Montreal – Mega Room

W Montreal – Mega Room

The W Montreal has plenty of amenities on the property as well, which is nice considering that it isn’t a super-massive hotel.  There’s the Away Spa, a nightclub, a lounge, a W-operated bar, and a restaurant.  I pretty much tried out everything but the restaurant, which although is apparently good, I wanted to try other places out in Montreal.  As for the spa, I had a good experience, but they were booked up pretty solid for my stay, so I had to pretty much take what I could get since I failed to plan in advance.  One of the nice things though, was that they gave me 30% off coupon when I checked in, but I’m not sure if that was because of my Gold status or not.

On Saturday night, I decided to check out Plateau Lounge; I can only assume it gets that name for being above the lobby and opens out to it.  Sitting at the bar, it wasn’t a terrible place.  Yes, the prices sucked and I racked up quite the bar tab (with not many drinks), but the music was decent, bartenders proficient, and had a good laid back kind of vibe.  I don’t remember how late it was, but probably around midnight or 1am I decided I had enough of the lounge and ventured downstairs to the lobby.  Located on that level is both the nightclub and the small hotel operated bar (both the lounge and nightclub are run by an outside company or so I’m told).  The nightclub, looked pretty packed and there was some definitely loud music coming from inside.  There wasn’t a line, but I decided against going in for whatever reason.  That meant hitting up the hotel bar, Bartini, for one a nightcap before I turned in.

Bartini will probably hold the record for the smallest hotel bar (in a full service hotel; I’m not going to count places like a Hilton Garden Inn here) that I’ve ever been to.  There were probably no more than 6-8 seats at the counter and that was pretty much it.  It also wasn’t exactly busy either.  When I pulled up a seat to the counter, I was the only one there.  Since I had no idea what exactly what I wanted, I decided to let the bartender come up with something for me, and I wasn’t disappointed either (although what it was called, I don’t remember, because it was something in French).  By the time I finished up at Bartini, I decided my best course of action was to go back to my room, drink some water, and go to bed.  There was still another night in Montreal.

Wunderbar, is the nightclub located in the hotel.  I didn’t go on Saturday night, but decided to check it out at the end of my night on Sunday.  I had expected that would have been like the night before (dark, loud music, packed, etc), but when I walked in as I got back from my other stops around town, it was the complete opposite.  A few people scattered here and there, lights fully on, and no music.  Not that I was disappointed, but apparently it operates more as a quiet lounge on other nights of the week.  Drinks were essentially the same as the Plateau Lounge, some had slightly different names, and prices were consistent.  One fun part was the bartender not having the best grasp on the English language and me knowing no more French than “Bonjour”, resulted in some interesting attempts at getting various drinks ordered.  I enjoyed a few drinks and then turned in early that night since I was leaving the next day and wanted to have a few hours in the morning to roam the city.

The Food
I hate to say it, but this is the part of my trip that felt as much like a do-over as any other part. Mostly because, with the weather throwing a wrench into my plans, I fell back on what I knew.  That meant when I started walking through the old city that in a sea of way obviously touristy places I went to Creperie chez Suzette.  I wont say that it is remarkable or anything, but I wish I had explored further down and hit the breakfast spot that I had found on my last trip (Marché de la Villette) instead.  I mean the crepe that I got was good and everything, but part of me wanted something different.  I have only myself to blame for that, though.

For dinner on Saturday night I went to the Vieux-Port Steakhouse.  This place looked fancy enough from the outside to have a good steak dinner at to reward myself of several months of hard work back home.  I didn’t bother with reservations, as I went fairly early in the evening; which was probably good, because I remember going past this place on New Years Eve 2012 and it was packed.  On this night, not bad at 5:30pm (I was early so I could make it to the light show at the Basilique Notre-Dame.  On to the food…I went with the Three-Peppercorn Steak served with mashed potatoes, a bottle (or two) of the Griffon Red Ale from McAuslan Brewing, and a slice of .  I’d say that the steak was pretty good; I did like the seasoning that they put on it and it was cooked exactly to what one would expect to get when you ask for it medium.  While, it was very good, it still didn’t dethrone the best steak that I ever had from the list.  But, if one is looking for a good steak in the old city of Montreal, I would certainly recommend it.

Vieux-Port Steakhouse – Dinner

Vieux-Port Steakhouse – Desert

For breakfast on Sunday, I decided to try a place called Eggspectation.  It seemed to get good reviews online, although some locals despise the fact that it has branched out from it’s original restaurant and opened several others in Canada and the US.  I decided that some of those reviews were your typical ‘I don’t like change’ reviews (we get that a lot with places here in Panama City Beach), and while the perspective of those people is always good, its best to just see for yourself.  And that’s what I did.  Also, unlike the other reviews, for the location on Rue Notre Dame Est, I encountered no lines, no wait, nothing.  It wasn’t empty, but it also wasn’t busy either.  I ordered a pretty basic eggs benedict; I would say that it was good, but it wasn’t remarkably different from any other that I’ve had anywhere.  So there’s that.

Breakfast at Eggspectation

For a late lunch, I headed to La Banquise, the famous poutine establishment in the Plateau-Mont-Royal neighborhood of Montreal.  Despite it being in the middle of the afternoon, there was still a line out the door for this place!  And rightfully so; they have some of the most unique combinations of poutine available.  Instead of getting the crazy large T-Rex Poutine like I did last time (bacon, hot dogs, beef on top of the Poutine), I opted for a much more sensible small steak and onion option.  I wasn’t disappointed and as a bonus I didn’t walk out of the restaurant with tons of regret and a portion of food to take “home.”

La Banquise – Steak and Onion Poutine

I think everyone knows that I am fond of my beer.  Montreal has some good options and plenty of places that serve up a good pint.  I’ll save the majority of that discussion for the next section, but there was one place that had a good beer selection where I also managed to grab a bite to eat.  That place was Brutopia, located in an English-speaking section of Montreal near Concordia University.  Don’t get me wrong, I came here primarily for the beer, but I did need to eat before a night out on the town, so why not kill two birds with one stone.  To kill that bird, I had a Pepito sandwich (from the menu: Thin grilled steak served on baguette, coated with a black bean blend & topped with pico de gallo salsa).  Good bar food? Sure.  Gourmet by any means? Not really.  Was it a good ambiance? You bet…there was live music (what it was, no one knows…or at least this American didn’t know), and I heard a good story.

Actually, that’s the part I should relay to everyone here.  This girl and her friend had come in looking to find a jacket she had left there the night before.  The bartender said that he thought one of the workers took it home and described the persons she was with last night ‘to confirm her identity’.  He then took her name and number so that he could call her when the jacket got brought back in.  She was happy enough to do that and then left.  It was after that when the story got interesting.  It turns out that she indeed did leave a jacket the night before, but she also punched out a glass window in the front door trying to break in to get her jacket back after a few other bars and probably a few too many drinks.  The best part, they had her on video and her friend had busted up knuckles, and of course she gave them all of her contact info.  The workers were debating what to do…call the cops (what are they going to do) or perhaps try to scare her.  Who knows what they ultimately decided to do, but the lesson here is that if you try to break into a place the night before, don’t go back the next day trying to get that item you left back.  Don’t be that stupid.

I also found myself at McKibbin’s Irish Pub on Bishop St/Rue Bishop.  I previously found myself here on New Years Day 2012, in my search for a local, but English-speaking place to grab a drink.  On that visit I had sampled the food and had a few beers, but this time I was just drinking.  There’s a decent number on tap.  Most of the beers are what you would expect to find in an “Irish Pub”, but I think I’m just partial to the ambiance of this place.  There wasn’t any live music on that night, but it’s just a good place to sit and watch a game on TV (on that night, it being Canada, it was Hockey).

The Sights
There is more to Montreal than just eating and drinking, although those are two things that I have found Montreal to be quite excellent for.  My plans for the weekend had been to be outside as much as possible during the day, but the rain pretty much killed it.  I really wanted to hike around Mont Royal, but again, the rain killed that idea.  As a result the first day there, was me pretty much hitting up places I had already been to.  My plans were in disarray, but wound up wandering around the streets of the old city and browsing the shops in Marché Bonsecours.  Then after some more wandering, I found myself in some sort of small street event in the old city that had a few short roads around the Old Customs House and Place Royale.  Stands and food trucks selling everything from macaroons to plates of fish.  I have no idea for what reason this was going on (couldn’t read any of the French-language signs), but I sampled a few things and took in a crazy drum band that marched their way right through the middle of the street.  Did I have a clue what was going on? Nope.  Was it fun? You bet.

Marché Bonsecours – Monday Morning (You Know, When The Sun Came Out Finally)

What Is This? I Don’t Know, But It Was Fun…

One of the things that Montreal has, is several markets (Marché), typically where one can by produce and other goods, that I believe are run by the city.  I had attempted to go to two of them on my last trip, but due to the holiday, they were all closed.  I had read good things about some of the shops and food stands within the markets, so this time I knew I had to make the attempt.  I headed for Marché Jean-Talon, for some post-lunch wandering.  This may not necessarily seem like me, but actually just browsing markets like this is something that I actually kind of like to do.  I’ll be traveling somewhere and stumble on a market like this or an impromptu one setup in a park on a closed street and next thing I know I’m in the middle of it.  I think part of it is that it allows you to experience the local side of things, plus I’ve had some tasty treats from random stalls at markets like this.  Montreal was no different from anywhere else; a collection of produce and floral stalls, specialty shops selling fish, cheese, wine, etc, you name it.  I of course did not walk away with bags of produce or really anything for that matter, but I did manage a few macaroons.  Not going to lie, they were pretty tasty.

Marché Jean-Talon – Main Hall

Marché Jean Talon – Outside Rows

One of the most beautiful churches that I have been to (and yes, that’s including some much older masterpieces of architecture and art in Europe), is Montreal’s Basilique Notre-Dame.  It’s not incredibly massive, but the artwork and feel inside is just impressive to me.  I’m no good at explaining these types of things, just look at the pictures below as proof.

Inside the Basilica

Basilique Notre-Dame

Aside from just visiting this church again, the real reason I had come here again, was that they put on a presentation/light show of sorts at night inside.  It’s the history of the Basilica as well of early Montreal, and aside from some low-quality acting, it wasn’t too bad.  It also wasn’t as light-show-y as I had thought, but hey, it was just another thing for me to check out.

Like how all the markets were closed on my trip in 2012, so were all of the museums.  Luckily, the Sunday that fell on this trip was Montreal’s free admission day to all of the Museums in the city.  The Pointe-à-Callière Museum (Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History) was probably the most interesting of the two I visited.  This one occupies several buildings around Place Royale, as well as beneath the streets.  The big draw here, is the archeological site of the old, old city of Montreal that lies beneath the buildings.  It’s mostly the remnants of walls and some foundations, as well as a few tunnels and the random pipe, but it’s always interesting to see what they find in these kinds of excavations in terms of items from the period.  Coins, tools, toys, etc all from a previous era.  The history nerd that I am, definitely had fun here.

Pointe-à-Callière Museum – Ruins of the Old, Old City.

Pointe-à-Callière Museum – Brewery Coin (?)

The Centre d’histoire de Montréal was the other museum that I decided to check out and is on the other end of Place D’Youville from the Pointe-à-Callière Museum in a former firehouse.  This one is the overall history museum of Montreal with exhibits in the main hall going through the main periods of history of the city with selected artifacts from each time period.  Since I had already gotten a dosage of early Montreal history it was the more turn of the century and modern history of the city that made this museum interesting.  The exhibits are on the small side, but it does give you a pretty good overview of the history of the city beyond just walking around the old city.

Centre d’histoire de Montréal

A good way to explore Montreal, I discovered was by bike.  With no maps, I rented a bike after a late lunch at La Banquise to make my way back to the center of town.  It’s all downhill since you’re making your way from out near Mont Royale, and it’s a fairly easy ride.  I want to say it took about 30 minutes, maybe a little more, and there were bike paths or separated bike lanes for a large portion of the route.  However, as I got into the city center, the bike lane ended abruptly on me and I found myself riding amongst the cars in Canada’s second largest city.  I’ve never quite biked on the surface streets in a large city, but I didn’t wind up getting hit, so I guess that’s a win.  When I did make it to the old city, I biked around for a little bit before returning my bike to one of the many convenient Bixi kiosks.  Oh, and since I didn’t make a note of it up front, Montreal is covered by a bike share program and there are kiosks everywhere.  It’s a great way even for tourists to get around, and the cost is pretty minimal.  All you have to do is have a credit card and you’re good to go; no pre-registration or setup is required.

Cycling Montreal

Bixi Bike Station – They’re Everywhere In Montreal

I also swung by Parc Jean Drapeau, where I checked out an outdoor equipment expo of sorts and ventured over to the Casino de Montreal for a quick gamble.  I didn’t win big (or anything for that matter), and as I managed to get to the park as many of the attractions were close to closing, there really wasn’t anything to see that I hadn’t already.  Also, for what it is worth, the Casino was undergoing plenty of renovations.  Still managed to get turned around in there in the labyrinth that it is.

Parc Jean Drapeau (Biosphere, Former World’s Fair US Pavilion)

Casino de Montreal

I know, I’m terribly behind on pushing these last two posts out, but hopefully, I’ll finish up the last one after this shortly.  Keep tuned for updates!

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