Colin Gallagher's Blog, page 10

7 Ways to Survive Airports

I love travel. I hate traveling. Well, maybe dislike is the word. No, actually, it’s hate.

Airports and flying are the irritants at the start and the end of the most amazing adventures you can experience. I’ve talked about the airplane part of that here in a previous post.

So I’ve started trying to make my time in airports at least a little less painful. Here’s how.

1. Get a Priority Pass Card

If you’re not Richy McRich and fly First Class everywhere this might be an option for you. When my bank said to me last year I needed to get a new credit card I looked at their options and saw one that accrued air miles and also gave you a one year membership to something called Priority Pass, I read on. Priority Pass allows you to access certain airport lounges for a fee that would not be usually open to your everyday scumbag economy class traveler like me. I didn’t know about this. This could be a game changer. The membership my bank was offering was one where you get your first two visits to a lounge for free and then you pay $27 for each visit (charged automatically to my credit card) after and you can bring up to one guest. Sold. Whatever.

I have now used it every time I am flying and the relaxation, comfort, somewhat edible buffet food, and free booze makes the start of travel that little bit more manageable. If I can put away a couple of plates of food, a couple of beers, and stretch out and relax I think $27 is a steal.

There are different levels to membership I will look at when my first year is up. The more you pay the more free visits you get. You just have to estimate the amount of times you may be flying in a year and choose the right one for you.

One bummer I found recently with my trip to Australia was the lack of participating lounges in Australian airports (ie. only Cairns had a lounge when I was visiting although now Brisbane and Darwin have participating lounges). From a little investigating this is down to Virgin Australia removing itself from the Priority Pass network in 2011. Also in 2015, United Airlines pulled their lounges from the Priority Pass network greatly reducing Priority Pass’s presence worldwide.

2. Gate Awareness

Scope out your gate then scope out other gates within reasonable walking distance that are emptier and don’t have any flights leaving before yours. These are usually emptier and more relaxing meaning you can stretch out and prepare yourself mentally for the flight ahead. This is my main tactic. Sometimes it’s just not feasible but I try this every time.

3. Fuel for the Flight

Eat a snack or two (chips/sandwich and water); don’t gorge on fast food or heavy meals before flying. If it’s an hour long flight do whatever the hell you want but anything longer you don’t want to be bloated or want any unwanted reaction. Eat them in a quiet area (see above) and chill. Don’t forget you also have that healthy and hearty airplane food to look forward to!

4. Keep Informed

Check apps like FlightAware or FlightRadar24 to keep tabs on any delays or gate changes. I also download the actual airport app too just in case. If there is one.

5. Read light

Get some magazines that you would never in a million years read on any other normal day. For me, that’s movie magazines. For others, that might be Fly Fishing Monthly.

6. Chillaxe Yo!

Day dream. Meditate. Whatever you call it. Zone the hell out. Forget about what is happening around you. Airports are full of people who are stressing the hell out. Put in the earbuds and listen to some music that will help with this. Find a quiet place both physically and mentally.

7. Avoid The Rush

Finally, no need to join the mad scramble for the plane. You have a seat number right (well, maybe…)? Wait for the zone number or whatever. Although, this ties in with my method of just putting my backpack under the seat front; I don’t need to fight for overhead space. The longer you wait in the lounge the less time you sit in the opposite of a throne that they call airplane seats.

These barely make airports..bearable for me but every little bit helps. See you at Gate 34. My flight will be leaving from Gate 20.

7 Ways To Cope With Flying

Here’s how I barely survive the hell that is flying in the “cheap” seats in airplanes.

1. PLANNING

My plan of survival starts with planning my travel months beforehand. Fact: some airlines have better planes, seats, and in-flight entertainment than others. I pay more for a better plane and a better airline and start from there. If it’s a route I haven’t taken before I check out a number of third party websites (Zuji, Expedia, Google Flights) to see which airlines travel there. I usually never book on these websites and always go through the airline’s own website. Just a little simpler and there never really is any difference in price and probably slightly cheaper this way. If I know that budget airlines fly in that area and they’re not appearing on the third party websites I will go to their website and check it out.

Tip: If you type in to Google “flights singapore-hong kong” Google will give you a quick summary of what airlines fly that route which will give you a good summary:

If you have connections, you need to scope out how long it might take you to transfer ( Do you need to pick up the bags from the carousel and place them in a transfer area? Do you have to travel 20 miles between terminals *cough Heathrow* ?) Having a longer connection sometimes is less stressful. I find 3 hours in between international flights is usually a comfortable timeframe.

2. SEATS

You’ve booked the flights. Seats time. I’m an economy guy unless I find an amazing business class deal (Air India Business Class is sometimes cheaper than Singapore Airlines Economy to Mumbai on 787 and KLM Singapore-Bali sometimes has some good Business Class deals). Does the airline offer Premium Economy? You may as well take it if it’s within your budget. What type of plane is it? You must check out SeatGuru.

Travelling as a couple?

On an Airbus 330/340? Choose the two seats on the side option.

Travelling on a Boeing 777/747/ or Airbus 380/350? Choose two seats in the middle three/four as nobody will be clambering over you then or vice versa on the side three seats.

Travelling on a narrow body? Choose two aisle seats across from each other. That way you each have at least some space on one side of you with the chance that the middle seat is empty.

Travelling alone?

On long haul wide body airplane flights choose the aisle seat in middle seating. That way only one person can bother you getting up to the toilet. When choosing your seat online look for empty seats in the middle of the middle section and empty seats in front of you. Maybe, just maybe, nobody will take them up and you wont have a seat in your lap and somebody fighting for elbow room beside you. On short hop flights on narrow body airplanes, choose the window seat if you think you can make it without toilet breaks.

Avoid seats near toilets (bulk row seats are commonly near toilets); the line of people is annoying. And the smell sometimes…well…

Bothered by turbulence? Center seats over the wings are preferable. Seats at the back of the plane tend to move side to side and have a different, more unsettling feeling in turbulence. Let’s face it though, turbulence happens and even though the B787/A350 is said to have a turbulence detection and dampening system, you’ll still ride through it more often than not no matter where you sit.

On a related note; KEEP YOUR SEATBELT ON! It beggars belief that there are still injuries occurring in those cases of severe turbulence because people are smashing their heads on the roof because they’re not strapped in.

3. STAY ALERT

Plane looking a bit empty and boarding is well under way? Always ask the flight attendant about the load and about moving to a more spacious area. I’ve often won the race to get 3 side seats to myself by asking early. Sit on the aisle/middle seat until after cruising so nobody gets an idea to share the three seats with you!

4. NOT DYING OF BOREDOM

I can’t sleep on planes. So I watch a lot of in flight entertainment. Start with short episodes, then move on to movies, then end with short episodes. Your brain won’t want to invest too much energy in Gone With The Wind near the end of a long haul flight. Short and snappy episodes are better. If you have a tablet/laptop load it up with your favourite movies/TV shows; you never know when the in-flight movie/TV choices will be pretty lame. Netflix now allows you to download shows so get to it!

I can’t sleep on planes so sometimes I drink alcohol. Yeah, that’s right. Everybody says don’t do it. I say I’ll handle my own dilemmas thanks very much.A couple of wines/beers puts you in to a more sedate mode; you might even nod off for a bit. If you are a violent and miscreant drunk then please skip over this paragraph. I find that I never lose any sense of common sense with alcohol on planes no matter how much I drink; I’ve tried. Believe me. Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Bangkok; I may have depleted their weekly allowance of Heineken. There was no in-flight entertainment…I had to do something…

Anyway, it works for me but it might not work for you and I tend not to drink on narrow bodies as access to toilets is less..accessible.

5. FOOD

Bring snacks on board. If at all possible put a carry-on under the seat in front of you for easy access. You will never know how inedible the food they serve you will be.

6. COMFORT

Economy Comfort/Premium Economy I’ll pay for within economic reason. Extra leg room like bulkhead row or emergency exit? I don’t go for it. More often than not at the bulkhead it’s beside a family with newly borns (not their fault etc.). Bulkheads usually go hand in hand with being beside the toilets too. With the evolution of in-flight entertainment being available the minute you get on board with some airlines (eg. Singapore Airlines or Emirates) you will be stuck until cruising altitude until you can take the screen out of the armrest.

Person in front has reclined in to your knee caps? Nothing much you can do about it unless you buy this which might just end up with you in a 40,000 feet fist fight. You can make a big deal about forcefully changing the angle of your TV and making sure you let the flight attendant know to tell them to push it forward when meals are served. When you are getting out to go to the bathroom make sure you bump as much as you can in to their seat; it actually will probably happen naturally anyway due to your confined space.

I just get really irked if they aren’t sleeping and are just watching TV. How much more comfortable are you right now? You are now reclined a few inches back. Congratulations.

7. LOSE TRACK OF TIME

A watched pot never boils. I always try and ignore flight maps and flight time left. Just pile on the TV shows and movies and embrace the inner couch potato you have inside you. You’ll know when you’re getting closer when they either a) start serving the final meal or b) the captain comes on and mumbles on about descending soon, thanking you for flying with us and hoping to see you soon mumble mumble mumble.

That’s about it. There’s not a lot you can do to actually immensely enjoy economy class flying. Especially on long haul flights. See you in 45D. Weeping.

Flying Premium Economy on Singapore Airlines A380

Fate and circumstance led me to recently purchase Premium Economy seats on Singapore Airlines’ A380 from Singapore to Zurich return. Fate and circumstance being that I was booking stuff last minute.

I’m a bit anal about airplane seats. I know what I want. I want First Class. But I can’t. It’s all about the Benjamins.

So I have Economy or Premium Economy (or whatever the airline is calling it) to choose from. Flying is hell, especially long haul. So any sense of added comfort or service can be very welcome. I will choose different airlines based on what seats and seat configurations are available. Yeah, that’s right.

Singapore Airlines’ Premium Economy is pretty expensive. Take for example, a flight in June 2017 to London below:



I would estimate you probably will be paying double-ish the price of Economy seats on any of the airlines (obviously that will go up as the months go on towards flight date). If you’re lucky. Seatguru has made a comparison list of all Premium Economy seats available on airlines worldwide which I have embedded at the end of this document. It’s an interesting read.

So what do you get with the extra (EXTRA) money spent on your seat? Inches yo, inches.

38″ inches seat recline instead of 32″ in Economy.

19.5″ instead of 19″ seat width in Economy. Now that may not read as much but the armrests in between seats in Premium Economy are huge and puts an end to the great elbow wars of the 21st century.

You also get two USB ports instead of one! Along with the standard power port too. Food wise, the only advantage is you can pre-book a set meal before you fly. Still the same airline food quality. Although I got a good piece of beef tenderloin on one of the legs.

The in-flight entertainment, naturally, is the same but the screen is 13.3 inches as opposed to 10.6/11.1 inches in Economy and they also give you over-ear noise cancelling headphones.

There is also a small amenity kit handed out with socks, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Boarding wise, you can avail of priority boarding and separate check-in counters (at least in Zurich we walked straight up to Premium Economy Check-In whilst guffawing at the throngs of Economy class passengers queuing up, I didn’t see a specific Premium Economy check-in at Singapore but it was quick anyways).

Specific experiences on these flights?

It was fine. On the way over SIN-ZRH the screens would flake out once in a while and on the way back we saw some passengers’ screens never work at all. So I think they have an issue there. I would not have been happy if my screen didn’t work at all!

I’m in two minds about non touchscreen displays which Singapore Airlines A380 has. On the one hand it stops people from banging your head with their excellent film choices from the seat behind you but on the other hand it’s cumbersome to twist your hand down to the remote every time to adjust volume or change what you’re watching.

The headphone sockets are pretty inconveniently located (behind and in between seats) and every time you take your tray out of the armrest your headphone cable gets caught up. Bad design in my opinion.

I didn’t find the leg rest and the foot rest added any comfort to my 5’11” skeleton, if I was a little shorter, maybe. Stretching out without them in place was good.

It also seems that the aisle seats C and D (not sure about H on the other side) have an inconvenient seat support from the seat in front that greatly restricts on foot space (see above video).

I guess the feeling of the small Premium Economy cabin space is nice, it doesn’t feel as mooooo cattle cart-esque as the seats behind. Although you have to walk all the way back to the Economy toilets so there’s that traipse through all that humanity has to offer.

Is it all worth it?

The A380 is a spacious plane as it is. It’s probably the best Economy seat experience you will get anyway so you really have to figure out what you want and what you can handle. Are you traveling as a couple? The two seat format by the window in Premium Economy can be nice (not having to deal with anybody else in your “area”) and the 28 seat cabin area can feel a little more spacious than the rest of Economy. When the person in front reclines fully it really does invade your space quite a bit though.

Service wise, there’s no real difference. Singapore Airlines is always going to have a very attentive and high level of service throughout. Don’t expect anything on the level of First Class Suites!

Would I choose Premium Economy again? Yes, of course, anything to alleviate the torture of long haul economy class flying will be entertained. IF it’s within economical boundaries ie. would it be cheaper to pay my way through flight school, rent a plane, and fly myself?

Here’s Seatguru’s Premium Economy Seating comparison which is pretty informative:

England v Germany Old Bloke Football Match

And so it was, on the 12th night of November in the year of our lord, two armies summoned forth the power of Tiger Balm and vigorous muscle rubbing to face each other on the battle field that is Singapore National Stadium.

Mightier men have shown their unbridled enthusiasm and prowess on Singapore National Stadium’s hallowed turf than these aged stalwarths of the 90s football scene but none can question their bravery or track record as they suffered the humidity and absolute silence and emptiness of a very tiny crowd indeed. It was the equivalent of one man and his dog.

Hark, is that Heskey taking a tumble like the donkey of old? Tis, tis.

Behold, is that James fumbling an easy dribbler? Indeed.

Click for video.

Alright. Ok. Let’s drop the reverie here. This was never going to be a normal event. A 55,000 seater stadium holding a masters football event? Whose amazing idea was that? I’ve seen reports that 10,000 people were there?! Drop a zero yo…they were giving away tickets in stores in the run up to this.

The game? It ended up 4-2. There were goals. There were tackles. The atmosphere sucked. The music was overbearingly loud and played every time there was a goal kick or throw in or free kick!! What is this?!  Baseball?! The PA announcer was woeful.

The English team was way way younger than the Alte deutsche Männer.

The fact that the biggest name, Paul Scholes, pulled out before the game says it all. The ticket I bought was $45 or so. I could have bought…something else…

They should have played smaller team indoor footy in the adjoining indoor stadium. Would have suited better.

Here’s who was in each team:

England Masters: David James, Luke Young, Steve Howey, Des Walker, Michael Gray, Darius Vassell, Carlton Palmer, Darren Anderton, Steve McManaman, Teddy Sheringham, Emile Heskey

Substitutes: Paul Parker, Lee Hendrie, Danny Murphy, Michael Thomas

Germany Masters: Perry Brautigam, Marko Rehmer, Guido Buchwald, Jens Nowotny, Jorg Albertz, Dietmar Hamann, Carsten Ramelow, Lothar Matthaus, Mario Basler, Oliver Neuville, Alexander Zickler

Substitutes: Fredi Bobic, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Jorg Heinrich, Patrick Owomoyela

Staycation: Marina Bay Sands

After spending two nights in relative solitude at Sofitel Sentosa Resort and Spa we targeted Marina Bay Sands for the next hit on our life savings and senses. Marina Bay Sands is always busy. 24/7.

The day before while basking by the pool at the Sofitel I got an SMS from MBS asking for time of arrival etc. etc. “to expedite check in”. No worries. Off I sent the SMS with a cheeky upgrade request.

Arriving by taxi to MBS at Tower 1 you are faced with a permanent Pokemon Go gathering. Seems that there is some good stuff in the lobby to be caught. While I waited in the queue to check in a staff member came up to me and asked for my details. Ok. So I said them again. And off he walks. No reason given. No advantages apparent. Worse was to come. Room wasn’t ready. SO WHAT WERE THE SMS AND ALSO THE DUDE IN THE SUIT ASKING FOR MY INFO FOR?!

Ok, I know check-in around the world is 3pm but it was around 12:30 we were there and the MBS has plenty of rooms to spare.

To cut a boring long story short, we went back at 3pm and got an upgrade to a suite with access to the Club55 lounge for drinks and nibbles from 7-9pm. Which was nice.

Spacious suite

The suite was big and fine. We were greeted by window washers trying their best to wash the windows without peering in at the pseudo-rich peeps in the la-de-dah suite. The room smelled of stale smoke like a lounge bar in the 80s. I double checked the “No Smoking” sign on the wall again just in case I had imagined it. There was some sort of stain on the sliding door. I didn’t smell it to find out.

Comfy bed

Sit. Watch TV. If you want.

The stain.

Spacious balcony to go with the spacious suite.

The infinity pool is a must visit. You zap your card to gain access. The left side was the quietest, if you ever go and if you’ve read this far. The feeling of falling off the edge of the world slowly dissipates as you get near the edge and realise there are many platforms underneath you as you peer over.

View from the infinity pool

Night life in the infinity pool.

Looking down on Singapore

Anyway, we won’t go back unless they read this and want to make it up to me as they messed us around with check-in and even though we got the upgrade (I believe they do this with every first visitor) the suite had seen many cigarettes-a-smokin’ and I still can’t forget about that stain….

Staycation: Sofitel Resort and Spa

Sometimes even taking a one hour flight from Singapore can be too much energy to recharge the batteries. So you spend as much money as you would with flights and hotel and you spend a few nights in a hotel right here in Singapore. The hotel options on Sentosa are not cheap.

We decided to spend two nights at the Sofitel Sentosa Resort and Spa on Sentosa Island. Sentosa Island is like Alcatraz Island but with a theme park, hotels and a casino. Sometimes people try to escape after a bad night at the casino.

The Down-Low on the Sofitel

The Sofitel is quite a relaxing hotel. There’s not too much noise and chaos from tourists. It seems like it’s an airport stop-over half way house and is filled with weary middle aged travelers in need of some non-airplane existence for a while.

Bed was large and comfortable. As was the room.

TV remote was weird.

Room had bath and shower.

There are peacocks. If you don’t like peacocks wandering around your sun lounger then go somewhere else. I’ll take peacocks over monkeys any day. The peacocks were not aggressive and went about their business but they do call out every now and then ruining the 0 dB atmosphere.

When I booked the room I somehow bought one which included 2 hours of free booze from 7-9pm and free soft drinks all day from Le Bar (everything has “Le” in front of it). It’s because of Le French. The drinks were welcomed and the service was prompt.

Pool was quiet and relaxing.

We lounged by the pool for the majority of our time there. We walked into the main area of Sentosa is (Starbucks, Din Tai Fung, Universal Studios) and it takes about 25 minutes. The hotel has a shuttle but we like to walk.

Food…oh food. We were disappointed with both dinners.

The Garden. With Peacock.

Dinner numéro un. The Garden. No “Le” here. Maybe it’s not good enough for that…

It’s a few minutes walk from the main hotel building, across the road, and housed in their spa complex. It’s open all day and we arrived around 5pm. There was a peacock waiting for us. Passed the peacock in to an empty dining room. One waitress folding napkins. Refuses to talk to us, ushers another waitress into proceedings.

Me: “Hello, are you actually open?”

Her: “Yes, we are very busy as we have a party outside”

Me: “Ok…”

Her:”…..”

Me: “Can we have a table?”

Her: “Sure!”

It went downhill from there. I ordered the chicken breast from the dinner menu and got a chicken wrap from the lunch menu. Our vegetarian ordered the Grilled Vegetables and Tofu Tian. She got a microwavable vegetable lasagne thing. Disappointed!

The “very busy” empty dining room.

Now what I ordered. Wasn’t even good.

Slop.

We drank their wine, got the check, bid adieu to the peacock, and left. No à bientôt to them!

Dinner numéro deux. Kwee Zeen. Get it?

We opted for something from the de-light menu expecting a tasty but low in calories extravaganza. I probably got the most boring chicken breast (I like chicken) I have ever had the displeasure of eating. This chicken collected stamps, took note of train numbers, and read technical manuals for enjoyment during its sad pathetic life. And if he didn’t the chef is le jerk and did the poor chicken a terrible dis-service. Dull. Dull. Dull.

I’ve never experienced eating a dinner and just wishing it was over so I could find something else to tackle my taste buds.

The vegetarian option “Portobello and Vegetables” was just that. Barely.

Both our tongues registered very little taste experiences in the 30 minutes we were there. I had to stick a fork in my tongue just to make sure it hadn’t cut off all blood circulation in protest.

Tiny portion. Bunch of mushrooms under a few sprigs of arugula.

Now I will say, both nights we had to get some bar food at Le Bar to keep us going and the sushi and satay were good. Merci. Mercy.

Anyway. Le verdict?

Sofitel Resort as a whole? Relaxing. Refreshing.

The dinners at Sofitel Resort? Dull. Pointless.

Let’s Tessellate: MC Escher Exhibition at ArtScience Museum

What is art?

Baby, don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me no more.

I think that’s the way the song goes.

MC Escher. You know him. You know at least one of his creations from somewhere. It’s maybe his tessellations of animals where fish turn into birds who turn into fish again and in turn..turn into blocks.

It might be his multi dimensional brain spasm inducing creations where people are seen walking in ways you can only do so with the aid of illegal substances.

It might also be his reality distorting pieces where never-alive things come to life. Like The Walking Dead but without the zombie thing.

If you’re not aware of Escher you should be. He’s a nice entry-level artist into the realm of art history. His work merges happily into math and science while also engaging and amazing people who may turn their noses up at a Monet or Picasso.

Ambidextrous much?

I got into Escher in my teens when warping realities was all I cared about. Dali was too insane. Munch was a one hit wonder (not really, but you know..). Escher is the thinking man’s artist. His work, while twisting your reality, makes sense. In a way. His work is grounded in reality that our brains latch onto but then he grabs our ankles flips our brains upside down, slaps us in the face with a fish, then shows us the evolved version of reality he creates. I’ll take an exhibition by Escher over a roller coaster any day.

The exhibition “Journey to Infinity” at the ArtScience Museum comprises over 150 works (which are mostly wood prints or lithographs). There are a few activities for children (a big tessellation jigsaw) throughout the exhibit and with its small enough size and engaging works it should be a fun few hours for the family.

For a mere $13 (residents) entry fee it is really good value. Go at a nice quiet time, like we did, and it’s even better.

This drawing inspired me way back when I did art to try and draw reflected portraits. I didn’t fare as well as Escher.

Have a look at some of his work that is on show below. And my words.

Love the inter-twining of worlds

Day and Night. Night and Day.

When you both have a hangover.

Bite Size Review: Spago by Wolfgang Puck

www.marinabaysands.com

Mr. Puck has two restaurants now in Marina Bay. His first one “Cut” is a steak-centered nosebag joint. So one of us being a vegetarian can’t really go there (they check at the door). So we opted for his new California inspired Spago restaurant which had one more option for vegetarians (one option).

Spago is on the 57th floor of Marina Bay Sands. You get there by losing the will to live via multiple elevators. Tower 2 is the one you want to go up to. Up until the 55th floor and then switch to another elevator up to the 57th floor dodging sweaty patrons going to and from the gym on that floor.

On the 57th floor is where the cool infinity pool is so you get to see a lot of people wandering around in their swimwear. Bodies that should not see the light of day trundle by while you sip $26 cocktails in Spago’s adjoining bar. It didn’t put me off my food, though. I was fasting all day so I could enjoy every dollar in every mouthful.

We were walked from the bar through some large rustic blue doors to our inside table. We weren’t splurging too much and just opted for some mains.

Weiser Farm’s Roasted Baby Beet Salad: Toasted Hazelnuts, Watercress, Citrus, Goat Cheese, Aged Balsamic

The vegetarian went for the salad which was a space like oddity and I opted for the chicken dish which was really delicious. A beautiful blend of puree, jus, and truffles with each bite of succulent chicken. It was worth the $55. Yeah that’s right.

Pan Roasted Organic Chicken: Manjimup Black Truffles, Artichoke-Black Truffle Puree, Natural Cooking Juices

Fingerling Potatoes ‘Patatas Bravas’

We also shared a small bucket of potatoes!

To finish up we had a plate of camembert and brie cheese with some chutneys on there. Lovely end to a lovely meal. We also had a glass of wine each to wash our meal down which were excellent too.

Recommended? Yes. Just dip into your life savings first and enjoy every mouth-watering mouthful.

Bonus pre-meal $26 cocktail

Seoul Survivor

Changing of the guard at Gyeongbokgung Palace.

We recently visited South Korea (with a few footsteps into North Korea) for the first time since we arrived in Asia all the way back in 2008. I don’t know why we waited so long but I guess there were other places clambering for attention before it. So South Korea was that quiet kid in the corner patiently waiting to be picked for the sports team at lunch time. WHY WAS I ALWAYS LAST?!!?

Anyway.

We flew Korean Air for the first time. It had a pretty good reputation. It was okay, food was not good (is it ever?) but the in-flight entertainment was immense.

Didn’t fly on this 747 but they still are the coolest looking planes around.

After much trundling around the various tourist websites I decided to pick Metro Hotel Myeongdong (my Trip Advisor review here) for its location and proximity to grab a tour bus to the DMZ which left from the nearby Hotel President. Why not stay there then I hear you splutter through some oat cakes?! It was quite bit more expensive. So there. The Metro Hotel was small but it was comfortable and there was a Starbucks in the lobby. And if you didn’t manage to grab a Starbucks in the lobby there was another one around the corner. And another one. And another one. Oh, but the aircon was right over the bed and just blasted our heads with icy wind all night. I think it helped in me getting a weird headache in the coming weeks but that’s for me and my health insurance company to figure out.

Here’s what we did in Seoul….to survive…nah, doesn’t work. Not changing the post title though…

Panmunjom Tour

North Korean soldiers used to stand at the blue sheds too but have stopped. I wonder why…?

I have a fascination with North Korea. I want to go there. This will have to do for now. I did a lot of research on what tour to take. A lot of people said just take the Panmunjom tour as the whole DMZ tour is not worth it. Panmunjom is what you see on TV. You know? The steadfast, ready for action South Korean soldiers and the baggy uniformed, emaciated North Korean soldiers facing off against each other in between United Nations blue coloured huts.

View from the North.

The tour I chose from Tour DMZ took half a day with a departure at 7:30am and arrival back in Seoul at 1:30pm. This was perfect as we didn’t feel like being on a tour for a full day as was the case with most of the other tours on offer.

The tour itself is, obviously, a surreal journey. If it was anywhere else in the world it would be a bit “meh” as most of the time is spent on the bus. As it is the border between North and South Korea it elevates the whole experience to something that is definitely worth doing.

The amount of time you spend in the secure border area is very rushed as you try to take in what you are seeing. Yes, those are North Korean soldiers about 100 meters away! Yes, where the well manicured gravel stops and the dusty brown dirt starts is the difference between two warring countries! Yes, the building a couple of hundred meters away with the soldiers looking through binoculars IS North Korea! Yes, if you did run a few meters of gravel you would cause a major international incident!

After very little time, it is all over. Worth it? Yes. Enough time to analyse what you’re seeing? Hell no.

Deoksugong Palace

We walked to this palace through a Gay Pride festival and the opposite of a Gay Pride festival – an anti-homosexual religious protest vomit gathering. It’s always weird to see religious people spew hatred and anger towards something they should care less about. Get on with your lives idiots.

Twats.

Deoksugong is nice enough if a little underwhelming. It was 1,000 Won to get in. I was instantly befriended by a Korean tourist who wanted his photo taken on his broken screened phone. Pleasure. Walking around is quite pleasant and peaceful as overly busy streets surround the palace grounds on all sides.

Yeah, you may as well visit this place, it’s right there.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Another palace, this one built in 1395 and the biggest of the palaces from the Joseon Dynasty. It’s been rebuilt since a big fire so it’s a bit dubious to what is authentically 14th century and what was plastered together by a drunk builder-hack in the 20th century.. It certainly is interned in a huge garden and palace grounds. It’s a pretty popular place but didn’t feel too crowded. The koi pond is a nice area to make your way towards. Take a few hours and head here.

Lotte Giants v Busan Bears Baseball Game

Buying a baseball ticket online for a Korean game is impossible. Don’t even try. Don’t even bother researching it for weeks on end, like I did. Don’t ask anyone. Just go to the stadium it’s at an hour or so before the gates open and line up like everyone else. Which is what we did. We were quite unsure if we could make ourselves understood where we wanted to sit as it was one of those “talk through this 5 inch thick glass window and see if we can understand each other” which is hard enough when both speaking the same language. But worry we should have not, the lady spoke enough English to get our preferred seats.

The game was enjoyable in the way an amateur game can be. Lots of walks, lots of dropped balls, so lots of runs. The constant singing, cheering, dancing, and overall noise from the crowd makes the game a worthwhile thing to go to while in Korea. We didn’t eat any of the local faire on sale there but saw enough of it to deem our decision was a good one.

Well, that’s our South Korea trip in a nutshell.

Other things to note:

Vegetarians don’t have a good time in Seoul.

The 6015 Airport Limousine bus from the Airport to Myeongdong (and vice versa I would imagine but it was raining hard for our return to the airport so we grabbed a taxi) is cheap, pretty reliable and stress free.

You may have issues getting money from ATMs. We did. There’s something weird about international cards and ATMs there. The ones that worked for us were in one place: underground at the Euljiro 1-ga metro stop. There’s a bank of 5 ATMS with one or two that say International on them. Or something like that. Head there.

Taste of Tasmania Part 4

Part 1 here.

Part 2 here.

Part 3 here.

This is the final part of our Tasmania trip report. It only took 10 months to complete. Writing about it. Not the trip.

Richmond

The drive down from Tamar Valley region to Richmond takes about three hours and is pretty decent drive on motorways and straight roads. It gets a little windy leading up to Richmond but all in all very doable. We stayed at an AirBnB for the first and only time in the trip at Every Man And His Dog Vineyard (my TripAdvisor review is here).

The only thing we wanted to do around Richmond was to head to Bonorong Sanctuary. Travelling around Tasmania it is astounding the amount of roadkill you see. This sanctuary takes in injured animals that can’t make it on the outside. I enjoyed it immensely seeing all the native animals of Tasmania and feeding and petting the chilled out kangaroos. It’s not cheap but it is places like this where you know the entrance fee is helping out with running the place and making sure the animals are well looked after. The guided tours are a bit of a scrummy mess with hordes of people taking them. We decided to ditch that and do our own thing. This was the only time we saw the famous Tasmanian Devil and it was worth the wait.

Richmond itself is a quaint little town with an old bridge and jail. We stopped off for an afternoon snack and had a little walk around. Nothing much to see apart from the bridge but we made use of the ATM in the store there (which was conveniently placed beside the frozen meats section in case you were looking for it).

Hobart

Hobart! Our last port of call in Tasmania. The famous Taste of Tasmania was on and the yachts from the Sydney-Hobart race were in town too. Making it a very busy time of year for Hobart. We donated one kidney and one lung to pay for our hotel there. We visited The Taste every day we were there and although busy it really was well run and very manageable with many drink and food options. Also for the first year, you could just wave your credit card (over a cash point tablet) and that was it you paid. Dangerous but convenient!

Other things we did in Hobart include heading up to the top of Mount Wellington (seeing an echidna along the way) for stunning view of Hobart and the surrounding areas. Must see. We went to Cascade brewery for a quick beer tasting which was awesome too. We took a lunch cruise with Peppermint Bay Lunch Cruises. We paid a little extra to be seated on the top deck which really didn’t bring any significant advantages other than we weren’t down below with a massive and loud family party. Result!

The restaurant they take you to has excellent food and good beer on tap.

We finished off our Tasmania trip with a visit to the famous MONA. You can pay for the cruise up the river to it which was nice and we got some tasty brunch on board. MOMA itself is a bit of a mixed bag. The temporary exhibit which was on while we visited sucked a bit. The rest of the permanent collection is also a mixed bag of shock art with a few real historic pieces interspersed in between. It definitely is a must see while in Hobart but be careful if you are bringing children as a lot of the exhibits are a bit un-child friendly (or child unfriendly).

So that’s it! Tasmania was great. Very much like Ireland with it’s small towns, friendly locals, stunning rural scenery, excellent food and drink, and a little inclement weather thrown in for good measure. Go there.