Author: mochatruffalo
Thirty-six hours after leaving Osaka, we finally landed in Auckland. A direct flight would have been much shorter, but with the restrictions of award flights and last minute itinerary changes we ended up laying over in Tokyo and Sydney. View of Sydney, with the Opera House seen next to the harbor bridge. The 7-hour uninterrupted … Continue reading Park Hyatt Auckland
Our fourth (and third redemption) business class flight in less than a year was flown on Japan’s ANA. After comparing all of the four airlines I’ve taken, ANA has beat out EVA, Qatar, and Air France. ANA’s service can’t be beat, which is not surprising given how Japan’s emphasis on exceptional service is unparalleled. Another … Continue reading ANA Business Class
The time between late March and early April is Japan’s cherry blossoms season. Unfortunately, this year’s warming trend led to blossoms reaching full bloom a week prior to our arrival. By the time we got to Kyoto, we had missed the spectacle save for a few flowers that had stubbornly clung on. Luckily, Kyoto isn’t … Continue reading Kyoto
Traveling between Tokyo to Osaka can be done via Shinkansen or plane, and since we had to pick up mom and dad at KIX, we opted to fly into Osaka. I was fortunate enough to get assigned a window seat on the right side of the aircraft, which afforded me the chance to see Mt. … Continue reading Osaka
Anyone who’s watched Lost in Translation starring Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray will know the Park Hyatt Tokyo, which was prominently featured in the film. As the name suggests, it is a Hyatt property, and I wasn’t going to let my chance of staying at this place go. Instead of paying $1,500 a night, I … Continue reading Park Hyatt Tokyo
After a 12-hour flight, we landed in Haneda. The last time we were in Tokyo was 12 years ago, and thanks to technology much has changed. Entry application into Japan (COVID check, immigration, and customs declaration) is now done prior to boarding one’s flight by entering all pertinent information on the Visit Japan website. Entry … Continue reading Tokyo – 12 Years Later
When flying to Europe, Joe and I like to fly with Air France for the cabin experience. The service in economy is attentive, and their meals are above average. Naturally, when it came time to book my flight to Norway, I went straight to AirFrance to redeem my 110k Capital One points for my round … Continue reading Air France Business Class
Rational or not, to me, the success of this entire trip hinges upon whether or not we get to see the Northern Lights tonight. It was important to me that Faith’s only “ask” was fulfilled, and that she didn’t have to make another trip to Alaska just to see the aurora borealis. After our Ice … Continue reading Tromsø – Judgement Day
I woke up the following morning still trying to process the epic failure from the previous night. Everyone else in the group was also disappointed, but Faith surprisingly took it in stride - you can’t control nature. Thinking that we only have 2 more nights in Tromsø, and one of the nights is taken up … Continue reading Tromsø – Ice Dome Experience
Given its northerly location, Tromsø is one of the top places in the world to see the aurora borealis. I scheduled 5 days in Tromsø thinking it would be enough time to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. What I hadn’t taken into account was the weather. Throughout our stay in Tromsø, it was … Continue reading Tromsø – Reindeer & No Lights
We girls had talked about going on an international trip for years, but never made it happen until now. Now that some of the kids are older, and I’m retired with no restriction in the number of vacation days, we finally made it happen. As we were trying to decide where to go, everyone was … Continue reading Southern Norway – Oslo, Bergen, Ålesund
Living on the arid mainland, Hawaii is a welcome change with its lush and jungle-like landscape. Hiking in Hawaii is perhaps my favorite activity. However, Joe isn’t a hiking fiend like me so we had to alternate our days between hikes and non-hiking activities. So on our fourth day, we decided to do some low … Continue reading Oahu’s Different Moods – Kaneohe & Koko Crater Trail
The Chinese saying「一言既出駟馬難追」means once a word is uttered, even a carriage drawn by four fast horses will not be able to catch it. Back in December, Joe, whether wondering out loud or not, asked if I’d wanted to go to Hawaii (if that’s not a rhetorical question then I don’t know what is). The next … Continue reading Oahu – Flora, Falls, Food, and Some Hiking
When people think of Taiwan, they think night market, building 101, high-mountain tea. But, once you scratch past the surface, you’ll realize how much more Taiwan has to offer, especially for hikers. The island is beautiful outside the city. No wonder the Portuguese called it ‘Ilha Formosa’ when they first set their eyes on the … Continue reading Four Days, Four Hikes
While en route to the gym and Din Tai Fung two weeks ago, I lost my California driver’s license. Neither the gym nor the restaurant had it, so the next logical possibility was the Taipei Metro system. I filled out a lost and found claim on the Taipei MRT App, but was resigned to the … Continue reading The Future Is Here
We returned to the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur on our last night in Southeast Asia while transiting between Cambodia and Taiwan. Throughout our time in Malaysia and Cambodia, I kept an eye on the standard suite availability for a possible upgrade, and was disappointed to see that availability was gone the day before we were … Continue reading Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur – Globalist Experience Part 2
Our second day in Siem Reap started in the wee hours of the morning. To catch sunrise at 6:18am and to get an unobstructed shot of the temple reflected off the Northern pond, we needed to leave the hotel at 4:40am to get to the Angkor Wat gate at opening at 5am. For those lucky … Continue reading Grand Tour
Angkor Wat is the largest and most well known temple in Angkor, but it is far from the only one in the city. There are 2 main routes to follow when visiting - the small circuit and the grand tour, both of which can be covered in 2 days. After our Angkor Wat visit, we … Continue reading Small Circuit Temples
Now is probably the best time to visit Angkor Wat. Tourism hasn’t fully picked up in Cambodia, and as a result, you can get a buy one-day and get the second day free ticket right now. Less crowding makes the visit more pleasant. Less tourists also mean you get front row seats to watch sunrise … Continue reading Angkor Wat
Since the main purpose of our trip to Malaysia was for the food, we made sure to visit Penang since everyone said it was the place to go for great food at all the little hawker stands. The first hawker place we visited had such great ratings online that we endured the heat to wait … Continue reading Penang SNAFU Righted
The 4 nights we spent in Kuala Lumpur were split between Mandarin Oriental and the Grand Hyatt, located right next door. The Amex FHR booking for MO provided amenities such as free breakfast, welcome gift, room upgrade, $100 dining/spa credit, and 4-pm checkout, while the Hyatt globalist status had very similar, but better, benefits. Upon … Continue reading Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur – Globalist Experience
Malaysia is a Muslim predominant Malay population with a quarter Chinese and a tenth of Indians. This melding of culture and cuisines explains why their food is so tasty. It also gives you a city with interesting sights and sounds. Hearing the call to prayer in Istanbul is a matter of fact, but hearing the … Continue reading Kuala Lumpur – Batu Cave
There is something about Islamic architecture that is especially aesthetically appealing to the eye. It has both clean soft lines, as well as ornate geometric patterns. The Mughal style is an Indian Islamic architecture that consists of a large onion-shaped round dome, thin minarets on the sides, and delicate ornamentations. One such famous Mughal architecture … Continue reading Kuala Lumpur – Mughal Style Architecture
When flying overhead into Kuala Lumpur one will notice endless fields of palm trees, given how Malaysia is the second largest producer (after Indonesia) of palm oil in the world. Great for the economy, but at the expense of natural habitats. Beautiful palms but with devastating deforestation. To use my Amex FHR credit, I booked … Continue reading Kuala Lumpur – Colors of Chinatown
Our last trip to Singapore was 12 years ago. Given its oppressive heat, we were in no rush to return for a visit. Booking an award flight through SingaporeAir allowed us a free stopover in Singapore en route to Kuala Lumpur, so I decided we’d spend a day in Singapore for some Hainan chicken. Some … Continue reading Singapore – Foodie Heaven
FIRE'd @ 47 