QR IAH TO CGK VIA DOHA EXCELLENT TRIP

QR  IAH DOH CGK 

I am 1K on United and Platinum on Flying Blue. After this trip on QR from IAH to CGK via DOH, one has to seriously consider switching loyalties. AF does not deserve any loyalty from anyone, they treat even their Platinum members with disdain. No wonder they are haemorrhaging money and now charging for everything as if it is a Low Cost Airlines: for example I paid nearly 1000 usd for an award ticket on Business Class on top of the 120.000 miles!

Thanks QR for the good service, good food, The Premium Terminal and on time performance. 
2013 would see me flying QR a bit more often..

EATING IN LONDON : SEPTEMBER 2012

I always look forward to any chance to be in London and thus a weekend spent recently was most welcome.
The visit always have a special meaning for me. Where in the world can you drink Capuccino made by the same machine at the same cafe where nothing has changed? including the linoleum floors? I am talking about Bar Italia at Frith Street.
A few nice dishes were enjoyed and I noticed that the prices are lower than Paris but in Paris the quality is slightly better.. especially when it comes to Bread.. but where else can you get such good "Indian" food cooked by Bangladeshis?

There were so many restos i wanted to try out, but i can only enjoy 2 meals a day.. what is someone to do? be grateful at this opportunity that is all.
I am sure I will be in London soon enough..would love to try out Nouveau Anglaise Cuisine...

Eating, Talking, Resting in MIAMI

Miami has never felt anything other than a HOME to me ever since I arrived here during my medical student days. I returned to do my Endocrine Studies at Jackson Memorial Hospital and I have always been happy to return to Miami. Now that my emotional home is situated only 150 miles south in my Isla Rica.. I am here more often than many other places .. each time it is a pleasure, there are people from every where here.. your coffee is made by a Colombian, you buy  something in a shop from a Dominican, there are Jamaicans and of course there are the Cubans.

AIRLINE FOOD.. I AM NOT COMPLAINING

Leaving Miami on the morning of the 30th April and arriving back in Paris during the day, 9th May.. I ate well in the air and on the ground
Air 
United  MIA EWR NRT SIN
TG         PNH BKK ZRH
LX         ZRH CDG
Lounges
United: EWR NRT
TG         PNH BKK
LX          ZRH

 Food on Flights Miami to Paris via ewr nrt sin pnh bkk zrh

 eating well on the ground in indonesi

 japanese restaurant in Bogor, Tokigawa

 Sundanese lunch at the home of my friend in Bogor

eating well with friends in Phnom Penh 


Food on the ground:  Excellent food with my friends in Bogor, Indonesia. also at Novotel in YogYakarta. Very good food with my khmer and MoPoTsyo friends in Phnom Penh

Enlightenment in Cambodia, Unexpected Pleasures in Malaysia

a very strenuous round the world trip with memorable stops. So the grueling journey was worth it.
Paris to Washington to Houston to Omaha to the Blue House to be with Indians.
Omaha to Denver to LosAngeles (a nice meeting with Joe from Djakarta) to Honolulu to Guam (barely making flights) to Hong Kong with a long wait at the Premium Plaza Lounge, then to Kuala Lumpur. 

KL to Phnom Penh (wonderful community work and also a visit to the forest at Chambok) to Bangkok to Zurich and then back to Paris!
Airlines:
United
Malaysian
Thai
Swiss


Lounges:
Paris
Washington
Houston
Los Angeles
Hong Kong
Phnom Penh
Bangkok
Zurich


this is the second round the world trip for this year: the other one was : paris to singapour to kuching to phnom penh via KL to Seoul to Los Angeles to Denver to Omaha to Houston to San Antonio to Houston to Paris


The first trip of the year was 
Paris to Washington to Miami to Houston to Omaha to Chicago to Frankfurt to Bangalore to Muscat to Salalah to Muscat to Paris 

Where am I ?

Which country would offer you such a grand variety of asian food, as this one?
the collage above shows food eaten in just four days in this country: with a very gracious chinese hostess 

A Journey to Nowruz in Asia

I am used to long and tiring journeys, it is the tiring people I do not like.

It looks like my luck with good people continues! The seat mate on this first of many flights, was a humble Indonesian businessman who could teach me humility! Truly happy to have met him..

This has been an unusual week and expect unexpected things in the weeks to come...Let us dream for others, whose lives were puffed out!

Salalah Hilton Salalah OMAN the place to stay

I would like to express my thanks for the following people for making my stay in the hotel very enjoyable

Abid Hussain  Pakistan
Ali, Mujeeb, Pattambi, Palghat Dt Kerala
Wasseem, Mattancherry, Kerala
Win, Yangon, Myanamr
Someh and Mustafa, Egypt

Salalah Hilton Salalah OMAN

Feel so comfortable in this hotel in Salalah that I dont wish to go out, but sit and watch the sea..Very friendly staff mostly subcontinentals but polite and attentive.
Large rooms and view of the Sea from the rooms..
Dinners are large and sumptuous.
All in all a very enjoyable break.. 

Do you want to see the other side of Travel in USA?

Check into Econolodge near EWR Airport!

had to catch an early AM flight from EWR, looked for a hotel nearby, just to spend the night. Economical. Econolodge that is all you can say about it.

Dingy. old fahioned. unchanged from the 1960s. decaying. threatening faces around the corners. Very little in the way of services.

You get what you pay for!

This is not recommended! except as an anthropological experience for young europeans coming to visit usa for the first time, a harsh introduction to the reality of the place. I have spent another night at Econolodge near the Seattle Airport , it was identical to this, decayed and musty with sullen central american bus drivers who shuttle you to the airport in silence.

You wont see these types of hotels there are hundreds of them across USA written up in Travel magazines, but it is a reality for budget travelers to the USA..

Flight 4/2012 15 jan Didnt Plan Well

Didnt plan this flight booking well!
First of all, a six am departure
2. the departure is from FLL, one hour by car at 4 am in the morning!
3.The aircraft is an older 737-5 which has only 8 F seats so the chance of upgrade is slim.
4. the uncomfortable feeling that comes with the above, and add to it my bad luck with who would sit next to me. I dread it, as I settled into 21 F an exit row seat with large space in front of you. I was psychologically prepared for this mindset, when I heard a FA looking at me, and calling my name.... Seat 1E sir
So there you are, a nice sweet feeling .. coming at the last moment.
so far 4 out of 4 flights in F. The next flight is one class flight from IAH to OMA but I have the best seat  12 A in that ERJ 145


Gracias, Continental Airlines..

FLIGHT 2/2012 AMS-JFK KLM 777-2 12 JAN

SEAT 1 F  NO ONE SITTING NEXT TO ME. The journal with the picture of Swami Vivekananda is a gift of Munching.

Nowadays traveling long distance involves a preparation with technological gizmos: I had my MacBook Pro, iPad and Ipod touch with me with Bose noise canceling headphones. At the suggestion of Mr Ho, had downloaded onto my ipad, Rashomon by Kurosawa and a movie by Abbas Kiarostomi. Also many TED talks.

Champagne:  Billecart-salmon  Champagne Brut . I thought it had a pungent after taste. This small family firm ws founded nearly 200 years ago!
White Wine: Casa Silva, Cool coast Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Colchagua Valley, Chile . Enjoyed the refreshing feeling to this wine, as it was a good accompaniment to the Salmon to follow

 Pan Fried Fillet of Salmon with herb sauce, complemented by mashed potatoes with shallots, braised leeks and cauliflower risotto. I sharpened my taste for Leeks (poireaux) since it is used a lot in the french cuisine.





By the time Desserts were offered I had become friendly with the FA, who was Dutch who did 2 international trips per month, this month to JFK and another to MEX.
I had been so excited to see an australian wine which I have not seen since that day in October 2008 when my good friend Sandra served me a glass of it on QF seat 4A flying from MEL to LAX.
Lillypilly Sweet Harvest   Riverina, Australia
Made from three varieties of late picked grapes, including Riesling and Muscat, it offers a luscious aroma with a touch of honey.  L Chaim  to Life to Life..
I told the FA she can choose the desserts for me, and she gave me a bit of everything on offer and i must say, I slowly enjoyed every bit of it, with the sweet Lillypilly at my side.

Watched Rashomon
wrote a little bit
thought of my loved ones in various countries
began watching  Kiarostomi movie and the poet who tragically died at age 32. a legendary persian woman, free and intelligent and fond of Iran, fighting for her gender.. Forough F...


The flight was very smooth, just before landing they served us:
Indonesian Vegetable Salad, served with chicken rendang and fried onions
Perkedel  Indonesian spiced and deep friend vegetable friter
Poedjak Manis  Indonesian fruit salad witha  sweet sauce


I must say that I couldnt eat another morsel, which was good since I did not look forward to the cuisine of the next host country, USA!


The chef featured is Peter goossens who said: I see myself as a composer of flavours. He is to be found at 
Restaurant Hof van cleve in Kruishoutem in Belgium.
Better start saving up for a meal there since it was nominated for one of the 50 best restaurants in the world.  The person I would share that meal (apart from our Lox and Bagels at our side) would be my good doctor friend , Mark from Miami!

2012 has begun well for Flying

Air France Lounge at 2F

nice to begin the day with a cafe allonge, croissant and Orange Juice (without the Tropicana Chemicals and Pesticides)

 Even in the short 45 minutes flight they managed to serve a cold platter

When I saw this MH 747 sliding into its slot in AMS I thought of my friends in KL, Mr Ho and Ms MunChing..




Saw this orthodox Jew praying at the Lounge, later on I went to wish him Shalom and I was pleased to see him seated a few rows back. He is an american belonging to the Satmar Creed of Chassidim. I am sure he was coming in from Antwerp where they have a controlling interest in the Diamond Polishing!