Monday 19th June 2017

After a pretty relaxing morning and early afternoon Heidi and I were dropped off at King Street Station to check in for the train. This is where rail travel has it over air travel. There was very little in the way of hassle. We dropped our bags off, no ID check, no ticket check (though if you have it, that works as well). He made sure to confirm that we knew that we would not have access to our checked bags till we get to Chicago. I was surprised by this but he said that people think they deliver checked bags to their cabin… Nope! Baggage storage at the station was available for $10 per bag for 24 hours. Didn’t really want to do that so we just carried around our bags. Total time for check in, less than 2 minutes. Considering there is no security check you just walk straight out to the platform, man that was going to be an easy time.

Heidi and I went for a walk to get her a new water bottle as the one thing we left behind was her full water bottle. We took some time walking around the area and also sat outside in the sunshine to enjoy the last bit of outdoors for a few days. We watched as the train pulled into the station and then headed downstairs where boarding was about to be called.

Empire Builder
Seattle King Street Station to Chicago Union Station
1640-1550+2
Car: 0831 Bedroom: B

We followed the crowds out to the platform where we waited in line to get onboard. Our Sleeping Car Attendant, Mark, met us at the door, checked us off his list and then pointed us in the direction of our cabin. We had booked a Bedroom onboard and that meant we went upstairs and at the top of the steps we turned left (usually right but our car was reversed). The bedroom has a private shower and toilet and a large couch that spans most of the width of the cabin. That seat converts to a lower bed that is roughly the size of a large single bed. The upper bunk comes down from the ceiling. There was also a single seat opposite the couch against the window so that you could sit facing each other if you wanted.

We got acquainted with our accomodations and stashed all our gear. Compared to the roomette there was definately more space. Sure it was tight but it would be way more comfortable than being cramped in a tiny room. The good news with our room was that we would be facing the direction of travel, however because of that the views of the water on the way up the sound. Can’t win them all. I would rather be facing direction of travel than not as it is easier on th brain.

We departed the station right on time and shortly after were met by the Conductor to check our tickets, Mark to check on us and let us know functions of the cabin. Shortly there after we were met by Patti the Dining Car Attendant to take dinner reservations. All the meals are complimentary for sleeping car guests so we just needed to make a reservation. We took an earlier one so that we would be able to see things as we climbed up the Cascade range.

As we crawled north up the sound it was a great site to watch houses on the right and the water on the left. After picking up large groups of people in Edmonds and Everett the train turned east and off we went into the Snohomish Valley. A volunteer from the Trails and Rails program stopped by to say hello and explain how the program works. Two members of the Klondike Gold Rush National Park in downtown Seattle would be with us all the way through parts of Montana to give us commentary on what we would be going past. We talked about why we were going and why the train etc. The kinds of conversations you can have when you are stuck on a moving vehicle with people for 2 days. Most people we met were only going part of the way, to Whitefish or one of the stops in Glacier. We were going all the way though.

Not to soon later we were called to the Dining Car. You simply walked up to the dining car when your time was called and they would seat you at the first available table. It is community dining too so you are going to be seated with other people. Welcome to making new friends! We were seated with a couple from Bellingham who were really nice. Thankfully we hit it pretty good on the dining car roulette wheel tonight. The food was pretty decent to be honest. Is it going to be amazing 5 star dining quality on fine bone china. Nope! But the food was simple, delicious and of adequate size. Heidi likened it to Applebee’s style, I thought it was slightly better than some US Airlines domestic First Class meals (hi Alaska, i am talking about you).

We conversed over dinner as we climbed the Cascade range towards the top of Stevens Pass. Thankfully we wouldn’t be going over the pass but through it. Just as you pass under US2 to start climbing towards the pass the train plunges into total darkness. You enter the cascade tunnel and for the next 15 minutes, total darkness outside. At this point we were just finishing our dinner so it was fantastic timing. The people after us though, sorry folks, welcome to boring! Since we didn’t yet have the sightseer lounge (it was making its way up from Portland) the dining car was the only place you could see out both sides apart from the vestibules.

I had the Roast Chicken for dinner with a baked potato while Heidi had the Chicken and Bacon Fettuccine Carbonara. Both served with a salad and roll and followed by Dessert (of course I had some, who do you think i am!). It was a pretty decent dinner to be honest. The chicken was really moist and the salad although basic was pretty nice. Dinner was an enjoyable adventure, life was looking up on the train.

We finished off our night by having our beds made between Leavenworth and Wenatchee. The bottom bunk was large, it wouldn’t sleep the two of us comfortably but you could certainly lie together for a while. We watched a TV show as we approached Wenatchee and that is when Heidi decided to call it a night. I was planning on staying up till Spokane to watch the two trains get combined, but that didn’t happen. I took a stroll down the platform in Wenatchee but decided to call it a night. I did manage to wake up in Spokane and tried to get out on the platform but for some reason the doors were locked.

Tuesday 20th June 2017

We both woke up early. Sleeping on the train was a restful sleep, it wasn’t solid. The cabin got quite hot after all the power shut offs in Spokane and the pillows were not my style. Heidi slept pretty well, but i was on and off. Around 5am we both kind of woke up. We knew we wanted to be up early as we would be travelling through Glacier National Park for part of the morning after rolling out of Whitefish, Montana. We had planned to head to the Sightseer Car to enjoy the better views and listen to the Trails and Rails commentary.

This was where the morning was going to get interesting, time to use the facilities. The combined toilet shower is tight, really tight. I could barely fit in there but boy was it going to be interesting using it. I didnt do too bad but the water usage is funny. You turn a dial to set your temperature then push a button to ensure that you get water. It takes time to heat up but there isn’t anywhere to stand, so you kind of have to hope its not to hot or cold. The other thing you have to worry about is items that shouldn’t get wet. Towels are up high so that is fine, but the one that is most important is the toilet paper. Thankfully it has a plastic shield to stop it from getting wet, because otherwise you are in all sorts of problems.

After both of us had cleaned up we went back through the train to check out the sightseer car before breakfast. At this time (barely 630am) there was already people camped out in the car. More than likely people from the sleeper wanting more space. This was the first glimpse I had of coach. The leg room was massive! It sure puts even some International Business class seats to shame. Once breakfast started we moved up to the dining car to begin our first full day on the rails.

Breakfast options are very egg centric but it was still pretty decent. I went with a “Creole Grits Bowl” which was lacking shrimp but had eggs instead. Add on a side of bacon and you are in tasty town. Different server to last night but also a different breakfast companion. New discussions of course and after a filling meal, Heidi went to claim us some seats while I went back to the cabin to grab some stuff. Just as we were finishing up breakfast we pulled into Whitefish so I was able to step out for a few minutes and get some fresh air.

Once back onboard I went to join Heidi in the sightseer lounge as we started to go through the Glacier National Park. We spent a good few hours winding our way through the park, learning about the sights, the park itself and even a good portion of history. We made an unexpected delayed stop at Essex, Montana. Only meant to be there mere moments to let some people off but unfortunately we also had to wait for an Ambulance to arrive. It meant a good 40 minute delay. But it allowed me to read my magazine for a bit.

We headed back to our cabin after leaving Glacier National Park and settled in to some time alone, confined to the countryside passing us by. Heidi played games, I ended up working on the trip report. We were due to hit Shelby, Montana, right around lunch so we decided we would hit the platform for a few minutes and then have lunch. Just as we were pulling into Shelby Mark told us about one of the only wooden phone booths left on the Amtrak network. It can be found inside the station waiting room at Shelby. We ran down the platform as they only gave us 2 or 3 minutes and we were even told if they call All Aboard while we are in there to just go for the first available door. We made it back with plenty of time to spare anyway.

Lunch is a free for all, similar to breakfast, so no reservations were taken. Instead we apparently timed it right to get in lunch with no wait. We sat down immediately and a few moments later the whole car was full. Score! Lunch was pretty simple, I had a salad and Heidi had some quesadillas. Again a small chat with our lunch companions and back to the cabin for a small bout of TV and plenty of watching the world pass by. The next stop would be a large one as it was meant to be a catch up point, but I didn’t think it would be that likely. We were pretty consistently about 40 minutes behind.

We pulled into Havre around an hour late, but we were told we were not stopping long. Scheduled for a 20 minute stop to pick up supplies it was more like 5 minutes and then we would be back on the rails. But things were not going as planned for some people on the train. We already had a point where we had to offload someone to an Ambulance. Now we had a few people being taken off the train in zip cuffs by the local sheriffs. What happened!!! Our sleeping car attendant told us that the conductor onboard today has a reputation for no nonsense. They were not kidding, because to end up being kicked off the train is one thing, kicked off the train and in the hands of cops, wow.. What did you do!!

Sadly because of the cops we were delayed a good 15 minutes so by the time we got back going it was just not working out. We obviously had lost our right of way (or slot) across the tracks as we were now getting stalled a number of times. All we could do was just settle back and forget about it, this isn’t like in an airport where you have ways to perhaps get rerouted. Nope we were in it for the long haul.

We continued up the line through Montana for most of the afternoon. We should have reached the border to North Dakota around dinner but it looked like we were going to make it around bed time. Not a big deal to be honest as long as I had a chance to step off the train at some point. We pulled into Malta and there was a good crowd of 30 people waiting to get onto the train, all grouped together. Thing is, they were all Mennonites. I thought they were amish, but i was quickly corrected by Heidi and it was evident they would probably need to be split up. So that load took a while and put us further behind. It meant we had to back up, push onto the siding by the station and let a freight train go by. This meant we were blown. We would be pulling off the side for just about every freight train all afternoon!

By 430pm we were a good almost 90 minutes behind or possibly more! Guess its time to just chill out and relax! After a while we decided a change of scenery was necessary so headed towards the sightseer car. Sadly though all the seats were taken upstairs, but downstairs…. Wide open!! Downstairs in the sightseer car is the cafe, where you can buy snacks and drinks. A good option for people in coach who may not want a full meal in the dining car. Well we sat down there with a map figuring out how far we had to go. Helped out a few others as well.

Shortly our dinner slot was called and we headed to our final 3 course dinner of the train trip. Starting with a dinner salad while we worked out what we wanted. This time our dinner companions were the first we have had from outside the USA. A Swiss couple who did like trains, so we talked about that over dinner. This was the meal that I had been told I needed to get, Steak. The Amtrak Steak is probably the best deal for a sleeper passenger, as it normally costs around $25! They just added a Surf & Turf option too so that made it over $36! Well the fantastic thing was that it all came included. So the dinner came with a salad, roll, my steak, shrimp, veggies, baked potato and a dessert. Also my soda was free (first one of the trip, because we didn’t realise it was included). For dessert I rounded out my options and went with the Greek Yoghurt Cheesecake. I had managed to try all three desserts and by far the best option was the Lemon Tart, it was delicious.

We concluded dinner and headed back to the cabin for some more R&R. Shortly after returning from dinner though the whole reason for this trip finally occurred. We crossed the North Dakota border on approach to Williston. I was determined to get out on the platform but no smoke stop this time. As we were running behind they wanted to make sure we had as much time as possible on the rails, so it became a very short break. Instead we spent the next coupe of hours on the train watching as the sun set across the North Dakota plains. State #49 complete!!!!

We decided we would wait up till we arrived into Minot, North Dakota. This would be a fairly late evening by local standards (not by PST) but its not as if we had to be anywhere in the morning!! We still had a good almost 18 hours on the train still ahead of us. We even decided to sit back and watch a movie while we waited for the train to cruise east towards my first step onto North Dakota soil. When we pulled into Minot and I stepped down onto the platform it was all worth it! We walked around the small station for a little bit but jumped back on as they started to empty the lavatory tanks. The smell alone would make someone lose their lunch and considering most of the train was downwind it was better to be inside. When we started roll out, we both decided to head to bed.

Wednesday 21st June 2017

I awoke without the need of an alarm about 5am as the sun began to make a decent amount of light out the window. The full sunrise had passed but it was still in that nice light where it wasn’t too bright. I enjoyed watching the world pass by. I pulled out my phone to see if i could get a map location and it turned out we had just left Fargo not to long ago. That means we lost more time during the night 🙁 We were running around 2 hours late as we tracked through Minnesota. If we were running on schedule we should have been in Minneapolis St Paul before 8am. That didn’t look like it was going to happen.

I slowly made my way out of bed and after a while managed to convince Heidi that having breakfast before the crowds was worth it. This time I had a lighter breakfast than yesterday the crowds were not present. We ended up having a table to ourselves which was nice. Did not expect that at all! After breakfast we went back to the cabin and I watched the world pass by for a little bit. Being back closer to civilization meant I had the opportunity to catch up on the world, something I had not been able to do fully since we left Seattle. This would be a day of coming back to reality after spending the last day crossing a big chunk of the country.

Today’s route would be crossing the last parts of Minnesota towards Minneapolis St Paul (really St Paul as that is where the station is) and then heading South towards Chicago, following some of the Mississippi River as well. We moved down to the Sightseer car to enjoy a different perspective to some of the views as a change of scenery would be nice. The dining car still looked pretty empty as well so that was a nice change for them. I knew a few big groups were getting off in Minneapolis but others were going through to Iowa so that meant all the way to Chicago for them.

We apparently were not going to be too badly delayed as we started to pull through Minneapolis passing all the rail yards and the outskirts of the downtown area. Amtrak doesn’t use the traditional Great Northern Railways station in Minneapolis but uses the old Burlington station in St Paul. This old station has been around since the 20s and looked amazing! I left Heidi on the train (she didn’t want to hop off) and explored the station for a few minutes.

As we waited at St Paul there was a lot of people getting on and off the train. This meant that we were there a long time! It was a good 25 minutes while they loaded and unloaded bags to the train. Most of that time I spent on the Platform soaking up the sun! The craziest part of it all was the amount of people getting on and off. It took a good 10-12 minutes to get everyone off and they didn’t start loading people till everyone was off so they didn’t have traffic jams in the carriage doors.

As we pulled out of St Paul we were about an hour and a half delayed with about 8 hours on the rails ahead of us. It would be an easy day for us as we had no where to go and plenty of time to just relax. What was evident to me is that this is purely train country. Everywhere you look on the sides of the track in some of the towns was a lot of rail sidings. They were everywhere as you cruised along as well. Different companies, different kinds of cars as well. Must be nice!

Spent most of the morning in the cabin with Heidi playing cards or watching Macgyver. We had one off train stop in Winona and then before you knew it, its time for lunch! Our final meal in the dining car would be a free for all lunch. We didn’t mind waiting a bit so we put our name down once they called waitlist (after we crossed into Wisconsin). We ended up at a table with people we had not yet met, which was good. I finished off the trip with the famous Amtrak Burger, you can’t mess up a burger right? The burger was good but you could tell you were coming to the end of the journey when things started to run out. Dessert was one option, Vanilla Pudding. Dang (I still ate it).

We retreated to our room to while away the rest of the afternoon in relaxation as we came out towards Lake Michigan. From there we would cruise south through Milwaukee and into Chicago. We spent most of the time playing cards in the cabin. By the time we reached Milwaukee they expected us to be about an hour late. In the station as we pulled in was the Empire Builder heading West to Seattle/Portland, waiting to head out (mainly for us to get off the track). At the rear of the train were two private cars being hauled along the end. Next to us on another siding was another private rail car, this time way more flashy, an end of train observation car!

We pulled out of the station in good spirits, about an hour and a half from that point to Chicago. But little did we know that was going to change. There was one final stop before reaching the end of the line and about 15 minutes outside that stop we got bad news. We were stuck behind a Metra Commuter train 🙁 That train had to make every stop on the way in. Sadly we would have to crawl along behind him as there was no way for us to get past 🙁 In the end we would be just under 2 hours late.

As we got closer and closer to the city the bigger more iconic buildings could be seen. Willis tower was probably the easiest and you could see it from miles away. As we got closer and the peak rush hour took more into play there was so many Metra trains heading out. It was as if there was one going every minute or two. As we approached the station they announced the track to the staff so they knew exactly what side of the train to let people off and this also told them how close we would be to the station entrance. Thankfully for us our platform had us right by the station entrance.

We hopped off the train after finally arriving into Chicago. It was all over! The trip had taken a solid 48 hours! We were happy to be off, yet sad that part of the journey was over. We took a few minutes to check out the great hall of Union Station (and find the stairs from the Baby Carriage scene in Untouchables). It was a pretty magnificent looking building. Nothing like King Street Station. Once our bags finally showed up (they took a while) we claimed them and headed on out. Time to hit Chicago!

Current Location: Waldorf Astoria Chicago

Introduction

____________________________________________________________________________________________

It is almost the time for summer vacation here in the USA and that means that Heidi and I can finally take some time off together and get away from the world of work. This year though things are a little bit different. After heading home to Australia last year, this year we decided to stay here in the USA. I have visited 48 of the 50 states and I wanted to add at least one more state. Sadly though the two states I am missing are not the easiest to visit, North Dakota and Maine.

Originally we were looking at driving back across the country from Chicago and spending two weeks exploring some of the area. But sadly that was not possible as car rental companies wanted something in the vicinity of $3000-4000 for a one way rental. Yeah, no.

So we looked back at what to do and came up with a bit of a different idea. What if we caught the train? Amtrak’s Empire Builder runs a daily service between Seattle and Chicago straight through the state of North Dakota. The train has a number of stops in North Dakota including a full refuel and crew change in Minot. Score! So we could take the train all the way from Seattle to Chicago (or the other way around) and spend a few days in Chicago. But what to do for the rest of the time!

Heidi hadn’t seen Sylvia for a while so it was pretty easy to catch a flight down to LA and then spend some time in the area. We both like Las Vegas so that was a given, and with some time mid week we could probably head somewhere pretty decent as prices would be pretty good (as long as there wasn’t a conference). Heidi also wanted to take me to Joshua Tree National Park which could mean a small side trip to Palm Springs. That meant the trip was set. Everything was booked and I managed to get some of the hotels through work.

After a few back and forth changes thanks to schedule changes, hotel issues the trip was finally fixed up and we had a a pretty good itinerary that looked like this:

Monday June 19th – Seattle to Chicago – Amtrak Empire Builder 440pm to 3:50pm+2
Wednesday June 21st – Waldorf Astoria Chicago – 2 Nights
Friday June 23rd – Sleep Inn Chicago Midway – 1 Night
Saturday June 24th – Southwest Airlines WN4652 – Chicago Midway to Los Angeles
Saturday June 24th – Country Inn & Suites Ontario – 1 Night
Sunday June 25th – L’Horizon Resort & Spa Palm Springs – 2 Nights
Tuesday June 27th – Aria Sky Suites Las Vegas – 2 Nights
Thursday June 29th – Golden Nugget Las Vegas – 1 Night
Friday June 30th – Country Inn & Suites Ontario – 2 Nights
Sunday July 2nd – Delta Air Lines DL2515 – Las Angeles to Seattle

It was looking to be a pretty sweet trip. The train would be a solid 46 hours of being onboard. Originally we were booked in a Roomette which is tiny, no bigger than a single bed. But thanks to trolling the Amtrak site one night I saw the price of a Bedroom drop. It meant we could have a larger room for not much extra. We would be upgrading to a room the same size as our bathroom at home. Better than nothing right!

Some of the hotels we booked through work and it meant some pretty amazing hotels on offer. We couldn’t get the one hotel we wanted in Chicago (the Peninsula) but we got one that was still pretty decent. Vegas was going to be fun as we could actually rest on a 3 day stay and check out an area we hadn’t stayed before (the Golden Nugget is downtown).

Heading out on the train in a few days is looking like fun… can’t wait!

This trip has been pretty amazing. I can’t believe how much work has gone into it over the last 12 months or so. The planning, the organizing and then in the last month or so the execution of it all. It was so much work, but yet it was totally worth it in the end.

The trip itself was over 22,000 miles (22675 to be exact) and there was both good and bad parts. The good far outweighed the bad. The delays, losing my stuff, all bad. But yet it is fairly small things that happened and are fairly meaningless in the overall scheme of things.

The good outweigh everything here and make this trip the fully memorable journey that it is. Heidi and I had a blast in so many places and it was so good introducing Heidi and her parents to what felt like my entire family. We shared so many good moments and enjoyed doing it.

All of the trip has been sorted out now, putting things away, working out what I brought back and what I didn’t. I have fixed up the majority of my photos (still have all the spotting photos to go) and they are now online at the following links:

Circling the Pacific
Circling the Pacific Pt 2

It is split up thanks to Picasa but otherwise everything is good to go! I loved every minute of this trip and can’t wait to go back to both Australia and Japan again!

Friday 29th July 2016

After saying farewell to our ANA crew we headed to immigration. About 10 steps out of the jet bridge I realized I was still wearing my cardigan from onboard. No one stopped me & there was plenty of staff to do so. Guess it’s mine now! Immigration lines were long but Global Entry was empty. I had problems figuring out how to use it since I had never done it before so the CBP guy came over and gave me a hand. Once u figured out what go do it was easy and helped a lot.

Global Entry didn’t help all that much as we were quickly through immigration but stuck waiting for bags. It wasn’t a huge long wait and before we knew it was off to customs (which was a non event as usual). After customized headed to baggage recheck where after waiting in line for a significant amount of time we were able to check our third bag in (since the other two were good to go). The walk to T3 was a few seconds & waiting at pre check was non existent.

Stopped by the Centurion Lounge for a sticky beak before heading to the United Club. Unfortunately the club had no empty seats so we went to the gate (which changed again) to wait it out.

United Airlines – UA424
San Francisco to Seattle Tacoma
1440-1650
Airbus A320 (N855UA)
First Class – Seat 2A

Boarding: 1405 (Gate 62)
Push Back: 1431
Take off Roll: 1450 (Runway 01R)
Top of Descent: 1600
Touch Down: 1625 (Runway 34L)
Shut Down: 1632 (Gate A8)

Pre boards were called and then Group 1 which was us. However due to the gate lice we had to push our way to the gate. Pretty sure my camera bag smacked someone blocking the line. That will learn them! Once onboard we found our seat (old worn out legacy United First Class) and waited as the cabin filled up.

Once things died down a little we were offered a drink of choice for our PDB. I just had a water because I was really feeling tired all of a sudden. We pushed back early and had a fairly quick taxi to the gate. I know this because of the timing, not that I saw much of it as I fell asleep twice.

Takeoff roll had us the winner as the UA 320 next to us never took off and most of the climb to cruise I was on and off asleep. Ugh! Once we were at height and the seat belt sign was off I hit the can and informed the crew of my broken seat…. Fun!

Drinks and the snack basket was offered and I took a cookie, banana & a fig bar to tide me over till dinner. I had spent most of the last 48 hrs eating so food was not that high on my list of important things to do. Coffee on the other hand was so I made sure to have as much as I could.

Pretty soon we were on descent to Seattle as we passed over Oregon. The captain came on and told us we were just to the south of Portland (and we were) and we began a fairly on and off descent. We must have done some slow downs as well because we started doing some S Turns just around Olympia. When we left SFO destination winds should have had us landing South Flow however we started a North Flow approach. We were wheels down over Tacoma and started to descend down over Federal Way (passed over Heidi’s parents house) and Des Moines. We touched down on the far left runway (the 3rd runway) and spent a good 5 or 6 minutes taxiing over to the terminal side. We also had to taxi over to the A concourse which added more time.

After pulling into the gate, we had to wait as they “have a problem with the jetbridge so they are getting someone to come look at it” (or so they said). What I really think is that whoever was working it didn’t know what they were doing and screwed things up. We got off after only a 2 or 3 minute wait. Not bad at all considering. As we were getting off I got a text update from United saying that the bags made an earlier flight so they were already here and to go see a staff member. Made a brief stop at work, and then down to baggage claim. Our bags were in storage and they had to pull them out so we could go. Even with that hassle we still made a 5pm cut off for Lyft’s half price deal and made it home shortly after! Well and truly done!

Friday 29th July 2016

We began our journey back to the airport by first taking a Yamonote Line train back to Tokyo Station. It was a bad start as we went to an entry without escalators to the platform and then to make things worse than having to lug my suitcase up steps. We went to the wrong platform but didn’t work it out till almost to the top. Got ourselves back on the right platform and it was ok.

We made it to Tokyo Station and weaved our way down to the N’EX platforms and made it just in time for the 12:03pm train to depart right in front of us. Now we had a 30 minute wait till our scheduled train. We waited on the platform for a while and unfortunately seating was lacking so we had to stand. I ended up eating my Ekiben and repacked it all before we even boarded as I wanted to make sure I had it packed away securely.

We boarded the train for our quick hour long ride out to the airport and unlike the train the night before, this one had free wifi! Made the ride a little bit less tiring. It flew by and before I knew it, we were at Narita Terminal 2-3 Station. Once we left the station Heidi and I got ourselves ready to disembark.

Once off the train and out of the station we made our way up to the check in counters for ANA First Class which is in the Z section. The “ANA Suite” check in was a very private, sectioned off area and while we waited for our staff member to check us in (it was kind of complicated with bags etc already through checked etc). From there it was through a private security channel and into the immigration area. Immigration was heaving and again took about 20 minutes or so to get through. We watched as a couple of Asiana staff paniced when people were still in line as they were trying to close the flight.

After clearing immigration we headed off to the ANA Suites Lounge (they don’t have suites, they just call it that) for an afternoon of plane spotting and relaxing. The lounge had fantastic views of the airport runways and a great relaxing atmosphere. Plenty of food choices and both buffet and cooked to order options. The first thing I did was get my stuff situated, camera set up and leave Heidi with the gear while I went off in search of my usual Tokyo spending habit…… Kit Kats!

I knew exactly where to go as there were two stores close by that always seem to have all the different varieties. Wasabi is always the hardest one to find and today was not my day. I did manage to get the usual Matcha and Sakura, I also managed to pick up some Strawberry and also some Hokkaido Melon (which I have never seen before). Decided against the big boxes of the Strawberry and Blueberry Cheesecake ones, due to space. They would have to wait until next time.

Back to the lounge to settle in with some Pork Cutlet curry and some treats. The desserts on offer were pretty delicious yet strange. I tried an Edamame cake thing that was delicious yet disturbing at the same time. Lots of good photos this afternoon with numerous Oneworld and Star Alliance liveries but the two big hits this afternoon were the BB-8 777-300ER (parked next to our gate) and a Pakistan International A310 (don’t see those very often). After a while we decided to head down a little early to get in some steps and stretch before we were stuck inside a tube for a while.

All Nippon Airways – NH8
Tokyo Narita to San Francisco
1710-1055
Boeing 777-300ER (JA783A)
First Class – Seat 1K

Boarding: 1636 (Gate 55)
Push Back: 1709
Take off Roll: 1731 (Runway 16R)
Top of Descent: 1020
Touch Down: 1046 (Runway 01R)
Shut Down: 1112 (Gate 94)

Plenty of gate lice today as the airport just seemed to attract them, however we hung back till we saw people approaching the First Class lane, then we hurried over to get our spot in line. You could spot the americans a mile away as they were the first ones in line at each lane, no matter how long they had to wait. All wanting to vie to get the most amount of overhead bin space.

We actually boarded a few minutes before the posted time (which is rare for Japan, as usually it is extremely punctual) and we were the 2nd and 3rd people into the Cabin. Lots of photos and greetings and Heidi was given a personal run through of the seat. The crew seemed to love Heidi on this trip (and so they should because who wouldn’t right?) and they spent a good 10 minutes showing her everything. I declined to be shown as I just watched along as Heidi got the royal treatment.

Everything was laid out at the seat waiting for us including a sweater, pyjamas, blanket, slippers, headphones and the piece de resistance, a Samsonite Amenity kit. Rimowa it is not, but damn sure it is good enough! I stashed it all away when I could and spent a good portion of time fighting off the cabin crew from unwrapping it all. We eventually pushed back and started the long way out to the active. I missed a picture of the traditional farewell bow from the ground crew (dammit) and got a few good shots of some of the Star Alliance aircraft spotted around T1.

We made it out to the end of Runway 16R and as we turned the GE90s powered up (I may have made a mess in my pants as usual when I hear that noise so close 😉 ) and towards the sky we went. The climb angle felt steeper up front and as usual with Narita departures, it was a little bit bumpy (though not the worst). Once the seatbelt sign went off, I jumped up to grab my stuff and stash a few things. Phone charge on, glasses and laptop out, shoes off and stashed. Time to settle!

I worked a bit on the trip report before the crew started the dinner service. The menu was presented and drink orders taken. Post Departure beverages were served with an amuse bouche of a few items. The menu looked good tonight and there was no way I was going to turn down the Japanese Menu. All 10 courses of it!

The meal began and it was all so good. Exactly as I remember having it in business a while back. The courses were so well plated, physically beautiful yet delicious at the same time. Course by Course kept on coming and a lot of them were served together at the same time. I ended up having some green tea with the latter courses and it complimented the food well. After all of that I was offered the choice of dessert and I selected both the japanese and one of the western options. The western option was a good cleanse but the japanese dessert was just simply amazing. A mixture of red bean and matcha… my two favorite things!

After dinner the crew made up the seat into bed mode and I relaxed into the rest of the flight. I gave it 10 minutes or so of watching a movie before giving in to the sleep. I lay down on the bed and tried to take a nap. The seat was pretty comfy in bed mode with a thick mattress pad and a nice doona as well. The blanket was soft and comfy if you needed it. The pillows just were not big enough for my liking, but isn’t that always the problems on most flights. The rest of the seat was great there was ample storage and thankfully ANA had not removed the overhead bins.

I got just under 2 hours of sleep before it was getting pretty bumpy (although no seatbelt sign ever came on). So I went back to enjoying my movie as the sun came up outside. Time to start waking myself up as the time outside was similar to a time I would be getting up in the real world. This journey was slowly coming to an end and unfortunately I was getting a little bit sad 🙁

As one movie finished and another one started the smells of breakfast began to waft throughout the aircraft. Time to get myself slowly ready for the impending rush of people wanting to do things. The last part of the flight flew by. The crew offered breakfast items from the menu and also from the snack menu. I took a couple of different options that were mostly breakfasty since it was that time of the day. I did go against the grain and got a pork cutlet sandwich just because I wanted to try it. It was worth it though because it was delicious!

As we started descent the crew came by to give us a little gift full of lots of ANA star wars jet goodies including playing cards and some other random stuff. The cloud cover was pretty thick below until all of a sudden it cleared and we turned so that SFO was in a spot I couldn’t see… typical. After that we had to track almost down to San Jose before turning back North to line up for a landing. We thankfully did not come in on the same runway that Asiana crashed (they had a L landing we had a R) and we touched down nice and easy. Pretty good right?

We pulled off the active and headed towards the taxiway where we then parked for another 10 minutes or so waiting for our gate. It was United 747 central on the ramp as I saw at least 6 in all different states (at the gate, on the taxiway, being towed). By the time we hit the gate, they did not have us waiting long before the first class guests were ushered to the door. They held back Business class and made sure that we were first ones off the flight. That was nice of them. Heidi and I grabbed our gear and headed for immigration… it was good to be back home… kinda.

Thursday 28th July 2016

After taking the N’EX downtown to Tokyo Station we weaved our way through the maze and up to the Yamanote line to continue our journey. We only had to take the train 1 stop to Yurakucho and then walk around the corner to our hotel for the night, The Peninsula Tokyo. The check in process took a little bit of time because, you know, Japan but soon enough the staff member took us up to our room. We had been upgraded for our final night of the trip to an Executive Suite with a brilliant view of the Ginza area and the train lines below.

We didn’t stay in the room long, just enough time to change some shoes out and then it was off to find some dinner. It was pretty late, but a lot of places were still open and after wandering around for a while, we found one place that interested both of us. It was the kind of place that sells noodles and you buy the tickets (that is you pay) the vending machine. The ramen was fantastic and we both really enjoyed it. Pretty cheap too considering how expensive some things can be in Japan.

We wound back to the hotel via the convenience store for an ice cream and then back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Friday 29th July 2016

Woke up kind of early this morning as I wanted to head out for a run before I had a breakfast meeting thing for “work”. The track around the Imperial Palace is meant to be 5km and I was determined to do it. I did not find a running map in the hotel the night before so figured I would wing it. Probably wasn’t my brightest idea because I blew through 5km and kept on going. I stopped about 5.5km because my knees were just done by that stage but I was nowhere near the hotel. I could see it, but it was ages away. So I had to walk back to the hotel from that point. I did over 7km so that should give you an indication of how far off the path I had gone…. Woops!

Back to the hotel for a cooling shower, packing of my bag and then a breakfast site inspection with the hotel rep. The rep turned out to be a bit of an avgeek so it went from a normal breakfast meeting time to something truly awesome. Got to see the conference room dedicated to the japanese aviation history. Similar to the Clipper Lounge in Hong Kong this conference room was full of memorabilia and was a great showcase for the hotel chains love of aviation.

After a great breakfast, Heidi and I headed off to Tokyo station to see if we could find some candy, and also grab some food for our train ride out to the airport. We could have gone just about anywhere in the city but decided to stay close because we didn’t want to get to in depth into the city and then not want to leave. We stopped to reserve our seats on the train and then wound our way through the 1st Avenue shopping mall to see if I could find some kit kats. Instead we found Heidi some goodies and lots of photo opportunities. Although I didn’t find any kit kats, we did manage to get our Ekiben (Train Bento) in the shape of a Shinkansen train. The food inside was of no great importance to me, I just wanted to the box itself We jumped back on the train to our hotel, so that we could pack up and head out to our last big flight of the trip. Time to head back to the USA.

Thursday 28th July 2016

Woke up way too early this morning to make sure we had as much time as possible in the airport. Since Changi is sooooo huge and there is so much stuff to see we didn’t want to have to rush. Got some coffee from our butler (yes, I said butler) and saw a little nice presentation they had left for us on the balcony (some kissing swan towels). After paying our bill we headed off in an Uber to the airport. We were sad to be leaving the Raffles but super excited for the day ahead.

Back when Heidi and I first started dating we were planning a journey to Japan. Heidi & I were both planning on coming back from Tokyo in Suites and in fact I was considering proposing to Heidi onboard. Things changed when we actually got engaged and we had to cancel the trip (thanks immigration). So we were finally able to ensure that on this trip back from Australia, we were going to do suites.

We rolled into the Singapore Airlines First Class check in and their were porters and staff waiting for us at the driveway. The porters took our bags and the check in staff showed us through to a desk. We checked in and there was a lot of typing as it was a US flight, they had to make sure all the APIS data was intact (I tried doing it before we left, but it never stuck). So that took a little while and then it was out of check in and into the private immigration channel. A smile, no questions just stamp stamp stamp.. “Have a nice day” and that was it, we were out of Singapore.

Straight out of immigration and up the steps to the Lounge complex and into the Russian Doll of airport lounges. Heidi was asking us where the lounge was, and I explained it was a lounge within a lounge within a lounge. Off to the Private Room and time for some breakfast. We were escorted all the way in and showed to a table. Coffee and food ordered shortly after and you could also help yourself to a limited buffet. Not sure if the set up was as good as the First Class Lounge (you had to ask for most things that would have been self service) and there was very little in the way of liquid refreshment on show (so knowing what you could have was tough).

Heidi had a bowl of noodles, I went with Bacon and Eggs and Toast along with a bowl of cereal. Didn’t want to eat to much as we were going to eat well onboard. Our time in the Private Room was extremely relaxed and I enjoyed it all. The staff helped me organise some duty free onboard (they couldn’t make sure that we had it, but they did tell me how to make sure we got it onboard first.

We left the Private Room a little bit early to go and explore the airport a little and get rid of the last of our Singapore Dollars. We came across the butterfly lounge right by our gate, so that was awesome! Lots of free flying butterflies just floating around. We went through security at the gate (as it is designed in Singapore) and we found a spot in the boarding lounge. We had no real wait at security but didn’t look like we would have to wait long to get onto the aircraft.

Singapore Airlines – SQ12
Singapore to Tokyo Narita
0935-1730
Airbus A380-800 (9V-SKN)
Suites Class – Seat 2D

Boarding: 0850 (Gate B2)
Push Back: 0946
Take Off Roll: 1013 (Runway 20C)
Top of Descent: 1715
Touch Down: 1747 (Runway 16R)
Shut Down: 1755 (Gate 45)

Wheelchairs and kids were shown onto the aircraft (there was plenty of them) and then a few minutes later they called boarding for Suites Class guests. We were right next to the boarding lane and we were shown onboard shortly after. Down the jetbridge and then allowed into the first door. There was a staff member blocking the first door access and she let us through once she saw the gold boarding pass.

Once we stepped onboard we were shown to our seats by the first of our crew for today. He gave us a brief introduction to the suite and also took our Pre Departure beverage orders. Heidi went with the dom, i stayed with sparkling water for the moment. We went through so much fun taking photos of everything and just playing with all the nooks and crannies. The crew were great and they looked after us so well.

The stewardess on our side (green dress makes her a senior i think) had a familiar name. It was none other than Janesis who has been written about so much online. It was great to meet her and she really did look after us. She brought out menus and all the goodies for us like amenity kits (which I topped up from supplies in the lavatory) and pyjamas. We put in our orders for lunch and let them know we would delay our lunch till around 1ish singapore time as that would give us plenty of time to rest and catch up on life.

After we had a delayed push back thanks to a lack of refuelling trucks we finally hit the taxiway for the active runway. Bit of a long taxi and also a wait behind a number of aircraft for our turn to depart. Soon enough we were in the air and headed north towards Tokyo. We had a quick drink of Champagne each while we snacked on some Satay (Heidi went with Dom, I went with Krug). After that we watched as the two crew put our suites into bed mode. It was such an interesting process to watch.

Lying back in bed it allowed me to watch some tv in some privacy and write a bit of the trip report. We got to relax in total comfort before lunch. Once our lunch time rolled around it was time for the show to begin. We headed over to another seat and we had a couples dining experience. Heidi sat in the seat and I sat in the ottoman. The place was set and we started what was to be a 2 hour lunch. Course after Course kept on coming and it was delicious all the way.

Crab appestiser followed by Cream of spinach, followed by a salad and then followed by the main course. I went with the Laksa as my main and it was such a great lunch. I didn’t need to add any further spiciness to it at all, it was pretty much perfect. After the main came the dessert course then cheese and fruit. Finally we were presented with a tray of chocolates accompanied by a hand created card celebrating our honeymoon. It was such a fantastic gesture. Janesess even made Heidi a hand made flower and gave us a card to post our photos on facebook and to write nice things about them (we were going to anyway).

After lunch we had about 90 minutes left in the flight and returned back to our double bed to relax a bit more. As we started to get closer and closer to descent it was time to get ourselves back into the groove of things and get back ready to hit the ground in Narita. I returned to the window seat and got everything into its place. We took a photo on the steps with the crew. I started to think back over all of the flights I have taken so far in my life and I have to say this is my favorite flight. The food, the service, the seat, it was all perfect. You can’t ask for better than that.

After all was said and done we started to approach Narita. The approach into Narita was pretty easy. We touched down around 25 minutes late and it was a great taxi to the gate. There was a great variety of aircraft and it was also the rush hour departure period. There was way to many 787s on the ground. I saw Air Canada, JAL and about a dozen ANA’s including one of the first two built (they have a special livery). We pulled into the gate and at that moment it was all over. We were standing in the boarding area of Main Level Door 1L as they waited for the jet bridge to connect and ok the doors to open. It hit us both at that moment it was time to leave.

We headed off the flight, away from the gate and into Narita Airport where we had to go what felt like the entirety of Terminal 1 to get to immigration. When we got there it was like hell had broken loose. The foreigners line was HUGE. It took us a good 30 minutes to get through the queue and then it was out to our bags which were already waiting for us. We were quickly able to clear customs and within 5 minutes of officially being in Japan we had tickets for the next N’EX to Tokyo Station.

Singapore has been a very different experience this time around to the previous time I was here. Last time I was here with Cat and we were determined to do a lot of stuff. We had 4 nights and we put them to good use. This time around it was 3 nights and we didn’t really do all that much. Our 3 nights really was 2 full days available to us and both of them had some time aside for me to “work” thanks to requirements of using our free stays.

Monday 25th July 2016

After getting the LimoTaxi into the city, we checked into the Fullerton Bay Hotel which was our home for the first two nights of our stay. The hotel is right down on the Marina Bay area and it was stunning. A small boutique style hotel that had a mix of history along with also modern contemporary. This was Heidi’s choice for a hotel and she picked really well.

After checking in we headed off to Orchard Road for some dinner (since a Food Court is an easy introduction to Singapore eating without going all out Hawker style. Grabbed some random foods, and an Ice Cream on the street (gotta love those Pandang Bread Ice Cream Sandwiches) and it was back to the hotel to pass out late.

Tuesday 26th July 2016

Woke up fairly average time today and decided to go for a run around the hotel area with a map provided. Managed to do what should have been 5km, but didn’t quite mark it as such so not sure what happened there. Good run in the morning as the sun came up but the humidity sure was a killer. After a long slow breakfast full of really good food and plenty of Kopi O, I had to do a bit of work for a while and by the time we finished it was almost lunch! We walked down into Chinatown heading to a Hawker Center. We were ok with directions as the Fullerton Bay provide you with a phone with local data capabilities and you can do stuff to your hearts content. We found the hawker center and a giant line that snaked across most of the length of the building. It was a line for one stall and it was probably 50 people or so. We weren’t sure what it was, but we got in it for a bit while we tried to figure out what else was there.

We ended up not going with the line (since we were hungry) and both grabbed some food and snagged a table by the open air part. It was raining at the time so some breeze was definitely welcome. After some food, we headed off to pick up some shopping and avoid the rain and then headed back to the hotel to relax. We scrapped our plans for the Botanic Gardens and decided to go crash out on the bed for a little break. After setting up a catch up with a friend we headed off to another food center this time out in Lavender and the place we were going to was actually one of two Hawker Stalls that have a Michelin Star (the other one turned out to be the one we were in line for at lunch!). We arrived at the Hawker stall around 530pm and we were sitting down to eat almost 2 hours later! It was worth the wait… the Pork Noodle dish was pretty amazing! A stop in Somerset for some ice cream waffles and then off the hotel for the Marina Bay Sands light show.

Wednesday 27th July 2016

A Bit of an earlier wake up today and a gym session instead of a run. Packing up and breakfast before grabbing an Uber over to our new hotel for the last night of our stay. I had redeemed a stay at the Raffles and I was looking forward to this. While the Raffles is not the most up to date, amazingly trendy hotel with all the bells and whistles, this hotel is about service, serenity and history. We arrived at the hotel and greeted by the Doorman (in full regalia) and personally escorted inside. This was the kind of arrival I like! We didn’t stick around long but got introduced to our butler and he helped set us up for a few things.

We headed off in another Uber to Gardens by the Bay to explore and this place was a mind blowing experience. It is the Most Expensive Garden in the world and it surely does show. The two conservatories were amazing and the Flower Dome was holding the annual Singapore Garden Show and Orchid Expo. The orchid’s were amazing but I loved the Cloud Forest more. It was like a giant rainforest in a dome including a big 7 story tall waterfall. We explored the outside of the gardens more and then slowly walked back to the Raffles for an afternoon of relaxation. We were going to hit the pool but it was baking hot so decided to instead explore around the hotel. Heidi and I got ready for High Tea in the Tiffin Room and after a quick bit of work we got down to business. The Business of pretending we were back in the colonial days. The Tea was fantastic and the food was to die for. The clotted cream on the scones was just amazing and some of the desserts were great. It was a great afternoon and although not cheap, we figured it was a great way to finish off our luxurious few days in Singapore.

Current Location – Raffles Hotel Singapore

Monday 25th July 2016

It was a slow start to the morning with a final run through my old neighborhood (Heidi went for a “prance”) and breakfast with my folks. We made the final touches to our packing and then headed off to the airport. I didn’t really want to say goodbye, but I was excited to get back into the air. We gassed up the car at the airport thinking we were going to get rammed on the price and surprisingly it was pretty much on par. The drop off for Avis was not that great as there was not a single person present at the return area and then when we took the keys back to the counter, they didn’t seem to care at all. If we had not taken a photo of the kms driven, we would have had to go back to the car.

Checking in for the flight took a little bit, but that was mainly because Heidi and the Qantas Staff member were talking about Kate Spade, they seemed pretty excited as well. After that it was pretty effortless to get it all done. We checked our bags and all of them totalled up to the allowance for just one person. It was pretty funny. After stopping for a few minutes to get our departure cards filled out we headed down to security and immigration.

Security didn’t have much of a wait at all, but it took a while after they made me empty out all of my camera equipment into trays. Such a hassle. My laptop had to go for 3 passes through the xray and then get swabbed for explosives. Heidi got selected for secondary thanks to a “random” beep which was pretty bs if you ask me. What should have taken just a minute or two, took almost 10. O well! At immigration we were funnelled out through the smart gates (I wanted a stamp 🙁 ) and Heidi was totally confused (i had never used them and she was looking to me for guidance). I was just doing as they told me so I had no idea either, not a good start.

After claiming some tax back on my new boots (thanks TRS!) we headed off to the lounge. Unfortunately the Qantas Club was closed so all Qantas pax were headed off to the Plaza Premium Lounge. This was the first contract lounge in Brisbane Airport and barely just opened but it was still pretty nice. Plenty of food and drinks on offer (not that great on the cookie options) but Heidi and I had some snacks from Mum and Dad, so we were covered. I went for a bit of a walk to figure out the gate area, grab the reg on the aircraft and just get in some walking. Heidi stayed put doing what she usually does, playing on her phone. We relaxed with our snacks and some coffee for a while before heading to the gate.

Qantas Airways – QF51
Brisbane to Singapore
1215-1835
Airbus A330-300 (VH-QPG)
Business Class – Seat 4A

Boarding: 1145 (Gate 85)
Push Back: 1208
Take off Roll: 1222 (Runway 19)
Top of Descent: 1726
Touch Down: 1753 (Runway 20R)
Shut Down: 1800 (Gate C13)

The gate area was fairly full and we waited for a while to board. The flight attendants were already headed onboard as we got there, but the flight crew showed up 10-15 minutes later carrying some coffee. Showing up late to the flight thanks to a coffee stop is a little bit lame. But eventually we got to board. I was excited to try out the new Qantas Business Class seat but we all boarded through 1L meaning that unfortunately we couldn’t take all the photos we wanted to as everyone was boarding through the one door.

I got settled eventually and Heidi was enjoying herself spreading out and was planning on getting snuggly once we got airborne with the big giant doona waiting out the seat. We pushed back about 7 minutes early (proving that you can get onboard faster when you are not dealing with Americans). We had a long taxi out to the Active today at the far end of the runway. We went past a newly repainted 77W from Air New Zealand and a Thai 787 (although it was on the wrong side of the plane). No holding at the active, it was a slow turn to line up and then the engines went to take off power and out we went.

Climbed out from Brisbane’s Runway 19 today and a few bumps as we banked North West towards Asia. While we were waiting for push back orders had been taken on lunch, but once in the air the purser came through to give out immigration cards and speak to everyone. The crew working our aisle took our drink orders couple by couple and brought them out one by one, making for what felt like a more personal service.

While lunch was starting to be served I decided to try and start watching a movie, unfortunately that was not going to happen as every time I tried to watch something, it wouldn’t start. I had to ask to have the system go through a full reboot for my screen and it took almost 15 minutes for that to happen (which by that stage i was just having my first course arrive). Lunch was pretty decent, but the service was fairly slow. It didn’t worry me with this being a daylight flight, I was not in any hurry for any sleep. I was going to be up all flight 😀

After lunch progressed I reclined back down into a more comfortable position to watch a movie and just enjoyed the flight as the Australian coast passed by below. About 3 hours out of Brisbane we passed the final parts of the Australian Coastline and headed out over the ocean, towards Asia. Watching as the blue passed by below meant that our time over Australia was finished, and there was no going back, that part of the trip was fully over.

I relaxed in to watch another movie and do a bit of writing, watching as the flight went by. The cabin was pretty much dark apart from a few windows open (why you would want to sleep on a daylight flight is crazy to me). The flight had been fairly good, the crew were a little indifferent but not horribly so. The new Qantas Business seat was not too bad. This was a very different seat to what had been had before with the Skybeds (either Mk1 or Mk2). I had not flown in this specific maker of seat but have flown similar (Swiss & ANA). This one wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t perfect either.

The seat had its foibles for sure, but it was still pretty decent. I wasn’t happy that it was not really great for reclining while eating or working. You had to pretty much have the seat fully up while doing either of these things, there was not much choice. In bed mode it was great but the armrest on the outside was very annoying (I couldn’t figure out how to move it). I liked the fact that if I put the seat into bed mode the screen moved down so you didn’t lose a good viewing angle. There wasn’t much storage space in the seat I was in, however the middle seats had plenty. I was happy with the amount of space as the overhead bins were still intact. Taking them away would have made for a really bad experience.

The IFE system was very good, extremely responsive and was from what I could tell, an Android based experience. My favorite part was that if you wanted to check the inflight map during the video, it just paused the video in the background and picked it back up the second you went back to the movie. There was plenty of choice (although I had already seen some of it from our last flight over the water) across all categories and I wasn’t hard pressed to keep myself entertained.

As we approached Singapore they were going to run an afternoon service, however I declined in favor of getting a decent meal on the ground in town. This felt like a better idea than trying some of the items, that I didn’t think was all that great. The fun part of the service though was that all the options were offered in a Chinese Takeout Box. Something a little bit different. The fruit I got instead was a good snack in my opinion.

As we approached Singapore, I managed to find the Ready for Takeoff series on the IFE and spent most of the time watching that all the way up till landing. The approach to Changi sent us all the way out and around so it gave us a good look of all the housing around the island. On finals into Changi we came in over a bay area and even spotted a couple of hovercraft of some kind.

The landing was smooth and we taxiied back to Terminal 1 as we landed on the T3 side of the airport. Lots of good things to see to begin with including one of the 50th Anniversary SQ A380s and a Scoot 787-9. Once we pulled into the gate we didn’t have to wait long to get out and it was a bit of a walk to immigration but nothing horrible. It is so strange to be just let out into the terminal and not into a sterile area before heading off to immigration. Security is done at the gate in Singapore and it means that everyone is mingling in the terminal.

Immigration was a breeze (the guy didn’t even speak to me) but because we were through so fast we had to wait a while for baggage. We got our bags (eventually) and trudged off down to the Ground Transportation desk to arrange a car to the city. Cabs are fairly cheap in Changi but when arrive in the middle of peak hour, and metered cabs also get levied at that time, it was easier to just get a flat rate cost car into our hotel (was about $10 extra). Pretty soon we were being whisked away to our hotel.

I won’t do a full blow by blow for every waking minute over the last 5 nights but I will give you a basic breakdown of how each day went.

Wednesday 20th July 2016

After getting picked up at the airport by my folks and getting some of my first Aussie food for lunch in several years we had a nice afternoon stroll in the sun down to the shops. Heidi was getting her first experiences of Australian life and just how different things can be. We had a very calm evening and tried to just stay awake and that did not last long. We wanted to go to bed around a normal time, however by 7:45pm Heidi was passed out. I didn’t make it much longer as I was out by 8pm.

Thursday 21st July 2016

Hello Jetlag! Up at 3am and all over the shop before finally getting myself out of bed around 5am and catching up on emails and trip report stuff. After 6am I went for a run to see the sunrise and slowly but surely got myself going back to normal. We headed to the city around a reasonable time and Heidi’s first adventure on Brisbane public transport went off well. We did some walking through the city and caught up with some old work mates at my old work place. We walked around the city a lot and had some old favorites for lunch. So much had changed but so much was so familiar. We picked up our car (upgraded to a Holden Commodore SV6) and had a stop at Charlie’s Fruit Market (now open 24 hours a day!) for a treat at their “Raw Squeeze” bar. Pretty decent!

We had a bit of a rest before heading into DFO for a stop at the Crumpler Outlet (Heidi bought, I didn’t… for once) and then dinner on Racecourse Rd. Heidi had her first experience at Australian style pizza (she was mortified at how many toppings were ok on a pizza) and we picked up Heidi’s folks at the airport before heading home to sleep.

Friday 22nd July 2016

This morning we wanted to head out super early to Mt Cootha for a session with my old trainer. He really punished me this morning and I could tell it was not going to be an easy day. We got home and pretty much turned straight back around again after a quick bite and headed north to Australia Zoo. The day was spent exploring Australia Zoo and I had fun chasing Kangaroos around trying to get a selfie, while Heidi was super happy to just be sitting around with them and patting them. We had a Koala experience and got our photos taken while holding a big guy. He stank pretty bad! We finished off the afternoon back at Charlie’s for a snack before the bedlam of an evening dinner with 13 family in the house. Mum and Dad worked tirelessly to feed us Roast Lamb (god I miss it) and it was amazing!

Saturday 23rd July 2016

Woke up feeling like hell. My body hated me so much that the run I wanted to do down by the river turned into a walk instead. Today was the big day as we were having a cruise along the river with all of the family. We ran a few errands before we headed down to the cruise. There was 30 of my family onboard and everyone had a blast cruising down the river, having lunch and also meeting everyone else and catching up. There was family I had not seen since I was younger and some for several years. It was a great time. Had a few more hours to explore Brisbane and do some shopping before heading to dinner by the river with a group of friends. Finished the night wishing I didn’t have to say goodbye to my friends.

Sunday 24th July 2016

Woke up not so bad this morning, but today was designated rest day, so all good here! Headed to the airport to send off Heidi’s parents off on their Australian adventure and then we hit up the confectionary warehouse for some goodies. Caught up with a friend for a bit of morning tea and then off to see if we could get in Costco (we could). We had lunch by the bay in Redcliffe (yay Fish and Chips at Morgans) and then a bit of a walk as well so Heidi could stick her feet in the water. A fairly relaxed/busy afternoon getting stuff ready for our departure tomorrow before one last final catch up with some friends.

The time spent in Australia was amazing and I am so glad we came down. Heidi has had a blast and it has been fantastic catching up with friends and family. A lot of stuff has been talked about, but that is a whole other post on its own.

Current Location: Parents House – Brisbane, Australia – Countries Visited: 2