Travel Guide - ThePointsOfLife

Unforgettable: The St. Regis New York

thepointsoflife

-

August 19, 2014

Unforgettable, that’s what you are
Unforgettable though near or far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before has someone been more…

Oh Nat King Cole, your lyrics of love pay homage to the St. Regis New York better than anything sweet nothings that I can submit. It is only fitting that the review of this stately hotel begins where any anecdote at the St. Regis New York must begin, the King Cole Bar and Salon.

Past the elegance of the lobby and through the dining area, I find myself gazing at the Maxfield Parrish Art Nouveau masterpiece, curiously looking at the other dignified guests who, much like myself, have come to experience the sophistication and class of a New York hotel from yesteryear. The cocktail menu is all but superfluous as the drink of the day, as it is everyday, the famous Bloody Mary, first created at the original St. Regis New York in 1934.

“Will this be room charge sir?” the barkeeper inquires.

“But of course my good man,” I reply putting on airs as appropriate in such a setting.

Drink in hand, I find myself listening intently to the barman tell the story of this prestigious venue. Before my mind can wander much more about the patrons who frequented this establishment before they let an artless person like myself inside, I am politely escorted by the bellman to the elevator then to my room where I meet my private butler.

“Shoe shining service, clothing press, and any other service you may require are available at your convenience,” the butler informs me. “Take note of my beeper number which you can dial directly from the controls on your nightstand,” she kindly adds.

I bid her farewell, close the door then immediately without hesitation, perform my best rendition of Kevin McAlister, by jumping up and down on the bed all the while laughing hysterically. Sorry but after you are escorted via a Bentley and informed by your butler that she will return to make your bubble bath, you too would act like a prepubescent school boy.

the back of a car with a yellow license plate — The St. Regis New York

The interlude of immaturity is interrupted by the song of the doorbell. I compose myself as best as I could and open the door to find that my butler has returned with sumptuous chocolates and a double espresso.

“Thank you, that’ll be all,” I say as I close the door, eager to get back to my childhood shenanigans. Already overeager from excitement, I inadvisably drink my espresso and devour my chocolates. Tipsy from exhilaration, I leave the sanctuary of my room for the downgrade of Fifth Avenue.

Hours later, I return home wondering why I ever left in the first place. Overwhelmed by the ruggedness of the City, I call for my butler for the turndown service.

So fresh n so clean, I lie there in my St. Regis robe grateful for this unforgettable experience.

Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that’s how you’ll stay
That’s why, darling, it’s incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

Speeding @1km/hour

thepointsoflife

-

August 18, 2014

0

Ask anyone in Los Angeles where they are and the automatic answer will be, “in traffic.”

Go to Bangkok and try and take a tuk tuk anywhere and you’ll hear the same joke, “Day no traffic, day no Bangkok.”

Head to Bali and hear the tired excuse why the taxi won’t turn on the meter, “Too much traffic boss.”

I’m sure there’s a top ten list of the worst traffic jams you’ll end up in before you die so I’ll pass on putting together a list and skip right to number one.

Welcome to Ulaanbaatar where the pollution and ice cold winters seem tolerable compared to the traffic. It doesn’t matter that there are traffic lights not because people ignore them anyway but because there are simply too many cars and not enough road. Ulaanbaatar has no mass transit system unless you include the busses that are the worst traffic offenders of them all. It doesn’t have motorbikes like Saigon for obvious reasons. And the only car pool lane is when two vehicles magically occupy the same space at the same time.

Don’t believe it’s that bad? Think your city is worse? Well, you are wrong. The government here, recognizing the traffic is out of control, has passed a measure charging drivers 50,000 MNT a month, around $26, just to drive in the city. While some countries and cities have similar ordinances like rotating license plates for certain days of the week (they have that here too), the difference is that this measure is going to have absolutely no effect. Everyone has one place to go- the city center and there are only a couple of roads to get here. So now drivers will be upset they are stuck in traffic and even more upset that they are paying to park in it.

The only weakness in my argument is the definition of the word traffic itself. Traffic according to Google is “vehicles moving on a public highway.” The term parking lot according to Bing is “a car park.” Since my car was in park for two hours and the only way I reached my destination was being air lifted by helicopter, I don’t know if it can be argued that I was ever subject to traffic.

Even those fed up with the traffic lot were unable to flee the city as the only road to the airport was closed, leaving them stuck where? You guessed it, in traffic.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

thepointsoflife

-

August 16, 2014

0

Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountain, Tuul River. Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze. Country roads, take me home to the place I belong I belong.

Ulaanbaatar, M1NT momma, take me home, country roads.

A quick a-live update for everyone while I’m under the influence. I’m home at my new home M1NT Ulaanbaatar, formerly of M1NT Shanghai.

If this isn’t an omen of great success to come then I don’t know what is.

Pop champagne!

A Picture Is Worth 242 Pgs: My Free Book Giveaway

the promo

thepointsoflife

-

August 16, 2014

4

The demand for my book has been in high demand. I should say the demand for my book for free has been in high demand. Friends and family alike have messaged me, “Hey, I heard your book came out, when am I getting a free signed copy?”

I had a book signing two weeks ago and gave away 100 books. You can read about that great promotion here. Still, I felt bad that not everyone was able to attend so I am giving away a free paperback or Kindle copy to the first person who correctly guesses where the picture below was taken.

If you are outside the normal Amazon shipping locale then I can only offer the Kindle version. For me to get a copy of my own book in Mongolia would cost me $50 so I feel your pain.

Now, if nobody even leaves a comment that is probably more telling about my marketing strategy. And if people do participate, then maybe I will have this giveaway once a week.

Also, if you just want to be nice and buy it, you can do that here.

The rules are as follows:

1. You have to actually read the book and write a review on Amazon, as seen spectacularly here.

2. The winner is the person who most specifically identifies the location. For example, if I get Arizona as an answer and someone gives me W Scottsdale, then the latter person will be the winner.

3. I won’t confirm who the winner is until someone guesses the right country, maybe continent. If you have a book already you can still play!

And now on with the picture…

What’s in Your [Award] Wallet?: A Free Giveaway

Points

thepointsoflife

-

August 16, 2014

0

Many people ask how I keep track of all the points that I’ve racked up. Like many, I used to rely on Excel and manually enter the award program, the balance, and the expiration date. Like many, I quickly learned there is a much better way. The website is called AwardWallet.com and I’m sure many of you already use it. AwardWallet let’s you save your username and password for each travel program in one spot and tracks the changes in your points balance. While programs like Delta, United, and SWA do not participate, the other big players ranging from American Airlines to Chase Ultimate Rewards do.

But don’t take my word for it, here are some free upgrades to AwardWallet premium that the people at AwardWallet.com have been so gracious to provide:

Sign up on the website if you do not already have an account and click on ‘Upgrade Using a Coupon’:

1) 10 personal coupons which enable to get AW Plus upgrade for 6 months:

ThePointsOfLife-VFOVZDISVD
ThePointsOfLife-PBYZOPEQHC
ThePointsOfLife-OXAZNPHXAO
ThePointsOfLife-WWULRUPZML
ThePointsOfLife-DBNCBCRGSY
ThePointsOfLife-IHVJGJYOHZ
ThePointsOfLife-DDVXPNSEME
ThePointsOfLife-QQGDSIFJOY
ThePointsOfLife-HXFDGLNFAU
ThePointsOfLife-EDYABNNTSA

These coupons are created for users who have already registered with AW and want to extend their AwardWallet Plus membership by another 6 months.

2) 5 OneCard coupons for getting free OneCard:

ThePointsOfLife-DYNXDQTTRG
ThePointsOfLife-XHZRDRJTVE
ThePointsOfLife-IDWPDQXXFW
ThePointsOfLife-QJUEHYUASL
ThePointsOfLife-GPTGHWYQPT

Kindle Delight

thepointsoflife

-

August 15, 2014

2

I said a hip hop,
Hippie to the hippie,
The hip, hip a hop, and you don’t stop, a rock it
To the bang bang boogie, say, up jump the boogie,
To the rhythm of the boogie, the beat.

It’s Friday night in Ulaanbaatar and many of my American friends in EST are hurrying to their cubicle after spending most of their direct deposit funds, if they are paid bi monthly, at the bar Thursday night. I’m in celebration mood because I had my first international book sale this week making me an international celebrity.

Maybe one book sale in Germany doesn’t elevate me to celebrity status but it did put me in a good mood! Add in the fact that the book is now available on Kindle and I can’t help but sing along to Sugarhill Gang. No idea why but I can’t get Rapper’s Delight out of my head.

Perhaps I’m having flashbacks of partying with Grandmaster Flash in Dubai New Year’s Eve 2007. In any event, Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong is officially on sale on Kindle here! So if you are reading this after showing up late and being lectured by your boss, hopefully you still have some of your paycheck leftover to put towards my book. That way you will be rid of the cubicle once and for all.

Trust me, the dividends gained are worth the dollars spent.

Taken Pho Granted: A Terrible Bowl in Ulaanbaatar

thepointsoflife

-

August 14, 2014

0

The Pho Sho: Top Ten Pho Worldwide list is not dead, it just moved to Mongolia and has not had the opportunity to press forward. An unexpected surprise when I came to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia- the presence of pho! Not only was there a pho restaurant near my house but it was also open 24 hours.

Could this be too good to be true?

The answer sadly was yes. Not only did they not have pho tai on the menu but the pho combo they had was awful. The broth was beautiful but the noodles were bland and the cuts of meat only resembled beef. In my years of pho voyages, only New York and Singapore have had pho this bad.

Since this pho was the worst I have ever had, not only did I not finish the bowl, I am not going to bother finishing this post.

IMG_20140804_190612 — A combo Vietnamese/Korean restaurant? No

Thankfully, there is another pho restaurant here that I pray is up to the international standard I have come to expect. Could that crack the top ten list?

Park Hyatt Shanghai: Too High in the Sky

thepointsoflife

-

August 13, 2014

5

Park Hyatt Shanghai: Too High in the Sky

Following my odyssey aboard Emirates Airlines A380 First Class to Dubai, I was relegated to flying Emirates Business to Shanghai so I won’t bore you with pictures of the bathroom that didn’t have a shower. Upon arriving in Shanghai, I made it by the taxi tricksters to the government authorized taxi line and waited for shifu (master worker aka the name used for all taxi drivers) to restore me to luxury by way of the Park Hyatt Shanghai.

For those of you who have never been to Shanghai, some background information is needed. Shanghai is divided into two sections by the Huangpu River: Pudong and Puxi with ‘dong’ meaning east and ‘xi’ meaning west. Pudong has been designated the business district and is where the majority of banks, law firms, and multinational institutions reside. It used to be residential area that has since transitioned into the hub of big business virtually overnight. In 2010, the World Expo was held in Shanghai and to make way for all the international pavilions, the government implemented their rendition of eminent domain and bussed out any remaining residents, buying their land at a bargain rate, to put it mildly.

Pudong is the side of Shanghai with the unarguably the best skyline in the whole wide world. There is a reason, besides aesthetics, that all the pictures are taken from Puxi of Pudong. Simply stated, Pudong is boring and Puxi is party. This takes me back to the taxi and my journey to the Park Hyatt. As I wrote here, taxi drivers in China, out of the kindness of their hearts, not only chauffeur passengers from point A to point B but also play the part of tour guide by showing passengers the entire city by driving around in circles even when unprompted to do so. In no mood to be ripped off after my long journey to China, I took a screenshot of the hotel’s address in Mandarin (a lesson more thoroughly explained in Lesson 4: It Pays to Get Robbed in my book). What makes the Park Hyatt stand out among all other hotels in Shanghai is that it is located on the 90th floor of the World Financial Center- the 7th tallest building in the world! A taxi driver would have to be completely and utterly clueless to not know where this building is.

My taxi driver was that driver. Just like my first time in Shanghai back in 2009, I was being driven around in circles on my way from the airport to my hotel. This time I was pointing out the window at the bat signal that is the illuminated World Financial Center screaming, “It’s the tall building!” in Mandarin. Yet somehow my pleas fell on deaf ears. Twenty minutes later, the driver finally had a moment of clarity, looked up at the night sky, and comprehended that the 7th tallest building in the world was home to the Park Hyatt.

Arriving Friday at midnight, I was graciously welcomed by the front desk after taking the Willy Wonka elevator to the top floor. As a Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum member, my room was upgraded and the view from the room when the fog finally cleared was spectacular. Right outside my window was the 16th tallest building in the world, the Jin Mao Tower, and what will be the 2nd tallest building in the world, the Shanghai tower. Their powerful presence had me both awe struck and feeling insignificant simultaneously. Upon entering my room, I took the standard photos for the blog and hastily made my way back to the magical elevator to catch yet another taxi to the famous Bar Rouge and then the infamous Mint. When I finally did return to the sanctuary of the Park Hyatt at 7am, I managed to negotiate a spot at the breakfast buffet, a privilege reserved for those holding Diamond status- a demarcation that I will once again strive to achieve.

I stayed at the Park Hyatt for 2 nights, using Mikey’s 2 free night awards (He was only there for one night) courtesy of the Chase Hyatt card and have nothing but great things to say about my stay. I have to add that the automatic toilet that lifted its cover when it sensed a user approaching was a nice touch.

I must confess that the luxury of the hotel is in every way Park Hyatt but the location unlike Park Hyatts in Sydney, Melbourne, and Istanbul to name a few is not ideal. As I said, Pudong is the business boring district and having to deal with the inconsistent taxi fares after the metro stops running (whether or not you are able to speak Mandarin) is an inconvenience that trumps the high sky vantage of the Park Hyatt. While I still give this resort a top rating, it nevertheless falls a tad short of the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai– the iconic resort located on the happening side of Puxi.

Zai jian!

Seriously, he couldnt find this building!?

Sheikh Dubai’s Chariot: First Class on Emirates Airlines A380

thepointsoflife

-

August 12, 2014

5

Sheikh Dubai’s Chariot: First Class on Emirates Airlines A380

It has been claimed by many in the points game that the greatest redemption is aboard an Emirates Airlines A380 with first class service to anywhere. What’s better than anywhere is anywhere that takes a long, long time. The cost of somewhere far away on Emirates is approximately $15,000 give or take a few hundred.

It should come as no surprise that my adventure aboard Emirates from JFK to DXB continuing onto PVG (New York to Dubai to Shanghai) cost me $15 out of pocket at the time of booking. Obtaining those points was as straightforward as it gets:

Teach Me How To Churn

Apply for an Alaskan Airlines card via Bank of America when the offer is 30k. Wait 90 days. Apply for an Alaskan Airlines business card via Bank of America when the offer is 30k. Wait 90 days. And then, you guessed it, apply for an Alaskan Airlines card again when the offer is 30k. That puts you at 90k. Some spending, some purchasing of miles if needed, and you easily, quickly, and cheaply reach the 100k threshold needed to book this flight. (There are even some offers that come and go of 40k.) Booking the flight on alaskaair.com was simple and the availability was pretty open. The hardest part is anxiously waiting for your date of travel, letting your imagination run wild as to how you will spend your time in the air.

Pre Flight

One service that I did know about but stupidly forgot to take advantage of is the chauffeur service to the airport. I neglected to book my transport in advance and was forced to take the subway then the bus to the airport. So, make sure you don’t make that mistake. Once at JFK, I proceeded to the lounge which I quickly reviewed while I was there but will post a more thorough review at a later date. The best feature of the lounge is that it allows first class passengers to board directly without leaving the lounge.

Now boarding: All ballers to Dubai

Boarding my first A380, I was kindly greeted by the cabin service director and showed my suite. It is not as spacious as the Singapore Airlines A380 Suite Class but had many more bells and whistles. The tell tale sign that you are on board on Emirates flight or in Dubai for that matter, is the abundance of gold.

Drink

“What would you like for your pre departure drink?”

As has become the custom, I always have a glass of an airline’s finest bubbly. It does not matter the time or my state of mind (admittedly it was aching after a night out in NYC) but I have to play the part of first class and sip on, what becomes, a bottomless mimosa. Aboard Emirates, it’s not just orange juice and brut but freshly squeezed and Dom.

The Digs

I remember my first business class flight from Detroit to Frankfurt aboard a Lufthansa A330 in 2012. The seats reclined back and I sat there in disbelief. Fast forward dozens of business class flights later, angle flat has become taboo. Not only is lie flat the way to fly but a personal cocoon is imperative for any overseas journey. Aboard Emirates, the cabin crew takes time like an upscale hotel to share all the features of my new home.

After a tour of my private fort, we are ready for take-off.

More of anything? More of Everything!

The food on Emirates is exquisite. What other word is there to describe caviar followed up by Arabic mezze and and a side of Grand Budapest Hotel on an entertainment system that rivals illegal movie steam websites.

Hummus wuh tubbuli w turshi wu babba gonoosh wah khooboz!

Bath

This is how you end a flight with a hot Emirates shower that lasts for an out of this world 5 minutes.

The End

All dreams must come to an end and my Emirates’ one was short lived. At least the trip did provide for an inspirational post for the press section.

The press in the air is heavenly..

Smells Like Teen Spirit

thepointsoflife

-

August 11, 2014

0

The sound of kids playing in the summer: Growing up, that was the sound of basketball. Pick up games in the neighbor’s driveway, behind Mikey’s house, and in the park were played till we couldn’t see the basket anymore or that spoiled kid took his ball and went home.

It is undisputed that the international game of sport is soccer with the game being played from beaches to concrete parking lots. When I moved to Mongolia, I expected the same but perhaps not as rampant because the summer is short, limiting the opportunity to play outdoor sports. Curiously, I thought given their stature, the environment, and proximity to the former Soviet Union that Mongolia would be a hockey town. It is not.

IMG_20140811_204138 — The soccer pitch is empty.

I was surprised in walking around Ulaanbaatar to hear the sound of a basketball being dribbled, shit being spoken, and that same whiny kid threatening to take his ball home. Every housing complex has a hoop, some with a net, some without, and a group of kids playing until the sun goes down. The absence of street lights didn’t diminish their drive to play one more game. More surprising was the level of skill these young kids displayed: posting up, driving, and shooting from the outside.

Since the 1992 Dream Team, the game of basketball has become increasingly international with this year’s NBA Finals being broadcast to a record 215 countries. However, just because the game has spread to countries like China, does not mean the skills has followed. As an ESPN 4 analyst walking around China and Mongolia, I saw better fundamentals showcased by young Mongolians than the university kids at Fudan in Shanghai who made my jump shot look Ray Allenish.

The love of the game hasn’t quite yet translated for wins on the international stage for Mongolia. Indeed, Mongolia is ranked dead last in the FIBA Asia zone and 112th out of 116th in the overall world standings. But, I conjecture that this has less to do with talent and more to do with infrastructure, resources, and the availability of the game to what is a small population in comparison to their leading counterparts: China, Korea, Japan, and shockingly Iran at number four.

Maybe it’s because kids were out enjoying the last days of summer or maybe it’s because everyone was playing game after game that today, in Mongolia, I didn’t feel like I was 6200 miles from Detroit. I felt like I was a kid back home.