I had been to Singapore twice. The first time as with my parents in 2010 (see Touring the Culinary Scene of Asia) and the second was that year when I was moving to Shanghai as an ‘expat.’ Back then, I could not afford the expensive drinks. Today, I still cannot rationalize the price of those drinks. Nevertheless, with one night in Singapore, and a Saturday night at that, thanks to my Vietnamese visa debacle (see Vietnam E-Visa Not Processed: Another TPOL Duck Up?), I had to make the most of it. Here’s what I did:
Stop 1: Cherry
The place is located in China Town and advertised old school hip-hop. I was sold until I got out of the Grab taxi (see Grab: The Rideshare App in Singapore And Thailand) and saw children waiting in the line. Perhaps I was too old for this place.
Stop 2: Clark Quay
I had good memories of Clark Quay. From drinking the most expensive round of Tiger beers with my dad at Hooters to buying a bottle of wine and sitting by the water, Clark Quay was a good time. This time, I was not impressed. It was rammed with people who were happy to finally be free of lockdown. After one drink, I moved on.
Still have a copy of the Hooters receipt
Stop 3: Marina Bay Sands
This trip was scheduled for 24 days with stops in economical destinations like Hanoi. Instead, I found myself at Ce La Vie, paying for entrance and $17 a drink. Contrary to what I said above, it was worth it. This is a bar that any nightlife lover should visit. The view is spectacular and the structure is as impressive as it is on TV. The music was also on point. For the first time in a long time, life felt normal.
I can only imagine how much fun it would be to drink and swim at the infinity pool on a summer day. Perhaps I will return to Singapore and find out. I must be getting old because I never thought I would say I want to go to Singapore.
Oh no, another Trip Report is on the way. This one is called Adios Puerto Rico, Hola Espana. For those who don’t read and reread TPOL faithfully like a Seinfeld enthusiast, here’s why this is exciting. Last year, I decided that in addition to my crazy jaunts around the globe, I would also take up residency in a pre-selected, first-world big city for four months out of the year (see Vote for Where TPOL Will Move Next And…). The initial destination was supposed to be Dubai where I could commute to the World Cup. Although I went to Doha (see Coupe du Monde Trip Report), the fly-in/fly-out model was unfeasible due to plane ticket/hotel prices (see Housing World Cup Qatar: Adventurous or Fyre Fest?).
The next opportunity for residency was Melbourne in May 2023. I found a 55k business class flight using Alaska points with a stopover in Fiji (see 55K Alaskan to Fiji And My New Melbourne Residence). However, when I checked return availability from Melbourne, I was shocked by the outlandish points prices. I would also like to knock out the surrounding islands near Fiji like New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea to enhance my Country Count which currently stands at 131 (see Where I’ve Been), making this a vintage TPOL trip (see ThePointsOfLife Travel Philosophy) rather than a residency retreat. Finally, I also have been in Puerto Rico too long since the start of the pandemic (see The Lost & Found Year(s): COVID Trip Report) and didn’t want to wait until May to implement the residency ritual.
Checking availability in February with a return in March, I found a round-trip ticket in business on Iberia direct from San Juan to Madrid for 34k points each way. That is a stupendous deal, especially since I don’t have to connect in JFK. With no fear of being kicked off the plane for not wearing a mask (see Iberia Business ORD-MAD: Mask Jokes Literally Don’t Fly), I immediately booked. The next step is to find an apartment.
Say what you want about credit card pushers, but I am fine seeing the constant stream of credit card offers in my Twitter feed. It inspires me to continue to churn, no matter how many times I have been rejected. Whether you purposefully don’t affiliate links to deny them money is up to you. I am not that spiteful.
Reading that the 80k Citi Premier offer was going away inspired me to apply again (see Citi Premier Rejection for Being Too Good at Life). While I would make good use of the 80k, I am equally as interested in having the ability to transfer my current balance of Thank You points to transfer partners, something that I cannot do with Citi Rewards+ card.
With low expectations, I hit submit and was surprised when I received the following:
I’m back in the game! I will have to call to transfer my abundance of credit from the + card so I can hit the minimum spend.
Your reaction will be somewhere between, “Who cares,” and “Congratulations!”. I am going with the latter. Here’s why: Chasing status year to year is exhausting. It dictates how I travel and sometimes where I travel. Chasing status gives me anxiety. What will I do if I don’t qualify? I can’t wait a year to have my perks restored.
By attaining Lifetime Platinum with Marriott, I no longer have to worry about such things. For the rest of my days, I will have free breakfast, and more importantly, 4PM checkout. I will also have an easier time of doing a status match with another chain, should the opportunity arise. To that end, I can shift my attention to achieving status with other brands.
Ironically, the result of achieving lifetime status will result in me staying less often at Marriotts. With their constant devaluations and inability to readily earn points, Marriott has provided little incentive to post the same number of stays like years past.
Instead of going on a wild adventure as I typically do for New Year’s (see Where to Party? New Year’s Eve), I stayed home and watched the Fiesta Bowl. Michigan made every mistake possible but fought back and had a chance to win the game. Michigan losing is not why I am upset. That happens all the time (see The Game: A Wolverine’s Guide For Surviving Columbus). Last year, when Michigan was blown out by Georgia, I was not mad. It did not affect my celebration (see Happy New Year! TPOL’s NYC NYE Party Guide). This year, it was not unreasonable to believe that we could advance. The reason I am distressed and the reason I am suing ESPN is because it had the audacity to schedule this game on New Year’s Eve.
ESPN knows that one side is going to rejoice and one side is going to be crushed. Having to deal with such disappointment, such hopelessness while simultaneously trying to be optimistic for the New Year is incongruent. I am not one for New Year’s resolutions but the coming of a new year marks an opportunity to start anew. This opportunity, even if it is only symbolic, was taken from me by ESPN. And it was taken from millions of Michigan fans around the world.
In addition to money for emotional distress, I am seeking an injunction against the College Football Playoffs being played on NYE. Have them on December 30th; have them on January 1st. Having them on December 31st is downright cruel.
Note: I am willing to take on Ohio State clients as well as they literally had to go through this agony when the clock struck midnight.
Happy New Year from your former favorite travel blogger and, once again, world explorer. Here are the top posts from the year and one selected post per month:
I have been all over northern Europe including Iceland, Sweden, and Finland. While I have not been to Norway, I can predict that it will not be as great as Denmark.
A big part of my life is travel. It is cliche to say that travel is important, but that statement doesn’t mean the same to the masses as it does to me. For me, travel is oxygen. Without it, I cannot live. Without it, I lose part of my identity. I become another face among the masses, surviving the monotony of the daily routine only to do it over again.
Lawrence Sawyer August 24, 2022 at 4:18 pm said, “Best travel blogger post I’ve ever read…and I’ve been reading blogs and travel hacking since the Frugal Travel Guy was blazing trails. Long live Rick! And keep writing!!
My Doha dreams were almost in the shitter where my Hayya visa picture was taken. I had to show this picture each time I went on the metro or into a stadium.
I will follow this procedure: Gamble and buy tickets in advance at retail. I can always sell them if I don’t go. Wait until the day of the event when I am there to minimize the price gouging.
I missed the initial round of ticket sales from FIFA. I did not miss the second round of sales. In July, four months before the start of the World Cup, I sat in front of my computer and waited for the ticket portal to open (see Is TPOL Going to The World Cup?). My initial plan was to buy tickets for the US vs. England game in the group stage. While I expected the US to qualify, there was a chance that they would not make it. When I logged into the ticket portal for pre-sales that game was not available.
Not finding suitable group stage tickets worked out in my favor. It ended up being far more compelling to watch knockout stage games that had to end in a result than group stage games that could end in a tie. I would have been disappointed to fly all the way to Qatar to see the US tie Wales, draw against England, and squeak by against Iran.
The problem with purchasing knockout stage tickets in advance is that I did not know who would play who. The tickets I found featured 2G vs. 1H. I had hoped that this would be Portugal vs. Brazil but Brazil finished first in its group, leaving me with Portugal vs. Switzerland (see World Cup Day 4).
Category 1: Portugal vs. Switzerland
A Note on Categories
There are three categories of tickets with category 1 being the best. However, it was luck of the draw how high you ended up within that category. Some ended up with the best seats in the category and some, TPOL specifically, did not. In the pre-sale purchase of 2G vs. 1H, I splurged for Category 1, which retailed for $274 each. Contrast that to what I paid for other tickets below.
USA vs. Netherlands Tickets
The US team is not good. They have no identity, no rhythm, and no spice. Despite their lackluster performance throughout the group stage, I was caught up in the excitement. While watching the US vs. Iran from Puerto Rico, I was simultaneously on StubHub monitoring the cost of tickets. I was prepared to spend anything to see them in person. Was it possible that the US team would make magic and go deep? I didn’t want to go all the way to Qatar and miss out on the action. The cost of said magic? $1400 for two category 2 tickets in the nose bleeds (see World Cup Day 1).
TPOL’s Tip: Never, ever buy resell tickets in advance. That nervousness you are feeling is fabricated and phony. It is a scam manufactured by StubHub and other resellers in the same way that hotel websites say “only 2 rooms left.” As points people, we know that availability will open up. And if it doesn’t we find a way to deal with it. We don’t say, “Oh there’s no business class ticket, I better open up my wallet and pay an absurd price for it.”
Had I waited until I arrived in Doha, I probably could have picked up the tickets from the FIFA website for near cost or paid less of a premium on StubHub. Absent having no energy from my food poisoning/flu on the flight over (see Flight Review MIA-DOH: Qsuites to the World Cup!), I may have been able to go to both the Argentina vs. Australia game for the same price I paid to see that lousy US performance.
Category 2
Brazil vs. South Korea Tickets
I enjoyed watching South Korea play in the group stage. I thought they had some magic going. The day before the game, I impulsively bought two Category 2 tickets from StubHub for $366.85 each (see World Cup Day 3). These were the best tickets in terms of proximity to the pitch.
Category 2
England vs. Senegal Tickets
After buying tickets for South Korea, I checked the prices for the England game which was kicking off that day (see World Cup Day 2). At $293.79 each, they were cheaper than the Brazil vs. South Korea game. This led me to regret not waiting for the day of the South Korea game to make that purchase.
Having said that, I neglected to check the FIFA site first to see if there were two tickets for retail. I assumed that retail tickets would be sold out. Imagine my annoyance when on the way to the game, I met another fan who had scored a Category 2 ticket for the retail price of from the FIFA site.*
*I tried to buy tickets for the Japan game on the FIFA site later that night. It continuously errored out. It is dumb luck if it worked making me feel less terrible about my StubHub purchase.
TPOL’s Tip: Do not buy tickets from resellers that only show the Category, not the actual location of the seats. For the England game, I saw two Category 3 tickets. I picked the one that was slightly more expensive than the other believing I would receive better seats. I still ended up in the last row.
Category 3
Overall
Did I spend too much on tickets? Yes. I spent $3,270.73. The total looks more painful now than the itemized transactions. I can try to rationalize how much I spent on tickets by saying that my flight to Doha was basically free (see Booked! Qatar Qsuites Round 3 for the World Cup) and that my hotel was also free (see Hilton World Cup Booked! Your Results Will Vary). But I still would have preferred to spend much less. For the next major event, whether it is the Super Bowl, National Championship Game, or the Final Four (see Final 4 Free & Final Four San Antonio: Go Blue! Left Blue), I will follow this procedure:
Gamble and buy tickets in advance at retail. I can always sell them if I don’t go.
Wait until the day of the event when I am there to minimize the price gouging.
TPOL’s Tip: Every game has a winner and a loser. You don’t want to lose twice by watching Michigan get blown out in the National Championship game and by overpaying to do so. Like points, if you are meant to go, you will find a way.
“Down below!” Said no one at the Senegal game as I was in the last row.
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This was the third time flying Qsuites this year. This was the first time flying it to Doha instead of from Doha. Since I was initially denied boarding (see Epic Failure: Denied Boarding for the World Cup), I was especially grateful to be on board.
Service
The first time I flew QSuites the service was impeccable (see QSuites: The Best Business Class Flight?). The second time the service was mediocre (see QSuites DOH-MIA: Maybe SQ Is Better). This time the service was worse than ever. It started off well. The flight attendant introduced herself, we traded jokes, and she took my food order. Then everything fell apart. I asked for champagne post-takeoff and for her to wake me if I fell asleep. Two hours later I woke up to find no food, no drinks, and no sign of my original flight attendant. Indeed, I never saw her again.
The flight attendants who did take over came by sporadically. Hitting the call button didn’t improve their promptness. The interactions went from personal to transactional.
Amenities Kit
The Qatar fragrance leaves much to be desired. The World Cup pajamas are still clever as are the pillows.
Welcome Drink
Prior to takeoff, we were served champagne, something that has been inconsistent post Covid.
Seats
The difference between this flight and my previous two is that I was accompanied by Ms. TPOL. This was the first time I was able to book adjoining seats in business or first with adjoining lie flat beds. This made the lie flat experience even better.
I ordered the tapas and the surf and turf. I blame myself for this choice. Shrimp and steak do not go together.
Dessert
As the label states, this may be the world’s best ice cream.
Sleep
Since this was my third time on the flight, I had no interest in overindulging in food and drinks. I had been up since late the night before, flew in from Colombia (see MDE-MIA: My First Business Class Flight on AA, Worth It*?), and endured the visa drama. The only thing I wanted to do was sleep. I had the bed made and proceeded to pass out.
Sudden Sickness
Suddenly, I woke up with chills. I put on a shirt on top of my pajamas but could not stop shaking. At first, I thought it was the AC in the cabin. I turned to Ms. TPOL and saw that she, despite her sensitivity to cold, did not have a blanket on. I tried to sleep but could not get comfortable. I wanted to vomit but thought I would be turned into the Covid police if I did. Fortunately, I only had 1.5 hours until I landed.
Breakfast
I skipped breakfast and opted for ginger ale. With only 6 hours till the US vs. Netherlands game (see Day 1 World Cup), I needed to be rid of this illness.
Overall
Despite the bad service and flu-like symptoms, this is still one of the best business class experiences.
