Our trip to Singapore had come to an end, boo hoo! We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to make it to our 7am flight to Tokyo, with extra time to check out the Star Alliance Lounge at Changi Airport. Duck congee was served today, and I also got a chance to try
nasi lemak and all the fixings. One note about all the eating we did in Singapore (which may have crossed your mind while reading): since we were walking all the time in hot and humid weather, we didn't gain any weight! There was a scale in the bathroom to track progress. In fact, I think we lost weight...unfair?
 |
| more eating :) |
On the flight, we had no trouble with the seats or the video screens this time around. When Karen and I arrived in Tokyo, we hit the ANA lounge, since I learned last trip that the United Red Carpet Lounge didn't have much to offer. There were fresh maki rolls with cute mini bottles of soy sauce, individually wrapped finger sandwiches, and sweets. Karen did a little bit of exploring and found a ramen kitchen hidden in one corner of the lounge! At least we had a decent meal before our flight to the United States. There were two cute little old Japanese ladies serving the ramen; they couldn't speak English and pointed to pictures to help me select a bowl. :) Karen and I separated here, her plane heading to San Francisco and mine to Los Angeles.
 |
| cute little bottle of soy sauce; I used it like an eyedropper on my rolls |
 |
| fresh hot noodle soup |
I arrived at LAX around 10:30am (still Saturday, due to crossing the International Date Line); the immigration line was very long and luggage took a while to show up. I had no trouble with customs (always buy something and declare it on the customs form...$0 raises suspicions). My friend Ching picked me up from the airport and we headed to a dim sum restaurant, where our friend Hung met us. After lunch, we spent the rest of the day and night playing Rock Band and board games at Ching's place. He had the keyboard and an actual stringed guitar (versus the plastic push button style) for Rock Band so I got to try both out. The keyboard was confusing as I knew how to read musical notes, but no notes were used in the game, just indications to press certain keys at a certain time in the usual way of Rock Band. I was playing "Pro Keys"; several keys would stream down but if my hand wasn't hovering over the right sets of keys, I'd be off. The guitar guide was not as complicated; the game would indicate what fret to play on what string; however, the vibration of the one string sometimes affected the nearby strings, causing the game to log the wrong note and give you a bad score. :( It was still fun. We took turns playing keyboard, guitar and singing. Board games were brought out and I learned how to play
Kingsburg and
Agricola. Both were fun games though it took me a while to learn strategy as there were a lot of aspects to understand. (or maybe I'm just an old dog) Ching even made us some
jajangmyeon for dinner, yum!
 |
| how do I not lose? |
On Sunday, Ching and I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant before dropping me off at the Bob Hope Burbank Airport to catch a plane to Las Vegas. (he himself would arrive on Friday later in the week) I had exchanged the 1-bedroom portion of my home timeshare (
Marriott's Shadow Ridge) for a 3-bedroom at
Marriott's Grand Chateau...not that I needed all the room, but since it didn't cost any extra to get the bigger place due to last minute availability, why not? The building was conveniently located a (big) block away from the Las Vegas Strip, right across from Planet Hollywood Miracle Mile Shops and City Center. It was a weird set up (separate entrances for a 2-bedroom, plus a 1-bedroom) but it was nicely laid out as all the bedrooms have their own private bathrooms. I've been recommending to friends who want to get into timeshares to buy a resale 3-bedroom deeded week here. (resales usually goes for $5k-$8k on eBay depending on week, a huge savings over buying retail at $25k-$35k) The location is usually in high demand so it can be exchanged for more expensive places like
Marriott's Waiohai on Kauai. You can do tricks like exchange the 1-bedroom and utilize the 2-bedroom for yourself, or invite a ton of people to stay with you as it can sleep 12!
 |
| entrances for the 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom |
 |
| mini kitchen and dinette in the 1-bedroom |
 |
| sitting room in the 1-bedroom with sofabed |
 |
| master bedroom |
 |
| shower/tub combo in the 1-bedroom |
 |
| living room in the 2-bedroom with sofabed |
 |
| dining room |
 |
| full kitchen |
 |
| master bedroom |
 |
| master bath |
 |
| master vanity |
 |
| master shower with two heads! |
 |
| 2nd bedroom with 2 full beds |
 |
| 2nd bath |
 |
| each condo had its own stacked washer/dryer |
 |
| view out of the 2-bedroom |
Every Saturday, Sunday and Monday, there is a free shuttle that takes you from the Grand Chateau to an Albertson's grocery store so you can stock up on food, which came in handy as I did not have a rental car. The shuttle also takes guests to the
Fashion Show Mall during the day. I spent the first part of the week by myself relaxing from my overseas trip, reading
The Blending series that I borrowed from Ching, and updating this blog. :) Eventually I do make contact with human beings later in the week...more in next blog entry!
No comments:
Post a Comment