In order to dine here, we have to reserve online first couple days before and pay first. This time they have the video games theme, which is awesome because I love games.
Author: Martin Cherub
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Ritz-Carlton Bali Hotel Review
Bali is one the most popular destination in the world. It has everything that Hawaii that could offer with a lot cheaper price. This time I had the chance to stay in one of the most luxurious property in Bali. This property is located in Nusa Dua area, far from the crowd and really nice area if you are looking for quiet and relaxing place.
Location
It will take 45 to 60 minutes to this Resort from Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS). The area does not have many restaurants or bars, I would suggest to stay in this Resort if you are on Honeymoon or retreat from the city life.
Booking
The average room will costs around $200/night and the suite rooms starting from $270, which is very affordable for Ritz-Carlton. I used my 40,000 Marriott points to stay at this location, which is one of the options if you have a lot of points. I was able to book Sawangan Suite (100 Sqm).
Check-in
This resort has really nice lobby area. I was amazed by the architecture and the view from the lobby area. I got upgraded to bigger suite room with the size of 145 Sqm ($445/night) because I have Ambassador Elite status. The staff then took me in a golf cart to my suite. It could take 20 minutes to walk from my suite to the elevator to the lobby.
Room
Facilities
Please press CC to show the English subtitles
This place is my favorite hotel in Jakarta. Located on top floors of Pacific Place mall in financial district in the city. Really convenient location if you are traveling for work or shopping.
I got the upgraded room in the corner of the building, a perk of being Marriott Rewards Elite member.
They have very luxurious bath room and nice view of Jakarta downtown.
Make sure you choose the club access when you book the room, because the foods there are really amazing. They serve the food 5 times in a day. The schedule is listed below:
My girlfriend and I were enjoying our dinner plus the nice view of Jakarta.
Spacious walk in closet
They also have complimentary shoe polishing service. 🙂
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Bluebonnet Season
It’s bluebonnet season in Texas now. You could find this beautiful flowers in many places in there. One of the most popular destination is in the small town between Houston and Austin called Brenham.
Although it is not as expensive and luxurious as Singapore Suites Class post that I did before, ANA has a remarkable service when I was flying with them last month. I was not really planning to use business class in the beginning and did not plan the trip until 3 days before the departure date. At that time, the miles required to redeem the economy class is higher than business one. So, might as well use the business one.
The size of the seat is slightly bigger than the economy. It is a reclining seat that can be adjusted to become bed. Beside the seat, there is a desk that you can use to put your drink or magazines.
Expensive toiletries, which is really useful for 24+ hour flight.
Yummy stuff after take-off
I asked the stewardess to bring me car magazine. She was really nice and brought me the magazine 10 minutes after.
I chose Japanese meal for the lunch. You can see the meal below.
This red bean mochi is super good.
2 hours later, I was super hungry.
Still hungry…
Transit in Narita Airport. It was so packed, luckily I can use priority lane.
This is the business lounge in Narita airport, full of foods and Alcohol.
Below is the meal from Narita to Jakarta. I tried the International food instead of Japanese that time.
I hope you enjoy my post. Really recommended this airline. Good customer service and foods.
In Summer 2014, I was doing backpacking in Japan and visited many cool places in Japan. Kyoto is one of my favorite city in Japan. The city has character and history, since it was the capital city of Japan. To go to this city, you can take the bullet train from Tokyo or fly to Kansai International Airport. Public transportation in Kyoto is good, although not as sophisticated as Tokyo.
Riding Shinkansen was really cool experience. The train could go up to 320 km/h or 200 mph. I bought the JR Pass and had the unlimited ride in the whole country. Would recommend to buy it if you are planning to travel to many cities.
It took 3 hours to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto with Shinkansen
The first landmark that I saw after I arrived in Kyoto. There are literally more than thousand shrines in Kyoto. Since I just stopped there for 2 days, I only picked the most visited shrines.
Ginkaku-ji or Temple of Silver Pavilion.
Wait a minute, how the food?
I went to the place called Mamecha. The receptionist in the place where I stayed recommended this place and made the reservation for me. It is extremely hard to find, especially since it was at night and it’s in the alley. But the food was really good. It has the 23rd rank in the TripAdvisor. I could not find it in Google Maps, so make sure you get the direction printed. And make reservation!!!!
Mame-cha, Kyoto
463-16 Shimokawaracho Shimokawaradori Yasakatoriimae Sagaru,
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0825, Kyoto Prefecture
+81 75-532-2788
I picked the first one on the menu.
Obanzai box, traditional Kyoto family food
Sashimi
Boiled congee and Mitsuba light omelette
Deep fried silver-stripe round herring and edible flower bud of the fuki plant tempura
Self-explanatory
Chicken soup
Rice with dashi
Japanese Green Tea, the flavor of this tea is really unique. Similar to green tea Kit Kat.
Writing this blog about food makes me hungry. lol I have to stop here and continue to part to because several visitors has old smartphone and could not handle too many images in one page. Stay tuned and follow my Facebook for updates!!
This is the second part of my story, you could go to the first part if you haven’t seen it. So to enter the plane, they have special door that will bring you to the Suites Class. All the flight attendants seem to know my name. They called me Mr. Cherub. They even let me to take a pictures with one of the stewardess.
Notice that the chair could fit 2 people
Before take off, I tried another champagne, Krug Grande Kuvee. I like this one better than Dom Perignon.
Fancy noise cancelling headphone. Bose QuietComfort 15. 
Couple months before, I requested a special food through their website. It’s called book the cook. These are my meal plan:
- U S Grilled Prime Beef Fillet (Supper)
- Kyo Kaiseki (Breakfast)
- Boston Lobster Thermidor
- 7Oz Beef Fillet With Cafe De Paris Butter Potato And Vegetables
It’s time to eat. Foie Gras Appetizer.
U S Grilled Prime Beef Fillet. Not that impressive. Not recommended if you are from US.
Ice cream crepes and fruits
Ferragamo lotion, lip balm and cologne
Enjoying 23 inch TV in my room
After enjoying of good selection of Asian and Hollywood movies, the flight attendant ask me if I am ready for the bed. I said yes. They turned my sofa into bed.
Changed my clothes to pajama. Spacious rest room.
Sleep time!!!
After almost 8 hour of sleep, it’s time for breakfast. The menu was Japanese Kaiseki, which is really expensive. If you have a chance to go to Kyoto, you should find this food.
After I finished the meal, I landed in Frankfurt for transit. They provided me with Executive lounge and was very nice because I can take a shower there. They also provide free phone charging machine.
It’s time to go back to the plan, I almost missed my flight (which really dangerous). Luckily, I made it just in time, and what should I order next?
Ordered Citrus Royale, combination of Orange and Pineapple Juice with 7-Up
Fruits and Yogurt as appetizer
This is my favorite during my flight. Boston Lobster Thermidor, was fresh and tasty.
And for the last meal before I landed in New York City, 7 oz Beef Fillet With Cafe De Paris Butter Potato And Vegetable.
Apple pie with ice cream on top
The trip will not be complete without Singapore Sling. For some reason, every time I order this drink, the flight attendant will give me a happy look. Must be their favorite drink. lol
And that’s all guys, I hope you enjoy my story and pictures. Bloody cold New York was waiting for me. Winter is coming (below zero temperature)
What is it like to be a billionaire? Singapore Airlines offers super luxurious class in their A380 airplanes that will give you the best experience ever on air. Inspired by Derek Low and several blogging websites, this is one of my item in my wish list. After saving and obtaining almost 100 thousand of miles, Finally I had the chance to book this flight. The booking process itself is extremely difficult. They limit the award tickets per flight and most of the people have to get wait-listed. I got lucky at that time and was able to secure my flight from Jakarta to New York.
If you curious to see how much is the ticket will cost you, you can see the price below for 1-way trip from Singapore to New York in Suites Class.
My ticket probably will cost more since I started the trip from Jakarta. In Jakarta, I had to take first class (which is lower than Suites class, but it was already super good. After I received the boarding passes from the counter, I immediately go to the lounge room without any stupid TSA or airport check.
This is the inside of the lounge room, you can go to this room if you have business class and above.
Since I got bored, I went to the other lounge, which is available for PPS members.
They are OK, but nothing compared to what you will see later.
So it’s the time for me to board the short flight to Singapore with First Class. Below is the interior of First Class, which is spacious and comfy.
The flight attendant greeted me nicely and offered me a champagne, 2004 Dom Perignon.
Salmon with poached egg, was cooked perfectly and very fresh.
Nice view from my window.
After one hour, I have to transit in Changi Airport. I can’t wait to see the special lounge that exclusively available to Suites class passengers.
Although I have been here thousand times, it was hard to locate the lounge rooms. I had to ask bunch of people to guide me there. It is located in Terminal 3. I had to take the airport train to go there and it is on the second level.
The room is at the end of really long hallway. It is very hidden, there is no sign. The entrance is called SilverKris Lounge. The hostess greeted me and escorted me to the special room. I had to go through 2 lower level lounges to get there.
Each lounges have different food. Below is the lowest one, they have the cafeteria type food and cheap california roll.
The next one is First Class lounge. It has bar and buffet restaurant food. 
I should have thanked them for showing me the wealth inequality, lol. When you enter the Private Room, you will be in the different world. You could choose to sit in the dining or living area. Since I was going to try the food there, I picked the dining place first.
The waiter gave me the menu
Since I just ate in the, I just ordered the small US Prime Beef Burger with Foie Gras.
After 2 hours, I ordered my second meal, which is really good. Meet the fried lobster with wonton noodles.
Saw this Rolex wall clock in there
Living room area
Shower and rest room
So it’s time for me to board the plane….
I will continue my story on Part 2, click here.
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Under the Radar: Nara Thai
I have been living in Houston for almost 7 years and have visited many Thai places but I have never heard about this place before. One day, I was browsing the deals on Groupon, and found this place in Midtown area. Since the place is pretty close to my workplace, I invited my co-workers to join. When we passed the restaurant, one of my co-worker changed his mind because of the restaurant is next to the gas station and he was afraid that the food is going to be bad. We went to different place on that day
Couple days later, I convinced them to go to that place again. I told them that I will pay for their lunch. Once we get inside the place, it was completely different from what we see outside. It was clean and nice. They have awesome customer service.
I ordered Pad See Ew (I always order this when I go to Thai restaurant).
This place has the best Pad See Ew in Houston. I have gone to many Thai and other Asian places, but I had never eaten the fried flat rice noodle that as good as this one. It has rich flavor of the sweet soy sauce. This dish has similar taste to the Indonesian dish in Jakarta (Kwetiau Tek Tek).
I also tried the curry, it was OK (not the best).
CHERUBSCORE: 9.0
Don’t judge the book by it’s cover.
This is the address of Nara Thai :
2111 Fannin St. Ste 109, Houston, TX 77002
Tips: Don’t go here at night for your safety.