Travelogue around Asia Pacific

Bangalore - My flight back to Singapore is at 11:05pm and so there is still a full day of meeting.  My customer pick me up at 9:30am - I have already checked out but left my baggage at the front desk.   He took me to his favourite restaurant - Maiya located @ 459/30, 30th Cross, 4th Block, Jayanagar. Maiya Restaurant We had Vada, Masala Dosa and Poori...the Vada is very good and delicious.   The Masala Dosa was also very well done and the skin was nice and crispy.    I was persuaded to try their coffee which comes in a silver cup and an empty silver cup.  I don't drink coffee but only tea but this time I tried and it was so good.   You are to pour the coffee into the empty silver cup till it is cool enough to drink.   The aroma is so delicious that is out of this world - even better than any of the coffee smell in Singapore. I told VN that the best coffee in the world came from the shit... co...

Bangalore - Had a sumptuous breakfast with Lesley and we went to our separate meetings. Which waiting for my customer to arrive and pick me up at the Hotel,  I took pictures from the front lawn of the Hotel. Geese in front of the Hotel Small garden Geese on the Hotel garden Lunch was at UB City - UB is an acronym for United Breweries and the company is the 3rd largest spirits company in the world according to their webpage http://www.theubgroup.com/ . The restaurant that we had our lunch at Khansama serving buffet lunch - there is such a wide variety to choose from. You drink water from copper cups. That's my lunch from the Buffet platter Dinner we spent it at the Hotel - it was nice having a seafood BBQ in front of the Hotel swimming pool. I had mutton and 4 nice pieces of giant prawns and it was good..

Bangalore -  Breakfast was a good spread of Indian and Western.  I had 'Vada' and it was good, mango and orange juices were served.   I stayed away from sausages, ham, bacon due to the high salt and nitrates content.  Especially in India, I do not eat cut fruits as I had a bad experience of 'dehli belly'...lol . It is a lovely weather but chilly around 24 degrees and the time was 9:30am.   I should have brought a simple sport jacket.  Many rich and famous people like to come and stay in Bangalore because of the year round good weather which inadvertably raise the cost of living and high property prices in Bangalore. Lunch was at a restaurant called 'The Unwind Island' and they serve buffet @ R300 per head (about S$10) but they charge a bottle of water at R100 - which is expensive. Dinner was at a cocktail lounge called 'The 13th Floor' @ Hotel Ivory Tower, 84 MG Road.   The ambiance was lovely an...

Bangalore - One observation is that there are so many English newspapers around the Hotel Lobby and restaurants - I counted around 10 English newspapers to choose from all from India. 1.   Bangalore Mirror 2.   Financial Express 3.   Business Standard 4.   The Economic Times 5.   Chronicle Bengaluru 6.    Deccan Chronicle 7.    Indian Express 8.   Deccan Herald 9.   The Hindu 10.  The Times of India

Bangalore - Singapore Airlines departed on time @ 8:05pm.  Along the way - there were many weather turbulence and hot meals had to be discontinued.    When I had my lamb goulsh dinner - meal is cold.  The Magnum ice-cream saved the otherwise horrible meal.... I managed to catch only 1 movie as the flight to Bangalore took only 3 1/2 hrs.   The Korean movie 'Forever the Moment' - this is true story of grit of the Korean handball team.    The Bangalore airport is new, the immigration and custom clearance was fast. The airport transfer was waiting at the enterance of the arrival gate and was zipped in a 'Skoda' car.  Took about 40 minutes to reach the hotel without traffic and it was pleasant talking to the driver of the Le Meridien Hotel.  Apparently, there are 60+ drivers and cars and 30 will be on duty in the morning and 30 for the night shift.  He said because of the low business - he started...

Manila - For lunch we had nearby the office @ Pasto City - 3/F Paseo Center, Salcedo Village, Makati City.   It is an Italian restaurant and I had Pomodoro Basilico - rich tomato spaghetti dish. After meetings, we had our dinner at the famous Filippino restaurant - Ebun @ Greenbelt 3, ground level.   Ebun in Tagalog means 'Egg' and thus the restaurant was renovated in the colour of Beige and yellow.   The ambiance and service of this restaurant was excellent.  We had:- Sinigang N Sugpo Beef Shank Caldere Adobo Rice Fried Rice with Garlic Lechon Sisig Gulaman at Sago - drink that is similiar to our Ice-blend Milk Tea Worth going back again to this restaurant....

Manila - Lunch we had AMICI Firewood pizzas and it was fresh and delicious.   I had spaghetti vogole and we shared a Margherita Pizza - it was yummy! Portable Firewood Pizza Another view of the Portable Firewood Pizza Whilst visiting one of my customers, we had to cross a pedestrian bridge.   Crossing the pedestrian bridge you have to be carefull too...look what I mean. The high electrical tension cables across the pedestrian bridge That's Joe getting electrocuted.... Dinner was at their famous seafood near the waterfront - Robbie's Seafood Restaurant @ Pasay .   My first taste with this Filippino famous dish - Sinigang - this is a soup chracterized by its sour flavor most often associated with tamarind. I like tamarind and therefore this dish was delicious to me.  This Sinigang was cooked with fish and vegetables like tomatoes.

Manila - Joe and I had to do a transit in Singapore en-route to Manila - waited 2 hrs before our flight departed on time at 2:10pm and arrived at 3:45pm.   Get the taxi from the taxi counter just outside the airport - because I carried a hard case suitcase, Joe will sit with this 'passenger' at the back seat. Our Hotel was Mandarin Oriental Manila - a 5-star hotel located in Makati.  There was the usual baggage checks and metal detectors in front of the hotel.   What upset me was that Joe had an upgraded room to the Executive floor whilst I was relegated to the 7th floor.  The executive floors starts from 15th floor and above and the lounge was at 17th floor.   When I reached the 17th floor, I complaint of the mistreatment and was given an executive floor on the 15th floor.   Both of us were reminded that no executive floor privileges will be accorded to us just the special room at the executive floors.   But this was subsequent...

Petaling Jaya - It was a full day of Seminar at Hotel Boulevard.  For dinner, we hankered for some spicy Indian fare and the most famous was

Kuala Lumpur - My wife tried to book the taxi today and to no avail and so she said go down and hail the taxi from the main road of which I manage to get one to reach the airport on time.  The plane arrived on time - via the KLIA and on arrival at Sentral station it was nice to be met by the concierge of the Hotel which had a Hotel shuttle bus and save me time lugging the bags pass escalators, road crossing and lifts.   The shuttle bus took me straight to the Lobby of the Hilton KL. Hilton KL is not my ususal hotel and I stayed becaue it is nearer to the seminar in Mid-Valley.   The service at Hilton KL is not very good and the personnel are very curt in their response.   I would stay at PJ Hilton Hotel as it is a much friendly hotel and the staff knows me well. Lunch was at the Hotel restaurant and the buffet spread was wide @ RM99 per head.  For that price it would be worth going out for lunch.... But the view from the executive loun...

Tokyo - I needed to buy shopping vouchers and so Terry accompanied me to Takashimaya down in Ginza.  Took the subway and arrived 10 minutes before openning time of 10am.   There were already people waiting outside the departmental store.  Exactly at 10am, the store was open and we were greeted with a bow of 'welcome' - the purchase of the shopping vouchers was on the 5th floor.   It was such a professional experience and meticulously done the Japanese way.  You have a choice of either choosing just Takashimaya shoppinng vouchers of a Nationwide shopping voucher.   I chose the Nationwide shopping vouchers because it can be used at all the major departmental stores - Takashimaya, Tokyu, and etc.. For Dinner, we are back at Ginza and it was a very delicious meal.  The menu was very unique - laid out in a long row of paper. The restaurant menu A dish of sashimi Baked seasonal fish

Tokyo - I managed to catch 2 movies - 'Clash of the Titans'  (this is a remake of the older movie) AND 'Green Zone'  (one of my favourite actor - Matt Damon).   I also managed to finish watching 'Ghost Writer'.    There was such a long queue at the immigration area - the queue was snaking over 9 rows of 20 people - it took nearly 40 mins to reach the immigration officer whom had to take a photograph and then finger print the 2 index fingers. The Airport bus came on time at 5.50pm and took about 1hr 10 mins to TCAT, from there I took a taxi to my Hotel - Hotel East 21. I was tossing between a Sushi restaurant and a Tonkatsu restaurant - The pig won!! It was a nice meal...the website for the Tonkatsu restaurant is www.r-wako.com

Singapore - Having adequate tavel insurance is vital when overseas because a host of unforeseen situations can arise, such as flight delays or loss of your luggage.  Also overseas medical expenses can be huge and should a serious injury arise during the trip, you then need not fret about hefty medical bills. I remember recently on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne on Qantas, and my baggage was delayed for 12 hrs - fortunately I had travel insurance and it was reimbursed.   But the trouble of waiting anxiously for the baggage to arrival after numerous promises by Qantas that it will be 2hrs, 3hrs and it will be arriving soon... It is affordable to buy travel insurance in Singapore but travellers should shop around to find a policy that meets your need.  Checklist: 1.   Don't wait until the last minue .   Buy your travel insurance early, preferably right after booking the trip. 2.  Buy what you need .   It is important to e...