Missing a trick

As seasoned travellers, Garry and I can normally get ourselves from A to B without too much trouble. Occasionally, we cut things a bit fine. For example, the pickup and return of our motorhome in New Zealand in December and the return of our rental car in London last month. However, we’ve only missed three flights ever, and on each occasion the airline came to party, rebooking us without penalty. Sadly, this record came to an inglorious end in London while in transit to Germany.

First, a recap on our previously missed flights. The first of these was a flight from London to Rome in 2003, our first trip together. We didn’t give ourselves enough time to get to Heathrow and arrived at check-in after the flight had closed. British Airways happily rebooked us onto a later flight, although I gave up my business class ticket to secure a seat.

The second missed flight occurred when we were stranded in Antarctica in 2011.  LAN happily rebooked us on alternative flights departing three days later than originally scheduled, without penalty.

Our third missed flight happened in 2014. We foolishly thought we were on the second of two Qantas flights departing Los Angeles that evening. We arrived at check-in shortly after the earlier flight closed, and discovered to our horror, it was the flight we’d booked. Qantas gave us a hotel voucher for the night and rebooked us for the following day at no cost. Garry then scored us a First Class points upgrade. 

Fast forward now to our latest endeavour. Our round-the-world ticket had us booked from Barbados to Frankfurt via Heathrow. We landed in the UK early in the morning on 26 January, then had a five-hour layover before catching our flight to Germany. British Airways doesn’t announce flights in its Heathrow lounges. I had momentarily thought of setting an alarm on my phone when we entered the lounge, but got distracted and never did it.

We lost track of time and ultimately missed our second flight. We realised our mistake ten minutes before the flight closed.  However, the plane was parked at a remote gate, which required a bus transfer to reach it. As a result, we rocked up to the gate after racing through the entire terminal, only to find the flight had closed early to accommodate a final bus transfer. 

At first, we didn't panic.  We were travelling in business class, and British Airways told us there were plenty of seats on the next available flight departing at 5:00pm. However, they said we had to reschedule our flight via Qantas as it was the issuing agent for our ticket. Then the fun really began.

We called Qantas. It told us it had no access to any of the empty seats on this flight. The earliest it could get us into Frankfurt was Wednesday evening, via Madrid. In other words, two days after Spielwarenmesse started. Multiple phone calls to Qantas and conversations with the BA airport staff did nothing to shift the needle in our favour. 

We’d also flown Mitchell to Germany for the first time. He’d arrived on Saturday and thus was already waiting for us in Nuremberg. As I put it to Garry, this was one time when we were going to have to suck it up and do everything necessary to arrive at the hotel in Nuremberg in time to join Mitch for his first day at the show. Even more so, considering we’d drummed into Mitch that he had to make all of his travel connections without fail.

As a result, we were forced to pay for a reissue of our RTW ticket with a land leg between London and Frankfurt and buy two expensive last-minute British Airways tickets to secure seats. The evening flight also arrived too late for us to catch the last high-speed ICE train to Nuremberg. This meant we had to book a hotel for the night at the airport, cancel our original train ticket and buy a new one.

I booked us into the Hilton Garden Inn directly above the train station at Frankfurt Airport. The following morning, we caught the 5:30am train to Nuremberg, arriving at our hotel shortly before 8:00am, in time to join Mitch for breakfast. To cap off the experience, I also managed to flood the bathroom floor in our Airport hotel room and spent 15 minutes frantically mopping up more than 5 cm of water rippling around the room.

The new flights, extra hotel booking and new train tickets cost us an eye-watering $2.2k. We’ve also learned a hard lesson about the limitations of last-minute changes to round-the-world tickets. Although I’m still mystified as to why this change proved too hard to make when others, such as our rescheduled flights in South America, were relatively trouble-free. That ticket was booked through the Flight Centre, whereas this year’s was booked directly with Qantas. Perhaps that’s the difference?

One final anecdote.  Our train from Nuremberg back to Frankfurt Airport was delayed more than 50 minutes after unauthorised people were reported on the track ahead. As a result, we had to race through the airport terminal, transfer on the Sky Train and race to the BA counter to check in before our flight closed. We made it with less than ten minutes to spare. I can't believe we almost missed a second flight.

If I'm honest, the tight transfer was partially my fault. It cropped up a few months ago when British Airways rescheduled our original flight to one departing almost 90 minutes earlier.  I had considered changing our train ticket, but decided we still had an hour's leeway on the original booking. Little did I think we'd ever need it.  Perhaps we're becoming a little too complacent with tight transfers? 

The Caribbean in a nutshell

I've finally completed editing and updating posts about our 14-day cruise through the Caribbean. Follow the links below to relive this incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In case you're curious, here's a link to a post I published about the cabin on our cruise ship, the Silver Shadow, along with a few details about the boat itself.

DATE	PORT	COUNTRY
10 Jan	Flight from New York to Sint Maarten
10 Jan	La Samanna, Philipsburg	Saint Martin
11 Jan	Philipsburg	Sint Maarten
12 Jan	St. John’s	Antigua & Barbuda
13 Jan	Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas	US Virgin Islands
14 Jan	Little Bay	Montserrat
15 Jan	Castries	St. Lucia
16 Jan	Port Elizabeth, Bequia	St Vincent & Grenadines
17 Jan	Les Saintes	Guadeloupe
18 Jan	Philipsburg	Sint Maarten
19 Jan	Cruz Bay, St John	US Virgin Islands
20 Jan	Gustavia	St. Barthelemy
21 Jan	Roseau	Dominica
22 Jan	St George’s	Grenada
23 Jan	Trois Ilets	Martinique
24 Jan	Kingstown	St Vincent & Grenadines
25 Jan	Bridgetown	Barbados
25 Jan	Flight from Barbados to London

You can also use the following links to relive other destinations we visited on our round-the-world ticket. Watch this space as I progressively add new posts for each location. There's a lot of ground to cover!

• NYE at Cooks Beach in New Zealand
• Reliving old memories in New York
• Overnight hell in Frankfurt
• Record snowfall in Nuremberg
• Doing London the way we used to
• Exploring Sentosa Island in Singapore

The tale of two hotels

Our recent trip to New York wasn’t all colourful sights and sounds. During our stay, two hotels unexpectedly made me pause for thought. Each reminded me how precious life is, and how important it is to live each day to the full.

On our first night in town, Garry and I took a short detour to walk past the Casablanca Hotel. Thirteen years ago, I stayed here with Mum and Dad during our whirlwind visit to the Big Apple. The hotel was less than 100 metres from Times Square, making it easier for Dad to take in its dazzling billboards and energetic vibe.

Our detour was well timed. The following day, we paused to remember the anniversary of Dad’s death. Dad loved New York and was delighted he got to tick it off his bucket list, barely three months before he died. Mum was also grateful for the experience. Although she'd have loved to visit a few of the city's museums if we'd had more time. It was sad to reflect that in the intervening years, Mum has also passed away.

On our final night in Manhattan, Garry and I walked past Hotel Edison on our way home from the theatre. I stayed here as an exchange student while on a High School Arts Club trip to New York City in 1983. As students, we attended the ballet at the Lincoln Centre, watched La Cage aux Folles at the Palace Theatre, toured the Met and MOMA, and visited the United Nations.

It was a cathartic moment standing there and reflecting on my life’s journey. The 18-year-old version of me had stood here with his whole life stretching out before him, wondering where life would take him. Now, 42 years later, the 60-year-old version of me was standing here looking back, wondering, “Have I used my time wisely? Would 18-year-old me be proud?”

It’s a humble experience to have a venue like this symbolically bookending my life’s journey. It’s also a timely reminder to make the most of my remaining years. I think I’ve done OK. If I have any doubts, rereading this blog offers plenty of reassurance.

Sentosa stopover

Sentosa Island is Singapore’s purpose-built mecca for tourists. Since the 1970s, the Singaporean Government has progressively transformed the once heavily militarised island into a tropical playground filled with artificial white-sand beaches, golf courses, amusement parks, cafes and holiday resorts. Garry and I decided to base ourselves on Sentosa during our brief homeward-bound stopover. Three years ago, we explored Singapore while travelling to Europe for business. However, aside from a brief excursion to Singapore Oceanarium, a giant aquarium on Sentosa, we largely gave the island a miss.

I first visited Sentosa in November 1990. Back then, access to the island was only possible by ferry or by a cable car system that started at Mount Faber. Like so much of Singapore, it offered clean and perfectly manicured public spaces, along with a series of rather tame, uninspiring attractions. It’s somewhat ironic that I recall the cable car ride across Keppel Harbour but little else from my backpacker day trip.

These days, in addition to the cable car, a monorail and a causeway link Sentosa to the rest of Singapore, making it easier to access. We cashed in some Amex loyalty points and treated ourselves to a poolside room at the Barracks Hotel. After our memorable experience in Krabi, we quite liked the idea of pool access directly from our room. Our room rate included breakfast and a canapé cocktail hour every afternoon. Pampered is the word that comes to mind.

Our flight from Heathrow landed shortly after 5:00pm. As a result, we rocked up to the hotel shortly after 6:00pm and were immediately invited for canapes by the pool while the staff prepared our room. Who says no to a free cocktail? After settling in, we decided to explore the Sentosa nightlife along the Straits coastline. We walked there via the Sentosa Sensoryscape, a series of domed gardens connected by a walkway to the coast. Everything was decorated for the Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Horse.

We quickly discovered that almost every restaurant and café kitchen stops serving food after 8:00pm. As a result, we ended up dining at the only thing still open, a local KFC knock-off. Our luck didn’t improve much the following day. We decided to spend the day at Universal Studios, a short walk from our hotel. The theme park opened in 2011 as part of a massive redevelopment of the island’s central zone.

It proved to be a colossal waste of time and money. The shortest queue time for most rides was at least an hour, with up to two hours for the most popular options. Half the rides were also closed. We decided to do our best and make the most of it. We started with the Transformers Experience. After queuing for an hour, it broke down as we approached the boarding zone. We eventually abandoned the ride and moved on to our next queue.

We stumbled across a 15-minute wait time for a roller coaster that had been 90 minutes earlier in the day. After standing in line for 15 minutes, a staff member announced that the wait time was now two hours. Apparently, the 15-minute wait posted at the entrance was a system malfunction.

We decided to go for lunch at a faux New York pizza diner. While waiting to be served, the cash register system crashed, leaving me standing at the counter for ten minutes while it rebooted. We finished our food and decided to give Universal Studios a miss.

We did salvage something from the day by buying tickets for the Wings of Symphony fireworks and light show held in an open-air, purpose-built stadium on the seafront. It was relaxing to sit in the warm evening breeze and down a cold beer while watching the pyrotechnics do their thing.

Dinner was at another fast-food restaurant because, once again, we forgot to plan ahead for Singapore's early dining hours. This time it really was KFC. 

Garry decided to spend Sunday, our final day, chilling out by the pool. I decided to explore Sentosa’s military history. On the island’s northern tip is Fort Siloso, a decommissioned coastal artillery battery. It consists of 12 such batteries, which made up "Fortress Singapore" at the start of World War II and saw action during the Battle of Singapore. The fort is now a military museum open to the public.

To get to the fort, I caught the cross-island cable car. This network traces the island's hilly spine, offering spectacular views of the coast, Sentosa’s artificial beaches and the Singapore skyline. Upon reaching the terminating station at Siloso Point, I made my way down to the beach for a quick look at resort life Singapore style before heading for the fort via an aerial canopy walkway.

The fort itself was an excellent attraction. A series of exhibits in its repurposed buildings told the story of the island’s early history, its redevelopment as a military base, the Battle of Singapore and life under occupation. I learned plenty about Singapore’s history and the colonial British hubris that ultimately made it a sitting duck for Japanese invasion.  The only downside to my excursion was the heat. It was unbelievably humid outdoors. Thank goodness Singaporean authorities had the forethought to install air conditioning throughout the fort.

Our hotel offered a late afternoon checkout. This gave us just enough time for one final adventure before heading to the airport. We couldn’t leave Singapore without feasting on some “traditional” Black Pepper Mud Crab. We grabbed a late lunch at the Sentosa Resorts complex, consisting of 900 grams of deliciously decadent seafood. However, we passed on the 1.8kg Alaskan King Crab offered to us for half price. Then, when we returned to the hotel to collect our luggage, we were offered a final farewell cocktail. Nice!

London update

I've finally completed a series of posts about our week in London this month. Follow these links to join us on our latest adventures in the UK.  It's hard to believe that last month we celebrated 15 years since our return from living in Swiss Cottage. That's insane!

• ABBA Voyage - just as good a second time around.
• Climbing to new heights at Monument.
• A rainy day at the British Museum (and a trip to the West End)
• The day I bought a rubber duck.
• A play I've waited 42 years to see.
• How to almost miss a flight (again!)

Hell on the M25

We spent our final day in the UK reviewing toy samples and meeting with our second-largest supplier in Folkestone. It was miserable weather all day. At one stage, the rain was so heavy that we could barely see more than 50-100 metres ahead of us on the M25.

Disaster struck on our drive back to Heathrow. An accident on the M25 Ring Road saw westbound traffic brought to a halt for more than 45 minutes, about an hour’s driving time south of Heathrow (according to Google Maps). Even more frustrating, we'd just passed the last viable off-ramp, less than 100 metres behind us.  The accident was also less than 500 metres ahead.  Had we driven through ten minutes earlier, we'd have missed it.

Traffic alerts warned that the motorway wouldn’t reopen until 6:30pm. The bag drop for our flight closed at 7:10pm. Google Maps said it would take at least 48 minutes to reach the rental car depot. Surrounded by four lanes of traffic going nowhere, Garry and I quietly resigned ourselves to our fate. Another flight missed.

Then, a small miracle occurred. The road reopened shortly after 6:00pm. Even better, the lengthy road closure had cleared all previously reported congestion approaching Heathrow. Google Maps claimed we’d now reach the rental car depot in 30 minutes. The race was on.

We pulled into the depot at 6:35pm. Our lucky streak continued when a dedicated shuttle bus bound for our terminal arrived six minutes later. Upon hearing of our dilemma, the driver offered to take us there immediately.

Qantas called me as we approached the terminal (I guess there are benefits to flying First Class, even on a points upgrade). When they heard how close we were, they offered to keep check-in open until we arrived. Our bags were finally tagged and dropped shortly after 7:00pm. We’d miraculously made our flight with barely minutes to spare. Never again!

We’re now in Singapore reacclimatizing to warmer weather in preparation for our final flight home on Sunday. Loving our hotel on Sentosa Island. It was once home to the British Army barracks. A quick dip in the pool is the perfect antidote for jet lag. And before you ask, we cashed in more Amex loyalty points to pay for these fancy digs.

All My Sons

I studied Arthur Miller’s play, All My Sons, in my final year at High School more than 42 years ago. It was part of a Syracuse University Freshman English course for which I received college credits. I loved the simplicity of the script and its gently arcing dialogue. Today I finally saw this Tony Award winning three-act play performed live on stage. It was well worth the wait.

Two hours and twenty minutes simply flew by inside the Wyndham Theatre this afternoon. To quote a recent West End theatre critic, “Bryan Cranston, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Paapa Essiedu and Hayley Squires achieve theatrical alchemy in Ivo van Hove’s superb production.”

As for me, I loved every moment of it.

London redux

London turned on some unexpected good weather today. It's been wet and miserable since our arrival, with more rain predicted tomorrow. I decided to make the most of the sunshine and enjoy a walking tour of inner London's most iconic sights. Garry is still feeling less than 100 per cent, so he joined me briefly for a walk to Sainsbury's before returning to our hotel. 

But first, we dropped into Duck World. I'd heard about this store on Instagram. It specialises in selling nothing more than rubber ducks. I couldn't resist temptation and bought myself an Admiral Nelson duck, served by a quirky Michael Jackson Wannabe behind the counter. Garry just laughed.

I carried on down Charing Cross Road to Trafalgar Square, where the crowds were out enjoying the sun. I then turned toward Buckingham Palace. I reached the Mall in time to catch the Horse Guard rehearsing for a forthcoming parade. Once again, the crowd was out in force outside the palace.  I decided to head for St James Park to enjoy one of my favourite views of the palace from the Blue Bridge. 

Next on my itinerary was Parliament Square, the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben. I crossed the Thames via Westminster Bridge, stopping long enough to capture another iconic photo of a red double-decker bus passing the famous clock tower.  I walked as far as the London Eye in the hope that I'd encounter Luke Silva, a popular busker with more than 1.2 million Instagram followers.  He regularly performs in Covent Garden and outside the Eye.  Sadly, I wasn't in luck.

I consoled myself with a walk through the infamous Graffiti Tunnel under Waterloo Station. This throughfare has become a haven for some spectacular street art. The tunnel didn't disappoint.  

I completed my circuit back to Charing Cross Road via Somerset House.  I had hoped to see its picturesque seasonal ice skating rink.  However, this was packed up and removed immediately after the New Year. My afternoon finished with a matinee performance at the Wyndham Theatre.  You read about this here.

This evening we caught up with Martin and Jonny for dinner.  It was lovely to see both of them again.  How quickly a year flies by!  This is our final night in London.  Tomorrow evening we'll head to Heathrow for a flight to Singapore. We're finally on the homeward leg of our round-the-world journey.