[Michael C]

OmanAir arriving at LHR from Muscat shortly, so hopefully
some alternatives are on the horizon for those stranded.

[Michael C]

Purely from the (smallish?) kids points of view, Shangri-La is indeed
a fantastic option, with the massive splash area, etc. And yes, it will be rammed
at the weekend.

As an alternative to those mentioned, last summer we stayed at the “new” (ex Regent)
Conrad Orchard with our then 11-yr old and had a fabulous time. He’s admittedly very independent,
and enjoyed the freedom to pop next door to Tanglin Mall by himself, etc.

The pool area is pretty standard: a rectangle albeit with plenty of chairs and great service/cold
water, etc. (and a fair few kids), but the location and room itself were fantastic.

We also rate the Hilton Orchard for being in the very centre of things with a family: smaller
rooms, but possibly the best breakfast, if that’s important!

The ArtScience museum is wonderful for kids young and old, as is the Chinese Heritage Museum.
Also, in the Ion mall, there’s a pretty decent amusement arcade in case of a downpour! And
the enormous food court downstairs, of course: the Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory was a massive hit.

[Michael C]

WizzAir suspends all Dubai/Abu Dhabi flights.

[Michael C]

Tom2 wrote:

Scott wrote:

Tom2 wrote:

For those mentioning Permit Rooms, all Dishooms (that i am aware of) sell gift vouchers (or coins) which can be used in any Dishoom or Permit Room. So that could be a route to look at.

Some brave soul would have to try this out for the team, as gift vouchers may be assigned to a different entity (particularly if bought online) so may not trigger the offer.

I am going to be a guinea pig in the next week or so, will report back.

Appreciated by the community!

[Michael C]

harrisjamieh wrote:

Out this morning:

Starlink available from March

The roll out of Starlink is making excellent progress, and I’m pleased to announce that the first British Airways flight with free Starlink Wi-Fi will take off in March.

More interested in knowing when the LAST one will be fitted, i.e. every aircraft. Still
no WiFi on NCE-LHR last Sunday.

[Michael C]

@Polly – glass half full! Hopefully OH can hop in and
out and you both get a chunk of sleep at least. And time
for one last roti before you leave!

[Michael C]

Hawksmoor Air Street is always a solid option.
Or one of the newly-added Dishooms for something different?

[Michael C]

Keen to try King’s Cross, but yes, considering it’ in the middle
of all the madness, Carnaby Street is indeed quite pleasant!

And don’t forget the breakfast is also excellent.

[Michael C]

@Polly anywhere nice planned for last night in KL?! Sure your seating will be fine in the end.

@LD27 also looking forward to hearing about Boracay: the one time we had a reservation to go,
about 30 years ago, a typhoon appeared the week before and washed the runway away!

[Michael C]

@Polly back last night from Menton: everything we’d hoped for. Sunshine, deep
blue skies and food aplenty. Now it’s back to Uniqlo thermals!

Having said that, I have a Zoom with colleagues in Brooklyn in a minute,
and they’ve been wiped out by blizzards, schools shut, etc.

[Michael C]

Cat wrote:

polly wrote:

@Cat
Can’t believe I missed your thread.

Nor can I believe I missed your reply!

I hope you’re having an absolute blast in Bali, now that you’re travelling again (thank goodness!). What’s been your highlight so far? Penang, Bordeaux and KL don’t sound too shabby either! Enjoy, you both deserve it! X

Half term ’27 flights out today, Cat!

[Michael C]

Good morning from the blazing sunshine in Nice: had to leave our
jackets behind yesterday to go for our violet/lavender ice cream and
raid on the Fragonard shop!

Staying at our standard Novotel, which has always been more than fine.
In addition, what was for years the building site in front is now
the start of the brand new massive public park and library which leads
all the way down to the centre. The other plus of the location for us
is it’s walking distance from Riquier, the small local train station,
meaning no need to go to the centre for our day trips.

Off to Menton in a few minutes: the Lemon Festival this weekend.

[Michael C]

This happened to me a couple of years ago: met the time/spending conditions
for the bonus, and it was only when looking back that I saw there was NO original
email saying “thanks for signing up”. Ended up having to send screen-shots of the previous
year’s advertised sign-up, then of my original start date, spend history etc. Came through after
about 3 weeks (and even then I wasn’t told, just noticed it one day).

[Michael C]

Have a great trip! I was half expecting to bump into you yesterday – we were having lunch at Gee’s with my wife’s Colombian Spanish teacher and our waiter was Spanish as well. The lunch there is good value but blimey, Oxford really does continue to discourage visitors – £19.50 for three hours street parking, £5 congestion charge and £4 ZEZ charge![/quote]

Oh, we had our post-wedding champagne in lovely Gee’s!
And yes, as @SamG says, Park & Ride is really the only (affordable)
option nowadays!

[Michael C]

Passing through LHR T3 – absolutely no-one else in (fast-track) security: a bit spooky but great!

A short stay in Marseille (Librairie Maupetit and a nice couscous) then upper deck right-hand window seats tomorrow morning for what should be a lovely train ride to Nice.

[Michael C]

@NorthernLass, and there was me thinking it was @JDB crooning
“I’m Mandy – fly meeeee!”

[Michael C]

Would be even better (for us) if it included the Permit Room!

Also waiting to see if Legado piggybacks onto Sabor’s entry.

[Michael C]

polly wrote:

Good morning from the balmy Bintang Bali resort,Kuta. Following a couple of days of tropical storms and wind. Back here for the next few days. Adored The Viceroy in UBUD, and even extended our stay by 2n. Will post on Bali link. pricey, but a real treat. OH had 2nd Rabies injection Friday. No frothing at the mouth yet, dog that did it still hanging around the area, also no symptoms.. thankfully. Fun and games..

@Polly – if OH is in a good place (certainly hope so), you could give him a quick rendition
of the advert for 70s soft drink Cresta: “It’s frothy, maaaan!” ;o)))

Seriously, hope you’re both having a wonderful time. Did you also go into downtown Ubud? Opinions?

Have a good Kuta stroll this evening: I did find that the “louder” elements have drifted towards
Legian, making Kuta a lot nicer again!

[Michael C]

Man of Kent wrote:

@davefl were you at the 1999 division 2 playoff final? Being from Kent I was supporting my home team – still have the nightmare flashbacks!

Funny – I’m City and my cousin (in Hoo) is Gills! My son’s received various royal blue woolly items over the years…

[Michael C]

Aston100 wrote:

@super secret stuff
Is the intruder still in your room?

And did you get a Friends figurine with your Happy Meal?

[Michael C]

Man of Kent wrote:

@Michael-C tennis was great yesterday. Saw 3 top class women’s singles matches on Centre Court. Bought tickets in the UK and just had them in a Qatar Ticket Federation app so you need data on your phone as they use a dynamic QR code.

Getting in was slightly chaotic as they didn’t like our refillable metal water bottles so had to check them in the irony being they were happy to sell us water in glass bottles we could take into the courts – rules are rules. So much for trying to do the right thing.

We had the top price tickets at £100 each which we thought was pretty good for world class sport. Tickets allowed entry to the other 3 courts if you wanted and our seats were court side – they were not allocated so you could move around as the sun moved. Court was probably less than 20% full so not much atmosphere (they were round of 16 matches) but great close viewing. Much lower ticket pricing options available.

Some food options, mainly western outside the courts (no alcohol) and space to walk around or to sit to have something to eat between matches. Food quite pricey for Qatar but a bargain compared to Wimbledon!

A very enjoyable afternoon / evening.

Fabulous write-up! Yes, my first experience of the dynamic code was with an NBA match, and no-one
really had an answer for “What happens if…”!
That’s an incredibly reasonable price for those seats…I was also thinking some of the
tournaments in China might be a good option, too.

[Michael C]

PJJ wrote:

Michael C wrote:

Man of Kent wrote:

Last couple of days for us in Qatar, off to see some Qatar Open tennis later today.

Very envious – would love to hear what the facilities are like! I’ve done 3 Grand Slams
and dozens of Madrid/Barcelona, but hope to expand my tennis locations a little more.

Which Grand Slam are you missing ? Done all 4

RG! Just need to get backside into gear and pop over for a day or so.

[Michael C]

Man of Kent wrote:

Last couple of days for us in Qatar, off to see some Qatar Open tennis later today.

Very envious – would love to hear what the facilities are like! I’ve done 3 Grand Slams
and dozens of Madrid/Barcelona, but hope to expand my tennis locations a little more.

[Michael C]

So along the lines of “Why did you only start your essay on Sunday night
when you’ve had all weekend?”, I went to move some Avios from BA to Loganair
at 2300h only to be met by the dreaded “404 error”, with the clock ticking
for the last hour of the 50% reduction offer!
Turned out to be a Safari thing – happy with our BHX-IOM returns in peak summer.

[Michael C]

agroves wrote:

@Michael C my post seems to be hanging in the ether so here’s another go. Excellent meal and we would be back there today but fur a flight home to the UK. A good selection of starters and mains that change daily. Lots of fish and pasta dishes to choose from. It’s quite small and filled up very quickly at 7pm so would recommend booking. A meal for 2 (one three course and one two course, with beer and wine and tip) was a reasonable EUR130. Great decor and friendly relaxed service. Enjoy carnival!

Thanks a million for the update, sounds great – too many lovely places!