One more RTW hurrah... oh whY not!

[HUGE AL]

Noice! Back in LA soonish, can't wait!

But which place are you going to go to?

[KeithMEL]

Noice! Back in LA soonish, can't wait!

[jhm]

One of us had:



The other had (1 lb of beef; with Cheddar, onion, fried egg, sun dried tomatoes, chilli and peppercorn sauce):

[KeithMEL]

(Seriously, the burger at The Counter was still pretty good albeit a bit small. )

What size did you order? I ordered the medium and could barely finish! I was also told that lots of people go with the small.

[jhm]

OK, didn't you (and everyone else) say this was by far the best burger in LA -- WAAAAAAAAY better than The Counter? Hell, at US$16 you get a half pound USDA Prime burger WITH Truffle Mac & Cheese -- and I'm not talking truffle oil here...it's large pieces of shaved black truffle.

Saving the good stuff for next time ? I wonder if that'll be enough to persuade phaleesy to venture into LA again!

(Seriously, the burger at The Counter was still pretty good albeit a bit small. )

[SQ All The Way]

Great TR KeithMEL, thoroughly enjoyed reading every bit of it and viewing all the wonderful pictures! Well worth all the time!

Cheers.

[KeithMEL]

Next time you're in Shanghai, try taking the Maglev at least one way. It hurtles you at a mind-boggling 430 km an hour, covering some 30 km in 8 minutes. The only snag is getting off at Longyang station in Pudong and taking a taxi into downtown Puxi, but its a minor inconvenience for a speed demon like myself. Woo-hoo!

I tried the Maglev on my first visit to Shanghai, specifically here's the bit about the Maglev itself. It's fun to watch when the speed indicator goes up to its maximum speed. But not that terribly convenient as a practical mode of transport as you said.

[planemad]

Thanks for the enjoyable TR keithMel. I love it when you wax lyrical over champagne!

Next time you're in Shanghai, try taking the Maglev at least one way. It hurtles you at a mind-boggling 430 km an hour, covering some 30 km in 8 minutes. The only snag is getting off at Longyang station in Pudong and taking a taxi into downtown Puxi, but its a minor inconvenience for a speed demon like myself. Woo-hoo!

[VC10 Boy]

Good TR and it's helped me decide what to do for my 48 hours in Shanghai, even if I'll be doing it at a different hotel. Looks like you had some nice travelling fellows on the UD 744 to MEL too Keith

[Ex-SIN]

Thanks for the TR, Keith!

[KeithMEL]

Thanks guys.

(btw, what's with the red tinge on the last 3 photos?)

Window was down, which is why those pics were darker than the others. Other than that can't really explain the red tinge. It's not mood lighting as QF doesn't have that on the 744.

Less time in well visited places like LAX and NRT and more time sampling the local culture in Europe, South America and Africa will soon fix that!

Excellent idea. I'd need a OW travel companion to Easter Island and the Galapagos. We could explore the local Wildlife together.

I was thinking more: http://www.worldsbiggestpubcrawl.com/

[phaleesy]

(btw, what's with the red tinge on the last 3 photos?)

My guess : mood lighting?

Despite all that travels my 'Where I've Been' map on facebook tells me that I've only seen 11% of Planet Earth.

Less time in well visited places like LAX and NRT and more time sampling the local culture in Europe, South America and Africa will soon fix that!

Excellent idea. I'd need a OW travel companion to Easter Island and the Galapagos. We could explore the local Wildlife together.

[Kyo]

Well Written - thoroughly enjoyed reading the report and being a part of it too!



(btw, what's with the red tinge on the last 3 photos?)

[jhm]

Thanks for the TR, Keith - a most enjoyable read!

I've only seen 11% of Planet Earth.

Less time in well visited places like LAX and NRT and more time sampling the local culture in Europe, South America and Africa will soon fix that!

[KeithMEL]

Epilogue

Some people, my dear old mum for instance, would wonder why I can't do anything simply. Why I'm not just content with a 'there and back' trip. And how I can turn a 'ooh I feel like going to Hawaii for my mid semester break' notion into a full RTW.

Yet to many others (I'm looking at you FFers), trips of this nature are almost de rigueur. I might even come down for harsh criticism as to why I didn't spend that bit extra for an xONE4 and go on some wholly unnecessary but no doubt enjoyable mileage run and attempt to get some form of status on a 2nd oneworld FFP.

Somehow I have found this report more interesting to write than my previous ones. Instead of writing about what I already know and what most people might already know, I find myself exploring a couple of first time experiences, namely longhaul whY on a Qantas B767-300, Finnair long haul, and DragonAir. Not to mention the opportunity to almost go behind the scenes at W Hong Kong. And with the very many F and J reports out there, it seems almost more trendy and fashionable to fly down the back.

As always thanks for the feedback thus far, and I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing. Despite all that travels my 'Where I've Been' map on facebook tells me that I've only seen 11% of Planet Earth. One way or the other, there's a beautiful world to see out there. Preferably from the bottom of a champagne flute or wine glass (or martini glass as the case may be). I'm just glad to let my innate Wanderlust take me Wherever/Whenever.

whY not indeed...

THE END

Coming up in December: KeithMEL goes exploring on Singapore Airlines A380 Suites!