Tag Archives: Selfish Year

Relaxing in Paradise: Activities at the Conrad Rangali

07 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

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This is the third of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

What’s there to do in paradise? Surprisingly lots at the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives.

Snorkeling Around the House Reef

First of all, the house reef is awesome. While Mr. Selfish and I haven’t mastered our GoPro camera yet, take our word for it – the house reef is full of fish and colorful coral.

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To get to the house reef, you should walk to Beach Villa #220 and start swimming straight out into the ocean. At that point, you’ll be swimming in between an opening in the reef. After a little while, there is a huge 60 feet drop, and you can see lots of marine life.

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3 Nights of Paradise at the Conrad Rangali

06 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

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This is the second of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

As much as I enjoy flying, Mrs. Selfish and I are less about the journey and more about the destination. After a grueling 20 hours of flying, and 36 hours of jetlag in Hong Kong, we had finally reached our destination: The Conrad Rangali.

The Conrad Rangali has been relentlessly hyped up over the years as one of the premiere destinations to reach on miles & points – and with good reason. While the Conrad Rangali is difficult to get to, it is without a doubt one of the most gorgeous places on earth.

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Getting to the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives

05 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

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This is the first of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

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When Mrs. Selfish and I started talking about our Thanksgiving trip, I had originally planned on traveling to the Maldives to stay at the Conrad Rangali before the great Hilton devaluation. Unfortunately, Mrs. Selfish, sensing a large number of flights, axed the trip. I kept our reservation, however, secretly hoping something would change.

Fortunately, luck was on my side when Cathay Pacific announced the opening of their Hong Kong – Male route back in July 2013. The trip was on!

Others have covered the numerous ways one can get to the Maldives on points & miles, way better than I can, so this post will deal with the trip from Male to the Conrad Rangali itself.

Sea-planing to the Conrad Rangali

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The Conrad Rangali is in no way a cheap, or affordable hotel. While you can get a room for free with HHonors points the food, activities, and extras can add up very, very quickly.

Case in point, the sea plane. At roughly $450 per person, this sucker ain’t cheap. It is luxurious, however, as is the entire experience from beginning until end.

Mrs. Selfish and I ended up landing in Male around 9pm our first night in the Maldives, which was a good 4-5 hours after the last seaplane had left for the Conrad Rangali. Fortunately, I had booked us at the Hotel Octave, a small hotel in Male, which is a good 20 minutes by boat and car from the airport.

Transportation to and from the hotel was free, fast, and efficient. The next morning we were dropped back at the airport to the welcome counter for the Conrad Rangali.

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Enjoying Afternoon Tea at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

04 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Hong Kong

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The last time Mr. Selfish and I were in Hong Kong, we attempted to go to afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong in Kowloon, which is the 2nd tallest hotel in the world. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it because we didn’t have a reservation and it was a Saturday. This time around, we reserved window seats for afternoon tea.

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Hungry and Jetlagged in Hong Kong

03 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Hong Kong

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Mr. Selfish and I spent only 36 hours in Hong Kong, and it was a whirlwind of food and lights. We ate dim sum twice and had peking duck once since Mr. Selfish was seriously craving both.

Of course, we went back to Tim Ho Wan for the baked pork buns. They are Mr. Selfish’s favorite, and we haven’t found any better in SF lately.

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36 Hours in Hong Kong: The Intercontinental Hong Kong

02 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, China, IHG

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Mrs. Selfish and I arrived bleary-eyed and jetlagged at the Hong Kong International Airport at 6:30am, from our 11:30pm flight from San Francisco. After hitting the showers and grabbing a cup of coffee in Cathay Pacific’s Arrival lounge we jumped in the closest cab and headed straight to our first stop, the Intercontinental Hong Kong.

Getting there and Check-in

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The Intercontinental Hong Kong is located right off of the Avenue of the Stars and is pretty easy to get to. If you’re low on bags and traveling by yourself, I recommend taking the express train into town and taking a cab from there, which should run you close to $120 HKD total.

If you’re traveling in groups of two or more, a cab is probably more economical (and definitely faster), and should run you closer to $230 HKD ($30 USD). From memory, it took us around 20–25 minutes to get to the  Intercontinental, since there was relatively little traffic around 7:30am.

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The check-in process was smooth and quick, since I had already arranged everything via email ahead of time. We opted to book an award night for 40,000 IHG points a night instead of paying the ~$400 it would have cost. As an Ambassador member, Mrs. Selfish was granted late check-out, and two drink coupons for the bar.

Intercontinental is pretty stingy when it comes to perks, and doesn’t guarantee their Ambassador members much of anything. They are supposed to upgrade members to a better room upon check-in, but in this case we would have been upgraded to a deluxe room with a view of the Sheraton. Instead, we opted to pay to upgrade to a Superior Harbor View room for an additional $1,200 HKD a night (+10% tax), since the harbor view was the whole reason we chose to stay at the Intercontinental. Otherwise I probably would have chosen the Conrad HK, or the JW Marriott again.

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Amazing skyline views of Hong Kong from the lobby.

Impressively, our room was ready at 8 in the morning, so Mrs. Selfish and I headed to our home for the next 36 hours.

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Back on the Road: An Introduction

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, China, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Japan, Marriott

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Mrs. Selfish and I have been living in San Francisco for the last few months, exploring the city and the Bay Area. Well, “living”, might be more accurate.

While we’re physically in San Francisco, most of our stuff is still in a pod somewhere in Orlando, Florida, so we’re still living out of suitcases. Normally, I’d view this as a disadvantage, but after traveling for a year I’ve become pretty accustomed to the lifestyle. It’s nice to be able to leave and hop on a plane at the drop of a hat.

So it was with much anticipation, that Mrs. Selfish and I started our annual Thanksgiving trip. This year we decided to visit the Maldives, and Okinawa, Japan, stopping by Hong Kong, Fukuoka, and Tokyo along the way. An odd routing, to be sure, but we were in pursuit of an elusive beast.

The whale shark.

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More on this guy, in a few posts.

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Have a Merry and Selfish Christmas!

25 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by in Beijing, China, General

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Mr. Selfish and I wish our readers a merry and selfish Christmas! May you indulge all of your wanderlust desires next year. We know that we certainly will…

Happy Xmas

Come the new year, we will commence blogging every day until we’ve covered our recent trip to Hong Kong, the Maldives, and Japan. We look forward to sharing with you our trip report and the many, many photos we took.

The Musée Mécanique at Fisherman’s Wharf

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in California, North America, San Francisco, United States

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Mr. Selfish and I are not huge fans of Fisherman’s Wharf. Since it tends to be overrun with tourists looking for sourdough bread, we generally avoid the area. However, on one fine day, we took a leisurely stroll through North Beach and ended up at Fisherman’s Wharf.

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It was a lovely day, and we enjoyed the clear view of Alcatraz from the Wharf.

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A Day Trip to Sonoma

17 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by in California, Food & Drinks, North America, United States

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Mr. Selfish and I timed it, and it took us 45 minutes to get from SF to the first winery in Sonoma. That’s right – 45 minutes. Indeed, we will be taking many more trips to wine country during our stay in SF. This post will go over our first day trip to Sonoma, which was on a Tuesday to take advantage of the Sonoma night farmer’s market.

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After doing a great deal of tasting in Australia and New Zealand, I was surprised to discover that most of the wineries in Sonoma and Napa charge a tasting fee, which can vary from $5 to even $20 per person. Being the budget conscious person I am, I researched the wineries that were either free or had lower tasting fees.

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Visiting the Legion of Honor for Free

10 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by in California, North America, San Francisco, United States

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Mr. Selfish and I try to avoid paying for museums when possible. One of the first Google searches I performed while settling down in SF was free museum days. I discovered that during the first Tuesday and Wednesday of every month, certain museums are free. Moreover, if you are a Bank of America customer like we are, there is one weekend a month where certain museums are free. We are slowly but surely going to hit up these museums during the free days. We started with the Legion of Honor.

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My Obsession with the Golden Gate Bridge – Part 3 (Lands End)

28 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in California, North America, San Francisco, United States

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Mr. Selfish and I have been taking advantage of the amazing sunny weather we’ve been having in SF. People keep telling me that it is not typical, so every time, it’s even remotely sunny I drag Mr. Selfish somewhere outside to view my current obsession – the Golden Gate Bridge. I may have mentioned this obsession previously (Part 1 and Part 2). During one particularly nice and sunny day, we went to Lands End to walk along the Coastal Trail, which has quite a new view of the Bridge.

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Hiking Along Tomales Point in Point Reyes

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in California, North America, San Francisco, United States

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Mr. Selfish and I are enjoying how close SF is to so many easy and fun day trips. One of our first day trips was to the Point Reyes National Seashore, which is located north in the westernmost tip of Marin. I browsed the various trails and decided on the Tomales Point Trailhead, which is about 10 miles round trip. Tomales Point boasts of coastal trails and an abundance of tule elk.

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Since it is in the most western part of Point Reyes, the drive from SF took about an hour and 20 minutes. On our way, we stopped at Tomales Bay Foods to visit the original creamery and store for Cowgirl Creamery. We picked up some provisions for a picnic during our hike.

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Walking to the Ferry Building for Roli Roti’s Porchetta Sandwiches

21 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in California, North America, San Francisco, United States

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Mr. Selfish and I love living in cities where you can walk. Not only is it great exercise, but you don’t have to look for parking. Being in Nob Hill, we have taken to walking to the Ferry Building on the weekends. The walk is about 1.5 miles one-way and takes about half an hour at a leisurely pace through Chinatown. We usually go on Saturdays because we enjoy browsing the farmer’s market and tasting all of the delicious samples.

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Russian Hill: Are there Russians on the hill?

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in California, North America, San Francisco, United States

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As I’ve mentioned previously, Mr. Selfish and I are currently living in the Nob Hill area of SF. We are right next door to Russian Hill and have been exploring the area.

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As you can see, we’ve been fortunate to have amazing weather as we face those steep hills.  This post is dedicated to Russian Hill.

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