How Do You Spell Relief? Seat Assignment!

I booked my flight to Saigon on Cathay Pacific way back last September.  I got a great rate of $705 from Vancouver - Hong Kong - Saigon, then returning Bangkok - Hong Kong - Vancouver.  Because I snagged an ultra budget class ticket, I wasn't able to make seat selections for the flights when I booked.  I read on the Cathay Pacific website that they were rolling out a plan gradually to allow fliers to pay for seat assignments, but every time I checked my reservation, I was unable to select seats . . . .  until yesterday. Yesterday I checked the reservation and Walla!  there was an option available to select seats. 

I made it easy for myself - I booked 64D on the flight to Hong Kong.  The plane is a 777 and has a 3-4-3 seating configuration.  64D is the aisle seat on the middle section.  I figure I'll only have one person in the adjacent seat wanting to access the aisle whereas if I was in the three seat configuration, I'd have two people periodically scrambling over me to access the restroom or to stretch during the 14 hour flight.

My home for the 3 hour HKG - SGN flight will be 64A, window seat.  The equipment is Airbus 300, so seating is 2-4-2.  It's only a 2 hr 45 min flight, so the window seat should be fine.

BKK - HKG, it's back in 64A again.

Then, for the long haul back from HKG to Vancouver, I'm back in old familiar aisle seat, 64D.

All of this cost me the princely sum of $108, but you can't put a price on comfort, especially on a 14 hour trans-Pacific flight.

Travel Arrangements

Did I mention I decided to go on vacation this winter?  Back in September, I booked a two week trip with Intrepid Travel, to Cambodia.  Intrepid specializes in small group tours - 10-12 people max.  I have never been a tour person, but a small group tour sounds interesting. They hire local guides who know their locale.  The tour leaves Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) February 2 and travels to Pnom Penh, Cambodia, then Sihanoukville, on the coast, then a home stay with a local family, and then on to Siem Reap and the temples at Angkor Wat.  The tour ends in Bangkok.

I am flying Cathay Pacific, arriving in Saigon at about 12:20 am on Feb. 1.  I ave reservations at the Townhouse 50 Saigon for my first two nights there.

Looks pretty good for $35 per night.

On the evening of the 2nd I will join up with the tour group at a hotel about a 10 minute walk away.

Pham Ngu Lao Street in District 1:

 What Hotels.com says about the neighborhood:

Pham Ngu Lao Street in Ho Chi Minh City is on the western edge of District 1 and is renowned as the place where most backpacking travellers stay during their holiday. A 25-minute taxi ride from Tan Sot Nhat International Airport, it comprises numerous lanes and back alleys though the main thoroughfares include Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham, Bui Vien, and Do Quang Dao streets. 

Set along these alleyways are western-style restaurants, coffee shops, and international bars, countless tour companies and kiosks, affordable motels, hostels and guesthouses (as well as many of the so-called ‘mini-hotel’ buildings usually with six to seven floors, rarely offering an elevator), internet cafes, pharmacies, and souvenir-and-craft shops. Pham Ngu Lao Street is not limited to only low-budget travellers. Its own unique vibe draws people from everywhere due to its close proximity to prominent landmarks in Ho Chi Minh City. As there is always something going on in Pham Ngu Lao Street, many visitors prefer to enjoy local street food or people-watching while enjoying the incredibly cheap bia hoi draught beer on the roadside.

Read more at: http://www.vietnam-guide.com/ho-chi-minh-city/pham-ngu-lao.htm?cid=ch:OTH:001

Day 4 - Sunday - Heading Home

After our excursion to the Mall, I went back to the Westin for a nap. I had screwed up when I made the reservation at the Marriott and had put in a checkout date of Saturday. Doh!!!  When I tried to extend one more day they wanted to charge me something like $190/night for all three nights. Not going there. So I booked Saturday night at the Westin, just across the street, for $90. That necessitated checking out a Saturday morning and storing my bag in Bob and Kay’s room. Not a problem.  After returning from our tourist excursion, I retrieved my bag and checked into the Westin and proceeded to take a nap.

We had dinner that night at Ted’s Montana Grill, which served up an excellent Bison Meatloaf.



https://www.tedsmontanagrill.com/tmg041.html

After that it was back to the hotel to turn in.

3:20 am found me getting up and getting ready to depart. I caught an Uber at 4:30 to Reagan National and cleared TSA with no problems (thank you TSA pre-Check). It was an uneventful flight to Detroit, another to SEATTLE and finally back to Pasco. I was home in Walla Walla by 3:00 pm. Ain’t sir travel a marvel of the modern world?

DC Day 3 - Playing Tourist

Saturday dawned with no change in weather. Hurricane Florence, which was hitting North Carolina did not make an appearance in DC.   Todd, Deb and Jerry and Jeff all were leaving town, leaving Bob and Kay and I to our own devices.  We decided to play tourist, and took the Meteo into DC, getting off at the Smithsonian station on the Mall. There we toured the Mational Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History (which I dubbed the Museum of Stuffed Animals in Glass Cases) and the American History Museum (my favorite).  The only downside was my low back was bothering me and I had trouble with all the walking. Getting old sucks!!!

DC Day 2 - Paul Simon

Our friend Dave Dickieson has the benefit of working for a DC law firm that apparently has deep pockets.   Dave reached out and invited us to join him in the firm’s Skybox for the Paul Simon Farewell Tour on Friday night, after Pat’s reception at Main Justice.  I jumped at the chance to attend.   I will say this, attending a concert in a Skybox is something like flying first class, or even business class. It spoils you.   The concert was excellent. Paul Simon was backed up by a full horn and percussion section as well as backup singers.  What a great concert!!!  Thank you Dave, for inviting me.

DC Day 2 - Arlington, DOJ, Paul Simon

Friday, September 14.

Friday morning found me meeting Bob and Kay Kern and Todd Luoma for breakfast at Bob and Edith’s Diner on 23rd in Arlington.  Good breakfast food and a great time continuing to catch up with my friends.  Not as good as Hale’s in Trump-Cities or Roosters in Pendleton, but acceptable.

After breakfast,  Bob and Kay and I headed to Arlington Mational Cemetery to visit the final,resting place of mybrother-in-law, Donald J. Masters, and first dad, JC “Chris” Klinedinst.  Todd, who had attended both funerals in full Navy dress in 2009 and 2011, respectively, wasn’t able to make it due to that malady of aging - a bad knee in need of surgery. As usual, Arlington was a somber yet inspiring place.  

Back to the Hotel Marriott Crystal Gateway (Recommended) to get ready for Pat Mullarkey’s retirement reception at What we knew as “Main Justice” back in the ‘80s, now it’s known as the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building. Bob, Kay, Todd and I took the Yellow Line into DC, getting off at Archives. 

The National Archives

Down Pennsylvania Avenue

FBI Building.  We used to eat lunch in the Courtyard

That was during a different era

Crossed Pennsylvania Avenue and walked down to 10th Street.  We'd been instructed to enter through what is known as the Attorney General's Entrance, at 10th and Constitution.

Getting through security was easy.  I've had more issues with TSA and even courthouse security.  Made our way to the Great Hall.  During the day back in the '80s I'd attended various functions here, as well as Jerry Fridkin's retirement back in the early 2000s.  Factoid - The Spirit of Justice is a statue that graces the stage in the Great Hall.  

In 2002, during the Bush administration, word had it AG John Ashcroft was offenced by the bare beast on Spirit that he had curtains hung to hide the statute.  Truth.  That's how it was when I attended Jerry Fridkin's retirement reception.

The reception was well attended.  I'n no good at estimating crowd size, but I'd say there were 150 or so people there, including a number of folks from my days at DOJ - In addition to Bob and Todd, there were Deb Stefanik, Jerry Brost, Dave Dickieson, Joanne Rutkowski, Sue Postwistillo, Joe Camarrata, Dan Houlf, Jeff Kaplan, Steve Lyons, Deb Meland, Terri Schapiro, Merrell Green and Bridgit Rowan. If I missed anyone, sorry.

It was a great tribute to Pat, who started at DOJ in 1966, the same year I was a Freshman in HS.  All told, he put in 52 years at DOJ.

The Deputy AG, Rod Rosenstein, spoke and gave a good tribute to Pat's service.

I made sure to introduce myself to the Deputy.  Never know, he might not be there too much longer.  I didn't get a photo with him, but Todd and Bob did.

As we left the building, we got a group photo in the Main Justice Courtyard.  Hard to believe that back in the day, when we'd work weekends, which was frequent, we sometimes parked in the garage under the building, which you accessed through the courtyard.  Post-2001, those days are long gone.

To be continued. . . 

Off to DC

September 13, 2018.  - Several weeks ago, I heard from my friend Bob Kern that our boss at DOJ Tax Division was retiring after 52 years.  A retirement party was planned for 9/14 at Main Justice. I got on the list so I’d be allowed into the inner sanctum of the RFK Building, a/k/a Main Justice in our day (1984 - 1989).  2:00 am on the 13th found me wide awake and unable to sleep.  I left the house for Pasco at 4:00 am and got to the airport in plenty of time for the 6:00 am flight and to Salt Lake City.  At SLC I transferred to another Delta flight to BWI, set to arrive at 3:40 local time. We beat that by a few minutes. It was HUMID!!! I’ve been spoiled by living in the West.

Took a shuttle to the MARC train and a 30 minute ride into Union Station in DC. From there to Arlington to the MarriottCrystal Gateway, where I met up with Bob and Kay Kern (from Vermillion, OH), and Todd Luoma (Sacramento) as well as Dan Houlf (Detroit).  We all headed for dinner at McCormick & Schmicks where we met Deb Stefanik and Jerry Brost (Peoria).

We all had a great visit over dinner and drinks, with much reminiscing about the old days and starting our legal careers 34 or so years ago, working under Patrick at CTS Northern.