We are staying in multiple places here in Uruguay but our first place is an apartment. Everything has been fine so far except yesterday we became trapped inside.

This apartment uses a Nuki lock and its a digital locked that can be opened and closed with an app on your phone.

The battery in the system had been running low and while we were away the owner came by to replace the battery. When we got back, we couldnt open the door. The owner thought it was a sync issue and after a few tries the door opened.

We didnt think anything of it till we were getting ready to leave for our dinner show. I tried opening the door with the app and it would not unlock. There is a nob on the inside that you can turn to unlock the bolt but it wouldnt unbolt.

The arrow below shows the bolt that kept jamming in the close position and turning the nob would not unlatch the bolt. A locksmith had to come out and disassemble the whole thing.

The pieces of the lock below. The locksmith ended up losing a critical spring during the process of dismantling it and had to cannibalize a bedroom door lock to use for the main door.

Didn’t look good and we had a show at 8:00 p.m. and this all started around 6:30 p.m.

Below was the interim solution and we luckily made it to the dinner and show.

That was all last night, this morning we started the day with our usual walk and came across “a place where good shit happens” and we can’t wait for it to open so we can see good shit happen.

Our first stop after a quick stop at a cafe for a quick breakfast was the Andes museum. This is the historical account of the plane that crashed in the Andes and the survivors had to eat some of the dead passengers. The cannibalization theme continues….

Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed inside so all I can show you are the tickets to the museum. There is a 20 minute documentary show and lots of artifacts and personnel accounts of the events. Sadly, there is no butcher shop inside the museum in case you’re wondering about “tasting” the experience.

After the museum we stopped at another historical museum that was a bit underwhelming. Not much to see here but below are the highlights.

A rendition of “favelas” by a local artist.

After the second museum we did more walking around the plaza to take in the street vendors but there wasn’t anything interesting to buy.

We did encounter the usual “influencers” doing their thing…

We struggled to find an open restaurant to eat lunch at with so many places closed but we ended up at a swarma place and had a good meal.

We did stop by the Teatro Solis to buy some tickets for an upcoming show about Salem Witches.

We also had a local Yerba Mate expert prepare Mate for us so we could experience the beverage. She gave us a long historical perspective on the origins of Mate, the uses, mineral and vitamin composition and other fun facts.

Time to go home and cook some dinner and more adventures tomorrow.

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I woke up with a bit of back pain and forgot to pack my back brace so we headed out to find somenplace that sells back braces. Along the way to twelve different pharmacies we stopped to see a few things…

The architecture in Montevideo is very interesting and unique.

We also stopped at a few shops and did a little shopping. I picked up the Yerba Mate cup bound by leather on the outside and the proper pipe to enjoy Mate.

A street vendor was selling hand-made jewelry and the piece below caught our eye. It’s an amethyst, the official stone of Uruguay.

And yes, after visiting 12 pharmacies, I found a man-sized back brace. A few pharmacies did have some in stock but they were too small. The last pharmacy we visited had the right size and I picked up the last one.

We picked up some ribs at a grocery store for dinner tomorrow night after we were done with shopping. I’ll post photos of that when we cook it.

Later this evening we have dinner and a show. Not sure if they allow photos in there but if they do I’ll upload some, if not, you’ll have to come down to Uruguay yourself to see the show!

Addendum – Show photos,

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We took a walk early this morning to get our bearings. We stopped at this statue of the Queen of Spain.

After that our first stop was Santander bank in ciudad vieja to get some cash. The currency rate is $40 Uruguay pesos to $1 and we were limited to $5000 pesos withdrawal ($120 USD). Luckily, most places here have taken our Visa or Mastercard credit cards.

Next stop La Pasiva where we had an amazing breakfast

This giant sandwich, enough for for two, features bacon, mozerella cheese, olives, palm hearts , pineapple, tomato, ham, boiled egg and generous mayo.

It was the best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had! We had ordered two but the waiter warned us to eat one and if we were still hungry he could bring another.

If you’re in the area, it’s in the corner of one of the plazas.

Next stop was this old cathedral from 1748

Very nice cathedral with interesting history.

After the church we walked around to the ciudad viejo square in Montevideo.

There are small enclaves of artists quarters in this area so if you’re in the area they are worth checking out.

We stopped at a grocery store to buy some of that famous Uruguay beef. The cut of beef below is labeled Colita de Cuadril. Translated it is tri-tip or bottom sirloin flap meat.

We took the meat and cooked in the oven at 220 c (425 F) for about 30 minutes, came out great. Paired it with Don Pascual Reserve wine and it was an amazing combination.

We have dinner and show plans for tomorrow so stay tuned!

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After an 11 hour flight to Buenos Aires (delayed by 45 minutes – thanks United), a two hour wait for a ferry, then a two hour ferry ride and a two hour bus ride, we finally made it to Montevideo!

It’s been an exhausting journey but we finally made it to our rented apartment in old town where we’ll be checking out the city.

Our first stop were two underwhelming grocery stores that were more like bodegas with limited selection of times. We were so tired that we opted to buy a frozen pizza and a couple of frozen to toss in the oven for a quick dinner. We also bought some other food staples like eggs, bread, orange juice and canned beans for the week. We’ll only have a kitchen for this week then switch to hotels so stay tuned!

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The Protagonist

In the final chapter of our southeast Asia journey, our middle aged couple lands in Singapore to spend a final few days before heading back home. They sought out a great hotel located in the heart of the city for a couple of more adventures and the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach was the perfect choice.

The Antagonist

The nemesis in this story was cost. We stayed primarily at Marriott properties during our stay in SE Asia and this was by far the most expensive hotel. Incidentally, I made a note that the best experience we had was in the country with the lowest cost of labor. Inversely, the least amount of options in a hotel were in the most expensive country. The cost of this hotel was about 500 Singapore ($380 USD) per night.

Singapore is one of the highest cost of living countries in the world. Our hotel in Kuala Lumpur was 1/3 of what this hotel cost.

The Hero

Our hero in our South Beach Marriott story was the staff. The friendly and attentive staff took care of our every needs. We did arrive an hour early before check in and our room wasn’t ready but we were taken to the Executive Lounge to have a few snacks while we wait. The only miss here is our Executive Lounge host never told us our room was ready. Once we were past 3 p.m. I had to go and ask if our room was ready and it was but they seemingly forgot to tell us.

Anti-Hero

The main anti-here during our stay was size. While our corner suite was huge, everything else outside our room seemed small in comparison to our experiences in Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, and Bangkok. The Executive Lounge had great food but a limited selection. The pool on 18 was fairly small and too cold since it’s in shade most (or all?) of the time. There is nowhere on 18 as far as we could see to lounge on a chair and sun bath. The restaurant attached to the hotel is fairly small in comparison to other hotels we stayed in SE Asia.

We also were told that breakfast would only be available for platinum members in the Executive Lounge and not the restaurant as in other hotels. We assume it was like this because the hotel restaurant was too small to accommodate all the guest in the hotel but found it strange since this wasn’t the issue in other Marriotts.

Supporting Characters

Pool

Amazing view but comes at a cost of cold water temperature so beware or bring a wet suit!

Gym – We didn’t use so can’t comment but is available.

Room – Upgraded Suite

Image below – toilet on left, tub and shower on right. Dual and separate sinks.

Executive Lounge

The Denouement (& Recommendation?)

Our story has a happy ending, while we got became spoiled on larger buffets, larger pools and broader dining options, the hotel was perfect for our stay. It was situated close to the train station, large shopping areas, restaurants, and entertainment that we would definitely recommend this hotel with the caveats that Platinum member perks will be different/smaller than other hotels in SE Asia.

The hotel is about 20 minutes via car from Changi airport but heavy traffic may extend that time frame.

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We spent most of the day with nature at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. This is a MUST stop Unesco World Hertitage site to visit if you visit Singapore.

The Orchid Gardens are a must see but be aware there is a fee $15 for this area whereas the main gardens are free.

But they are well worth the price.

After the gardens we had to have some Pho and luckily there was a Vietnamese restaurant in our hotel complex.

After lunch we hit the pool area. The pool is a bit small in comparison to other Marriots in Southeast Asia but it does have an amazing view. Oh and the water is cold!

We plan on having pizza for dinner then plan on packing up.

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We arrived early to Singapore and our upgraded suite wasnt ready so they staff took us to the Executive Lounge where we had some delectable fresh baked scones and mushroom quiche.

Jasmine Tea, yes we had two pots to drink!

The art decoration here are pretty cool.

and plenty of food variety

Our hotel suite is really nice but you can read more about that in the review.

Our first stop after checking in was the famous Haji Lane where we stopped at our new favorite place, Good Luck, to have a couple of local beers. We could have walked here but the sky was overcast and dark and we did not want to get soaked so we Grab’d it.

As the name implies, our beer was indeed happy, crisp and dry.

We only stopped for beer but the cool owner insisted we try the all beef dog.

So we split one and it was good.

Back at the hotel, we cant help but admire the artwork.

We discovered a nice little welcome gift on our way back.

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Our hotel in KL was the JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur. We chose this hotel because of its proximity to key activities we were planning to do. The hotel is across the street from one of the largest shopping malls here named the Pavilion. The mall has dozens of restaurants and endless shopping and was a 1 minute walk from our hotel.

The staff and service at the hotel was good although a few times at breakfast it seemed to take a while to get coffee. We’re not sure why coffee has to be ordered through the staff during breakfast in Southeast Asia especially since the buffets are all self-service. It would seem to make sense to make coffee self-service as well but that’s a mystery to solve another day.

Like the other Marriott hotels we’ve stayed at throughout SE Asia, the food buffets here offer an endless variety of food. There are more Malaysian options at these buffets than the other hotels we’ve stayed at in southeast Asia. You walk through this cool green tunnel from the hotel to get to the restaurant.

The soup station was my favorite breakfast bar. I loaded up with veggies and then plopped some protein from one of the other bar areas since they only offered seafood here (image below).

My last breakfast meal below in Kuala Lumpur.

Pool area – pretty nice but could use some updating/refresh.

Recommend?

If we return to Kuala Lumpur, we’ll likely stay at the JW Marriott again so we’d recommend it if it fits your itinerary but you should be aware of a few things:

1. We were shocked to learn that this JW Marriott did NOT have a business center. We are doing calls while we are here in Malaysia and they often need to be done late at night. At other Marriott hotels in SE Asia we used the business center and had an office or room to make those calls, we were provided access to the Executive Lounge and used an area in there to take calls late however this area closes at 11:45 p.m. so be aware if you need a late night spot to make phone calls late at night.
2. The Executive Lounge had lackluster food options during afternoon time. We had egg and salmon tiny sandwiches which weren’t bad but the menu didn’t change from day to day. The desert and cereal snack options also never changed day to day while we were there. They weren’t bad just repetitive.
3. The breakfast buffet, while huge and loaded with great food, didn’t seem to have enough staff to service the volume of people coming into the restaurant in the morning. On several occasions it took 10+ minutes to get our coffee. The problem was worse early in the morning as opposed to after 8 a.m. On our last day, we found the coffee machine and just served ourselves coffee.

The hotel is located in a great part of Kuala Lumpur and the staff and service was excellent and the only minor issue we had was during breakfast. We didn’t have any issues at the Executive Lounge or anywhere else. The hotel is located close to restaurants, shopping, and other entertainment so it’s a great central location if it’s your first time visiting or you want to be in the heart of the city.

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We spent the day with a friend in Mayalsia who introduced us to a great restaurant at the Pavilion Mall and gave us a tour around the city.

But before that we stopped by our Hello Laundry to pick up two loads of laundry. Great service and great prices!

Walk along the Petronas Towers

Great park area!

The Suria KLCC Mall (image below) near the Petronas Towers.

The best local ice cream is at a shop in the Suria Mall.

After ice cream we headed to the KL Tower but it was closed for repair so we opted to go back to our hotel room and hang out in the pool.

For Dinner we decided to head back to the Pavilion mall and eat where we had lunch at Serai because the food was so good. It’s a fusion of Malaysian cuisine with others. The image below is Beef Rendang Penne which is a merger of Malay and Italian cuisine.

Awesome drinks at Serai.

We finished the evening with ice cream from Baskin Robbins in the mall.

Categories: Kuala Lumpur
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While in Phuket, we stayed at Le Meridien Beach Resort (a Marriott Property) and we really enjoyed out stay and the facilities. This is a fairly large sprawling resort nestled in a cove between two jungled mountains.

The landscaping was immaculate during our stay.

As Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members we were upgraded to a nicer suite with a huge patio balcony.

This is a panoramic image from our huge balcony.

We had a view of the ocean to the west and view to the mountains & jungle to the north, east, and south.

This hotel has multiple restaurants and shops within the “campus” and we weren’t able to eat at all the restaurants but we never had a bad meal. Breakfast is free for platinum members so we gorged ourselves on the endless varieties of foods served in the morning.

Like most hotels we’ve stayed at, there are different types of foods to accommodate a wide ranges of tastes and dietary requirements including middle east, Asian, western and vegetarian.

Lots of options, you won’t go hungry here.

Plenty of cook to order foods as well.

Specialty foods. Pots below had Indian or Chinese dishes.

Large semi-private white sand beach with plenty of seating, umbrellas and palm trees. Bar nearby serving up alcoholic drinks and fresh squeezed juices and smoothies. During dinner, there was a live band and a dance show. We’re not sure if they do this every night but we were lucky to arrive just as they were starting and it was fun to watch.

Recommend?

The facilities, staff, food, and entertainment were all great. Having a semi-private somewhat isolated beach was also a big plus so if you’re looking for a quiet semi-private and isolated place, this is a great spot.

If however you intend on socializing with others in bars, clubs, or eating out you should be aware that this hotel is a bit isolated from the main city center areas and you’ll need some type of transportation to get to those spots from this hotel. This hotel also has a policy of NOT allowing outside food (e.g. Grab food delivery) onto their premises so if you like ordering take out, beware.

There are tours and transportation you can reserve with guest services and it may be at a cost, we had a car so we didn’t use any of those services. Also note that this hotel is located about 45 minutes (via car) from the main Phuket airport so plan arrival and departure accordingly.

There is a small mini-market, laundry, restaurant and two massage places right outside the hotel’s boundary within walking distance should you need variation or snacks.

Categories: Phuket
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