A Successful Dinosaur Hunt!

1st stop HKIA

As said a few months ago, I was travelling to Singapore & Hong Kong in mid August. One of the objectives was hunting for some collectible Transformers. The then (there is actual news as of September '13) very hard to find Masterpieces were among them. De citytrip started with a four-days stop in Lion City Singapore.

Botanical Gradens

My brother hasn't been in Singapore yet. Since the city has much in common with it's rival city Hong Kong, it was both a new and familiar experience for him. Aside from the usual sightseeings, we were also hunting for TF collectibles.
Our first attempt was at the Funan Digital Life Mall. Although it is a mall for electronics, there are some good shops to get some TF's. My brother got his superbargain: Encore 05 Ratchet for SG$ 25,00 (about US$ 19,00).
I also got my Encore 18 Skids.

1st batch

The next day we got our first Hasbro Masterpiece, Thundercracker at the Toys 'R Us in Harbour Front - Vivio City. We were planning to get this one in HK, but the price was also lower than expected, so we picked up this one here. On the third day we went to the famous China Square Central. This mall has a somewhat steryle impression. We got there actually too early. Like in HK, the shops aren't open untill noon. But we had to go in for some cover as it was raining outside. We decided to come back later that day/evening.
Guess what......I found my piece of gold MISB at the shop: Ace Ventura (2nd floor).

Gundam docks at Hong Kong

The same day my brother found his MISB MP-08 Grimlock at the MRT location of Simply Toys! We were both very happy to get these MP's since they are hard to find in MISB for half the price on ebay! After these acquisitions, our city-trip was a success already and there was much more to come.

Barely surviving the shipment per AIR!

The total amount of collectibles is quite a long list. I'll put it on the bottom of this blog. In Dragon City Hong Kong we bumped on the Gundam statue at Times Square (Causeway bay). The project Gundam docking at HK was running from July 26th till the 1st of September. We got a lot of TF's and Gunpla hobby stuff at Mongkok area (Hobbybase at Sino Centre) and at In's Point (Yau Ma Tei). Our main targets are Masterpieces (from MP-08 on till current issues. The pre-MP-08 issues are in my opinion not worth collecting, since I want them all in de same scale), TF Encore G1, Generations/United, Henkei and Classics. I also picked up a few MP's I already owned, but this was just for my webshop Morgenroete Inc. to resale.

Totalled box of MP-12, shame on you HK Post!

The MP-09 Hotrod/Rodimus Convoy was also a bargain in a set of 2 consisting MP-09 & MP-10. The most valuable items were carried in my suitcase, but a large batch had to be shipped per Airpost by HK Post. They have dissapointed me. The M4 package arrived in terrible condition and the box was nearly totalled although the box was very strong by itself. Luckily, my brother advised me to let the items in their respective plastic bags!!! So the damage was reduced to some Encore boxes (Devastator) and 1 MP-12 Lambor. This was a bummer, because it was an item to sell. I had to reduce my asking price since the item wasn't MISB anymore. The outerbox was damaged, but luckily the item itself was in perfect condition. 

Aside from the TF huntings, I got some other stuff like MGS - Legacy Collection for PS3, Some Gunpla, an extra battery for the DSLR and a 1:43 scale model car of the Super GT - Xanavi Nismo Z.


So the conclusion for the hunt this summer is a successful one. Especially my hunt for the Dinobot Grimlock MP-08! It was truely a good Dino-hunting!

Below are some impressions and items acquired.
You can click on the images to enlarge.Sorry for the last picture which is somewhat blurry.

 

HK skyline seen from ICC (Kowloon West)

CBD Singapore

Comfortable flights

Encore & Giant Type-61!

Dutch glory Doutzen Kroes!

 

Size difference G1 & Giant-Type 61!

Generations VC + DC & G1

2nd batch!

Whole bunch (both)

   

    







Listing:
TF Masterpiece
- MP-08 Grimlock
- MP-09 Hot Rod/ Rodimus Convoy
- MP-10 Convoy (for sale)
- MP-12 Lambor (for sale)
- MP-12T Tigertracks
- MP-14 Red Alert
- Hasbro MP - Thundercracker

Encore/G1/Classics/Universe/Commemorative series
- Devastator (Encore 20)
- Skids (Encore 18)
- Hoist (Encore 14)
- Insecticons (all 3 - Universe G1)
- Astrotrain (Commemorative)
- Wincharger (G1 loose)

Generations/United
- Tracks (United)
- Warpath (United)
- Springer (voyager class)
- Sandstorm (voyager class)
- Jazz (Deluxe class)

3rd party & misc.
- TFC - Uranos : Blackbird + Phantom ray
- TF Autobot bag

City trip Hong Kong SAR - 2 (Flight)

From July 4th till July 12th I have been doing a short City trip to Hong Kong SAR with John, a friend of mine. The idea to guide him in HK rose way back in 2004, but there wasn't a real opportunity till this summer.
Since John is a KLM employee, he is allowed to take a companion with him and travel with reduced fares. For € 196,00 (US$ 275,00) we were able to have a return flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong.
The other side of traveling this way, is that you are on the waiting list. So, you're stand-by. If there are people who don't show up or the flight is not fully booked, we're in. Leaving with empty seats is not an option, so the economy people who are overbooked will be upgraded to the World Business Class and if there are stand-by travellers, they can also boarding.
We were not that fortunate. We were only travel with these flights on the jump-seat, due to overbooking.

These seats are used by the flight attendants only for take off and landing, but are far from comfortable.
Well, at least we are going to HK! But the crew was very relaxed and made any efforts (well, almost any) to comfort us during the flight.
They even offered their crew seat (3rd pic), which was much more comfortable than the M-class (economy) version, but not as good as the WBC version. Besides, it was a stand alone seat, so there wasn't anyone to bother you.
Except for the seat, we've had almost a WBC treatment. Due to the available space, the crew even gave me a galley-container to support my legs as I could stretch these fully to take a nap. During the 11 hours, I had a deep sleep for 6,5 hours. I can't remember to have slept this much during a flight!
At the end of both flights we reveived an attention from the crew. This attention was the famous KLM-house and only prohibited to travellers in the WBC. Nice!!
These poclain miniature houses are replica's (with a real adress) of real ancient houses which were built throughout The Netherlands (Like Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Alkmaar, Arnhem, Deventer etc.) during their Golden Age from approx. 1550-1650. These miniatures are filled with Bols Jenever (a Dutch liquor and precursor to gin made from Juniper berries)
During the flight, the attendants provided us with loads of snacks and drinks and took some time to make a chat. My brother was also on board on the flight back to Amsterdam.
The last few years I heard a lot of negative complaints about the cabin crew. KLM flight attendants would be very snobbish or not very polite.
I have been flying KLM for more than 25 years and I cannot share the above. All the flights the attendants did their job properly. Alright, the atractiveness is not like Cathay Pacific crew (which some of them are very atractive), but that is not an issue of importancy.

What are your experiences with cabin crews? (all airlines)