{"id":3791,"date":"2023-06-24T22:35:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-24T22:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=3791"},"modified":"2023-06-24T22:35:56","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T22:35:56","slug":"sabbatical-week-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=3791","title":{"rendered":"Sabbatical Week 30"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Partial week to end this wonderful journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lazy start of the day to have one last Polish Pork Knuckle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
$21 with a drink<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Took a long walk along the river bank to the beer festival in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Quite diverse restaurant choices (Pan Asian), but I don’t see any Asians working there<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
There’s a lot of people, needless to say the choice of beers is also phenomenal (over 300?). Everyone speaks great English and this is definitely not a tourist place<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The festival was at a Stadium, of course too bad, there’s no game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Sun wasn’t setting until 930pm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quick dinner at a Vietnamese place<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Unfortunate, despite the high reviews and owners being Vietnamese. The Pho was probably the worst I’ve got. The broth tastes like instant broth and beef isn’t fresh which led me to have diarrhea for days<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Back to the Train station again to take the fast train to Warsaw – Capitol of Poland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The train was fully packed and it’s a bit pricy a bit over $40 for a short 2hr ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Decided to hop on to the dining car to get a coffee and some soup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
I believe this is called “\u017bUREK” with sausages. The sourness is actually quite nice and appetizing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Warsaw definitely felt more like a mega city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I decided to finally take some history lesson by partaking in a WW2 tour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Tombs of the unknowns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Uprising momument<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Warsaw just doesn’t have many interesting things to see and talk about other than the Uprising. The Uprising is historical due to the fact it was one of the few rebellions against the Nazis which led to Hitler to issue decree to burn the city completely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately the Uprising Museum wasn’t open, it was actually the only thing I wanted to see other than just flying out form Warsaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Later I took a stroll around the river bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Met a guy from Belarus who’s working remotely in Poland. He suggested I should visit his country despite all the negativity towards it. Very friendly person, also shows that geopolitics has no place in tourism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a quick pizza dinner (I didn’t take pictures), it was surprisingly good and filling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last full day, and short day as well. It was just an Old Town and a museum tour, then shopping for souvenirs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Before the warand after the war. Note, Warsaw was completely rebuilt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The most narrow house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
City square.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Again, the tour wasn’t too much of an interest. Warsaw just doesn’t have much to offer despite having 700year history. It surely got the newest castle and neo gothic church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One interesting thing was the first woman Nobel Prize winner – Marie Curie. Not only she won the prize twice, but also in two different fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The museum was free to enter with an audio guide. It’s surprisingly well presented (I forget to take pictures). Interestingly, the museum was converted from a girl school. She was a women-rights advocate righteous remembered more in her contribution towards progression in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later on, I had lunch with a Japanese. He’s on a much strict budget so I decided to treat him. It’s also my last lunch in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I finally got to eat the stuffed cabbage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tally was $55.79 for about 9 drinks and 2 dishes. Not bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After finishing shopping, I decided to eat at the same chain but closer to my hotel again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Last tripe soup (FLAKI), I will be sure miss it a lot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I wasn’t too hungry, so ordering 2 dishes ($20.84 with a beer) perhaps was a bit overkill. The beef tartar wasn’t really bad, but I was just not in the mood to eat anything raw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Flying day – a very long day<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
First leg was from WAW – LHR. The economy seat is so spacious that puts all American carriers to shame. It even offered a complimentary sandwich and beverage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Take off<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Green energy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Landing in LHR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the reason why I chose this flight was to 1. check out LHR, since I’ve never been to London 2. United Polaris class<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(the flight costed me 56k Amex points plus $142.85 in fees, definitely a decent redemption)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
First was to check out the Singapore Airline lounge – to have one last southeast Asian food. It’s nice to have 4 star-alliance lounges next to each other. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Boarded my flight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
You can probably notice that the seat isn’t clean..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Menus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dinner service<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Desert is surprisingly the highlight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Breakfast – couscous<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was a bit disappointed towards the flagship product, despite being branded one the best business class in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Odd-number seat facing outwards, so a bit lack of privacy. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. maintenance issue – having huge stains in the most obvious location is just negligence. On top, the headphone jack wasn’t working half the flight. I had to inform the flight attendant 3 times to get it fixed eventually fixed (after system reset) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Food is a single tray serving, this definitely don’t feel premium. Alcohol choices feels economy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    That being said, there are a few upsides<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Flight attendants are friendly and decently attentive. (Comparing to other European carriers, Americans just do be better in this regard)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. The deserts are the highlight. The entertainment system is probably the best I’ve seen, lots choices of movies. (though the device connect doesn’t work.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"
      I think that’s lake Tahoe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"
      Landing in SFO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Despite stayed awake for 24 hours, the last leg to SEA was exciting and came with some spectacular views<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"
      Puget Sound<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      My friend picked me up from the Airport and we grabbed some tacos quickly (yes, inflation is real 5 tacos for $17). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      ———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Of course home sweet home, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised to see growth of my lawns<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      In the next days I will be posting summary of entire trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Expenses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Week 30<\/td>Currency:<\/td>PLN<\/td>4.073712<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
      Day<\/td>Food&Drink<\/td>Lodging<\/td>Transportation<\/td>Other (tickets\/tours etc)<\/td>Day total<\/td><\/tr>
      1<\/td>$56.02<\/td>$50.92<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$7.88<\/td>$114.82<\/td><\/tr>
      2<\/td>$21.43<\/td>$91.81<\/td>$43.45<\/td>$12.34<\/td>$169.02<\/td><\/tr>
      3<\/td>$83.89<\/td>$91.81<\/td>$2.03<\/td>$44.11<\/td>$221.83<\/td><\/tr>
      4<\/td>$21.78<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$142.85<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$164.63<\/td><\/tr>
      5<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td><\/tr>
      6<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td><\/tr>
      7<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td><\/tr>
      <\/td>$183.12<\/td>$234.53<\/td>$188.32<\/td>$64.33<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
      <\/td>Total<\/td><\/td>Grand Total:<\/td>$670.30<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Partial week to end this wonderful journey. Day 1 Lazy start of the day to have one last Polish Pork Knuckle Took a long walk along the river bank to the beer festival in town. Quick dinner at a Vietnamese place Day 2 Back to the Train station again to take the fast train to… Continue reading Sabbatical Week 30<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3832,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3791\/revisions\/3832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}