Circle around Asia via Singapore, Japan and Palau.

[henrus]

I bring the latest of my crazy adventures, Singapore, Japan and Palau all in 11 days.

Planning for this started back in August last year. Qantas was devaluing reward seats on 5 Aug and it started as a search for reward seats leaving Australia to somewhere in Asia for the Easter break. I could take leave 3-12 April and despite having QF Platinum I wasn’t able to request reward seats on what I had in mind out of Brisbane. My two other criteria was all daytime flights and ideally extra legroom seats if in Economy.

I’d left the searches to the last minute but with just hours to the devaluing I found a BA economy reward seat from Sydney to Singapore which paired nicely with a QF BNE-SYD reward seat. Now I’ve been to Singapore plenty of times and whilst a lovely place to visit I wanted to go somewhere different and had ideas on either Laos, somewhere new in China or more of Malaysia and Thailand. The pacific was also in mind but again a lack of reward seats and me not wanting to pay sky high prices for a flight out on Good Friday, Singapore it was to start with.

I also had Palau in mind but the Easter Saturday BNE-ROR wasn’t cheap however the return Sunday 12 April came in at ~AU$400 so I snagged that with the plan of somehow getting from Singapore to Palau.

To Palau it was either going to be United or China Airlines. United flies a large number of routes around the Pacific including 3 destinations into Palau so I figured I’d start with those routes but fares were sky high north of $1k for a 3-4 hour flight and after lots of searching I found a reward seat via KrisFlyer for NRT to ROR. Finally Singapore to Japan was the last ticket booked and amazingly Cathay came in cheapest at ~$500 one way on 2x daytime flights with a nice 4 hour connection in Hong Kong.

All in Economy for about $1300 plus some 38,200 QF points and 13,500 SQ miles (transferred from VA), the final route booked was BNE-SYD-SIN-HKG-HND/NRT-ROR-BNE.

 

[henrus]

Now the first criteria of all day time flights had been met attention turned to seating. On BNE-SYD I’d booked row 6 (which at the time was just a regular economy seat), British Airways and Cathay provide Oneworld Emerald with free exit row seats, on United I paid US$50 (AU$76) for the exit row and finally for ROR-BNE I’d selected seat 5A once again a normal seat, row 4 was available for US$100 but I figured I’d just wait and see closer to departure.

Fast forward a couple of months and in early November 2025 Qantas introduced Economy Plus seating so my row 5 seat became extra legroom plus I was able to change BNE-SYD also to row 5.

Finally about a month before departure family was heading to Sydney and I managed to get two reward seats via a request, BNE-SYD on the same flight. The helpful Fiji based agent did the booking and also linked my booking to their seating us all in row 5 economy plus with their booking also getting my group 1.

Next up with 10 nights away, hotels became the next search 2 nights in Singapore, 3x nights in Japan and 4x nights in Palau.

In Singapore I had one remaining stay plus from Accor which under the old system (effectively purchased for $214) meaning one free night of which the Swissôtel was available however they wanted over $600 for the second night so ended up booking that for one night and then trying the Mercure on Stevens for the next (a new one for me). Tokyo was more expensive than normal and I couldn’t figure out why until someone pointed out it’s cherry blossom season so I initially had plans to spend one night in Tokyo then into the mountains. Finally Palau I’d initially booked the Ocean Star Hotel for about AU$200 per night.

Over the coming months I made a couple of small changes first up was scrapping the Ocean Star and booking at the Palau Royal Resort in which direct was AU$350 per night.

The second change was about 2 months before travelling I randomly looked at Suntory Yamazaki to see if I could get a tasting time slot and much to my surprise I was able to secure one the morning after my arrival in Tokyo, plans then changed and I booked a JAL flight down from Haneda to Osaka which now meant a night near Haneda, then I booked with my Qantas hotels $50 voucher from Qantas points club a hotel in Kyoto followed by a night in Tokyo.

Despite initially getting a confirmation screen and code just minutes after booking the Kyoto hotel I got an email from Qantas hotels saying the booking was now pending and with me stupidly booking late at night when all support was closed it was a wait until tomorrow situation. Without me asking the next morning I got an email saying they were looking into it and they’d get back to me in 24 hours, well 24 hours passed then did 48 and finally I got impatient only to call and be told they’re still working on it (at this time the hotel was still available for booking on QF hotels website) it then was almost a week until I was told it was full and they couldn’t honour the booking.

I landed a refund as a credit of my voucher plus extra payment so had $70ish to spend plus a brand next extra $50 voucher to apologise for the stuff up. Annoyingly you can only use one voucher at a time so I ended up using one in Osaka instas then rebooking the Tokyo option using the other.

Anyway enough of the pre ramble, now onto the trip…

 

[henrus]

Day 1 - Brisbane to Singapore

I hate morning flights but having been burnt last Easter by a delayed BNE-SYD causing me to miss QF11 and end up spending the night in Sydney followed by AA instead, this time around I booked a ~4hr transit. This meant an 8:20am flight on Good Friday but luckily with family in tow got a lift to the airport. The premium entry was operating as usual and the business lounge was maybe 30% full with nothing special going on except a few hot cross buns.

Boarding started 45 mins before departure, very early for a 737 using both doors but thanks to this was done very early despite being a full flight. The whole flight was uneventful, wifi worked and I had a bottle of water. Hot food in economy was eggs in a box but having just had a bite in the lounge passed. We landed early and taxied from the end of the far runway. Now I normally wouldn’t but I ended up going to the QF domestic business lounge upon arrival to have a chat and another coffee before we went seperate ways. The domestic business lounge was quite empty and despite being Good Friday normal spread of food and drinks.

My timing was excellent because after an hour I trundled down to the transfer bus which arrived just as I did however we spent a lot of time waiting for an A380 to tow so it wasn’t a very quick journey, I refreshed the BA app mainly to see gate as at this point I only had a QF digital boarding pass for the BA flight which would have worked but missing some info like gate/group and noticed my seat had changed, now 18E I must admit I was actually annoyed as previously I had an economy exit row aisle seat so thought I’d been shafted but turns out this was an upgrade to premium economy but in a middle seat. Initially I had no plan to swing by the BA desk but I went to see if that could be at least switched for an aisle or window otherwise I was probably going to ask to be downgraded but thankfully 17F was still available. Interestingly BA check in actually pointed me to the QF first lounge as I’d seen elsewhere that others were being directed to the House. One other thing is other than the boarding pass not once did they mention the upgrade:


There were zero queues through security/passport control and finally I was up to a reasonably busy F lounge but still able to get a table in the corner by the window. Started off with a champagne still lallier then ordered the squid and cheese to start followed by the steak and finally cake. Service was below average having to constantly flag down someone for refills but I still managed a negroni, applewood gin (acquired from the bar myself) and then A lark on the rocks. A couple of years ago I also passed through on Good Friday and they were serving Grange but sadly nothing special going on today.





I had grand plans to quickly enter the house on the way to the gate mainly just to check it out (the only SYD lounge I’ve not visited) but despite the best intentions leaving the QF lounge about 20 mins before the printed boarding time the terminal screens showed BA16 as boarding so I figured might just head over to the gate just in case they’d started early and not only had they started early I was one of the last onboard despite arriving 10 mins before boarding time and 30 mins before gate closing time (sorry to BA fans didn’t get to see if they did a group zero boarding). Oddly no announcement was made in the QF F lounge but clearly everyone made it as it was finished shortly after I got seated. Annoyingly we pushed back almost on time due to paperwork delays and congestion.

Now BA premium economy wasn’t the intention and I hadn’t ever flown BA long haul before. Pre departure drinks in real glasses of sparkling wine, juice and water were passed out with a paper menu and amenity kits (socks/eyeshade/toothbrush/pen/lip balm). Credit to BA this 787 had no wifi and multiple emails before departure plus even an onboard announcement made this fact very clear.

Now I never expect anything special but interestingly the cabin manger did walk around and greet a few people in Y and PE plus they ended up with a glass of champagne after take off, now clearly Oneworld Emerald doesn’t make the cut here so perhaps BA gold or gold guest list?

 

[henrus]

Photos a little out of order but pre boarding drink:


After take off, the BA787 glides over the Bogan River


and I’ll just leave this one here (no I’ve not clicked to a different page):


Once off crew sprung into action with a drinks service which was very generous everyone around ordering spirits got multiple minis but I landed on the Brewdog beer which was average this “special” IPA had actual orange flavour added (said so on the side of the can) which made it taste a bit funny and English consistency it was served warm with a small bag of chive pretzels.

Lunch followed and I picked the pasta which looked like someone had thrown up on it but was tasty enough. No clue if this was the same menu as economy but everything was served on glassware.



The old Thalysis BA entertainment system is cough and slow so spent a few hours watching downloaded YouTube followed by a nap, a deep enough sleep my Apple Watch actually recorded it unprompted. Pre landing in Singapore a snack of a cheese pastry was served (I think also a meat option but wasn’t very clear) and amazingly a very direct route in and landed early into T1. On today’s BA16 about 65% of those onboard continued to London but I went down to a very empty immigration and was in a grab about 10 mins after landing.

 

[AIRwin]

One other thing is other than the boarding pass not once did they mention the upgrade

A few weeks back I noticed the BA flight was already fully booked when I was looking at options to SIN on the same day so I expected that there will be op ups on the day

 

[henrus]

Check in at the Mercure on Stevens was smooth and without asking was offered a 2pm late check out, pointed to where breakfast was and also told the bar for welcome drink is next door in the Novotel and open until 10pm.



Room was fine, welcome amenity some packed tea/coffee powder a bit of an odd one but nonetheless interesting. I ended up redeeming a beer from the bar which had a live band going.





Now as mentioned at the start I’ve been to Singapore lots and sure could have flown out the next morning leaving a very short stay, but not wanting back to back flights I ended up with a whole day in Singapore. Good intentions didn’t go to plan as I was thinking a grab to Windsor followed by the tree top walk but ended up spending the morning by the pool instead. Oddly I went to breakfast down at Winestone the location suggested last night at check in however upon giving my room number was told sure I can have it there but the better option with more variety was actually food exchange in the Novotel so after that helpful suggestion went up there without fuss, they even had reserved tables for Accor platinum/diamond.

A recommendation I think years ago from @AIRwin and place I was keen to try out was Level33, the highest urban brewery in the world. So a quick grab over and up to the 33rd floor to a nice table outside I got about two photos and ordered before it poured rain but still a nice view from inside. Beer flight and seafood platter (a very nice one I must add) a tad on the pricy side but very nice overall.





A grab back to the Mercure I packed up and got a grab over to the Swissôtel where could check in no problems at 1:30ish (about 90 mins before usual check in time). Upon entering I did mention that I’m platinum, last time they directed me up to the lounge but this time it was just done in the lobby (no biggie and no option but I didn’t press the question), was also proactively offered a late check out which I declined as it wasn’t needed. I’ve stayed here before and was once again on a high floor (60th with a nice view), fun fact when it opened in the late 80s the hotel was the tallest hotel in the world. No amenity was in the room at the time I guess due to the early check in.

The Welcome drink voucher can be redeemed at a variety of places but the more fancy establishments like the roof top location it can only be used whilst dining not at the bar. My go to is the Stamford brassiere where a glass of champagne is allowed, pommery on offer.



I also went for a stroll through the shops downstairs and a beer across the road at little island brewing south beach location (I’ve been over to the original at Changi point many times). I actually ended up returning an hour or so later having a beer with @AIRwin and Nick.

I managed to catch the end of the coughtail hour which lasts 2 hours until 7:30pm and far out this place was a zoo, given club rooms on the night of stay were upwards of $1k they need to improve this. Food was going so fast and not a coughtail in sight, cheap red, average spirits, no seats and amusingly the beer Tiger and Heineken was self serve as you went behind the bar and poured it yourself. During the day there is usually staff behind the bar and they’ll sell you a beer for SG$17 plus tax.

 

[henrus]

In the shops in SGD some Aussie drinks:







View from Level65 lounge:


Lounge drinks:

 

[henrus]

The next morning was an evil 5am start, not the worst given I’m still in Brisbane time but still early, I could have taken a later Cathay flight but that would have cut the transit time in HK missing out on any lounge time. A quick grab and no queue at T4.

First time in the Cathay Singapore lounge which is same style as their others but they get a tick from me as individual bottled water and also self service Moët was to be found in the fridge.



They announced boarding in the lounge (once again earlier than printed) and with the long walk down there they’d already started and well through the process. CX treats oneworld emeralds very well and so on boarding a blanket was waiting, had a blocked seat in the exit row next to me, was given a bottle of Evian and then meal order taken on the ground, once the meal service started I was given the potatoes/eggs/sausage first before any other meals were handed out. Wifi didn’t work on this flight, the network existed but wouldn’t load the connection page.

We left Singapore early and landed about on time. Was quite rough for the last bit of the flight into Hong Kong and avoided some weather:


The gate 43 arrival made for a perfect transit at the 42 security and luckily the pier isn’t far away. I went for lunch right away a nice corner table but service was terrible (luck and the draw). Despite the service I managed the salad and tasting menu (same as my last visit February 2025) plus some drinks.

Pier tasting menu:


Pier regular menu:


Pier drinks:


Pier Food:


As a side note the peir at the bar has a different food menu:



I had a quick shower and then went for a walk, next stop the QF lounge.

 

[henrus]

Upon entering the QF lounge staff despite being local no joke had a slight Aussie accent (clearly sees too many before the evening rush) but first order was the bar where I spotted 3x types of bottles of the local gin Two Moons, for context this is served at the CX first lounges but only the classic so the tea gin was a nice change plus the yum cha cart was doing the rounds at 2pm. A local brewery sour was in the fridge so that also got a try. The dumplings at the QF lounge were excellent better than I’ve had at many restaurants plus the regular buffet in CX Lounge HK (and CX Singapore) plus lots of great salads and health food along with good drinks (sure no champagne as it’s under the counter for the chosen few) but I’m much more impressed about a local craft beer sour then a a glass of champagne . Anyway back to lounges if you’ve got Oneworld sapphire of flying business class this is actually the place to be in Hong Kong. Most of the day the QF lounge is quiet but has better food and in the afternoon the dumplings trolley plus from about 4ish the plate of the day.







After a surprisingly pleasant time in the QF lounge I exited the back door directly to the deck, currently operating as a CX F lounge. Staff here were top notch and super friendly much better than the pier with a limited menu and same drinks as the pier but stuffed from the pier and QF lounge I ended up with just a glass of champagne and snapped a photo of the menu.





It was about at this point I had 40 mins prior to boarding and with a 60ish gate headed back to the other end of the terminal. First stop the bridge which is a good business lounge (bar menu below, food is via buffet) and the excellent staff very confused by my attendance but understood when I said just for a look at the “new” lounge. I spent about 3 mins top then retreated back to the pier first then finally for the 4th time this trip a boarding that had started way too early once again making me board towards the end of boarding despite rocking up on the printed boarding time.



This second flight was fine but the crew were quite robotic and no pillows insight so when the cabin manager appeared I asked for one which showed up not long after. Meal mainly for photos was cough I picked out the seafood and left the pasta but all was good with plenty of Betsy on hand (2nd pasta of the trip that looked like someone had vomited on it). Wifi didn’t work until the 2nd half of the flight but at ~au$20 for the remaining 1.5 hours of flight I passed.





The rest of the flight was smooth and soon enough we landed on time in Tokyo. Immigration was a total mess, the worst I’ve seen in Japan ever (and for context the last 10 years I’ve been through Japan every year at least once even 20/21). First up everyone was sent to a kiosk where you scanned your passport, took a photo and index fingers plus scanned the QR code for arrival, this gave an entry letter. Then joined another queue for ABCD entry, I had letter A what ever that meant but with everyone in the same queue it made no difference, about 35 mins later I finally got to a desk where they scanned my passport once and put the sticker in, in total 40 mins to get through. Now the initial plan was 3 nights in Tokyo but I randomly looked at Suntory Yamazaki and was able to get a self guided tour/tasting time so now needed to get to Osaka. In theory I should have called Cathay and asked them to rebook me to Osaka as they’d done billion schedule changes so probably could have got a refund at the very least. Anyway stupidly I didn’t do that so ended up booking a flight from Haneda to Osaka for about $120 the next morning, this now meant a night near the airport followed by one night in the Kansai area and one night back in Tokyo. The cheapest and easiest was actually the First Cabin, a capsule hotel but you can stand up inside. $86 for the night in the same terminal as the domestic flight and my luck was perfect as after finally clearing immigration the terminal transfer bus was right outside and left seconds after I boarded. It amazingly dropped me on the same level and right outside the first cabin and not long after I was asleep.

Not my photo stolen from First Cabins website to give you an idea:

It isn't my first choice but for connivence and price it just can't be beaten.

 

[henrus]

In a somewhat risky move for my 7:30am flight to Osaka I set my alarm for 6:30am, but was no problem as quickly getting ready and just a single escalator upstairs where I quickly located the JAL diamond security (for first class and oneworld emerald). One of the two JAL lounge is closed and apparent they’ve got capacity issues (or so the live capacity indicator said) so with just 15 mins before boarding I went directly to the gate. Flight was quick, they served water/juice/coffee, wifi was free and worked with amazingly this 767 fitted with usb C power.

Great views out the window:


Osaka:


Upon arrival in Osaka first order of business was find an ATM and some breakfast both solved on the ground floor by Lawson and a 7/11 ATM. Then it was off for the hour odd trip to Yamazaki. It involved one change but finally I was there and arrived not long after opening which was excellent as I ended up being 2nd for tasting and despite signage saying 3 drinks per person they happily poured four. Total tasting about $100 but I think all but one of the 4 bottles retails for over $1k, all were excellent.

 

[henrus]

My original plan was to head to Kyoto but last minute change of plan as I’d heard Yoshino about 1 hour from Osaka by train was in full bloom with cherry blossoms everywhere.

I had a quick lunch at Sushizanmai and left my bag at the hotel then set off via train.


Oddly I couldn’t get a reserved seat ticket on the fancier express train out to Yoshino so the trip ended up being around 90 mins with a change however whilst sitting on the first train I was able to secure a reserved seat for the trip back. Both trains out were basically empty but as it was getting closer to 3pm a there were massive crowds heading back to Osaka and at 5:30pm when I got my train back the regular service was packed. Yoshino was excellent (I had been here over 10 years ago) and started with the cable car up but followed a walk around the village and then walk back down the trail to the station. I ended up with about 30 mins before boarding so was able to sneak in a beer and buy a second one for the train.













An hour later I was back in Osaka where I started and checked in at the hotel. This was the same chain capsule hotel as last night that cost a total of $2.85 thanks to the extra $50 Qantas voucher.

This time around it was a larger "room", which for AU$2.85 can't complain, they've got a nice Japanese bath and given once again I'd set off early the next morning it ticked the box.

Once again photo from first cabin website:

 

[henrus]

The next morning it was a quick trip on the Osaka subway up to Shin Osaka. I hadn’t pre-booked any Shinkansen tickets to Tokyo so was just going to wing it and see what was available or worst case pick a train that originates in Osaka (about every 2nd-3rd heading for Tokyo do) then line up early for a non reserved seat. Amazingly the latter wasn’t required and in a stuff it moment paid the extra ~$40 for the green car selecting a train leaving in about 20 minutes. Total cost for the journey ended up being $170, worth the money especially since the seat next to me remained empty the entire trip. A few hours later I’d made it to Shinjuku, leaving the luggage at the hotel then off for lunch once again at the same sushi chain.

A very empty green car to Tokyo:


The rest of the day involved shopping around Shibuya and Harijuku followed by a few brewery visits. OL Oslo Brewing, Inkhorn, Cycad (a new one for me) and Two Fingers (in their new location).



Overnight used up the other Qantas Hotel voucher at the JR Inn Shinjuku, a nice enough view as well:




On purpose a slower wake up and check out a few minute before the very early 10am check out time (I latter learnt if you book direct you get a 12pm check out instead) then the train over to Tokyo station where I left my bags in a locker before catching a train to Ryogoku for a visit to Ichikatsu. This place is a must visit for me every time I’m in Tokyo as the tonkatsu is amazing, from the outside there is no English and the entire place is very unassuming. They do have an English menu however they don’t speak much English, is cash only but you’ll leave impressed but the quality.



Now on a previous trip I forgot how far Narita was and almost missed my Air Calin flight to Noumea however this time I had a specific Narita express in mind and even bought a limited express ticket at the vending machine at Ryogoku station which meant once back at Tokyo station I only had 40 mins to kill until departure so ended up just roaming around the attached department store before heading downstairs to the underground platforms for the Narita express.

The ride was quick enough and soon after I was at T1, annoying the United app didn’t let me check in nor did the kiosk so off I went to the United area was packed as they send out around 8 flights within a couple of hours however check in was quick enough at the premier access queue and I was through security via the star alliance gold track line shortly after. First stop was the United club which was huge but also packed. As I’d changed over my frequent flyer number from Virgin Platinum to Star Alliance Gold I also could access the Turkish lounge which ended up being closer to the gate so after 30 mins in the United club I headed down to the Turkish lounge which was about half full, it turns out this used to be an ANA Suites lounge and the space hasn’t really changed minus the entrance which has been renovated to Turkish branding plus a good selection of Turkish food. Drinks here were worse than the United Club but food was better, I didn’t make it to the ANA lounge so can’t compare.

Turkish Food:


View from TK Lounge:

 

[henrus]

Flying United to Palau, Boarding was on time and I lucked out with the whole exit row to myself. Much to my surprise United served a half descent full meal service that also came with drinks included despite the priced on the menu.


UA Meal of chicken:




I @Mattg shared this recently but the very cool UA Guam fleet route map:


IFE on these places is cough, technically they are fitted with DirectTV (similar to the old Virgin live2air) however this doesn't work outside the US so instead a couple of looping movies and a map was all you get however every row forward of the exits (exits inclusive) has in seat power.



We landed on time into Palau and was off downstairs to immigration which took ~20mins before out into baggage claim and the exit where I found the hotel driver waiting.

 

[henrus]

Ok now Palau, basically during flight arrivals there is nothing open at the airport except the one or two car rental desks and then those hotels greeting. There are NO taxis, no ATM and no shops/cafes. The ATM did catch me out as I was expecting to get some USD (was tossing up getting at NRT albeit at a cough rate and probably should have). There is free wifi and that's about it.

As mentioned earlier I changed hotel to the Palau Royal Resort and booked the cheapest which happened to be a triple bed room . The hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel costs US$25 and takes around 20mins so I ended up in the room not long after 10pm. This is one of the un renovated rooms but still perfectly fine, the upkeep was good and even had a USB C charger by the bed.

 

[henrus]

So the ATM thing, well the next morning I'd booked a tour with an 8:30am pickup from the hotel out to the Rock Islands. The tour company accepted card but was very clear that US$50 cash was needed for the government permit. I'd asked the hotel bus driver where the ATM was and he mentioned 2x in town about a 3km one way walk from the hotel however asking again at check in revealed the mini mart across the road also had an ATM plus about 3 mins down the road another one in the small shopping area.

I didn't got with the breakfast option and instead the next morning strolled across to the mini mart got some food and also tried to get cash out via the "Pacific Bank" ATM but no matter what card I tried mastercard, visa or even amex not a single one worked, all got a "transaction can't be completed at this time" message, next stop just up the road to the Bank of Guam ATM which just my luck was out of cash so I started walking towards town then after getting almost 1km gave up and headed back to the hotel, I asked at the desk if there were other ATMs nearby and was told nope but could do cash out via card up to $50 with a $2.75 fee (I just wish I was told that earlier as the two ATMs wanted a $6 fee ).

I'd booked through Rock Island Tour Company and it was just three people on the full day tour, myself and two Japanese, one of whom lives in Palau then the boat driver and a guide. Even more annoyingly they could issue the $50 permit via card with a $3 fee so all that searching for nothing .













I must admit I booked this with no research or clue, I'd just asked the hotel what tour company they recommend then emailed the tour company saying what tours do you have on this day but it ended up being excellent. Not only was the small group great, they had ample cold bottled water, a Japanese style lunch bento and stopping at multiple snorkeling places seeing more fish than I'd ever seen before in the water, sharks, rays and turtles.

We didn't get back to the hotel until 4ish which meant beer o'clock over at Drop Off Bar and Grill



I also ended up staying for dinner as it poured for the next hour or two.

 

[henrus]

The following day I did basically nothing, sadly it rained for a bit in the morning but was still good by the pool and resorts beach in the afternoon. I stupidly (or maybe smart) didn't take my phone down there once so no photos but there are hundreds online if you google Palau Royal Resort.

I also thought this was funny at the mini mart across the road, Gold and little creatures.




Lunch at the Palm Bay Bistro:




Which also plays host to the islands only brewery, impressive for the 4th smallest country in the world and only a 18k population.



Red Rooster can be found on tap at basically every hotel and bar plus in cans at the shops:



View from the rooms balcony:


The hotel also has a pond with lots of fish even a turtle so this photo was from the balcony:


I ended up eating dinner next door at the Hungry Marlin which is attached to the Cove Resort.

 

[henrus]

The following day I had plans to rent a car heading out of Koror so had enquired the night before to which I was shown this and said just the cheapest $50 for the day would be fine, it's got to be the strangest rental car booking process ever as all they needed was a time and then I was told to be at reception at that time. I was also asked if I held a "physical license" what ever that means? (maybe no digital ones?)



Sure enough the next morning someone from the car rental places was there with a bit of paperwork, took a photo of the front of my license and then wanted the $50 cash for the day, I was told to return it full and hand the keys to reception when done.

A perfectly fine Mazda got me around but one odd quirk is they drive on the right hand side of the road (like the US/Europe etc) but about 70% of the cars (my estimation) were right hand drives imported from Japan which included mine. Not really an issue when the speed limits in town are ~40km/h and ~60km/h out of town (although confusingly signed in m/h despite my car having a km/h speedo).

First stop...



No just kidding but on a Saturday morning on google maps next door was the only coffee shop I could find open, Cro.Fe. One last stop before leaving town the Bank of Hawaii ATM, which worked first time and no fee!

40 mins later the Ngardmau Waterfalls. US$10 entry and I had the place to myself!










Next stop a look out:



and finally up to Ollei in the north.



In search of lunch I headed South down the west side of the big island coast to "Okemii Deli & Internet Cafe" which nor had internet or was a deli but rather a restaurant where I had this amazing fish.



Final stop was the Parliament, not open on a Saturday but still impressive to walk around and huge given the size of the country.




Back at the hotel just before sunset



That night I gave Krämer’s Bar and Restaurant a try, so ended up eating somewhere different each time which was fine but a bit overpriced and more expensive compared to the nearby places although I did enjoy the last of the sunset from the balcony. Back at the hotel the shuttle to the airport was organised for a 6am departure so I paid the remaining of the bill on the 2x airport transfers.

 

[henrus]

Now I'm going to ramble.

Palau is an amazing place to visit and I'd 100% go back.

Upon arrival you need to complete an online form that generates a QR code (there is no paper option here) plus also show departing flight ticket (I just showed my QF app) and hotel booking (although for me they just accepted me telling them - I did have it). There are NO taxi's full stop anywhere, no uber, no nothing. You must have figured out how to leave the airport before arrival as it did catch some out! Officially non reef safe sunscreen is banned (and an illegal import) and just to be safe I bought some at the mini mart on arrival but there were no strict checks in this regard.

The Hotel was great and appeared to be one of the best around in Palau, the staff were very friendly with many Filipino. My room rate worked out at AU$350 per night tax included booked direct via their website (refundable rate/but no breakfast). It's actually part of the Japanese JAL group hotel chain/harmony one meaning quite a Japanese influence, I signed up for their membership unlocking this rate plus also a welcome drink voucher. Many of the signs were written in Japanese and the hotel restaurant had mostly asian food so I didn't eat at the hotel once. The aircon worked well, room had a dehumidifier (why don't other tropical locations have this), good fast wifi and a nice balcony even though this was an "old room". Side note, the entire resort opened in 2005 so it's good to see they are progressing through a renovation. They had a pool bar oddly open 5pm until 11pm ish (with two for one happy hour 5-7pm), a single restaurant with once again a very asian focused menu that also had an attached indoor bar, room service (similar menu), dive shop, hotel shop and spa.

Across Palau, it's also clear the amount of foreign spending/aid and I'm not talking about just the US$100m defence radar the US gov is building but also the roads were excellent plus airport of amazing quality (Japanese money), huge parliament (Taiwan money). A large number of the visitors were from Japan, Taiwan and HK and whilst the Palau locals are quite tolerant of Australians, Americans and the Japanese they weren't so much of those who were "Chinese" - several Palau locals mentioned how annoying they were and how they kept ignoring the rules, especially in relation to the rock island permits but I'm not quite sure if this is those from HK, Taiwan or mainland China.

Tap water isn't drinkable but the hotel did provide 3x bottles of water per day and it was easy to buy more across the road as the island is peppered with mini marts every 500 meters. Credit card acceptance (even contactless) minus the permit (which turned out to be a non issue) then a few of the attractions when leaving Koror is widespread however it turns out to be harder to get cash then expected (none at the airport, only few in town). As mentioned earlier the single Bank of Hawaii ATM in town outside their branch worked fine and is fee free, all the others charge US$6 if you can get them to work.

Everything is in US dollars and tax is always included in the final price (exactly like our GST), I couldn't figure out the tipping at they all had the same card terminal and half the restaurants would skip the tip screen before I could even say something so I guess it's exactly like Australia in that regard.

Also amazingly they've got two different mobile networks. PNCC (Palau National Communications Corporation) and PMCI (Palau Mobile Communications Inc). The first one PNCC think of them like the Telstra, coverage basically existed everywhere including down in the Rock Islands and North of Koror whilst the latter more like Vodafone, they only had coverage in Koror and at the airport. My shonky unofficial google maps drawing below, where yellow is PNCC and red is PMCI.



Amazingly Vodafone Australia actually has a roaming agreement with the better PNCC (Telstra/Optus have no roaming in Palau) but no data just calls/texts only. This did save me once as I told the tour company the wrong hotel I was staying at so was able to call them and let them know. In theory PNCC sells sims/esims at the airport and at their shop in town but the airport location was closed when I arrived, I couldn't get this online.

Despite PNCC esim's not possible online, I did get a PMCI esim via KKDay, which is appeared to be a Hong Kong based esim that roamed fine and good speeds plus oddly a Singapore IP, I was thrown off by average reviews but they mostly relate to coverage which I've already mentioned above.

https://www.kkday.com/en-au/product/157190

I also mentioned little mini marts everywhere with local/imported beer, very average think $10 bottles of wine plus basic spirits. Food wise they import everything from the US or Japan meaning fruit/veg was expensive but still plentiful, obviously the prices were higher than Australia but I put that down to the US$ and remote location being involved.

 

[kpc]

Thanks @henrus for your report on Palau. We are going for 8 nights in late October. I know a bit long but we are catching the Qf flight there and back. Quick Q re car hire....is your local Australian driver licence (physical) enough? or do you need an International driver permit as well?

I have plenty of USD cash so will bring that to supplement my credit card

 

[henrus]

I know a bit long but we are catching the Qf flight there and back.

I was on the QF flight back so post to come. Flight wasn't too bad with Economy Plus and the wifi worked 90% of the flight.

Quick Q re car hire....is your local Australian driver licence (physical) enough? or do you need an International driver permit as well?

My QLD drivers license was fine, I didn't have an international permit.

This confused me as well as AUS smart traveler says IDP needed which is wrong, as UK foreign office or US state.gov says not required for up to 30 days and just the card is fine, confirmed by the hotel and the car rental company.