Philadelphia

I just got back from an IT Conference in Philadelphia and short holiday in NYC and sadly work has been piling up! No holiday is ever long enough.  

Singapore to Philadelphia
Getting to Philly (as the native citizens for Philadelphia refer to themselves) was a breeze, though the journey was rather long - about 23 hours including a short stopover in Frankfurt. 

We started our journey from Singapore on 12-Aug-2011 via SQ26 and arrived in New York JFK airport on 13-Aug-2011 at approximately 10.30am local time, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

I wished we could say the same for our bags arriving at the carousel. I have lost my Krisflyer Gold membership status and therefore bags no longer travel on 'Priority'. 

By the time we got our bags and cleared customs, it was already 11.30am. We took a taxi to NY Penn Station and proceed to board the Amtrak train to Philly. Taxi fare cost USD 55.00 including tips. The cab driver had to stop about 30 metres from Penn station as the roads were blocked for some charity event. 

We booked our tickets online and got the boarding passes from the self-service kiosks. Tickets cost USD 72 round-trip from NYC to PHL. The journey to Philadelphia 30St station was quite pleasant and comfortable.

We were still dodgy after the long flight so we didn't do much exploring. Had dinner with my colleague Joseph (who's equally dodgy after a 32-hr journey) and then went about taking some night shots around City Hall followed by catching up on lost sleep. On the left is a picture of the Masonic Temple, located across City Hall.

Masonic temple at night

Reading Terminal Market and Macy’s (14 Aug 2011)
My ’networking’ session didn’t start until 6pm so we had some time to kill during the morning and afternoon. Our initial plan was to visit historic sites and chill out at parks. The weather had other plans - it was raining all day and we had to switch to a rather "indoorsy" plan B.

Our day started with breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market, which is located about 5 minutes walk from our hotel (LOEWE'S PHILADELPHIA HOTEL). We had French toast for breakfast at Hershel's inside Reading Terminal Market. Personally, I prefer the French toast at Killiney's Kopi Tiam in Singapore, which is not as oily and comes with a generous spread of butter and kaya (coconut jam).

Reading Terminal Market

The rain was still relentless and we decided to spend some time in Macy's (located along Market Street). It was a surprise to find a huge pipe organ inside a departmental store and I decided to take some pictures of it (with permission of course and as long as I promised not to climb into the enclosure). I never knew that the Wannamaker Organ is the largest operational pipe organ in the world!

The Wannamaker Pipe Organ

After Macy’s, we proceeded towards Chinatown for lunch. It was still raining cats and dogs. Lunch was a simple meal consisting of noodles and stir fried vegetables at a Malaysian restaurant called Penang (Only two days and we"re already missing home food already). The food was good, though a tad salty. Before we knew it, it was already evening and time for me to get to my evening reception and "networking" session.

Lunch@Penang Restaurant

More pictures (to be updated)

Related Pages: Philadelphia - At Night | Philadelphia - Final Day | Philadelphia - Historic District

Announcement

To all who have been following my posts, I'd like to say a big thank you and at the same time, I'd like to apologize for not updating my blog ever since I got back from Europe.

Work has been driving me crazy - but Joyce and I did catch a short break during the last Singapore National Day holidays. We made a short (and rather unprepared) trip to Hokkaido, Japan.

Stay tuned for updates.

Cheers,
Simon.

Day 14 - Frankfurt to Singapore

10 Mar 2010

It’s time to say goodbye to Europe. After having the complimentary breakfast at Holiday Inn Express Frankfurt-MESSE, we board a taxi to the airport. The journey took about 15 minutes with a fare of EUR 28.85.

VAT Refunds

I'd like to share our experience with regards to claiming VAT refunds. The process of getting a VAT refund is not too difficult as long as you have your paperwork done and having your goods ready for inspection.

Step 1 – Paperwork

First and foremost, ensure that the retailer fills up the Tax Refund forms for you. This has to be done at the point of purchase. Then ensure that the forms have been signed and filled up with your particulars, i.e. your name and address. The retailer will attach your purchase receipts onto the tax refund forms.

Each retailer in the European Union uses one of the following refund agencies i.e.

• Global Refund
• Tax-Free

You can only receive your refund from the specific refund agent that the retailer uses, for example, Hard Rock Café in Prague uses Tax-Free as their agent and therefore you can only get your refund from Tax-Free and not Global Refund.

Step 2 – Packing

To make inspection easier, pack all the items eligible for refund in a single bag. At the point of check in, inform the counter-staff at the check-in counter that you wish to have your bag inspected by customs for VAT refunds.

Step 3 – Customs Inspection and endorsement

After the baggage tag has been issued, bring your bag containing the items to be inspected, to the customs inspection counters located at Hall B, counters 643-644.

Hand in your tax refund forms to the customs officer and s/he will ask to inspect your bag(s). Once done, the customs officer will endorse your forms with a stamp. This is a very important step. Without the stamp, you will NOT be able to get your refund.

Step 4 – Deposit your bag to be checked-in

Just immediately after the customs inspection counter, there is a baggage handler who will collect your bag from you and check it back in. Alternatively, you can bring your bag to the check-in counter and drop it there.

Step 5 – Collect your refund

If you’re collecting your refund from Global Refund, you may proceed to the counter located on the left hand side of the customs inspection booths. Just present the endorsed form to get your refund. We were paid in cash.

However, we ran into some difficulty collecting our refund from Tax Refund. There is a Bureau de Change that act as an agent for Tax Refund but the amount on the form did not tally with the system. The counter staff mentioned that she will have to revert with the parent company to resolve the discrepancy and they will reimburse the amount due to my credit card.

The process would take about 3 - 4 weeks. I'm still waiting...

Anyway, we board our flight to Singapore and arrived safely the next day at about 7 am in the morning, and welcomed by the warm and humid air. I will update this post after 3-4 weeks regarding the status of our VAT refunds.

Cheers.