Opportunities, collaboration, and future growth took centre stage at Trip.com Group’s annual Global Partner Summit, where over 2,000 industry leaders, including representatives from accommodation providers, airlines, attractions and tour operators, tourism boards, and the media, gathered to envision the future of travel. With the theme ‘A Shared Journey to a Better World’, the summit was held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, and provided a forum for stakeholders to come together to celebrate the industry’s resilience, reflect on its achievements, and chart a collective path towards future success.

It’s inevitable that in the run-up to Christmas people will be flying home or flying out to spend the festive season with friends and loved ones. The urge to wrap the presents is natural.

However, passengers must resist that urge because when going through security, there is a chance those presents being carried through in hand luggage may have to be unwrapped.

The net effect will be a slow journey through security, queues and possibly some gift confiscations. The standard rules regarding what you can take through airport security including banning liquids over 100ml, including perfumes, drinks, and even innocent-looking snow globes. 

Heathrow Airport, the busiest and largest UK airport tells visitors to the website not to wrap “as security staff may wish to view them”.

 “Wrapped gifts can be viewed as concealed packages and may need to be screened, opened and searched by airport staff. If you are taking wrapping paper and gift bags with you, make sure they fold flat so they won’t get creased. And if you’re expecting a festive haul on The Big Day, make sure you pack a swag bag to bring them all back safely!”

The word from Gatwick airport is “Wrapped Christmas presents are not exempt from the current aviation security measures and are subject to searching and screening measures by airport security staff when flying from the UK. It is possible that passengers may be asked to unwrap any presents by security staff at the airport before their journey. Therefore, passengers should travel with any presents unwrapped.”

Liquid gifts should remain “unwrapped in hold baggage”.

Budget Irish airline Ryanair warned: “Don’t spend hours intricately wrapping gifts to carry in your hand luggage. Wrapped gifts may be opened, searched and screened by airport security staff.”

The post Flyers told not to wrap their Christmas presents appeared first on The Travel Magazine.

EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT FOR READERS: Quote BugisTM20 for 20% off.

Bugis Kitchen is hidden from the public eye sequestered in the echelons of Kensington’s four-star Copthorne Tara Hotel. It’s worth seeking out though.

I found the decor surprisingly stylish belying the somewhat cartoon-like Bugis logo. Instead of something canteen-style, the rectangular restaurant is housed in a mini-ballroom wannabe room surrounded by mirrored alcoves and adorned with a glass chandelier.

This mismatch made more sense when I discovered that the restaurant was named after the iconic Bugis Market in Singapore. This is the country’s largest 24-hour market with a staggering 800 stalls vying for attention. Many of the stalls serve food.

The chef at Bugis, Wee Kiong Tee, also known as Billy for ease of the British tongue, explained that his menu offers the best of Singapore’s street food reinterpreted for a higher level of gastronomy.

When offered a drink I, of course, had to order a Singapore sling cocktail and my co-diner a glass of chardonnay wine, to sip while we waited for the food to be prepared.

I started with satay chicken, probably the most popular Asian street food. Billy tells me that his recipe for satay chicken is unique. He explains that the “satay sauce has a blend of 20 ingredients that can only be tasted here”.

The skewered chicken is chargrilled and served with cucumber, onions and peanut sauce. Billy was right, the satay sauce, though clearly peanut, did have a unique flavour – an added tang. It was delicious.

 

 

We also enjoyed the Mongolian prawns. These are lightly battered and stir-fried in a sweet and savoury sauce enhanced with tamarind and a hint of black pepper.

The mains are Billy’s signature dishes. I chose the Hainanese chicken. This is corn-fed chicken served poached and served with a couple of sauces, one of which was a ginger sauce, plus a chicken soup made from the chicken and a bowl of rice which had been boiled in the chicken soup.

 

My co-diner had the slow-cooked Beef Rendang with coconut milk and spices. We ordered a portion of egg-fried rice to enjoy alongside the beef dish. Every morsel was appreciated.

We didn’t need it, as the food was plentiful, but we ended the meal with banana fritters, only because this is one of those Asian deserts I find some difficulty in saying no to. I am glad I didn’t.

Verdict: The dishes at Bugis Kitchen are colourful, flavoursome and really good value too. It is an ideal escape from the madding crowds of Kensington and works well for casual dining with friends.

More info: 

The Bugis Kitchen at the Copthorne Tara Hotel, Scarsdale Place, Kensington London, W8 5SR. For more information, and for bookings, please visit www.milleniumhotels.com.

EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT FOR READERS: Quote BugisTM20 for 20% off.

You might also like:

• Bugis restaurant review, South Kensington
• What is there to do in a stopover in Singapore

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