Travellers' checks

Girl power Despite recent talk from Singapore Airlines and its advertising agency about evolving the brand and focusing more on the customer - and subsequent panicked speculation in the travel media - it seems that rumours of the Singapore Girl's demise have been greatly exaggerated. At the vanguard of the airline's advertising and brand image since 1972, the carrier's female flight attendants, or Singapore Girls (pictured), have come in for criticism from some quarters for portraying a supposedly sexist stereotype of a subservient Asian female. And it was expected that a new advertising campaign that launched earlier this month would concentrate more on the inflight service quality and supposed lengths to which Singapore Airlines now goes to make its passengers "feel at home". As it turns out, the Singapore Girls are as front and centre as they've ever been, with three short "films" (otherwise known as one-minute commercials) showing them in their trademark kebaya uniform, wandering the misty tea plantations of Fujian province in search of jasmine tea, visiting a leather tannery in Glasgow for the perfect seat cover and sourcing art-house film spools from Venice. At the end of each film, there's even a soft-focus close-up of their faces with the familiar six-note jingle that used to accompany the "Singapore Girl - you're a great way to fly" tagline. You can find all three adverts and a "making of" feature at thelengthswegoto.com.

Shanghai service With the last of this year's Grand Slam tennis tournaments recently concluded, all eyes have now turned from the US Open to China and the Shanghai Rolex Masters - Asia's biggest, most prestigious tennis event. The action takes place from October 5 to 13, and top players including Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be fighting for a slice of the US$3.5 million prize money. Tickets can be purchased at en.shanghairolexmasters.com and are priced quite reasonably, at up to 1,580 yuan (HK$1,985) for the best seats at the semi-finals and finals. On the opening day, visitors can watch the qualifying matches for free. The venue is the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre (pictured) in the Minhang district, which is closest to Hongqiao Airport (rather than Pudong Airport). Cathay Pacific Holidays has a Shanghai (Hongqiao) business class package that will get you to the right airport and offers a good selection of hotels from HK$5,810. See www.cxholidays.com for details.

Another Bangkok Hilton The Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok has just opened in the Thai capital and, like its cross-town sister property, the Millennium Hilton Bangkok, will no doubt be hoping to avoid becoming popularly abbreviated to the Bangkok Hilton - a nickname applied to more than one of the city's notorious jails. The new 280-room hotel has all the expected five-star amenities, with two of the main selling points being a rooftop infinity pool (pictured) and a restaurant that serves 1920s and 30s style Italian-American food in a Prohibition-era milieu (presumably without the actual prohibition). For more information and opening offers, you can wade through the options at www.hilton.com or search Google for Hilton Sukhumvit.

Deal of the week A Chiang Rai package on offer from Tiglion Travel includes round-trip, economy-class flights via Bangkok with Thai Airways and two nights at Le Meridien Chiang Rai (pictured) from HK$4,390 per person, twin share. Perhaps better value, though, is the free third night offered at either the Dusit Island Resort (package price from HK$4,090) or the Rimkok Resort (from HK$3,690) - although breakfast, at HK$180 and HK$120 per person, respectively, is compulsory with the free night. You can also sign up for Golden Triangle and Doi Tung mountain tours for just over HK$900 per person when you buy your package, and a free stopover in Bangkok is allowed if you want to spend a day or two there. All travel must be completed by the end of next month. For further details, visit www.tiglion.com.