initious From Singapore, joined Dec 2008, 1011 posts, RR: 16 Posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 6272 times:
Introduction
Having started my term as a national serviceman on 23 August 2011, it meant that I would have much lesser free time. We only get to come out for 2 days during the weekends and it will be back to business from Monday. Speaking of which, I had the impression that we do not get to go overseas during the Basic Military Training (BMT) phase, most of which is conducted in a highly protected island to the north east of Singapore, Pulau Tekong. A good thing about the island was that it is directly on the approach path of SIN when planes come in to land on runway 20C or 20R and you also get to see the planes take off from 2C or 2L. All these daily temptations made me want to fly even more especially seeing the different aircraft types flying low in front of your eyes each day, including a daily Boeing 727 owned by Transmile Air.
A turning point was that I found out I was able to go overseas for less than 24 hours each time, limited to nearby countries like Malaysia or sometimes Indonesia. This good news meant that I have to fly somewhere before the year ends as it will be a long time before I get to fly again. Having dreams of me being on a plane has become normal. However, the dreams sometimes include me missing a flight or forgetting to bring my camera for trip reports or sometimes even forgetting the registration. I guess this is just part and parcel of an aviation enthusiast’s life.
Since I have decided to fly, I had to decide on my destination and the airline next. Various budget airlines fly to Malaysia, alongside with the legacy competitors of Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Silkair. The first step to deciding a destination was to decide on one that I have never been to before. The first destination that came into my mind was Kuching, the state capital of Sarawak. However, flights there were not cheap and the airline offering the cheapest flight was AirAsia, a carrier I have been on several times. The next destination was Penang, a destination I just been to back in June but do not mind being there again.
After lots of searching around, the plan was decided. I will fly to Penang on Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 737-400, an airline/aircraft combination I have wanted to do for a long time. On the way back, I will be flying on Tiger Airways’ Airbus A320-200 to test if the airline is as bad as it seems. For both flights, I got seats in the emergency exit row.
Booking Process
Both airlines’ websites were easy to use. MH has a wonderful booking system which allows you to check your flight and fares easily with detailed breakdowns of taxes and surcharges. Tiger Airways had a standard LCC website but it had some problems accepting my MasterCard so I had to use my Visa instead. However, both airlines successfully emailed me my itinerary 5 minutes within the completion of my booking.
To The Airport
Since my flight is at 11.05am, I had lots of time to wake up for breakfast followed by taking the MRT (or the metro, as some call it) to the airport. I left my house at 8.05am expecting to reach the airport at around 9.05am but instead I reached around 9.15am. As I reached the airport, I had to walk to Terminal 2 where MH operates from and walk through the whole terminal to reach the MH counters at row 12, right at the end. Before checking in, I stopped by at the ticketing counter to enquire for a possibility of paying to upgrade to Business Class but was told that I was on a discounted fare so an upgrade is not possible.
Feeling slightly disappointed, I headed over to the check in counter for Economy Class and was greeted warmly by a SIN ground agent and handed my boarding pass to me with a huge smile on her face. SIN has not lost its standard over the years and I hope that the standard remains for many more years to come.
The empty check-in counters
Long row of check-in counters for various airlines
Still my favourite kind of FIDS!
Another view of the terminal
Elevators leading up to restaurants
Holding my first ever MH boarding pass, I proceeded straight to immigration to grab some light bites and find a good place to watch the action on the tarmac and runway. I found this quiet section of the terminal whereby there are some stalls selling various bites and a huge clear window where you can catch the action on both the runway and the apron. This made me very excited and quickly bought my breakfast from a nearby café and sat down.
Right after immigration
Well lit viewing area
Long corridor
9V-SBE which I also managed to catch on my previous trip to BKI
The regional wing of Singapore Airlines
Put your child here while you spot planes!
I had the “healthier choice” meal which consisted of a black pepper chicken wrap, potato chips (not sure how “healthy” is this!) and a cup of Dilmah tea. The taste was ok but the wrap was too peppery. However, I will still recommend this place if you were to spend an hour or two here. Around 40 minutes before my flight, I decided to head to the gate.
My meal
Boarding pass
The Flight
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 674 – 29OCT11 Origin: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS) Destination: Penang International Airport (PEN/WMKP) Registration: 9M-MMD (DEL 04AUG92) Aircraft: Boeing 737-400 Scheduled Time of Departure: 11.05am Actual Time of Departure: 11.23am Scheduled Time of Arrival: 12.25pm Actual Time of Arrival: 12.21pm Airborne Time: 58 minutes Class of Travel: Economy Seat: 14F Remarks: This flight continues to Langkawi (LGK)
I will be flying from gate F31 today, a very significant gate in Terminal 2 as it hosted the world’s first Airbus A380 commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney – SQ380 on 25 October 2007. The boarding gate was still nicely decorated with different colours and styles of seating and is definitely sufficient for even a full load of Boeing 737 passengers. However, our flight today was only around 70% full.
As I was queuing to pass my ticket to the agent, my aircraft has arrived. The registration was 9M-MMD, a classic model delivered to the airline in August 1992 and has been with them ever since delivery.
9M-MMD arriving at the gate
Boarding was announced around 20 minutes before STD and the usual process of Business Class and elite members were called to board first before the Economy Class passengers were called by row numbers. An interesting thing to note about the gate was that there were 2 entrances to the jetways, one for upper and one for lower deck. We entered through the upper deck entrance but made a small turn and on to the lower deck jetway. Well, maybe next time!
View inside the gate
View of the plane again – Nice weather for flying!
Signs showing upper and lower deck
I entered the plane and was warmly greeted by flight attendant Jin before I swiftly made my way to my seat at row 14. Row 14 is technically not an emergency exit row but window seats in rows 11 and 12 were removed so seats 14A and 14F has the best legroom out of any seats in the plane. The seats can be reserved for an additional S$10 which I found it pretty reasonable. Do get the seats while they are available as it can go a long way for longer flights and normal travellers would not take the effort to get the best seats in the house. I got the seats even though I booked the flight only 3 days in advance!
Just about to enter the plane
First view of the colourful seats
Unlimited legroom!
Looking back to Terminal 2 with a beautiful wing
Neighbouring seats
The seat was pretty comfortable and I do not feel any discomfort despite not leaving the seat at all during the flight. Shortly after settling down, the flight attendant came by to explain the emergency exit procedures to the passengers seated in rows 11, 12 and 14. Another point to note was that I had the whole row to myself which meant a lesser chance of getting frowned upon when taking photos and more space to move around.
A point to give MH credit is that the plane looks brand new despite being 19 years old. There were no random surprises like the tray tables falling out or dirty seats at all around the plane. We pushed back at 11.12am and taxied out to runway 2C for takeoff. Takeoff at runway 2C meant that I would have a chance to catch a glimpse of Pulau Tekong, the island that I will be trapped in for 5 to 6 days a week.
Preparing for safety demo
After pushback
Planes I’ve been on – 9V-SVM to CAN and 9V-SLG to CNX
Parent and son
SQ will be retiring their 747s next March, enjoy while they last!
Having no delays, we applied full throttles and lifted off Singapore soil at 11.23am. Immediately after departure, it got slightly bumpy and cloudy which meant I was unable to see the island. Oh well, I am in there long enough each week so probably mother nature wants me to get away from that island. After bumping and having surprise drops (which I love) for around 2 minutes, it was perfect weather for the rest of the flight.
Shortly after takeoff
Cabin view
Smaller than usual tray table from the armrest
The wing is just beautiful ain’t it?
Climbing…
Shortly after the seatbelt signs were off, the lunch trolley was out. Reading lots about MH having cost cutting measures and reducing to just snack boxes for short flights, I was not expecting much from them this time round. However, I overheard Jin telling passengers in front of me that there was a fish or chicken available.
Jin approached me shortly after…
Good Morning Sir, sorry to disturb. We are serving lunch now. We have fish curry with plain rice and chicken with briyani rice available. May I know your choice?
I will take the fish, thanks.
After a short wait that seemed like forever, I was handed the rectangular box which consist of a main course, dessert, chocolate and a small pack of mineral water. This seems quite a nice meal for a short regional flight, but I would definitely not be happy if I were on a long haul flight with this meal!
My meal – unopened
My meal – opened
As I slowly opened the tinfoil, the wonderful smell of the curry fish and curry vegetable surrounded the air around me. The fish and vegetables are cooked to perfection and the portion is just nice for a regional flight. Just a small thing though, the meal was already kinda cold when served. I guess they did not have time to reheat it. A few minutes later, another flight attendant approached me and offered me drinks. The sparkling water I requested was not available so I had orange juice instead. When I finished my orange juice, Jin came over and asked if I wanted another cup of orange juice which I gladly accepted. I found this to be a very good service that the flight attendant could remember what the passengers ordered.
My orange juice
As soon as I finished my meal, the box was cleared and the cabin was being prepared for descend. Funnily enough, I noticed that on all my 19 flights this year, I was not served with trays at all in Economy Class while I was served with trays in both Business and First Class. Talk about the irony! However, it would be due to the fact that most of my Economy flights are with budget airlines. ETA was announced by the captain to be 12.45pm which would make us 20 minutes late, but I was sure this will not be the case.
Relaxing after my meal
Turning
Closer and closer to ground!
Cabin ready for landing with a guy excited for his vacation
Time seems to fly by so fast and soon I see the runway of Penang airport. By our orientation, I was sure that we are landing on runway 04, like the usual on most flights as it is the only one equipped with ILS, while in the opposite direction runway 22 is not and you have to do a visual approach.
Flaps down
This photo might make you think you are at SXM!
We touched down on runway 04 at 12.21pm local time, still 4 minutes ahead of schedule and much earlier than the captain’s estimated time of 12.45pm. However, the landing was hard, slightly bumpy and the reversers were pretty noisy. Not that I mind, though! We exited the runway and docked at gate 10 where I proceeded on to clear immigration.
Landing and spoilers deployed
Airport fire station
New terminal underway?
Not very busy today with only FY as the other pax flight – It is a subsidiary of MH
Gate 12 where I arrived a few months ago – Used by AK
I did not take pictures of PEN this time round but feel free to look at this report where I did a detailed photo report on PEN.
As usual, I headed off to the departures level and waited for around 15 minutes for the Tiger Airways counter to be open to check in for my flight. Thereafter, I headed on to Coffee Bean to use my laptop and surf the internet before proceeding to my flight back home.
Flight Back Home
The gate for my first TR flight would be at gate 7, just a few stone’s throws away from immigration which was pretty fast. As usual, the plane has not arrived yet when I reached the gate. There were 2 rows for boarding for TR – One for passengers with boardmefirst purchased while the other for general boarding. As I have reserved a seat in advance, I got eligible for boardmefirst which was indicated on the boarding pass as a blue colour chop with a man running with his briefcase.
TR check in counters
CZ just beside and advertising their Business Class and Premium Economy Class product
Wings Air
Chilling in Coffee Bean
Tiger Airways Flight TR 2427 – 29OCT11 Origin: Penang International Airport (PEN/WMKP) Destination: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS) Registration: 9V-TAR (DEL 25NOV10) Aircraft: Airbus A320-200 Scheduled Time of Departure: 2.55pm Actual Time of Departure: 3.08pm Scheduled Time of Arrival: 4.20pm Actual Time of Arrival: 4.11pm Airborne Time: 1 hour 3 minutes Class of Travel: Economy Seat: 13A
The aircraft was 9V-TAR, an Airbus A320-200 delivered to Tiger Airways on 25 November 2010 and had no change of ownership since then which makes this plane just around 11 months old.
9V-TAR arriving from Singapore
Docked at the gate
As I stepped onboard, the Tiger crew gave me a very warm welcome which left a very good first impression of the airline in me. The cloth covered seats were also pretty comfortable and legroom in the emergency exit row was more than sufficient. Shortly after all passengers were seated, the captain came on the speakers and gave us a welcome announcement. He ended his speech with a comment that the safety demonstration will “not be the most interesting thing you’ll hear today but it is definitely very important”. It made me chuckle for a bit!
My seat
View across
Fellow passengers boarding
Nice legroom
Hot meals for purchase, but not available for this short flight
My view for the flight
Just as we were about to commence pushback, a male flight attendant came by to explain the emergency exit procedures. The crew on this flight seem pretty cheerful and are always carrying a smile on their faces. We pushed back from the gate and taxied to runway 22 for takeoff at 3.08pm, a first for me!
Before pushback
Wings Air arriving from MES - Dedicated to Johannes (luxair747SP) as he loves props
The male flight attendant performing the safety demo – He doesn’t seem too happy!
Friend from home
9M-MMD to the left, the aircraft that brought me here
9M-AQA, the aircraft that flew me BKI-SIN. It was the newest in the AK fleet at that time
Air HongKong Airbus A300
While taxiing to runway 22. I notice several structures are marked with the checkerboard pattern from water tanks to walls. Any reason?
Turning onto the runway
The different orientation means you get a different view. Sure enough, a sharp left turn shortly after takeoff provided beautiful views of Penang and the airport. Immigration forms were handed out shortly after seatbelt signs were off and I did not require one since I am a Singaporean. As I started exploring the seat pocket contents, I noticed that the safety card had a small footnote at the bottom right hand corner stating “9V-TAE onwards” which made me think if there are any differences between 9V-TAA to 9V-TAD that requires 2 versions of safety card.
Shortly after takeoff
Nice view!
Goodbye PEN! See you soon!
Further and further from PEN
Shortly after takeoff
Wing + cloud = Nice!
Seat pocket contents
While I was exploring the seat pocket contents, the BOB service started. I bought a can of root beer which was S$3 just for the sake of it. The normal price on the ground would just cost S$1 on average. As the BOB service was ending, I got the attention of a flight attendant to let her know my intention to purchase an Airbus A320-200 model.
Excuse me, I would like to purchase an airplane model.
Oh ok. Let me check if there’s stock.
-After a while-
Here’s your model. May I know how much is it in Ringgit?
Let me check. It will be 59RM.
Ok, I will pay in Singapore Dollars then.
Wing view again
My root beer
New addition to my collection!
She seems quite disinterested in her work while I was purchasing the model. Soon after the duty free service ended, it was time for our descend to SIN. As I continued taking notes for this TR on the flight, my seatmate broke the ice between us.
Why are you taking so detailed notes?
I am taking these notes for writing a report to share with my fellow aviation enthusiasts. Ah I see. So you take down notes for every flight you take?
I only take notes for my daytrips. Here are some of my trips I flew. Impressive. So you just fly for the sake of flying?
Yeah, I have done this several times this year. Wow, that is something I’ve never heard of.
In Penang when he sat down beside me, I found that he looked pretty familiar. Sure enough, after a few minutes I confirmed that he was a “student” on a very famous Singaporean variety show which shows foreigners speaking Mandarin and sharing their various cultures. The show features “students” from various countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, USA, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan etc. with the host as the “teacher” who teaches them some “very Singapore” stuffs like Singlish and the food we have.
Beautiful view out there!
Sun and sea
Lots of ships, no doubt this is SIN
Since I was chatting with him while we descended, forgive me for the lack of photos for the descend. At this point in time, I found it pretty ironic that I had my first experience on a Malaysian carrier in Singapore and a Singaporean carrier in Malaysia.
Farewell shot to 9V-TAR
We touched down back in Singapore at 4.11pm on runway 20R and made our way back to the Budget Terminal where TR operates from. Disembarkation was quick and soon I was on my way back home on the MRT.
Funny that they put this at the budget terminal. Shouldn’t it be at Terminal 2 instead?
Conclusion
As they say it, MH is really not just an airline code. MH also stands for Malaysian Hospitality. They have proved that although their hard product is not as good compared to their counterparts, their service standards are really second to none. I am really impressed by the service standards onboard MH and the food they provided was also of very high quality which I am thankful for.
As for TR, they being a budget airline and having lots of criticisms coming their way made me worry as they had frequent flight cancellations and delay on top of the complaints. To rub salt to their wound, their Australian counterpart was grounded for several weeks earlier this year due to their pilots receiving inadequate training. However, they managed to leave a good first impression in me but sort of lost their footing on their in flight services. Despite that, I do not mind trying them out again as they have pretty reasonable prices at times (e.g. SIN-SZX for S$233 all inclusive) but I will ensure that I do not have anything urgent to do before or after the trip so as to cope with any cancellations or delay should it occur.
Trip Report Website
As an attempt to “act like a pro”, I have created my own trip report website hosted by blogspot. Do give it a visit and let me know if there are any ways to improve it.
Luxair747SP From Germany, joined May 2010, 444 posts, RR: 18 Reply 1, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 6224 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW FORUM MODERATOR
Hi Daniel,
what a great way to enjoy a saturday.
The service on MH looks impressive with a hot meal on such a short sector.
Also the seats with the different colors look great.
Congrats for adding the -400 into your log.
Tiger looks like a normal LCC to me, but as they were pretty much on-time, they did what they should have done.
Thanks for the dedication, I still love props
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2202 posts, RR: 14 Reply 2, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks ago) and read 6065 times:
Hi
Nice trip report comparing FCC and LCC togheter! I'm quite surprised about the meal you got on your SIN-PEN flight! Being a big fan of MH's colors, the TR flight seems to appear more modern!
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 14 Reply 3, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 5844 times:
Nice report, thanks for sharing
Quoting initious (Thread starter): Speaking of which, I had the impression that we do not get to go overseas during the Basic Military Training (BMT) phase, most of which is conducted in a highly protected island to the north east of Singapore, Pulau Tekong
Do you mean you don't go overseas as part of your training, or you aren't allowed to go overseas (in your own time) during training?
Quoting initious (Thread starter): Good Morning Sir, sorry to disturb. We are serving lunch now. We have fish curry with plain rice and chicken with briyani rice available. May I know your choice?
Very nice to have a choice of two hot meals on a short flight
Quoting initious (Thread starter): In Penang when he sat down beside me, I found that he looked pretty familiar. Sure enough, after a few minutes I confirmed that he was a “student” on a very famous Singaporean variety show which shows foreigners speaking Mandarin and sharing their various cultures. The show features “students” from various countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, USA, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan etc. with the host as the “teacher” who teaches them some “very Singapore” stuffs like Singlish and the food we have.
burj From United States of America, joined Nov 2007, 838 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 5244 times:
Awesome trip report! Love the photos!
Never heard of "Wings" air before...I guess airlines are running out of "aviation" or "flight" related names!
That is cool that you got a hot meal! From the looks of it the box is designed so that the half that is covered has all the common and cold components (drink, desert, chocolate) and a tray to hold the hot entree depending on what the pax chooses...pretty clever design actually!
Of course I am more impressed that you GOT a meal, and a hot one at that! You can fly on a 2-3 hours flight in FIRST class on a domestic U.S. flight and not be offered anything more than "goldfish" or "twix"!
The777Man From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 6079 posts, RR: 56 Reply 5, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 5051 times:
Hi Daniel!
Very nice report with nice pictures! Glad you were able to do some flying.
MH looks very good and amazing with a hot meal on such a short flight!
TR looks okay but I would defienatlly stick to MH or SQ.
Looking forward to your next report whenever that may be.
The777Man
Need a Boeing 777 Firing Order....Further to fly....GA, T5, CI and LX 777s
deltamartin From Sweden, joined Dec 2010, 1059 posts, RR: 9 Reply 6, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 4985 times:
Hi!
Great tripreport with some nice photos!
Looks like you had two enjoyable flights with two different carriers, a nice daytrip!
Quoting initious (Thread starter):
Feeling slightly disappointed, I headed over to the check in counter for Economy Class and was greeted warmly by a SIN ground agent and handed my boarding pass to me with a huge smile on her face. SIN has not lost its standard over the years and I hope that the standard remains for many more years to come.
I hear so much great about SIN, hopefully I can experience it myself some day!
Quoting initious (Thread starter): This seems quite a nice meal for a short regional flight
Indeed, looks really good for a 1 hour flight in economy. The only time I've gotten a mean in economy in Europe was with LH Italia a few weeks ago on MXP-ARN, and that's a 2½ hour flight. And sadly, LHI is now gone. Hello And Good Bye LH Italia! ARN-CPH-MXP-ARN (by deltamartin Oct 28 2011 in Trip Reports)
JetBlue777 From United States of America, joined Jul 2009, 1427 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 4936 times:
Hey Daniel,
It's great to hear from you again! Yet another great trip report from you and a fantastic way to spend the day! Like the777Man said, the meal you got from MH seems very delicious. I only wish US carriers would serve such things!
As for my summer trip report, I'm still working on it. I told you that it would be finished in two weeks back in August but I've been pretty busy in school...Maybe this Thanksgiving Break, I'll finally finish my overdue TR!
infinit From Singapore, joined Jul 2008, 299 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 4734 times:
Nice day trip. Great way to spend your weekend after a hard day of training. I've never been to Pulau Tekong (I did my national service with the Police Force). Would love to visit it someday though
MH looks great. Sounds like the crew were very ambient and friendly too.
I was thinking of doing a very similar trip, albeit for two days. Probably SQ to KUL and MH to SIN. They codeshare on this route so its real cheap too. I have friends who do this regularly for shopping mainly, since everything in Kuala Lumpur a whole lot cheaper than Singapore and for a weekend getaway. I also have PEN somewhere on my travel list down the road, probably on MI.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6182 posts, RR: 79 Reply 9, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 4703 times:
Hi Daniel,
great to see a new report from you! Excellent work, I really enjoyed it! Interesting to see your Tiger flight wasn't as disappointing as mine last year.
Quoting initious (Thread starter): A point to give MH credit is that the plane looks brand new despite being 19 years old. There were no random surprises like the tray tables falling out or dirty seats at all around the plane.
I noticed the same on a 27 years old Sriwijaya 732 last week - amazing!
Quoting initious (Thread starter):
As I slowly opened the tinfoil, the wonderful smell of the curry fish and curry vegetable surrounded the air around me. The fish and vegetables are cooked to perfection and the portion is just nice for a regional flight. Just a small thing though, the meal was already kinda cold when served. I guess they did not have time to reheat it.
That meal looks very good. I'm sure they would have reheated on request.
Quoting initious (Thread starter): Excuse me, I would like to purchase an airplane model.
Oh ok. Let me check if there’s stock.
-After a while-
Here’s your model.
May I know how much is it in Ringgit?
Let me check.
It will be 59RM.
Ok, I will pay in Singapore Dollars then.
Did they accept credit card? My friend wanted to buy something on a Thai AirAsia flight last week, but they only accepted cash.
MarcoPoloWorld From United States of America, joined Mar 2008, 600 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 4157 times:
Very nice trip report for a very short trip!
Seems like MH is the clear winner here. Actually, I myself have kind of gotten over my euphoria (if there ever was one) about budget carriers, and now I will typically only fly an LCC if they either have a unique routing or if the full-service carrier's fare is something astronomical. Sometimes, the latter can be the case when looking for one-way tickets - but that was apparently not the case with MH here?
sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1173 posts, RR: 29 Reply 11, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 3957 times:
Good day Daniel!
I am very glad you were able to escape the army life for a few hours to do what you like best: flying. Although it was only a short back and forth trip, I’m sure you had a great day and lots of fun. It shows in your TR, it’s very informative, detailed and with a nice set of pics. I do hope in your future months to come as a soldier, you will be able to do this kind of thing once or twice more
Quoting initious (Thread starter): I guess this is just part and parcel of an aviation enthusiast’s life.
RvXKaz From Singapore, joined Apr 2011, 182 posts, RR: 3 Reply 13, posted (1 year 6 months 1 week 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 3472 times:
Hi Daniel,
Excellent photos to accompany your lovely TR on your well-deserved escape from army life. The fish curry with rice you had looks great indeed. I'm not used to the snack box concept (looks kinda like a more presentable version of those ration boxes during outfield activities in National Service).
Would you recommend TR or MH for this short sector given the price difference?
Anyway, really nice reading and i love the fantastic pictures most. Keep up the great work!
They say that I'm a dreamer. But I'd only Dreamt Skyward.
Quoting Luxair747SP (Reply 1): Congrats for adding the -400 into your log.
Thanks! Been wanting to log the -400 for some time now. Now I need to look for a 737-500 to complete my 737 classic collection...
Quoting Luxair747SP (Reply 1): Tiger looks like a normal LCC to me, but as they were pretty much on-time, they did what they should have done.
Definitely. Nothing much to remember about the flight although their livery is real beautiful.
Hi Marc,
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 2): Nice trip report comparing FCC and LCC togheter! I'm quite surprised about the meal you got on your SIN-PEN flight! Being a big fan of MH's colors, the TR flight seems to appear more modern!
Thanks for your kind comments! I definitely agree with the colours part, but I still prefer flying in MH.
Hi Gabriel,
Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 3): Do you mean you don't go overseas as part of your training, or you aren't allowed to go overseas (in your own time) during training?
I meant the latter. I had this mistaken thought that we aren't allowed to go overseas at all during the Basic Military Training phase which lasts 19 weeks for me.
Quoting gabrielchew (Reply 3): Very nice to have a choice of two hot meals on a short flight
Just a small airline based in Indonesia so not surprising that you have not heard from them. They should be comparable to Air Southwest in the UK, but still in operation of course!
I don't really consider him a celebrity but still wonderful to have met him.
Hi burj,
Quoting burj (Reply 4): Awesome trip report! Love the photos!
Thanks!
Quoting burj (Reply 4): Never heard of "Wings" air before...I guess airlines are running out of "aviation" or "flight" related names!
You must be right when we have names like Peach and Scoot as airline names!
Quoting burj (Reply 4): From the looks of it the box is designed so that the half that is covered has all the common and cold components (drink, desert, chocolate) and a tray to hold the hot entree depending on what the pax chooses...pretty clever design actually!
I love this design, portable and wonderful. Apparently, the box is made of some sugar cane fibers that are recyclable.
Quoting burj (Reply 4): You can fly on a 2-3 hours flight in FIRST class on a domestic U.S. flight and not be offered anything more than "goldfish" or "twix"!
So I should be glad that I am in Singapore. However, I'd rather not get a meal when flying rather than being made to serve in the army. :P Have your choice!
Quoting burj (Reply 4): So did you take a photo of you famous seat mate?
No I did not, but we are Facebook friends now.
Hi Lars,
Quoting The777Man (Reply 5): Very nice report with nice pictures! Glad you were able to do some flying.
Thanks for your kind comments!
Quoting The777Man (Reply 5): MH looks very good and amazing with a hot meal on such a short flight!
Always amazing! They are definitely in my choice of carrier to choose when flying.
Quoting The777Man (Reply 5): TR looks okay but I would defienatlly stick to MH or SQ.
Not for the price difference. MH and SQ has pretty astronomical prices.
Quoting The777Man (Reply 5): Looking forward to your next report whenever that may be.
It should be very very very long later, sadly.
Hi delta,
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 6): I hear so much great about SIN, hopefully I can experience it myself some day!
You should! Do contact me if you need any help regarding SIN too.
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 6): Indeed, looks really good for a 1 hour flight in economy. The only time I've gotten a mean in economy in Europe was with LH Italia a few weeks ago on MXP-ARN, and that's a 2½ hour flight. And sadly, LHI is now gone.
Seems like there are mixed reviews about LHI but still LH is a wonderful airline in my opinion. Can't wait to try them one day.
Hi Jezrel,
Quoting JetBlue777 (Reply 7): It's great to hear from you again! Yet another great trip report from you and a fantastic way to spend the day! Like the777Man said, the meal you got from MH seems very delicious. I only wish US carriers would serve such things!
Thanks! The MH meal was really nice. Well, you can get those meals on US carriers, just add a few dollars more. :P
Quoting JetBlue777 (Reply 7): As for my summer trip report, I'm still working on it. I told you that it would be finished in two weeks back in August but I've been pretty busy in school...Maybe this Thanksgiving Break, I'll finally finish my overdue TR!
Still eagerly awaiting that report!
Hi infinit,
Quoting infinit (Reply 8): Nice day trip. Great way to spend your weekend after a hard day of training. I've never been to Pulau Tekong (I did my national service with the Police Force). Would love to visit it someday though
Ha, it doesn't look as good as it seems. :P Not when you are confined there for at least 5 days a week most of the time!
Quoting infinit (Reply 8): MH looks great. Sounds like the crew were very ambient and friendly too.
That should be their greatest selling point.
Quoting infinit (Reply 8): I was thinking of doing a very similar trip, albeit for two days. Probably SQ to KUL and MH to SIN.
Doesn't sound worth it to me. I might consider flying KUL-SIN-XXX or SIN-KUL-XXX when flying SQ/MH respectively since it will be cheaper this way. Flying SQ from KUL should be pretty fun and you can fly up to KUL in some LCC like 3K.
Quoting infinit (Reply 8): They codeshare on this route so its real cheap too.
How much are the prices like? I just checked and it was $399 in December! When on offer it is at least $218 or $228 if I am correct.
Hi PH,
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 9): great to see a new report from you! Excellent work, I really enjoyed it! Interesting to see your Tiger flight wasn't as disappointing as mine last year.
Thanks for your comments! Indeed it wasn't as disappointing but they managed to do what they did.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 9): I noticed the same on a 27 years old Sriwijaya 732 last week - amazing!
Now I envy you! The 732 seems so close to me but yet so far!
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 9): That meal looks very good. I'm sure they would have reheated on request.
I'm not sure about this. I did not see them take any meals into the galley for reheating.
Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 9): Did they accept credit card? My friend wanted to buy something on a Thai AirAsia flight last week, but they only accepted cash.
Quoting MarcoPoloWorld (Reply 10): I will typically only fly an LCC if they either have a unique routing or if the full-service carrier's fare is something astronomical
LCCs here are pretty much decent so I don't mind flying them. Besides, I can get the emergency exit row for just a small fee so I don't see why not. Emergency exit rows typically has more legroom than a normal seat on say, SQ or MH.
Quoting MarcoPoloWorld (Reply 10): Sometimes, the latter can be the case when looking for one-way tickets - but that was apparently not the case with MH here?
Well MH seems to price their flights in terms of a one-way system like that of LCCs. Probably to fight with AK?
Hi Nils,
Quoting sultanils (Reply 11): I am very glad you were able to escape the army life for a few hours to do what you like best: flying.
Definitely. It felt like a great getaway from the usual strict regimentation!
Quoting sultanils (Reply 11): I do hope in your future months to come as a soldier, you will be able to do this kind of thing once or twice more
I hope to do it a lot more!
Quoting sultanils (Reply 11): Perhaps something for you as well in a few years from now?
Well, just pray that I survive my remaining 21 months inside...
Quoting sultanils (Reply 11): 2007… Is it already that long ago? I remember it just like being yesterday. Time flies
Defnitely! Hope time flies faster to 2013 so I can regain my civilian status.
Quoting sultanils (Reply 11): Stupid name methinks. But then again: ‘priority boarding ‘ or ‘speedy boarding’ don’t win any prizes either…
LCCs in a nutshell? :P
Quoting sultanils (Reply 11): By the looks on his face I think he was giving you the evil eye on taking a shot of him whilst performing the safety demo.
Probably he thought I was gay, but I'm certainly not!
That's actually the comment by the fellow passenger.
Quoting sultanils (Reply 11): They want to show the budget minded traveller what they are missing out of when flying low cost… Nah, just kidding!
Haha, that might just be the case!
Hi Markus,
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 12): Really nice story and also pictures. I like to go somedays also the way to Penang, sounds really interesting to me.
It is a wonderful place with Peranakan culture. Highly recommended to pay a visit!
Hi Gavin,
Quoting RvXKaz (Reply 13): Excellent photos to accompany your lovely TR on your well-deserved escape from army life.
Thanks!
Quoting RvXKaz (Reply 13): I'm not used to the snack box concept (looks kinda like a more presentable version of those ration boxes during outfield activities in National Service).
Oh no, that's a very bad comparison! Airline meals are way better than anything you can get in NS. :P Speaking of which, I will be living on combat rations for a couple of days soon, at the end of this month. Not looking forward to it!
Quoting RvXKaz (Reply 13): Would you recommend TR or MH for this short sector given the price difference?
I would recommend MH for just once to experience it if the price remains the same (around $120 one way).
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