Part 4

The front desk at the ibis instantly secured a taxi for me as I checked out. The hotel was eager that guests should not use the taxis located outside for fear of being overcharged. It took my driver 10 minutes to move literally 100m in the traffic. However, as soon as we did the elevated multlane dual carriageway, he began making up for lost time. It was nice to see the road ahead so clear whilst it was bumper to bumper in the other direction.

We arrived at the airport and I was surprised to discover that after the 30 minute ride the meter was only showing 190Bhat (£3). The downside of course was that I had been done on the ride from the airport that cost 400Bhat.

Route: BKK-SIN
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight number: SQ973
Class of service: First
Aircraft: 777-300
Seat: 1A
Scheduled departure time: 11:15
Scheduled arrival time: 14:40

I arrived around three hours before departure and located the Singapore Airlines check-in area. A queue was forming but the desks were not staffed. I took a slow walk around the terminal before returning in time to see several agents making themselves comfortable behind the check-in desks. The economy queue consisted of around 20 passengers, business had 5 waiting but first was free. The formalities were dealt with swiftly and I was given directions to the Silver Kris Lounge. I asked about paying the departure tax and discovered that it was now included in the ticket price.


I headed through security and had a look around the departure lounge and the duty free shops.


I then made for the Thai Royal First Lounge after having a quick look around for a ‘guest’ to take into the lounge. I have done this a couple of times before as I enjoy brightening up the day of a complete stranger by getting them in with me. Unfortunately, I did not see many people travelling alone and so went in by myself.

There were only 3 other passengers in the main seating area allowing for plenty of space and privacy. Besides the general seating area, there are several semi-private rooms and a dining room.


Before I had even sat down, a member of staff was enquiring what I would like to drink. The champagne (Moët) was quickly delivered by a young lady who knelt down on the floor beside my seat, placed the glass on the table and then withdrew. I was invited to take a look at the food offering. Having looked, I ordered a couple of canapés followed by a club sandwich. They too were delivered in the same manner as the champagne and really did taste every bit as good as they appeared.


A glass or two later and I headed out to see if I could get into the Spa. I knew that it was exclusively for Thai First passengers but figured that as the lounge was so quiet, it couldn’t hurt to ask. I approached a member of staff close to the lounge exit by the toilets, fully expecting to get knocked back, and was (in absolutely the most polite manner possible) informed that next time I should fly Thai. I beat a hasty retreat back to my seat. A few minutes later the same lady approached me and asked if I’d like to go to the Spa. Before I had had time to recognise her, I said that I was travelling on Singapore Airlines. Obviously, she already knew this but asked me to follow.

Perhaps not entirely illogical on my account but I thought that they had decided to let me sample the spa this one time. However, my hopes were soon dashed as I was handed over to a spa employee who provided me with a personal tour of their facilities. I was not too disappointed when I discovered the purpose of my presence there as I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and will give some serious thought to flying with Thai out of Bangkok in first in the future to enjoy the full product range in this facility.


I thought that I would do check out the Silver Kris Lounge to compare it to the Thai First lounge. I thanked the fantastic Thai staff as I left them for all of their help and for letting me have a look around the Spa. The two minutes that I was in the SKL lounge only served to highlight what a great lounge Thai have for first passengers! I took a couple of pictures and left. I think the SQ ladies on the desk were a little taken aback by my almost immediate departure.


I returned to the Thai lounge and walked towards the same employees to whom I had, not five minutes beforehand, said a fond farewell. They expressed surprise at seeing me back so soon. I told them that I had been done to the SKL to check it out but it vastly inferior to their lounge. They genuinely seemed to appreciate this and my next glass of champagne arrived without any request.

Ultimately, my time there came to an end and I exited the lounge promising the staff that I really would not be returning this time. Once outside, I turned left and began walking. A few seconds later a member of the Thai lounge staff chased me and told me that I was heading the wrong way! He pointed me in the correct direction and I thanked him profusely. I was impressed by that. I was not even flying his airline but he remembered that I was flying on SQ to Singapore and still went the extra mile for me. Big thumbs up to all of the staff in that lounge!


As I approached the gate area the agents seemed pleased to see me. It would appear that I was the last passenger to board (but still abiding by their doors close 15 minutes before departure policy). Upon first sight and before I had set foot on the aircraft or they had seen my boarding pass, I was welcomed by name by the cabin crew. That was the first time this trip that any crew had addressed me by my name.

I was pleased to see that there were only four of us in first despite there being 18 seats! A few minutes after I boarded, the doors closed. I was asked if I’d like a pre-departure drink. There was a small mixed up over the champagne available; I was offered Dom Perignon or Krug and asked for Krug only to be told a minute later that there was no Krug onboard as it was a short flight. I gratefully accepted the Dom alternative. We pushed back 10 minutes early and made for a swift departure.


The fasten seat belt sign was extinguished fairly soon after take-off and the crew began to prepare the meal service. Having indulged in the Thai lounge, I had no real hunger and just opted for the appetiser. I barely touched it.


The table was cleared and I reclined the seat and tried to get a little more sleep. As I usually find it hard to sleep on aircraft, I was gobsmacked to awake to the ‘we are now starting our descent into Singapore’ announcement! I quickly asked a member of the cabin crew for an immigration card and set about filling it in. During the descent, I snapped a couple of pictures of the cabin and then one of my seat upon disembarkation.


Just like at Bangkok, it took me 15 minutes from disembarkation to getting into the back of a taxi. This was with the long walk from gate E11 and joining the immigration queue behind the passengers from the Yangon service. 20 minutes and S$20 later and I was at Le Méridien Singapore ready to check in.

Le Méridien Singapore

I spotted the SPG priority desk for elite members but made my way over to the normal desk. I had allowed my membership to lapse and I am just another general member now. Seeing that I was waiting, a front desk employee came over to me and began to check me in. It was only a few seconds in when I realised that he had me identified as a SPG Gold member. I had made the booking before my demotion and ultimately decided to kept quiet having secured a 4pm late check-out. A lady approached me with a free welcome drink as the chap attempted to locate a room for me. The room that had been pre-allocated was not yet ready and I was given the option of taking a lesser room or waiting. I decided to wait but once I announcement my intention, he received a call telling him my room was ready! He handed me my room key along with a sealed envelope with my name on it and a voucher for complimentary chili crab at the hotel's Café Georges.

The free chilli crab was pretty good in my book (I am not expert on that matter) but I got a bit carried away and ordered a Caesar salad, two glasses of Champagne and a cocktail to go with it that cost me just over S$70!



Singapore

During my previous trips I had pretty much confined myself to Raffles Hotel and Orchard Road. This time I wanted to see something more. To be honest, though, I did probably spend too much time by the hotel’s pool! The first place that I wanted to see was TigerLIVE and the nearby Vivocity. I eventually found TigerLIVE (which is based on Tiger Beer – admission includes a free drink) but did not go in as the place was absolutely dead. It was open but just nobody going in or coming out and the car park was deserted. Sensing every other tourist on the island had the right idea, I turned around and headed back to Vivocity.

Having passed through Singapore several times in the last few years, I had seen lots of photos of Merlion Park. It is a little underwhelming but certainly popular with the tourists. I arrived a couple of hours before dusk and think that it would so much better at night with the skyline immediately behind. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy it, I just figured that there would be more available there for tourist than the Merlion alone.


As I walked past the Floating Platform to the right, where they were practising for Singapore National Day, I took a rather unnerving interest in the tarmac on Raffles Avenue. It looked almost billiard table smooth and quite new. I wondered if that was going to be a stretch of the race track for next month’s inaugural Singapore Formula One Grand Prix. My eyes were then caught by some unusual street lighting which I immediately recognised having read an article about how the track would be illuminated for the night race. Surprisingly, I did not receive any odd stares as I began taking photos of the road!

Singapore Flyer was doing a special deal for the auspicious day; if you were one of the first 888 to ride the Flyer on that day, they gave you a commemorative certificate. Being the sucker that I am for free souvenirs, I went to book my ticket for the following day.


I am very glad that I did because, despite seeking out activities to do whilst in Singapore, it was here that I discovered that there was a flight simulator in the attached building. It is called ‘Flight Experience’ (www.flightexperience.com.sg) and provides the opportunity to fly a 737-800NG beside a fully qualified instructor. They offer three packages:

1) 30 minutes for S$155
2) 60 minutes for S$255
3) 90 minutes for S$365

For an extra S$15 (on top of any package) they will give you a DVD recording of your experience. I was informed that for the special day tomorrow, they will be including the DVD for free in all packages. I made a reservation for the following day for the 90 minutes package (though it must be said to Mrs TEX277 if you are ready this – I negotiated a very large discount and did not pay the quoted price for it, honest! I know what the credit card statement says, and it’s just a typo! Okay?).

I arrived at the Singapore Flyer about 10 minutes before it opened. There were only a few other people around killing time before we could board. I am so glad that I did not waste my money on an express boarding ticket. These cost around twice as much as the normal ticket but probably would have only saved me around 4 minutes. I am sure that, as it gets busy later on during the day, they could represent good value. I suppose that 4 minute saving could have been reduced to a few seconds had the man supervising and allocated guests to pods been filling them to capacity. I was glad that he didn’t! After the three or four small family groups in front of me boarded their own pods, I was next up. The man asked me where I was from and when I replied ‘UK’, he wanted to know whether I had been in the London Eye. Unfortunately, on the day that I went on it there was some light mist and I could not see too far at all! That made him chuckle and state “You won’t have that problem here”! He then boarded me into my own personal pod!!!


The views became more spectacular the higher than my pod got. As I was about half way to the top I heard the noise of a jet fighter. I looked around and saw what I thought was a F-5 Tiger Shark (I was okay with differentiating the F-5s from F-20s right up until Top Gun went and confused me with the MiG-28!) In total I counted five of them approaching the airbase from this fantastic viewing platform.

At the Flight Experience, it seems that you can do pretty much whatever you wish. Fly circuits, routes or approaches in to over 20,000 airports. I started off with a circuit at LAS to get a feel for the handling characteristics before taking off from Macau, making a touch and go and then a full at the old Hong Kong. A circuit at East Midlands and then departed Heathrow for a touch and go at London City (flew a non-standard approach just missing Canary Wharf) before finally landing at Gatwick. It was great fun and I thought offered good value for the money.


Route: SIN-BKK
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight number: SQ978
Class of service: First
Aircraft: 777-200
Seat: 2A (moved to 2F when doors closed)
Scheduled departure time: 18:00
Scheduled arrival time: 19:25

I journeyed straight over the T3 after check-in and I was a little let down by Singapore Airline’s First Class lounge. Sure it looked nice, but unlike the Thai lounge at BKK there was nobody to take your drinks orders. When I enquired how I should go about getting a glass of Champagne, I was directed to the self-service bar. I was expecting a bottle of Dom Perignon but it was Charles Heidseick Brut Reserve that was available. I utilised the free wifi to catch up with my FT query about transport from Colombo Airport to the Taj Garden Hotel.


Back over at T2 with a little over an hour to departure, I began my hunt for a friendly face to take into Singapore Airlines’ First Class lounge.

I found two independent from each other. However, they both were flying QANTAS having come in from Penang but politely pointed me in the way of the SQ lounge! Realising that there was a distinct absence of solo Star Alliance travellers, made for the lounge anyway! Sensing that I had failed in my quest, I was resigned to defeat. However, as I approached the lounge in saw a guy being turned away and directed to the SATS lounge. As he walked back towards me, I asked if he was flying Star Alliance. Upon hearing that he was an SQ passenger I asked him to follow me and I’d get him in. He turned around and walked the other way! I said that I could get a guest in but he was not interested. Can’t say that I didn’t try!!!


I was privileged to have a great crew on this flight, who again addressed me by name before I had set foot onto the aircraft. I was quickly informed that it was just the two of us on this flight (i.e. myself in 2A and the chap in1A). I decided to give each of us some space and relocated over to 2F. A glass of Dom Perignon was soon delivered and I felt right at home. The male member of cabin crew in particular was extremely friendly and we had several lengthy chats during the flight. He even watched my Kai Tak approach from my flight experience DVD and said that if the captain needs any help then they will call no me. To be fair it was one hell of a decent landing on that difficult runway! It turned out that the male cabin crew member was married to the leading flight attendant. I did think about asking whether she made a good wife but thought better of it in the end*.

I received a note from one of the Singapore Girls and was quite taken aback by her forwardness:

(Okay, so it was actually from a Singapore Boy who knew my wife was Cantonese and was just trying to help me impress her but that just does not make as good a story!)

No menu was distributed during the flight; I had Booked the Cook (Lobster Thermidor) and was happy to take whatever else was offered.


Once off of the aircraft it must have taken a little over 5 minutes until I was in the Thai Spa Lounge with a beautiful Thai lady (who no doubt would make an excellent wife**) giving me a great massage. Did anybody see that episode of ‘Travel Sick’ with Grub Smith??? The one where he was given some sort of treatment with courtesy of a lit candlestick and small glass bowls that gave him those purple marks all over his back. The said a great line that I am not sure that I could repeat here (nothing too offensive) but every time that she was a little too strong I thought of the quote and began giggling.

Route: BKK-CMB
Airline: Thai Airways
Flight number: TG307
Class of service: Business
Aircraft: A300-600
Seat: 11K
Scheduled departure time: 22:15
Scheduled arrival time: 00:01+1

The business cabin was pretty full for this flight. I only recall seeing three spare seats and unfortunately one of them was not beside me. As it was a night flight with so many other passengers in the cabin I decided against the use of my camera as the flash would have been necessary. However, there are photos of mine of the Thai A300 business cabin in my Bali trip report.

The one thing I remembered about the seats on this aircraft was that when the person in front reclines, you are left with little space. Therefore I opted for 11K, a window bulkhead seat. I only nibbled at the appetiser (Thai Prawn salad IIRC) and waved away any further offering of food. Since I had slept so little the night before, I quickly grew tired and even managed to sleep for most of this flight.




Immigration and customs were soon enough negotiated and again within 15 minutes of setting foot off of the plane, I was in the arrivals hall.

Taj Airport Garden Hotel Colombo

Having been advised that the Taj Garden Hotel offered a shuttle bus I made my way over. After checking my reservation the guy stated that my rate did not include transportation. He said he’d get me a car and it would cost US$6. At the time I wondered whether this was bit of a scam, but being that it was 00:30, I’d have to check-out of the hotel at 05:00 and that it was only US$6, I could not be bothered to query it and just wanted to get there asap. I was shown to a car and, much to my annoyance, we drove slowly to the hotel.

Check-in itself was pretty rapid and I was glad that I encountered no problems there. I had originally booked to arrive the previous night but changed my plans so that it would just be this short stay. I had emailed the hotel to inform them of this change and they had obviously taken care of it. The front desk staff recorded my flight departure details and informed me of my wake-up call. 4am was their suggestion due to traffic and security at Colombo airport. I eventually managed to talk them around to giving me a whopping great extra 30 minutes sleep. I walked into the room that initially struck me as being quite spacious and quite presentable. The phone rang and the chap who had checked me in told me that my rate includes breakfast but as it was not served at that time they could make alternative arrangements for me. I thanked him for his consideration and politely declined the offer. Breakfast would mean 15 minutes less sleep!!! A minute later and I was in bed trying to sleep.


My first thought was ‘I am not ready for this yet’ when the receptionist rang at 04:30 to inform me that we flight would be departing as scheduled. I was out of the hotel by 05:05 and heading back to the airport (at a quicker pace than initial transfer). I soon began to realise why they wanted me out of the hotel so long before my flight as he joined the queue for the security inspection on the road to the airport. I was impressed by the minimal distance that the driver maintained between our car and the car in front to prevent others forcing their way in. However, he bottled out as one car on each side began closing in and then we were out of it. Several other cars squeezed through before we could get underway again. To confirm my suspicions of a scam the previous night, the driver did not ask for any money for this transfer. I gave him US$2 as a thank you anyway.

* That quip is not to be taken seriously but is solely intended as homage to a truly legendary TR previously posted in this forum.

** See above - somebody stop me!