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Short Saigon Weekend on SIN LCCs
This would be just a short report on my recent Hari Raya long weekend getaway on Ho Chi Minh City. Tickets were booked a few months back on a combination of SIN's 2 largest LCCSs, Jetstar Asia and Tigerair, at very low prices for the peak travel period. Guess Vietnam is still not a very popular holiday destination for us Singaporeans.
26 July 2014 Jetstar Asia 3K 557 Singapore (SIN) - Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) A320 9V-JSN Economy Class What I like about Jetstar, online check-in can be done 48hrs prior to flight and seats can be chosen at that time at no extra charge. Boarding passes printed and verified at the check-in counters. I chose 20A and 20C, and very fortunately, 20B remained empty even though it was a rather full flight. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3879/...bffc4ef7_b.jpg Plane had arrived early back from Bangkok and parked at our departure gate C15. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/...47b18019_b.jpg Not too busy at T1 at this time of the afternoon. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/...5e5511d8_b.jpg Boarding soon https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2913/...5340561c_b.jpg Boarding by rows was enforced, which made boarding rather smooth. Plane was fitted with the new slim-line seats which I liked. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5592/...976cd3af_b.jpg https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3885/...5fd239aa_b.jpg Legroom was sufficient, and with the new seats, at least I can stretch out my legs. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2918/...29409214_b.jpg Seat pocket contents. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3917/...bef5ba00_b.jpg At the gate. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5576/...0ebee529_b.jpg Boarding in progress. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/...fea135eb_b.jpg Slight delay due to no-shows and offload of bags. Luckily it was not long and we pushed back and had a short taxi to Rwy20C for departure. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2921/...0d8f4e45_b.jpg Takeoff! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3nhd...rW0dYXoZc9I2ZA https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2897/...1babe425_b.jpg |
Final approach.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2919/...0ff9d19b_b.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2903/...0c6025b4_b.jpg Flare and a very smooth landing onto Rwy25R of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City. We were 5min behind schedule. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/...9dfaba6a_b.jpg Video of landing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZtyE...rW0dYXoZc9I2ZA Parked at the gate. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2927/...52299bab_b.jpg Into the international terminal. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3852/...e8b305f6_b.jpg A comfortable flight on Jetstar again on a routine short-haul sector. We stayed at a new hotel in Ho Chi Minh City near Ben Thanh market area, Paradise Saigon Hotel. Comfortable rooms at very affordable prices. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3909/...a37b8da2_b.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5557/...e4af8963_b.jpg First evening was meeting a couple of friends for an elaborate French dinner at La Villa Restaurant. The authentic French restaurant serves really value-for-$$ French cuisine, and we pampered ourselves silly with the 10-course (actually more than 10) degustation menu! 3.5hrs worth of fine dining! https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3918/...88e969e8_b.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2925/...20caf6a5_b.jpg Scenes of Ho Chi Minh City https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/...9693f234_b.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5551/...9071f183_b.jpg https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3863/...7b6d1082_b.jpg |
Will be in Saigon next year. The bathroom is special, not for everyone
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Thank you for sharing.
I-ve made a note of the name of that hotel in Ho Chi Minh. Would like to get there sometime, though I bet it-s not as easy to cross the road there as it is in Singapore.:p |
Originally Posted by offerendum
(Post 23295334)
Will be in Saigon next year. The bathroom is special, not for everyone
An airport hotel I stayed in at Jakarta had the toilet in the room, next door to the shower without a door on it. You'd hate to be travelling with your boyfriend of 1 month!! |
Originally Posted by Annalisa12
(Post 23297632)
It had a blind on it so you couldn't see someone doing their 'business'!
An airport hotel I stayed in at Jakarta had the toilet in the room, next door to the shower without a door on it. You'd hate to be travelling with your boyfriend of 1 month!! |
Our hotel offers quite a good selection of breakfast choices, with nice view from the rooftop restaurant as well.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/...959b44fe_b.jpg And more food during our short stay! https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3858/...eb753fb2_b.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5552/...f662eed5_b.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2931/...c19396f4_b.jpg https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/...9b831351_b.jpg Time to go back after the weekend break. Arrived at the airport rather early and queues were already formed almost 30min before the Tigerair check-in counters were opened. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5579/...25b45249_b.jpg Checking in. As expected, it would be an almost full flight. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2902/...24fcefef_b.jpg Boarding pass. The kind agent allocated us 28A and C, and luckily 28B remained empty. However, this row, as well as the last few rows of the aircraft, would have less than desirable seat pitch. The sticker is the "Board Me First" add-on, which was complimentary for us due to my NTUC card membership. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5592/...f326396c_b.jpg Using my ANZ Card, I had complimentary access to the Apricot Lounge, where I visited to grab some bites for the flight. Also did some spotting but there was nothing of interest. Vietjet Air A320 and VN A321. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/...8340d59b_b.jpg MH B738 pushing back. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3871/...dde94400_b.jpg Our Tiger just arrived. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5576/...97a8672d_b.jpg Boarding was at Gate 20. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/...461b8f53_b.jpg |
28 July 2014
Tigerair TR 2329 Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) - Singapore (SIN) A320 9V-TAF Economy Class An older Tiger, 9V-TAF would be operating the flight. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/...5e81aeac_b.jpg Boarding early with our "Board Me First" privilege. The cabin seemed old and yellowish, with fraying seat fabrics on seats. However, the cabin remained relatively clean. Still a far cry from the inbound Jetstar plane. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5587/...bcef2360_b.jpg Really poor leg room at the last few rows of the plane. Luckily the middle seat remained empty. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3926/...498b44dd_b.jpg Seat pocket contents. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2897/...662942b8_b.jpg At the gate. Pardon for the blurry photos as the windows on this aircraft were really dirty! https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2914/...5171fcda_b.jpg Pushed back on time for the short 1h30m flight back to Singapore. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3914/...421c17d1_b.jpg Departure from Rwy25L. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At7L-...rW0dYXoZc9I2ZA Climb out. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2936/...9ff84efb_b.jpg Cruise. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2901/...c121af85_b.jpg Inflight sales conducted. Service was friendly and professional. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3884/...1f6dbdf4_b.jpg I just had some "bring-on-board" snacks I had grabbed from the lounge earlier. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2929/...e5cc51d8_b.jpg Sunset. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5585/...2457e2a9_b.jpg Pretty soon we were descending into Singapore, landing on Rwy20C 30min early! Well, the Tigerair pilots and crew were quite proud of that, emphasizing on the 30min early arrival during the pre-landing and arrival announcements haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PXC8...rW0dYXoZc9I2ZA Disembarking. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/...5660954c_b.jpg A normal no-frills flight on Tigerair. Seat comfort was poor but saved by the empty middle seat. However punctuality was superb! Thanks for reading this short report! |
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