My first SIN trip. Can't wait to do some more!
 

I just flew my first SIN trip & got back earlier today. My itinerary is as follows:

SNA-LAX Jan 17 UA 5293
LAX-SIN Jan 17 UA 897 (via NRT)
SIN-LAX Jan 21 UA 890 (via NRT)
LAX-SNA Jan 21 UA 5296

Ticket cost me $493 on ual.com. Got 18.5 status & 38K total miles.

Security took all of 10 minutes including being 'wanded' extensively. Security (unlike most others!) gentleman was very nice, professional, & seem to know what he was doing. (most don't http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif!) After that, went to the red carpet club & waited for more than an hour. My first flight was a UAX & the scenery below was nice. Arrived at LAX & went into the red carpet club there. Met 2 flyer talkers, 'taxdude' & his traveling companion. (they were to take the same flight as I to SIN). Went on UA 897 to SIN via NRT. Were in the E+ section. Coach was packed! Had seat 37H but by mistake, sat in 37C. The man's seat I took by mistake was very nice & wanted my original seat more. Anyway, I was two rows up from 'taxdude' & talking to other FTer's makes the time go very quickly. Arrived in NRT in afternoon of 1/18 & went to red carpet club. Had to check out the famous beer machine! Ate some rice rolls, diet coke (they seem to had a very good selection of liquors--I do not like the taste of liquor), etc. After 1.5 hrs, went to gate of UA 897 to SIN. There were two more FTer's in 35A & 35C. (I forgot their handles). Talked to them & made time go by quickly. Landed in SIN at 11:50PM on 1/18.

Took cab to hotel. Probably paid too much for cab. Stayed in an inexpensive hotel. New 7th Storey Hotel (NSSH). Just you basic, cheap old (built in '53) hotel. Met my needs OK. Stayed 2 nights in backpakers room & last nite in private room with common bath. Paid 75 SGD total. (next visit, have the Conrad at 50% weekend rate http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif). Hotel is OK in a pinch for frugal types who do not care if the place is old & basic. Hotel seems to be kept up pretty decently, however. Met another UA 1K who was staying there. Hotel is well located to MRT (subway) & is 1 block away.

Got to hotel about 1AM & slept pretty decent. Woke up & just walked all over the central city. Had some very good & inexpensive Chinese food. Got to have lots of seafood & duck. First day, napped, walked & just got familiar with the city. Second day, went to the Preserve & hiked up to the summit & on the trails into the jungle. The only two rain forests in the urban areas (according to my guidebook) are Rio & SIN. Had a nice time & got some serious exercise.

Checked out of hotel at 5AM & shared cab with another hotel guest. (the 1K I met earlier). Went to check in & did not see a Prem Exec/Business checkin. Anyway, the line was fairly short. Was given a lounge pass to SATs lounge. Lounge was decent & they had Movenpick ice cream! Had to try some even at 6AM. (had the choc chip & strawberry). Yum Yum! Did not see any FTer on my return flight #890. Middle seat next to me on both legs was empty. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Had seat 37A. From SIN-NRT, NRT was having weather problems & we were in 2 different holding patterns. Got in over a hour late. Still had a little time to go to the Red Carpet club. Was brave (for me, that is http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) & had half of a beer from the well known beer machine. (credit to chexfan for the wonderful pictures & description http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) Beer was great! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif Was able to rest on both SIN-NRT & NRT-LAX legs. Going through customs was another matter.

Went through Customs, got flagged to the red line. Lady was polite but asked a "million" questions! Made remarks about "you must have alot of $$$ to travel for 3 days". Remarked that FTer friends do a 6-7 hour turn for the miles. Explained that I have limited vacation time. She said, don't you get alot of time off. I remarked that I am using most of mine (3 weeks) for a trip to Australia in Business class. Asked me if flying to SIN was worth it. Of course, YES! Explained truthfully that my SIN trip cost me only 1.30 cents/mile (earning almost 2/3 of a expensive Australia ticket). Asked where I'd been, etc. She remarked that I did alot in the two days. When she saw all the books, fliers,etc. that I'd picked up in SIN coupled with an old Australia guidebook I had with with me, she seem to believe what I was saying. This was my first time I'd cleared LAX customs in a few years. (I usually clear customs on the eastern USA on my trips back to Europe). In spite of having luggage searched & being questioned, I am ready for my Feb trip to SIN!

After clearing customs, I made my flight to SNA. Still trying to decide whether to go for UA 1K or stop at Prem Ex. Thank you for bearing with me in reading this long report.

Welcome home! See you found the Movenpick ice cream (I had to have a couple of those at 6 in the morning).

I'm holding off booking any additional UA itineraries right now until I see what happens with the mechanics (I'll have 37K base miles by end of February). I'll be doing AA runs during my March vacation, as they comped me Platinum. I can always make up the UA miles in the second half of the year if they resolve things. If it's not resolved in the near future, I can even see myself going for 100K on AA if I have to.

Another Amazing Beer Machine fan! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

that's it Gaucho100k... we gotta start importing these puppies!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by chexfan (edited 01-22-2002).]

The only problem is many of us don't like "the perfect head" -- except on our Guiness or cream ales -- and must remember to withdraw the glass before that operation begins!

SIN taxi drivers are just about the world's most honest. In many trips I've been overcharged once. To save the expense of a taxi, you can sometimes rush from Customs to the left side of the terminal and get the shuttle into town. Several times lately, however, the shuttle was making no more runs even through it's supposed to run until midnight.

It's amazing that the New 7th Storey hasn't succumbed to redevelopment. It's in a great location at the fringes of the Colonial District, close to Arab Street and Little India and is, as mentioned, dirt cheap. It's also close to one of the best air con food courts in SIN, in the basement of the Parco complex, adjacent to the Bugis MRT.

In many ways the New 7th Storey is better located than the Conrad, though the ambiance is somewhat different! Here's the hotel's link http://www.nsshotel.com/index.php3.
Rich

What does 75 SGD equate to in US Dollars? From the sounds of it, it doesn't sound like too much.

$ 40.77 USD

Nice report!

That sounds like a lot of money - a cab to the conrad cost about 5USD from memory - and that included the asian music at full volume at 5.00 in the morning

To clarify on the cab to/from SIN. I was suckered into taking the fixed price (35SGD) cab. I insisted on sharing the ride & got the price dropped down to 25SGD. (still too high once I found things out). On the way back, I shared the cab with the 1K guest at my hotel & it was half of 16.40 SGD total fare. (much better price IMHO). From what I can determine, the meter from hotel to Changi was $10.80 SIN & there is a 50% surcharge between 12 midnite to 7 AM. From Changi, there is a $5 SGD airport surcharge. (not to Changi). Sometime toward the end of the year, there will be subway service to Changi. (on the MRT, the maps said to the Changi stop was under construction).

Chexy,


IMHO,

That beer machine is way over-rated. Cool, but over-rated.

I know! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
Dan

I thought the MRT to Changi was going to open in April, but it seems to be even earlier:

"Commuters will soon be able to ride the train all the way to the airport on the new 6-km-long MRT extension line. The Straits Times understands that the new station could open in the next few days."

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sin...01228,00.html?

I will be leaving for another SIN trip next Thursday 2/14. I will let everyone know if the airport station is open on the nite of the 15th when I arrive.

if your arrive around midnight, you should also be aware that the MRT closes around 1am for daily maintenance of the tracks...not sure exactly when..asked the hotel concierge once and they didn't know either.

Just got the answer for when the MRT will open and the time of the last train; have also posted the info in the SIN Airport forum.

The MRT to Changi will open tomorrow (Feb 8 SIN time). The last train departing the airport is said to be at 11:18pm, too early for UA arrivals to catch.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sin...01433,00.html?