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A Fine City: Singapore (+Malaysia) via DL/AA/CX/JL/WN Y/MCE

A Fine City: Singapore (+Malaysia) via DL/AA/CX/JL/WN Y/MCE

Old Oct 1, 2018, 8:31 pm
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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A Fine City: Singapore (+Malaysia) via DL/AA/CX/JL/WN Y/MCE

A Fine City: Singapore (+Malaysia) via DL/AA/CX/JL/WN Y/MCE

Hello everyone and welcome to my ninth trip report. You may remember me from my other trip reports:
[FIXED] A Birthday Trip to Remember: Calgary via AC/AA in Y/Y+
A 5-Day Cali Jaunt via WN Y
Flying Solo: A Broke College Student Takes the UAE via DL/KL/AF Y
Austin, TX via UA/AA Basic (oh no!) Y
D.C. on a Dime: The Nation's Capital via UA Basic Y+ (Seriously!)
MAXimum Chicagoan (Mis)adventures via WN Y
Viaje a Vienna via DL/AF/KL Y
VXFarewell: An avgeek's first VX experience on the last ever VX flight!

If not, welcome! My name is Jeremy and I’m a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Introduction

In early April of this year, I was browsing the FlyerTalk Mileage Run Deal forum, which I have always used just to find cheap fares (I don’t spend nearly enough to qualify for any type of status!). I noticed a $314 roundtrip LAX to SIN deal that worked for early May which was absolutely perfect. Well, almost perfect. I already had a trip to Toronto & Montreal planned during this time, but it was booked with voucher funds. And all except one hotel tonight was refundable. And on top of it all, my best friend from Dubai was able to meet me over in Singapore! So I cancelled everything else, and booked this cheap flight, then used my remaining DL vouchers to book a flight from PHX to LAX. To wrap up the deal beautifully, I booked a cheap LAX to PHX flight on Southwest Airlines. Everything was all set.



In this trip report:
I. DL5693 PHX – LAX Y
II. AA193 LAX – HKG Y
III. A Day in Hong Kong
IV. CX715 HKG – SIN Y
V. Singapore!
VI. MH606 SIN – KUL Y
VII. Kuala Lumpur!
VIII. MH623 KUL – SIN Y
IX. Wrapping Up in Singapore
X. JL712 SIN – NRT Y
XI. AA170 NRT – LAX MCE
XII. WN5435 LAX – PHX

Sunday, May 6

My lovely aunt & uncle timed their flights back to MSP so that way we could spend our last few moments together before going our separate ways. We relaxed in the airport as long as we could before their 17:55 flight departed. Shortly thereafter, boarding began for my flight over to LAX.

I. DL5693 PHX – LAX Y
DEP 18:37 // ARR 20:05
Embraer E-175 (Compass Airlines)

I’ve flown on DL’s PHX-LAX-PHX flights operated by compass E-175s numerous times by now, but the one thing they still can’t get straight is their in-flight service. If I recall correctly, this flight was one of the better ones, where water and coffee was distributed along with the full snack basket of options. We were also treated to a stunning sunset the entire flight due to the westbound nature of it all.




The flight was uneventful in just about every way other than this. We arrived at the lovely T2 (for a change). I’ve gotten used to arriving at the dingy, gross, and crowded T3 at LAX. This was a much needed change to say the least. T2 was rather delightful, with plenty of restaurants, vaulted ceilings and all the amenities you’d except from such a large airport. I had several hours until my next flight to Hong Kong. I took the shuttle over to TBIT, which is just about the only place at LAX I can stomach at this point. Unfortunately, the KAL lounge only offers the Priority Pass option before noon, which didn’t work for me. So I roamed the terminal, FaceTimed some friends, and wasted a lot of money on airport-priced food.


Around 11PM, I figured I’d go explore the American Airlines terminal. What. A. mistake. It smelled horrible and looked absolutely filthy despite the relatively small number of passengers departing at the time. Who finds this food truck thing attractive, anyways?


Monday, May 7

Back to TBIT I went, until I got a notification that my flight was finally boarding.

II. AA193 LAX – HKG Y
DEP 01:05 // ARR 07:25 (+1)
Boeing 777-300ER

I was excited to be trying AA’s 777-300ER product after experiencing that of several others. That plane is an absolute workhorse and I really do adore it. I went back and found my seat 26C, not too far back in the plane. A lovely young woman from Hong Kong joined me in 26A, and we made sure nobody joined us in 26B. This is also my longest flight to date, and fifteen hours on board certainly was daunting. A menu was distributed as well.


Not long after takeoff, the drink service started. I tried to get a whiskey coke, but the lovely flight attendant figured she should ID me. Fair enough, it is the law, but we were over international waters! For dinner, I had the beef option, which was actually quite flavorful. I was pleased.


I watched The Greatest Showman (which made me cry a lot for some inexplicable reason) before falling asleep, until the mid-flight gelato service was served. I also made my way over to the galley at this time to grab some snacks and drinks before falling back asleep. Hmm. No alcohol over here either.


I rested my poor little eyes until breakfast service, which was also quite tasty. As breakfast was served, it got incredibly bumpy and the flight attendants were instructed to be seated several times. The purser was phenomenal, keeping everyone updated throughout the flight with pertinent information. We made our way own into Hong Kong and I for once felt alert and ready to start my day.


Tuesday, May 8

III. A Day in Hong Kong
I got one of the Express tickets to Central HK, which provides a free return trip if it’s on the same day! It was fast and comfortable. I love good public transportation like that.


I spent the day really just roaming around. I found myself doing the walking commute with several other people in finance, so it was cool to feel what a morning commute would be like. It was stormy out, so I didn’t bother going to The Peak, nor did I have much actual time to spend outside before the rain would resume yet again. I still managed to hit the main things: Mid-Level Escalators, Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry.





By mid-afternoon, jetlag and poor airplane sleep left me feeling absolutely destroyed. I went back to the airport to enjoy the Plaza Premium Lounge with my Priority Pass membership. It was lovely; good spread of food and drink and plenty of comfortable seats and outlets. The EK Crew also made an appearance, which I always love to see.

I made my way to my gate incredibly exhausted but ready to finally make it to Singapore.

IV. CX715 HKG – SIN Y
DEP 2025 // ARR 0015(+1)
Boeing 777-300

I was on a comfy but old little 777-300 (what? A new airplane type?!). I settled into my comfy seat with SO MUCH legroom, no seatmates and a very old IFE system. The flight attendants came by and introduced themselves and were constantly helping people and engaging in conversation. They were so incredible. It’s a shame I couldn’t experience the in-flight service; I fell asleep immediately after takeoff and woke up on final descent.



Wednesday, May 9

V. Singapore!
After several days of travel, I was finally at my destination: Singapore! After visiting Dubai in December and hearing so much about how Singapore compared, I was thrilled to be there seeing it myself. The humidity was new for my Arizona past, though! Of course at this point it was 1AM, so I hailed a Grab, which is better than Uber, and went over to my Airbnb. They had everything all set for me. But the air conditioning had to be turned on each time we went into the room, how strange compared to what I was used to at home: blasting A/C all the time!

I fell asleep around 2AM, and finally woke up around 9AM to texts from my friend who had just arrived! He made it to the Airbnb about an hour later, and it was so exciting to finally see him again! We settled in for a moment and then got ready to go and explore! We used the MRT a great deal during our visit; it was quick and easy to use. We started off with currency exchange in Mustafa Market at some of the best rates I’ve ever seen in my life.




We also found Central Perk – the Singaporean version at least, which is the only one licensed by Warner Bros. outside of the US! We had tasty drinks and enjoyed the endless Friends clips; we are both big fans of the show.


We continued to roam for the rest of the day before heading back pretty early for the day considering how jetlagged and tired we are. We ventured out to one of the many incredible Hawker Centres to get some incredible food. These things are just incredible. The food is amazing and cheap. And the environment is so busy and loud, it is rather exciting.


We turned in pretty early for the night, vowing to make the next day even more exciting and action-filled. And it definitely was!

Thursday, May 10

We slept in (of course) and then got ready for the day. Roaming continued with Chinatown and the Arab street, along with downtown.






I’m also a huge donut connoisseur, so we HAD to stop at JCo donuts, an Asian chain known for their great donuts. In all honesty, I wasn’t too impressed!


Okay, we may have turned in early again that day. I only experience jetlag to/from Asia because of the damn international date line! We again told ourselves the next day would be even better, and it certainly was.

Friday, May 11

On May 11, we went down to Sentosa Island, home of Universal Studios Singapore, the richest people of Singapore, and basically every overpriced attraction and restaurant on the island. We went there fairly early, decided it wasn’t for us AT ALL, and made our way back to our Airbnb for some swimming.


The next information is a little fuzzy in my mind. I don’t drink often at all, but we had planned to meet up with my friend’s former coworker for happy hour down in Boat Quay, an adorable little street along the water with views of Marina Bay Sands. It’s also the go-to spot for those in finance on Friday evenings.

If you aren’t aware, alcohol in Singapore is EXPENSIVE! Happy hour makes it affordable(ish). We ended up going to a place with buy one get one Tiger beer. Now, I don’t drink all that much, but I figured a couple beers wouldn’t do much. Oh how wrong I was. After the first one I was already buzzed, and after the second, oh my gosh. Then we had the brilliant idea to walk to a Hawker Centre about a half mile away for some claypot chicken. That was the most arduous walk of my life.


And what did we do once we got to the Hawker Centre? We got more Tiger. Yikes!


The claypot chicken itself was phenomenal, though obviously a bit challenging to eat with chopsticks in my inebriated state. I wish I could recommend the place to you but frankly I have no clue where it is or what it was called. We made our way back over to our Airbnb, another arduous walk for sure, and then fell asleep awfully late after chatting about everything under the sun. I’m funny when intoxicated, or at least I like to think I am!

Saturday, May 12

We awoke early the next morning and grabbed some coffee buns from our neighborhood bakery (if anyone knows where to get good coffee buns in Phoenix, hit me up please!), then went back to pack up and prepare for our flight over to Kuala Lumpur.

We Grabbed over to the SIN airport which truly is the best, most peaceful airport I have ever visited in my life. I also love the idea of going through security as you enter the gate area, then anyone has access to come visit you and meet you for a meal or to chat in any restaurant or public place in the airport. It also makes security, which is already lighter and easier, a bit faster, which is pleasant.

VI. MH606 SIN – KUL Y
DEP 13:40 // ARR 14:40
Boeing 737-800

We were on a cute little Boeing 737-800 in a two-class configuration for the flight. Legroom was tight, but the flight attendants were beautiful in their Malaysian dress. They served a bag of peanuts and orange juice, and even came through offering seconds. In the US, such a short flight wouldn’t get you, well, really anything at all! I also found out after this flight that SIN-KUL is the busiest air route in the world. Checked that off the list without even realizing it!



VII. Kuala Lumpur!

The line for customs was immeasurably long, with flights arriving from Amsterdam and London at the same time. Kuala Lumpur, like Hong Kong, has an express train that takes you directly into downtown KL. It’s comfortable and has video screens with ads and advice for your stay. It’s not cheap but it certainly makes getting in a lot easier. It takes you to the central station, where we then picked up a Grab. Prices in Malaysia are SO MUCH cheaper than those in Singapore. Our Grab, which was the scariest car ride of my life, took about an hour and a half, and still cost us the equivalent of 2 USD.



We went to GTower hotel, which is a five-star hotel meant for business travelers. It was stunningly gorgeous. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, and we weren’t too happy about leaving Singapore, so we spent the night in.


Sunday, May 13

The next day we woke up awfully late and went over to Jalan Alor Food Street to see what it looks like by day. It was quiet and easy to navigate for sure.



Then we roamed around and explored some malls, before heading to the Chinese market by Grab. We spent most of the day roaming around the market and buying (fake) souvenirs. As the sun set, we made our way back to Jalan Alor for some more eats. This time, it was so so so crowded, it was unbelievable. The street was so alive with music and smiles. We had some fantastic food. What was strange was that drinks were served and paid for separately with completely different people, even at the same restaurant.



We called it a night and went back for one last night of Malaysian rest before heading back to Singapore for one more night.

Monday, May 14

We woke up late again and headed back to the airport via the Airport Express.


The Malaysian airport was much more bare but certainly clean with plenty of wide open spaces. I enjoyed it a great deal. We got on our flight and headed back to Singapore.

VIII. MH623 KUL – SIN Y
DEP 13:25 // ARR 14:45
Boeing 737-800

Our flight timings worked out perfectly, giving us enough time in the morning to check out of our first hotel, make it to the airport, fly, and then be at the next hotel around check-in time. Service on this flight was friendly just as before, with the same services provided.

IX. Wrapping Up in Singapore

With the longer line in customs, and then a long MRT ride over to the Destination Singapore Beach Rd Hotel, we really didn’t have a ton of time left. We started off in Chinatown gathering all of our last minute souvenirs.


After we had picked up sufficient souvenirs for family and friends, we were quite hungry. Fortunately, a hawker centre was right across the street from our hotel. We grabbed our last crispy pork dishes, Hainanese chicken, and some coffee drinks to enjoy.




We went and bought a bunch of cinnamon rolls and coffee buns, plus a bottle of Tiger, for our last night there. It was honestly quite a sad evening. I had really fallen in love with Singapore. I love the big city feeling, the respectful and disciplined nature of the people, and the variety of things to do. It was a city that spoke to me unlike any other, and I already look forward to returning in Fall 2019 for study abroad, assuming no unexpected occurrences in life!

Tuesday, May 15

Quite a sad day in all honesty. Though my online check-in via the JAL site gave me an exit row to Tokyo and a Main Cabin Extra seat to LAX for free, I was terribly sad to say goodbye to my friend and what might be a new home for me down the road. Nonetheless, my friend and I shared a tearful goodbye, and I made my way to my gate.

X. JL712 SIN – NRT Y
DEP 08:10 // ARR 16:20
Boeing 777-200ER

A perfect 7ish hour flight with a fantastic flight attendant and seatmate. JAL arranges their 777-200ER cabin in a 3-4-2 arrangement, which makes the right side of the plane absolutely perfect for traveling solo. I was able to choose an exit row without a fee as well, which was fantastic. Unlimited legroom was much needed. No menu was given on the flight.



The meal service was great! Real cutlery, a variety of food (which, in all honesty, I didn’t quite know how to eat!), free alcohol (no champagne though!!!), and our fantastic flight attendant. Plus a REAL hot towel, not a weird napkin thing!


I had several servings of JAL’s signature lime drink as well, it was quite good, though it certainly looked green like it came out of a lab!



Interestingly, no second meal or snack was served on the flight, unlike most US/EUR carriers that serve a smaller meal before landing on a flight of that length. My seatmate and I had great conversations about living in Singapore. We also talked to the flight attendant a lot about his favorite planes and routes (he says he hates the 777-200ER but loves the Singapore route). It was nice to keep my mind off the sadness for a bit. We bid our farewells and I headed off to my gate for my flight to LAX.

XI. AA170 NRT – LAX MCE
DEP 18:05 // ARR 12:25
Boeing 787-9

This was my third time on the 787-9 aircraft and it was splendid as always. The food, like on previous AA flights, was rather good. Honestly, I often find AA’s catering to be some of the best on international routes. I also lucked out on this flight, as I was able to select a Main Cabin Extra seat from JAL’s site without any fee. And, on top of it all, I had no seatmates at all! It was lovely to be able to lay across all my seats. Just behind me, the main economy section started, but luckily the flight attendant’s wouldn’t let anyone move up. “These people paid extra for their seats,” they said. Well, maybe the others did!

I slept through most of the flight except for the two meal services and mid-flight ice cream service.




Arrival in LAX was, to say the least, an experience. I walked down the jetway into a group of contractors barking orders at everyone. Certainly not a friendly welcome. I had to convince them I knew which way to Global Entry, because they certainly did not know. After that, since I had no bags to claim, they asked to search my luggage. I was asked a bunch of questions about my trip and the most interesting question was whether or not I was bringing frozen meats home. Like, uh, no, I don’t have frozen meat decaying in my carry-on luggage, but thanks for checking.

After this step, I was thrown right outside of the airport. Literally, I walked out of an unmarked door and was curbside in an unidentifiable area. What? Welcome back, I guess.

I walked over to Southwest Airlines, begged and pleaded to get on an earlier flight to no avail. So I waited, in pain and jetlagged agony.

XII. WN5435 LAX – PHX
DEP 15:50 // ARR 17:15
Boeing 737-700

Ultimately, I got on my flight and went home, filled with sadness and happiness at such an incredible trip, the best one so far, I’d say.


As always, thanks for joining me on this journey! I am so far behind on trip reports, I’ve got several coming within the next few weeks, then I can write the ones for my upcoming October trips as well. I am open to any feedback and advice, as always. I hope you enjoyed!

Last edited by jetsflier; Oct 1, 2018 at 8:39 pm
jetsflier is offline  
Old Oct 2, 2018, 2:25 am
  #2  
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Personally I think the food truck is a nice idea
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Old Oct 2, 2018, 7:12 am
  #3  
 
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AirBnB in Singapore?

Last I heard, AirBnB is illegal in Singapore.
That said, food in hawker centres can be cheap, but once you hit foodcourts like Food Republic in Vivocity or Ion, things start to get expensive.

Glad that you found Changi peaceful. It's a great airport!
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Old Oct 2, 2018, 8:27 am
  #4  
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great report thanks!

LAX is a literal dump of an airport. It's the PHL of the west.
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Old Oct 3, 2018, 5:42 am
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Going to Sentosa and not riding the Blue Roller Coaster... Oh well, different strokes for different folks. Seriously, that Blue Roller Coaster is not to be missed if you like truly thrilling rides.
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