Flying: China Southern B787 Economy Class Guangzhou to Wuhan 2016

Usually I make a conscientious effort to check-in online before heading to the airport, and have until now always been able to skip the queues (if there were one) at the airport. It had not occurred to me that one day this experience will fail me.

Well, I stand corrected that sometimes even an online check-in cannot save you the queue at the airport.

While there are close to a dozen flights operating Guangzhou-Wuhan daily (China Southern alone operates 4~5 flights), it was almost a no brainer to choose CZ659 given the ideal late morning departure, wide-body aircraft, and being tagged to an international destination (which gives it priority when facing traffic control).

China Southern 659
Guangzhou (CAN) – Wuhan (Wuhan)  
Thursday, Jun 16 2016
Depart: 11:25AM
Arrive: 1:25PM
Flight time: 2hr
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Seat: 34K

Thanks to the long queue at the baggage drop and an even longer queue at the security checks, boarding was already half way through by the time I arrived at the gate. Yet I could not miss the opportunity to snap a few shots of this beautiful Dreamliner jet.

I am usually not a big fan of Chinese airline liveries, though China Southern had a special livery for their Dreamliners, and I am quite fond of the sweeping strokes of blue across the fuselage.

It was interesting to note that only one aerobridge was used for boarding, perhaps due to a limited load in first and business class.

The plane was fresh and new, and the load was fairly full, with close to 90% of the economy seats filled, if not more. Though given that the plane actually operates Guangzhou-Wuhan-San Francisco, I am not exactly sure how many of my fellow passengers are getting off at Wuhan.

The doors were shut at 11:20AM, though we only pushed off at 11:33AM. In the meantime, the pilot came on the PA and declared a flight time of 1hr35min, which he expect would bring us into Wuhan at 1PM.

The safety video was quite interesting, as it featured significant elements of Chinese ink painting in the depiction of cabin interior features.

After a short taxi, we took off at 11:47AM. When airborne I turned to the entertainment system and was pleasantly surprised to find that the selection of movies and TV shows were quite extensive. 

One big disappointment was that headsets were not given out for this segment, which I think was to minimise the hassle of collecting the headsets before landing, since this is a really short flight. Nevertheless, I chose to watch The Big Short relying purely on subtitles, while secretly admiring the guy sitting on my left who was smart enough to bring his own earphone jack.

About 15 minutes into the flight the crew began to distribute snacks, and each passenger was given a rice burger and a mineral water. 

Although the flight was blocked for 2 hrs on paper likely due to expectations of air traffic control delays, the real flying time is closer to 1 hr. Hence a simple snack service is not unreasonable on such a short-haul flight.


In addition, I appreciate that the food was heated, which takes additional effort by the crew, especially considering the short flight time.

At 12:35PM the captain announced the descent into Wuhan, as well as advised all passengers continuing the trip to San Francisco to clear customs in Wuhan. We landed in the scotching sun ahead of schedule at 1:05PM and arrived at the gate at 1:09PM after a quick taxi.

Disembarking was again via a single aerobridge, though the curtains were drawn to allow business class passengers to get-off first. 

Conclusion

Domestic/short-haul flying is not always a pleasant affair, especially in China and the US, and sad to say that will probably remain the case except for premium routes such as Beijing-Shanghai or LAX-JFK. However, there are outliers like Guangzhou-Wuhan, which are tagged to international destinations like San Francisco and Moscow.

With new wide-bodies used and more experienced crew, I can indeed feel the difference when comparing between this flight and my previous experience with them on Singapore-Guangzhou. Thus with the cheap fares they offer on selected trans-Pacific routes and European destinations, I would actively consider flying with them long-haul, just to experience the service.

It has been a while since I flew on domestic routes in China, and given the frequent high speed train connections available on the Guangzhou-Wuhan route, it's hard to say if I will prefer flying to trains. Nevertheless, given the cheap fares on the route, and the ability to chalk up FF miles, I would still consider flying as an option.

Flying: Tigerair A320 Singapore to Guangzhou 2016

Usually I wouldn’t want to recount a flight on a budget carrier, as they are usually unmemorable (unless it’s my first time flying them), especially not on this Tigerair flight, since I have flown it no less than a dozen times when visiting my grandparents in China. However, quite a few things have happened by the time I got my boarding pass that I changed my mind.

There was no train service in the wee hours and hence a cab would be the only option of getting to Changi. While trying to book a cab on GrabTaxi, somwhow I just decided to try my luck using GrabCar instead. Usually I find it difficult to get a car at such awkward hours but today there was 4~6 cars within 2km.

We pulled over at terminal 2 right in front of gate 6, and at 5:12AM, there was only 3 minutes to spare before I miss the 45 minutes cut-off for check-in. Thankfully, the staff mannning the crowd let me skip the queue. Phew. I thought this was a really nice gesture, after multiple negative publicity of people missing the cut-off by just a few minutes on other budget carriers.

It was only when I started to check my details on the boarding pass that I realised I have assigned seat 1C. Woah! I mean, on a full service carrier this is nothing special, but with budget carriers typcially charging a fee for seat selection and a hefty premium for seats with extra legroom (in this case SGD 35), getting a first row seat is like a free lunch, hehe.

There was no queue in front of the automated immigration gantries and with a few minutes to spare, I even managed to grab a hot breakfast from McDonald’s before heading down to gate F54, which is a lot nearer than gate F60, which I used the last time when travelling to Hong Kong on Scoot.

Tigerair 2986

Singapore (SIN) – Guangzhou (CAN)
Tuesday, Jun 14 2016
Depart: 6:00AM
Arrive: 9:55AM
Duration: 3hr55min
Aircraft: Airbus 320
Seat: 1C

By the time I arrived at the gate, the boarding has already begun. In fact, the boarding lounge is largely empty, with only a few passengers clearing security. So I quickly gobbled down my McMuffin and boarded the plane, which was having a fairly ful load for such an early morning flight.

Somehow I had a feeling that on this flight, there were way more Chinese passengers than Singaporean ones. Either there are just that many tourists visiting Singapore (which I don't think was the case given official statistics) or Tigerair does a great job selling tickets through travel agents in China.

I guess a big bonus of sitting at the front would be the opportunity to take a peep at the cockpit.

The captain came on the PA at 5:57AM, welcoming all passengers aboard and announcing a flight time of 3hr52min, which he expect would bring us into Guangzhou on schedule. Usually I struggled to catch the captain's address, though this time round he was exceptionally clear and detailed.

At 6:00AM the cabin door was closed, and we pushed-off a minute later, however we had a fairly long taxi before taking off at 6:19AM after an ANA plane.

I quickly fell asleep after takeoff, since I woke up really early to catch this flight, though this time round I managed to wake-up to witness the sun-rise from the right side of the plane.

To be fair the picture does not do the view full justice.

I was a little hungry after filling up the Chinese immigration card, despite the McBreakfast before departure, and ordered a beef curry meal (SGD 12).

Well, to be fair the crew was quite helpful and served the meal even though it was less than an hour to landing. And the meal was served piping hot from the oven, though that was the few compliments I can pay to the meal service. Even judging by economy standards, this was a subpar meal, with the rice clumped tightly and the beef being too tough to chew. Sometimes it takes a meal like this to remind passengers to grab another serving at McDonald's before heading to the gate.

Nevertheless it was a nice gesture for the crew to serve drinks along with a glass of ice.

Soon after I am done with the food the captain announced the descent into Guangzhou, and we landed a little behind schedule at 10:06AM, followed by a short taxi before arriving at the gate at 10:13AM.

I had a slightly longer than usual wait at the luggage carousel, with the first bags coming out after nearly half an hour of waiting, without considering time spent clearing immigration and quarantine checks. Similarly, custom inspections took longer than usual, as all passengers are required to be checked instead of random checks in the past.

Flying: Vietnam Airlines Economy Class Tokyo Narita to Singapore 2016

9:30AM would actually have been a great time to fly, if only the departure airport isn't 60km from the city.

So the saviour turned out to be the Narita Skyliner, which helped bring our overall travelling time to the airport to slightly over an hour.

This time round, we only managed to get our boarding pass to SGN, and the counter staff informed us that we need to approach the transit counter in SGN to obtain our boarding passes for the second leg.

Vietnam Airlines 301
Tokyo (NRT) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) 
Wednesday, June 1 2016
Depart: 09:30AM
Arrive: 01:30PM
Flight time: 6hr
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9

Seat: 36K

We had about slightly more than an hour to spare and hence did some last minute shopping at the airport before proceeding to the gate. While mornings are typically busy for Narita, we cleared security and immigration fairly fast and were at the gate in less than 15 minutes. As we approached the gate, boarding has already begun, and just for this time, we did not wait for the final boarding call.

It's funny that there was another Vietnam Airlines 787 parked right beside us, operating the flight to Hanoi.

At 9:22AM the crew came on PA, welcomed all passengers on board and declared a shorter than estimated flight time of 5hr35min. We pushed off on time at 9:26AM, bidding the other 787 goodbye.

Till we meet again bro, but only on foreign land.

On the taxi to the runway, I noticed this beautiful Garuda 777-300ER which has just pulled into the terminal following its flight from Bali. 

The taxi to the runway was quick with only 3~4 planes lined up ahead of us, which was not bad given how busy Narita is, and we took off promptly at after an Air China 737.

Once airborne we made an about turn, heading south towards Vietnam.

Service began soon after we levelled off. The menus were distributed along with the headsets and drinks were served soon after.

Again I had the Western option, since after 10 days in Japan it hardly makes sense to have another washouku meal. The starter was excellent by any standards. The prawns were fresh and succulent. In fact, if removed from the plastic container and served instead on china, it would have instantly qualified for business class meal service. The same could be said for the fruit plate.

I had a glass of sparkling to accompany the lunch and it was fairly good. Throughout the meal service, several rounds of drinks were offered. While the stewardess only carried either juice or red and white wines, I would like to think that other beverages would also be served upon request.

After lunch I started browsing though the in-flight entertainment system. The selection was far from extensive, though I am contented with watching a rerun of The Intern.

We landed on time in SGN at 12:57PM, well ahead of schedule. However, there was a fairly long wait on the tarmac, and we ended up pulling over at the domestic terminal. Since there are no immigration facility in the domestic terminal, all passengers were ferried by bus to the international terminal. Sometimes I just can't help but to wonder whether it was because of the cheap fares that I paid which landed me in such situations.

There was no queue at the transfer counter and we quickly got the boarding passes to Singapore.

Vietnam Airlines 655
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) – Singapore (SIN)
Wednesday, June 1 2016
Depart: 02:30PM
Arrive: 05:25PM
Flight time: 1hr55min
Aircraft: Airbus 321

Seat: 32A

When we arrived at gate 8, there was no indication on the display screen, while an A330 was parked there. It was quite obvious by then that the gate printed on our boarding pass was wrong since it's unlikely Vietnam Airlines suddenly decided to switch to a wide body on this segment.

Shortly, an announcement was made, declaring that the departure gate for our flight has been changed to the neighbouring gate 9. However, there was no aircraft parked on the tarmac. Subsequently another announcement was made informing passengers that our flight has been delayed due to incoming aircraft arriving late.

Boarding began at 2:45PM, almost an hour behind schedule and it did not help that the cabin was fairly warm, though I thought that was somewhat expected given the sunny weather and high ground temperature in Ho Chi Minh.

Boarding was completed fairly quickly, though it took another few minutes for the crew to clear with the ground staff before the cabin door was shut and pushing off at 3:14PM.

We took off after a short taxi from runway 25L, and it amused me somehow that I was quite disturbed by the roar of the A321's engines after being used to the quieter 787's turbofans. For the record, on both legs I had the window seat since I wanted more photoshoot opportunities and my friend specifically requested for an aisle seat.

Meal service began shortly after take-off. I might have missed it on the outbound flight from Singapore but I was quite surprised that alcoholic beverages were served even on this short-haul flight of less than 2 hours.

The salad was exceptional, and the fruits were fresh and tasty. The beef was slightly overcooked but well-marinated.

In any case, this should be considered a decent lunch (albeit a late one) for a short-haul flight, which probably would not even include a full meal service in Europe or US, and here there was even tea and coffee offered after meal service, complete with lime.

We touched down in Changi at 6:07PM, zooming past a BA 777 while decelerating.

It was a short taxi to terminal 3 and we arrived at the gate at 6:11PM. 

Conclusion
Despite the delay at SGN, the flight has been an exceptional experience, with the service excellent by economy standards, well exceeding my expectations.

In particular, I am impressed by the standard of catering, as well as the alcohol available. This is in addition to fairly good hard product in terms of seating and IFE system (although the content remains limited).

Also, it is worth noting that the airline has done a good job providing a slightly simpler service which more or less has the same effect. For instance, while it would have fantastic to have a hot towel service, that would have added to extra work load on the crew since they would have to pre-heat the ovens onboard. In this case, Vietnam's additional offering of a packaged wet serviette prior to departure is a great substitute.

Overall, I really think Vietnam Airlines represents good value. While I might not be prepared to fly them on intercontinental routes as yet, I think the adventure seeking side of me will want to experience the latest addition to their fleet, such as the A350, especially if I somehow managed to come across such a great fare again.

Day 7~10: Tokyo

The sightseeing at Tokyo began with the iconic gate of the Sensoji, aka Asakusa Temple.

We went in and offered incenses, praying for you know what. Judging by the sheer number of visitors, that's a good load of wishes to review.

Followed by Akihabara, which despite its reputation for electronics and anime/manga merchandise, offered delicious cheese tarts.

We caught the penultimate train heading to Tsukiji Shijo at arrived slightly past 1AM. Yet the loading bay was brightly lit and running.

Being the broke blokes that we were, arriving by the last trains instead of taking a taxi, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since we arrived really early. There was only about 10 guests who were queueing in front of us.

From here it was a long wait, though thanks in part to the drizzle, the guards kindly opened up the waiting room ahead of time and ushered us to wait indoors.

It was at about 5:20AM when the security began to unlock the door for the first batch of visitors to view the tuna auctions. By then, the drizzle had become much heavier, and the small distance from the holding room to the inner market was sufficient to ensure everyone was splattered with rain.

I suspect the premium tunas were already auctioned off before we arrived and it was only the frozen tunas, together with a handful of traders when we reached the auction hall.

The shower continued after we were done with viewing the auction. Nearly drenched in rain and with stomaches growling after a restless night, we were desperate for some hot food. It took us a while to get our orientation right in the labyrinth, but eventually we arrived in front of this Sushizanmai restaurant.

Sleep-deprived brains don't really function well and I simply asked for the chef's recommendation.

I didn't really liked the minced gunkan roll, but the maguro nigiris are certainly fantastic, especially the seared otoro, which is simply delicious.

The glutton in me decided to top up another crab soup, since I didn't really get a chance to feed on crabs back in Hakodate. It was half of a small hairy crab served with miso soup base. Usually I am quite fond of miso, but in this case I find the miso slightly masking the sweetness of the crab, though it was nevertheless a great dish. The best part? It only costed JPY 600. 

In total I paid about JPY 2,000, which is less than SGD 25. Considering all the seafood being fresh from the Tsukiji market, I would think it's a real bargain.

To my dismay the rain did not stop after breakfast, though it abated slightly in intensity. We had an appointment with the Emperor (ahem) at 10AM to visit his house.

It's interesting to see while the main architecture is Asian, ornament features on the railings are actually pretty similar to what you would see in Europe, say Buckingham.

We had a quick stroll at Ginza after touring through the palace grounds. However due to the never-ending drizzle and sore bodies after a virtually sleepless night, we quickly retreated to a nearby cafe for some well-deserved rest.

The final full day in Japan was dedicated wholly to Tokyo Disneyland. In contrast to the gloomy drizzle we experienced while sightseeing through downtown Tokyo, the weather was incredibly clear and sunny during our visit to Disneyland.

Photo credit to JJ

We were greeted at the entrance by Cinderella's castle, a standard feature in all Disneyland theme parks and somewhat reminding me of its inspirations in Fontainebleau and Neuschwanstein.

We had arranged to meet a friend on the last night in Japan, and hence decided to give the fireworks a miss. Nevertheless as I underestimated the sheer size of the Tokyo metro we were still late by a sizeable margin.

Flying: Jetstar Japan Sapporo New Chitose to Tokyo Narita 2016

Our itinerary for the final day involved a trip to the White Lovers Chocolate Factory (白い恋人チョコレート工場), which was on the outskirts of Sapporo. Despite originally planning to cover the factory in about an hour, it was quite a richly decorated wonderland dream house that we ended up spending much longer than that.

Thankfully the trains from Sapporo to CTS only takes slightly more than half an hour, though when rushing for time we did not manage to make seat reservations and stood all the way to the airport.

The machine couldn't recongise the barcode on our itinerary, though the staff at the counter was able to assist us with check-in.

The receipt like slip of paper felt closer to a budget carrier than the glossy card back at Narita.

Jetstar Japan 110

Tokyo Narita (NRT) – Sapporo (CTS) 

Saturday, May 28 2016

Depart: 01:55PM

Arrive: 03:30PM

Flight time: 1hr35min

Aircraft: Airbus 320

Seat: 16A

CTS has a fairly small terminal building so the boarding area is right behind the security line, though flying budget implies that we board from the furthest gates and had to climb one level up to the third floor, whereas most other flights board at the second floor.

Climbing stairs with luggage can be a minor inconvenience, though standing on higher grounds can also be great of capturing aircrafts on the tarmac.

Air Do Boeing 737 CTS

At about 1:27PM, I looked over to the runway and saw a Jetstar A320 on final approach. Knowing that this was likely to be the bird ferrying us to Narita, a delay seemed inevitable, so I quiet began to nibble away at the bento bought from the train station.

In the meantime, there was some really interesting traffic in and out of CTS. Whiles CTS is an international airport, most of the services are actually domestic, and international traffic typically cater to leisure travellers and regional destinations. Hence, it's quite interesting that Taiwanese carriers are serving this destination with wide-bodies, some on a daily basis. This is especially interesting considering that even northern Chinese destinations are served with narrow bodies, despite claims of an ever increasing influx of Chinese tourists into Hokkaido.

China Airlines Boeing 747 CTS

Transasia A330 CTS

Finally, boarding was called at 1:50PM. Perhaps because CTS is a fairly small airport where traffic isn't that busy, hence we had the luxury (in the case of flying budget carriers) of using a jet bridge (albeit the bridge furthest away from the terminal) instead of walking down the tarmac.

From here it was clockwork, boarding was completed in about 15 minutes despite having close to a full load, and we pushed off at 2:11PM.

It was a smooth landing into Narita at 3:53PM, and we taxied back to where we departed from 6 days ago. As the cabin was depressurised, the crew apologised once again for the delay, which I appreciated, especially considering the delay was only for 20 minutes. Then again, this is a country where trains follow a printed schedule and stick to it.