Trip Report - Singapore / Malaysia

Trip Report - Singapore / Malaysia 08/2004 - 09/2004

Route: EWR-(CO9)-NRT-(NW11)-SIN-(SQ106)-KUL-(SQ107)-SIN-(NW12)-NRT-(CO8)-EWR

Flight Details:

Legend: (FL) Flight #; (SD) Scheduled Departure; (DC) Door Closed; (PB) Pushback;
(WU) Wheels Up; (AT) Air Time {elapsed}; (TD) Touchdown; (GA) Gate Arrival;
(BG) Baggage Arrival;

FL: SD: DC: PB: WU: AT: TD: GA: BG:
================================================== ========================
1) CO 9 11:10 11:10 11:12 11:33 12:30:07 13:03 13:13 00:00 ($)

2) NW 11 18:25 18:25 18:27 18:47 06:35:33 00:22 00:31 00:00 ($)

3) SQ 106 08:30 08:30 08:40 08:54 00:33:46 09:28 09:34 00:00 ($$)

4) SQ 107 10:20 10:20 10:27 10:43 00:36:19 11:19 11:27 00:00 ($$)

5) NW 12 06:00 06:00 06:07 06:25 06:46:32 14:12 14:20 14:55 ($$$)

6) CO 8 16:10 16:18 16:21 16:48 12:20:53 16:09 16:14 16:38 ($$$)

($) N/A - Baggage held "in transit"
($$) Baggage was already on carousel upon arrival.
($$$) Immigration completed prior to baggage arrival.

Flight Notes:

1) CO 9 - No problems at all save that BF could not board on time because
the catering truck was still up and the catering door open. THey won't
let BF board when that other door is open. So Coach started boarding first.
Once the catering door was closed, BF began to board. I've seen this before so
no big deal. Same excellent CO service as always. Smooth flight, no problems.


2) NW 11 - ARGGGGHHHH!!! It's our old nemesis the "Meal Selection" Dilemma
and once again, I became the "victim." Apparently on NW DC10's, the
rotation is to start in Row 1 - J/K Col. and work down both J/K and C/D col.
and then turn and come back up the A/B col. so that 1 A/B and 2 A/B are
last in the rotation. And of course, my choice was "unavailable." And
since my seat mate wanted the same choice, it was unavailable to him also.

The "Purser" (ISM) offered us the following to compensate:

1) The "Coach" meal (a Chicken curry close to the BF choice we wanted);

2) The "other" BF meal choice we just said we didn't want
in the first place! (I couldn't eat it for dietary reasons).

We both refused all service and had the trays taken away. I don't
know what my seat mate was thinking, but I was thinking it was
more advantageous to "own the issue" than to accept what really wasn't
very much of a compensating offering at all. NW Headquarters will get
a letter from me shortly.



3) SQ 106 - A really nice flight, albeit for the 1/2 hour or so it was. THey
even completed a small meal service with full First Class Linen etc. completed.
These guys (SQ) are good! And since they now fly from EWR, I may very well start
using them for the trunk route to Asia. THe aircraft was a 777-300ER with 3
sections FC/BF/Coach. The flight was classified for me as FC, but they closed
the FC section and put the FC pax. in the BF section. No matter. It was just a
better seat that's all.


4) SQ 107 - Equp. was a 777-200 with only "Raffles Class" and "Coach" seats. THey sat us
right up front. Raffles class seats are nice and give almost 180Deg recline. They have
laptop ports and large viewing screens. Pretty much same flight as 106 with similar
meal service.


5) NW 12 - A "newer" DC10 (relative to NW 11 flight) better seating. Flight was pretty much
uneventful except for the landing, which was delayed due to the winds/turbulence near NRT
(courtesy of Typhoon Chabba). FA's used the same order for meal taking but with some
exceptions, and this time I did get the choice I wanted. Not that it means much, given
that this was breakfast and wasn't served like a full dinner or lunch type meal. I'm
sure they had plenty of both and didn't need to portion it out.


6) CO 8 - No major problems. Arrived to go on line for check in at NRT.BF line was quick,
and scanned through x-ray, but as soon as I was done, I was "selected" for checked
baggage hand searching. I think it's because the guy saw me putting my plastic ties
on and wanted to be a (you know what).... But nonetheless, I had extra ties. I was
more concerned with the random searching at the gate. So when it was time to board,
I made sure I was 6th or 8th in line. As it turned out, my strategy was moot, since
there was only one (1) station set up, no pax. was at it, and the guards let me pass
right by. When I got on, my seat mate was already there, but there was enough space
to store everything I needed. Flight totally uneventful. They had Harry Potter POA
on "Private Screening"! Saw it 3 times!


AIRPORT OPS & NOTES:

EWR MUCH BETTER!!! Finally, they're getting it right!!! TSA is operating CTX scanners
right at Intl. check in level, Terminal "C". You check in, and then take your baggage
over to the TSA rep. who scans right there. The rep even let me wait there while it
was scanned, and when it passed, they sent it down the chute, and I moved on. TSA 1st
level screening was without any major issues. They requested shoes and belt off
(although the belt hadn't set any other scanners off later). Only concern for them was
the "flashlight" in one bag which they asked me to take out and show them. They
returned it quickly and didn't hand inspect any other carry ons.



NRT No remarkable changes from prior experiences. The EWR Rep for CO had notified
the "airside" transfer coutner at NRT that I'd be coming. The airside transfer
between Terminal 1 & 2 is very easy to setup and find. You have to go through
security to get to it, but no issues there. The "issue" was arriving between
the hours of 12-2pm, when the bus drivers are "out to lunch!" The "public" xfr bus
runs every 15 min. "except" during the lunch hours, when it's once an hour on the
hour. Meanwhile, some of the airline "alliances" (ie. "Star Alliance", "One World"
etc.) run their own private shuttles (using buses looking like the same public bus)
Which picked up at the same point, but would refuse to take pax. that didn't arrive
on an airline from their alliance, even if the bus was empty! Even if you were going
to miss a connection in the other terminal, even if the connection *is* on an "allied"
airline, well, "Sorrrrryyyy... you didn't *arrive* on one of our airlines!" I had to
wait 45 min. for the public XFR bus. Fortunately, my flight wasn't until 6:25pm.

Watch out for this one all you NRT'ers !!!



SIN/KUL In a word - WOW!!! These places are FANTASTIC!!! Changi Airport (SIN) is one of the
most pleasant airports I've been Nicely laid out, nice facilities free internet stations
airside, all the shopping you could ever ask for, and.... yes..... Are you listening
NRT & HKG ???.... THey have them!!!!!

FULL SECURED GATE ENCLOSURES AT BOTH!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!


blushes Sorry folks, you know that's a sore spot with me. Sheepish grin

While in transit from SIN to KUL, I stayed at the Ambassador Transit Hotel in terminal 1,
Changi Airport. For what it was, it was quite nice. A 6 hour rest for about US$35.00 in a
clean comfortable and quiet room. The only thing about it was, NO WINDOWS IN THE ROOM!!!!!!
Because, the hotel is inside the airport building I don't think any of the rooms have
windows that I could see. I'll have to ask next time. Nonetheless, there's a pool and
health spa etc etc.If you have more than a 6 hour layover (or overnight), it's great. A
little "Motel 6"ish, but great for what it does.


KUL was equally as impressive. I arrived at 10:30am and took the rapid tram line from
terminal 2 to 1 (similar to NRT) cleared immigration quickly. Upon leaving immigration,
there's a booth for the "e-xkl" service. There are porters (like the porters at DPS Bali)
which will gladly escort you and your baggage through customs and onto the KL "Ekspress"
train from the airport to KL station. For about RM100 ($27.00 US) You get a ticket for
the train, and car service to your hotel in Downtown KL (A mercedes E320 or thereabouts).
And, of course, the porter carry's your baggage. Porter picked up my checked bag (I took
only one this time - a wise decision I found out) and we proceeded to Malaysian Customs.

As it turns out, one need not use the "e-xkl" service if you don't have a lot of luggage.
There are vending machines that sell tickets for the "KL Ekspress" train to KL Sentral
train station. Once you arrive at KL Sentral, you can walk about 200 yds over to the KL
Monorail station. This monorail winds through downtown Kuala Lumpur, past several major
hotels and tourist centers. Chances are your hotel is along the way, as was mine. In fact,
I used the reverse route to go back to the airport (even with a large suitcase, carry on,
and laptop) and for a fraction of the cost (just under $10.00 US).

Immigr. Migel Cruz was right! Both Singapore and Malaysian Immigration/Customs were a breeze! In KL,
Customs all they did was scan all the baggage in the green line, and the guy actually looked like he
was half asleep at the time. No problem at all. I'm not sure if having the "e-XKL" porter
with me was of any help with Customs, but it sure didn't hurt.

Singapore was even easier. THey had the same X-ray setup in the green line, but since I was behind
the SQ crew on our flight (who always get scanned apparently), the machine was very busy.
One agent came over, and I flashed my US passport. He asked if I had anything to declare and
I shook my head. He waived me right through.



General Issues / Impressions of countries:


KL Unfortunately, I didn't get out much to see it as I had hoped to do, due to my catching a
nasty little cold 2 days after arrival. I gather my resistance was down after all that flying.
Either that, or I caught it form a pax. on the aircraft. I think that more likely because I've
done these lengthy flights before and not had a problem. I can't figure out what might have been
different this time. It may look weird, but I think I may start wearing a surgical mask in
flight because this is recidivous. I lost all my quality time in KL over this cold. But, from
what I saw of it, it was good. Got to the Petronas towers lobby, but not up to the deck (tkts.
had run out early). If you want to go up to the deck (ie. the bridge between the two towers,
which is as far as you can go), you have to be on line very early in the morning (8AM or earlier)
as there are only 600 tickets given out free each day. Once they're gone, that's it for the day.
Your ticket is given for a specific time and you must go at that time, or you will miss your
chance.

The people were wonderful. I felt absolutely safe and did not feel at all uneasy as an American.
I did see a good many Eurpoean/Australian tourists as well. Most of the hotel staff were Malay
and some Indian and were extremely friendly, but I would expect that of a good hotel/tourist
staff. My metric is how the "local people/merchants" treat you and here again, I had absolutely
no problems in Kuala Lumpur.

Islam Yes, one does see the Islamic orientation of this country but it's not "in your face" at all.
in There is very little Arabic script as the national language is "Bahasa Malaysia" (which uses
Malays. Romanized alphabet) and not Arabic. While you do see a great many women wearing scarves, they're
also likely wearing a t-shirt and jeans with it! Little girls (ie. pre-adolecents) did not have
to wear scarves at all but just regular kid clothes. I did see some women in full burkas but not
as many as one would think. Most I saw were in the hotel restaurant at breakfast time. They all
sat in the far corner of the restaurant with their children in tow (no male adults) seemingly
segregating themselves. I'm convinced that children are children all over the world now as they
were mis-behaving like all children do. But no matter. We didn't bother them - they didn't bother
us. One also sees the Islamic influence in the choices offered for breakfast foods as well (ie.
"chicken" sausage, "turkey" ham) and "beef" bacon). The "Other White Meat" definitely not
permitted here! But other than that, it's just a country like any other. A little too much air
pollution due to all the mopeds (which didn't sit well with my cold), but I couldn't do much about
that.

I will come back here again, and again, until I get it right! Perhaps I've found a new place,
especially since I may be losing and old one (see below). And since both Singapore Air and
Malaysian Airlines fly from EWR to SIN/KUL respectively (with 1 stop), it makes it much easier!
Perhaps the thing to do is spend a few days in KL orienting one's self after the long flight,
and then head out to Kota Kinabalu or some place like that for a week or so.


S'Pore A somewhat similar experience as with KL, but clearly much less of an Islamic influence. Humidity
was higher but I was able to get out more, feeling a lot better. Hotel personnel were just
as friendly. I did have 1 or 2 minor issues with the local merchants though. In one case, as I
entered a souvenirs shop near the "Merlion," at least one of the 4-5 employees on duty kept
following me around watching every movement of my hands. They were polite, explaining about
this and that and this gift, and that gift etc., but all the time, watching me and my hands.
They did *not* do this for any of the women guests / married couples or locals who came in the
shop. Also, in two of the restaurants I visited (one on the Boat Quay; the other near the Merlion),
the service I received as a single male was less than stellar, compared to how I saw other
tourist couples and locals being treated. But, apparently, this is nothing new to me. I get this
all the time when I travel by myself, even in the USA. Frustrating, but that's an argument for
a different time.

MRT (the Metro) makes it easy to get around. It now extends all the way to Changi Airport and all
the automated announcements are in English so it's easy for Americans. You can get a fare card
that's refillable and good for several years (mine's good until 2011). The MRT runs primarily
between 6am - 12 mid (times vary for various trains) 7 days. Again, if you don't have a lot of
luggage and can take advantage of it, use the MRT to get from Changi Airport. I would recommend
a taxi if you have a lot of luggage (S$15.00 or so - $9.00 US - to downtown Singapore). There are
shuttle buses but they are slow and operate on the hour. There are also private limousines, but
are very expensive.

Japan My fourth visit here. I spent three days in Tokyo and 2 in Kyoto. Again, the heat and humidity were
factors in my getting out and about. I think it better to come back during either early April or
late November when the weather is much cooler and the skies clearer.

It also felt a little different from a people/cultrural perspective. I'm still wrestling with
my feelings at this time and I need a little time to sort them out.

Dave Fosset - if you would kindly e-mail me by following the instructions in my signature,
I'd appreciate it. I'd like take a few things off line first. Thanks much.


__________________________________

Regards,
Arnold.

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