TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

This is a review of my experiences when I flew on Business Class (i.e. 'J' Class) onboard Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ163 from Siem Reap International Airport to Singapore's Changi International Airport in May 2022. I had just a week ago, flew the outbound sector on SQ164 from Singapore to Siem Reap. The flight tickets were redeemed using my frequent flyer miles accumulated through retail purchases during the pandemic-induced stay-at-home period between March 2020 and April 2022. Selfie of myself sitting at the Departure Gate waiting to board SQ163 from REP to SIN, Krong Siem Reap International Airport, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2022) Check-in Check-in at the SIA Business Class counter at the Siem Reap International Airport was a breeze. During the check-in process, I noticed that passengers in Economy Class were processed just as quickly. Probably because the flight was not full and most leisure travellers were still hesitant to travel because of COVID. As usual, the coun...

It has been a while since I last wrote a review of my inflight experiences. In hindsight, "inflight" is actually a rather incorrect term for this series of reviews because the experiences include pre-boarding and at times, disembarking from the plane. So, the reviews do not exclusively focus on just experiences that occur inflight.  In-between my last inflight review posted in this blog sometime in 2020, I had flown on a small number of flights, both for work and for vacations. However, during the period from Feb 2020 to May 2022, I stayed totally grounded because of worldwide travel restrictions due to the COVID pandemic. Thankfully, for everyone and especially for the industry, those days are over. This is a review of my experiences when I flew on Business Class (i.e. 'J' Class) on Singapore Airlines (SIA) from Singapore's Changi International Airport to Bali's Denpasar Airport in December 2023.  The flight tickets were redeemed using my expiring frequent fl...

After close to more than two and a half years of hiatus of air travel, I finally got to return to the airport to take my first flight in May 2022. Even though it was a short regional flight from Singapore to Cambodia's Siem Reap, finding myself back at the airport to take a flight had been a wonderful experience. Sure, there were things that were not the same as back then in November 2019 when I last took a flight. But there were also things that were still the same.  Let's start with things that were no longer similar. Firstly were the additional travel documentation to prepare before one is allowed to get one's boarding pass issued at the airport. These additional documentations include vaccinations records, permissions to travel (for some destinations), travel insurance (again, only required by certain destination countries and regions) and so on. For those who are usually well-prepared when it comes to dealing with paperwork, these requirements shouldn't present too...

Leisure travel....... soon? Sunday morning. As usual, I woke up late, preferring to sleep in on weekend mornings, just so to differentiate between the weekend and weekday mornings of my new work-from-home lifestyle. As I went through the motion of eating my quotidian breakfast of cereal, oats and eggs while browsing the news websites on my laptop, with a little check on the current Olympic medal tally (today, 8 August 2021, is the last day of the Tokyo "2020" Olympics), it suddenly dawned upon me that leisure travel may soon be possible again in this part of the world. Of course, a lot still depend on the "ifs" and "buts" but there is now a small glimmer of hope that folks looking to travel for leisure may be permitted to do so, subject to some minor inconveniences such as swabbing, re-swabbing and more re-swabbing for viral particles that may be hiding somewhere up in the deep recesses of the travellers' nostrils. Meanwhile airports, airlines and othe...

To travel or not to travel....... At the time of writing this blog post, the travel industry is roiled by the ongoing coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak. This has caused much upheavals in the travel world, including trips and flights cancellations. The question I kept asking myself was, should I still travel at this time? As a matter of fact, the fatality rate of COVID-19, at about 2%, is much lower than the SARS outbreak of 17 years ago in 2003. In most cases, healthy adults who were unfortunate to be infected with COVID-19 typically displayed mild symptoms and recovered without much or any long term effects,. This is based on currently available data. Thus, as a healthy individual without any pre-existing medical conditions, I should be fairly safe even in the event that I caught the infection while traveling. That being said, I could also have easily caught the infection even if I am staying put in my home country. Unless, I barricade myself at home and cut off all contacts wi...

While waiting for the aircraft to pushback for my flight from Singapore to Seattle on a pleasant November morning, I took a photograph of this Singapore Airlines' Airbus A350-900 (also designated as A350-941). This plane was parked at the Gate adjacent to the aircraft I was seated in, allowing me to photograph its entire length. The Port side engine of the Airbus A350-900 close to my window seat at 19A in the J Cabin is clearly visible in the foreground of this photograph. I did not crop out the engine from the photograph because I wanted to share the actual view that I was seeing when I took this photograph.  Singapore Airlines' Airbus A350-941 at the Gate, Terminal 3, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2019)

Serving more than 20 destinations in China alone, Hebei Airlines debuted their first international flights outside of China in Match 2017 with flights to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. In October of that same year, the airline started flying to Singapore. This photo of a Hebei Airlines' Boeing 737-800 was taken at Terminal 1 of the Changi International Airport in Singapore in October 2018. A Hebei Airlines' Boeing 737-800 at Terminal 1, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2018)

I was at Singapore's Changi International Airport Terminal 1 in the late afternoon of 26 October 2018 and walking towards the boarding gate to board my flight to Bali when I saw this Air France plane parked at one of the gates. Taking out my mobile, I took a couple of photographs of the plane. Subsequent research online reveals that this is a Boeing 777-300ER with the registration number F-GSQF. It has been years since I last flown with Air France. I can still remember that it was a working trip to Paris. But I could not recall much details of that flight other than I was flying in Economy Class and the service from the crew was excellent. Maybe I shall plan a vacation to France soon. :-) Air France Boeing 777-300ER, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2018)

Connecting Flights....... This coming weekend, I will be traveling to Taipei (TPE) via Hong Kong (HKG). Because my flights were booked on different airlines under different booking codes, I have to collect my check-in luggage upon arrival in HKG from SIN, clear immigration and customs, check-in again for my next flight from HKG to TPE, go through immigration again as well as the necessary security checks before I can emerge airside at the airport for my connecting flight. Departure Hall of the Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong SAR, China (2017) Sounds like a hassle? Not when I will be flying J-Class (a.k.a. Business Class) on both sectors from SIN to HKG via SQ (Singapore Airlines) and HKG to TPE via CX (Cathay Pacific) on tickets paid with air miles. Sure, there are hassles with the connecting flights on 2 different airlines with different booking codes but they are worth it.  In order to ensure that I have a seamless transit at the Hong Kong ...

I have always view air travel on Business Class as an exclusive privilege, one in which I can only indulge in on rare occasions. This is because the exquisite touches of Business Class travel on premium airlines made the flight itself a separate and unique travel experience.  This is a review of my experiences when I flew on Business Class (i.e. 'J' Class) on Singapore Airlines (SQ) from Singapore to Taipei in December 2016. Check-in While Singapore Airlines offer a seamless check-in experience both online and via its SingaporeAir app, I have always preferred and enjoyed the experience of checking in at the check-in counters at the airport in person. I loved the feel of that Boarding Pass in my hand. Add the fact that I collect my Boarding Passes as mementos of my trips and the reasons for my in-person check-in preference become apparent. As with all premium class travels, separate check-in counters for Business Class are allocated at the airport by Singapore A...

While in the air during flights, I always enjoyed taking photos from the window of my seat. These photos provide a sense of the vastness of the sky and are unlike any other pictures we could have taken from the ground. Pictures of the blue sky with the wing tip or engine of the plane in parts of the photograph typify a form of freedom that is difficult to describe by mere words. Another type of photographs from the air will be the bird's eye views of the city as the plane approaches to land or the views of the airport's tarmac as the plane's landing gear engaged in preparation for a touch down. On a recent trip returning from Thailand's resort island of Phuket to Singapore, I had the chance to capture the view of the tarmac of Singapore's Changi International Airport as the Silkair Boeing 737-800 that I was flying on came in for a touch down. Three Singapore Airlines' planes parked in front of a hangar can be clearly seen in this photograph. They are a ...

The 15th day of the 8th Lunar Month is celebrated by Chinese worldwide as the Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival. This traditional festival stretches back thousands of years and has its roots in the worship of the moon. Till this day, it is sometimes celebrated by families who eat mooncakes and drink tea while gazing at the moon. Children will light lanterns made from colourful transparent or translucent paper shaped either in different animals forms or in traditional Chinese lantern designs,. As part of Singapore's multi-cultural heritage, the local Chinese population also celebrated the Mid-Autumn or Mooncake festival. This year, the festival falls on the 15th of September. If you are visiting Singapore during this month, do find some time to visit the Chinatown area. The whole place is wonderfully and colourfully decorated with many large lanterns. Different varieties of mooncakes in all kinds of flavours and colours can also be savoured. However, if you could not find...

Scoot is a low-cost carrier which specialises in medium and long haul flights. Scoot is owned by Singapore Airlines and operates out of its home base at Singapore's Changi International Airport. While walking to one of the boarding gates at Changi Airport's Terminal 2 on 2 July 2016, I spotted this beautiful and brand new Boeing 787-8 painted in Scoot's full livery.  Boeing 787-8 from Scoot, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2016)

This was a hurried booking for an unplanned trip from Singapore to the city of Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala, India in the month of April 2016. The trip resulted from an 11th hour decision to attend the wedding of a friend. The booking was done just a few days before the trip and I was lucky to still be able to get a seat for the flight. The only direct flight available from Singapore to Thiruvananthapuram was offered by SilkAir, the regional arm of Singapore Airlines. I have flew on SilkAir many times before on my trips around the South-East Asian region but this was by far my longest flight onboard a SilkAir flight.  Total flight time from Singapore's Changi International Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS) to Thiruvananthapuram's Trivandrum International Airport (IATA: TRV, ICAO: VOTV) is slightly over 4 hours. The route is usually serviced by either an Airbus A320-200 or A319-100 aircraft. As is common on all SilkAir flights, inflight service onboard Fl...

While traveling to Tokyo in October 2014, I chanced upon a seasonable promotion by Cathay Pacific (CX) which offered relatively reasonable rates on Business Class from Singapore (SIN) to Tokyo (TYO), with a stopover transit in Hong Kong (HKG). Although there will be a 3-hour layover at the Hong Kong International Airport, this did not deter me simply because I could make use of the Business Class lounges at the airport while waiting for my connecting flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo. And so I went on to book my flight tickets on 'I' Class. The flights on both legs of my trip from Singapore to Hong Kong onboard CX2710 and from Hong Kong to Tokyo's Narita airport (NRT) onboard CX500 were great. The service were as often, excellent and the inflight products were simply amazing. Here are some pictures taken of the inflight meals which I enjoyed en-route from Singapore to Hong Kong onboard Flight CX2710.  The Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 getting ready for passe...