So, I'm finally back home. What a relief to say the least. Nothing beats home.
Leong, come back already!
Anyway, this is my trip report from Brisbane to Singapore. The trip to the airport itself was interesting.
Date: 25 November 2007
Time:7am
My flight was QF51, departing at 1345. When I called up Qantas to confirm my seat a few days before my flight, they recommended me to be at the airport 3 hours before depature. *Sigh* The realities of modern air travel.
I took the
Airtrain, a train from
Roma Street to BNE. $11 one way. Its no
ERL, but its not
ERL prices or
service either. However, I was going to miss the efficiency of Sinagpore's MRT and Malaysia's ERL. Wanting to be at the airport early, I took the 10.30am train from Roma Street.
The inside of the second train.
My housemate sent me to Roma Street. I arrived at about 10.20am. When I got on the train at Roma Street at about 10.30am, I was in a "proper" Airtrain. Proper in the sense it has a compartment to put your luggage and all. The thing is, the Airtrain uses the standard
QR rolling stock. But before I could literary sit down, the driver came on the PA system and said due to a defect (WTH?) in the train, we had to change trains at
Central. The groans all over the train resonated with me.
Frankly, QR doesn't have the best reputation in Brisbane (just look at the number of complains in the papers), but seriously, how hard can it be maintaining a few dedicated trains between the city and the airport?
Anyway, I (and not just a few) irate passengers got off at Central and crossed the platform to wait for the other train. The screen displays said it would come at 10.33am, but only came at 10.40am. Not a very good impression. While it's still cheaper than a taxi, it's not any faster. Seriously, QR, buck up and move into the 21st century already!
The rest of the journey went smoothly, while I called my friends to use up my handphone credit.
Shots from the train
Approaching the airport. A Qantas 747 plane on the far left.
Brisbane International from the train station!
Display board.
BNE, while an International airport, is quite small. I'd say its not much bigger than KCH before the Ting Pek Kiing upgrade. However, BNE has damn more flights than our Kuching "International" Airport. Interesting to see that the BI flight is not that different from the QF flight in terms of time.
As mentioned earlier, Qantas recommended me to be at the airport 3 hours before the flight. I arrived about 2 hrs 45 minutes before the flight, and was greeted with this:
Bloody hell! Them check-in counters weren't even open yet!
The counters only opened at around 11.15am. So much for rushing to the airport! I could have taken a later train!
Check in was painless. I was a bit worried about my check in luggage, as I didn't have a scale back in my apartment and could only guess my weight. Came to about 24KG, and Thank the heavens they let it through! Other wise check in was uneventful. I asked for a aisle seat, as I always do when I fly long haul. Ended up with 29J, right next to the wing.
After check in, I wandered around the airport aimlessly, looking around and taking a few pictures. BNE is very plain and boring, to say the least. There is nothing to do, and the only thing you can do is to eat at the overpriced food shops. Still, hope that the upgrade will give it a good facelift. It's not old, but just pretty simple and plain.
And yes,
Kevin Rudd won!
Flight diplay. I still feel its a bit interesting that there is 1 hour lull between 2 and 3 pm!
At about 12.30pm, I decided to say goodbye to Brisbane, say "I'll be back", and walked pass immigration. Immigration was easy, through they took away my water bottle in my backpack (damn LAGS rulings!) and in no time I was at the transit lounge, or so I thought......
A nice bloke came up to me and led me to a corner. No, not to sell me a Rolex, but to ask for my coorperation in a drug swab. As if I could say no (can I?). He handed me the usual piece of paper outlining my rights (I do have rights?!) in something like 10 different languages. Think
Border Security.
All I had to do was empty my pockets. A bit difficult when you have 6 of them. Then open my cabin luggage, where they literary took a swab and put it into the drug testing machine. Then a full body search (by a male ovbously!), before I was given the all clear.
Do I look that suspicious? 3 times
through Australia, and 3 times I have been "randomly" asked to do a drug swab. What, do I look like a drug dealer?
Some of my friends have asked if I feel scared, having to go through all these searches. Why do I have to fear? What do I have to fear? I'm not carrying anything illegal!
That aside, it was time for some plane spotting!
A Cathay Pacific A330.
My Qantas A330.
There was also a RBA 767, but it was at the last gate, so all the pictures are blocked by the aerobridge. What a shame. Can't wait till they get
their 777's and move into the 21st century.
As good as it gets.
The takeoff was scheldued at 1.45pm. Boarding started at 1.30pm, with all the Business and Qantas frequent fliers first, followed by families, then the people at the back of Economy, before the rest of us cattle class. How I miss civilised plane boarding!
Wasn't a very full flight. Later in the flight I walked to the back to see the little kiddies curled up in 2 seats on the left side of the plane! And for the empty middle seats, why, they became convinent dumping grounds for the pillows and believe it or not, a food tray!
Takeoff. I was on the right side of the plane, so no city view, just the ports.
Scheldued Take off: 1.45pm
Pushback: 1.55pm
Takeoff: 2.06pm
We were a bit late, the captain reminded us, as apperently there was some trouble loading the food carts onto the plane. Take off was smooth, through I miss the roar of the 747's and the thrust of the 777. Once the seat belt sign was off, the cabin crew came with some moist towels, and handed us our menu. The VOD system only kicked in at 2.55pm! It's supposed to start 30 minutes after take off! And even then it was slow in starting.
Still looking at the port.
The person beside me was asleep, probably in anticipation of her long flight to Rome. Hence I could get close to the window.
Cloud cover everywhere, but no rain.
The mouth of the Brisbane River.
We flew by the airport! For some odd reason we flew clockwise before heading north.
I've used the Qantas VOD system 3 times already, and I'm glad to report that it has got over it's
initial teething problems, and didn't
crash on me this time! Content wise the VOD was well stocked. I settled for watching Transformers and Evan Almighty, popping to watch an ep of the Chasers and Megastructures: the construction of the A380.
I didn't eat anything at the airport, so I was starving by the time the meals came by. I had a choice of Chicken with Rice of Beef with Pasta. I went for the former. It was very nice. But I was so hungry, I asked for a second helping!
I didn't feel like a Coke (or any soft drinks) on the flight, but in hindsight I should have ordered one. They come in very cute 100ml cans! So something good came out of these LAGS rulings after all................
Nothing better than to top it off with some chocolate mouse.
This is the second helping. Note the 2 empty cups of mouse at the left.
After the meals were all cleaned up, hot chocolate was served. It was a bit chilly up there, desipte the seats being heated. I wasn't in the pink of health when I flew, which might explain why I felt cold.
The music library in Qantas' VOD is still linear! While they have a wide range of albums, unlike MH who divides the songs into tracks like a CD, you have to fastforward and rewind like a tape player. Which is a pain when the song you want is in the middle of the album, and I had to fastforward/rewind to get to my wanted song. A bad oversight. Aren't all these supposed to be in Hard Drives?
Now there is a very good reason why I took a picture of the toilet sink. No, not because of the pseudo-rock finish (knock it. Its plasic). I think the pipes to this toilet are swapped. Pressing the red "button" dispences cold water, while the blue "button" gives you hot water. And only this particular toilet! The other toilets were okay. Interesting, I thought.
Do I look suspicious?
The flight was very uneventful. The only notable thing of note is it was full of young families, probably returning home after their holidays in Australia. The cabin crew were very friendly, through they forgot about my water when I requested it. I had to walk to the back to get it myself. Other than that, I have no complains. Either I was eating very slowly (can't be. I was hungry) or they came around to collect the meal very fast.
The earphones were horrible to say the least. They haven't improved from my previous 2 flights with Qantas. Even MH and NZ provide better earphones which don't resonate when you turn up the volume a bit. I was kinda wishing for the Bose (travel) headset the person in front of me was wearing. The thing is that airlines use their own proprietry headphone jacks, so I couldn't use my normal headset.
For some reason I forgot to take a picture of what was served for dinner. I have a feeling it was pasta of some thing.
What's left of the dinner.
Scheldued landing: 7.30pm MYT
Landed: 7.40pm MYT
Approaching Singapore was very bumpy. It was raining when I landed. Good news was somehow they managed to make up for lost time in the air, despite being delayed 20 minutes on depature.
I was in no rush to get out, so I let the rest go first, before taking my time (and nicking the papers in Business Class!). As usual, I asked if I could go to the cockpit and say hi to the pilot, and amazingly, they said yes!
Another for the colection: Qantas A330 cockpit.
The pilot, Paul (I think) even put on a tie and posed for the camera when I went to say hi and thank him for the smooth and quick flight. The A330 is small. I'm not tall, but it was impossible for me to walk into it without bumping into the controls. The cabin crew were very gracious in my thanks to them. Save for one small forgetfullness (one of my request for a drink of hot water), they were prompt with my other requests.
FINAL VERDICT
Ground/ Check-in: 6/10
Cabin: 7.5/10
Cabin Crew: 9/10
On arrival: 10/10
Total Score: 32.5/40
Bad Stuff: The less than responsive VOD, headset, and the fact that the music libary is still linear
Average stuff: Probably need more cabin crew members
Good Stuff: This cabin crew, the food, the hot chocolate and cute tins of coke!
Bonus content: Changi AirportLanded in Terminal 1, through I forgot to note down the gate.It's so great to be in a familar place! I made a few phone calls (free!) to my friends, before walking out. Immigration was over in a minute, and my luggage was the last one left. The humidity however was crazy. It didn't help that it had been raining, so even as I waited I was sweating. Now I truly understand why Ang Mo's complain about the humidity!
