[Airline Review] – Jetstar – Economy Class, SIN-YOG, (11 May 12)

July 10, 2014August 19, 2020 / kktong76 / Leave a comment

Hardware

Jetstar is one of the few budget airlines in this region. It offers competitive airfares compared with the same airlines in this category. Jetstar is one of the few airlines that offer leather seats throughout the aircraft.

Seats are arranged in a 3-3 configuration on this aircraft. The pitch is decent and I have no difficulty in moving in and out of the seat, I am still able to stretch my leg. As this is a budget airline, there is no entertainment system on board other than the share TV monitor. The seats are comfortable and provide great sitting throughout the short 2-hour flight. There is a stowaway table in front of every seat, which has become the norm for all airlines around the world.

The skill of the pilot driving this flight is pretty good, we did not even feel turbulence on the short flight.

The bird that is flying us on this journey

Inside the flight

Getting ready to take off

Flying

In-flight

Service

As this is a budget airline, services are kept to the minimal. There are only a handful of situations where the flight attendant will come into contact with passengers, before take off, during flight selling food and during disembarking. Despite the limited contact time, the flight attendants seem helpful. They are seen helping passengers with stowing and retrieving their luggage. The attendants do not come across as being pushing when selling what is on offer in their cart.

Overall

For a budget airline, Jetstar offers rather good seat pitch and the aircraft looked well maintained. Despite the limited contact time with passengers, the attendants are seen to be helpful and always smiling at customers.

[Accommodation Review] – The Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (12 – 13 May 12)

July 10, 2014August 19, 2020 / kktong76 / Leave a comment

Location

The hotel is conveniently located in the heart of Yogyakarta, in Malioboro district and is close to several sites around Yogyakarta and eateries. It is within walking distance towards the city centre and the Tugu Railway station. The hotel is located in the quieter edge of the city and is a great area to be near the city but not amid the busyness of the city.

Signage and the hotel at night

Courtyard and cafe in the hotel grounds

Hotel rooms

The Room

Sleeping Area

Entering the room, we were welcomed by the contemporary decor of the room. As with many hotels around the world, the bathroom is near the entrance of the room. The well-decorated room feels cozy, decked out with mostly yellow golden colours. The double bedroom that we were assigned opens up to the main bedroom passing the corridor with the bathroom to the right of the entrance. The tastefully designed room, though not too big, but does not feel cluttered with too much furniture. The furniture in the room is functional and does not have any piece that felt out of the way. The beds are placed in front of a TV console enables guests to watch TV while lazing on their beds. Further into the room is a small coffee table, where a plate of fruits welcomed us. Beside the table is a single-seater couch for guests to relax in should they choose not to lie on their beds. The sleep quality on the bed is fantastic, giving guests a great night’s sleep.

Sleeping area in the room

Comfortable beds

Welcome fruit found in the room

Balcony

Art pieces in the room

The minibar and drinks area is located opposite the entrance to the bathroom. The mirrors in front of the minibar create a sense of spaciousness. The minibar is where one would be able to find complimentary coffee and tea and a teapot for one to boil water in. The fridge is where one would find drinks like soft drinks and some liquor. There are also a couple of bottles of mineral drinks for guests to stay hydrated.

Minibar

Bathroom

The bathroom is decent in size, decked in brownish marble. It does not come with a bathtub. Upon entering the bathroom, one can find the toilet bowl to the right of the door. To the left of the door is where the sink is located. One can find the walk-in rain shower, which provides great pressure and certainly gave me a great shower.

Rainshower

Toilet bowl in the bathroom

Walk-in shower

Swimming pool in the hotel

Around the Hotel

The hotel seemed to be a museum in itself, displaying several colonial collections throughout the hotel. The phoenix theme is apparent throughout the hotel and even in the guest room. One can find sculptures of phoenix on door handles and even on the curtain bar above the bed. There is a room next to the lobby for guests and visitors to understand a little more about the history of the building the hotel is in and the area around the hotel. Relics and displays of Indonesian origins spread across the hotel grounds and it is not difficult for guests to spot hints of Indonesian history by walking around the hotel.

Decos in the hotel

Phoenix sculpture on the handle of the main door

Phoenix sculpture on the curtain bar in the room

Service

The service rendered by the front desk staff is amazing. One can feel the warmth of the welcoming staff upon checking in, who are never stingy with their smiles. The well-groomed staffs paid attention to details and were never stingy in sharing information about the hotel and the surroundings around the hotel. The front desk staff even gave us advice on saving for transfer to the airport upon our checking out and advised us on how much to pay for the trip to the airport. They even helped us hail a cab to the airport. The restaurant staffs were amazing in their service as well, taking care not to cross in front of the customer, even to the extent of walking a few paces beside the customer to place their food.

Having said that, the staffs in the gift shop lack service standards though. They seem more interested in playing on their mobile phones and reading then noticing guests or even serving guests. I was interested in getting some items in the shop, the cold-shouldered staffs do not even seem to know their merchandise well and gave me the impression of “do not disturb me”.

Overall

The hotel is located at the edge of the city, but is within walking distance to most of the attractions around. The rooms are well decorated and cozy and provides a good night sleep for patrons. Generally, the service of the staffs is excellent except for a few black sheep in the gift shop.

[Accommodation Review] – Manohara Hotel, Borobudur, Indonesia (11 – 12 May 12)

July 8, 2014August 19, 2020 / kktong76 / Leave a comment

Location

The main draw for staying in this hotel is its location. This is the only hotel in this area that is located inside the grounds of Borobudur. It also means guests staying in this hotel gets unlimited entry to Borobudur Temple at any time of the day as long as the temple is open. Other then the proximity to the temple, there is no other incentive of staying here. The hotel is rather far from restaurants and the main town of Magelang. This means patrons who stay here would need to make their arrangements for transport to the town. Otherwise one would have to dine in the hotel. The hotel also has an auditorium that shows a film that educates patrons of the Borobudur temple and the carvings on it.

Hotel Signage

Gardens in the hotel grounds

One can see Borobudur Temple from the hotel grounds

There are several such statues around in the hotel grounds

The Room

All the rooms in the hotel are located on the ground floor. The rooms do not come with a card reader and key cards, they used traditional keys to lock the door. The room that we were assigned is room 19.

Room number on the door of the room

Sleeping Area

Upon entering the room, a huge sleeping place greeted us. The decoration of the room looks pretty aged but functional. The room in this hotel is rather simply decorated and all the furniture shout of functionality. There isn’t any piece that is placed inside the room just for decoration, other than a pictorial book which introduces Borobudur. The room we were assigned is a 3 bedded room, which can accommodate up to 3 persons. 2 beds were placed side by side, located to the right of the main door, and the other right in front of the door. There are side tables beside each bed and power points are plentiful in the room. The sleep quality on the bed is decent and is good enough for the guest to rest for the night. Just before the lone bed opposite the front door, a TV was placed for some basic entertainment for guests.

Single bed in the room

Main door and TV in the room

The 2 single beds on the right of the main door

Bathroom

The bathroom is simply furnished as well. Other then the toilet bowl, there is a small bathtub in the bathroom, with shower head. The bathtub doubles up as the showering area in the bathroom. Beside the bathroom is a small sink.

Aged but functional bathroom

Bath amenities are provided by the hotel, which is stowed on an oldish looking shelf by the door to the bathroom. The hotel provides the standard shower gel, shampoo and conditioner as well as toothbrush and toothpaste for the convenience of guests.

Bath amenities

Rear Porch

To the left of the lone bed is another door that leads to the rear porch of the room. This is a small area for guests to relax out in the open. This area is where one would find 2 wooden chairs and a small coffee table. This area also doubles up as a smoking area for guests and opens up to a shared garden in the hotel grounds.

Rear Porch of the room

Rear entrance to the room

As this is a 4-star hotel, it does not come with a swimming pool for guests to relax in.

Service

The service in the hotel is reasonable, however, one would not be accorded with the standards of a 5-star hotel. The staffs are responsive but do not seem to go all out to make sure that guests’ needs are being taken care of. Having said that, guests would be served with a welcome drink upon arrival on the hotel grounds, while the staffs prepare to check one in.

Welcome drink for guests checking in

Overall

The rooms in the hotel are aged but functional. Despite the aged furnishings, there is nothing in the room that is broken or malfunction. The sleep quality on the bed is decent and does its job of providing guests rest for nights. The service is decent but not impressive. It seems that the selling point of this hotel is not on the hardware or the service, but its proximity to Borobudur Temple. If being close to the temple is a primary consideration, this hotel will be a perfect choice. However if one is particular about comfort and the decor of the room as well as service, one should look elsewhere.

Borobudur Day 3 (13 May 12) – Early Flight Out

July 8, 2014August 19, 2020 / kktong76 / Leave a comment

This day was rather uneventful. As our flight was at 7.35 am, we had to leave the hotel at 5.30 am latest! We had woke up at 4 am unwilling as the bed in the hotel was too comfy for us to get our ass off the bed, however, we dun have the luxury of doing that. After washing and packing up, we left the hotel at 5.30 am as planned. At the reception, while processing our check out, I had a quick chat with the staff who had been working the night shift.

“How was your shift, must be tiring to be working the night shift,” I asked

“Yes, it was rather tiring” came the very polite reply by the staff despite the toll the shift has upon him.

“So what time do you knock off?” I enquired curiously

“8 am” came the reply

“Ahh…. just 2 hours more to go, personally I felt 3 am was the toughest time to past by” I replied

“Yes, it was tough at that hour” came the reply by the staff promptly

After the check out procedure was over and done with, I inquired about the airport transfer that I had arranged with his colleague the day before. The staff at the reception told me after checking that there was no record of such an arrangement. I asked if he can arrange it. The staff gave me the look of why do you wanna spend that kind of money?

“You can catch a taxi, and we can call one for you if you want.” Said the staff which confirmed my suspicion. I asked him how much would it cost if I catch a cab to the airport? As my very limited travel experience has shed some light in how some cabbies in some countries tried to quote through the roof prices to tourists, especially when it comes to airport trips.

“Our transfer costs 60,000Rps, and the taxi is run by meters, will only cost you at most 50,000Rps” replied the ever polite staff. At this point, I was very impressed with the service that the staff rendered. He not only was polite and even spared a thought for the wallets of the guests who stayed in the hotel. True to his words, the cab fare was 30,000Rps, about half the price we would have paid should we insisted on getting the airport transfer. Wow! I turned to my friend when we reached the airport and told him what I thought of the staff who processed our checkout, he was impressed and agreed that the staff was very thoughtful.

Back at the small-ish airport terminal, checking in was a breeze. Once inside the terminal, there are a few some shops selling goods ranging from souvenirs such as Batiks to paper puppets to dried foodstuffs. The airport has 2 waiting rooms, one for domestic and the other for international departures. We headed for the international departures through the customs, and the waiting room is just ahead. We waited for our flight to arrive for more than an hour (well to be fair, the flight departed on time), the bird that took us from Yogyakarta to Singapore originates from Jakarta. Well, I guess this is the business model for low-cost carriers. The flight back home was uneventful. Guess we were too tired, after having to wake up at 4 am for 2 consecutive days, we spent the next 2 hours snoozing on board the aircraft. 2 hours seem to fly past soon we found ourselves getting ready for landing…. with this marks the end of our trip and back to reality, back to work for the next day. Not too sure where my next destination will be, hope to do a longer trip at a further destination, till then time to sleep…….

Checking into our flight home

Empty waiting lounge in the airport

Walking towards our flight

Me with the aircraft on the tarmac

Preparing to take off

Jogja below us

Mt Merapi

Flying home

Borobudur Day 2 (12 May 12) – It was well worth it: Sunrise at Borobudur

July 8, 2014August 19, 2020 / kktong76 / Leave a comment

Our alarm clocks went off at 4.30 am today, being awake, we are still discussing whether to go for the sunrise tour. Well since we are already awake, might as well just go for it. My friend and I quickly washed up and went to the reception at around 5.30 am, just in time for the sunrise tour as we thought. At first, we had the impression that there will be a huge group getting ready to go towards the temple, and that the places available are limited for the tour. However, as we approach the reception area, it seemed to be very quiet there. We asked the receptionist if there are still spots for the sunrise tour, she replied there are plenty of slots. At this point, we realised that the so-called sunrise tour is merely the hotel sells you the tickets to gain entry into the temple before sunrise and we are pretty much on our own! After payment, the receptionist gave us our tickets, a couple of torch lights and sarongs. At this point I was telling my friend, I didn’t realise that we need to wear a sarong into the temple, as the day before we entered the temple without wearing sarongs and the staff checking our tickets did not bitch about it. We were instructed by the receptionist to wear our sarongs before heading towards the temple. Now wearing the piece of batik looking cloth seem weird, however since everyone is doing that, we did likewise. After we donned on our sarongs, the guide gathered whoever is there waiting to depart the temple, and off we go, we are on our way to the temple. The walk towards the temple at night was rather cooling, in contrast to the heat we experienced the day before when we were at Borobudur. Soon we found ourselves at the gate, got our tickets verified and standing before us is Borobudur temple. The temple looks solemn at this hour, as though a giant still in his slumber. There isn’t a lot of visitors at the temple at this hour. Most of those who were here are here for the sunrise, mostly photograph enthusiasts. As there was little light for us to explore around the temple, we made our way to the levels where the stupas are situated, patiently waiting for sunrise.

Our tickets to the sunrise tour

Borobudur at dawn

The temple at this hour looked eerie

Climbing up the temple

Buddha Statues watching over the land at the wee hours of the morning

As we were waiting, we went around taking pictures of the surroundings, which was rather tranquil at this hour. As we were walking around, we chatted with some of the staffs there. We came to realise that the so-called Mt Merapi that we were photographing yesterday isn’t Mt Merapi! It is Mt Sindoro, our guide generously pointed to us where Merapi is, and told us that the sun would rise in the direction of Merapi. Since there was some time before sunrise, we continued our photography session around the top levels of the temple. There aren’t many activities at the surroundings at this hour, even on the temple there are less than 20 visitors. I can imagine the peace and tranquillity of the temple when it was first built or even before its rediscovery before tourists came to know about its existence. I took the time to enjoy the peace and the unpolluted air that the temple and its surroundings offer. At this hour, visitors were either waiting patiently for the sun to shine across the lands, or busy taking photographs of the surroundings and the pre-dawn scenery. Soon the first ray of the sun hits Mt Merapi, the view was stunning. With the sunray, the surroundings are now covered with a blanket of fog, as though we were floating in the heavens! This is the time I begin to realise and appreciate the value of visiting this monument for sunrise. It debunked my preconception that this was a waste of time. I turned to my friend and told him luckily for his perseverance, if not we would not have been able to enjoy such a sight. All eyes are now gazing in the direction of Mt Merapi, where the sun slowly rising as though someone who just had a late night and reluctantly waking up. All visitors spared no time wasted and quickly snapped their cameras away.

Stupas on the top of the temple

Stupas stood solemnly watching the town awaking to another day

View of Mt Merapi at dawn

Shadows of the Stupas

Stupas at dawn

Buddha in the Stupa watching as the town awakens to another day

Buddha statue sitting in the stupa for centuries since the temple was first built

Borobudur solemnly welcoming another day to arrive

Borobudur and the surrounding mountains

The pinkish sky from beyond Mt Merapi

Borobudur at dawn

Panoramic view of the temple and the surroundings

Waiting for the sun to rise

Me at Borobudur at dawn

Awaiting for the sun to creep from beyond the clouds

A blanket of mist covering the ground as day breaks

A blanket of mist covering the ground

The sun is slowly rising from beyond Mt Merapi

As the day breaks, the fog slowly disappears from the ground

The sun is slowly rising from beyond Mt Merapi

Borobudur at sunrise

The fog gives the area a sense of mysteriousness

Fog is still visible from the ground

Sunrise at Borobudur is simply stunning

Buddha statue in the stupa welcoming the arrival of another day

Borobudur at sunrise

Rays of the morning sun penetrating the temple

Borobudur at sunrise

Sunrise from Borobudur

Sun has cast light on the statue

Borobudur at sunrise

Me at Borobudur at sunrise

Borobudur at sunrise

Buddha inside the stupa

Borobudur at sunrise

Close up of the Buddha Statue inside one of the stupas

It was soon around 8 am, as the gates opened for the rest of the visitors. As the first batch of visitors arrived at the temple, the peace and tranquillity that we experienced just mere minutes ago were broken with hordes and hordes of visitors, ranging from tour groups to student groups. The eager visitors rushed straight to the top of the temple to marvel the surroundings, just as what we did for the past 2 days. As the top floor became rather rowdy, I ask my friend if he was done with photo taking. He to find it too noisy to stay around, and we decided to explore the bits that we have missed out. As we were moving down to the floors with carvings, all we did was to trace out the carvings from the video that we saw last night at the hotel auditorium and see if we can find something resembling the story of Buddha. We managed to spot some, but the rest was just not apparent to us. As we were scouring through the temple, we spotted some blocks which do not seem to fit into the building structure. I turned around and told my friend that these seemed like some misfit jigsaw puzzles, where the staff just chucked them there in a fit of frustration as they can’t seem to find the place that they belonged to. We continued taking pictures, making sure every corner and every turn was not missed. The number of visitors grew like wild mushrooms after a season rain, it was too crowded for us to bear. I suggested that we descent to the base of the temple and perhaps walked around the base. My friend agreed and we spare no time getting to the base. Now it is rather challenging getting down as opposed to going up the temple, we found ourselves walking against the crowd, who kept pouring into the temple. At times we even had to “fight” our way down. It was certainly a challenging 5 minutes down the temple.

The grandeur of the temple never fails to astound me

Borobudur Temple

At the base, we walked around the temple and found that the back of the temple (the side that does not face the garden that visitors has to pass by to get to the temple) was rather quiet. Except for a group boys, who appear to be students from a school excursion trip riding on the guarding statue. As my friend was interested in taking pictures of the statue, he asked the boys if they could be excused from the statue. Without hesitation, the boys cooperated and even told their friends to not block my friend’s picture taking opportunity. After walking around the grounds for several more minutes, the past 2 early morning waking ups have taken a toll to me. I suggested to my friend to get back to the hotel for breakfast, rest awhile and then head off to Yogjakarta, where our next stop is. He agreed and we soon found ourselves having breakfast at the hotel grounds. The breakfast was worth mention here, not as in the food is fantastic, but the location of our table. It is as though we were having breakfast in the gardens with Borobudur gracing her appearance, having breakfast together with us. This is indeed a memorable experience. After breakfast, we retired back to our rooms and started to pack up. It did not take long for us to pack up and my friend soon find it restless. He asked if I am interested in joining him to visit the smallish hill we saw at the top of the temple. As I was rather tired, I told him I prefer to stay in the room and rest. My friend went on his own, and upon his return, he told me that I had missed much as there was a museum near the temple, showcasing the history and the restoration process…. Damn, I should have joined him.

Borobudur Temple

The quieter side of the temple

Temple ground at ground zero

Borobudur Temple

The gardens around the temple

Borobudur from the hotel grounds

On our way back to Yogjakarta

We checked out of the hotel at around noon and our transport towards Yogjakarta was already waiting for us. On our way back, the knowledgeable driver shared most of the sights along the way, despite his lack of knowledge in the English language, that did not deter him in sharing his local knowledge with us. We are grateful for his generosity in sharing the information. It took us a couple of hours to reach our hotel in Yogjakarta. The rustic looking hotel looked like a museum from the outside and throughout the hotel! There are pieces of the local history scattered around the hotel. Every turn and every corner we would be able to find a piece of historic artifact. The hotel was tastefully decorated with a good balance of history and contemporary theme. Our room was equally fantastic. After settling our luggage in the room, we headed out to grab lunch. On our way towards the main entrance of the hotel, my friend pointed to something which caught my attention:

“Look at that” he exclaims

“Wow, the world’s most expensive coffee” I replied

“Shall we try it later?” He asked “It would cost at least SGD65 back home”

After I have done the maths (which comes to about SGD20), I replied “Why not? We should try this since it is 3 times cheaper here”

“On, let’s try this at night after we came back from town” came the reply from my friend

“Okie,” I said

On our way back to Yogjakarta

Ornamental trishaw of the hotel

And we were on our way out to find food. After grabbing food to fill our stomachs, we headed for the so-called shopping street of Yogjakarta. I mean from our touching down to our way to Borobudur to coming back from Borobudur, I did not see any shopping malls around. When we asked the receptionist in the hotel, we were told that the shopping street is just a stone’s throw away from where we put up. We were given a map of the city by the very helpful receptionist, we followed the map heading towards the shopping street. After about 15 mins of walking, we still do not see any shopping mall. At this point, my friend was wondering if we had been tricked or missed the turn towards the shopping mall. Upon closer study of the map, we realised that the map isn’t drawn to scale. As we walked further down, we spotted the train station that we are supposed to come across. This confirmed our theory that the map isn’t drawn to scale. After crossing the railway crossings, we came upon the start of the shopping district. Here is where we saw hundreds of stores lining up the roadside, selling mostly souvenirs to local tourists and foreigners alike. Along the side of the road lined up horse carriages. I suppose this is for the tourists more than a mode of transportation for the locals. Along the way and back, we kept getting locals asking if we wanted a cab. I was a bit perturbed by this but soon learnt to ignore them. After passing the train station, we came upon a shopping mall some 10 mins later. Though modern, we find the shopping mall does not have to sell stuff to our liking and decided to get out of it after spending some 10 mins inside.

Streets of Yogjakarta

KFC for lunch

Around Yogjakarta

One of the monuments in the middle of the road

Streets of Yogjakarta

Train Museum

Streets of Yogjakarta

Hotel at night

As we got out of the shopping mall, we thought the rest of the walking street looks more or less the same. We decided to head back to the hotel for dinner and then rest up as we were pretty worn out after 2 days of waking early, moreover we had to wake up pretty early for our morning flight back home the next day. We decided to head dine at the hotel instead, as the rest of the town seemed to be closed to us. After dinner, we headed towards the cafe for the most expensive coffee in the world. To be frank, the coffee doesn’t taste that bitter, unlike the other coffees. We saw this gift pack that came with the mug, which I quite like the design, bought one each. As we were buying, we chatted with the restaurant manager. We came to learn that the hotel doesn’t sell the coffee a lot, as demand mostly comes from tourists due to the relatively cheap pricing in Yogjakarta. The sales of the gift packs are even lower. After chatting for around 1 hour with the manager, we decided to head back to our room and rest for the night, after all, we have to wake up early tomorrow morning for our flight back home.

The hotel we stayed in also doubles up as a museum

Time for dinner

Dinner time

One can find phoenixes around the hotel

Most expensive coffee in the world – Kopi Luwak

One of the displays in the hotel

Borobudur Day 1 (11 May 12) – Arrival at Borobudur

July 7, 2014August 19, 2020 / kktong76 / Leave a comment

My friend and I have been talking about planning a trip to Borobudur since last October. We had the research done up and was about to go back then, however, due to work, our trip did not materialise. Sometime earlier this year we begin talking about our trip to Borobudur, it finally materialised for us this time around. After months of waiting, today marks the day we finally embarked on this overdue postponed trip. We got to the airport rather early, did some shopping and soon found ourselves heading towards Yogjakarta, one of the two gateways to Borobudur. As we did not check in our luggage, we cleared immigration and met up with the driver assigned by the hotel to pick us up at the airport very quickly. The moment we cleared custom, the driver was already there waiting for us to pick us up to the hotel. Along the way, he pointed out several interesting sights. One of those that caught my eyes were the ashes from Mt Merapi, which erupted 2 years ago. When this volcano displayed its rage, its ashes covered the whole of Borobudur, as a result, the top few floors of the monument was closed to the public due to restoration works. We were informed by our driver that the top few floors were opened after the Indonesian government has done some restoration works to it.

Arrival at Yogjakarta Airport

Around Yogjakarta Airport

On our way to Borobudur

One of the small towns we pass by while making our way to Borobudur

On our way to Borobudur

On our way to Borobudur with Mt Merapi in the background

More padi fields

We booked a room at Manohara Hotel, which gave us the advantage of being closer to Borobudur. When I said close I mean close. As the hotel is situated in the compounds of Borobudur, the monument is just a stone throw away from the hotel. We headed for the restaurant in the hotel to combat our hunger pains after almost 4 hours of travelling. The restaurant overlooks Borobudur itself, it is a nice feeling munching our long overdue lunch while watching the temple absorbing numerous visitors coming to admire its grandeur. We took our time having our lunch as we felt we have all the time in the world to visit the temple. Staying in this hotel gave us this advantage. After lunch we took a stroll around on the gardens in the hotel ground just in front of the temple, the call of the temple is just too great for us to resist (partially there was nothing much around the hotel, they don’t even have a swimming pool!!) we decided it is time to pay a visit to the monument we have come to visit. True to what has been advertised on the hotel website and the comments left by patrons of the hotel, Borobudur is a mere 5 minutes stroll from the hotel compounds. Before hitting the entrance of Borobudur, which is just a guardhouse beyond the gates that protect the monument from visitors during its slumber at night, we walked through a garden leading to the temple. Walking through this stretch towards the temple reminds me of a lot of the Persian gardens that we have visited slightly more than a year ago.

Statue of Ganesha in the hotel grounds

Replica of a stupa in the hotel grounds

Statue around the hotel grounds

Face of Garuda

Model of Borobudur in the hotel grounds

The actual Borobudur afar

Selfie with Borobudur

The path that leads to Borobudur

The orientation of the temple

Borobudur

After we had our tickets checked, we breezed towards the base of the temple. Standing at the base, looking up at the temple is indeed a sight of awe. The magnificence of the temple, its grander, can only be felt when one is standing at the base. We thought there was plenty of time for us to explore the temple at our pace, we did not scale it once we were there. We took our time trying to get a good shot of the temple at the entrance side of the temple. I even have time to take pictures of the lions guarding the temple in ancient times. After a few shots, we decided to scale the temple. We reminded ourselves (consciously or subconsciously) we will have a lot of time to explore the temple as this is the only thing on our itinerary for this trip. After taking some photos at the base of the temple, we decided to explore the temple’s 9 storeys level by level. As we were moving towards one of the stairways leading up to the pinnacle of the temple, we came across what seemed to be some form of guardian statues that seem to ward off evils. I thought these 2 statues are rather interesting and started to take some pictures on it. After that, we attempted to climb to the first level of the temple. Well climbing seems not as easy as it looks, not due to the structure of the temple, neither is it due to the difficulty of the climb, it is due to the hordes of visitors coming to visit the temple. What would otherwise seem like a 1 – 2-minute climb ended up to be around 6 mins due to the crowd. Climbing the relatively steep stairways, while battling a step on the stairways with visitors either going up the same direction with us or coming down from the temple proved to be challenging. Nonetheless, we made it, to the first level after 6 mins. We decided to walk clockwise (As the temple is square-shaped at the lower 6 levels and circular at the top 3 levels) around this level. Divorcing from the stairways, we turned to our right. At this moment, the intricacy of the carvings on the walls on the temple just overwhelms me. We are talking about 2 full panels of carvings on each side of the wall. As one walks through the corridor of each level, one would be surrounded by these painstaking carvings on the wall. At one glance, the carvings seemed to be telling some stories, but to my uninformed eyes, they just seem to be telling the story of Buddha. Most of the carvings do not seem to make any sense to me and seemed rather random. Given that, the carvings are very interesting and seemed very detail. Forces of nature do not seem to take too much of a toll on the carvings, although erosion can be seen more on some carvings than the others. I would say most of the carvings are rather intact.

Borobudur Temple on ground zero

Me with Borobudur closed up

Happy to be here

Guardian Statue at the base of the temple

Another shot of me at Borobudur

Borobudur and the surrounding mountains

Borobudur from ground zero

The temple is just magnificent

We started to scale the temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Carving of a guardian on the temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

The carvings are detailed

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Me on Borobudur

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Buddha statue on Borobudur

Me in Borobudur

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

At this point, the carvings make no sense to me

Me with the carvings on Borobudur

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Buddhist carvings on the temple wall

Inside Borobudur

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Glad to be able to come to this temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

The young prince attaining Buddhahood

There must be hundreds if not thousands of carvings on the temple walls

Selfie in Borobudur

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

A Buddha Statue in Borobudur

Borobudur Temple

Inside Borobudur

Borobudur

The architecture is just amazing

As we were walking around, like tourists, we are looking for some picture-perfect spots. Well, once in a while we get tourists standing here and there taking pictures, but other than that we thought the lower level was still relatively “free from tourists”. Perhaps people come here to visit the pinnacle of the temple, the view as I read it, is quite stunning. Well, more of that later. My friend and I constantly reminded ourselves how much time we have to explore the temple and given that luxury, we “budgeted” our time at each level well. We spent about 45 min on the first level of the temple, back to the same crowded stairways that we ascended the monument with, we proceeded to the second level of the temple. The same awareness just fills me with the number of detailed carvings on the wall along the corridor of the structure. Each carving seems to tell a different story, some more visible than the others, at this point it became more apparent that the story told was about Buddha and Buddhism. As we were strolling along the corridors, with occasional “Hi’s” and “How are you’s” from foreigners, we came across this lady with what seemed to be a Russian accent. She requested us to help her take some pictures, well I must say she certainly has some interesting poses up her sleeves. It seemed this Russian lady is travelling alone. At this point I was thinking, she must be really brave to have travelled alone to this rather remote site (not that I have not done that before). After snapping some pictures for her, we bided her farewell and continued with our admiration of the temple and photo-snapping affairs. Well, level 2 took us another 45 mins or so. Up we go to level 3. Halfway through level 3, our patience started to run low, as, without any explanations, the carvings started to look the same to us. Halfway through the level 3, we started to feel the carvings are rather repetitive. My friend and I decided to move up the next level halfway through. At this point, we realised the stairways on the other side seemed to be less crowded. Boy, this is one of the best decisions we have made during this trip. We did likewise for the next few levels, walking around it halfway and then proceeded up to the next level, along the way, I felt as if I was patronising the photo-taking, snapping a few pictures here and there. The carvings made not much sense to me anyway, they don’t seem to be telling a story (well maybe I hadn’t been able to appreciate the carvings at this point).

View of the surroundings

Almost reaching the top

This is the stairs that brought us to the top of the temple

Breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains

The head of the Buddha Statue is believed to be stolen

A complete Buddha Statue watching over the temple

Buddha Statue in the temple grounds

An interesting mix of Balinese and Hindi architecture

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Around the temple

The number of carvings and statues are just countless

Close up of the headless Buddha

Another complete Buddha

The top part of the temple from afar

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

View of the surroundings of the temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Buddha statue

Lion standing guard in the temple grounds

Borobudur Temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

The walls depict the life of Buddha

In the temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Borobudur Temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

View of the temple with the surrounding mountains

A couple of the many Buddha statues in the temple

The surrounding mountains make the temple look grander

Top of the temple

Buddhist carvings on the temple walls

Buddha sitting Solemnly on the temple watching over the land

Borobudur and the surroundings

Soon we found ourselves at the circular levels of the temple. Reaching this level sure takes the repetitive carvings after carvings mood away from me. At this level, we can see the picturesque greeneries surrounding the temple. At one side we see a mountain range, with its low clouds, certainly is a welcoming and refreshing sight for city dwellers like us. As we turned around, we saw this volcano, which seemed to be a stone’s throw away from the temple. We read about how Mt Merapi has erupted a few years ago, and as a result, the temple was covered with volcanic ashes. Immediately, we deduced that the very volcano we saw is Merapi. Sparing no lost time we send our cameras snapping the volcano away. As I was walking around the top few levels (which are relatively open), I managed to take some rather nice shoots. At this point, my patience as totally ran out of juice, I skipped a few levels and headed for the topmost level. Afterall the top few levels looked the same to me with stupas springing up around like wild mushrooms after a heavy rain pour, except that the stupas are more organised. As I was walking around the top level, I found myself facing the west, looking at the sun setting between mountains and beyond the farm fields. Wow, this site may be common to the residents in the area, to a city dweller this sight is indeed rare and therapeutic to a certain extend. As I watch the sun slowly fades away from the sky, as though it is retiring for the day, my fingers are busy working with my camera to capture the picture-perfect moment.

Stupas at the top of the temple

View of the surroundings from the top of the temple

Stupas at the top of the temple

Me with the Stupas

Stupas at the top of the temple

Buddha watching over the land

View of the top of the temple

Borobudur Temple

Panoramic shot of the temple and the surroundings

Sunsetting from the land

Stupas at the top of the temple

View from the top of the temple

A Buddha inside the Stupa

Stupas at the top of the temple

Me with my friend in the background

View from the Stupa level of the temple

On the top of Borobudur

There are some carvings on the base of the Stupas

Stupas at the top of the temple

Me on the top floor of the temple

The centrepiece of the temple and it is the highest point of the temple

Shot of a Buddha inside one of the Stupas

Close up of the Buddha inside one of the Stupas

Sunsetting with the Stupas in view

Sunsetting

Awaiting Sunset from the Stupa level of the temple

Me with the sunsetting

Stupa and the sunset

On the top of the temple

Sunsetting over the mountains

Panoramic shot of the surroundings

Me watching sunset

Detailed carvings on the walls of Borobudur

Sunsetting

Sunset

Grandure of Borobudur Temple

We soon found ourselves being “Chased” out of the temple. Looking at our watches, geezzz…. it is about time for them to close. Reluctantly, we had to peel ourselves away from the temple and started to descend the temple. Well, we still have the next morning to take more pictures of the temple. As we were walking out, the relentless vendors selling souvenirs at the compounds of the temple sprang to work. Seeing tourists coming down from the temple, they were quick to peddle their wares in the hope to clinch some last-minute sales. I was rather interested in a miniature model of the temple. A vendor approached me and I checked out the price with him:

“100,000 rupiah,s” said the vendor.

I was like… what??!!

“50,000 for 2” I counter-offered.

“Too low” came the reply.

“Nevermind then,” I said to the vendor and was about to walk away.

“okay 50,000 rupiahs for 2 then”

I quickly choose 2 of the models and walked off after paying the vendor. Happy I was to have managed to strike a bargain. We walked around what seemed to be a bazaar in the day. Well too bad most of the shops are closing or have closed. My friend and I decided to head back to the hotel. Once returning to our room, our stomach strikes, as though demanding food. As there don’t seem to be any restaurants or eateries around the hotel, we settled our dinner in the hotel restaurant. A staff member was playing the traditional Indonesian musical instrument, and singing along to the music. The dinner was decent and did what it supposed to do – to fill our stomachs. As the night is still young we decided to walk around and explore the hotel a bit. We stumbled into an auditorium of some sort, the staff was kind enough to allow us to pop in and take a look at what was showing inside. Once inside, the empty auditorium was shown a video clip about Borobudur! The informative video explains the carvings in the temple, the stories behind the carvings and the proper way to visit the temple. At this moment, my friend and I were like “geezzz we should have seen this before hitting the temple”. It became apparent to us what the carvings meant, and our suspicion of the story of buddha was confirmed. I was thinking to myself, well at least when we visit the temple again tomorrow, we can appreciate the carvings more.

Nightfall

Around the hotel grounds at night

Dinner time

Traditional Indonesian Music Performance at dinner time

Buddhist artwork around the temple

The short clip lasted about 30 mins, soon we found ourselves roaming around the hotel. As there was nothing much (not even a swimming pool) in the hotel, we decided to retire back to our room. While in the room, we were still trying to decide if we should wake up early (we are talking about 4 am!) to see the sunrise at Borobudur. My contention is that there is no guide who brings us around the temple and explain it to us. We paid additional money just for the chance to go into the temple before every else does to see the sunrise. My friend pointed out that since we are already here, and this was one of the things we said we wanted to do when we were planning for the trip last October. I agreed that it is a waste to have come to Borobudur and not going for the sunrise tour. We set our alarm clocks and went on the retire, hoping that we can wake up in time for the sunrise tour.

[Airline Review] – Thai Airways – Business Class, SIN-DEL, (10 Jun 11)

July 5, 2014August 20, 2020 / kktong76 / Leave a comment

SIN-BKK

Airline Lounge

The airport lounge at Changi Airport for Thai Airways is located on a level above the immigration, located in a quiet part of the busy airport. The facade of the lounge is designed to give visitors a sense of class. I was greeted with a warm smile by the staff who was manning the counter and she did the usual procedure of checking the lounge invitation and welcomed me to the lounge.

Entrance to the lounge

The interior of the lounge was dim in colour, the central theme colour was brown to give it a sense of class and cosiness. However, the lounge felt a little underwhelmed, as it is rather small facilities are limited. There are very limited options for food and drinks. The main bulk of the area of the lounge is dedicated to seating patrons, while the food counter occupies a small portion of the lounge. There is also a very small corner where one can find business facilities such as computers and internet access. There are also some reading materials, with a collection of major business and travel magazines and newspapers.

Passenger seating area

Reading materials for passengers

Business Center in the lounge

Limited snack in the lounge

Drinks offered in the lounge

Overall the lounge felt basic and underwhelmed. Despite this, it is still a conducive enough for travellers to relax before their flight with Thai Airways

The Aircraft

The flight from Singapore to Bangkok is on 777-200. The seat I was assigned to was on the first few rows, window. The cabin looks spacious and clean. The egg-shaped seats gave the whole cabin a futuristic look. The cabin is well-lit and everything looked well maintained. The load on Business Class from Singapore to Bangkok is usually light, mainly due to the short flight time.

The bird that flew me on SIN-BKK leg

The Seat

The seat is very comfortable and is capable of reclining to almost flat. The seat features an adjustable personal reading light and comes with massage functions built into the seat itself. The seat pitch is wide enough to enable me to fully stretch my legs. The distance between the seat to the personal TV is wide enough for passengers seating at the window seat to access the aisle. The seat is generally comfortable in all positions. There are pre-programmed positions on the controls of the seat as well as options for passengers to adjust the angle as one deem comfortable. The table is stowed in the armrest of the seat, which does not feel intrusive.

View of the seat

Personal TV onboard

In-Flight Entertainment

Thai Airways offers a comprehensive list of entertainment onboard, ranging from the latest movie to movies from Thailand. There are also sitcoms and travel programmes to prepare passenger for their trip to Thailand. Games are also available for those who prefer to keep their minds occupy with games.

Spaciousness

Meal Service

Food was rather standard and nothing fantastic. There is, however, a comprehensive list of drinks ranging from liquor to soft drinks to juices. One can also request for a cappuccino instead of the standard coffee.

Appetiser

Main course

Service

The service onboard is pretty standard. Despite being in premium class, the services do not seem to shout of premium. It felt as though it is no different from that offered in economy class. The only difference is that pre-flight drinks are served when passengers got settled onto their seats. Orders for food service was taken shortly after drinks were served. Despite the short flight from Singapore to Bangkok, Thai Airways managed to serve the meal course by course.

Staffs onboard do not seem to be interested in providing good services. Their service, as previously mentioned, was pretty standard. Passengers were not ushered to their seats, nor does the staff bother to remember the first names of passengers. Newspapers were not offered, unlike some other airlines, where newspapers were offered even in economy class. Passengers were not given smiles even during food service runs.

Overall

Thai Airways offer decent hardware in their Business class in this leg. The equipment seemed well maintained without any hiccups, however, they can do more in terms of service.

BKK-DEL

Airline Lounge

Bangkok Airport, being the homeland of Thai Airways, offers passengers 4 lounges spreading across the vast airport to rest while waiting for their onward flight. I tried 2 of the 4 lounges, namely the smaller lounge at Concourse C East and the largest of the 4 lounges – Concourse D. Passengers are entitled to a 30 mins head and shoulder massage while transiting at the lounge. Upon entering the lounge, the friendly staffs greeted me with a warm smile and welcomed me into the lounge upon me showing them my boarding pass. The staffs enquired if I would like to have my massage and I gladly agreed. I was arranged to wait for the staff who would give me massage in the lounge, while the friendly staff asked if she could serve me some drinks, which I promptly declined. The lounge was brightly lighted and Thai Airways made full use of the natural light to illuminate the lounge, giving passengers an impression that the lounge was large. This lounge has mostly armchairs, arranged in 2s and 4s to cater to single traveller and travellers who came in groups. The lounge has some bites to keep passengers filled up and an assortment of drinks and liquors. There are also TVs showing international news channels as well as an assortment of magazines ranging from business magazines to travel magazines and of course, the onboard magazines. The masseuse appeared in 5 mins and I was escorted to the massage areas, comprising of smaller rooms to provide privacy for passengers enjoying their well-deserved massages. The massage that I was given was fantastic, no different from those that one would find in downtown Bangkok. The skilful masseuse got rid of the shoulder ache that I was having for weeks. After the massage, I loitered around the lounge a little more and decided to check out the largest lounge in Concourse D.

The lounge in Concourse C East

Some of the food on offer in this lounge

Part of the lounge in Concourse C East

View of the tarmac from the lounge

The lounge at Concourse D is elongated in shape and as with the previous lounge, I was warmly greeted and welcomed to the lounge. I was told that there aren’t any calls for flights by the staff and was reminded to take note of the time of my onward flight. This lounge has a warmer and earthier feel as compared to the previous lounge. As it is located further away from windows, the lounge appeared dimmer and cosier. After finding a quiet corner, I checked out the food that was on offer by the lounge. They offered small bite-sized snacks such as Chinese dim sum and fried spring rolls and samosas. There are also sandwiches out for passengers to grab. The concept of food offering is more to provide snacks and not a filling meal that passengers will not be able to eat more on board. There are also an assortment of drinks from fruit juice to soft drinks and coffee and tea to liquor at this lounge. As with the previous lounge, there are also TVs broadcasting international news channels and an assortment of reading materials from local and major international newspapers to magazines. The food offered tasted alright, and not exactly fantastic. However, it does the job of keeping on filled up temporarily while waiting for full meal service onboard. The toilet was large and showering facilities were also made available.

Food on offer in Concourse D lounge

Cosy feel in this lounge

Showering facilities in the airport lounge

Cappuccino from the lounge

Around the lounge in Concourse D

Me in the lounge

The Aircraft

The Seat

This leg of the journey was flown by a 747-400. I chose a seat on the upper deck, which provides more privacy and quieter as compared to those on the main deck. This aircraft looked like it needs a major makeover or it is nearing its lifespan with Thai Airways. The interior of the aircraft looked old and like those in the 90s. The condition of the interior of the aircraft gave me a feeling that things are going to fall apart. The seats are those old type, where it reclined to a maximum of 60° The seats are hardly comfortable, but luckily for short flight time. Having said that the legroom is great, but feels slightly smaller than the 777-200 leg.

Seats on the upper deck of the 747-400

In-Flight Entertainment

The in-flight entertainment system is stowed beneath the seat and I had a hard time pulling out the TV screen. It seemed that the condition of the aircraft is so old that maintenance was not even done properly on it. As the screen is rather small, I did not enjoy the show too much. The controller for the entertainment system seems to be giving way and I had a hard time choosing between channels. The system seems to lag as well. I also had a hard time getting the table out from the armrest of the seat for meal service.

A very old entertainment system onboard

Meal Service

Food was rather standard as with the previous leg, but it does the job of keeping one from being hungry. As with the previous leg (and common across most of the airlines in the world), an assortment of drinks and wines are also available on this flight

Appetisers

I opted for the curry chicken

Service

As with the previous leg, service onboard was lacklustre. The staffs are more interested in getting their job over and done with rather than making passengers feel welcome. They certainly do not live up to the company’s tagline of smooth as silk as the services rendered feels pretty rough. The attendants also did the Thai culture a disservice as they are hardly seen to be smiling at the passengers. As with the previous leg, the service felt no different from that offered in economy class. Having said that, the mechanical staffs sprung into action the moment passengers step on board and I was presented with pre-flight drinks and menu for the flight. The attendant came back shortly to take orders for food service. Meals were served course by course, which seemed pretty standard for the premium class.

Staffs onboard do not seem to be interested in providing good services as with the previous leg of my trip. Passengers were not ushered to their seats, nor does the staff bother to remember the first names of passengers. Passengers were also not given smiles even during food service runs. Most of the time, the attendants were not spotted throughout the flight, other than food service and time to retrieve the trays.

Overall

On this leg of the journey, Thai Airways disappoints further with aged hardware and lukewarm service. It feels as if the airlines are not interested in competing in the competitive premium service of this day and age. Perhaps their focus is not on premium service, there is no differentiation with other airlines and seem that they are doing the standard things that the other airlines are offering in their premium cabins. It is hardly worth flying on Thai Airways premium class as experienced on both legs of my journey.