They added that bus service AC7 will stop at ALL bus stops along the route, including the pair of bus stops outside Republic Polytechnic along Woodlands Avenue 9. Frequency is at 20 to 30 minutes. As with other cross-border bus services, the bus will wait at the post-immigration clearance bus bays for a reasonable amount of time before proceeding on to Kotaraya or Yishun. For further details, refer to the previous post and newspaper article below:

NEW BUS SERVICE FROM YISHUN TO JB
- Service AC7 will run every half hour from Yishun Interchange to Kotaraya Terminal

by Teo Wan Gek

A new bus service from Yishun to Johor Bahru starts today.

It is the third new cross-border bus route to be introduced this year, as part of a bilateral agreement to increase transit links announced in May.

The new service AC7, from Yishun bus interchange to Kotaraya Terminal in Johor Baru, will benefit Malaysian students and workers who travel daily to Singapore, and Singaporeans on daytrips to JB.

Premier bus operator Advance Coach obtained a permit to run the service from the Malaysian authorities on Wednesday.

Its managing director Neo Tiam Beng, 42, is glad for a chance to diversify his business beyond ferrying schoolchildren and workers within Singapore.

“Thankfully the two prime ministers are on good terms. If not, I would not have this business opportunity,” Mr Neo said.

He has invested some S$2 million in the venture and bought 10 new 44-seater buses.

The service will run every half hour from 5.45am tp 11.30pm. The entire journey takes 70 minutes and costs S$2.

When prime ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Najib Razak met here in May, they agreed to increase the number of cross-border bus services with the addition of eight new routes, four from Singapore and four from Malaysia.

These routes are to connect Pasar Bakti (Kotaraya II) and Larkin in Johor to the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) integrated resorts, Boon Lay, Yishun, Newton and Changi Airport.

Two of the Singapore services started in September and run from RWS and Changi Airport to Johor Baru.

Express coach operator Transtar Group provides these two services but has yet to break even. Its 22-seater buses are at 40 per cent occupancy.

Transtar executive director Sebastian Yao, 54, said: “The company has been bleeding for three months but occupancy is growing. Maybe in six months or a year, it will hit 75 per cent. I may consider getting a bigger fleet of buses then.”

None of the Malaysian services has begun operating yet.

Mr Yap believes that the Malaysian bus companies will jump in only after their Singapore counterparts build up demand for these new services.

“If it were me, I would do that too,” he said.

To further improve connectivity between the two countries, the two prime ministers had earlier agreed at the retreat to build a rapid transit link between Tanjung Puteri in Johor and Singapore by 2018.

SMRT has been operating service 950 from Woodlands Regional Interchange to Kotaraya Terminal since 2004.

SMRT Buses vice-president Kang Huey Ling welcomed the new service linking Yishun and JB. “We believe the new cross-border service would encourage more travel between the two countries, and this would be beneficial to all companies in the long run,” she said.

Yishun Ring Road resident Edwin Lim, 44, a taxi driver, said he would use the new service AC7. Previously he took a train to Woodlands and transferred to a bus.

He said: “It is so much more convenient and direct now. I am more likely to go to Johor Baru with the new service.”

- The Straits Times, Friday 17 December 2010, page A14.

Poster for service AC7 at Yishun bus interchange. Courtesy of Muhd Faizal.

Private bus operator Advance Coach is set to launch yet another new cross-border bus service into Johor Bahru (JB), this time from Yishun bus interchange, effective Wednesday 15 December 2010.

Buses for the new service AC7 will depart every 20 minutes and will ply Yishun Avenue 2, Yishun Avenue 7, Sembawang Road (Sembawang Shopping Centre), Sembawang Way (Sembawang MRT station) and Woodlands Avenue 9 before calling at the immigration checkpoints and City Square Mall in JB.

A flat fare of S$2 is charged in Singapore. Payment by ez-link cards are accepted. In JB, passengers can opt to pay RM2 in cash, but those using their ez-link cards will still be charged S$2. At Yishun Interchange, service AC7 shares the boarding berth queue with SMRT services 171 and 812, near the passenger service counter.

Operating hours for service AC7:
From Yishun Interchange:
0545 – 2330 hours (Mon-Sat), 0600 – 2330 hours (Sun & P.H.)
From Kotaraya II Terminal:
0500 – 2350 hours (Mon-Sat), 0540 – 2350 hours (Sun & P.H.)

The launch of service AC7 marks the entry of Advance Coach as the latest player in the regular public bus service sector. It follows the earlier introduction of Transtar’s cross-border services TS1 and TS8 from Changi Airport and Resorts World Sentosa respectively.

TIB469P on SMRT Express service 868 along Fullerton Road. Photo courtesy of Muhd Faizal.

Following SBS Transit’s service 128 (Yio Chu Kang to Shenton Way), SMRT introduced the second MRT-duplicating bus service in the form of Express service 868. Similar to most Premium bus services, Express 868 runs only in a one-directional route from Bukit Gombak to Suntec City on weekday mornings.

There are currently two trips, with buses departing the bus stop outside Blk 347 along Bukit Batok West Avenue 5 at 7:30 and 7:45 AM, bypassing the Bukit Batok Polyclinic and Toh Guan Road enroute before hitting the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) to get to Robinson Road one hour later.

Loads from Bukit Batok during the first month of operation have been light, with majority of the passengers boarding from Toh Guan estate instead. With Express 868, residents of Toh Guan now have two options to get to the CBD, with SBS Transit’s Premium 543 being the other. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them have migrated over from 543 to 868, given that both head to the same destination but with 868 charging a significantly cheaper Express fare!

Buses for Express 868 come under the purview of SMRT’s Kranji Depot.

Introductory poster and press release

In a bid to attract more weekend shoppers to the airport, Changi Airport is running free shuttle buses to Sengkang and Ang Mo Kio MRT stations on weekends and public holidays. Buses will come every hour between 11.30am and 10pm. For now, the shuttles have been scheduled to run until 27 March next year. The buses used are by Woodlands Transport, the company currently running the free Budget Terminal shuttle bus to Terminal 2.

For more information on pick-up points and timings, please refer to Changi Airport’s website.

By Andrea Ong, Chong Zi Liang & Grace Chua

The two Integrated Resorts (IRs) ceased their shuttle bus services to both downtown and heartland areas yesterday.

At Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), the bus services ran as usual yesterday morning but stopped abruptly in the early afternoon, after the resort received a directive from the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA).

In it, the authority directed both IRs to “cease all their shuttle bus services with immediate effect”, apart from certain destinations spelt out in the law regulating casino advertising such as the airport and hotels.

Before the directive from the authority, RWS has said on Thursday that it was stopping the eight free shuttle bus routes which pass through heartland locations from 11pm tomorrow but would continue its services to Orchard Road and within the central business district.

That decision came after the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) said it was investigating the free shuttle bus services. There have been concerns that the shuttle services were making it too convenient for heartlanders to go to the IR to gamble.

RWS said yesterday’s sudden cancellation could affect up to 4,000 people a day – the expected passenger load over the long Hari Raya weekend.

RWS’ vice-president of resort operations Noel Hawkes said the resort had been working with government agencies to ease congestion at the junction of Telok Blangah Road and Sentosa Gateway by providing bus services.

When RWS put together its transportation master plan, “that has always been one of our plans to have a heartland shuttle service, so that we would bring people here by public transport and avoid people having to take cars and jam up the junction”, he said.

Both IRs had to obtain approval from the Land Transport Authority for their bus routes.

Mr Hawkes also pointed out that the shuttle services were meant for visitors to the resort and not just for gamblers.

“The resort ia a huge place, the casino accupies 5 per cent of the total gross floor area,” he said.

The buses transported about 2,500 people to the IR each day and helped provide the critical mass od people for the resort to be a “vibrant, happening place 24/7″, he added.

Over at Marina Bay Sands (MBS), the only bus service that remained in operation yesterday was the airport shuttle. The airport and certain places frequented mainly by tourists are exempt from the CRA directive. Even before the directive, MBS had suspended at midnight on Thursday its paid bus routes serving Orchard Road and Outram, and its free shuttles to certain hotels. It did so “in cooperation” with MCYS, its spokesman said.

MBS “has never offered any free shuttle bsues to housing estates in the heartland” and its buses serve international tourists, its spokesman said.

Bus operators at a loss after sudden decision

Back on Sentosa, two of the five bus operators contracted by RWS yesterday expressed shock at the sudden cessation of services. They explained that as bus routes took months to plan, they would find it difficult to redeploy their drivers and buses.

Mr Sebastian Yap, executive director of Transtar Travel, said “This is very unfair to us. It’s too harsh to have a sudden change. I’m at a loss about what to do with my fleet now.” His company invested about $2 million in the RWS shuttle operation, purchasing 13 new buses and hiring 36 Singaporean drivers.

Mr Yap said he would try to redeploy as many of the drivers as possible, but some would probably be let go.

Mr Neo Tiam Beng of Transit Network Consortium hired 25 new drivers, both foreign and local, to ply the routes. His company bought nine buses for the IR operation at $200,000 each.  He said: “This is an IR, not just a casino. If we were ferrying people just to gamble, then as a Singaporean I will stop my service. But people are taking the bus with children, so how can they be gambling?”

He added that all 25 drivers he hired would probably be retrenched.

At the RWS bus depot, where the free shuttles usually dock to pick up and drop off passengers, posters announcing a “cessation of shuttle bus services” covered the giant notice boards that had previously displayed the schedules of the now-defunct bus routes.

Signs for queueing bays for the various heartland destinations were removed.

A few confused commuters, such as 56-year-old Tan Ah Leng,were spotted wandering in the depot. He and a friend had taken the shuttle from Ang Mo Kio at noon to the IR to shop.

“They should at least have stopped the buses tomorrow so that we can still take it back. How should I go back now?” the technician asked.

Madam Serene Tan, 52, took the shuttle with her husband and daughter, to look around the IR.

“How about the old folk? They will find it hard to get home now,” she said.

RWS said it will deploy about 100 staff around Singapore to let people know that the free bus services have stopped.

The above article was published in The Straits Times on Saturday 11 September 2010 pages A1 & A6.

By Elgin Toh, Andrea Ong & Chong Zi Liang

The Government is investigating the free bus rides offered by the two integrated resorts (IRs) here.

The probe could have an impact especially on Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), which introduced free shuttle services between the resort and 12 HDB town centres a few months ago.

The investigation, announced yesterday by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), is to establish that Singaporeans are not being encouraged to go to the IRs’ casinos.

It comes amid protests from MPs like Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC), who told The Straits Times earlier that the free rides encourage Singaporeans in the heartlands to gamble at the casinos. He will raise the issue in Parliament.

When contacted about Mr Liang’s concerns, the ministry said in an e-mail reply: “We are investigating the provision of free transport by the IR operators.

“The IR operators will not be allowed to target the local market or provide incentives in any form for Singaporeans to patronise the casinos.”

Its move is in line with legislation introduced in 2006 to regulate casinos. The law, among other things, forbids casino advertisements in the mass media.

The National Council on Problem Gambling also views the free shuttle services with “great concern”. Its statement said it “disapproves of any marketing and promotion effort targeting Singaporeans and permanent residents to visit the casinos.

“We will work slosely with MCYS to address any possible social impact arising from casino gambling.”

Both IRs offer free shuttle services. The Marina Bay Sands goes between the resort and Changi Airport, as well as hotels in the Marina Bay area. The RWS buses are available at two spots in the Central Business District – International Plaza and Lau Pa Sat – as well as 12 HDB town centres, including Ang Mo Kio, Jurong East, Tampines and Bedok.

Most of its bus services run from 10am to 10pm on weekdays. On weekends, the last bus leaves for RWS at 2.20am.

Yesterday, The Straits Times went on 17 trips between 10am and 9pm, taking buses between RWS and HDB town centres in Choa Chu Kang, Tiong Bahru, Bedok and Bukit Merah. Most buses were 50-seaters.

On the day trips, one in seven commuters walked straight into the casino upon getting off the bus. At night, after the Universal Studios theme park closed at 7pm, two out of five headed for the casino, which Singaporeans have to pay $100 to enter.

Most of the 30 commuters interviewed said they came to know of the free shuttle after receiving RWS mailers in their letter boxes.

Among them was a 60-year-old retiree who took the 10am bus from Choa Chu Kang. He was bringing his family of six, including two grandchildren, to the Universal Studios theme park.

“We’re going because it’s my grandson’s birthday. I’ve never been inside the casino. The $100 fee is too expensive,” he said.

Teenagers and families with children formed the majority on the buses during the day, and were usually headed for Universal Studios or the food outlets. On the night services, the buses were half-full, mainly with workers.

Clerk Jeanette Chan, 45, who visits the RWS casino six times a month, said: “The buses make it really convenient as it stops at the indoor bus bay not far from the casino.”

Previously, she had to cross a road to get public transport home. “And when it rained, I got wet,” she added.

RWS, however, said a survey it did of 2,500 users of its free shuttle shows more than 60 per cent did not go to the casino. It also said that “we do not provide special casino incentives to Singaporeans.”

Six MPs interviewed whose wards are served by the free shuttle say the concerns over gambling ae valid. However, they feel people should keep an open mind as the free bus services benefit those who want to visit the other attractions on Sentosa.

Said Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar GRC): “I don’t think it’s a big deal… if people want to go, they can easily make their way to the casinos.”

Like some of the other MPs interviewed, Mr Baey said none of his constituents had approached him about problem gamblers in their families.

Mr Seah Kian Peng, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said the shuttle to Sentosa should stop at 7pm when Universal Studios closes.

He added: “If the aim of RWS is to draw more to patronise the casino, then that is wrong.”

Quotes

No Casino Incentives
“We started our free bus shuttle service following feedback and the age-old perception that Sentosa was too far and inaccessible… As a Singapore-listed company here for the long term, Resorts World does not, and will not, promote irresponsible gambling among Singaporeans. We do not provide special casino incentives for Singaporeans.”
- A Resorts World Sentosa spokesman

Keep Out Of Heartland
“I was very disturbed when I heard about the RWS free shuttles running from HDB town centres. With such convenience, more people in the heartland will be encouraged to gamble at the casino. I hope RWS does the right thing socially – they should voluntarily stop these services. They can run them from hotels or from Orchard Road. But I don’t think they should run it into an HDB town.”
- Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Liang Eng Hwa

Gamblers Will Find A Way
“If buses run through the heartland, people who are weak in their determination might be tempted to take the free bus to the casino. But we have to look at the issue from both sides. Those who really want to go to gamble will make their way there regardless of whether theres is a free bus service.”
- Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Sam Tan

What Casino? It’s A Free Ride
“I’m not going to the casino. Actually, I’m not even going to Sentosa. I’m planning to spend the say in Tampines Mall. So I’m taking the free bus from home in Choa Chu Kang to Sentosa. I’ll then hop on to the next bus from Sentosa to Tampines. It’s my way of beating the rising bus fares.”
- A 48-year-old unemployed Choa Chu Kang resident who declined to be named

Have Free Bus, Will Visit
“I might come more frequently now because of the free bus service. I’ve been to the casino at Marina Bay Sands too, but I prefer RWS… For MBS, I still have to change trains and walk a long distance from City Hall MRT. It takes a long time and it’s inconvenient for me to go home. This bus takes me very near my house.”
- Factory worker Tan Chin Hock, 68, who took the bus from Choa Chu Kang at 1pm. He left at 9pm and said he won $2,000.

The above article was published in The Straits Times on Thursday 9 September 2010 pages A1 & A6.

Personally, I feel that these concerns over the free buses leading to a rise in problem gamblers are totally invalid. As MP Baey rightly pointed out, determined gamblers can easily make their way to the casino. The buses would just be facilitating his travel. The ST survey as well as RWS’ own survey shows that the majority of the bus commuters are not utilising the shuttle to get to the casino. Do we then penalise the majority?

What irked me most though is the short-sightedness displayed by the chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Community Development, Youth and Sports Mr Seah Kian Peng in suggesting the shuttle stops operating at 7pm once the theme park closes for the day. Perhaps he should do a little more research and learn that the theme park technically remains open till late to allow those who want to dine at its restaurants to do so -  minus the heat of the day.

The government cannot expect to have the best of both worlds. They chose to site a casino on the same premises as the theme park, each with their own totally different target groups of visitors. Isn’t that in itself a subtle way of enticing the unintended groups to gamble their lives away? For the benefit of everyone, keep the free shuttle bsues.

Airline: AirAsia (AK)
Date: Tuesday, 05 May 2009
Route: Senai Sultan Ismail (JHB) > Kuala Lumpur International (KUL)
Aircraft: A320-200
Registration: 9M-AHS
Seat: 21D
Departure Gate: 4

Scheduled Departure Time: 0925 LT
Actual Departure Time: 1005 LT
Scheduled Arrival Time: 1010 LT
Actual Arrival Time: 1050 LT
Flight Duration: 0H 45Min

As my friends and I wanted to experience a different way of getting to Kuala Lumpur, we opted to fly into the Malaysian capital instead of taking the traditional coach. Even though there are many options available to us from Changi Airport (Singapore Airlines/Silkair/Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia and AirAsia all fly this busy route), we opted to try something different and much cheaper – by flying out of Senai Airport in Johor Bahru instead and landing in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

Booking

Naturally, we opted for AirAsia which was then offering seats for only RM9! That worked out to only a maximum of S$25 including taxes, which was quite a steal. Booking our tickets online was simple and systematic and was completed with no hiccups. This included having the option to select seats, pre-order meals as well as buying tickets for the bus ride out of KLIA’s Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT). The downside from flying with AirAsia out of Senai though is the limited number of flights per day – only one morning and one afternoon flight. Getting there from Singapore is also a hassle for those with luggages, but it was not a problem with us as we only had a backpack each.

Getting to the airport

Clearing the immigration and customs at Woodlands and Sultan Iskandar checkpoints was a breeze since it was an early Tuesday morning. We then took SBS Transit 170 direct to Larkin bus terminal where we transferred to GML Line’s G1 service to Senai Airport. While there are other options to get to the airport, including the Senai Airport Express bus by Causeway Link from the Kotaraya Terminal City Lounge, we opted for GML for a more local experience. Initially, we feared not reaching the airport on time due to traffic jams encountered enroute but to our relief, the journey was not as long as expected, taking only an hour end-to-end.

The GML Line A1 bus at Senai Airport

The bus interior was rather well-maintained for an old bus.

Senai Sultan Ismail International Airport

Sultan Ismail International Airport, or commonly referred to as just Senai Airport, has a straightforward rectangular layout with adequate directional signs which are easy to understand. As we still had time before check-in counters open, we decided to have breakfast at Marrybrown. For a rather small airport, there are quite a number of shops to pass your time away. There’s even ongoing construction works for an upcoming airport shopping mall – part of the grand Iskandar masterplan to transform southern Johor into a successful economic hub worthy of rivalling Singapore. There are separate queues for domestic and international flights, though there’s hardly any scheduled international flights calling at the airport ever since Malaysia Airlines embarked on a strict cost-cutting programme.

Shops lining up the entire length of the terminal building.

There are not as many shops in the departure transit hall, but the whole length of the terminal building provided for an excellent unobstructed location for aircraft spotting and photography. The only problem was that there’s hardly any aircraft there!

While waiting for boarding to commence, it was announced that our flight will be delayed by 40 minutes. As we had taken into account any possibility of a flight delay, we were not adversely affected by the longer waiting time. Afterall, we chose to fly on a low cost carrier and wasn’t expecting much, so it was good enough the flight was not cancelled!

The aircraft finally pulled into the gate and boarding using an aerobridge commenced swiftly after passengers from the previous flight have disembarked, illustrating the extremely quick turnaround time for the aircraft. I was suprised we didn’t have to board the plane using the stairs as expected from the budget airline.

The aircraft taxiing to the boarding gate after a short hop from the capital.

The baby Airbus about to unload its passengers from Kuala Lumpur.

Sultan Ismail International Airport

The flight

As the plane taxiied to the runway, the flight attendants carried out a manual safety demonstration accompanied by excellent English. Not bad. Takeoff was smooth and the cabin crew began selling food and drinks shortly after. Those who had pre-booked their meals online were served first, but I was actually surprised that they actually bothered to as it has been indicated on the website that the flight is not even an hour long! Surely they can just wait a little longer for the cheaper meals they can get at the airport? I’ve heard of praises for AirAsia’s catering so probably that’s the reason. In any case, the flight was too short to justify a hot meal so that shall go into my to-do list the next time I fly with them.

But what I wanted to witness most was how the flight attendants carry out the usual routine for such a short flight. And boy, did they not disappoint. Everything was done quickly but professionally and always with a smile. They didn’t appear to be rushing despite the time constraints. I guess they must have mastered this all too familiar routine!

View of cabin from seat 21D

Note the empty advertisement slots.

Close-up of the AirAsia logo engraving at the back of every seat.

The inflight magazine, supermarket receipt-like boarding pass and inflight F&B & duty free merchandise catalogue.

Once the food sales were done, the stewardesses immediately walked down the aisle a second time for the duty-free merchandise, ranging from the usual perfumes to AirAsia’s exclusives such as aircraft models. This was followed by the collection of trash by a flight attendant walking down the aisle with the typical black trash bag in hand. And before once that was done, we had to prepare for landing. This has got to be my shortest flight ever!

Good morning Malaysia

Landing was smooth but the aircraft had to taxi for quite a while to get to the LCCT, passing by the airport’s cargo centre enroute.

Passing by KLIA's cargo centre and a Malaysia Airlines Cargo Boeing 747.

Entering the land of AirAsia

KLIA Low Cost Carrier Terminal

We finally disembarked – in true low cost style by climbing down the stairs onto the tarmac and then walking over to the terminal building. Strictly no aerobridges here. It would be quite a scene if it happens to be raining heavily (even though umbrellas are provided)!

View of cabin during disembarkation.

I simply like how they painted the engines!

One of the many AirAsia birds parked all over the place!

The LCCT building itself is way bigger than Singapore’s Budget Terminal which pales badly in comparison. Singapore’s Tiger Airways flying from Changi also utilise the LCCT. Shops and restaurants in the public area are plentiful, ranging from the common McDonald’s and Marrybrown fast-food restaurants to even watch boutiques! And the crowds are a testament to the success of the LCCT in revolutionising air travel in Malaysia.

The LCCT even has its own budget Tune Hotel!

As we had booked tickets through AirAsia’s website for the Skybus shuttle bus connecting us from the LCCT to the main KL Sentral transport hub, we proceeded to the “bus terminal” at one end of the terminal building where the bus was waiting for its next departure. The journey took us about an hour or so but comfort was minimal as the airconditioning seemed to have broken down.

The shuttle bus service to KL Sentral by Skybus

Conclusion

Overall, my experience on this short flight with AirAsia is a positive one. The staff were friendly and despite having to rush through their normal routine within the short span of time in the air, still managed to put up a smile all the way. Since it was such a short flight, nobody really took issue with the legroom so I shall leave that for a longer flight. This is definitely a good and cheaper alternative for those who do not mind travelling to Senai Airport. Besides Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia flies to other points in Malaysia such as Penang, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu from Senai. I would certainly not mind trying one of their longer flights in future!

Airline: Jetstar Asia (3K)
Date: Friday 09 July 2010
Route: Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok (HKG) > Singapore Changi (SIN)
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
Registration: 9V-JSC
Seat: 10E
Departure Gate: Terminal 1 Gate 526

Scheduled Departure Time: 2015 LT
Actual Departure Time: 2030 LT
Scheduled Arrival Time: 2350 LT
Actual Arrival Time: 0005 LT (+1 Day)

Booking

Booking tickets online back in Singapore proved to be a simple affair. Unless you are booking many many months before your intended flight, Jetstar’s fares are usually more expensive than Tiger’s. However, many do not seem to mind because Jetstar has somehow successfully marketed itself as the “better and more reliable” low-cost carrier in Singapore. Departing from Terminal 1 instead of the Budget Terminal is an example. So does free seat selection.

Something worth taking note is that since I was flying only one-way, the fare offered for the same leg was in Hong Kong Dollars, which was much cheaper than the fare in Singapore Dollars I would have been charged had I booked a return flight! That translated into us paying less for our Jetstar flight back to Singapore compared to the Tiger flight to Macau.

Getting to the airport

Since we were already at Hung Hom, it goes without question that the best way to get to the airport was none other than the A21 CityFlyer airport express bus service from the bus terminal right next to the main train station complex.

The A21 stand at Hung Hom bus terminal

The CityFlyer bus service is operated by Citybus even though the A21 terminates in Kowloon and does not go beyond the harbour into Hong Kong Island where main Citybus operations are based. The fleet consists of double-decker Dennis Tridents which come with unique specifications such as aircraft style seats, retractable blinds for the windows as well as a luggage compartment at the lower deck. Of special mention is the CCTV which is fixated at the luggage racks and whose image is displayed on a screen on the upper deck so that passengers can monitor their belongings downstairs.

Lower deck of the Dennis Trident. The luggage compartment is opposite the exit door.

The upper deck

Displays at the front of the bus

Compared to the Airport Express train line which costs HK$100, the A21 charges only HK$33. Of course, the downside is that the whole journey took slightly more than an hour during the peak period as the bus passed through the busy Tsim Sha Tsui and Nathan Roads and some residential estates in west Kowloon before hitting the highway to the airport.

However, it all paid off as the bus reached the final leg of the journey when it crossed the Tsing Ma bridge (also dubbed as Hong Kong’s Golden Gate bridge) to get to Lantau Island. The panoramic views were simply fantastic and allowed us to get a last glimpse of the Hong Kong skyline.

Goodbye Hong Kong

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA)

Approaching Terminal 1

Even though the check-in counter for our Jetstar flight back to Singapore is located at Terminal 2, we chose to alight at Terminal 1 to explore the rest of the airport. Terminal 1 is the bigger of the two terminals and has a design similar to Changi’s Terminal 2. Emphasis is on high ceilings and bright open spaces, which together with clear signages, help finding our way around the airport a breeze. Food and beverage outlets occupy strategic locations throughout the departure check-in hall. The alfresco dining options available on the second floor is a novel concept!

HKIA Terminal 1 drop-off. I like the fact that it is very wide unlike Changi's which can get chaotic when so many vehicles come at any one time.

The view that greeted me when I entered the terminal building.

Shops and restaurants at the check-in hall.

Flight departure information display

To get to Terminal 2, we had to proceed to the connecting basement walkway which is also where the Airport Express train station is located. We were surprised to learn that passengers do not have to buy a ticket before boarding the train, deducing that fares would only be collected upon exit. After spending around 20 minutes queueing to check in our baggage, we proceeded to check out the airport public bus terminal and their own aviation gallery which in my opinion, simply outshines Changi’s.

The basement walkway connecting to Terminal 2.

The smaller Terminal 2 with the distinctive waves forming the ceiling.

Check-in counters

Plenty of shops and F&B options from Chanel to Burger King in the public area.

There's even a 4D cinema attraction within the aviation gallery.

Inside the aviation gallery

Prior to the trip, I had checked HKIA’s website to get a general idea of the airport layout, getting puzzled over the apparent lack of aircraft parking lots surrounding the terminal building. As it turned out, after clearing the security checks, we had to take a train which transported us back to Terminal 1 where we would board our aircraft from!

Waiting for the train back to Terminal 1 after clearing immigration checks.

The train served the airport's ferry terminal before stopping at our station.

However I doubt passengers would complain (except maybe for those who are late) as the departure transit area at Terminal 1 was akin to that of a massive shopping mall – full of shops and food outlets to satisfy that hunger pang or last minute shopping. Impressive indeed!

HKIA Terminal 1 departure transit hall

A huge variety of shops and F&B options available.

Knowing that the food being sold onboard our flight would be expensive, Benjamin took the opportunity to grab a takeaway Burger King meal which was a wise choice as we had to wait for quite some time at the boarding gate. During which, a very faint and muffled announcement was made in Cantonese and English mentioning “Jetstar” but we couldn’t make up what they were trying to tell us or whether it even concerned our flight at all but like they say, monkey see monkey do, so since nobody else was budging, we didn’t bother to as well.

When the boarding gate opened, we were ushered into one of the three airport buses waiting just outside the terminal building which drove us to where our aircraft was parked far far away from the terminal building. This finally answered a question that has been bugging me since check-in: why does my departure gate consist of three digits when most of the others have only two? While this didn’t come as a surprise for me since Jetstar as a low-cost carrier would be expected to cut costs wherever possible, it is worth taking note that their flights out of Terminal 1 back at Changi have passengers boarding using aerobridges.

The flight

Since the passengers were transported to the aircraft in batches by the buses, boarding and settling down was carried out more quickly and efficiently. There were four cabin crew members serving us on the flight – one guy and three ladies. Interestingly, two of them were stationed at the bottom of the staircase wearing bright yellow safety vests over their black/orange uniforms welcoming passengers, with the other two aiding passengers onboard. Seconds after the door was closed, the aircraft began taxiing to the runway at around 2030H, some 15 minutes behind the scheduled departure time. In the meantime, the cabin crew carried out the standard manual safety demonstration. Compared to flight TR2902 to Macau, the takeoff this time round was a little rough and vibration was felt as soon as the aircraft was airborne but this quickly dissipated once the speed increased.

Cabin crew helping passengers find space for their luggages in the overhead compartments.

About 15 minutes into the flight, the cabin crew began their routine of selling food and drinks followed by duty-free merchandise. Unlike flight TR2902, sales onboard this flight was very brisk that at one point of time, it seemed as if the flight is that of a full-service carrier since almost everyone, myself included, bought food and drinks and had to be served one by one. The only difference in this case would be money changing hands. Perhaps it was because of the more attractive range of food and beverage offered or the fact that most of the passengers (who were obviously Singaporeans) had not had dinner. Compared to Tiger, Jetstar’s F&B menu was definitely more attractive and featured a wider variety of Halal local delights. Thumbs up for that.

The inflight food & beverage menu card, duty-free merchandise catalogue, magazine and safety card.

My stomach was rumbling then and so I decided to get a chicken ham and cheese croissant sandwich since it looked the most tempting on the menu. On its own, the price was a little expensive. However, for just S$10, I can get the sandwich together with a drink of my choice. Since the set meal was more worth the price than the item on its own, I decided to get the sandwich and a bottle of water. I ordered from the stewardess and paid up first while she got another crew member to help prepare my sandwich which was served five minutes later. It was surprisingly warm and tasted good, more so due to the generous serving of cheese! Plastic cutlery was given together with the meal but I didn’t find them of much use. Though simple, the croissant definitely kept my stomach satisfied throughout the flight!

View of the cabin during disembarkation.

The lights were dimmed about an hour into the journey. Except for the occasional strong winds which shook the plane side to side, the flight cruised smoothly. After about 3.5 hours, we were already making our descent into Changi. Unlike flight TR2902, the cabin crew did not walk down the aisle to collect any trash from the passengers this time round as they had already done so after most passengers were done with their meals. The touchdown at slightly after midnight was quite rough and the brakes applied seemed a little excessive. We arrived at Terminal 1 almost 15 minutes behind the scheduled time. Nevertheless, clearing immigration using the self-service automated machines was a breeze and before long, I found myself in the Nuance-Watson duty-free perfumes and cosmetics store!

Flight boarding pass

Conclusion

Overall, I had a pleasant experience onboard the flight, barring the rough takeoff and landing. The 31-inch leather slim-line seat was definitely comfortable for my 1.65 frame and I was very impressed with the airline’s food and beverage offerings given its price range – it was definitely better than Tiger’s! The level of service demonstrated by the cabin crew was excellent, especially on this particular instance when one of the stewardesses actually took the time to explain to a passenger in great detail which perfume would be best for the person he intended to buy it for. It really helped diminish the stereotype many have against low-cost carriers that cheaper flights equate to lack of customer service. They also appeared less robotic than the crew onboard Tiger.

All in all, I had a very good first-time trip to Macau and Hong Kong. It managed to satisfy my thirst in getting up close and personal with the many historical ruins and monuments which I have for so long only managed to read about and admire from guidebooks and websites. Seeing the mountains and other spectacular geographical features also made the trip especially memorable, triggering memories of my visit to England years ago. My only possible regret would be not having enough time to shop in Hong Kong’s many shopping malls! And on that note, I vow to return to Hong Kong in the near future, possibly venturing into nearby Shenzhen as well!

Previous post: Day 5: Causeway Bay (in progress)

Airline: Tiger Airways (TR)
Date: Monday 05 July 2010
Route: Singapore Changi (SIN) > Macau International (MFM)
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
Registration: 9V-TAH
Seat: 10A
Departure Gate: Budget Terminal Gate 6

Scheduled Departure Time: 0600 LT
Actual Departure Time: 0555 LT
Scheduled Arrival Time: 0940 LT
Actual Arrival Time: 0920 LT
Flight Duration: 3H 25Min

Only two airlines – low-cost carriers Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways – now fly direct between Singapore and Macau. Full-service carrier SilkAir used to fly this route, but this was terminated in 2004. In any case that was good news to us since we wanted to explore the Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of Macau and Hong Kong without burning a hole in our pockets. We opted for Tiger as it offered an early morning flight out of Singapore which fit nicely into our plans.

Booking

Booking tickets through their website was systematic and straight-forward but typical of low-cost carriers, one has to go beyond the initial stages to really get an idea of the total flight cost after taking into account taxes and various miscellaneous fees such as luggage allowance, seat selection and the most ironic in my opinion – the convenience fee.

For our case, the ”Lowest Fare” available was S$60. Taxes and miscellaneous fees added up to S$85 (more expensive than Hong Kong’s!). We chose to select our preferred seats at S$5 per seat, and took up 20kg baggage allowance for S$15. Total cost ran up to about S$150 per person. Of course, to get tickets this cheap, one has to book rather early. We booked ours about a month earlier than the scheduled flight. Booking later would cost double, even triple what we managed to get.

Changi Airport Budget Terminal

Flying with Tiger means flying out of the basic Budget Terminal which had recently undergone an expansion. Since it was an early morning flight, we had no choice but to take a taxi down. After checking in at 0430H (check-in counters had already opened half an hour earlier), we had a quick breakfast at McDonald’s which now occupies what used to be Han’s cafe which in turn had shifted to the middle of the departure check-in hall and morphed into Hanis, essentially the halal-version of Han’s.

More food and beverage options are available in the departure transit hall, accompanied by some retail shops and a 7-11 convenience store.

After clearing immigration, we headed straight for the departure gate. Unlike the main airport terminals where ample seats are provided for waiting passengers who would then board the aircraft through aerobridges, passengers at the Budget Terminal have to queue up on a first-come-first-through basis, walk out onto the tarmac and climb up the stairs into the aircraft. Compared to my first experience with Tiger to the Indonesian city of Padang years back (Tiger no longer flies there), things seem to be more systematic this time round as passengers were allocated seats upon check-in so there wasn’t much shoving and pushing to get the best available seat.

Queueing up at the boarding gate

Display at boarding gate

Passengers queueing in the first row climbing the staircase to board the aircraft.

The flight

Three cabin crew members, one guy and two ladies, were on duty for this flight. One of the them greeted passengers as they boarded the aircraft, while the other two stationed themselves along the aisle to swiftly assist passengers in finding space  in the overhead compartments for their hand-carry luggage. When all passengers have settled down, the aircraft commenced pushback at about 0550H while the cabin crew conducted the standard manual safety demonstration. After taxiing to the runway, the first TR flight of the morning took off smoothly five minutes ahead of the scheduled time. Of special mention is that unlike my previous flights, the pilot did not pause at the start of the runway. Instead, he drummed up the engines once the he had turned the A320 onto runway 20C and swiftly lifted us up into the sky.

View of the aircraft from seat 10

Loadings for this flight was very healthy. About 90% of the seats were occupied.

The safety guide, F&B menu card, inflight merchandise catalogue and inflight magazine.

Once the aircraft has made a left bank towards Malaysia and reached cruising altitude, cabin crew began their routine of selling food and drinks followed by duty-free merchandise. A single galley cart was pushed from the rear to the front and back again but sales wasn’t brisk at all. Most passengers who did buy opted for drinks since they were not allowed to consume their own food and drinks onboard the flight. Cabin crew also distributed the Macau immigration forms afterwards. About 45 minutes into the flight, the captain announced that the cabin lights would be dimmed since most passengers preferred to catch a shut-eye during the 3.5 hour flight.

Passport, flight ticket and Macau immigration form.

The flight was smooth throughout thanks to the excellent weather. For those who stayed awake, they were treated to the beautiful sight of sunrise hundreds of feet in the air – something one doesn’t get to witness everyday. The only possible downside was the minimal legroom which would be of great discomfort for bigger-sized passengers.

Sunrise over the South China Sea

I tried my best to catch some sleep during the flight but the seat which did not allow for even a single bit of recline did not help much. Before long, the cabin lights were switched on again and the captain announced the gradual descent into Macau International Airport. One of the cabin crew walked down the aisle with a trash bag to collect any rubbish generated by passengers and another ensured that everyone had fastened their seatbelts on.

Cabin of our A320 after all the passengers have disembarked.

Overall, with the exception of the cries of a baby piercing the silence for the first few minutes, the flight was a pleasant one. The staff did what they had to and given the fact that it was an early morning flight, they did not have anything much to do after the first hour since most of the passengers were sleeping anyway. Nevertheless passengers who required attention were responded to with smiles, even if they may seem a little “robotic”.  The fabric seats were not as uncomfortable as I previously thought and the smooth takeoff and landing by the rather new aircraft made everything seemed perfect (for a low-cost carrier that is).

My only possible grouse was the exhorbitant prices for their rather unattractive food and beverage selection but this wasn’t an issue as I just had a filling breakfast back at the airport. Without any form of inflight entertainment save for the inflight magazine, a 4-hour flight onboard Tiger can be daunting for some, so it might be a good idea to have something on hand to keep oneself occupied throughout.

Macau International Airport

Smooth landing on the runway

Due to land constraints, Macau Airport’s runway is built on land reclaimed over the sea which is connected to the terminal building on Taipa Island by two causeways. That made for a unique touchdown since there was seawater to the left and right of the runway.

The short and cute control tower of Macau International Airport.

Approaching the airport terminal building. The Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and City of Dreams casino complex can be seen in the background.

Just like the Budget Terminal back in Singapore, we had to disembark down the stairs onto the apron and walk to the immigration counters in the terminal building. Despite reaching our destination up to 20 minutes earlier, we still wasted a lot of time queueing as only four immigration counters were opened! However, had we arrived any later we would have had to wait even longer because just minutes after, passengers from another flight behind ours quickly swarmed the arrival hall.

Aircraft belonging to EVA Air, Air Macau and AirAsia sitting on the apron.

Macau International Airport arrival hall

Visitors' information centre

Macau International Airport departure check-in hall

Taxi drop-off outside the departure hall

Macau International Airport’s curved rectangular terminal building layout is easy to navigate. However, except for the airport essentials such as left baggage counters, post office and tourist information centre, there isn’t really anything much.

Flight information display in Portugese.

An interesting feature for Macau International Airport are the official signages in three languages – English, Portugese and Chinese, reflecting the territory’s colonial legacy, embrace of globalisation and acknowledging its roots as part of mainland China.

Fancy a bottle of drink for $8? In Macau's currency of course!

After examining our options, we decided to just hop onboard the free shuttle bus to The Venetian casino complex rather than spend more time wating for the public buses whose routes we were unsure of. Little did we realise we could have just taken the shuttle bus by Wynn casino instead as it is located just across our hotel!

The coach bay to the north of the terminal building.

Next post: Day 1: Coloane Island & Macau Heritage Trail (in progress)

Service 922 will no longer serve the bus stops along Saujana Road, as illustrated above. Photo credit: Muhd Faizal.

SMRT has finally seemed to realise the ridicule in running a feeder bus service half-heartedly – and still losing money in the process – and is instead making a radical change to feeder bus service 922 serving residents of Bukit Panjang town.

The route amendment, to take effect from Sunday 28 February, will see the service cover the whole stretch of Jelapang Road (Greenridge Shopping Centre), Segar Road and Fajar Road (Fajar Neighbourhood Shopping Centre) before looping in the same manner as service 920 at Bangkit Road.

The change will see residents jumping for joy as they now have convenient bus links to places which are previously bus-less or just served by the (still unprofitable) Bukit Panjang LRT system, such as the Fajar neighbourhood shopping centre. Segar Road residents will enjoy a direct link to the market and shops at Bangkit Road as well as the prominent Al-Iman mosque.

The most important question though would be: would the frequency of the bus service, currently at half hour intervals or longer, be improved? That remains to be seen, but what is already known is that one more bus would join TIB737R as part of the 922 fleet and so this should be seen as something positive. Unless of course, this whole route change is yet another half-hearted service “improvement”  aimed at appeasing some quarters (like the MP perhaps?).

Click here for the press release poster.