Post-pandemic India Travel to MAA on SQ's A350 & Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner

[SQfanatic]

The last time I really flew SQ was back in 2016, at the time SQ still had A330's, 3-configurations of 77W (back then the newer 77WN SWU-SNA flew to SFO, some 77WR including SNB-SNC, and many old 77W ranging from SWA-SWT) and SilkAir was still operating (now replaced by Scoot, which thankfully I'm not flying to India) and of course the good old days of having real curd, hot towels and so on (courtesy of my dad who flew twice this year).

As the world starts moving away from the pandemic and much of us are now vaccinated, the times of traveling have returned to visit loved ones, family, friends, etc.

Initially, when we did our booking for December during Spring Break back in April, the cheapest fare we got was on SQ1 and SQ2, with the same dates, though SQ2 would be arriving on the evening of January 2nd. Due to covid & many complications with China/HKSAR, we got an email in July, when I was in the middle of my New York trip with my family to find out our flight got switched (it did alarm my mom a little bit) to SQ33 and coming back would be on SQ32 on January 3. That was a problem for my mom, because she has to go back to school on that day, and unlike me, she has very little flexibility to take days off, so she is very careful. Me on the other hand, I work fully remote, so as long as I have enough vacation days, I can take off when absolutely required.

Luckily, a few days after coming back from New York, we switched our flights => SQ1 became SQ33 (11:50PM to 8:10PM) with an arrival 6 hours earlier (12PM to 5:45AM). SQ528 remained unchanged. I was able to change SQ527 to SQ529 on January 1 (both flights depart 2 hours apart) & SQ32 from January 3 to January 2nd since SQ34 on many days has only Business and Premium Economy. I was initially hoping that HKG flights would have returned (i.e. SQ8/7) which stretching for an hour is easier but SQ did what they could as far as the scheduling was concerned. The layover is long but I'm also looking forward to exploring some of Singapore again.

I will be sharing plenty of pictures of this trip starting from either Tuesday or Wednesday. It'll be a post as I go kind of thing. So, just in case I forget, I may be putting 2 additional posts regarding the menu for both sectors (SQ33 and SQ528), in which both were exactly the same on my dad's 2 legs (SQ31 and SQ526).

[balajih67]

Waiting for this.... My last trip to MAA was back in 2018 with AI and with SQ back in 2016 with their A330s. Since then Ive been flying only to TRZ on Indigo.

The fact that SQ is operating 2 daily flights to MAA, This becomes 3 on Thurs - Sun, shows the demand that SQ is getting on this route.

Hope I fly this route soon, been itching to try out SQ 787, recently all my flights on SQ have been A350s

[SQfanatic]

Waiting for this.... My last trip to MAA was back in 2018 with AI and with SQ back in 2016 with their A330s. Since then Ive been flying only to TRZ on Indigo.

The fact that SQ is operating 2 daily flights to MAA, This becomes 3 on Thurs - Sun, shows the demand that SQ is getting on this route.

Hope I fly this route soon, been itching to try out SQ 787, recently all my flights on SQ have been A350s

I can relate. Though at the same time, I was really itching to fly the 787 on UA to EWR back in July before they switched it to a 77W (also good and actually both were the newest, 2 years of age). That would have given me a good idea of what to expect in terms of comfort as the flight was also 4-5 hrs.

TR will be on the way in a few days. I’ll see how best I can capture the inflight menus from my phone and once iCloud syncs, at least put it as a reminder of how to sequence the TR.

[SQfanatic]

Flight: Singapore Airlines flight SQ33
Route: San Francisco - Singapore
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900 (9V-SJE, 1.6 years at the time of departure.)
Livery: Normal
Date of Departure: December 18 (8:10PM), Arrival December 20 (5:45AM)
Seat: 55A (Economy Class)
Configuration: 3-class (Business, Premium Economy, Economy)

Our journey started on Sunday night, December 18th at San Francisco International Airport. We arrived close to around 6PM at the International terminal.

Check-in was quick as the lines were smaller and took us 15 minutes to reach security check.



You have the option to also do a self check-in and go to the Bag drop counter, really cool. We had a few issues with a self checkin, so the kind agents were able to help us.





One of the central food court coffee shops closed near the security entrance to the G gates, so decided to grab a cappuccino & snickerdoodle, both of which were very delicious.





Around 6:45PM, we got through security pretty quickly as TSA pre, no more than 5 minutes, despite the other portion of the line having larger crowds.

Airside at SFO G gates:







Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 (9V-SJE) at Gate G8 that night.





Boarding commenced close to around 7:20PM. While we did have group numbers, they still maintained their old fashioned organized boarding call by row numbers.





Cheap-O headphones at the aerobridge. Didn't take one though.





Economy was in a tightly spaced 3-3-3 seat. It features the 2017 Y class seat which seems to be on almost every aircraft now.



Seat 55A looked comfortable enough.



Wingview:



Accessing the KrisWorld entertainment system:







Welcome screen on the KrisWorld Voyager 3D map:







Pushback commenced on time around 8:10PM and the safety video played and we started our engines.



SQ Safety video since 2017, first time seeing this on an aircraft in real life (my dad has seen it 4 times):



Flaps retracted. One thing I have noticed is that on the Airbus long haul aircraft, you can hear the flap retract from both the front and very back. On Boeing planes, only the back you won't hear the flap retraction.



COVID-19 safety video with music played:























Wifi (KrisWorld):




























Taxi to the runway:



A350 cabin:





About 20 minutes after departure, we took off:









Voyager 3D maps













Inflight Wifi on the A350 (and on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner) by Panasonic. And like old times and the last time I flew SQ, it was time-based, which was very good to pass the time and not be so bored.





Took the full flight package on this sector. Definitely worth it, though in some parts of the Pacific it did not work. For MAA, took the 3 hour plan.









SQ A350 cabin:



Foldable tray table, quite similar to CX's seating on their 77W (10-across version)



Vanity mirror:



Mostly clean tray table, but looks like some dirt from the previous flight. Should have been a little more cleaned.



Airbus A350-900 windows. Wide for sure, better than the Airbus A380, but nothing beats the Boeing planes (777, 737, 787, etc)



Cabin crew came with a round of drinks first thing after take off. They had a choice of water, apple juice and orange juice. I went for the orange juice.



Peas & crackers. It's almost a mixture of murrukku and a few peas and crackers. To my liking, it was too spicy.



Used the wifi to show the A350 path here:





Inflight Menu:

Dinner:



Light Snacks (Delectables):




Breakfast:







I had the Vegetarian Oriental meal,

Dinner service started around 9:30pm SF time (close to about when I have my dinner this time of the year at home).

Vegetable fried rice with some capsicum and carrot. Really good, but just not a fan of the mushrooms. My mom had the Indian vegetarian meal, but did not enjoy it as much.





Orange sorbet:





And just after you got done with the sorbet, they serve you ice cream. Chocolate ice cream, pretty good



Not rock hard like I have experienced in previous SQ flights.



Because I wanted to sleep at my usual SF time on the plane, I used the Wifi and also explored the Voyager 3D maps:

This was in Full Flight mode, which extensively covers everything































Cabin post dinner service:





A350 seatbelt sign, electronic, so cool. The same can't be said on the Boeing 787's



Lavatory visit. Very clean overall.





I slept a good 6.5 hours (Roughly from 12AM to around 6:30AM). Woke up similarly how I wake up as a full time remote worker at home and got hungry. So I decided to grab some snacks from the galley.

Crew were very friendly on this flight, some of which really had a chat with you. Singapore Airlines is good in this regard, something I can't see on Emirates.

I got a coffee cake & chocolate muffin as well as a coffee, which is pretty good but nowhere compared to pre-covid days where SQ really just had good coffee. Emirates and UA win here.



A few pics of the cabin:

Premium Economy:



Economy forward zone:



Economy rear view:



At 8AM SF time, breakfast was served.





Breakfast consisted of vegetable noodles with cabbage & crispy golden tofu. Really enjoyed this. My mom had some upma, but honestly, did not enjoy any of the food on SQ at all. Nothing compared to pre-covid days and no different than any other airline



Plain actual curd. Surprised as my dad complained he did not get served any curd. Really enjoyed it



Inflight Wifi information:






Singapore Airlines has Live TV just like Emirates does.



Arrival information in Singapore. No gate was given at all nor the Terminal, but iCargo did say A15 was the arrival gate















Accessing the Voyager 3D map one last time before arriving into Singapore

























Soon, close to around 4:15AM, the captain came with an announcement that we'd be landing around 4:45AM into Singapore Changi Airport, 1 hour ahead of schedule. A few landing shots. The flight was dark all the way:





























Legroom:

[SQfanatic]

We arrived in Singapore a little more than 1 hour ahead of schedule. The plane parked at gate A15 (which I think is a common gate for many flights but definitely lots of A350 flights) and it was a bit of a walk to the transit hotel.

Unfortunately, Terminal 3 Transit hotel was full, even booking in advance, so luckily got a spot in Terminal 2.

The Ambassador Transit hotel has a choice for up to 6 hours maximum. Previously, I remember it was always 8 hours max. Well, times have changed.



It was quite a long walk to the Skytrain to T2 after freshening up (Though we could have taken another skytrain, but we first wanted to mainly freshen up).



Christmas Trees at Changi Terminal 3



Terminal 2:



We checked into the Ambassador Transit hotel sometime close to around 6AM and got room 320.

The bed:



Comfortable enough for some sleep.

The bathroom:



Walk in shower, always been a staple in Asia, but slowly now becoming a commonplace in the US.



Wireless RFID key locks:





After a few hours of rest, we got to have a free breakfast, which they offered 2 vouchers, the first time I have ever seen at this transit hotel. It was a great gesture.





Cappuccino and coffee maker machine.



Fruit juice



Went for their bread, croissant, roti, and scrambled eggs. Orange juice too but later also had a cappuccino. Really amazing & filling breakfast.



The Sunflower garden had a good view of the planes. Another A350, which made me nervous as the flight and comfort were seriously compromised & cramped.









Lounge:



Because we had a couple of hours left, our journey started around noon.

Short taxi ride to Marina Bay Sands Sky Park and the views of downtown Singapore are spectacular:





Gardens By the Bay:



Singapore Flyer:





A few pics of the Marina Sands Mall. It is also a hotel. Comparably better than US malls for sure in terms of appearance:

Hotel itself:











The mall at Marina Bay Sands:







Architecture and appearance are unique compared to many malls in the US.





Almost looks like a well-lit waterfall:









Water taxi inside the mall:







After around 2PM, we headed back to Changi Airport Terminal 1 to see the Jewel waterfall, the newest addition to Changi Airport. I believe it was completed sometime in 2021.

Christmas tree along with lots of lush greenery:



Mall like appearance in T1.



Actual Jewel waterfall, amazing:









More of the mall appearance before we decided to gradually buy a few attraction Jewel tickets:





View from the highest floor:





We went to one of the attractions. This one was Canopy Park, which had a lot of manmade animals and children's activities:









Another closeup view of Jewel along with the Skytrains. Rode the Skytrain, but not at this very level.



More of the same of Canopy Park:





We also went for the Mastercard Canopy Bridge attraction.

It looks like fog at another point.



Glass ground from the bridge:





From the ground most floor. Stunning



After about 5PM, we had a coffee and snack and headed back into Changi Airport. Our journey started from Terminal 1:



After a bit of a walk, we landed up back in Terminal 3, which our flight to Chennai would depart from. We also went to Terminal 2, but unlike previous years, they removed the waterfall and the mini flower garden. I guess this happened due to the pandemic and the fact it was closed for many months.









Looks to be the newest store, according to my dad for coffee. We will check this during our short layover soon.



Christmas trees at T3



Terminal 2:





Our flight to Chennai would depart from gate A16, literally next to gate A15 where I disembarked from SFO that same morning. But my first time seeing a different set of gates.



One of SQ's regional A350's (9V-SHD)





Butterfly garden at Terminal 3:

[SQfanatic]

Flight: Singapore Airlines flight SQ528
Route: Singapore - Chennai
Aircraft: Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner (Reg. 9V-SCA, 5.8 years at the time of departure)
Livery: Normal
Date of Departure: December 20 (8:20PM), Arrival December 20 (10:00PM)
Seat: 65A (Economy Class)
Configuration: 2-class (Business, Economy)

After a long 15 hour layover in Singapore, it was time to head to Chennai. Mine & my mom's very first time on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (SQ has the -10 series).

Our flight would depart from gate A16, basically in a gate hold room along with gates A17-A20. This was our first time departing from such gates at the farthest end of the A side of the terminal:



9V-SCA, the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner to take us to MAA as SQ528 that evening





Boarding commenced at around 7:45PM. The problem is that everyone just literally queued up even if their row number was not called. The staff had to ensure that it was orderly by even saying that the plane would not take off until people behaved orderly in this matter.

A few pics of the Economy class. The purple mood lighting reminds me a LOT of the SQ's newer 77W (SWU-SNC) and CX's 77W with the same thing





3-3-3 configuration, it was just as cramped as the A350 sector.







View from seat 65A. Very random times it looked dark outside from the window shades (don't know if it was a crew setting or something)



Welcome screen with the iconic SQ girl:

















While waiting for the captain announcement, went to the Voyager 3D map. Flight time to MAA would be a short 3 hours and 25 minutes but we were still waiting for passengers:







































KrisWorld and Live TV onboard:

































Boeing 787-10 cabin before departure: Really nice



Pushback was nearly almost 30 minutes late, likely could be due to connecting pax from SQ31 and also luggages being loaded:



Safety video played around 8:45PM and the RR Trent 1000 engines started up. A bit quieter than the A350.





We taxied to the runway and only took off around 9:20PM:


























Love the raked winglets and its flexibility to stretch:





Seatbelt sign went off and dinner service soon commenced. The Wifi on this plane was the same as the A350 on SQ33.



Lavatory visit on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner:







Cabin before dinner service with nice mood lighting:



Dinner:











Dinner was served about 30 minutes after take off. I opted for the Indian Vegetarian option this time. They served lemon rice, beans poriyal, and kattrikai goju (chutney based). Pretty good in terms of quality, but not exactly the best either. Enjoyable nonetheless.






Roll & chocolate ice cream:



Like on SQ33, the ice cream was not rock hard. Very soft to the texture.



The Boeing 787-10's had Voyager 3D so got a chance to explore that along with the Panasonic Wifi.

























Got to sleep for about an hour after that. Soon after, the captain came with an announcement that it was time to land in Chennai Airport. However, it was delayed by about 30 minutes from arrival. Weather was foggy and misty on the ground in Chennai.

Descent into Chennai with the flaps at 10:30PM. Did not hear the sounds that much as in the Boeing aircraft, from the back of the plane you can see the flap retraction but not hear the sound compared to the A380 and A350 for example.





















The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner windows and the electronic dimming button. Sadly, on this sector it did not work as it was night all the way.

Do you think it's possible the crew disabled this function on the 787-10's?



Disembarking in MAA around 10:45PM:





Security at the airside took about 20-30 minutes and another 15 minutes to collect our bags. Sadly, did not bring my Indian sim which I had recharged, so my dad wasn't able to get a hold of us but he did receive us and the driver drove us to our hotel. More to come on the next posts about Chennai & some parts of India (Pallakad and Trivandrum)

[SQfanatic]

Thoughts about the SQ sectors all the way to India?

Well, the Airbus A350-900 XWB is a nice and new aircraft. The problem is it's literally cramped, seat-wise and when you are walking on the aisles. To a certain degree, the 10-across 77W is better but certainly nowhere as better as the 9-across 77W.

I was able to sleep more or less well, but the comfort is compromised. In addition, judging by the appearance and general comfort, the seats are equivalent to that of Cathay Pacific's version on the 10-across 77W, though Cathay was still better than SQ.

Honestly, if the A350 was a 10-across, I will certainly never fly on it if I don't have to. There's no XWB to indicate comfort when it's literally compromised. It should be XCB (Extra Crammed Body).

The crew were very friendly on both legs and often times chat with you about the holidays and just have a conversation. That's one thing that never changed.

On the other hand, food quality at least to my mom's expectations on the vegetarian Indian meal has gone down significantly. Very disappointing and it's not any different like any other airline. This was on par in the same way my dad experienced.

The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner is a nice and beautiful brand new aircraft with electronic dimmable window shades. However, there was nothing dimmable about it especially given that the SIN-MAA-SIN flights are night flights throughout the way.

Because of my mom's experience, I ordered the same special meals while going back on SQ529 and SQ32 on the way back (Veg Lacto ovo meal & Vegetarian Oriental Meal respectively).

The time based wifi was a treat to see since it really passes the boredom and time on a long 17 hour flight. If this was volume based, that would be another issue. I wish SQ would just unify all their 77W with time-based Wifi and if not hope the 779's will have it, which is why I (and certainly others) are eagerly waiting for the 77W's to go and the 779's to come.

Flying other airlines would be better and definitely want to avoid the A350 in the future and even for ultra long haul. If I cannot avoid Singapore Airlines, I will try to at least fly Premium Economy, which I think there's not a whole lot of difference except the legroom and comfort.

More pictures of Chennai, Pallakad and Trivandrum will follow suit. Thanks for reading my TR so far.

[SQfanatic]

Our stay was at the Residency Towers in T. Nagar in Chennai for 2 nights (1 full day to do any temple related shopping). More on any temples or places of interest in Chennai will occur the second half of the trip (Dec 27-Jan 1) as I am traveling a few other places at the moment in Kerala.

I do not have pics of the outside as I was relatively tired & frustrated that my prepaid sim of many years just stopped working and I went to a few stores to get a new one prepaid. During the day we were around T. Nagar & Anna Salai.

Lobby at the Residency Towers - While it may be a 5-star, the lobby is more of a 3 or 4-star:



We got room 1105, which was the lowest floor in the hotel.

A few pics of the 11th floor. Really liked it had an atrium style appearance and a sofa and lounge area:














Outside where so much of fog & haze shrouded Chennai. From the window you could see Hyatt Regency Chennai, likely going to be a place where I'm going to spend the next 6 nights (Dec 27 - Jan 1) as the Residency Towers did not meet many of our expectations:






Pics of room 1105:

RFID locks:






The bathroom was very nice but not as big as I expected for a 5-star hotel:



It did have a Japanese style toilet:





Nice walk in shower. The below one is used to control the temperature and the above is to control the rainshower or the moveable shower.





Rooms are fully automated by an iPad for various things. The funny part is that the stuff we needed from room service (i.e. filter coffee, extra towels and extra pillows) were not part of it so we had to call the front desk and housekeeping and they were prompt in bringing those up:

TV channels that could be controlled from there as there was no remote:



Lights could be either controlled by the switch or iPad



Thermostat was only controlled by the iPad



Laundry services were also there, but when we needed laundry bags it involved a phone call. Looks like you can't win here every time.



More hotel information:





The Main Street restaurant at the Residency Towers hotel. It was advertised as an all day dining, 24-hour restaurant, but the reception said they only close around 10PM. Talk about false advertising. But I did like the theme was generally related to the UK. Second problem is that breakfast was a buffet only, and not much in the way of the options to order ala-carte. While it was good, certainly not the best in terms of advertising.





Had a nice South Indian breakfast - Vadai & lemon sevai, idli & chutney and dosa & chutney. Finished it off with curd, coffee and butterscotch milkshake.



A few pics of T-Nagar:







We ate lunch at the Sangeetha Vegetarian restaurant. Had a dosa along with sambar and chutney. Quality is one of the best you can get in Chennai:







We also met my dad's side of the family somewhere around OMR Road and had dinner at Geetham Veg restaurant. I do not have any pictures unfortunately as it was a family event, but I can tell you the food was excellent. Mainly had the manchurian noodles and finished off with butterscotch ice cream.

More Chennai pictures will be coming from December 27 to January 1. However, I have canceled & am NOT staying at the Residency Towers this time around and only at Hyatt Regency Chennai.

I will share my thoughts likely towards the end of the Chennai trip.

[SQfanatic]

On Thursday, we took a trip to Pallakad. This involved flying from Chennai to Coimbatore and then hiring a car to Pallakad, which was easily a 1.5 hour journey. We got there only around 1:45PM.

We took an Indigo flight from Chennai Kamraj Domestic Terminal. They're definitely one of the most decent, but also budget carriers in terms of friendly crew. They also have very new A321 Neo aircraft. I did not go into much detail on the pictures as much of the time I slept even though it was a 50 minute flight.

Check-in counters at Chennai Kamaraj Domestic Terminal:



Large queues at the IndiGo checkin. We were a little tight on time though. Like most carriers, they have a Bag Drop counter, but mainly it should be used only if you have used the self check-in. The check in agent was not so nice, looked like she was angry most of the time. She did manage to check us in and gave our boarding passes.



Security check was very long at the domestic airport. These days, it's gotten as crazy and absurd as you taking your power bank or even chargers. It did take around 15-20 minutes to get to the airside.



Our gate was 3 at Chennai Airport for the flight to Coimbatore.



Many restaurants around Chennai Domestic airport. Cookie Man is one of them, which is also on the arrivals section, but when I departed, I didn't get a oatmeal/butterscotch cookie. So went for a Krispy Kreme doughnut instead.







Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a staple in the US. Very surprised to see it in Chennai.



Went for the glazed & sugar donuts. Tasted just as good as the American version.



Our Indigo A321 Neo, waiting at gate 3.



Wing views.





Despite taking off in foggy & cloudy Chennai, we landed in sunny Coimbatore around 11:30AM.



I remember Coimbatore Airport from 4 years ago as being a very small domestic terminal. Smaller than Trivandrum, so definitely a much more underserved market even for international travel, which is why most folks connect thru MAA.



Our car journey to Pallakad, Kerala was a good 1.5 hours.



Downtown Coimbatore, reminds me of a high school friend who is from here, came to the US 6 years ago, took his life in 2017 (just after visiting Coimbatore 6 months before then).



Lots of lush greenery and hills. For a December climate, it is as similar as the Summers in California with a dry heat and winds out of the northeast or north/northwesterly direction. It was 90 degrees though.

[SQfanatic]

Pallakad is a city in North Kerala, about 3-4 hours by car from Kochi, and around 8 hours from Trivandrum. More coming in a few posts. In addition, Pallakad is a city where some of my dad's ancestors are from. The main purpose of these trips are to do some temple shopping, primarily for dhotis and sarees for the next day morning function at our local temple in Thennilapuram.



Our hotel like we stayed back in February 2019 was at Four N Square Residency. It's probably one of the fewest decent hotels in Pallakad in terms of the rooms and restaurants.



At one point, in my last trip in 2019, this place used to be called Ananda Bhavan. Now new ownership has taken suit and it's now called Aadhi Bhavan. It's far better and superior. However, the thing lacking in Kerala and most restaurants is that they won't have every item on the menu at certain times, so the clarity is lacking. I did not take much pictures of the food, as much of the time we had some Indo-Chinese. However, I do have pictures of the room (really decent).

Our room was 2004, which was right down the hall from the reception. It was an Executive room, a bigger room that my parents booked compared to before. It had a huge couch/living room and 2 TV's (1 near the bed and 1 in the living room). Wifi was super fast:

RFID locks for room 2004:



Living room with a super big and comfy couch:



The bathroom, fairly decent and walk in as most places are these days:







TV's in each of the parts of the room:





View of sunny Pallakad from the room:



Some pictures of actual Pallakad. We went for shopping here before going to the temple. We also went to the temple at night, but it was for a fairly limited time.















Next day morning at Thennilapuram where we came for a morning puja:





Generally, the temple is regarded as a quiet, peaceful and serene environment. Not very crowded at all and mostly small shrines on the outside. Even though the town looks to be in the middle of nowhere, at least the temple is very nice.



After the temple visit, we had a late breakfast, early lunch around noon. While I didn't take any pictures of the breakfast, here's the after mint freshener on a leaf:



The last stop we made a visit to was Malampuzha Dam:



This place has scenic views of the hills. However, the only problem is that there was a lot of haze on the horizon obscuring the views. Either way, still a great place to visit. I did not check out the gardens, because of time constraints as we were heading to Trivandrum for the next part of the trip, but will probably do that next trip.

[SQfanatic]

At this point of the journey, we were starting to head to Trivandrum. Initially, we thought of taking an IndiGo flight directly from Cochin (3+ hour drive) to Trivandrum, but the problem was many things:

1) Flights were very expensive since Trivandrum has been worse than a poorly connected city. Meaning it is an underserved place and except for Gulf carriers, no Asian carriers (except Scoot) go there.
2) Timings were awful, meaning more spending time at the airport or connecting through some random city.

Because of that, we decided it would be cheaper to hire a car to go all the way to Trivandrum. It takes 8 hours but when you add in the breaks, easily a 10 hour drive.

The journey started around 2PM IST:





A few small towns on the way:

A





A stop in Nedumbassery, where we had a very good filter coffee at a Hotel Saravana Bhavan (name only, not the actual real deal).



The rest of the journey took us through Kochi where it got past sunset and later we stopped at Alapuzha for dinner. I didn't take any pictures as I was very tired, but did have a dosa & salt lassi to wash it off. The food quality was excellent overall. Most restaurants on NH66 are fairly decent and have A/C.

[SQfanatic]

We got to Trivandrum so late at night, around almost 1AM on December 24th (missed reaching on December 23rd). This stay was very different than previous stays as 3 years ago, my grandmother passed away, but our purpose was still plentiful with many activities such as:

1) Visiting some temples, like. we always have in the past.
2) Visiting family members, actually some of my niece's family is there (from my mom's side) which we had a Christmas lunch & dinner with them.
3) Visiting my grandmother's house to clean many things, wash & dry some clothes and eventually my parents would work on selling the flat, eventually we will be getting new owners. The sad part of that is for the last several years in the stifling hot weather, there's no A/C and while the fan works, it's just not sufficient enough. I will not share pictures of these as it's a little personal and not needed for a forum.

Compared to other times, the thing that was completely different was that we actually stayed at a hotel, never thought it would happen, but it did. We booked the Hilton Garden Inn in Trivandrum, just off Statue in Punnen Road. While Google classifies it as a 5-star hotel, well, honestly, it's definitely better than the US hotels for sure, but it's more like a 3.5-4 star hotel. We would have stayed at the newly Hyatt Regency in Thycaud where my mom grew up and went to college, but the thing is that they just recently opened in November 2022 & when we tried to book, it was quite expensive. But next time, we'll try the place.









Check-in was super quick and we were greeted by very friendly staff. We got room 309, which had 2 beds.



No RFID locks, so had to slide the key at the bottom:



The bathroom:





Very nice walk-in shower, with great water pressure:





Some toiletries:



An unique set of elevator buttons:



View from room 309 mostly faced some flats and offices around Statue:





Breakfast buffet at Hilton Garden Inn (we only had it for 2 out of the 4 days here):



Good selection of bread & pastries:



Juice, not much variety in flavor but it was something:



Christmas Eve breakfast, which consisted of Kerala style appam, hash browns, vadai and an omelette on the side. Along with filter coffee & plain yogurt. Not too heavy or too light, just felt about right and of the best possible quality for everything:



The pool & courtyard which can be accessible from the 3rd floor, which is a patio. Same floor as where my room was:





Some pictures of Statue & MG Road on the first day of the trip on Christmas Eve:















An interesting fact about why the area is called Statue:





Attukal Bhagavathy Temple on Christmas Eve night where we went for some pujas. We also came Christmas morning around 5AM:





A church right at Statue well lit for Christmas:



Pazvangadhy Ganapathy Temple:



MG Road/NH66 which is waking up to a beautiful Christmas sunrise. Later that day, it got super cloudy and even started raining a bit:





Padmanabhaswamy Temple around Fort:





MG Road in the daytime:



We had dinner & breakfast at a few different places. While I didn't take pictures, I can tell you the food was still of great quality. We went to Swagat (Hotel Chirag), which had a mix of both South & North Indian food as well as Arul Jyothi and Anna Bhavan all of which are in Statue. Mostly went for dosa, idli and vadai with chutney & some places had some vegetable fried noodles & gobi manchurian, all of which were very decent and good. Unfortunately, for certain reasons I didn't take any pictures. The restaurant is definitely recommended.

During Christmas afternoon for lunch, we went with my mom's side of the family for a Christmas lunch buffet to Hotel Mascot, by KTDC (Kerala Tourism Development Corporation). There were a myriad of items, but the selection was average at best. I went for the chilli paneer & egg fried vegetable noodles with some dessert (cake, flan and chocolate mousse):



Some tea to finish off. Kerala tea is very good compared to coffee:



A garden where you could have also dined outdoors. The humidity made it kind of unbearable to do so.



Nice fountain here:



Palm trees:



Lobby - The problem about the lobby is that this is very stuffy with no ventilation or A/C but the restaurant is fully A/C. I don't think it would be a good idea to actually stay here.



At some point my dad and I returned back to the hotel before meeting them again for dinner while my mom went with the family to my grandmother's house. Hilton Garden Inn had a few Christmas events going on that night:





The other elevator at HGI, which had buttons in almost a form of a touchscreen. A little but slower than normal buttons.



The V-Bar, closed when I went, but not an alcoholic drinker, so didn't get time to check it out:



Gingerbread house:



Lots of Christmas snacks & desserts:











The next day, December 26, also had breakfast at the hotel. This time, went for some dosa, french toast, idli & vadai:



French toast (they gave 1 only, I was expecting probably 2 or 4), but it was still great and in high quality:



Hilton Garden Inn Christmas menu for selection of multiple snack and dessert items:



Dosa with chutney and idly was cooked to perfection, I really enjoyed it:



Not much was done the rest of the day, so here are a few pictures of Sree Varaham:













Trivandrum tends to have a lack of good A/C vegetarian restaurants, but we went to one about a 5-minute walking distance from our hotel called Ruchi. It had an A/C and was very decent.



We went with the thali one day (I had the bhindi masala & coconut rice) and yesterday before going to the airport, dosa. The quality is excellent overall.

[SQfanatic]

Some thoughts about Kerala?

Pallakad is a town and a very small city in Northern Kerala. The climate is good if you come in the Winter months. In February 2019 when I came, it was hotter than this. Most places you'll only get vegetarian food, which did good for me and my family.

The staff are very friendly, but the problem in many places it their menu and the lack of clarity on what is served when. If they can improve that, it would help make everyone's life easier (both the employees and the customers).

The second problem is in Kerala, especially Pallakad it's very difficult to get an Uber. While we have an Indian prepaid mobile number from Airtel, no problem, the problem was Uber said something along the lines of "No vehicles are available". In Trivandrum, it was there but it often took a very long time. So we resorted to taking an auto rickshaw, which is very reasonably priced there.

When we were stuck in the rain to get from my grandmother's house (now deceased) back to our hotel, we couldn't get either, but luckily we went to a stand and got one, and it took over 2 hours. The lack of sometimes vegetarian A/C restaurants can be bothersome as with the stifling heat, it's no fun to eat in a non-A/C place.

We had no time to go to Kovalam Beach, but spending time with my mom's side of the family is the best Christmas gift of all.

The hotel was great in many aspects but the service at the restaurant was very slow, even when some of my mom's family came for an early snack around 6PM before we all headed to dinner elsewhere. In the future, I would be happy to stay at Hilton Garden Inn Trivandrum again, but would prefer to really try the Hyatt Regency there once.

[SQfanatic]

It was time to go back to Chennai. The sadder part was the IndiGo was delayed again. First time after we booked a few months ago, the flight was changed from 8AM to 1:15PM, and then delayed to 3:40PM because of the late aircraft. IndiGo is a very good budget carrier, but the delays are bothersome.

It took a while to get into the check-in because of first bag security screening, then after that, it was a more tightened security check than previous trips. It is mandatory to remove your chargers, power banks, etc. Eventually closer to 3PM, we got to the airside:



Today's gate would be gate 3:



An Indigo Airbus A320 aircraft:





Boarding the A320 Neo aircraft:



Taking off from Trivandrum around 3:45PM:





Got a full row to myself for a 1 hour flight while my parents were assigned seats to the front of me:



Landing in Chennai:







We collected our bags and got out around 5:45PM, had a filter coffee and got a taxi and headed to our hotel at Hyatt Regency.







Filter coffee, so good in Chennai that you need to try it.



Chennai Metro from the Airport.



More pictures are going to follow suit in a few days as I'm currently in Chennai and will get more time to post.

[SQfanatic]

We got to the Hyatt Regency in Chennai in 30 minutes with moderate, but mostly light traffic as the direction is anti-commute.

This is located around Anna Salai, around Teynampet:



Atrium and stunning architecture:



Christmas tree:



Check-in was super quick. We got there around 6:30PM last night and got room 219, which has 2-beds and a large space:





Tea/coffee maker:



Toilet from a very large bathroom:





Very nice sink & mirror



Atrium:



View of the lobby and lounge from the 2nd floor:







Christmas tree closeups:



Downstairs (ground floor) where the ballroom is:



Lobby lounge:






More Christmas tree reindeer & santa closeups:









Very beautiful design:



Morning view from the room prior to breakfast:



Atrium view in the daytime:



Lobby lounge view:



The Lobby lounge is really reminiscent of Singapore Changi Airport. Well done for a Hyatt, and I'm sure much of these will be present at any Hyatt Regency around the world. One nice thing is when we went today for breakfast, we gave the room number, and they told us to wait about 15 minutes to get a seat, and turns out, it was only less than 5 minutes. Very friendly staff & service.

You can even see the sky from this view:



Today's breakfast at the Spice Haat in Hyatt - Went South Indian & continental.

Idli, vadai with chutney, small chunk of hakka noodles, semiya upma and aval. Excellent quality.



Also went continental with hash browns, scrambled eggs, and waffles with syrup.



I will be eating breakfast here at least another 2 more days of my 6 night stay so I will try my best to show the buffet as long as it's not super crowded.

More pictures of Chennai itself will continue today and over the next several days.

Thanks for reading up to this point!