India Birthday Trip (May 2025) - SQ A350, Boeing 787-10 & A380 to MAA (via DEL)

[SQfanatic]

Sunday, was the day I was checking out from GRT Grand in Chennai and headed to Hyatt Regency in Chennai for my last 2 days before heading back home (via Delhi and Singapore).

Morning walk on a sunny, but tolerably hot day. The sun did not last very long and it eventually became cloudier. Pictures of Pondy Bazaar in T Nagar. Most mornings and evenings I could walk here and even the afternoons I could tolerate 15 minutes, and stayed hydrated. Hot, humid but more on the drier side.

[SQfanatic]

Hyatt Regency was a 5 minute drive (10 minute walk) but as part of my trip I wanted to also mix staying here, too because the staff know us very well.

We got there around 11AM. Went upstairs to check-in. Linthoi, who recognized us from previous stays initially was going to charge us for an early check-in but given my dad's Hyatt status, we got upgraded to the King Twin room on the 7th floor.



We got room 727. More pictures will be added of this later on.



The Hyatt Regency Chennai atrium. This is far more air conditioned than the ones in GRT.



Lobby Lounge.







We did some shopping in T Nagar and Mylapore today before heading to Mahabalipuram.













We eventually set sail for Mahabalipuram, an hour and a half from Chennai.



East Coast Road



The Shore Temple. It was very crowded, and we got tickets. The last time I was here was with my mom in January 2017.











Mahabalipuram Beach from this end.



Mahabalipuram Lighthouse



5 Rathas. We didn't buy tickets or go inside. The thing is if you speak fluent Tamil, they will give you the tickets at less charge. But the problem here is they discourage it and they would go as far as seeing your ID and passport indicating you're an Indian citizen, ridiculous.











Lots of carvings



We didn't get time to stop by the beach due to crowds but if there's one thing we learned, it is to book a day trip, and stay overnight there.



My dad who has childhood roots in Kolkata suggested going to Bayleaf in Chennai.



We had the lucchi and some vegetable pulao and paneer makhani. All of great quality.



To finish off, we had the ice cream sandesh, which you can't get anywhere else. Highly recommended place, though the ambiance can use some renovation and expansion of improvement of bathrooms.



Back at the Hyatt, I decided to take a walk outside tonight.



Hyatt Regency Chennai at night.



I walked all the way to T Nagar Starbucks (Tamil signage, I can understand but can't read Tamil letters or words).



If you ask for a coffee, it's basically a cappucino. An upgrade perhaps? Last I had a Starbucks in India, I had a latte, which was terrible.





More pictures to come for Monday, the last day of the trip.

[SQfanatic]

Today, woke up to more cloudy skies but fortunately, no rain at all this trip, just scorching temperatures.





The Lobby Lounge





Atrium. The only other 2 Hyatt Regency hotels that have an atrium are in San Francisco (lucky us) and in Istanbul.





The pool area was closed, but walked through this place.



Mount Road, Teynampet, and Anna Salai.





More pictures of room 727



Nice touch phone, and if you need help its just a press of a specific button (not numeric keypads)



The buffet area for breakfast, familiar territory.







A variety of drinks.



A nice counter to request for pancakes, waffles, and french toast.



They've changed a lot in terms of cost cutting and the variety of items. I did have the continental (pancakes and waffles with syrup) as well as South Indian (idli, both ragi and regular, vadai, dosa). Unlike the last time, and unlike GRT, dosa would actually come in an authentic silver plate with chutneys, creative.

The cost cutting was noticeable because fewer pastries, replaced by barrels of chillis, mustard seeds, etc and also there was no depicted streetside coffee cart where the guy who I recognized in my last 2 visits (Dec 2022/Jan 2023 & Nov 2023). He was very nice and happy to work there.







The large bathroom in Hyatt Regency, same as the other rooms I've stayed at.







2 bath robes.



An oversized bathtub, For folks like myself, my dad and my mom (who didn't come this trip). this is unnecessary and we resorted to using the walk in shower.





Locker and safes



Slippers



Walk in shower.



Rain shower which was actually better than GRT.



Pharmacopia bath products for Hyatt Regencies worldwide. They stopped giving travel sized shampoo.

[SQfanatic]

We did some last bit of shopping for home at Mylapore Tank. It was hot and scorching, but while humid, it was mostly oven hot. Water was key to being hydrated and preventing a heat stroke.



We went to a Koil in T Nagar (TTD)



We drove through the last stretch of T. Nagar (shopping part) and eventually headed back to the hotel for a break and to pack.



Honey Bush drink from Hyatt Regency.





Sunny skies from the room around 3PM







I took a walk on Mount Road











Next to it is the headquarters of Kalaignar TV, which Siripolli is a channel (comedy channel in Tamil) my dad often watches on every trip.



Went back to the Lobby Lounge for a snack and filter coffee. I really like that they gave it in an authentic gold tumbler. Some things they're really showing authenticity of the region, while others, cost cutting if you will.



This was never an issue in the past. I guess the higher costs of the room might have also attributed to it as well as the fact May is an off peak time.



Hyatt Regency Chennai water



Refrigerator



Coffee and tea kettle

[SQfanatic]

Around 4PM, like previous trips, since I was staying at Hyatt Regency, I decided to ride the Chennai Metro from AG-DMS station up to Guindy



Nowadays, you have to go through security check, you'll get a ticket through QR code (Whatsapp doesn't work for a pre-paid sim because I'm configured with a US number). I miss those days of getting an actual metro card.







A cloudy and hazy day onwards to Guindy.





Guindy is an overground metro station.



Basically, it's a freeway as you exit the station.











We returned back past the 5PM hour.

[SQfanatic]

We took a break and headed our last evening to Sangeetha Veg restaurant. This time around, we made a conscious choice of going light, having curd rice and one other dish.

Mount Road traffic



Sangeetha restaurant, this was one of the newly opened places. Even for a Monday night, a very reasonable amount of crowd, but no waiting time. India really knows how to efficiently operate their restaurants.





Curd rice along with vegetable manchurian. Not too spicy, just appropriate for our liking. Being lighter because we're traveling back tomorrow night,



We thought of taking a 15 minute walk back to Hyatt Regency, but of course the roads aren't good.



And one other surprise even though my birthday was 2 days ago at the Hyatt Regency in Chennai. A birthday card and a blueberry flavored cake, amazing. The staff recognize me and my parents, because of my dad's Hyatt status. So this was a wonderful touch on the last night of a week-long birthday trip.

[SQfanatic]

Overall thoughts about this trip to Chennai? I had a pretty good time and everything was planned out correctly plus the last day to basically relax, rest, pack and do some lingering shopping. Nothing was missed this trip except being able to meet a family member, because she had an emergency situation in Trivandrum. The fact I got to travel to celebrate my birthday was heartwarming. People really know how to treat you in India, and generally all the places, met with nothing but

Initially I was dreading 100+ as well as the humidity, but most days it was quite hot, but it was tolerable with pinches of humidity (70+ degree Farenheit dew point is suppose to make you more miserable and sweaty). The breeze has helped us out a lot, and in addition to that, hydration is key. Drinking water is crucial and if you're under the direct sun, an umbrella helps immensely. Especially for my dad who is 70.

Every plan such as visiting temples, the beach and even Mahabalipuram worked out. Of course the only piece of advice for Mahabalipuram is stay a day at one of the decent resorts even if its expensive when going to the beach, that may happen next time so long as its not a religious trip (like October 2026).

Today, we will be leaving back to the US, but it will be an Indigo flight from Chennai to Delhi. In the layover, I will be meeting my uncle and then checking in for both my Singapore Airlines flights, reaching San Francisco on the morning of Wednesday, 5/28 (Pacific Time).

Pictures will follow on this post (being edited) either tomorrow or Wednesday

[SQfanatic]

Heading back to the International sectors.

Flight: Singapore Airlines flight SQ403
Route: New Delhi - Singapore
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800 (9V-SKT, 13.3 years at the time of departure.)
Livery: Normal
Date of Departure: May 27 (9:55PM), Arrival May 28 (6:10AM)
Seat: 65A (Economy Class)
Configuration: 3-class (Suites (First), Business, Premium Economy, Economy)

Our journey started from Terminal 3 at Delhi, a familiar place I was at last year on Emirates. Although this time, I was flying an Airbus A380 on Singapore Airlines. It's rare to even get an A380 to and from India, Singapore and Emirates are two of the carriers that do, so an extremely rare opportunity for me. Gate 15 is an A380 gate, because I remember LH used their A380 to MUC when I was here last year. Emirates does use their A380 to Mumbai and Bangalore, not Delhi unfortunately (and the ones they use have PEY and are often off the ULH flights from the US).

After meeting my uncle and aunt from my mom's side after almost 9 years, we had to take a bus from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 because Terminal 2 was closed for renovations. That's one downside to Delhi Airport. From T2 to T3 would be an easy walk.



Delhi was noticeably far stickier than it was in Chennai. Now, don't me wrong, both places are hot and you'd think Chennai was sticky. Yes, there is humidity in Chennai, but the breeze really makes the heat feel like an oven heat as opposed to the humidity. In fact the beach in that weather towards sunset felt very nice in the breeze.

Headed to the check-in counters around 7PM










I loved that you still had an Internet Check-In. Unfortunately they removed that from SFO Airport. It saved us a lot of time and we got to security and past within maybe 10-15 minutes.









It's kind of like an European airport. You have to pass security and go through the Duty Free shops before heading to the gates.













If only more Indian airports like Chennai could be like this





















There she is. 9V-SKT, our Airbus A380 which would fly us to Singapore. Like the recent Emirates' A380's, she is powered by 4 Rolls Royce engines.





I decided to explore both sides this time around, which one of the sides past Starbucks was missed.











Eventually boarding commenced closer to 9/9:15PM

[SQ forever]

happy birthday SQfanatic, what better way to start a new year? awaiting your return journey images

[SQfanatic]

happy birthday SQfanatic, what better way to start a new year? awaiting your return journey images

Thanks so much SQ forever. Really appreciate the wishes :-)

Yes, more on the way, took some time to come from iCloud. Yes, the SQ32 delay is well documented.

[SQfanatic]

Continuing with SQ403 from Delhi to Singapore









Headphones were available at the gate



Economy Class - 2017 Y. It was pretty much the same as my other legs. This flight unlike the last few were 100% packed. Only 3 out of my 4 flights, we had empty middle seats





View from 65A



You had a pillow and blanket for this 5 hour flight to Singapore















Hot towel service was given. We were greeted by the pilot saying our flight would be 5 hours with probably moderate turbulence.





The A380 cabin looks nice, though the bins on the left and right (not center) aren't as modern as Emirates' A380



We pushed back at 9:52PM, started our engines and the safety video and Wifi ad





They still played the IFE ad (only on 402/403, but not 31/32) with the guitar music.





Wifi ad played during engine startup













































Then KrisWorld digital ads came too.









The flaps didn't retract as the plane started moving, so I was a little worried something was wrong (mechanically). Actually, but very fortunately, it was not a mechanical problem. There were passengers who at the last minute decided to back out and not fly with Singapore Airlines today, so we had to taxi back to the gate and offload their bags. That would take at least 30 or so minutes.

[SQfanatic]

The cabin lights turned purple, which was nice and soft.



To compensate for the delay, Singapore Airlines gave water to each passenger and came continuously. They had no idea of the ETA but we ended up departing 1 hour behind schedule close to 11PM.





Pushback and started our engines but no safety video again this time.



Flaps retracted this time.









Taxi took maybe 10 or so minutes



Takeoff was very quiet, and did not use the full power like Emirates does on ULH flights.



















Wifi on the A380 unlike the A350 LH and B787-10 was OnAir. It was free, and it worked very nicely.

[SQfanatic]

Given this was probably a rare treat to fly a Singapore Airlines A380, I thought to play around more with the Voyager 3D maps which were interactive as always



































Flight Preview








I wanted to enlarge the A380 just for experimental purposes to see the differences.

























I went through Overhead mode as well























A number of ways to connect to Wifi. Seat number and last name did the trick.





I ordered the vegetarian oriental meal. It was so good, the vegetable noodles and gobi manchurian (Indo Chinese). It was excellent overall.



Was able to track SKT from the Wifi









The SQ A380 cabin.



The lavatories, which did show apparent signs of aging especially the toilets.





Mood lighting before passengers went to sleep.



KrisWorld IFE - The same number of everything like other aircraft, except no Live TV

[SQfanatic]

I had a good sleep for maybe 3 hours. Due to the delay, we were greeted by a sunrise past 6AM and we landed closer to 6:40AM and thankfully at Terminal 3, gate B7. I was happy this time because all my Indian flights I've arrived from we've disembarked at Terminal 2 and gone to Terminal 3.











Flaps retracted















Landed at Singapore Changi right at around sunrise.













Parked at gate B7



Disembarking the aircraft















9V-SKT before heading to gate A15 (which of course sadly was delayed)



A crowded Terminal 3 for the morning rush as you'd expect





We brushed our teeth and had some coffee and croissant and headed to gate A15.

[SQfanatic]

Overall thoughts about the SQ403 sector. It was pretty packed as expected for an A380. The seats are identical, but what baffles me is that it's just as cramped as the A350 and 787 with the poor seat width. When it's a full flight, you'll tend to feel it much more than if the seat is empty. However, the aisles are super wider than usual. This is where Emirates beats Singapore in terms of comfort. I'd even prefer if the 2013 seats were still there.

The crew were very friendly on this sector like they were on SQ402. They ensured passengers got what they needed and during the delay of passengers offboarding, they communicated their ETA of arrival and whether or not they knew about the departure time as many had connecting flights. You can truly sense that they care a lot about their passengers on this leg. One annoying thing about the A380 though is while the large windows, the large gap exists which often means your electronics, pillow and blanket can often fall onto the next side. Otherwise, it was a great flight.