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A Running Trip in Edinburgh (via Manchester with SQ328/SQ327)

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  • A Running Trip in Edinburgh (via Manchester with SQ328/SQ327)

    If you are to travel to cities of Scotland (i.e. Edinburgh, Glasgow) from Singapore, how do you go there without direct flights from Singapore?

    One of the more popular option is to have travel to London (and have a stayover or vacation), and either take the train from the city centre or a flight there.

    Another option is to take a transit flight (e.g. Qatar to Edinburgh via Doha, Emirates to Glasgow via Dubai).

    I decided to take other option, which is to fly to Manchester (for this case on SQ328), and take the train to Scotland. The good thing about Manchester Airport is that they have the Manchester Airport train station that have a rather regular train services to Glasgow and Edinburgh directly (roughly about 3 hours train ride there).

    Singapore Airlines
    Flight: SQ328 (SIN - MUC - MAN)
    Plane: Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWO) (4-class config with new seats and IFE)
    Class: Economy
    Date: 26 May 2016 (Thursday)
    Departure Time: 11.10pm







    This plane is a 77W in a 4-class config (F, J, PY and Y), hence the plane is fitted with new seats and the touch-screen IFE.








    The flight will stop at Munich first before continuing on to Manchester.



    Last edited by orionmiz; 22 July 2016, 09:35 AM.

  • #2
    There are 2 meals served for SIN - MUC sector, namely Supper and Breakfast. There's also snacks in between if you are hungry halfway during the flight.

    This is the beverage list for SQ328.




    There are 3 choices for supper in the Economy class.




    I wanted to try out the Thai option, but what I'm afraid is that it might affects my marathon after eating that (having diarrhoea halfway during the run), so I decided to choose a safer option, which is Stewed Beef. The food is quite nice actually.




    Grab some snacks in the middle of the flight.






    There are 2 options for breakfast in the Economy class.




    Chose the Braised Egg Noodles with Char Siew. The char siew is nice, but the noodles lacks flavour though.

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    • #3
      For SQ328, after the plane landed in Munich Airport, passengers continuing to Manchester will have to stay inside the plane. Well, generally there's nothing much to do, except to see the ground staff cleaning up the plane, replacing blankets, uplifting refreshments for the next sector, and so on.

      After about 1 hour in Munich Airport, and after the passengers from Munich airport boarded, we continue our journey to Manchester. Generally, the MUC - MAN load isn't heavy.








      There are 2 options for refreshment for MUC - MAN sector.




      Unfortunately, they ran out of the croissant option when they got to me, so I have to settle for the Breakfast Pastry (which is Lemon Cake).

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      • #4
        After spending 15 hours inside the plane, I finally reached Manchester...

        Well, there is only a few people queueing for the immigration using non-UK and non-EU passports, so it took me only a short while to clear the immigration. Probably because there are very few flights arriving in the early morning.

        After getting my luggage, I walked straight to the Manchester Airport train station.

        This is the long walk to the train station...




        Unfortunately, the Edinburgh train services in the morning and early afternoon are all cancelled. As I do not want to wait for many hours for the next available Edinburgh train, I decided to settle for train that goes to Glasgow Central, and then take another train to Edinburgh.






        After spending 3+ hours train ride to Glasgow, and another 1 hour train ride to Edinburgh (+ probably half an hour waiting at Glasgow Central train station), I reached Edinburgh...

        (Note: The following pictures are taken in the next day during the rainy morning.)










        Collected my race pack (which consist only of running bib) at Dynamic Earth after I checked in to my hotel.






        According to the bib, my start point is at Regent Road (the other start point is at London Road, you can choose where you want to start during the registration).

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        • #5
          The next day, I decided to have a short trip to Glasgow city.
















          This is Caffè Nero. This used to be St Enoch subway station, but now it has converted into a cafe.




          This is St Enoch shopping centre, one of the bigger shopping malls in Glasgow.

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          • #6
            The next day is the marathon. Though the marathon starts at 10am (and it's close to the start of summer period), it still feels cold, especially when I'm only just wearing a t-shirt and a shorts...

            Well, unfortunately I didn't bring out my camera (phone) for any photo taking during my run, so here's some of the pictures from the official photographers, bought from marathon-photos website.








            The ending point of the marathon is at Musselburgh.






            Took some photos of the town as well.






            Post-race goodies.






            Well, the keyring fits the finisher medal.

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            • #7
              The next day, I returned to Manchester for a short stayover. As there are ongoing maintenance on the rail tracks between Scotland and Manchester, I had to take another train route which requires a change in train at York station to get to Manchester.

              After 3-4 hours of 2 train rides, I finally reached Manchester. This is the view from my hotel room.






              Some pics of the Piccadilly Gardens.





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              • #8
                You can travel around Manchester city with the Metrolink tram. The whole-day travel card (for both tram and bus) cost £7 if you buy it before 9.30am on weekdays, and £5 if you buy it after 9.30am on weekends and the whole day on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays.




                Making use of the travelcard, I travel around the city area.

                This is Deansgate railway station.




                Around Deansgate.






                Chinatown in Manchester city.





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                • #9
                  The next day I decided to go to intu Trafford Centre to do some shopping (mainly window shopping). You can go there by taking bus X50 or 250 from Piccadilly Gardens bus station.

                  Travel past the Manchester United Stadium on the way there.




                  Reach intu Trafford Centre around 30-40 minutes by bus.






                  I must say that intu Trafford Centre has a very nice interiors, with different themes at different areas. This is one of the entrance to the shopping mall.




                  The fountain in the middle of the mall (unfortunately spoiled by the "wet floor" signage).




                  Palm trees inside. Not sure if it is real of artificial (didn't really check carefully).




                  This is the elevator.




                  Chinese theme in one of the area.




                  Cruise ship theme on F&B area.




                  The way to Lego Discovery Centre and the SEA LIFE aquarium.




                  There are many more interesting things, but too many to post them here on the forum...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Remember the photo used by SIA to showcase Manchester on the website? Well here it is: The Salford Quay Lift Bridge.










                    This building is Quay West at MediaCityUK.




                    The area is called MediaCityUK because there are a number of broadcasting offices and studios there (such as BBC and ITV).




                    Lowry Outlet shopping mall is nearby.




                    Later in the afternoon, I also went to Etihad Stadium to take a look as well.





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                    • #11
                      It's time to leave Manchester and head back to my homeland.

                      From Manchester City, you can take the train (from Manchester Piccadilly station) to Manchester Airport by National Rail, which cost £5. The train ride is about 25 minutes non-stop.

                      You can also take the Metrolink to the airport, but the journey is much longer with many stops in between, and it cost £4.20.

                      When I reached the airport, there are nobody queueing at the check-in counter for Singapore Airlines (also quite a lot of counters opened for SQ as well). This is a far-cry from my last trip in London, where there are generally only 2 long queues in Heathrow T2, namely self check-in queue and check-in assistance queue...

                      Unfortunately for Manchester airport, they only issue the carbon-paper boarding pass over the counter (the airport staff will tear out the paper boarding pass "un-nicely" and keep the portion on the right when you board the plane.).




                      There are quite a number of passengers clearing security at the security area, but it doesn't take too long to clear it, and get into the transit area.

                      There are not many shops and restaurant in Manchester T2, so I spend most of my time looking at the planes.








                      Singapore Airlines
                      Flight: SQ327 (SIN - MUC - MAN)
                      Plane: Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWK) (4-class config with new seats and IFE)
                      Class: Economy
                      Date: 1 June 2016 (Wednesday)
                      Departure Time: 9.10am







                      The load in the Economy class is quite light from Manchester to Munich.






                      There are 2 choices for refreshment for MAN - MUC sector. I chose the Smoked Turkey Sandwich, which taste great.



                      Last edited by orionmiz; 22 July 2016, 10:16 AM.

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                      • #12
                        For SQ327, when the plane reaches Munich Airport, all passengers including those heading to Singapore will have to disembark. There's a hassle in unloading and bringing our personal carry-on stuff out of the plane. The good thing is that we don't have to go through transit security in Munich Airport.

                        The waiting area is linked to the duty-free shops and restaurants, hence you can have a quick bite before boarding the plane again (not sure if you can buy anything from duty free shop with the MAN - SIN boarding pass). Anyway, Munich Airport looks nice in my opinion.









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                        • #13
                          After about 1 hour resting in the waiting area in Munich airport, it's time to board the plane again. The plane is moderately loaded for MUC - SIN sector.






                          There are 3 options for lunch for MUC - SIN sector. I chose the Thai chicken with green curry option. It taste good.






                          Dessert for lunch is Magnum ice cream.




                          Took some snacks in the middle of the flight. They have the same Smoked Turkey sandwich as the refreshment for MAN - MUC sector served as snacks in this sector.






                          There are 2 choices for breakfast. I chose the stir-fried rice vermicelli (bee hoon). The rice vermicelli is rather flavourful.






                          After the 15 hours flying journey, I finally reached Singapore, and that concludes my trip.

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                          • #14
                            Very nice report, orionmiz! I enjoyed reading it!

                            And congratulations on finishing the marathon!

                            Originally posted by orionmiz View Post
                            Lime green Asics...my favourite sports shoe! Used to own several pairs myself!

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                            • #15
                              Good looking report, will be doing a London - Manchester - Glasgow - Edinburg driving trip soon.
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