SQ / 9W: SIN-BOM-GOI-BLR-SIN with a mix of J and Y with various hotels….

[Mlee888]

I hope my last trip report travelling around West Coast USA was enjoyable to read, well enough for you to be interested in this one anyway.

For this trip, I was lucky enough to visit 3 different places in India staying at a different hotel chain at each one (during monsoon season).

The itinerary in early August was as follows:

Day 1: SQ424 SIN-BOM B777-300 J Class new layout. Hotel Sofitel Mumbai.
Day 2: 9W426 BOM-GOI B737-800 J Class. Hotel Park Hyatt Goa.
Days 3-4: Hotel Park Hyatt Goa.
Day 5: 9W2952 GOI-BLR Y Class ATR 72. Hotel JW Marriott.
Day 6: SQ503 BLR-SIN J Class B777-200 ER.

The day began on a rainy afternoon in Singapore. My journey to the airport took me past some iconic views from around the city.



A blurry picture of MBS…. The rain began to fall not long after this.



Business class check-in area of Terminal 3 was empty. With this being a Sunday afternoon, I did expect a slightly more packed airport.



Time to head out to the back….



A quick visit to the lounge….





A very empty lounge I must say…...not that I minded.



There are seats inside the lounge that provides good viewing of the transfer area. Unfortunately, no windows to see any birds.



Just to show how quiet this lounge was…...



Food wasn’t particularly appetizing so I ended up with chicken wings, meatballs and potato.

[Mlee888]

Drinks counter.



After food, I head to our gate. B10 if I remember correctly.



I couldn’t get a shot of our bird for the night but I managed to take a shot of the plane parked next door.



Time to board and I make my way to seat 20K.



I didn’t realise I would be trying the new J class layout until boarding. Small storage area. Adequate.



Nice touch screen remote…



The bed layout still directs your legs towards the corner. Although the seat is wonderful, if sleeping it can be a little restless.



IFE screen.



Plenty of leg space.



View from the side.

[Mlee888]

Food menu….







Champagne and wine offerings…







I went for my usual champagne…



As we approach for take-off I do a little plane spotting, ironic I spot a couple of Jet Airways birds.



Heading off….



And off we go…

[Mlee888]

Flight information on SQ has improved a lot.





Headset, slippers and socks!



Seat view…



Time for food beginning with the traditional satay!



Seafood starter with garlic bread. Delicious!



I went for book the cook. Beef fillet with mash potato and roasted vegetables! Great choice.





Ice cream dessert and cheese and crackers! I love cheddar cheese with crackers. I always ask for more.



After food I get some rest and the flight map indicates we are only an hour away from Mumbai.

[Mlee888]

Wifi was available on board but came at an expensive price.



$19.99 for 50MB, other options include 30MB for $12.99 or 15MB for $6.99.

As we land, it’s raining extremely heavy. No more photos as it was pointless until I reached the hotel. It is monsoon season after all.

This is my 3rd time staying in Sofitel Mumbai. It’s a lovely hotel with great ambience about the place. I didn’t have time to visit the gym or pool as I arrived late and my stay here would be for less than 12 hours. When I arrived they took me straight to my room to check-in. I am not a big fan of this as sometimes I like to enquire what my room is like before I reach.



Restaurant entrance where I would have breakfast the following morning.



Room was pleasant with a nice feel to it. I can’t complain really as it’s my 3rd time here and it’s the same quality of stay as my previous visits.



Separate bath and shower….



After a long days travel it’s finally time to sleep.

>

To be continued…... 

[SQfanatic]

Great TR. I can tell you were obviously on a 77WR from SIN-BOM also because SQ had decided to operate that during peak season travel. What reg did you have by chance? Def sure it was one of the Whiskey birds as you only got OnAir wifi.

I really love the 3D maps, and I think SQ is doing an upgrade of 2D maps to 3D on many 77WN. Think all 77W with 2013 cabins of whatever config will have 3D maps. I definitely agree, compared to the last 2D map, information has definitely improved as per the Flight Information screen.

[Mlee888]

Great TR. I can tell you were obviously on a 77WR from SIN-BOM also because SQ had decided to operate that during peak season travel. What reg did you have by chance? Def sure it was one of the Whiskey birds as you only got OnAir wifi.

I really love the 3D maps, and I think SQ is doing an upgrade of 2D maps to 3D on many 77WN. Think all 77W with 2013 cabins of whatever config will have 3D maps. I definitely agree, compared to the last 2D map, information has definitely improved as per the Flight Information screen.

Thanks, unfortunately not. Are there any free apps that can check the reg as far back as July 31st? I tried to look for one but to no avail.

[viraj735]

Nice photos so far, looking forward to the rest!

Your aircraft was SWK.
www.icargo.net is good for flights in/out of Singapore (you have to type in the entire URL).

[Mlee888]

Nice photos so far, looking forward to the rest!

Your aircraft was SWK.
www.icargo.net is good for flights in/out of Singapore (you have to type in the entire URL).

Thanks for this!

[Mlee888]

SQ / 9W: SIN-BOM-GOI-BLR-SIN with a Mix of J and Y with Various Hotels Part 2….

Apparently, the rain had been non-stop for 36 hours by the time I arrived at the hotel. Understandable with this being monsoon season of course. However, the next morning the rain did stop briefly. As I looked outside the window, there was what I could only guess to be a hotel security or staff briefing.



The last time I was here was in November 2015, I don’t recall the progress of the construction opposite so I decided to add this for next time sake.



Before I head for check-out, I grab a quick bite for breakfast. Lovely selection of cereals and fruits on offer.





Congee cooking station…. better than many hotels I’ve stayed in around Asia.



Other offerings include local and western…





After breakfast it’s time to head off for my day of meetings before making my way back to the airport for a domestic flight to Goa.

Jet Airways shares a first and business class check in area with Emirates.





Everything related to check-in was efficient except the check-in girl printed off a priority sticker for my suitcase but forgot to include this with my suitcase. Unfortunately, this meant when I arrived in Goa, my suitcase inevitably was last rather than first!

As I didn’t have time to get lunch, I decide to head straight to the lounge after security. There is no separate section in security for business class passengers. Queuing is not an option for many as a large number of passengers decide to walk straight to the front of queues and push in, in front of other folks. No one seemed to care about this either (including employees). It’s not worth the hassle I’m sure so after a delayed 15 minutes I finally make my way to the lounge and grab a bite!





It is here that I discovered a love for Roti and Prata! The food wasn’t bad either.

[Mlee888]

With the rains lashing down, every couple of minutes or so I still see a plane landing.



The bar area…



Lounge overall wasn’t so busy.



I pop out for a walk after to see what the shopping is like at the airport. Goodbye lounge!



I take a glance at the screen and it's suddenly changed from being on time to being delayed by 35 minutes.



The airport terminal has a nice ambience feel to it…



So with the delay, it's back to the lounge I go.



Lounge is still nowhere near half capacity.



45 mins to departure and it’s time to head to the gate.



Another delay is announced so I do a bit more window rain staring.



Eventually it’s time to board and I make my way on to the 9W 737 aircraft to Goa.



There are 3 rows in business class each with a 2x2 layout. Total number of pax in business was 4.

Plenty of leg space, reminds me of premium economy on long haul flights on some carriers.

[Mlee888]

Even on this short 1-hour flight there are light refreshments served.



With a break in the rain, it’s time for take-off.



Quick bit of plane spotting.







And off we go.



Shot of Mumbai as we leave.





Light meal served not long after take-off.



After food the flight gets hit with quite a bit of turbulence so we all remain in our seats until the end of the flight. Upon landing it’s a quick exit with the exception of luggage. As mentioned earlier, my luggage wasn’t tagged priority and ended up being one of the last bags to come out.

30 minutes later, I arrive at Park Hyatt Goa. I head straight to my room with high expectations.







Nice hotel overall and will share the photos of the surroundings in my next update. However, I did expect the room to be better as I have had good Grand Hyatt experiences in Bangkok, KL and Regency HK.

To be continued….

[yflyer]

A nice read so far, Mlee888!

I just visited Mumbai again earlier this month after a gap of a few years. I was very pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the new airport terminal is...one of the nicest terminals I have visited recently.

Looking forward to the rest...

[SQfanatic]

Nice photos so far, looking forward to the rest!

Your aircraft was SWK.
www.icargo.net is good for flights in/out of Singapore (you have to type in the entire URL).

I looked at icargo.net it is good for predicting what reg will be used for the next day maybe hours in advance but doesn't seem to work for past regs even when typing the flight number. Guess thats one way a poster checked SWA was forecasted to do 828/831 as a 77WR.


How do you do it?

[Mlee888]

SQ / 9W: SIN-BOM-GOI-BLR-SIN with a Mix of J and Y with Various Hotels Part 3….

With a bit of time spare before a full day of meetings, I take a gander around the grounds of Park Hyatt Goa. Although I wasn’t too keen on the room, the grounds itself is quite exceptional. Especially for this part of the world, an unexpected hidden treasure.

The hotel entrance as expected is highly guarded. Once you pass security, you come to this wonderful looking complex.





Hotel staff all courteous.



I must add that the photos were only able to be captured due to a temporary break in the rainfall.



View of the pool with the Arabian Sea in the background.



Hotel gardens.



View of the hotel from the gardens.







Reached the sea. As you can see it was quite windy.