It was time to fly again over the recent long weekend holidays, and it was another 'pilgrimage' trip for great thai food in the Land of Smiles. Flights to and fro were booked on Thai Airways, which offered reasonable fares for the long weekend period. TG operates 5x daily on the SIN-BKK route, and 2 of the flights are flown on their brand new A350 aircraft, which would be the aircraft I am flying on both legs.
TG's check-in counters at Changi opens 2.5hrs before flight, and I was there rather early as I wanted to check out the new Jewel in Changi. Among the first to check-in and received the colourful boarding pass.
The new Jewel shopping complex is attached to Terminal One, and it was actually my first visit to the new attraction, though I stayed rather near the airport. Amid all the hoohas, it offered an instagrammable setting with lush greenery and world's tallest indoor waterfall. Other than that, it was the usual shopping, eateries and entertainment outlets found in many other shopping complexes, though some are exclusive to Jewel only at the moment. Wonder how long the hype will last.
Left Jewel and headed through immigration into the Departure in search of some food. Spotted QR's A350-1000.
Decided to head to the Dnata lounge to check it out. The lounge is used by a few airlines, mainly SkyTeam airlines and airlines with no alliances. Entry is also available to membership holders, including Priority Pass. As it was the lull period, the lounge was actually pretty quiet.
Coffee/tea and bar area.
Dining area. The dining options were not too exciting at this time of the day.
Only grabbed a light bite from the buffet.
Headed to the gate, which was at the far end of the terminal.
The gate area is comfortable and cosy.
Our A350 being prepped.
SQ's A350ULR resting on the tarmac.
Busy taxiway.
18 May 2019
Thai Airways
TG 404
Singapore (SIN) - Bangkok (BKK)
A350-900
HS-THF
Economy Class
Flight Time: 2H01M
Boarding was called.
Heading to the beautiful A350 aircraft.
Welcomed by two beautiful Thai cabin crew at the door.
Turned left into the economy cabin. Seat designs were modern and beautiful. On each seat was a pillow. Blankets were available upon request as well.
Beautiful A350 swept winglet.
Each seat had a huge IFE touchscreen monitor with remote control. Under the monitor was a USB port and a headphone jack. The seat was also fitted with a footrest. Power sockets were available under the seat. Legroom was decent.
Pillow, blanket and headphones.
Reading materials.
Despite the full flight, boarding was completed very efficiently, and doors were closed well ahead of schedule. Safety video was shown, and it was the new TG fantasy-themed safety video.
Starting the short taxi to the runway.
Loved the camera view!
It was only a short taxi to the runway and after holding for a few departures ahead, we took off from Rwy20C.
For some reason, flight map information was unavailable.
Climbing above the clouds.
The IFE selection were updated with new movies. More than sufficient selection for this short flight. I chose the comedy, Dumplin.
Meal service started shortly after.
Meal and beverages selection were available in the IFE system. The meal selection was similar to what I had a year ago on the same flight. Not sure of how TG rotates their menus.
Meal tray served. They ran out of the Snapper choice, so went for the Curry chicken with Nasi Goreng. The tray came with a side salad with dressing, warm bun with butter, banana crumble dessert, plastic cutlery and a bottle of drinking water.
Salad was fresh and crunchy. Banana crumble was a tad dry for my liking.
The main course was flavourful and very tasty.
Continuing with my movie
After the meal trays were distributed, the crew came down the aisle with the beverage cart, offering coffee/tea and other beverages. Wines were offered earlier with the meal distribution. Unlike previously flights on TG, it seems that TG has done away with displaying the full bar selection on the cart top, instead they just had the common wines/coffee/tea/juice/coke on display, aka SQ-style. I had a cup of diet coke.
Meals cleared and it was 30min till we started the descent into BKK. An arrival video was shown.
Descending and flying pass the airport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc5bWjmrLEM
Making a turn to finals.
Gears down.
Landing on Rwy19R.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG0B9CLs0_g&t=147s
Taxied to the gate.
Disembarking
On this trip, I stayed at The Lancaster Bangkok, which is near the Makassan station of the airport rail. The hotel is quite new, with well furnished and very comfortable rooms, as well as modern appliances.
There is a rooftop swimming pool.
Makassan train station ahead.
Dinner was at Somboon Seafood at the Centralworld branch.
Dessert at After You.
Lancaster Hotel offers a respectable breakfast buffet.
Visit to Chatuchak on a cloudless warm day.
Lunch at OrTorKor Market.
To Erawan Shrine for some prayers on Vesak day.
Some pretty good fusion cuisine at White Flower Factory.
However the café/restaurant is still famous for its wonderful selection of cakes, especially the coconut cake!
Hotel breakfast
Visit to the new icon of Bangkok, Icon Siam shopping mall.
At the lower level, there is a 'floating market' offering all sorts of local thai food.
The upper floors are just like any other shopping mall. There is a nice view of the river from the upper floor.
Lunch at a popular roast meat place near Saphat Taksin.
And a delicious dinner at Saengchai Phochana restaurant at Thonglor.
Famous mango sticky rice.
Thanks for this FR.
TG really offers a great product on that 2 hour flight.
Good that the load was high, they deserve to succeed against the LCC.
Great review I have a question though that you may not have the answer to. Since the headphone jack on this seat is the double prong type if I plug in my single prong jack would it work? I have an adapter but I was just wondering. Thanks.
It works, but you will only hear music from one side of your headphones/earplugs
The product TG delivered seems to be better than what Cathay Pacific does to Bangkok either. Why didnt you use one of Star Alliance lounges? They are often much and much better than if you compare it to a 3rd party or sky team lounge