SQ Online Check-in

I just checked-in my flight to KL. I am flying with Singapore Airlines as usual.

When I was doing the online checkin, there was a new field (Visa Required) displayed on the screen. I was told that I need a Visa.

I had been to KL for many times and I am not aware that I need a Visa to enter KL.

KingFisher and New Airport

Last time when I went to India for hiking, I got two new experiences.

1: Taking KingFisher Airline
2: Using the new international terminal in New Delhi.

Before that, I used to take Jet Airway which I think is the best airline in India. They provide quite good international and domestic flight services when I was working in India. However, while I took the Jet Airway last time to Delhi, it seemed that the service quality was dropped and it drove me to try King Fisher.

King Fisher is a very famous beer in India, like Tiger in Singapore. When they started the airline business 2-3 years back, I already heard that it was even better then Jet. However, I did not have a chance to try.

Eventually it proved I made a correct decision and their service was generally better than Jet who also had fligh to Leh around the same time. Queue managemnet was better, they got more staffs with smiles, you felt you were taken care and more importantly, both our flight and Jet's flight were delayed for 2 hours. We got breakfast at the terminal while Jet did not. Thumb Up!

After arriving Delhi, I went to the international airport. And it becamse a new international airport. The old terminal was still in use few days back. I guessed it was in a transision period and some flights were using old terminal and some of them were using the new one.

My impression was like the combination of KLIA and Sydney airport.

Not so many people over there and there were many shops still under renovation. Air-con did not work very well, the new preimum lounge was not able to provide any good food. However, it improved a lot.

But, what will happen after the full operation? 

九寨溝

去得成九寨溝，首先都係要感謝 Virgina 小姐的準備。
沒有她就跟本去不成。 


九寨溝，聽了很多，照片都久不久都會看到。但是很多東西真的沒有去過，看過是真的不相信。
很多相看起來很假，但是就是這樣。
黃色的樹，綠色的林，青色的湖，紅色的花，藍色的天。
稀來往樣的人，就只有圖畫才有的顏色和構圖，都竟然在這兒看到。

Pentax DA12-24

初秋的九寨溝已帶著涼意，再加上地理關係和各樣客觀的條件。旅行的頭幾天是不容易的。

Garuda Indonesia II (Featuring CX / SQ)

After checking the safety record of Garuda Indonesia, then, out of curiosity, I checked the safety record of Cathay Pacific. I have been their Gold member for quite a while. There was a time I took their flight every week.

The last major accident was 15-Jun-1972. I was not on this earth yet. That accident killed 81 people. It was caused by a exploded bomb under a seat when flying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathay_Pacific#Incidents_and_accidents

In wiki, it also indiciated other incidents dated from1948-1972.

Nothing really interesting, but CX awarded "This was the first hijacking of a commercial liner in the world...."...,

When I was about to sleep, "What about SQ?" popped up in my head. With all these some kind additional and duplicated, security and safety checking and even the crews claimed all these just because of our safety....

The list in aiddiaster.com was actually much shorter... only 1 major accident.

However, it was on 31-Oct-2000, it seemed to me very close... and I could probably trace what I was doing that day....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_airline#Incidents_and_accidents

31 October 2000 – Singapore Airlines Flight 006 operated by a Boeing 747-400, crashed at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport) in Taiwan killing 83 people aboard and injuring 71 people during heavy rain caused by Typhoon Xangsane. SQ006 was the first fatal crash of a Singapore Airlines aircraft and the first fatal crash of the Boeing 747-400.

The scary part was, this incident was nothing to with multiple baggage scanning (before immigration, before boarding) and duplicated document check. (counter, before boarding, boarding).

In wiki, it also contained a link to SilkAir, which is an airline based in Singapore. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines Airline... I think this is a budget version of SQ.

I clicked the link about incidents again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SilkAir#Incidents_and_accidents

On December 19, 1997, SilkAir Flight 185, operated by a Boeing 737-300 and piloted by Captain Tsu Way Ming, plunged into the Musi River in Sumatra during a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore, killing all 104 people on board. The Indonesian NTSC ruled that the cause of the accident could not be determined, while the United States NTSB concluded that the incident was "consistent with ... intentional pilot action".

And it seems that is nothing related to the pessengers or airport security.

Finally, I checked Air India...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India#Accidents_and_incidents

There was no major accidents after 1990. The one on 1990 caused no fatalities. But their record in 80's was terrible....

If we plot a graph about number of incidents aganist time, we will get this one:

Interesting....

After talking to someone, said that to be fair, the fleet size does matter. I agree and I try to find the incident rate... I could find some reference and the result was not very suprise... According to the above.

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/rates.htm

DISCLAIMER These accident rates should not be used to provide an assessment of an airline’s safety profile or future risk of an accident. These rates are derived from past accidents and not an estimate or prediction of future risk. There are many additional factors in judging the safety of an air carrier which are not included here. These rates are not meant to endorse or condemn any particular airline or group of airlines nor are they intended to persuade or dissuade use of any particular airline. The accident rates and method of calculation of the accident rates are solely the opinion of this web site and the creator is not responsible for how this information is used and will not be held legally responsible for any consequences arising from the use of this information. There are numerous commercial organizations that provide complete and extensive safety ratings of commercial air carriers.

For the regoinal ranking in Asia, it was listed as follows. The number in the blanket after is the global ranking.
1: All Nippon Airways (8/88)
2: Japan Airlines (10/88)
3: Qantas (12/88)
4: Hanin airlines (What is it?) (24/88)
5: Air New Zealand (25/88)
6: Cathay Pacific (29/88)
7: Malaysia Airlines (36/88)
10: Air India (45/88)
11: Dragon Air (49/88)
16: Garuda Indonesian (73/88)
18: Singapore Airlines / Silkair (78/88)
19: China Eastern Airlines (79/88)
22: China Airlines (88/88)

SQ is just slightly better than 華航... oh my god!

Garuda Indonesia

As usual, I was going to Jakarta and just returned to Singapore.

The unusual was I had taken Garuda Indonesia. It was because the SQ flight so full from Sunday to Tuesday for any flights with any class code. And I was also in waiting list of Garuda in the beginning...

First time taken Garuda Indonesia, which is the national airline of Indonesia. When I needed to confirm the ticket, I was feeling a bit un-safe but then anyway. Flight was confirmed.

In the weekend before travel, I met a friend, He told me that Garuda' last accident was 2007. So he wished me a safe trip....

Actually it was not that bad when I was flying from SG to JKT. And it was just a bit bumpy when returning from JKT to SQ.

Tonight (Last nigjt), I was looking for the safety record about Garuda Indonesia. The result was actually interesting...

http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/airline_detail.cgi?airline=Garuda+Indonesia

What a long list! The last accident was actually 3-July-2007. The link above only indicated 1 crew was killed. But then when I checked with google and wiki. I found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda_Indonesia#Incidents_and_accidents


Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, a Boeing 737-400 flying from Jakarta, crashed and burst into flames on landing at Adisucipto International Airport, Yogyakarta at 0700 hours on 7 March 2007. 21 people were killed.

Luckily, I was able to return to Singapore, in one piece.

The above was actually no suprise.

To be continued... 

By the way, there was a bomb attack in Jakarta this morning... 

斯德哥爾摩 - Mid Summer

難得可以係暑假去斯德哥爾摩。難得可以同舊老闆出海。
難得有一個好天氣，在波羅的海享受著由北極吹來的陣陣涼風。
在一個沒有日落的地域上，過著一個非一般的夏季。

SQ SMS Check-in

Singapore has recently launched a SMS Check-in Service, which draws my attention immediately. You can find the link here of you can see the text below: 

Singapore Airlines is pleased to offer you SMS Check-in service designed to reduce hassle and offer more convenience should you be on the go.
To take advantage of this facility, you need to be a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer or PPS Club member. When you log-in to your KrisFlyer account, access  “My Booking Alerts” and register for a personal flight alerts profile. 
To check-in, simply reply with the given code in the check-in notification sent from “SQAlert” and you will receive a check-in confirmation message when you are successfully checked-in for yourself. 
SMS Check-in is currently available for flights operated by Singapore Airlines with the exception of flights departing from Colombo.  The service is unavailable for mobile phone subscribers in Canada, Japan, Korea and USA.

For me, this is kind of innovative service because it is really better to check-in with mobile, especially when I am in oversea where internet connection is not obvious. The process is simple, just replying a SMS. It is done.

But then, the next question coming is, why I need to do an early check-in?
To reduce hassle, which is answered in the above already.

However, how do we present the boarding pass? Perhaps one day, the Singapore airport and some more airports allow to use a bardcode (or something else) on the mobile as the boarding pass, it could be the solution. Technically is possible and it is not very costly. But I don't see this will happen because part of the check-in process is visual check. This can't be done by a mobile device. In addition, even if I have checked in with mobile but I arrive the airport late. At the counter, will the airline still help me to print the boarding pass? I doubt. Or they have just released by seat because I did not show up in time.

The second reason for an early check-in is to select a seat, but I don't think this can't be done by SMS.

So? Do I need a SMS check-in?

Why I need to switch to prepaid mobile service in Singapore?

Usually, a mobile operator would prefer a postpaid (contract) subscriber rather than a prepaid subscriber. It is because postpaid subscribers are usually more loyal to the network and they generate higher revenue.
Postpaid subscribers also bind to a contract in term of years. It could mean the operator can give a bigger discount because once they have signed the contract, the cost to manage them for the coming years (1 year - 2 years usually) will be lower.

In simple, postpaid subscribers are higher revenue and lower cost.

On the other hand, prepaid subscriber is price sensitive and they are easier switched to other operators just because of the price. They usually don't value the service provided by the operator. From every annual reports of any mobile operators, we can easily figure out that the value of a postpaid subscriber is much higher than a prepaid subscriber.

Moreover, the additional cost overhead such as SIM cards, topup cards are also huge. Therefore, a prepaid subscriber usually means lower revenue and higher cost.

However, after receiving this bill, I would switch my postpaid subscription to prepaid subscription.

The picture here may not clear, but basically:
1: Postage & Handling Fee for Reminder. S$0.50
  I am being charged because I paid my bill late. They have sent a reminder and it costs $0.5.
2: Caller-ID: S$5.00. Caller ID service is worths $5
3: AutoRoam: S$10.00: Roaming service is $10. It allows your mobile to roam.
4: Free v019: S$5.35. IDD call, subscription is S$5.35 per month.

If I switch to prepaid, the item 2 - 4 will be ALL free. It is just part of the package. In addition, since I become a prepaid subscriber, the operator does not need to send a reminder if I pay my bill late. I will save $0.50.

It is true that my mobile bill is paid by company. But I don't feel I am a value customer at all. One time, I paid my bill late, they have stopped my service when I was in Jakarta. I can't make call and I can't receive call. The operator did not allow me to log on to any network.

That's all.

Airfare: CX vs SQ

在一個偶然的情況之下，去了 Cathay 和 Singapore Airlines 的網頁。
在現今的經濟情況下，幾乎所有的航空公司都有不錯的優惠。始終，無論個人或公務而出外的人都少了。而所有的新聞都說明航空是艱難的一年。

看看 CX 的海嘯價，注意以下貨幣是新加坡圓：

從香港人看來，沒有什麼特別之處。星加坡曼谷 S$150 (HK$ 765)，星加坡台灣 S$380 (HK$1938)，星加坡日本 S$480 (HK$2448)，星加坡上海 S$430 (HK$2193)，星加坡美國 S$950 (HK$4845)。
我只可以說，超值。星加坡日本 $2448。從前這個價錢由星加坡回香港都不夠，現在加送日本。

再看看 Singapore Airline：

從香港人看來，這一個是震憾價。
星加坡東京 S$798，星加坡上海 S$838，星加坡北京 S$938，星加坡台北 S$838。星加坡 Los Angeleus S$1498。注意的地方是，去東京是最少二人同行，所以價錢平一點。

有趣的地方是，星加坡台北 S$838，CX 是 S$380。用同樣的錢，CX 是二人同行還有錢來買免稅品。到上海也差不多差兩倍。

很有趣的現像。

Bus Service in Singapore

在星加坡，公共交通工具既選擇不多。只有地鐵，巴士， 輕鐵，的士。
跟香港不一樣，沒有電車香最重要的小巴。

雖然香港地方小，但如果只是由巴士香地鐵，去好多地方都會變得好不方便。
例如西貢，如果西貢人只可以坐 92號，我想西貢沒有現在的多人居住。

小巴的定位是介乎地鐵 / 巴士既大型交通工具香的士的一個平衡。

星加坡的巴士，雖然是實施分段收費，但是感覺在這兒坐巴士好像比香港的全程收費還要貴。
好像以下我經常坐的巴士的收費表，最低收費 S$1 (~HK$5.2)，最高 S$1.9 (~HK9.88)。而只係坐三個地鐵站，就要 $1.4，香港已經可以由黃大仙坐到出尖沙咀。

可能星加坡地平關係，這兒的巴士服務沒有香港的直接，很多時都會左穿右插。站與站之間的距離亦過近，令行車時間增長。還記得第一次在這兒坐巴士，本來是很近的兩個地方，竟坐了四十五分鐘，上車時睡著了到醒時還沒有到。

經歷過星加坡的地鐵和巴士服務，會絕對明白為什麼這兒的人愛駕駛。

最後，這兒的巴士服務，令我最能欣賞的是有一個用 SMS 查詢下一班巴士到站的預計時間，頗準的。使用方法是發一個由兩組數字組成的短信，第一組數字是巴士站號碼，第二組數字是巴是號碼。之後便會收到一個回信告知要查詢的巴士幾多分鐘後才到站。記下一些常用的巴士站號碼後，這一個服務什為實用。

Singapore Hand Chicken

星加坡海南雞飯出名係人都知，不過原來仲有一樣野出名，就係 Hand Chicken。

唔明？中文即係”手雞"。
唔明？有圖為証：

手機個機 (JI) 同埋 海南雞個雞 (JI) 係同音既。

係星加坡，經常同（香港）人討論既就係 Singlish。
聽唔慣既人就會話呢到 D 英文好怪。
我就覺得見怪不怪，其實 Singlish 同香港人講廣東話無分別。即係香港人會講：
”囡，你食唔食個 Cake?"

呢隻雞，睇得明，不過好好笑。

最後。的。馬六甲

頭一篇到馬六甲，萛是我星加坡之旅的第一次外遊。
一開始的時候有一點擔心，可能在不同東西的陰影影響之下。

到了馬六甲，感覺不一樣了。
它有著十年二十年前香港澳門有的簡單。
雖然現在開始發展起來。

發展，總有一個過程是整合和保留原貌，但是好像兩樣東西永遠都不可共存。
整合就不再是原貌，保留原貌就不再發展。就萛什麼也不做，也真的是保留原貌嗎？


最後：是這張臉的最後一眼，因為什麼東西都只有一眼。
的：是一個代名詞。
馬六甲：就是這個地方。

Singapore Taxi

One day in the morning, I was taking a cap in Singapore to go to customer meeting.

When I waved my hand, I saw that the cap coming toward to me was a bit, hm, the luxury one. But it does not like the normal limo taxi in Singapore. When the taxi stopped beside me, I checked the fare and it was only SGD 2.00 (~ HKD 10.00) expensive than normal one. No big deal, I got on board.

When I got on the taxi, I saw two small LCD TV on the pillow. Not a surprise and it usually shows information on the TV.

Then, the taxi driver suddenly asked me: "You want to sing?"
It was earlier in the morning so my response was like "errr? sorry?"
He said again: "Do you want to sing? I have a mic here and you can sing here. What songs do you prefer?"
It was earlier in the morning so I did not really have the mode to sing, then I just replied: "No thanks, but it is a brilliant idea to sing on the taxi."

After that, the driver started to introduce himself and he was very famous. Even BBC had a program about his idea then bili bala bili bala. Finally, the driver realized I am from Hong Kong. So he switched to Cantonese and asking me "Do you want to sing Beyond?"

This time I was impressed.

Without my intervene, he started to play the "大地".

 

It was fun. I did not sing finally but I did try out the mic and it was not bad. The driver said that some people even really booked his taxi because of this.

It was a fun experience.

By paying only additional HKD 10 then you could sing few songs before home. 

Imagine that you were taking this cab from Changi airport to the city, then it is totally worth it. 

Property Agent @ SG

To rent an or to buy an apartment in Singapore, there are few ways.

- Check the newspaper for the advertisment.
- Check the advertisment on the internet.
- Check the leaflet

Most of the cases the advertisments are posted by the agents. The property agents in Singapore are independent business.

It does not like in Hong Kong, Sweden, or India, you can find a property agent company on the street. Then you can find out the market price of that area without stepping in the company. I like an area, I find the property agent over there, then I rent an apartment there. It sounds very obvious.

But the property agents are really independent business. I feel that it is actually no different than finding a job.

How independent it is?

When you flip the property page of a newspaper, not only you will find the available properties, but also you can see the agents, with their pictures.

It does not mean anything for me. But it makes me recall one thing. There was a research "Beauty and labor market" carried out by Daniel S. Hamermesh and Jeff E Biddle. Their reseach found out that a better-looking person could at least earn 5-10% more than an average looking person. An an average looking person could at least earn 5-10% more than an Homely looking person. So I always know this is true but here is another proof. Otherwise, why people snow their pictures?

A380

Follow the First time in Sydney dew days back, I was actually taking the A380 from Sydney back to Singapore - my first travel with this air giant.

The air craft is big, but comparing with Boeing 747 Jumbo (Not sure the exact name), but I only had seen this air giant with 5 seconds and I did not have many comments about it. One of the differences was that there were four entrances at the boarding gate - lower deck 1st and biz class, lower deck economy, upper deck 1st and biz class and upper deck economy. It is kind of confusing to some passengers...

The interior is new, very new, of course it is new the people would imagine. I made this comment because I got a chance to take the new "product" from CX also. The CX's interior was supposed to be new but all ............ hm.

The front panel provides a high resolution screen, a glasses and a cup holder, a USB and a LAN port. According to the menu, you can put a USB thumb drive to see the video, pictures, PDF document using the LCD screen. I did not try it but it is actually a good idea. But I have no clue about the use of the LAN... Perhaps it will provide an internet access some days later. There is a video in connector and I guess it is similar use to the USB port, but less use. One evolution is that there is a power socket under the arm rest which is very useful for me.
The A380 also keeps the magazine pocket while CX has moved it under the chair which is absolutely inconvenient. It comes with few empty small pockets for your personal belongings.

I was unfortunately taking the economy class this time but fortunately the A380 provides an additional compartment which I like very much. The room is big enough for the pillow, blanket and my laptop bag.

Finally, I guess the above comments do apply for all the new interior for all SQ fligths, it does not matter with an A380 or not. Haha.

First time in Sydney

終於有機會踏足 Sydney！

可能人老的原因，少了一種好開心好開心的感覺。
但興奮總是有的，除了有機會看到歌劇院外，各樣的名勝都有機會看過一眼。叫做了曾到此一遊。

是一個九月尾到十月的日子，春天的日子，似暖還寒。
就像 Stockholm 的夏天樣，白天還熱熱的，到了晚上就要穿上外套。

Sydney 的亞洲人很多，真的很多很多。好像見到的亞洲人多過了眼見的澳洲人。所以亞洲的餐館也多的是。
第一天的晚上嘗了一間香港人開的館子，果然又給我說中。在那些地方也好，最好還是吃當地的食物。
可惜沒有機會。

最後還有機會到 Bondi Beach，感覺得好。如果熱天來。應該是一個很"熱"的沙灘。

在 Sydney 逗留的日子不多，希望可以再到 Sydney 多看一些地方，可以爬上 Syndey 橋。

Singapore F1

Singapore F1 just finished. It was the first night formula 1 event ever.

Undoubtedly, it was a big event in Singapore. Since half year back, you could see anything, anytime and everywhere could relate to F1, such as having a F1 racing cars in a shopping malls with all companies logos. All commercial advertisements were also related to F1.

After the events, when you read the newspaper. You could easily find every piece of news talk about the very successful F1. I would agree that it is a successful event. However, the news was kind of interesting. For example, one piece was about a speaker talked about this event was highly rated by people even over Beijing Olympics. And the speaker was from a local Singaporean company.

Of course the people would rate this event higher than anything. Technically, it is no different than asking me like "Do I see the balance my bank account more important than the balance of your bank account".

I have heard that many interesting point of views of the local newspaper, I see how is work this time.




This picture was taken three days before the event. They were testing the track. Many roads were actually blocked 1 week before to ensure enough setup time for the event. Haha.... Then i recall the GT3 Hong Kong track.

Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Cake) @ Singapore

係星加坡，過中秋係無假放既。
亦都因為咁，星加坡人唔會出尼玩，大部份人都對呢個節日無乜感覺。

回應返上次寫關於中國鬼節既文章 (http://matchkk.blogspot.com/2008/08/pray-for-7th-month.html)，好像這裡的人會做一些現代中國人已經不再做的事。

在早幾天跟朋友的聚會中，他們也說這裡的印度人情況也一樣。

相反，這些中秋節，更傳統的節日，這身反而好像只是輕輕擦過。
如過不是經過 Chinatown，好像都不知道有這一個節日。

一開頭，覺得香港和星加坡差不多。但是住久了一點，又有一個新的看法。

世界天氣

Still Remember that time when I was needed to go to India quite often, one of the most common questions was "Is India (or Delhi) very hot?". Usually, I would say that actually Hong Kong is hotter than India. This is because the tempature is similar but Hong Kong is far more humid than Delhi. Delhi also has more open space and in the night time it could be cold.

Today, just check my igoogle as usual. When my eye just pass by the weather forcast porlet, I see this:

So in reality, Hong Kong is really more hotter than Delhi. My god!

星加坡榴蓮

本人而言，覺得星加坡人對榴蓮有一種情意結，位於這中心的文化中心 "The Durain" 就是一個好例子。我覺得。

記得好多年前見到”呢檀野"，有一個榴蓮於市中心，眉頭一鄒。
當然，這一個榴蓮的 Designer 不是星加坡人，他對榴蓮有沒有認識，我不肯定。

即是又好像一套快要上影的星加坡電影 "The Days"，Poster 入邊又有一個榴蓮 (Poster 最右手邊的那一個人手上的東西)。種種看見的都令我有這一種榴蓮情意結的想法。

但是那一個（其實係一對）榴蓮劇院 (The Durain) 是一個不錯的影相對像，跟在香港影維港沒有分別。再加上附近 既 Singapore Flyer 同埋隻星加坡獅子，另到所有去睇獅子既人都會順便好好奇咁走去看一看。榴蓮劇院特別的設計的確比香港既文化中心更能為為一個 Icon，而少有趣一點。再加上晚上從榴蓮刺透出來的光芒，會另我對這一個榴蓮拍下幾張照片。

在香港，拍維港的人行多，本地人好，外國人好，又過維港的時侯，又有多少人看過文化中心一眼？

Pentax K20D, DA*16-50

最後，The Durain 只係一個花名，真名是 The Esplanade。

Btw，係我睡房望出去係望到半個榴蓮既。