Our trip to Down Under started at the wee hours when we took a cab to Changi airport for our maiden Scoot flight scheduled to depart at 2.10am. The queue at the check-in counters was very long, but luckily they opened quite a number of counters with visa checking conducted separately to ease the waiting time. An online check-in facility would be a great help. There was also a snaking queue at the departure gate. So we waited at a nearby killiney kopitiam stall where we could watch the queue.
Once we entered the plane, we were directed to our 'economy plus' seats which are color-coded in bright orange. The space between rows of seats were satisfying - about 30cm wide between my knees and the seat in front of me, when sitting straight. The only thing we could complain about was the location of call button which was at the side of the armrest. Accidental pressing of that button was so common that I supposed the flight attendants might have started to ignore the flashing lights.
There was no entertainment provided except iPads loaded with selection of movies that were available for rental. Food are available upon purchase. As we bought the complete set of fly-bag-eat package, the food is included in the airfare. There were 4 choices in the menu: nasi briyani, creamy chicken, beef lasagna and soya chicken. The worst: beef lasagna - I could only taste the tomato sauce with all its sourness glory. Nasi briyani, creamy chicken and soya chicken were just so-so. The hot meal came with a packet of dried fruit chips and drink (with only 2 choices: coke or evian). I guess if I were to fly scoot again, I would not choose to buy their food unless they improve on it.
A tip to bring empty bottles was proven useful, as we could then refill the bottles at the water fountain after passing the board gate security, or at the dispenser inside the plane. Especially since we did not get our drink until the meal was served, 4 long hours after departure.
The flight was a non-eventful one, with very little turbulence and a little too cold cabin temperature. The attendants were not as uptight as other airlines.
Our first destination - Sydney Fish Market. It's midday, so it wasn't crowded although all shops were still open. Other than seafood stores there were also stores selling cheese, fruits, juices and other delicacies. We settled down at Nicholas Seafood Traders and had a bucket of fish & chips plus fried calamari to share while enjoying the view. Seagulls were aplenty, therefore a covered table was chosen to avoid certain undesirable excretion coming unto us :p.
Since it's a Thursday, when most of the shops open late, we squeezed in some time for window shopping at Queen Victoria Building and The Strand. The buildings were really unique with outstanding grand clocks in hanging in the middle.
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| Our maiden Scoot flight |
It was sunny when we landed at Kingsford Smith Airport at 12:21pm. We briskly went pass the immigration, luggage belt (which were called 'carousel' down there) and custom check. Despite what people said about difficulties in bringing outside food into the country, we managed to bring in some mocha drinks, prawn crackers, and pempek with its sauce - but we made sure we declared everything. I made sure all food items were put in a single luggage. Luckily the custom officer wasn't interested in inspecting it.
For this trip we chose to rent a 7-seater hyundai imax with child seat to accommodate everyone. And the vehicle did not disappoint. It offered wide space, even the luggage space was wide enough to hold our 5 hard-case bags plus other small stuff.
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| Reaching Kingsford Smith Airport |
Our first destination - Sydney Fish Market. It's midday, so it wasn't crowded although all shops were still open. Other than seafood stores there were also stores selling cheese, fruits, juices and other delicacies. We settled down at Nicholas Seafood Traders and had a bucket of fish & chips plus fried calamari to share while enjoying the view. Seagulls were aplenty, therefore a covered table was chosen to avoid certain undesirable excretion coming unto us :p.
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| Sydney Fish Market |
Then we're off to Paddy's market. It looked more like Asian market with many stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables, as well as dried fruits, toys, clothes and souvenirs.
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| Window shopping |
For dinner we headed to Eastwood area for Korean bbq at Jonga Jip. There were many side dishes given out at the beginning of the meal. My fave was their salad - lettuce topped with tangy sesame sauce. The bulgogi beef slices that we ordered did not disappoint at all.. Yums! The only concern was the strong bbq smoke smell that stuck to us all the way home.
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| Jonga Jip Korean BBQ |
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