Our next stop was the Tokyo International Forum, a massive architectural landmark normally used for exhibitions and concert halls. They also happen to run flea market on that day. It’s quite interesting to see various items on sale even though we found they are rather expensive for second-hand items.

We then walk back to Tokyo station and catch a train to Shinjuku to check out some cosplay. Harajuku station was soo.. busy that we were overwhelmed by the crowds over there. Exiting the station was hard enough since there were so many people but then as we reached the famous Takeshita St, we can’t help but to be astounded by the sheer crowd.

A few metres into Takeshita St, we stopped in front of maccas with fear that we’re going to be trampled by the crowd. Luckily it wasn’t too bad once you’re in with the crowd. T noticed a crepe shop nearby and decided to give it a try. He bought a strawberry crepes and it was REALLY GOOD!!! It was so good that I forgot about my headache and had a full smile on every bite. For me, that was the best strawberry crepes in the world!

We checked out a few shops in the area, drop by at a ¥100 shop and then continue to walk to Shibuya district (yes, we walked all the way).

In the evening we visited Ginza area where all the exclusive (read: expensive) boutiques are located. It’s a very vibrant area and even though we didn’t buy anything there (can anyone guess why?), we took a few snapshots, pay a visit to the Apple Store where T saw the awesome elevator UI on youTube a couple of years back. It stops at every floor and features 100% glass doors (no frame on them!).

Satoko-san used to live at my place when she did her Indonesian language degree in Makassar and she has become very close to our family. So it was nice that we could see her again in Kyoto.

Travelling to Kyoto took around 2.5 hours (at a speed of 300 km/h, mind you) and the ride was extremely smooth…so smooth that we kept falling asleep as much as we wanted to see the scenery that flickered past our window. We had purchased bento boxes from the station before we departed and ate it on the train for our lunch.

Kyoto station seemed to be as big as Tokyo station. As soon as we exited the gate, there was a cake shop with a long display of cakes that have been beautifully made. Such a fascinating sight! In fact, the whole walkway was lined with cake shops and bakeries. It was quite tricky finding the taxi company which would take us to the hotel because it was located across the road and not so obvious looking. The hotel itself was not too far from the station, but we thought it was a bit too much if we had to walk and drag our luggages with us. (besides, the taxi fare is covered by the hotel)

This time we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto hotel. Aah, it’s such a beautiful place! Most hotels give a cold vibe, but not this one. The interior design was a combination of Scandinavian and Japanese zen, which created a warm and homely atmosphere. The staff were also extremely nice. The first person we met at the hotel was the concierge who greeted us at the door. He’s definitely not Japanese….rather an Aussie (he later told us he used to live in Balmain)

After checking in, a female concierge staff led us to our room while pushing the luggage trolley. It turned out she’s not Japanese too! She’s from Shanghai and she was a delightfully chatty person. She really gave me the impression that this hotel has very lovely and friendly staff. Actually I thought she was rather cute and would be perfect for K. Anyway, she opened the door for us and would not walk in until we have entered first. Then she carried (not dragged, but CARRIED) our heavy luggages inside the room. I felt sorry for her (she was petite), so I beckoned to assist but she would not allow me to. Gosh, such hospitality. After “introducing” the room to us, she left with a bow and we unpacked, marvelled at the beautifully designed room, and got ready to explore Kyoto.

We decided to walk back to Kyoto Station because there is a giant shopping center there and we were eager to visit more food basements. On the way, we stopped over at Amazon Cafe for afternoon tea. It’s a delightful little place that has been opened since 1972. We were seated upstairs and ordered coffee with a hamburg sandwich for T and an egg & cucumber sandwich for me. The food was actually quite nice! We felt refreshed and continued walking to Kyoto Station.

We walked up the escalators, which from the bottom looked like a stairway to heaven. The building itself has a modern design and very open. There’s an Isetan department store, several nice restaurants, and lots of smaller shops/restaurants/cafes underneath. In fact, so many that it was always difficult for us to find our way back to the same place. It felt like we went to a totally different and unexplored area everytime we exited a gate or walked around the corner.

So we sussed out Isetan and happily browsed the stationery section. I bought several goodies as gifts and when it was time to pay, the guy at the counter asked me in Japanese whether these were for presents. At first I didn’t understand what he was saying, but after using broken English (and broken Japanese) I told him “yes, it’s for omiyage”. The word omiyage must have set off an alarm bell inside his head because he looked distressed (?) and asked for assistance from his female colleague. She asked what colour paperbag I would like – red or blue. I chose blue. Then she asked what colour ribbon (on gold stickers) I would like – red or blue. I chose blue again. So both of them immediately created a production line, where the guy peeled off the price stickers and placed the items in individual paper bags, while the lady neatly folded the flap and meticulously placed the Isetan sticker/ribbon at the front. While they were doing this, a queue formed at the counter and I felt bad for getting them to do individual packaging. Hang on, not my fault. It was a miscommunication – I actually asked them to place all items in one big bag and provide me with several smaller ones so I can wrap them myself later on, but she thought I wanted each of them wrapped individually on the spot *sigh*.

So again, I felt sorry for them and plainly told them that I could wrap it myself at home. They both immediately gave me a surprised look and the lady said “Nooooo we do it for you!” while waving her hand. Ach, I felt bad and slightly embarassed because they gave such good customer service that ours here in Aussie is like NOTHING compared to theirs. T thought it was funny

After that we headed towards the lower levels and ate noodles for dinner, before walking back to the hotel to call it a day. We took some photos of the hotel lobby, explored the area, took a nice relaxing shower and went back down to the lobby to use the internet. The concierge from Shanghai was there again and she was chatting with some other guests (little chatter box). Then she spotted a person outside who was trying to get a taxi, so she immediately ran outside, did a quick bow, called the taxi over, stood and waited until the taxi left the hotel grounds, and did another 90 degree bow.
Whoa…

We were very excited to be on board the A380 and loved every minute of it. My eyes were hurting because we’d been lacking sleep for several days, so I couldn’t watch the movies for too long. I tried to read the Nikon D80 camera’s manual but found myself falling asleep after a few pages. Luckily the inflight entertainment system also features “educational” stuff, so I decided to learn Japanese language and read information about Japan. T on the other hand made the most out of the in-seat power supply and did some last minute work stuff before switching to “holiday” mode.

We arrived at Changi International Airport – Terminal 3 at around 2pm. We got off the plane and took some photos of the plane from the boarding ramp before entering the terminal. We saw other passengers were taking similar shots. I guess they were impressed too! Changi Terminal 3 is huge and has closer resemblance to a shopping centre than an airport. The ceilings were designed to utilise natural light during the day and yet keep the heat out. Exclusive (read: expensive) stores also at the ready to serve you should you wish to shop for items like Vertu, Chopard, Mont Blanc, etc.

The terminal is so huge that it has its own monorail inside the terminal running every 3 minutes to take you to departure gates located towards the end of the terminal (in our case it can take up to 16 minutes to walk there – by using monorail we got there in 5 minutes)

I loved the koi ponds – HUGE koi fish kept coming up to the surface with their mouth opened wide. They probably thought we were going to feed them because we visited the pond close to their feeding time. You can easily find resting areas, free internet connections, yummy foods, glorious shops…and the toilets…ach, the toilets…some have views to the tarmac area, and there’s one in the centre (for ladies) which features a section that looks like a salon but without the hairdressers and equipments, plus 2 change rooms. Nice!

We had several hours to kill before our next flight to Japan, so we decided to go to the city to meet up with T’s friend. We took the MRT to Orchard Road and ate prawn mee (recommended by H). At first I thought it would be tasteless because it looked bland, but it turned out to be delicious! A small serve was enough for both of us. I can’t imagine how big the large serving is. We sussed out several shops as we waited for T’s friend, then we went to a cafe in Borders (it’s much nicer than the usual Gloria Jeans counters we have in Sydney) for a quick meal before heading back to the airport.

The next flight to Narita was at 11.40pm. We were extremely tired by then and my eyes were sore, so we slept as soon as the plane took off. Mind you, the flight was on the ‘normal’ 737-400 airplane (ie. small sized monitors) so we couldn’t be bothered to watch any movie. I was a bit annoyed as a stewardess woke us up at around 1.30am for “light refreshment”. Breakfast was served around 4 hours later and my stomach was confused.

Photos

Booking and Reservations

We booked our ticket online directly from Singapore Airlines website. This simplified the reservation process as everything is linked to our Krisflyer frequent flyer membership. One further benefit is that we can also choose our seat prior to check-in. A quick look at SeatGuru reveals that row 71-83 is located on the upper deck. Singapore Airlines’ website doesn’t indicate this and instead simply shows these rows as if they’re just more rows towards the end of the plane. We decided to reserve row 80F & 80G as they provide plenty of legroom due to their position near the emergency exits. Alternatively, you may want to get 81H or 81K (or both if you’re a couple) if possible. We’ll let you know why later.

Check-In

We purchased the economy class ticket, so there’s not much to write about the check-in process. You still have the usual queue and even though we did internet check-in, it seems that the number of people queueing at the “Express (Internet Check-in)” counters is about the same as the regular line. But this is no biggie.

Our boarding pass showed 80F and 80G which is no surprise to us. We also noticed a bright orange sticker on it and wondered what they’re for.

Upon boarding the plane, we noticed a long queue at the gate and as we prepared to be stuck in line for the next 10 minutes we noticed another gate next to it with a sign “Business & Economy (Upper Deck)” and no queue. We were able to board the aircraft immediately when we showed our boarding pass (the bright orange sticker indicates that we are seated in the upper deck). We gave a cheeky smile to those still waiting in line as we walked towards the plane, and a few seconds later we were on board the biggest and most advanced commercial aircraft in the world.

Those who are lucky enough to sit in the First Class or better known as the ‘Suites’ get their own walkway to the aircraft and completely separated from other passengers.

Cabin & Interiors

Upon entering the aircraft we noticed a small vase with flowers on the wall. There were also some paintings located near the staircase. They definitely tried to improve the interior design and without the rows of seats you can easily forget that you are entering an aeroplane. The ambience of light can also be adjusted to not only different brightness levels but also colour (warmer colour on cruising altitude and the usual bright white when on the ground or whenever food service is in progress). The ambience transition is very smooth although we found it happening too frequently on our trip back to Sydney. We’re not quite sure if they are really that necessary (most passengers were asleep) or the captain was simply showing off his new toy.

Another reason that you should try to get a seat on the upper deck is that they are arranged in a 2-4-2 format whereas lower deck is 3-4-3. This not only means that you have less people to fight over the restroom but you also feel less cramped when seating on either sides and provide extra privacy when travelling in pairs.

A new feature (and a pretty good one!) is the additional compartments on the window seats. There is now a gap of about 20cm by the window where you can store some personal items. Very handy if you have valuable items but worry someone might pinch it from the overhead locker or from your lap while you’re asleep. We managed to fit a laptop (in it’s bag), an SLR camera (in it’s bag), 2 winter jackets and our complimentary blankets in it. We were very impressed.

Comfort

The seats on A380 economy class aren’t that much different from the typical economy seats found elsewhere however the extra 2-3 cm legroom and higher ceiling gave a more spacious feel overall. When reclining the seat we found that the bottom part moves forward slightly too. This is pretty minor but we felt that we should mention it anyway.

They also seem to have improved the cabin pressurisation system. We didn’t feel as much dryness or discomfort compared to the usual 737-400 Megatop or 777-300 Jubilee.

Business travellers are no strangers to in-seat power points but in yet another world-first offering Singapore Airlines provides this facility on economy class seats. That’s right, you can charge your phone, laptop, watch a dvd (not that you need them – we’ll get into that soon) or finish off your work so later on you can enjoy your holiday. Next on our wish list is the internet connection and looking from the RJ-45 port (which currently doesn’t do anything) on every seat, we shouldn’t be waiting for too long. Bear in mind that only 2 in 3 seats has the in-seat power supply.

Other handy features include personal storage space for spectacles and small personal items, a coat hook, a separate cup holder and foot rest.

The take off was smooth and quiet. No more worries of whether the plane can lift itself up or not. As a matter of fact the whole flight was very quiet considering this aircraft uses 4 x Rolls Royce engine where each engine takes in 1.25 tons of air every second.

On our way to Singapore the ride was bumpy with plenty of turbulence and swings but the flight back home was just fine.

Unfortunately because we were located near the emergency exit with plenty of space, other passengers tend to linger around this area to stretch or cross sides (from the left aisle to the right). We don’t really mind but others might get annoyed by this.

KrisWorld inflight entertainment system

Gone are the days when you feel bored during a flight, at least on A380. We all know that the KrisWorld inflight entertainment system is one of the best in the world (if not the best). It features hundreds of latest movies on demand, games, music, etc. Passengers in A380 can now enjoy the whole experience much better with a hi-res 10.6″ display (and a very slick UI) on every economy seat. Watching movies is also more convenient as you can turn on/off subtitles or switch between languages (a la DVD). Once you experienced the new KrisWorld you probably won’t bother with the ones found on Megatop or Jubilee.

There is also a USB port on every seat so you can plug in your USB key and continue working on your files using an array of office productivity utilities (Hint: it’s running OpenOffice). Although this is not meant to replace your business function entirely, it’s sufficient for simple changes or document review. KrisWorld is now also an inflight productivity suite.

Underneath the screens are 4-5 LED with adjustable brightness levels which functions as a non-intrusive reading light (you still get the usual overhead reading light).