flying across Asia with JetStar Asia

flying across Asia with JetStar Asia

comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

JetStar is the low-cost arm of Qantas airlines (even though they are part of Qantas, you cannot earn Q miles for JetStar flights).  They have many subsidiaries including JetStar Australia, JetStar New Zealand, and JetStar Asia.  I have flown all three and all have a basic low-cost structure.  Each offers low fares that cover an average seat and a basic carry-on; everything else has a cost including assigned seats, checked baggage, pre-selected seats, food, and some in-flight entertainment (depending on the route and plane).  As in most low-cost carriers, you can add the extra services at the time of booking for a reduced rate or later at the airport for a higher cost.  I have flown JetStar three times, in three different countries, and I continue to go back because they offer a low-fare, decent service, and add-ons which you can modify to your liking. In each case, even with the add-ons the total fare on JetStar was less than its competitors.

My most recent JetStar experience was with JetStar Asia Airways in August 2015.  This airline is based in Singapore and I flew from Singapore to Bangkok – a 2hr and 25 minute flight.  JetStar has flights throughout the day to Bangkok, but they range in terms of cost.  I booked my ticket online and the online site was very user friendly (I also had a question and called the call center, and they were also provided good customer service).  We took the early morning flight departing Singapore at 7am, and took the late-night flight out departing Bangkok at 9p and arriving Singapore after 12am.  These flights fit our schedule, but also fit our budget.  A standard carry-on is included in the base fare, but checked luggage and assigned seats are separate.  I have normally purchased checked baggage (as I am usually connecting from another international flight) and the cost for the checked baggage is pretty reasonable.  I have normally not paid to pre-select my seat assignment, and sometimes I have received an aisle seat in the exit row and sometimes I received the middle seat.  As I was travelling with someone who normally does not travel on low-cost carriers, and is generally not a fan of them, I went ahead and paid for pre-selecting my seat.  The charge for this, in my opinion, is a bit high given you are only able to choose the standard seats – exit row seats, or those with extra legroom, or an additional cost on top the existing charge.

As in standard in most low-cost carriers, JetStar operates one type of aircraft – an Airbus A320 (they recently acquired 787 Dreamliners as well).  The planes are configured in the same way – 3 leather seats on either side.  The seat pitch is somewhat narrow, and the comfort of the seat is not that great.  Both are alright for short-haul flights and both were decent enough for our 2h 25minute flight; however, not sure if I could deal with both for longer flights. 

The service on board is pleasant, but everything needs to be purchased.  Water is free, but that’s about it.  Snacks and meals can either be pre-purchased online or bought directly on board.  The planes I flew had no entertainment system so bring something to occupy your time (the 787 Dreamliners do have PTV’s but the entertainment needs to be purchased).   I did not buy anything on board as I had purchased food and drink in the airport, but they also have amenity kits and other items available to purchase on board.  Some of the prices are reasonable while others are costly.

Overall, if you know what to expect then JetStar provides a decent experience at a low-cost.  Each flight provided a basic service at a low-cost, with an average seat and an on-time departure and arrival.   If you are looking for a full-service airline with lots of amenities including in your ticket, then this is not the airline for you.  If you are looking for an airline that provides low fares and services you can pick and choose that are right for you, then this is the airline for you.  

Jelajah Benteng Merah bergaya Persia Eropa

Setelah melewati lorong kita akan langsung disambut dengan taman yang indah. Di ujung taman itu, sebuah bangunan yang merupakan pintu masuk sesungguhnya berdiri kokoh. Disini tiket akan diperiksa dan disobek. Bangunan tempat pemeriksaan tiket ini juga difungsikan sebagai museum di bagian atasnya. Kita bisa masuk ke museum melalui tangga sebelah kanan menuju ke lantai tiga. Museum kecil ini memajang kisah peperangan Shah Jahan. Termasuk berbagai macam senjata dan baju-baju perang yang digunakan kekaisaran Mughal di masa lampau. Terlihat juga beberapa alat komunikasi saat perang dan tanda-tanda kepangkatan militer kala itu. Tidak terlalu banyak barang yang ditampilkan ditempat ini, namun suasana ruangan yang sejuk dapat membuat saya merasa nyaman sejenak sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan kembali.

 

Melompat bahagia

Diwani-I-Am

Sesampainya di luar bangunan ini, saya langsung disambut kembali taman hijau yang asri. Sementara di bagian ujung, terdapat sebuah bangunan yang terlihat seperti aula. Jika bagian benteng dan gerbang benteng terbuat dari bata merah yang berwarna menyala, maka aula ini terbuat dari batu marmer yang diukir manual dengan tangan manusia. Namanya Diwani-I-Am yang berfungsi sebagai Bangsal Umum. Ini adalah ruangan dimana raja menemui tamu-tamunya dari kalangan masyarakat umum. Ruangan yang berbentuk segi empat melebar ini bernuansa "Pietradura" yaitu termbok-tembok yang berkanopi ukiran seperti yang terdapat di Taj Mahal.

Lahore Gate

Taman di Red Fort

Ukiran di salah satu sudut istana

Tepat di depan Diwani-I-Am terdapat Diwani Khas atau Bangsal Pribadi. Ditempat inilah raja biasanya duduk di Singgasana Meraknya sambil menghadiri pertemuan pribadi, atau sekedar menerima laporan-laporan dan saran serta kritik dari sang perdana menteri. Ornamen ruangan ini tidak jauh berbeda dengan bangsal umum yang menggambarkan keindahan pietradura di setiap sisinya.

Diwani Khas

Bangunan khusus lainnya adalah Rang Mahal atau disebut juga Istana warna. Bangunan unik yang terdapat di belakang Diwani-I-Am ini dikhususkan untuk tempat tinggal para istri-istri dan selir-selir raja. Bangunan ini terdiri dari banyak ruangan yang bersebelahan. Menariknya dalam setiap ruangan di Rang Mahal ini dihiasi dengan lukisan-lukisan indah dan segala bentuk ornamen bernuansa keemasan, serta mozaik-mozaik kaca yang memiliki background air mancur berbentuk teratai. Semua keindahan itu merupakan bentuk apresiasi sang raja untuk semua istri dan selir yang dicintainya.

Rumput hijau di Taman Istana

Sang Raja juga mempunyai istana pribadi tersendiri yang terletak disebelah utara Rang Mahal. Istana pribadi ini disebut Khas Mahal. Di ruangan inilah sang raja melakukan aktivitas pribadinya. Hanya beberapa orang terdekat raja saja yang bisa diizinkan masuk ke ruangan ini.

Tempat pertemuan raja dan Tamu

Hammam

Yang menarik, di bagian belakang bangunan ini terdapat Hammam. Ini adalah semacam tempat pemandian yang dikhususkan hanya untuk anggota kerajaan, mulai dari prajurit-prajuritnya sampai pejabat kerajaan.

Masjid dalam red fort

Jalan menuju istana

Berbeda lagi dengan pribadi raja yang satu ini, yang merupakan ruang kerja raja. Namanya Shahi Burj. Bangunan ini berbentuk segi delapan dan letaknya tak jauh dari Diwan-I-Am, tapi sayangnya ruangan ini tertutup untuk umum.

Kolam air yang mengering di tengah istana

Tepat berseberangan dengan Istana Rang Mahal terdapat Masjid Moti atau disebut juga dengan Masjid Mutiara. Masjid indah ini dibangun oleh Raja Aurangzeb, penerus tahta kerajaan selepas Shah Jahan.

Taman dan Istana

Sejarah mencatat bahwa Red Fort ini punya peran penting dalam sejarah India. Di Benteng Merah inilah pemerintah kolonial Inggris menurunkan Tahta Bahadur Shah Jafar, sang Raja Mughal terakhir. Ini menjadi penanda berakhirnya kejayaan dinasti Mughal yang telah bertahta selama tiga abad lamanya di semenanjung India.

Taman istana yang rimbun

Tidak hanya itu, di Lahore Gate yang merupakan pintu utama Red Fort, merupakan tempat dimana Jawaharlal Nehru memproklamirkan kemerdekaan India pada tahun 1945 untuk pertama kalinya. Sejak itulah pada tanggal 15 Agustus tahun-tahun selanjutnya, di tempat inilah sang Kepala Negara India membacakan pidato kenegaraannya.

Taman air

Tiga jam saya menghabiskan waktu di situs yang masuk ke dalam daftar bangunan bersejarah UNESCO. Saya berusaha untuk menjelajah dari ujung ke ujung, tapi sepertinya bangunan-bangunan ini tiada habisnya. Panas dan lelah membuat saya harus beristirahat beberapa kali di tengah taman-taman berpohon rindang. Di bawahnya terdapat juga muda-muda yang asik berpacaran. Tidak jauh beda dengan Indonesia.

Red Fort ramai pengunjung

Hari beranjak siang, waktu saya semakin terbatas. Saya memutuskan untuk bergegas melanjutkan perjalanan ke titik lain yang paling dekat dari Red Fort yaitu Masjid Jama.

Gerbang berukir di dalam Red Fort

Tips : Cara Mendapat Harga Tiket Murah

Ini cerita tidak saya ceritakan di atas, sebenarnya saya mencoba cara iseng untuk mendapatkan tiket murah masuk ke Red Fort. Caranya dengan cuek berbaris di deretan turis lokal. Saat berada di depan konter tiket saya hanya memberi tanda satu dengan jari telunjuk tanpa berkata apa-apa. Petugas akan bertanya, “Where do you come from?” saya menjawab, “Bangladesh”. Maka tiket masuk yang saya dapatkan hanya seharga 15 rupee saja. Saya tidak menyarankan untuk melakukannya kecuali anda ingin berhemat seperti saya

Baca kelanjutan cerita selanjutnya di sini

Taiwan | Alishan Forest Railway

Despite being a small island, Taiwan has over 150 mountains above the height of 3,000m. In fact Taiwan is the 4th tallest island in the world. The 2,663m Alishan is one of the famous tourist attractions for people from the country as well as around the world. The Alishan forest railway was originally built back during the Japanese Colonial era for shipping lumber down the mountain. Because it is so steep, the train was built circulating the mountain range of the first half and then zigzagging up the final leg. Nowadays the railroad and Alishan Train Station itself is part of a National Park where a lot of people visit for tourism. Some of the main attractions are watching the sunrise at the peak, the 1,000+ year old sacred trees and the tallest temple in all of Taiwan. Although I am from the central region of Taiwan, I never had a lot of time travelling around as a kid. This year, I decided to visit my family for my mom's birthday, as well as visiting this mountain, where my parents humbly choose as their honeymoon destination. 
Getting the Alishan Forest Railway tickets are a pain in the ass. 

You can either buy these Railway tickets in person, or online about 14 days in advance. However they sell out super quickly, and if you don't buy a ticket you will have to stand for 2.5hrs one way or 5 hrs round trip. The trick is, you need a Taiwanese ID card to buy these tickets online, and you need to show your Taiwanese ID card to pick the tickets up. Good thing is I have family there, so I was able to get these tickets in advance. The online booking system starts at 6am, so I woke up at 5:55am to have 2 browsers opened with pre-entered information such as train number, date, Taiwanese ID number etc. I connected my laptop to my phone LTE network to ensure it's super lighting speed internet. At around 5:59:50 I hit enter, which took me to the verification page (to make sure you're not a bot), and then I had a few seconds to type out the 5 digit code. And success! I got my railway tickets :) 

My family is from the central city of Taichung, so my partner and I took a direct flight there and stayed near the train station as we needed to get up early to take the train up to Alishan. From Taichung main station, we took the railway to Jiayi Station. This is a city 1 hour south of Taichung. From Jiayi, we switched to the Alishan forest railway. But because of the recent typhoon and flooding, the train didn't go all the way up to Alishan. It stopped at Fenqihu station, and from there on we needed to take a shared van up. 

Jiayi Station

The Alishan Forest Railway uses a smaller gauge track so it does not share a track with normal trains. There is only a 2 seat and single seat row on the carriage with a very narrow walkway. 

The train went very slowly up the steep hills of Alishan. We went circling around this mountain for about 5 times, crossing 10 or so tunnels before continuing up. Because it circles the mountain, on the map it looks like a circle of mess drawn by a drunk person. There are several stations along the way popular to hikers. At every station, there's also a station master who will hold up a "Have a good journey" sign and wave at the passenger as the train departs. Ah, such is the warmth of Taiwanese people and its ultra perfect service industry. I always feel so welcomed. 

Fenqihu Station

Fenqihu Station

Fenqihu is a station halfway up to Alishan. It sits at 1,403m above sea level and is a small town famous for its lunch boxes. This station opened back in 1912 and used to be used as the resupply station as well as a lunch stop for the train drivers. Fenqihu has also become one of the more populated towns with people trading goods and loading shipments up and down the mountain. 

We stopped here for the famous lunch boxes, then soon found a shared van to take us up the final leg of the journey to Alishan. It was around $250 NT per person which is a pretty good deal! The driver also explained in great detail on how to get the most out of the trip once you get to Alishan park. The others sharing the ride with us were all Hong Kong tourists, some were doing a crazy packed day trip like us, others going to the peak to watch the sunrise (you need to wake up at 4am for that). 

The red line is the route we took

The entrance fee was $150NT for the park, lucky us the following day on May 1st they were raising it to $300NT per person. The trains within the park were also increasing from $50 one way to $100 one way. There were 2 main stations were were going to. First we take the train from Alishan to Zhao Ping Station. Then we walk from Zhao Ping Station to Sacred Tree (Shenmu) Station and then take the train from there back down to Alishan station. These train rides are a short 5 minute ride through the forest. And the whole walk takes around 2 hours. Along the way you see 2 beautiful "Sister Lakes", the Alishan Museum which tells you about the Japanese Colonization era, Shou Zhen Gong Temple (tallest temple in Taiwan), and then through the Sacred Tree forest with trees ranging from 800 - 3000 years old. 

You can see the tired on my face. It was also 12C and I had a fever. 

Still, the nature is absolutely stunning. This is Zhao Ping Park. In spring time these area is full of Cherry Blossom trees. 

The tracks near Zhao Ping Station



Walking through the first forest. 

Sister Lakes. I saw a ton of tadpoles in the water! You can find it in my linked vlog. 

Ok, I'm pretty sure there's elves in this forest. 

Shou Zhen Gong Temple, 2,000m+ above sea level!

A closer look at the details. Shou Zhen Gong is so high up it's often covered it clouds. Even when I was sitting across from it having my Meatball soup, the temple disappeared right in front of me. 

This we call it the Three Generation Tree because the first tree fell, the second tree grew on top of it, and then a third one. From a certain angle it looks like an elephant. 

Entering the Sacred Tree area, this is the first tree I see. I stood there in awe for a good 5 minutes. 

This one is 2,300 years old and 45 meters tall. So much respect for nature! Imagine what you would've seen if you were 2,300 years old! 

I swear, I saw elves in this forest. 

Most these trees are older than 800 years old. 

Ok, there's no need to make me feel even shorter. I already feel really short in this forest. 

After a 2 hour stroll inside magical forests, past blue green lakes, and the temple in the clouds, we arrived at Sacred Tree Station. Here lies the 3,000+ year-old tree that's become one with the grass below. It was struck by lightning back in 1998 so sadly had to be cut down for safety concerns. Still, it is the most famous Sacred Tree in this entire park because of its age. 

Sacred Tree Station - 2,138m above sea level. 

And the final stop, back at Alishan station. I still can't believe that after all these 20 some odd years of being Taiwanese, I haven't been to Alishan yet. The beauty of the nature here is so different from the other places I've been. Taiwan is a small island, but it has so much to offer. I'm glad I still have the chance to return to my country and appreciate it. Next I think I'd like to go to the East coast where there's more mountains with steep valleys. 

The next day we'll be going to Sun Moon Lake for a nice family day out. It's another famous scenic spot in central Taiwan which I haven't been to. Also it's time to celebrate my mother's birthday! 

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Fenqihu Station and the Forest Railway train



Alishan Station









Alishan Main Station