Easyjet flight Berlin, Germany to Helsinki, Finland review

In Berlin, I took an early morning uber ride from my hotel at central station to the airport. It was a self check-in process followed by security screening. I would be taking Easyjet flight, a European budget airline with buy-on-board services. So I had my breakfast at this cafe in the departure area.

My flight on this A320 aircraft to Helsinki, Finland !

  At Helsinki airport, I took a train to the central station.

Two coupled trains at helsinki central station

I have visited Helsinki previously. Since I had time before boarding my train, I decided to explore the station surrounds.

A great day in the city!

Helsinki 2019 !

Before boarding my train ride, I went to the nearby supermarket to stock up on food supplies for the next week. This train will take me into St Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, where I will embark on my epic seven day transiberian railway journey to Vladivostok in the far east.

Other than flying and taking the train, one can also take the ferry to Helsinki. The advantage of taking ferry is to visit St Petersburg for a couple of days visa-free, something which I intend to explore in the near future. 😀

In the next post, I shall detail my adventures in Russia!

Travelling through Germany

After arriving at Frankfurt airport in Germany, it is a short train ride to the central station. By then, it was turning dusk and I took a night stroll across the town, passing by some impressive architecture!

After a night tour of Frankfurt, it was off to the bus station for my overnight ride on flixbus to Berlin.

Windmill on the way😀

Berlin is equally impressive as well!

The Berlin Wall!

After a full day tour of Berlin and its surrounds, I had a one night stay at the affordable M Hotel, conveniently located beside the central station.

This is my second tour of Germany. After Cologne, I had the great opportunity to explore Frankfurt and Berlin. From Berlin, I will then set off for Helsinki, Finland, which I will cover in the next post!

Bangkok Airport Star Alliance Lounges and Thai Airways A350 Bangkok to Frankfurt flight review

Bangkok airport has always impressed me with its ornate displays at the check-in areas. 

Just like SQ at Changi Airport, Thai Airways has separate check-in areas for its premier class passengers and star alliance gold members at Bangkok airport. It is located towards one end of the terminal.

Upon check-in and past the formalities, I have access to quite a few lounges. There are a total of 3 lounges I can access based on my star alliance gold status: Turkish airlines lounge, Silverkris lounge and Thai Airways lounges spread out in the terminal.

I decided to check out the Turkish Airlines lounge first.

Few patrons since the turkish airlines flight is not yet departing.

The buffet spread has sufficient varieties.

Relaxing after a shower in the lounge and before the flight.

Plenty of comfortable seating in the lounge

Traditional coffee or tea

Turkish Airlines lounge is certainly great to rest in before the flight. Shower amenities are provided as well, I think.

With that, I decided to move over to Silverkris lounge. SQ operates quite a number of daily flights to Bangkok. Surprisingly, its lounge is packed and much smaller than Turkish Airlines lounge.

There appears to be more buffet dishes in this lounge. 

As I had some food in the Turkish Airlines lounge, I just have some light bites and great ice-cream in the Silverkris lounge.

There is a bar where I can order cocktail from the bartender.

As it is soon time for boarding my flight, I did not have the chance to visit Thai Airways lounge this time. In comparison, I think Turkish Airlines lounge has a better ambience to relax while Silverkris lounge offers more varieties of food and beverages.

Thai Airways A350 aircraft

In Thai Airways A350 economy class

A great feature is its tail cam so I can see the plane flying!

First meal

Second meal

Thai Airways offers great meal service on its long haul economy class flight. It also helps that the A350 aircraft offers better seat comfort and cabin atmosphere. The flight landed in Frankfurt, Germany more or less on time and this marks the beginning of a great trip to come😀

Cape Town Airport Lounge and SQ CPT-JNB flight review

Cape Town airport is small considering it's a touristic city. After check-in, security and immigration formalities, there are a number of shops alongside the departure gates. It's also where I purchased my African souvenirs!

 Though travelling in SQ economy class, my star alliance gold status allowed me access to the Bidvest premier lounge, which is shared by many airlines in the airport.

Reception is on the ground level. After which, it is one level up to reach the lounge.

Despite the number of airlines using this lounge, it is surprisingly light crowd with plenty of empty seats.

Food and beverage options are sufficient with reasonable varieties. However, the shower within the lounge is not available for use. Overall, still a good place to rest and relax before a flight.

As with all SQ flights, complimentary newspapers are offered to all passengers. It was light load from Cape Town, with the majority of passengers only boarding from Johannesburg.

On this short sector between Cape Town and Johannesburg, only a tiny tray of fried rice and hot beverages is offered. I was hoping they could serve something more substantial. On a flight of similar length, such as Singapore to Bangkok, a full meal was served. The main meals are only served after departing from Johannesburg.

During the transit in Johannesburg, passengers originating from Cape Town remained on board. No one deplaned since this domestic flight is not available for booking.

I shall not review the second sector of this flight to Singapore as it is similar to other SQ economy flights. It is more or less a full flight, with great service and comfort, even in economy class.

Since I remained onboard in Johannesburg, I was unable to review the star alliance gold lounge in Johannesburg at this time. I will have to leave it to June, 2020. 😀

In this trip, I spent little time in South Africa. So I hoped to visit here again. Fortunately, recently SQ had a great promotion from various cities in China, via Singapore to Johannesburg, South Africa. I have booked my originating city from Beijing since I can travel on the A380 to Singapore and A350 onward to Johannesburg. Provided the aircraft type is not changed. Haha! It costs cny3606, or the equivalent of about S$700, which I considered a great deal for 4 flight sectors! 

Other than South Africa, I intend to visit some other countries on the continent as well. Maybe Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Nothing's fixed as of now, but I hope to visit Victoria Falls!

To South Africa !

I recently returned from an enjoyable trip to Shanghai, China and the United States. The main purpose of this trip is to ride on American Airlines business class on its B777-300ER transcontinental flight from Los Angeles to Miami, which I have booked months earlier. However, I had only settled on my entire itinerary just a week before departure due to other commitments. 

As part of this trip, I managed to visit Shanghai disneyland, Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and visit the American Airlines Flagship lounge at Los Angeles and United Clubs lounge in various U.S. airport locations.

I shall review this trip at a later date.

So now, my first ever trip to the Africa continent, my 6th to date!

My trip starts at the star alliance gold lounge at Changi Airport, thanks to my krisflyer status. It is a great place for relaxing before a flight and with plenty of food and beverages offerings. Unlike the silverkris lounge, it doesn't offer shower facilities.

SQ A350

It is always a pleasure to board an SQ flight, even in economy class. On this afternoon flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, cabin service begins with a packet of nuts and beverage.

SQ A350 wingtip

First meal

Celebrating my birthday in the sky with complimentary cake and champagne!

Second meal before landing

Reaching the African continent

A statue of Nelson Mandela greets arriving passengers into Johannesburg!

Upon arrival, I walked to the nearby bus station to wait for the shuttle to my hotel for the night. My room at the Airport Inn Bed and Breakfast is clean and offers a comfortable stay. After checking in, the receptionist guides me to my room, a short walk away.

This poster in Johannesburg airport got my attention

My domestic flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town was booked on Kulula, simply because it offers the earliest possible flight time the next morning.

Inflight literature

Mango Airlines

British Airways flies within South Africa too!

A beautiful sunrise on my flight😀

Being a budget airline, Kulula doesn't offer complimentary food or drinks. So I had this breakfast pack from the hotel.

Great views of the African landscape

Arriving into Cape Town !