I never really considered Tiger Airways, even when I’m trying to be cheap with my budget. That is primarily because flying via Tiger in the Philippines meant having to go to Clark. Even with the shuttle service from Megamall, I still see it as a hassle, particularly since I live in the northern part of Metro Manila.

However, when my sister-in-law told me about the special promotion Tiger Airways was having, I immediately changed my opinion. Well, it was actually because it’s for the Thailand leg of the trip.

That was in the middle of January, their SG$9.98 promo. Similar to Cebu Pacific‘s Php 10 and Piso fares, the base rate for a one-way ticket is SG$9.98 (depending on the destination) plus applicable taxes. For my roundtrip ticket to Bangkok originating from Singapore, it came down to SG$103.21 or Php3,320.00.
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Jetstar Asia is our family’s choice of budget airline when flying to Singapore. Despite its higher fare over competitor Tiger Airways, Jetstar’s winning factor is that it flies and lands at the ‘main’ terminal/airports of the cities it serve.

In Manila, Jetstar departs and arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, while in Singapore, they use Gate C19 of Terminal 1 at the Changi International Airport. It’s easy enough to go to Singapore’s Budget Terminal (for Tiger Airways), but it’s a different story if you’re in Metro Manila going all the way to Clark’s Diosdado Macapagal Airport.

The premise of these budget airlines is that by taking away all the free ‘perks’ passengers get on regular airlines and imposing strict baggage limits, they are lowering their operation costs. Hence, the term low-cost carrier. Doh. (I really shouldn’t be posting entries at 2am)

If you’re thinking that cutting costs meant old and dilapidated flying coffins, you’re mistaken. Their fleet of Airbus A320 are new, and more importantly, unlike the plane I took to Cebu last March, nothing rattles during take off and landing.
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I’m starting to research a new destination. Since there’s no direct flight from the Philippines to this new destination, I’m having a ball sniffing out the possible flight connections to get there.

One particular airline has a very sucky website. They don’t have a flight schedule posted online, so I had to rely on good ‘ol Google.

Lucky enough, I found this tool over at the Airwise website. Basically, with that simple search box, you can find ALL the flights originating from your city to your destination at a given date, including the flights back, the stops and connection in between flights, flight duration and aircraft type.

Nifty, isn’t it? The airlines and airports are identified through their codes though. If you’re not familiar with the codes, head on to AirlineAndAirportLinks.com. It has an extensive listing of both airport and airline codes. You can sort the list by name, region and code. Ctrl+F will come in handy here *wink wink*

Yes, I went to Thailand to eat a hamburger.

Baan Panburi boasts of having the best restaurant in Thong Nai Pan Noi in Ko Pha Ngan. Though I never ventured out to try the other restaurants in this small beach, the dishes they serve at the Terrace Restaurant is simply sumptuous and reasonably priced.

The menu displays a variety of cuisine from Western to Asian, with fares both meat lovers and vegetarians would enjoy. In the evening, you can also partake in their barbeque of fresh seafood.

As a follow up to my post about my packing list, here’s how my items fared in this trip.

Items in normal font are the things I have used once or twice.
Items in bold are the things I have used often.
Items underlined are the things I never had the opportunity to use.
Items in italics are the things I could have done without.
Items that are bold, underlined and italized are things I’m so glad I brought.

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Updated 17 June 2006

Let’s start off with the most painful one – the post trip accounting.

Sans my shopping expenses, I managed to stay within my estimated budget. I had a couple of expenses that I didn’t allocate for: Internet and laundry. However, since I got a free and loaded ez-link card in Singapore and decided to skip Sentosa in favor of shopping, my actual expenses was almost US$100 below my estimate. Unfortunately, if we don’t count the Singapore estimates and expenses altogether, I went over my Thailand budget by US$60.

And it’s a whole different story if you add in the amount I spent shopping.

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A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.

- Tim Cahill