Mia's Travelogue: ScootBiz to Qingdao

If you follow me on my IG, you should probably know that I've recently went to Qingdao for my pre-wedding photoshoot! 

After a quick search for air tickets, I came to realised that only Scoot provides direct flight to Qingdao, and with a very small fee for upgrade to ScootBiz. Hence, it's decided that my first experience with Scoot shall be ScootBiz!

-credits to flyscoot.com-

First up, there's no secret that on ScootBiz, you will get bigger, roomier seats. However, for my personal experience, I feel that Scoot doesn't really try to hide that their aircrafts (or just so happen to be the aircraft I boarded?) has seen better days. The armrest that holds my pull-out table has unidentified stains and the buttons to recline my seat has a big corner broken off. But these aside, I can't deny that the seats are definitely way more comfortable compared to the usual economy seats for a budget airline. 

And now, to their (miserable) food. 

I really didn't expect Scoot's flight meals to be this bad. Apparently, if you're on ScootBiz you will be entitled to a premium meal that comes with TWO "sides" (snacks/tidbits). However, this wasn't made known to me as I was choosing my meals (that the premium selection will get you two snacks instead of one). And as the one and only premium selection for my flight was some random chicken dish with rice, I obviously went for Nasi Lemak, thinking that it will be of a quality that's comparable to Air Asia. 

And.... obviously not.

The extremely miserable portion size aside, the rice tasted just like plain white rice with no hint of "lemak" (coconut milk) at all. Pairing white rice with a few miserable pieces of rendang chicken, a few strands of long beans and a bite sized otah fishcake doesn't turn the entire meal into Nasi Lemak, Scoot. Why don't you get some pointers from Air Asia? 

From other reviews, it seems like Scoot uphold their rules of no outside food on board very strictly, which is why I guess they're comfortable with serving food of such quality (and quantity). You've no choice, especially if you're on a longer haul flight (and not on ScootBiz, which gives you "complimentary" meals). You either starve, or you get ripped off by them to pay a ridiculously hiked up price for such crappy food. Or maybe you're better off with buying cup noodles instead, at least you know it's not going to taste like crap. 

And back to the premium selection meal on ScootBiz. It was pretty strange, that we were only informed upon check-in at the airport, that the BF's seat is faulty and will be unable to recline. Hence, the counter staff offered to switch him to another seat, but can't put us together because the flight is "very full". And so I boarded the flight thinking that I will be sitting alone, but I ended up sitting to a random aunty, who has a premium selection meal, which you need to pre-book during air tickets purchase. Hmm...

But anyway, the premium selection comes with a small can of pringles and a bag of dried raisins, unlike my normal meal with comes with just a Ritters Sport chocolate. 

And now, to the main reason why I decided to upgrade to ScootBiz. Their in-flight entertainment!

Other than the complimentary meal and in-flight power, ScooTV will the be last complimentary service you'll be getting on ScootBiz. Do note that other services such as WiFi and even a "comfort pack" of blanket & cushion will require further add-on purchases. 

If you're using Android, then you'll be safe as access to ScooTV will be directly on your browser. But for iOS users, do remember to download the ScooTV app on your device before your flight, if not you will probably need to buy their WiFi service to download the app before you can gain access to your complimentary ScooTV, which is pretty ridiculous, I know. 

And here's the selection of movies during my flight. 

Other than a few pretty recent movies, and a couple of pretty old ones, there's also a small selection of drama and variety shows (which totally didn't catch my eye at all). 

The experience on ScooTV was very smooth, other than the fact that any PA announcement will pause the movie and I experienced difficulty with continuing my movie from where I was cut-off (had to reload the whole movie from the beginning). As in-flight power is complimentary (with a 3-pin plug for each seat), there is no worries of your device dying on you halfway through your favourite movie! 

And so, my final thoughts. Is ScootBiz worth it? I'll say it definitely depends on how much the add on fares is. For Qingdao, it was only a mere $50 add on from FlyBag so it actually makes sense to add on that amount for a better, roomier seat, complimentary meal, in-flight power and entertainment. For other routes, the add on fares can get up to a few hundreds and in those cases, I do feel that you're better off with just a FlyBagEat or even just FlyBag if you're on night flight. 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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NZL Travelogue: Jucy Chaser Campervan Review

Hello, lovely readers! As y'all should know by now, I've just returned from a 9D8N campervan trip to New Zealand North Island recently. So before I get started from the long long journey of my NZL travelogue series (I took ONE year to complete my Hokkaido travelogue), I shall first get y'all started on the campervan we've chosen as our home-on-wheels for the trip.

The Jucy Chaser! 

The JUCY Chaser has everything you need for a road trip for three. Featuring two double beds, a fully-equipped kitchen and its very own shower and toilet, the JUCY Chaser is up for any adventure!The Chaser is fully self contained with a toilet, shower and grey water tank.

Using Toyota Hiace 2004 or newer model, Jucy has remodelled the automatic transmission van into a 3m high campervan (CV) with an interior height of 1.92m, with an 80L fresh water tank (two separated tanks, one for the shower and one for the kichenette tap) and 85L grey water tank.

And here's how the interior looks like. Pictures were taken on the very last day of our trip, hence things are a little messy. HEH!

The CV comes with blinds on all windows (with the exception of sun roof) so privacy will not be an issue. The Jucy Chaser does not come with air conditioning in the main cabin (air-con only available at the driver's cabin) but since the weather was pretty cold (10+ degree Celsius) at night, it wasn't any issue at all. 

We've tried sleeping on the sun-roof bed on the "upper deck" once, but felt that it was considerably less comfortable than sleeping on the lower bed, which we had to set up using an L-shaped board and cushion (the two pieces you see slotted in behind the driver's and passenger's seats) every night. And so, we ended up using the upper deck bed as storage space for our luggage, pillows, duvets and bath towels. 

There was only two of us, but since the Chaser is supposed to house 3 pax (technically, you can sleep 4, but maximum allowable capacity is limited by the number of seat belts), we had a total of 4 pillows, 2 duvets and 4 bath towels. 

The bench seats here provided more storage space, where we kept the portable heater (only usable when CV is hooked up to main 240v power at powered sites), portable table (which stands right at the "hole" you see in the picture above), and our grocery items which do not require to be refrigerated. 

On the other end of the CV is our toilet/shower stall and a "kitchen". The Jucy Chaser also comes with DVD player, that also requires hookup to 240v main power to be switched on. Rental of the CV does not come with free DVDs, but there is a shelf of "pre-loved" items, probably left behind by other tourists, which included a small selection of movie DVDs, and other foodstuff (spreads, oils and I even saw others taking canned food and fresh produce like onions). 

The big, long bags on the floor is the set of picnic chairs provided by Jucy, which we totally didn't use at all, and only served to take up more of our precious space. =.="

The "kitchenette", though extremely tiny, was still pretty well equipped with a 2-burner gas hob running on a mini (was it 2L?) LPG gas tank. However, due to tight space, and standard pot & pan sizes, we could only use 1 burner at a time. 

The whole kitchenette comes well equipped with cooking equipment like pot, pan, spatula, ladle, glass bowls, pasta strainer, chopping board, tea towel and dishwashing brush. 

The necessary crockery and utensil like fork, spoons, knives, can opener and peeler are also provided.

Up above the hob and sink are more storage space, where you can find your plates, small bowls, ceramic mugs and wine glasses. 

Last but not least, there's also a kettle for you to boil some hot water on the hob, and a toaster, which once again, will require hookup to the 240v main power to be used. 

By the side of the crockery/utensil tray are two electrical sockets (require 240v main power), which you can use to get the portable heater and toaster going. There's also our 50L compressor fridge and a fire extinguisher. 

Though looking rather tiny, the fridge (both the chiller and separate freezer compartment) was more than enough for us to stock up our 8 nights' worth of dinner ingredients. 

And right opposite the fridge are the switches to the 12v battery system, that charges up while the engine is running, and also while the CV is hooked up to 240v main power. So on the 12v battery, you'll get lighting in the main cabin, power to the fridge, water pump (that serves both the hot water shower and sink) and ACC, which allows you to charge devices on the USB port and also switches on the stereo in the driver's cabin. For the 1st night of our trip, we drove for merely 2 hours, and the battery lasted us.... 30 minutes.

The toilet and shower stall is unbelievably small, but still decent. Hot water shower can get pretty hot (for me), and the water pressure is rather strong. But do note that due to the tiny space, privacy will be an issue because there is no way can you manage undressing and dressing up inside the shower stall itself. Just soaping myself up in the stall makes me bump into the walls here and there. 

The toilet bowl can be turned to one side to give you more space to shower, but it's actually quite negligible.  

As for the cassette toilet, we only used it for number 1 when the need arises (usually only in the early mornings at free campgrounds), plus there's this blue powder that came along with it, that helps to keep the cassette smelling like some hardcore chemical factory "fresh". It also stains all your pee (not sure about number 2, because we didn't use the cassette toilet for number 2s at all) blue, so it feels less dirty while you're pouring it away at the public dump stations (PDS).

And here's how we did it.

Always make sure that the toilet cover is closed before you can remove the cassette, and you can just twist the cap open and tip it right into the black water pipe opening at the dump station. Using the water hose provided at the dump station, give it a good rinse before empty another sachet of the magic blue power into the cassette, pour a little bit more water in, squish it around to mix, and replace the cassette back into the slot. 

Emptying the grey water tank is much easier, as you only need to attached the hose (provided in the CV), place the other end at the grey water pipe opening, pull the valve to the tank open, and wait until the water runs dry. 

Jucy requires us to return the CV with fully filled fresh water tanks and emptied grey water tank & toilet cassette. But you do not need to worry about locating a PDS on the way back, as there's a PDS located right inside their compound. 

Apparently, they also have after hours return service available. However, I'm not sure if it's also applicable to CVs, or only for car rentals. 

And here's some snippets of where our Jucy Chaser has brought us to over the course of 9 days, covering a distance of almost 2500km across the North Island. 

Compared to other MotorHomes providers like Wilderness, Maui and etc, Jucy is definitely more affordable and gives you a bigger bang for your buck, providing you with a no-frills CV that's fully equipped with all the bare necessities for a manageable and enjoyable campervan road trip.
Our rental of 9 days (for their spring season) only set us back by 900+ NZD all in, inclusive of insurance, which is quite a good deal.
One issue to note will be the estimated fuel consumption as stated on some rental websites though. It was stated on some rental websites of about 10 - 12L /100km. But we found that a full tank (of 70L) only lasted us at most 500km, which makes it at least 14L /100km.

Jucy also has some awesome relocation deals for their rentals, going for as low as only $1 a day. Find out more on such steals HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Leasany: My New Zealand Campervan Trip Made Easy!

Hey people, if you're following me on my IG, you should know that I've just returned from my New Zealand North Island trip with the BF. 

As we've decided on doing a campervan road trip, one main issue bugging my mind after booking Jucy Chaser to be our "home-on-wheels" for 9D8N was: how are we going to charge ALL our devices on just two electrical socket, one of which will probably be used for our portable heater? 

Well, I've heard of the Mogics Power Bagel, which is basically an universal adaptor that allows you to charge up to SEVEN devices AT THE SAME TIME. With just one handy-dandy, palm-sized bagel, you will get 2 usb ports, 4 universal sockets and 1 US socket. How cool is that! But of course, good things do not come cheap. And frankly speaking, I'm not that keen on spending that much on a gadget that's relatively new (in my social circle, hardly anyone has heard of it) and I do not have that much of an idea how it's going to work out. 

And then, I found Leasany!

Based on a concept of advocating sharing among travellers to-and-fro Singapore to rent their essential (but usually costly) gadgets and equipments instead of buying to own it, Leasany aims to help travellers like us to save up on our travel cost by providing our essential travel gadgets and equipment at low rental fees. 

Now, instead of spending up to $200 buying that Osmo Mobile 2 to take vlogs for your upcoming trip, and probably won't get to use it again until your next overseas trip, which jolly well might be next year, you can easily rent it from Leasany for as low as just $25! 

Leasany also has a 'Try before Buy' promotion, which is a product trial programme for travellers to test out a selection of interesting and new products, under their kickstarter category, during their trips, before making an actual purchase. 

And for the Mogics Power Bagel, which is under this kickstarter category, has a renting fees of $6 per day! That's very high, you'll say. But fret not, for all products under the kickstarter (try before buy) category will come with an individual discount coupon code (found under the product page) that gives you a whopping 90% discount for your FIRST rental of the product. That means your very first rental of the Mogics Power Bagel with Leasany will only cost you a mere 60 cents a day!

And yes, we were chilling with some chocolate twiggies during our transit, charging up our smartphones at Gold Coast airport. I love how the power bagel gives you not only the ease of charging up to seven devices with just one ONE power plug, but also gives you the convenience of an added distance of almost 1m (92cm cable + 83mm bagel diameter)  from the main plug's location. How cool is that!

Leasany is offering all you lovely readers a 20% discount off all rental service! Just enter promo code "mollymia" upon checkout, valid until 21st April 2019, not to be used in conjunction with other coupons. 

For more information on Leasany and the products and services they're currently offering, do check out their website HERE.

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Travelogue: Planning Tips for Hokkaido in 11 days

Hello, lovely readers!
If you're still not following me on my IG (why aren't you?), then you probably didn't know that I've just returned from an 11-days trip to Hokkaido! It was so so so exciting, starting right from the planning stage. I've been wanting to visit Hokkaido for YEARS, and the plans always fell through because I couldn't find a travel buddy who can commit to the trip.
But finally, it happened!

So before I move on to my day-by-day breakdown of trip, let's start with the rough itinerary of the 11 days I've spent in Hokkaido.

I chose to fly via Thai Airways, transiting in Bangkok (about 1.5 hrs flight to Bangkok and then 7 hours to Sapporo) and landing in Shin-Chitose Airport, whereby I picked up my rental car from Budget, a Toyota Passo, which the BF really quite enjoyed driving.
I've done quite an extensive search and almost got "cheated" by ToCoo! with their "hidden cost" but thankfully realised that Budget offers the most competitive price for the days I'm looking to rent a car.
If you're planning to travel through the entire Hokkaido, going for car rental and paired with the Hokkaido Expressway Pass (HEP) might be more cost saving (if you're travelling in minimal of 2 pax) as compared to purchasing the JR pass and relying heavily on Hokkaido's public transport.

If you've already decided to go with car rental but still undecided if HEP is for you, here are a few links that may be helpful for you to make a decision.

HEP Info: You may find the cost of HEP for 2 days to 14 days, list of participating car rental companies, an example of toll fees from Shin-Chitose Airport to a few common tourists' destinations, and a link to an extensive (but very complicated) Standard Expressway Toll Chart.

Toll Calculator: You can use this calculator system to find out exactly how much toll fees you'll be charged by indicating your initial location, final destination, and any additional ICs (areas) you may pass by enroute. The site is only available in Japanese though, but you may find a pretty useful manual HERE.

Do note that HEP is NOT the same as ETC. Most car rental sites will tell you that their car comes with ETC, but that simply means their car is installed with the device unit for you to insert the ETC card (like our local cashcard). And as for the difference between ETC and HEP, ETC is pay per usage, while HEP is a flat rate with unlimited usage.

Some advice you may find on other travel blogs or even on travel forums will tell you that you can only get HEP when your car pick up and return location is the same. But that's not true, as not all car rental companies has this rule. Budget, for example, does not need you to have the same pick up and return location in order to purchase the HEP. ;)

For me, getting the HEP is an absolute MUST because of my itinerary, which brings me to areas like (and not limited to) Hakodate, Lake Toya, Sapporo, and Asahikawa.
For example, the toll fee for driving from Shin-Chitose Airport to Hakodate will set you back by 5430 Yen (one way) and the drive back to Shin-Chitose Airport from Asahikawa will cost me another 4730 Yen. Driving from Hakodate to Lake Toya needs another 3330 Yen, and them from Lake Toya to Sapporo needs another 3590 Yen and then from Sapporo to Asahikawa will need yet  another 3490 Yen.
And an 11 days HEP will only set me back by 9800 Yen. I didn't even need to factor in the possible toll charges for the drives to Biei, Furano, Takinoue and Yubetsu from Asahikawa.

However, after more in-depth planning and consideration, I decided to not keep the car over the 4 days of my stay in Sapporo due to easy accessibility of most attractions by public transport and much higher parking fees. Eg. 30 minutes parking in Hakodate will cost you about 200 yen, but 30 minutes parking in Sapporo (during "peak hours") will cost you 400 yen!

And now, here's my 11 days itinerary, which I will slowly touch on a day-by-day basis in the subsequent Hokkaido travelogue posts to come.

Day 0: Singapore Changi Airport to Sapporo Shin-Chitose Airport

Day 1: Arrival at Shin-Chitose Airport, pit stop for lunch at Noboribetsu, Arrival at Hakodate

Day 2: Hakodate

Day 3: Lake Toya, Arrival at Sapporo by evening

Day 4 to 7: Sapporo & Otaru on public transportation

Day 8: Asahikawa

Day 9: Takinoue, Yubetsu (day trip), return to Asahikawa by night

Day 10: Biei, Furano (day trip), return to Asahikawa by night

Day 11: Shin-Chitose Airport to Singapore Changi Airport

And now, for some snippets of what's to come in all my subsequent Hokkaido Travelogue series.

So be sure to stick around and also keep a lookout for my post updates on my IG!

Read up on my day-to-day recounts:
Day 1 (Noboribetsu-Hakodate) HERE
Day 2 (Hakodate & Onuma Park) HERE
Day 3 (Lake Toya & Sapporo) HERE
Day 4 & 5 (Sapporo) HERE & HERE
Day 6 (Otaru) HERE
Day 7 (Sapporo) HERE
Day 8 (Asahikawa) HERE
Day 9 (Takinoue & Yubetsu) HERE
Day 10 (Biei & Furano) HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

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