Thailand: Birthday Trip With Jetstar

I am an aerophobic.

Yes, I have a pretty serious condition of fear of flying.
No, I wasn't born with it. My first air plane ride when I was one year old baby. And because my Dad travels overseas very often for business trip, I've became a frequent flyer too. I loved flying. Airport was my favourite place and I could even memorise most air plane logos. Besides visiting new places, flying was one of my most love things to do.

Then it all has changed 15 years ago when I experienced a super severe turbulence that my plane had to go through an emergency landing. It was really a 'near death' experience for me. Since that day, flying has been a dreadful thing to do. I avoided flying for almost a year. Even the view of air planes in the sky would caused my heartbeat racing and my body shook uncontrollably. Yes, the trauma was that bad. But at one point, I decided to fight my phobia. I won't give up my passion for travelling. One thing that significantly changed, I've became very fussy in choosing airlines. I'd do some research before travelling and would only pick airlines with great safety records. Even if that means sometimes I have to fork out more money for the flight tickets. I've also became fussy in picking my seat on plane. I must must get a window seat otherwise I get panic attack easily during the flight. So much for a person who travels regularly like me. I wish I was as flexible as I used to.

Jetstar Asia in Juanda airport, Surabaya

Anyway, I was happy when recently Jetstar Asia approached me and invited me to experience flying with them. Jetstar is a low-cost airline which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas and Jetstar Asia which is based in Singapore - is one of its sister airlines. I've been flying Jetstar Asia pretty often on Surabaya-Singapore route. Yup, Jetstar is one of some airlines that I feel comfortable and feel safe to fly with. From Singapore, Jetstar Asia operates services to some Asia countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Burma, also Japan and China.

It wasn't easy to choose the destinations, I wanted to visit them all! :p
I originally chose Vietnam but after some consideration (my Dad's health problem and I needed to submit my passport for Schengen visa immediately), I decided to fly to Bangkok instead for 5 days. My journey started off in Surabaya where I catch my first leg of flights to Singapore. Checking in was easy breezy. Though the flight was full, the queue at check in counter moved pretty fast because the staff worked efficiently.

YAY! I also got a KitKat :D

I'm a person who hardly enjoy in-flight meal. The reason is I'm very prone to motion sickness and also I found most in-flight meal are too bland for my Indonesian taste buds. But during Jetstar Asia return flights between Surabaya - Singapore - Bangkok, I was served and got to taste some of their in-flight meals. My favourites were the Chicken Rice and Roti Paratha with chicken, they tasted pretty good. I'd recommend you to pre-purchase and select your preferred meal on their website though or else you can always purchase drinks and snacks on board.

smooth flight in beautiful weather

In Surabaya I was already given my boarding pass for the flight from Singapore to Bangkok. So I had ample time to explore (eat & shop) some great facilities in Changi airport. I'll write the review on separate blog post. My next flight took off on time and arrived in Bangkok ahead of schedule. Hello, Bangkok! Sawadeeka :)

view from my room at Radisson Blu Plaza, Sukhumvit

greeted by hundreds of Snoopy in Central World Plaza

I didn't really have any itinerary for my trip to Bangkok. I only had 'food tour', 'shopping' and 'Thai massage' in my mind. After all it was my birthday trip so I think it's okay to pamper myself once in a while, right? My last visit to Bangkok was 12 years ago so unsurprisingly I hardly recognise it. I went crazy shopping at Platinum where there are too much cute stuff to ignore. Not to mention they are very cheap too. I went "Ouch! Ouch! ohhhh ahhhh... gimme more!" during the Thai massage session. But highlight of my trip would be the Midnight Food Tour by Tuk Tuk that I joined with the local agent. Beside sampled some local food, I also got to enjoy beautiful night illuminations around some temples in Bangkok. To top it off, I laughed my head off while my tuk tuk was speeding and racing with a BMW car on the highway. Thrilling! I'm sure it won't be long until they release the latest movie of Need For Speed: The Tuk Tuk. Lol. Now, I want a Tuk Tuk as a Christmas present, can I?

I met my prince charming :p

Eagle bar with the stunning view of Wat Arun

There was a little hiccup on the end of my journey. I was waken up early morning by an sms from Jetstar saying that my flight from Bangkok to Singapore will be delayed for about 2 hours. That means I would be too late to catch my connection flight from Singapore to Surabaya. Jumped out my bed in panic, I tried to contact Jetstar. And thank goodness, almost immediately they managed to put me on earlier flight to Singapore. Phew! All in all, I had a great time flying with Jetstar and my Bangkok trip was nothing less than awesome. Thanks a bunch, Jetstar for the great and safe journey!



FREEBIES!

I'm giving away this Jetstar Comfort Pack worth SGD17 that I bought from their in flight shopping. It's a package of stuff that's very useful for travelling. Contains of a deluxe blanket, inflatable neck support pillow, toothbrush & toothpaste, earplugs, socks, eye shade and their premium lip balm from Australia's Bloom Cosmetics. All items inside a trifold pouch which can be used as your tablet pouch. Besides this comfort pack, you will also get a Jetstar 2015 desk calendar.

So let's join this freebies!

1. Make sure you have followed my instagram @debbzie_leksono or twitter @twitdebbzie
2. Tweet this sentence >>> #GiveAway a valuable Jetstar Comfort Pack for you, avid travellers!  Join on www.debbzie.com | cc: @twitdebbzie
3. Don't forget to leave your email address and twitter or instagram user ID on the comment box below.   

All email address will be drawn randomly and 1 (one) winner will be sent this awesome pack.
Closing date: 25 December 2014 (closed)

Winner: @nyonyasepatu



* My trip to Bangkok is fully sponsored by Jetstar Asia and Changi airport. However all opinions are based on my experience and the words are all mine. Special thanks to Tyler who has been so kind and helpful, making sure that my trip was flawless.