Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Fun in the sun

I mentioned in my previous blog entry that I had a fantastic time at the Berjaya Redang Beach Resort. Indeed, its a great place to relax, if that's all you want, or go snorkeling if that interests you, or both.

The resort is made up of many chalets surrounded by rich and lustrous flora, as this picture will attest to. Its a panoramic view of the surrounding chalets taken from the second floor room where my mother stayed during this particular trip.
If you are more interested in snorkeling, the hotel organises these snorkeling trips around the island in the afternoons. For S$30, or more if you need to rent the snorkel and goggles, you get to spend about 2 hours going around the island on a boat to dive at 5 or 6 places. Its really fun, and best of all, the whole family can join in. And I mean the whole family. My mother, who is pushing 80, gamely came along, sat in the boat to enjoy the scenery although she did not snorkle. The youngest among the family is 7 years old.

There are private boats for hire which also provide round the island snorkeling expeditions too. Their times are more flexible, but you need to bargain the price with them. The resort, of course, does not encourage nor recommend this, so you take your own risk if you want to do this.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Berjaya Air is a great way to fly

I had a very uncomfortable trip to Redang Island on Berjaya Air recently although the Berjaya Redang Beach Resort stay was fantastic. The problem was with the air-conditioning in the plane going to the resort.

My family and I boarded the plane at Seletar Airport. It was a typical hot and sunny day in Singapore. When the plane didn't take off soon enough, it became hot and sweaty in the cabin. You could see the sweet air hostesses (3 of them) sweating under their make-ups, the poor ladies. These small planes don't have video entertainment, or board games, so the wait got uncomfortable as time passed while the plane remained land-bound.

Although it is not in my habit of doing so, I wrote a letter of complaint while waiting for the plane to take-off, to the effect that the flight was very uncomfortable, particularly when my family consists of young children and an old lady.

The plane did finally take us to and from our destination. We had an enjoyable holiday. The flight back on the same airline was smooth and comfortable.

Some weeks after this trip, I received a letter from the company, Berjaya Air. It referred to my written complaint, admitted fault, apologised and offered me 50% off on any Berjaya Air ticket up to 10 persons within the next one year.

I am impressed, not only because of the offer of 50% off, but that the management did bother to investigate my complaint and give a reply. So the next time I fly Berjaya Air, I will have full confidence that everyone in the airline company cares about me as their customer.

Well done, Berjaya Air!