Goodbye Five Stars

A week after the hoo haa, I've decided to pen down a short entry in bidding goodbye to Five Stars Coach/Travel. 

"Five Stars Tours, which closed for business on Wednesday, will have its travel agent licence revoked, unless it can provide the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) reasons such an action should not be taken against it." - source: Channel News Asia

Abruptly ceased its operation on 8th January 2013, Five Stars had left many travelers stranded. Simply because, everyone has been too used to the big boy in the market to the extent where no one suspects the unstable conditions that they were in. Known for its luxury coach services to several destinations in Malaysia, many locals and Malaysian who resides in Singapore often choose Five Stars as their transport provider, especially during festive seasons. Unfortunately, the closure of the business lies in the post Christmas/New Year and pre Chinese New Year (CNY) season, hence the damages and impacts to/on the consumers are more severe. 

I used to be a frequent traveler to Malaysia since young age as I have a truck load of relatives in Malaysia (my mum is a Malaysian). However, my preferred mode of transport was KTM train (speaking of which, i should blog about my 23 years of experience one day! it's a very heartwarming journey...) via the then Tanjong Pagar train station. Hence I only had my one and only trip on Five Stars coach back in 2012, when I went on a short getaway to Genting & KL. 

I recalled the excitement for travelling on Five Stars and how I wanted to travel with them again should I be visiting other parts of Malaysia next time. Yea, the next time didn't come as I was busier travelling for dive trips instead =P So back to the coach, they were almost the air plane on land! There was in-flight on-board entertainments that are built in to the screens before you, those that got attached to the seat in front of you, which consist of movies, games and music! Okay I don't know if I was behaving like a country bumpkin but I totally didn't expect that from a coach! Together with the ample leg/seat space and automated seat adjustments, my experience in 2012 was considered fantastic. 

The ONLY batch of photos I had with Five Star Coach:

*Pardon the poor quality of photos, my compact camera back then wasn't fantastic. This is the best i could touch up with iPhone apple apps when my Mac is not with me LOL!*

Not sure to buy the numbers for 4D or not now. lol!

This was taken 2-3 years ago. wha so youngggg

There was even game controller!

"Gone were the days" is the only thing I could think of now for Five Stars. Whatever had happened to the organization, I hope better days are ahead for you. To those who are affected by the cessation of the business,  I hope you get the compensations soon and enjoy the ever joyous CNY still:)