Carfield
Mar 19, 02, 8:35 pm
Hey folks,
Here is the beginning of a Star Alliance RTW J ticket issued from Taipei for USD $4000! I used the 29,000miles limit. I flew SQ to MEL, and then NG to VIE and LHR, and then BD from LHR to MAN, and then onto IAD, followed by UA to SFO, and then in the future, I will fly NH from SFO to NRT, and then SQ from NRT to TPE.
March 7, 2002
SQ 987 TPE-SIN Lv1325 Arr1755
Boeing 747-400 9V-SPL
The SQ ground agents at Taipei are definitely the best among all SQ stations. The check in agent was polite and tagged my bags all the way to MEL from TPE. She had problems issuing my SIN-MEL boarding pass because of my visa. I later found out that she had entered the passport code incorrectly. Anyway, she took care of the visa and invited me to the SQ Silver Kris lounge. The Taipei lounge was a disappointment as usual. It was crowded and it was difficult to find a seat. Snacks include Bittermelon and Spare Rib soup, fruit, brownies, sandwiches, cheesecake, and various juices and beverage. The décor was very dated and you will not regret about not visiting the lounge. Anyway, our flight arrived late from Tokyo this afternoon and our departure time was delayed till 1:35pm. Gate was B6 and boarding began at 1:20pm. My seat was the emergency exit window in the upper deck and it was a nice seat. The flight was pretty full as usual, and a tray of OJ, water, and champagne was presented as usual, followed by newspapers, headphones, menus, and hot towels. Door was closed at 1:33pm and we pushed back four minutes later. We took off from Runway 06 at 1:52pm, and our flight time was four hours and ten minutes. Our flight route took us along the coast of Taiwan at 34,000ft/10,700m, and then we climbed to 36,000ft/11000m after leaving the Taiwanese air space.
As usual, Raffles class' socks and eye shades were passed out, followed by beverage service with satays. Hot towels were offered after the satay service, the lunch service, and prior to arrival. Four hot towel services in four hours are amazing. Here is the wine list and menu:
Champagne
Duval Leroy Blanc De chardonnay 1995
White Wines
1999 Tyrrell's moon mountain chardonnay
2000 dr loosen riesling qualitatswein
Red Wines
1999 Haselgrove bentwing cabernet sauvignon
Chateau Beaumont 1998 - Haut-medoc cru bourgeois
Port
Taylor's late bottled vintage 1996 port
Lunch
canapes
Satay with onion, cucumber, and spicy peanut sauce
As usual… two chicken skewers and one beef skewers
Appetizers
Duck liver terrine with green peppercorns
much better than the seafood appetizers served these days. Breads include garlic bread, rye, and soft white rolls.
Soba
Japanese cold noodles
A nice additional course for flight in and out of Japan
Main Courses
Stewed pork belly with preserved vegetables in soya sauce, carrot, leafy greens and steamed rice
Sake no fukiyose
Fillet of salmon Fukiyose style, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
Roast peppered chicken with barbecue sauce, buttered vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes
I ordered the book the cook service and chose the "seafood thermidor" entrée. it was basically a seafood casserole of prawn, fish, and scallops in a watery white sauce with mashed potatoes and carrots. It was okay, but the sauce could be better. Anyway, it was better than the three choices of main courses this afternoon.
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Emmental, Boursin & Camembert with carrot and celery stick, and crackers
Fresh fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
banana, apple, pear and oranges
Dessert
Vanilla ice cream with cherry sauce
After the meal service, I slept for a while and hot towel was handed out again prior to arrival. We landed on R/W2R at 6:02pm, and parked at gate F58. Then I went to the Le Meridien Changi for the evening.
SQ 217 SIN-MEL Lv0955 Arr2005
Boeing 777-300 9V-SYG
I went back to the check in desks for the visa problems, and fortunately, everything was solved. The gate agent personally brought me to the immigration because my boarding pass was a written one. Then I went to the lounge and the breakfast selection was not too exciting this morning. Anyway, I had some pastries and waited for the boarding of my flight to MEL. To my surprise, the flight was pretty full this morning. The Boeing 777-300 was brand new and equipped with the Wisemen 3000 system. Boarding began at 9:30am and the boarding door was closed late due to connecting passengers and paper works. As usual, pre takeoff beverage was offered with menus, headsets, newspapers, and hot towels. I took a copy of the "Australian" and sipped on a glass of orange juice. We pushed back at 10:13am and made our way to Runway 2R. The morning was quite busy with SQ's A340s taking off for Seoul and a China Eastern's A300-600R for Shanghai. We finally took off at 10:29am and our flying time was six hours and fifty minutes. We cruised at 10058m/33,000ft shortly after takeoff, as we headed to Jakarta, Indonesia. Then we flew in a Southwestern heading to Port Hedland, and climbed to 11,277m as we approached the middle of the continent. Then we flew over Adelaide and began our approach to Melbourne. The flight was pretty smooth all the way to Melbourne. The service was pretty good, but the meal sequence was a bit strange.
First a beverage and refreshment service was offered, although it was almost 11am in Singapore time when the service began. And here is the transcript for the meals - wine list is the same as TPE-SIN.
Refreshment
Light bites
Warmed Focaccia with hot-smoked salmon, onions and pesto sauce, grilled vegetables
Or
Spinach Fettuccine Milanese
Pasta in tomato, mushrooms, and ham sauce
my choice and it was delicious. But it was pathetically small.
Hot beverages
Coffee-tea.
Hot towels were offered at the end of refreshment but many passengers requested fruit and extra food. I will recommend SQ began the flight with a full lunch service, as the lunch hours are already reached in Singapore. By the time the service was ready, it was already 11:10am when they passed out the entrees. Everyone was pretty hungry. It made more sense by serving lunch first, followed by refreshment. Anyway, the refreshment course with only an entrée was pretty cheap. I will recommend adding a fruit salad or dessert on the side.
This particular Boeing 777-300 was delivered brand new with the new Givenchy seats. The seat mechanisms were pretty the same as the old seats but with new seat upholstery and new Wisemen 3000 system. I love the new seats and the Wiseman 3000 system is pretty excellent. 25 movies, 14 short feature channels, 50 albums for you to choose from (even set up your own play list), 12 audio channels, and 35 Nintenda/PC games are featured in this system. You can of course play, rewind, fast forward, and pause the movies and short features as you wish. It is excellent system.
Here are the lists of movies:
Training Day, Bandits, The Musketeer, Zoolander, Hearts in Atlantis, Joy Ride, High Heels and Low Lifes, Don't Say a Word, Serendipity, The Others, Max Keeble's Big Move, The Bank, The Deep End, A Rather English Marriage, The World is Not Enough, The Mummy, What Women Want, Music of the Heart, On Golden Pond, two European movies, two Japanese movies, and two Chinese movies
Short features include
Comic Zone with Mr. Beans, Suddenly Susan, Friends, The Sketch Show, Jesse, and Whose Line Is it Anyway, and I watched the Kylie Minogue's Concert in Sydney and it was an excellent concert. I can't stop "Spinning around" and watching those cute male dancers half naked in the stage. I also created my play list by selection songs from my favorite Chinese and Korean artists - Amei's "Truth," Sandy Lam's "Truly," and Jo Sung Mo's "No More Love."
I love the Wisemen 3000 system and it will be better if they can return the "Super Tennis" game to the Wisemen system.
At about 2pm Singapore time, the second meal service began with the beverage of our choice with a bag of roasted mixed nuts.
Appetizers
Salad of smoked snowfish and vegetables with viniagrette
Three slices of bad and smelly smoked fish with mandarin orange segments and 2 ½ cherry tomatoes
Bread selection includes garlic focaccia toasts, wholemeal rolls, and hard rolls…
Main Courses
Tournedos of beef with black pepper cream, carrot, snap peas and chateau potatoes
Fortunately, this entrée was excellent, with the beef not over cooked and a nice sauce.
Grilled miso glazed chicken on hot potato salad and vegetable stew
Fillet of Salmon in hoisin sauce, seasonal vegetables and fried rice
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Smoked cheddar, brie, and gouda
Fresh Fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
banana, orange, grapes, and apples
Dessert
Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce
Pralines
To end on a sweet note
I finally asked the F/A about the chocolate service. Yes, they were stocked but only a dozen was stocked on this flight. You have to request it. It was basically useless and if SQ is that cheap, why bother to stock them. Either offer it to everyone or just eliminate the course.
Anyway, it was a decent meal, and hot towels were served before and after the lunch service. We began our descent an hour after the lunch service. We began our descent at 4:50pm and we landed on Melbourne's R/W16 at 8:18pm, and we parked at gate D9 at the international terminal. The bags came out slowly and as normal, my bags were screened at the Melbourne's airport custom. Nothing was found and I was on my way to the Hilton Melbourne Airport. The hotel was very nice and the restaurant, AERO, was pretty good for dinner. I had a seafood risotto and it was delicious. Anyway, the stay was pretty nice. The next installment will be about Lauda Air - a carrier that I had looked forward to fly with.
Carfield http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Here is the beginning of a Star Alliance RTW J ticket issued from Taipei for USD $4000! I used the 29,000miles limit. I flew SQ to MEL, and then NG to VIE and LHR, and then BD from LHR to MAN, and then onto IAD, followed by UA to SFO, and then in the future, I will fly NH from SFO to NRT, and then SQ from NRT to TPE.
March 7, 2002
SQ 987 TPE-SIN Lv1325 Arr1755
Boeing 747-400 9V-SPL
The SQ ground agents at Taipei are definitely the best among all SQ stations. The check in agent was polite and tagged my bags all the way to MEL from TPE. She had problems issuing my SIN-MEL boarding pass because of my visa. I later found out that she had entered the passport code incorrectly. Anyway, she took care of the visa and invited me to the SQ Silver Kris lounge. The Taipei lounge was a disappointment as usual. It was crowded and it was difficult to find a seat. Snacks include Bittermelon and Spare Rib soup, fruit, brownies, sandwiches, cheesecake, and various juices and beverage. The décor was very dated and you will not regret about not visiting the lounge. Anyway, our flight arrived late from Tokyo this afternoon and our departure time was delayed till 1:35pm. Gate was B6 and boarding began at 1:20pm. My seat was the emergency exit window in the upper deck and it was a nice seat. The flight was pretty full as usual, and a tray of OJ, water, and champagne was presented as usual, followed by newspapers, headphones, menus, and hot towels. Door was closed at 1:33pm and we pushed back four minutes later. We took off from Runway 06 at 1:52pm, and our flight time was four hours and ten minutes. Our flight route took us along the coast of Taiwan at 34,000ft/10,700m, and then we climbed to 36,000ft/11000m after leaving the Taiwanese air space.
As usual, Raffles class' socks and eye shades were passed out, followed by beverage service with satays. Hot towels were offered after the satay service, the lunch service, and prior to arrival. Four hot towel services in four hours are amazing. Here is the wine list and menu:
Champagne
Duval Leroy Blanc De chardonnay 1995
White Wines
1999 Tyrrell's moon mountain chardonnay
2000 dr loosen riesling qualitatswein
Red Wines
1999 Haselgrove bentwing cabernet sauvignon
Chateau Beaumont 1998 - Haut-medoc cru bourgeois
Port
Taylor's late bottled vintage 1996 port
Lunch
canapes
Satay with onion, cucumber, and spicy peanut sauce
As usual… two chicken skewers and one beef skewers
Appetizers
Duck liver terrine with green peppercorns
much better than the seafood appetizers served these days. Breads include garlic bread, rye, and soft white rolls.
Soba
Japanese cold noodles
A nice additional course for flight in and out of Japan
Main Courses
Stewed pork belly with preserved vegetables in soya sauce, carrot, leafy greens and steamed rice
Sake no fukiyose
Fillet of salmon Fukiyose style, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
Roast peppered chicken with barbecue sauce, buttered vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes
I ordered the book the cook service and chose the "seafood thermidor" entrée. it was basically a seafood casserole of prawn, fish, and scallops in a watery white sauce with mashed potatoes and carrots. It was okay, but the sauce could be better. Anyway, it was better than the three choices of main courses this afternoon.
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Emmental, Boursin & Camembert with carrot and celery stick, and crackers
Fresh fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
banana, apple, pear and oranges
Dessert
Vanilla ice cream with cherry sauce
After the meal service, I slept for a while and hot towel was handed out again prior to arrival. We landed on R/W2R at 6:02pm, and parked at gate F58. Then I went to the Le Meridien Changi for the evening.
SQ 217 SIN-MEL Lv0955 Arr2005
Boeing 777-300 9V-SYG
I went back to the check in desks for the visa problems, and fortunately, everything was solved. The gate agent personally brought me to the immigration because my boarding pass was a written one. Then I went to the lounge and the breakfast selection was not too exciting this morning. Anyway, I had some pastries and waited for the boarding of my flight to MEL. To my surprise, the flight was pretty full this morning. The Boeing 777-300 was brand new and equipped with the Wisemen 3000 system. Boarding began at 9:30am and the boarding door was closed late due to connecting passengers and paper works. As usual, pre takeoff beverage was offered with menus, headsets, newspapers, and hot towels. I took a copy of the "Australian" and sipped on a glass of orange juice. We pushed back at 10:13am and made our way to Runway 2R. The morning was quite busy with SQ's A340s taking off for Seoul and a China Eastern's A300-600R for Shanghai. We finally took off at 10:29am and our flying time was six hours and fifty minutes. We cruised at 10058m/33,000ft shortly after takeoff, as we headed to Jakarta, Indonesia. Then we flew in a Southwestern heading to Port Hedland, and climbed to 11,277m as we approached the middle of the continent. Then we flew over Adelaide and began our approach to Melbourne. The flight was pretty smooth all the way to Melbourne. The service was pretty good, but the meal sequence was a bit strange.
First a beverage and refreshment service was offered, although it was almost 11am in Singapore time when the service began. And here is the transcript for the meals - wine list is the same as TPE-SIN.
Refreshment
Light bites
Warmed Focaccia with hot-smoked salmon, onions and pesto sauce, grilled vegetables
Or
Spinach Fettuccine Milanese
Pasta in tomato, mushrooms, and ham sauce
my choice and it was delicious. But it was pathetically small.
Hot beverages
Coffee-tea.
Hot towels were offered at the end of refreshment but many passengers requested fruit and extra food. I will recommend SQ began the flight with a full lunch service, as the lunch hours are already reached in Singapore. By the time the service was ready, it was already 11:10am when they passed out the entrees. Everyone was pretty hungry. It made more sense by serving lunch first, followed by refreshment. Anyway, the refreshment course with only an entrée was pretty cheap. I will recommend adding a fruit salad or dessert on the side.
This particular Boeing 777-300 was delivered brand new with the new Givenchy seats. The seat mechanisms were pretty the same as the old seats but with new seat upholstery and new Wisemen 3000 system. I love the new seats and the Wiseman 3000 system is pretty excellent. 25 movies, 14 short feature channels, 50 albums for you to choose from (even set up your own play list), 12 audio channels, and 35 Nintenda/PC games are featured in this system. You can of course play, rewind, fast forward, and pause the movies and short features as you wish. It is excellent system.
Here are the lists of movies:
Training Day, Bandits, The Musketeer, Zoolander, Hearts in Atlantis, Joy Ride, High Heels and Low Lifes, Don't Say a Word, Serendipity, The Others, Max Keeble's Big Move, The Bank, The Deep End, A Rather English Marriage, The World is Not Enough, The Mummy, What Women Want, Music of the Heart, On Golden Pond, two European movies, two Japanese movies, and two Chinese movies
Short features include
Comic Zone with Mr. Beans, Suddenly Susan, Friends, The Sketch Show, Jesse, and Whose Line Is it Anyway, and I watched the Kylie Minogue's Concert in Sydney and it was an excellent concert. I can't stop "Spinning around" and watching those cute male dancers half naked in the stage. I also created my play list by selection songs from my favorite Chinese and Korean artists - Amei's "Truth," Sandy Lam's "Truly," and Jo Sung Mo's "No More Love."
I love the Wisemen 3000 system and it will be better if they can return the "Super Tennis" game to the Wisemen system.
At about 2pm Singapore time, the second meal service began with the beverage of our choice with a bag of roasted mixed nuts.
Appetizers
Salad of smoked snowfish and vegetables with viniagrette
Three slices of bad and smelly smoked fish with mandarin orange segments and 2 ½ cherry tomatoes
Bread selection includes garlic focaccia toasts, wholemeal rolls, and hard rolls…
Main Courses
Tournedos of beef with black pepper cream, carrot, snap peas and chateau potatoes
Fortunately, this entrée was excellent, with the beef not over cooked and a nice sauce.
Grilled miso glazed chicken on hot potato salad and vegetable stew
Fillet of Salmon in hoisin sauce, seasonal vegetables and fried rice
Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes
Smoked cheddar, brie, and gouda
Fresh Fruit
A selection of fresh fruit
banana, orange, grapes, and apples
Dessert
Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce
Pralines
To end on a sweet note
I finally asked the F/A about the chocolate service. Yes, they were stocked but only a dozen was stocked on this flight. You have to request it. It was basically useless and if SQ is that cheap, why bother to stock them. Either offer it to everyone or just eliminate the course.
Anyway, it was a decent meal, and hot towels were served before and after the lunch service. We began our descent an hour after the lunch service. We began our descent at 4:50pm and we landed on Melbourne's R/W16 at 8:18pm, and we parked at gate D9 at the international terminal. The bags came out slowly and as normal, my bags were screened at the Melbourne's airport custom. Nothing was found and I was on my way to the Hilton Melbourne Airport. The hotel was very nice and the restaurant, AERO, was pretty good for dinner. I had a seafood risotto and it was delicious. Anyway, the stay was pretty nice. The next installment will be about Lauda Air - a carrier that I had looked forward to fly with.
Carfield http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif