Darren
Mar 20, 05, 10:53 pm
We did indeed arrive in Singapore more or less on time (I believe about 20 mins late). After taxiing to the gate for what seemed like about a half an hour, we arrived at Singapore Chiangi International Airport. The airport was mostly closed at 2am but there were legions of workers out making repairs and doing construction. I have to admit that it is nice not to have to pass immigration or go through a transfer area to be able to transfer. Since we landed somewhere near the end of the terminal, it was a long walk to the lounge. The people were divided into two types. Those so tired that they couldn’t wait to get home so they ran through the terminal, and those so tired that they just didn’t have the mental capacity to care any longer so they just moped along. It does seem to be a strange time for a long flight to arrive.
I headed upstairs to the Silver Kris lounge. People had said that the lounge was very nice and I do agree. I do not think it’s the nicest I have been in but it is more than adequate. I do think that having it open 24/24 is a huge benefit and Cathay should consider doing the same with either the Wing or the Pier. I can’t imagine having a couple people staff it would be all that expensive. The guy at the entrance took my boarding pass, looked at it, looked again, and looked at it longer like it was the first one he had ever seen. He then asked me where I was going . . . with the boarding pass in his hand, mind you. I told him. He then asked the class of service . . . still with the boarding pass in his hand. I told him. He then handed the pass back to me and pointed to the right. Very strange interaction to say the least.
The lounge was empty except for one or two stragglers and a crew doing cleaning and preparing for the new day. By this time it was about 3am so I checked my mail and headed to the showers. There are about 10 of them, well equipped, and adorned in dark red/brown granite. I chose the largest since I wanted to repack a few things so it gave me a little room to spread out. There are no toilets in the shower rooms which I found a bit annoying. The shower experience, as it is, was fine but the facilities struck me as very poorly designed. Not so much of an afterthought as just not well thought out. Maybe it’s an Asian thing.
On that note, I have to point out one thing that has been on my mind. Why is Singapore Air different from Cathay and why are there so many diehard fanatics on one side or the other. I don’t know. Sorry. But from my perspective, I will say that I think SQ is much more “Asian” than Cathay. I know Cathay was initially founded by I believe an Aussie, a Brit, and an American around the time of the War. The airline has a primarily western set of pilots and has traditionally (though not anymore) had a wide variety of cabin staff. Factor also that Hong Kong was controlled by Great Britain longer than Singapore. From my perspective, Cathay is much more of a “western” airline. I wonder if that is some of the difference I perceived in how the FAs treated the passengers. On Cathay, I have noticed in the past that the FAs pay considerably less attention to the Asian pax than the western pax. They tend to mind their Ps and Qs more. They treat them like the SQ attendants treated the whole cabin. I don’t know how true this is since my experience with both are obviously somewhat limited but it was something I picked up about CX several times when I flew them.
In any event, the lounge has a few rooms with strangely shaped recliners that they list as “slumber rooms”. I would have preferred a big, cushy chair but there were none to be found. The room has a pillow, blanket, table, chair, and this recliner which is a piece of metal on two posts in the ground, which are incidentally painted black and hard to see so watch your toes. Again, strange design. Well after about an hour of this, I headed to the floor and slept for about three hours. I awoke and headed over for my morning 18 cups of coffee and to my surprise the lounge was beginning to get some action. The spread was put out and pax were descending on it like vultures. I had a few dim sums, a few cups of coffee, and a water and called it a morning. But there were also some Japanese selections, congee, what appeared to be an omelet bar, Dutch style breakfast meats and cheeses, pastries, and sandwiches.
My computer was low on batteries so I headed over to the business center which had some international power sockets, maybe 10 computers, and a printer. Some guy next to me was obviously having problems with his computer as he banged on it like Maxwell and his silver hammer. I know I am not a computer fixer-geek, but I am pretty sure that’s not how it is done. He eventually gave up but even if he wasn’t amused . . . I was. I pretty much killed the next hour and a half reading the new Economist (I had been waiting for it because of the Turkey section) and writing emails to various people.
Boarding was at a far gate so I headed off about 20 minutes early. By the time I arrived, most were already through the secondary security so it was only a very short wait before getting into the departure lounge and on to the plane. The cabin is the old-style 2-2-2 configuration. The first row actually has less room than the second, so I ended up moving since the cabin was reasonably empty. The crew was fantastic and much closer to the doting style I mentioned before. Maybe because there were only three of us though three more seemed to migrate up for various reasons. I got the feeling that one was a very, very frequent flyer on the route, one needed a wheelchair on arrival, and one was a UM.
I asked to keep the menu, and was allowed, but it was whisked away before I could put it into my bag so I don’t have it. Yes, I save them because it reminds me of my various flights. In any event, they served a light breakfast of I believe either dim sum, noodles, or something western like eggs, but I didn’t have anything so I don’t know exactly. I did have lunch which was absolutely wonderful. The meal started with a duck and shrimp plate (which in retrospect I might have had but decided against), soup, and a salad. I had the soup though it mustn’t have made a huge impression because I can’t remember the type. I don’t know the other main selections, but I had a spicy Thai peanut curry with beef slices and chili peppers. It tasted like a coconut satay sauce and was perfectly done. It was served with rice and boiled pumpkin. Dessert was a slice of green tea ice cream which was fine. And, of course, the obligatory coffee which they were happy to serve in a pot since the cups are rather small.
The flight up to Beijing was bumpy though the landing was smooth. Go figure. I was one of the first ones out the door and towards immigration we went. Customs was little more than giving a sheet of paper and fortunately the lines for immigration were short. Even still, it took about a half hour to get through the 10 or so people in front of me. By the time I had left, there were at least 30-40 in each of the 10 lines. I had no baggage so headed out the door where I met a driver that the school had sent for me. Driver Zhang and I had a nice conversation about the area, the Olympics, family, etc., before arriving at the hotel directly across from Tsinghua.
Past Episodes:
#1: Intro, PHL-LAX-LHR-DXB, Dubai (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409654)
#2 : London : The Flumps (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412328)
#3 : London : The Great Navigator (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412333)
#4: PHL-LAX-SIN : Surviving USScareways (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412336)
#5 : LAX-NRT-SIN : A Singaporean Experience (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412424)
I headed upstairs to the Silver Kris lounge. People had said that the lounge was very nice and I do agree. I do not think it’s the nicest I have been in but it is more than adequate. I do think that having it open 24/24 is a huge benefit and Cathay should consider doing the same with either the Wing or the Pier. I can’t imagine having a couple people staff it would be all that expensive. The guy at the entrance took my boarding pass, looked at it, looked again, and looked at it longer like it was the first one he had ever seen. He then asked me where I was going . . . with the boarding pass in his hand, mind you. I told him. He then asked the class of service . . . still with the boarding pass in his hand. I told him. He then handed the pass back to me and pointed to the right. Very strange interaction to say the least.
The lounge was empty except for one or two stragglers and a crew doing cleaning and preparing for the new day. By this time it was about 3am so I checked my mail and headed to the showers. There are about 10 of them, well equipped, and adorned in dark red/brown granite. I chose the largest since I wanted to repack a few things so it gave me a little room to spread out. There are no toilets in the shower rooms which I found a bit annoying. The shower experience, as it is, was fine but the facilities struck me as very poorly designed. Not so much of an afterthought as just not well thought out. Maybe it’s an Asian thing.
On that note, I have to point out one thing that has been on my mind. Why is Singapore Air different from Cathay and why are there so many diehard fanatics on one side or the other. I don’t know. Sorry. But from my perspective, I will say that I think SQ is much more “Asian” than Cathay. I know Cathay was initially founded by I believe an Aussie, a Brit, and an American around the time of the War. The airline has a primarily western set of pilots and has traditionally (though not anymore) had a wide variety of cabin staff. Factor also that Hong Kong was controlled by Great Britain longer than Singapore. From my perspective, Cathay is much more of a “western” airline. I wonder if that is some of the difference I perceived in how the FAs treated the passengers. On Cathay, I have noticed in the past that the FAs pay considerably less attention to the Asian pax than the western pax. They tend to mind their Ps and Qs more. They treat them like the SQ attendants treated the whole cabin. I don’t know how true this is since my experience with both are obviously somewhat limited but it was something I picked up about CX several times when I flew them.
In any event, the lounge has a few rooms with strangely shaped recliners that they list as “slumber rooms”. I would have preferred a big, cushy chair but there were none to be found. The room has a pillow, blanket, table, chair, and this recliner which is a piece of metal on two posts in the ground, which are incidentally painted black and hard to see so watch your toes. Again, strange design. Well after about an hour of this, I headed to the floor and slept for about three hours. I awoke and headed over for my morning 18 cups of coffee and to my surprise the lounge was beginning to get some action. The spread was put out and pax were descending on it like vultures. I had a few dim sums, a few cups of coffee, and a water and called it a morning. But there were also some Japanese selections, congee, what appeared to be an omelet bar, Dutch style breakfast meats and cheeses, pastries, and sandwiches.
My computer was low on batteries so I headed over to the business center which had some international power sockets, maybe 10 computers, and a printer. Some guy next to me was obviously having problems with his computer as he banged on it like Maxwell and his silver hammer. I know I am not a computer fixer-geek, but I am pretty sure that’s not how it is done. He eventually gave up but even if he wasn’t amused . . . I was. I pretty much killed the next hour and a half reading the new Economist (I had been waiting for it because of the Turkey section) and writing emails to various people.
Boarding was at a far gate so I headed off about 20 minutes early. By the time I arrived, most were already through the secondary security so it was only a very short wait before getting into the departure lounge and on to the plane. The cabin is the old-style 2-2-2 configuration. The first row actually has less room than the second, so I ended up moving since the cabin was reasonably empty. The crew was fantastic and much closer to the doting style I mentioned before. Maybe because there were only three of us though three more seemed to migrate up for various reasons. I got the feeling that one was a very, very frequent flyer on the route, one needed a wheelchair on arrival, and one was a UM.
I asked to keep the menu, and was allowed, but it was whisked away before I could put it into my bag so I don’t have it. Yes, I save them because it reminds me of my various flights. In any event, they served a light breakfast of I believe either dim sum, noodles, or something western like eggs, but I didn’t have anything so I don’t know exactly. I did have lunch which was absolutely wonderful. The meal started with a duck and shrimp plate (which in retrospect I might have had but decided against), soup, and a salad. I had the soup though it mustn’t have made a huge impression because I can’t remember the type. I don’t know the other main selections, but I had a spicy Thai peanut curry with beef slices and chili peppers. It tasted like a coconut satay sauce and was perfectly done. It was served with rice and boiled pumpkin. Dessert was a slice of green tea ice cream which was fine. And, of course, the obligatory coffee which they were happy to serve in a pot since the cups are rather small.
The flight up to Beijing was bumpy though the landing was smooth. Go figure. I was one of the first ones out the door and towards immigration we went. Customs was little more than giving a sheet of paper and fortunately the lines for immigration were short. Even still, it took about a half hour to get through the 10 or so people in front of me. By the time I had left, there were at least 30-40 in each of the 10 lines. I had no baggage so headed out the door where I met a driver that the school had sent for me. Driver Zhang and I had a nice conversation about the area, the Olympics, family, etc., before arriving at the hotel directly across from Tsinghua.
Past Episodes:
#1: Intro, PHL-LAX-LHR-DXB, Dubai (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409654)
#2 : London : The Flumps (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412328)
#3 : London : The Great Navigator (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412333)
#4: PHL-LAX-SIN : Surviving USScareways (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412336)
#5 : LAX-NRT-SIN : A Singaporean Experience (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412424)