Nick C

5 July 2008
Sydney (SYD) – Singapore (SIN)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ232
Aircraft: B747-400
Registration: 9V-SPF
ETD: 1130
ATD: 1120
ETA: 1745
ATA: 1720
Flight Time: 8 hrs
Seat: 11A (Business)

After a short break in Melbourne, it was time to go back to Singapore for a slightly longer break to get away from the cold and soak up the sun and humidity. Left my apartment at 0840 and was the airport by 0900. I simply love weekend morning traffic. The roads are so empty! The check-in counters were still rather empty and the business class counters were also serving the few groups of economy passengers and so I was ushered to the first class counter. The usual security questions and my boarding pass was issued. Picked up 4 dozen doughnuts (I have no idea why most Singaporeans love them so much it’s nothing special just loads of sugar!) and made my way through the fast track lane. Everyone (Immigration/Customs/TRS) seemed to want a doughnut! Settled my TRS (Tourist Refund Scheme) for my Wii and made my way to the SKL lounge for a shower and my morning dose of caffeine.

Nothing fancy but a shower is always good before a flight.



Caffeine is good for you!


Call for boarding was made at 1100. Made my way to the priority line at gate 57 (Same gate as A380) which had no queue and was onboard in 2 minutes. Pre-takeoff drinks were served. Only Piper Heidsieck was offered in J, no Dom or Krug.

Fizzy Bubbly


Useful storage compartments on the upper deck of the 744.


Boarding was done by 1115 and we pushed back slightly early. A very slow taxi to 34L allowed some spotting. Saw Whalejet 9V-SKD undergoing some maintenance.

QF 747 after landing on 34L


View of 34L from holding point



After take off, more top ups of fizzy bubbly before lunch was served.

Marinated salmon with feta, tomato and cucumber salad


Had the Lamb shank korma served with mushroom and peas masala and briyani rice for my mains.


Had a good and fruitful nap after lunch and woke up just as the aircraft started it’s decent into Changi.

Over Batam


Touched down on 20R and we parked next to other 744s at gate A16 in T3. Immigration was fast with the biometric scanners and I was at landside 20 minutes after touch down.
Service: 9/10 Food: 8/10 Aircraft: 9/10

12 July 2008
Singapore (SIN) – Bangkok (BKK)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ970
Aircraft: B777-300
Registration: 9V-SYE
Seat: 37G (Economy)

After bumming around for a week in Singapore, it was time to head off to Bangkok for shopping! Checked in at T2 and headed to T3 to use the Krisflyer Gold lounge instead of the horrible SATS lounge in T2.

T3 Krisflyer Gold Lounge

Entrance


Comfy seats


Nice skylight


Testing Wireless@SG


Open feel (I prefer this over the SKL)


Saw this while at the “oxygen intake” area




Flight
Aircraft today was a “STAR ALLIANCE” liveried B773, 9V-SYE (One of the 5 773s in SQ’s fleet without AVOD). Pushback was on time but there was a queue for takeoff, which caused a slight delay, but we still arrived on time. Seems like SQ has stopped giving out menus in Y for the shorter regional hops.

Cheese Omelette with ???


Legroom shot


Arrived at the horrible BKK airport on time. Cleared immigration in 10 mins, which was fast compared to my last trip there. Instead of heading to the same immigration like everyone else, walk slightly further to the central section. There are less people there and more counters are manned.

Arrival Hall (Landside)




Limo to the hotel




Service: 8/10 Food: 8/10 Aircraft: 8/10

14 July 2008
Bangkok (BKK) – Singapore (SIN)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ631
Aircraft: B777-200ER
Registration: 9V-SQM
Seat: 42G (Economy)

3 days in BKK passed too quickly. BKK really defines the word CHEAP. 400 Baht (Including tips) to the airport by taxi is cheap!

Departure Hall (Landside)



Departure Hall (Airside)





















Getting to the SKL Lounge

Finding the lounge in BKK is no easy feat. Apart from the excellent signs to the Royal Silk Lounges, signages to the other CIP lounges are horrible. Just head towards Concourse C to get to the SKL.





SKL Entrance


Lounge Environment







F&B Area










Flight

SQ631 was operated by 9V-SQM, which meant food was ex-NRT!

Breaded pork with ???


Push back was 10 mins early and arrival was on time.

Service: 8/10 Food: 9/10 Aircraft: 8/10

24 July 2008
Singapore (SIN) – Sydney (SYD)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ231
Aircraft: B747-400
Registration: 9V-SPL
ETD: 0030
ATD: 0031
ETA: 0955
ATA: 0957
Flight Time: 7.43 hrs
Seat: 11A (Business)

This flight closes the chapter on my enjoyable winter break (Southern hemisphere). 25 days on the go - 8 flights and lots eating.
I left the house at 9.00 pm and got to the airport by 9.25pm, could have been faster if the KPE (Kallang Paya-Lebar Expressway) speed limit was 90km/h instead of the pathetic 70km/h. Singapore uses lots of acronyms!
Proceed to very deserted Row 6 for check-in and was ushered to the counter. Along the way, I passed Row 3, which had a long snaking queue for Economy while Row 4, which was for passengers to bag drop after doing an online check-in, or SMS check in was “queueless”. Check-in was a painless affair, handed my KrisFlyer card, passport, e-ticket to the check-in agent. Boarding pass was issued promptly and to my delight, it was the new wider boarding pass for Business class. I know some frequent flyers prefer the previous generation ones but I like the newer one. I don’t misplace it that easily.

Wider Boarding Pass


Immigration clearance was fast with the E-IACS counters. They should clean the fingerprint scanners more frequently. There was a layer of oil on mine. Yucks! After which I proceeded to DFS to pick up a brick of oxygen sticks which was rock bottom cheap. Imagine a pack costs S$2 at DFS but it’s $10 at landside. A visit to the T3 SilverKris Lounge was next on the list.
T3 SilverKris Lounge

Main Entrance


Seat Area






Had some drinks and a few nibbles. Coffee was lovely! It’s so much better than the T2 SKL but I would rather go the KF*G lounge just next door as it’s less busy ignoring the fact that there aren’t any attached washrooms. The lounge was packed when I got in at 10.30 pm but people started leaving by 11.00 pm. By the time I left at 11.45, there were many pockets of empty seats.
Boarding was at B2, which meant that it the multiple gate holding area. Security clearance was slow. SLOW. 3 lines, no priority line at all. Took me 20 minutes to get through. This was a 747 flight not an A380 flight!

Flight
Aircraft today was 9V-SPL. One of the “newer” B744s in the fleet but it had the older fittings.
Had a glass of Piper Heidsieck for my pre-flight drink.
Push backed a minute behind scheduled and taxied to 20C for take off.
Made a feeble attempt to plane spot while taxing with the A710IS. Still it’s better for doing trip reports compared to the 1-series.
9V-VLB


Had some more bubbly after take off and I slept till breakfast.

Sunrise over Australia


I had made a BTC (Book The Cook) reservation when I made my flight bookings and selected Nasi biryani.

Fruits


Nasi biryani


Nasi biryani was so-so. Fragrant smell but just didn’t taste right. Rice was hard and under cooked. Chicken pieces were too dry. Doesn’t taste as good as it used to on BTC.

After breakfast was cleared, we began our descent into overcast Sydney touching down on 16R 2 minutes after scheduled arrival.
Being one of the first out of the plane meant no queues for a 10.00 am arrival which meant that I could save the fast track pass for another day.

Express Pass


Was cleared by a customs official at the carousal and I was home 30 minutes after touch down.
Service: 9/10 Food: 7/10 Aircraft: 8/10

ak333

Nice report - thanks!

hairpeace

Short and sweet!

Nick C

Thanks!

Moomba

Unlike some people that just go on and on forever.

Nice report Nick C

Nick C

Gee. Thanks! I thought it was a little short and inconsistent.

SASfan

What is the consensus best *A lounge in SIN to sit and enjoy?

SQ, TG? Which Terminal, as well?

Moomba

Hey Nick C these are trip reports from your perspective. How much you choose to put in or not is entirely up to you. I don't think any of us here have any right to demand more or less from a TR writer than they are prepared to write.

As can be seen from the 'What makes a good TR' thread you cannot please everyone all the time.

My post was a bit of an attempt at self deprecating humour as my TRs tend to be quite verbose. Some people like that some people don't. I write them for me primarily and if other folks like them then that is an added bonus.

I think you should write as much as you want to and if it pleases you then great.

This is one of my favourite places to hang out on FT and read many of the reports on here. I do hope you and other new people continue to write more reports as it is quite fascinating reading others comments on this travel game. ^

hoyateach

Just made my way through this report. Very nicely done.

aSiAnRiCk

Nice report. Thanks for the good read ^

mileageking

Nice report and very precise. Liked the pictures....cheers. ^