anat0l

Qantas First Lounge Sydney International

We both presented our WP cards to the greeter and were summarily welcomed to the lounge. Once up the escalators, we had our BPs scanned in by the front desk agents. I asked whether it was possible to have my SYD-SIN BP reprinted on the former First premium BP card stock, but they said that with the advent of the BPs now moving to the barcoded style, premium class BP card stocks were being discontinued. The best they could do is give me a reprint of my BP, which at least was on the correct card stock with the correct fields in the correct positions, so it was a clean record of my first First class flight ever. Once we were finished with the front desk, Kiwi Flyer and I went separate ways: Kiwi Flyer was going to the computers to get some work done, whilst I headed straight to the spa to make an appointment.


My boarding pass for QF31 Sydney - Singapore (Changi) in First, printed in the new barcode style on matching card stock (barcode and other details elided for obvious reasons)

The spa schedule was surprisingly full, but I managed to get an appointment in the afternoon for a massage. With an appointment in place, next priority was a shower and a change of clothes (packed into my carry-on, of course - like I said, I'm paranoid when I realise that I'm tired in the morning!). I really like the showers in the Qantas First lounges: nice and large, Kevin Murphy accessories, plus a full suite of other amenities to keep most people happy. I was surprised that, unlike my experience at the MEL T2 FL, there was no shaving cream supplied at the SYD T1 FL; it might just be the particular shower room I was in, but I guess it mattered little since I had brought the shaving cream I had from the MEL T2 FL anyway. Part of the amenities is a small jar of Payot Creme de Reves: it smells a bit like chocolate and seeing it could do no harm I thought I'd give it a go on my face.

A long refreshing shower later, the next stop was the restaurant for a premium breakfast. It was pretty late in the morning for breakfast, but I guess I could have this meal as brunch instead. I was lucky to be given a table in the fairly busy restaurant; even more lucky that it was a table nearest to the window.


Air Austral aircraft parked at SYD T1 as seen from the QF FL

As I was seated, the waiter took my order of a latte to start whilst I flicked through the First menu (which you can read here: breakfast, all-day and drinks). The latte was promptly delivered in an elegant signature cup as I placed my order. The design looks like basically two cups: one contained in the other, both clear. I think it must be a glass cup inside and a plastic one outside (with a small void in between the two); it was certainly quite light, which almost makes me think it was all plastic. Either way, it looks cool.


Latte delivered in QF FL signature cup

Whilst waiting for breakfast, I SMSed Bundy Bear and Skoogle the good news about our upgrade, who summarily returned the message via voice call. Even though there were quite a few people in the lounge, food arrived relatively quickly, especially since my order was by no means small: energiser smoothie, eggs Benedict with smoked trout plus vegetable trimmings and sourdough toast.


Eggs Benedict with salmon, sided with spinach, tomato and mushrooms


Sourdough toast


Energiser smoothie

After finishing my latte, I eschewed further coffee or drinking champagne by the bottle (QF009 style ) and instead reverted back to water and sencha. I really did take my time eating breakfast; any pundit would have thought I was nursing my meal. I can't remember if I finished before Kiwi Flyer came looking for me, with information that igel had arrived and needed guesting into the lounge. In any case, when igel arrived we couldn't negotiate for a larger table, so we simply pulled up another chair to the pair table I was at. I assumed the inferior lateral position at the table, which wasn't a big deal since I'd be going for a massage soon anyway. Given that it was lunch time, Kiwi Flyer and igel asked for menus and ordered lunch. I can't remember whether I ordered something before or after my massage, so for this trip report let's assume I ordered something before the massage.

Wait a minute - did I say order? Yes. No, not another full meal . Just a plate of fruit...and the wonderful tiramisu I had become fond of, as well as a glass of De Bortoli Noble One. During our conversation, we got to see our A380 being towed from the parking area near T3, across the runway and into position at gate 9.


Fruit plate


The wonderful tiramisu with marsala strawberries

I won't say too much about the massage. I seem to have a track record of always only being able to score short sessions at the spa, but it was a nice, subtle pick-me-up. Although I normally enjoy massages in complete silence, I couldn't help but strike up a conversation with the masseuse.

When I'd finished my treatment and went back outside, the sky had started to darken a bit more, which seemed to oddly disorient me a bit more than usual. I took a couple of seconds to regain my senses then went off again. I'd found out that igel and Kiwi Flyer had split to do their own things; I ran into igel who was at one of the business workstations, but I couldn't see Kiwi Flyer (I'm typing this from memory, so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong here!). I decided to move over to a quieter area of the lounge, which seemed like the farthest end towards the centre of the terminal (i.e. the end with the library, cf. the end closest to the spa). Along the way, I found the self-serve buffet where light snacks and refreshments could be obtained.


Part of the secluded library in the SYD T1 QF FL

At first, I was thinking about sitting in the library, but a quick scan of the literature available revealed nothing particularly interesting, so I set about instead just letting time pass by whilst looking out the window. I set my belongings down near an empty lounge seat far from the rest of the lounge, then I went back to the self-serve area to get some snacks of nuts, fruits with little chocolate bits and some cheese. What was really cool about getting tea is that you not only get a cup, but you can take a pot with you as well! A bit impractical in some ways since the pot only holds two cups of tea, but still cool .


SYD T1 QF FL self-serve snack/refreshments. There are two such areas in the lounge, one on each "wing" on either side of the central entrance to the lounge.


A view of the lounge from the perspective of the top of my side table


QF FL snacks and refreshments. Notice the tea pot, tea cup, saucer and tray set.

It wasn't long after I got settled into my seat that Kiwi Flyer and not much later igel managed to find me, so they decided to set themselves a spot nearby and collected a few refreshments of their own. igel was travelling in J, so he was trying to work out what he wanted to experience on board the A380 (as well as myself being this flight was a first for many things for me...). We somehow managed to bide enough time through great conversation throughout the afternoon before we were all advised to start heading down to gate 9 for boarding.

anat0l

First Suite Experience On Board the Qantas Airways Airbus A380 and anat0l's 1st First Class Experience

Although the "normal" AFF and FT thing to do would be to stay just a little bit longer (and have a decent drink - not Carlton Mids ), but seeing as boarding this mighty beast was no trivial task plus there was F to look forward to, we proceeded straight away to gate 9. Thankfully, the lines were not onerously long once we arrived at the four-channels boarding gate, and the First line was even shorter, for that matter.


Passengers lining up at gate 9 to board the A380


A lane which leads to greater things

It was then a matter of proceeding down the complex warren of multiple aerobridges, following the signs marked "First", which very conveniently led directly to the front of the F cabin where we were greeted by the F crew.


"Nancy Bird-Walton" as seen from the aerobridge

Flight: Qantas Airways QF31 Sydney (SYD T1) - Singapore Changi (SIN T1)
Depart: 1625h Sched; 1640h Actual
Aircraft: VH-OQA "Nancy Bird-Walton" Airbus A380-800
Distance: 3,908 mi (6,301 km)
Class: First Suite (points upgrade from promotional Business Saver)
Seat: 5A

Kiwi Flyer was given a suite in row 1, whilst I got the only suite in F which is the least viewable by any other pax in the cabin. The First Suite onboard the Qantas A380 was well-designed to store a lot and in a very functional and organised manner. There was space under the ottoman, in the overhead locker (which by no means were so big that one felt "boxed in") and in two drawers in the table unit next to the seat. Noise cancelling headphones were found in one of these drawers, which could be conveniently hung on the pin next to the touch panel. A small cocktail table was located directly in front of the seat (when it is in its original position), whilst a much, much larger fold-out table was located in the side compartment.


The F suite seat


Floor space inside a F suite


One extremity of the F suite; the seat doubles as an ottoman.


Two windows for every suite

With the capacity of the cabin a mere 14, what was probably more surprising was that it was full. A couple of young men about my age were travelling back to merry ol' England (but were stopping for 24 hours, so not taking QF31 all the way) and a middle-aged couple that had corporate jobs (but were currently on a short vacation) introduced themselves as a good deal of the cabin evolved into a little sociable meet and greet camp environment. The look of greenhorns-in-F (or F suite) on everyone's face was as plain as the noses on their faces - yours truly included - as we all snapped pictures of the suite, the cabin and of each other in the suites (all with a proud look like a successful hunter and its bounty).




Me inside the F suite, 5A.

Now here's a buzz for all of us stalwarts here: all of the people I talked to (count them: that's four) plus the two of us (Kiwi Flyer and I) had something in common...yep, you guessed it: we were all successful J-to-F points upgrades! So at least 6 people in the cabin were points upgrades, and as we all know, that's as rare as hen's teeth (especially when you factor in award seats and the wacky loadings that Kiwi Flyer was seeing in the days leading up to that day).


A380 F cabin

Our little moment of euphoria in marvelling at the F suite and cabin was interrupted when pre-flight drinks were offered, along with almonds and olives. Being a luxurious moment, I had no hesitation in requesting the champagne, but not before I asked to find out the label, which turned out to be Taittinger.


Taittinger champagne offered as a pre-flight drink......


......with nuts and olives.

Soon after, sleeper suits and amenity kits were handed out. I made a little white lie to the FA that I had a SO that I would like to gift an amenity kit, so I managed to get both a male and female F kit. Menus were also distributed (and you can find the menu here: SYD-SIN food; wine & drinks), and I was most pleased to see that the degustation (or tasting) menu was available on this flight (previously, the said service was touted as only available on SYD-BKK and -LAX flights). Unfortunately, unlike quite a few F services around the world, there was no caviar, but not to be phased the selection of food looked both extensive and appetising.


QF F sleeper suit, male and female amenity kits


The city scene on the cover of the F menu. Full points to whoever can pinpoint exactly where the photo was taken.

The TV screen in the suite can fold back into the wall, which is necessary if you're thinking of having a guest in your suite. Oddly enough, it does not have to be stowed for take-off and landing, which is cool since you can essentially have gate-to-gate IFE (yes, sports fans, the IFE is on as soon as you get to your seat). Like all good AVOD type IFE systems around the world, in the narrow compartment adjacent to the seat is stowed a remote control which on one side looks fairly innocuous but on the other side reveals a full alphanumeric keyboard.


F suite iQ IFE remote control in stowed position

The suite lighting, window blinds and seat position - amongst other things - are controlled by the touch panel above the remote control compartment. The silver buttons underneath allow most of the controls afforded by the touch panel, but not all (for example, the seat controls (angle, position, etc.) are a lot more precise using the touch panel compared to the silver buttons, which only allow a discrete set of positions). The silver buttons are useful, however, when your touch panel doesn't work - like mine on that day . A similar (smaller) set of silver buttons are located at the top of the wall at the rear of the suite so the crew can operate the controls without needing to get into the suite.


Suite control touch panel; the silver buttons beneath the screen give most (not all) of the same functionality as the touch panel.

Buttons for the overhead lights are located next to the lights in the overhead panel, but since the buttons aren't labelled, you would almost always be caught out in thinking that the buttons were not functional and were merely more than bumps.

Now of course, no new aircraft experience would be complete without a QF009-esque leg room shot.


Leg room in F suite with seat in original position.

Those of you who have met me know I'm not very tall, so as you can see in the photo, there isn't too much leg room when the suite seat is in its original position. The leg room when the seat is in in-flight position is naturally a lot more considerable.

anat0l

Although a good majority of the F cabin was still caught in the First Suite euphoria (or at least the rear part of the cabin was anyway ), eventually everyone had to take their seats for pushback. As the safety demonstration played through, the F cabin was reminded (both on the video and by the cabin crew) that sashbelts needed to be in place during take-off and landing (yes, the cabin have a demo belt with a shortened sash belt to demonstrate this). The sash belt works on a hook and pin system, i.e. you hook the "loop" at the end of the sash belt onto the pin on the buckle of the lap belt. I guess the sash belt was required because if there wasn't one and the plane suddenly lurched then no doubt there would be quite a few people in F who would hit their heads on the wall of the next suite, since it is so close.


Sash belt hooked onto the pin on the buckle of the lap belt

The other nifty F-specific safety aspect was the brace position, which was to simply sit up, put hands on knees and drop the head as close to the chest as possible. I'm assuming that the sashbelt should be worn in these cases, especially if seated in the original position, but the safety video did not specify this. The safety video also did not give the location of life jackets in F, which you might think is not a huge deal (as it is printed at the foot of every suite)......all these extra little measures necessarily lengthen the time of the safety demonstration. It is very useful in F to have the screen open and to watch the screen, because watching the FA give the live demonstration will more often than not in F mean having to stretch into the aisle to see the FA, i.e. more of a strain. The only real time you would have to pay attention to the crew was for finding the nearest exit, but for everyone in the F cabin I think the locations were a no brainer.

Once the demonstration was over, I switched the IFE to the tailcam as we taxiied to the nearby central runway for takeoff. You can hear the pax in 5F in the video below ask me how to get the route map. For some reason I couldn't get the route map up either, which is mainly why I switched to tailcam.

:-:VIDEO: QF31 taking off from SYD as viewed from the A380 tailcam (Youtube - 4 min 1 sec)

As mentioned many times by members of FT and AFF who have flown the A380, take off is significantly more quiet than similar aircraft, and this time was no exception. (Well, I have to admit I didn't think much of it when I flew the A380, but when I reflected on this after flying other aircraft after that, I realised that the A380 was much quieter). It was amazing to see how a very large aircraft like the A380 lifted smoothly off the ground and sailed into the air. Although it was quite damp outside with low cloud, we didn't run into any turbulence on our ascent.

Soon enough the seat belt sign was turned off, so I grabbed these pics for reference, showing the contents of the amenity kits:


Sleeper suit in detail, with loose top, pants and slippers


Male F amenity kit contents, carry case by Akira Isogawa.


Female F amenity kit contents, carry case by Colette Dinnigan.

The FAs went around to each pax to take pre-dinner drinks and dinner options orders - I guess for a mere 8 hour flight they weren't interested in wasting any time! I boldly ordered the tasting menu option (with balsamic vinegar and olive oil as a side for my bread and the decadant-sounding palm sugar vinaigrette as my salad dressing), not realising that it would lead to a little downfall later in my flight. I thought I was wise to eschew alcohol for a pre-dinner drink and stuck with sparkling water with lemon. (After all, I didn't really shine to the Taittinger anyway......) The FA taking my order, Simon, was very professional but I think he might has mistook me as being fairly well-versed in the ordering procedure (indeed, flying premium class for that matter), so I felt he was being a bit hasty so I sheepishly apologised for not keeping up with him as it was my very first time flying F on any carrier in my life .

It probably surprises no one that a few people decided to change into their sleeper suits as soon as the seat belt sign went off, so it was good that two large bathrooms were provided for the F cabin. I went for a quick bathroom break myself (no point changing into the sleeper suit for a not too long flight...OK OK some people will jump on me and say 8 hours is a long flight, plus why not get more comfy, but IMO 8 hours isn't a long flight to eat a tasting menu dinner and get decent sleep, especially when heading to a destination where your first activity will pretty much be to sleep!), but more so to check out the F bathrooms.

Now most will say their first impressions of the bathroom is that it's just another regular bathroom (cf. EK F bathrooms with their opulence and...of course, their showers). If you want to believe that, that's fine, although I liked the bathroom for its extra space and Payot accessories. At least this was one of the few bathrooms that doesn't feel like you're pivoting in a matchbox, of which could hardly be said for even J bathrooms (let alone Y bathrooms!). The F bathroom also has a window, but seeing as it was an evening flight, there wasn't a great view to speak of whilst one was freshening up. (At least being above the clouds will usually mean there's no one to catch you doing something....odd....in the bathroom ). The taps in the bathrooms are different again: firstly, they are sensor operated, which is a bit of a weakness because although you don't have to keep one hand on the tap to keep it going, the sensor has a very short range and isn't optimally positioned so essentially you need to keep one hand up near the sensor the whole time; secondly, there isn't separate taps for hot and cold, instead there are two buttons and a sliding scale indicator that goes from red to blue. Yep - you guessed it - you need to use the two buttons to set the "indicator" at the correct end of the scale that reflects the desired temperature of the water, which is then dispensed when triggered by the sensor.


Payot accessories in the F bathrooms


New style tap with sliding scale temperature indicator and sensor activated flow


Extra amenities: vanity sets, shoe mitts and female comfort packs

I took my seat and in true AFF/FT style I started fiddling with the controls. This is when I discovered that my touch panel control was b0rked (the screen was not responding to my taps). Simon happened to be passing and noticed this; he tried to reset my seat but that failed to solve things. Another FA Paul happened by and said that he was sorry for the inconvenience, but at least I could have most of the control I needed by using the silver buttons underneath the touch panel. I shrugged it off and put my seat into the more comfortable in-flight position, then started browsing what was in the AVOD. Whilst there were plenty of programs to keep any couch potato at bay for any given flight, as I was not very conditioned to watching a lot of television I couldn't find too many programs that interested me. I ended up flicking to the comedy programs and watching a few random episodes of The Simpsons (my mainstay comedy), Family Guy and Fawlty Towers.

Not long after, pre-dinner drinks were handed out with canapes. Serving starts from the front of the cabin, moving to the rear. The canapes offered included a ham croquette and white anchovy on top of crostini. The ham croquette was tasty, as was the anchovy on crostini, however I will concede that the very salty anchovy certainly made that particular selection strictly an acquired taste.


Canapes

Between canapes/pre-dinner drinks and dinner being actually served, there was a very long wait. For me, this was even longer because I was sitting in the last row of the cabin, plus I'm guessing that ordering the tasting menu is no mean feat on the part of the crew to prepare, so I understandably was going to be waiting quite a while!


My pre-dinner drink, enjoyed whilst waiting for dinner to be served and watching an episode of Fawlty Towers, befittingly (or unfittingly?) entitled Waldorf Salad.

My long wait was eventually broken when Simon approached me and laid out the white table cloth, then proceeded to populate my table area with a plethora of instruments and other culinary paraphernalia, all in pinpoint position without missing a beat. The concentration on his face was unremarkable (although someone clouded/hidden by the flat smile he was wearing).


Table meticulously set for a tasting menu dinner

anat0l

The first course was the cream of chestnut soup, and although the menu says "with crutons", there were no crutons on what I was given. I am one of those people that has cracked pepper on almost everything, and this was going to be no exception. As per the procedure for any degustation meal, the complementing wine was served, which for this course was the Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2004, made from the grapes of many vineyards. I never imagined someone could make a decent "creamy" soup out of chestnuts. I was proved very, very wrong indeed.

I kindly warned Simon that I am a keen photographer so I would be photographing each label of wine offered as well as the dishes. He jovially (but in a somewhat subdued way) replied that he didn't mind at all.

An oddly shaped knotted bread roll was offered to complement the soup, which also was nicely consumed with the balsamic vinegar/olive oil offered.


First course: Cream of Chestnut Soup

Next was the Korean style seared bluefin tuna salad, and true to the word in the menu, the tuna slices were lightly seared on the outside but pink on the inside (but still "cooked", of course). The combination of flavours from the seared and pink tuna complemented well with the rest of the salad comprising of carrot, coriander and pine nuts (and of course the crowning glory of dressing, but I cannot remember what it tasted like, although I do remember that the taste of the dressing was the main thing that made the connection of the dish with Korea). The salad was complemented with a glass of Crawford River Riesling 2006 from the wine region in Henty, south-western Victoria.


Second course: Korean Style Seared Bluefin Tuna Salad

Even though the wine glasses are "small", is it a mistake to drink all of the wine offered per course? Read on......

Next up was a warm, robust dish: the pan fried salmon with beetroot relish, cannellini (a kind of white bean) puree and green beans. This was a nice course, with the salmon being of good texture and cooked all the way; the vegetables were all well prepared (green beans were crisp but not raw). A glass of Stella Bella SSB 2007 from the famous Margaret River region was offered to complement the salmon course. So alcohol count so far on board QF31: 1 x sparkling white (Taittinger), 3 x white (a chard, a riesling and a SSB). Needless to say (and as an Asian plus not being a casual, regular drinker, or a heavy drinker for that matter), not only did my cheeks flush red, but I was starting to feel the normal set of effects (thinking requires more brain power...you get the idea...)....


Third course: Pan Fried Salmon with Yalla Beetroot Relish, Cannellini Puree and Green Beans

The last course rounding up the main section of the menu was the largest, which was the lamb with aioli, potatoes and peas. The course was served at the same time as the side salad and a glass of Charles Cimicky Autograph Shiraz 2004 from the equally (if not more) famous Barossa Valley was the pour for this dish. I liked this dish with its succulent lamb and was surprised at the combination of lamb and aioli, but it was a good match. The minted peas were a good twist on the otherwise ordinary side vegetable, whilst the side salad was absolutely wonderful with the palm sugar vinaigrette.


Fourth course: Roast Rack of Castricum Brothers Lamb with Aioli, Potatoes and Minted Peas


Fourth course: Salad of Baby Cos, Radicchio and Frisee with Palm Sugar Vinaigrette

The reader might be thinking that it would be condescending for me to say at this point of the meal I was getting quite full, plus if you've been keeping track, the alcohol count is now up to 5 bits: 1 x sparkling white, 3 x white, 1 x red...so you can imagine what state I might possibly be in (did I mention that I was trying to lose weight some time ago, so I hadn't had a single drop of alcohol for over six weeks before I started this trip?). I asked Simon to pause for a moment as I wanted to stretch my legs (and let the existing food and drink have a chance to get digested), and he was only happy to defer the dessert and cheese.

I went for a walk to the other side of the cabin to see Kiwi Flyer, who looked like he was having the simpler option of the regular menu. Whilst I was having issues with my touch panel, he was having issues with his IFE. I also had a chat to the gentleman in 5F who was having a leisurely face-to-face dinner with his wife in 5K. The couple said they were enjoying the flight so far, and I was only happy to offer and oblige in taking a picture of both of them having dinner face-to-face. I should have asked if I could keep a copy of the picture so I could include it in my collection, but my mind at that time was really only focused on them (plus I think my mind quickly ruled out asking due to privacy concerns, etc.).

I still needed to walk a bit, so I wondered upstairs to the J lounge, though no one was there at the time (probably still eating, so expected). I managed to see the self-serve bars for J as well as saying hello to a couple of the FAs there, although I kept socialising to a minimum since the longer I talked the more I became scared of being castigated, "Drunk!"


The stairs leading up from the front of the F cabin to the J cabin and lounge


The Business class in-sky lounge, with a nominal capacity of five or six people (belts are provided in the case of turbulence)

I returned back to my seat and signalled to Simon that I was ready to finish off my meal. A bit of deviation from the menu, Simon returned with the assiette of desserts rather than just the apple cinnamon tea cake. No wine was offered - whether this was Simon forgetting about it or wisely eschewing to serve me more alcohol I do not know, but it was pretty clear that no more alcohol was a good thing for me. The desserts were decadant and divine, though by the time I tried to finish the third item in the array I was so full I could only manage half of it before sending the rest away.


Assiette of Desserts

Despite being very full, I was encouraged to try the cheese plate, but I could only take bites from each of the cheeses and the fruits (didn't even touch the crackers) before I really had to send the otherwise fine course away. Somewhat groggily I asked Simon to prepare my bed as I stumbled off to the bathroom.


Cheese Plate

I entered the bathroom and felt my head becoming so much more heavier. I was clearly out of it. Now there are some drunks that sway left and right, some that yell incoherently and/or talk in spurts, some that seem perfectly normal and some that look sick. I think I fell into a combination of the last two, but my brain clearly felt like it was swimming and not quite attached in fixed space. I had only been in such a situation once before (had a bit too much on QF44 AKL-SYD J, but I managed to sleep until we got to SYD and survive without incident afterwards) and so I did the same thing as I did before - take a few deep breaths, count to 30 slowly. Only two things could come out of that - either I threw up, or nothing....28....29....30. Nothing. Alright, straighten up and back to suite.


Bed made up in my suite

When I arrived back, my bed was made. Sitting down in the bed was amazing: a very soft mattress was laid underneath and a nice, warm duvet on top. I flicked out my blanket and removed my shoes before settling into bed but sitting up. The pillows were very comfy and a bottle of water had been thoughtfully left at my side. Kiwi Flyer had come to my suite to see if I wanted to go upstairs and meet igel in the J lounge, but I told him that I felt too soussed to come up and to apologise to igel for me.

I was just about to settle into bed for a lie down and a nap, when suddenly it happened...... (WARNING! The next section is not for the feint at heart or weak stomached, so if you really wish to read it, please highlight the text to read)

......an acidic surge came crashing up my throat as I was quick to plug my mouth. Normally everyone has heard of those times when you can just "swallow it" - this was not one of those times! With no great precision but as quickly as I could, I grabbed the air sickness bag from my seat pocket and the flood gates opened. I'm not sure if anyone heard me...oh, who am I kidding, even in my attempt not to make a huge hacking sound, the cabin is too small not to conceal the small squeaks of someone gagging and a sick bag filling up.

So there was another first in my life: first time throwing up as a result of alcohol. Definitely not something to be proud of. I took the sick bag and found the crew who told me to toss it in the bathroom bin. Once I did that and rinsed through my mouth, Paul and Simon met me back at my seat. I was very surprised at their very supportive and understanding attitude (they could have very easily dismissed me since I was drunk) and asked if they could get me anything. I asked for a pot of green tea and a glass of water; they offered some medicine (I can't remember what it was - maybe alka-seltzer) but I said I should be OK. The green tea was soothing but the remains of throwing up were still well and truly present on my taste buds, giving a vile after taste to anything I consumed.

I managed to calm down and felt better after that, so I lied down again and slept for pretty much the rest of the flight, because when I woke up the cabin had to be prepared for landing. Which means I had missed out photographing (and trying out from) the F self-serve bars (they had already been closed and latched for landing)! Oh well. I did have a bit of a talk with the other F FAs and what they thought about the new equipment (especially in the galley) on board the A380, of which all of them earnestly replied that they were very impressed at the utility of their new facilities.


A shot of the F galley on the A380; the information display (can't remember proper name) is a versatile and invaluable resource to the crew.

I managed to collect myself whilst my seat was transformed out of being a bed back to a regular seat, which had to be moved back into its original position for landing, plus I needed to reattach my sash belt. Landing was not a great joy of any kind because it was night time and apart from the speckles of lights there was not much else to see outside the window or from the tailcam. So without much ado we duly landed smoothly into Changi before docking at gate C23.


QF31 docking into gate C23 at Singapore (Changi), as viewed from the tailcam

There was a considerable amount of time (much noted by the captain who came on the PA shortly after docking) required for the complex aerobridges to be moved into position, so disembarkation did not happen for quite a while. When the doors opened, a flurry of Y pax could be heard behind my seat quickly striding off the aircraft and into the terminal. I preferred to take my time (unlike Kiwi Flyer), checking that I had all my belongings before I proceeded out the front. Paul and Simon were there to wish all of us in F well; I thanked them wholeheartedly for their service and could not help but ask for a photo with them.


Me with two of the F cabin FAs, Paul and Simon

So what is my final assessment of my first First class experience, and of the First Suite on board the Qantas A380? I was impressed, to say the least. Since I don't have other first class experiences (on QF nor on any other carrier), I can't do a comparison, but I was very impressed by all the aspects of the flight: the cabin, the service (saying a lot for the FAs here), the food......some of this you cannot understand nor judge on text, pictures or hearsay alone - it has to be experienced. I know we are fast to judge based only "on paper" or "on face value" (including me, i.e. why I think I'd enjoy the much simpler, rudimentary looking QF A380 F compared to the opulent and almost very tacky looking EK A380 F or the bland-ish looking SQ A380 R), but I truly think that QF have done well with this product. Had I not thrown up during the flight, I would have certainly found ways to enjoy the experience even more.

The only hiccup during the flight was my touch panel snafu (and Kiwi Flyer's IFE, of which he was duly compensated with complimentary duty free).

Some people say that once you experience F (or any premium for that matter), it's impossible to go back. I won't deny or confirm this, but I'll let time tell. (I know I certainly can't fly any long-haul J in cash any time soon, let alone F...unless QF have a super-duper sale of some sorts).


After disembarking, I saw Kiwi Flyer already in the terminal waiting for me, so without further a do we proceeded to immigration. For an airport like SIN and the pax traffic it handles, I was expecting a torrent of lines to negotiate, but when we arrived at immigration, there was no such lines! Baggage, on the other hand, was something totally different. Although the baggage claim hall wasn't teeming with people, the bags from our flight took ages to hit the belt. I normally gripe about Australian airports being lousy with times for baggage to be sent out to the claim belts, but I have to admit this was quite a wait as well. Perhaps it had to do something with the fact that we were on an A380, so that is a considerable amount of baggage (not to mention that some baggage would be going to the belt in SIN, some would be transferring and some would be put back for the trip to LHR). In any case, Kiwi Flyer coolly strided through the baggage claim area and through the very easy non-formality of customs, and igel had managed to catch up with me as we both waited for bags. Eventually the belt started up and bags came out only in single spurts but soon enough started to arrive in a stream. My bag only had a magenta tag on it so I was expecting it to take a while given that there were at least another 40+ J pax (without considering lucky ducks who managed to get yellow tags) with the same priority. igel managed to recover his bag first and thankfully mine was not too far behind, so we went through customs and said goodbye as Kiwi Flyer and I hastily proceeded to the inter-terminal train towards the Crowne Plaza Changi.

Hotel: Crowne Plaza Singapore Changi Airport
Room Type: Suite
Room Location: 5th Floor

Originally, I had paid a non-refundable, prepaid rate at the Holiday Inn Parkview in downtown SIN, however what I didn't consider at the time was how was I to get from the airport to downtown so late at night. My naivity had me believe that the MRT would be the cheapest and most logical choice, but it turned out to be a lot more complicated than that. Kiwi Flyer had booked a suite and offered me the choice of crashing on the suite's couch and simply no-show for my HI booking. Considering that this would simply save me the cost of transport between the airport and the city, plus I wanted to remain fairly much incognito (I didn't want to bump into my relatives in SIN, since they'd otherwise do the whole meet-up thing which means less time for myself and...well, you get the idea...), so I took up Kiwi Flyer's kind offer. (As a bit of a fast forward, even though I no-showed for my HI booking, I somehow still managed to get miles for it!)

We arrived at T3 and easily found the entrance to the CP Changi. Check-in was nice and breezy, which was just as well because sleep was definitely on both of our minds at that point! Once we were in the room, we didn't do much more except get changed (there was a washroom near the entrance hallway that I used whilst Kiwi Flyer assumed the master bedroom with adjoining ensuite), have a cup of tea and go to sleep. I didn't mind sleeping on the couch, although the couch was shorter than my height, plus I should have asked for a spare blanket or the like (but this didn't become an issue until the morning).

anat0l

Sunday, 31 May 2009

I will apologise in advance to the faithful reader (you must be since you got this far); since these events happened over a month ago now, I am having a bit of trouble recalling the exact sequence of events. But like any good human being, I will try my best (and Kiwi Flyer, please feel free to add your two cents).

I'm not usually a morning person, but I woke up fairly early in the morning (and I know it was early, because I groggily fumbled for my mobile to check the time). I tried to go back to sleep (because I knew I still had a considerable sleep debt banked up let alone on this short trip), but I only managed about another hour or so before the discomfort of the short couch coupled with the coolness of the room got the better of me, so I was up. I had a peek through the curtains and without much surprise the sun was up and clearly beaming strongly in true equatorial climatic fashion. I went and washed my face and brushed my teeth, then changed into my exercise clothes and fired up my trusty eeePC and entertained myself by watching some videos on my portable hard drive, but it wasn't too long before I tired of that. Thankfully, I had wasted just enough time to have a peek and realised that there was only 45 minutes before the end of breakfast service. Kiwi Flyer hadn't woken up yet, but passing up a free breakfast (especially in Asia) wasn't on my cards, so I went down to the second level to the hotel restaurant.

Oh, and if you must know, I wasn't hung over (and I'm not lying because otherwise the first thing I'd probably be doing is going back to sleep after taking two paracetemol tablets or ibuprofen). So in my record of consuming alcohol, the score stands so far (and as of this post, still is) 1 incident of throwing up, 0 incidents of hangovers and 0 incidents of regrettable actions/arrests/accidents/etc. (you get the idea ). I'm sorry there are no pictures of the restaurant or breakfast, because in my haste to get in before breakfast service stopped....yep, you're right again, faithful reader....I didn't take my camera.

I won't insult you by telling you the obvious that it was very humid outside (oh wait, oops ). The restaurant was very stylish, which you sometimes don't usually associate with Asian restaurants, let alone in a CP, but the combinations of Chinese patterned "open" walls and the artistic use of glass and different coloured tiles gave a nice lift to the character of the restaurant (although I guess a strict Chinese would prefer more red and a brighter setting than dark/low-lighting and blue/green hues). I fronted up to the restaurant front desk and they requested a room number - I provided our room but said that I was the "other person" in the room, not the person who booked the room. It took them a bit to get me in, but in the flurry of Mandarin conversation I was let in, but not before they asked me what happened to Kiwi Flyer. They encouraged me to call the room and try and persuade him to come have breakfast before the service winds up. With nothing to lose (except possibly Kiwi Flyer's good graces for waking him up unnecessarily), I made the call and was relieved to hear that he had just woke up and was on his way downstairs. I waited for him before the attendants seated us.

The breakfast buffet had two sides to it, and most people will have probably guessed by now that the two sides are.........Western and Asian (those of you who guessed Continental and Hot, partial credit ). We both headed for the Asian end of the buffet and found various delights such as assorted dim sum, hot noodle soup, nasi lemak, congee and other assorted items (of course, mostly Chinese and Malay). I loaded up generously on food, whilst Kiwi Flyer took a much more sensible amount, and it was during this meal that I discovered that Kiwi Flyer is another person who has a fire-proof stomach (i.e. he eats chillis).

Selecting the noodles was particularly interesting, since it looks like self-service (i.e. choose your ingredients then pour hot soup on top), but actually a chef cooks it for you, i.e. cooks the noodles in boiling water before serving it with your chosen ingredients with hot stock soup. After handing me my bowl of hot noodle soup, he asked me whether I had tried everything on the buffet (in Singlish, pronounced /boof-fay/) yet. I replied in the negative, of which he told me to make sure I make it my objective to do so. In Singaporean fashion, I replied, "Of course...after all that is what people in Singapore do at a buffet, right? If have buffet, you must try a bit of everything." (Yes, I was speaking syncopated Singlish ) We both laughed as I wished him well.

Kiwi Flyer was happy with his one plate that he selected and was more interested in getting back to the room to do some work, so he soon left me in the restaurant as I went back to the buffet for another round; I'd particularly enjoyed the nasi lemak (coconut rice) with sambal (curry) eggs (no ikan bilis (fried little fishes) for me, though, but I did add fried shallots). I also could not pass up trying a piece of toast with kaya (coconut jam), which I had not had for a very long time (since 2006 when I was last visiting my mum's family in Malaysia). Soon enough, after a few plates of food (and yes I was a good boy and had some fruit), plus quite a few cups of Chinese tea, I was stuffed, so I made my way back to the room.

When I arrived back, Kiwi Flyer, true to his word, was well and truly working with the TV in the master bedroom blaring in the background. Before going out to do some exploring, my first stop had to be the gym, because I sure as was not interested in dropping in my step count for the day. The gym is located on level 3, so I did an hour of walking on the treadmill, racking up a few thousand steps in the process and working up quite a sweat. Needless to say after that workout I had no trouble demolishing quite a few cups of water from the nearby cooler.

A leisurely walk back to the room, I grabbed the camera and decided to walk about. The leisurely walk ensured that the sweat I had worked up at least evaporated up a little bit (even though it was quite humid), and I wanted to get more steps before having a shower.

Did I say it was quite humid? Well, let the photos tell the story...yes, it was so humid that the lens on my camera fogged up; I tried to wipe them off with a "dry" part of my shirt, with no success.




The centre of the CP has lots of trees; you can also see the body of water in the second photo - that's a swimming pool


Lobby lounge, ground floor

I was wondering around the ground floor when it only occurred to me to ask the reception desk for some tissues. Wipe off the lens again, and voila! Clear as crystal:


Looking up at part of the swimming pool from the second floor. No that's not goldfish - it's leaves.


The front entrance from the street, as viewed from the second level


Entrance to the CP at level 2 as accessed from SIN T3

My trekking for steps took me beyond the CP and into the landside sections of SIN airport. For those that want more steps in an airport, there are three simple rules: (a) use stairs, not escalators or lifts; (b) eschew travelators (and sometimes you'll travel even quicker than those that do use such equipments!); and (c) travel via the longest journey between two points that you can cover by walking in the time required to go between those two points (no brainer here).


Flight information display at SIN T3. Notice how flights from all four terminals (T1, T2, T3 and the budget terminal) are shown (although the other terminals simply show "Go to Terminal x" in the Remarks column). Flights to Chinese destinations (e.g. Hong Kong, Shenzhen) fade between English and Chinese type.


Almost all signs are displayed in four languages: English, Bahasa Indonesia, Simplified Chinese and Japanese


A baggage claim hall in T3. No baggage claim hall throughout all of SIN airport is the same as the other.

Having walked about in T3 through shopping areas and brushing past the large complex that was the SQ F check-in area, my striding took me to SIN T2 next.


Departures hall in SIN T2


Old style looking FID in SIN T2, though this FID is only used to show which check-in row to go to and remarks on the flight - it won't tell you which gate you'll need to race to.


A SilkAir aircraft that has just recently pushed back as observed from the observation deck on landside of SIN T2


A cute cafe located below the observation deck but on the airside of SIN T2. I wish I could say it was located in the forest of the airport, but that's just an illusion of the camera position.


I got this photo of the front of the CP Changi from the departures level kerbside of SIN T2. IIRC many people - particularly those on SQTalk - think the design of the front of the CP Changi is an abomination.

I might have walked more, but I was in imperative need of a shower, plus the check-out time was fast approaching. I made my way back to T3 and the room, but not before trying to get some bathroom accessories from a passing maid (which proved to be a challenge as she only spoke Mandarin, and I struggled with my broken Mandarin but eventually managed to get soap, shampoo and body lotion from her).

The bathroom behind the suite's master bedroom was huge. There was a walk-in toilet, walk-in shower, a huge bath tub and two vanity sinks. The bathroom was bigger than the master bedroom! One very refreshing shower later, it was just about time to start cleaning up and getting ready to check-out. Kiwi Flyer, being the elite traveller that he is, handily packed up quickly as I meticulously but hastily put my belongings into my luggage and backpack (including a spare change of clothes since BA15 was an overnight flight and I was through-checking my bag to MEL). There were three red apples (of extremely odd shape, I must add) on a short wooden platform on the desk, and I'll be the first to admit embarrassingly that I did not know they were complimentary until Kiwi Flyer unreservedly picked one up and bit into it.




Shots of the suite at the CP Changi

A quick check of belongings and we were downstairs on the ground level for check-out, which was efficiently completed. That done, it was off to the inter-terminal train to SIN T1.

anat0l

On arrival at T1, we set about finding the premium check-in for QF or BA. Kiwi Flyer looked a bit hesitant that there was such a special area or simply just a counter (and perhaps, if we're lucky, with ropes and a red carpet or the like). However, we happened upon a sign that instructed us towards the location of the premium check-in for BA and QF flights, which turned out to be a small sectioned off check-in area adjoined to a seating area with plants. The premium check-in serviced both QF and BA flights, as well as a plethora of other airlines (including non-oneworld airlines as well).


Premium check-in lounge area for QF, BA and many other airlines in SIN T1

As if it didn't need to be said, Kiwi Flyer's formalities were extremely simple, since he was travelling without checked baggage and was duly given his boarding pass for SIN-SYD, but not one for SYD-AKL, which needed to be picked up in SYD. My formalities were a tad more difficult. I had SIN-SYD and SYD-AKL on the same PNR, but AKL-MEL and MEL-BNE on another PNR. SYD-AKL and AKL-MEL were on the same day, so I was trying to get my bags checked through all the way to MEL (i.e. from SIN via SYD and AKL; can't check all the way to BNE due to customs requirements in AU). Two agents with much discussion were required to sort this one out, but eventually they managed to sort something out (I think they might have created a new dummy PNR for me). Like Kiwi Flyer, I only received a BP for SIN-SYD; SYD-AKL and AKL-MEL BPs would need to be collected in SYD and AKL respectively. My bag was tagged and affixed with a BA orange priority tag before being sent onto the belt.

Immigration was fairly close to the premium check-in area, which also had very short lines; again, I must admit being surprised because of the sheer amount of traffic that SIN handles. The immigration officials were very efficient; the official handling my documents appeared to be Malay or Indonesian, so I said "terimah kasih" (thank you) after she had finished with my documents. Her reply of "sama sama" (same to you) confirmed my observation. Kiwi Flyer was slightly annoyed that he scored another stamp in his passport. Personally, I wish more times than not I could get a stamp in my passport (which seems still to be the norm in Asia), but I suppose one day we will all have passports with RFIDs and no need for stamps.

Next stop - shopping...nah, who am I kidding? This is me we're talking about (and Kiwi Flyer, for that matter). Our next stop was the QF/BA lounges upstairs. Although it has been said a few times that some people prefer the J Lounge over the F Lounge, we went to the F Lounge anyway.


Sign outside the QF/BA F Lounge SIN T1

For those not in the know, the J Lounge and F Lounge aren't much different from each other, save for the calibre of flyers in each one . The F Lounge isn't anything to write home about, but it was pleasant enough. The view looked to part of the inside of the terminal (and most of the view we had was under construction), so nothing interesting there. When we arrived there, the lounge was pretty deserted. There was barely any food to speak of (best dish was little crostini of boccocini, tomato, baby spinach leaf and olive tapanade); the bar at the rear of the lounge had no ice cream out. Kiwi Flyer went straight to the computers to book a spot before grabbing some food and getting stuck into work. I did a bit of exploring of the lounge (the water feature running through the lounge is a nice touch), but considering it wasn't a very big lounge at all, I soon did much the same thing as Kiwi Flyer and found a computer, along with a few "light" snacks.


Main buffet and bar area near the front of the lounge


Another view of the lounge


"Lighter" lounge snacks

Most of my time was spent on the internet as I watched and listened as the lounge got progressively busy. I think I took a bit of a walk around the terminal at one point, returning to see the F lounge was bustling, and new, hot food had been put out on the buffet selection, like mini pizzas and samosas. The lounge attendants were meticulous about the presentation: if you removed an item from the hot food selection, they would immediately follow up by rearranging the other items so that they were precisely straight. If a single item was even slightly crooked, you could bet they would be there to fix it up again. It was paranoid attention to detail. I helped myself to some of the hot items and moved to the remote drinks bench near the large window of the lounge.


More lounge snacks, including hot food

Another empty plate, another food hunt. But first, I wondered over to the showers to see if there was a free room. Interestingly, there were no free rooms; in fact, I had to apply for a spot in a waiting list. I received one of those vibrating remote reminder devices not unlike those used in restaurants (the kinds where you order first then collect your order). I got my spot and then wondered to the rear bar to indulge in a bowl of the ice cream they had there. When I went back to the drinks bench to eat my ice cream, a lounge attendant was going around offering plates of what looked like soy-sauce duck with vegetables and rice. I took a plate as Kiwi Flyer found me.....and only mere seconds before my buzzer jumped to life. Ah nuts...I tried to scarf down some of the hot plate and some ice cream before I had to leave a good deal of it behind and head to the showers, since after all if I didn't turn up straight away, it may just be that my room would be given away. I jogged towards the showers and handed in my buzzer, which was quickly exchanged for a towel pack.


SIN T1 QF/BA FL showers - the vanity sink...


...the circular shower area, with...


...multiple shower heads, and...


...Molton Brown amenities.

The SIN T1 QF/BA FL shower rooms are quite spacious and relatively elegant. The most striking feature is the circular shower with two sets of shower heads (one set with only one shower head; the other set was a cluster of three heads) and, funnily enough, each set had its own flow control tap. The idea is that the single head set is used for showering from the head down, whereas the other triple head set is used to shower the body (torso). I guess the separate controls are useful if one doesn't want to wet their hair, which is good since there are no shower caps provided (in fact, I can't think of one single lounge that I've been to so far, except for the QF F Lounges in SYD and MEL, that supply shower caps). Shower amenities were provided by Molton Brown, which are also provided as standard issue now in the SYD T1 JL (although they are provided as pump bottles in the shower rather than as small individual bottles). I had a quick shower in anticipation of my overnight flight.

After leaving the shower room, I went for another wonder to fill a bit more time just before we had to start moving to our boarding gate. This wonder took me to the nearby BA/QF J Lounge. The lounge is bigger than the F Lounge and has slightly different design and decor, but the food selection is pretty much the same or poorer, there are less showers and it was just as full as the F Lounge except there far more kids running around in the J Lounge, as well as using up the computers (for good or otherwise).


Entry to the SIN T1 QF/BA J Lounge


A scene inside the J Lounge

Once I returned to the F Lounge, I quickly found Kiwi Flyer and we agreed to start heading down to gate C18 where my first flight on BA awaited me. Since SIN have their security screening at each gate (cf. Australian airports where security screening is at a common section straight after immigration), most people were well told in the lounges to start making their way to the gate to leave enough time to get screened so they can board with ease.


The lower section of the C pier at SIN T1, with our gate C18 in the background

The C wing is a considerable distance from the lounge; gate C18 was no exception. Still, I was a bit deficient on the step count so I didn't mind the extra distance to be covered. Security screening was duly completed, with a bottle of water which I had forgotten to drink earlier (compliments of the CP Changi) duly confiscated. Meh, not a big bother. Boarding started very shortly after we were cleared by security.


Flight: British Airways BA15 Singapore Changi (SIN T1) - Sydney (SYD T1)
Depart: 1945h Sched; 1945h Actual (est.)
Aircraft: G-YMMG Boeing 777-200
Distance: 3,908 mi (6,301 km)
Class: Club World (Business)
Seat: 10E
(ticketed as QF320 Business)

As I entered the BA 772, I was greeted by the lovely Cabin Service Director Sandra. We had to push through the F cabin first before getting to Club World. Now I must preface that before I boarded this flight, I had no idea what was the "newest" Club World (there was "Old" Club World, New Club World and Next Generation Club World a.k.a. "New New" Club World - and I had no idea of the differences between all three). As it turned out (with confirmation from Kiwi Flyer later), the cabin was configured as Next Generation Club World. The CW purser Mark greeted me and I took the liberty of informing him that this was my first flight with British Airways. His reply went something along the lines of making this flight as enjoyable as possible, which altered into a more zealous and ambitious promise to convert me when I mentioned that I'm normally a QF flyer . The other FAs serving CW were Cynthia (who helped Mark on the left aisle of CW), Julia and Jenny.

For my first CW flight, I decided to assume the inside seat which faces backwards. A couple who managed to get an upgrade from WT+ joined us in the neighbouring 10F/10G seats. The wife assumed 10F next to me, with darling husband in 10G; the wife had great fun and giggles in cracking jokes and poking fun at hubby about and across the dividing screen.




Next Generation Club World seats

anat0l

Seat controls for CW seats

The CW seat isn't particularly wide; I think the QF Millennium seat is slightly wider. Kiwi Flyer and I both fit in the seat, plus the leg room was absolutely brilliant and is heaven for anyone who is particularly tall (although this is only when considered without the footstool in the normal seating position; as well, the inner seated CW pax have the problem of stepping over aisle seated pax; aisle seated pax have a similar problem). Luckily for me, there was no one seated in 11D, so access in and out of my seat was going to be very easy. Divider screens separate middle and aisle seats in CW; the divider can be operated with a button or manually lifted up/pushed down, however the divider must be left down only for the safety demonstration. I especially liked the drawer at the foot level of the CW seat. The overhead locker is necessary for storing bags, but the drawer is quite large - I managed to remove my shoes and fit them in the drawer. A control panel on the side contains the control buttons for modifying the seat position between flat for sleeping and straight upright for eating; the blue button sets the seat back to a position for take-off and landing, which oddly enough is not straight upright.


Leg room in CW seat 10E


Me in CW seat 10E, shot courtesy of Kiwi Flyer

Pre-flight drinks were served soon enough, with my selection being the choice champagne on board. Menus and amenity kits were handed out in quick smart fashion before we were asked to take our seats for push back and the safety demonstration. (You can find the menu for this flight here: food and wine list).


Pre-flight champagne and CW menu

I can't remember if push back happened on time, and FlightStats seemed to have no records of it either. In fact, being that I was seated backwards, perhaps push back was the wrong words to use! (Just kidding....) We moved away from the gate and with the flourish of Leo Delibes's Flower Duet, I knew that the BA safety demonstration was running and my first BA flight was soon ready to take us out of SIN back home. (Good to know that in the event of an emergency, my brace position was to simply sit back and cross my arms across my chest...sure beats putting one's head between their legs and kissing their......you get the idea )

Take off backwards was interesting, since you end up actively having to rebalance your body to compensate for the thrust instilled when the aircraft begins powering up and charging down the runway. Our take off was without a hitch and, for a bit of departure from the normal QF procedures, within 30 seconds of take-off, CSD Sandra came onto the PA to more fully welcome everyone aboard as well as introduce the pursers for each of the four cabins, plus the other FAs. Then there was the usual post-take-off spiel of safety and such (like most other airlines, and thank you BA for clarifying (unlike QF) that baggage in overhead lockers may not just move during flight, but they can actually fall out and injure someone), which carried through the seat belt sign being turned off.

Once the crew were up and running after the seat belt sign turned off, Mark wasted absolutely no time at all in taking the CW cabin pre-dinner drinks and dinner orders. This was a bit of an unexpected surprise for me (the earliness of the order being taken, not the action itself), and I found myself slightly disoriented when Mark popped up and asked what I would like to order. Not to placate him, I wish I could have said that I'd like more time, but this is an aircraft, anat0l, not a restaurant! The entree choice was fairly elementary - unless you were truly interested in the medley of vegetables, then the salmon with creme fraiche was a no-brainer. The main was a bit more of a challenge. I rubbed out the choice of main course salad straight out, as well as the Asian chicken, with the former sounding a bit unexciting for a main (unless I really had to stick to healthy) and the latter sounding rather pedestrian (but then again since I have an Asian background that's probably expected). That left a choice of the steak or the penne. I'm not very partial to eating steak outside of BNE, mainly because I know I can almost always get an excellent steak in BNE, so when I'm out travelling I usually prefer to try something other than steak (since there is always a risk of the steak being done poorly and hence not a good meal). With this in mind, although it also sounded fairly ordinary on face value, I selected the penne with tomato-based sauce and parmesan.

After Mark took my order, the next step was to work out the footstool. Although I followed the instructions on the sticker, for some reason my footstool would not budge. The lady in 10F was both amused and puzzled as I struggled to lower the seemingly simple footstool. Even Kiwi Flyer couldn't quite understand what trouble I was having, so being the more elite flyer than I was, I invited him to help me out......and would you ever predict how embarrassed I was when I realised that all I had forgotten to do is lower the stowage catch lever first before following the instructions on the sticker . With that, I removed my shoes and stowed them in the seat drawer before resting my feet on the lowered footstool. I have to remark how amazing it is as to how much force the footstool must be designed to withstand (although I'm by no means a stress test case, there must be others out there who could easily exert more force on the stool; in saying that, the stool was not designed for people to sit down, however).


Another QF009-shot - putting my feet up in BA NGCW

I had a bit of a flick through the AVOD, but even the lure of British comedy and drama wasn't enough to sway me (it's not that these shows are bad, it's just that I've gotten used to not watching a lot of TV). Pre-dinner drinks and nuts arrived; I had my trusty sparkling water.


Pre-dinner drink of sparkling water with packet of BA nuts - product of Mother England...I mean, no, wait...that can't be right......


......product of Kenya, that's better! Also note the allergy warning - just in case you thought there did exist nuts for those with nut allergies...

Dinner was served fairly soon (well, "soon" as in to keep in mind that the CW cabin isn't your usual J cabin size; I was quite impressed at how quickly Mark and Cynthia managed to serve the pre-dinner nibbles). A tray came from above the dividing wall with my entree of salmon and a side salad. A wholesome looking roll was supplied and I was asked for a drink. I asked for a white wine and I was recommended to try the Spanish selection from the list; I hadn't had any Spanish wine before, so I obliged.


Entree of salmon with creme fraiche and side salad

I undid the flimsy "metal" clip holding the napkin, then unravelled and found my utensils. First point of order: all of the accessories were plastic (cf. QF where only the knife is plastic). The utensils were quite small and thin; I was surprised how some of the more tough dishes (e.g. steak) could be eaten successfully without snapping the utensils. The rest of the tray contained a small bottle of olive oil dressing, a flat packet containing a sachet of salt and pepper, a thick disc of butter and a small blue cardboard box containing two chocolates.

The salmon was a fairly standard dish, although there was a hint of herbs in the creme fraiche. It was nice to have the salad afterwards to complement the salmon, and the bread roll supplied was nice and soft and wholesome in taste. The crew came around to serve seconds of bread rolls, of which I probably would not have minded to ask for another one had my mouth not been embarrassingly full of salad when I was offered .

Next came the mains - the crew did the plate doh-see-doh, taking my salad and entree plates and in its place supplying my ordered penne pasta. Rather disappointing, it was exactly what it said in the menu (penne pasta tubes with a light slathering of tomato pasta sauce, but no parmesan), so I guess I don't have much right to complain (a la the infamous VS pax who wrote a rather lengthly rigmarole to complain about his "Indian" meal), however had I known that the dish was going to be this uninteresting I might have taken a chance on the steak, which Kiwi Flyer had ordered and later reported to be quite tender and very much satisfactory. I'm figuring that this pasta dish is the catch-all vegetarian option (a bit of correlation with the First menu I yoinked later seemed to confirm this), but I guess on the merits of what was presented to me, it wasn't a bad tasting dish at all; the sauce had a nice rich tomato taste, and although I'm normally one who likes to drown (relatively) their pasta in sauce, there was enough coating in this dish to keep me content.


Main of penne pasta with tomato pasta sauce - no parmesan, though

In a timely fashion, Mark and Cynthia wheeled out again to collect dinner plates and offer cheese or desserts to finish dinner. Thinking that I had to make a choice, I asked Mark for dessert but maintained that I would hope to get some cheese later. Mark simply replied that he'd just give me both straight away, so that made it nice and easy for both of us. Mark offered a port since CW (or J in almost any airline, I guess) did not have any dessert wine, which I decided to try. The dessert was a fruit jelly with coconut cream, which looked ordinary but was otherwise a light refreshing number (well, light if you discount the coconut cream...). The cheese plate was a simple serving of a couple of cheeses with a small bunch of fresh red grapes and a packet of oat biscuits; all went down well. I tried to enjoy the port with my dessert and cheese plate, but after having the wine and not willing to recreate any events of the previous night, I felt that the port was just a bit too strong for my tastes and stopped drinking after a few sups. (In most other isolated contexts, I probably would have finished the otherwise fine fortified.) Mark came back to collect trays and was surprised that I did not want to keep my unfinished port.


Dessert of fruit jelly and cheese plate, served with a glass of port


"Particularly good with cheese", eh? That's such a relief...

Once trays were cleared, the cabin was dimmed so people could get some sleep. Given that we were rising fairly early in the morning (notwithstanding that this east bound flight was shorter than its west bound mirror flight, plus we gained two hours in heading home). However, like any FT adventurer on their first experience of anything, I had to go exploring, so the first stop was the CW bathroom (well, I did need a bathroom break anyway).


Flowers in the CW bathroom - such a similarity - although I'm not sure about the paper towel used a presentation element...


BA CW amenity kits - small in size...


...so they contain really small amenities (with spa products from Elemis)

The bathrooms are very near the CW galley, so I happened upon Mark, who was eating dinner whilst I happened to spot the CW Kitchen, which is pretty much the self-serve snack and drink bar. Mark took the liberty of explaining to me that BA have been a pioneer in many commerical airline industry feats - first flat seat, first in-flight self-service snack bar, etc. - and in showing me the CW Kitchen also explained that hot snacks could be prepared by means of the microwave in the galley (crew operated only, though). The CW Kitchen was stocked with drinks (I particularly liked the mini-cans of soft drink), fruit, cakes and sandwiches. Mark said that on some other flights there would also be chocolate available, but not to be. I helped myself to a mini-can of sparkling water (to be served in a glass with lemon), plus one of the interesting looking organic orange biscuits.




BA Club World Kitchen


A midnight snack

I had some difficulty in carrying all of my items back to my seat, but with a bit of patience, slow stepping and careful movement in avoiding the shoulders of the aisle-seated pax, I made it back to my seat with everything intact. The biscuit was quite nice; it would have been nicer with tea but I made a satisfactory effort of complementing it with my sparkling water and lemon. I returned the empties and my glass to the galley, then returned to my seat, reclined the seat into flat bed mode, carefully threw on the blanket and turned in to sleep.

anat0l

Monday, 1 June 2009

I awoke from slumber just as breakfast was being served; I don't know how unusual, uncanny or skilful (or lack thereof, rather) was my ability to wake up on time, as it was merely a Continental breakfast being served and I still had considerable sleep debt to make up. Mark offered a choice between cereal or muesli. I selected the muesli, which looked rather soaked - I'm rather unsure now whether it had more of a likeness towards porridge or muesli, but certainly it was not crunchy or dry by any means. A small tub of strawberry yoghurt was offered - this was the type which is from Japan and is super smooth (for those of you that are familiar with Yogo, it is that smooth). I also accepted a glass of fruit energiser and a cup of black tea, then two danishes from the warm bakery. Later Mark would come around offering bacon rolls (or butties as I believe they are referred to in England, except no sauce), of which I couldn't help myself but to have one in good ol' English fashion. It was nothing awfully spectacular (what could one expect for a bit of bacon on a hot dog roll), but as the saying goes, "when in Rome"......


British Airways small CW Continental breakfast

It was soon time to prepare the cabin for an early landing (early meaning the time of the morning, not that the flight was making record time), so tray tables were cleared, footstool was restowed and latched and shoes were duly fetched from the drawer and put back on. The crew came down the aisles to spray disinfectant, much to the irritation of a few pax (who communicated accordingly via coughing, although the result was indecipherable when translated into Morse, and it wasn't the answers to the last contestant's set of questions of the UK's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire).

Soon enough, in the still dark SYD morn, we thudded into the airport in Mascot and were thanked by Sandra as we made our way to gate 25. Once at the gate, everyone had to stay put in place with seat belts fastened as AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) officers boarded to escort some pax off the plane, presumably as they admitted to being possible swine flu risks. This took several minutes, which was rather annoying as our connection to the SYD-AKL flight was the mere comfortable connection time of 120 minutes. Once the CSD cleared us to stand up, no one wasted any time quickly collecting their belongings and hopping out into the aisle. As the twin aisle slowly unloaded its pax into the terminal, I managed to pass F and noticed a couple of menus left behind. With a clear "yoink!" I kept one of the F food menus but not a wine list. I then said thank you and goodbye to Sandra and proceeded into the terminal, where Kiwi Flyer had already started towards the international transfers point at break neck speed.

QF vs BA: Who is better? You had to be expecting this, didn't you?
When Kiwi Flyer sent me that note in the PM, I had no idea at the time what that was meant to mean. (There's a real downside to flying BA?) In saying that, according to the Ultimate BA Guide, to make the most out of the Club World experience, one needs to set low expectations from the outset. In light of that warning, I'd say Club World is a fine cabin in the sky. After all (after reading a few reviews here and there), if it were a choice between WT, WT+ and CW, I think I know where I'd really rather be! (OK that seemed like a no-brainer, but on QF services, the decision between J and Y+ is a little less obvious).

But then again, who am I to pass judgement, because I don't have a flight on QF J that is comparable to this experience that I've had on BA CW (let alone any other comparable long-haul premium - and JQ Star Class does not count). (I've only flown QF J on Trans-Tasman and domestic, and let's not get into the 'tiff about comparing BA CW with either of QF J with Skyslopes or QF (A380) J with Skybed Mk II). BA CW was nice; although the CW cabin is a bit cramped and crowded (many people in a small space), it has a mini-suite feel to it if you're on the inside seats. I was quite lucky that no one was sitting in 11D, otherwise that certainly would have been bothersome. The crew were a friendly bunch, especially the CW purser Mark (who was a pleasant chap to have a yarn with). The service on BA, though, seems a bit more rushed than that of QF; everything happens very quickly, things are kept small and simple deliberately. Sometimes this is good, but in other cases it becomes a bit boring or hasty. And plastic eating implements in a Business cabin? Come on! (In fact, I'd chance in saying that the plastic implements on JQ Star Class are more hardy than those on BA CW). To conclude this assessment, I can't decide between QF or BA in J yet, but BA CW is definitely not in my bad books and certainly deserves to be flown again...of which I will get that chance later this year (BA 744 F SYD-BKK, then QF 744 F BKK-LHR - so that will be a better compare case).

Oh, and Blackcloud, if you're reading this, I'm not sure if Kiwi Flyer snores, but I didn't hear anything (probably because I was pretty much out like a light, too).


Anyway...back to the story. Kiwi Flyer was well and truly powering ahead and disappeared from view. Once at the international transfer point, I was relieved to see that there were no people there, so I went through without a hitch. Back up the stairs to the oneworld concourse, then up the escalators to the F Lounge.

Upon arriving at the F Lounge proper, I tried to get my next BP from the desk agent, but she couldn't produce one straight up, so I opted to collect it from her later. The first thing on my mind was a shower, so I went straight to the shower rooms to reinvigorate the senses. I don't mind a nice, long warm shower, especially early in the morning, however long was not a good idea this morning as there wasn't much time until boarding of QF141.

When I got out of the shower room, I couldn't see Kiwi Flyer in the pretty deserted F Lounge, so I sat up at the restaurant bench to have a quick bite. Although there were a couple of OK looking options which were express options, I kept in mind that I still had breakfast on QF141, so in the interests of both health and speed I simply asked for a fruit salad and a pot of green tea. Getting an adequate intake of nutrients whilst travelling can be a challenge, so the fruit was a nice lift for the day.


Fruit salad and green tea in the SYD T1 QF FL

I finished the fruit bowl and my green tea in good time, having a little bit of a chat to the attendant behind the counter whilst I was at it. I left the restaurant counter and went back to the desk to collect my boarding pass, as it was getting very close to boarding time. I bumped into Kiwi Flyer whilst heading to the front desk, who had our boarding passes ready, but advised that our flight was a bit delayed in boarding. We had a bit of breathing time in the lounge, but it wasn't too long before we had to make our way to gate 31 for the last leg of our AKL-SIN run in J.


The sun rises over SYD Airport with a AY A340 in special F1 livery docked at gate

Flight: Qantas Airways QF141 Sydney (SYD T1) - Auckland (AKL I)
Depart: 0715h Sched; 0734h Actual
Aircraft: VH-OGL "Wangaratta" Boeing 767-300
Distance: 1,341 mi (2,162 km)
Class: Business
Seat: 1F

Whereas in QF142 where we took seats near the window, this time we took seats in the middle. The leg room in the middle bulkhead is a bit limiting but isn't a problem for someone like me who is a bit short. Take-off was thankfully not delayed any more than it already was so we got away in a fairly timely fashion just as the sun was beaming on SYD.

J load was fairly respectable as we took off and levelled out without any bumps. Breakfast was offered; menu can be found here. Thankfully, the menus on this flight had a bit more of a professional touch to it. I selected a hot option from the menu this time, specifically the frittata. After all, the other option of the Croque Monsieur looked rather pedestrian anyway (how good could an elaborate ham and cheese sandwich with bechamel sauce be?). Admittedly, from first impressions on looks, you'd be thinking, "What the hell is this dish?" On taste, however, it turned out to be a decent number. Kiwi Flyer selected the same dish, but both of us maintained our mainstay drinks and items from the warm bakery (namely tomato juice and raisin toast for Kiwi Flyer; green tea (sencha) and croissants for me). The croissants this time were not burnt, but they were pretty small and more cigar shaped than the typical crescent shape.


Hot breakfast of frittata with sides: it wasn't as bad tasting as it looks, thankfully

Once trays were cleared, there was really only one thing on my mind: sleep. So I unrolled the blanket and nodded off for pretty much the rest of the flight. I didn't wake up until it was almost time to prepare for landing. At this time, AKL could be seen in its full glory in the midday sunlight. After landing and docking into gate 10, disembarkation was quick and efficient, which was good for Kiwi Flyer as once again he was off like a rocket towards immigration, most probably to beat all the lines from the midday batch of incoming flights. I had a more leisurely walk before diverting off the main track of pax to international transfers. There was only one security machine active at the transfer point, and it seems the security staff were twiddling their thumbs. No troubles in getting through security, then it was up the short stairs where I ended up at the foot of the stairs leading from the duty free area up to the main (larger) gates concourse.

Seeing as I had a few hours to kill, I thought it might be a good chance to do a bit of walking. So up the stairs and down to the end of the original terminal concourse (gate 10 and thereabouts). The next destination was to the new concourse with gates 15 and 16. I assume that these two gates are used to cater for the A380; they are located very far from the original terminal. There was a very long walk from the main concourse which felt very much like a lot of boring hallways until I arrived at gates 15 and 16 where the new look of fresh timber and seats contrasted quite a bit from the very old looking existing terminal. There was no one in the new area save for a couple of security staff. I seemed to have arrived at a fortunate moment as a EK A340 landed and docked in at one of the gates; it seemed to take a while for the ground staff to organise and position the aerobridge in place. It wasn't long after that another EK A340 landed and proceeded to dock at the remaining gate just as I had left to go back to the QF FL.

Once back at the QF lounge, I went straight to the counter and informed the attendant that I needed a BP for my AKL-MEL flight, though my bags were already appropriately routed. As if I didn't need to be surprised, the attendant once again asked why didn't I fly direct to BNE or MEL in the first place, but the explanation I gave her seemed to be sufficient. She had to do a bit of checking and what not before she could issue me BPs for my AKL-MEL and MEL-BNE flights, but she allowed me to go in the FL while I waited.






Various views inside the QF FL in AKL I

It seems that the day selection of food was out in the FL. The selection looked a bit better than standard QP grub: better looking sandwiches, thicker soup, more variety of food. Not overly exciting, though. The FL was deserted save for about three people, including a pair of men who seemed content having a conversation near the buffet in Spanish. I sat down and took a bit of food for myself, as well as a couple of bottles of water, as I don't think I was getting my recommended 2.5 L (80 fl. oz. in the old system) of water per day. The sandwiches provided were nice and fresh, but the mushroom soup was pretty disgusting. Usually, I complain that the soup in the normal lounges is too thinned out, but the soup in the lounge was too thick! I think someone must have gone way overboard with the thickening starch.

My name was called over the PA, so I returned to the front desk where, after verifying my details against my passport, I was issued with my two BPs. There wasn't much to do between then and boarding except surf the net and start thinking over the last week of madness; I got a PM from Kiwi Flyer who had arrived home in cold AKL after successfully beating all the crowds at the incoming formalities. Enough time passed between reading some FT and AFF as well as catching up on emails, with the lounge only getting slight busier as my boarding time approached. The boarding call for QF134 came more or less on time as we were told to prudently leave immediately for gate 6, given there was a decent distance to cover from lounge to gate.

Flight: Jetconnect (Qantas) QF134 Auckland (AKL I) - Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL T2)
Depart: 1615h Sched; 1605h Actual
Aircraft: ZK-JTR Boeing 737-400
Distance: 1,643 mi (2,640 km)
Class: Business
Seat: 2D

On board the same vessel that first took me across to the LOTLWC, I was greeted by the CSM Summer with FAs Simon and Sarah in direct assistance. And very much unlike QF133, J was filled! The rest of the plane probably not, since we managed to board and get away fairly early.

Most of the pax in J were old, viz. 55 years+, as was my fellow pax in 2F. Our resilient 737-400 aircraft soared into the air and onwards to MEL.

As per the usual schedule (and I say this ordinarily because at this point I was a bit tired, so glad to be going home), after the seat belt sign was switched off, pre-meal drinks orders were taken. No prizes for guessing what I selected (hint: it's a clear, carbonated, non-sugary non-alcoholic substance, mentioned several times in this report). The gentleman in 2F ordered the rather unorthodox Scotch with lemonade, of which the FA Simon needed to come back and double-check to make sure he didn't hear incorrectly. I tried to make conversation by remarking at how unusual his request was, however he seemed quite defensive in reply so I resolved not to attempt too much conversation with him for the remainder of the flight.

About 3 or 4 pax in the J cabin ordered special meals - the pax in 2F included - and all of those meals were delivered to people of senior age. The menu for this flight can be found here. I recognised the pasta dish on another QF Trans-Tasman flight I was on last year (also in J), so even though it didn't sound awfully outstanding I opted for the Thai duck curry. I asked for some champagne to accompany the meal and was offered the solid drop, Charles Heidsieck.


QF Trans-Tasman J Dinner of Thai Duck Curry


Charles Heidsieck champagne on board QF Trans-Tasman J

The curry doesn't look very appealing at first looks, but it turned out to be alright in flavour, with an extra kick afforded when I added the sachet of pepper. The duck was quite fatty, but that is to be expected. I'm not sure whether Summer was a CSM in training or not (although she appeared to talk to another lady in QF uniform who looked quite senior), but Sarah and Simon shared the load in taking care of dinner service for J.

Quite a few people who didn't order special meals ended up selecting the light option of the salad, eating only one dish or a few bites of it, then going to sleep. I finished my meal and Simon came back to offer cheese or ice cream. I chose the ice cream and biscotti, which I enjoyed with a cup of black tea.


Dessert of passionfruit ice cream and biscotti

With dessert finished, all the rubbish was cleared and I went for a quick bathroom break before returning to my seat and going to sleep. I must have been rather tired and/or mastered the art of sleeping on a plane because I once again managed to doze off until we had to prepare the cabin for landing. I had enough time to fill out my incoming passenger forms. In a matter of four hours, we had crossed the Tasman from beaming daylight in AKL to dark night in MEL. The little 737-400 thudded into Tullamarine and docked in at gate 5.

Our bags unloaded at the new looking belt #5, which I suspect might be the belt of choice for A380 flights owing to its longer belt. I'm not sure why it was set up as such, but there was a lot more directional tape and what not in the baggage claim hall. Since I had items to declare, I was directed to the other end of the hall, which was difficult enough to navigate due to all the crowd control tapes (but complicated much more since there was no pax in the area). I finally managed to navigate the snake of tapes and made my way to a screening point. The customs officer very dryly and emotionlessly asked me what my declarables were, then within two minutes sent me off on my way, again rather emotionlessly (that, or a bit disappointed that he didn't manage to catch me for anything).

Transfers at MEL are always very simple because MEL is one of the only airports in AU to have the domestic and international operations within walking distance (in fact, it is basically one long terminal building, with the exception of Tiger Airways); very convenient for those with tight connection windows (although my 105 minute connection isn't really that tight unless you so happen to get caught in the inwards pax traffic). In my case, all I had to do was go up a travelator to the departures floor, through a glass door and I was in MEL T1, QF (and JQ) domestic. For a Monday night, the departures hall was surprisingly busy. I did a bit of repacking of my bags for convenience before seeking out the premium check-in, which, from a distance with people teeming all about the check-in area, is difficult enough to spot. Fortunately, premium check-in had about ten times less people in the queue compared to the pleb lines; in fact, the only reason you get delayed when there is no one in the premium check-in line is because you have to navigate the zig-zag of queue tapes before you reach the counter.

Bag drop was nice and easy since I already had my BP; magenta tag was attached to my bag and off it went. Security - easy enough. With a little bit of time up my sleeve and not much to do for the rest of the night, I did one round of walking in each of the domestic concourses before making my way to the familiarity of the MEL T1 J Lounge.

Once inside the lounge, I decided to have a refreshing shower before going on my last flight, so I asked the two bright and perky attendants at the J Lounge desk for a shower pack. One of the ladies happily obliged with a set as the other not-so-carefully slipped her tongue and ended up saying "(at the end of the counter) there is a towel for your basket return". We all laughed as we realised her unintentional word swap.

A refreshing shower later (and towels returned to the basket at the J Lounge counter), it was time to have a look at the grub on offer in the J Lounge. I wasn't really wanting to eat much, but it is interesting to see what the J Lounge turn out each time as they (with rather futile results) try to make a difference of themselves to the regular QP (let alone DJ's "The Lounge"). Tonight's offerings included goulash with mashed potato, party pies and some sort of gems that seemed to be made of chicken stuffing.


MEL T1 J Lounge hot snacks

I was washing down my snack with a good dose of water when the boarding call for my flight was announced. Since the lounges are far from the gates, MEL tends to ask people to go to the gate a bit earlier than the normal 20 minute mark, but this was quite early for a formal boarding call. Not willing to tempt fate on this one, I polished off the water I had and started hot footing it down to gate 7 for my flight back home.

Flight: Qantas Airways QF636 Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL T1) - Brisbane (BNE D)
Depart: 2005h Sched; 2001h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VYE "Alice Springs" Boeing 737-800
Distance: 859 mi (1,382 km)
Class: Business
Seat: 1C

I was greeted at the deserted gate by Natalie. I soon found out why the boarding call was made so early - as I stepped on the aircraft to be greeted by the lovely CSM Holly, a bit of light conversation revealed that the load of the plane at best was about half. There were only 3 people in J including myself, and true to word, our aircraft was fully boarded well and truly within scheduled departure. Pre-flight drinks were offered by Natalie, a self-confessed sweet tooth who thus persuaded me to have the apple and strawberry juice.


Pre-flight drink of apple and strawberry juice

Push back and take-off would have been a lot earlier, but unfortunately even though we were early, the rest of the traffic was on schedule, so we didn't get an earlier slot and had to sit at the gate for a while before push back. We managed to get away slightly earlier than planned, but a whole lot of our early mark had evaporated before we moved away from the gate.

Once we were airborne, the seat belt sign was switched off fairly soon after levelling out. The lady behind me decided to sleep for the rest of the flight. Natalie took orders for pre-meal drinks, which were quickly delivered with a packet of nuts. Although it's probably not optimal for the airline, it's nice to be in a lightly loaded cabin as it allows more time to talk to the FAs, who were pleasantly chirpy, even for the last flight of the day.


Pre-refreshment drink and nuts

Since there were only two of us having the refreshment, Holly simply asked what each one of us wanted without pulling out the whole cart assembly. The choices were zucchini & basil soup with boccocini or chicken pie with vegetables. Having had a pie in the J Lounge, I turned away from that option immediately. So the soup it was. I had no idea what to expect for the soup, especially since I could see Holly pouring the soup into a bowl out of a thermos flask! This didn't sound appetising...

The tray was served up and the offer of wine was difficult to resist. I decided to give the red wine a try, which was a Torbreck Cuvee Juveniles from the Barossa. It wasn't a bad number, but as for complementing the soup it came on slightly too strong. The soup itself was actually quite nice, with the soup actually having some flavour, depth and a wholesome texture, plus the boccocini was a nice touch. The Manna from Heaven cake was a bit burnt, but a nice treat.


Refreshment of zucchini and basil soup with boccocini

Trays were cleared, but I still had a cup of tea to consume. Jo from the Y cabin came up with the Y refreshment, which was a selection from a box of National Breast Cancer cupcakes, but I was too full (and not feeling indulgent enough) to take her up on her offer. After that, Jo and another FA from the Y cabin, Jo-Anne, were in the front galley having a chat. I then remembered that I had one box of chocolates left since I had prepared to fly with three different crews on my final QFNZ domestic flights but only gave two away.

You can probably guess what I did next. Needless to say, at least one FA was very happy at the gesture as they wasted little time in breaking open the box and helping themselves to a truffle each, including one saved for the Y cabin manager, Kelly. I was a bit worried that the chocolates may not have retained flavour (or worse) since I did purchase them on the Thursday, however all said that they were still excellent (and Natalie naturally wanted to know which shop I got them from). Holly couldn't help but thank me and offer the untouched bottle of white wine in return (a Tin Cows Chardonnay 2006 from Tarra Warra Estate, Yarra Valley). Who was I to say no? I carefully put the bottle in my backpack (padded strategically between my belongings), then ended up listening to my iPod and reflecting on the week gone by as I finally saw the lights of BNE again. We had an easy touch down in BNE and rolled up to end the day (both myself, the crew and the flight deck) at gate 19. Thankfully, bags didn't take long at all to hit the belt (although it must be a lazy last flight because there was no effort made to prioritise bags). My parents came to pick me up and that was the end of my mad week of flying in May.


So there you have it, dedicated reader. That is how a simple J sale and a significant FT Do transformed two separate events into one magnificent status run. No, do not start saying that I'm a Kiwi Flyer wannabe; as the ol' excuse goes, "This is not what it looks like."

And with that, this trip report draws to a close. Some things I'm looking forward to as a result of this trip:

• More F Lounge opportunities in MEL T2
• Flying more NZ, but this will mostly be within New Zealand, but possibly Trans-Tasman (but preferably in premium class.... )
• Visiting ZQN again...and CHC
• Flying F again (will get two more opportunities later this year...yay!)
• Flying BA again (again, opportunity later this year...in F...yay!) - I might tire of BA once I'm completely convinced that QF is better...
• Requalifying for QF WP... I think it will be hard to go back (but that's mostly due to the unwritten benefits)...

Thanks go out to (in no particular order, and big apologies to anyone I have missed):

• wijomas for helping me out with comping my QF status to NZ - and delivering my card - and meeting me at AKL I early in the morning after I arrived from QF133.
• Kiwi Flyer for suggesting the tag-team idea for the J 2-for-1 sale, smoothing out payment arrangements and generally making things happen (including our upgrade!). Oh, and I probably won't attempt a same day turnaround in ZQN within a tight, mission-critical schedule again .
• Everyone at Oz Fest 6 for making it a great time for all (thanks have been offered in my Sunday 24 May post) - great company, good events, great memories. In particular, QF WP and Mrs QF WP for helping me out with baggage by taking my wines back to BNE rather than me cart it all around with me.
• Platy, it was great to finally meet you; igel, great to have met you.

Some of you will probably call me crazy. Some will suggest I be carted to the mad house now. Some of you will think that I'm foolish. Others of you will think how could someone possibly fly all of that in the time it was flown...and still be relatively human. They're all valid statements.

I'm not the one most qualified to answer to those statements. But I do like some of the benefits.


Fin Omnis.

anat0l

Melbourne Tullamarine (Terminal 2) Qantas First Lounge
Thursday 28 May 2009
Daily Specials / All-Day Menu

(h) Healthier Option
(e) Express Option

Specials - available from midday

Soup of the Day

Creamy Roasted Field Mushroom (h) (e)

Plates of the Day

Sicilian Style Baby Snapper with Raisin, Pine Nut and Celery Dressing (e)

House Made Saffron Pasta with Asparagus, Pumpkin and Goats Curd

Caesar Salad with Crisp Proscoitto and Anchovy Dressing

Ice Cream Selection

Hazelnut Ice Cream

Boysenberry Ice Cream

Caramel Ice Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream

Mango Sorbet

Wines of the Day

Clonakilla Hilltop Shiraz 2007 - Southern Tablelands, NSW

Scarborough Shiraz 2003 - Hunter Valley, NSW

Cardinia Pinot Gris 2008 - Cardinia Ranges, VIC

Scarborough Semillon 2007 - Hunter Valley, NSW



All Day Dining - available from midday

San Daniele Prosciutto with Tomato and Bread Salad (h)

Petuna Smoked Ocean Trout with Fennel Remoulade and Crostini (e)

Garlic Bruschetta with Roast Pumpkin, Meredith Feta, Brown Butter and Sage

Chilli Salt Squid (e)


Roasted Pear and Blue Cheese Tart with Caramelised Walnuts

House Made Pappardelle with Autumn Vegetables and Fresh Ricotta (h)

Chicken Schnitzel with Sourdough Crumbs and Light Coleslaw

Minute Steak with Garlic Mash and Wild Mushroom Sauce


Our Signature Sandwiches

Club with Organic Chicken, Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Schulz Smokehouse Bacon and Aioli

Beef Burger with Schulz Smokehouse Bacon, Gruyere, Zuni Pickle and Tomato Chilli Relish


Side Dishes - to complement your meal

Bowl of Chips

Steamed Seasonal Greens (h)

Our Signature Mixed Leaf Salad

Wild Rocket and Parmesan Salad


Cheese and Dessert

Seasonal Fruit Plate (h)

Olive Oil and Sauternes Cake with Sticky Roast Pear

Tiramisu with Hazelnut Sponge and Marsala Strawberries (e)

Daily Selection of Ice Cream and Sorbets


Cheese Hand Selected by Calendar Cheese Company
Brique D'affinois, Cashel Blue and Queso Iberico with Accompaniments (e)

anat0l

Melbourne Tullamarine (Terminal 2) Qantas First Lounge
Thursday 28 May 2009
Drinks (Wine, Alcohol, Non Alcoholic, Hot Beverages)

Wine List

White Wine

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Riesling 2007
Margaret River, WA
You will find that opening this bottle fills the room with intense aromatics, perfume of lime and citrus flowers and sweet grapefruit and volume and depth to the nose. The palate is clean and richly citrus perfectly balance by its acidity.

Crowded House Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Marlborough, New Zealand
Said to be a smorgasbord of fruit flavours. Grapes have been picked across the growing season, early to provide fruit with higher acidity and fresh citrus flavours and later to provide voluptuous and richly developed characteristics. Each harvest was vinified separately and then assembled to produce this outstanding wine. Intense tropical honeyed fruits with fresh cut Malborough grass, pineapple and snowpea on the nose. The aromatics follow through beautifully onto the rich full palate. This well rounded Sauvignon offers great length with a long funky finish.

Torbreck Woodcutters Semillon 2008
Barossa Valley, SA
Produced from old growth Semillon vines in the Barossa. This wine is rich and smoky with a fat texture, full of tropical fruits both on the nose and palate and an ice long finish. This wine is a wonderful match to salmon or poultry.

Scarborough Blue Label Chardonnay 2007
Hunter Valley, NSW
Aromas of scented lemons, nectarine and vanilla welcome you to an exciting and vibrant wine. The palate is light to medium bodied with citrus, nectarine and some mineral flavours. Crisp and dry with a flinty texture and a mouth watering lemony acidity.

Pierro Semillon Sauvignon Blanc LTC 2008
Margaret River, WA
Depending on who you ask LTC in the name means "Les Trois Cuvee" (The Three Blends) or "Little Touch of Chardonnay". Vibrant straw-yellow in colour, fresh and grassy on the nose. The palate is well supported by oak holding up the flavours of citrus and passionfruit. The little touch of chardonnay does wonders leaving you wanting more after the last drop.


Champagne

Devaux Blanc De Noirs, from the Bar Sur Seine appellation of the Champagne Valley in France. Initially round and fruity, the freshness and liveliness of this dry champagne develop to give a unique and sensual wine.

Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial, an elegant harmonious wine with a clean smooth fruit driven bouquet. With a hint of cashew nut and smooth nectarine flavours, it is delicate and well balanced.

Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin, a well loved wine for its crisp full flavours. Its complex nose of apple, citrus and caramel is followed by full flavours of pure elegance, crispness and a slightly spicy finish.


Red Wine

Yering Station Pinot Noir 2007
Yarra Valley, VIC
Traditional stomping is an age-old technique still employed at Yering Station for its uniquely gentle extraction of juice and flavour. This lively young pinot marries vibrant raspberry, cherry and plum-like fruit with restrained cedar/vanilla oak and silky, sappy tannin. There's a hint of stewed fruit, but plenty of confectionary brightness and a structured, savoury finish.

Torbreck "Woodcutters Red" Shiraz 2007
Barossa, SA
Hand picked and aged in old foudres giving this shiraz a juice sharpness like no other. Dazzingly red with a seductive black core the nose is full of ripe stone fruits with black cherries and raspberry with just a hint of spice. All this fruit continues onto the palate with that black core reminding you its there with a light liquorish tone. A rather sweet fruit but a nice dry finish. Simply a good shiraz. Enjoy!

Yering Station Shiraz Viognier 2006
Yarra Valley, VIC
A delicious blend of 95% Shiraz and 5% Voignoir. This wine is fast becoming a Shiraz that defines its time. Deep wanton purple in colour with aromas of white pepper, rose, violet and blackberry carried with spices of cinnamon and star anise. Rich and luscious blackberry on the palate with silky soft spiced tannins.

Kilikanoon Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Clare Valley, SA
Hand pruned and picked from low yielding vines this dry grown Cabernet Sauvignon has been produced with traditional wine making techniques and matured in small French oak casks. Rich berries and violet on the nose follow through onto the palate with good strong tannins which have been well preserved through to the bottle in its unfiltered state.


Dessert Wine

De Bortoli Noble One 2006
Riverina, NSW
The creation of this Sauternes style wine by Darren de Bortoli in 1982 has been regarded as Australia's benchmark dessert wine. The botrytis flavours of this wine combine peach, nectarine citrus and almond characteristics to create a luscious well balanced wine to be enjoyed with dessert or a fine blue cheese.



Beverage List

Aperitifs

Campari

Cinzano Bianco

Cinzano Rosso

Noilly Prat

Spirits

Glenlivet 12yo Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Chivas Regal 12yo Scotch Whisky

Johnnie Walker Black Label Old Scotch Whisky

Wild Turkey Bourbon

Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

Tanqueray London Dry Gin

Wyborowa Vodka

Bellvedere Vodka

Bacardi White Rum

Havana Club Anejo 7yo Rum

Bundaberg Dark Rum

Jose Cuervo Especial Tequila

Beers

Cascade Light

Cascade

Coopers Pale Ale

Crown Lager

James Boags

James Squire Amber Ale

Heinieken

Digestives, Liqueurs and Ports

Bailey's Irish Cream

Cointreau

Drambuie

Frangelico

Grand Mariner

Paraiso Lychee

Tia Maria

St Agnes 5yo Brandy

Bisquit V.S.O.P.

Hennessy X.O.

Grant Burge Tawny

Morris Old Tawny

Morris Liquer Muscat

Non Alcoholic

Range of freshly squeezed Juices
Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Tomato Juice, Pineapple Juice

nudie Mango, Passionfruit and More Juice

nudie Cranberry, Raspberry and More Juice

nudie Orange, Mango and Pineapple Juice

Acqua Panna Natural Mineral Water

San Pellegrino Sparkling Mineral Water

San Pellegrino Chinotto

San Pellegrino Limonata

San Pellegrino Aranciata Rossa

Cola

Diet Cola

Lemonade

Soda Water

Tonic Water

Lemon Squash

Dry Ginger Ale



Hot Beverages

Coffee - Espresso coffees use the premium Giancarlo Blend from Grinders Coffee

Espresso

Long Black

Cafe Latte

Flat White

Cappuccino

Mocha

Macchiato

Chai Latte

Liqueur Coffee

Hot Chocolate

Decaffeinated Coffee and Soy Milk Also Available

Tea - A selection of teas brought to you by T2 from some of the finest tea plantations in the world

Peppermint
Great as a pick me up after a long haul flight, lush peppermint leaves create a refreshing infusion, drink hot or cold. A well rounded flavour captures the sweet essence of all things 'minty' with a sweet cool lingering aroma.

Lemongrass and Ginger
Whether you're off to the Far East or not enjoy this zesty and bright brew, lemongrass contrasts the spicy flavour of ginger to create a refreshing and wild taste sensation.

English Breakfast
A blend of the finest Sri Lanken full bodied teas produce a rich and well rounded flavour. Great for all day drinking whether you're coming or going!

Earl Grey
Earl Grey is made of Sri Lanken black teas combined with the citrus delights of Bergamot, generating an elegant and balanced full flavoured cup. An afternoon tea essential, so sit back and enjoy the flight.

China Jasmine
A smooth green tea naturally scented with Jasmine buds. A delightful aroma and light taste. Close your eyes and it will be as if you've arrived at your destination.

Chamomile
Relax and unwind with this fragrant infusion of sweet golden chamomile flowers. A delicious clamin start to your flight or before you doze off on your way to Paradise.

Chai
Even if you're not off to somewhere exotic enjoy this blend of spices to conjure up the steamy aromatic delights of an Indian market. A black tea base with spicy sprinkles of cinnamon, cardamon, clove and star anise.

Sencha
A classic green tea to be enjoyed through out the day. These beautiful emerald green leaves produce a delicate aroma and a sweet, smooth, grassy flavour.

anat0l

Qantas Airways QF142 Auckland - Sydney Business Breakfast
Saturday 30 May 2009
(Menu code: J_TAS_BF_5_NZ-AUS_SUM08)

Orange Juice

Seasonal Fresh Fruit Juice

Choice of Continental Breakfast or Hot Breakfast

Continental Breakfast

Fresh Seasonal Fruit

Yoghurt

Choice of

• Martin Borough Muesli
• Cereal Selection

Warm Bakery

Hot Breakfast

Fresh Seasonal Fruit

Choice of

• Cheddar Cheese Omelette with Grilled Sausage and Baby Spinach
• French Toast served with Grilled Bacon, Sauteed Mushrooms, Rocket and Cherry Tomatoes

Warm Bakery

anat0l

Sydney International (Terminal 1) Qantas First Lounge
Saturday 30 May 2009
Breakfast

(h) Healthier Option
(e) Express Option

Breakfast - available until midday

Seasonal Fruit Salad (h) (e)

House Toasted Muesli with Whole, Skim or Soy Milk

Bircher Muesli with Orange and Vanilla Poached Quince (e)

Buffalo Yoghurt with Fresh Fig, Pistachio and Wildflower Honey


Traditional Oat Porridge with Caramelised Apple and Walnuts (e)

Quinoa and Soy Toast with Ricotta, Avacado, Snow Pea Sprouts and Lime (h)

Pancakes with Mixed Berries, Whipped Butter and Maple Syrup

Wholegrain Toasted Sandwich with Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Aioli


Brasserie Bread Artisan Pastry Selection

Sourdough, Turkish, Wholegrain, White or Sour Cherry Toast with Alpine Berry Farm Jams

• Blueberry
• Summer Berry Harvest
• Seville Orange Marmalade
• Fig
• Strawberry
• Raspberry
• Rhubarb and Vanilla

Organic Eggs - for a healthy and delicious start to the day

Eggs Florentine

Eggs Benedict with Leg Ham or Smoked Ocean Trout

Whole Egg Omelette with Leg Ham, Sauteed Leek and Heidi Gruyere (e)

Egg White Omelette with Vine Ripened Tomato, Ricotta and Chives (h) (e)

Bacon and Egg Brioche with House Made Tomato Relish

Croque Monsieur


Two Eggs Poached (h), Scrambled or Fried with Selection of Sides

• Schulz Smokehouse Bacon
• Free Range Pork Sausages
• Petuna Smoked Ocean Trout (h)
• Roast Vine Ripened Tomatoes (h)
• Roast Field Mushrooms
• Sauteed English Spinach
• Hash Potatoes

Breakfast Beverages - for a larger selection see the beverage list

Fruit Energiser

Freshly Squeezed Juice (h)

Grinders Giancarlo Espresso Coffee

T2 Black and Herbal Teas

Hot Chocolate

anat0l

Sydney International (Terminal 1) Qantas First Lounge
Saturday 30 May 2009
Daily Specials / All Day Menu

(h) Healthier Option
(e) Express Option

Specials

Soup

Mussel, Fennel and Saffron Broth

Entree

Buffalo Mozzarella and Tomato Salad with 20 year old Balsamic

Fish

Swordfish served with Raisin, Pine Nut and Celery Dressing and Cauliflower Puree

Main

Soy Grilled Duck with Asian Greens and Steamed Jasmine Rice

Dessert

Chocolate Brownie with Raspberry Ice Cream and Hot Fudge Sauce

Ice Creams

French Vanilla

Raspberry

Chocolate

Coconut

Sorbets

Mango

Raspberry



All Day Dining - available from midday

Daily Soup

San Daniele Prosciutto with Tomato and Bread Salad (h)

Petuna Smoked Ocean Trout with Fennel Remoulade and Crostini (e)

Bruschetta with Roast Pumpkin, Meredith Feta, Brown Butter and Sage

Chilli Salt Squid (e)


Fig and Roquefort Tart with Caramelised Walnuts

House Made Pappardelle with Autumn Vegetables and Fresh Ricotta (h)


Lamb Loin with Rosemary Butter, Sweet Carrot Puree and 20 year old Balsamic

Minute Steak with Garlic Mash and Wild Mushroom Sauce

Butter Chicken with Mango Salsa and Jasmine Rice


Our Signature Sandwiches

Club with Organic Chicken, Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Schulz Smokehouse Bacon and Aioli

Beef Burger with Schulz Smokehouse Bacon, Gruyere, Zuni Pickle and Tomato Chilli Relish


Side Dishes - to complement your meal

Bowl of Chips

Wild Rocket and Parmesan Salad

Our Signature Mixed Leaf Salad (h) (e)

Steamed Seasonal Greens with Colonna Lemon Oil (h)


Cheese and Dessert

Seasonal Fruit Plate (h)

Olive Oil and Sauternes Cake with Sticky Roast Pear

Tiramisu with Hazelnut Sponge and Marsala Strawberries (e)

Selection of Ice Cream and Sorbets


Cheese Hand Selected by Calendar Cheese Company
Brique D'affinois, Cashel Blue and Queso Iberico with Accompaniments

anat0l

Sydney International (Terminal 1) Qantas First Lounge
Saturday 30 May 2009
Drinks (Wine, Alcohol, Non Alcoholic, Hot Beverages)

Wine List

White Wine

Carlei Green Vineyards Pinot Gris 2008
Cardinia Ranges, VIC
Delicate pink in the glass this complex wine has delicious aromas of mineral, pear, citrus and spice. A well balanced palate of pear and lime flavours with a sensuous sweetness of ripe summer stone fruits ending in brilliant crisp acidity. Leaving you with wonderful length and mouth feel.

Mitchell Watervale Riesling 2008
Clare Valley, SA
Forty year old vines grown in the pristine Clare Valley's Terra Rossa produce this remarkable Riesling. Fresh cut grass on the nose heavily influenced by its almost spontaneous fermentation. This palate is quite full, rich and textured with quite a little bite on the finish.

Cockfighter's Ghost Semillon 2007
Hunter Valley, NSW
This unwooded Semillon is pale lime green in colour with aromas of lemon, lime, pineapple and guava that just dance out of the glass. These tropical and citrus fruits combine on the palate with this varietals fresh natural acidity to give a wonderful dry, crisp and well balanced finish.

Scarborough Blue Label Chardonnay 2007
Hunter Valley, NSW
Grown in Australia Terra Rossa soil these Chardonnay grapes are harvested at the peak of their maturity and fermented in old French oak and given two Malo-Lactic fermentation runs. Blended in the barrel on less for a minimum of twelve months this wine pours with a delicious golden straw colour. The nose is rather minerally with good citrus notes. The palate has a long fruit finish that is quite crisp and dry.

Crowded House Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Marlborough, New Zealand
Said to be a smorgasbord of fruit flavours. Grapes have been picked across the growing season, early to provide fruit with higher acidity and fresh citrus flavours and later to provide voluptuous and richly developed characteristics. Each harvest was vinified separately and then assembled to produce this outstanding wine. Intense tropical honeyed fruits with fresh cut Malborough grass, pineapple and snowpea on the nose. The aromatics follow through beautifully onto the rich full palate. This well rounded Sauvignon offers great length with a long finish.

Yering Station Pinot Noir Rose Extra Dry 2008
Yarra Valley, VIC
At 14% this is not a wine for the feint hearted. Delicious light ruby in colour. The nose is intense with raspberry, cherry and vanilla with a little spice and oak. The berries again appear on the palate, quite intense, with good notes of sage and spice. Fine tannins give the rose good depth and length with a strong dry finish.


Champagne

Veuve A. Devaux Blanc De Noir, initially round and fruity, the freshness and liveliness of this dry champagne develop to give a unique and sensual wine.

Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial, an elegant harmonious wine with a clean smooth fruit driven bouquet. With a hint of cashew nut and smooth nectarine flavours, it is delicate and well balanced.

Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin, a well loved wine for its crisp full flavours. Its complex nose of apple, citrus and caramel is followed by full flavours of pure elegance, crispness and a slightly spicy finish.


Red Wine

Yering Station Pinot Noir 2007
Yarra Valley, VIC
Traditional stomping is an age-old technique still employed at Yering Station for its uniquely gentle extraction of juice and flavour. This lively young pinot marries vibrant raspberry, cherry and plum-like fruit with restrained cedar/vanilla oak and silky, sappy tannin. There's a hint of stewed fruit, but plenty of confectionary brightness and a structured, savoury finish.

Torbreck "Woodcutters Red" Shiraz 2007
Barossa, SA
Hand picked and aged in old foudres giving this shiraz a juice sharpness like no other. Dazzingly red with a seductive black core the nose is full of ripe stone fruits with black cherries and raspberry with just a hint of spice. All this fruit continues onto the palate with that black core reminding you its there with a light liquorish tone. A rather sweet fruit but a nice dry finish. Simply a good shiraz. Enjoy!

Yering Station Shiraz Viognier 2006
Yarra Valley, VIC
A delicious blend of 95% Shiraz and 5% Voignoir. This wine is fast becoming a Shiraz that defines its time. Deep wanton purple in colour with aromas of white pepper, rose, violet and blackberry carried with spices of cinnamon and star anise. Rich and luscious blackberry on the palate with silky soft spiced tannins.

Hollick Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Coonawarra, SA
Vibrant bright ruby red with allurine Cabernet aromas of blackcurrant and liqueur cherries and sensuous Merlot of chocolaty sweet plums with just a hint of mint. The palate is quite intense, however well balanced with lots of sweet dark ripe fruits. Fine strong tannins give the wine a long finish packed with a decent punch.

Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa Merlot 2005
Coonawarra, SA
Stunning deep purple hues with a nose of cassis, liquorice and wispy hints of smoked French oak. A deep intense palate of rich cassis and blackberries with good mineral overtones. This Merlot is well balanced by its acidity and long, lingering finish of sued like tannins.

Reschke Vitulus Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Coonawarra, SA
Wonderfully perfumed with ripe, rich berries, vanilla, charred oak and minted tobacco. Sweet blackcurrant, blackberry and rich dark chocolate across the palate. Finishing with good savoury flavours. The well structured tannins give this wine a luxurious plush-ness and length.



Dessert Wine

De Bortoli Noble One 2006
Riverina, NSW
The creation of this Sauternes style wine by Darren de Bortoli in 1982 has been regarded as Australia's benchmark dessert wine. The botrytis flavours of this wine combine peach, nectarine citrus and almond characteristics to create a luscious well balanced wine to be enjoyed with dessert or a fine blue cheese.

Scarborough, Late Harvest Semillon 2007
Hunter Valley, NSW
A fantastic example of a quality Hunter Valley Late Harvest wine.
The team at Scarborough have brought together intense tropical fruit aromas, balanced beautifully with natural acids, to produce a lighter style dessert wine. Also a great accompaniment to our antipasto plate.


Beverage List

Aperitifs

Campari

Cinzano Bianco

Cinzano Rosso

Noilly Prat

Pimms

Spirits

Glenlivet 12yo Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Chivas Regal 12yo Scotch Whisky

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

Tanqueray Gin

Wyborowa Single Estate Vodka

Belvedere Vodka

Bacardi White Rum

Havana Club 7 Rum

Bundaberg Dark Rum

Wild Turkey Bourbon

Jack Daniels Whiskey

Jose Cuervo Tequila

Beers

Crown Lager

Cascade

Heineken

James Squire Pilsner

Coopers Pale Ale

Cascade Light

Liqueurs, Ports and Cognac

Baileys Irish Cream

Cointreau

Drambuie

Tia Maria

St Agnes Brandy

Martell Medalion VSOP

Morris Liqueur Tawny

Morris Liqueur Muscat

Rockford Old Barossa V.S. Tawny

Non Alcoholic

Milkshakes
Valrhona Milk Chocolate, Pomegranate and Blueberry, Malt or Vanilla Bean (available in soy)

Range of freshly squeezed Juices
Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Tomato Juice, Pineapple Juice

Fruit Energiser Drink

San Pelligrino Acqua Panna Natural Mineral Water

San Pellegrino Sparkling Mineral Water

San Pellegrino Chinotto

San Pellegrino Limonata

San Pellegrino Aranciata Rossa

Ginger Ale

Lemonade

Coca Cola

Diet Coca Cola

Coca Cola Zero

Tonic Water

Soda Water

Solo



Hot Beverages

Coffee - Espresso coffees use the premium Giancarlo Blend from Grinders Coffee

Espresso

Long Black

Cafe Latte

Flat White

Cappuccino

Mocha

Macchiato

Chai Latte

Liqueur Coffee

Hot Chocolate

Decaffeinated Coffee and Soy Milk Also Available

Tea - A selection of teas brought to you by T2 from some of the finest tea plantations in the world

Peppermint
Great as a pick me up after a long haul flight, lush peppermint leaves create a refreshing infusion, drink hot or cold. A well rounded flavour captures the sweet essence of all things 'minty' with a sweet cool lingering aroma.

Lemongrass and Ginger
Whether you're off to the Far East or not enjoy this zesty and bright brew, lemongrass contrasts the spicy flavour of ginger to create a refreshing and wild taste sensation.

English Breakfast
A blend of the finest Sri Lanken full bodied teas produce a rich and well rounded flavour. Great for all day drinking whether you're coming or going!

Earl Grey
Earl Grey is made of Sri Lanken black teas combined with the citrus delights of Bergamot, generating an elegant and balanced full flavoured cup. An afternoon tea essential, so sit back and enjoy the flight.

China Jasmine
A smooth green tea naturally scented with Jasmine buds. A delightful aroma and light taste. Close your eyes and it will be as if you've arrived at your destination.

Chamomile
Relax and unwind with this fragrant infusion of sweet golden chamomile flowers. A delicious clamin start to your flight or before you doze off on your way to Paradise.

Chai
Even if you're not off to somewhere exotic enjoy this blend of spices to conjure up the steamy aromatic delights of an Indian market. A black tea base with spicy sprinkles of cinnamon, cardamon, clove and star anise.

Sencha
A classic green tea to be enjoyed through out the day. These beautiful emerald green leaves produce a delicate aroma and a sweet, smooth, grassy flavour.

anat0l

Qantas Airways QF31 Sydney - Singapore (Changi) First Dinner
Saturday 30 May 2009

Tasting Menu

Our Tasting Menu features a selection of eight tasting plates highlighting the finest of Rockpool and Qantas cuisine. A selection of award winning wines will be offered to complement each course. Your Flight Attendant will be pleased to assist you with your selection.

Spanish Iberico Ham Croquettes

Crostini of Ortiz White Anchovies


Cream of Chestnut Soup with Crutons

Korean Style Seared Bluefin Tuna Salad

Pan Fried Salmon with Yalla Beetroot Relish, Cannellini Puree and Green Beans

Roast Rack of Castricum Brothers Lamb with Aioli, Potatoes and Minted Peas

Salad of Baby Cos, Radicchio and Frisee with Palm Sugar Vinaigrette

Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake with Creme Anglaise

Blue, soft and hard cheese, hand selected by Will Studd, Maitre Fromager, Calendar Cheese Company, served with accompaniments

A selection of Cacao hand made chocolates


Dinner

Our extensive Rockpool designed menu allows you to enjoy a completely personalised dining experience. Your Flight Attendant will be pleased to assist you with your selection.

(a) Available any time during the flight


Canapes

Spanish Iberico Ham Croquettes

Crostini of Ortiz White Anchovies


Salads and Other Things

Cream of chestnut Soup with Thyme and Crutons

Korean Style Seared Bluefin Tuna Salad

Salad of Roast Beetroot and Marinated Feta


Light, Vegetarian and Sandwich

Pan Fried Salmon with Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing and Green Beans

Fresh Linguine Pasta with Spanner Crab and Spicy Prawn Oil (a)

Tangine of Organic Vegetables with Couscous and Harissa

Big bowl of Barossa Valley Chicken, Leek and Fennel Broth (a)

Our signature Steak Sandwich with Tomato and Chilli Relish (a)


Main Courses with Suggested Sides

Pan Fried Salmon

Yalla Beetroot Relish, Green Beans and Cannellini Puree

Harissa and Moroccan Organic Vegetables

Aioli and Minted Peas


Muscovy Duck Confit

Caramelised Parsnips, Warm Endive and Pear Salad

Red Wine Jus and Green Beans


Roast Rack of Castricum Brothers Lamb

Aioli, Roast Potatoes and Minted Peas

Red Wine Jus and White Bean Puree

Middle Eastern Spiced Organic Vegetables


Side Salad

Salad of Baby Cos, Radicchio and Frisee with your choice of dressing

Aged Balsamic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Fresh Lemon Juice and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Palm Sugar Vinaigrette


Cheese

Blue, soft and hard cheese, hand selected by Will Studd, Maitre Fromager, Calendar Cheese Company, served with accompaniments


Dessert

Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake with Creme Anglaise

Assiette of Desserts

Whole or Sliced Seasonal Fruit (a)

Nice Cream Chocolate Coated Vanilla Ice Cream (a)


Petit Fours

A selection of Cacao hand made chocolates

Manna from Heaven Date Cake with Toffee Icing (a)

Organic Orange Biscuit (a)