Singapore to Hong Kong on SQ
Dec 29, 2004, 9:10 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: singapore
Posts: 166
Singapore to Hong Kong on SQ
I have just returned on a 5 days trip to Hong Kong and Shenzhen with some friends. This is my second trip abroad in the month of December. With my dad being SQ staff, I will be traveling on staff discounted tickets on SQ while my friends will be flying on UA.
Singapore – Hong Kong
SQ 860
B777-200 (3-Class)
9V-SQI
STD: 0830
STA: 1210
Departure Gate: F52
Arrival Gate: 22
As my discounted is on a space-available basis, I will have to stand-by on the flight. Reached Changi airport by bus at 0700. The day before, my dad checked the load for the flight and it did not look too promising, overbooked by more than 10 in economy but still seats were available in first and raffles. At the staff check-in counter, I was informed to return at 0800 for check-in. Luckily, 3 seats are still available in economy as there are some positioning crew on this flight and they are eligible to be upgraded to raffles class. Btw, my ticket is ineligible for upgrades unless it is a free confirmed ticket.
Cleared immigration very quickly and proceeded to the outdoor garden to take some photos. Then immediately proceeded to the gate. Boarding was already underway when I reached the gate. The plane, 9V-SQI, is considered one of the newer B777s with Wiseman 3000 AVOD entertainment system and newer first, raffles and economy seats. Boarded and was greeted by a smiling stewardess and was led to my seat at 51C (no window seats left and so no window-view photos
). Sat beside an elderly couple. The stewardesses on this flight are gorgeous, with 3 celebrities look-alike!! The malay stewardess serving my aisle looked like a younger version of Anita Sarawak (a malay celebrity), one looked like Daphne (a Singapore Idol contest finalist) and a China stewardess looked like Kyoko Fukada (a Japanese sensational hit celebrity)!! All announcements on this flight were made in English by a leading stewardess and then in Chinese by the above mentioned China stewardess.
Boarding was completed and doors closed exactly on 0830. Announcements were than made by the captain, who mentioned that the flying time will be 3h10min and altitude of 38000 feet. Meantime, hot towels were offered and soft toys, coloring sets etc were distributed to children onboard. There were also Christmas decorations in the plane. Pushback occurred shortly with the safety video playing. One thing I noticed is that previously SQ will require you to switch off all handphones once you step on board the aircraft but now they only require you to switch it off after aircraft doors are closed. Also I feel that my previous flight recently on the B773 to Bangkok has slightly more leg room than this plane. However as this is a “newer” plane, the economy seats offers inflatable lumbar supports and seat cushions as well as additional storage compartments beside the ptv, and most importantly, AVOD!!
We taxied to runway 02C for takeoff. For your info, runway 02R/20L have been renamed as 02C/20C from this particular day while the runway of the military base beside the airport will be changed from 01/19 to 02R/20L. Morning is really a very peak period in Changi as I counted no less than 7 aircrafts taxing behind us for takeoff. A Thai B772 took off before us with a RSAF KC-135 tanker, Bangkok Airways B717 (what is it doing in Changi at this time of the day?), SQ B772 9V-SQH to Taipei (I thought this flight was operated by SR* plane?) and some more SQ B777s behind us. Takeoff roll was quite short for our flight as the plane rotated at the south-cross area (less than 2000m in length from the beginning of the runway). Immediately after takeoff, engines were throttled back and we make a left turn towards Tioman island. Our route took us towards Tioman, and then direct towards Hong Kong across the South China Sea. We flew south of Vietnam, which is the flight path for all flights from Singapore to Hong Kong and Southern China cities.
After the seatbelt signs were turned off, menus and headphones were distributed. There was also a pillow and blanket on every seat. Immediately, I tuned to the movie The Bourne Supremacy on Krisworld. Trays of juices and water were than offered. A brunch will be served on our flight, which is as follows.
Brunch from Singapore to Hong Kong
Fruit appetizer
Ah Yat style baked chicken in oriental wasabi sauce, seasonal vegetable and fragrant rice
(Exclusively created by Yeung Koon Yat of Forum Restaurant, Hong Kong)
or
Pan fried ham steak served with mustard sauce, vegetable frittata and hash brown potato
Yoghurt panna cotta with strawberry compote
Bread roll with butter and fruit preserve
Coffee-Tea, Chinese Tea
Chose the chicken. It is not really that special, just imagine Hainanese chicken rice topped with slightly hot wasabi sauce. However the dessert is great (desserts are always great on SQ). The fruit appetizer, however is the same 2 slices of papaya, 2 slices of honeydew melon and 2 grapes for flights originating in Singapore. The service is very quick and efficient, despite the almost full load. Also, 2 rounds of drinks are offered. However, I noticed that SQ do not offer full cans of drinks on this flight. Maybe it depends on the stewardess or on the load of the flight?? On the Sydney and Melbourne flights I took last year, I was offered full cans despite the heavy passenger loads, and on the Taipei flights during the middle of the year, cans were also offered but then the passenger load was very low.
During the middle of my meal, I switched to a Chinese comedy as The Bourne Supremacy is superbly boring and partly because I could not take my eyes off the beautiful stewardesses on the flight
(Just joking!!). After the trays were collected, there was slightly more than 1hr left to arrival. The lights were also dimmed. However, no more drinks were offered but you can request for it. What I liked about the B777s is that there is a drinking fountain area near the toilets where you can get your own drinking water without disturbing the crew.
Descend soon commenced the cabin was prepared for landing. Headsets were collected back by the crew. Our descent is very gradual and no airbrakes were used. At one point in time, we were even flying almost on idle as no noise was heard from the engines. We overflew Hong Kong island and Kowloon (I spotted the now defunct Kai Tak airport) before making a left turn for the airport. The scenery is really stunning with hills and buildings just below the plane. We landed on runway 25R on scheduled. Some reverse thrust was used to slow the plane down and we exited using the first high-speed exit. Had a long taxi to gate 22. Passed many Cathay and Chinese airliners, United B744 (my friends’ flight), Valuair A320 etc. Not many planes at the gates at this time of the day though. After docking at the gate, economy passengers were held back to allow first and raffles class passengers to disembark first. So ended my 2nd last flight this year, with the most beautiful “celebrities” stewardesses. For those of you interested in the menu offering for the return flight SQ 859, it is as below.
Lunch from Hong Kong to Singapore
International Selection
Smoked salmon with nicoise salad
Pan fried chicken served with sweet and sour port wine sauce, smooth polenta with mushroom
(Exclusively created by Georges Blanc, Vonnas)
Cheese and crackers
Ice cream
Roll and Butter
Coffee-Tea
Oriental Selection
Marinated prawns with shredded cabbaged and sesame cream dressing
Braised pork with “Mui choy” served with steamed rice
Chinese snack
Ice cream
Roll and butter
Chinese Tea
I have also posted some pictures of the flight on http://community.webshots.com/user/b777er
Also, stay tuned for my return flight on SQ 865. I will also appreciate it if someone could upload my report on airliners.net as I do not have a subscription with it. Thanks!! Any comments are welcomed.
Singapore – Hong Kong
SQ 860
B777-200 (3-Class)
9V-SQI
STD: 0830
STA: 1210
Departure Gate: F52
Arrival Gate: 22
As my discounted is on a space-available basis, I will have to stand-by on the flight. Reached Changi airport by bus at 0700. The day before, my dad checked the load for the flight and it did not look too promising, overbooked by more than 10 in economy but still seats were available in first and raffles. At the staff check-in counter, I was informed to return at 0800 for check-in. Luckily, 3 seats are still available in economy as there are some positioning crew on this flight and they are eligible to be upgraded to raffles class. Btw, my ticket is ineligible for upgrades unless it is a free confirmed ticket.
Cleared immigration very quickly and proceeded to the outdoor garden to take some photos. Then immediately proceeded to the gate. Boarding was already underway when I reached the gate. The plane, 9V-SQI, is considered one of the newer B777s with Wiseman 3000 AVOD entertainment system and newer first, raffles and economy seats. Boarded and was greeted by a smiling stewardess and was led to my seat at 51C (no window seats left and so no window-view photos
). Sat beside an elderly couple. The stewardesses on this flight are gorgeous, with 3 celebrities look-alike!! The malay stewardess serving my aisle looked like a younger version of Anita Sarawak (a malay celebrity), one looked like Daphne (a Singapore Idol contest finalist) and a China stewardess looked like Kyoko Fukada (a Japanese sensational hit celebrity)!! All announcements on this flight were made in English by a leading stewardess and then in Chinese by the above mentioned China stewardess. Boarding was completed and doors closed exactly on 0830. Announcements were than made by the captain, who mentioned that the flying time will be 3h10min and altitude of 38000 feet. Meantime, hot towels were offered and soft toys, coloring sets etc were distributed to children onboard. There were also Christmas decorations in the plane. Pushback occurred shortly with the safety video playing. One thing I noticed is that previously SQ will require you to switch off all handphones once you step on board the aircraft but now they only require you to switch it off after aircraft doors are closed. Also I feel that my previous flight recently on the B773 to Bangkok has slightly more leg room than this plane. However as this is a “newer” plane, the economy seats offers inflatable lumbar supports and seat cushions as well as additional storage compartments beside the ptv, and most importantly, AVOD!!
We taxied to runway 02C for takeoff. For your info, runway 02R/20L have been renamed as 02C/20C from this particular day while the runway of the military base beside the airport will be changed from 01/19 to 02R/20L. Morning is really a very peak period in Changi as I counted no less than 7 aircrafts taxing behind us for takeoff. A Thai B772 took off before us with a RSAF KC-135 tanker, Bangkok Airways B717 (what is it doing in Changi at this time of the day?), SQ B772 9V-SQH to Taipei (I thought this flight was operated by SR* plane?) and some more SQ B777s behind us. Takeoff roll was quite short for our flight as the plane rotated at the south-cross area (less than 2000m in length from the beginning of the runway). Immediately after takeoff, engines were throttled back and we make a left turn towards Tioman island. Our route took us towards Tioman, and then direct towards Hong Kong across the South China Sea. We flew south of Vietnam, which is the flight path for all flights from Singapore to Hong Kong and Southern China cities.
After the seatbelt signs were turned off, menus and headphones were distributed. There was also a pillow and blanket on every seat. Immediately, I tuned to the movie The Bourne Supremacy on Krisworld. Trays of juices and water were than offered. A brunch will be served on our flight, which is as follows.
Brunch from Singapore to Hong Kong
Fruit appetizer
Ah Yat style baked chicken in oriental wasabi sauce, seasonal vegetable and fragrant rice
(Exclusively created by Yeung Koon Yat of Forum Restaurant, Hong Kong)
or
Pan fried ham steak served with mustard sauce, vegetable frittata and hash brown potato
Yoghurt panna cotta with strawberry compote
Bread roll with butter and fruit preserve
Coffee-Tea, Chinese Tea
Chose the chicken. It is not really that special, just imagine Hainanese chicken rice topped with slightly hot wasabi sauce. However the dessert is great (desserts are always great on SQ). The fruit appetizer, however is the same 2 slices of papaya, 2 slices of honeydew melon and 2 grapes for flights originating in Singapore. The service is very quick and efficient, despite the almost full load. Also, 2 rounds of drinks are offered. However, I noticed that SQ do not offer full cans of drinks on this flight. Maybe it depends on the stewardess or on the load of the flight?? On the Sydney and Melbourne flights I took last year, I was offered full cans despite the heavy passenger loads, and on the Taipei flights during the middle of the year, cans were also offered but then the passenger load was very low.
During the middle of my meal, I switched to a Chinese comedy as The Bourne Supremacy is superbly boring and partly because I could not take my eyes off the beautiful stewardesses on the flight
(Just joking!!). After the trays were collected, there was slightly more than 1hr left to arrival. The lights were also dimmed. However, no more drinks were offered but you can request for it. What I liked about the B777s is that there is a drinking fountain area near the toilets where you can get your own drinking water without disturbing the crew.Descend soon commenced the cabin was prepared for landing. Headsets were collected back by the crew. Our descent is very gradual and no airbrakes were used. At one point in time, we were even flying almost on idle as no noise was heard from the engines. We overflew Hong Kong island and Kowloon (I spotted the now defunct Kai Tak airport) before making a left turn for the airport. The scenery is really stunning with hills and buildings just below the plane. We landed on runway 25R on scheduled. Some reverse thrust was used to slow the plane down and we exited using the first high-speed exit. Had a long taxi to gate 22. Passed many Cathay and Chinese airliners, United B744 (my friends’ flight), Valuair A320 etc. Not many planes at the gates at this time of the day though. After docking at the gate, economy passengers were held back to allow first and raffles class passengers to disembark first. So ended my 2nd last flight this year, with the most beautiful “celebrities” stewardesses. For those of you interested in the menu offering for the return flight SQ 859, it is as below.
Lunch from Hong Kong to Singapore
International Selection
Smoked salmon with nicoise salad
Pan fried chicken served with sweet and sour port wine sauce, smooth polenta with mushroom
(Exclusively created by Georges Blanc, Vonnas)
Cheese and crackers
Ice cream
Roll and Butter
Coffee-Tea
Oriental Selection
Marinated prawns with shredded cabbaged and sesame cream dressing
Braised pork with “Mui choy” served with steamed rice
Chinese snack
Ice cream
Roll and butter
Chinese Tea
I have also posted some pictures of the flight on http://community.webshots.com/user/b777er
Also, stay tuned for my return flight on SQ 865. I will also appreciate it if someone could upload my report on airliners.net as I do not have a subscription with it. Thanks!! Any comments are welcomed.
Dec 30, 2004, 8:47 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Flightpath into 02L/20R
Programs: SQ, HHonors, Priority Club
Posts: 295
Originally Posted by b777er
SQ B772 9V-SQH to Taipei (I thought this flight was operated by SR* plane?)
Glad to know that you enjoyed yr 'IFE'
^