The Photos
After drinking lots of water in the lounge and checking emails, FT etc an announcement was made in the lounge for the flight at 12:50.
I made my way down to the gate where there was now no queue for security. I unloaded my laptop and baggie that now contained my QF F amenity kit Payot liquids and was through in no time.
My passport and BP were checked by officials and then my BP was swiped by the lounge agent. The machine beeped and she re-printed a BP with seat 4A on it. I presumed this was going to be a working seat.
Boarding had already commenced and I joined the end of the queue.
Flight QF032 SIN-SYD Seat 4A
Aircraft: 380-800
Departure time: 09:40
I was on board by 13:00 and was immediately offered an amenity kit, PJs and a drink.
My champagne was delivered along with some almonds. Hot towels were passed around on the ground prior to our pushback.
The captain came on the horn and gave a far better explanation that the previous one of why the diversion to KUL was required. The weather that had been around SIN earlier was not predicted and seemed to come out of the blue. The amount of fuel loaded is based on the weather conditions. The fuel load for specific weather conditions is mandated by aviation authorities. The unexpected bad weather and these rules meant that we did not have enough fuel to legally proceed to SIN and thus the diversion was necessary.
Pushback was at 13:25 and as usual with QF in F the safety demonstration was performed both manually by the crew and on the IFE system.
We took off slowly at 13:40 and ran down the runway for a bit. The guys up front then put the pedal to the metal and the aircraft noticeably picked up a lot of speed. Quickly thereafter we were climbing into a cloudy SIN sky as I watched it all on the tail cam view.
After the belt sign was switched off the crew came around and asked for a drinks order and handed out the menus. I decided not to buck with tradition and ordered the champagne. Who knows how long it will be before I get to taste some of the nectar of the gods again?
The CSM announced a flight time of 6 hours and 50 minutes to SYD. This meant we still had a decent amount of slack before the 23:00 SYD curfew.
There was a bit of turbulence during the drinks round which required the crew having to take their seats but this was short lived and soon my bubbly was being re-filled and all was right with the world.
Each one of the F crew members introduced themselves and the crew member working my side explained it was an all day dining service and to choose whatever I wanted from the menu. He suggested he could make my bed and he would save my required choice of meal for later if I wanted to sleep now.
I said I would eat right away as it had now been quite some time since breakfast was served on approach to SIN/KUL 7 hours earlier.
SINGAPORE TO SYDNEY
LUNCH
BRUNCH
Berry Energiser Drink
Fresh Tropical Fruit with Lime Wedges
Croissant with Selection of Condiments
Blueberry Pancakes with Fresh Mango and Honeycomb Butter
Warm Corn Bread with Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Sauteed Spinach
SALADS AND OTHER THINGS
Broccoli Soup with Garlic Croutons and Parmesan
King Prawn Salad with Spicy Soy Dressing
Peking Duck and Baby Leaf Salad with Cucumber
LIGHT, VEGETARIAN AND SANDWICH
Big Bowl of Tuscan Soup with Cavolo Nero and Borlotti Beans
Roast Corn Fed Chicken Burger with Sage and Onion Stuffing
Our signature Steak Sandwich with Tomato and Chilli Relish
SEARED SNAPPER
Chinese Style with Crab Sauce, Egg Noodles and Baby Choy Sum
Fresh Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing and Steamed Greens
CRUMBED PORK SCHNITZEL
Fresh Lemon, Potato Puree and Sugar Snaps
Aioli and Steamed Greens
ROAST BEEF FILLET
Asian Mushroom Ragout, Rice and Gai Lan
Aioli and Potato Puree
SIDE SALAD
Salad of Baby Leaves with your choice of dressing
Aged Balsamic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh Lemon Juice and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinaigrette
CHEESE
Hand selected blue, soft and hard cheese served with accompaniments
DESSERT
Banana and Chocolate Tart with Crème Fraiche
Golden Syrup Sponge Cake with Mascarpone and Pineapple Compote
Roskilly Organic Ice Cream Tubs
Sliced Fresh Seasonal Fruit
PETITS FOURS
A selection of Amedei dark chocolates
Coconut Raspberry Slice
Vanilla and Cinnamon Stars
HOT BEVERAGES
GIANCARLO COFFEE
Café Latte
Cappuccino
Grinders Decaffeinated
Espresso
Flat White
Long Black
Mocha
Liqueur Coffee
T2 TEA
Experience the beautiful fragrant loose leaf tea bags from around the world, supplied by T2.
English Breakfast – A blend of finest the Sri Lankan full bodied teas produce a rich and well rounded flavour.
Peppermint – A well rounded peppermint flavour captures the sweet essence of all things ‘minty’ with a sweet, cool lingering aroma.
Chamomile – Relax and unwind with this fragrant infusion of sweet golden chamomile flowers.
Sencha – A classic green tea grown in Japan. These beautiful emerald green leaves produce a sweet, smooth grassy flavour.
Lemongrass and Ginger – Zesty and bright lemongrass contrasts the spicy flavour of ginger to create a wild taste sensation.
Other teas are available on request.
HOT CHOCOLATE
WHITE WINE
Coldstream Hills ‘Reserve’ Chardonnay 2006
Yarra Valley, Victoria
Winner of the Sydney Royal Wine Show 2009 ‘Best Show Wine’ trophy this is a beautifully refined, subtly complex, seamless chardonnay of world class. An excellent example of cool climate chardonnay. Attractive notes of citrus, pear and quince with underlying minerally, slatey notes. Finishing with refreshing mineral acids, it leaves a lingering impression of fruit and zest.
Mesh Eden Valley Riesling 2006
Eden Valley, South Australia
This wine is a collaborative effort from two of Australia’s most talented wine makers, Jeffrey Grosset and Robert Hill Smith, using fruit from a region famous for producing world class Rieslings. It has long rich flavours of citrus and minerals with a great persistence and texture, finishing crisp, clean and dry.
Giaconda ‘Aeolia’ Roussanne 2006
Beechworth, Victoria
This wine is made by Rick Kinzbrunner, winner of the 2000 Qantas/Australian Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year Competition. An outstanding example of Roussanne which arguably puts many of France’s Rhone Valley versions to shame. The aroma is a heady mix of pear, white nectarine, hazelnut and cashew. The palate is equally sumptuous, possessing a creamy mouth feel with great fruit definition and balance.
RED WINE
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2006
A decade before the Cote Rotie tradition of blending Shiraz with Viognier became fashionable in Australia, Tim Kirk at Clonakilla was busy mastering the art. Every Australian winemaker playing with blending Viognier into their Shiraz needs to buy this to see how it should be done.
Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006
Yarra Valley, Victoria
The Sexton Vineyard is the partner wine to the excellent Tarraford Vineyard. The dark cherry, bramble fruit, spice and earthy forest floor aromatics are highly pleasing. On the palate medium to full bodied offering plum, sour cherry, brown spices and earthy character. It has fine but slightly chalky tannins and balanced acidity. Good length. Excellent now and has the X-Factor potential for further improvement.
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
South Australia
Penfolds Bin 707 was named by an ex-Qantas marketing manager after the Boeing 707, with its first release in 1964. Bin 707 is the Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon equivalent of the Grange Shiraz. Bin 707 is an immensely concentrated style with red berry and dark chocolate fruit balanced by well-seasoned new oak and powerful, but not overwhelming tannins.
DESSERT WINE
Lillypilly Family Reserve Noble Blend 2002
Riverina, New South Wales
The 2002 is an outstanding sweet wine, deep golden in colour and smelling very complex: floral, honeyed aromas mingle with butterscotch, spices, apricot and mixed citrus peels.
CHAMPAGNE
“My only regret is that I did not drink more Champagne.” Lord Maynard Keynes, on his deathbed.
In celebration of the dynamic region that is Champagne, Qantas is proud to feature a range of Champagne styles in our program from some of the region’s finest and most respected Champagne houses including Charles Heidsieck, Taittinger, Dom Perignon and Krug. From the fresher, more delicate Chardonnay dominant or Chardonnay-exclusive ‘Blanc des Blancs’ styles, through to the weightier, more savoury Pinot Noir-dominant cuvees, our program showcases the diversity and quality for which this region is deservedly famed.
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1999
I was quite hungry so decided to start with the soup, which in my experience is always a safe bet in the air. Mind you this was QF I was flying and with a couple of rare exceptions I have never been disappointed with any choice I have made on their F menus.
My table was set, olive and balsamic were delivered and bread offered along with the soup. I switched over to the lovely Bin 707 wine for the meal. I do love soup and despite appearances this was delicious. I suppose if you have an aversion to broccoli you might think otherwise though.
Next up I opted for the beef fillet with the Asian accompaniments which was served with the side salad with OO&BV dressing. The beef was tender although a tad too cooked for my liking.
I decided to decline any more food for the moment and settled it to watch some episodes of Mad Men and listening to my music selections whilst watching the world go by. Not at the same time mind you.
Oh I forgot to tell you that my new seat did indeed function correctly and I was able to see what didn’t work on the previous seat.
There is a touch screen control panel that controls all functions of the seat movement including many that were not available to me in the broken seat.
These included head rest height adjustment, lumbar support, massage function, raising and lowering the arm rests, a tracking function to move the seat closer to the table and the ability to control the shades on the windows from my seat. These were electronically controlled via buttons on the windows as well and you could drop an opaque shade to cut glare but not all light or you could have a complete blackout shade. Very nifty.
Around an hour out of Sydney one of the crew came around and asked if I was hungry and wanted any more food. I asked for the steak sandwich. The table was set and I was offered more wine and I of course chose the 707 again.
The sandwich was a good as ever and really hit the spot.
The crew on this sector were much more efficient and my name was used more and nothing was missed or messed up. All the F crew stopped by my seat at some point and wished me a happy birthday. One of them let slip that the previous crew had left a note to this effect in the galley for them.
Not long before landing on of the crew came to my seat with a bottle of the 707 and presented it to me as a birthday gift. I chatted with him for a while about the big bird. He said he had been working it for 12 months now and that the crew needed to commit to a two year stint on the bird if they wanted to fly her.
On approach the crew set the cabin in readiness for landing and also informed us that we would have to wait on the plane for a bit as quarantine were coming on board to check on a passenger who had been violently ill upstairs.
We landed at 22:21 and taxied to our gate. Once the doors were open the quarantine people quickly checked the passenger and then gave us the all clear to leave.
I thanked the crew on the way out and walked down to the immigrations area where the waiting agent processed me quickly. I then went to the baggage hall to wait for my bag. The bags were already coming out as they didn’t have to wait for the quarantine people. Mine was out quickly and I was ushered through the customs section without the need to have the bag x-rayed.
I grabbed a cab to the Westin and was checking in to my upgraded suite by 23:01.
Next up some QF domestic J flights.
Oh and I am still waiting for QF to contact me about the duff seat on the first sector. Who said Customer Service is dead in this day and age!
The Photos