The mission: A grand tour of South East Asia – sadly for work rather than pleasure, but you can’t have everything as mother always told me.

After a gruelling day at the coalface, it felt rather good to walk out the door. Even better, rather than engage battle on the tube I could jump in a cab and utter the immortal words – Paddington Station. The only flip side is trying to negotiate a stupidly heavily suitcase and laptop bag through the rush-hour crowds once I’d got there.

Heathrow Express 17:55 d Paddington

I personally love the Hex – it’s about the only rail service in the UK that works properly. And at £23 return it’s a great introduction for foreign visitors to rip off Britain! Seriously, it is a fantastic service and ultra-reliable if a little crowded at peak times. A red hot tip for UK residents, if you get a BAA Visa Card you can get free first class upgrades just to smooth your journey that little bit more.

Terminal 3 was it’s usual crowded self, with half of humanity trying to check in - a serene contrast were the Shaolin monks checking in at the Virgin desk for Hong Kong. The Singapore Airlines check in desk was busy, but with only a very short line for Raffles (Business) class. Boarding pass was issued in an efficient manner, after some banter with agent about just how heavy my case was! The ticketing desk was processing all comers in an equally competent manner, but my request to upgrade a sector on my el-cheapo D class ticket was met with a firm ‘that is not possible’. All rather odd given that I actually wanted to give them money, but I have never really understood airline revenue management.

I met a friend for a few drinks landside, so didn’t visit the lounge. From experience, I remember it being pretty good (better than most in SQ’s network), but nothing that special. Security was a breeze, and for once I didn’t have to demonstrate that my laptop did really worked. Bizarrely (and for the first time in over 50 flights since 9/11) I was asked to show the soles of my shoes to security! Must have been worried about me trampling mud into the terminal carpet.

SQ319 LHR – SIN
8/10/02
747-400
Seat 18C (with Spacebed)

Having skipped the lounge I went straight through to Gate 13 for boarding. I hate Terminal 3. It feels like you have to walk miles to get to your gate…still at least it wasn’t 22, which feel like you are walking to SIN! There was a huge queue, so I applied arrogant business class traveller tactics and asked if there was a J/F queue, knowing full well that no such thing existed! The nice man said there wasn’t, then gestured at the queue and then waved me straight through, leaving snarling Y pax in my wake. Avoided being selected for a secondary search (nice to see that the only people selected were 50+ British males).

After a brief wait in the holding pen boarding was called and I piled onboard, just in case the plane went without me. Up the stairs and they were - the famous Spacebeds. First impressions. Rather odd décor – something of an 80’s throwback, mixed with Ford car seat upholstery. They are bloody huge great things and none to easy on the eye. Closer inspection showed lots of chips in the plastic and worn fabric after only a few months.

Pluses

Great TV screen
Shoe holder
Lots of pockets to put things in
Nice pretty buttons to play with
Fantastic IFE

Minuses

Shoe holder too small for a pair of average sized trainers
Other than the magazine pocket, the pockets are too small
Nowhere to put a drink – trying to get the tray table out resulted in champagne everywhere
Very rickety construction – watch those arms shake.
Loud grinding of motors when you move the seat.

I actually found the build to be a bit alarming….I wonder how well they would stand up to a crash landing.

Pre-flight drinks were circulated, along with menus, headsets, and the ‘amenity kit’ and orders for pre-dinner drinks taken. I know loads of people like the freebies, but I for one am quite happy not to be given half a dozen sample packs of toiletries – the SQ sockettes do me just fine. The ground staff then came on the PA to say goodbye – a novel touch.

A short delay while someone’s bags were unloaded, then push back, taxi and takeoff in short order. Thankfully LHR wasn’t too busy today. Once the seatbelt light is off, time to play with the seat. Bloody hell, it’s complicated. And more to the point, not really that comfortable, and difficult to find a reasonable lounging position.

Drinks were brought round, and I began to realise that tonight’s cabin crew were not SQ’s finest. Lots of bits of paper were being waved around, people’s orders got mixed up, and to crown it all the IFE crashed, which nearly brought the house of cards down. One the fun and games were over, dinner was served. And here is the menu:

To Nibble On

Satay with onion, cucumber and spicy peanut sauce
Yum! Love this – gets me in Asian vibe 12 hours early. Pity you only get 3 sticks

A Savoury note

Mesclun with marinated seafood and kalamata olives
Haven’t got a clue what mesclun is, but it tasted O.K. Seafood was good, apart from the whole baby squid, which was also a rather odd purple colour.

The breadbasket put in an appearance at this point

The Main Event

Red Snapper fillet in a tomato-basil sauce, candied lemon, carrot, green beans and crabmeat cous-cous
A Gordon Ramsay creation, it was pretty fine. The snapper was melt in the mouth, the cous-cous very moist (with a special surprise of raisins in it) and vegetables made me think I was eating healthy

Wok fried chicken in sesame oil and ginger, braised beancurd with vegetables and chicken rice

Stewed New Zealand lamb in red wine with roasted vegetables and potatoes

Spaghetti Marinara

The Cheese Board

Which had a fantastic selection, but the serving was pathetically small – I was on to thirds before I felt I’d had enough.

A sweet note

Selection of fresh fruit

Ice Cream
Which looked great, but was too full to try

Followed by coffee and tea

And now the really important stuff – wine!

Piper Heidseck Rare Cuvee Reservee
A bit of a let down…quite heavy on the fizz. Still had 4 glasses though!

Tyrrell’s Reserve Steven’s Semillon 1997
Fantastic. Helps to remind you there is more to white wine that Chardonnay.

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Reisling Qualitatswein

1999 Haselgrove Bentwing Cabernet Sauvignon

Chateau Gressier Grand Pujeaux moulis cru bourgeois.
Which had transmogrified into a 1995 Margaux! Fabulously rich and velvety.

Taylor’s L.B.V 1996 port
Smooth and mellow, went very well with the stilton.

Can’t believe I have sat here and typed that up. Hope you appreciate it. The IFE was back in action by this point, so I half-heartedly watched Reign of Fire. Load of mindless rubbish, thus perfect when half drunk and sat on a plane! And it was time to sleep, and see how well the bed performed.

8 hours later I was shaken awake by the F.A. Based on that, I would say there I have no problem at all sleeping on an 8-degree slope. I found it to be comfortable, and certainly appreciated the width v BA’s flat bed. Also, being a lanky git, the extra 6 inches made all the difference, as the actress said to the bishop! I was pretty impressed overall by the Spacebed as a product – but there is more work for them to do to get it completely right. The whole thing doesn’t feel terribly well put together, and the materials used do not seem to be standing up to use that well.

Time for breakfast

A fresh start

Choice of juices
Orange – yuck, straight out of a pack

A selection of fresh fruit
A healthy banana

A healthy note

Cereal

Or fruit yoghurt
Unmemorable

The Main Event

Braised egg noodles with prawns, fish and vegetables

Chicken sausage on a warm salad of mushrooms, peas and potatoes with tomato

Cheese omelette with bacon and ham, grilled tomato and potatoes
Which was pretty standard fare, though bacon and ham does seem uncessary together

From the bakery

Assorted rolls and preserves
Passed on this – started to feel rather bloated

At this point I went for a wander through the plane. J was totally full – not a spare seat upstairs or down. Y was the same – only a couple of empty middle seats at the back, the obligatory screaming kids giving it a rather hellish feel.

Touchdown in Singapore was on time, and we struck lucky with a gate close to immigration. Blasted through, and after a quick visit to the bathroom, bags were already on the carousel. Not bad, 12 mins from leaving the plane to getting in the taxi. Reminded yet again why SIN is the best airport in the world. It may not be the most architecturally amazing and a bit more natural light would be nice, but the basic operation is utterly and ruthlessly fast and efficient.

Sheraton Towers
Scott Road

I thought I would check the Sheraton out after having seen some pretty positive feedback on FT. I was pretty happy – a comfortable, recently renovated room. Nothing sensationally, but very good value at SGD 210 – about US110. The atrium is pretty stunning and I thought the concierge staff were excellent – really focussed on making you happy.

SQ116 SIN – KUL
10/10/02
777-200
Seat 16A

Off to KL now and after an uneventful taxi ride to Changi airport it was time for another personal first – the Singapore Airlines First class check in service. For those of you not familiar with it, it’s basically a meet and greet at the kerbside, with a very nice man to carry your bags for you, and equally nice lady to engage you in polite chit chat on the walk to the check in desk. At the check in desk you get ushered to a seat, any requirements for the flight are checked, and then your boarding pass is delivered with a charming smile! Fantastic! And then you pop out a door right by the immigration counter.

In my most humble opinion, the business class section of the Silver Kris lounge at Singapore is no more than above average – but the first class section is pretty nice. A fine selection of food (including the blessed satay), and best of all yet another very nice man behind a bar who keeps the Krug coming thick and fast. There’s a good selection of reading material, and 4 whole P.C’s for Internet usage. Getting on the Internet in lounges is one of my perennial frustrations. There are never enough P.C’s and the connections are pretty bad. Singapore adds a whole new dimension by asking you to ‘Consider others in the queue for Internet use’. My god, it’s the first class lounge at the home airport of arguably the best airline in the world. BUY MORE P.C’s. It’s not difficult. Rant over.

The ticketing staff here were able to sort out my upgrade in about 15 minutes – which for those of you still with me was the one that LHR swore was impossible, and that SIN would not be able to do as they were not the issuing station.

Boarding again was done in impeccable class order. The KL shuttle is a 2 class service, First and Economy. I wasn’t too sure what the seating would be like in First –it turned out to be the standard 777 intra Asian first seat – pretty comfortable. The service on board was impeccable – evidently a senior crew who just oozed charm and courtesy.

In a 55-minute flight, we were served pre-flight drinks twice, with a cold meal service and two rounds of drinks in the air. The food offerings were either a tuna sandwich or barbecue chicken – fresh but not exactly a culinary inspiration. And they used my name! Compare that to European business class flights, or for an even more unfair comparison, domestic US flights!

Touchdown at KUL was on time, and unlike at Changi, the shuttle is assigned a gate as close as possible to immigration. Changi seem to think we need plenty of exercise and invariably schedule the flight for a gate as far from the terminal as possible.

KLIA was pretty busy, and there was a horde of people fighting on board the monorail. The set up is pretty odd – there is a main terminal holding arrivals and departure facilities plus domestic flight. International flights go from a satellite terminal linked by 2 monorails. While this gives the airport bucket loads of room to grow, I find it a really frustrating and inefficient way of getting to immigration and the arrival hall. Immigration is another frustration – invariably lengthy queues and loads of unmanned counters. For a country keen to promote itself as a top tourist and business destination, not a good start.

By the time I had cleared, bags were already in the hall, so it was a power walk down to the Exspress to KL Sentral. It’s another airport link, and needed given the distance between airport and city. It’s fast, but suffers from a very random interior design, with the luggage racks as far from the doors as possible and situated over the bogies so they are not at floor level. Logical…… Still it’s good value at about US$9 one way – cheaper than a taxi.