SQ850 SIN-CAN
10 Aug 11
0820-1220
0841-1227
Airbus A330-300 9V-STA
Seat 14K moved to 11K
SQ business class check-in at Terminal 3
Doing something for the very first time is indeed a very gratifying feeling. While it is not my first time on SQ's business class, this flight will allow me to experience SQ's new regional business class seats as well as my first visit to a new city in China. To top it off the flight departs in Changi's magnificent Terminal 3, and that was where I was dropped off by the taxi driver. I had another small bag to be checked in for my flight to Guangzhou that day and stopped by the Business Class check-in counter once again. It was a simple and fast process, since there wasn't any queues and there was available counters to serve me. Having obtained my boarding pass the previous day, I proceeded past security towards immigration.
View over Changi Terminal 3
There is no wonder why Changi International Airport gets its awards since immigration is also a breeze that morning which seems like a peak time for travel. Once through immigration, I enquired for the Silverkris Lounge and was directed to the escalator opposite the Hermes boutique, but I chose to take the earlier escalator situated closer to the immigration desks. This allowed me to walk past the Star Alliance Gold Lounge first, but I decided to go forward towards the Silverkris Lounge.
Entrance to the Silverkris lounge
Like all homeground lounges, the Silverkris Lounge was a huge lounge. Dark wood and brown marble covers up most of the lounge so walking into it on a morning makes it feel like entering a cosy club lounge, and the way it faces the terminal without views out towards the tarmac makes it seem enclosed. Fortunately the wide expanse and spread out seating areas make it seem like a gentleman's club. So it was still a comfortable place to sit down, have a drink and munch on some food.
Silverkris lounge at Terminal 3
Speaking of the food, the Silverkris Lounge has an excellent variety, and since it was in the morning, they had a selection of western breakfast buffet that would make some hotel's breakfast buffets seem underwhelming. They even have carrot cake fried in the Singapore style and some dim sum for those seeking local dishes. Beverage selections were also aplenty from individually bottled mineral waters to TWG tea bags. I did ask for ice cream in the lounge but they didn't have it, so I returned to my seat with some carrot cake, french toast and a bottle of apple juice. The good part about this lounge was how it felt like a hotel club lounge and had the space for passengers. Even with the numerous departures in the day, there was plenty of seating spaces available, even those prime seats with a view over the terminal. After my small snack, I browsed through the magazines rack and noticed at the large variety of magazines covering topics to lifestyle to business and one of the best selections of newspapers on a lounge. The magazine selection is more skewed to luxury though and doesn't offer more diverse topics like other airline lounges.
French toast and Singapore style carrot cake
Taking some newspapers along with me, I head to a quieter alcove at the end of the lounge so that I can start a Skype conversation with my iPad. I had about a 20 minute chat with my family on the iPad before finishing my bottled water and head out of the lounge to head for boarding. It turns out I left the lounge quite late for boarding; and by the time I arrived at the gate where the A380s usually depart for London leaves, I was the only remaining passenger that have yet to board. There was only one other person behind me passing through security, though the other passenger was just waiting for his flight departing in the other gates. My flight that day departs from those multiple holding gates in Terminal 3 which usually gets busy late at night.
Legroom on the bulkhead business class seats
At the security, one of the gate agent proceeded to help me and requested for my passport and boarding pass, hoping to expedite the passenger check, and after collecting my luggage and placing my iPad and Macbook Air back on my hand carry bags, I went to collect my passport and boarding pass stub from the agent by the gate. I just hurried into the plane without taking any further photos, and once I was onboard, the same welcome was presented to me and I was directed to my seat. However I noticed the narrow aisle and my luggage seems stuck. My actual seat assigned was to be on 14K, a window seat on the 3rd row (since there is no 13K) but as there was another passenger seated on 15H on the aisle side, and with a light load on Business Class today, the stewardess mentioned I was free to sit at any empty seat. I chose instead to sit at the bulkhead on 11K.
First row business class seats on SQ's Airbus A330
The empty first row cabin also allowed me to take some nice photos of the new regional Business Class cabin which I was very impressed of. For a flight of around 4 hours, this particular cabin with its airy beige leather seats were very comfortable. I particularly liked the soft seats and pillow cover which is probably one of the best regional Business Class seats around. I would even think this particular product might have been equal to some lesser airline's First Class. The 'ears' covering the sides of the seats acts as a privacy screen and also as the placement for the LED reading lights which was a neat design. Even being the last one to board the aircraft, I was still offered a welcome drink from which I picked the orange juice. I was then provided with hot towels, headsets and the menu for the flight. Apparently upon boarding, one of the passenger in Economy had just left a package in the airport, and he rushed out to retrieve his package, giving me some time to relax after rushing through the security and the gate to board the aircraft.
Welcome drink and menu in business class
With the empty seat beside me, I was able to put my newspapers and iPad at the side along my extra blanket. It sure is nice to have a relatively empty cabin for this short regional flight. The only drawback of taking the bulkhead seat is perhaps the proximity to the galley which can be noisy and I could really hear the crew member discussing my change of seat very clearly. Legroom though seems to be slightly more spacious with the personal IFE screen being fixed on the bulkhead. Glancing out of the window, I gaze at the huge SQ A380 beside us and the A330 that I am seated on seems rather small in comparison!
Prepping up the A380 in the morning
As the passenger who went out to retrieve his package returned, the crew member prepared the plane for pullback and the captain started the safety demonstration video as the plane made its way around Terminal 3 and into Terminal 1. It seems that today we will be using the runway closer to Terminal 2 and this meant a trip around Changi and allowed me to take some photos of the planes docked at the airport that morning. Amongst the rarely seen planes that day was a Transaero Boeing 777-200ER from Russia which seems to be a chartered flight and a Xiamen Airlines Boeing 737-800. It was interesting to note how even the Chinese airlines are already using the next generation 737s. We also cruised pass by a Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 before waiting to use the runway proper for take off.
Transaero 777-200ER and Xiamen Airlines 737-800
Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300
Take off on the lightly loaded A330 today was fast and we were soon up above the clouds, giving me only a short window of opportunity to capture the fleet of cargo ships docked along the Eastern shore of Singapore. The wide angle of banking done by the captain meant we turned rapidly and coupled with the fast ascent, the only view out of the window was the cloud formations.
Taking off from Singapore
Shortly after reaching cruising altitude, amenity kits and eyeshades were passed around and the blue drawstring pouch contains a pair of socks. It was perhaps similar to the amenity kits given out to economy class passengers during my flight between SIN and LHR last year, since there wasn't anything else in the pouch. This was at least better than Cathay which doesn't even give out amenity kits for a longer day flight between Jakarta and Hong Kong.
Singapore Airlines business class on A330
Afterwards the crew got busy to preparing for meal service and started taking orders for meals, and like some airlines, the crew started taking orders from perhaps its most premium customers and since I had am just a basic Krisflyer member, and on a redemption ticket, I was obviously asked for my choice last. However that gave me time to peruse what is one of the most complete airline menus for a medium haul regional flight. I also took this time to watch the movie 'Thor' on the IFE and the large screen in the bulkhead was really good to watch movies in.
Cruising altitude
Breakfast Menu 早餐 | Singapore to Guangzhou 新加坡飛往廣州
Prelude 前餐
A choice of apple, tomato or freshly squeezed orange juice 精選蘋果，番茄或鮮榨橙汁
Fresh fruit 新鮮果盤
Starter 頭菜
Choice of cereals or yoghurt 自選谷物或酸奶 - cornflakes with milk or granola with yoghurt-berry compote 玉米片佐以牛奶或格蘭諾拉燕麥卷佐以漿果酸奶
Plain or fruit yoghurt 純酸奶或水果酸奶
Main 主菜
Selection of dim sum 自選點心 - Oriental glutinous rice with chicken, pork dumpling, prawn dumpling and vegetable dumpling 東方糯米飯佐以雞肉，豬肉餃，蝦餃和蔬菜餃
Egg noodles with braised beef brisket and vegetables 雞蛋麵佐以燉牛腩和蔬菜
Poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce, chicken sausage, grilled tomatoes and potatoes 水煮蛋佐以荷蘭醬，雞肉香腸，烤番茄和土豆
Breads 麵包
Assorted breakfast rolls 什錦早餐麵包
Butter - Fruit preserve 牛油，鮮果醬
Beverages 飲料
Gourmet coffees & selection of fine teas 咖啡或自選茶
I picked the egg noodles with braised beef brisket and vegetables for the main course. For starters, I was served a fresh fruit platter which comprised of rockmelon, honeydew, watermelon, pineapple, strawberries and raspberries. It came with a warm croissant. The flight attendant proceeded to ask me what I wanted to drink, and I chose the Paris-Singapore tea from the TWG tea selection which sounded interesting. The tea is actually a green tea infused with fragrances of cherry blossoms and red fruits which makes it fresh and soothing on the palate. I declined on the next course which was yogurt or cereals since I was quite full after my breakfast at the hotel, and snacks at the lounge. I also didn't finish my croissant, and just awaited for the main course.
Fresh fruit platter
The main course of egg noodles was delicious but again I didn't finish the egg noodles. However, I did finish the fantastic beef brisket which was tasty with the accompanying gravy and fried onion garnish. SQ really did a good job in ensuring the beef brisket was tender and cut into small portions so they were easy to eat as inflight food. The gravy also made the vegetables sweet which I also finished. The flight attendants weren't that attentive to passengers considering the light passenger load in Business Class today, and I had to request for top up of hot water for my tea. At the end of the meal service, I was offered a choice of coffee or tea, and went with another cup of tea, this time opting from their in-house tea selection and choosing the Japanese Sencha to cleanse the palate after a hearty meal.
Egg noodles with braised beef brisket