After brunch, I got a few hours sleep and watched another movie: Contraband…very good. After this movie, there were really very few movies on Krisworld’s list I had any interest in watching which is disappointing as I usually catch up on movies during these long hauls.
What annoys me about Krisworld are the constant and repetitive Far East Organisation ads at the beginning of every single TV show or movie. Usually, they try to sell luxury apartments or condos in Singapore and the vacuous marketing slogans are mind-numbingly stupid. “Inessence……Luxury today is a physical, mental and even spiritual experience….Inessence….created with space…to give you space…textures…senses….Inessence….YOUR world…according to..YOU…blah blah blah.” Who writes this stuff!? Then there are the banking corporate ads with the Bank of Singapore always featuring a middle aged man appealing to most Singaporeans’ aspiration and obsession with wealth creation; “you’re a rich man….. but then again, as you look around…you’ve always been a rich man….” Then something about values and corporate banking (because the 2 go hand in hand, as we all know). Ok, enough ranting!
A light meal was served prior to touch down in JFK, actually, around 1 hour 30 mins before to be precise:
Light meal:
Warm seared spiced prawn with caviar, cauliflower custard and tomato soup
This dish has been on the menu before on my previous flights to JFK….it must be popular for them to retain it 1 whole year later. I found it quite boring, as I had tasted it before. Same with the next dish of Lobster….but hey…I can’t say no to Lobster.
Main course:
Bresse chicken with morel polenta, roasted zuchinni, asparagus and jus
Oriental lobster in ginger-spring onion sauce with flower mushrooms, leafy greens and fried rice
White german asparagus with butter sauce, new potatoes, smoked and cooked ham
Dessert:
Coupe Iris
Strawberry ice cream with dark cherries and chocolate sauce
Dessert was a nice refreshing end to the meal, the creamy sweetness of the ice cream with the acidity of the cherries.
Well, after an epic journey more than halfway around the world; we landed in JFK on time.
On final approach wit h mantatten skyline to the left.
I thanked each of the crew for looking after me so well and bid them farewell. The leading stewardess and I had a chat about what she enjoyed doing in Frankfurt….she said the food was amazing…pasta, steak, etc…and I thought….can SQ girls eat normally? Their figures are so slim it must take quite a bit of work/diet modification to keep it that way.
Immigration was a breeze, but it took AGES for the bags to come out. Ground staff seemed confused and helpless to rectify the delay as the economy bags were coming out well before the Suites and Business class bags. Oh well.
The last sector of my trip involved a tight connection from LGA to MDW. I got to LGA in a cab, with plenty of time to spare. After such a wonderful time in suites on SQ, it was always going to be a rude shock to the system to fly domestically within the US. LGA was a diabolical MESS. Long security queues, extremely crowded terminal gate areas with half the number of seats compared with passengers, there was even a queue to go to the toilets and when I got inside, there was 1 urinal and 1 toilet bowl….filthy, of course. How did it get to this? Anyway, today’s flight was on SWA; they did an ok job. The plane was packed and uncomfortable. We arrived into a stormy Chicago and quite a hairy landing….I remembered there a crash not that long ago involving a runway overrun? Anyway, we landed and I’m alive so all’s good!
The return Leg:
June 2012
SQ 25
JFK-FRA-SIN
SQ 217
MEL-SIN:
After a wonderful few days in Chicago, it was time to head home. I was missing my wife and kids sorely but first, there was another round of serious flying to do! The return leg was the same except that I flew AA from ORD to JFK to meet my connecting SQ flight home. I think AA is still in bankruptcy protection? I wasn’t impressed that after already paying for my fare, they charge $60 for 2 bags and the lady wanted to add another $100 extra because one of my bags weighed 26kg (as opposed to the allowed 23kg), so I had to repack and recheck-in to avoid the rather exorbitant charges. Mind you, most of the check in process was self service. They ask you whether you want to pay an extra $9 to board the plane first….and I thought why? When everyone already has assigned seating. It all left quite a sour taste from yet another legacy carrier desperate to squeeze more money from passengers without actually delivering any more value whatsoever. I would recommend flying Jetblue or Southwest any day over AA. So at the gate, they called for boarding according to groups; I was in group 3. Presumably, people who were gullible enough to pay $9 (despite already having an assigned seat) got to board first. Why anyone would want to spend a second longer onboard a full US domestic AA flight is just beyond me.
Anyway, as I boarded, there was no one to greet any of the passengers at the door; like…seriously..no one. Instead, diagonally in the front galley, there 2 flight attendants chatting away to the tune of “….so he called me last night and said…blah blah blah….oh MY god. You’re kidding! After all that….blah blah blah”. So everyone pretty much boarded and found their own seats. Utterly unprofessional. There really wasn’t much else to add about this flight. If AA flights are anywhere near what I saw on this leg….they deserve to go bust. I love how at the end of the flight, the captain says “we appreciate you have a choice in who you fly with and we appreciate your business…..” and I thought, yeah, some insight finally; we DO have a choice and you’re making it quite easy for us to choose in the future, actually.
Arrived at JFK on time; the Airtrain transfer between terminals is a breeze to use and very efficient. I love how you also get a great view of the tarmac and gate areas from the train. I repacked my extra shopping back into my suitcase and headed for terminal 4 to begin my journey with a decent airline for a change. (ok, enough AA bashing)
SQ 25 was scheduled to depart at 20.30pm. I arrived at terminal 4 at 4.30pm. Surprisingly, there was already quite a long line at the SQ check in, both for Economy and business class. Even though there was nobody waiting in the Suites line, I stood for ages waiting for the check in agent to beckon me over. When he did, he apologised and said there had been a system glitch. I noticed that pretty much al the check in agents looked like barely 18 year old boys. Interesting. Anyway, my bags were tagged all the way to MEL. I was invited to the new Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at JFK located on the airside so passengers could now clear security earlier and spend more time in the lounge. Here are some pics.
This couch looks good, but felt completely crap to sit on.
The clubhouse was quite crowded given a whole string of VS flights to LHR. This definitely detracted slightly from the intended ‘coolness’ of the place. Alot of Austin Poweresque furniture added to the retro-coolness the virgin brand is known for. I asked for a cocktail: a redhead…very nice.
Also a jug of iced pear and ginger tea later which was refreshing and delicious.
Not wanting to spoil my appetite for later, I also ordered just an appetiser; duck rillettes, which came served on a wooden board.
After this, I had a shower to prepare for the long flight ahead. Something was wrong with the water temperature controls in the clubhouse shower and the water wasn’t warm but freezing cold. Nevertheless, I couldn’t be bothered dressing up again and going to get the attendant so I just had a quick freezing rinse and left the lounge.
Nice to see QF using 744s back on the LAX-JFK route.
Closer to 8pm, I made my way downstairs towards the gate area which was PACKED. Also a noticeable proportion of traffic to India (despite direct flights being available with Air India). Another full flight presumably. I think SQ must be doing very well on these new A380 flights to justify the increase in capacity from the 744s.
SQ’s (and Qantas’s too) enemy watched on from a remote stand until her later departure to Dubai.
Face off.
