Families with young children were called to board first (Qantas has a similar policy as well I think); as someone who often travels with my 3 and 5 year old, I think this is a very appropriate procedure. Suites were up next and once again, I was warmly greeted at the door and shown to my seat which was initially seat 3A. There were 3 other passengers in Suites today, an annoying Singaporean couple where the wife barked orders at the crew as if they were her maids. I couldn’t bear to be close to her any longer so I asked to be moved over to seat 2F which is a much more private Suite.
The other was a mysterious looking older man with loads of “equipment” in a large black hard carry case. He wore a jacket with the seal of the US presidency on the front left and ‘white house staff’ on the right. I was thinking…if that was true…wouldn’t he want to be more discrete about it and not draw too much attention? Just saying.
The crew today were particularly friendly and several of them came up to me and we had fairly long chats about my trip, where I lived in Melbourne, my work, etc etc. I don’t think I have ever felt that SQ crews were robotic and unspontaneous, despite what some people have said on this forum. They may be robotic in terms of their efficiency, but I think their level of engagement and interest in passengers goes way above and beyond just about any other airline.
Another SQ-ism is the sheer number of hot towels they hand out on every flight. One pre take off and on landing, one before AND after each meal…where do they keep it all?!
I ordered an iced earl grey tea before take off and my usual magazine trio of Time/Newsweek and Business Traveller all of which were promptly sourced and delivered. We left the gate on time and joined the long evening JFK queue for take off. It had started to rain and at the endof the taxiway….we just sat there…for 45 mins! The captain apologised for the traffic congestion but then I saw plane after plane take off, bypassing us for ages until we were allowed clearance for departure. I wonder whether it’s because the A380 requires a larger clearance footprint…but it certainly didn’t look like ‘first come first served’ to me.
Dinner was served shortly after take off; tonight’s menu:
Dinner:
Appetisers:
Chilled Malossol caviar with Melba toast and condiments
Or
Serrano Ham with feta and stuffed bell peppers, dressed salad and aged basalmic
Soups:
Cream of mushroom with mushroom custard flan and chives or
Oriental clear chicken broth with watercress
Salad: Caesar Salad
Main Course:
Roasted Maine Lobster with Lobster sauce, fava beans, corn kernel and chanterelle mushrooms
Thai style masaman curry beef with seasonal vegetables and fragrant rice
Sear Chicken in Thyme Jus, roasted vegetables, mashed potato with leek
Singapore style fish soup: sliced halibut with bean curd, tomato, preserved vegetables with a light fish soup served with steamed rice
Dessert:
Warmed chocolate pear tart with macadamia nut ice cream and raspberry coulis
Panna cotta with passionfruit soup
Fruits
Cheeses
Chocolates/coffee/tea
I chose the caviar, chicken soup, skipped the Caesar salad and went with the Maine lobster.
Have to say, the lobster disappointed me. The flavour combination just didn’t work. See, celebrity chefs don’t always get it right.
After dinner, I went to the bathroom to change…this would have taken barely 2 minutes and when I returned the suite’s bed had already been made up. Fast, efficient and pre-emptive SQ service.
I slept soundly all the way until around 40 mins from landing at Frankfurt. As I skipped continental breakfast, I was offered an orange juice and coffee.
We had taken a more southerly route today, presumably due to available tail winds
Upon disembarkation, all 4 suites passengers, including myself, the annoying couple and Mr CIA agent were escorted to the senator’s lounge.
I had a great shower in the lounge, without any need to wait for availability despite the lounge being almost 80-90% full. Decent water temperature and pressure instead of these piddley water saving showerheads. Just what was needed between long haul flights.
As I emerged from the showers, the SQ ground staff lady came and found me to inform me there would be a slight delay to our departure from Frankfurt due to a technical issue, but that it was minor. I appreciated her keeping me informed. I had a 3.5 hour transit connection to Melbourne in SIN so hopefully this would have left enough buffer time to absorb the delay.
Boarding commenced 30 mins late at 12.30pm. A new set of crew welcomed me onboard. I asked the previous crew if I could keep my new seat at 2F for the onward journey to Singapore and she said she would look into it; well, my new boarding pass was handed to me at the gate.
The captain informed us of the slight delay and apologised. We left the gate at 1.10pm, 40 mins later than scheduled. After what seemed like a very long taxi to the runway, the captain addressed us again to say that the minor hydraulic problem detected earlier had resurfaced and the aircraft had to return to a parking bay to the engineers could take a look at it again. Once again, apologies all round. Since it would be another hour at least before we depart, we were served drinks and canapés: Satay.
Jacinta, who served me most of the time said this to me in her singlish “you know lah, us Singaporeans, always very Kiasu one, so we won’t leave until we are very sure, even though it’s a very minor problem” Hilarious. That being said, with such a large aircraft…a system like the hydraulics better be 100% working! Announcements were made constantly throughout the delay and we were told that ground staff in Singapore was already monitoring the situation and ready to automatically rebook passengers who may miss their connecting flights.
Meanwhile, I was quite happy to tuck into some satay. I know MH has a better and probably more generous version of this dish, but it actually tasted pretty good. Certainly better than what I would get at any Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne!
Interesting article, but I didn’t think Qantas’s drop in share price was worthy of front page news..
After around 1.5 hours, everything seemed fine again and we were off. A short taxi to the runway and the flight crew didn’t waste anytime merging straight into a take off roll. Our revised arrival time to Singapore was rescheduled for 8.30am, just under 2 hours delay. That would mean my transit time at Changi would be shaved to 1 hour 25 mins, still plenty of time to make my MEL connection. No hope if this was LAX or LHR.
Shortly after take off, brunch was served. Here is the menu for today’s FRA-SIN sector:
Frankfurt to Singapore:
Brunch:
Canapes:
Satay with onion, cucumber and spicy peanut sauce
Appetiser:
Chilled malossal caviar
Poached Lobster with confit of eggplant and capsicum with a basalmic vinegratte
Soup:
Creamed fennel soup with mint, seared scallop and small pasta
Tom Yum soup with prawn and lemon grass
Salad of red oak, frisee, coral lettuce garnished with endive, toasted walnut and dried cranberries, with a balsamic and olive oil dressing.
Main course:
Seared tournedos of beef in green peppercorn jus, sautéed morel baby carrot and gratin potatoes
Roast Pork in a caraway seed sauce, braised savoy cabbage and bread dumplings
Soya sauce noodle soup: egg noodle broth garnished with braised chicken, leafy greens and mushrooms
Ikan Assam padas: malay style fish in a sour sauce with stir fried vegetables and steamed rice.
Dessert:
Bitter chocolate moulieux cake with chocolate ice cream and a mocca vanilla sauce
Mixed berries in wine jelly and passionfruit coulis
Cheese/Fruits/Chocolates
I chose the poached lobster (very tasty and good combination with the vegetable confit), the tom yum soup, and the pork for main course, which I assume was a very german dish, with the bread dumplings etc. This was as delicious as the entrée.
For dessert, I chose the chocolate cake with ice cream to round off an excellent meal.
