Introduction

Well, I was on a quest. Having returned from the fantastic city of Tokyo, and having previously visited the wondrous Bali, and gorgeous Trisara in Phuket, I determined that I just love the beach, and if given a choice, I would take the beach over a city any day. That made me look for reports of the best beaches and beach resorts in the world. There was one exotic place that stood out to me as having one of the very best beaches, if not the best, in the entire world, and that place was Amanpulo, on Pamalican Island, in the Philippines.

To cap off my quest for the best beach, I decided to take the opportunity to try scuba diving for the very first time, and to get certified as a scuba diver by PADI. That added some purpose to my trip, and also gave me an opportunity to experience the beach in a way I had never before.

Getting There

I had previously tried Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways, Emirates, and Swiss, all in First Class, but Singapore Airlines First Class had eluded me. Since SQ never allowed partner award redemptions, I never had the opportunity to try it out...until, a computer glitch made First Class awards using Aeroplan and United Miles, wide open for just a few days.... I jumped on this and booked the following itinerary;

YYZ - SFO on UA in J

SFO -SIN (via Seoul) on SQ in F

SIN - MNL on SQ in F

MNL - SIN on SQ in J

SIN - SFO (via HKG) in F

But I couldn't find any availability for my final required leg (SFO-YYZ) in business class...So for that I paid cash, but fortunately I found a ticket for about a third of the usual price, with just one catch...I had to go to from SFO to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, via Toronto. But after such a long flight, I decided to not get on the final leg to Saskatoon, and unfortunately lost that final ticket. Will have to visit Saskatoon another time I guess.

In any event, I was really excited about trying out SQ's F, albeit on the 777, and not the a380 suites. Nevertheless, this was a rare opportunity that I am really glad that I managed to take advantage of. The only issue (more on this later) is that it was quite a burden to go from Toronto to San Francisco, just to catch the SQ flight...normally I would prefer to catch CX right from Toronto non stop to HKG, when flying to Asia (although CX unfortunatly terminated F service from YYZ), and even Philippine Air has started non-stop to Manila in November, 2012, although obviously even in J, this would not be a great idea compared to experiencing a premier airline's J or F...

Booking Seats and Booking the Cook

Using the locator codes requested from AP, I managed to select seats (2A in F and the first row bulkhead, window for my J flights).

I also managed to Book the Cook on SQ's website, and pre-ordered most of my main course menu items. As it turned out, this was a fun thing to do, but certainly not necessary or even more desirable than the regular menu, which offered plenty of variety and was of equal or greater quality. If I was to go again, I would not Book the Cook, as on balance, it is nice to see how one feels at the moment of ordering...

In the months prior to my departure, Expert Flyer was showing a modest amount of fellow passengers, but the seats filled up a lot more on the day of travel, especially on the final HKG-SFO leg, which was 8/8.

Toronto-San Francisco Positioning Flight

The good and also the bad thing about flying to the US from Toronto, is that there is a US immigration facility that one must clear at YYZ. This is bad because there is usually a tremendous wait to clear US immigration at YYZ, necessitating getting to the airport 3 hours prior to one's flight. Contrast this with flying YYZ-HKG in F, and one can safely get to the airport 45 minutes or an hour before the flight, as all that is requires is check-in with zero wait at the CX counter....The good thing about it however, is that once one arrives in SFO (or elsewhere in the US for that matter), one is treated like a domestic US passenger and just walks off the plane into the US without any further ado.

The YYZ-SFO flight was uneventful although a bit painful due to the anticipation of finally getting the 'real trip' going from SFO.

On arrival in SFO, I had a leisurely 4.5 hour layover, which I easily used to take the BART airport train to a decent mall only two or so stops away from the airport in a matter of mere minutes. There, I shopped for a few items which I had misplaced prior to my departure. They had a good variety of stores there, but I could not find what I was looking for. So instead, I had my favourite hamburger at Five Guys, which had just opened that week, at the mall

Flying Singapore Airlines in First Class
Upon returning to the airport with plenty of time, I passed through security, attended the nondescript SQ lounge, and shortly thereafter boarded the SQ 777 plane. I was warmly greeted upon boarding and shown to my seat. I was offered a drink and chose Dom Perignon.

The F cabin itself was a bit of a let down. I had seen pictures of it and so was not terribly surprised, but all the same, it seemed quite dated in comparison to other F class products, even CX and EK, and especially in comparison to LX. The dull brown decor and the dull brown and beige seats seemed antiquated and certainly not dynamic and inspiring.





On the other hand, the service was consistently excellent and gracious, even with a full cabin on occasion. I always felt that the attendants took a special interest in my enjoyment and well being, and always felt that they wanted to ensure that I had everything that I wanted, and even made suggestions on occasion when they felt I could be indulging more!

The food was always very good, such as the vaviar, the fresh salads, and the Lobster Thermidor:



The wagyu steak was also good, but don't confuse it with A5 wagyu as I had in Tokyo...



One of the best dishes on the plane was actually a breakfast noodle dish, in my only SQ J segment (MNL-SIN):




The seat itself was somewhat troublesome when it came to putting it into "lazy boy" mode...It was not easy to do and often would not do it at all properly, even with attendant help...There just didn't seem to be a proper positioning stage where one is laying back with one's feet up, away from the TV...

But when it came to the bed, the bed was very comfortable, especially with the fabulous duvet and several pillows. I always did find the cabin unusually warm however, especially with the Givency pajamas that they gave out.

The Amenity kit was my favourite of all, since I love Kiehls products, although the selection was not particularly useful onboard...It was more of a take-home kind of sample package....

The layover in Seoul for a couple of hours was not too bad...I just wandered around the airport a bit, but it was not fun and was kinda depressing thinking that after that 12 hour or so flight, I got to get back on the plane for another 6 hours or so....The layover in Seoul ought to be avoided if possible, but given the distance, I am not sure that a layover of some sort can be avoided...

Arriving in Singapore for my 8.5 hour layover

I had arranged the Crown Plaza at Changi airport for my layover since SQ F lounge no longer had any sleeper rooms, and for $150 more than the airport hotel, it seemed worth it to have a real and nice hotel room. My arrival was at 1 am.....

The CP is connected right to the terminal, so after immigration I checked in as a Platinum Priority Club member, on a fully pre-paid advance rate. I had selected the room right below the suite in order to maximize my chance of getting a suite due to a potential Ambassador/Platinum upgrade. But when I checked in, the lady tried giving me a twin room instead of the King that I had ordered, and no upgrade whatsoever....So, it was a waste of the extra $30 or so to book the higher level room, since no upgrade was forthcoming. Not only that, they didn't even give me free Internet or club access....Very disappointing, even though I would be leaving before breakfast anyhow and it was too late for snacks etc. They provided a card with my "platinum benefits" listed....the highlight was 10% of laundry...you get the picture...

The Crown plaza room was very nice, modern and comfortable. It pissed me off though, that they offer "free Internet" in the lobby, but told me they turn the damn thing off after 10:30 pm so instead I used the free WiFi in the airport...

Not only that, instead of using the F&F rate, I paid more so that I could take advantage of some points promos...and they failed to credit my account claiming that my prepaid rate was a "non-qualifying rate"! I have taken that up with head office....Very annoying...

I would say that service was poor at the hotel, but it was convenient and modern. I would stay again in the same stop-over situation, or I would forego the hotel altogether and just hang out at the 24 hour casino at the Marina Bay Sands....

SIN - MNL

By this time, I was ready to get to my final destination already...I had gorged myself on 4 full six course meals on SQ F, and was tired of being on a plane, even in SQ F...

I used the SIN F lounge which was very nice, but there was no Private Room in the terminal I was leaving from, so that would have to wait until my return trip...

And if you are wondering where all the pics are, I lost my damn camera on the plane from SIN to MNL...The photos pick up with my Android phone...... Travelling so long requires excellent situational awareness, and unfortunately I lost that after about 25 hours....

FINALLY - arriving in MNL and going to Amanpulo

Upon arrival in MNL, I was supposed to be greeted after passing through immigration by an Aman rep. Well, every other hotel had one right there holding a sign, but I waited 15 minutes before asking around if anyone had seen the Aman rep... I was told he was outside so went outside and there he was...I told him I was waiting for him inside like I was told he would be, and all he said was that 'he was waiting outside'...That was a bit disappointing, as the whole idea is to have the rep provide you with a worry free and seemless experience...

I was taken by the rep to a nice waiting vehicle, marked with Shangri la's name...and the driver took me to the Aman private terminal that was supposed to be close/connected to the main terminal. Since there was a few hours before my flight was scheduled to take off for Pamalican Island where Amanpulo is located (about 1 hour and ten minutes from Manila), I asked the driver if her would take me to the Mall of Asia which is close by the airport so that I could pick up a few things that I had misplaced prior to my departure. He obliged and informed Aman accordingly and I got the items that I wanted. I tipped him US $30 for his efforts, and when I checked out, I found out that I was billed about $100 for this one hour excursion....Anyhow, at least I got what I needed at the mall, which was very nice and modern and had a huge selection of stores....It is one of the largest malls in all of Asia...




I then departed from the private air terminal on a 19 seat aircraft.





The flight was very pleasant although the seats were tight. But being on a small aircraft like this was not scary at all.

THE BEACH

Upon landing, I was greeted by the Resort manager and taken by buggy on a tour of the resort. Things were looking up! Check out the beach!!! This is how it looks every day!













The Resort

I was in a very nice casita with direct beach access.







The resort's main club house was beautiful as well:






A typical day for me was waking up at around 4:30 in the morning, making my own coffee with an excellent machine in the casita, checking emails, etc., and then going for a bike ride on a bicycle they provide each guest along with a club car. I would bicycle around the island, eventually arriving at the gym at 7 am, would work out there, go for a swim in the ocean, take in a yoga class (first time for that...Ouch!), then go have breakfast. While waiting for my food, I would go for a swim in the pool.