The Indonesian sate plate was very good. Each with a different sauce as it should be. The beef sate is with a kecap manis and onion sauce, the chicken is with a Maduranese peanut sauce (this is to differentiate from the North Sumatra/Riau Peninsula/ Malaysia and Singapore peanut sauce which is precooked), and the Balinese seafood lemongrass wrapped sate lilit which is already full of flavor by itself. The only problem with the sate plate was that the rice cake was a bit too soggy for me.
The Tempura Udon was indeed very good and the fruit was fresh.
Having cleared the table, Anggie offered me Wedang Jahe which is an Indonesian style ginger tea purely made of the juice of a ginger and sugar. I love ginger tea so I was very quick to agree.
Soon, we were only about 25 minutes before arrival. I went to the toilet to freshen up and when I came back to my seat, I found Anggie had arranged my shoes on the floor for me and of course on top of the ‘red carpet’ as well.
Anggie came over again to secure the cabin for landing. As she was picking up the slippers, she asked if I would like to take them home with me. I said sure because I found them very comfortable. She then put them into the shoe bags and happily gave them to me. Anggie then thanked me for flying with Garuda Indonesia.
Sherlina came around every seat to thank each of us for flying First Class with Garuda Indonesia .
“How were were doing, Mr. UMD? Did you enjoy your First Class experience with us?” Sherina asked.
“Certainly”
“Thank you for flying with us and thank you so much for flying First Class with us,” said Sherina.
Our plane landed at CGK about 10 minutes ahead of our schedule. The plane soon parked at one of the gates in T2E. When we (the First Class passengers) deplane, we were greeted by 4 First Class assistants (one assistant for each passenger) who were helping us out with our luggage and customs. As I was picked up by my friend at the airport, the Frist Class assistant went with me all the way to the pick-up point. Garuda also has arranged an arrival limousine service to drop us all the way at our home or hotel in Jakarta if we want to.
The wonderful First Class crew from Garuda Indonesia: Anggie in her blue Kebaya, Sherlina in her lavender Kebaya, and Chef Komang in his white chef attire.
Conclusion:
By far, this is the best First Class experience I have had with any airlines. Maybe it is because I started the trip not with a very high expectation knowing it is Garuda’s second attempt to re-introduce First Class and that the airline is so new at being premium having just successfully entering the last phase of its Quantum leap transformation program. However, I do hold Garuda up to a very high standard because I am comparing Garuda’s First Class service only to the First Class of one the world’s best, Singapore Airlines. I have been on Singapore Airlines First Class several times and none of them (with the exception of one special B744 flight) can beat this one in terms of the total First Class experience. Mind you I am yet to experience Singapore Airlines’ Suite class on its A380. Garuda’s First Class seats on its B77W are definitely way better than the current Singapore Airlines’ First Class seats on its B77W.
The challenge is of course whether Garuda can continuously and consistently upkeep this standard of offering which of course includes its safety records. The new Garuda Indonesia is a totally different airline from the old Garuda that we used to know but it is only just building its premium branding. In a lot of countries people will still laugh at you if they hear you are flying with Garuda. In some offices, some managers even curse at their boss for making them fly with Garuda to Indonesia.
The booking for First Class on the CGK and DPS NRT routes so far seems quite good for the airline. However, the route is still limited to Narita only for now and soon to Sydney. Just like what Kevin Coastner once heard it in ‘Fields of Dreams” – the famous ‘if you build it, they would come’, Garuda will surely be able to lure the Indonesian premium passengers to fly with them if it continues to maintain and build its premium branding like what it has done on its new First Class.