31 December, 2004
Singapore to Melbourne
British Airways First Class * Dinner – Cont’l. Breakfast
747-400 G-BNLR Seat 3K
720p-515a Flight time: 6:38

This flight was nearly full to capacity on the inbound from London, so when boarding was called at 9:00pm I wasted little time in heading down to the gate in anticipation of a big crowd. To my pleasant surprise, the “crowd” was no more than twenty large and I basically strolled right onboard the aircraft without delay. Only six lucky souls would be ensconced in the First Class cabin this evening so with a passenger to Flight Attendant ratio of just 2:1, service was even more gracious and relaxed than usual.

The wine list had included an Australian Chardonnay described by Wine Spectator magazine as being “the greatest white wine Australia has ever produced”. Hmm… it is, eh? Well, even though I’m not a big white wine drinker, I just had to check this out. Not being an oeonophile of the first order, any comments I might have on this wine beyond “tasty” would likely be deemed irrelevant amongst FT’s more cultured readers. Suffice to say I stuck with it throughout dinner and would welcome another glass on my return flight.

Ah, dinner. Given our longer than planned layover due to the maintenance problem, I’d regained a bit of appetite and so reviewed the menu with renewed appetite and anticipation. Consider the possibilities…


Singapore to Melbourne

STARTERS

Marinated Prawns and Squid on Rocket and Pine Nuts

Grilled Red Pepper and Cheese Salad

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

Fresh Salad leaves with your choice of Balsamic Olive Oil or Herbed Crème Fraiche


MAIN COURSES

Grilled Beef Medallions with Parmesan Cheese and Mascarpone Polenta, Thyme Jus, Kenya Beans and Carrots

Roast Fillet of Salmon with Yabbie Tails, Crustacia Oil, Parsley Potatoes and Asparagus

Stir-fried Chicken with Oyster and Yellow Bean Sauce and Stir-fried Rice

Chilli Prawn Salad


SNACKS

Bacon Roll served with Tomato Ketchup

Chicken Club Sandwich

Smoked Salmon Salad

A Selection of Finger Sandwiches

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup with a Side Salad

Fresh Pasta with your choice of Creamy Mushroom Sauce or Tomato, Olive and Parsley Sauce

Duchy of Cornwall Biscuits

A Selection of Cheese and Fruit


DESSERT AND CHEESE

Summer Pudding with Crème Fraiche

Chocolate Parfait with Macerated Cherries and Cherry Ice Cream

A Selection of Cheese

A Basket of Fresh Fruit




After take off, the Cabin Service Director stopped by to chat. He’d logged a good many years with BA, dating back to the BOAC days. He was a veritable history book about what I consider to be the glory days of air transportation. We both had a great time reminiscing about old airlines, old airplanes and historic services. Like many of his professional brethren, he had fond memories of the Anchorage stopovers dating from BA’s services to the Orient back in the seventies. Some of these stopovers were almost a week long so those lucky enough to work those flights had plenty of time to get out and explore Alaska, which they did. I remember sitting next to a couple of Sabena Flight Attendants while riding the shuttle bus back into Denali Park back in the late 1970s.

Tonight’s dinner out of Singapore was good, though not memorably so. The Marinated Prawns and Squid were marinated in something so bland as to be indiscernible. The [I]Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup[I] was like a Chinese egg drop soup in texture, but without the egg. Instead it was infused with tiny flecks of chicken and corn and tasted like a corn broth. Without the chicken. As for the main course, the Roast Fillet of Salmon with Yabbie Tails would normally be my entrée of choice. I had this entrée last year on the flight out of Singapore and remember it as being superb. Not surprisingly, I’ve found that when flying out of Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok, the fish and Asian entrees are generally very good. As such, in the interest of trying something new I decided to go with the Stir-fried Chicken with Oyster and Yellow Bean Sauce. It was tasty enough, but would have been improved considerably by the addition of some hot oil or chilli sauce, which unfortunately the crew was unable to come up with. I suspect that somewhere in the airline catering handbooks, it’s now recommended to offer light, non-spicy foods. Cantonese rather than Szechuan. That’s fine for hospital patients, the elderly and people from far northern Canada but pretty drab for the rest of us.

During the meal, I watched “Big” with Tom Hanks. It was just as good after the third or fourth time as it was the first. Indeed, it is one of my favorite movies. After dinner, whilst flying over Indonesia and the South Java Sea, I reclined my seat, munched on fine English cheese and swilled port in true decadence. Only a week ago I was in the Glenwood Springs Hostel, draped in a beanbag chair while drinking beer and eating Tostitos and bean dip. Where will I be next week at this time?

I never did fully flatten my seat and instead slept (perhaps lapsed into unconsciousness would better describe my state…) quite nicely at an angle not unlike that of the original sleeper seats that were introduced in the late Seventies. When I awoke, dawn was coloring the eastern sky and we were about an hour out of Melbourne. Plates and glasses could be heard clinking back in the galley and before long a Flight Attendant approached and asked if I’d care for any breakfast.


BREAKFAST

STARTERS

Chilled Fruit Juice

An Energizing Fruit Smoothie

A Selection of Fruit, Plain Yogurts and Cereals

Fresh Seasonal Fruit Plate

BAKERY

A wide selection of Breakfast Pastries and Rolls




It’s amazing to me that the flight between Singapore and Melbourne is so short yet covers 3,750 miles – almost the same as New York to London. I used to think of those trans-Atlantic flights “across the pond” as being pretty long. Not anymore. Now, having flown the likes of LHR-SIN, LAX-NAN, SFO-SYD and HKG-JNB, not to mention numerous hops between London and the US West Coast, I look upon flights such as this six and a half hour segment between Singapore and Melbourne as a mere jaunt. It really needs to be longer in order for me to better enjoy BA’s fine service. I mean, didn’t I finish dinner just four hours ago? Perhaps a letter to Consumer Affairs…

A fruit smoothie, a serving of fruit, a surprisingly flaky croissant and a small bowl of Bichermeusli provided all the energy I’d need to carry on through the day at Melbourne. Soon after plates were cleared, the engines throttled back and the landing gear was extended. With the nosewheel gear being located directly below the First Class cabin floor, the noise from its lowering into position is really quite loud. Anyone still sleeping would surely be shocked backed into consciousness.

Descending swiftly over the Eucalyptus dotted hills of the Victorian countryside, we made a final turn and touched down so smoothly as to be nearly imperceptible up in the forward cabin. A very smooth landing indeed. It was 6:50am and the sun was just poking over the eastern horizon. As always, it’s good to be back in Australia.