Sorry about the break. Where was I? Oh yeah relaxing on a sky suite sipping some Dom and yakking with CGK.

The last time I flew F on a sky suite on Singapore I was so tired I slept the whole red eye and missed out on enjoying the experience. I was determined not to sleep this one away as well. But tiredness eventually prevailed and I got an hour or so of sleep before breakfast.

I will post the menu when I get a chance to.

In Japan the weather was very cloudy and misty. As we descended past some high cloud there was a nice view of the low cloud and mist far below and the rising sun peeking through the gap between the low and high cloud. Closer to landing the mist provided a surreal view of the landscape below, with the early morning light providing a light glow but yet not fully penetrating the mist. We did almost a complete loop of Narita at about 40 miles out, negating the fast flight time. The bushy small hills were more visible than the buildings or farmland and thus contrasted with the mist. The whole scene made me think of a cross between a washy watercolour and groggy eye vision after a long sleep!

On arrival at Tokyo it was the familiar walk to transfer security and into the deserted terminal. We saw the Singapore to Tokyo via Bangkok 777 flight arrive - it was quite late today. The terminal doesnt really come to life until 8am, so we got some light exercise wandering to the far end of the terminal and back. While browsing the information computer I had to laugh at one of the Japan Airlines flights. Where many other flights showed comments of codeshare, on time or rescheduled, the JL flight to Jakarta was by bus according to the comments! (I am sure they meant it was a bus gate but that is not how it read in english.)

Eventually the lounge is opened and so we make use of the facilities. I grab some more copies of the printed Singapore timetable. I like the ones available at the NRT silver kris lounge as they are very small compared to the one available from SIN which is a thick book. I had given all mine away previously so nice to replenish. I also grabbed a New Zealand entry card to save time later. I'm not sure why but NRT silver kris lounge is the only place I have seen NZ entry cards (other than being handed out at a gate or onboard). It is quite a detour to take Singapore NRT to Singapore to Auckland or Christchurch, when Air New Zealand flies direct.

Unfortunately the rumours of the demise of green tea Fauchon ice cream are true. That was my favourite flavour.

The lounge fills up and it looks like the return flight will also be full (as is the case). We managed to get seats together (in business class this time) in the bulkhead row. I convinced (not too difficult) CGK to try the Hanagoyomi which I prefer to both the western menu, and also to the Kyo Kaiseki offered in first class. Its as yummy as I remembered it.

While waiting for connexion to get working properly, we play some interactive games of tetris. The FAs were fantastic on this flight - and reminded me of why it is so nice to be able to fly Singapore. Not only did they keep our glasses fill and seem to be able to read my mind when I wanted something, but they took care to avoid blocking the view of the screens while we were playing games!

We also had a fast flight back to Singapore and a short taxi on arrival (for a nice change). Rapidly through Singapore immigration and arrive at the Conrad with enough time to check in before heading out to SIN DO dinner. I had expected I would miss the shared ride to dinner as the flight wasnt due to arrive until 6pm.

Dinner was great. Nice food and plenty of Tiger beers, but even nicer was catching up with so many FT friends - both old and new.