Thanks again everyone for the very kind comments.
OZ721 ICN-HKG 20APR08
Check-in
I reached the airport roughly 2 hours before departure, at around 7am and made my way to the First Class counter. Before I reached it, a service agent asked me where I was travelling to, and which class I was travelling, to which I replied Hong Kong in First Class. Why, of course!
Once I reached the desk, I did the usual routine – interestingly, they had already pre-printed the lounge invitation and my e-ticket receipt and put it inside a ticket sleeve alongside a blank boarding pass, so that they only had one thing to print. I guess it’s supposed to make you feel more special, but unless they go the whole way and phoned me ahead to ask me how many pieces of baggage I was carrying so that they meet me at the kerbside, tag my bags and take them straight away, the whole “seamless check-in experience” seemed like just an attempt rather than anything too meaningful. Oh well, at least they tried! I chose seat 1K because… well, just because! The flight wasn’t too full, I was told, so the seat next to me should be free.
I had to tell the check-in agent who was all smiles (must have been something on my face
) not to print my next boarding pass on SQ HKG-SIN (it’s such a tiny thing, but I wanted it on the proper SQ stock not the Asiana one!), and also tag my bags through to my SIN-LHR flight tomorrow as well. All was done very quickly and I was on my way armed with a lounge invitation for the First Class section.
The queues for the x-ray were suspiciously short this morning – must be the fact that in order to reach there for 7am, you really have to wake up at something hideous in the morning – 5am in my case. Very short too, was the immigration queues which normally takes 5-10 minutes. It was so amazingly quick that I was in front of the Asiana Lounge before I knew it.
The Lounge
A quick note: Of course, having used it before, I know that the Silver Kris F lounge at ICN is a very nice one and, in all likelihood, I would probably prefer it to the Asiana one, but I couldn’t quite face walking across the terminal just to use a different lounge when really, all I wanted to do was sit down with a tea and catch up with some emails and so on. As I was only going to stay for about 40 minutes, it didn’t really make any difference.
Once in the lounge, I gave my invitation to the lounge receptionist who called the lift and I made my way to the first floor. Once there, I walked through the small corridor to the First Class lounge, which had another receptionist who had been expecting me. She asked me whether I wanted anything to drink, and she seemed momentarily not sure what to do when I told her “I’ll just get something for myself in a few minutes; that’s no problem for me”.
Sat down and logged into the free wireless at the lounge, I brought myself a bottle of cold tea and caught up on emails etc. Then I thought, “1K might not be so great because I’ll end up staring at a wall”, so I went to change the seat at the reception which was done without any problems.
After about 45 minutes it was almost 8:15am, and I left the lounge to change some money and have a quick look at the duty free. Then, at 8:30am I made my way to the gate which had a long queue for the Y-class boarding door but empty for the F and C-class boarding door. When I gave my boarding pass to the gate agent, another person came up next to me and said “Oh, there you are! I was meant to escort you from the lounge to the gate but you left already so I came to the gate!” She then escorted me the very short distance between the boarding gate and the aircraft doors, and handed me over to the cabin crew.
In the cabin
I knew the equipment was 747-400 Combi with the old F seats so I knew what to expect, but now having seen the future (i.e. SQ 77W), it did feel like a bit of a throwback to the previous era. There was plenty of space so that wasn’t the issue; but the pairs of seats with the potential to sit next to a stranger on a long-haul flight in First Class were. The cabin was otherwise quite neutrally decorated and spacious (well, with only 12 seats in the nose section you’d hope it was).
Once I sat down, I was offered a pair of slippers and also the headphones. The headphones were the Sennheiser PX100 which is: 1. not noise-cancelling, and 2. an open design which lets all the noise in. I wasn’t planning to watch anything on this flight so they remained in the plastic wrapper until they were handed back. And the slippers… well, they were very nicely made and would probably last 10 times longer than most of the other airlines’ offerings, but they were the most hideous shade of red (think hooker rather than vintage wine) so I didn’t keep them.
Then I was asked for my choice of pre-departure drink, and I chose some chrysanthemum tea alongside some warmed nuts. The nuts were another point worth noting since, although they were nicely warmed
, they consisted mostly of peanuts… I was expecting anything
other than peanuts especially as I’m not a big fan.
As I waited for the doors to shut, it became apparent that there was only going to be one other passenger in F today, which should theoretically make the service flawless. But if I can just use this moment to express my thoughts about the service, I must say I prefer SQ’s style over OZ. The flight attendants on OZ were perfectly pleasant and professional, but it was a bit too “Korean” – i.e. deferential to a fault and a little too uptight. I thought it could possibly be because the passengers in F that they are used to seeing were the Korean high-ranking directors and government officials, in which case they would probably prefer the servile style of the flight attendants. Me – well, I felt I was on the wrong side of 40 to enjoy it, and preferred the flight attendants that are perfectly composed but also more jokey, more engaging and more interesting. Some posters have commented before that they thought they would enjoy the service more if they spoke Korean – hmm. I spoke to them in Korean and didn’t really feel any difference. Maybe it’s just down to personal preference.
Soon enough we pulled away from the gate and headed towards the runway. Because the seat was in the nose section, I was able to get a better view towards the runway due to the curvature of the cabin. One thing I had forgotten about the flights in 747 is just how loudly you feel the landing gear pull up once you ‘rein the air – well, it almost made me jump!
The Meal
The seatbelt sign was switched off and menus were handed out. Sadly no lobster on this Brunch meal sector, although the return segment had it – my hopes of comparing the two lobsters on OZ and SQ were thwarted
Here is the menu:
Brunch
Starter
Egg Custard with Abalone, Prawn and Salmon Roe
Prosciutto Ham with Mixed Salad
Served with French Dressing
Main Course
Stewed Beef with Pastry
Served with Phyllo Pastry Topping
Accompanied by Anna Potato and Vegetables
Or
Deep Fried Prawn
Served with Oriental Sauce
Accompanied by Fried Rice and Vegetables
Or
Korean ‘Abalone Porridge’
A Famous Korean Healthy Porridge
Accompanied by Assorted Side Dishes & Watery Plain Kimchi
Selection of Cheese & Fresh Fruit
Dessert
Opera Cake with Vanilla Sauce
Coffee & Tea
*We are pleased to offer hot Ramen upon your request
Wine List
Champagnes
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1998
Champagne de Castellane Commodore 1998
White Wines
Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2004
Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim 2004
Red Wines
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand Cru Classe, Graves 2004
Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru 2004
Dessert Wines
Blandy’s 10 Years Old Malmsey Madeira
Port Sandeman 20 Years Old Tawny Porto
Jackson-Triggs Vidal VQA Ice Wine 2006
Cognac & Liqueurs
Hennesy X.O.
Drambuie
Cointreau
Baileys Irish Cream
Asiana Bar
Aperitifs
Sweet Vermouth
Dry Vermouth
Campari
Medium Dry Sherry Sandeman
Spirits
Scotch Whisky Johnnie Walker Blue
Bourbon Whiskey Jack Daniel
Canadian Whisky Canadian Club
Vodka Smirnoff
Gin Beefeaters
Rum Bacardi
Koean Traditional Liquors
“Hwarang” Made from rice and herbs
“Mae Chuy Soon” Made from plum
Beers
Non-alcoholic Beverages