To the Cape with SQ (Pics and Vids)
May 8, 2011, 6:01 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,681
To the Cape with SQ (Pics and Vids)
This trip was booked with my Krisflyer miles, costing my about 47K miles for a return economy ticket. Taxes came up to nearly S$400. I and my friend decided to go to Cape Town as it is definitely something different from the European cities and of course, a continent I have not step foot on.
On the day of departure, arrived at Terminal 2 where the check-in hall seemed like a ghost town. It was almost practically empty as there were not many flights departing from T2 late at night. Check-in agents were just talking to each other or looking bored. Check-in was swift as we had performed an online check-in and baggage was sent on the way.
My boarding pass.
Immigration again was painless and our first stop was to the Greenmarket for a quick meal which luckily, we had as will be explained later.
Starters from buffet
Tempura Set
Grilled Mackerel Set
Exploring T2 after the meal. It was very quiet at 12am at night.
Silkair A320 and SQ B772 resting for the night.
Maintenance works going on another Silkair plane.
19 January 2011
Singapore Airlines
SQ 480
Singapore (SIN) - Cape Town (CPT)
B777-200(ER)
9V-SVL
Economy Class
The departure gate, which was at E12, meant a long walk down the finger of the terminal to the last gate. Boarding was just started as we reached the gate. It was very orderly with the ground staff emphasizing that boarding has to be done by row numbers.
Our plane for the journey.
Boarding in process. The flight was quite full, with about 220/255 pax load, mainly South Africans returning home after their summer vacation. Luckily our middle seat remained empty.
At the gate.
Already on the seats were a pillow and blanket. Pillows were the smaller blue ones and not ones used in the new cabins. However legroom was great as usual on the 772ER planes. And as I had chose row 55 where the cabin starts to curve towards the rear, the window seats get an extra 1-2 inches pitch!
The seats on the older cabins, though quite hard, are more comfortable than the new economy seats, especially for long-legged guys like me. We are able to stretch our legs under seat in front but we could not do that on the new seats as the seat base is lower, restricting the movement of the legs. You can refer to my previous review of the new seats on SQ's A330 flight which was extremely flawed in design comfort.
After passengers had completed boarding, the same process starts of giving out hot towels and menus. Headsets were distributed after takeoff. We pushed back on time and taxied for takeoff. Flight time was announced to be 11hrs 30min.
Taxi to the runway.
Crossing the bridge to T3 and Runway 02L.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnohIfm-KsQ
Takeoff into the night skies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX---oBpw3w
Climbing. Lights of Singapore in the distance.
Lets have a look at the seat pocket contents.
After seatbelt signs were turned off, headsets and amenity kits (which comprises of socks and toothbrush only) were handed out.
Firstly, cabin crew came round with packets of nuts and drinks on trays. I had an orange juice.
Lets take a look at the menu and see what is served for supper (if you think that supper would be served).
refreshment SINGAPORE TO CAPE TOWN
light bites
Warm masala chicken with potato wrap
or
Warm double deck tuna sandwich
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Horrors! Where is the supper that is normally served on long-haul overnight flights?? On similar long-haul flights, SQ would serve a supper after takeoff but to South Africa, SQ won't even serve a proper meal? Shorther flights to Oz or NZ would get much better meals! I guess SQ's notion is that since there are no competition, why bother? Well I guess MH which also serves Cape Town is not much of a competition for SQ, and I am very sure MH would serve better meals.
Our "refreshment", masala chicken with potato wrap. One word, PATHETIC. It was the type used to be served on short Penang flights. Not even a chocolate bar on the tray which Ozzie flights would get on their refreshment trays. Even the crew, though they were very nice and friendly, seemed embarrassed serving it. I spoke to one of the crew regarding it and he was also surprised that no supper was served for the long flight.
2 bites and it was gone. Luckily we had a meal earlier. Other passengers would have to starve for the next 10hrs till breakfast.
On the day of departure, arrived at Terminal 2 where the check-in hall seemed like a ghost town. It was almost practically empty as there were not many flights departing from T2 late at night. Check-in agents were just talking to each other or looking bored. Check-in was swift as we had performed an online check-in and baggage was sent on the way.
My boarding pass.
Immigration again was painless and our first stop was to the Greenmarket for a quick meal which luckily, we had as will be explained later.
Starters from buffet
Tempura Set
Grilled Mackerel Set
Exploring T2 after the meal. It was very quiet at 12am at night.
Silkair A320 and SQ B772 resting for the night.
Maintenance works going on another Silkair plane.
19 January 2011
Singapore Airlines
SQ 480
Singapore (SIN) - Cape Town (CPT)
B777-200(ER)
9V-SVL
Economy Class
The departure gate, which was at E12, meant a long walk down the finger of the terminal to the last gate. Boarding was just started as we reached the gate. It was very orderly with the ground staff emphasizing that boarding has to be done by row numbers.
Our plane for the journey.
Boarding in process. The flight was quite full, with about 220/255 pax load, mainly South Africans returning home after their summer vacation. Luckily our middle seat remained empty.
At the gate.
Already on the seats were a pillow and blanket. Pillows were the smaller blue ones and not ones used in the new cabins. However legroom was great as usual on the 772ER planes. And as I had chose row 55 where the cabin starts to curve towards the rear, the window seats get an extra 1-2 inches pitch!
The seats on the older cabins, though quite hard, are more comfortable than the new economy seats, especially for long-legged guys like me. We are able to stretch our legs under seat in front but we could not do that on the new seats as the seat base is lower, restricting the movement of the legs. You can refer to my previous review of the new seats on SQ's A330 flight which was extremely flawed in design comfort.
After passengers had completed boarding, the same process starts of giving out hot towels and menus. Headsets were distributed after takeoff. We pushed back on time and taxied for takeoff. Flight time was announced to be 11hrs 30min.
Taxi to the runway.
Crossing the bridge to T3 and Runway 02L.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnohIfm-KsQ
Takeoff into the night skies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX---oBpw3w
Climbing. Lights of Singapore in the distance.
Lets have a look at the seat pocket contents.
After seatbelt signs were turned off, headsets and amenity kits (which comprises of socks and toothbrush only) were handed out.
Firstly, cabin crew came round with packets of nuts and drinks on trays. I had an orange juice.
Lets take a look at the menu and see what is served for supper (if you think that supper would be served).
refreshment SINGAPORE TO CAPE TOWN
light bites
Warm masala chicken with potato wrap
or
Warm double deck tuna sandwich
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Horrors! Where is the supper that is normally served on long-haul overnight flights?? On similar long-haul flights, SQ would serve a supper after takeoff but to South Africa, SQ won't even serve a proper meal? Shorther flights to Oz or NZ would get much better meals! I guess SQ's notion is that since there are no competition, why bother? Well I guess MH which also serves Cape Town is not much of a competition for SQ, and I am very sure MH would serve better meals.
Our "refreshment", masala chicken with potato wrap. One word, PATHETIC. It was the type used to be served on short Penang flights. Not even a chocolate bar on the tray which Ozzie flights would get on their refreshment trays. Even the crew, though they were very nice and friendly, seemed embarrassed serving it. I spoke to one of the crew regarding it and he was also surprised that no supper was served for the long flight.
2 bites and it was gone. Luckily we had a meal earlier. Other passengers would have to starve for the next 10hrs till breakfast.
May 8, 2011, 6:02 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,681
After the "meal", I had a visit to the lavatory. The lotions and mouthwash are still there..
Only toothbrushes and combs. No more shaving kits.
Paper towels have been replaced with facial towels.
I settled into a movie and the lights were turned off. Crew did came around with water frequently. A "delectable" snack was also served mid-flight in the darkness, which was quite forgetable.
light bites SINGAPORE TO CAPE TOWN
Fancy a snack in between your meals?
Simply take your pick from our range of delectable snacks
when our cabin crew comes around during snack service.
Sandwiches
Savoury sandwich
Vegetarian sandwich
Snacks
Roasted peanuts
Granola cereal bar
Ferrero Rocher chocolate bar
Lay's potato chips
Fruit
After nodding off for a few hours, the sun began to rise.
Clear blue skies.
Lights were switched on about 2.5hrs before landing. Crew first came around with hot towels followed by juices. Well, I must say that this set of crew has shown that the service on SQ is till up there among the best, apart from a few younger ones who were quite robotic in their service. Probably it is due to the crew being excited to go to Cape Town (since they only get to go there 3 months each year when there are non-stop flights, the rest are only shuttles from Jo'burg).
Landfall into South Afican, or the Africa continent. My first glance of Africa too!. We were somewhere over Durban.
Crew serving breakfast.
Lets have a look at the breakfast menu.
breakfast SINGAPORE TO CAPE TOWN
fruit
Fruit appetizer
wholesome beginnings
Fried noodles with char siew style roast pork,
vegetables and mushroom
or
Mushroom omelette with chicken sausage and
hash brown potatoes
from the bakery
Breakfast roll
Butter - Fruit preserve
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Seems normal right? Lets look at the breakfast tray...
Something's missing? The tray seemed too empty? Yep, missing are the yoghurt, muffin and tub of water!! Terrible! We passengers to South Africa are not even worthy of a full SQ breakfast! Passengers on regional overnight flights get even better breakfasts than this! And the main courses are so small that I need to have 2 of them (compliments of the crew) to even feel a bit full.
Hard-as-rock roll, butter and jam, green chilli for noodles. Boy, do I miss TG's breakfast croissants.
Pork char siew noodles. Nice but I could finish it in 3 mouthfuls.
Mushroom omelette. It was ok.
Fruits. Slightly more variety this time round.
Sea of clouds.
We started our descend about half hour before arrival. Headsets were collected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC4WBeMG1A0
Only toothbrushes and combs. No more shaving kits.
Paper towels have been replaced with facial towels.
I settled into a movie and the lights were turned off. Crew did came around with water frequently. A "delectable" snack was also served mid-flight in the darkness, which was quite forgetable.
light bites SINGAPORE TO CAPE TOWN
Fancy a snack in between your meals?
Simply take your pick from our range of delectable snacks
when our cabin crew comes around during snack service.
Sandwiches
Savoury sandwich
Vegetarian sandwich
Snacks
Roasted peanuts
Granola cereal bar
Ferrero Rocher chocolate bar
Lay's potato chips
Fruit
After nodding off for a few hours, the sun began to rise.
Clear blue skies.
Lights were switched on about 2.5hrs before landing. Crew first came around with hot towels followed by juices. Well, I must say that this set of crew has shown that the service on SQ is till up there among the best, apart from a few younger ones who were quite robotic in their service. Probably it is due to the crew being excited to go to Cape Town (since they only get to go there 3 months each year when there are non-stop flights, the rest are only shuttles from Jo'burg).
Landfall into South Afican, or the Africa continent. My first glance of Africa too!. We were somewhere over Durban.
Crew serving breakfast.
Lets have a look at the breakfast menu.
breakfast SINGAPORE TO CAPE TOWN
fruit
Fruit appetizer
wholesome beginnings
Fried noodles with char siew style roast pork,
vegetables and mushroom
or
Mushroom omelette with chicken sausage and
hash brown potatoes
from the bakery
Breakfast roll
Butter - Fruit preserve
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Seems normal right? Lets look at the breakfast tray...
Something's missing? The tray seemed too empty? Yep, missing are the yoghurt, muffin and tub of water!! Terrible! We passengers to South Africa are not even worthy of a full SQ breakfast! Passengers on regional overnight flights get even better breakfasts than this! And the main courses are so small that I need to have 2 of them (compliments of the crew) to even feel a bit full.
Hard-as-rock roll, butter and jam, green chilli for noodles. Boy, do I miss TG's breakfast croissants.
Pork char siew noodles. Nice but I could finish it in 3 mouthfuls.
Mushroom omelette. It was ok.
Fruits. Slightly more variety this time round.
Sea of clouds.
We started our descend about half hour before arrival. Headsets were collected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC4WBeMG1A0
May 8, 2011, 6:03 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,681
Descending into Cape Town with awesome views.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbw4BILHL4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0UqDcq6qaI
Spoilers up...
For this sector, the crew did not rush to prepare the cabin for landing. The cabin crew only requested everyone to be seated and belted up about 15min prior to landing, which was different from the norm when the whole cabin would be in landing mode even before descend started.
Break in the clouds.
The view during approach and landing was beautiful! Cape town, lion's head and table mountain can be seen in the distance.
We are lower than table mountain!
Landing on Rwy19. The morning mist was very thick just before touchdown!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrN2Zge0Y7U
South African Airlink ERJ135
Russian cargo plane
We parked beside a MH 744 which had also just arrived before us.
Our aircraft during disembarkation.
Air Namibia B732
Neighbours!
Welcome to South Africa!
Cape Town airport arrival hall.
Overall, the service provided by the crew had been excellent. Apart from the newbies (whom one can easily tell by their "robotic" interaction), the rest of the crew are warm and friendly. Inflight entertainment is fine, of ocurse not as good as the ex3000 system. However, the food served is a real disaster. Most other airlines can serve much better food on similar length flights (budget airlines like Jetstar and Air Asia serve 2 full meals on their long haul flights even though it is payable). I am disgusted that passengers travelling to South Africa are "discriminated" against, probably due to low yields? However, being a world-class carrier, SQ should provide similar service wherever you are flying to. I have sent SQ a feedback regarding this but they have not got back to it regarding this issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbw4BILHL4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0UqDcq6qaI
Spoilers up...
For this sector, the crew did not rush to prepare the cabin for landing. The cabin crew only requested everyone to be seated and belted up about 15min prior to landing, which was different from the norm when the whole cabin would be in landing mode even before descend started.
Break in the clouds.
The view during approach and landing was beautiful! Cape town, lion's head and table mountain can be seen in the distance.
We are lower than table mountain!
Landing on Rwy19. The morning mist was very thick just before touchdown!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrN2Zge0Y7U
South African Airlink ERJ135
Russian cargo plane
We parked beside a MH 744 which had also just arrived before us.
Our aircraft during disembarkation.
Air Namibia B732
Neighbours!
Welcome to South Africa!
Cape Town airport arrival hall.
Overall, the service provided by the crew had been excellent. Apart from the newbies (whom one can easily tell by their "robotic" interaction), the rest of the crew are warm and friendly. Inflight entertainment is fine, of ocurse not as good as the ex3000 system. However, the food served is a real disaster. Most other airlines can serve much better food on similar length flights (budget airlines like Jetstar and Air Asia serve 2 full meals on their long haul flights even though it is payable). I am disgusted that passengers travelling to South Africa are "discriminated" against, probably due to low yields? However, being a world-class carrier, SQ should provide similar service wherever you are flying to. I have sent SQ a feedback regarding this but they have not got back to it regarding this issue.
May 8, 2011, 6:08 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,681
It was 4 amazing days in Cape Town and I had to drag myself back to Singapore. How I am gonna miss the clear blue skies, the natural scenery, the food... Our flight back was at 12pm and I had booked the airport shuttle to pick us up at our hotel at 0930am. It was only a 20min drive to the airport.
Cape Town airport only has 1 departure check-in hall for both international and domestic flights. It was spruced up for the World Cup and was looking quite modern. Not an "african" airport that we would imagine it to be.
SQ has 6 check-in counters opened for check in and they were not too busy. According to the staff, our load today in economy would only be 150/255.
I could not get row 55 during online check-in and so settled for row 54 instead. Notice something different in the boarding pass?
Printed on it is the sentence "Have a pleasant flight" instead of the usual "be at the gate 15min before departure" thingy.
After check-in, we proceeded to grab some food (just in case) as well as some plane spotting. The viewing area where all the restaurants are is fantastic! It offers an unobstructed view of the gates and the runway!
International flights that has arrived.
BA/Comair B737-400 arrived from a domestic flight.
South African B738 preparing for departure.
Virgin A346 has also just arrived. Unfortunately no gates were available and it had to be parked at the remote stand.
1Time MD80 in zebra livery.
Etihad A332 departing for J'burg and Abu Dhabi.
Kulula B738 in a boring white livery
Now that's more like a Kulula jet! (B734)
View of check-in hall.
International departures for the day.
Of course I have! And I will be back!
Departure gates area. Some duty free shops and nothing much else. Very empty as not a lot of international departures are scheduled around this time.
South African A346
Some cargo jets in the distance. A B727 and B732.
23 January 2011
Singapore Airlines
SQ 481
Cape Town (CPT) - Singapore (SIN)
B777-200(ER)
9V-SVL
Economy Class
Boarding was announced about 40min before STD. Our aircraft would be 9V-SVL again!
Boarding was not by rows but with the light load, there was no problems with this. In fact we finished boarding 10min before STD! This set of crew appeared to be great again. In fact, I was greeted by name on both sectors when I stepped into the aircraft!
At the gate. Another BA aircraft , a B772, just arrived.
Seat pitch at 34" at normal rows. It was still great.
As usual, the normal procedure began. Hot towels, menus, amenity kits, headsets etc. After doors were closed, my friend jumped over to another ow to grab 3 seats for himself. So we had now a bed each! We pushed back on time with the safety video playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTt_KwFmx8g
Cape Town airport only has 1 departure check-in hall for both international and domestic flights. It was spruced up for the World Cup and was looking quite modern. Not an "african" airport that we would imagine it to be.
SQ has 6 check-in counters opened for check in and they were not too busy. According to the staff, our load today in economy would only be 150/255.
I could not get row 55 during online check-in and so settled for row 54 instead. Notice something different in the boarding pass?
Printed on it is the sentence "Have a pleasant flight" instead of the usual "be at the gate 15min before departure" thingy.
After check-in, we proceeded to grab some food (just in case) as well as some plane spotting. The viewing area where all the restaurants are is fantastic! It offers an unobstructed view of the gates and the runway!
International flights that has arrived.
BA/Comair B737-400 arrived from a domestic flight.
South African B738 preparing for departure.
Virgin A346 has also just arrived. Unfortunately no gates were available and it had to be parked at the remote stand.
1Time MD80 in zebra livery.
Etihad A332 departing for J'burg and Abu Dhabi.
Kulula B738 in a boring white livery
Now that's more like a Kulula jet! (B734)
View of check-in hall.
International departures for the day.
Of course I have! And I will be back!
Departure gates area. Some duty free shops and nothing much else. Very empty as not a lot of international departures are scheduled around this time.
South African A346
Some cargo jets in the distance. A B727 and B732.
23 January 2011
Singapore Airlines
SQ 481
Cape Town (CPT) - Singapore (SIN)
B777-200(ER)
9V-SVL
Economy Class
Boarding was announced about 40min before STD. Our aircraft would be 9V-SVL again!
Boarding was not by rows but with the light load, there was no problems with this. In fact we finished boarding 10min before STD! This set of crew appeared to be great again. In fact, I was greeted by name on both sectors when I stepped into the aircraft!
At the gate. Another BA aircraft , a B772, just arrived.
Seat pitch at 34" at normal rows. It was still great.
As usual, the normal procedure began. Hot towels, menus, amenity kits, headsets etc. After doors were closed, my friend jumped over to another ow to grab 3 seats for himself. So we had now a bed each! We pushed back on time with the safety video playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTt_KwFmx8g
May 8, 2011, 6:09 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,681
Pushing back. A Lufthansa B744 has also arrived.
Taxi to the runway with Table Mt in the background.
Taxi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7UgE-2xzUo
Take off from Rwy 19. Bye Cape Town! It has been a wonderful stay!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UB8zDIOiao
Final view of Table Mountain.
Climbing
More mountains.
After seatbelt signs are switched off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2pnHXxZeDo
Over clouds
Soon after, crew came around with a bar service using bar carts. As usual, all liquors/spirits were "hidden" in the cart. Only soft drinks, juices and wines on the cart top, unlike TG which displays all the liquors as well.
But the stewardess was kind enough to give me 2 packets of nuts. I ordered a Singapore Sling and a apple juice to go along. This is one of the few times when the crew actually got the sling right (pink and not red in colour). The stewardess even came back during 2nd round of drinks and asked whether the sling is good. Of course!
After bar service, lunch was soon served. Lets take a look at the menu.
lunch CAPE TOWN TO SINGAPORE
appetiser
Pasta-roasted vegetables and ham salad
main Courses
Deep fried fish in sweet and sour sauce,
seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
or
Roast chicken with herb gravy, seasonal
vegetables and potatoes
cheese
Cheese and crackers
dessert
Marble sponge cake
from the bakery
Roll and butter
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Tray set-up. You may have noticed that there were no side-trays on the tray itself to place the rolls/crackers/cheese/butter. It was quite messy with all the stuff randomly placed on the trays. Cost-cutting to save weight? Or again because it is a "african" flight?
Appetizer, roll and dessert. No side-trays, side dishes were cling wrapped.
Pasta-roasted vegetables and ham salad. Only a few teeny weeny bits of ham.
Roast chicken with herb gravy, seasonal vegetables and potatoes. Nothing exciting. Chicken was a bit dry.
Cheese and crackers. The cheese was good though.
Marble sponge cake. Cheap, unimaginative and very dry. I did not finish it, and I am a dessert person.
Overall the meal is average. It will fill that hole in the stomach and that is it. Not something that you will remember of. After lunch, passengers just relaxed and watched their IFEs or napped.
Cabin view after lunch.
Taxi to the runway with Table Mt in the background.
Taxi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7UgE-2xzUo
Take off from Rwy 19. Bye Cape Town! It has been a wonderful stay!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UB8zDIOiao
Final view of Table Mountain.
Climbing
More mountains.
After seatbelt signs are switched off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2pnHXxZeDo
Over clouds
Soon after, crew came around with a bar service using bar carts. As usual, all liquors/spirits were "hidden" in the cart. Only soft drinks, juices and wines on the cart top, unlike TG which displays all the liquors as well.
But the stewardess was kind enough to give me 2 packets of nuts. I ordered a Singapore Sling and a apple juice to go along. This is one of the few times when the crew actually got the sling right (pink and not red in colour). The stewardess even came back during 2nd round of drinks and asked whether the sling is good. Of course!
After bar service, lunch was soon served. Lets take a look at the menu.
lunch CAPE TOWN TO SINGAPORE
appetiser
Pasta-roasted vegetables and ham salad
main Courses
Deep fried fish in sweet and sour sauce,
seasonal vegetables and steamed rice
or
Roast chicken with herb gravy, seasonal
vegetables and potatoes
cheese
Cheese and crackers
dessert
Marble sponge cake
from the bakery
Roll and butter
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Tray set-up. You may have noticed that there were no side-trays on the tray itself to place the rolls/crackers/cheese/butter. It was quite messy with all the stuff randomly placed on the trays. Cost-cutting to save weight? Or again because it is a "african" flight?
Appetizer, roll and dessert. No side-trays, side dishes were cling wrapped.
Pasta-roasted vegetables and ham salad. Only a few teeny weeny bits of ham.
Roast chicken with herb gravy, seasonal vegetables and potatoes. Nothing exciting. Chicken was a bit dry.
Cheese and crackers. The cheese was good though.
Marble sponge cake. Cheap, unimaginative and very dry. I did not finish it, and I am a dessert person.
Overall the meal is average. It will fill that hole in the stomach and that is it. Not something that you will remember of. After lunch, passengers just relaxed and watched their IFEs or napped.
Cabin view after lunch.
May 8, 2011, 6:10 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,681
Nearing Madagascar.
Leaving Madagascar
First class bed with economy class service. Who needs NZ's Skycouch?
As we were flying into the night, it got dark rather soon.
Dusk.
About 3hrs after lunch, the crew came around with baskets of snacks. Lets see what is on offer.
light bites CAPE TOWN TO SINGAPORE
Fancy a snack in between your meals?
Simply take your pick from our range of delectable snacks
when our cabin crew comes around during snack service.
Sandwiches
Savoury sandwich
Vegetarian sandwich
Snacks
Roasted peanuts
Chocolate bar
Assorted biscuits
Potato chips
Savoury snacks
Fruit
I had some biscuits and a chocolate bar. The crew asked me to grab as much as I want. Great of them!
I tried to sleep after having the snacks but was unable to do so as my body is telling me that it is only dinner time in Cape Town. So I just lazed on my "bed" watching movies. Another hour later, a round of snacks and drinks was offered again. Great service!
About 2.5hrs prior to landing, lights were switched on and hot towels offered before breakfast was served. Lets have a look at the breakfast menu.
breakfast CAPE TOWN TO SINGAPORE
fruit
Fruit appetizer
wholesome beginnings
Braised fish with Oriental sauce, vegetables and
vermicelli
or
Scrambled eggs with chicken sausage, grilled tomato,
mushrooms and potatoes
from the bakery
Breakfast roll
Butter - Fruit preserve
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Well, looks like no yoghurt or muffin will be offered again. Kind of expected by now. Surprisingly, breakfast was even served using a refreshment tray (the one used to serve the pathetic wrap on our way up). Other than continental breakfasts, I don't ever recall SQ serving breakfasts on such a small tray.
Fresh fruits. Quite sweet.
Braised fish with Oriental sauce, vegetables and vermicelli. Very salty!
As it was too salty, I asked for the eggs which the crew gladly passed one to me. According to them, they had lots of leftovers.
Scrambled eggs with chicken sausage, grilled tomato, mushrooms and potatoes. Better choice but the potatoes were the exact same ones as served during lunch earlier.
After breakfast was cleared, we were nearing Singapore.
Last wash up and we were soon preparing to land in Singapore.
For this flight, the crew performed the normal "get your seat upright 30min before landing" ritual but I was already getting too tired to care. We approached from the south and flew along the southern part of Singapore in darkness.
Can you spot Marina Sands and Singapore Flyer?
Smooth landing into Singapore. The flight took about 11hr10min. We landed at 0515am, 10min ahead of schedule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDI9KTwyxW4
Parked at gate F56. I guess we were one of the first few flights that landed so early as the terminal was practically deserted. Shops were still closed and according to the arrival screens, we were the first flight to land at the F gates.
The service provided by the Singapore Girls and Boys have affirmed that SQ still delivers one of the best and consistent service onboard among all airlines. But the food offering has definitely gone downhill. Maybe because this is a low-yielding flight or due to lack of competition, but the meals served are really depressing. Lets see how the food differs on my SQ flight tomorrow to Paris!
One last note, go visit Cape Town!!
Leaving Madagascar
First class bed with economy class service. Who needs NZ's Skycouch?
As we were flying into the night, it got dark rather soon.
Dusk.
About 3hrs after lunch, the crew came around with baskets of snacks. Lets see what is on offer.
light bites CAPE TOWN TO SINGAPORE
Fancy a snack in between your meals?
Simply take your pick from our range of delectable snacks
when our cabin crew comes around during snack service.
Sandwiches
Savoury sandwich
Vegetarian sandwich
Snacks
Roasted peanuts
Chocolate bar
Assorted biscuits
Potato chips
Savoury snacks
Fruit
I had some biscuits and a chocolate bar. The crew asked me to grab as much as I want. Great of them!
I tried to sleep after having the snacks but was unable to do so as my body is telling me that it is only dinner time in Cape Town. So I just lazed on my "bed" watching movies. Another hour later, a round of snacks and drinks was offered again. Great service!
About 2.5hrs prior to landing, lights were switched on and hot towels offered before breakfast was served. Lets have a look at the breakfast menu.
breakfast CAPE TOWN TO SINGAPORE
fruit
Fruit appetizer
wholesome beginnings
Braised fish with Oriental sauce, vegetables and
vermicelli
or
Scrambled eggs with chicken sausage, grilled tomato,
mushrooms and potatoes
from the bakery
Breakfast roll
Butter - Fruit preserve
hot beverages
Coffee - Tea
Rooibos tea
Well, looks like no yoghurt or muffin will be offered again. Kind of expected by now. Surprisingly, breakfast was even served using a refreshment tray (the one used to serve the pathetic wrap on our way up). Other than continental breakfasts, I don't ever recall SQ serving breakfasts on such a small tray.
Fresh fruits. Quite sweet.
Braised fish with Oriental sauce, vegetables and vermicelli. Very salty!
As it was too salty, I asked for the eggs which the crew gladly passed one to me. According to them, they had lots of leftovers.
Scrambled eggs with chicken sausage, grilled tomato, mushrooms and potatoes. Better choice but the potatoes were the exact same ones as served during lunch earlier.
After breakfast was cleared, we were nearing Singapore.
Last wash up and we were soon preparing to land in Singapore.
For this flight, the crew performed the normal "get your seat upright 30min before landing" ritual but I was already getting too tired to care. We approached from the south and flew along the southern part of Singapore in darkness.
Can you spot Marina Sands and Singapore Flyer?
Smooth landing into Singapore. The flight took about 11hr10min. We landed at 0515am, 10min ahead of schedule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDI9KTwyxW4
Parked at gate F56. I guess we were one of the first few flights that landed so early as the terminal was practically deserted. Shops were still closed and according to the arrival screens, we were the first flight to land at the F gates.
The service provided by the Singapore Girls and Boys have affirmed that SQ still delivers one of the best and consistent service onboard among all airlines. But the food offering has definitely gone downhill. Maybe because this is a low-yielding flight or due to lack of competition, but the meals served are really depressing. Lets see how the food differs on my SQ flight tomorrow to Paris!
One last note, go visit Cape Town!!
May 9, 2011, 2:08 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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Posts: 38,321
Wow!!! What a fabulous TR!!!! I'm glad you are so enjoyed the trip to CPT. How is it? I can't see the city & terminals where you descent approach into CPT. What is happening the weather in CPT? Is that too fogged days in CPT?
May 21, 2011, 6:04 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,681
