A Weekend Away To Asia
 

Qantas flight QF05 to Singapore would like to invite our business class and frequent fliers to commence boarding as I handed my boarding pass to the agent to scan before I made my way down the aerobridge towards the A330-200 that would be taking me to Singapore today.

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This aircraft happened to be one out of two remaining Airbus that still have the MK1 Skybed in operation and today was the day that I would be able to try the inferior product that took to the sky by storm when it first came out all those year's ago.

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Boarding was done via two aerobridge's and of course doors 1 was my go to as I was shown my seat of 1A just directly to my right behind. The cabin layout was very spacious as the twin pair space looking skybed's stood out in the cabin. I should also point out that every seat had a universal power point located between seats and a mini divider which didn't do much dividing in between.

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Shortly after the crew introduced themselves as I was handed a Jack Spade amenity kit and asked what I wanted to drink before takeoff. A curious flip through the menu, which was already waiting on the seat, indicated quite a variety of menu choices that would be available on today’s flight.

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Speaking of menu I had already selected my meal in advanced through menu select which is Qantas’ online offering available to passengers in Business class enabling them to pre select and guarantee their desired food item to be available onboard which also features an online exclusive dish that’s not on the menu.

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Betty came back and placed down a glass of Duval Leroy champagne as I relaxed into my seat and people watched until doors 1 was closed. The inflight entertainment was ancient. To think that 10 years ago how modern it was and how far the airline industry has come since then makes you appreciate what we have on offer today and yet some people manage to complain.

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The final door was announced closed and departure procedures commenced as the aircraft pushed back from the terminal. We had a long taxi today and after what felt like an eternity we began to puncture through the clouds and climb the friendly sky en route to Singapore. A few turns and as the aircraft balanced out ding, the seatbelt sign vanished and the flight commenced with a bar service to which I stuck to my sacred option of champagne as the linen was laid and the eating essentials placed in preparation for small plates.

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I decided to go with the celeriac prawn remoulade, which was quite acceptable as a started but didn’t leave a wow I want another one memory. The other option under small plate was the Mezze plate known as an assortment of snacks which is pictured below.

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Throughout the time frame of small and main plate I was able to squeeze in another glass of champagne before my grilled salmon with chilli, garlic, cherry tomato and squid ink main dish arrived.

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This dish was very well received and the taste was well balanced with a combination of spice and soy, which complemented the juicy fish cutlet. The one thing that was missing was the squid ink noodles that I was keen on trying.

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The Menu Select exclusive item on today's flight would be the buttermilk fried turkey with zucchini pickles, cos lettuce and chilli roasted mayo.

Efficient Betty made my plate disappear and laid out a spoon which meat that dessert was on it’s way. I sat in my seat being Indecisive whether I should have the ice cream sandwich or the signature chocolate cake topped with double cream raspberry sauce until the dessert trolley was wheeled out before my eyes. Ice cream, a peppermint tea, Valrhona chocolate and a glass of dessert wine it was.

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I let the ice cream thaw out for a good 10 minutes before I devoured the whole thing in a few minutes.

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The food onboard was good, it’s one of the best things that Qantas offer as the dishes are individually plated restaurant style which means there are absolutely no trays to be seen in front of you which means care and perfection are invested in every single dish that comes out of the galley. That also meant that I had food coma so a nap was arranged as the CSM (Chief Purser) set up the bedding mattress on top of the seat.

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The seat reclines into an angled position that’s suitable for a day flight to get a nice snooze and the padding definitely made a notable difference to comfort. I woke an hour later to find a dark cabin and a calm shade of blue moonlighting that drifted me into another snooze before the smell of food engaged my senses and bought me back into the upright position.

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Choices between salt and pepper chicken wings or mozzarella pesto arancini balls were on offer before we began descent into Singapore. I went with chicken wings and to wash it down with a cup of tea which was the perfect snack to hit the spot as I was in between hungry and not.

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Betty swung past and like a magician she handed over a Weis raspberry bar which was the second service item from economy.

The captain made an announcement that we would be arriving 30 minutes early as the crew began to strip the cabin of essentials before the seatbelt sign came back on as the lights of Singapore became larger as we approached the runway in darkness. The pleasurable sound of reverse thrust roared as the aircraft came slowed down and turned off the runway towards our gate.

Overall a good trip and great journey that included Rockpool inspired food, charming and very down to earth crew who nearly always love to interact and chat with passengers onboard the red roo into the once busy hub of Singapore.

A nice little report. Ah yes, I remember those seats. Spent a lot of time in the air on one of those. Ok to Singapore. Not ok to the US. Well done dzinh. Good effort.

Thank you! Theres only so much you can do with it.

My first time on that product compared to the vantage suites and I must say it was a late afternoon departure which made it tolerable an overnight or as you say to the US is :eek:

As usual nice TR. Thanks for sharing ^

Poor seat notwithstanding, that meal looks very nice indeed. I'm already looking forward to flying transcon Business Class aboard a couple of Qantas A330s later this year. Hopefully by then the old seating configuration will be relegated to the history books.

The 330 Suite is quite good. Compared to EK 380 seat I find has much more padding and is more comfortable.

Hmm I'm sure the skybeds are sticking around to do China and a bit of Singapore.

Thank you for reading! Hope I can squeeze in and contribute some more :D

Great report.