SQ 68 SIN-BCN-GRU (Sao Paulo) Inaugural, with Hotel Fasano and more

[StarG]

I saw the lovely Ms P in T3 a few weeks ago. I had just landed from BNE and she was waiting for the Skytrain up to the high A gates on her way to AKL. She was sans Kebaya as she has now been promoted from IFS to Check Trainer, which she had told me about as it happened not long after the inaugural.

The HQ must have heard about her excellent anticipation of DP pax requirements.

[9V-JKL]

Yes, I know...I know.....

and therefore?....

[MAN Flyer]

We were greeted by lovely crew in F, lead by IFS Ms. P.

MAN Flyer's reputation for his love of Dom preceded him into the inaugural flight.
After a welcome greeting onboard, the next thing the IFS said was "I believe you love Dom Perignon very much, Mr. MAN Flyer?"
I will leave him to explain why.

I saw the lovely Ms P in T3 a few weeks ago. I had just landed from BNE and she was waiting for the Skytrain up to the high A gates on her way to AKL. She was sans Kebaya as she has now been promoted from IFS to Check Trainer, which she had told me about as it happened not long after the inaugural.

Yes, I know...I know.....

[nickbot]

From a now infrequent visitor to the site, a belated big thank you for an excellent TR StarG & MAN Flyer Looks like you both had a great time

For noise on an aircraft nothing beats the undercarriage retracting on a 744 when you are in F.

[SQtraveller]

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[StarG]

I was stood in arrivals at T2 yesterday waiting for other family members who had been pulled in to have their baggage scanned when I spotted the Brazilian 777 captain who flew us on the BCN-GRU leg on the inaugural. He is a really nice bloke and he spent some time talking with a few us in the F cabin - myself, StarG and an SQ A380 pilot who was in there - telling us where to go and where not to go in Sao Paulo.

As I walked over to him to say hello he spotted me and said 'Hey, how you doing ?'. I had a quick chat with him and it turned out he he had flown us in from Bali. Small world.

Indeed he is very nice - he flew my GRU-BCN flight as well (as expected).
It was the same aircraft too (9V-SWA).

Had a good chat with him on the return leg as well.

[coffeeblack]

One of my brazilian friends told me that when Varig went bust, various international airlines snapped them up. Must be great for the Brazilian pilots to be able to get back home again.

[MAN Flyer]

I was stood in arrivals at T2 yesterday waiting for other family members who had been pulled in to have their baggage scanned when I spotted the Brazilian 777 captain who flew us on the BCN-GRU leg on the inaugural. He is a really nice bloke and he spent some time talking with a few us in the F cabin - myself, StarG and an SQ A380 pilot who was in there - telling us where to go and where not to go in Sao Paulo.

As I walked over to him to say hello he spotted me and said 'Hey, how you doing ?'. I had a quick chat with him and it turned out he he had flown us in from Bali. Small world.

[JMNG]

Will there be a GRU-SIN?

[SQtraveller]

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[MAN Flyer]

I just love hearing the 77W engine sound during the start of take off roll.

For noise on an aircraft nothing beats the undercarriage retracting on a 744 when you are in F.

[StarG]

StarG
You're good at taking pictures. Very clear, sharp and well taken. Good camera, what is it?
I find the water at Sao Paulo is strong with chlorine. Not that I drank it, you could smell and feel when having a bath or shower.

I don't know about that - many of my pics are actually blurred here and there.

However, I am quite happy with my current camera - it is a Leica V-Lux 20.
The big brother D-Lux 5 (cousin of Panasonic LX-5) can supposedly take better quality pictures, but the zoom ability is quite inadequate.
That's why I went for the V-Lux 20 -- it has 12x zoom feature. Also, the lens retracts into the body of the camera and is closed automatically -- it does not stick out like the D-Lux 5's. Much easier to carry around & use.
Picture quality is reasonably good for me - for a non-DSLR.
It takes decent quality HD videos too. I just love hearing the 77W engine sound during the start of take off roll.

Didn't notice chlorine smell in the hotel shower in Sao Paulo.

[SQFM]

StarG
You're good at taking pictures. Very clear, sharp and well taken. Good camera, what is it?
I find the water at Sao Paulo is strong with chlorine. Not that I drank it, you could smell and feel when having a bath or shower.

[MAN Flyer]

Notice the missing "Sao Paulo" wordings at the gate and on all the depature info boards. Just "GRU". Must be some technical error.

They still haven't sorted this :

'GRU'
via Barcelona

No mention of 'Sao Paulo'.....

[hsf]

Wonderful report, thanks so much!