GA C to AMS and Back: A Pictorial

[UMD]

Prelude: The GA Girls

The GA Girls are the heart and soul of GA's new rebranding initiative. They are the ones who are tasked to deliver the new Garuda Indonesia Experience on board GA flights to the passengers and they do not disappoint.



Ever since I started to fly with Garuda Indonesia again 2 years ago, I have been able to observe how these GA girls gradually improve on their skill sets in their attempt to deliver that perfect service on board. Although they are not yet SQ girls, they do however have the energy, the sincerity, and the Indonesian charms that can make anyone's flight with Garuda enjoyable.

Background of the Trip

I needed to attend a happy not-coffee shops-and-windows shopping-related occasion somewhere near Amsterdam in July. Having been pampered with SQ, I have always found it very difficult to fly with other airlines long haul. Until today, there is still something about SQ that makes me feel at home whenever I fly with them. So, the search for an alternative is no easy task. Thanks to the recent SQ's cost cutting measures, however, I find it less guilty now to fly with another airline.

It so happened that an avid SQTalker laid out a challenge for me to try out Garuda Indonesia. I have been quite keen on Garuda lately so much so that a few SQTalkers here have actually referred me as an in-house SQTalk Garuda expert. The fact is that I have been quite impressed with the transformation within Garuda that I have been flying them quite often short haul to CGK. However, expert I was not at least not until I had a chance to fly with them long haul.

So, I (along with my partner) decided to fly with Garuda Indonesia long haul from Singapore to Amsterdam via Jakarta with a stopover in Dubai. Here is more of a pictorial trip (with low resolution pics for faster loading) report for your enjoyment.

GA833, SIN - CGK, B738

The experience started at the very spacious GA's check-in counters in row 1 @T3

Does CGK or KUL have the most number of flights out of SIN?


A new set of crew will service GA833 this evening. 2 sets of crew stay overnight in SIN.


GA's ground agent in SIN (and in CGK as well) still need to learn how to implement a proper boarding process. There is actually a fool proof boarding process introduced by GA with colored stickers on our boarding passes. Unfortunately, it was not implemented properly. Maybe it is also the nature of Indonesian bound passengers who would swamp the gate at a slight indication of the commencement of a boarding process.

There went our priority boarding as premium pax.


SQ still dominates SIN-CGK-SIN sector and it carries the most number of passengers out of and into CGK. GA is still trying to win over the heart of many Indonesians who still have a lot of love for SQ. Can GA do it? GA has pulled all the stops here in its product offerings. Despite using a smaller single aisle aircraft, GA has equipped its planes for all the regional routes with the latest cabin entertainment technology. Good on GA for distributing the headsets and activating the PTVs on this 1 1/2 hour hop.


Welcome drink and hot towels were offered as usual. SQ should learn from GA on how to handle out Oshiburi. No tongs - that's the way.


Service commenced with laying of a tablecloth by the crew. Food was a choice of Chinese beef in black pepper sauce (which was very delicious) or the Indonesian Nasi Ayam (which was also very tasty) accompanied by mushroom salad.




Bread rolls were offered as well but was not taken up by me and partner as we were trying to cut down our carb intake. So it was either bread or rice.

But who can refuse some ice-cream?


and a topping up of an ice cold ginger ale?


A visit to the toilet which was clean was however a disappointing experience because of this classic Boeing's old type toilet problem...


The missing weight stoppers! These stoppers are there to keep the toilet seat and the cover up. Missing any of these means one particular sex of human being will have to piss with one hand holding the seat up. This was what I had to do and I did not enjoy it a bit.

I do hope GA have a cabin faulty log that the purser would fill out to ensure this type of cabin defect can be rectified immediately as soon as the plane land in a destination. But judging at the number of stoppers that were missing, I believe there was no such process in place. And observing this GA's purser on this particular flight, I doubt he would fill up the log if there was indeed such a process in place.

The purser on this particular flight was not interested in serving any passengers at all. I believe he suffered greatly from the seniority syndrome who believes in slaving out the more junior crew member. Kudos to the 1 crew member serving the front premium cabin for working hard to make sure we all had a good flight while her purser unfortunately decided that his time was better spent reading a newspaper. GA should make sure that their pursers work harder to ensure a better customer and crew experience on board. A key learning point for GA?

More innovations to attract younger and more gadget loving passengers? The 2 passengers in front of us were actually playing games against each other.


Arrival at a remote bay in CGK just in time for us to make our transfer. Transfer was a cinch in CGK with GA's agents met us at the arrival gate and accompanied us all the way to the escalator leading up to the departure level of T2.

Next leg: GA 88, CGK-DXB-AMS, A332

[UMD]

GA 88, CGK-DXB-AMS, A332

Boarding commenced for GA 88 at a remote bay as well. All the better since I could have the opportunity of snapping a photo like this:


Greeted at the door by a very courteous and friendly purser. It was truly a sign of a good flight to come. Seats at 3A and C that took us to AMS that evening. Thick blanket and big fluffy pillow would add to the comfort of our flights.




Welcome drink and the signature on a plate hot towel service...the featured drink was the mixture of tomarillo and passion fruit, a local popular mixture from North Sumatra.


Amenity kit - basic bag with a good size toothbrush and a Colgate paste, a good size hair brush, a pair of eyeshades, socks, ear plugs, and a L'Occitane lip balm.


A well-stocked toilet with L'Occitane products


Menu distributed - choice of full spread Indonesian Rijstafel, Thai Beef Curry with rice, or Chicken Steak with Potatoes


Ready for departure with the mood lighting in full swing


SQ should take note on how to properly designate a crew rest area in a passenger cabin.


Took off in a very light load that night especially in the front cabin.

Drink service commenced - I ordered Earl Grey and cashew nuts were served on a saucer (not warm, however).


Meal service started...

[UMD]

GA 88, CGK-DXB-AMS, A332 (Continued)

The crew came to set up our table. Garuda medium and long haul flights implement a trayless meal service.

Meal started with a bowl of local South Sumatran soup known as Tekwan...GA needs to work on the temperature of this soup as it is a bit on a cold side. It was very tasty especially with the green sambal and a squeeze of lemon.


Then the crew came with the cart and offered the incredibly tender West Sumatran Beef Cheek Sate Padang and lontong (or rice cake)




The signature Garuda's butter in rose - only ex-CGK. I wish GA would pay more attention to the taste of the food ex-CGK than to its butter. I love the work on the butter but Garuda's ex-CGK, like CX's ex-HKG, catering is quite poor in terms of cooking up tasty food.


The Rijstafel spread...you could control your own portion. The crews actually asked how much rice and what toppings you would like on your rice. They were quick to recommend that you tried every topping.


And...it turned out to be like Nasi Padang.


My partner actually went for Chicken Steak.


Cheese, tea service, dessert, and fruit were then offered.











That concluded the main meal service for the CGK-DXB sector. Just before arrival into DXB, croissant sandwiches were served with tea and drinks in C and muffins were served in Y.

[UMD]

GA 88, CGK-DXB-AMS, A332 (Continued)

After the main meal service, hot towels were given out.




The bar in the passengers area was stocked with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.


Cabin was then set to a night mood lighting mode until it went completely dark in about 15 mins. Meanwhile, the crew had given out bottle waters to each passenger.


I then ventured to the back and were approached by one of the girls and asked if I would like to have anything to drink when I was just entering the back galley. Then we started to talk before 3 of her colleagues joined in as well. These girls were so keen to strike a conversation with any passengers. I spent about half an hour talking to the crew interrupted only by an occasional call by passengers who needed their help which the crew quickly answered to. Our topics of conversation ranged from crew rotation to the new Garuda to the best recipe for baking kuih lapis to how 1 of the girls who just came back to work after her 3 months maternity leave had accidentally got pregnant (non-graphical version of course) after her 1st 2 children had grown into the early teens. These girls were truly down-to-earth and open minded that you felt like talking among friends. Never had I felt like this before whenever I had chatted with any cabin crew members of any other airlines. These girls could really make Garuda proud.


Somewhere above Chennai, there was a heavy turbulence and the crew politely requested that I went back to my seats carefully. Upon getting to my seats, I switched my seat to flat bed mode and I fell asleep for around 3 hours before being woken up by another heavy turbulence. We were only about 1 and 1/2 hours from DXB and the crew asked if I would like to have a sandwich before arrival which I gladly agreed to.


Hot towels to refresh our sleepy faces and mood lighting in full swing again as we prepared to land in DXB at closed to 2am local time.




Arrived at gate 113 next to a TK and lots of EK planes


@ DXB T1 - transfer was surprisingly quite effortless.

[UMD]

GA 88, CGK-DXB-AMS, A332 (Continued)

Boarding for AMS commenced 45 minutes after our arrival into DXB. Greeted at the door by a new set of crew that joined us from DXB.

As usual, hot towels and welcome drinks were offered. Then one of the more senior crew came and greeted my partner and I and advised us what would be on offer during the flight and told us the flight time to AMS that night would be around 6h 45 mins.

A manual safety demonstration that can be fun to watch sometimes as it is getting rarer nowadays.


After take off drinks. I fell asleep and decided to skip the light hot snacks as it was after all around 3:30 local time in DXB.


Woke up after about 3 hours to find a fully stocked snack basket in the passengers area. The crew asked if I would like something to drink or would like to eat something from the basket which also included cup noodles. I turned down the offer and she then informed me that breakfast would be served at around 1 1/2 hours before arrival into AMS which was still 1 1/2 hours away.


My flat bed and it was certainly very bright outside already somewhere in Europe.


The girls started the elaborate breakfast service with the trolley.


Table was set with hot towel and fresh fruit.


Yoghurt served in a bowl...nice!


My choice for breakfast ... nasi goreng, subcontinent style as basmati rice was used instead of the regular Southeast Asian grains. Reminded me of my nasi goreng in Mumbai.


My partner went for a more conventional omelette and sausage.


Hot towels were offered again after breakfast and soon after the cabin was prepared for landing.

Landed in AMS on time on one of the closest runways to the terminal before taxiing past CX, MH, and SQ planes that have all arrived earlier and parked at one end of the terminal. We kept going and finally parked next to lots of KLM and Delta planes. A sign of SkyTeam to come?




PK-GPJ, the first GA's A332 that took us from CGK to AMS.


That concluded the 1st part of the trip report.

[UMD]

A short but memorable BA experience

After a side trip to Paris and Venice, my partner and I flew back to AMS on BA. BA offered a wonderful fare from VCE but we had to transfer at LGW with a 2 hours lay over time. The flight itself was fine. I always like BA's cabin service and even on a 45 mins hop to AMS from LGW, they served us drinks and mixed nuts.


The B737-400 that flew the route was very clean despite having a LCC-ish cabin look with very tight seat pitch.


But some people do know how to make their flight enjoyable. His own private PTV with a Bose noise cancelling headphone.


Arriving at AMS on the closest runway to the terminal, our plane then taxied to the D concourse and parked closed to the now retired Fokker-100 that has now been fixed at the waving galery on the top of the terminal.


Our baggages were supposed to be delivered on belt 2 so we all waited there. 5 minutes later 20 luggages came out but only 2 - 3 were picked up by the passengers on our flight. Suddenly, the monitor on top of the belt showed a message that all luggages from our flight had been unloaded. So, where are OUR luggages? OUR because only 2 passengers out of close to 100 passengers got the luggages. Appareantly, BA left all our luggages at LGW. Just how did they manage to do that I had no idea and I found that quite funny. You bet lots of passengers especially the Brits were not very amused with this especially when the ground handling agent required all of US to file a lost luggage form.


Of all my years of flying, this was the first time ever to learn that it was possible for an airline to leave behind the luggages of every passenger. To think that we flew with 18 - 17 other luggages that didn't belong to anyone of our flight was also a bit scary.

[UMD]

GA 89, AMS-DXB-CGK, A332

The morning of our departure, I convinced my partner to go to the airport 3 hours before departure. After checking in and got the VAT tax refund forms stamped by the EU customs officer, I went up to the "Panaromic Terrace - as they call it at Schiphol" to do some plane spotting.


We then went to one of the 2 KLM lounges that GA pax could use. The lounge has a signature of the new SkyTeam lounge.








An entertainment room for watching movies and tv shows

[UMD]

GA 89, AMS-DXB-CGK, A332

Getting to the gate at D47 and boarding had commenced.


The plane that would take us today was PK-GPI.




Greeted by a very friendly crew at the door


A glass of champagne welcomed me along with a hot towel.


Again, GA girl was in action helping the boarding process and welcoming pax on board.


Doors closed, we then taxied to the longest and the farthest "Polderbaan" runway for take off.




Look at how far that terminal building is from the entrance of this runway.


After take off, nuts and drinks were served. Garuda's Indonesian mixed nuts were extremely good as they were mixed with special spices, kaffir limes, and garlic. Of course, cashew nuts were always good too.


A glass of ginger ale always accompanies the nuts well.



Menu for the flight was distributed and Rijstafel again would be served on AMS - DXB sector on this flight. How would this fare compared to the Rijstafel out of CGK?

[UMD]

GA 89, AMS-DXB-CGK, A332 (Continued)

Hot Towels were given out again just before lunch was served.


All set up and ready for action


Sate Padang with Lontong


Garlic bread which was actually very moist and not stale.


Gado Gado (Indonesian style salad in peanut sauce) instead of soup on this day flight Rijstafel.


The girls in action with the main event


The main event with a choice of saffron or white rice. Again, highly recommended by the crew to go with all the toppings.


Better than the ex-CGK catering so pardon me for cleaning up the plate. This Rijstafel was tastier and spicier than the one served on the CGK - DXB leg out of CGK. I think it is ironic that a Dutch kitchen can serve a tastier Indonesian fare (regardless of its Rijstafel moniker) than the Indonesian kitchen. The Dutch lady in front of me actually asked for a second serving of Rijstafel and the girl went back to the galley and made her a second serving. WOW!


The dessert today was a mocha caramel pie - yummy!


I was so full by then that I had to pass the cheese and asked for sliced fruits instead but they ran out of sliced fruits. The girl was very apologetic and told me that for some reasons they didn't upload enough sliced fruit plates today. She had no idea why. As I was full already anyway, it was fine with me but GA should have planned better. The girl then asked if I would like anything else to drink and as usual, I went for a cup of Earl Grey tea served in a Garuda way. Garuda's protocol of serving tea is to have the crew hand you your choice of tea bag and pour the hot water from a tea pot to your tea cup.


That concluded the lunch service. The girls then passed out bottle of water to all pax before they retired to the galley. But these girls, similar to the girls from all the previous flights, walked around the cabin quite often and I noticed they were extremely quick to response to a call button. The guy in front of us unintentionally pressed the wrong button 4 times and the girls attended to him 4 times in a flash.

"Limitless" comes highly recommended by another prominent SQTalker. So, I decided to watch this movies before ending up in a C galley to chat with the 4 girls serving the C section that day.


The girl who served my section again apologized to me for running out of fruit and asked that I wrote a complain to the GA management. I assured her it was fine. When I asked her how the load was that day she told me that it was 181 out of 186 in the back and 16 out of 36 in the front. Not bad at all, GA. Later, from DXB, it would be 183 out of 186 in Y and 24 out of 36 in C. I earlier noticed that 1 of the toilets did not have the L'Occitane Green Tea EDT. I asked what had happened and the girls told me that it had probably been liberated by a passenger on the earlier flight and they could only replace it in Jakarta. They told me that it happened quite often. Now, GA actually use the regular (bigger) size of all the L'Occitane toiletries in the premium toilets instead of the smaller size that SQ were using. I asked them why they didn't do the SQ way which was to remove and to store the cap during the flight. They told me they tried that before too but it couldn't prevent some excited pax to liberate them. They then told me a very funny incident regarding one lady pax on a domestic flight who had liberated the EDT from the toilet despite having no cap. When the crew found out about it, the crew went to her and gave her the cap and said: "Mdm, you forgot the cap for the EDT that you just took". With no shame or whatsoever the lady pax actually gladly took the cap from the crew. Apparently, these girls do share stories of their flying experience.

Time flies when one is having fun and we were only 1 hour before arrival into DXB. The flight to DXB from AMS only took 6h 30 mins. Just before arrival, a panini cheese and turkey sandwich and a samosa were served as light snack along with ice cream.

[UMD]

GA 89, AMS-DXB-CGK, A332 (Continued)

Note: The crew for this next leg from DXB - CGK were indeed the best set of crew that I have had a pleasure to experience on this entire trip. They could have easily been mistaken for the best of the SQ crew. If the crew in all the previous legs were very friendly and nice and were doing all they could to make your flight enjoyable, this set of crew was just that but in a very organized and structured kind of way that reminded me of SQ. Coming soon!

As usual, after boarding, hot towels and welcome drinks were served.


Then one of the girls walked around the cabin and offered us newspapers and reading materials. When asked if the Jakarta Post were the current issue, she apologized and said it was actually from the day before because the flight from Jakarta had not yet arrived.

Then menu was distributed. This time 2 menus were given - a dinner menu and a beverage menu. Now, the crew on my previous 3 legs did not distribute any beverage menu at all.

After take-off drink served with mixed nuts. I asked for ginger ale with ice and the crew served me a glass of ginger ale and a full can.


Dinner service commenced with table setting.


Thai Beef salad as the appetizer.......


.....accompanied by a French Red. 2 Reds and 1 White were carried on the wine rack clipped to the trolley. From the beverage menu, there were also 1 more white and a champagne besides some cocktails and mocktails. I noticed GA actually has Mojito on the cocktail list and yes they did carry fresh mints to make the beverage.


Garlic bread was even better than the one served on the previous leg ex-AMS. it was bigger too.


Then followed by main course. I went for Stir-fry chicken and rice while my partner went for Beef Steak.




The steak was extremely tender and was just about right with pink center.


Cheese plate was served.


Then a strawberry shortcake which I passed and sliced fruits.

[UMD]

GA 89, AMS-DXB-CGK, A332 (Continued)

To conclude the meal, tea and coffee were offered. As usual, I went for Earl Grey while my partner went for coffee. When she asked for coffee, the girl asked what kind of coffee my partner would like. Garuda had cappuccino, espresso, Javanese coffee tubruk, or the Sulawesi Toraja coffee.


On this long haul flight, coffee and hot chocolate are served in a big mug.


And some pralines


After dinner, I went to the galley and found the crew cleaning up the trolley for storage. But just before they removed the wine rack, I asked if it was Ok for me to take a picture to show how the wine rack was clipped on the legs of the trolley. The crew gladly allowed me and they waited until I finished snapping away before they put the trolley away. They were surprised when I told them it was the first time I saw this clip-on wine rack. I told them that I didn't see them in the previous 3 legs.


One of the crew then took out a snack basket and put on the counter in the passengers area. As she was placing the snack basket, she asked if I fancied anything from the basket. I told her I was fine and she told me to let her know if I would like to have a cup noodle later.


Mood lighting was on again before it gradually faded to complete dark in about 15 minutes. The crew then passed out bottled water to every pax.


As I was still standing in the galley, that prompted one of the crew to ask if I had managed to catch some sleep during my previous flight. She asked whether I was tired or not and maybe I would like to have a cup of hot chocolate to help me sleep. I thanked her and said no. Then, she went on to ask whether I had been to Europe for business or pleasure. I told her for pleasure. She said that must have been nice and then asked where we had visited. We then chatted for a while and that's how I found out about the snack basket service. Apparently, no snack basket service if there is a full Rijstafel service. That's why snack basket was neither available on the CGK - DXB leg nor on the AMS - DXB flight.

[UMD]

GA 89, AMS-DXB-CGK, A332 (Continued)

3 hours after after the dinner service, I finally decided to catch some shut eyes. Waking up 1 and 1/2 hours before landing in CGK to the breakfast service which started with juices and hot towel.


The 2 best GA girls serving our section


Continental breakfast started with fresh fruits




Continental breakfast was served. Now, this being an 8 hour flight, I do believe that Garuda should have had a full hot breakfast service instead. However, the danish and the croissant did taste nice.


Immigration on board service for the business class pax started only after the breakfast service was over.


These 3 girls really did remind me of SQ girls - more about that later. Here, they were seen preparing the galley for landing.


While taxiing to gate, one of the crew (Fendy, I believe) walked to the end of the business class cabin. As soon as we were allowed to leave our seats, she closed the curtain that separated business class from economy class cabin so all the premium pax could disembark first.


Waiting for clearance to open the door at CGK. This girl was responsible for keeping the business class toilets spick and span throughout the flight.



Now, as I said before, I was truly impressed with this set of crew that worked on this DXB - CGK sector. All the crew in the previous 3 legs did provide a very courteous and down to earth service but I couldn't help to notice that they still seemed a bit disorganized at times. This set of crew, however, seemed to be able to provide the same courteous and down to earth service while also following some kind of service protocol which I assume did exist in the new Garuda. The observations made during this particular sector below were why I was so impressed with them:

- A menu was handed out along with a beverage menu inserted in the center. The crew in the previous 3 sectors didn't hand out any beverage menu at all although they did make it known that other beverages (alcoholic and non alcoholic) were available in flight.
- After take-off drinks were served in full size along with cans. The crew in the previous 3 sectors only served it in glasses.
- Wines were served from the wine rack clipped to the serving trolley which made them very much visible to the pax and the crew by default asked each pax if they would like wines or other soft drinks to go with the meal. The crew in the previous 3 sectors didn't have the wines or any beverages on the rack and instead asked if we would like any other beverages including wines which they would then go to the galley and brought out our order. However, they did bring out 2 red wines for pax to choose before they poured.
- There were 2 English kids (a boy and a girl) traveling in business class with their parent and the boy suddenly experienced some motion sickness. The crew who worked on that aisle rushed to comfort him several times and helped him to the toilet and cleaned him up while allowing his dad to continue enjoy the golf show he was watching on his PTV.
- The crew also showed great concern when the kids did not eat anything at all from their plates and at one point also tried to feed the boy. They had kids meal (which was also being served with the same table setting as the regular meals) but apparently they were only interested in the candy bars that came with their meals.
- During the flight, I noticed the same crew helped fixing the blanket for the 2 kids. She even tried to adjust their pillows to make them comfortable.
- One of the crew who worked in our section was apparently assigned toilet duty and she practically cleaned and wiped dry the toilet every time some one used the facility. The 2 toilets in our section were indeed spick and span.
- Priority disembarking for the business class passengers was executed properly with 2 crews guarding the curtain that separated the C and Y sections.

Conclusion:
Although there are still some inconsistencies issue to be sorted out, I believe Garuda Indonesia now is a good airline that really deserves its 4 star ranking by we-know-what. Services from the crew are indeed top notch. While the set of crew that worked on this particular DXB-CGK sectors was the best of any GA crew I had a pleasure to fly with and the one which could have been easily mistaken for the best of SQ crew, the other sets were indeed very good as well despite being a bit disorganized at times. If there is anything that Garuda still needs to improve is the quality and the presentation of its meal. While the Rijstafel is a very good idea and I do like how they serve it, the taste ex-CGK is indeed very disappointing. GA also needs to redesign its pre-plated meal presentation and should do away with its current boat like shaped casserole dish which is too narrow for anyone to dig a fork and spoon in. GA should just go with a simple round dish for its pre-plated meals similar to the one SQ is using for short flights under 3 hours and go with a fully presented "meal on a plate" like SQ and MH for any flights over 3 hours for its premium cabin.

GA should also focus on making its lounge more comfortable. The lounge in CGK although commands a good view of the tarmac do look really tired and needs to be refreshed. I hope the entry to SkyTeam in 2012 will mean Garuda will re-design its lounge in CGK to SkyTeam's standard. Garuda can learn from KLM how to re-design its lounge.

One last thing is how I wish GA will install interactive flight map program on its 4 HU's ntu A332 just like the one installed on its B738, A333, and its new A332. For frequent flyers like us, the flight map sometimes is one of the most entertaining program on the PTVs.

All in all, I did enjoy my Garuda experience to AMS very much and was very much impressed with the transformation that has happened in Garuda. GA is certainly no SQ yet but it does have a potential to be another very good airline in our region just like SQ. I am definitely happy to fly both any time.

[milehighj]

What a great start to your European journey.

Looking forward to more.

[SQflyergirl]

Keep it coming!

[j.lin]

Great report so far! I am looking forward for more =)