Eating Ethnic in Oz: SQ221 to Sydney in New A380 Economy, and Qantas Biz to Melbourne

[yflyer]

A range of wonderful dips to start...



...which were great with the basket of Turkish bread that was placed on the table...in fact the bread was delicious enough to eat on its own...



...and then some starters and salads...



...of course having had dinner with Kyo and SQ228 before, I knew the importance of proper pacing during a meal...

[yflyer]

...because the next thing to appear on the table was this humongous platter of meat...



Seven different varieties of meat/kebabs...when the menu said this was for meat lovers, they weren't kidding!

My iPhone X camera could not do justice to this platter placed before us...and of course no iPhone yet could capture the beautiful aroma of grilled, seasoned meat and kebabs...

A pic of our table (Posted with Kyo and SQ228's permission...), just before we started on the meat platter...



The three of us spent a long, long time working our way through this mountain of protein....and I think we made decent headway, although in truth there was probably enough to feed a family of 5 or 6....

[yflyer]

The other thing about Turkish cuisine I learnt: no matter how good the dips and bread, and no matter how tasty the meat and kebabs...save space for dessert!



Lots of different sweets to choose from...I am guessing diabetes is a major healthcare concern in Turkey...

In any case we didn't have to choose...a dessert platter was placed on our table with a nice mix of some of the different delights on offer...



I think I managed a nibble of half of one (Need to work on my pacing...)

And then SQ228 recommended this traditional Turkish beverage...

"Salep...it's made from milk, corn starch and Cinammon..."...



An authentic and wholly satisfying dining experience...and yet another wonderful evening out with SQ228 and Kyo...

[yflyer]

The next day, my flight home was SQ218...a 12.05am departure.

After a hectic work day, I headed back to the hotel (after checkout) for a shower in the lounge before heading to the airport.

Miraculously, that evening, there was just enough time in between the hotel and the airport check-in, to head to Rockpool Bar and Grill Melbourne to get a final express steak fix.



"On the 1205am back to Singapore"...I whatsApped Kyo...

"Gosh, you had time for Rockpool"...he replied...

"I AM at Rockpool :-)"...I texted, accompanied by a snapshot of my Cape Grimm rib-eye...

"I knew it...I KNEW it..." was the fast and furious response from Kyo...

But it was a last minute thing! No time for starter or anything, just a steak! I had just 60 minutes for dinner...

In any case, Kyo had just eaten there the previous Sunday I reminded him...

"But that was another city..."...Kyo had eaten at their Sydney branch...

"I actually prefer SYD Rockpool" I replied..."But this is an F'ing good steak..."

"Outraged..." was Kyo's response. Not sure if he has forgiven me yet for not asking him along...but as I said, it was really spur of the moment, last minute!

After that, it was a late night taxi ride to the MEL...

[yflyer]

A quick check-in (I might have been one of the last...)...and then I tailed the SQ tech and cabin crew into the airside area...



Rather than head to the SQ Silverkris Lounge (Previously covered here), I decided to check out the Air New Zealand (Star Alliance) Lounge instead...



This is a huge lounge, that was about to close for the evening (11pm closing time that day), but there was still time to look around, and have a quick snack/drink.



This is a very nice lounge, with a modern design and a very sleek, stylish vibe...







Large dining area...



Some of the F&B available...



Decent liquor and beer selection...

[yflyer]

Soup and salads / snacks on offer in the late evening...







Espresso Bar...



Work area...



Well equipped and stylish shower rooms...



Overall, I found the Air New Zealand lounge in MEL to be very impressive -- a very viable alternative to the SQ lounge if one felt like a change of scenery.

[yflyer]

And then it was time to board SQ218, A350 service from Melbourne to Singapore...



To be continued!

[SQ228]

Reading this from Changi T3 and feeling very homesick. Almost there now!

[eminere™]

Hi yflyer, the privacy shield in the middle seats is fixed on the A332/3 aircraft. Only the newer iteration of the J seat on the B789 features a retractable shield.

[yflyer]

Reading this from Changi T3 and feeling very homesick. Almost there now!

Hope you had a good flight home, SQ228!

Hi yflyer, the privacy shield in the middle seats is fixed on the A332/3 aircraft. Only the newer iteration of the J seat on the B789 features a retractable shield.

Thanks, eminere™! I have corrected my post!

[yflyer]

Continuing with the final part of this TR...

My seat was in the economy cabin of this A350...

This was a spacious 3-3-3...



The seat was a version of the 2013 Y seat, which is similar to, but not identical to, the seat on SQ's 77WN/77WR. This is a very comfortable seat, with superb recline (By Y standards)...great for red-eye's in Y.



This was quite a full flight, so I picked a seat in the forward section of the Y cabin. On more lightly loaded flights, I would normally pick seats in the rear, to increase the odds of an empty seat next to me, or even that best case scenario: a row of 3 Y seats to myself...

Retractable footrest...



I generally sleep on red-eyes, but many other pax spent the flight watching movies and TV on the wonderful Krisworld IFE system...



Bathrooms with amenities such as toothbrushes and combs (Although SQ no longer stocks razors in Y bathrooms)...



A very welcome hot towel...



...and then a very quiet take-off into the night sky...

[yflyer]

Two meals served on this flight...



First, a refreshment after take-off...



SQ must be commended for serving a hot refreshment as the first meal on this 7+ hour sector, and not just that, you get a choice of two selections.

And prior to take-landing, a hot breakfast was served, again with two choices.



This is probably as good as economy class catering gets these days.

My refreshment, as served...



I opted for the fried rice...



This was served quite soon after take-off...



Very tasty!



My usual night cap: a gin & tonic...



As on my outbound flight, this came without any lemon slice...next time I'm going to ask for a slice of lemon with my G&T, and see what the response is...to paraphase SQ's recent ad campaign: "...it's the little things..."

[yflyer]

About 2 and a half hours prior to landing, breakfast was served...



I wish SQ would somehow shift this to 90 minutes prior...that additional hour of sleep would be priceless...

By then we were almost over Bali...





I opted for the noodles...



Metal cutlery...and a real glass!

The noodles were delicious...

[yflyer]

Superb cabin ambience in Y on this full A350...



Cruising altitude: 40,000 feet...just prior to decent...



Pre-dawn arrival into Singapore, with great views of the Singapore skyline out the left side windows...



At the gate in T2, with one of Silkair's new 737 Max 8's parked next door...



Out in the terminal, I took the opportunity to check out the Orchid Garden in the airside area before clearing customs...



Always very relaxing to wander around these green spaces, looking at the fish...



...and the orchids, including our national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim...

[yflyer]

Final reflections...

My overnight flight home in A350 economy was very comfortable, with the caveat that any red-eye experience would have been better in either PEY or J...

As on my previous flights in economy on SQ's A350, I found the seat to be great, and I felt that the lower cabin pressure had benefits as well.

Comparing SQ with QF on the MEL-SIN sector: My previous Qantas MEL-SIN experience was in economy on a day time flight on QF's A330, which had the new J, but which was fitted with a refurbished A330 Y seat (Not the all-new Y seat that some other QF A330's have been fitted with). Comparing this previous QF MEL-SIN flight with my recent SQ flight, I would say that the experience on the newer SQ A350 Y topped my previous QF A330 Y flight in practically all respects. Of course I haven't yet tried the new QF A330 Economy seat, which may be more of a match for SQ's A350 Y hard product.

As for QF's A330 Business Class product, I was quite impressed with it, even on the short SYD-MEL sector. I think it is a very strong J hard product which can compete with SQ's various J products. Some might even prefer the QF J seat as it allows one to lie straight, rather than at an angle, and of course, does not require one to stand up to flip the seat.

If I head to SYD again, I will try to book SQ's new A380 if at all possible... it is a very comfortable way to fly. And now that 9V-SKY (What a nice rego) and 9V-SKZ have entered / will enter the fleet, we will have more destinations where we can experience the new A380 cabin products.

And if you find yourself in Sydney's Qantas domestic terminal, do check out the Qantas Heritage Collection, if only to peer into the model Connie to see what travel was like in the era of propliners and a Kangaroo route with many, many hops!



Last, I am looking forward to heading back to Australia again for more food, drink and company...many old places (and friends) to revisit, and new places to check out -- I'm sure KeithMEL, SQ228 and Kyo have many other favourites to suggest.

Thanks for reading!