SQ A350 Y to Copenhagen: Bicycles, The Little Mermaid, and Lunch at Noma

[yflyer]

Another Great TR yflyer! Once again, yr words and pics vividly transported me through yr journey. For the aviation and travel geek that is me, and having not flown A350, those detailed accounts of yr flight are useful references.

Thanks very much for reading, jammed! Really appreciate your kind comments and feedback! SQ has such a huge A350 fleet these days, if you are heading anywhere on SQ these days, you are bound to eventually find yourself on one!

I appreciate the amount of pre-planning and efforts devoted o items to cover, angle of photos, details to focus, etc, having tried to write a few TRs myself.

These days, after so many TR's, whipping out my phone to take photos of the seats and aircraft cabin, is almost like an automatic reflex :-) ... the moves are already in my muscle memory, haha...

Your report of CPH cemented my conviction to head there one day - many of yr pics confirmed conversations with my Danish neighbour. As a side note, I’m amazed that this 60+ chap continues to draw teh equivalent of SGD2,500 from his Danish pension, though he pointed out his 30+ % taxes paid thoughout his working life back in CPH. Were you able to speak with any locals to get sense of this?

That's a good point there...while I didn't go into any deep discussions of the system, I did get the impression that Denmark was a fairly egalitarian society, without a huge gap between the haves and have nots. I believe there is a very strong social safety net, I am not surprised that your neighbour draws a generous pension.

I did speak to the taxi driver who brought me to Duck and Cover, who was South Asian by origin, but born in Denmark, and he was very happy with life in Copenhagen. I asked him point blank: Was Denmark a good place for him? And he nodded and said yes without hesitation. In some other countries, you ask an immigrant taxi driver what he thought of life and society in his/her new home, and you get a long story about what is good and often what is bad, but this gentleman was in happy.

noma is lovely - all the flowers just made the food so instagramable I’m surprised not to find more younger digital natives there. Though the price-point must have been a high hurdle. I’m a small eater - these days - and dont think I’ll be pulled that way, but you have persuaded me with yr report that Noma certainly a connoisseur’s milestone.

The Noma meal was quite special! Yes my fellow diners were all avid Instagrammers (Not influencers, mind you, but folks with regular lives, who also happen to post regularly on Instagram) and the pics looked great! More importantly, they were more than pretty pics, but offered up something very satisfying to the tastebuds and senses too. These days there is so much stuff on Instagram that is just over the top and there to impress/shock/awe... while the Noma dishes were photogenic, the focus was on the cuisine and not how to make a big impression on social media...

Quantity wise I didn't feel overly full at the end because, while there were many courses, it was spread over 2.5 to 3 hours. I am not a big eater either (Really! :-) ) and I managed to finish it all..

Yes, this should definitely be on your list if you are heading to Copenhagen. In fact, I would even suggest getting a reservation first, than planning a trip around the date!

Finally yr Run Reports. That’s almost yflyer signature isn’t it; and you have outdone yrself this time with the run-map of the Kastellet. Out of curiosity (actually envy) how long did you clock for yr various runs? In my earlier yrs i was able to clock 40min for a 10k but more like 80min nowadays; you on the other hand are able to retain solid breath control to snap sharp pics amidst such distances.

The runs in Copenhagen were great! Perfect weather to run, and great footpaths too, although one thing I had to remember was never to set foot on the cycling paths! I was loudly reminded several times to stay on the pedestrian path while jogging, as cyclists whizzed past.

Your timing of 40 min for 10k is amazing! That is incredibly fast! You must have been an athlete! These days I typically do 10k in 60 min when in Singapore (6 min per km pace), which is comfortable, but on these sightseeing runs, I often go slower as I stop to take pics etc, so these runs typically end up 65-70 min for 10km. Quite slow, so breathlessness is not an issue when taking pics!

The only times I nearly killed myself on a run were on hot summer days in Dubai and Tampa, Florida, where I was foolhardy enough to do midday or late morning runs... and also a run in Lisbon, where I thought I had to reach my end point by a certain time in order to enter the attraction before closing time.

I’m afraid you might have raised the bar upon yrself - i for one am expecting an even more detailed and picturesque TR next round, ha ha ha. Well done, yflyer!

Thanks again, jammed! 12 hours after I landed from CPH, I was back at the airport to catch the nonstop to SFO...TR up shortly! The trips are coming up thick and fast now, so expect more Trip Reports between now and the end of the year!

[SQfanatic]

Thanks, SQfanatic! Yes a very nice country, which reminded me of Singapore in some ways, for example small and safe city, law-abiding people, great public transport infra, superb quality of life, and yet was so different in so many other ways: the lack of crowds, the fairly homogenous society (Though there is a growing immigrant population), and liberal attitude towards graffiti and some substance abuse (e.g. in Christiana)...



It is quite a long way to the F gates from T3, and agree it's a pain. I guess they are running short of gates...



I was pleasantly surprised to see that the plans were time-based as well. Data-based plans are just ridiculous, as it is impossible to judge the amount of data your phone/tablet/computer uses these days. Hope it is not a trial, and something permanent. Not sure if this is fleet wide, but I sure hope so.




Yes, the A350's that do the SIN-SFO-SIN routes have the new 2017 Y. Coincidentally I just did SIN-SFO-SIN on SQ32/31 too, and will be doing a TR on that shortly! Note that 3-3-3 on the A350 is definitely more spacious and comfortable than 3-4-3 on a 77W. There are few cabin products out there worse than 3-4-3 on the 777. I think 3-3-3 on the 787 is not great either, though SQ's 787-10 Y, in 3-3-3 is the best of the worst...




Those are very comfortable flights. SQ33 has a perfect departure time of 10pm out of SFO. You have a good night's sleep on the plane, then maybe wake up a bit early, and you arrive in Singapore about 5.30am in the morning in Singapore and start your day. Perfect! The non-stop from SFO-SIN is now typically 15+ or at most 16 hours. In the good old days, SQ1 SFO-HKG-SIN was my favourite: You leave late at night, then sleep on the plane, and arrive in HKG in the morning. Of course after that you have a 3+ hour hop to Singapore, but at least you could stretch your legs and have a nice breakfast in the airport in HKG. Much more convenient now with the non-stop. But I also have such treasured memories of SQ2/SQ1 operated by 744's in the days of Kai Tak Airport with its amazing landing.

That may be so, but that could change since T2 has opened and more certain flights could slowly move to that terminal.

Well, I'll report back on the Wifi situation in my upcoming December trip if it's really on the A350. All A350's as far as I know long haul will have Panasonic wifi. The 787-10's from what I heard have the same Panasonic wifi, too. Not 100% sure if I'll use the wifi on the 787-10 on the 3-4 hours flight to and from Chennai, but I'll report back what I find.

I'm looking forward to your TR on SQ32/31. I was referring to the style/shape of the seats which are pretty identical to CX's 77W seating in 3-4-3, also meaning no touch-screen remote, but everything has to be touched on the screen. On SQ, saw some pictures, and looks like the call button and a few buttons are on the seat itself, that's what's a little different. I flew UA's 77W transcon to New York and back to SFO in July and everything has to be controlled on the screen including the call button.

[hybridace101]

The familiar Journey through Singapore safety video was played. Time flies...I sometimes still refer to it as the "new" SQ safety video, although it has been in use since 2017. Today's version had Danish subtitles...

Interesting trip report. Nice to see trips to Scandinavia. Those are actually Swedish subtitles.

[yflyer]

Interesting trip report. Nice to see trips to Scandinavia. Those are actually Swedish subtitles.

Thanks for reading, hybridace101! And thanks for clarifying that the safety video has Swedish subtitles, rather than Danish...what a newbie / ignoramus mistake! Will correct the post!

[SQueeze]

Wow. Noma is spectacular. And the place looks better than the previous which was like in a warehouse. The dishes look more colourful than previously too, and more beautiful!

I have been vegetarian for the last few weeks and still adjusting to the taste of meat now and looking at your pictures, my mouth waters ...
The radish pie looks exceptionally delicious. Is it savoury? What was the taste like? Like sashimi? So lately in Mumbai, Peruvian and Japanese-peruvian have been trending and they have been using fruits like watermelon to make vegetarian "fish" and I don't know how they cook them, but they become the texture of sashimi and they work perfectly in ceviches and tiraditos. This dish looks like that (like tuna sashimi). Yumm.

[yflyer]

Wow. Noma is spectacular. And the place looks better than the previous which was like in a warehouse. The dishes look more colourful than previously too, and more beautiful!

Noma was an amazing dining experience, and yes the location and building etc were all part of the experience. I never got the chance to try the original location. Since you've tried the original, you need to go to the new one and let us know how it compares!

I have been vegetarian for the last few weeks and still adjusting to the taste of meat now and looking at your pictures, my mouth waters ...

Somehow for this meal, I did not miss meat at all! The range and variety of flavours was all that one could ask for...but I would like to head back to Noma again for one of their other seasons, to sample either the wild game & forest season, or their seafood season...or both!

The radish pie looks exceptionally delicious. Is it savoury? What was the taste like? Like sashimi? So lately in Mumbai, Peruvian and Japanese-peruvian have been trending and they have been using fruits like watermelon to make vegetarian "fish" and I don't know how they cook them, but they become the texture of sashimi and they work perfectly in ceviches and tiraditos. This dish looks like that (like tuna sashimi). Yumm.

The radish pie was a savoury dish, with both the taste of the radish, and also a crunch from the base. It was very delicious!

I really like Ceviches and Japanese/Peruvian style sashimi -- the real deal, not the vegetarian versions. That said, I did go to a HK vegetarian restaurant once, and they did serve a very convincing vegetarian sushi that could have fooled me into thinking it was made of fish...