Qantas from Singapore to Australia: 787-9 Premium Economy & A380 Business Class

[yflyer]

A glass of pre-departure champagne...



Today's menu...



A choice of 4 starters and 4 mains...



The beverage selection...

[yflyer]

There was an amenity kit at each seat...



Amenity kit contents...

[yflyer]

I headed back to my seat, 17A, in the business class cabin.



This was an aisle seat, with a side console to my left, closer to the window.



Conveniently located A/C power and USB...



Intuitve and easy to use seat controls. Much less fiddly than those on SQ's A380.



The seat in lounging position...



Fully flat position...



In fully flat position, you had a straight, and fairly long, bed...



A fairly spacious cubby hole...

[yflyer]

Apart from the business class cabin, PEY was also on the upper deck. I took a peak into PEY....



This appeared to be the same new PEY product that I took on my outbound SIN-MEL leg. This was laid out 2-3-2 and looked very comfortable indeed.

[yflyer]

QF1 was a 3.10pm departure.

The aircraft operating QF1 that day was Qantas A380 rego, VH-OQB, "Hudson Fysh", the 2nd A380 delivered to Qantas in December 2008. During the pandemic, when Qantas did not operate any A380's, the aircraft was stored from June 2020, before being returned to service in January 2022.



Boarding was called on time, and when I presented my PEY boarding pass at the gate, there was a beep.

I spied several boarding passes on the counter. Quickly scanning them, I noticed one with my name on it. It was a business class boarding pass. Yay!

"There it is!", I said, pointing to the boarding pass.

"You're quicker than me!" the gate agent said, as she handed it to me.



I entered the aircraft through the upper deck, and entered the business class cabin.



This was QF's second generation refreshed A380 cabin. Wow. Very nice.



The cabin was laid out in staggered 1-2-1, a much better layout than QF's first gen A380 J, which was laid out 2-2-2.



This looked to be very similar to QF's 787-9 J seat. This was based on the Thomson Vantage XL seat frame. There looked to be just minor differences between the seat on the A380 and the 787-9, such as the colour of the upholstery.

The bulkhead J window seats looked fairly spacious, although the cubby hole was similar in size to the other J seats.

[yflyer]

The lounge had large shower rooms...





Airside views were available from the lounge, as well as views of the city in the distance, although the structure of the building partly detracted from the views.



Overall I thought this was a decent, but unexceptional, lounge to spend time in before a long flight.

[yflyer]

The dining area...



The all day dining menu...



Salad and sandwich bar...



Mains and dessert...



Massaman beef curry...



Pasta...



Chocolate cake and carrot cake...



Not a particularly wide selection of dishes, but I thought the dishes themselves looked fairly tasty.

[yflyer]

At that point in time, I was QF Gold, which meant that although by BP was PEY, I was still eligible to use the QF International Business Class Lounge.



This was a spacious lounge with very pleasant decor...



The lounge was busy, but not overly crowded, at 1.45pm in the afternoon.



This was a long lounge, with a central seating area, and symmetrical wings to the left and right, each with their own seating, beverage and dining stations...



Long counters, setup with self service wine, and dining placemats, ran the length of the lounge...



Some of the red wines on offer...



White wines...



Sparkling wine from Seppelt Wines...



The self service liquor selection...





There was also barista coffee...

[yflyer]

The next day, I headed to Sydney Airport for my flight QF1 SYD-SIN.



The last time I was in Sydney, I flew home on SQ's new A380 Suites, and that was an experience that would be hard to top, however, I was really looking forward to today's flight as this would be on QF's wonderful A380's with their refreshed cabin product.

I was booked in Premium Economy, and had requested a points upgrade to Business Class. While the upgrade could not be confirmed a day prior to departure, I had checked the option on the website to be considered for an upgrade at the airport. As I checked in, I was informed verbally that I would be flying business class that day, but was still given a Premium boarding pass when I checked in.



So was I flying business or not? She said so, but why did the boarding pass still say PEY. I would find out later, I guess.

[yflyer]

My last bar stop in Sydney was Maybe Sammy, which placed No.15 on the World's 50 Best Bars 2023 awards, at a ceremony which took place in Singapore just last week.



I made it a point to head to the bar just before opening time on a Tuesday, so was able to snag a coveted seat at the bar.



Lots of amazing and original drinks on the menu. Apart from their signature creations, there was also a list of mini cocktails, and a very attractive happy hour offer, of $7 per mini-cocktail between 4.30pm-5.30pm...



I began with a mini Infinity, which came with a smoke filled bubble on top...



...then a mini Martini...



and a mini Angelo Azzuro...



From their latest cocktail program, named "Mirage", with 14 original creations, I sampled their Terra Nova, a creation of Patrón Silver Tequila, Montelobos Mezcal, Mole Dulce, Lime, Black Sesame Merengue and a micro herb...



This was quite inspired, not to mention striking to look at.

Cocktails aside, the team behind the bar were wonderful as well...

[yflyer]

The Sydney bar scene was very lively...

I headed to Cantina OK!



This was a tiny hole-in-the-wall, with standing room only...



But it was packed...



The staff were super friendly...



The day's cocktail special was hand drawn just for me!



This place was all about Margaritas, Tequila and Mezcal...



...lots of Mezcal..



I ordered a Margarita...



This was ice-cold and absolutely delicious!

[yflyer]

On more than one occasion on this trip, I headed to Pho Pasteur...



...for yet another beef pho fix...



I usually ordered the special, with all kinds of different cuts of beef...and washed it all down with thick, Vietnamese iced coffee...

[yflyer]

In between business meetings, I had a little time to explore Sydney...



Darling Harbour was as how I remembered it to be...



The biggest change, compared to previous pre-pandemic visits, was that there was now a tram line running down George Street...



This was previously a busy street for cars and buses, but this thoroughfare has been utterly transformed...



With an Opal card (Sydney's equivalent of Singapore's TransitLink card, or Melbourne's MyKi), I got around the city mainly by tram or by train...



With the Opal card, gettting around Sydney by train or tram was very convenient. I didn't take a taxi or car the whole time I was in Sydney. I went everywhere by train or tram.

As an added benefit, the view from Circular Quay train station was very hard to beat...

[yflyer]

Gorgeous bathroom...



...in black, grey and white stone/marble...



Rain shower...



Toiletries from Mr Smith, and really nice glasses...



Daily breakfast in the Solander restaurant...



Well equipped gym...



I found this to be an excellent hotel, which would now be one of my top recommendations for a stay in Sydney.

[yflyer]

My hotel in Sydney was the West Hotel, a Hilton Curio Collection property.



This hotel was in a great location along Sussex Street in the CBD, walking distance from Wynyard station.



This was an intimate boutique hotel with really lovely decor and design elements.



The hallways were a riot of colour...



The rooms were very elegant and stylish...



Flat screen TV...



Open wardrobe...



Small writing table...



Mini-fridge and Nespresso machine...