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

[yflyer]

The rear section of the plane was only lighted loaded, so I had a whole row of 3 seats for myself. The window seats next to mine were also empty, so I shifted there for take-off...



Fairly light passenger load today, so the climbout was steeper than I had ever experienced on an A330...



After take-off, I shifted back to my row of 3 seats, raised the armrests and promply fell asleep.



When I awoke to use the restroom, the cabin crew member in my section was nice enough to ask me if I wanted breakfast, which had been served while I was asleep. I declined but was very grateful to have been asked.



I headed back to sleep for the remainder of the 3 hour flight...

We landed on schedule in Melbourne...

[yflyer]

For this leg of my stay, I stayed at the DoubleTree Hilton Fiinders Street for 3 nights before moving to the Hilton Melbourne at Little Queen Street for the next 2 nights.



The front of the Hilton Melbourne was a restored historic building.



I had also stayed at this property on my previous trip to Melbourne, and it was just as I had remembered it. Beautiful public areas and very nice rooms. That said, location-wise, I thought the Doubletree at Flinders Street was in an even better location.

My King room...



Lovely modern decor, still new and spotlessly clean...



The bathroom...



...with shower stall...



Ample power points and USB...

[yflyer]

Breakfast at the Hilton was served in the main restaurant...



Hilton Gold members were offered a complimentary continental breakfast (cold selections only), but you could upgrade to a full breakfast for a very reasonable A$10...



The buffet selection was pretty good...



With cold and hot selections...



...and a live egg station...



The breakfast menu was mainly Western dishes, with one Asian dish each day.

On one of the days, the token Asian dish was Hokkien noodles...



On another day, the token Asian dish was plain rice congee...



This was literally plain rice congee, with no Asian condiments or side dishes apart from soy sauce available at the buffet...

This was towards the end of my 2nd week away from home, and an Asian food craving was starting to set in.

I decided to improvise...

To my bowl of plain rice congee, I added typical Western breakfast items, bacon, sausage, mushroom, even scrambled egg...



Despite it looking a bit strange, it actually tasted quite good...

An Asian family took their seats at the table across from me. I couldn't resist smiling to myself when I saw that the older Oriental gentleman sitting at that table across from me had done exactly the same thing with his bowl of congee...

[yflyer]

I had a great week in Melbourne...



I went for another run along the Yarra...



...and met up with old ex-colleagues for drinks by the Yarra River...



I could not resist heading back to Lulu's at Hardware Lane...



...for more of their incredible Penang-style Char Kway Teow...



This was not cheap, especially after adding on options like a blood cockles and a sunny side up duck egg...



...but let me tell you, as a dining experience, this was as satisfying a plate of Kway Teow as any I had hever eaten, whether in Singapore or Penang...



I also ate a lot of Pho while in Australia...



I dined at Mekong, along Swanston Street...



...which was even more tasty than I remembered it to be...

[yflyer]

I dined at Serai, a popular restaurant serving Filipino fusion cuisine...



"Kare Kare" hash browns with peanut sauce...



Lion's mane mushrooms...



Cabbage "Tocino"...



Roasted pig's head Sisig tacos...



Beef cheek "Bistek" with egg, onion and chicharron...



Claypot rice...



"Leche" flan with passion fruit for dessert...



What an enjoyable dinner...

While based on Filipino cuisine, this was clearly fusion cuisine which had been tweaked for the Western palate. I could not help missing the sharper and more intense flavours of traditional Filipino cuisines, but I was very impressed by how the chefs here had conceived this very creative and satisfying menu.

[yflyer]

One of the highlights of my trip was dinner at Minamishima in Melbourne.

At his restaurant in the suburb of Richmond, chef Koichi Minamishima and his team serves an omakase sushi dinner which must rank as one of the finest sushi experiences one can have outside of Japan (and possibly in Japan too...).



I took my place at the sushi counter as a solo diner, and for the next one and a half hours, was treated to a procession of small plates and sushi that were simply heavenly...



I am embarassed to say that, while each piece of sushi was lovingly prepared by chef Minamishima, and described to me as he placed it on my plate, most of the names of the fish were in Japanese, and unfamiliar to me, so I am not able to provide a caption or name of each piece of sushi I was served in this TR...



Suffice to say, each was prepared with a level of skill and finesse that I had never experienced before...



Each was a heavenly bite...



No saucer of soy sauce or wasabi on the side...everything was already added as part of the sushi...



...whether eaten with chopsticks, or with the fingers...



Occasionally, apart from sushi, another dish would be served, for example, this dish of chawan mushi...



...before the procession of sushi resumed...



Each piece was unique...



Aburi-style...with a delicate smoky flavour...



Gently steamed...

[yflyer]

A beef course...



Sorbet as a palette cleanser...



Tuna belly...



Eel...



Egg...



That was the last piece of sushi...Chef Minamishima asked if I wanted any more...I did not want dinner to end, and asked him for one more piece of sushi of his choice...

Sea urchin...



And finally soup...



...and dessert...



A mindblowing meal. A place I would want to return to the next time I am in Melbourne.

[yflyer]

On this trip I also took the opportunity to check out the cocktail bar scene.

I met up with fellow SQTalker SQ228 at Lily Blacks, located along a lively sidelane near Melbourne's Chinatown.



Google Maps took me right to the bar's doorstep, but I walked up and down the street a couple of times looking for the place before I eventually realized that it was right there in front of me, with no signage whatsoever.



This was a 1920's themed bar popular with cocktail aficionados...



SQ228 decided on a Fleur de Lis...



My Avoir la Peche...



The last time I met up with SQ228 was in Singapore, when he was on brief transit stop enroute back to Melbourne. It was great to meet up again on his home turf...

[yflyer]

On another evening, I headed to Nick & Nora's, located at 80 Collins Street...



Through the doors, I headed up an elegant staircase...



...to the large and opulent bar, which recalled the golden age of the 1930's post prohibition bar scene...



Martini-style drinks seemed to be the order of the day...



I ordered The Continental...



...a martini inspired by the John Wick series of movies...



I would recommend a seat at the bar, so that you can see the lively and engaging bartenders at work as they prepared the cocktails, with more than a little flair and theatre...



I could have spent a long time sampling the different cocktails at Nick & Nora's...

[yflyer]

After Melbourne, my next and final stop was Sydney.

My flight to Sydney was QF462, a 4pm departure on Saturday afternoon.

The flight was operated by Qantas 737-800 registration VH-VYE, an 18 year old aircraft.



Like almost every other MEL-SYD flight I was on, the aircraft was almost completely full.

On these domestic sectors, QF have a very efficient way of boarding the aircraft. They use both front and rear exits.

For those seated after row 15, rather than enter via the front aircraft door, you were directed from the aerobridge down the stairs onto the tarmac, to board via the rear stairs.



This certainly did seem to speed up the boarding process.

My seat was near the rear.



Seats on this aircraft were quite comfortable, compared to other 737's I had been on, with thick fabric upholstery and leather headrests...



USB charging...



On this short sector, complimentary snacks and beverages were served...



With a flight time of just 1 hour and 2 minutes today, one really could not ask for more than this.



As we descended into Sydney, those seated on the left side of the plane were treated to spectacular views...



We passed the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and city skyline as we made our final approach...



I was seated at the aisle seat, but the pax next to me was kind enough to let me reach over with my iPhone to snap a few pics...



We landed at 5.10pm in the afternoon. I caught the airport train into the city, arriving at Circular Quay just as the sun was setting...

[yflyer]

It was now Saturday evening.

My first stop after checking into my hotel was Dean & Nancy on 22, a lively cocktail bar on the 22nd floor of the A by Adina hotel, located at Hunter Street.



Simone, the bartender, was from Milan, and warmly welcomed me to my seat at the bar...



The atmosphere in the bar that Saturday evening was just buzzing...

I ordered a Sugarloaf...



Delicious! Next I asked Simone to make me a bespoke Martini of his choice...




This was also excellent!

[SQ218]

wow busy trip yfler. Sorry couldn't catch up with you this trip. Next time you're in town happy to join you for a steak at Rockpool.

[yflyer]

wow busy trip yfler. Sorry couldn't catch up with you this trip. Next time you're in town happy to join you for a steak at Rockpool.

Yah missed you this time round, SQ218! Let's meet next time I am there!

[yflyer]

After drinks at Dean & Nancy on 22, I took a short walk to Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney, which was also on Hunter Street.



With a stunning location in the atrium of an art-deco building, this was a restaurant which I try to visit every time I am in Sydney.



It was Negroni week...



...so I ordered a Rainfall Negroni to start...



For my main, I kept things simple: just a Coppertree Farms Dry Aged Friesan 400g Scotch steak...



Perfect, just perfect...



I washed it all down with a glass of Michael Hall 'Sang de Pigeon' Pinot Noir from Adelaide Hills...

[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...