Announcement

**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 09:39 PM

Our journey would begin.......with a bus ride up to KL?????

Why on earth would a trip on SQ J start with a trip to KL? The frequent flyers might be able to guess.......

When booking SQ J cash tickets, the prices flying out of SG (even 6 months earlier) were frightfully expensive - to the tune of 7.9k per head. So I searched fares from neighbouring cities hoping to strike a good deal........and bingo, KL came up at a more palatable 4.3k, albeit with the KL-SIN/SIN-KL flights being on Scoot (which didn't bother me, even if I'd lose lounge access for the SIN-KL layover).

Even after booking the positioning bus and flight tickets, plus a night in KL to ensure I would not miss my KL-SIN flight, I still saved a bunch of $$. The itinerary was thus:

SIN-KL via Bus

KL-SIN SQ8509 Scoot codeshare flight Dep 1155 Arr 1255

SIN-LAX SQ38 Dep 2045 Arr 2140

LAX-SIN SQ37 Dep 2340 Arr 24 Jun 0750

SIN-KL Scoot codeshare flight SQ8508 Dep 0945 Arr 1045

KL-SIN Batik Air Malaysia OD807 Dep 1505 Arr 1610

**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 09:43 PM

One advantage of taking the bus to KL? The seat. I booked KKKL and it was a very comfy ride...
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Cabin ambience was great.....
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Even with a 1h "layover" at the infamous Yong Peng...
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**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 09:48 PM

However, an initially smooth ride began to get rather frustrating. First, there were quite a few instances of road works going on for extended distances, which slowed us down.

But the worst was yet to come......an overturned tanker truck that caused a ~3h snarl.
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I had left Tuas Checkpoint at ~8am, and only got to my final destination at ~5pm. Yes, a 9h bus journey. I was so glad to get my butt out the seat, comfy as it was. Had I made it at the estimated time (~2pm), I would've headed straight for Village Park Nasi Lemak. But alas, this would have to wait......despite being famished, I would have to wait til I met friends for dinner.

I didn't snap pics at dinner as the focus was on the catching up with some friends. We had KL pork noodles in the PJ SS2 area. Very yummy, and a perfect pick-me-up after that long ride. Sated, I returned to my unremarkable AirBnB (no pics as its not worth showing) and turned in for the night. I had a full 1.5 days of flying ahead of me!

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**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 09:53 PM

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I woke bright & early the next morning to a pretty solid view in the Kelana Jaya area. I was excited - it was time to really kick off this epic trip. A visit to the SilverKris Lounge, a reunion with SQ J, and 2 weeks' worth of sightseeing & eating beckoned. This initial positioning jaunt to KL was the perfect way to whet the appetite.

I showered, changed and packed, making extra sure that what I needed was in my carry-on. After all, I would not see my luggage until I arrived in LAX. Thankfully, the layover would be on home soil. I then hailed a Grab to KLIA.

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Sadly, the quality of the food at the public areas of KLIA T2 left much to be desired. The upside is that I had plenty of stomach space saved for the upcoming 8h layover in SIN, in which I would visit the SilverKris Lounge for 2 meals - lunch & dinner. In between trying to get a weightlifting session in.....

I boarded my Scoot flight, which mercifully arrived and departed on time. No pics again, as I didn't think them worth reporting. But things were going swimmingly so far.

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**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 10:34 PM

The familiar sight of Changi T1 greeted me soon after disembarkation (pardon the colouration; I was in a rush and my phone camera + software is fairly mediocre).
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Being hungry and thoroughly dissatisfied with my earlier food choices, I made a beeline for T3, a bit of a walk away. I stopped by the transfer desk to print a PROPER, blue-bordered boarding pass (my initial J class boarding pass from Scoot was printed on flimsy 70GSM paper, yes I'm such a poser I know), and then strode quickly towards the upper floor.....
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And finally came face-to-face with this beautiful sight.
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I know many frequent flyers consider this a good but not great J class lounge. After all, while it is large enough, has showers, good seating and a good buffet, it doesn't feature things like ala carte dining (which United Polaris lounges offer). And that may be true in the wider scheme of things. Yet, for this guy who only recently got access to Priority Pass via a credit card, there was an unmistakeable thrill in handing over my blue-bordered boarding pass to the lounge dragon, hearing the "ding" of the machine, and then the words "Welcome to the SilverKris Lounge, Mr loldude333!" I was in!!

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**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 10:40 PM

Most people reading this would know what the lounge looks like, and its layout. Either from personal experience, or from reading any number of frequent flyer blogs/TRs which have canvassed the finer details of this fine lounge. So I won't bother repeating those.

Mercifully, at around 1pm, the lounge was fairly quiet, with perhaps 20% of the tables at the dining area occupied. Perfect! I grabbed a window seat in front of a gorgeous SQ A380....
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And then proceeded to hit the buffet line....
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**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 10:43 PM

A pretty solid buffet indeed.....some of the dishes wouldn't look too out of place at one of the better buffets in town. Overall, I really couldn't complain. The food was good, there was a good amount of it, and it hit the spot. Some champagne definitely helped heighten the holiday mood I was in. I also scoped out the beautiful drinks station at the SKL a couple of times....
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Before it was time to head back home, try to squeeze in one final workout, shower, change, and then head back to the airport for dinner before boarding SQ38.

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**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 10:54 PM

Unfortunately, the workout was a washout. I blame the SKL....the food sure is tasty, but it weighed so heavily in my belly. I felt so sluggish and at one point had mild heartburn while pumping iron. After 30min, I decided to turn holiday mood fully back on, headed up for a shower, a change and then made my way back to the airport.

My parents had flown out earlier in the day on SQ12 via Tokyo Narita, so I would meet them on the ground in LA. I was fully solo at this point. I went back to the SKL for dinner.....

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A somewhat lighter dinner, because I was anticipating my meal aboard SQ38, which I had preordered using Book The Cook. Some food swaps made between lunch & dinner. Given that these were my first ever visits, I felt like I couldn't complain about the variety and quality of food offered. However, I imagine that if the menu remains this similar across weeks and months, frequent J travellers might get bored.......oh, the troubles of the 1st world person....

After downing just a little more champagne and a good amount of fruit-infused water, I had an hour to go before boarding. I decided to bid goodbye to the SKL and head to the gate.
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I don't know when I'll be able to return. I do have a good stash of miles, but no opportunities to burn them as yet. I gave this wall one last, lingering look before heading out (yes I'm weird, I know).

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**loldude333** · 14 January 2025, 11:11 PM

It was a bit of a walk to the gate, but I figured that that'd help me burn off some of my dinner, and jog the digestion along to clear space for my BTC meal. I "slummed" it with the rest of the flight at the security line, and then waited for the boarding call.

9V-SJE would be my chariot on this flight, SQ38 to Los Angeles....
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And yes, this would actually be my first ever flight on an Airbus A350. Though it had been in service since 2015 (2016 with SQ), I hadn't travelled enough to actually fly on one. And all of my more recent trips up to this point had been on budget airlines, so either narrowbodies or 787s. I'd found the the increased cabin pressure + humidity and lower noise of the 787s to be helpful, even on relatively short flights. I was anticipating an even quieter ride in the front of the A350. And this 15.5h flight would be a great way to test how much of a difference the increased cabin pressure + humidity actually made to passengers. In short, I had many many reasons to be excited.

Finally, my boarding group was called and I skipped down the jetbridge. Turning left at the first "fork" to door number Home sent another shiver of thrill down my spine; I was about to fly SQ J for the first time in 8 years!
The cabin crew warmly welcomed me at the door and pointed me to my seat, 19A.
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Yes, I had managed to snag one of the coveted bulkhead seats! Not being a PPS Club member (and never close), I had to endure the nervous wait til 72h before the flight departed. I immediately logged in and chat messaged Customer Service to check if 11A/K or 19A/K were available.......and thus managed to snag 19A!

Like with the SKL, many others either have firsthand experience with this seat, or have documented the ins and outs, pros and cons of this seat. You can easily find detailed reviews elsewhere, so I'll spare you the details here.

Look at all that legroom.....absolute bliss!
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It felt SO good to be back in SQ J. Even though this product was more than a decade old, it still felt extremely roomy and comfy. I settled in and was asked for my choice of welcome drink. I settled on a Bellini....
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As the glasses were being cleared, the cabin crew confirmed my BTC orders. Boarding was completed within 35min, not that I minded the wait.....

After a fairly long taxi, which seems to be the norm at Changi nowadays, we rocketed into the night sky to begin our 15.5h sojourn across the Pacific Ocean.

To be continued....

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**loldude333** · 16 January 2025, 03:31 PM

As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off, the crew sprang into action. As mentioned previously, I had done the usual thing most people do for their first-ever SQ J flight....order the Lobster Thermidor off the BTC menu. Its so cliched that its almost a rite of passage.......and I am a man happy to go with the cliches.

The table was set with the usual flourish and poise, and the food was then served up, starting of course with the famous chicken satay.

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**loldude333** · 16 January 2025, 03:52 PM

Overall, it was a fairly satisfying dinner service. None of the food knocked my socks off, but I was plenty sated and ready to go to bed.

The plan was to catch a ~5h "nap" and then attempt to stay up the rest of the flight, so that upon landing in LA at night, I could immediately go to bed. We would be commencing an epic sprint-drive up to Portland early the next morning and I would be doing some driving.

The cabin crew offered turndown service while I went to the lavatory to brush my teeth...

And then I turned in. Not needing to squeeze my feet into a cubby was a big plus - I could stretch out and move however I wanted. Unfortunately, I prefer my sleeping surfaces on the softer side and SQ's bed is definitely on the firm side. Nonetheless, I was still able to catch some sleep, before the cabin crew woke me up for the 2nd meal service around 8h into the flight.

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**loldude333** · 16 January 2025, 04:04 PM

I actually thought the food quality of the 2nd meal service was better than the 1st. Of course, stewed dishes do excellently well on planes as if they are already cooked well, they don't suffer at all from reheating. The beef cheek was probably the best main of the flight, and I probably preferred the crab appetiser to the chicken.

You'll notice my IG Stories were posted in present tense, which was thanks to the free WiFi SQ provides all passengers. While its probably pain for businessmen travelling because they have no excuse not to disconnect, on holiday it enabled me to upload everything ala minute and keep in touch with friends & loved ones on the ground back home. Well, at least for the later hours of the flight when it was daytime back home.

With meal service done, I settled back into my seat and fought to keep myself awake.....
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Unfortunately, I was also beginning to feel a bit of discomfort....(apologies if TMI....heh)
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Thankfully, some of my friends slid into my DMs with helpful suggestions....
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**StarG** · 19 February 2025, 07:00 AM

Thanks for sharing! loldude333

**yflyer** · 2 March 2025, 10:27 AM

Enjoying the read so far, loldude333! Nice combination of IG posts and commentary!

I, too, am a fan of the lobster thermidor. I think I still prefer the previous recipe and presentation, with the rice, rather than the potatoes. On some of my previous trips, I found the ex-Australia BTC thermidor to be much tastier than the ex-SIN version.

Announcement

Tacos, Coastlines & SQ J - 2 Weeks Along the Pacific Coast of the US

Tacos, Coastlines & SQ J - 2 Weeks Along the Pacific Coast of the US

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