Trip report: IAD-FCO-SIN, SIN-LHR-IAD on UA and SQ economy

[borntofly]

Additionally there was an LY 737 bound for Tel Aviv:


It isn't pictured here but, does anybody notice how there is always a security car guarding LY aircraft pretty much at all times?!

A picture of the terminal:


And one of the airport:



An AZ 772:


Our Gate, G12:


And another view of our 9V-SVM





Next up: FCO-SIN, SQ 365

[kapitan]

Washingston Dulles..... the Dulles is pronounced as "Dallas"..... I remember flying from SFO to Dulles and got a shocked when it was announced we had landed at Dallas....

[haf]

Washingston Dulles..... the Dulles is pronounced as "Dallas"..... I remember flying from SFO to Dulles and got a shocked when it was announced we had landed at Dallas....

That's not true. It is pronounced Dull-less...I flew in and out of there many times on work trips and never heard anyone from that part of the country want to confuse anybody else into thinking they were in Texas!!

[kapitan]

That's not true. It is pronounced Dull-less...I flew in and out of there many times on work trips and never heard anyone from that part of the country want to confuse anybody else into thinking they were in Texas!!

to an untrained Singlish speaking country bumpkin ears, DULL-les sound very much like DALL-les... especially coupled with the red eye from the west coast and the jet lag.

[ozdude]

Washingston Dulles..... the Dulles is pronounced as "Dallas"..... I remember flying from SFO to Dulles and got a shocked when it was announced we had landed at Dallas....

Haha, I can imagine how you felt, like missing your stop on the MRT but you can't just get back on the next train!

[borntofly]

Now for those of you who haven't been to the FCO airport, the airport is configured strangely. Upon coming off of our flight from Dulles, we were instructed to go to a train to go through an immigration/transit process. However, we figured out that our flight to SIN was actually leaving from the same terminal that we had arrived in. The only thing is that when you arrive at FCO, they have you separated from the departures area like most airports. Basically we took the train to the other terminal, and then hopped right back on so that it would let us out in the departure area. It was the first time I had ever done anything like that at an airport. Next, they instruct you to go to a counter to get your boarding pass for the flight to SIN. This would be normal if I didn't have my boarding pass already, as I got both of my boarding passes at Dulles.

The airport itself was full of high end shops. I guess that is great if you like shopping but I chose to just sit and watch planes and let the time pass. At around 11:30 am only 20 minutes before the flight was supposed to take off. The announced flight time was 11hrs and 10 mins and my seat was 56K. I think there were only 2 rows behind me. Anyways, we pushed back at 1210PM and took off at 12:30PM off of Runway 16R. I tried to watch Despicable me while eating lunch however I fell asleep for about 6 hours of the flight. I got some pictures, not many, because I was sleeping during the daylight portion of the flight and awake during the night. Here are some pictures from the flight:

View from 56K:


Soon after takeoff from FCO:


A picture of FCO as we turned past it on the way out:



You can really see the where the water level drops off:






Notice how you can see the airflow over the wing:


Picture of the IFE:


The Lunch menu:

Appetiser
Pasta salad with shrimps

Main Courses
Braised chicken with mushrooms in oyster sauce, stirfried vegetables and steamed rice

or

Braised beef with tomato pea sauce, sauteed vegetables and country style potatoes

Cheese
Cheese and Crackers

Dessert
Chocolate tart

From the Bakery
Roll and Butter

I chose the chicken, which was pretty good, a bit bland in taste but a good portion nonetheless.


After eating, I passed out and woke to find ourselves this far into the flight:


Sorry for the blurry pictures again, like I said, my camera does not do too well in low light conditions. I fell asleep again and woke up to the crew starting to serve breakfast.

Breakfast menu:

Fruit
Fruit appetizer

Light Starter
Yoghurt

Wholesome Beginnings
Fried noodles with mixed vegetables and pork

or

Scrambled eggs with cheese, turkey sausage, tomatoes and potatoes

From the Bakery
Assorted breakfast rolls
Butter-Fruit preserves

Since I could not eat the eggs, I informed the crew that I wanted the noodles. Being that my seat was so far back in the aircraft, they had run out of the noodles. They gave me a crew portion which I thought to be very kind of them! This is how you know that SQ does all it can to please its customers

The crew noodles portion:

[borntofly]

After breakfast, I just waited for the sun to come up. Upon our descent, I got a few good photos as we landed at 6:46AM Singapore time. We landed on Runway 02C 20C and parked at Terminal 2, Gate E3

Descent photos:







Overall, the flight to Singapore passed by relatively quickly. I was impressed with Singapore airlines service as the crew worked nonstop it seemed.

Next up: a bit around Singapore

[SQflyergirl]

Great report so far - however, would like to point out - there's no 9V-SVW. The last SV series bird is SVO. Looking at the pics it looks like SVM you got a glimpse of.

[milehighj]

Nice TR.

I last flew SIN-FCO probably 7-8 years ago and got a bus gate. You mean SQ is still using the bus gates??

[Dent@SUB]

......

Since I could not eat the eggs, I informed the crew that I wanted the noodles. Being that my seat was so far back in the aircraft, they had run out of the noodles. They gave me a crew portion which I thought to be very kind of them! This is how you know that SQ does all it can to please its customers
......

That was a nice of them.... Giving up their meal for the pax that needed it...
But that's not just SQ...
The CX's crews that I knew also often did that for the pax...
Looks like service in eY is getting better on this both Asia's jewels...
Very nice TR....
Thanks for sharing it...
Enjoy it a lot...

[borntofly]

SQflyergirl - Thanks! I must've just missed that, and on second glance you're right!

milehighj We didn't actually have to take a bus to get to the gate, there was actually an aircraft there before, and then about 45mins before boarding the SQ plane moved over to gate G12

Dent@Sub It was really nice of them because I am lactose intolerant and the eggs had cheese in them. I definitely welcomed the crew sized portion because I was very hungry at this point. The service was very nice on the flight, much better than UA's, however I would like to see SQ upgrade their 772's they fly to Europe to the new Y class.

[borntofly]

I had about a week in Singapore and in that time we went and did a few touristy things.

Some pictures:

Orchard Road Takashimaya


Chili Crab!


Orchard Road


We went Prawn Fishing


Hindu temple in Chinatown


Chinatown Buildings


Hoydt Park at sunrise






Adam's Road Food center


Walking up to Marina Bay Sands


Pictures from the top of Marina Bay Sands

[borntofly]

The view was pretty stunning, however it was raining on and off which made for cloudy pictures. It was definitely worth the 20 Singapore dollars to go up to the top. It was pretty neat to see Singapore from that viewpoint.

We then went into the casino, which was okay being that I am not a Singapore passport holder. I think it is crazy that there is a fee to get in to the casino if you are a resident. Another thing that I found crazy is that they do not allow men to enter the casino with sandals on, however women walk in with the same type of sandals on!






Finally a couple of close ups of Marina Bay Sands




After this short stay in Singapore it was time to go back to the airport..




Next up: SIN-LHR on my first 77W!

The control tower as we pulled up to Changi at 6am

[9V-SIA]

Nice TR. Thanks for sharing.

You are in a unique position to answer a question of mine.

ie how do you compare SQ's Y product on 777-200ER ( 77E ) and 777-300ER ( 77W ).

Of course for IFE there's no contest

But I suspect the seat on the 77E is more comfortable.

The new seat is harder with less pitch 32" vs 34" on 77E

It is the same for MI A320s: old Y seat is actually more comfortable than new Y.

[borntofly]

9V-SIA - You're welcome, hopefully I'll get to finish it soon! To be honest, I found both aircraft to be quite comfortable. I do think that the 77W product is much better, especially with the fact that there is that pop down drink holder attached to the tray table, it makes sleeping a lot easier if you are trying to drink lots of water on the flight. The 77E has a bit bigger seat and since I slept for 7 out of the 12 hrs on the flight from FCO-SIN, that must mean it's a comfortable seat! The food much MUCH better on the 77W, but I'm guessing that was because the flight originated from Singapore and I'd expect equally good food from the 77E if I had flown on the SIN-FCO portion. One thing that I really would like to point out is that listening to a 77W engine spool up is like nothing I have ever heard it my life. The raw power of it amazes me and I felt like we shot off of the ground and picked up speed very quickly. I hope this sort of answered your question. Is there anything else you'd like to know?