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Late Christmas/New Year Trip Report: SQ1/2 (77WN), MI's A320 and SQ's A333 (MAA-SIN)

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  • Late Christmas/New Year Trip Report: SQ1/2 (77WN), MI's A320 and SQ's A333 (MAA-SIN)

    Hello All,

    I decided to share a trip report that is 3 months late, nonetheless, felt I wanted to share my experience that I took during the Christmas/New Year's Holiday Season.

    As you do know, my mom took the A350 while going nonstop on SQ31 from SFO to SIN, and she reported that while the seats were comfortable, the aisles were cramped as coming back on the 77W, she felt it was much more comfortable.

    So here it is:

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Flight: Singapore Airlines flight SQ001
    Route: San Francisco - Hong Kong - Singapore
    Aircraft: 9V-SWW (Boeing 777-300ER, 77WN, 2.5 years at the time of departure)
    Date of Departure: December 23rd (12:05AM), Arrival December 24th (7AM)
    Seat: 51A (Economy Class)

    First sector:

    Flight: Singapore Airlines flight SQ001 from SFO to HKG.

    It was a Thursday night. My father and I arrived at the airport around 9:40pm checking in for our flight. The line was not too full, and within minutes, an employee had escorted us within minutes to a Business Class kiosk though we were flying Economy class. She was pretty friendly and prompt in checking in our bags and scanning our documents like passports. Once we got our boarding passes, my father and I noticed that unlike the previous times we flew SQ, they were white instead of band of green, which we both missed so much. To me and I'm sure most members, it is a cost cutting move of SQ but feel free to correct me.



    Later, my father and I proceeded to security around 10:15 which actually took about 20 minutes as the lines were quite long due to the busy travel season, but I still had plenty of time to walk. It was night so could not do much in the way of planespotting.

    Departure board for our flight:



    Here's our plane:

    9V-SWW at Gate G94. I was already thrilled enough to board the plane to experience SQ's new Y class. Note the wifi hump/dome at the top of the 2nd door, which does power the Panasonic/T-Mobile Wifi time based system. More detail will go into the Wifi below.



    Boarding started to commence at 11:35pm as on schedule.

    I have a boarding video up on YouTube. As we got on board, I was really thrilled by the purple colored mood lighting as opposed to the older 77W (and maybe most 77WR) that retain the brighter mood lighting upon boarding. I could tell I was already excited as I saw the new J class seats and then the new Y class seats. Christmas decorations looked really nice and made me and my father feel welcome.

    Welcome screen upon entering SQ1 first sector SFO to HKG:
    Once you enter the Welcome screen, it gives you a Welcome to KrisWorld (Same way as the A330 with the 2006 products) and I pretty much skipped through it as I wanted to explore the IFE. Once I hit Flight Information, I was pretty thrilled I'd get the Voyager 3D maps. I had known that SWW had been equipped with this for sometime, so when I found out I was getting this plane, things were looking so exciting. Due to it being dark, I have a video, but no photo of taxiing or takeoff. Our pilot Patrick Ong (I think) made an announcement the flight time to HKG will be about 14 hours and 40 minutes, due to some jet streams especially since the next day the forecast for the SF Bay Area was supposed to rain, hence why a cloudy night upon takeoff even after a beautiful afternoon that day. Ben Lee came to us 30 min before landing stating we'd arrive on schedule at 6:50AM, and make it to the gate on schedule. The layover was about 50 minutes, but boarding only began around 7:40 as the aircraft had arrived slightly late from SFO.



    Voyager 3D upon startup (Note: On SWW, even if you exit the app, and reload it, you get the same screen. While flying back with my mother, it did not reloop with this screen each time, only one time from Singapore). With the buttons, you know this is an Android based feature. You can freely switch tabs as with any Android device. Only once from SFO-HKG it crashed once with the usual Android message "Unfortunately, Voyager3D has stopped", but otherwise worked perfectly.





    On this flight we had two meals. Dinner and Breakfast. Since this was not a religious pilgrimage trip, I decided to go for the Veg Lacto Ovo Meal and my dad went for the Indian Vegetarian Meal. My dad was very generous to allow me to take a pic of his meal. In fact, I had some of his meal, too so even I liked it up to standards. Menu is here followed by meals:
    Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 05:11 PM.

  • #2
    Menu (Apologies if it's sideways but love the Christmas Theme to it):























    Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 05:16 PM.

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    • #3










      The cabin during dinner service after takeoff:



      My Meal (Veg lacto ovo meal):



      Overall, I enjoyed this meal, really up to standards. Everything came hot and fresh as expected.

      My dad's meal (Indian Vegetarian Meal):



      My dad enjoyed his meal so much. I shared a bit and even had a bit of the curd as most SQTalkers mention that SQ serves real curd as opposed to yogurt. Generally, his food was also excellent. Indian catering out of SFO is generally great.

      Ice cream, this can also be bought at US stores like Safeway, Lucky, etc. In fact on Highway 101, near the Airport, there's an It's It Ice Cream factory where I think they probably prepackage the ice cream for multiple airlines:



      Once dinner service had finished, I took a walk in the cabin to notice that most passengers had started using Wifi to surf, go on FB, IG, and what have you. I actually did try to use the Panasonic/T-Mobile Wifi based system, which to my surprise was very satisfactory. No connection breaks or dropouts. In fact, unlike OnAir, you can use the same 24 hour pass for HKG-SIN and not have to repay. I thought that was a very good touch.

      Here's the Wifi info for those curious:



      Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 05:24 PM.

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      • #4
        I began to explore the features of the Voyager 3D which I'm sure some of you like/hate. My dad really loved it as well when he got to explore it. Very intuitive. Here's the bulkhead screen/touchscreen handset of how it looks like:









        A few extra things from the touchscreen handset we can only see as we are in some part of China:









        I think the above images look a lot like they're Thales. For a bulkhead and touchscreen handset, not too bad. For a regular screen, not so sure.

        Two versions from the monitor (Flight Information) I surprisingly could not fit in the next post:



        Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 05:37 PM.

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        • #5
          Here's the version for the touchscreen monitor. Note a few things:
          There is: Autoplay, Flight Preview, Total Route, Window Seat, etc. They're really fun and intuitive to play with, but what's shown on this segment is on Autoplay:












          Flightradar24 I accessed to track the flight I was in:




          Cabin in preparation for breakfast service on SQ1, served 2 hours prior to arrival:





          My Breakfast (Veg Lacto Ovo Meal):



          Veg Lacto Ovo Meal. Very good omelet along with the juice, bread, etc.

          My dad's meal (Indian Vegetarian Meal):



          I shared a portion of it as well, and his meal was really of high quality and standards of any SQ meal.


          A walk and this is the front cabin (with the white-noise of most 77W's next to the wing):




          Sunrise before our arrival to HKG:



          At this time, our first officer, Ben Lee made a warm Holiday announcement upon our arrival to Hong Kong.

          Landing pics are not available, but I have a video of it. It was still quite dark, nonetheless, we landed at around 6:50AM and made it to our gate around 7AM. Layover was about 55 min, a bit rushed, but by the time we got to our gate, we still had about half an hour to spare as it was pretty quick to get to security.
          Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 05:46 PM.

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          • #6
            Transit time in Hong Kong International Airport (1 hour Layover):

            For anyone who flies SQ1 or SQ2, it is mandatory to disembark in Hong Kong regardless of direction (To Singapore or San Francisco). During the transit time, I had some time to grab a Starbucks coffee and lounge at the gate before boarding commenced at 7:40AM.

            Here are a few images of HKG airport and before reboarding at Gate 16:



            Our plane, 9V-SWW:



            Cathay Pacific 77W at Gate 15:



            Disregard the Snapchat filter please, but I forgot to take an unfiltered photo of HKG gate info while going. Coming back I did with no problem.

            Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 05:49 PM.

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            • #7
              Flight: Singapore Airlines flight SQ001
              Route: San Francisco - Hong Kong - Singapore
              Aircraft: 9V-SWW (Boeing 777-300ER, 77WN, 2.5 years at the time of departure)
              Date of Departure: December 24th, 2016 (Christmas Eve)
              Seat: 51A (Economy Class)

              First sector:

              Flight: Singapore Airlines flight SQ001 from HKG to SIN.

              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

              Welcome Screen on this route:



              When you start Voyager 3D, you get a Welcome screen too before takeoff.



              Not a clear angle of the wing, as it was raining in HKG. Boarding was quite smooth. After a few minutes of settling to our seats, our captain Richard John made an announcement on our flight to Singapore (I think he was British) but he really made a good comment about Hong Kong having a tropical scent for Christmas. Flight would be 3 hours and 15 minutes (It was the same on my reverse on SQ2).



              Pushback started around 8:10AM, and take off was around 8:40AM as it took a bit of time to get to the runway due to some congestion in HKG in the morning:



              Takeoff from HKG:



              Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 05:53 PM.

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              • #8
                Breakfast service from HKG to SIN:

                My meal (Veg Lacto Ovo Meal):



                Overall, the quiche was quite satisfying and really filling and same with the potato pancakes. Juice went really well on this flight. Normally I am accustomed to having coffee with breakfast, but my father and I opted for a coffee after arriving into Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3.

                My father's meal (Indian Vegetarian):



                Shared some of his meal, too. Very good idly and South Indian breakfast, too. My father really enjoyed it as well.

                Somewhere over Vietnam on this bright morning:



                The cabin during breakfast service:



                Voyager 3D map info (Touchscreen monitor version):









                Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:03 PM.

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                • #9
                  Bulkhead version (On touchscreen, too):









                  Backside of the cabin:



                  Relevant Gate Info: Arriving to Gate B2 (Which later departed as SQ836 to Shanghai).



                  Relevant info about Inflight Connectivity (Depending on if your 77W/77WR has OnAir or Panasonic):







                  Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:08 PM.

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                  • #10
                    At around 11:15AM, our first officer informed us of our arrival to Singapore and the stewardess gave info of our flight's arrival alongside with warm Christmas and Holiday greetings.

                    Landing into Singapore:







                    Arrived at Gate B2 at Changi International Terminal 3. Once my father and I disembarked our plane, we went to get a coffee at the Coffee Bean at Terminal 3, and we sat near a window where we can view planes.



                    One last pic of 9V-SWW we took from SFO-SIN via HKG. Later it was headed as SQ836 to Shanghai, delayed probably because of some heavy rain later that afternoon in Singapore:



                    We also checked into our transit hotel for a few hours that very day. We mostly relaxed and took a shower and rest. Honestly, not to disrespect anyone who prefers the nonstop service on SQ31 (A359) from SFO to SIN but honestly, I love the 77WN and the 8 hour layover gave me and my dad enough space and time to freshen up and head for lunch and later to our MI492 flight to TRV.

                    Our transit hotel at T3 (Room 365 on Christmas Eve):

                    Unlike previous times I've stayed, I was lucky to get a window view of planes like the A380 in SG50 livery. Think this was our disembark way below at gate B2.

                    Room/Bed:



                    9V-SKI in SG50 Livery (Not sure why they haven't removed that one yet):



                    B-Side of the gates. I believe that day SQ866 going to HKG was 9V-SWL:

                    Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:11 PM.

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                    • #11
                      After 3 hours, my father and I went to Kaveri Vegetarian Restaurant at T2. To our disappointment, the shuttle from T3 to T2 did not work so we had to go downstairs to catch a bus that will take us from T3 to T2. The route takes you through T1 and then to T2, almost like the way planes head for taking off. It gave me an opportunity to spot some planes and take pics at the right time and place.

                      Terminal 3 (The B-side gates):



                      While heading to T2 on the bus, I was able to take a few pics on the way to T2:

                      Eva Air 77W (with the same Panasonic Wifi hump as SQ's 77W):



                      9V-SKI at Gate B5:



                      SQ's A350 at Terminal 2:



                      SQ's A330 9V-STG at T2:



                      Kaveri Dosa at Terminal 2. Honestly, been here several times, albeit not the past couple of trips, but as always dosa, sambhar, and chutneys are out of the world. My dad was very impressed, too.



                      Christmas decorations at Changi Terminal 2 on Christmas Eve:



                      Even the gardens have wonderful Christmas decorations at T2:





                      Christmas tree on the walkway to the shuttle bus heading back to T3 to check out and spend a bit time walking before heading back to T2 for our flight to TRV on MI.



                      9V-SWY at Gate B10, which arrived as SQ238 from MEL, servicing before its journey to Hong Kong and San Francisco as SQ2. I'm gonna still assume this is the only 77WN that has the 2D maps unless anyone else confirms otherwise:

                      Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:24 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Christmas decorations at Terminal 3:



                        Spinning fairy at T3:



                        Also, we did a walk around T1 before reaching back to T2, sponsored by Pokemon:





                        Pokemon stuff at T1:



                        Later towards the evening, we bought some chocolates and my dad bought a whiskey for his brother as he was going to Kolkata once my mom and I left Chennai.

                        We proceeded to go to Gate F59 for our MI492 flight to TRV. More details to come soon, but it's not as detailed as the longhaul and other SQ flights.
                        Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:27 PM.

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                        • #13
                          Flight: Singapore Airlines (Operated by SilkAir) flight MI492
                          Route: Singapore - Trivandrum
                          Aircraft: 9V-SLG (Airbus A320-200)
                          Date of Departure: December 24, 2016.
                          Seat: 17F (Economy Class)

                          Our flight MI492 was operated by an A320, 9V-SLG. Honestly, I was pretty tired on this sector, thus nothing interesting to take pics of. I did take pics of the food, but not the cabin.

                          The flight departed from gate F59R at Terminal 2 (The left side of F59 was for a Tiger Air flight bound for Shenzen, which departed before us).

                          We got to our gate at 7PM only to realize boarding did not commence before 8PM. It was not a late arrival of an aircraft. Rather, not also the weather, but there were some people trying to make the connection from SQ31. For these flights, it is best to not have a rushed layover and have some space in between.

                          We departed at 8:30, and the flight was around 3.5 hours and we still arrived about 5-10 mins behind schedule at TRV. The crews were overall cheerful and nice like SQ and service was still on par like Singapore Airlines.

                          My meal:



                          My dad's meal:



                          The meals were overall average compared to the quality meals SQ has. I mostly slept on this sector, but I did record take off and landing.

                          Pics of Trivandrum Airport and its Christmas decorations upon arrival:



                          During the course of the trip, I had spent about 5 days at my grandmother's house, spending time with my mom's family and visiting a few temples. My parents and I went by car to Cochin for our first time. Compared to Trivandrum, it is a beautiful city. I stayed at a Radisson Blu Hotel for 3 nights til New Year's Day. New Year's Eve, I spent most of the time at the hotel lobby as the harbor was fully booked that night. The Marina was a great place and we went to Kalady, and Chotanikkara for religious things. On New Year's Day til the 6th, my parents and I flew AI to Chennai (Which was delayed for 3 hours, our initial time was 10:30AM, but changed to 1:45PM for operational reasons).

                          I spent the rest of the time in Chennai, shopping, going to Mahabalipuram and Tirupati (full day trip). On the 6th night of January I left.
                          Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:30 PM.

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                          • #14
                            A few pics of Trivandrum. Not too special or remarkable, but MG Road is one of the few good places around. No time for Kovalam Beach this time around due to how it was scheduled. We had also gone to a few temples too for other important reasons.

                            MG Road:







                            Pothy's Store at night well lit at MG Road:



                            Fort/Padmanabhaswamy Temple:





                            SreeVaraham which had festivities for Ayyappa Mandalam puja (Big celebrations in November/December/January):



                            Indian Railways Station in Trivandrum where two days before our trip to Cochin, we dropped my uncle and aunt:



                            Inside of one Indian Railways Trains:



                            SreeVaraham Temple Pond at Sunrise during my morning walk:





                            Almost everyday, it was hot and sunny, no rain. The hot weather for a Winter time is more comfortable and not humid compared to that for Summer.
                            Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:35 PM.

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                            • #15
                              We also went to Cochin, which was a lot bigger than Trivandrum, but the city is really good. MI flies to Cochin as well, albeit on their 737 unlike TRV. Hope TRV will get 737 service one day.

                              We hired a car to take us from Trivandrum to Cochin. Here is the enroute journey to Cochin. Tolls and a bridge before entering the big city:





                              Our hotel at Radisson Blu. Really nice hotel in the middle of Cochin:

                              The room:





                              Lobby:



                              Lulu Mall at Cochin for New Year's:



                              Chotanikkara/Temple:





                              Streets of Downtown Cochin in the daytime:





                              Bhimas in Cochin where usually my parents do shopping for jewelry too:

                              Last edited by SQfanatic; 21 March 2017, 06:40 PM.

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