Summer trip 2

[SQflyergirl]

Below 14th Street on the East side, below 23rd on the West. Oh, and triple digits if on a numbered street.

The only thing i get triple digits on are numbered seats.

"Oh welcome aboard. Seat 150G? That's all the way down the aisle till you're in another zip code - then it's in the middle row of 4!"

[MAN Flyer]

I stayed in the Westin at TS at the weekend, and it's not something I'll be repeating...

[KeithMEL]

LX183 SIN-BKK, 10th FEB 2007
Seat - 2K
Aircraft - 343
ETD - 2120

I had to take the Skytrain to T1 and visit the Swissport transfer desk to get my BP for LX183. I had gotten a rather good value Z class SIN-BKK return on LX, and had used 15 000 M+M miles to perform a one way upgrade to have a tiny taste of LX in F. I chose the outbound SIN-BKK segment for the upgrade as having an LX F BP meant access to the SKL F. So off I went back to T2 to a heaven of free Dom Perignon and satay with peanut sauce. Alas no Ben and Jerry's this time.






SKL pub, wheeeeeeeee!





The SKL staff were quite amused that I walked all that way just to enjoy the SKL F. I had about 3 hours till my flight departure - 3 hours of quality time indeed.

I believe in Karma - being a pleasant person pays off and so I make a point to be nice to airline staff. This time, everyone was quite intrigued about my convoluted trip from T2 to T1 and back to T2. I was preparing for another 10 mins walk to T1 for my flight, when one of the lounge staff informed me that she'd organised for a buggy ride to ferry me all the way to where I was to catch my flight, gate C13 in T1! Hot!

To be continued - but in the meantime:

[KeithMEL]

LX in F was characterised by attention to detail, and very personable FAs. It was a little overwhelming as the load in F was very low. The only other pax onboard was asleep, so for all intents and purposes I was the only pax. Prior to this flight, I was warned by various people that the service on SIN-BKK is not great, so I was initially a little apprehensive. But experience speaks better and I was pleasantly surprised once onboard.

I was greeted, led to my seat and asked as to my choice of pre-departure drink. As requested, a glass of champers was brought to my seat along with a plate of warm nuts. I liked the soothing shades of brown in the cabin, complemented by the smart-looking black seats. The seats were the individual lie flat, state-of-the-art pods we've all come to expect as a minimum in F. Certainly a much nicer cabin than LH, but I obviously didn't have the chance to recline and test the seat's comfort as a bed.

After a timely take off, the purser introduced himself and thanked me for flying Swiss. Flying time was approximately 1 hr and 50 minutes, according to the captain's announcement.

My table was meticulously made up for the meal service, and a light dinner was soon served:

Light meal

Thai glass noodle salad with shrimp

Beef medallion
green peppercorn sauce, grilled zuchini, red bell pepper and roast potato

Pan fried snow fish
black bean sauce, mixed Asian vegetables and steamed rice

Sweet favourites

Swiss chocolates
Espresso and a selection of coffees and teas

I had the beef as my main course. I usually have beef done rare and it was nice to note that the beef I was served was just that - rare, succulent, nicely textured and full of flavour. I can't remember what dessert was - it was a cake of some sort but I remember liking it. One of my favourite aspects of the flight was the Swiss pinot noir - a beverage I can never get enough of. The one served on this flight was the Kloster Sion AOC, 2004 vintage and had been bestowed with a gold medal at the Mondial du Pinot Noir. The crew also made me a mean cuppa, which was accompanied by a fine selection of pralines. I sipped pinot noir for the rest of the flight until the very last breath of service from the crew prior to landing.

We landed into a dim Suvarnabhumi airport where I was one of the few people to get off the plane. It was a very pleasant short flight in F and I would not hesitate to fly LX F long haul. Meal service was a bit skimpy but it was such a short flight and I doubt the crew could have done much more.

I am pleased to note that arriving at Suvarnabhumi isn't as poor an experience as being in transit. No great distances to conquer and the route to passport control, baggage claim and customs was pretty straightforward. However waiting times were far too long. My bag was the first to appear, and even then I'd been waiting for at least 30 mins!












In my haste to eat, I'd forgotten to take pictures of the main course and the dessert. Sorry!

[KeithMEL]

Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok

A very slick and modern hotel, almost W-esque, with fantastic decor. My style happens to be minimalist chic and informality, and this hotel was totally in line with what I'd consider a great hotel.

A welcome fruit platter, a plate of sweets, as well as a note from the manager greeted me as I entered my room. I had a Club level room at the Westin and the 'continental breakfast' in the club lounge turned out to be a wholesome spread of hot and cold options.

Complimentary wifi was provided both in the lounge, and the very trendy lobby. The walls behind the reception desk changed colours every few seconds - cute! The entire hotel felt very sophisticated and refreshing, in line with Westin's thematic focus on rejuvenation. Service was efficient and friendly and above all - struck a good balance between being comprehensive and not overbearing.

SPG Golds get a free drink at the piano bar. I also got 25% discount coupons for both restaurants in the hotel - can't remember whether it's part of the perks of my Starwood status or the Club room reservation. Most probably the latter.

Highly recommended! I'm not going to bother with the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit across the road as it looked like a typical LC - old-looking with scary, occult-like decor. Might check out the Le Meridien Athenee next time though so I can test all the Starwood properties in BKK. They have huge shoes to fill.

[KeithMEL]

[MAN Flyer]

Highly recommended! I'm not going to bother with the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit across the road as it looked like a typical LC - old-looking with scary, occult-like decor. Might check out the Le Meridien Athenee next time though so I can test all the Starwood properties in BKK. They have huge shoes to fill.

Now I wasn't too struck on the Westin (the double lift saga didn't help...) and much prefer the SGS.

[KeithMEL]

Now I wasn't too struck on the Westin (the double lift saga didn't help...) and much prefer the SGS.

Never stayed at the SGS so can't compare the service. But the decor of the SGS is a turn-off. Was there briefly to check it out for future visits to BKK.

Wanna enlighten me about the 'double lift saga'?

[SQflyergirl]

Wanna enlighten me about the 'double lift saga'?

Double lift at the WGS refers to the need to take a lift from ground level to the level 7 lobby, then another lift up to the rooms.

[KeithMEL]

Double lift at the WGS refers to the need to take a lift from ground level to the level 7 lobby, then another lift up to the rooms.

Oh that. Yeah agree that it's a weird feature. On the 2nd day I was a little hungover and ran all over the lobby looking for the exit - forgetting that I needed to take the lift to the ground floor.

But hmm, 'saga' = something big happened?

[CGK]

Now I wasn't too struck on the Westin (the double lift saga didn't help...) and much prefer the SGS.

While staying at the Westin, I noticed that the music from the hallway was very audible from my room even with the BBC on. And now I prefer to stay at LeMeridien Plaza Athenee, even thought it is not directly connected to the sky train station. But so far satisfied staying there.

[KeithMEL]

LX182 BKK-SIN, 12th FEB 2007
Seat - 4G
Aircraft - 343
ETD - 1600

As the terminal of Suvarnabhumi is one of the longest in the world, it was a relief that I'd looked up the check in row LX uses. There were also signs outside the terminal indicating where the respective airline check in desks were located. So it was not hard to locate the LX check in desk, at row G near entrance 3.





The departure tax was not incorporated in my ticket as I'd bought it a while back. The check in agent hailed a tax collector who then wrote me a receipt after I parted with my THB700. Bag tagged to KIX via SIN, BP and lounge invitation issued - it was then a relatively stress-free journey to passport control and the lounge. Air conditioning was still problematic. The TG lounge wasn't too crowded which meant the temperature was bearable.

The flight departed from gate D2 which was rather near the lounge. Priority boarding was strictly enforced, but the gate agent tried to stop me from boarding, "We're not boarding economy class yet." I showed her my Business class BP and was the recipient of profuse apologies. I don't know whether it was my age or the infamous Thai attitude which suggests that I'm Asian and therefore must be flying Economy.

LX's business class cabin had the same brown and black tones as the F cabin. The seats were pretty comfy for a short flight, however the arm rests were uncomfortably narrow. I had an aisle seat in the centre row, my favourite seat in business as it meant an easy time for both my seat mate and I when visits to the loo were required. The cabin wasn't adequately cleaned during the aircraft's brief stop in BKK as there was rubbish strewn around my seat. The cabin crew did some tidying up while we were waiting for departure. And once again I had a glass of champagne as a pre-departure beverage.

Departure was slightly delayed as a pax who got out of the plane in BKK while in transit went AWOL. It took quite some time b4 they found him and his bags were almost offloaded. Soon I was presented with a menu and headsets. LX had AVOD which I took advantage of. The flight was too short for a full movie and not wanting to be left guessing what happened in the end, I watched the short features instead.

Swiss pinot noir was once again a feature of the flight. It was a different vintage but made by the same winery and had won a Silver medal in the same wine show. So the same winery won the top 2 spots - impressive! The food service was pretty ho hum, even by BKK-SIN standards. Everything was presented on the same tray - which smacks of Intracontinental European business class service, if not Economy class service. The food wasn't spectacular, but not dreadful either. Other than that little blemish, the service was pretty good and top ups of Pinot were regularly offered.

______________

Menu for this flight:

LIGHT MEAL

Fresh seasonal salad

Roast chicken breast in ginger sauce served with carrots and pumpkin

or

Grilled sea bass with tomato salsa, accompanied by spinach fettucine

A selection of fresh fruits

____________

We landed punctually in SIN, where I was to spend the next few hours in the SATS lounge while waiting for my SQ flight in WHY to KIX.

[jjpb3]

The food service was pretty ho hum, even by BKK-SIN standards. Everything was presented on the same tray - which smacks of Intracontinental European business class service, if not Economy class service. The food wasn't spectacular, but not dreadful either.

Trust me, that's NOT how intra-Europe business class meals on LX look!

[KeithMEL]

Trust me, that's NOT how intra-Europe business class meals on LX look!

Glad to hear it.

I guess SQ flights/TRs written by people on SQ flights have raised my expectations for every carrier to a rather frightening level.

[KeithMEL]

SQ618 SIN-KIX, 13th FEB 2007
Seat - 51C
Aircraft - 772
STD - 0100
ATD - 0245

After a looooooong wait in the SATS lounge without any real food beyond sandwiches, I headed off to gate E52 for my flight to KIX. A cursory glance around the departure gate indicated that the flight was likely to be extremely full.

Besides the very nice seat (aisle seat, emergency exit row), this flight was to go down as my first (hopefully last) less than stellar experience with SQ:
- 90 mins tech delay occurred with very scant information as to what was really happening. I only found out that there was an issue with the flight's computer systems when I made an inquiry with the gate agents after the third PA announcement detailing the fresh time of expected departure with little in the way of explanation

- They ran out of my choice of breakfast (omelette) and I had the Japanese option which was fortunately quite tasty, although it sounded weird on the menu. I mean, I love Japanese food but grilled fish with rice sounded more lunch or dinner-esque. The FA seemed genuinely apologetic.

- Maybe because it's a short-ish flight and the crews were rushing to prepare for service, but I found them slightly abrupt when it came to requests and the male FAs constantly wore scowls on their faces. This was also my first flight with SQ when the crew call button yielded very little response. They didn't seem very happy when I asked for drinks at the galley, maybe they expected everyone to be asleep? Fortunately it wasn't a very long flight in the grand scheme of things.