MEL-SIN SQ228 on 23rd December '08

[jn82]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year SQTalk.

I made it back for Christmas this year courtesy of SQ228 on the 23rd. It has been a pretty long year, and I was glad to fly back to good 'ol Singapore. Checking in for the flight was good, as the counter staff allowed my friend who was traveling in Y to check in with me (saved some time as Y line seemed long as usual during this peak season), and she also provided me with an extra express departure pass for my friend upon request.

Headed to the Air NZ lounge as I heard it was very good, but was denied entry by the lounge dragon ! She said only Star Gold passangers were eligable to use it, but according to Star Alliance lounge access policy as long as the passanger has a valid Star Alliance airline business or first boarding pass entry should be allowed. Anyway I had forgotten to print this lounge access policy as previously planned as I was in a rush the past couple of days, so had no choice but to head to the SQ lounge. I do not know why these lounge dragons always seem to not know about this particular Star Alliance policy!

Silver Kris lounge in Melbourne is nothing to write home about. Entry is pretty standard, so are the seats and tables. There is a small business centre, but free wireless is available so you can use your own laptop. Searching for the wireless access point, it seems Cathay also has free wireless in Melbourne airport.

Table for you to use your own laptop.




Lounge.


I had another picture of the lounge interior but accidentally deleted it.

The selection of food is very poor! All that was available were curry puffs, spring rolls, mini-sandwiches, Nissin cup noodles and a herbal chicken noodle soup. As I was pretty hungry, I decided to have some curry puffs and spring rolls prior to ordering the herbal chicken noodles, which was very tasty. The wine served was a label I am unfamiliar with, but was acceptable.

Self-serve coffee machine and some fried snacks.


Instant noodles and alcohol.


Drinks. Good selection!


Plate of sin .


Pretty good herbal chicken noodle in soup.


I hope SQ does improve the selection of food in this lounge, and add more fresh food and healthier choices. Everything seemed to be deep fried or processed!!

[jn82]

Stayed in the lounge until boarding was called, and totally forgot to take any pictures of the aircraft I was going to be flying in!! All I had to ID the aircraft was from the front wheel section, as the rest of the aircraft is not visible from the lounge till the aerobridge. I was going to fly in 9V-SPG today.

I headed to my pre-selected choice seat 17K on the upper deck and got seated. A few minutes later I was offered a few choices for the welcome drink, and of course I had to get the champagne. The flight steward was kind enough to grant my request to send a glass of champagne to my friend in 33J, but I noticed this was in a plastic cup instead.

Welcome drink, Charles Heidseick Rare Cuvée Réservée champagne


The seat beside me 17J was unoccupied after takeoff and for the remainder of the flight, what a bonus! The guy across the asile in 17A also has no one beside him in 17B. 17A seemed to be complaining about not having the day's copy of the WSJ, and the flight stewards explained to him that all the non-Australian newspapers were loaded the day before when the flight left Singapore for Melbourne. Just prior to takeoff they brought him every single newspaper available to choose from, but he ended up playing with his newly purchased Sony videocam for the first part of the flight...

I thought this is a pretty funny picture.


Seat pitch around 1,529,832 inches.


I did not manage to take any good pictures out of the window because my window seems to be pretty badly scratched . Pity because I like taking pictures of the outside while in flight.

View from 17K and Christmas decorations.


Warm nuts and champagne after takeoff. What more could I ask for?


Daytime view from the rear of the upper-deck.

[jn82]

Meal service was scheduled for around 6.30pm, but I requested to have my meal closer to 7.30pm. I had pre-ordered a Book the Cook selection. The starter of marinated prawns was pretty good, too bad there were only two prawns! My main dish was Pan-fried barramundi in native pepper sauce with sautéed vegetables and fettuccine. This was extremely disappointing! The fish was average at best, and the sauce came in pretty heavy. The pasta was just lying below the fish fillet and was overcooked. Will not recommend this selection.

Marinated prawns garnished with assorted tomato salad.


Pan-fried barramundi in native pepper sauce with sautéed vegetables and fettuccine.


Toffee vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce.


Some grapes and a starfruit.


After a couple of hours, many glasses of champagne and two movies later, it was supper time. Was not really hungry after the fish and the noodles from the lounge, but just decided to try the rice. It was average also at best. Is it just me or does SQ need to improve the quality of their food a bit ?

Glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf with chicken, black mushrooms and salted egg yolk.


Givenchy tablecloth.


A short while later, the captain announced that the flight would be landing on time in T3 tonight. Managed to finish my third movie, phew.

View from the rear of the cabin at night.


It was a wet night in Changi, with a short skytrain ride to the arrivel hall from the far away gate we taxied into. Good to be home!

The end.

[StarG]

Seems like they used mixed old & new serviceware on your flight?
Thanks for sharing, jn82.

[blast-off]

Is it just me or does SQ need to improve the quality of their food a bit ?

Err... The catering is provided by MEL's ground handling... Personally, I've been on this route (MEL-SIN) quite often and I found that Ex-MEL catering had never been good...

[MAN Flyer]

I was going to fly in 9V-SPG today.

Nice to see the Party Girl is still going strong.

[KeithMEL]

It was average also at best. Is it just me or does SQ need to improve the quality of their food a bit ?

I also found SQ catering in F, both ex-HKG and ex-SIN, to be pretty underwhelming. The Kaiseki meal ex-SIN wasn't too bad though.

[SQflyergirl]

I too find catering ex-MEL a little lacking, which is strange as MEL[probably has some of the best food around! (IMHO)

[jn82]

Err... The catering is provided by MEL's ground handling... Personally, I've been on this route (MEL-SIN) quite often and I found that Ex-MEL catering had never been good...

Well, while all the food is not produced by SQ themselves directly, what I meant to allude to as a result of this was that the SQ name is on the line because of the heavy emphasis on quality catering made (a lineup of world famous chefs) as part of the SQ experience, especially BTC). It is when you promise something and fail to deliever, passangers get unhappy.

Seems like they used mixed old & new serviceware on your flight?
Thanks for sharing, jn82.

Much prefer the old serviceware with the blue trim. The new one while very clean was visually unappealing with no indication of the SQ logo anywhere.

Nice to see the Party Girl is still going strong.

Yup. Minor signs of wear and tear in the cabin (forgot to take a picture), but on the whole still excellent!

I also found SQ catering in F, both ex-HKG and ex-SIN, to be pretty underwhelming. The Kaiseki meal ex-SIN wasn't too bad though.

Overall, I too was quite disappointed overall with the food. Maybe it is just quality control or lack of a better supplier ex-MEL.

I too find catering ex-MEL a little lacking, which is strange as MEL[probably has some of the best food around! (IMHO)

I agree 100% that Melbourne has some of the best food around (and coffee)!

While I might have been critical about the quality of the food and lounge ex-MEL (critical but not overly critical as others replies have shown), I forgot to mention that service on the plane was second to none and made me remember why I do love to fly SQ! But certainly improving the standard of the catered meals, especially speciality meals, will improve the overall experience of flying in business or first to a greater extent. In such times of leaner premium passanger numbers, airlines should make a greater effort to secure such passangers.

[SQTalker]

You got a fabulous 9V-SPQ took off in SYD photo as your wall paper, did you shot that picture...?

http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6308387

[jn82]

You got a fabulous 9V-SPQ took off in SYD photo as your wall paper, did you shot that picture...?

http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6308387

No I took it from Jetphotos... . It really is a great picture.

As much as I would like to plane spot from the sidelines, I do not have the time.

[wsssaero]

Your cabin pics are great! Flew Party Girl too, exactly a month before you to HKG and for the 2nd time.