SQ318/319 New Business & Economy Class to London and LHR T2 SilverKris Lounge

[yflyer]

On the morning of my last day in London, I headed for a run along the Thames.

I started at Leadenhall Market, close to Bank and Monument tube stations, and headed south towards the Thames.

I crossed to the south bank of the Thames close to The Shard.



I didn’t have time to head East towards the Tower Bridge, visible in the distance in the picture below…



…instead I crossed the Thames and jogged westwards, past the Millenium Bridge…



…towards the London Eye and Westminster.



I crossed the Thames close to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, and headed back East along the north bank of the Thames, passing the Battle of Britain Monument on the Victoria Embankment, as well as “Cleopatra’s Needle”, an authentic Egyptian Obelisk that was somehow brought to London from Egypt by sea in 1878 on a specially constructed ship, back in the days when moving priceless archaelogical artifacts from a foreign country back to your own country was still considered acceptable behaviour.

The overall route that day was a very beautiful and scenic 9km, in sunny, cool weather.



I would highly recommend a run or walk along the Thames for any visitor to London.

[yflyer]

After than run, I returned to my hotel, showered, changed, packed my bags and checked out just in time for lunch at St John, near Smithfield Market.



I had eaten there before, and was very impressed by their concept of nose-to-tail dining. I didn’t take any pictures the last time I was there, so here are some photos now…

The main dining area. There is a separate bar area as well.



Today’s lunch menu…



A generous pour of French red wine from Languedoc by the glass, A vin de table: Mal Aimes 2014 from Domaine Pierre Cros, made from grape varietals that I had never even heard of, let alone tasted (Alicante, Aramon, Piquepoul Noir and Carignan)…



Bone marrow as a starter, apparently one of the most popular dishes at St John. I didn't realize until later that the bone marrow was one of their iconic/signature dishes, being the only item that has been on their menu continuously since the restaurant opened in 1994.



You dig out the marrow…



…and spread it on toast…



Maybe not a dish your cardiologist or dietician would approve of, but this was delicious…

When I ordered earlier, I was undecided on what to have for my main course and asked my waitress if I should go for the calf’s liver, kid’s liver (A daily special) or the lamb sweetbread, and she immediately recommended the sweetbread…



The lamb sweetbreads came with bacon and peas, and had a delicious, distinctive texture. A very satisfying main.

After these dishes, all I could manage for dessert was hazelnut praline ice cream…



I was a solo diner that day, so just enough space in my stomach for one starter, one main and one dessert. So many more items on the menu to try!

I made a resolution to head back to St John on a future trip to London, to try the other items on the menu. And The Jugged Hare and Andina too…

[yflyer]

After that I headed to Oxford Street for a lightning round of last minute shopping before heading back to my hotel to retrieve my luggage, then making my way to London Paddington, again by subway, during rush hour, with laptop bag and large rolling suitcase. Why did I put myself through all this? It turns out that at peak hours, the London Underground is often the fastest way to get from point A to point B in the city. Cars and taxis are essentially stuck in traffic along London’s narrow streets.

I had to get to Paddington Station as soon as possible – the subway was the fastest option, according to Google Maps. It was a good workout, pulling all that luggage through busy tube stations, and walking several hundred meters along the narrow London pavements.

At Paddington, I boarded a chock-full Heathrow Express train for the short 15 minute nonstop journey to Heathrow Terminal 2.



There are self service check-in machines available.



Counter check-in is available for First/Suites, Business and PPS / Star Gold…



There were no queues at check-in when I got there at around 6.50pm, and thankfully very short queues at security as well, although I was not eligible for Fast Track security that day as I was flying Economy.

[yflyer]

The airside area in T2 is large, with lots of shopping and many restaurants.



My favourite restaurant in the airside area is Heston Blumenthal’s Perfectionist Café.



A parked BA Concorde is visible from the atrium in T2.



Too bad this supersonic aircraft is no longer in service…



The SQ gates, and SilverKris Lounge at T2 are in the Satellite Building, connected to the main T2 Building by a long tunnel.





There are fewer shops in the Satellite Building, so do your shopping in the main building before proceeding through the tunnel.

[yflyer]

I headed to the SQ Lounge to check it out…





There are separate F and J sections of the lounge. I headed to the J section.

First impressions were positive…



A warm and elegant lounge, styled based on SQ’s latest lounge design concept, “Home away from home”.





SQ calls these cubicles “productivity pods”, and they resemble the F / J seating products onboard.

[yflyer]

There is a separate buffet and dining area, with an extensive array of mouthwatering F&B options…



Salads…



Sandwiches and desserts…



Two soup selections, a Western and an Asian selection…





Some of the buffet selections that day…

Thai-style Pad Thai…



Vegetable fried rice…



Malaysian chicken curry…



Ricotta tortellini…



Vegetables in garlic butter…



Asian BBQ pork stir fry…

[yflyer]

Red and white wine…



A selection of fruit juices…





Singapore Sling ice cream…



Overall, a fairly impressive spread...

[yflyer]

There is a separate seating area next to the lounge reception…





And a small children’s play area…



There are also showers available.

Best of all, and this is something new for SQ Business Class: there is a full service bar available in this lounge. Even the Changi T3 lounge does not have this!



Cocktail list…



I asked Kenneth, who was manning the bar that day, for a Singapore Sling…

I was expecting to have this poured out of a Sling pre-mix, the way they do onboard.

To my pleasant surprise, Kenneth expertly prepared one from scratch, working quickly to mix a Sling from each ingredient in the recipe, that would have put Raffles Hotel to shame…



This was brilliant…



“I was expecting you to use Singapore Sling pre-mix…”, I remarked to Kenneth, as I sat at the counter.

“Here, we mix it just like at the bar…” Kenneth said.

“Have you been to the Raffles?” he asked.

“Yes – your Sling is better!” I replied.

[yflyer]

The gate for our flight was B38, not a long walk from the lounge.



There were two SQ planes parked the terminal: 9V-SWU which was operating SQ319 at 8.50pm…



…and also a company A380, which was being readied for departure at 10.05pm, as SQ321.

[yflyer]

Boarding for SQ319 began with boarding for First, Business and KF/Star Gold pax, who boarded from a dedicated priority line.

A very comfortable cabin, laid out 3-3-3.

The first Y cabin in blue and grey…



The second Y cabin in brown and dark brown…



Row 44 emex row…



The Y seats are the latest generation SQ seats, fairly slim but very well padded, are extremely comfortable.

Recline is very generous for Y.



The seat back reclines conventionally (It is not a fixed shell design), and the front of the seat pivots forward slightly when reclined for a more comfortable seating angle.



Widescreen touch screen IFE, USB power as well as A/C power.





Wifi internet is also available.

Seat pitch is decent…



The last row window seats in row 56 are a bank of two seats, rather than 3. These seats have almost full recline on the 77WN.



If you want to sit in a pair of seats with a companion, rather than sit in a row of 3, row 56 window-side seats are your only option.

[yflyer]

Headphones provided are complimentary earbuds, which don’t sound very good. On some movies, the dialog sounded unintelligible, and most music and sound effects sound as if they are coming out of a cave.



If possible bring your own headphones and an airline headphone adapter (Available inflight in the SQ Kris Shop catalog at S$15. These are available on the ground in shops for about S$5).

The amenity kit bags are now dark blue.



Inside: a toothbrush and sockettes.



Hot towels were distributed…



12:35 flight time today…quite long for an East-bound journey.



This flight was not heavily loaded. The front Y cabin was fairly well filled but the there were many empty seats towards the rear.

I snagged that rare and precious commodity: a bank of 3 empty economy class seats. My very own Y-flat bed…

And in this latest iteration of SQ Y seat, the armrests folded right up flush with the seat backs, and the seatbelt loops do not protrude above the cushions. In short: a perfectly flat sleeping surface.

[yflyer]

Drinks and peanuts after take-off: My drink of choice as usual – a G&T, served without lemon on this occasion (Maybe next time I should be pro-active and request a lemon slice…)





Special meals first, then the dinner trolley, served from the rear of the plane first.



I opted for the Thai red curry…

The meal tray as served…



and with covers off…



A delicious seafood salad, with soft tender shrimp and other seafood in a creamy dressing…very good…



The Thai red chicken curry with rice and vegetables was tasty. This came with a very generous portion of creamy and slightly spicy red curry. Don't expect a fiery hot red curry like you would get in Bangkok -- this appears to be a milder version, targeted a little more towards Western or non-Thai tastebuds. It was served with a heaping portion of moist and fragrant rice, accompanied by greens. The spices and curry flavours of this dish worked very well as an inflight meal…



Dessert was Banoffee ice cream…

[yflyer]

IFE was the same Krisworld system that was covered in the SIN-LHR J class segment of this TR, except that this widescreen was smaller, slight sharper. This made for great viewing.

As this was a touchscreen (In addition to having a handheld controller), the UI was also slightly more intuitive to use.





I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown series, before going to bed.





During the flight, self service snacks were available in the galley area.



These included Walkers shortbread and chips…



Cut fruit…



And savoury buns with various fillings, including peri peri chicken…



Breakfast was served from front of the cabin to the back…



Cabin service was gracious and attentive...even after so many hours onboard, the cabin crew looked fresh and well groomed...if they were tired (and they probably were), they didn't show it!



By the time the cart got to me in the rear of the plane, they had run out of the poached egg selection, but that was ok, as I wanted the vermicilli dish…



This was a taste of home, fairly authentic, with the right vermicilli texture and very fragrant fish cake…

[yflyer]

A very relaxed and comfortable vibe in the economy class cabin on this flight…





Quite a few babies and children on this flight…



…and as usual the cabin crew did a fantastic job with infants and their parents, whether it was serving or saving meals for parents as they tended to their babies, filling baby bottles with water, or even briefly carrying one baby and taking care of him while the parent used the bathroom.

[yflyer]

We overflew the island of Penang, just off the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, as we approached Singapore.





The resort-lined beaches of Batu Ferringhi were clearly visible…



Other parts of the Penang coastline…



And the 13.5km long Penang Bridge, first opened in 1985, one of the two bridges connecting Penang to the mainland…



Descent into Singapore…