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30 years ago today... hazy memories from the trip that started it all for SQFG

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  • 30 years ago today... hazy memories from the trip that started it all for SQFG

    Random saturday afternoon thoughts: (this is not a TR, i've retired from those )

    30 years ago today, on the 21st of December 1983 I went on a trip with my family.

    Our routing was SZB-DMK-HKG (old Kai Tak of course)-TPE-HKG-DMK-SZB with a side trip TSA-HUN-TSA thrown in for good measure.

    We flew TG on all the legs except the TSA-HUN which was on a Far Eastern Air Transport 737-200.

    I remember:

    1) We flew Y
    2) All our TG legs were on an Airbus A300B2 (i think)
    3) Back then the colourful seat covers were pretty cool, with pneumatic headsets
    4) the SZB-DMK leg was in the morning, very similar to today's TG420 timing
    4a) We got a rather nice breakfast of sausages and omelette on the SZB-BKK leg
    5) The DMK-HKG-TPE leg was a transit stop and we weren't allowed to deplane in HKG whilst at a remote stand
    6) We arrived into TPE on a rather dreary afternoon into I guess what is now T1 at Taoyuan airport, and i remember the bus ride into town being extremely long....

    and that's it

    This trip is more significant than anything else because it sparked and fueled an intense desire to go places. I'd flown a few times before but it was just to Paya Lebar and back. This was Taipei we were talking about! Far off and exotic! Many hours of flying no less!

    It was terribly exciting and I couldn't sleep for days before this trip. I think i might have even packed my suitcase 3 weeks in advance.

    It created a bit of a monster that won't go away and with every silly itinerary I book these days, I always look back on the trip that started it all.

    I may have flown once or twice since then, the A300B2 is long gone, as are the pneumatic headsets. The excitement comes and goes sometimes, but I'm usually itching after being grounded a while.

    As for exotic taipei? Just did a TPE run 3 weeks ago. Stuffed a dress and a pair of shoes in my carry on at 6.45am, went to the airport, flew up on MH366, back on MH409 the next morning and was home by 2pm the next day, with a few BAEC tier points in the bag and 9% closer to GGL.

    The SQFG of 30 years ago would call the lack of enthusiasm of the SQFG now sacreligious I think.

  • #2
    :like:

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    • #3
      Nice to read how it all started. What is it about hot, lazy afternoons that triggers bouts of nostalgia...
      Last edited by yflyer; 22 December 2013, 12:04 AM.

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      • #4
        It was around that same era when I climbed the spiral staircase of an SQ 747-212B and never wanted to come down again.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by milehighj View Post
          It was around that same era when I climbed the spiral staircase of an SQ 747-212B and never wanted to come down again.
          Oh climbing the spiral staircase (or any staircase for that matter) was a pipe dream for me in 1983. Was just happy to sit on a plane.

          The first time the curtain was behind me instead of in front of me was in 1993...... that opup damaged me in more ways than i can imagine :O

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          • #6
            Originally posted by SQflyergirl View Post
            The first time the curtain was behind me instead of in front of me was in 1993...... that opup damaged me in more ways than i can imagine :O
            very well said , cheers

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            • #7
              pneumatic headsets eh? I still got them on a domestic JAL flight in August I think. A nice change from the usual stuff handed out.

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              • #8
                How nostalgic ...

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                • #9
                  Wow, SQflyergirl, quite a history. At the risk of confirming the fact that I'm an ancient relic, my love of flying started during the days of Malaysian Airways Ltd and the earliest versions of the Fokker F27 and probably the DC-3, though I can't be sure. Never flew in them though, but I admired them at close proximity during those days when sneaking onto the town's airfield was far more easier.

                  The combination of senses from the sharp whirring noise from its propellers, the smell of jet fuel, the feeling from the intense wind blowing as the plane makes a u-turn at the end of the runway and the sight of the pilot waving (interpreted as a friendly gesture when in fact it was a "get-the-hell-out-of here" wave), all made quite an impact on a kid who began to long to see what was over in the distant horizon.

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                  • #10
                    this thread is dragging all the oldies out of the closet

                    I remember quite vividly some details about some of the "firsts" -

                    1) my first ever plane ride was an MH 737-200 from SZB to QPG (if you dunno that code you're not old enough). I remember the light bulb flashing on the "FID" of the day meaning it was boarding time and I dragged my parents saying "we can go now! let's go!"

                    2) my first ever SQ ride was on a 727. I think it had 3 rows or something of F and we sat in the 2nd row after the bulkhead in Y. Got served a cheese sandwich with a coffee nut as a garnish/ornament on top. Wow free food! I recall seeing a huge amusement park on the right hand side, with a really long waterslide too just as we approached Paya Lebar.

                    3) I also distinctly remember my first 747 ride, and it was also on SQ, but was a bit late to the game: it was a 743 - and through the night from SIN-TPE-HNL-LAX i recall George Michael's Father Figure played several times in a loop...

                    4) My first 747-400 ride was on BA. SIN-LHR, I remember this immaculately dressed woman who wore very fashionable tights and a lovely dress with a bag I'm sure worth many many years of my allowance. She was in "Club World" which i guessed at the time must have been the nice comfy seats at the pointy end of the plane. I very distinctly remember wanting to grow up just like her. :o

                    These things usually stick in your mind....

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                    • #11
                      Finding reasons for not finishing my TR...

                      First flights on MSA F27s between Singapore and Ipoh via Malacca & KL
                      Mesmerized by undercarriage on takeoff & landing
                      Loved the low altitude which allowed clearer view of the ground
                      Flight attendants loved me because I was a rolypoly kid
                      Always got an airsickness bag worth of sweets when I disembarked

                      First international flight BOAC VC10 to LHR in 1969.
                      Remember stopping at Tehran
                      No IFE. Mum bought 2 Airfix sets to keep me entertained: Westland Wessex & Bristol Belvedere
                      After 6 months in UK flew back home the long way.
                      AMS-JFK-LAX-HNL-SIN on DC8, UA or PA 707/DC8s and JL DC8
                      Remember DC8s being more comfortable

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                      • #12
                        My first ever flight was when I was in 1974? taking off from Paya Lebar ... to BKK, on TG with a stopover at KL....... and I have been in love with BKK since then.... I have posted some pictures of that first flight of mine somewhere in this forum..... writing this frpm the City of Angels, Krung (city) Thep (angels) Mahanakorn....
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                        This is a computer generated message, no signature required....

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                        • #13
                          My first flight was in 91 summer school holiday , 8y old , CGK-SIN-CGK with my grandfather and 6 other cousins at similar age. Forgotten the aircraft type CGK-SIN but SIN-CGK was a 742 or 3 , stucked in Changi on return leg due to weather and was given snacks by the ground staff at waiting lounge, given plenty toys and has been in love with SQ since then

                          Seating at window , looking at the winglets , flaps, and armed speed brake upon touch down . Cant deny its so remarkable.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by 9V-SIA View Post
                            Flight attendants loved me because I was a rolypoly kid
                            I can't even imagine!
                            Always got an airsickness bag worth of sweets when I disembarked
                            I only ever got the fake pilot wings... wonder where they've disappeared to now. I was so young I thought they'd actually let me march to the front...

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                            • #15
                              My first flight was in 1983 I think, it was from CGK (or HLP???) to TPE via SIN on CI A300? It was a wide body flight and return via SIN and took SQ on SIN-CGK at that time using B727 single aisle. That's why I had not so good memory about SQ because it was cramp plane.

                              I also fakely remember beeing upgraded on CX flight betwwen HKG and SiN. I was travelling with my mom. When we arrived airport (kaitak), we was told there was no more seat in economy hence they were offering us biz class and asked if we were ok. Of course we took it
                              visit my blog

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