At The Pointy End Of Things: 744 First Class SIN-NRT-LAX-NRT-SIN

[9V-SIA]

The Botanist

Behind the Arcade is this park...





.. and more cute shops



The mountains we saw in the distance driving to Ojai tower over the town



Hang glider overhead while we had lunch...



... of pulled pork sandwich..



.. chocolate fondant



The Botanist saw me snapping and pointed out the various trees in the park! I can't remember what's what but here they are.. one is a sycamore tree



Close-up of flower



Chestnut?



Sycamore?



Star of Ice Age, acorn the squirrel was carrying...

[9V-SIA]

This has to be the friendliest town in America. And special because the townsfolk have banned big chain stores within the town limits which has allowed small businesses to thrive

The Waitress

Azu, an old haunt on previous trips. We had a late lunch here after shopping the whole day at Camarillo.

Nice waitress took our order. When her shift ended, she came over to say goodbye and introduced her replacement. Wow...



Really nice decor.



I love beetroot salad and ordered it whenever it was on the menu



Shrimps



Ribeye steak



Home made strawberry ice cream for dessert




Nice shopkeeper

After our late lunch at Azu, I was taking pictures outside the cinema when the shop keeper came out and told me to wait a few minutes to take a picture of the mountains.

They turn pink in the sunset..



Human Arts

Arcade Shopping Centre has our favourite store...



...Human Arts, an eclectic mix of art and craft.

Every year the owners go to fairs around the country commissioning work for their store



The stuff in the background is pretty nice to browse too

[9V-SIA]

Ojai

We love Ojai and stayed here our previous 2 visits:

• outside town at the Blue Iguana when we came with the kids &
• Emerald Iguana in town... when it was just the two of us

This picture captures all the important buildings in Ojai!



The Post Office...



& Libbey Park beyond



The Cinema



Arcade Shopping Centre & the mountains we saw on drive from Lake Casitas



View of the mountains from the park



It may seem like a one horse town..



.. but I'll next tell you why we LOVE to come here...

[9V-SIA]

Hertz Never Lost

This is the latest version of Hertz Never Lost and has a touch screen. Much more fast & user friendly than the previous model.

One reason why I rent from the Premium range at Hertz as I've been caught without this useful tool in their lower range cars ( despite pre ordering Never Lost )



On the Interstate 101 from LA, the GPS brings you to Ojai along the valley floor on Highway 33.



Not too exciting a route except for seeing a lot of these...



Didn't know there was still oil in California

However, from SYR, we head south on Interstate-101 to Carpenteria, then take the Highway 150 across a scenic "mountain pass", skirting Lake Casitas, to the town

Route to Ojai & Camarillo Premium Outlets

And the right tool to negotiate these mountain roads... a C300



Doing my "Top Gear" thing. 3.0l V6 is wasted on Singapore's congested roads. Here, it's a dream.

Better ride than my BMW, which has run flat tyres. Much appreciated on the pot holed roads I encountered in the US



Truth be told, I did not exceed the speed limit as I didn't want to get manhandled by CHIPs

Everyone was overtaking me. Cars, pick ups, buses

Lake Casitas lies below us..



Ojai lies beneath the mountain range in the background



The only person I managed to overtake was this cyclist. Can you see him? A lot of cyclists were using this road. Uphill must be challenging but downhill... wheee



About to overtake him..



Finally reach the lake



The rest of the way to Ojai is straight roads with long sweeping curves...



.. filled with many orange groves



Resisted the temptation to speed by using the cruise control.

Don't know how strict enforcement is in the area but there were SPEED CHECK warnings all along the way

Still, a beautiful scenic route into Ojai

[9V-SIA]

Camarillo Premium Outlets

This outlet, just off I-101, is about an hour north of LA, halfway to Santa Barbara.

We come here every time we visit LA

Noteworthy is an airfield next to the mall and you can see a line of private aircraft landing or taking off from the highway, even before you see the mall

There are 3 huge sections to this mall:

1. Fashion Court
2. Main Court
3. Promenade

and we came here 3 times to cover the whole place: on our way to SYR, once during our stay at SYR & on the way back to LA.

Camarillo Premium Outlets

Well, after what that nice immigration officer said to her at LAX, my wife just had to shop here. The fountain of youth in the foreground



We time our visits to factory outlets for weekdays. Most of the shops are empty but not this one. Always crowded.

On one of our visits this time, 2 coach loads of Malaysians shopping here. A lot of happy faces I can tell you!



Can never buy enough jeans.

[SilverChris]

Does this mean I have to do one in Y?

Sounds cool Be sure to include pics of the seat, handset, galley and IFE

[9V-SIA]

Road Trip Santa Barbara

Introduction

Our normal road trip would involve driving in one general direction, overnight stops along the way then continue driving.

And that was the original plan: to drive north from LA to SF along the Pacific Coast Highway. Then fly back to LA for our flight home.

However, we opted for a more relaxing option. Drive to Santa Barbara, establish a base and explore the region for 3 days,

then 3 days in LA before flying home.



On my last trip here in 2004, I did too much.

Severely jet lagged, I had to drive to San Diego in rush hour traffic.

I flew Executive Economy on the A345 then. So maybe my wife is right. No jet lag after flying First!!


I try not to drive more than 2-3 hours a day on my road trips.

I've done 12 hours in my youth but remember vividly fighting to stay awake on the highway. Not advisable.

Our local newspapers report regularly Singaporeans getting killed after falling asleep at the wheel

So Santa Barbara is perfect. It's about 2 hour drive north of LA

( 3 if you stop for lunch & shopping at Camarillo Premium Outlets )

So this is where we stayed..

San Ysidro Ranch

From this base, we explored Santa Barbara as well as getting to revisit an old favourite.. Ojai ( pronounced Oh High )

Our first night in US then, we ate in the hotel at the Plough and Angel

My fish and chips..



My wife's prawns..



Food was very un-inspiring..

Dinner menu on our last night. Very dark restaurant accounts for poor picture quality





Specials...



We were very full so no starter. Olives were very good.



Wild striped bass



Chocolate Mint Souffle

[9V-SIA]

Excellent trip report and a good read.

Thanks

You're welcome

Thanks for yet another nice TR, 9V-SIA.

Easy to write TRs when you are enjoying the experience

I can't get tired of your 744 TRs.

Does this mean I have to do one in Y?

What a nice way to celebrate your wedding anniversary! Congratulations.

Very nice break. As you will see....

Happy Anniversary to both of you and thank you for bringing us, once again, lovely shots from a great trip.

N_Architect, we don't see enough of you here on SQTalk. Or your spicy tales..

Thanks for sharing the wonderful trip report!

You're welcome

Great TR as usual, 9V-SIA.

Thanks. I hope the enthusiasm comes through in my TRs.

I must say 150-200 flights a year that you do will kill it for me, premium cabin or not

[SilverChris]

Now THAT is what you call a FIRST CLASS CABIN.

Absolutely Unlike a certain 4 year old product still deemed new.

Edit: 747 posts!

[MAN Flyer]

Great TR as usual, 9V-SIA.

Now THAT is what you call a FIRST CLASS CABIN.

[Buster CT1K]

Thanks for sharing the wonderful trip report!

[N_Architect]

Happy Anniversary to both of you and thank you for bringing us, once again, lovely shots from a great trip.

[StarG]

Thanks for yet another nice TR, 9V-SIA.
I can't get tired of your 744 TRs.
What a nice way to celebrate your wedding anniversary! Congratulations.

[Logan^]

Excellent trip report and a good read.

Thanks

[9V-SIA]

Hi 9V-SIA! Wonderful trip report! Loved the pictures and details!

Glad you're enjoying it

Indeed. Just shows how little it takes to deliver customer satisfaction.

It's not just about adding more bells and whistles

Happy anniversary 9V-SIA! Looking forward for the rest of the journey.

Gosh, it looks so vivid I am so wanna bite those heart shaped pralines!

Thanks

The heart shaped ones are the best of this batch

Thanks again for another SQ 747-400 TR, since time in the SkySuites. Don't think I'll get a chance to fly this cabin again before their withdrawal.

Also Happy Anniversary!!

You're welcome

If they're smart, they'll just "threaten" to withdraw so people like me will plan farewell trips on them.

As it stands, I have a few SIN-EWR trips lined up and thinking of doing SIN-FRA-JFK and returning EWR-SIN.

First of all, nice pics and report, 9V-SIA. I really enjoyed them.

I was a young boy when the 747 was first introduced and my dad frequently flew F (no such thing as J, then).

The upper deck was initially just a lounge - called the Silver Kris Lounge. It did not have a stretched upper deck - just 3 windows, I think. Later on, with the slightly stretched upper deck, they introduced the beds. From one of his photos, it had curtains for privacy.

((I hope my memory of the above are accurate - please correct me if I am wrong))

I was trying to google for some pics of these but not so successful. Would be nice for posterity. I would post my dad's pics but they were all lost years ago.

Thanks again for a really nice TR.

Thanks.

Your inputs always welcome KC*

I'm wondering whether 742 went from F upper deck lounge to business class

742 seems too small to have fitted 8 beds.

Maybe upper deck slumberettes started with 743.

According to CS, there were 16 F seats at the nose and you had to pre-book the upper deck slumberettes

I imagine the 8 PAXs who didn't get them would not be too happy

I flew to Japan in upper deck of 742 on my honeymoon

Nice report! The person who designed the skysuites is a genius!

Once again another fabulous TR 9V-SIA! Happy XXth Wedding Anniversary!

I wonder if JPA will be given the contract to design the next generation F & J cabins for SQ. Considering that they have been involved in SkySuites, New First & New Business.

Thanks.

I didn't know JPA designed both SkySuite and New First & Business Class.

Here's a link to their aircraft seat designs

jpadesign

I'm not surprised JL First Class seat is designed by them.

I remember thinking this is what SQ's New First should have been

The other seat I think has SkySuite DNA is Oman Air's New Business Class

Excellent report ! And of course, a happy anniversary too

Thanks. My wife now says she doesn't get jet lag when she flies First

What does this mean?........