Turkish Delight: TK A359 SIN-MEL in Economy, VA Domestic Biz MEL-PER, Mining Charters

[yflyer]

Close to MEL airport...



It as quite late in the evening, after 8pm, but as this was the height of summer in the Southern hemisphere, the sun had still not yet set...



Final approach...



Gear down...



Light crosswind today...



Approaching the threshold...



On the ground, spoilers deployed...



...and a short taxi...



...to the gate.



We had landed bang on time, at 8.55pm, and were at the gate by 9pm.

[yflyer]

Overall, this was a very good flight. This was my first ever flight with Turkish Airlines and I was impressed.

The hard product was state of the art. This was a brand new Airbus A350-900, with an excellent Y seat and IFE, as good as any Y seat I have flown in. I found the TK A359 Y hard product as good as SQ's in every way, and in some ways slightly better than SQ's A359 (The TK IFE screen was bigger, for example).

The catering was really good. I really enjoyed my lunch onboard. While there were no spirits or cocktails served, I was happy with the wines onboard. I think I still prefer SQ catering, but the margin is very small.

As for negatives, there weren't any major ones, but I did find the cabin crew to be a little less warm and friendly than expected.

They weren't rude or cold, but did not smile very much, or make conversation with pax the way cabin crew on many other airlines do. Perhaps it was a language or cultural thing? The cabin crew in my section of the cabin spoke and understood English fairly well and were courteous and professional, but appeared more on the reserved side. Perhaps they were more comfortable making small talk with pax who spoke Turkish.

After meal service, they did not make much of an appearance in the cabin either. By contrast SQ cabin crew were both professional and super warm and friendly, and also spent more time out in the cabin checking on pax in between meal service.

Still this was a really good flight, and I was very happy with the overall Turkish Airlines experience on my flight TK168 SIN-MEL.

Next up, Melbourne!

To be continued!

[SQfanatic]

Excellent TR yflyer. What a coincidence that you (or anyone on this forum) would post a TK flight that I should have taken more recently than go to Hawaii.

In fact, for almost the past 7 months, I was raving to fly TK's 777-300ER from San Francisco to Istanbul, stay a day there with touristanbul, fly to Rome, return to Istanbul and take the free hotel and fly the 777-300ER back. I heard their Wifi provider is the same on every aircraft (same as UA's 77W and SQ's SWU-SNC birds), but their seats can be a hit or miss (you could get an old or a new interior if you are on a 77W). My mom's coworkers at her school flew TK and truly found them phenomenal which prompted us to hopefully try it. Sadly, the ticket prices became higher just for that particular February 14-21 week alone (No other week, didn't matter when you'd book) and it was isolated to SFO alone and we had to settle on UA's 77W to HNL.

The reason I was raving about TK's 77W is because nowadays, you can't get many airlines that fly a 9-across 777-300ER and have a footrest in Economy. I can evidently see that is missing in TK's newer planes. It's sad we missed out and they have a tendency to bring it back every Winter to SFO (maybe cargo needs).

I'm hoping in next February to try this out if they bring back the 777-300ER. I'm trying to avoid an A350 whenever it's possible (one exception - flying SQ in May), even on TK.

Overall, it looks like the food presentation looks very nice - almost to the same style Emirates serves it in, if not bigger. SQ from my understanding has gone downhill for years. Service is good, but not the seats or food (i.e. not exactly just the quality, but serving sizes have gone down). And as far as the crew, yeah that was part of my concern too - lack of warmth compared to say Emirates or SQ. At the same time though, part of me expects that but the other part of me doesn't mind it a lot unless you are asking for say water or some snacks or assistance because I care most about the food quality and enjoying what the flight itself has to offer.

[yflyer]

Thanks for the comments, SQfanatic! Yes quite a coincidence. In May this year, I will be heading to Rome on TK, and on the way back, I am also doing their free stopover in Istanbul, as I have never been to Turkey.

TK had business class sale fares which were irresistable -- about SGD 3K return for a business class ticket from Singapore to Europe, via Istanbul. The clincher was the free stopover in Istanbul where J pax were offered up to 2 complimentary free hotel nights at a 5 star hotel. You could choose which hotel on a website after your booking was confirmed, and the hotel choices available were unexpectedly good (As long as you booked far in advance, I presume). My two free nights in June are booked at the Conrad Bosphorus.

I had a choice of TK's 77W or A359 and I picked the A359 as those planes are much newer. To me, a new plane is half the battle won. To get to fly the very newest A359 in the TK fleet was a pleasant bonus.

Yes I was very impressed with TK's economy catering, although the chef onboard (easily recognizable because he was literally wearing chef's whites and a toque) spent all his time in J and didn't show his face in the Y cabin, except for a short chat with the cabin crew in the galley prior to take-off.

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

After deplaning, I got through the automatic immigration gates quite quickly, and as I had no checked luggage, I was not delayed at baggage claim either.

I was in an Uber on the way to the city by 9.40pm, which was pretty good timing for a flight which only touched down 45 minutes prior, at 8.55pm.



My hotel in Melbourne was the Victoria Hotel, at Little Collins Street. I picked this hotel because of the excellent CBD location, walking distance from Melbourne Park, where the Australian Open Tennis tournament was taking place, and also because of the very reasonable room rates.

[yflyer]

I was there for the Australian Open grand slam tennis tournament. This was a major event on the sporting calendar, and many current and past tennis stars would be there.



The AO venue, Melbourne Park, was just a pleasant 10-15 minute walk from the CBD, which was very convenient.



The atmosphere at the AO grounds was quite electric, with both locals and many international visitors in attendance.



I was at the tournament for work, of course, but there was time in between work commitments to walk around, and even watch some tennis if I was so inclined. I happened to walk past Rod Laver Arena, one of the tournament's main venues, just as a press event was taking place.



Tennis fans there must have been ecstatic to be in close proximity to one of the all-time greats from the past...



It was John McEnroe!



I was there with a colleague. I was not really much of a tennis fan, so I didn't really capitalise on the opportunity to watch the big names in action.

By contrast, my colleague took every opportunity watch many matches, as well some of the practice sessions in the practice courts. He watched Novak Djokovic play a match one evening.

"How much is a ticket?", I asked him.

"200 dollars", was his reply, "It's not cheap because it's him."

One of the tournament sponsors was kind enough to invite me to watch a quarterfinal, between current top seed, Jannik Sinner, and Alex de Minaur, a young Australian and a local favourite. Unfortunately I messed up my travel booking and was scheduled to fly back to Singapore on the night of the match, and missed my chance to watch the world number 1 in action. In that match, Sinner demolished his opponent in clinical fashion, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. Sinner eventually went on to win the tournament.

One thing I would say, though: Watching tennis on TV is nothing like watching it live. Watching live, I was stunned by the speed, strength and power of the players. You would have to be super fit, not to mentioned incredibly skillful, to play at this level!

[yflyer]

You did not have to be in the arenas to soak in the tennis atmosphere. The whole city was in on the event.



I spent some time at "Afloat", a bar and cantina on the Yarra River, watching the tennis while sipping an Aperol Spritz...



Not a bad spot to watch the tennis!

[yflyer]

While in Melbourne, I could not resist heading back to Lulu's for my favourite Penang-style Char Koay Toew...



But Lulu's now has really stiff competition from another restaurant, Kakilang, which serves up a very similar menu of Malaysian and Asian delights.

I previously had a wonderful dinner at their Balwyn location with fellow SQTalkers Kyo, SQ228 and SQ218.

Kakilang has recently opened a branch in the Melbourne CBD, along Bourke Street.



This was a really busy restaurant -- you had to get in there before 12noon, otherwise you would need to wait in line at the entrance for a coveted lunch-time seat.



On one of the days, I headed there for lunch with Kyo. My schedule on this trip was so hectic and unpredictable that there was no opportunity to plan a proper SQTalk get-together with the Melbourne based SQTalkers. But on one of the days, a lunch slot opened up on my calendar, and fortunately Kyo was free that day.



The char koay teow was excellent, easily the equal of Lulu's, and possibly better. I could not resist loading mine up with an extra sunny side up duck egg, extra cockles, and extra lard...



Thanks for driving all the way to the CBD to meet for lunch, Kyo! It was great to meet up!

[yflyer]

Other favourite dining (and drinking) spots I headed to on this trip included my current favourite restaurant in Melbourne: Gimlet.

I headed there on a couple of different occasions, either for cocktails, or dinner.

I am a fan of their signature Gimlet cocktail...



...and their martini is one of the best I have ever had in any bar in any city.



The modern Australian cuisine at Gimlet is also superb. They have an excellent Dry-aged Muscovy duck on the menu. While it is not mentioned on the menu, I was pleased to learn from one of the friendly waiters there that it was possible to order a half portion of the duck.



This was absolutely delicious. I paired it with a glass of Torbreck "The Struie" 2022...



Next door to Gimlet was the Apollo Inn, a sister establishment. While it is primarily an intimate and cosy cocktail bar, they serve pretty good food there too.



I headed there for both drinks and food during my stay. Needless to say, the cocktails at the Apollo Inn were top notch, but I also really liked their raw tune with grapefruit and fennel seed, as well as their classic beef tartare...

[yflyer]

I also could not resist heading back to Rockpool Bar & Grill...



...where I celebrated a successful project milestone with a glass of Champagne.



The portion sizes here were quite large, so I was careful to pace my dinner carefully, with small snacks as an appetiser...



...before focusing my energy and appetite on the main event, their delicious steak, which was as good as ever...

[yflyer]

I also enjoyed a couple of dinners at "The Atlantic", also located in the Crown Casino complex along the Yarra River.



As the name would imply, the focus here was seafood, but they had dishes "from the land" on the menu as well...



Oysters to start...



Then a whole flounder...



This was done to perfection, with flavorful skin and delicate white flesh, in a caper and butter sauce...



I picked the fish clean. Thumbs up!



After that I only had space for a single scoop of ice cream for dessert.



On another occasion, I had their signature Moreton Bay Bug Spaghettini, which was very tasty.

[yflyer]

Part way through my stay, I decided to move to a different hotel, just for some variety, and also to rack up Marriott status nights. I picked the new AC by Marriott Melbourne.



This property was located close to South Wharf, a short drive (or a long walk) from the CBD.



Australian Open - themed decor in the lobby.



Views of the CBD from the lobby...



Welcome cocktail at check-in...



My room was a bright and airy corner room...



The decor was stylish and modern.



Open wardrobe, coffee machine, and in-room safe.



Modern, minimalist bathroom design...



...with shower stall.



I thought this was a very nice room.

[yflyer]

It was a really hot January, so I really enjoyed a dip in the pool after checking in.



There was a poolside bar.



The lobby bar looked very inviting as well.



Lobby restaurant, well located to catch the morning sun, where breakfast was served.



Self service shop by the lobby -- just pick up your items and bring them to the reception to have them charged to your room.



The rooms were great, and so were the staff.

While the location of this property wasn't as central as the Victoria Hotel, it was located next to the DFO South Wharf shoping mall, as well as the South Wharf restaurants. It was also perfectly feasible to walk from there to Crown Casino, or even the CBD if you had the time.

[yflyer]

The next morning, I flew to Perth on Virgin Australia.

The check-in area at MEL T3 was quite busy when I got there...



I was booked in economy, but had bid for a paid upgrade to Business, which was accepted.

I headed to the priority check-in area (Krisflyer Gold are also eligible to use these counters).



The security check-in lines were not busy at that hour in the morning. I liked the new X-ray machines at MEL, which don't require you to remove laptops etc from your luggage. They had a great system in place which was quite quick for pax to go through.

[yflyer]

I headed to the Virgin Australia Lounge...



I've covered this lounge in previous TR's so just a quick summary here.



This was a bright, spacious lounge with good tarmac views...



This lounge had a barista station, a smallish breakfast spread, and beer/wine after 12pm.



As I would be eating on the plane, I was content to have a pancake and a coffee before heading to the gate...