24 July 2008
Singapore (SIN) – Sydney (SYD)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ231
Aircraft: B747-400
Registration: 9V-SPL
ETD: 0030
ATD: 0031
ETA: 0955
ATA: 0957
Flight Time: 7.43 hrs
Seat: 11A (Business)

This flight closes the chapter on my enjoyable winter break (Southern hemisphere). 25 days on the go - 8 flights and lots eating.
I left the house at 9.00 pm and got to the airport by 9.25pm, could have been faster if the KPE (Kallang Paya-Lebar Expressway) speed limit was 90km/h instead of the pathetic 70km/h. Singapore uses lots of acronyms!
Proceed to very deserted Row 6 for check-in and was ushered to the counter. Along the way, I passed Row 3, which had a long snaking queue for Economy while Row 4, which was for passengers to bag drop after doing an online check-in, or SMS check in was “queueless”. Check-in was a painless affair, handed my KrisFlyer card, passport, e-ticket to the check-in agent. Boarding pass was issued promptly and to my delight, it was the new wider boarding pass for Business class. I know some frequent flyers prefer the previous generation ones but I like the newer one. I don’t misplace it that easily.

Wider Boarding Pass


Immigration clearance was fast with the E-IACS counters. They should clean the fingerprint scanners more frequently. There was a layer of oil on mine. Yucks! After which I proceeded to DFS to pick up a brick of oxygen sticks which was rock bottom cheap. Imagine a pack costs S$2 at DFS but it’s $10 at landside. A visit to the T3 SilverKris Lounge was next on the list.
T3 SilverKris Lounge

Main Entrance


Seat Area






Had some drinks and a few nibbles. Coffee was lovely! It’s so much better than the T2 SKL but I would rather go the KF*G lounge just next door as it’s less busy ignoring the fact that there aren’t any attached washrooms. The lounge was packed when I got in at 10.30 pm but people started leaving by 11.00 pm. By the time I left at 11.45, there were many pockets of empty seats.
Boarding was at B2, which meant that it the multiple gate holding area. Security clearance was slow. SLOW. 3 lines, no priority line at all. Took me 20 minutes to get through. This was a 747 flight not an A380 flight!

Flight
Aircraft today was 9V-SPL. One of the “newer” B744s in the fleet but it had the older fittings.
Had a glass of Piper Heidsieck for my pre-flight drink.
Push backed a minute behind scheduled and taxied to 20C for take off.
Made a feeble attempt to plane spot while taxing with the A710IS. Still it’s better for doing trip reports compared to the 1-series.
9V-VLB


Had some more bubbly after take off and I slept till breakfast.

Sunrise over Australia


I had made a BTC (Book The Cook) reservation when I made my flight bookings and selected Nasi biryani.

Fruits


Nasi biryani


Nasi biryani was so-so. Fragrant smell but just didn’t taste right. Rice was hard and under cooked. Chicken pieces were too dry. Doesn’t taste as good as it used to on BTC.

After breakfast was cleared, we began our descent into overcast Sydney touching down on 16R 2 minutes after scheduled arrival.
Being one of the first out of the plane meant no queues for a 10.00 am arrival which meant that I could save the fast track pass for another day.

Express Pass


Was cleared by a customs official at the carousal and I was home 30 minutes after touch down.
Service: 9/10 Food: 7/10 Aircraft: 8/10