Sky Report: SQ213 Singapore to Perth

In May 2014, we flew as a group of seven from Singapore to Perth on SQ213 which is a 7.35am flight. Three of us, including my mother, were flying on business class while my sister’s family of four was traveling in economy. We spent some time checking out the Terminal 3’s Silverkris business class lounge before heading the gate A14 to board. Tip: to save some walking, take the sky train near the T3 Silverkris lounge elevators. It will take you to A15 where you just need to double back a bit to A14.

The flight was operated on the older generation SQ 777-200 variants, featuring the older spacebeds with 2-2-2 configuration. The seats were not the fully flat version but comfortable enough for the daytime five hours flight. We were seated in the last row 19D,19E and 19F. It was my Mum’s first time sitting in SQ business class so naturally she is very impressed by the generous amount of space on her seat. Foodwise, we started off with selections from the bread basket followed by a fruit platter. My mother likes their croissants while my wife and I prefer the well-known SQ garlic bread. Wanton noodles from the menu were too salty while BTCed choices (nasi briyani and waffles) were quite delicious.

We arrived in Perth 15 minutes early. As Singaporeans, we were able to take advantage of the Smartgate that allowed us to clear customs much faster than before. My wife however, had longer hair in her passport photo and Smartgate rejected her ‘face’ and she was directed to another counter to verify her passport. Nevertheless, the entire process was done within 15 minutes and we were in the arrivals area shortly.

Sky Report: SQ861 Hong Kong to Singapore

We took the A380 on SQ861 for the trip back. This time, we were booked in SQ A380 business class which featured fully flat beds in 1-2-1 configuration. Check-in at Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 1 was swift but the customs clearance took quite a while. That left us with very little time for the Silverkris lounge! Tried the dim sum which was average. There’s made to order noodles as well but we opt to reserve the space in stomachs for the food onboard. As this was the pre-renovation days, there weren’t any showers in the lounge unlike now. Incidentally, our boarding gate was just outside the Silverkris lounge which was pretty convenient.

Boarding was done punctually and so we boarded the A380 and found our seats: 18D and 18E which are the bulkheads. 11D/E and 18D/E are the bulkheads on a SQ A380 which gives more legroom as compared to the other business class seats. However, the drawback will be the IFE monitors which are mounted further away on the wall rather than on the seat in front of you, therefore the display angle will be less than optimal. So if watching movies on the IFE is important to you, do not choose the bulkheads!

As this was business class, meal time cannot be fixed and so we were served our meals shortly after reaching cruising altitude. The duck salad was remarkable! We BTCed stir-fried chicken with abalone and butabara shogayaki. Once again, we were not disappointed as the quality of both entrees were great.

Sky Report: SQ856 Singapore to Hong Kong

Given our previous experience in SQ Suites, we decided to give it another try in a short weekend getaway to Hong Kong during the March school holidays. The flight is a morning flight, which departs Singapore at 9.30am and reaches Hong Kong at 1.30pm. We traveled with my wife’s sister, her husband and their baby, who were traveling in economy. As we were departing in SQ First Class, they were able to check-in with us at the First Class check-in area. After collecting our boarding passes, we received our invitation cards to the Private Room while our guests were invited to the First Class Lounge.

The breakfast service at the Private Room was not as extensive as the evening spread. We ordered eggs benedict, dim sum, eggs with sausages, ipoh hor fun and waffles. The eggs and dim sum were fine but the waffles were too hard and the ipoh hor fun lacks the ‘ipoh’ taste. Feeling underwhelmed by the food so far, we adjourned to the First Class Lounge to join our guests to continue our breakfast there. The food there was a self serve buffet with more choices than the menu at the Private Room. We sampled the fried kway tiao and naan, all were quite tasty. Pancakes were ordered from the pancakes station, which was augmented with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from the freezer. Now that’s breakfast! With breakfast settled, we then took a buggy ride(arranged when we first entered Silverkris) to our gate.

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Suites class passengers were invited to board the plane first. Our guests piggybacked on the priority too. Seems like the gold boarding passes really gives you some privileges! We settled into our familiar seats, 3C and 3D. The chief steward came along to introduce himself and informed us of the flight time and estimated time of arrival. Some warm nuts and champagne was served before we took off at 9.45am.

After the seat belts signs were turned off, the stewardess came over to confirm our meal choices. I BTCed Japanese wagyu beef for myself and duck risotto for my wife. As we were still full from our breakfast, we requested that our meals be served at 11am. We were served Krug champagne, mocktails and other chips while we watched movies on the IFE. I found the Krisworld IFE to be quite updated with the movies; classics and new blockbusters were available. 11am soon came along and the table was prepared for lunch.

lots of leg space

plug and usb ports

Coke with lots of lemon

our attentive stewardess. Her red kebaya means she’s the chief stewardess

setting of the table

Fruit Platter

confit of duck leg

japanese wagyu beef with rice

cherry parfait with stewed cherry

chendol

earl grey tea

As this is a brunch menu, no caviar was served. The quality of our entre differed greatly. The confit of duck was too dry while the wagyu beef was the most tender beef I ever ate. Best BTC choice I ever made(for the beef). We finished off the meal with earl grey tea. The stewardess kept the drinks flowing after meal service, so we drank plenty of them. Before long, the plane made its approach into HKIA and we landed at 1.15pm, 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Our guests were ushered into the cabin to disembark with us, ahead of economy class.

Sky Report: SQ317 London to Singapore

Our three-week honeymoon in Europe came to an end in early January 2014. The main reason for choosing London as the stopover from Iceland was the decision to ride on the A380 on SQ. SQ has four flights from London to Singapore daily, two of them are on the A380 and the remaining on the B777-300ER. We decided to book the coveted Suites class on SQ317 using our miles. Taxes and fuel surcharges added up to SGD700 per pax, yikes!

The flight departs at 10.30 am and we checked in at a relatively empty Suites counter at 8.30 am and headed to the Silverkris lounge for breakfast. The first class section had a menu for ala carte ordering, however the menu simply describes what is available in the buffet section. We got the usual english breakfast items and sampled some juices. The assortment of soft drinks not found in Singapore was something we would miss very much. 30 minutes before boarding time, we were approached by the lounge attendant that our buggy ride is ready to take us to the plane!

pretty useless menu

breakfast items

breakfast items

breakfast items

yoghurt and stuff

workstations

soft drinks and beer

coffee machine

buggy ride

Boarding the plane took no time at all, as we were shown a separate direct entrance to Suites.

Cabin was spacious, and the seat was comfortable. Each seat has its own enclosed cabin. The middle two seats (2C+2D, 3C+3D) are connected and most suitable for couples, though a screen between the two seats can be lowered if the seats were taken by strangers; our seats are 3C and 3D. During sleep time, the two seats combined to form the famous ‘double-bed in the sky’. Take note that the cabins are not fully enclosed, the doors only go up to about 1.8 metres, someone tip-toeing can definitely see what you are doing; so don’t get tooo comfortable, if you know what I mean. The steward came to introduce himself and gave me a tour of the A380 after I told him that this is our first time in an A380. After learning that this was our honeymoon, he nodded and said “This is certainly the way to honeymoon in style, Sir!”.

Some photos of the seat and cabin. As evident from the poor quality of the pictures, they were taken by my cheap camera. Please ask me if you plan to use any of the photos, thank you!

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We were served snacks and champagne before takeoff. After takeoff, the amenities kit were distributed and the stewardess came around to confirm our meal choices. We used ‘Book the Cook’ to preorder the Lobster Thermidor and Monkfish. The meals were served in the following order: satay canapes, salad, bread, soup,  entree, dessert, cheese plate, tea with pralines. My wife liked the satay so much that she got more of it instead of the salad.
Food verdict: nothing to complain about, we particularly liked the satay and garlic bread. The lobster thermidor tasted cheesy good and the monkfish was moist. We aren’t into cheese and wine so we can’t comment on either.

satay canapes

My wife really liked the Satay

orange cooler cocktail

enjoying our five course meal in the sky

garlic bread, an SQ favourite

chinese soup

prawn salad

lobster thermidor

monkfish with chef potatoes

cheese plate

pancakes and ice cream

I forgot what this is.

praline and tea to finish off.

With the meal finished, the stewardess asked us if we would want to lounge on the bed instead. Of course we said yes! Pardon the poor lighting and quality of the photos.

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We went to bed with about eight hrs left of flight time. It wasn’t comfortable, possibly due to depressurization problems. We were awaken 2 hours later and emergency landed in Baku and this incident was reported internationally. We were safe but extremely tired and how Singaporeans aptly described as ‘sibei sian’. We ended up sleeping on the floors of Baku airport while waiting for a replacement aircraft to bring us and the other 455 passengers back to Singapore. Not the best place to be stranded in due to the strict immigration regulations; we were only allowed out of the airport after our visa was approved after an estimate of 15 to 18 hours. After which, we boarded a bus to crash at a nearby hotel for around 6 hours before returning to the airport. It was another long wait before we were allowed to board the plane.

The replacement flight was coded SQ9317 and timed at 9 hours. Being exhausted from camping at the airport, the suites felt so much more comfortable when we finally re-boarded the plane. Here’s some photos of the first meal.

garlic bread

walnut salad

the other salad

watercress soup

cornish game hen

US beef fillet

quite tasty, red in the middle.

forgot dessert name again. Chocolate something..

We went promptly to sleep after the meal and woke up 7 hours later for breakfast! Had this not been due to the delayed journey, this would have been the best sleep I had on a plane ever. Here are some photos of the breakfast. Being a hastily packed flight, the food choices are limited.

cornflakes

fruit platter

english breakfast set

32 hours after our scheduled arrival, we finally arrived in Singapore. If not for the delay, the flight would have been a most pleasant one. The crew acted professionally in times of the emergency, which I appreciated.

Honeymoon in London (Day 19)

Day 19 was our only full day in London, for the first half of the day we visited the famous Natural History Museum, one of the rare museums that the wife will be enthusiastic about exploring; and admission is free! We were advised to avoid the main entrance along Cromwell Road and entered the museum through an alternative entrance along Exhibition Road which had significantly shorter queues.

We shortlisted some exhibits that we wanted to explore;

• blue zone which housed the dinosaur exhibits, numerous animals skeletons and cast models with the famous life size model of a Blue Whale,

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• green zone where we spent a large amount of time in the vault and the mineral section trying to find Superman’s Achilles heel

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• and finally the red zone where we found kryptonite in Earth’s Treasury.

After a quick lunch, we headed to Trafalgar Square and hopped onto a open bus tour of London’s most famous sights. We took the The Original Tour: Yellow Route, which had a English guide who kept up a running commentary on the various spots we drove by. Tourists can hop on and off at any of the stops throughout the day, but due to time constraints, we decided to just sit along and enjoy the view.

After the tour, we made a quick stop at Oxford Circus for some shopping in the one of the largest H&M stores in London, ending our day with a nice meal at Jamie Oliver’s takeout.

 

 

Honeymoon: London Baby! (Day 18)

We woke up really early on Day 18 to catch our plane to London at 7.40am, our airport transfer was arranged with IGTours for 6am and this time we didn’t experience any delays when they picked us up from the apartment (it was the same driver!). Our flight out to London was on Iceland’s national carrier, Icelandair, the ticket costs about 250 SGD. Check-in was done by self-help terminals which printed out the luggage tags and boarding passes, followed by a long but fast-moving queue to drop off our luggage; very efficient and fuss-free! Among the numerous tax-free shops in the airport, the most eye-catching is 66°NORTH, Iceland’s premier winter wear brand, which still costs an arm and leg even without tax. Boarding was done punctually but takeoff was delayed by forty-five minutes as the plane was waiting for a few transit passengers who were got delayed flying in; from what we know Icelandair has this ‘board all passengers’ policy, so delays are pretty common. Overall we preferred WOW air for the cozy environment and cheaper tickets, but take note that the timing for WOW air flight to London is an hour earlier (6.45am!).

Due to the delayed take-off, we arrived in London Heathrow Airport around 1pm instead of the scheduled 11.45am. The airport is well-connected to the city center by the London Tube and many other types of transport. Our hotel, Millennium Gloucester Hotel London Kensington was located right outside the Gloucester Road station on the Piccadilly Line, it took us about 45 minutes to get there. The front desk upgraded us to a Club Room but didn’t include the club privileges 😦

We were only in London for three days and we were not travelling extensively, so we opt to purchase an Oyster Card which is a much cheaper option than cash, our trip from Heathrow Terminal 1 station to Gloucester Road station only costs £2.20 by Oyster Card as compared to £4.70 by cash.

On our first night in London, we tubed to Piccadilly Circus station and made our way to Queen’s Theater to collect our Les Miserables tickets; watching musicals on the West End was one of the most popular tourist activities.

We had dinner in Chinatown’s many Chinese restaurants that specialized in all-you-can-eat buffets for 7£. We had quite a bit of time left before the musical started, so we also visited the humongous M&M store before heading to the musical.

Honeymoon in Iceland: Horse Riding (Day 17)

On Day 17, we went for our final guided activity for Iceland, a horseback riding tour offered by Islenski Hesturinn. They have raving reviews on TripAdvisor and like other tours we communicated and made our reservations via emails and payment was made at the end of the tour.

We were picked up at 8.30am from our apartment and attended a short briefing by the boss, Begga after we were comfortably seated in the stable. She gave us an introduction to Icelandic horses and went through certain commands and actions for that we would use later; you could really feel her love and passion for the horses as she spoke. We are true novices to horseback riding and there really isn’t any better way to experience it since Icelandic horses are much smaller than regular horses and have good temperaments. They also have a unique fifth gait that makes riding more comfortable. We were then fitted with gloves and helmets before being pair out with our horses. After a short period of walking around the pen, the gates were open and we started on our route! It can get pretty cold along the way and since you have to keep both hands on the reins, bundle up properly before you go!

Begga led the way, stopping when necessary to describe the landscape. She gradually introduced and explained the 5 types of gaits, so we were able to experience all of them. The whole tour lasted about 3 hours and we were riding and moving for about 80% of the route. As beginners I wouldn’t say it was extremely easy, but it would have been much harder on regular horses! We tend to hold on to the reins too tightly and also have problems keeping our legs straightened (the wife blamed it on her short legs). Every now and then, the crew will give us pointers on and encourage us to keep trying; it was well appreciated and needed 🙂 Begga gave us a horseshoe for good luck after learning that we were newly-weds on our honeymoon and they sent us all the pictures that were taken during the tour to our email.

It was around lunch time when we arrive back at Reykjavik so the bus kindly dropped us off at the Old Harbour where we went to The Sea Baron to try the lobster soup that Stefan raved about. Still pretty hungry, we went back to Iceland’s best hot dog stand, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. We had it before Stefan introduced it to us and this time we went back for more! The hot dog, made out of lamb and pork with various toppings and condiments is simply the best hot dog we have ever tasted.

Our original plan for the afternoon was supposed to be whale watching but we were ‘all-toured-out’ and decided to take it easy for the remaining day. We took a long walk back to apartment and visited the local swimming pool, Sundhöllin that Siguron recommended. Much of the swimming pools were located indoors with the exception of some outdoor hot tubs and all the water is geothermal-heated! As we later learnt, this was the oldest swimming pool in Iceland and there are other spanking new ones further from town that are fully outdoors and complete with slides, saunas and hot tubs. The Blue Lagoon is touristy and rather overpriced so these pools are a nice alternative and in fact frequently visited by the locals.

Honeymoon in Iceland: Northern Lights Hunting (Night 16)

Our main purpose of visiting Iceland is in the hopes of viewing the northern lights. The winter of 2013/14 is reported to have increased chances of sighting due to the solar maximum. Winter is the best season for viewing due to the longer nights, so we picked a ‘moonless’ week for our stay.

There are many companies that offer tours for chasing the lights, but we eventually picked Superjeeps for the following reasons:

1. unlimited retries for the duration of your trip if your prior chases were not successful or the lights were not strong
2. the jeeps can travel to off-road locations and can therefore bring you to more remote location and places not accessible by buses
3. high successul viewing rates
4. small groups

The booking process was done via email and payment had to be made one month prior to the tour to confirm our places. To go on a tour, you will just need to call them around 5-6pm on the day itself to ask if they would be chasing the lights that night. If they are, they will schedule a pickup at your address at 8.30pm. Originally we thought that each jeep will have a customized route that is dependent on the driver. However for Superjeeps, all of them will meet up at a petrol station, discuss and proceed as a group to whichever location they conclude to have the best chance of sighting.

Sightings are dependent on a few factors: cloud cover, solar activity and the amount of light. The Icelandic Meteorological Office gives an idea of your chances of sighting on their aurora forecast site. In general, a level 2 or 3 will result in a dazzling view provided that there are no clouds and the place is sufficiently dark.

In our previous posts, we mentioned that the tour on night 13 was cancelled and the view on night 14 was not strong enough. According to Superjeeps, there were no successful sightings for the past week due to the undesirable weather. The convoy on night 14 took over an hour to gather due to the larger number of retries than usual. We spent two hours waiting at two different sites without any sighting. Nevertheless, the off-road rides were fun and the guides tried to liven up the atmosphere by telling us Icelandic folklore and giving us hot chocolate with the optional vodka added to warm us up. The lights finally appeared far away in the horizon, albeit very weak. The guides then lit some fireworks to mark the end of the tour and we returned back to our apartment at 1am.

We were soaking in the waters on day 16 and decided that we should give the chase another try. I called Superjeeps when we were at Blue Lagoon to confirm our booking. The aurora forecast was at a mind-boggling Level 6 with minimal cloud cover! Everything went on as per the first night and we were on our way to our first site. Now this was when something amazing happened; within minutes of leaving the lights of Reykjavik, the guides spotted the lights! The convoy immediately gather on an open patch of snow. The jeeps were arranged in a circle to block us from the wind and the cold was quickly forgotten as everyone scrambled to take the once-in-a-lifetime photographs.

The true beauty of the lights can only be captured on camera; with your naked eye the northern lights look like a greyish moving cloud. Here are some ways we learnt that will get you a good photo:

1. set exposure time to 10-15 seconds, this is to allow the light to enter the lens and ‘accumulate’
2. use a tripod unless you can hold the camera without moving for 10-15 seconds
3. if you want to be in the shot, get someone to shine a torch on you briefly and do not move for 10-15 seconds

The strong display meant that we could capture the green light with our simple point-and-shoot cameras. The better photographs were provided by Superjeeps and were uploaded on to their Facebook page shortly after the tour. The display went on for a good 2 hours; we were elated and truly grateful to be given the chance to see such a rare phenomenon of nature.

Honeymoon in Iceland: Cycling in Reykavik and Blue Lagoon (Day 16)

Day 16 was yet another public holiday, luckily Reykjavik Bike Tour who conducts a popular Classic Reykavik Bike Tour is still operating on New Year’s Day! We took a long walk to the meeting point at the Old Harbour at Aegisgarour, the same street as the whale watching companies. Our guide, Stefan was waiting for us at the front of their striking red cabin where he gave us our bikes, safety jackets, helmets and even provided us with gloves. We were once again the only pair on the tour!

We started our tour from the Old Harbour with Stefan explaining how Reykjavik i.e. Smokey Bay first got its name. Then we moved on to the Parliament Building, City Center, Tjörnin City Lake and University of Iceland Campus before taking a break at Ægissida beach. Along the way, Stefan pointed out several eating places where we could sample some of the city’s best cuisine like whale steak, lobster soup, burgers, tacos and hot dogs. Stefan shared lots of interesting stories with us at each attraction, he was extremely familiar with Reykjavik’s history and also quite popular; with locals frequently greeting him as we rode around.

After relaxing with delicious cups of hot chocolate and biscuits, we continued on to Reykjavik’s Catholic Cathedral and then headed back to the Old Harbour. We had a very satisfying lunch at a burger joint, Bullan that Stefan recommended before heading back to the apartment.

The tour lasted about 2.5 hours, it was a refreshing experience to be cycling in the cold windy morning, although we slipped on the icy road a couple of times and cycling against the wind was like riding uphill! Communication with Stefan prior to the tour was prompt and we were grateful that he proceeded with the tour despite having only the two of us.

For the second half of the day, we booked our bus and entrance tickets with Reykjavik Excursions for the Blue Lagoon. They offer hourly bus transfers to and from their interchange at the BSI bus terminal which was a 15 minute walk from the apartment and were also the only operator providing trips to Blue Lagoon on New Year’s Day. It took us 45 minutes to get there and another 30 minutes of queuing and jostling with the huge crowd before we were able to collect our locker keys and entered the facility. We brought our own towels, robes and slippers to avoid having to spend time and money purchasing them. The Blue Lagoon was similar to an onsen; the chilling winter air creates a nice contrast with the soothing hot water. We heard that the silica deposits are good for the skin and we see lots of people slapping them onto their faces; but after grabbing a handful of really icky stuff from the bottom of the pool, we decided against that. We soaked in the milky waters for about an hour before heading out to catch the bus back to Reykjavik.

Honeymoon in Iceland: South Coast and New Year 2014! (Day 15)

Day 15 was New Year’s Eve in Iceland, most tour operators are taking a day off for the next two days so it was ‘Christmas in Germany’ all over again. After some prior communication with Superjeeps, they kindly agreed to arrange for a South Coast tour. We couldn’t be more grateful and were pleasantly surprised when we were picked up, for we were the only ones on the tour! Our guide, Svavar proudly presented our ride for the day, a modified Land Rover Defender.

The first attraction was Seljalandsfoss, a very approachable waterfall in the summer as you can walk behind the curtain of water to get a unique view. In winter you can only appreciate its beauty from a distance, unless you fancy a nasty fall followed by hypothermia as you hit the water. As we slowly and carefully walked towards the waterfall, we berated ourselves for not getting proper footwear.

No safe way to climb this!

The second stop was Dyrhólaey lighthouse and the black sand beaches in Vík í Mýrdal. The road to the lighthouse and along the beach was not a smooth ride, it got pretty scary a few times but Svavar and the Rover really maneuvered the tough conditions really well. The winds were really going strong, so we were not able to venture as far out to the edge as possible. We use the lighthouse as a resting place to shield us from the wind, it can be rather exhausting fighting the forces of nature.

We had a quick lunch in the jeep before proceeding to Skogafoss, one of the largest and picturesque waterfalls in Iceland recently featured in Thor 2: The Dark World and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We carefully made our way to the top of the waterfall where there was a viewing platform and got an excellent view of the landscape.

We had to forego the glacier walk due to the blustery winds; we couldn’t even get out of the jeep safely and even witness a guy literally being blown away. Along the way back we saw some interesting houses that looked like they were crafted for the mountains.

Since it was New Year’s Eve, our day would not be complete without some fireworks to join in tonight’s countdown. Fireworks are permitted and exclusively sold by Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue during this period as the proceeds they obtain from this event is enough to finance their operations for an entire year. After purchasing some fireworks within our budget, Svavar drove us back to Reykjavík and dropped us off at Laugavegur where we did some quick shopping.

We’ve seen fireworks being set off in sporadically random locations the past few nights, but the true display will take place on New Year’s Eve at midnight. The dazzling display at Hallgrímskirkja Church went on for hours before reaching a peak as the clock strike twelve. The atmosphere was terrific as we ushered in 2014 with the sky filled with fireworks!

We were too embarrassed and a little scared to set off our tiny fireworks in the crowd, so we retreated to a more private area where we lit our own sticks and set off our first ever fireworks.