SIA A350-900 from Singapore to San Francisco in Economy (SQ32/31 SIN-SFO-SIN)

[yflyer]

Hot towel prior to take-off...



A very long, 16+ hour flight to Singapore today...as expected after a super fast SIN-SFO sector clocking in at 13 hours 45 minutes, my return flight would have to battle those same winds, this time as headwinds, not tailwinds. There was no such thing as a free lunch...

[yflyer]

Cabin ambience in the 2nd Y cabin this morning was very pleasant...



After take-off, cabin crew came round with trays of beverages...



I asked for a Bloody Mary, which was brought to me a few moments later...



Inflight wifi worked fine on this flight...

[yflyer]

Lunch was served after take-off...



Today's menu...

International and Asian lunch selections...



Indian lunch selection...



Delectables (Between meals)...



Dinner selections...

[yflyer]

For lunch, I opted for the rosemary braised leg of lamb...



As on my outbound flight, I asked if I could have half a glass of red and half a glass of white wine to taste...

The cabin crew member serving my section of the cabin, E, poured me half a glass of red, then half a glass of white, thought for a moment, then asked "Would you like to try the champagne as well?"

And that was when I knew this flight would be special...

Moments later, a glass of PEY champagne arrived at my seat...joy!



Sitting in the very last row of the Economy cabin, I felt very happy. It was nice to know that SQ took care of pax at both ends of the plane. I would not have asked for PEY champagne -- I was in Y after all, but I was happy to sample a glass. It was nice to know that little gestures like that could still happen on SQ.

[yflyer]

Tne smoked salmon starter was very good...



The leg of lamb was delicious as well. A very generous helping of sliced leg of lamb, which was tender and very delicious...



One of the more impressive SQ Y mains I have had over the years...

The trays did not come with salt and pepper, but when I asked to have some, the cabin crew were very happy to provide salt and pepper sachets.



Dessert was fine as well...



A satisfying meal...

After lunch, curtains at the rear of the aircraft were drawn, which meant I no loner had to look at trolleys to my right.



Similarly, curtains were drawn on the other aisle at the rear as well, which meant the pax in the last row D seat would not be bothered by the rear toilet door opening and closing during the flight.



Once again, the cabin lights were dimmed, and for the most part window shades drawn down, as pax settled in for the long flight ahead...



At some point after meal service, E came round with a plastic cup of red wine...

"This is for you to try...from business class..."

I gratefully accepted...

Wow, this was great -- a Shiraz, according to E...much better than the regular red wine selection in Y...

[yflyer]

Our flight path over the Pacific today took us close to Hawaii...



It was now almost 5 hours into the flight, and I was feeling peckish...

I headed into the galley where an impressive array of snacks were laid out...



Some of the cabin crew had by then gone to take a rest in the the crew rest area in the overhead rear section of the aircraft, accessible via a door and steps in the the rear of the aircraft, but some the on-duty crew were in the galley...

While checking out the snacks, I had a brief chat in the galley with E and some of the other cabin crew members, inciuding A, a lovely and engaging FSS, originally from Penang, who had been living in Singapore for several years now.

"Singapore is so safe" she remarked. In Malaysia, whenever she was out, she always had to be on the lookout for snatch thieves and other petty criminals, whether in carparks or on the street late in the evening. In Singapore, she had no so such worries when out, even at night.

"Singaporeans take all this for granted" I replied...

[yflyer]

Later in the flight, we passed close to Midway Island, the scene of dramatic air battles during World War II...



I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures of the islands out of the window, but the Voyager 3D map views did provide a fairly hi resolution view of the island on my IFE display...

[yflyer]

During the flight I spent time checking out the IFE.

I had earlier signed into the system with my Krisflyer details, and this had unlocked additional content in Krisworld. These included additional movies and TV programs not available to pax unless they logged in.



This exclusive content was marked with an "Exclusive" label on the IFE.



Apart from movies, there was also exclusive TV content available.



This was only less than 6 hours into the flight, but I got hungry and once again brought my own cup noodles to the galley for hot water. (And a G&T)...

[yflyer]

I have found that apart from sleeping onboard, time on long flights passes by quickly if the IFE selection onboard is interesting, and SIA's Krisworld was more than up to the task of keeping pax occupied throughout this long flight, with a huge range of Hollywood and international programmes, including European and Asian movies and Television.

I watched a couple of episodes of the original Twilight Zone...



...and marvelled at how gripping and thought provoking this show was, despite being broadcast years ago, in black and white...



On this flight, I also watched "The Darkest Hour", a film about Winston Churchill during WWII -- an excellent movie.

[yflyer]

About 8 hours into the flight, lights were turned on, in preparation for the 2nd meal service...





It was bright daylight outside...



We were now just past the midpoint of the flight, with 8+ hours flown and 7+ hours to go...

[yflyer]

For dinner, I chose the vermicilli...



The Quinoa starter was something I had not tasted previously...



The vermicilli was quite tasty, with a generous serving of prawns...



Dessert was very good too...

[yflyer]

In the last few hours of the flight, I got hungry again...and by then all the snacks had been eaten. Fortunately I had brought two bowls of cup noodles with me, and broke out the second one...



I headed to the galley, where A helped me with hot water and a pair of chopsticks for my cup noodles, as well as my request for a Singapore Sling...



"is there anything else you need?" she asked, as she came round to my seat to check on me a few minutes later...

"I'm good!" I replied...

A would have a few days in Singapore before her next SQ flight, but she was heading to Penang the day after arriving in Singapore from SFO on a personal trip, to check out an old shophouse property the was thinking of buying in Penang. Wow, now here was someone who was thinking far far ahead, with an eye on investments and property, while at the same time doing an incredible job as cabin crew on SQ.

[yflyer]

We were soon over Asian airspace, and not long after we would be at the top of descent into Singapore...



I popped into the galley once again and thanked E, A and the other cabin crew members for taking such good care of pax on this flight...

"Saying thank you already? Are you getting off first? Before the rest of us?" E asked, with a tone of mock-seriousness...

"No lah,"I replied with a big grin, "I thought I better come and thank you all now because I know in 3 minutes time you will all be very busy"...

And true enough, just moments later, the pilot came on the PA to announce that we were at the top of descent, and for cabin crew to prepare for arrival...

[yflyer]

A final pic of the spacious and serene A350 Y cabin...



Final approach...



...and smooth landing on Changi's Runway 02C, slightly ahead of schedule.



At the Gate in Terminal 2...

[yflyer]

Final reflections...

This was another wonderful flight on SQ31 SFO-SIN. Both my outbound SQ32 SIN-SFO and SFO-SIN were very good flights, but the very warm and personal cabin service on SQ31, not to mention the extra touches on that flight, took my SQ experience to the next level.

As I observed the cabin crew at work on SQ31, I found that as a team, they got on very well (The CS in that section of the cabin was quite wonderful) and somehow that led to even better service delivery to pax than even SQ's regular high standards. Like in any office, a team that gets on well on a personal level is likely to deliver better results than a team that doesn't: that seemed to hold true whether your office was on the ground, or at 35,000 feet. On this flight the SQ cabin crew seemed to gel well, and as a result pax benefited from a very high level of cabin service. An exceptional set of cabin crew on SQ31 that day...



How would I compare my experience on SQ on the SIN-SFO sector compared to other airlines? Currently SQ and UA are the only two that do SIN-SFO nonstop.

While UA's non-stop 787 Dreamliner service to SFO is fine, the SQ hard product on the A350, and cabin service in Y, are a notch or two better than UA: The SQ A350 seat has better recline (Much better recline, in fact) and seat width, and SQ's IFE is ahead of UA as well. SQ's catering and cabin service in Y are also superior to UA. I would have no issues flying UA Y to SFO if needed, but if I had a choice, SQ would be on top of my list.

As for San Francisco, this city remains one of my favourite places, to visit, whether for the food, or for the wonderful running routes and stunning scenery.



A few final tips for those considering these SQ nonstop flights to the USA in Economy:

- Do sign into Krisworld on the IFE with your Krisflyer number. You do get access to a good number of additional movie and TV selections

- If you are used to eating at regular meal times, or have a big appetite, I would strongly recommend bringing your own snacks or cup noodles onboard, because on such a long flight, there are quite long stretches where no meals are served.

- Get hold of an aisle seat or preferred seat (Such as the solo row 48 window/exit seat) if at all possible. Getting up to stretch on these long flights makes a ton of difference to overall comfort!

- If you want amenities like eye shades, socks, or earplugs, just ask! Ditto salt and pepper, which no longer comes on the tray.

- Some folks had their own movies and TV loaded up on their iPads and tablets (Even phones), but I found the Krisworld IFE movie and TV selection more than adequate to keep one occupied for pretty much the entire flight. But do bring your own headphones/earbuds, as these make a ton of difference to sound quality and the overall IFE experience!

Thanks for reading!