SQ32/31 SIN-SFO-SIN in Y: Impressions of Post-COVID San Francisco

[yflyer]

No underseat obstructions (No footrests, either)...



Large, clear, widescreen IFE on the seat back, along with USB power...



Having watched all of the Krisworld September selections on my SIN-CPH-SIN sectors earlier in the month, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Krisworld on this flight already had the October selections loaded.



What a fantastic selection of movie, tv and music selections on Krisworld, which must be among the best, if not the very best, IFE platforms out there.



There was lots of new content to watch in October, including episodes of a new series, "Travels with Cabin Crew", featuring SQ cabin crew exploring various attractions and locations in Singapore...



For those wanting to keep in touch with the news while airborne, there were several live TV channels.



A/C power was available...



Cup holder...



Foldable tray table...



...with vanity mirror (Doesn't everyone just use their phones as a mirror these days?)



The headphone socket has 2-pins for airline-style plugs, but either socket also works with regular headphones...thumbs up!



The seat pocket contents...still no SilverKris magazine, and no printed menus, but at least the KrisShop catalog was back, along with the safety card, and a card with wifi instructions...



This was a completely full flight. The demand for SIN-SFO is so huge, with 2 flights a day from SQ, and another 2 from UA. Many pax were connecting from other cities in Asia and India.

[yflyer]

We took off. Today's flight was just over 14 hours and 40 minutes long...flying direct was so much quicker than any 1-stop option.



While a part of me missed a short transit stop in Seoul, Hong Kong or Tokyo, where I could maybe grab a snack or visit the lounge, the convenience of a nonstop service was undeniable.

Once above 10,000 feet, I checked out the wifi options onboard.



There was 2 hours of complimentary wifi available, but full flight wifi with unlimited data for USD15.99 was a great bargain (Hurray for unlimited plans!) and I quickly signed up.



I browsed the inflight menu online. No printed menus available, but some wifi services like browsing the digital menu were free-of-charge...

The lunch menu...



Snacks...



Breakfast...



Beverages....

[yflyer]

Onboard amenities were also listed in the digital menu...



I requested eye shades and an amenity kit...



The contents of the amenity kit...


Toothbrushes were also available in the bathrooms...

[yflyer]

Cabin service began with a full drink service...



I decided to give my liver a (brief) rest and go with apple juice...



To pass time, I checked out the vast onboard music selection. On some trips of mine, I listen to a piece of music, either on a plane or on the radio, and it sticks like a soundtrack, and I forever associate that music with memories of the trip. Sometimes it's a pop or rock hit. On this trip, it was a classical piano work, Schubert's Sonata in D Major, D850, played by Eugene Istomin...I kept returning to this piece over and over during the flight (and on my return sector as well...)...

[yflyer]

Right after drink service, the cabin crew served lunch.

I was in the last row of the plane. By that time, usually they would be out of one of the meal options, but the SQ cabin crew on this flight managed this very well, and apart from the Mediterranean Fish and Asian-style Chicken with Black Bean Sauce and Fried Rice, I was also offered an unlisted option of Beef Rendang, which I happily accepted...



This was a very generously sized portion, and was very tasty!

Dessert was a sure-win...

[yflyer]

The day's flight routing took me closer to Japan than I had ever been since the start of the pandemic...



We were very close to Tokyo...



The coastline of Japan was just visible out the port side windows...



We were so close to Japan that the peak of Mount Fuji was visible breaking through the clouds...

[yflyer]

Today's flight departed Singapore at 9.40am, and much of the flight went by in daylight. At around 6pm Singapore time, it was time for the 2nd meal service, which was listed in the menu as "breakfast". As this was 3am destination time in San Francisco, perhaps it made sense to call it breakfast, but for us on the flight, this was dinner time, and I suspect many passengers, myself included were quite amused to be served a breakfast menu at our local dinner time...

Rather than scrambled eggs, or the Indian option, I decided on the rice vermicelli (i.e. bee hoon) with chicken...



This was piping hot, and quite tasty. I did miss chilli on this dish though. Maybe I should have asked the cabin crew if they had chilli onboard (even if it was a sauce packet). I recall that in the past, these noodle dishes did come with one slice of chilli as garnish (One is better than nothing), but perhaps that too fell victim to cost cutting. In any case it was a decent meal.

[yflyer]

I spent the rest of the flight browsing the October movie selection, which included "Those Who Wish Me Dead"...



...and "Tolkien"...



I know I have said this multiple times in other TR's but do bring your own headphones onboard, as the Y earbuds that SQ offers pax have terrible sound quality, and would ruin your movie/TV experience. I'm not even sure dialog would be intelligible through these earbuds.



My advice would be to ignore the earbuds they offer you as you board the plane, and just bring your own headphones/earbuds (along with an airline adapter just in case) so that you can enjoy your movies and music properly.

[yflyer]

Inevitably, I got hungry again a short while later. With a few hours left to run I headed to the galley in search of snacks.

There was a snack box laid out...



On fellow SQTalker Pinkfloyd's recommendation, I picked out a Sambal Ikan Bilis bun, and paired it with a glass of red wine...



Yum, this was pretty good!



I also couldn't resist a late night snack of cup noodles, which were also available onboard, which I washed down with a G&T...



A passing cabin crew member saw my empty cup... "Would you like another G&T?"

"Why yes! Thank you!"



By then we were approaching the US West Coast...



...it was already bright and cloudy outside...



We eventually made landfall...



Final approach into SFO...



A smooth landing and short taxi to the gate. Unlike many previous occasions, we landed at a time where few other flights were arriving. Immigration queues were really short, and I was outside the terminal, waiting for my Uber, within minutes.



Overall, I thought this was an excellent flight, one of the best I've had in SQ Y in recent years.

The seat and IFE were state of the art, the catering was good, and the cabin crew on this flight were exceptional.

Unlike my previous CPH-SIN sector, where I found the cabin crew average, the cabin crew on SQ32 that day were absolutely top notch. They worked well as a team, and were warm, cheerful and efficient, not to mention very pro-active in taking care of pax, even the guy sitting in the last row of the plane. The fact that the plane was brand new probably didn't hurt either.

It was now time to explore San Francisco...

[yflyer]

From the airport, I caught an Uber to San Francisco, and spent the next 3 days in fairly intensive business meetings, however I did have a little time to look around the city. I had been to San Francisco many times over the years, but this was the first time I had visited since the pandemic.



My initial impressions were of mild shock at how quiet downtown San Francisco had become. Whether it was Union Square or the Financial District, there seemed to be very few people around. Many of the shops and business that lined the streets appeared to be shut.



Wandering around in the late morning on Monday, I was struck by how deserted the streets were.

There were a handful of tourists, and as before, there were quite a number of homeless people along the streets, but the bustle of the old San Francisco was nowhere to be found.

There were also numerous new al-fresco dining areas along the streets -- these appeared to have been constructed during the pandemic, when indoor dining in restaurants was not permitted.



There were no longer mask mandates in force, and of course indoor dining was now allowed, but these al-fresco dining structures remained.



Some colleagues of mine were in San Francisco the previous week, and had horror stories of how aggressive some of the homeless people had become, especially when you ignored their requests for loose change etc. One person was spat on by a homeless person. Some neighbourhoods, which were fine for visitors before, had become rougher, and drugs were more prevalent. I was told to be very careful. In the event, I did not encounter any such things, although I did often pass homeless folks sleeping on the pavement.

Most folks believed the worst was over, and the tourists and visitors were now returning to the city.



I hope things continue to improve, and that San Francisco regains more of the buzz and excitement that the city used to have.

[yflyer]

My hotel in San Francisco was the Marriott at Union Square.



The hotel was ideally located on Sutter Street, just one block away from Union Square -- a great location whether you were here for business or leisure. Facilities-wise, I think this was more of a business hotel, but the location was perfect for sightseeing too.

As Marriott Platinum, I was given a large corner room.



The room was on a high floor and had nice views of the city.



The spacious room had a flatscreen TV...



...and a large work desk...



Comfortable King Bed...



Coffee making facilities and mini fridge...



The bathroom...



Toiletries from thisworks...



Shower stall, but no tub...



Large bottles of shampoo and shower gel mounted in the shower...



There was a lot of space in the bathroom, almost too much space...



Overall, this was a very comfortable room, without being special. The decor was modern and everything was fairly new.

[yflyer]

During my stay, I also had access to the Concierge Lounge.



This was a pleasant lounge with nice views of the surrounding area...



The lounge was not crowded, with most folks visiting in the morning for breakfast.



The breakfast buffet spread was fairly basic...



Fresh cut fruit and pastries...



Bread and whole fruit...



I admired the view as I waited for my bread to toast...



Breakfast cereal...



Delicious sausages (On other days, bacon was offered), scrambled eggs and potatoes...



US style filter coffee...



Grapefruit and orange juice...



While not the fanciest lounge breakfast out there, I did enjoy my morning breakfast there, especially the sausages...

[yflyer]

Beer and wine were also available in the lounge in the evening...





Unfortunately the beer and wine were all chargeable...



This seemed to be the case for Marriott lounge in the USA: No complimentary liquor in the lounge in the evenings.

What a far cry from the Marriott Exec Lounges in Asia, where most lounges there offered a huge selection of wine, beer and liquor, not to mention a full buffet spread for breakfast and dinner. For an example, check out the spread at the JW Marriott Executive Lounge in Hanoi.

[yflyer]

So rather than spend the evening in the Marriott Concierge Lounge, my colleague and I headed out for drinks and dinner. We took a short walk to The Cheesecake Factory at Macy's, just a short distance away, across from Union Square.

While the Union Square area, and Macy's looked fairly quiet, The Cheesecake Factory was packed, with a 40 minute wait for a table for walk-ins...



Thankfully, the seats by the bar were first come first served, and we snagged a table must as the previous patrons were leaving...

We began with a couple of cocktails...



My dirty martini was very satisfying, after a busy work day...



We shared an egg roll sampler, with avocado, tex-max, cheeseburger and chicken fillings...



...and then their fried macaroni and cheese...



...which had crisp shells which burst open to reveal soft, creamy macaroni...



The spicy buffalo wings were tear-inducing...



...and finally we shared one of an amazingly long list of their signature cheesecakes...



This was my first time dining at The Cheesecake Factory, and I could see why they were so popular. While this was not a place that would win a Michelin star, the food was delicious in an OTT, American way, and came in jumbo portions to match. And of course, one would have to end the meal properly with their signature cheesecakes.

Quite an experience, and a lot of fun, but all those calories! I would definitely need to head for a run later in the week to burn at least a few of them off...

[yflyer]

After all my business meetings were done for the week, I finally had the opportunity to head out for a run.

No surprises as to where I went. It had been a while since I had done my favourite running route in San Francisco, which was heading across the Golden Gate Bridge and back, before continuing along the coastline towards Fisherman's Wharf.

I used the Uber app on my phone to take a car to my start point, the Golden Gate Visitor's Center. Uber cars are plentiful in San Francisco. One pulled up shortly after.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the car assigned to me was at Tesla. While these have been around in SF for some time, and are now increasingly common in Singapore as well, I had never been in one.



I hopped into the front passenger seat, so that I could have a better look at the dashboard, or more accurately the massive flat panel display centred in the middle of the front console....



The display showed not just a 2D map, but a visual representation of the traffic ahead as well...



Looking at the left side of the display, I could see that the Tesla software did a great job of identifying the traffic ahead, down to the types of vehicle, and colour of the traffic lights. Incredible...



While this car was being driven by a person, it was abundantly clear that Tesla's ultimate goal was to create a self driving car, and by the looks of it, they were making good progress, at least on the sensing front. How easy it would be achieve totally autonomous driving would be a different question though, as real world situations, whether roads or other drivers and pedestrians are so unpredictable. But still, what impressive, though still imperfect technology, I thought to myself.