SQ26/25 SIN-FRA-SIN A380 Biz & Suites: Frankfurt Xmas Markets & 2 Weeks in Portugal

[yflyer]

After dinner, we walked to Kinly Bar, a speakeasy style cocktail bar located near the train station, in a slightly dodgy and notorious part of Frankfurt...



No signage anywhere, except by the buzzer on the locked door.



Inside, a dark, edgy space...



...and an eclectic cocktail selection...



including selections like the Horchata Arroz (pictured above, right)...



Large clear ice cubes, which distinguishes the top cocktail bars, or at least the ones most dedicated to the craft of mixology, from the rest...



We found the drinks here very ambitious and experimental...



I tried their Peberrod Martini (above, left), which was more of an intellectual exercise in mixology than a drink I would order on a regular basis...



While the Peberrod Martini was interesting, I felt myself wishing I had a classic dry martini in front of me instead...still I had to admire the creativity and dedication of the team at Kinly.

[yflyer]

The next evening, our last in Frankfurt, we headed to another cocktail bar, Hunky Dory...



...also located very close to the Roomers...



This bar was brighter, more intimate and cheerful than the Kinly Bar -- more to our taste, I think.



The atmosphere was warm, friendly, with an exceptional team of bartenders...



The cocktails here all had goofy movie-themed names...





...but the quality of the drinks here was not in doubt...these were superb cocktails, right up there with the best...



After those 2 drinks, we were so impressed that we could not resist ordering another round...

Mrs yflyer ordered a pulp fiction...



...while I ordered the Tokyo Amour, which looked to be one of their most popular drinks, judging by the number of orders that evening...



Both were wonderful...



I couldn't help thinking that if it were up to me, I would have renamed my drink "The Boris"...



The selection of punch bowls at the bar looked impressive as well, although we didn't see anyone order those while we were there.

A very nice bar. Between Kinly and Hunky Dory, I think we both preferred the Hunky Dory, both in terms of ambience and the cocktails themselves.



We took a short stroll back to the Roomers, and called it an early night, as we would be heading to the airport the next day for our flight home.

[yflyer]

The next morning, we checked out of the Roomers, and caught an Uber to FRA for our flight SQ25 back to Singapore.



FRA is a massive airport, and one of the few which still has large flipping flight displays...



I spent some time just watching the display, waiting for it to do a full refresh...

No queue at the Business or Suites check in when we were there at 9.40am...



Mrs yflyer was thrilled to receive her gold boarding pass...



I was quite happy with my blue boarding pass too...

There was a horrendous queue to enter the airside area at the Departure B area.



The queue literally stretching hundreds of meters outside the airside area meant that there was no apparent way to access any gold track / fast track in the Departure B area of the terminal, if one even existed (I could not see it from where I was in the queue). When I asked the information counter if there was a fast track for business class, the lady at the information counter simply said "When it gets busy the fast track disappears". That was no help at all.

When the going got tough, the Star Alliance Gold Track had saved me on at least one previous occasion at another airport, NRT. I remembered that the Departure A area of the terminal, where Lufthansa was, also had a Star Alliance Gold Track. We decided to walk over to the A area and use the Gold Track there.

Our flight departed from the B area, but the signage at Departure A said that both A and B gates were accessible from the Departure A security checkpoint. And there was a Star Alliance Gold Track automated gate there.

We headed to the Gold Track gates there at Departure A and scanned our boarding passes. Nope, the autogate rejected our passes, saying our flights departed from a different area.

Under normal circumstances, this would be an appropriate error message, as these were the A gates, and SQ25 departed from the B gates. But these were not normal circumstances.

We headed to one of the staff manning a separate entry lane meant for special access pax.

"Excuse me, can you help please? We want to go to the B gates, but the line there is really long, can you let us in to the Gold Track area here?" I asked.

"Your B gate is in a different area, but yes, you can go in this way", she replied, and with a push of a button, opened the gate for us to enter the Fast Track area.

Phew!

There was still a line at the Gold Track in the Departure A area, but it was far shorter than the line in the B area. Once we cleared security, we trekked through the long underpass between A and B, and eventually found our way at the B gates. Thank goodness.

We decided to head to the lounge. But which one?

[yflyer]

We decided to check out the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, which was the designated lounge for SQ flights.



The AC Lounge was smaller than the LH Lounges in FRA, but the decor here was quite pleasant.



The lounge was not busy when we were there...



The lounge had great airside views, not just of the tarmac, but of an operating runway...



There was sofa seating...



...with the most popular seats in the bright, airy area by the window, with airside views...



Small cubicles with loungers for resting...



Table seating...

[yflyer]

The F&B area...



...with bar-style seating...



Sparkling wines...



Red and white wines...sommerlier's selection...



I sampled the Werther red...



The liquor selection was good, but not quite match for the amazing liquor selection at the Lufthansa Senator Lounge...



Choice of 2 beers on tap...

[yflyer]

There was a decent breakfast spread comprising hot and cold selections...

Bread and bakery items...



Bacon, scrambled eggs, and baked beans...



Sandwiches, cheese, and salads...



Tomato - mozzarela sandwiches...



Potato salad as well as creamy dill and cucumber salad...

[yflyer]

They were just changing over to lunch while we were there. On the lunch menu were curry soup with apple & leeks, meatballs, and rice...



Cake for dessert...



...along with Apple strudel in a jar!

[yflyer]

There were showers in the lounge...



The bathroom fittings and decor were modern and stylish...



...with toiletries from Molton Brown...

[yflyer]

Overall I thought the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at FRA was a decent lounge, with nice ambience, and good F&B. The airside views were a plus, and it was great that the lounge was not crowded in the mid-late morning, which was when most SIA pax flying on SQ25 would be there.

[yflyer]

We were earlier informed that our flight SQ25 was delayed about an hour that day, as the inbound would be arriving late. Good, more time to spend in the lounge.

With a few minutes to go before it was time to board our flight, Mrs yflyer decided to do a little shopping. We had visited the Lufthansa Senator Lounge in Departure A area earlier on our trip, and I thought that perhaps the LH Senator Lounge in the B area would be identical, but decided to go check it out anyway. Boy was I wrong, the LH Senator Lounge in the Departure B area was superior to the A area lounge. The B lounge looked to have everything the A lounge had, plus a few extras. It also had better F&B than the AC Lounge! I wished I had come here earlier to spend more time!



For a start, apart from a huge range of self service wine and liquor, this lounge had a manned full service bar!



Apart from showers, there was also a spa...





The seating area had nice airside views...



Table seating...



The F&B selection here was excellent -- wider than the selection at the AC Maple Leaf Lounge.

A stupendous selection of self serve liquor...



Salads...



Soups and curry...



Mains...



Meatballs...



Cakes and dessert...

[yflyer]

I headed to the bar, which was manned by a very friendly staff member.



Some of the wines on offer...



"Would you like a drink?", she asked.

There was a great selection of liquor here...so much to taste, so little time...



I couldn't resist one shot...



What a wonderful lounge this was. If I was ever here again to catch SQ25, I would head to the airport early and go straight to this lounge.

I could have spent a long time at the bar sampling the drinks on offer, but I had a flight to catch...

[yflyer]

At the gate, Airbus A380 registration 9V-SKM...



When Mrs yflyer and I got to the boarding area, boarding had just commenced, and they were boarding PPS and Business Class pax. We had just joined the queue, when an eagle-eyed staff member spotted Mrs yflyer's gold Suites boarding pass, and we were pulled from the line of business class pax and ushered to a separate clear boarding lane to board the plane right away...what amazing service for Suites that began even before we stepped onboard...

[yflyer]

We headed down the upper level aerobridge and stepped on board. Mrs yflyer turned left...



I tailed her into her Suite, 1F, for a few pictures...



...before heading back to the J cabin. More on her experience later on...

I was seated in the upper deck J cabin, just behind Suites. The J cabin, laid out 1-2-1, ran the full upper deck of the aircraft.



Christmas decor was up, giving the cabin a very festive look...



My seat was 11K, the first row of the J cabin...



Seat 11K was a bulkhead window seat. As the layout was 1-2-1, I had both direct aisle access and a window.



I was glad to be in in the first row. It would make it easier for Mrs yflyer to pop back to visit me, or for me to visit her (provided the cabin crew permitted this.).

[yflyer]

As shown in the picture below, while there were 2 windows alongside my seat, only one window was accessible...



That said, it was still possible to take in the view from the forward window...



My seat had a side console table, with seat controls along the side of the console...



Slippers, and a bottle of water, provided at the seat.



Universal A/C power socket and USB charging on the side of the console...

[yflyer]

I was offered a glass of pre-departure champagne...



This was Charles Heidseck...



The cabin crew went around taking post-departure beverage orders, and confirming our meal selections...