Three Generations of the Emirates A380 Y Seat and More Barcelona Dining

[yflyer]

The week I was there, FC Barcelona was playing one of their regular La Liga matches at Camp Nou.

For soccer fans, Camp Nou is definitely one of the must-go attractions in Barcelona.

When matches are not on, there is a "Camp Nou Experience" tour that will bring you on a tour of the stadium and the FCB Museum as well. But I would argue that if you are a fan, it makes much more sense to plan your trip to Barcelona to coincide with one of the many La Liga matches that they play. With a stadium capacity of an astounding ninety-nine thousand seats, there are always seats available for every match, except for clasico's, as the matches between FCB and their archrivals Real Madrid are called.

The match that week was against Sporting Gijon, a struggling side compared to the FCB stars, so the outcome was unlikely to be in doubt.



This was not the first match I watched at Camp Nou. Last year, I watched Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-1.

My seat for this match was much closer to the pitch, and that provided close-up views of Neymar (11), Messi (10), and occasionally Suarez as well.



Perhaps because this was expected to be an unequal contest, with Sporting Gijon near the bottom of the league table, attendance at this match wasn't great. The stadium was at most half to two-thirds full, and many attending were visitors to Barcelona who did not know the cheers and traditions of the fans.



Unlike the last match I watched vs Sevilla, the atmosphere was less electric. Where in the previous match, the infectious singing and cheering of FCB songs and cheers rang out from start to finish, the cheering and clapping in the stadium on this evening was more sporadic.



It was all left to a core group of flag-waving die-hard fans at one end of the stadium to whip up some excitement. Those fanatical supporters were amazing -- they were almost as entertaining to watch as the on-pitch activity, on account of their seemingly infinite repertoire of FCB songs and cheers, complete with matching actions, including human trains of fans marching in unison from left to right and back again, across their seats behind the goalposts...



In the event, the match was a goal fest and crowd pleaser, with FCB winning 6-1, and amazing goals by Messi, Suarez, Neymar and Rakitic...

A satisfying match to watch, although it didn't leave me with the same sense of post match euphoria as the FCB vs Sevilla match the previous year.

How I wish I was at Camp Nou the following week, when Barcelona beat Paris St Germain by the same score, 6-1, a stunning comeback from their previous defeat in their away tie, to put them in the quarterfinals of the Champions' League. Now that was a match in a million, apparently with grown men (and commentators) delirious and crying tears of joy at the end of it...

[yflyer]

On the last evening of my trip, I dined at the Santa Rita Experience, which is not a restaurant per se but a private dining experience in the home of chef Xabi Bonilla and his charming wife. No walk-ins, I booked a table online on their website, indicating that I was fine with a shared table (private tables are also available).

Before dinner, I headed out for an evening run on my usual route along the beach...



...which was satisfying as usual, even though I was dive-bombed by a seagull mid-way through the run...



I never even saw the culprit. Not that seeing the bird would have made a difference. Lots of seagulls in Barcelona, and they all look the same...I now hate them all...



Back in the hotel, I showered before heading to the Santa Rita address for dinner. Note that this is just a regular apartment in an apartment block...no signage whatsoever...

I rang the doorbell of the unit number and the door to the apartment complex opened. I headed up the stairs to the unit...

[yflyer]

This was literally the home of Chef Xabi and his wife...



One of the private tables...



I shared a common table with a couple on holiday from the UK, and a group of young Korean ladies.



Chef Xabi offers a fixed tasting menu, with or without wine pairing.



I opted for the meal with wine pairing, which started with tuna sashimi paired with a full bodied white wine...





Followed by Cava...





...to accompany the next course of artichokes with quail's egg and mushroom, a very creative and delicious course...



The egg yolk was still soft and runny...a wonderful combination of flavours...



Rioja to go with a squid course...

[yflyer]

Chef Xabi came round to the table to explain each dish as it was served...



My companions at the shared table were based in London, and were in Spain for the weekend. They worked in the financial services sector, serving ultra-high net worth individuals, mostly multi-millionaires and even billionaires.

"I've never met a billionaire...what are they like?" I asked.

"Oh they're quite normal people..."

"Are they tough clients to work with?"

"They are very demanding. You are well rewarded, but they can be very critical. You need to do a really good job for them."

One of the nice things about communal dining is the people you meet. It's really the luck of the draw. The conversation at the table that evening was quite interesting.

The next wine was Altamente Monastrell 2015, made from the Monastrell grape varietal which I was not familiar with.



This was paired with a meat filled ravioli...



For many of those at the table, this soft delicate ravioli was the highlight of the meal.

The next wine was another unfamiliar but delicious selection: Seis de Azul y Garanza...mainly Merlot with some Cabernet Sauvignon...a deep and rich wine with a lot of fruit...





I learned that the young Korean ladies at our table were previously schoolmates on holiday. The slim and bubbly girl sitting across from me spoke great English, and explained that Spain was just one of their destinations, and they were also headed to Malta.

The full-bodied red wine went very well with our main course...



Berries in a creamy/yogurt sauce for dessert...



...accompanied by sweet wine...



...and home-made chocolate with chick peas...



A memorable dinner. There are countless restaurants in Barcelona which serve superb food and exceptional cuisine, but this place is probably unique in terms of ambience, character and the warmth of the hosts. And they really do live in this very apartment.

"Thank you for having me in your home for dinner!" I thanked Chef Xabi afterwards...

"Now this is your home in Barcelona!" he replied...

To be continued...

[yflyer]

On my last day in Barcelona, my flight out was EK186, a 2.50pm departure. This meant that I had the morning free to look around.

I decided to go on a run from my hotel (I had moved from the Silken to the Four Points Sheraton, just down the road, on the last night of my stay) to Las Ramblas and Boqueria Market, to stock up on Jamon Iberico, which I planned to hand carry back to Singapore.

Jamon Iberico Bellota is a great food item to bring back to Singapore. Not only is it a lot cheaper in Spain, you also get a much better quality of Jamon Iberico in Barcelona than is generally available in Singapore. It also packs very nicely into flat 100g packs, each not larger than an A4 sheet of paper, and keeps well for months. I usually buy a LOT to bring home.

Rather than take the direct route, I decided on a longer, more scenic route along the beach and the part of the city known as La Barceloneta, and then Ronda Littoral to La Rambla before ending at Boqueria Market, for a total distance of 10km.



The first part of the run took me on my usual route along the beachfront to the W (At around the 5km mark), but from there, I headed round La Barceloneta, along the waterfront parallel to Passeig de Joan de Borbó, passing the Museu d'Història de Catalunya.



Along the way, I admired the superyachts docked along the waterfront...



...before continuing to Ronda Litoral, past the Mirador de Colon, or Columbus Monument...



...and then onto La Rambla itself, already buzzing with activity in the late morning.



I jogged up the length of La Rambla, dodging other pedestrians...



...until I reached Plaça de Catalunya, a large public square...



...and then retraced my steps down La Rambla to Boqueria Market.

[yflyer]

By then, I was quite hungry. I stepped up to a recently vacated stool at the packed counter at Pinotxo Bar for breakfast.



I felt adventurous that day. I looked up and down the counter, then pointed at one of the dishes which looked interesting, although I had no idea what it was.

"One of those please!"

Behind the glass counter, from a distance, it looked like some kind of stew, maybe meat or meatballs.

But close up, examining the plate on the counter, it dawned on me that it wasn't meat or meatballs at all...



They were shells! These were sea snails! (I had to Google this dish afterwards to find out what they were.)

Totally unexpected. But that was part of the fun. Although I was quite surprised, and maybe just a little taken aback, I decided to press on with breakfast...



I picked up my knife and fork...

"No! No!" exclaimed the lady behind the counter...apparently I was doing it all wrong...



That was about the limit of her English, so she had to demonstrate (And in the process of the demo she ate one of my snails...)...

She picked up one of the snails from my plate, popped it into her mouth...

My eyes widened in surprise. Were the shells that soft? Was she really going to chew them, I thought?

No, in fact, she simply sucked all the gravy off the outside and popped the now clean snail shell back into her palm, then grabbed a toothpick from the counter and gently teased the soft snail body out of the shell...

Ah! Now I got it.

I gingerly picked one up and placed it in my mouth...



...mmmm...delicious, very savoury, gravy...

then I stuck a toothpick into the shell and extracted the flesh...



Yum! This was great!

I soon finished the whole plate of snails...but not before the lady behind the counter gave me a piece of bread to mop up all the precious gravy.



Thumbs up! It sure pays to be adventurous with food in Barcelona. And at least in Spain, the risk of pointing at some unknown food item and taking that leap of faith brings great rewards!

I finished breakfast with our of Pinotxo bar's famous xuxo's...





After breakfast, I finished my shopping and caught a taxi back to the hotel to check out and head to the airport...

[yflyer]

My flight EK186 BCN-DXB was operated by an A380 with the 1st generation Y cabin product...



Although not the latest iteration of the EK Y hard product, this was still a very comfortable aircraft to fly in economy class, not least because of the spacious cabin.



The cabin crew were friendly and efficient too.

At the gate...



After take-off...



Double round of beverages served during the initial drink run......was there every a quicker path to customer delight?



The menu for today...



Both options looked great.

Emirates serves complimentary soft and alcoholic beverages (Wine/Beer/Liquor), but champagne is chargeable at USD25 a pop...who on earth would buy that?



Meal service began...



In the event, the meal served was something completely different from the menu...when I asked the cabin crew member in my section about this, she smiled and said that everyone's chicken meal was like this, they appeared to have uplifted a completely different meal from the menu for today's flight.

Oh well. At least it tasted fine.

[yflyer]

I watched the Mel Gibson movie Blood Father onboard...



...before an on time night arrival into DXB.





No fast track cards handed out this time as our arrival gate was in a terminal where there was no fast track transit lane.

[yflyer]

My BCN-DXB sector arrived in Dubai at 12.35am.

Based on that arrival time, there were two options for the connection to Singapore: EK 432, just after 2am (A perfectly legal connection), or EK354, at 3.15am.

I suspect most pax would have gone for EK432, as this would have been a slightly earlier arrival into SIN.

However, EK432 is operated by the dreaded 10-abreast 77W...whereas the later EK354 is an A380 service.

I opted to spend more time in the EK Business Class Lounge and catch the slightly later EK354.

Odds were that this plane would be a lot emptier than EK432 as well, since most connecting pax to Singapore would have been booked on the earlier flight by either the travel agent or their booking engine, which probably only factored in the connecting time/arrival time, rather than the night-and-day difference in Y comfort levels between the sardine-can 10-abreast 77W and the spacious A380.

A quick meal in the lounge...



No sign of La Chapelle 1997 this time...perhaps that was just a one-off.



Delicious biryani...



...and then it was time to board EK354.

[yflyer]

EK354 that day was operated by A6-EEW, a 3 year old A380, with the 2nd generation Y product, that is, in-between the first gen product on my previous sector, and the newest product on A6-EUA on my outbound SIN-DXB sector.

10-abreast Y seats with seat frames resembling the SQ 2013 Y seat...more streamlined and comfortable than the 1st gen A380 product...



The most obvious difference between this and the 1st and 3rd gen seats was the IFE.



The 2nd gen IFE screen was larger than the 1st gen screens, but smaller than the 3rd gen. (Forgive me for starting to sound like I am reciting the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears...)



A large IFE screen, rather than a humonguous one.

Good seat pitch...



...and recline...



Overall, a very comfortable Y seat, superior in comfort to the 1st gen Y seat.

[yflyer]

I had three seats to myself. A Y-flat bed!



Exactly the outcome I was looking for when I chose the later EK354 instead of EK432. No idea how full EK432 was, but I suspect it was more full than the flight I was on.

On EK354, there were quite a few empty seats. On the EK A380, the armrests go all the way up, and many Y pax slept flat that evening, myself included .

A smooth take-off into the night sky, with great views of the Dubai skyline out the left side windows...

[yflyer]

The menu for reference...



I didn't eat on this flight. I asked for a G&T, stuck the "Do Not Disturb" sticker on my seat, lay down and next thing I knew, we were approaching Singapore...





A smooth landing on a wet day...

[yflyer]

So on this trip, there were three generations of A380 economy cabin product:

The first generation...comfortable but fairly chunky seats, broadly similar to SQ's 2006 Y product on the A380.



The second generation seats, as seen on A6-EEW, which are more comfortable than the 1st gen, and which resemble SQ's 2013 Y on the 77WN.



And the 3rd generation, as seen on A6-EUA.



These are marginally slimmer than the 2nd gen. Comfort wise, the 2nd and 3rd gen seats were both comparable in comfort, subjectively speaking. Both are excellent and very comfortable Y seats.

[yflyer]

In terms of IFE...all three had a wide range of IFE programs, so the comparison focuses mainly on the screen size and picture quality rather than the IFE software.

The 1st gen screens on the EK A380 were comparable to SQ's A380 screens, although those on EK are touchscreens. Picture quality was good to above average, although touchscreen sensitivity was not great, and in some cases the calibration was not 100% accurate. These 1st gen screens are the older pressure-sensitive touchscreens.



The 2nd gen screen is a large and bright touchscreen, which feels similar to the screen on an iPad i.e. very responsive and sensitive. A very nice system, which is comparable to SQ's latest.



The 3rd gen screen is massive (with a White border, rather than black), and has all the bells and whistles...as good as it gets.



The 1st gen system feels slightly dated (Though not more so than SQ's current A380 IFE).

Both the 2nd and 3rd gen screens and Emirates ICE system look state-of-the art, from a usability perspective, as well as for the breadth of options.

The 2nd and 3rd gen ICE systems look to be broadly comparable to SQ's latest IFE on the 77WN and A350. In some ways EK is superior (EK has camera views) and in others SQ's is preferable (SQ appears to screen all movie and TV content uncut, whereas on EK certain programs have sensitive bits which are blurred out...)

[yflyer]

Final reflections?

I was quite impressed at how Emirates continues to evolve their economy class product on the A380.

A few cutbacks were apparent on EK. In Y catering for example, they still use metal cutlery, but they no longer provide a small snack pack of dips and crackers with the meal tray, which they previously used to do.

But in general, Emirates has continued to improve the Y hard product, culminating in a 3rd generation economy seat on the A380 which is really quite impressive.

SQ will launch their new A380 cabin in all classes soon. While a lot of the buzz will be around their premium cabin offerings, I am also looking forward to what SQ are going to do with economy class on the A380, especially in the light of what their competition EK, has done with theirs.

Thanks for reading!