On SIA's 787-10 Dreamliner to Bangkok and Back

[yflyer]

A mindboggling selection of coffees...





...and teas...



...including Chinese and Asian tea selections...



I've often wondered if it was really necessary to have so many varieties of tea and coffee on SQ. By contrast, United Airlines J from SIN-SFO offers pax a more stark choice: Illy dark roast coffee in either regular or decaf.

But then a friend of mine, a Solitaire PPS member and regular flyer, said that he looked forward to each J/F flight as an opportunity to taste the varied selection of fine Chinese teas onboard, so there might be a good case for having such a broad selection of beverages onboard...

[yflyer]

This was a short 2 hour flight, so dinner service was fairly truncated.

There was no post-departure beverage/pre-dinner drink service.

Meal service began with the whole meal tray brought to your seat, and placed on the bare tray table (Without a tablecloth).

My dinner was a BTC selection: Lobster Thermidor...



No beverage was offered when my meal was served (A big no-no in my book), but I pro-actively asked for a glass of champagne, and thankfully a glass of Charles Heidseck bubbly was brought over soon after.

This was good, because for me having a drink to go with me meal was pretty essential to the enjoyment of the meal -- whatever my class of travel. I feel the same way in Y or PEY! I would not have wanted to start my meal until my beverage arrived...



The Salad Nicoise with Smoked Salmon was decent starter...



...although SQ should really think about including some sort of dressing along with their salads.

A choice of bread was offered from the bread basket...



The lobster thermidor has always been one of my favourite BTC selections, and today's dish did not disappoint.



The lobster portion seemed just a little smaller than the one I had on my previous SIN-PER sector, but it was very tasty.



A very satisfying dish!

After polishing off the lobster, I felt like sampling some of the red wines on the list, and asked for a glass of the Clarendelle, but there was none onboard, so I opted to try the Jim Barry Shiraz instead...



There was no cheese course on this flight, and dessert was fruit that was already present on the tray.

Overall impressions of meal service? A very abridged version of the usual SIA business class dinner, which was probably streamlined because of the short 2 hour flight time.

I had a satisfying meal, but I could not help wishing that more elements of the usual SQ business class dinner service was incorporated through, for example, a post-take off beverage service, and perhaps a proper round of dessert rather than just fruit?

[yflyer]

After the meal, pax settled down to rest...

It was a very clear day to be flying, with the moon visible high in the evening sky...



Bottles of water were handed out...



I checked out this month's entertainment selections on Krisworld, which had its usual stupendous selection of movies, TV and music.



This month's must-watch: The Wandering Earth...



Great picture and sound quality on the large widescreen and SQ-supplied noise-cancelling headphones...



The IFE also included 3D maps...

[yflyer]

Wonderful cabin ambience in this 787 business class cabin...



A very quiet cabin, with a great sense of privacy...



I went past the Y/J divider curtain and took a walk through the Economy cabin...



This was a very full flight in Y, but the cabin felt open and spacious...



As I passed the Y galley, I was surprised to see that an ice cream dessert was on the economy class dinner menu...



I was sorely tempted to ask for an ice cream to "da bao" back into the J cabin...

All we had in J for dessert was fruit. On this flight, the Y dessert was better than J!

[yflyer]

Back in the J cabin, the windows had been centrally dimmed to a moderate shade of blue...



Of course the windows remained under the control of passengers, who could still bright or darken it from this central setting...

I found it quite restful, so left the window setting as-is...



I reclined the bed and lay down to rest, making use of both the soft pillow...



...and blanket...



This was a very comfortable J seat...given the short flight time, I had just a few minutes to rest, but they were very pleasant minutes...

[yflyer]

It was soon time to descend into BKK...



We descended over the Gulf of Thailand, and the mouth of the Chao Phraya River...



Looking out the window at the Chao Phraya was a great geography lesson on how a river meandered as it flowed...



A smooth landing...

At the gate in BKK...





Overall, this was a wonderful flight. The SQ 787-10 business class seat was as good as I remembered it from an earlier SIN-PER-SIN trip. Although positioned as a regional J seat, I would be quite comfortable flying this seat long haul as well.

On a 2 hour flight, one could not ask for me. Positives included the fact that all seats had aisle access, and also that it reclined fully flat to a comfortable sleeping surface with the touch of a button.

As far as catering was concerned, I did wish SQ offered a little more than what they did on this sector, but then again, this was a very short flight, so these were not showstoppers. I do think SQ should make it a point to serve a beverage together with meals though, and this should be the case whatever the class of service, and whether the meal is a a regular meal, or a special meal/BTC option.

Cabin crew on this flight were very good as well -- up to SQ's high standards, although on a sector of such a short length, it was probably difficult for cabin crew to personalise service and elevate it to that special brand of SQ service that you sometimes experienced on SQ's longer sectors.

So overall, a thumbs up for SQ's Business Class on the 787.

After that positive experience, I was greatly looking forward to my flight home on SQ's 787-10 economy, as well as a visit to the SQ SilverKris Lounge in BKK.

To be continued!

[PPSFlyer]

But then a friend of mine, a Solitaire PPS member and regular flyer, said that he looked forward to each J/F flight as an opportunity to taste the varied selection of fine Chinese teas onboard, so there might be a good case for having such a broad selection of beverages onboard...

I am a fan of tea, so I also enjoy drinking the various teas throughout my flight.

[pokfur]

SQ's BKK flight departed out of T2, but I was inspired by fellow SQTalker pokfur's recent Manila TR, and decided to check-in at T3, and visit the SilverKris Lounge there, before taking the Skytrain to T2 for my flight.

When I clicked happily on this TR, I didn't expect to see my name in it. LOL. I'm glad to have inspired you, yflyer!!

I'm actually really surprised to find that they served you fruit for dessert on this supposed dinner sector. Maybe it's meant to be a 'light' dinner (your flight was quite early right?) so they serve fruits instead of a cake or something... Having said that, I find the quality of the dessert on short sectors abysmal. The cakes are always too artificial tasting/too sweet.. But that's just me maybe. There's generally always extra dessert in Y so you should have asked for one!!

As for the truncated service, this is 100% the norm for shorter flights. Only above 3 hours do you get the starter, main course, and dessert served separately, although still on a tray (with no table cloth). I believe above 4 hours then you get the extra table cloth, such as on HKG and TPE routes, but still on a tray. So many variations!!

I'm sorry to say I tried the lobster again last week, after maybe a year of not having it, and regretted it. It's definitely smaller, and the single tomato used to be two or more, but mainly I found the lobster rather tasteless though...

I haven't flown this J seat since April; unfortunately I always get the old stuff. Semi excited to fly it again next month!! Agree with you that the crew should mention that 3-point seatbelt can be taken off after take off, but there is already that video which they play which you also highlighted, so...

Look forward to reading about your thoughts on YCL! Flew it 2 weeks ago; felt kinda squished

[yflyer]

I am a fan of tea, so I also enjoy drinking the various teas throughout my flight.

A very healthy form of inflight entertainment! The selection onboard does look very impressive...

[yflyer]

When I clicked happily on this TR, I didn't expect to see my name in it. LOL. I'm glad to have inspired you, yflyer!!

You most definitely did!

There's generally always extra dessert in Y so you should have asked for one!!

Yah, I should have. Not as if my skin wasn't thick enough to ask...

As for the truncated service, this is 100% the norm for shorter flights. Only above 3 hours do you get the starter, main course, and dessert served separately, although still on a tray (with no table cloth). I believe above 4 hours then you get the extra table cloth, such as on HKG and TPE routes, but still on a tray. So many variations!!

Ah I see! Probably makes sense since turbulence and other factors could possibly cut into service time, and SQ doesn't like service to feel rushed or hurried. Contrast this with some other airlines, where I get the impression that the main cabin crew objective, whether in Y or J, is to get service over with as soon as possible so that they can wrap up and spend the rest of the flight in the galley or crew rest area...

Look forward to reading about your thoughts on YCL! Flew it 2 weeks ago; felt kinda squished

Coming up shortly!

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

After arriving in Bangkok, I spent the next day or so in the city, staying at the Bangkok Marriott Sukhumvit (Covered previously here)...

My room this time was a nice one, similar to, but marginally larger than, the previous 2 rooms I stayed in at the same hotel.



This room had a large round bath tub and separate shower area.



When I asked the hotel receptionist what the difference was between this deluxe room and others, and mentioned that I previously had a room with a round tub, and then another with a regular oval free-standing tub, she smiled and replied that the rooms on each floor were each all slightly different, and that had certainly been my experience over the last 3 stays.

The hotel had a new and very beautifully styled lobby restaurant where buffet or a la carte meals were served...



...but as on my previous trips, my favourite spot in the hotel was the Octave Rooftop Bar...



As usual, I spent all my daytime hours in Bangkok in meetings, on phone conferences, or at work in my hotel room, and did not see a lot of the city. That said, after braving Bangkok rush hour traffic in taxis for my previous two trips, I finally bit the bullet and decided to check out Bangkok's mass transit train network.

There are two separate sets of lines, an overground train system called the BTS, as well as an underground MRT not dissimilar to Singapore's system...



This proved to be extremely busy and crowded during rush hour periods, but on balance, still preferable to a car or taxi during peak periods. The only catch here was that the two systems, MRT and BTS, seemed to be quite separate, with different tickets used on each one. I had to queue for a ticket twice, once for the MRT and once for the BTS, as I had to connect between MRT and BTS to get from my meeting location back to the hotel.

Still, on future trips, I think I would be quite comfortable using either BTS or MRT to get around, rather than sit in a taxi or Grab car as it inched along the busy streets.

[yflyer]

My flight home was SQ973 BKK-SIN, departing at a very civilized time, 9:40am in the morning. No ultra-early wake-up call required this time, thank goodness.

The airport was very busy at 6.50am...



No queues at the Business or KF Gold / Star Gold check-in counters...



Security queues were not long, but immigration queues were quite a bottleneck, and took a fairly long time to clear. There was a separate queue for Thai citizens and foreign passport holders.

Within the foreigner queue, there was an ASEAN lane, however the way the queue was setup, it was impossible to join the ASEAN queue directly without first joining the long foreign passport line, and in any case, everyone was mixed up in the Foreigner and ASEAN lanes. I would just have to wait my turn in the common queue. Immigration took almost 30 minutes to clear before I was finally airside...



The SQ departure gates, and the nearby SilverKris Lounge, were in the D concourse, just steps away from the immigration area -- very convenient.

[yflyer]

I headed straight to the SQ SilverKris Lounge...



This was a beautiful lounge, done up in the latest "Home Away from Home" decor theme...



...with a large bar at its centre...



A range of seating options were available, including SQ's signature work pods...



...and several oversized high back chairs, another SQ lounge signature element.



A long communal table which could be used for work, or as a spillover area if the dining area was full...



A decent selection of local and regional newspapers was available...



A quick glance at the newspapers indicated that one topic was top of the news today: the ongoing chaos at Hong Kong Airport...

[yflyer]

My first stop was the bar...



A decent selection of red and white wines (But no champagne...)...



...with liquor tucked away behind the bar, with drinks mixed on demand by the bartender/lounge staff.



Beer dispensers, and beer glasses kept cold in a small fridge...



Mocktails were also available...



...and also fresh coconuts in the fridge...



This still being morning, I stuck with non-alcoholic beverages. There was a proper coffee/expresso machine where gourmet coffee could be prepared...



I decided on Thai Iced Milk Tea...



...which was delicious!

[yflyer]

There was a separate sit-down dining area...



...with a decent buffet breakfast selection comprising both hot and cold items...



Cheese and salads...



Western-style breakfast options included eggs, ham, bacon and sausages...



Baked beans and French toast...



The Asian options included clear chicken broth with lime...



Noodles...



Chinese style vegetables and egg with "chai por"...



Dim sum selections...



Minced pork with olive...



...as a topping for rice congee...



I decided on an Asian breakfast of lo mai kai and congee...



Very satisfying...