UA2 SIN-SFO 787-9 Polaris Business to San Francisco, Baseball and Yo-Yo Ma in Chicago

[yflyer]

I headed out of the terminal to the bus stop for the complimentary hotel shuttle to the Marriott Courtyard San Bruno.

This was the last shuttle stop on a fairly long shuttle route, but we eventually drove up to the Courtyard San Bruno on a beautiful sunny afternoon.



The Courtyard San Bruno was very close to SFO...you can judge how close based on the aircraft climbing out in the distance...



San Bruno wasn't the most exciting place to be, but the neighbourhood was pleasant enough, and there was a nearby mall and BART station.

Youtube had its corporate offices close by, including a large building close to the Courtyard.



I was pleasantly surprised by how nice and new this Marriott Courtyard property was.

The lobby...



Lobby cafe and bar area, where breakfast and snacks/meais were served...



These included burgers, pasta, and snacks...



...not to mention a very decent selection of wine, beer and cocktails...





Self-service snacks and mart...



The rooms themselves were arranged around a central courtyard....



There was a small gym and an indoor pool...

[yflyer]

The room was great as well...spacious, spotlessly clean and looking brand new...



Large comfortable sofa...



My room was a ground floor room with sliding doors that could be opened to enjoy the fine weather...



I particularly liked the slide-out desk and comfortable work chair...



Widescreen TV with many HD channels and Netflix support...



Bathroom with shower stall...





A very comfortable place to spend the night...

But it was now just lunch time. I decided to head into San Francisco...

[yflyer]

"How do I get to the BART station?" I asked the cheerful receptionist in the lobby...

"That's easy..."

She gave me directions for the 10-15 minute walk to the nearby mall, where I would cut right through the mall, past the stores and foodcourt and exit the other end of the mall, where the BART station was...



This suburban mall, The Shops at Tanforan, had the usual assortment of department stores and retail, as well as a surprisingly large Barnes and Noble bookstore.



In this age of ebooks and online content, it was a pleasant to encounter a large brick and mortar bookstore.



I resisted the urge to go in for a browse, and continued through the mall to the foodcourt...



There was a Jollibee there...



...further on, a sign advertising legal services, with the caption "We speak Tagalog"...



Well that would explain Jollibee...there must be a large Asian/Filipino community in the area...

San Bruno BART station was just outside the foodcourt entrance. I caught the BART for the quick 30 minute ride to Embarcadero, in San Francisco.

[yflyer]

I headed out of Embarcadero BART station and headed to the San Francisco Ferry Building. It was now 2.40pm on a beautiful Friday afternoon.



The misconnect in SFO had caused some grief and anxiety, but now that it was all settled, the silver lining was that I would get to spend an extra afternoon in San Francisco, where I would have lunch, and do some shopping.

I headed to the Hog Island Oyster Company, located on the waterfront-facing side of the Ferry Building. Even at close to 3pm, there was a queue to get in...



I snagged an outside table and perused the menu...





Oysters here were a must-have, I ordered a mix of 6...



Yum...not the largest I had ever eaten, but when it came to oysters, size wasn't everything: these were cold, plump and delicious...

Then the piping hot rustic seafood stew, which just hit the spot...



I accompanied the oysters and stew with a glass of Ponzi Pinot Gris...



This was a pleasant way to spend Friday afternoon...with the events at ORD and SFO earlier in the day fast fading from memory...

The other silver lining to all of this was that, now that I was flying home from SFO, I would be able to buy, and handcarry, meat from the Golden Gate Meat Company, and this included a couple of racks of Napa milk-fed Spring Lamb...



I had admired these lamb racks a week back when I was first in San Francisco, but was not able to buy them as I was travelling home from ORD. Now that I had an unplanned stop in SFO, I could buy them, have them vacuum packed, then lug them back to Singapore in my hand luggage...

After lunch, I strolled to Union Square and did a little more shopping at Macy's and the Apple Store, before heading back by BART to the Courtyard San Bruno.

[yflyer]

That evening, I headed to the lobby bar in the Courtyard, and ordered a French 77...





Cocktail in hand, I headed out to the Courtyard, and sat around the fire pit...



Other guests came and went...

There were families with young children. Some were business people. I chatted with a middle aged American businessman who had meetings in San Bruno, and was spending Friday night in the hotel before flying out the next morning as there were no flights out that evening.



This was quite a pleasant place to spend time...with the warmth of the fire pit and the cool evening breeze...

It occurred to me, as I sat by the firepit that evening, that I was feeling more relaxed at that moment than at any time in the past 2 weeks.



I think throughout the previous, hectic, two weeks, I must have been wound up like a tight spring, figuratively speaking, always reflecting about what had been done, and planning what to do next, heading from one appointment or activity to another.

Out of that misconnect in SFO, a 24 hour gap had opened up in my calender, and that calendar was completely, beautifully, empty.

It wasn't planned that way, but perhaps that was the point. Right now, it felt preternaturally calm. it felt good.

Lesson learnt. Plans are essential, but take things as they come.

[yflyer]

The next morning, I checked out of the Courtyard San Bruno and caught the complimentary shuttle bus to SFO.





The large, airy terminal was not busy in the morning.



The Y check-in area was fairly quiet at 8.15am in the morning...



I checked in at the Premier Access counters...



My boarding pass had Premier Access printed on it, which meant I could use Fast Track security. In any case, security lines were very short, and I was airside very quickly...

[yflyer]

I headed first to the United Club. Note that this was different from the Polaris Lounge, which is only accessible to United business and first class passengers, not Star Gold members flying economy.

[yflyer]

The United Club in the International airside area of SFO was previously the United International First lounge.



Now that the Polaris Lounge was open, this lounge had been repurposed to serve as the United Club, and still had the previous decor theme...



...with its Oriental touches...



The lounge was quite busy that morning.



The breakfast offerings were fairly sparse...comprising, fruit, yogurt, cereal...



Bakery items...



..and oatmeal...



Self service beer and wine were available...



There was a quiet area...



...and also restrooms in the lounge.

Overall, I found this to be a very average lounge. Like fellow SQTalker Jumbojet Lover, I much preferred the new United Club decor and facilities found in other terminals. It didn't help that it was quite full either.

This was not a lounge I would want to spend a lot of time in before a flight, especially since the airside area of the International Terminal in SFO had so much to offer.

After a brief lounge visit, I headed back to the public airside area.

[yflyer]

By contrast to the crowded United Club, the International Airside area, was open and spacious, with ample seating and (paid) F&B.



There were great tarmac views from within the terminal. I spotted SQ32 as it taxied to the gate after landing at SFO from SIN.



The seating in the airside public areas looked more appealing that the seating inside the United Club...



Workstations were also available...



Why folks would want to spend all their time in a crowded, slightly stuffy, United Club when there were such nice facilities in the public airside area, was a mystery to me...

The best feature of the SFO International airside area was at the very far end of the concourse...



An outdoor garden, where you could relax and take in fresh air...



...not to mention great tarmac and aircraft views...



There were also several F&B and shopping outlets in the airside area where it was possible to get a good meal or snack before the flight, to either eat there, or bring onboard...



There was a Japanese sushi restaurant...





...as well as a cafe selling Vietnamese pho and banh mi...



Although I was headed to Saigon on vacation the day after getting back from SFO, I couldn't resist an early start to my Vietnam experience by ordering a bowl of pho...



Not bad...but nothing like what I would be eating a few days later in Saigon! (More on that in an upcoming TR!)

[yflyer]

My flight UA29 SFO-SIN was operated by 787-9 Dreamliner rego N29961, a 3 year old aircraft.



This was a completely full flight. In fact, there were several pax on standby, ready to step in, in case of a no-show.

One final drama before the flight...

I had a middle-seat assigned. That would be torture on such a long sector. I had asked to swap to an aisle seat at check in, and also at the gate, but none were available. Horrors.

"I'm sorry, all aisle seats are already taken. But if you don't mind waiting till the end of boarding, once everyone else is onboard, we can check to see if an aisle seat is available", the gate agent said.

Normally I board right at the start...that way I would be able to stow my luggage and also take cabin pics. But I really did need an aisle seat.

OK, I would take a gamble and wait. For the first time in years, I sat at the gate, in a front seat in full view of the gate agents, and waited as group after group were boarded...



Finally, the gate area was nearly empty...it was just me and several pax on standby.

"We request all remaining passengers to board...", the gate agent announced.

I walked up to the gate agent, and handed her my boarding pass.

"I was waiting for an aisle seat, may I know if any are available, please?"

She took my boarding pass, checked her system, and without a word, printed me a new one.

Bingo! An aisle seat! I smiled, thanked her, and gave the other gate agent I had been speaking to earlier a thumbs up!

UA29 went out completely full that day, so at least a few of the pax hoping to fly standby on the flight were disappointed. I hope the previous day, I made some lucky standby pax happy when he or she got my seat when I misconnected....

[yflyer]

The cabin config on this flight was the same as on my outbound SIN-SFO flight...

2-2-2 business class cabin...



3-3-3 economy class cabin...



UA has recently rolled out a true premium economy product, but this had not yet been rolled out on this sector. All you had was Economy Plus (Y with more legroom) and regular Y.



3-3-3 on a Dreamliner is not ideal. JAL had it right with their 2-4-2 Y config on their 787's, but almost every other carrier, SQ included has gone 3-3-3 in Y on their 787's.



The seat itself was upholstered in dark blue leather, with an adjustable headrest.



Recline was average, and so was legroom (No underseat obstructions)...



The IFE was the same as my outbound flight: Full AVOD on a wide and bright screen (A decent screen size for Y, though not as large as SQ's screens.).



A decent program selection...



Regular 3.5mm headphone mini-plug and USB charging under the screen...



Universal A/C power under the seat...



Bathrooms in white, with black countertops.

[yflyer]

Doors closed, and set for departure...



Spiderman themed safety video..



15 hours 26 minutes to Singapore...



...with almost the entire flight overwater...



Cabin lights dimmed and many windows darkened (electronically) after take-off...

[yflyer]

For the initial round of cabin service, snacks and beverages were served...



I opted for a glass of white wine...

[yflyer]

It was then time for lunch...



There was a choice of entree for lunch...I opted for chicken (The other choice was vegetable fried rice...)...

The tray as served...



With covers off...



I appreciated that the salad came with a separate container of dressing...something I wish SQ would do...



The chicken with rice tasted fine as well, although this was more Asian comfort food than anything particularly memorable...



A glass of red wine to go with my main...



This was a South African Shiraz...an unusual selection...



Only beer and wine were complimentary, liquor was chargeable...





Mango sorbet for dessert. Bottles of water were also distributed...

[yflyer]

Cabin lights were dimmed for much of the flight...





The program selection on the IFE was quite interesting...

I rewatched "Bar Talks"...which documents visits to bars around the world by reknown bartender and author Charles Schumann.



After watching that show, I could probably be forgiven for downing a beer...



Other programs available included "They Shall Not Grow Old", where Peter Jackson (Of LoTR fame) has used modern digital technology to refresh and colourise old WW1 film footage to bring scenes and memories of this terrible conflict to life.







About halfway through the flight, a snack was served...



The sharp-eyed among us will notice that the Airshow flight path tracker starts in the middle of the Pacific, not from the point of origin SFO. That was because the IFE was acting up onboard. The cabin crew had to reset the whole system, affecting everyone in the cabin.

The mid-flight snack consisted of a meat and cheese sandwich, and a small packet of M&Ms, and your choice of beverage.



Was that enough of a mid-flight snack for me?

Frankly no.

But I knew that in advance, so I had packed my own Cup Noodles, which I went to the galley to get hot water for...

At the same time I purchased a G&T to go with it...