SQ 787-10 Dreamliner New Business Class to Perth, Margaret River Glamping & Vineyards

[yflyer]

Across the bridge, it was an uphill climb to the top...



...along a series of steps...





Finally the top...





Close shave for this bird...



And on top of the hill, a grass field...



...and performance stage...



On the hlltop overlooking Perth, there is a State War Memorial...



I paused for a few moments to enjoy the city view...

[yflyer]

I continued along the footpath on top of Kings Park, admiring the city views as I ran...



Before heading down the hill via Mount Street. I was very grateful to be heading downhill, rather than uphill, where many other runners and cyclists were headed...



From the base of Kings Park, an overpass took us over the Mitchell Freeway...



...and back into the city, where I continued down Hay Street...



...until the start of the pedestrian mall...



...when I turned right down William Street and headed south back to Elizabeth Quay...



...and the waterfront...



I retraced my steps along the riverside path...





...back to the Westin, up the gentle steps alongside the hotel driveway.



The day's route...



9km was all I had time for that day, but the route could easily have stretched for many kilometers more along the Swan river, in either direction.

A very pleasant city for runners! (And cyclists!)

[yflyer]

"Let us head out for walk to see the Christmas light-up", Mrs yflyer suggested that evening...



Many parts of the CBD were beautifully lit up for Christmas...



Among the more striking displays was the ever changing light projection on St George's Cathedral.

[yflyer]

On our last evening in Perth, we headed to the suburb of Leederville for dinner before heading to the airport...



There were many interesting eateries lining the streets of this suburb...





We headed to Theo & Co Pizzeria...



...where I was stunned by the quality of their artisanal pizzas, which came in a wide range of very original toppings...



There were quite simply some of the most delicious pizzas I had ever eaten...



They also did decent pastas, served in, of all things, Asian claypots.



The pastas were fine, but I would definitely want to head back there to eat their incredible pizza's if I was ever back in Perth.

[yflyer]

We arrived at Perth airport just after 9pm on the evening of our departure.





This was a little earlier than necessary, since check-in only opened at 10.10pm, 3 hours before the scheduled 1.10am departure time.

The large international terminal at Perth airport was already very busy at the time...



The SQ check-in counters were closed. The SQ area was quite deserted at 9.15pm, but by 9.30pm queues were already starting to form at the Y line...



There was surprisingly little seating available in the check-in area, not a lot of shopping either, so unless you needed to join the Y queue early, there wasn't really a need to show up so early.

Check-in opened just before 10.10pm, and by then the Y queue was already pretty busy.



No line for J, so we received our boarding passes and checked in our luggage very quickly.

Queues at security were not long either. The automated facial-recognition based passport checks were very quick -- as long as the machine accepted your passport and face...if not, there were only a few manual passport counters, and the queue there took several minutes.

[yflyer]

There were many shopping and F&B options in the airside area.

We headed to the SilverKris Lounge, tucked in between the shops...





Plaques by the door commerating the first SQ 787 service to Perth in May 2018...



...alongside a plaque from 2017 commemorating 50 years of SIA service to Perth.

This was not a huge lounge, and it hasd not yet been given the new "Home Away from Home" decor makeover, but we found it to be a very pleasant lounge to spend time in. The decor was fine, the environment spotlessly clean, and both catering and lounge staff were great.

The main seating area...



Counter and small round tables with bar-style seating...





Work area...

[yflyer]

A nicely laid out F&B spread...

Champagne...



Wines...



A pretty impressive liquor selection...





A well stocked beer fridge...



...and some other interesting beverages in the fridge as well...





On the non-alcoholic front, there was Milo for the kids (And young at heart...)



Coffee and Tea...

[yflyer]

A very nice selection of appetisers...



Wraps and salads, all on small individual plates...



Cheese plates and sandwiches...



Fruit and dessert...

[yflyer]

A decent selection of hot dishes as well...



Mini pies...



...and savoury pastries...



Tandoori chicken and baked mac & cheese...



There was also chicken congee...



And DIY laksa...



...which I could not resist having a bowl of...

[yflyer]

There is a toilet withn the lounge, but no showers.



Close to boarding time, the lounge got busier, but it never felt overcrowded.



Overall, while not the best outstation lounge SQ currently offers (The new BKK SilverKris Lounge sets a very high standard, for example), this was a decent pre-flight lounge experience that I was quite happy with.

For Star Gold members, there is also an Air New Zealand Lounge in the airside departure area, although it was closed at the time of this flight.



An hour or so before departure time, we headed to the gate for our flight...

[yflyer]

At the gate, Boeing 787-10 registration 9V-SCB, a very new plane just delivered in April 2018.



A slightly delayed boarding and departure, on account of the late arrival of the inbound aircraft from Singapore.

Boarding through Door 1...



My seat this time was 11A...



...with Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2 in 11 D/F...





Love SQ's cabin Christmas decor at this time of the year...

[yflyer]

As noted on the previous outbound sector, the configuration of the J middle seats alternates between seats away from each other, closer to the aisle...



...and seats close to each other in the middle, with a fixed lower partition, and an upper partition that can be raised or lowered.



The window seats also alternate between seats closer to the window...



...and aisle...

[yflyer]

As on my outbound SIN-PER flight, I made a foray into the economy cabin to check it out...



This is a surprisingly comfortable looking 787 Y cabin.

Seat pitch looked fairly generous...



...and recline was good as well...





I will not know for sure until I do a full flight in 787 Y, but on both my outbound sector and this tour of the cabin, I actually found the cabin ambience to be quite good. Has SQ found the secret of how to make a 9-abreast 787 Y cabin feel spacious?

[yflyer]

Here is a view of the Y bulkhead seats, with IFE mounted on the wall in front of the seats...



Middle bulkhead seats...note the mounts for the bassinet in the middle seat.



Next, the emex row...



...with IFE screens that fold out of the armrest...



There is a small passageway for pax ahead of the middle bulkhead seats, which means pax will not cut across the bulkseats to get from one aisle to the other...

[yflyer]

I returned to my seat, 11A in the first row of Business Class.



A round of pre-take off drinks were being served...



"Champagne please!"



One perk of sitting in 11A: a rare peek into the cockpit, through the open cockpit door, while the plane was on the ground...the door would soon be shut, and remain shut from pushback right through to arrival.



The bulkhead business class window seats in the row had a different design from the other seats in the business class cabin. There was a counter top for bassinets.



Of course, if you didn't need a bassinet, that space was available to you during the flight for any stuff you might need to store (Note: Nothing is allowed there during take off and landing.).

Apart from that, the cubby hole for your feet was also significantly larger than the regular J seats.



It wasn't just about the width...



...there was slightly more height to the cubby hole as well...



So there were definitely benefits to the bulkhead seat: more space to put things during the flight, as well as a larger cubby hole.

Also, while the bulkhead seats where closer to the aisle than the window, I found that I still had pretty decent views out of the window.

On the other hand, sitting at the bulkhead seat, I found the view facing forward less elegant than the other J seats. Rather than the nice curves of the backs of the regular J seats. What I saw in front of me from the bulkhead seat was the blocky, functional looking rectangular bulkhead surfaces...



The regular J seat backs had an aesthetically pleasing curved design...



...and the cubby holes in the regular J seats, while smaller than the bulkheads, were still very generous in both width and height...



I found myself thinking that I did not actually prefer the bulkhead seats to the regular J seats...I felt just as comfortable in seat 12A on my outbound flight as I did in bulkhead seat 11A on this flight. So at least for me, for future flights on the 787-10, there would be no great desire to secure 11A or 11K...any of the regular window-side J seats would work fine for me.