After a very pleasant stay in Hong Kong, my son and I said “good bye” to the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel in the early afternoon and returned to the Chek Lap Kok Airport via the reasonably priced and very convenient Airport Express Train directly from Kowloon Station. Our award tickets to Sydney were taking us in Singapore Airlines Suites Class on the Airbus A380 and we were very much looking forward to the experience. The airline uses Terminal 1 with dedicated Suites and First Class check-in at their counters then located in Aisle A. The agent was pleasant and efficient so, with boarding passes in hand, we breezed through security screening and waited only a few minutes to clear Passport Control. It’s interesting to note that most countries in the world use a separate passport control system on departure but here in the US, passports are scanned before international flights by the airline at check-in rather than by immigration officials.
There’s always something to do at this airport, especially with the wide variety of shops and restaurants open any time of the day and night. We avoided the hustle and bustle of the terminal and went directly to the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge. When we presented our Suites Class boarding pass, the agent on duty escorted us to the separate First Class area of the lounge. Actually, it’s just a pretty small section of the SilverKris lounge, which is essentially one large room divided into several seating areas. Although the lounge did offer a formal dining area with limited a la carte menu service, it also featured both hot and cold buffet options as well as a full bar with wines, champagnes, and spirits. In any case, we both opted to avoid the temptation to dine and instead saved our appetites for the upcoming flight as catering offered in the Singapore Suites is surprisingly very good. While this lounge was fairly nice, it was an interior space lacking any windows to the outside world and we were not that sorry to leave when it was our time to board.
As we neared the end of the long First Class jet bridge, the in-flight service manager stepped off the plane to greet us, welcoming us to Singapore Airlines and escorting us to our seats 2C and 2D in the center of the Suites Cabin. There were twelve individual suites on the A380-800 aircraft that was to take us on our first leg to Singapore that afternoon, with four seats along each side next to the windows and two rows in the center of the cabin with two middle seats in each row. These suites were incredible with a pitch of 81” and a width of 35.” While other airlines have so-called “suites” with doors, it’s worth pointing out that the doors on these Singapore suites were much higher at about 5 and 1/2 feet, affording even greater privacy. Between our seats were the entertainment, lighting and seat controls and on the aisle sides were small storage compartments, power, USB adapters and headphone jacks. Individual closets for hanging up a few items were located near the rear of each suite. No sooner had we taken our seats than both lead flight attendants stopped by to introduce themselves and offered us glasses of Krug Grande Cuvee Champagne, the airline’s signature pre-departure premium beverage, along with bowls of mixed nuts. We were also offered newspapers, magazines, eyeshades, socks and the menu for the flight.
With departure time approaching, the captain made his welcome announcement and informed us our flying time to Singapore would be three hours and forty-five minutes. Shortly thereafter, we began our long taxi to runway 7R. Eventually, we were cleared for takeoff and enjoyed a smooth climb out. After about ten minutes, the seat belt sign was switched off and the meal service began. (I’ll skip the details here and instead tell you about the next dinner service we enjoyed en route to Sydney.) Later on in the flight, I spent some time playing around with KrisWorld, the in-flight entertainment system. The content is phenomenal. There were about 15 newly-released movies, all eight Harry Potter movies in a “Wizards” section and seven Star Wars reels contained in a “Galactic Episodes” department as well as forty-seven different European movies. The system even had thirty-four seasons of network TV shows to choose from as well as HBO TV. The music selection was also first rate, including 160 albums under the “Pop Music” section alone. Based on the sheer variety of entertainment, KrisWorld is certainly one of the best airline entertainment systems in the sky.
Touching down in Singapore on time at about 7:10 PM, we taxied to a gate in Terminal 3. With an hour between flights, we went directly to the SilverKris Lounge reception area. We were then personally escorted to The Private Room, the airline’s exclusive “lounge within a lounge” for Suites Class flyers traveling on Singapore metal. The seating density here is much lower than most airport lounges. It’s also whisper quiet and has the feel of an elite, bygone gentleman’s club with dark woods and plush carpets. Alongside the floor-to-ceiling windows are individual high back armchairs with high partitions and significant space around each one. (They almost mimic the privacy and space found onboard the airline’s premium cabins.) A full range of wines, champagnes, beers and spirits are made available and delivered by polite, attentive and friendly waiters who surreptitiously circulate throughout the lounge taking orders and clearing plates and glassware. The centerpiece of The Private Room is undoubtedly the dining room, an à la carte restaurant that’s partly screened off from the main area by a series of imposing marble-like pillars. Again, we opted to dine onboard the aircraft and only availed ourselves of a few “Quick Bites.” Guests also have the option to request a buggy from the lounge to take you to your boarding gate. The lounge concierge will make the necessary arrangements, although we didn’t take advantage of this service during our visit. Changi Airport has security checkpoints at each departure gate so we waited about 15 minutes after boarding began before leaving The Private Room.
Once onboard, we were again warmly greeted and escorted to seats C and D in Row 2. The cabin feels very roomy on the A380 since there are no overhead bins but there's plenty of room beneath the foot rests where we safely stored our carry-on luggage. It wasn't long before our flight attendants stopped by to introduce themselves and, after exchanging pleasantries, we each enjoyed another glass of the wonderful Krug Champagne with some mixed nuts while settling in for the flight. I must point out that Singapore Airlines has an excellent reputation which is so well deserved because they deliver a very consistent product across the board and really know how to do Suites and First Class so well. We were soon handed Lalique-branded amenity kits and pajamas for the overnight journey. After boarding was complete, the captain informed us our flying time would be about seven hours and forty minutes, putting us into Sydney about 6:00 AM local time the next morning. Shortly thereafter, we began our pushback and taxied out to the runway.
The dinner service began about 20 minutes after we left the ground. Once the table was set with precision, I selected the Warm Crab Cake appetizer with mango chili relish followed by a Corn Chowder with spiced prawns and basil oil. The salad offering was endive and cos lettuce with assorted tomatoes, Kalamata olives and ranch dressing. For my main course , I chose the Grilled 6oz. Angus Sirloin Steak with balsamic jus, chunky vegetable medley and dauphinois potatoes. A glass of the Chateau Leoville-Poyferre Saint-Julien Bordeaux proved to be the perfect accompaniment! Dessert was a White Peach Parfait on a meringue base with mango sorbet, a French wafer and raspberry compote. A platter of assorted cheeses with fruit, grapes, nuts and crackers was next on the menu. Everything was delicious and the service was solicitous without being overbearing. Soon it was time for sleep. We were fortunate that both suites across the aisles from us were unoccupied, so when we requested turndown service, our flight attendants suggested making up those suites instead. What a great idea as now we each had distinct sleeping quarters as well as separate sitting and dining areas. Two of them went right to work “flipping the seats over,” lowering the center consoles, adding the mattress pads and flawlessly arranging the Lalique-branded sheets, duvets and comfy pillows. This quest for perfection is yet another area where the Singapore Airlines crews really shine. I fell right to sleep, waking up about an hour out of Sydney, requesting only juice and coffee in lieu of anything from the full breakfast menu. The landing was flawless and we arrived in Sydney right at 6:00 AM on the nose.
After clearing Customs and Immigration, we took a cab to the Shangri-La Hotel to begin our adventure “down under.” I’ll tell you all about it in a future post.
Until next time…stay safe.
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