Strawberry Muppet

Many congratulations! I'd love to have a whole 4 days off every week!

This from the SIA website today: The stop in SYD yesterday was scheduled for an hour according to the flight status information on the SIA website.

Nice report. I was in transit at AUH earlier this year and thought the airport facilities were very poor indeed.

Airportal 3 has just been released by my good friends Liz and Julie (authors of the hilarious book You F'Coffee Sir?!! and leading stewardesses on a well known British airline). The third edition of this online magazine for cabin crew (and everyone else interested in the funnier side of aviation) is packed full of the latest news, gossip, jokes, interviews and other fun stuff. I love it and I'm sure you will too! http://www.myebook.com/index.php?option=ebook&id=1401

Cool report and some great pics. Always enjoy your trip reports, thanks.

The only Embraer jet I've been on is an ERJ-145 so this one's new to me. Reg is G-FBEL.

I snapped this at LGW last week but I honestly can't figure out if this is a 767 or not? It doesn't look like one from the shape of the nose. Any ideas?

From: London Gatwick (LGW) To: Funchal, Madeira (FNC) Flight: TAP Air Portugal 349 Date: Friday 5th September 2008 Scheduled departure time: 16:25 Scheduled flight arrival: 20:10 Aircraft type: A320 Distance: 1551 miles It had been raining heavily in London all morning and I couldn't wait to get away from this part of the world to warmer and sunnier climes. After a lunchtime business appointment I headed to Gatwick by train and arrived at the airport just before 3pm, an hour and a half before my flight. I had already performed online check-in (OLCI) and chosen seat 1A at the front of the business cabin and printed my boarding pass. There are no Star Alliance operated lounges at LGW and the Servisair lounge in the South Terminal isn't worth writing about. I spent less than half an hour in there before making my way to Gate 24 to board my flight. Any longer in the lounge and I would have been bored out of my brain. Boarding hadn't yet started when I arrived at the gate but it wasn't too long before the flight was called. My plane A former British European Ba146 CelebAir is the new reality TV show currently showing on British telly. I saw filming near the check-in desks earlier on Flight TP349 to Funchal, Madeira pushed back 15 mins behind schedule and taxied onto the runway in preparation for take-off. Now, for readers who don't already know, LGW operates a single runway for both take-off and landing. Just before turning onto the runway I heard the familiar "dong-dong" call tone indicating take-off was imminent. But instead of speeding down the runway we immediately turned off at the nearest taxiway and rejoined the queue of planes waiting to take-off. I looked out of my window and a few seconds later saw a Brussels Airlines 737 approaching to land. Five minutes later we took off without any problem and the flight time was estimated at 3hrs 35mins. Going around for a second take-off attempt The Brussels Airlines 737 which had just landed I won't write too much about this flight, suffice to say the service wasn't very good and the food was appalling in business class for a flight of three and a half hours' duration. I knew I wasn't in for a gourmet in-flight experience but I didn't enjoy the flight at all. TAP intra-European business class is hardly luxurious. We touched down in Funchal at about 20:40 local time - there is no time difference between London and Madeira - and I was relieved to feel the heat and humidity of the evening as soon as the aircraft doors opened, and everyone disembarked through both the forward and rear doors via stairs. 10 mins later I collected my hire car and I was soon on my way to the other side of this mountainous island heading to the beautiful town of Porto Moniz where my friend was staying. TAP "Top Executive" cabin Daily Trash headlines (I don't read this paper!) Horrible! This isn't even fit for economy class. And the tea was shockingly bad. Funchal runway - 180 degree turn to land Porto Moniz Madeira is amazing. This little Portuguese island is actually nearer to the west coast of Africa than it is to mainland Europe. With a sub-tropical climate it was hot and mostly sunny each day and I had a nice sun tan in no time at all. I stayed in Porto Moniz for four nights and simply loved it. The lava rocks along the harbour are sublime and there is even a natural swimming pool with crystal clear waters from the Atlantic ocean. The views from the top of the mountains down to Porto Moniz and the North Atlantic are breathtaking. Everywhere sweet black grapes and juicy raspberries grew in abundance. Palm trees and banana trees stood in the backyards of homes decorated with potted flowers. Madeirans are completely potty-mad. They love their potted plants. A house belonging to a friend of my friend had more exotic potted plants and flowers than my local garden centre. On Saturday evening we had dinner at the house of potted plants and enjoyed traditional Madeiran food and wine. The house is beautiful and overlooks Porto Moniz with stunning views over the Atlantic. On Sunday we dined with some friends at a harbourside restaurant and I had the best ever Portuguese steak. The meat was well seasoned, succulent and perfectly cooked, topped with a freshly fried egg Madeiran-style. Absolutely gorgeous! On Monday, after a delicious lunch of Madeiran roasted chicken and chorizo bread, we drove down to Funchal and had a look around. Our plan was actually to spend our last night there before driving to the airport the next morning for our flight home. As it was we decided not to stay in Funchal and returned to Porto Moniz. I just didn't like Funchal, I find it too touristy and many shops and restaurants were shutting down far too early. Porto Moniz being much smaller than Funchal is far more relaxing. I didn't really want to leave! Beautiful morning sunrise over Porto Moniz The famous rock with the lighthouse The natural swimming pool is on the far right in the distance Looking down over Porto Moniz from high above Me in front of the famous rock! Mine's the one with the mango. Yum. From: Funchal, Madeira (FNC) To: London Gatwick (LGW) Flight: TAP Air Portugal 348 Date: Tuesday 9th September 2008 Scheduled departure time: 11:50 Scheduled flight arrival: 15:30 Aircraft type: A320 Distance: 1551 miles I spent the last night in Porto Moniz at my friend's house high up in the mountain. It's over an hour's drive to the airport so we had get up early and after refuelling the car we set off for the airport. The drive took us up and down mountain cliffs, along winding coastal roads and through many long tunnels deep into the mountains. Our flight was scheduled at 11:50 and we arrived at the airport some 2 hours beforehand. After we checked-in I had to return the car keys before joining my friend in the TAP Executive Lounge for some coffee and a last look at the fabulous views from the airport. Buses took us from the gate to the aircraft and we boarded the aircraft via the stairs. TAP Executive Lounge, FNC View from the lounge View from the outside terrace Passengers disembarking The flight was much better than the outbound on Friday. For a start the cabin crew greeted passengers as they boarded, which didn't happen on Friday. We had seats 4A and 4C, the last row in the business cabin, which affords more privacy than the first row. Seats are configured 2-3 in business class on TAP with the B seat not in use making the A and C seats slightly wider. Seat pitch is normal economy class. Flight time was estimated at 3hrs 10 mins. The flight path would be heading north east over the Atlantic, skirting the northern corner of mainland Portugal, across the Bay of Biscay and then over Brittany, northern France before flying over the English Channel. After take-off pre-lunch drinks were served. I asked for a Bailey's Irish cream and my friend had an OJ. Normally I don't drink spirits at lunchtime, but it was the thought of leaving Madeira and returning back to the dreary weather at home. Actually I should have asked for a double. Newspapers, menus and hot towels were handed out before the lunch service commenced. For the starter we had the prawn salad with grapes and chives. The main course was a choice of either the lamb curry with banana and Thai rice or the gnocchi with fresh tuna, chorizo and oregano. I chose the gnocchi and my friend went for the lamb only to change his mind after he saw my meal. The food was well presented, much nicer than the awful meal I had on Friday and tasted rather nice. The "gnocchi" was actually potato but it tasted fine so I don't have any complaints. To go with my meal I opted for the Luis Pato sparkling wine which I had on the way out. For dessert there was a mango and papaya mousse with yoghurt and cardamom. When I see mousse on an airline menu I don't usually eat it - I tend to think it's like a "lazy" dessert - but as it was a fruity mousse and I absolutely love mango I did eat it and it wasn't too bad. I passed on the Camembert cheese and finished my meal with some French cognac and Portuguese port. The cabin crew were efficient, friendly and welcoming and made the flight a very pleasant one. Hot bread rolls were offered not once but twice during the meal and nothing was too much trouble. And the coffee wasn't bad at all. We landed at Gatwick ahead of schedule. Ahh, what lovely weather to welcome us home; dull, damp, drizzly and not very warm. I won't be needing my shorts, T-shirts, sun lotion and flip flops any more that's for sure. Thanks for reading.

A [smilie=wosschilder43.gif] trip report with some excellent photos. I enjoyed it too. Hope you are collecting those all important Virgin Flying Club miles!

This is a trip report I wrote earlier this year for my first ever A380 flight in January this year. It's not as lengthy as my other trip reports but I do have plenty of pics. I only got my camera last Christmas so was I still trying to get the hang of using it on my first trip. Apologies for some of the out-of-focus shots (some of you who read my other A380 trip report may have already seen these pics in the links at the end of my other report). Thank you for reading. From: Singapore Changi (SIN) To: Sydney Kingsford-Smith (SYD) Scheduled flight time: 7hrs 30 mins Distance: 3911 miles Frequent flyer miles accrued: 5867 Seat:17K Having performed On Line Check-In (OLCI) 48hrs prior to my flight I arrived and checked-in early at Changi for flight SQ221. I was looking forward immensely to my flight. Flying from my favourite airport on my favourite airline can only mean one thing; sheer bliss. The check-in agent was super-efficient and checked my bag through to my final destination, MEL. I was even given an SQ boarding pass for my QF flight which looked a bit strange. I specifically chose flight QF74 which departs from the Int'l T1 at SYD to save myself the trek from Int'l to Domestic terminals at SYD, and having to reclaim and re-check my bag again. Plus the timing couldn't have been better. After going airside I made my way to the sanctuary of the Silver Kris C lounge, which was busy as usual. As I was hungry I decided have to a small dinner of duck and fried rice with some delicious char sui pork. And fresh fruit, of course. Not bad I thought. I do like duck and the meat was nice and tender. Yum! Just before 8pm I left the lounge, suitably refreshed after a nice shower, and made my way to Gate F31. At this point I was getting quite excited. I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Upon entering the aircraft I was welcomed aboard and a flight attendant helped me stow away my cabin luggage. Then I began snapping away with my camera. My seat, the window, the cabin, etc. I took lots of pictures. A member of the cabin crew even asked me if I wanted my photo taken. I had to refuse as I'm very camera-shy. I just explained to her that I was taking photos to do a trip report. Once the doors were closed we pushed back and took off, slightly behind schedule. I decided to pass on the dinner service as I wasn't hungry and I really can't sleep on a full stomach anyway. I usually prefer the last flight from SIN, SQ232, so I can maximise my sleep. I wasn't going to eat anything at all but after perusing the menu I requested dessert which was a delicious chocolate truffle ice-cream with bitter chocolate sauce and cookies together with a selection of fresh fruit. The dinner menu had four choices for the main course, three of which were western. I was glad I ate in the lounge as I didn't fancy any of them. I did check the Book the Cook menu beforehand but couldn't make up my mind so passed on that. After dessert I checked out KrisWorld and was suitably impressed. Awesome. Then I checked out the rest of the plane. Fabulous I thought. And the toilets are great! Returning back to my seat I decided I needed to sleep so I asked a flight attendant to show me how to convert my seat into a bed. The dinner service had not yet finished but she kindly offered to do this for me so I went and changed into my pyjamas and brushed my teeth. I had a few hours sleep but I did wake up during the night so I wandered off to the self-service bar and helped myself to some chocolate truffles. Actually I had quite a few because they were so delicious. As I couldn't get back to sleep I played around on KrisWorld until breakfast was served. I only had the fresh fruit as the pastries were only for photo purposes. We landed at about 07:20 and I made my way to the Qantas First lounge in the Int'l departure lounge to freshen up and await my onward flight to MEL. A thoroughly excellent flight onboard SQ221 and the cabin crew were wonderful as usual.

Thank you all for reading my trip reports, I do enjoy flying and writing about my flights. Darren, I don't take regos because I'm quite clueless when it comes to what those letters mean. Actually, I can only recognise the more familiar aircraft and have no idea how to distinguish between an A319, A320 or A321! They all look the same to me! Took me ages to realise the only difference between an A330 and an A340 are the number of engines...lol! Enjoyed your photos of Hanoi in your recent trip report, I was born there myself. Hope you had a great time in Vietnam.

Thank you all for the warm welcomes.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed my TR.

SIN-BKK Flight SQ978 Thursday 8th May 2008 Departure time: 18:00 Arrival time: 19:25 Distance: 880 miles Scheduled flight time: 2hrs 25mins Aircraft type: B777-200 Seat: 1F Flight SQ978 to BKK was just boarding by the time I arrived at gate E4. I tried to smuggle my favourite drink onboard, a carton of soya bean milk, but security at the gate caught me so I quickly drank it before boarding. Once the doors were closed the captain welcomed us onboard and apologised for the slight delay in boarding owing to the late arrival of the incoming aircraft. I sat back and began to catch up on the news back home with a selection of the previous day’s British newspapers as we prepared for take-off. Flight time was estimated at just under 2hrs. Leading stewardess Anidah brought me my Singapore Sling accompanied by roasted walnuts soon after take-off. On the menu this evening was a delicious Thai green papaya salad with shrimps and garlic chilli sauce to begin followed by a choice of three entrees; Beef Wellington, Thai style fish curry or braised duck in a soya sauce served with yam rice, braised egg and peanuts. I had booked the cook and chosen the duck with yam rice but I needn’t have done so. When one of the cabin crew informed me that the BTC option didn’t have all the extra accompaniments as the normal menu option I was offered to have the one on the menu if I preferred and so I did. The duck was nice but I couldn’t finish it all as I wanted room for dessert which was a selection of fresh fruit – I absolutely love all fruits - and they were all yummy. I could have eaten the whole fruit basket if I wasn’t so full! During the latter part of the meal service I was chatting to Anidah and eventually the topic came round to SQTalk. She asked me what it was and I explained. Then we got chatting about SQ and its competitors, aircraft fleet and loads of other interesting stuff including which routes had the grumpiest pax! Anidah, I am sorry if I distracted you from serving the other two F pax but honestly I do love to talk to crew whenever I can. I hear others sometimes say SQ cabin crew can be a bit “robotic†but I have never experienced this. I am always myself whichever class I happen to fly in. I never act differently just because I happen to be flying in a premium cabin. Over the years I have seen passengers expecting to be treated like royalty… in business class…lol! We landed into BKK on schedule and parked up at gate D02 or D03 (can’t remember which). Thank goodness this is only a short walk to immigration. I was dreading we were going to land at a gate further away and having to walk a mile to get to arrivals. Service onboard was just exemplary from the whole First Class crew. Thank you so much for a wonderful flight Anidah, you were a star! BKK-SGN Flight LH772 Friday 9th May 2008 Departure time: 15:05 Arrival time: 16:40 Distance: 446 miles Scheduled flight time: 1hr35mins Aircraft type: B747-400 Seat: 83K (upper deck) I arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport exactly 2hrs before my flight. Usually I wouldn’t arrive so early for a short flight like this but I wanted to check out the Thai Airways Royal First Lounge. Check-in was quick and my bag was priority-checked to SGN. Immigration was fairly quick and I was airside in a matter of minutes. I had checked the Lufthansa website to check the status of my flight before I arrived at the airport and it was showing on time and due to depart from gate D02 so that was good. There are two TG First Class lounges at BKK and I made my way to the one nearest my gate. And wow, what a lounge! I’ve used the Royal Silk lounge before and it’s nothing special, but this was truly beautiful. There are individual slumber rooms, private lounges with large LCD TVs, a sit-down restaurant (with private dining room), a smoking lounge with real leather seats and beautifully-appointed shower suites and toilets with L’ Occitane products. Soothing music flowed throughout the lounge. As I wasn’t hungry I didn’t eat anything during my visit. The fruit looked gorgeous but I had had a lot for breakfast already. As soon as I sat down I was greeted and asked if I would like a drink. Heavens above! I must have been greeted about ten times already as I arrived and walked through the lounge - I ordered a cappuccino – just look at the presentation! That was the first of three cappuccinos I had. I was going to ask what champagne they served but didn’t quite feel like it. I took my second shower of the day – Bangkok was boiling hot when I left for the airport around lunchtime - before I left the lounge to go through security. Wonderful lounge, wonderful service. Now, I had a small Swiss army knife with me in my wash bag which I had forgotten I brought with me. This showed up on the x-ray and I was made to surrender it. Somehow it had passed through security in my hand luggage at LHR, SIN, HKG and SIN again during the past week before being spotted here at BKK. Gate D02 is less than a minute’s walk from the lounge. I boarded and was shown to my window seat upstairs and welcomed with a glass of Piper-Heidsieck "Rare" Before the doors closed the head purser came over and introduced herself to me and said we were just waiting for one passenger to board. I was presented with a First Class amenity kit together with slippers and socks (not usually available on this short sector). Pushback at exactly 15:00 and we took off at 15:11 with an estimated flight time of 1hr 5mins. Cabin announcements were made in German, English and French with a pre-recorded announcement in Vietnamese. As soon as the seat-belt sign came off the head purser returned and asked me if everything was alright so far, addressing me by name all the time. Service commenced soon after with another drink followed by a three-course cold meal. For the actual meal service I was looked after by a different member of the cabin crew who was professional and friendly and I took the opportunity to chat with her during the flight. For such a short flight the quality of the food and presentation in First Class is truly of a high standard. Here’s what I enjoyed: BBQ prawn kebab with a sweet chilli dip Smoked chicken breast, horseradish cocktail sauce and tomato salsa Coconut bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce and fresh fruit Towards the end of the flight the head purser came back to my seat and asked if everything had been okay. I beamed at her and said how everything had been perfect. We descended into Tan Son Nhat airport ahead of schedule and landed at 16:20 local time. This was my first time arriving in the new International T2. All very modern and quite a relief from the old non air-conditioned terminal. Immigration was fairly quick and by the time I reached baggage reclaim my bag had appeared on the belt. As usual I was met with a frenzy of taxi drivers as I exited customs into the humid arrivals hall outside the terminal. It took me a good 40 mins to finally reach the Renaissance Riverside, traffic was that bad!

Hi, I've been using this name for a few years now on another airline forum. Here's my profile: http://www.v-flyer.com/forum/profile_ma ... memid=1015 Anyway, just call me Strawb :)

From: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) To: Singapore Changi (SIN) Flight: SQ173 Monday 12th May 2008 Departure time: 14:50 (GMT+6) Arrival time: 17:45 (GMT+7) Distance: 679 miles Scheduled flight time: 1hr 55mins Aircraft type: B777-200 Seat: 11K Miles accrued: 1017 My final day in Saigon and I woke up just before 08:00 (02:00 GMT). My flight was at 14:50 so I had plenty of time to pack and get ready to fly home. I checked out at a quarter to one and hopped in a taxi for the short drive to the airport. Traffic wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was when I arrived on Friday and it took me less than twenty minutes to get to the international terminal. The fare on the meter was 77,000 Dong which is less than US$5.00. As I was walking slowly over towards the SQ business class check-in counter this guy comes rushing over, waving his KrisFlyer Gold card in front of him for all the world to see, walking as fast as he could to get to the check-in counter, rollaboard and laptop bag in tow. It was ten minutes past one in the afternoon. The flight wasn't about to leave just yet. I watched him as he checked-in, standing there looking ever so important and a right twat. Why the need to flash his Gold card like that, way before he'd even reached the desk? :roll: After he disappeared I went up to the same counter to check-in for my flight to SIN. I didn't even show my BD Gold card as I knew my number was attached to my booking. I spoke in Vietnamese, greeting the check-in agent politely first - how hard is it to say hello? :) I produced only my passport and was not asked for my credit card used for the booking. My bags were checked through to LHR and I was given a lounge invitation to the Star Alliance contract lounge. As I was in no rush to get to the lounge, unlike Mr. DYKWIA, I had a little wander around the new terminal first just to check out the facilities. The Vietnam Airlines lounge certainly looks better than the old one. Then I made my way over to the lounge for some light Vietnamese snacks and fresh fruit. I didn't spend much time in the lounge, just enough to have some spring rolls and plenty of fresh fruit and a cold ice lemon tea. By the time I boarded the plane I wasn't hungry. The flight itself was uneventful so I'll keep it brief. We pushed back at 14:45 and were in the air by 14:58. I can't remember what was on the menu as I wasn't interested in eating a three-course afternoon meal. Usually I do not eat a lot of food when flying, especially if I have eaten in the lounge beforehand. And fruit certainly does fill you up! When I see fruit I just can't help myself! :D So all I had on this flight was the dessert, which was a bowl of...fruit! Plus a few cappuccinos. Landed into SIN T3 at 17:45 on the dot and I was off the plane before six. My flight to LHR would be departing at 23:30 so I had quite some time to kill. I certainly wasn't going to spend five or so hours in a lounge so had decided to go into Singapore to look for some electronic gadgets. Now, because my flight had landed in T3 I decided to drop by the KrisFlyer Gold lounge just to check it out before heading into town (plus I needed my caffeine fix). I had already seen the new C and F lounges but not this one. As I reached the lounge entrance a guy in a suit produced his Y SQ boarding pass. The receptionist asked for his card. He said he didn't have it. She shook her head and said she needed to see his card. He then took it out of his wallet and literally threw it down on the counter, huffing and puffing and moaning about always being asked to show his card when he had his status printed on his boarding pass. "But sir, your status is not printed on your boarding card" said the receptionist. I stood next to this idiot and watched him make a right fool of himself. "That's your fault" he huffed. The receptionist remained cool and calm and told him about the rules but he just wouldn't listen, talking over her and moaning and being a right total PITA . I tried to intervene but Mr. DYKWIA No.2. told me to mind my own business before going through inside. Fair enough but he didn't have to be quite so rude to the receptionist. :mad: I felt sorry for her - see what morons they have to put up with?! Anyway, I went in, less than two minutes and a quick coffee later I was out. I'd seen enough. From: Singapore Changi (SIN) To: London Heathrow (LHR) Flight: SQ322 Monday 12th May 2008 Departure time: 23:30 Arrival time: 05:50 (+1) Distance: 6761 miles Scheduled flight time: 13hrs 20mins Aircraft type: A380-800 Seat: 15K Miles accrued: 10141 After a quick trip to Raffles City and Funan shopping centres I took the MRT back to Changi T2. Before making my way over to the lounge in T2 I stopped by at the check-in desk to ask if I could have my boarding pass re-issued as I wanted the new style ones (I wasn't sure if they had those in the lounge). The business class counters didn't have them so I was directed to the KrisFlyer Gold counters opposite. New style boarding pass It was about 21:20 by the time I reached the SilverKris C lounge in T2 and it was nice and quiet. Lovely! At this time of evening I knew it would be, with the majority of long-haul flights scheduled to depart from T3. I spent an hour just catching up with the news, checking my email, having more coffee and, of course, fresh fruit (not as nice as the exotic fruit in the new F lounge in T3) but good enough for me. At approx 22:20 I headed over to T3 via the Skytrain to do some duty free shopping. Then it was off to the new SilverKris C lounge for a quick shower. I just knew it! Look how busy it was! :shock: The lounge was as packed as a United RCC! I was so glad I stayed over in T2. After a quick refreshing shower (I always carry my own soap as I'm not too keen on that pink shower gel) I had a quick cappuccino before making a quick exit from the lounge. My second A380 trip was about to begin. I booked my A380 ticket only 2 weeks prior to my trip and at such a late stage I knew it would be almost impossible to get a seat pre-assigned in the forward cabin. Having flown in the main cabin before (seat 17K) I wanted to try the smaller cabin with only 18 seats as opposed to 42 in the main cabin. To be honest I didn't really like 17K on my SIN-SYD flight. It's too close to the galley and suffers from a lot of noise and traffic. The space and privacy is great but overall it's probably one of the worse seats in the rear cabin if you need to sleep. Good thing I was too excited to sleep much on that flight. The only window seats available at the time I booked my ticket were 11A/K (err, not quite window seats) and the last few rows from 25-27 and I didn't want those. A few days after I booked my ticket and constantly checking seat availability on the seatmap, 15K suddenly opened up and I immediately snapped it up. ^ I was so pleased, especially since that was the seat I wanted to be in. Sweet! Priority boarding was short but the queue for Y passengers was quite long Upper deck entrance to airbridge View of the nose of the A380 Close up photo of the plane right on the airbridge I was welcomed aboard and my jacket was quickly taken and I was offered a pre take-off drink. Just an orange juice for me. Every single seat in the forward cabin except 16D was occupied on this flight and in the main business cabin it was completely full. Hot towels were given out and drink orders taken for after take-off. I requested a Singapore Sling. Whilst waiting for the boarding process to be completed I began to take pictures around my cabin. I think I was asked 2 or 3 times by different members of the cabin crew if I would like my picture taken but I had to say no thanks. Once all doors were closed the Captain welcomed everyone onboard and advised a flight time estimation of 12hrs 35mins. Seat 15K Crew storage right behind seat 15K Toilet is located behind my seat but not too near for discomfort View from seat 15K Flight SQ322 took off into the night sky from SIN Changi at exactly 23:55 local time (16:55 GMT) and headed over the Malaysian Peninsula towards the Andaman Sea, climbing gently to its cruising altitude of 39,911 ft. Supper was served an hour into the flight. I was hungry as I hadn't eaten properly since lunchtime. So to begin I had a delicious caesar salad with roasted cajun spiced chicken. For the main event there was a choice of either the roasted muscovy duck breast with jus, roasted plum, bean salad and polenta or the Chinese style barbecued pork ribs served with wok fried vegetables and egg noodles. Assorted sushi was also available as an entree. I chose the ribs but was mistakenly given the duck instead. It looked very nice but I'm not quite a fan of polenta. Besides, I had had enough duck on my flights lately. The ribs were okay, a bit too tender and salty for me - I like my ribs firm and chewy! Halfway through the meal service we encountered some extreme turbulent weather and I could see the cabin crew struggling to serve. Ping! The seat-belt sign came on. One cabin crew member almost bumped into my seat whilst trying to walk through the cabin, it was that bumpy! After a few minutes the Captain advised all cabin crew to suspend service for ten minutes. We were still cruising at 39,912ft. Eventually the turbulence calmed down and the flight smoothed out. For dessert I had a wonderful espresso creme brulee with almond tuile (that's a crunchy biscuit wafer thing). To finish my meal I asked for some fresh fruit but only grapes to go with the cheese were available so I munched on those. I usually have a cup of tea late at night as I don't need so much caffeine so I had a nice freshly brewed cup of Darjeeling tea. Don't you simply love those Givenchy mugs? I do. Starter Duck (I didn't order it!) Pork ribs Dessert Fresh grapes with Darjeeling tea Throughout the flight a wide range of snacks were available such as noodle soups, sandwiches, savoury munchies, biscuits, cookies, bananas and chocolate. Most of the nibbles were there for you to help yourself at the self-service buffet-bar. I wasn't hungry at any time after the main meal so didn't snack on anything (I only had eyes for the fruit anyway). To adjust to the six-hour time difference I have been on I stayed up as late as possible. It was about 20:30 GMT somewhere over north-eastern India when I decided sleep beckoned. I converted my seat into a nice bed with fresh linen, changed into my chocolate brown Givenchy pyjamas (not included on this flight) and cleaned my teeth and dozed off...zzz from this... ...to this I slept very well until about 02:00 GMT. I wanted to sleep a bit longer but I was still on my time zone, being 8am in Vietnam (09:00 at departure origin). The bed was extremely comfortable and I was able to get some good rest. Now, for my morning caffeine fix. I pressed the call button to ask for a cappuccino. An hour later, flying over the Ukraine towards Poland, the cabin was awakened with the mood lighting and the cabin crew came round with hot towels. Breakfast in bed was served as we flew over Poland towards Berlin. I had only the continental breakfast as I don't normally eat a full breakfast at 3am in the UK! I couldn't possibly stuff myself! To start some freshly squeezed orange juice followed by a fresh fruit plate. This was followed by a bowl of muesli, a strawberry yoghurt and a croissant (no extra butter needed) from the bread basket. And not forgetting a fresh banana. Lovely and healthy start to the day. For the main hot breakfast the choices were: Singapore nasi lemak Malay style coconut rice with spicy prawns, peanuts, ikan bills, grilled fishcake, egg omelette and fried chicken. A local favourite served with sambal chilli. Braised egg noodles with prawns, scallops and leafy greens Omelette with mushrooms and fine herbs, chicken sausage, tomato and potatoes About 40 mins from LHR the Captain informed us of our expected arrival time and the weather conditions. A cabin crew member converted my bed back to seat mode about 15 mins before landing whilst I was in the loo freshening up. How nice. We landed into LHR at 05:35 (12:35 at departure origin) after a flight time of exactly 12hrs 40mins. Disembarkation was delayed by about ten mins or so so we remained in our seats until the doors opened. When I reached baggage reclaim the belt hadn't even started yet. :roll: After a five minute wait my bag was amongst the first to appear and I was out of the airport by quarter past six. The flight crew were excellent throughout the whole flight. Once again Singapore Airlines has delivered the highest levels of onboard service that only other airlines can talk about. To lovely leading stewardess Anidah on my flight to BKK last week, I hope you enjoy reading my trip report. This was one of my best flights, better than my previous A380 experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait for my next A380 flight... On approach to LHR. That's the M25. SQ322 photos in full SQ221 photos in full

Just stumbled across this site. I'm a regular flyer between the UK and Australia and enjoy racking up those frequent flyer miles. Home is in Finchley, a leafy suburb in north London (and where a scene for Home & Away was shot on location at my local tube station a few years ago). I used to live and work in Sydney in 2004 and really miss living down under.