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Exploring Bali
Exploring Singapore
This is my 150th blog post and it's going to be my best post ever. So grab some coffee (or a cocktail) and sit back, relax and enjoy the long and luxurious ride from Singapore to Los Angeles.
After a great breakfast in The Private Room, we went for a walk around Changi's T3 and did a bit of shopping. The terminal is beautiful and has so many amenities (great shopping, butterfly garden, koi pond, etc...) that it would be easy to kill many hours during a layover. But alas out flight was about to depart so we headed over to the gate to go through security and board our whale jet home.
SIN - NRT
I wanted to snap a few cabin pics so we got in line and ended up being the first people on the plane. We were warmly welcomed by an army of cabin attendants who showed us to our suites in the front of the first level. My first impression of the suite was phenomenal. The sheer size and personal space, layout, materials, colors. We were seated in suites 3C and 3D which I think are the best seats for couples (there are only two rows of two in the 14 suite cabin layout). While having a window would have been awesome, having the double bed was an unique experience and I think more memorable than the view. Courtesy of Seat Guru, here's the seat map:
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Our bags were stowed and we began to relax when the cabin manage came over to introduce himself. He informed us that "a celebrity" would be sitting in front of us today and seemed to be pretty excited. I'm not exactly sure of the protocol here but it seemed somewhat odd that they proactively told us. But perhaps it reduces over the top reactions later. Last time we flew on Singapore with Chelsea Clinton, this time it would be Zoe Saldana and her husband so our celeb streak stayed intact.
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| Our seats - 3C and 3D |
We received warm welcomes from the rest of the crew (there would be a total of 3 serving nearly a full load - 12/14) and were offered PDBs. Both of us asked for a glass of Champagne which on Singapore is not a simple question. The reply was met with the signature smirk and the words "Dom or Krug?" Emily went with Dom and I ordered the Krug. This crew was entirely Singapore based and very, very good. They spent time getting to know us, were exceedingly friendly, and very knowledgeable about everything on the menu and the accompanying wines.
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| Dom for Emily |
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| Cheers! |
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| Ferragamo amenity kits |
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| Givenchy pajamas |
After our drinks were topped off, the door was shut and we were on our way to Tokyo. Once we reached cruising altitude the meal service began. I had pre-ordered my lunch of Lobster Thermidor from Singapore's Book the Book menu and it lived up to the hype. Paired with a fantastic lobster appetizer, salad, and several pieces of garlic bread, it made for a fantastic meal. I skipped the other offerings (soup and dessert) as we still had about 18 hours of flying left before touching down in Denver. After lunch, we both stretched out and watched a couple of movies before an early arrival in Tokyo. We collected our things, said goodbye to the wonderful crew, and made our way through transit security and to the ANA First Class Suite lounge in less than 10 minutes.
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| More Krug |
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| Lobster appetizer |
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| More lobster |
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| This doesn't suck |
ANA Suite Lounge:
Sticking with the theme here, we spent about 90 minutes in the ANA Suite Lounge before boarding the same aircraft to LAX. I was not impressed with the lounge. Not enough seating and lame food options for the flagship lounge at the home airport of one of the world's best airlines. We both actually prefer the business class lounge one level below. Also impacting my impressions of the lounge was the fact that I had somehow developed a cold and could not find a tissue anywhere. Tissues are big business in Singapore but all I could find were some rice paper napkins which really just make things worse when you're blowing your nose every five minutes. That said the shower rooms were fantastic and it was great to clean up before "bedtime." We were already in our pajamas when we headed down to the gate to re-board.
NRT - LAX:
Boarding was painless and we were shown to our seats (3C and 3D) and warmly welcomed by the new crew. Additional goodies were distributed (more pajamas, slippers, etc...) along with beverages and menus. As is typical departing from Japan, the flight boarded quickly and efficiently and we were soon thundering down the runway. Given all the food we had consumed on the first flight we were both surprisingly hungry and looking forward to dinner. I had ordered the rack of lamb and Emily ordered the sushi plate. The food on this flight was fantastic - perhaps the best meal I've ever had on a plane. I started with caviar and the salmon appetizer. Next up was a simple but great tasting salad. Followed by more garlic bread, rack of lamb, and dessert. The crew helped us pair wines with our meals and we each closed with a shot of JWB to cap things off.
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| Caivar service |
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| Salmon appetizer |
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| Salad and some wine |
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| Rack of lamb |
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| "Buddy" seat |
The flight is blocked at about 9h30m which is an ideal time for a flight IMHO. By the time the meal service began, an hour had passed. The rest of the meal took about 90 minutes and once our last plates were cleared, we asked for our bed to be made. I was brushing my teeth in the lavatory and all I could think about was the fact that I was flying through the air at 600 mph about to get into an actual bed with my wife before waking up on the other side of the world. Life is good. And points and miles are pretty cool.
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| A380 first class lavatory |
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| Suite dreams |
Upon our return, our bed was ready. The "honeymoon seats" in the center of the A380 have a divider that folds down/back to create the double bed. It kind of looks like a murphy bed but it really is one big space to sleep on with the exception of a small section in the middle where the two seats join. I honestly didn't notice it at all. Both beds were turned down and we asked one of the flight attendants to take a few pictures before we closed the doors to our suites. They couldn't have been nicer. They proactively adjusted the lighting to ensure we got a great picture.
There is something about these flight attendants - they are SO proud of their airline, their country, and their job. It is certainly something to admire and something we should strive for more in this country.
Once we were done taking about 50 pictures, it was bedtime. We turned off the lights, shut the doors and said goodnight. Just like at home. This is the only way to fly.
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| Scotchy, scotch, scotch |
Both of us slept soundly and we woke up with an hour to go in the flight. We returned the bed to seat mode and changed out of pajamas. While we were sad for this flight to end, we were ready to get home. After a smooth touchdown we made our way to the gate at the newly remodeled Tom Bradley International Terminal. It was back to reality as we had a tight connection to our United economy flight to Denver.
There are a number of top notch airlines in the world (Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, ANA, Emirates, Eithad, Qatar, etc...) and I've only flown a handful of them. But Singapore has got to be at or close to the top of the list. We both very much enjoyed our flights and hope to fly this product again very soon.
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