Here's a report of my vacation that I took in June. It's been ages since I last posted a trip report. I guess the hassle of writing and the arduous task of posting pictures on this forum put me off quite a bit. For those who recall, my previous reports were often filled with my observations of SQ's inflight service. But having been flying at least once every month over the last 2 years, I've gotten over the fact that regardless of how 'robotic' those Singapore girls are, they are still many notches above many airlines. Therefore, this report is less of a rant, but simply a photo essay of the flight. Hope you all like it...

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It was the last day of my 4 day vacation in amazing Bali. This was my 5th time in Bali in the last ten years. The island never fails to warm me up. The Balinese are friendly, warm and ever willing to please. It was with dread that I pulled myself out of bed at 6am in time to freshen up for breakfast at 6.30am before hopping onto a taxi to the airport at 7.15am.

Here's my comfortable bed at the Melia Bali Resort which I had to drag myself out of.


My flight this morning was scheduled to depart just after 9am, and I wanted sufficient time to get to the airport as I was unable to do my usual internet check in at the hotel, and I was unsure how full the flight was going to be.

After breakfast and a quick shower, I checked out and I bade farewell to the friendly staff at Melia Bali and headed off to the airport at 7.15am sharp, and arrived at the airport some 20 minutes later. The traffic in Denpasar was rather heavy, as many Balinese were heading into the city to start the day's work.

The SQ check in counters were busy, and I waited for almost 15min in the queue as the passenger before was having problems thru-checking her luggage to Moscow. Once checked in, I proceeded to the immigration counter followed by the counter where I had to pay my airport tax.

With all those formalities were completed, I headed to SQ's contract lounge in DPS - PT JAS lounge on the 3rd level. SQ shares this lounge with other Star Alliance carriers as well as EVA Air, JAL etc. The lounge was very quiet this morning. There were only 1 other passenger using the lounge when I entered.

Here are some pictures of the lounge. It was a serene sight, with traditional Balinese furniture and artifacts. A patio was also available, where passengers could sit on lazy chairs, facing the ocean... breath-taking!

SQ141 had spent the night in Denpasar after arriving as SQ148 the night before. The picture was taken from the open area of the lounge. It was a bright Thursday morning, and the sun was shining brilliantly on the little garden in the patio...



Here's my flight - SQ's B777-200 (2 class config) tail looking splendid in the early morning sun...Before long, it was soon time to proceed to my gate for my flight home to Singapore...



The departure area was pretty quiet at this time of the morning. Souvenir shops selling goods at 2 times the amount typically sold on the streets of Bali were just beginning to open for business. I managed to get some last minute souvenirs for friends and family...and proceeded for boarding.



This morning's aircraft was 9V-SRC. An aging (by SQ's standards) 2 class regional B777-200. Once again, looking splendid in the morning sun...  




The flight today was only 70% full. Priority boarding was given to Raffles Class passengers, Star Gold members and families travelling with elderly or young children. I managed to get a shot of the cabin before the rest of the passengers came onboard.




The ground was abuzz with activities as passengers began boarding...soon enough, the last few baggage containers were in the process of being loaded.




9VSRC probably did a Japan run before operating as SQ148 into Bali the night before...remnants of its previous flight still remained, as evidenced by the Japanese version of Silver Kris magazine was found in my seat pocket.



This being one of the older aircrafts in the fleet, no AVOD was available. I was planning to catch some of the newer releases that were available onboard the AVOD equipped aircrafts... alas...



Push back commenced 5 min before STD.... and it was good bye to Bali for now...



passing by the ocean and some cargo facility...




We lifted off into the sunny sky soon after and the cabin crew swung into action, commencing the service by handing out the special meal requests. An interesting point to note was that there were no Indonesian crew onboard this flight, as there were no Bahasa Indonesia announcements being made at all. Did all of them call in sick this morning??

My travel companion's SFML was served first. I was told it tasted bland...





It was a while before the crew started serving the standard meals to the rest of the passengers...notice how similar the SFML and standard meal were .. Seafood Noodles yet again!! Me thinks not much thought went into menu planning for this sector...

Here's my standard meal. I chose the noodles over the omelette... Taste wise, I gave it a 7/10.







Ever noticed how wrinkled SQ's bread rolls always are??


Orange Juice, Coffee (with creamer) and an interesting package. I wonder why the caterers at DPS did not uplift the standard SQ pepper/sugar and salt sachets on this flight. The packaging design on the pepper sachet looks very 1970s, doesn't it?




The meal trays were cleared and my fellow passengers, decided to draw the window shades and catch up on much needed sleep...


while I tried watching an extremely boring Japanese movie about time travel.


I gave up half way through, and kept myself busy checking out the month's issue of the Silver Kris magazine...


and when that didn't relief my boredom, I watched the clouds go by...


Almost 2 hours passed, and I looked up at this sign - reminding me that my last cigarette was more than 2 hours ago... and I badly needed one!


I decided then to focus my mind on taking random shots of the cabin  





The washroom run was next.... and AGAIN, the reminder!


I arrived in Singapore after 2.5 hours... thus ending another much needed vacation. It was good to be home, but I was beginning to miss Bali already.

Service on this relatively empty flight was efficient. No warmth whatsoever. The crew could have done more to make this flight a memorable one, but they didn't. Too early in the morning perhaps?

Overall, I have to confess that it was a good flight. SQ seldom disappoints in cattle class. You get what you need, often with a smile. 99% of my flights are on SQ, but I've flown CX, OZ, NW, NH, UA before, and I must say that SQ still provides one of the best, most consistent economy product around...

It's been a while but I hope you enjoyed my report nevertheless. Do feel free to comment, constructive or otherwise.