Seats for you, Sir?
The reading materials corner
Chilled drinks
Tea and coffee counter
Teabags, cup noodles and prawn snacks
Fruit juice! I like!
Fruit and nuts
Sandwiches
Cheese selections and apple crumble
The business workstations
The spread in the other room of the SKL
My loot
To me, the Silver Kris Lounge at
HKG seems a nice place to relax and chill out just before your flight. I understand that it may seem underwhelming to some passengers, but it was decent enough for both of us. Food, drinks, complimentary WIFI, that is all we need. And most importantly, they have the Coco Pops cereal!
At about 1926hrs, we were nearly finishing our stash of sustenance when the
TV screens in the Lounge flashed a new message. We can now proceed to the gate to board. In our typical fashion, we let everyone else go first.
The bird that’s flying us home - Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-212/ER 9V-SRM
We boarded
9V-SRM at 1934hrs. As this was my second time flying a 777 from Hong Kong to Singapore, I was half expecting the drama of last year’s SQ865
HKG-
SIN to repeat itself, only that it would be on SQ871. However, things started off quite well as Mr Purple Tie (Inflight Supervisor) was stationed at the door, welcoming passengers with a smile. He did this as he was striking things off from his manifesto.
”You dropped your paper! *hands it back to him*”
“Oh, thank you very much!”
“That’s nice of you!” - SQ Girl
Well, they definitely seem more cheerful than the surly Ms Green Kebaya (SQ865) of last year. This could be a nice flight, after all!
Our Regional J seats, 19A and 19B
My 19A
Check out that legroom
I made a comment to Aaron, saying that I noticed for this trip, our legroom seems to increase with with every flight. First the already generous legroom on Drukair, then the exit row on Biman and now this on Singapore Airlines! And then a bubbly Blue Kebaya emerged from the front and headed towards us.
”Mr Rahman, you’ll be having a Muslim Meal with us today?”
“Yes, that is correct. Thanks!”
“Alright, thank you!”
Some moments later, she and another Blue Kebaya at the other aisle appeared with a tray of drinks. Pre-departure beverages!
“Mr Rahman and Mr Theseira, what would you like to drink? I have some wine and orange juice.”
“Orang juice, please!”
“Of course. Here you go!”
With a smile, she handed over two glasses of OJ to us.
Our OJ
Time to glance through the features of this Regional J seat.
Those screens are huge!
Engine shot
The fuss of boarding in progress
The screen, magazine slots, plenty of drawers and storage space
Even more storage space underneath our armrests!
The remote control
The KrisCrew launched themselves out of the galley, this time with a tray filled with steaming things.
”Hot towel for you, Sir?”
“Oh, yes please!”
Ahh yes, my favorite
SQ hot towels service! However, it was a little more hot than I was used to it. Steam was wafting out of the rolled towels. I nearly scalded myself! But it's all good.
Welcome to the SQ Regional J KrisSpa, using the hot towels
We were slightly behind schedule, as we pushed back at about 1958hrs. The safety video began to play on those huge screens. Pity this wasn't a 77W, or else it'll be the sweet music of the GE90-115B beasts roaring to life. Taxi began at 2005hrs, as we passed by many of the planes we had spotted earlier on.
Goodbye, D-ABYJ "Hannover"! Safe travels back to Germany!
It was quite a taxi as we took off from the same runway as we did last year. This is good as we might be able to see Kowloon on our side of the plane during the climb.
We were next in line to take-off, right after this CX 77W
After the
CX 77W was well clear out of the way, we took our position on the runway. As
9V-SRM turned, we could see there was a long queue of planes behind us waiting for their turn to depart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPUve_cUEFg
The take-off was powerful!
Downtown Hong Kong
Rising above cloudy Hong Kong
The dark cabin as we continued to climb into the night sky
And the cabin lights were switched on, the seat belt signs were switch off with a ding. On with the usuals! The tray table in this seat was stowed within the arm rests. You need to lift up the cover, lift it up and fold it out to secure it.
The tray table unfolded
Seat shelf contents with the standard safety card, magazines and vomit bags, among other things
At this point, Ms Blue Kebaya and her colleague started to wheel down the aisle with their beverage trolleys. They were asking passengers with regards to their choice of post-departure beverage.
"What would you gentlemen like to drink?
"Do you have iced milo?"
"Iced milo, sure. And how about you?"
"Can I have apple juice, please?"
"Apple juice? Of course. Here's some peanuts to go along as well!"
"Oh, I don't really fancy peanuts. You can give mine to him instead!"
"*chuckle* Sure!"
Our drinks and the usual KrisPeanuts that I always end up giving to Aaron
Next up was the menu. I understand that on several Airlines, they have done away with physical menu cards and switched to digital ones, displayed in the IFE. In this case, I appreciated the fact the
SQ still has physical menu cards for us passengers, even in Economy.
The oddest item was Awaiting The Golden Dawn
Next up, lavatory visit!
Three mirrors in the lavatory
The sink
The toilet
Soaps and such
Toothbrush and things
Lavatory inspection, check. Next on the list, exploring the seat modes of
SQ Regional J!
Mode 2
Mode 3
Mode 4
The seat mode controls
I could get used to this!
By now were already starting to fly past Vietnam
At about 2106hrs, the meal service started. One by one, passengers received their meals. As we were seated in Row 19, we were among the last to be served. Ms Blue Kebaya finally came to our side with her trolley.
"Okay guys, here we go!"
First, she set a piece of fabric at each of our tray tables. She then proceeded to hand us our metal cutlery and chinaware. This was followed by our starters and choice of bread.
COURSE 1: The MOML appetizer
"What bread would you like?"
She presented us with a bread basket filled with bread-y goodness. I was really spoiled for choice!
"Oh gosh, I can't decide!"
"Haha, that is alright. How about I'll give you one of each? Let's start off with the breadstick!"
COURSE 2: The bread selections. Breadstick in the middle, I can't remember the names of the other two bread
We quickly wolfed down our appetizers. The cuts of beef were really really delicious! Best appetizer I've ever had. Promptly, Ms Blue Kebaya came by our side to collect the empty dish that used to contain our appetizers. She then proceeded to hand to each of us our third course.
COURSE 3: The MOML main
COURSE 3: Aaron's main
My main was equally delicious as the appetizer, if not more. The pieces of meat were very tender, and the rice was nicely fluffed. Though it was curry again, it could possibly the best curry MOML in my travels.
Happy enthusiasts!
More moving maps
The rest of the cabin being served their third or fourth course
Surprise came in the form of Mr Purple Tie. He came over to us and struck up a conversation.
"Hi, gentlemen! How is everything?"
"Everything's fantastic! Thanks!"
"Oh, just wait. I have dessert for you."
He took our mains' plates away. Wow, we got served by the IFS of this flight! He returned soon after with a tray that had bowls of ice cream.
"What flavor would you like? I have strawberry, vanilla and chocolate."
"Ooh, I'll have the strawberry, please!"
"Here you go!"
Never ever mention strawberries to me. Especially if it's desserts!
"And how about you?"
"Can I have the chocolate?"
"Aiya, left only one chocolate leh. I wanted to eat that one. Please enjoy, ah!"
And he handed the last bowl of chocolate ice-cream to Aaron. It was quite funny to hear the Inflight Supervisor drop the classy
SQ act and speak to us like fellow Singaporeans in a casual setting - in Singlish. While that may seem strange to some passengers who are not from Singapore or Malaysia, we really appreciated his gesture because it made the cabin crew service seem even more personal and genuine. Huge points to
SQ for the effort! And I noticed that Mr Purple Tie did not directly serve the other passengers in cabin, just me and Aaron. I wonder what gives!
COURSE 4: Strawberry ice-cream, SQ style
The texture of the ice-cream was silky smooth and flavorful with both sweet and sour at the same time. The richness was made even more so by the cuts of fruit that came along with it. The ice-cream vanished as quickly as it arrived to our seats. Ms Blue Kebaya came around once again, all smiles, and collected our empty ice-cream bowls. She retreated to the galley once more.
She returned to the aisle once more with yet another trolley. She served the rows ahead of us first before coming to us.
"Alright, guys. This time, we have the cheese and fruit platter!
"That's great! What kinds are there?"
She proceeded to list down the types of cheese that was on the platter. I wished I had recorded down what she said or noted it down in Evernote because by now I have forgotten exactly what they were.
The last of the eatables on this flight
COURSE 5: Fruit selections
COURSE 6: Cheese, nut and crackers selection
We were barely halfway through courses five and six, when Ms Blue Kebaya came down the aisle with yet another tray.
"Hey guys, would you like another hot towel to freshen up?
"Of course, thanks!"
This time, the towels weren't as scalding hot as the first hot towel service when we were still on the ground at
HKG.
The second hot towel service
Golly, we're sure being spoiled rotten! The service so far has been absolutely excellent from the ground until now. And we're definitely not complaining, that's for sure!
A new character entered the game, as a Green Kebaya came down our aisle with a tray and a pair of tongs in hand. She smiled at us and asked,
"Gentlemen, can I collect the towels?"
"Of course, thanks!"
"Thank you!"
And with that, she politely reached over with pair of tongs, retrieved the used towels from us and smiled at us before turning to return to the galley. Almost at once, Ms Blue Kebaya emerged with yet another trolley.
"Alright guys, would you like any coffee? Tea?"
"Tea? Hmmm, I've never tried Darjeeling before. Can I have Darjeeling?"
"Of course. And you?"
"I'll have Earl Grey, please."
"Here you go!"
She gave each of us cups of hot water that already had the requested tea bags in it.
"Please enjoy the tea! I'll be back later!"
She gave a smile before proceeding back to galley. In actual fact, Aaron does not like tea at all. He knows, though, that I love tea. He surrendered his Earl Grey over to me without question.
COURSE 7: Earl Grey and Darjeeling
In my opinion, Earl Grey had a stronger hit of taste than Darjeeling. Not that I dislike Earl Grey, but Darjeeling just appealed to me more. How abou you a.netters? Ms Blue Kebaya arrived at our seats some time later to collect the tea cups. She returned the cups to the galley and returned to us for a conversation. Sensing that we didn't mind, she switched to a more casual tone.
"So, where were you guys from?"
"Oh, we were from India."
"You guys toured in India for long?
"Nah, just a night. Kolkata was just a transit point."
"Oh? When was this?"
"Just three days ago!"
"Wow, what was this for?
"We found a really cheap fare on Biman. They have the last few passenger DC-10s in the world. They're going to retire them by this year. We just had to fly them once!
"Really? And where were you guys after that?"
"Zhuhai. We were supposed go fly home via Beijing but someone screwed up big time. We were nearly stranded in China!"
"Oh no. So you guys are flying nearly every day? Are you serious?"
She was genuinely surprised to know that fact. She must've thought that we were crazy to be flying around nearly every day just for a nearly extinct passenger plane. But that's okay, our other friends back home thinks that we're crazy as well for being crazy over flying tubes with wings.
"Alright, guys. Nice chatting with you. I'll be back soon!"
She left us to resume her Stewardessing duties. The crew on this flight are so jolly! Next on the list was exploring the SQ's famed KrisWorld IFE system.
Main page
Music selections
Movie selections
Cartoon selections
Documentary selections
By this time, all of the things on the to-do list has been fulfilled and we have flown past Vietnam. It won't be long now to descent! As the last bit, I thought attempting to make use of the angled flat seat feature.
By now, passengers are informed of our arrival gate and connecting information
This was just for fun, I wasn’t sleeping
The reading light feature of the Regional J seat
Our position
The cabin crew appeared for the final time at the front of the aisle with their beverage trolleys. As far as clues go, this would be pre-landing drinks! Up in the front, it seemed like they’re making sure you’re well-watered.
Our choice of drinks
My apple juice
These were eventually collected. At about 2258hrs, an announcement was made regarding the commencement of descent into Singapore.
Almost there
My attempt to photograph the stars in the night sky
Relaxing before landing
At 2310hrs, the pilot made an announcement for cabin crew to prepare the cabin for landing. With precision, the group of SQ Girls swept through the cabin to ensure that everyone and everything is secured for landing.
The flaps was gradually deployed further into the descent, followed by the landing gear when we were about to pass Pulau Tekong, an island that many Singaporean males would fondly remember.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqqOdz2jTQ4
Damn flaps was raised at the ‘wrong’ time, exactly when the SQ Girl announced my favorite “a warm welcome home” greeting! Oh well.
9V-SQK
9V-SVE parked at A20
The second time I’m arriving at Gate A21
Hello, 9V-SVE!
Ahh, another holiday has ended too soon. We waited until most of the Business Class passengers had left before we did the same.
Once more, the SQ Regional J seats in 9V-SRM
As we were about to exit, I noticed that a Red Kebaya was stationed at the door. She smiled broadly and said good night and goodbye as we stepped off 9V-SRM. Now I have interacted with all four grades of SQ Cabin Crew within a single flight!
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