Since the launch of SQ's newest seats, I did not have much luck in scoring an aircraft fitted with them, till the recent outbound flight to Sydney on SQ. It was only a rather short trip over the public holiday and weekend and airfares on SQ was surprisingly reasonable for the flights I chose.
Check-in at Terminal 3 was DIY nowadays but for Australia-bound passengers, you would still need to proceed to the desks for passport/ETA verification before boarding passes were issued.
Printed boarding pass issued from the desks were on proper stock, instead of the flimsy paper from the DIY machines.
Departure gate at A13.
06 July 2016
Singapore Airlines
SQ 231
Singapore (SIN) - Sydney (SYD)
B777-300ER
9V-SWM
Economy Class
Flight Time: 6H47M
The flight was scheduled to be operated by a B77W with new seats, and luckily it remained so with no last minute swaps. Boarding was on scheduled.
Passing the New Business Class seats. Gonna try them, hopefully, in a couple of month' time.
The new Premium Economy Class. Think it remained rather empty on this flight, consistent with rumours that PEY is not doing too well on SQ.
And into the New Economy cabin, where I would be seated. On each seat was a pillow and blanket.
Large IFE touchscreen monitor and touch-pad controller.
Legroom was good and unlike the older generation seat, the footrest was less of a hindrance for me. Seat was very comfortable and recline was great. Way better comfort level then the previous generation seat. No wonder no one wants to pay for PEY.
View out the window.
Boarding in progress and surprisingly, the flight was only about 70% full, considering it was a national holiday.
Magazines and stuff.
The cheapo earsets were handed out, along with the usual hot towels.
Flight map function was vastly improved and is more interactive.
IFE Krisworld is easy enough to navigate, and the touchscreen worked fine and is responsive. Much better than the earlier IFE versions.
Pushed back and taxi to usually landing-designated Rwy20R for takeoff.
Video of departure from Rwy20R.
Climbing
Starting on "The Jungle Book".
In movie mode, the flight map can be displayed on the remote handset.
Amenity kit was distributed, consisting of socks and a toothbrush set.
Menu for the flight. A hot refreshment would be served after takeoff, and breakfast before arrival.
Extensive beverage list. Spot the new alcoholic cocktail introduced.
After takeoff refreshment was a choice of Pork pasta or Chicken Fried Rice. This seemed to be an improvement over the previous warm sandwiches/wraps served as refreshment on this particular flight.
Refreshment tray, with orange juice and tea.
Had the Fried rice with chicken and egg, which was actually quite tasty, though a bit lacking in the proteins department.
The other choice of Pork Stroganoff Pasta was very good as well, and definitely tasted much better than it looked.
Tried the new cocktail, Bailey's White Russian, which was prepared rather strong.
Visit to the lav, which was stocked with the usual economy amenities.
After I finished with the movie, I managed to catch a couple plus of hours' nap on the very comfortable seat, and woke up somewhere over the Australian desert. Not sure why, but the flight map had all info in Chinese and I could not figure out how to switch it back to English.
Day break over the Australian outback.
Cabin lights turned on, hot towels distributed and breakfast was served about 1h45m before arrival. Luckily on this flight, the crew used some common sense and decided not to stick to the "breakfast served 2.5hrs before arrival" rule, which would be ridiculous on such a short red-eye flight. Also, with the less than full cabin, there was still plenty of time for service.
Choices for breakfast were Nasi Lemak or Scrambled eggs.
Breakfast tray, which came with fruits, yoghurt, roll with butter and preserve. Note the comeback of the glass tumbler for wines/juices. Apparently the use of glass tumblers in economy is only on selected "premium" flights and the crew themselves were equally confused on which flights have it as most flights are still using the plastic tumblers. Had an orange juice and coffee with my breakfast.
Chose the nasi lemak, which is rather flavourful, though could be a bit spicy for the non-Asians.
Sun is up.
After breakfast service is completed, a crew came over with my pre-ordered Krisshop item of the newly-launched "Singapore Girl" Hello Kitty! Apparently this was very popular and got sold out on most flights! Best to pre-order it online, but only restricted to flight departing from SIN.
View of the cabin.
Note the generous recline.
As we flew nearer to Sydney, the skies clouded up.
Descending into a very cloudy Sydney. The weather would be cloudy and gloomy for the next 2 days as well….
Short video of the descent.
Approaching Rwy16L from the south. It was rather windy during the approach.
1000ft to go
Landed on Sydney Rwy16L, half hour ahead of schedule.
Video of the landing.
We hope you had a pleasant journey.
Taxi to the gate, but we had to hold on the remote for 20min as our allocated gate was still occupied by a TG aircraft awaiting pushback.
SQ A380 awaiting being towed to the gate for flight back as SQ232.
After the TG B744 was pushed back, we taxied into the gate.
Disembarking and passing Business Class.
Grabbing pics of 9V-SWM.
Spotted another of my favourite airlines while walking to immigration.
For the first time ever, immigration was a breeze at an Australian airport, due to my eligibility to use the SmartGate automated clearance. There was a slight wait for bags and after being directed to an express lane through customs, it was a quick 20min train ride to the city center.
Stayed at The Grace hotel in between Wynyard and Town Hall, which was of a walking distance to most sights. The 4.5-stars hotel was not only centrally located, but offered nice rooms at really reasonable rates.
Night views of Sydney Harbour and sights.
Next day, walked down towards Darling Harbour while on the way to the Sydney Fish Market.
CBD Skyline
Spent the wet and drizzly morning at the Sydney Fish Market.
Had a seafood brunch
Some afternoon tea at Koko Black.
Great place for burgers at Surrey Hill, Chur's Burger. Had a lamb burger.
Pulled pork burger with sweet potato fries.
Had my first taste of Ippudo as well, and of all places, Sydney haha.
