Singapore Airlines 865 & 237 ( SQ865 & SQ237 ) - Hong Kong to Singapore to Melbourne Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 777-300





AIRLINE: Singapore Airlines
AIRCRAFT: Boeing 777-200 (unknown registration)
CLASS:  Economy Class
ROUTE: HKG-SIN

I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport by the very fast and reliable airport train. I already had my boarding passes with me as I had arrived earlier that day from Bangkok and checked in at the transfer desk, my luggage had been interlined from Bangkok also. The lovely agent at the Singapore Airlines transfer desk offered me an emergency exit seat on the Singapore to Melbourne leg which I gladly accepted! With no checkin in to worry about I proceeded immediately through passport control and over to the Silverkris Lounge, which has been recently renovated.

Lounge Entrance - No luggage trolleys allowed!



Computer Area



Dim-Sum, Char Siu Pork, Kim Chi Rice, Egg Tart and Champagne - lounge food

I do quite enjoy the food selection in this lounge I must admit, as you can see above I had quite a nice selection! Nice to see champagne on offer with a bottle of Drappier in the bucket and plenty of other drink options in the fridge. I ate in the dining room area of the lounge before making my way to the lounge seats where I set up my laptop and had a vodka and orange juice. Sadly the toilets are not within the lounge itself, you are forced to use the ones right outside with the rest of the general public. Thumbs down to that, but what can you do!

Beer, soft drink and water fridge



Spirits selection

After eating and drinking way too much the flight was called and away I went to the gate area. On arrival at the gate I saw the lovely Singapore Boeing 777-200 waiting for us outside:


Due to timing I was forced to take an ordinary Boeing 777-200 to Singapore tonight, I would have preferred the Airbus A380 but it did not work out on this occasion! Never mind, plenty more opportunities in the future!



Boarding

A nice touch during December flights is the addition of Christmas decorations around the aircraft as you can see in the above picture. Tonight's flight was completely sold out, no seats spare at all. Sadly there was no upgrade, but that's normal with SIA!

According to this, flying time is a little over 3 hours

The usual hot towels were handed out during the boarding process, along with the menu, tonight a full dinner service is on offer. There is an oriental or a western option, as you can see here:










I would be having the oriental as I don't eat fish. Pushback was on schedule and we were soon making our way to the runway and leaving Hong Kong. Soon after takeoff the cabin crew came around with trays of juice, water and beer. I find this very frustrating, I don't understand why, on a 3 hour flight leaving at 6pm they don't offer a full bar service on the trolley before dinner. It's not like they do not have enough time. This is where I find Thai Airways better in economy, they offer a full bar service before the meal. I notice when I ask for something other than beer, wine or juice when they have pre-dinner drinks I am given a dirty look by the cabin crew on SIA. I actually enjoy a Singapore Sling, which is proudly featured in the menu but when I ask for one I feel like I am a major inconvenience to the crew. I tried to ask them why they don't offer a full bar service and they just sort of laughed and gave me a puzzled look and walked away. So annoying! I could certainly understand an abbreviated drinks service if the flight was only an hour, or if the flight was a red-eye, but this certainly isn't the case on Hong Kong - Singapore at 6pm. 

Aside from my frustration with the drinks service, the meal itself was good, although I was not hungry at all after the food in the lounge, I declined the ice cream that was offered after the meal.





I did not take any more pics of the flight, instead I sat back and watched a movie and dozed off. 

After arrival in Singapore I proceeded to the Krisflyer Gold lounge in Terminal 3. I sat around there for an hour drinking ginger ale, I'm not sure why but I had the urge to drink ginger ale for the rest of the night, on the flight to Melbourne too. Perhaps my body was a bit over alcohol after spending most of the day drinking.


AIRLINE: Singapore Airlines
AIRCRAFT: Boeing 777-300 (unknown registration)
CLASS:  Economy Class
ROUTE: SIN-MEL
SEAT: Emergency exit (can't remember seat number)

By the time it came to boarding the Boeing 777-300 to Melbourne I was truly exhausted, I had been up since 5am and it was close to midnight and I was ready to just pass out! I was glad to have the emergency exit row to help me sleep. After boarding was completed I was pleased to have the middle seat free too, with a young Aussie female sitting on the aisle seat on our set of 3.

legroom certainly isn't an issue 

Soon after takeoff the crew came around with the tray of pre-poured juice, beer, water. I won't complain about this as I know this flight departs close to midnight and with a flying time of only 6.5 hours the best thing to do is get the supper service out of the way and the cabin lights off so people can sleep, as quick as possible. It seems I forgot to take a photo of the menu but here is how my meal looked:




meal, with another glass of GINGER ALE

I really enjoyed this meal! In fact it was one of the best I had experienced on Singapore Airlines in economy class. The prawn starter was great, and I loved the dessert! I don't really like ice cream desserts, so I was really happy to have a cakey type thing on this flight.

As soon as lights were off I dozed off and managed a few hours of broken sleep. A little under 2 hours before landing (Why don't they make it 1 hour!) the continental breakfast was offered. I did not take a picture of this sorry, but it was the usual offering of fruit, croissant, bread roll, jam, butter and sweet muffin, along with the tea, coffee and juice. 

I took no further pics on this flight I'm afraid, I think I had my eyes closed most of the time, but it was a pleasant enough flight on Singapore Airlines again. That's why I keep going back to them really, it is consistently good service. 

Comments

  1. Thanks Dazz. Here's a tip for you. http://www.seatguru.com
    A nice site that helps you locate the best seat on any airline and aircraft. Has good floorplans with pro's and con's, colour coding for best and worst seats and mouseover each seat for a description. There is also a comparison section with seat specifications including size and seat inclination etc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Ray, am well aware of that website. Seatexpert.com is another good one

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Dazz,

    I am a student ,finished my course couple months in Melbourne.I am going for my third trip.I am from a place called Coimbatore which is a district in Tamilnadu.We guys normally land in madras to get to my locality,it takes 2 days from Madras to get into my place named Pollachi-(http://www.flickr.com/pradeeppollachi)Its a very secenic place you need to visit.

    I am a fan of Singapore Airlines.Flight from singapore to melbourne they take us in A380 airbus and flights from Singapore- Coimbatore-CBJ airport they provide A319 airbus(I do not like the service in that)because the landing strip is small.Leg space is pretty.

    I have done heaps of feedbacks to them.I hope they improvise it.Although I am an Indian,I just to change my meal in trip for "Veg Oriental Meal".I just searched in google and found you by searching Oriental Veg meal.

    I hope I am correct with my selection because Indian non veg meal is not appetizing its too oily.

    I am taking my flight in two days.Will let you know about my experience about my third trip.

    Nice to see your blog.

    Kind regards,
    Pradeep.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pradeep, thx for reading my blog, please do come back and visit again soon.

    I hope you enjoy the oriental veg meal, I have never tried it because I like meat too much. The great thing about ordering special meals is you get to eat first, Im often jealous about that!

    Have a great trip!

    ReplyDelete

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