SQ910 SIN-MNL, 23JUL2008, First Class
I hadn't slept the entire night, not by choice. I blame it on the late evening coffee I had on the previous night's flight. I gave up at about 6ish, got a shower and headed over to the SKL F in T3.
For those who don't know, SQ recently opened The Private Room, a seperate lounge from the SKL F which supposedly offers a higher level of service and amenities, but has barred pax on redemption tickets from entry, ie you had to be on revenue First or Suites Class tickets. I feigned ignorance and waltzed up to the entrance of TPR anyway, and waved my brown First boarding pass for good measure. The lady asked for my invitation, still feigning ignorance I simply pointed out that I'm flying First. She then disappeared for a couple of minutes with my bp, returned with an apologetic smile, "Sorry sir but this lounge is for a certain type of passenger only." At any other time I'd have asked for a complaint form to let whoever came up with such a preposterous entry policy know what I reckon of it. But it was 0630, I was sleep deprieved and famished, and so I simply thanked her and wandered back to my seat at the SKL F - where
lowly second class First plebs like myself belonged.
Whilst not the worst lounge in the world, I wouldn't put the new SKL F in T3 up there with The Greats (think the QF Flounges at SYD and MEL, Wing/Pier F, LH FCT/FCL or heck... the VS CH at LHR) either. The new lounge really showed a lack of effort when SQ could've wowed us off with something truly spectacular at the new terminal. There just wasn't anything special or memorable about it. Which of course is testament to the current direction the airline seems to be taking - services on the ground simply don't matter, despite the fact that, IMO, there is simply no clear lead in the industry in terms of onboard product as lots of major airlines out there are spicing up their inflight offerings. Yet these other airlines are also investing heavily in what they can offer on the ground, which IMO is where the differentiator lies.
Now where was I...
Ah yes, 6.30am - a totally famished and dehydrated Keith goes hunting for food and drink (no not tipples this time - saving up for the Dom!) in the SKL F. There was a selection of hot and cold stuff in the restaurant area, and a chef to prepare some more substantial items. I ordered some scrambled eggs with mushroom, beans and a sausage. All washed down with soya bean milk. The latte that came out of the coffee machine tasted horrid - suggestion for the SQ lurkers: a barista would be nice; QF offers one in even its domestic Qantas Clubs.
The lounge was rather empty at that time of the morning, but gradually filled up as the scheduled departures mounted.
I left the lounge extra early to give myself time to walk to T2, and my gate at T2 had to be at the furthest end of the terminal. So another epic hike. Arrived at the gate just as boarding was called, and I'd simply marched past the hoi polloi and onwards to the aircraft.
Was greeted at the entrance by an LSS, who escorted me to my seat upon glancing at my bp. Once again was v eager to help me lift my laptop bag into the overhead compartment, insisting that she needed her morning exercise. I was then offered a pre take off drink. Was Dom Perignon 2000 fine with me? But of course! Reading materials were also offered but I declined as I'd just wanted to sit back and relax. A male FA (can't recall the colour of his tie) then came back with my DP.
Shortly thereafter, the IFS himself came around to chat, he appeared quite surprised that I was only in MNL for a night. Boy would he want to chat with some of my fellow SQTalkers! I thought it'd be too tedious to go into the intricacies of my cheap ex-MNL DONE4, and simply told him that I'd be in MNL for dinner with a mate (
Ric of AFF who lives there) and that I was also doing a spot of travel around the region.
Word had spread by galley fm that I was only in MNL for a night, and the LSS who came back with to spread a blanket over my lap remarked that I was such a nice friend to go all the way to MNL to have dinner - ok i did leave out the bit about knowing him from an internet forum. She then noticed my empty champagne glass and hurried off to fetch more DP - I must say that I rather prefer the 2000 vintage to its 1999 and 1998 siblings, it's less sweet and has a more fragrant aroma. The LSS then noted with a wink that there'd only be 3 pax in the cabin today and plenty of DP to go around.
I note with great irony that the crew in FCL were so much more relaxed and casual than the ones I had in JCL the previous day. The genuine warmth and sincerity were definitely there with all 3 crew members in FCL (IFS, LSS and the male FA whose rank I can't remember). The service was courteous and accomodating without being too OTT.
The JCL pax walked past the FCL cabin to get to their seats and I could sense some odd looks thrown at me - perhaps my slightly unkempt hair (had forgotten to put my product into my carry on)? Or chip-on-the-shoulder type glares? Who knows... Either way I was relieved when the other 2 pax, a couple, turned up and helped take away some of the attention.
