Drron's Do Disney.

[drron]

Now to the wines-

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It was the Laurent Perrier served.
I was going to try this one but didn't get around to it-

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The whites-

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And now to the reds-

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I started with the pinot-full bodied with a lot of tannin but very enjoyable so I had another glass.
Then the Mendoza.Very interesting also with a lot of tannin.Rated it as the third of the wines.
Last the Bordeaux.Full bodied again but just lacked the finish of the pinot.

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I had the Tokaji with the sticky date pudding.Interesting but In prefer Australian stickies.

 

[Pushka]

Last time we were in F lounge in an effort to avoid the unneeded calories we skipped having a meal to have one onboard. Bad move. The food in Qantas J Syd-DPS was execrable. I do not listen to MrP anymore. Meant I missed my Risotto

 

[snabbu]

Enjoying the report as always drron!

Last time we were in F lounge in an effort to avoid the unneeded calories we skipped having a meal to have one onboard. Bad move. The food in Qantas J Syd-DPS was execrable. I do not listen to MrP anymore. Meant I missed my Risotto

Bad move for sure. IMO there's no way any J food (especially QF) compares to what is on offer in the FL.

 

[drron]

So after dessert it was off to sleep.For me the seat was comfortable and although a cabin light behind the middle seats in Row 4 I was able to get to sleep and awoke about 40 minutes out from Singapore so read some more of my kindle.We arrived early into SIN.
So my thoughts on BA F.Well the hard product was a good J setup.Doesn't compare to some of the F cabins I have experienced.However it is functional and I found it comfortable.There is a small closet at each seat where you can hang your clothes.
Food and wine.Again don't compare well to most F products I have tried but good solid food and a nice wine list so really isn't too bad.
Service.Well here was the surprise.I had very good service from FA Grace.She was friendly and efficient.That and the service recovery with my non functioning IFE rate this crew as better than anything I have had with QF in their F cabins.

The clincher-this cost us less for this circle Asia type fare having the Aust-Asia leg in BA F than QF J.A no brainer.

After arriving at the gate with a reasonable walk to Immigration and a wait for bags we were still in a taxi 30 minutes afterwards.At that time a quick trip to the Sheraton Towers on Scott's rd.As promised we were upgraded to a suite and although a named suite-the Beijing suite-it was simply 2 rooms with a door between but still comfortable.The pics-

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The entrance of the second room turned into a mini walk in type robe.As it was the Beijing suite a lot of Chinese type furniture.

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And the view the next day-

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[drron]

Our first day was just the one stop on the MRT to Orchard and some shopping for mrsdrron.The first pair of shoes are in the bag.
A very Christmas feeling along Orchard road-

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The orchids are always great in Singapore.
Meanwhile in the Ngee Ann building a variety of trees.My favourite was macarons-

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Whilst mrsdrron's was much more predictable-

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A Christmas toy sale-

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Lunch was in the basement of Tangs.I forgot to take photos until half way through-

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A bit more walking then back to the hotel for a nap and then Happy hour for dinner.

 

[drron]

An interesting day.But for planning reasons.First an email from SPG that the SNAs for Ontario,CA have come through.
But then just checking on our award flights coming home from the USA.Were fine 2 weeks ago but pays to keep checking.It is a Life miles award on ANA.IAD-NRT-SIN.So today when I accessed the booking there was a "contact ANA"for the second flight.They have switched from a 777 to a 789 which has no F.So rang ANA who confirmed that we are in J for that flight but insisted I contact Avianca.Couldn't access my booking after that call so email sent to lifemiles support.

So back to Singapore.From the Newton MRT you can now get the Downtown MRT as well so can go direct to Bayfront station and you come out in the Marina Bay Mall.Basically all upmarket shops now.Didn't see anyone buying.Walked outside where the decking was being put in place on our last visit.Good view of the Merlion and CBD-

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A water feature with lots of water lilies.I tried to be artistic-

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Fish stalking bird-

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And to finish this post-

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[drron]

Marina Bay Sands certainly is a magnificent building.

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Across the river is a floating stage-

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Being set up for soccer.Maybe a few wet balls!

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Mrsdrron wanted shots of the different coloured waterlilies-

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[drron]

Now it was time for lunch.We were going to try Mario Barali's osteria but it wasn't open for lunch so went next door to Daniel bouloud's restaurant.We had been before and it was quite reasonable.Though the food is still good the prices are much higher.
Mrsdrron had the foie gras a L'orange.It was very good.

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I had a calamari cerviche with a spicy tomato sauce.It was definitely octopus.I followed with a Tasmanian ocean trout poke.It had some fresh shaved wasabi and really was good.

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However these 3 dishes with a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sav blanc was $S264.That included a 10% service charge so no tip on top.
At the little supermarket we found Tassie cherries at $S40 a kg-

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And mrsdrron found her favourite colour again.Blue.

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Then it was time for the MRT back to the hotel with dinner once again being in the exec lounge.
Tomorrow our first SQ F-SIN-NRT-LAX.

 

[carls888]

Following along. Loving the details so far.

 

[drron]

Up early on Wednesday and left the Sheraton Towers at 0550.At the airport just after 0600.No one else at F checkin.Straight through the premium F Immigration and soon sitting at our table in the Private Dining Room.Mrsdrron had the Singapore French toast with mango,maple sauce-she loved it.I had the eggs Benedict.

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Then I read the papers.Time flew and it was time to go to the gate.Boarding had already started so not a great queue at the gate security.After my compulsory wanding straight to boarding.A refurbed 777 with only the 4 F seats.We were in the middle-1C,D.A full cabin for the sector to NRT.As soon as seated we had the first champagne in hand.

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And the obligatory foot view-

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A very good screen for the IFE-

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SQ 12. SIN-NRT. ETD-0920. Push back-0929. Take off-0944.
ETA-1705. Landed-1703. At gate-1708.
The champagnes-

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Before take off I managed 2 glasses of the 2006 Dom.After takeoff 2 glasses of the 2004 Krug.I prefer the DOM.The Krug has too much vegemite for me.Sounds stupid but at a conference in the USA some years ago i went to a champagne tasting put on by a French woman who was said to be a champagne expert.I made a comment that there was a taste of vegemite in one of the wines.She then said-you are righ,I have been to Australia and tasted vegemite.It is now what I look for in a good champagne.However it means nothing here in America.
The rest of the wines-

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[JohnM]

Well, Vegemite is yeast extract - plus massive amounts of salt, I imagine (I haven't eaten the stuff in probably 50+ years) - so I guess it's not too counter-intuitive .

 

[drron]

So to the lunch menu.

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In our cabin we were all served the satay first.

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Nice.

 

[drron]

We both had the Japanese meal.I had 3 glasses of the Euphonium with mine.Here are the pics-

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I really liked it.

 

[drron]

Whilst having dinner by mistake I watched a horror movie-It.Would not reccommend.After that I watched Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron in thigh high boots.Wasn't too bad a story as well.Also another IFE problem with the sound disappearing fortunately as the first movie ended.A reboot was successful.The movie ended about an hour out of Tokyo.So no sleep.
The service was very good.At one point I sneezed.Within a minute a pack of tissues was beside my seat.

On arrival at NRT we were quickly through the transit security and ensconced in the ANA suites.Caught up on AFF and emails and downloaded photos.We weren't hungry or thirsty.

At reboarding there was a long line of wheelchairs.Virtually all those pax were from the subcontinent.Last in the line was a young Malay woman with a carer.She had an IV and a NG tube in place.She was obviously very ill and I presume going to the USA for treatment.
After they boarded we were the first 2 F pax to board.We were immediately taken aside for secondary explosive testing.Even worse mine was positive.Ridiculous.So they got a new swab and a new operator and it was negative.Though we were annoyed what amazed me was they had also taken aside the sick woman's carer who had the same problem as I had.Only after I was cleared did they get a second agent to redo her swab.She was just behind me in the airbridge so presumably the same result.

Only 3 of us for the second leg.The third fellow was also on the first leg.He obviously travelled on SQ a lot as both crews knew him.Again as soon as seated another glass of Dom with a second on the long taxi.

SQ12. NRT-LAX. ETD-1850. Push back-1850. Take off -1919.
ETA-1150. Landed-1117. At gate-1135.

 

[RooFlyer]

Mansager who explained that the problem with my IFE could not be fixed.He apologised and offered 15000 Avios as compensation saying if I was unhappy with that I could take it up with BAs Customer Relations.I said this was definitely a first worl

They assumed you were a BA FF member even though they do their best to exclude Australians? Wonder what the alternative was?

 

[JohnK]

Hope you both have an enjoyable trip and special time with family.

 

[drron]

They assumed you were a BA FF member even though they do their best to exclude Australians? Wonder what the alternative was?

Now,now.Dont you know I live in Devon.Was checked in with our BAEC numbers in.
Need 1500 TP to get to OWE.If QFF 1400.But on this flight-210TPs or 90 SCs.Seeing we have 6 such sectors in the next 12 months it was an easy decision.

 

[drron]

They assumed you were a BA FF member even though they do their best to exclude Australians? Wonder what the alternative was?

The 15000 avios were in my account within 72 hours so I remain happy with the process.

 

[drron]

The menu for the second sector.The wines were unchanged.

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Mrsdrron went for the western option.Though she was not that hungry.Once again the service started with the satays.Then the caviar-

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She then had the roast chicken.

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And dessert-choccy cake and ice cream.

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[drron]

I once again had the Japanese menu and this second meal was better than the first.Of course I asked if I could start with the caviar and that was no problem.

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Beautifully presented.

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Ah red bean ice cream.Actually it was nice.Unlike our first taste of red bean as a paste inside pastries.Our 10 year old son christened it cough bean paste.
To wash all this down I had 3 glasses of the 2007 Chateau Rauzan-Segla,Margaux.It was delightfully smooth.