After take off, I was served more Krug as requested.
The crew on this flight was starkly mixed. The FS, whose main job seemed to be serving the tipples, was efficient and polite, but was more cold and overly formal than engaged or friendly. OTOH the LSS and IFS were a lot more warm and engaging, and anticipated my needs rather than sticking to the bare minimum or routine. I was also impressed that a passing CS from the JCL cabin noticed my empty champagne flute and topped it up before I had a chance to press the call bell.
The meal service soon began. The IFS managed to find bread rolls and cheese so all was not lost. I had some garlic bread and supped on Krug whilst the crew prepped my meal. I'd informed them of my shellfish allergy and they worked to remove anything containing shellfish.
IFE on this flight was non-AVOD. Choices were rather limited. Defo the worst IFE of all 4 SQ flights this trip.
The platter of cold entrees was soon presented to me, with a pictorial guide to the individual dishes so that I could chuck out anything I wasn't supposed to eat in case the crew missed them. The crew had done a v good job removing all traces of shellfish though. Next, a tray of hot dishes was set in front of me, with another pictorial guide. The crew had substituted my rice, for it’d contained crab meat, with plain rice. Ben Riggs’ v delicious McLaren Vale shiraz was once again on the list (‘The Gaffer’ in case anyone’s wondering) so I’d switched to it for my mains. I wish that Australian or NZ wine would feature more regularly on SQ’s wine list. Others might prefer Old World offerings of course, but the intense fruit-driven characters of Australian/NZ wines are what I particularly enjoy. Another reason why QF with an all-Australian wine list featuring fine wines from vineyards across the country (and even NZ offerings on flights across the Tasman) win it for me – I can be assured of something I like on every flight.
Guessing quite accurately that I was stuffed, the IFS offered to delay dessert till later. Meanwhile I supped on more Krug and looked at the flight map from time to time. There wasn’t anything that I wanted to watch on the IFE and I’d finished reading my book, so I’d simply ploughed through the onboard selection of magazines or chatted with the crew. I was also handed an amenity kit and PJs in case I wanted to have a snooze. The amenity kit that was presented on this flight was different to the one I had in Suites.
3 hours before landing I decided to have dessert. The Japanese dessert looked rather strange, and so I’d avoided that and simply had some cheeses. Declined the port. The shiraz complemented the cheeses most beautifully.
After finishing 2 platters of the nice cheeses and the bottle of shiraz, I stuck with Krug for the rest of the flight. I wasn’t v enamoured with the refreshment and hence declined it.
The descent soon commenced for Tulla. It’s always nice going away on holidays, but nicer coming back and spot the first glimpses of home when the aircraft starts to descend. Before too long we’d made a punctual arrival at MEL, where after a brief stop to pick up some Moet Reserve Imperial on specials at duty free, I breezed through CIQ and was landside in less than 30 mins where the boyf was waiting to surprise me. Home sweet home.
