And everything has changed

I had a plan for this year, it wasn't a bad plan but a combination of work trips and some personal stuff would get me LH Senator and enough miles for a special treat in 2012 for a friends birthday. It was going to be tricky, but I had every confidence in my abilities to construct a suitable final mileage run and to manage a couple of trips so they worked out cheaper in Swiss C than Lufty Y.


Unfortunately, circumstances have a habit of changing and after a short illness, I unexpectedly lost my mother in January. Everything is now rather up in the air except for some work trips for a number of different reasons. There will be some trip reports and there may be a slightly more exotic mix of flights than I had expected, but with the exception of an already booked trip to Prague at the end of March, I'm not entirely sure when. If needs be, SEN can wait until 2012.


Oddly enough, there may be a bit more UK travel with overnights over the next few months, so expect maybe some train and hotel reviews.

Trip Report 4 - Part 6 - SIN-LHR, SQ J

And finally....

SQ 318 SIN-LHR

7^th January 2011

Airbus 380-800

Business Class, 12A

I arrived at Changi quite early, mainly because I need to get some last minute shopping done and partly because I dislike hanging around hotel rooms on the final day of a stay and Changi is a nice attractive airport with lots of places to look at. The added advantage was that my flight was from Terminal 3, which I've never really had much time to explore before.

I checked in very quickly and proceeded through immigration to try and find my last gifts for friends. This took a bit more time than I thought, some people are just so hard to shop for. After I got all that sorted, I went to have a smoke on the outdoor terrace and then into the SilverKris J lounge in Terminal 3. It’s a quiet time for SQ at Changi, so the lounge was fairly empty. I snaffled some very good pakora, some nice rice and some indifferent sweet and sour pork washed down with ginger ale. After an hour or so reading some English newspapers. I decided to go and get some tranquillity in the Butterfly Garden and then have a final smoke before boarding.

Boarding had started by the time I got through security, as I had left it a little later than usual, but I quickly went through the jet bridge for the upper deck of the WhaleJet.  As usual, there was a greeting, a welcome drink (apple juice and bitter lemon) and the offer of newspapers and magazines which gave me an The Economist to enjoy over the wait for take off.  We joined the take-off queue and eventually rumbled into the sky with that looooong WhaleJet take-off roll.

Pretty much as soon as we were up, our pre-ordered drinks were served (a weak Gin and Tonic) and orders were taken for main courses. The lunch menu today was:

Satay

Mesclun with marinated lobster and sun-dried couscous salad

Fillet of salmon Florentine with vermouth sauce, pureed spinach, carrots and sweet garlic puree potatoes

or

Singapore Chicken Rice

or

Grilled Beef Fillet with green peppercorn sauce, parsnip puree, roasted vegetables

or

Lamb Biriyani

Movenpick raspberry panna cotta ice cream

Or

Azuki red bean ice cream with vanilla sauce and granola

Fresh fruit, cheese with garnishes.

Gourmet coffees and teas with pralines.

The famed Singapore Airlines Satay was pretty nice, but you can get better at most hawker centres in Singapore, but it’s a refreshing entree and despite this being my eight flight with SQ, it's the first time I've managed it.

Satay

The lobster salad was generous on the Lobster and a bit mean on the greenery, the couscous was properly cooked (unlike Qantas’ efforts before Christmas). The dressing was Thousand Island - one of the few non home-made dressings I enjoy. I enjoyed this dish. 

Lobster Salad

I had picked the biriyani and the Indian Flight Attendant taking the selections said it was a a good choice. It was not a good choice, it was an excellent choice. Two lovely Lamb Chops in a dish of piquant sauce, two nice crispy papads (one of which was sesame coated) and a nice sides of pilau rice with nuts and pickled vegetables. One of the nicest airline dishes I’ve ever had and I’ve had a few over the years. 

Excellent Lamb Chop Biriyani

I decided to have one more drink and the only thing that would stand a chance with biriyani was the Shiraz, it managed, but it wasn’t a stunning example of the fine breed of Aussie Shiraz (the Bordeaux was infanticide), I wasn’t tempted to a second glass.

I had no idea what Red Bean ice-cream tasted like, but it slipped down fairly well and unusually wasn’t utterly rock-hard. 

Aduki Bean Ice Cream

I skipped on the fruit, but had a little cheese, the cheddar was meh, but the brie and the other soft cheese were nice. I then tried to relax over a cup of Earl Grey with Lemon, but by this time, the flight had gone into a short period of Clear Air Turbulence and most of it ended up over my tray table.

When did I last refuse a cheese course

I was going to read books on this flight, but I noticed that virtually the whole of series 4 of Dexter was on KrisWorld, so for a change, I actually used the in-flight entertainment. Not that I didn’t get on fairly well with my latest historical tome - Defenders of the Faith towards the end of the flight. 

The Singapore Airlines Business seat is unusual in it's width (and the 1-2-1 layout is spiffy). The seat  showed the odd sign of wear, but was pretty much well maintained. I did not bother go into Bed mode, but did spend several hours, part reclined and using the width of the seat to get a nice “half-snuggle” position whilst watching Dexter.

In Flight Entertainment

During the flight, there were constant top-ups for drinks and a snack basket passed around a couple of times. There was another period of turbulence which delayed slightly the second meal.

Before landing we had a light meal served

Antipasto

Braised ee fu noodles with prawn dumplings, leafy greens and mushrooms

or

Banger and mash

or

Penne with arrabiata sauce, grilled chicken breast, arugula, shaved parmesan cheese

Ice Jelly with Fresh Fruit

The antipasti were quite nice, a couple of shrimps, a stuffed artichoke, some “parma” ham, salad and parmesan shavings. I took the penne and they weren’t bad, generous portion of chicken with it. The Ice jelly was vile. Teas and coffees were not offered due to it still being a bit bouncy, which was a shame, I could have done with a cuppa at that point. 

Penne with Chicken

Approach to Heathrow was fairly direct and the landing was a greaser. We didn’t have the “waiting for a stand problem” at Terminal 3, we did have the slow immigration (no fast track for EU citizens) and even slower bags, although they seemed to have gotten the priority baggage out first which is unusual for Festung Heathrow. 

A train and a taxi later I was at Euston, having missed the Birmingham train I had hoped to get by about 2 minutes. However, there was another one along in 20 minutes and the Virgin Bendyleaner soon got me to International where my flatmate was waiting to drive me back home. 

After a 28 hour day I was greeted by the cat with a "Where the hell have you been for three weeks and where's my salmon" look.

Conrad Centennial Singapore

((Family problems are still causing some delays, but I hope to get the final part up by the weekend))

I have stayed at Conrad branded hotels before and I’ve always found them very good on service but not brilliant at handing out the HHonors benefits. This Conrad, I'm happy to say. was perfectly compliant with all HHonors benefits on this visit. I received an upgrade to an Executive Suite overlooking the Fountain of Wealth, access to the lounge and was offered a late check out. 

Also in terms of housekeeping, it is impeccable, with my room attendant even asking what fruits I required in my bowl. The main room was large and pleasant with a good work area, a good sitting area with a nice comfortable sofa . The bedroom had a massive bed with quality linens and plenty of storage space. The bathroom had a lovely big tub, double vanity, loo in a small side room and a separate shower. Unfortunately, for some reason, the pictures I thought I'd taken weren't on the camera when I came to download them.

The lounge is very nice, but I understand that there have been cutbacks and whilst the staff are very willing to please, it does need some improvement. The presence of only small plates is silly at breakfast, you end up having to go back two or three times, whilst with a sensible size plate, there would be a lot less work for the staff. Also replenishment seemed rather slow at times, especially at breakfast.,

Whilst the opulence level is pretty high here, that’s not uncommon in Singapore, but there’s no real sense of “side” that you can find in some five star hotels. The staff are a bit formal, but reasonably friendly. I enjoyed it so much that I have booked a return stay in November for three nights.

Singapore

[[Sorry, this has been delayed due to family problems]]

It was obviously a good day for me, not only did I get a posh taxi for an ordinary taxi price, but when  I got to the Conrad and was whisked up to the Executive Floor, the magic words were uttered “Could you wait a little while whilst we finish preparing your suite”.  That’s a three level upgrade from the originally booked room, as a Hilton Gold, I hope for a one-level upgrade.  The suite overlooked the Fountain of Wealth, which I'm sure would make many people happy. It was quickly available and I swiftly unpacked, sorted out some clothes for pressing and then headed off for supplies into Sun-Tec City. Oh boy, did I get lost. What should have been a twenty minute expedition, turned into about a 90 minute trip. After that, I finally managed to touch base with my friend Michael who had been trying to get hold of me, but the hotel’s computer system had been down. After making arrangements for the next day, I wandered off, first to have a quick look at the lounge and then to find somewhere to eat. Rather than going hawker, as it was raining heavily, I took a table at a Vietnamese restaurant – I had some lovely light prawn summer rolls and a nice bowl of northern style pho, along with lime juice to drink. Good smiley service, food produced swiftly and quite delicious.

View from the Suite

The next morning, I met Michael in the lobby, he was a bit late, so he missed the teddy bear tree which was being taken down which was a shame. We then proceeded towards the National Museum via various shopping malls with both of us getting distracted by various things in shops. We did stop for kaya toast and hot drinks (Teh-C in my case, Kopi in Michael’s). I’d never had kaya toast before and it was delicious if not terribly good for you. 

The Bear Tree at the Conrad

Teh, Kopi, Kaya Toast, Eggs

The Museum was very interesting, I had to remember my Latin for the very good Pompeii exhibition and the Singapore food exhibition was fascinating. The old part of the building has a wonderful  dome and cupola with lovely iron railings. 

We then had a long food dithering session, but ended up at a little shop in an arcade which specialised in noodles. I had crispy mushrooms, spinach noodles and prawn dumplings. To drink was home-made iced tea.

Spinach Noodles

Crispy Mushrooms

Then it was back to the hotel for afternoon tea in the lounge, which both Michael and I found to be a little disappointing, there wasn’t much to tempt me and whilst the service of tea and cold drinks was very nice, a few nicer cakes or pastries would have been welcome. We also went up a bit later for pre-dinner snacks, again I found these inspiring, although the cheeses were nice and there were replenishment problems. 

After that, we wandered through to the Arts Centre and the Library and Michael showed me the fabulous night time views from the roof garden at the Arts Centre which has been unfortunately spoilt by Marina Bay Sands – which looks like a distorted giant wicket. We wandered back via a slightly strange route which seemed to involve walking through the public areas of several hotels.

The next morning, I went for a bit of a wander down to the Esplanade and back whilst doing some window shopping and looking at cameras (mine is starting to play up a bit). I didn’t get too lost in Suntec City this time, although it has to be amongst the most confusing malls I’ve ever been in.  Kaya Toast may have been involved at some point. Anyway, we ended up going for lunch at a Javanese place in SunTec – it was quite enjoyable, although the rice being removed after we had taken some was not so much fun. To start with there were bitter nut crackers with sambal. Then we had half a fish (which was delish, but skimpy on the fish), some sambal aubergine (tender and delicious) and some lovely chicken. 

Fish and sambal

The bill was modest and the service OK. Later that evening,  I met another friend for drinks and chit-chat which was very pleasant and ended up realising I hadn’t eaten and wasn’t that hungry, so I just went and found a stall which sold me a couple of curry puffs.

Michael had been saying how much Orchard had changed in the previous two years, so I took a trip to ION Orchard which is the swankest new kid on the shopping block. It has obviously been carefully planned by Patsy and Edina because it is full of “small, beautiful expensive things”.  Readers of Douglas Adams may have heard of the Shoe Event Horizon, at ION Orchard it is the Handbag Event Horizon that is evident. I was looking potentially for three things, a manbag (some nice ones at hideous prices), a pair of shoes (nothing available above a 10½) and some books. There is a very nice bookshop on, I think Level 4, where I spent a happy hour and made some purchases.  After a quick kaya toast stop thanks to Facebook directions, I wandered around Orchard and, yes, there has been a great deal of change over the last two years.

An interesting MRT ride and the usual maze of twisty passages at Suntec City lead me back towards the hotel and a branch of Mosburger. Now I try not to do Burger in Singapore – but this is Japanese burger. One Spicy Cheese Mosburger with fries later – as warned, small, quite spicy (lumps of green chilli evident) and a step up from the usual burger cheese – decent fries.

I spent the afternoon relaxing in my room, Michael popped along in the early evening and then we headed out for a veritable feast of seafood. Given the compensation I received from Singapore Airlines, I’d promised him a fancy meal out and as usual there had been much dithering. We eventually decided after a bit of a last minute waiver on Jumbo Seafood, who despite being a bit nickel and dime-ish have a good reputation. The fine dining resto really lost out when Michael rang up and the receptionist couldn’t pronounce or explain the dishes on the set menu. We did have a wander around the area, which is full of restaurants and bars of just about every possible sort.

Jumbo on Clarke Quay is noisy, as it gets full, it’s very noisy. They like to have their tables back quick, but will deliver food very quickly to allow for this and the food is pretty damn good. We had some jasmine tea but otherwise stuck to Aqua Tap (neither of us are big drinkers) and sent the nice dish of peanuts away (otherwise they charge for them). Michael ordered with some consultation, we had squid fritters (I didn’t like these), cereal prawns (best I’ve had so far), scallops with broccoli (a bit below standard, scallops could have been plumper), a chilli crab (just over 1.2 kilo normal spicing level and sadly Jumbo only do male crabs) and salted chicken fried rice (I insisted on this and it was very good). We left a bit of rice, some chilli crab gravy and a bit of scallop/broccoli and it was extremely enjoyable. Total cost, 143 S$, value for money, I dread to think how much it would cost in the UK. 

Waiting for the crab

Chili Crab - yum

We bumbled around in the warm drizzle for an hour or so around the Civic area before I was led to the evils of a gelato stall. The evils of a gelato stall with Dulce de Leche gelato. We both only had small tubs, otherwise I think I might have burst. It was very good gelato, certainly in the top 5 I’ve had. They also had gelato lollies, which of course are Sick and wrong and yet so pretty and tempting.

Gelato 

Right two more bits to go.

Trip Report 4 - Part 5 - BNE - SIN, SQ J

SQ256

BNE-SIN

Airbus 330-300

Business Class, 11A

Checking in was not terribly quick or easy, both sets of passengers using the Business Class Desks seemed to be taking a great deal of time. As large families, they were probably having fun getting seats together or something. However, eventually I was called over and everything was done for me in a trice. I wandered back outside to enjoy a smoke before dealing with Immigration and Security. Both Immigration and Security were extremely quick and extremely painless.  I then went to the SilverKris lounge, which wasn’t very exciting, however, it provided me with the breakfast I didn’t have time to have on leaving the hotel. Vegemite toast, apple juice and a long black. I thought the selection of food was weak.

I did try to settle down, but the area was invaded by what I believe is termed in Australian English “cashed-up bogans”, who at the tender hour of 7:45 decided to hit the beer and vodka. After the second lengthy sighting of the grubby underdaks of one of the younger(and deeply unattractive) bogans due his low riders, I decided to see if I could find some cufflinks and have a general wander through Duty Free, after a short search I did find a display of links, although it did take some time to find some subtle ones. I then went in search of the secret smoking terrace at Brisbane, it does exist but is signposted nowhere.

Boarding was called very much on time and I swiftly found myself on board my first Airbus 330-300, I have the bulkhead row at the front and no seat mate. This is very lucky as there are only 2 free business class seats (and economy looks very full as well). The bogans are at the back of business class.

We are immediately offered, newspapers, magazines and a fruit  juice, I take tomato and a Straits Times. The rather paltry business class amenity kits are distributed, socks and eyeshades, I’m afraid I take my Suites slippers out my case, they are very comfortable and I’ve been wearing them in the hotels. Menus are distributed as well.

We push back bang on time, take off bang on time and are told that our flight time will be around seven hours. Just a small hop around here J

Quickly another round of juice is distributed with the hot towels, both of which I’m very grateful  to receive. The bogans are demanding beers, I can hear them from the front row.  We are then asked for our selections for brunch and I settle down with Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex – which is at least more readable than The Virgin Suicides, if somewhat unfinished. I can’t help feeling that there should have been a second book there.

The choices today for Brunch are

Sliced fresh fruit

Cereal (Raisin bran or Cornflakes) or Yoghurt

Grilled beef fillet with rosemary jus, roasted vegetables and potatoes

or

Singapore style roast chicken with chicken flavoured rice and chilli sauce

or

Scrambled egg with ham steak, sautéed mushroom, roasted tomato and roesti

Sticky rice ice cream garnished with yam and sweet potato in coconut milk stew.

The fruit is, as ever on airlines, slightly too cold. However, the mango is nice and ripe and the two raspberries and the blueberries are always welcome. I get a cup of tea, more juice and water to go with it all.

Breads are served, nice and wam, only one each and the brown roll is pretty dry. Those complaining of Lufthansa’s bread rationing may wish to take note. The yoghurt is Ski, wild strawberry, it might be slightly more classy to put it an bowl, but this is the Brisvegas route.

The Roast Chicken Rice is fairly decent, the chilli adds a good kick and the chicken is juicy, especially the two dark meat pieces, the rice has suffered slightly in the convection oven. However, an enjoyable choice, I’ll pop down Maxwell Road for the real thing later this week. I did see the grilled beef fillet served to another passenger and it looked very good.

The ice-cream is slightly strange, it’s a bit of an unusual combination for me and I approach it with a certain degree of caution. It is, like 99% of airline ice cream, rock hard. When melted, it’s delicious. I’d happily order that again.

The cabin then settles down, some go to sleep, some use Krisworld. Myself, I get the seat into a nice comfy position and I switch between reading Middlesex and writing this trip report. After just half the flight, we leave Australia and I decide that as it is now Australian lunchtime, I’ll take a beer. It comes with mixed nuts (which are carefully examined for the presence of the fell walnut before consumption). The regional seat isn't as generously wide as some SQ seats, but does have a nice reclined position for reading with loads of legroom.

Just after that, there is another drinks round and then orders are take for what is deemed refreshment which is served about 75 minutes out of Singapore.

Our choices today for refreshment are:

Warm smoked chicken, brie and Avocado in rustic Turkish bread served with rucola

or

Braised egg noodles with beef mushrooms and greens.

I took the sandwich with a cup of tea and some water. It was tasty, but quite messy to eat.  It was certainly just about the right size after only 5 hours.

The decent into Singapore was a little delayed due to a thunderstorm in the area, but we made a nice landing at Changi just before three o’clock Singapore time.  We then proceeded to have a small tour of the airport before arriving at one of the far gates in T2. We were off quickly, I popped for a quick smoke, then joined what I thought was the shortest immigration queue, but unfortunately was behind some French cretins who felt they didn’t have to fill out a landing card.  Sigh. Bags were, of course, on the belt by the time I got to them and I was quickly into a taxi for my hotel where a big surprise was waiting for me.

Brisbane Hilton

I have always liked the Brisbane Hilton, whilst a older hotel, it offers excellent customer service with very friendly and helpful staff. I was given a room on the smoking floor with access to the Executive lounge.  The rooms have been renovated, but unfortunately they still have the old showers. However, the refresh is welcome and the internet no longer drops out every five minutes. The lounge is very nice, with staff in the evenings now offering hot selections as well and I recommend the cake with afternoon tea – especially if the banana custard tarts are on.

I was personally greeted by the customer services manager, who brought a cake (yum) and a bottle of wine (declined, I can’t drink more than two small glasses at the moment). Laundry was taken and returned very swiftly.

Lounge Breakfast at the Hilton suits me down to the ground, rarely varying from two long blacks, a vanilla and cinnamon smoothie, some mango and pineapple, some sourdough bread and cheese. They had a particularly nice blue cheese very similar to Cashel Blue, I should have found out the name. By the second day, my drinks preferences had been noted and would be prepared for me on entering the lounge.

I only did evening snacks once, but as well as a fine selection of cold items, the extremely friendly staff came round to offer hot items from a short menu. You can also get Room Service to the lounge which is a nice touch.

Housekeeping were very prompt and efficient (except for New Years Day and that’s very understandable) and turndown service was offered every evening.

Again, another very good stay at this hotel and I would not hesitate to return, the customer-facing skills are very good here, although I must do one night at the Conrad one day to collect the teddy.

Brisbane

Sorry about the slight hiatus, but Jet Lag has been a bit of a bitch, I’ve been coming back from work, cooking and pretty much wanting to go straight to bed. I’m about an hour out of sync now, which I can live with. This section is being written with a certain tristesse as after the events of the last few days Brisbane won’t be the same.

There are no photos in this section, there were some, but many of them are in areas that are now badly flooded and unrecognisable. It feels a bit strange to be posting photos of them as they were. I do hope that the New Farm Riverwalk is restored, that Southside is repaired, that Eagle Pier is again a thriving dining venue and the Brekky Creek Hotel resumes its former glory.

After unpacking and having a small afternoon tea in the lounge, I went to get my bearings and to do the usual room shopping for small items.  I then settled down to finish “The Slap”, I’d managed about 250 pages on the flight up and was rather desperate to finish it – this took a couple of hours. After that with it being early evening,  I decided I was peckish – a resto on the Queen Street Mall sorted this out with a delicious dinner salad of scallop, king prawn and squid with a tomato based sauce and a glass of Australian Riesling. I amused myself by watching some truly terrible A-League football at the same time. After that, a quiet stroll around the CBD enjoying the balmy evening air until driven back in by the rain.

The next morning was bright and sunny, so after a slip, slap, slop I ventured out for the day, a swift walk up to Spring Hill, then down to Fortitude Valley and back towards the CBD, pausing for a quick burger at Grill’d on Eagle Pier, I then took the RiverCat up to New Farm and explored there for an hour or so before realising I was really rather tired.  I went back via River Cat and happily noticed a open barbers where I got my hair trimmed. I was just back in time for the last bit of afternoon tea and a rest before heading out for a simple pasta dinner (not brilliant) at a place on the corner of Albert and Charlotte St.

New Years Eve was a bit of a rainy day with sunny periods. I met a friend who took me on a nice tour of the cultural quarter and Southside and then we had what seemed to be a pleasant lunch, mine was grilled fish with Greek salad, the fish didn’t taste quite right. I then went for a disco nap to prepare for the night ahead, this was a bit of a failure and I whilst I rested, I didn’t sleep. Unfortunately, just after an early dinner, there were unpleasant sensations down below and I ended up having two immodium and a litre of water as my NYE’s party, I suspect the fish from lunch time. I ended up watching the fireworks first from the lounge and then from my room.

New Years Day was fairly quiet as well, I woke up late, it was pissing down, but I felt OK again. After a Japanese curry fast food lunch, I went and found some indoor activities for the afternoon including a visit to the Queensland Museum.

I spent much of my final day in Brisbane riding around on buses, or actually exploring the new BRT schemes that Brisbane has put in. I was quite impressed with the bus mall and the various busways, but I suspect the project is too rich for Birmingham. I also spent some time window shopping in the various stores, mainly looking for suitable gifts for back home, By the evening I was jonesing for a steak, so I went to have my last full on meat meal of the holiday, which consisted of a lovely Darling Downs steak with shiraz jus, portabello mushrooms and crushed spuds. I then had a quiet drink in the hotel bar before packing for departure.