Round The World and other travel

Flight Log 11: SQ602

Singapore (SIN) - Seoul Incheon (ICN)

I was the first Business Class passenger to board, and indeed it would be quite some time before any others appeared. I was shown to my seat by one of the flight attendants, who helpfully opened the overhead locker for me. The A330 cabin immediately struck me as impressive, consisting of five rows of modern, "angled lie flat" seats in 2+2+2 layout. The flight attendant offered me a selection of newspapers and magazines and brought me a glass of champagne. Next to arrive were a set of headphones and a nicely printed menu card, which was presented already opened at the correct page. The first page had a small feature celebrating asparagus season. The cabin crew member then took my order for post-take off drinks and I took the opportunity to ask if it was going to be busy today. She gave a little laugh and said "Oh no!", without elaborating further.

RIGHT: Views of the Business Class cabin on the Singapore Airlines A330-300

Next, I had a friendly chat with the purser, who had dropped by to introduce himself. He filled in a few details: there were to be a mere six passengers in Business Class, much lower than the typical 50% load on this route. In contrast, Economy was completely full as a result of the school holidays. My champagne was topped up at this point. The captain announced the expected flight time as 6hrs and 10mins, with Seoul being one hour ahead of Singapore. When the other passengers eventually arrived, the seat allocation was 11A, 12C, 11D, 12F, 11H and me in 16K, just as it had looked at online check-in. What fantastic separation! I had three rows of seats all to myself. It was like being on a private jet.

Pushback came a minute early and we were airborne by 1445, initially avoiding the Central Business District by making a left turn over the bay, which was characteristically filled with ships at anchor. Service began with a round of hot towels and I decided to get my in-flight entertainment underway by firing up the recent movie Man on a Ledge, which I had intended to see at the cinema and in the event didn't. I was given eyeshades and slippers (yes, in Business Class!) and soon thereafter my choice of champagne and water. Somewhat oddly, there were no nibbles of any kind to accompany the drinks. I gave my order of duck for the main course.

LUNCH MENU		WINE LIST
Starter		Champagne
Grilled white and green asparagus with seared prawn, goat cheese and herb vinaigrette		Henriot Brut Souverain
		White wines
Main course		2010 Joseph Drouhin Saint-Véran, Mâconnais, Burgundy,
Florentine-style cod in seafood coulis, sautéed spinach and potato gnocchi		France 2009 Balthasar Ress Hattenheimer Schutzenhaus Riesling
Korean chicken in chilli-soya sauce with vegetables and steamed rice		Kabinett, Rheingau, Germany or
Seared lamb loin with mint jus, broccolini, grilled zucchini Spanish onion and bell pepper		2010 Weinhaus Ress Rheingau Riesling, Germany
Oriental roast duck and Chinese seasonal greens, mushrooms and steamed rice		Red wines 2008 Barbera D'Alba DOC GD Vajra, Piedmont, Italy
		or
Finale		2008 Brolio Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy
Mint chocolate ice cream with mango coulis and tuile
Movenpick raspberry sorbet with vanilla sauce		Port
Gourmet cheese with garnishes		Fonseca Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage 2005
A selection of fresh fruit
Gourmet coffees and selection of fine teas, with pralines


	The food was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented, and it occurred to me that most of it wouldn't have looked out of place in First Class.

The end of this delicious meal coincided with the conclusion of my first movie. Checking that we still had around four hours to run, I decided to fill the time by watching the lengthy prisoner-of-war classic The Great Escape, which I had noticed was available on the impressive Krisworld IFE system. The cabin crew came by once in a while to see if I needed any refreshments and I took the opportunity to have a couple of glasses of apple juice. On one occasion they tried to collect my menu, but were sympathetic when I said that I'd put it away because I thought it was OK to keep it as a souvenir.

As expected, the second movie kept me entertained for most of the remaining flight time. Darkness had fallen and as we made our approach into Incheon, I noticed how misty it looked on the ground, in what was reported to be a temperature of 17C. We touched down at 2152 and made it onto stand by 2200 local time.

This was an absolutely superb flight. Singapore Airlines, still regarded by many as the best in the world, had turned in a performance in Business Class that could have taken on the First Class product of a number of high-profile carriers and won.