Singapore Airlines routinely calibrates capacity to meet demand on various sectors. For Auckland, the period coinciding with Northern Winter is characterized with an increase in capacity to New Zealand’s largest city, with the deployment of the A380-800 aircraft.
On this return flight to Singapore, I was originally booked on Premium Economy. I knew something was brewing when I showed up at the check-in counter, where the staff kindly excused himself to get the duty manager. When he arrived, he explained that as the flight was overbooked, I was upgraded from Premium Economy to Business. I guess it was a formality for him to ask if I was alright with the new arrangement (who wouldn’t?), and I informed him that I was delighted with it.
I whisked through security and straight to the Air New Zealand Lounge for some light refreshments. The lounge wasn’t too crowded, and the selection of food and beverage was decent. But knowing that I was going to be served lunch after takeoff, I made sure not to stuff myself too much.
When it was time to board, I headed for the gate, and was offered priority boarding immediately after Suites passengers.
Once onboard, I settled into seat 18K, which had a nice view of the wing. As the flight was in excess of 10 hours, I was pleased to know that in addition to lunch, a light dinner would be served prior to landing in Singapore.
We pushed back on time, and after a short taxi, we were soon airborne.
Once the seat belt signs were turned off, the cabin crew commenced the lunch service, beginning with the tantalizing chicken and beef satay.
This was followed by some Szechuan sesame prawn, with mesclun leaves, potato chive salad, and sweet soy dressing. I found the dish very tasty and appetising overall.
For the main course, I picked Gaeng Kari Moo, which was essentially stir fry pork in Thai yellow curry, served with Asian vegetables and steamed rice. This was a very well balanced dish, with the right amount of spice and sweetness.
To round everything off, I chose the Kapiti rum and raisin ice cream with chocolate sauce and almond flakes, which was almost flawless.
After the lunch service, I converted my seat into a fully flat bed to get some sleep. I managed to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, before I started to get hungry again, probably coincided with dinner time in New Zealand. I requested for a bowl of plain noodles with chicken and black mushrooms, served with some condiments on the side. The hot dishes on the delectables menu are almost always standard cup noodles done various ways with different ingredients. Hopefully Singapore Airlines can relook into this menu to provide passengers with greater variety of snacks in between meal services.
At around 2 hours prior to landing, the cabin crew gradually adjusted the cabin lights to wake us up from our slumber, but the hot towels really sealed the deal. I was all prepared for the light dinner service, which started with a plate of Classical Gravadlax, which was essentially cured salmon with mesclun salad, pickled cucumber and mustard dill dressing.
For the main course, I chose the seared salmon with tomato sauce, served with sautéed vegetables and pesto fetuccine.
For the dessert, I was served some Grand Marnier Crème Brulee, with almond crunch and mint leaf. Everything for the light dinner service came together very nicely, and the crew did a great job with the plating overall.
After the latest arrival information was relayed to us from the cockpit, the cabin crew expeditiously secured the cabin for landing.
After a smooth descent into the evening sun, we touched down in Singapore ahead of schedule, the finale of yet another splendid flight with Singapore Airlines.