After my long break in Asia, it was finally time to go back to USA. I had originally booked USA-Asia roundtrip with SQ, with outbound on SFO-HKG flight segment and inbound on NRT-LAX segment. On flights within Asia, I used up a mileage on Korean Air to book those flights (flight reports to follow)!
It was a rainy morning in Tokyo on 06 SEP 2015. I arrived into Terminal 1 of Narita Airport around 1500 local time.
After arriving at Terminal 1 via Airport Limousine, I headed toward the departures section. Interior of Terminal 1. I had some time left so I checked out a restaurant pre-securities side of Terminal 1. I had some soba and katsu-don. At around 1600 the SQ counter desks opened up. ANA ground staff was setting up the SQ counter desks. Each counter desks were set up with pictures and names of each check-in assistants, which I thought was cool. Check-in commenced at around 1615. The tall guy on the left is a magician, and performed some magic on the ground staff members. Overall, the ANA ground staff members were very polite and professional. Toward the departures. I like how the departures section was set up in the airport. After clearing the securities the ticketed passengers have one last chance to see their loved ones before heading down to Immigrations & Customs. A view on tarmac after clearing the securities. My flight tonight would be departing next to that Thai A380 over there. Walking toward escalators that would take me down to Immigrations & Customs. Escalators toward Immigrations & Customs and the glass wall where people usually say their last byes before departing. Immigrations & Customs on airport 2nd floor. There were many passengers bound for North America and Southeast Asia at this time. Mostly ANA flights. I had some time to kill so I walked around the airside Terminal for a bit. Here's my boarding pass for tonight's flight. Walking toward my gate, Gate 45. I stopped by McDonald's along the way. I would've ordered that Mega Mac, but I wasn't too hungry. I'm surprised that's not offered in the US! Departures status for tonight's flights. I grabbed some Tokyo Banana and Green Tea goodies along my walk toward the gate. I sat adjacent to Gate 46, which had passengers lined up for San Jose-bound ANA flight. The Thai A380 flight was all boarded up and ready to push back when I arrived. Gate 45. Vancouver-bound Air Canada B787. SQ 12 had arrived from Singapore at around 1700 local time.
The SQ flight attendants were already at the gate when the aircraft arrived. At around 1830 the ground staff members were setting up the boarding area. It was dark already outside by the time we started boarding. One last shot of this beauty before boarding. The first class section. The front economy class section. The middle economy class section. The rear economy class section. Should've done more research on seatguru… My seat had no window..
I took advantage of the fact that I was one of the first to board this aircraft. This flight would be a full flight. Next to my flight was SQ 11, which had arrived from LAX. By 1915, the aircraft was ready to push back. Flight attendants were passing out hot towels during push back. Menus were also passed during taxiing. There were variety of selections for the beverages. Also in the menu were SQ 12 SIN-NRT offerings. For dinner international selection was sautéed cod with basil cream sauce. For Japanese selection was Yakiniku (beef) Domburi with Japanese Soba (cold noodles). Both offerings had Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream and bread rolls. The delectable selections were offered between services and offered cold sandwiches, assorted nuts, chocolate bars, and fruits. Breakfast choices were also split into international and Japanese choices. The international selection was a cheese omelette. The Japanese selection was grilled salmon with Japanese-style eggroll. The same menu in Japanese (can't read). The take-off was behind schedule at 1830. We spent quite a bit of time taxiing.
The airplane wasn't showing up on the route map, but the route was nevertheless updated throughout the flight duration. Cabin lights brightened for the first meal service. I always go for Singapore Sling, probably my favorite cocktail in the world. For dinner, I chose the yakiniku (beef) dish. The set up is impressive, and there were surely a lot of food to be eaten! Close up on the Yakiniku. The meat was delicious and seasoned perfectly. Japanese Salad. Soba noodle. Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream was served to compliment the meal service. After 6-hour long sleep, I woke up somewhere above San Francisco, just in time for second meal service. I went with the Japanese breakfast choice, which contained Salmon and Japanese style eggroll. Close-up on the salmon. It was cooked nicely and the sauce that accompanied it was delicious. Flying over Ventura. Cabin Attendants were getting the passengers ready for arrival. The aircraft took the usually final descent/approach route into LAX (visible on the photo above).
The famous In-N-Out! Touch down was on time at 1300 local time. CX flight departing for HKG. Since it was a full flight, it took some time for me to disembark. One last look at this beauty.
Thanks for sharing this great report on this very long flight ! Economy can be hard but it seems SQ has done a great job and the catering looks excellent. Toy were lucky ( or very tired) to be able to sleep for 6 hours. Too bad for the window ;-( Looking forward to future reports !
Thank you for sharing this excellent report with us!
I’ve considered taking the SQ fifth-freedom before, but SQ doesn’t let you start routings on domestic flights.
I find NRT to be a pretty boring airport. There really isn’t much in Terminal 1.
Since your seat didn't have window, how did you get all of the great arrival shots into LAX? How was the noise from the galley/lavatories since you were in the last row before the bulkhead?
The catering on this flight looks fantastic. Both entrees for dinner and breakfast look really good. The dinner tray is one of the fullest trays in Y that I’ve seen in a long time. The breakfast tray is very good for a short east-bound TPAC (the main looks very good, but the fruit cup looks pathetic).
The catering was indeed awesome. The ex-Japan flights surely don't disappoint!
I was able to extend my phone out to the window in front of me a little bit to take the pictures. The person in front of me didn't mind when I ask him if it was okay. I had my earplugs on so I didn't hear much noise from the galley/lavatories other than some noise from the plane itself.
Awesome report once again! You're just hitting all the TPAC 5th freedom routes! When it comes to flying in Y, I don't think one can do much better than SQ on an A380. And the meals look great...yum! Ok, now I'm hungry.
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7 Comments
This is truly one of the FRs that makes me feel as though I were flying on the same flight with the author.
SQ's catering looks excellent, quite what could be expected from such a distinguished airline.
Do you know what tail number your A388 had?
Thanks for reading!
Economy can be hard but it seems SQ has done a great job and the catering looks excellent. Toy were lucky ( or very tired) to be able to sleep for 6 hours.
Too bad for the window ;-(
Looking forward to future reports !
I’ve considered taking the SQ fifth-freedom before, but SQ doesn’t let you start routings on domestic flights.
I find NRT to be a pretty boring airport. There really isn’t much in Terminal 1.
Since your seat didn't have window, how did you get all of the great arrival shots into LAX? How was the noise from the galley/lavatories since you were in the last row before the bulkhead?
The catering on this flight looks fantastic. Both entrees for dinner and breakfast look really good. The dinner tray is one of the fullest trays in Y that I’ve seen in a long time. The breakfast tray is very good for a short east-bound TPAC (the main looks very good, but the fruit cup looks pathetic).
Really nice report that is a pleasure to read!
I was able to extend my phone out to the window in front of me a little bit to take the pictures. The person in front of me didn't mind when I ask him if it was okay. I had my earplugs on so I didn't hear much noise from the galley/lavatories other than some noise from the plane itself.
Thanks for sharing!
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