Over the Christmas holiday which just passed, I flew to the nearby resort island of Bali for a short getaway. Flights were booked on SQ Business Class for this trip as a Xmas treat.
Departure to Bali was from Changi Terminal 2 and check-in was quick at Row 1, where SQ's premium check-in desks are located. I hope the T2 flipping flight info board survives the massive T2 renovations in the near future.
Boarding pass
First stop was a visit to the T2 Silver Kris Lounge. This lounge is already showing its age and long overdue for a revamp. Surprisingly, the lounge is reasonably busy at this time of the afternoon.
Food selection is not fantastic, and I only grabbed a nibble of the choices from the buffet.
Left the lounge and headed to the gate. Spotted our A330 aircraft parked at E3.
SQ's regional workhorse 9V-SSH would be operating the flight this afternoon.
Proceeded to gate E3 for the flight. It was still more than 20min from STD but most passengers had already board.
22 December 2018
Singapore Airlines
SQ 946
Singapore (SIN) - Denpasar Bali (DPS)
A330-300
9V-SSH
Business Class
Flight Time: 2H35M
Proceeding to board the aircraft immediately.
Welcomed by the crew and directed to our seats. A pillow, blanket and amenity kit was placed on each seat. I would not review much about the seat as it has been reviewed countless times and on the way of being phase out. It was also surprising that being more than 20min to departure, we were the last 2 Business Class passengers to board. The Business cabin was totally full today, 30/30.
Seat controls and IFE handset.
SQ's new Dreamliner beside us.
Christmas decorations in the cabin.
Inflight magazines.
Noise-cancelling headphones
Hot towels, welcome drinks, newspapers and magazines were offered. I went with the Charles Heidhieck champagne. And nope, I am definitely not a Crazy Rich Asian!
Flight time scheduled at 2h05m.
All aboard and ready to go.
Pushed back and safety video played.
Taxiing to runway. EVA B77W holding for us to pass.
Departure from Rwy02C. It seemed that the new 3rd Runway 02R/20L has been extended and looked ready for use.
A look at the amenity kit which was provided. It came in a black bag and contained a hand cream, lip balm, The Laundress Crease Release and Fabric Fresh.
For some reason, the kit that my travel partner got had a Wash & Stain bar instead of the Fabric Fresh. Not sure is it random or one of us had the wrong items packed.
Watching Crazy Rich Asians.
Dinner service commenced shortly after seatbelt signs were turned off. Being a regional flight, meal trays were served from carts. Crew were professional and efficient. Of special mention is the Indonesian Leading Stewardess serving my aisle, who was especially friendly and jovial. Totally un-robotic and natural in her interactions with passengers, making us feel really comfortable.
There were no proper menus offered on this regional flight, just a slip of menu paper describing the meal choices.
The meal tray was offered with the starter and dessert. I had a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to go with my meal.
Selection of breads were offered and I went for the garlic bread and a savoury bread. Butter needed to be requested from the crew as, according to the crew, they were now removed from the meal trays on regional flights, ie. cost-cutting.
The crab and mango salad starter was alright.
The mains were delivered separately from the galley. For the main, I had booked-the-cook the Lobster Thermidor. This was well-prepared and not too heavy.
Coffee Bavarian Cream dessert was very good.
My travel partner pre-ordered the Seared Lamb Loin from the inflight menu, which was tender though a bit salty. The pre-ordering feature was just introduced network wide for all of SQ's First/Business passengers on the week of our flight (not to be confused with Book-the-Cook) after a few months of trial on North Asian flights. Hence, passengers would get to peruse the inflight menu online up to a month before the flight, and pre-order the main from the inflight menu latest 24hrs before the flight. Guess it could prevent wastage (and cut costs) and also ensure happy passengers as you would definitely get your choice of meal if you pre-ordered.
To end, I ordered an Earl Grey tea.
Setting sun as we flew eastwards.
Visit to the lavatory.
Fake orchids has replaced the previous real stalks (another cost-cutting spotted).
All the usual amenities were still available.
View of the cabin. Even though the cabin was totally full, the ambience was still good.
Continued with my movie, and also requested for a bottle of water.
Not too long later, we started descending into Bali.
Weather was not too good, and we need to slow and hold for a bit during the approach into Bali, lengthening the flight time by about 20min. We almost reached Lombok before turning back towards Bali for the approach.
Landing in Denpasar Bali Ngurah Rai Intl Airport Rwy27 right on schedule.
Parked at the gate. It was a wet and rainy welcome to Bali.
View of our messy seats.
Disembarking
Despite the totally full cabin, consistently excellent service was maintained by the crew on this flight.
Immigration was another matter as it was very crowded and the wait to clear immigration and customs was almost an hour!
Hotel lobby
Our Amnaya room was of good-sized and beautiful. Furnishings are new, amenities of good quality, and the bed was very comfortable.
Our late dinner was had at the hotel restaurant, Sukun Restaurant, which is an award-winning restaurant in Bali. Prices were decent, and the food and presentation were excellent!
View from the room the next day. It was not a white Christmas, but a cloudy and drizzly one. The weather remained this way for most of the trip.
Hotel pool and grounds.
The ala-carte breakfast at Sukun Restaurant, inclusive in the room rate, was an elaborate affair every morning.
Went to explore Nusa Dua beach and the Waterblow. However, due to an event on the Peninsula, we were unable to proceed to the Waterblow, and explored the neighbouring Nusa Dharma Island instead.
Indonesian Gado-gado and Batagor for our late lunch.
Visit to GWK Cultural Park. Honestly, I felt that for the entry fee paid, this attraction is overrated. Just some statues, cultural performances (I did not catch any) and that's it….
The giant statue which could be seen all the way from North Kuta.
Dinner at Warung Shinta near our hotel before catching a late night movie at the nearby mall.
Another hearty breakfast on the 3rd day. Enjoy the food porn!
Late lunch was had at Nook Café, which was smack right beside padi fields in Kerobokan. Apart from the café setting, the food was delicious as well! The Babi Guling and Nasi Campur were among the best I had in Bali!
Warm black rice pudding to end the wonderful meal.
Saw quite a number of commercial outlets and homes setting up these Balinese décor. Presumely to celebrate the New Year?
A&W chicken and most importantly the Root Beer Float for a light supper.
On the actual Xmas morning, hotel guests at the breakfast restaurant were treated to carolling by local Indonesian kids!
After a massage session, late lunch was had at Warung Telaga.
Just before leaving the hotel and heading to the airport, we had a complimentary afternoon tea offered by the hotel.
A great FR as usual! Well done. Always very pleasant to read with nice take off and landing videos and great food-oriented bonuses ;) Keep up the great work!
Thanks for this nice FR.
Definitely 5 star service service on this 2,5 hour flight.
The meal is impressing, and when cost cutting means preventing waste (butter example) but not removing an item entirely, I'm okay.
Beautiful hotel in Bali too.