The Final Leg of my Journey

25th August 2021

This one could also be entitled “The Truly Extravagant Business Class”.

Time slowly ticked around in the Changi Airport Terminal 3 for me and my fellow transit passengers. I did end up getting a snack from the cart in the big transit lounge and got to spend some of the Singaporean money I was carrying with me.

Healthy food wasn’t available – so a Snickers Bar and a small Cadbury’s Milk Chocolate bar was taken back to the correct Transit lounge. I didn’t end up ordering food from the Hudson’s stand, which would have come from the open and inaccessible restaurants in the airport. Instead I ordered two tiny serves of the chicken pasta again. At least in the box there was a couple of tiny pieces of broccoli, so I had some veggies (the closest thing to healthy on offer).

Dinner the same as lunch in the transit lounge

The loudspeaker was very busy calling for passengers for each of the flights leaving for other parts of the world. Flights were off to Moscow, Berlin, Tokyo and Los Angeles. They also called out for the missing passenger with the warning that they flight was preparing for departure. In the restricted world of international travel, you really wouldn’t want to miss your flight.

Just before 1 am, they called for passengers on my flight SQ052 to Manchester. They insisted on providing me with some more of the VIP service, by taking me via wheelchair to the gate. I have no idea what the gate number was or any details of the flight as I didn’t see any information boards on the way. I just had to trust that my helper knew where I was supposed to be and I wasn’t going to end up in Moscow.

There were about 8 other guests who must have had VIP service too, as they were already at the gate. I suspect they have may have been in the other transit lounge. While I waited quite a few more passengers arrived.

The departure gate. The other walking passengers are yet to arrive.

I asked one of the cabin crew later how many of us there were and there are 11 in Business and 63 in Economy – so by today’s numbers, quite a few of us.

I was boarded pretty quickly and had a separate entrance to the people in Economy. Once inside, I could see that this plane was a step up from the business class for the Adelaide to Singapore flight. The seating pods are as big as 2 economy seats and they have a fold-down bed, complete with linen.

We are all aboard. But plenty of seats available.

Again the cabin crew were amazing and they fell in love with Fin straight away. It is lovely that stuffed toys are so universal. One of the hostesses said she has a Build-a-Bear Monkey that she loves. They were very keen to take our photo, which was fine by Fin and me.

It didn’t take long to get everyone on board and then to start the back out from the gate. The flight left on time at 1.30 am. There wasn’t much to see out of the window because it was dark as soon as we reached up into the sky. My seat is almost opposite the right engine. Please carry us safely.

Fin made sure he wore his mask for the flight.

I checked out the map for our journey and was a bit worried that it appeared we were going to be flying over Afghanistan and Kabul. For history, with the moving of US and other international troops out of the country, the Taliban has taken over again. The airport is currently a war zone.

We appear to be going to fly over Kabul Afghanistan.

Luckily, during a chat with one of the hostesses, I learned that the flight path had been changed and we would not be going anywhere near there. It would mean the flight is a little longer but really won’t make that much difference.

Supper came about pretty quickly and for airline food, it was very nicely presented and my crusted fish was nicely cooked. The white table cloth was placed over my tray table and again I had proper crockery and cutlery. The fish was accompanied by julienne carrots, broccoli and potatoes with a white sauce on it. There was a slice of garlic bread and a warm bread roll. For entrée was a small prawn cocktail with a very thin slice of cucumber, some Edamame (soy beans) and red quinoa. The dessert was a lemon butter cate with lavender cream. Very nice.

I sat up for a while with the map slowly scrolling through the journey. The 3D map had a setting so you can see where you are going, where you are, the view from above and the view as if from the front of the plane. It is a shame that it doesn’t have the real view.

When one of the hostesses wanted to know if I would like to have the bed made up, that sounded like a good idea. It is pretty early in the morning Australian and Singapore time and somehow I need to be able to turn my hours around. That’s when things got extravagant!

If I liked, I could have a bed made up in the seating pod behind me. That sounded good. The back of the chair folds down and out, filling the seating space with a mattress of sorts, on which a fitted sheet is placed, two pillows and a quilted blanket.

It was a little like sleeping on a Japanese mattress, a bit hard under the shoulder and hips, but I slept for about 3 hours before my knees started to ache and woke me up. With osteoarthritis in both knees, I get quite still and uncomfortable if I sit for a while or lay with my knees bent. I needed to get up and stretch. So I visited the galley where two of the cabin crew were on duty. Such nice young people.

They said that having 11 of us was quite good, as previously they have had 1 passenger and even none. I asked them what they do if they don’t have anyone to look after and they said they talk to each other. By the end of the flight they know all about each other’s families, likes and dislikes. One of the hostesses said she is married and her husband is in Singapore. She has 3 or 4 flights per month and returns to Malaysia where she can stay with her parents. If she was to return to Singapore to be with her husband, she would need to quarantine for 14 days at her own expense. But she said she is very thankful that she still has her job as so many other airlines have stopped flying and the cabin crews lost their jobs. Because Singapore Airlines is part of the Star Alliance Group of airline companies, they are carrying passengers for the other airlines, so along with freight, the airline is still able to fly.

I asked her about breaks during the flights for the crew, she said that she had just come back from her break. I asked her about where their break area is, she said near the back of the plane, upstairs. It is a very small area with a tiny bunk in it. I complimented on how lovely she looked considering she had just got up. She said, powder and lots of practice. The female cabin crew are beautifully dressed and look after themselves, while most of the passengers on long haul flights look like tired bedraggled hobos by the time they reach their destination. I am hoping that having a bed to sleep in and room to stretch out, I will be presentable.

As a more senior looking member of the crew came into the galley she turned her attention to him and I wandered back to my bed. Peeping out the window, were appeared to be over land as I could see sections of lit up roads which appeared to be leading to street grids, perhaps housing. I didn’t turn on the map to see where we were, as the cabin was dark and I didn’t want to disturb the other passengers. I settled down for some more sleep.

The sharp right turn takes us back on the flight path, up long side the Red Sea (minus a visit to Afghanistan airspace).

Once I awoke again, it was 5 am Manchester time. I actually felt quite refreshed and not tired anymore. So with a couple of hours to go, the offer of a glass of apple juice sounded good and an early breakfast. Again the food was pretty good and nicely presented. This morning scrambled eggs with cheese, cubed potatoes, mushrooms and small breakfast sausages. There was a small croissant, cupcake, sliced fruit and a yoghurt. I opened the window blind to reveal the morning sunshine.

Because my laptop is Wi-Fi enabled, I was able to access Facebook and send a message of Good Morning. So many kilometers above the earth and I can connect with friends. The world might be separated by closed boarders, but the internet, email, Facebook, messenger keep us all connected.

So there is only an hour until we reach Manchester. The next phase of my life journey awaits. Thanks Singapore Airlines for making the journey a good one.

Fin likes to see where we are travelling over too.

With almost no planes or passengers, ground staff are not at all busy. So I went through my own version of International Border Security (minus the camera crew). I was taken aside and all my bags and cases were opened, emptied and checked. Not a single bad thing in sights, except the bags of Jaffas, Tiny Teddy biscuits, Twisties and Cheese and Bacon Snack biscuits. But as they are gifts for my family to munch on (the things they can’t buy in Manchester), I was allowed to keep them. The security staff were lovely and friendly and very apologetic for having to empty my bags and attempt to re-stuff them.

Once released. This gorgeous girl, my daughter Natasha was here to meet me.