A SIngapore Airlines 777-300. Photo / Aero Icarus
The plane: Boeing 777-300ER
Class: Economy
Price: There's a sale on at the moment and you can get return Economy Class tickets for $980 (travel between February 1 and September 15).
Flight time: 9h 40m.
On time? Passed all necessary beep tests.
My seat: 60A for uh-oh. A window seat's all well and good, but I tend to experience ablution-phobia when a direct pathway to the dunny is cut off. Visions of launching a rhino-hoofed vault across the seats and crashing into my rowmates' laps played on my mind. Nadia Comaneci would have struggled to dismount from here. I threw the old-age-pensioner rug across my knees, chucked on Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb and tried to relax.
Fellow passengers: Early baby boomers Joyce and Jim, in 60B and 60C, proved delightful company. They earned further kudos by pretending to stay asleep as I trampled across them mid-flight. One disappointment was the absence of the Guinness Book of Records to record the decibel levels of a woman in row 58 who blew her nose like a vuvuzela throughout the flight.
The toilets: Relatively clean bogs. Always advisable to go earlier rather than later though.
The service: Singapore Airlines' staff are always composed. No problem is insurmountable.
How full: Sardine-like, but I appreciate every airline's got to operate at a profit to survive.
Food and drink: A let down. Encountered some grubby cutlery; the beef casserole was stewed gangster-tough, and does anyone really eat that pale chicken sausage for breakfast? If so, they must be hungrier than I was.
Entertainment: Impossible to exhaust the options here. Found myself captivated by Pawn Sacrifice, a biopic of Bobby Fischer's duels against the Soviet chess grandmasters during the Cold War, ending with the world championship match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik. Talk about a tortured genius.
Luggage: I boarded late, but still had the luxury of depositing my carry-on bag above my head.
The airport experience: Changi remains spacious and efficient. One of the world's great travel hubs. If you have time between flights, the massages are recommended if preparing for half a day's solitary confinement.
Would I fly this again? Yes. Singapore Airlines consistently provide a quality flying experience, principally because their staff project genuine empathy to the passengers cooped within. There's nothing like top customer service to alleviate angst.
The national park is home to more large mammals than anywhere in North or South America.