Seafood skewers for breakfast. Photo / Louise Taylor
Louise Taylor flies aboard SQ952, from Singapore to Jakarta.
The plane: A B777-300ER. There are 27 of these in Singapore's fleet.
Class: Business.
Price: You can get on this flight for $1026 return in Business Class.
Flight time: 1hr, 12m. This short, regional hop left on time from a busy Changi Airport.
My seat: 22A - window seat near the back of Business Class. These are fully lie-flat beds.
Fellow passengers: Business travellers jetting between heaving Asian capitals.
How full: Fairly empty. More hosts than customers. For such a short flight, you might not think it necessary to fly Business Class, but after coming off a 10-hour flight from Auckland (and with a meeting to get to on arrival in Jakarta), I was grateful for the space and comfort.
Entertainment: A large screen and so many good movies I wanted to see. Many from the New Zealand International Film Festival (still screening back in Auckland) were being shown. This made a difference from the Air New Zealand offerings on the way up where I struggled to find something of interest. Only problem was the flight time - I would have missed the end of a movie and I hate that. Settled for reading a newspaper and watching parts of Indo below me. Hot tropical cumulus clouds.
Food and drink: On this breakfast flight, I avoided the eggs and chicken sausages and went instead for the colourful seafood skewers with rice and vegetables held together by a stick of lemongrass. Very tasty, a bit like fish cakes in kecap manis sauce, it was the stand-out choice. Coffee and a fresh fruit bowl.
The service: Staff were very courteous and efficient, managing a full-service on a one-hour flight. I love that classic outfit the beautiful women wear. Nothing quite like it.
The toilets: Clean and tidy. They had a facial moisturising mist which was refreshing, a good makeup mirror and fresh orchids. Nice touch.
Luggage: Travelling light, so no check-in.
The airport experience: At Changi, we had a very short connection from our Auckland flight, so had to hot-foot it to this flight which meant catching a bus to another terminal and walking a fair distance to catch the flight. Less down time and a brisk walk suited me fine.
The bottom line: Singapore's Business Class is a terrific way to arrive in great shape for a business mission in Asia.
'I find travelling more stressful than performing on stage.'