-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Just got back from Malaysia following a rushed trip due to a family emergency. It was a typically efficient trip on SQ. LHR-SIN SQ321 747-400 9V-SPO Having bought the ticket about 18 hours or so before departure I wasn't optimistic that the internet check in would be available. It was and it was pleasing given the rushed nature of our last minute trip to be able to check in on the net and not have to be at the airport until an hour before departure. There wern't many seat choices left but I chose row 32 which is the front of the Y cabin against the bulkhead. Not the best legroom, but no-one in front and fairly quiet. Depositing the baggage and collecting the boarding passes was straightforward. Heathrow remains a hole that should be raised to the ground and rebuilt as an airport not a tin shed - the less time spent there the better. At the gate we were informed that since the bulkhead was needed for a family with a baby we had been moved to the exit row 39 - nice stroke of luck before a long flight. On board the aircraft the cabin looked to have been through a major clean recently since it was spotless. SQ has recently introduced a new on demand IFE system which is great. About 20 movies and maybe 100 other programmes from sitcoms to documentaries all available on demand. The really nice thing is that the system remembers where you are in each program, so say if I want to check the map, go to the bathroom, or play a game I can come back to the exact point in the film where I left. Nice. The downside is that the system seems to run Windows NT 3.51, and crashes about as often as you'd expect with NT - 2/3 screens in our row needing a reset over the flight. Departure from Heathrow was straight out over the Thames Estuary and then across Holland, Germany, Eastern Europe. We flew straight across the middle of the Caspian Sea, across Turkmenistan, Afganistan and briefly Pakistan before crossing India. Once across the Bay of Bengal we skirted the coast of Malaysia, flying straight over Langkawi before descending into Singapore arriving in 10 hours 30 minutes - 90 minutes early thanks to a ripping tailwind which pushed us along at 1100km/h + for the majority of the flight. Throughout the night the seemingly ever happy and polite Cabin Crew worked very hard to keep us in food and drinks throughout. 2 meals and a snack - all good were served togther with many passes through the cabin with drinks. Changi airport remains the neatest, most efficient airport I've ever been to. SIN - KUL SQ118 777-200 9V-? SQ seems to have stopped using the A310 on the Kuala Lumpur run which is a shame because they were my favourite ride. The 777 isn't as nice inside - seems claustraphobic with the 3-3-3 seating but it's still a tidy aircraft . For the 45 minute sector to KUL I would guess the takeoff is derated as far it's possible to go, the Trent's hardly stirring as we climbed rapidly away from Singapore in a heavy rainshower. Cruising at 21000 feet the cabin was very quiet even though in row 30 something we were right over the wing. Landing into KUL is a bit like descending into black hole. The airport is 50km or so from the city and there's nothing but darkness until the threshold lights. The KL airport itself remains in pretty prestine condition and is a pleasure to use. KUL-SIN SQ105 A340-300 9V-SJL I/Net check in once again allowed a late arrival at the airport, although the 160 km/h antics of our taxi driver demonstrated that we hadn't entirely got our 'there's no hurry' message across. This flight was down as a 777 again, but it turned out to be an A-340 as it was the last time we used it. The A340 is the nicest jet in the SQ fleet. 2-4-2 seating is comfortable and the cabin quiet and airey. It's interesting to watch such a large aircraft being turned around relatively fast. Just 40 minutes or so to unload 250 + bags and what looked like a full hold of cargo and then load up with 250 more people and again a full cargo hold. A real hive of activity on the ramp. We waited behind a few interesting aircraft for take off. An AirAsia.com 747-200 with Icelandic registration and a Transmile 727-200 both made loud ponderous departures ahead of our lightly fueled A-340s more sprightly effort. Arrival in Singapore was through heavy rain a few minutes early. SIN-LHR SQ320 747-400 9V-SMR I think airlines have flights timed like this to allow people like me to justify to their partners why exactly we should pay for a business class ticket. It's a long daylight flight packed with sunburnt Brits from Aus into the miserable hole that is Heathrow. It's not the nicest prospect but the new IFE system and the very friendly crew did make it pass by as pleasantly as possible. We routed north up the coast of Malaysia, across the Bay of Bengal, across India, Pakistan, Iran, a bit of Turkey and into Europe. Arrival in LHR was 30 minutes early in 13 hours 10 minutes. Heathrow is worse on arrival than departure. The first sight most visitors to the UK will see is torn carpet - trip hazard surely? missing ceiling panels and total lack of signage / maps of how to get out of the airport. Terminals 1, 2 and 3 should be systematically demolished and rebuilt. It's the only way. A typically nice trip with SQ. David -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE+KkzCKsvwCXwmAPgRAiuvAJ0RHfzN7hsidqqrDUQRR2UBXDodBwCgiM/X w93mEvsDgURkdMTozD7K68k= =EUXF -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----