Dear Friends Singapore Airlines SQ19 from Los Angeles to Singapore arrived at 0628 this morning, 05 Feb. The Airbus A340-500 completed the 18 hour 08 minute flight 12 minutes ahead of schedule despite a late departure from LAX caused by departure festivities. Cakes and sandwiches were offered at the departure gate send-off, although there was neither champagne nor wines, for which that state is famous for. There were about 20 empty seats on the flight. There were lots of media people on board who spent their time getting material for their stories. The stand-up lounge on the Airbus was the busiest part of plane, where pop tarts and chicken pot pies, baked curry buns, and all the booze one could consume were available. In business class, they had, among other things, omelettes. There was no first class on the two-class aircraft. Departure from LAX was bumpy but after a while things settled down and it was smooth for the rest of the trip. Die cast scale models of the aircraft, with the captain's signature on the box were being sold at US$35 each. By contrast, the arrival in Singapore was a quiet affair. This was probably due to the early hour. There was one cameraman and a reporter from Reuters who interviewed incoming passengers but that was it. Russell SIN