Brisbane - Dubai - Cebu - Brisbane

[albatross710]

During May I had the pleasure of travelling on SQ & MI in J as I added a new country to my travels (Bahrain) and managed some work commitments along the way. The highlight of my flights are always the meals which I enjoyed as follows:

My last SQ trip was back in January. I was glad to see that the J menu cover has been updated.



On the SQ494 SIN-DXB leg the meal started with this Starter.


Marinated salmon with spicy kong choi salad and mesclun with citrus dressing.



On this SIN-DXB sector I had taken the Book the Cook option with the 6 Oz Ribeye.


For the finale, Macadamia ice cream with fruit coulis.

 

[albatross710]

With the meal out of the way it was time to play. I asked for a special blind servicing of the three different espresso coffees that they have avialable. I requested without sugar, no cream and just short black coffee.



I must say that each coffee did have distinctive flavours. My preference is still the Colombian which I find more rounded and settles better on the long flight.

Not surprisingly, I didn't sleep much for the remainder of this leg.

 

[albatross710]

Prior to landing in Dubai they offered a choice of Mee goreng or this Walnut bread with beef pastrami, Swiss cheese and coleslaw served with gherkin and potato chips.

 

[albatross710]

On the return SQ453 DXB - SIN i really enjoyed this mild horseradish. This Starter is described as Smoked salmon and smoked trout with marinated artichoke and horseradish cream.



Once again I went for a Book The Cook option in my booking and went for the Gulf style lamb shanks, sautéed spinach with garlic and onions, and saffron rice.



Although the mango ice cream looked great, I went for this serving of Blueberry cheesecake.



As this was an overnight flight, i skipped the coffee on this meal.

 

[albatross710]

With just enough time to freshen up in Singapore before my connecting Silk Air flight to CEB I was happy to skip the lounge meal and wait until the enjoyable MI catering.

My flight MI588 departed on time and before long i was presented with this.






Finally a breakfast meal that had plenty of sauce. This is an omelette with what could be described as a potato fritter. Certainly tasty and appreciated.


The complete view.


Of course, i washed it all down with fresh drip filter coffee. I loved the shape of the Silk Air coffee cups.

 

[albatross710]

A token picture taken over Philippines. I'm assuming this is after some heavy rainfall washing the mud into the otherwise pristine waters.

 

[albatross710]

This is how the Silk Air J seats are presented on the A320. each day, the aircraft does the route, SIN-CEB-DVO-SIN. I think on alternate days it does the reverse routing.

I find the MI cabin crew friendly and very professional. The MI role suits FA's whom want to be home in Singapore at the end of each work day.

 

[albatross710]

On my return MI588 CEB-SIN sector I enjoyed these meals. The thing with these meals is that they are loaded in the morning and kept on dry ice for the day ie SIN-DVO-CEB and then prepared for the final sector. I'm not sure that broiled beans present well 12 hours after preparation.



ENJOY!

The final leg SIN-BNE was overnight. I ate before boarding and virtually slept from takeoff to landing

Another wonder trip wrapped in the SIA cocoon.

 

[LadyC]

Thanks for the trip report! I'm flying MI and SQ in J in December so it's interesting to see what the food and aircraft are like. You obviously enjoyed it which is great and bodes well for me

 

[Major]

Good to see a meat and veg man in action....great TR

 

[Simo]

I am hungry..

Wot did you think of CBU airport.

 

[albatross710]

CEB is a bit of a shambles. It does achieve its main objective of moving people yet in it's own way could be so much better.

International arrivals when I have arrived in J - I'm through immigration in moments, wait ages for baggage and lose much of the 'first arriver' advantage, wonder if they do recognise priority baggage and then clear through the casual customs. Summary - biggest problem is the slow baggage arrival.

Departure is fairly simple. 2 baggage scans. P500 'foreigners' departure tax to be paid in cash. Mabouhay lounge nice and quiet.

Domestic flight arrivals and departures were simple for me as I had no checked bags. As of May 12 Online check-in was still new as they still asked us to get printed boarding passes at airport. Both the departure and arrival were stand off aircraft so no aerobridge.

From the stories I hear of MNL, CEB is a low stress way to enter Phils.

Two time si have purchased SIM cards from the vendor at the airport. Last time the stitched me up a little...I asked and paid for P300 charge, they only loaded P200. It was annoying as P100 (~A$2.20) was the difference between getting the usage plan I needed for data and voice. By the time it had activated I as out of the airport and too had to go back.

Also, at CEB, don't use the 'fixed' price service to hotels. Walk across the road, up the ramp and access the metered taxi's from the arrivals rank.

 

[Simo]

I have done CEB twice.

Not as hectic as MNL.

I only flew in and out a domestic pax, Taxi line is crazy as I landed at the same time as another few planes. But a few hundred Peso's and it get us to the fron of the line and out of there very quick.