Euro autumn to Cebu heat BNE-MIL ZRH-CEB CEB-BNE

[albatross710]

Every two years the ALbatross likes to head to Milano for a hospitality trade fare. Last week I found myself at BNE and walking towards Gate 83 to board Singapore Airlines 9V-STO headed for SIN, FRA & MIL. The flight route reflects taking advantage of the diminishing opportunity for J Saver redemptions to Europe.On board, the exceptional ability of the SQ staff comes into action. Welcoming, accommodating and efficient. I have a wonderful feeling that for the next 24 hours I am going to be cocooned in the SQ service. I boarded early allowing time to change from my street clothes into a tracksuit.

Departure was to the north with a classic departure captured on the IFE.

After takeoff, the drink that I had pre-ordered was delivered along with a packet of mixed nuts.The meal service was standard, high quality SQ fare.

Arrival into Changi was on schedule. I was meeting up with a friend whom was co-incidentally transiting SIN at the same time. His SilkAir flight was also on schedule and we met up to spend quality time drinking a few G&Ts in the Terminal 3 Silver Kris lounge.

As part of this trip left a cabin bag of clothes and documents that I would need on my return trip via Cebu. The left luggage office is located behind the Adidas shop in the centre of T3. The process needed by Passport for identification. With no immediate plans to be visiting the old dart, I paid for the service using GBP that Mrs Albatross710 had left over from her trip. Change was given in SGD.

As scheduled departure time approached I noticed how much more crowded the lounge and T3 had become since the 8:40 arrival. Consequently my thought of having a shower before leaving the lounge failed. Other people were much more patiently queuing.My friend and I left the lounge, he heading to BNE and me to FRA on 744 9V-SPQ.

I was pleasantly rewarded that I had selected the upper deck exit row seat 17K. A very spacious area.INSERT IMAGEThe onboard service gets underway masking the aging the aircraft. The seat is the older style and doesn’t lie flat. The decore feels tired.

More to follow.

 

[RB]

Certainly ranks up there in the legroom stakes! Looking forward to reading the rest

 

[albatross710]

The overnight flight onto FRA left right on schedule.

After pushback I was surprised to see the screen pulled down for the safety briefing. Certainly an indicator as to the age of the 747 fleet.

Arrival into FRA was delayed due to the heavy fog. This panorama shot shows the SIA parked at Terminal C.

My connecting flight to MIL wasn't yet allocated a gat. I decided to head for Terminal B and then had to decide whether to head toward Gates 1-19 or >20. Based on my experience connecting to ZRH back in January, I decided to make my way to the higher gate levels. No sooner had I made way through immigration and security that gate was posted and I needed to head to Gate 12. Grrrr, another round of security, another removal of laptop from the bag, another risk of loosing the bottle of Bundaberg rum.

I didn't bother with lounge access, with the late arrival and the various security checks I only had about 40 minutes to wait for the next flight. Each of the departure gates had an impressive and free coffee machine and newspapers anyway.

The coffee machine provides a wide choice of drinks. I opted for a hot chocolate and an International Herald Tribune.

The aircraft was not parked at an aerobridge and required a bus transfer to the apron. On the way, we had to give way to SQ26 as it continued on its was to New York.

 

[albatross710]

I had my preferred window seat 2A on the flight from FRA-MIL. B & E sets are keep vacant in LH J class. For me I also had 2C vacant which gave me plenty of room to consolidate my cabin baggage, rearrange my documents and prepare for arrival into MIL.

The breakfast onboard was quite good. That salad was very nice.

Enjoying the breakfast, fresh euro-style coffee and a window seat overlooking the Swiss Alps is a nice way to spend the flight.

 

[albatross710]

My accommodation on the ground in Europe I arranged by bidding on Priceline.com. I stayed in nice hotels Milano Hilton & Zurich Marriott for about USD110 per night.

Travel between Milano & Zurich was via train. Tickets can now be booked online which avoids the ling queues at Milan station. Two years ago when I tried to use the Italian trains website it was hopeless. Now it is quite easy. Also, at Milan station there are no longer machines to book international tickets. All international tickets are either via the counter sales (and long queue) or via the website.

Website sales issue a PRN which is used to collect the ticket from the station machines which will still dispense the pre-booked international tickets.

I booked a First Class seat for the 4 hour journey based solely on the access to in seat power and more room to allow working.

Surprisingly. the train left 10 minutes late and was then 30 minutes late into Zurich...most un-Swiss. On the train there was no border crossing formality.

 

[albatross710]

The leg from ZRH - SIN is operated by the A380, all J upper deck. I had seat 71K.

I love the departures screens when I am Europe. They just feel like you can be almost anywhere in a short time.

The lounge services at the terminal in Zurich are provided in thh Panorama lounge. I like this lounge as it has good views of the aircraft operations, the operating runway and views from both sides of the building. Catering in thelounge is quite nice, hot and cold food options. Fresh croissants.

The upper deck was about 60% occupancy, so it was feeling spacious. I had a spare seat in front of me.

The onboard dining was of course excellent. The stock standard SQ Satay Sticks were served with a healthy amount of peanut sauce.

For starter was Yam neau, described as Thai spicy beef salad with mint.

For main meal I had the Gaeng Phed Kung described as Thai style prawn curry with oriental vegetables and steamed rice. I find that after a week in Europe of pastas, creamy dishes and pastry, I really enjoy Asian foods.

With my after dinner coffee I enjoyed a cheese platter cut freshly from the trolley. So while I do enjoy my first taste of Asian, I enjoyed the final taste of European cheeses.

 

[albatross710]

As wide and as wonderfully engineered that the SQ New Business Class seat is, I don't always have a comfortable sleep. With my height of 186 cms, I find that the total length of the sleep area is a touch to small. On this trip, I further refined the problem to the 'overhang' of the seat in front. When the SQ seat is in the fully flat position, one's feet have to go into the alcove under the seat in front. I've noticed that the seat curves over the top of my feet and doesn't give them clearance. Nothing major, just a little uncomfortable.

As the seat in front of me was a bulk head seat it didn't have the overhand from another seat. I set up the seat in front of my for sleeping and had a great night sleep. My recommendation is if you are tall and.or ou have big feet, go for a bulkhead seat, even though the seat pitch may be the same, the fact that the wall infront is flat and not overhanging your space will make for a better experience.

On the flight, I also checked out the very last row of J seats on the all J upper deck. On the seat maps those four seats look like they are quite a distance from the rest of the J cabin. In reality, they are still quite consistent with the rest of the cabin. I'd be happy to have one of those seats.

The all J seat upper deck is yet to be added to Seatguru.

 

[albatross710]

The overnight sleep was great. Very restful but in reality I was sleeping from about 4 pm Swiss time to 9pm.

I had earlier order the light breakfast which is served closer to landing. I was hoping to sleep long. When the FA saw me awake, she changed my breakfast order to the full breakfast.

The breakfast menu consists of choice of juice, sliced fruit, cereals and yoghurt, choice of mains and then croissants or pastry. I went for the main of Warm French toast with berry compote and mascarpone cheese.

 

[albatross710]

I encouraged the FA to indulge my interest in coffee. She prepared for me a Kenyan AA Kilimanjaro & a Brazil Santos Bourbon.

They definitely present as two different coffees. The nutty notes of the Brazil were apparent. I enjoyed both.

 

[albatross710]

The early morning arrival into SIN T3 was uneventful. The A380 (9V-SKL) deposited us on-time.

During my time at SIN I went to the left luggage counter and retrieved my additional bag with my Philippines a.k.a. warm weather gear. I caught the railcar to T2 where I went to the landside and checkedin this bag to CEB. I could easily have taken it as cabin bag (which is what I had done from BNE-SIN originally). I was tired of dragging bags around and was happy to see it go down the conveyor.

Re-entering airside was simple and I think it took me a total of 15 minutes to enter Singapore, checkin one piece and then exit the country.

The Silk Air flight to CEB was departing T2 and I felt it was more reliable to carry my own bag from T3 to T2.

The flight left as scheduled and was operated by an A319. Meals on board were very good, as a matter of fact it was my third breakfast of the day. The first was on the A380, then light breakfast at the T2 Krisflyer lounge and then third breakfast onboard. I thought it was a little late from breakfast, maybe it should be brunch.

Layout of the tray was the usual high attention to detail.

The egg omelette was served with a rich tomato sauce. I think the sauce was too runny and was difficult to manage on an airplane. Very edible all the same giving me a good reserve to get through my first CEB afternoon.

Arrival into CEB was a bit of a disaster. Our aircraft arrived right on time but there was no available aerobridge. Consequently the aircraft stayed on the taxiway for 30 minutes until there was a gate. Once on the ground, exit from the aircraft was smooth and followed bya long walk inside the terminal to make it to immigration. 59 day visa on arrival was issued without fuss.

Then another 30 minutes for the priority bags to appear. I didn't realise until I was completing the customs declaration that the Peso cash limit allowed to be carried into the country was only PHP 10,000, about 250 AUD. Up to USD10,000 or equivalent of foreign currency could be carried. If entering again I would change cash upon arrival at CEB. There were two custom officials working the queues. My line was the slowest as he was diligently checking each persona nd their form and having a good look through their bags. I noticed that the other lane was flowing freely with a very casual glance by the officer at the forms and then just waving people through. I changed lines and was quickly through.

At the airport, I purchased a SIM card (PHP100 or AUD2.50) from a vending machine and put PHP300 onto credit. I picked up a private car to my hotel for a fixed price of PHP475 and was on my way. The $10.35 airport fare from Mactan Airport to the city took about 30 minutes and of course, a metered cab which I took on my return trip was PHP205 or about half the price.

Arrival at the Marriott hotel was interesting. Before even getting onto the hotel property, the car was searched and checked for bombs and guns -welcome to the Philippines. Even when I did get the hotel lobby there was a further bag screening and body scanner.

From here I was set for two days of business based in and around the hotel and Ayala shopping centre.

 

[albatross710]

At 1pm on Saturday I checked out the hotel, reclaimed by steak knives from security and caugth a metered cab for PHP205 (AUD5) to the airport. J checkin was simple to get to the counter but they just took so long to check me in for my two sectors back to Brisbane. After checkin, there is also a PHP550 departure tax to be paid.

The departure lounge for Silk Air pax is also the Philippines Airlines lounge, quite pleasant but really just another lounge. By now, 9 days, 4 countries numerous flight sectors I just wanted to board and be home.

The aircraft arrived from Davao and we board 9V-SLK for Singapore. We arrived about 30 minutes late into SIN from where I boarded the overnight flight back to Brisbane. We arrived into BNE about 30 minutes early on Sunday morning. The end of a whirlwind world tour.

Main and creme brulee before bed on the final night.

 

[thewinchester]

Great report so far, look forward to reading the rest.

 

[albatross710]

Great report so far, look forward to reading the rest.

That's all I've got for this one. I start with so much enthusiasm and then as my trip continues, the work builds up, the tiredness builds up and by the time I get home I am out of inspiration! I think I am going to have to extend my overseas trips to allow my body more time to keep up.