Will it be the Dom or the Krug? SQ J, EY F, EY Apartments & SQ Suites

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SQ226 Menus

 

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Menus continued

 

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Sponsor are you sure there is no USB charging port behind the drop down panel beside TV?

Some metal the 'blocks' have been removed from J cabins clearly they have on your bird - others still retain them - the Diamond J seats are just too wide to rest your elbows each side without the blocks - but I am sure after a couple Charlie Heidies all will be fine - hope you have a great trip.

Nothing on this bird.

They had an international power socket there which for most sensible people would be more than adequate.

I am however not one of those people as I had packed the usb cable only and left the wall adapter in my checked bag.

You are right though with the generous pouring of libations it was well down on my list of worries.

My primary problem was the instant gin headache upon consumption of a Singapore Sling. I know gin does this to me most times but I couldn't resist temptation.

Lucky I know the cure and the doctor on board was happy to prescribe me 100ml of single malt stat.

 

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Only one choice for entree Gravlax paired with the Charles Heidsieck.

I had the Rendang for main which was fantastic and went quite well with both the Riesling and a Singapore Sling.

A very healthy pour of the Highland Park accompanied dessert which I was a bit less focused on taking any pictures by this point. It was chocolate, it was good.

 

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After a short cab ride to the Conad we were greeted at the door and whisked to the front desk where there was no line.

I was impressed to be told that despite the hotel being close to capacity (suites had all been sold over a week in advance) so no upgrades available my selected room had been retained as well as another room blocked for me that better met my usual preferences (high floor away from the elevators).

After checking the map on the app I decided to retain my original room as the blocked room was towards the centre of the building and despite being on the top floor would have had a view directly onto the Pan pacific. The room I selected was numbered **06 which is on the western end so had a view between the Pan Pacific and Marina Mandarin towards Marina Bay and the city skyline.

The **06 rooms have a view identical to the library part of the lounge.

Not quite as spectacular as the Executive Marina View Room we had at Marina Bay Sands last time we were in Singapore but at about 1/3 of the price I would struggle to justify the change again especially when we will have a rather hefty point earn from this stay.

Thanks to gummibear on Flyertalk for the reccomendation.

We were asked if we would prefer cookies, chocolate or wine as our amenity. We chose the wine which was an acceptable if young 2015 Margaret River Shiraz (the same red that was served in the lounge).

There was also a obligatory Conrad Bear, rubber ducky, small fruit plate and box of chocolates waiting in the room.

 

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Sundays at the Conrad mean one thing Oscar's Supercarged Champagne Brunch.

This really is the definition of overindulgence.

The selection of items and high quality of ingredients is something I have not experienced at a buffet before.

I won't bore you with photos of everything but these were my two favourite items:
Boston & Slipper Lobsters, King Crabs and Scallops (the freshly shucked oysters here were the most popular and a line quickly formed).

The London Duck though was what I most enjoyed. I don't quite understand the name as they are flown in from Ireland and the dish didn't seem to originate in London but I guess a duck by any other name tastes as sweet.

There really was an abundance of high quality food, other highlights included Echire butter, foie gras station, US prime rib roast, sashimi and the signature coughtails of the day which used nitrogen ice cream infused with gin (mixed berry or Pimm's flavour) scooped into the glass then covered in tonic. Gin often gives me a headache but it was worth the risk to try each of these. The Pimm's was the superior but only by a nose. At this point we switched away from the LP and made full use of the free flow mojitos.

While we got there bang on 12:30 the place was already hopping. I would definitely make a reservation and plan on getting there early as we hit the lobster station first which had abut 3 people ahead of us getting oysters shucked, by the time we had picked up our first plateful and got back to our table the line was about 15 deep. This then ebbed after about 2 hours into service where you could wander up and gt whatever you wanted with no wait.

We had the Champagne Package which included free flow Laurent Perrier, wine and coughtails at $158++ SGD. Even though we enjoyed the Champagne I think the standard alcohol package at $118++ SGD was the best value (if you don't want to drink it is $98++) as it just substitutes the LP for Chandon sparkling. If we were to do it again I would probably stick to the coughtails.

 

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On wandering around the area near the hotel I stumbled across a GTR meet up. Not the most tasteful mods but amazing cars nonetheless.

 

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Last night we went to the Night Safari as we missed out on this last time we were here due to my wife picking up a nasty flu.

I am really glad we made the effort as it was a fantastic night. I didn't take a camera as flash photography is understandably not allowed so there are no pictures

I was amazing being able to see so many unique animals up close and when they are active. Hearing a loin roar as we are walking down a narrow densely vegetated path had me second guessing the displays security measures for a moment or two.

We booked through the hotel concierge which used RMG Tours. They had a slightly odd system where a bus went around picking up others from a few hotels before alighting at Gardens by the Bay to pay and then be split up onto other busses according to the tour booked.

By booking a tour you had an express access to the tram tour which I was glad for as there were significant lines for tickets and the trams. After the tram we had just enough time to complete all the walking trails.

However time was rather tight as we had to be back at the meeting point by 22:05 to board the bus back to the hotel. If you wanted to complete ll the trails then you would need to make sure you have eaten prior to pick up from your hotel.

There was also a $5 bus transfer available back to the city but the last of these looked to be at 22:30.

 

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It is about time I tried to catch up on this report.

After a great stay at the Conrad Singapore we checked out at the Executive Lounge at about 5pm and made our way to Changi for our flight to MLE.

The Silverkris lounge in Terminal 2 is nice enough but not much to really say. Champagne was served by request along with Tiger beer on tap or Heineken in a can, a limited wine and spirit selection. The hot food was rotated relatively regularly in the time we were there, however there was nothing really that great on offer either.

Overall this is a pretty underwhelming lounge considering it is in SQ's home port.

 

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After a trek to what felt the farthest gate from the lounge we finally boarded SQ452.

The cabin was about 3/4 full and given the 2-2-2 layout it is hard to get any photos without other people being featured prominently.

Anyone who flew the old VA A330 Business seat will be familiar with the product. It is a serviceable angled flat seat for flights of this length.

 

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I had ordered the Lobster Thermidor via Book the Cook while my wife had the beef filet off the normal menu.
Prawn Entree

 

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As we arrived into MLE well afte the seaplanes stopped I had booked a cheap one night stay at a hotel on Hulhumale called h78. It was $125 via the VA Agoda site and included breakfast and return airport transfers.

The hotel is rather small (as are most buildings on this man made island). There is still a significant amount of construction going on in the area. With the exception of the beach it isn't much to look at.

It was relatively new, clean and comfortable enough for a one night stay.

View from the room in the morning

 

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The Conrad Lounge at the seaplane terminal is a very pleasant place to while away an hour.

We both had a massage and a small bite to eat. There were plenty of non alcoholic options in the fridges and ample food to have a decent light breakfast. After seeing the prices of a can of coke or bottle of juice on Rangali ($7 USD++) I wish I had put a couple in my bag.

We ended up boarding the first seaplane to Rangali after waiting for some extra pax who had arrived into MLE that morning.

It was a pleasant 30 minute flight to Rangali and it isn't often you can view the pilots working away in shorts and thongs.

After a smooth touch down we were finally at Rangali

 

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While in the Lounge at Changi I was glad to see we had been given a complimentary upgrade for our first 2 nights to a Deluxe Beach Villa and for an additional night in a Water Villa (I had already paid 275 USD to confirm the last night in a Water Villa).

We were greeted off the plane by Alex the Guest Service's Manager (we appeared to be the only people he spoke to on our flight so I suspect this was due to us both having diamond status) and our Island host Anees. Anees was fantastic though out our stay and really made our stay absolutely carefree.

Anees informed us of our upgrades and said that our room was in fact ready for us and he would take us there now. This was an unexpected bonus given it was only 11am Rangali time (Rangali is 1 hour ahead of MLE).

As you can imagine we were excited to get to the room and what a room it was:
[video=youtube;kijvIJwTKdE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kijvIJwTKdE&t=21s[/video]

We had been given a bottle of prosecco, fruit platter, box of chocolates, welcome letters and cards from the GM and a 10% off voucher for Ithaa, Koko Grill or beach dining.

 

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After settling into our room and enjoying the complimentary bottle of sparkling by the pool we headed over to Vilu for the Gold & Diamond evening 'coughtails'.

Unfortunately this benefit has now been 'enhanced' and no longer includes coughtails. Drinks on offer are now wine, mocktails, beer and spirits.

It really is a lovely spot and the pours were generous, do not however expect any more than a token amount of food. We stayed here until about 6:30 and felt that we had enough to drink that we stayed on water with dinner.

We were joined by the resident Heron George who seemed to make a habit of arriving around the same time each day at breakfast then coughtail hour.

We then caught the Dhoni back to the main island for our dinner at Sunset Grill.

Having not quite yet had my fill of crustaceans at Oscar's and on the SQ flight I decided to have the Maldivian Lobster which was $60++ USD and my wife had the Maldivian Tuna which was about $40++ USD.

We both really enjoyed dinner at Sunset Grill and upon reflection I think that this was the best value place we went for dinner while here.

 

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Apologies for the delays in updating this report, I have had some laptop issues and adding photos via a phone is just too difficult.

On the 2nd day we went to Ithaa for the canapes. I am glad we went but would probably not do it again. It did start to get very warm towards the end of our hour there so I would imagine lunch would not be very comfortable.

 

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We followed up the canapes (which as you can see above were not even close to a meal, it was really just an excuse to go down to the restaurant) with a lunch at Ufaa which was decent value when compared to other options.

After lunch we wandered around the main island and then had a quick swim of the beach outside our villa. It really is a stunning place.

Mandhoo

 

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That afternoon we returned to Vilu for the coughtail hour and decided to stay on for dinner.

While they made up the tables the lovely waitress suggested we watch the sunset from the beach to the right of the 2nd island reception. It was a great view which we had to ourselves from the swing seat.

 

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The next day I had the Whaleshark snorkelling excursion booked. Unfortunately we did not find any that day (apparently none had been sighted for the week).

It was disappointing not to see the big fish but we did come across a few pods of dolphins, sea turtles and even some flying fish so it was not a total loss.

While I was on the excursion my wife had 2 spa treatments booked (at each of the two spas) as a HHonors Diamond she received a complimentary addition 15 minutes for each treatment. She was extremely happy with the treatments but be prepared the cost is significant.