10.287
19 (Sat) October 2019
Lamb Meatballs in Spiced Tomato Sauce
3.0
on Singapore Airlines – SQ 297
-Singapore en route to Christchurch-
solo
Mission to New Zealand, Day 1.
In transit to Wellington. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and National Ethics Advisory Committee, I’ll be coordinating the proceedings of the Second Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting for National Ethics/Bioethics Committees, Tuesday to Wednesday. I coordinated the first AP-NEC meeting two years ago in Seoul (see 8.292 Grilled Lamb).
BRUNCH
For starters, the journey provided GMTD with a first look at the Singapore Airlines SilverKris business class lounge in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
In terms of quality, variety, and taste, the food was the best among the 5 lounges across NAIA that I’ve tried thus far.
My favorite part was the nacho bar, which included warm ground beef and gooey cheese on hot plates.
LUNCH
In flight, Manila to Singapore.
On my first business class travel on Singapore Airlines 4 years ago, I had commended the creativity of the menu but found disappointment in its execution (see 6.243 Ggongchi Kimchi Jjigae). The experience had initially been ranked 4th out of 8 in BEST IN FLIGHT, but it eventually attained the top spot as the higher rankings dropped down over time with poor subsequent showings. I’ve been eager for an opportunity to reassess.
In fact, the Organization had put me on Qantas Airways – which would’ve been okay, too – but I paid $116.50 out-of-pocket to get myself on Singapore Airlines.
AFTERNOON SNACK
I’ve also been looking forward to revisiting the SilverKris lounge at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3.
Again, I was amazed by the spread – a range of Singaporean dishes with Chinese/Malaysian/Indonesian/Indian influences – confirming that the lounge offers the most generous selection of items among any lounge that I’ve seen. As previously noted, the experience was more about fun in choosing, rather than quality or taste, but enough to retain the #2 spot.
As if the buffet weren’t enough, the lounge also featured a made-to-order station for gado gado.
As always, I am grateful for and respectful of the opportunity to travel, especially via business class (see BEST IN FLIGHT), including lounge access (see BEST IN LOUNGE). Any comments here, even the negative ones, are simply relative to other business class experiences, not complaints per se.
DINNER
In flight, Singapore to Christchurch.
Another impressive menu, at least on paper.
The meatballs were fine.
Overall, the in-flight food service seemed a tad better than before – simpler, in a good way – but still underwhelming, not enough to retain the #1 spot – a repositioning may be in order on the way back.
In standard sitting mode, the seat was already luxurious. Then, for sleeping mode, the back of the seat folded down 180° to form a wide, flat bed – above and beyond expectation.
From that previous trip on Singapore Airlines, I had been more impressed by the comfort of the seating and convenience of the amenities, rather than the food (see 6.237 Coconut Panna Cotta).