LAX to Singapore via Tokyo (NRT) on Singapore Airlines Business Class (pt 1 of 4)

This was the first and longest leg of my recent trip to Southeast Asia. This trip would take me to many cities and airports, but I would set foot in Singapore, Luang Prabang (Laos), Koh Samui (Thailand), and Hong Kong. Singapore and Hong Kong would end up being long layovers.  

 

I flew SQ12 from LAX to SIN via NRT. After the 11 hour flight to Tokyo, there is a scheduled 1.5 hour layover, and then another 7 hours to Singapore. The flight leaves LAX at 10am. We arrived just before 8am and the Bradley terminal wasn't very crowded. We checked right in and were through security in minutes. That was a first for me, as security has always been a zoo when I've traveled through there. We went to the Star Alliance Lounge to wait for our flight and there was barely anyone there too. I think our flight might be one of the earliest Star Alliance ones in the day.

This flight is operated by a 777-300ER for the almost 9,000mi trek across the Earth to Singapore.

My seat for the next 18+ hours was the last window before the 2nd exit door, right under the "R" in "Airlines".

That seat was 14K. I loved it, but I had a ton of space and only 1 window. It was fine though. The seat is massive and so comfortable. There's nothing to see for most of the flight anyway.

This was my view back toward the wing.

The KrisWorld entertainment system has so many choices, it was kind of overwhelming. I ended up watching the entire season of the new Star Trek: Discovery series, which I really liked.

The forward section of business class that I was in had 12 seats and they were all occupied for this leg of the flight.

Singapore Airlines gives you the option to preorder the main entree of your meal online. This service is called "Book the Cook." I ordered the crab ravioli with lobster sauce. The service on Singapore is flawless and they checked my order with me before we took off.

This was the starter. I also had coffee because it was still so early in the morning. There was another course of breakfast cereal or yogurt, but I passed on it.

This is the crab ravioli with lobster sauce.

Yummy ice cream for dessert

The seat turns into a massive bed and I actually sat up in it most of the time because of all the room. I brought my own pajama pants and changed into them to be more comfortable. About halfway through the flight I was hungry again, so I asked for some ramen noodles. They brought me this bowl. 

Before we landed, about 2 hours prior, they served the next meal. Again I pre-ordered the main entree and it was stir-fried pork.

The starter was smoked duck breast.

Pork stir fry

Cheese course before dessert

Dessert was a chocolate mouse cake

We were to arrive around 1:30p, which was a little early. I finished watching the last episode of the Start Trek season just as we started descending into Narita.

NokScoot 777-200, which we don't see in the US

We parked at a gate at the very end of the ANA part of Terminal 1 that is right by the ANA Lounge, which we visited and were met by a huge model of the ANA R2D2 787. I haven't seen this plane in person even though it appears at LAX every now and then.

Our layover was supposed to be around 1.5 hours, but since we arrived early it was going to be closer to about 2 hours. When it was time to board, we went to the gate but there was no movement and an announcement was made that boarding was going to be delayed. They said to stay in the boarding area and wait for the next announcement. This went on for over an hour. It was bad. Then I saw our plane push back and leave the gate. Then all of the signage was put away. Clearly they weren't boarding us at that gate. I happened to look at a flight info monitor and noticed that our gate was changed to a bus gate. This was all handled so poorly I couldn't believe this was Japan. So we found the new gate ahead of everyone else and found a seat. At this point there was still no new departure time, so this whole time there was no sense in knowing if you had time to go to the restroom or get food or just walk around and get exercise. There were some pretty pissed off people by the time they all arrived at the new gate. So they put us on buses and took us to our plane. They never gave us a new departure time.

Walking up to the giant 777-300ER

Such a fun view of jets

I actually got to see this plane in real life

Back to 14K for the next 7+ hours while we wait to take off.

By the time we pushed back, it was around 5pm. So we were around 2 hours delayed. They would end up making up some time in the air but the flight time was still over 6.5 hours. On this next leg they serve one meal after take off, which was fine because I ended up falling asleep for most of the rest of the flight. Also the business class cabin was less than half full for this leg.

Smoked salmon starter

I pre-ordered the Japanese beef curry

Another ice cream cake thing for dessert.

I watched one movie during the meal service, "Call me by your name." Then I could barely keep my eyes open and slept the rest of the flight. I woke up as they were preparing the cabin for landing. At Singapore Changi airport we parked so far from baggage claim, it seemed to take forever to get there. The immigration process at Singapore has always been super fast and efficient. Tonight it was the opposite. I don't know if the meeting of the 2 dictators had anything to do with it or not, but that meeting happened 2 days prior. It took around 45 minutes to get just through immigration and then another 10 to get our taxi to the Conrad Centennial Singapore hotel. We checked in and went immediately to sleep since it was around 1am at this point.

The next day we had breakfast at Oscar's, which is the lobby restaurant at the Conrad. It's such a wonderful breakfast spread. This would be the only full day we would have in Singapore, so we decided to see stuff we hadn't seen in previous trips to Singapore. After having coffee with a friend temporarily living in Singapore, we headed out to the Marina Bay to see the Gardens by the Bay. They are free to walk around but they do have some indoor areas that require a ticket. We played it by ear since it was raining off and on. We took the MRT (subway) to the Marina Bay Sands and then walked from there to the giant gardens area. It's basically a huge park with lots of people and families hanging out and walking around. The lines to get into the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome were huge, so we passed. I think this was also the Eid holiday and a Friday, so there were tons of people everywhere.

The view from the room at the Conrad Centennial Singapore, one of my favorite hotels ever.

Odd baby sculpture in the Gardens by the Bay

The giant Marina Bay Sands

Post-apocalyptic trees

For dinner we went to Chinatown to have the cheapest Michelin star meal in the world. It was at Hawker Chan and they have some great meals for around $5USD. It was so awesome. There is nothing better than really good food that is also cheap. There was a line out the door, but it went by fast. You also have to share tables as space is limited.

I got the Soya chicken with noodles.

By this time jetlag was setting in and we ended up getting one more bite to eat of Xiao Long Bao at the Food Republic at Suntec Center right near our hotel. We packed up and went to bed since we had to get up early to be at the airport by 7:00am. And that was our quick day in Singapore.