Flying to Singapore with Singapore Airlines' business class

[Introduction]

I visited Singapore for the first time in three and a half years. Actually, I used to live in Singapore for one and a half year to attend a business school. A reunion was held in Singapore, so that’s why I came back there. This times, I spent about a week going around Singapore to take as many photos as possible. In this article, I will write about my flight to Singapore with Singapore Airlines as part of Day 1.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1 (1) Fly to Singapore with Singapore Airlines [This article]
* Day 1 (2) Merlion Park
* Day 1 (3) Merlion Park (night view)
* Day 2 (1) National Gallery Singapore and Raffles Hotel
* Day 2 (2) ArtScience Museum and Singapore Flyer
* Day 2 (3) Marina Bay Sands
* Day 2 (4) Marina Bay Sands (night view)
* Day 3 (1) Singapore Botanic Garden
* Day 3 (2) Orchard Road
* Day 3 (3) Gardens by the Bay
* Day 3 (4) Gardens by the Bay (night view)
* Day 4 (1) Little India
* Day 4 (2) Chinatown
* Day 4 (3) Arab Street
* Day 5 (1) Singapore Zoo
* Day 5 (2) River Safari
* Day 5 (3) Clarke Quay (night view)
* Day 6 (1) National Museum of Singapore and Peranakan Museum etc.
* Day 6 (2) The Fullerton Hotel Singapore (night view)
* Day 7 (1) Sentosa Island: S.E.A. Aquarium etc.
* Day 7 (2) Sentosa Island: Merlion and Siloso Beach etc.
* Day 7 (3) Orchard Road (night view)
* Day 8 (1) Fly back home with Singapore Airlines

[Travel Date]
2016.08.23-30

[Main Part]

It has been about a month since the previous article about my New York trip and I will resume the blog. As described in [Introduction], I used to live in Singapore to attend the business school, but I didn’t have knowledge about photography at that time. As I would like to take photos in Singapore again, I spent a week going around the country along with attending the reunion.

Since this was a one week trip and I have a personal feeling toward Singapore, I will post 20 articles in total, which is twice more than usual. Now let’s begin the journey!

Haneda Airport

There are several airlines that run between Tokyo (Narita and Haneda) and Singapore such as Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Singapore Airlines etc. Among them, I chose Singapore Airlines Flight 631, which leaves Haneda Airport at 9:15 and arrives at Changi Airport at 15:20. I have used Singapore Airlines many times so far and loved it for long time. So, I decided to fly to Singapore with Singapore Airlines as usual:)

Here was the check-in counter for Singapore Airlines.

I chose to travel business class.

The air fare for economy class between Tokyo and Singapore is usually around 60,000 yen. However, it was around 110,000 yen due to holiday season while the airfare for business class was stable, which was around 220,000 yen. Considering the rise of economy ticket price and reasonable price of business class ticket, I decided to use business class rather than economy class this time. Above all, I love SQ (Singapore Airlines), so that’s why I chose business class 🙂

Since I had some free time before departure, I will go around the airport. To begin with, “Edo Komichi”, which was located above the departure lobby.

A view of the departure lobby from Edo Komichi.

After embarkation procedure.

I used the ANA lounge as both ANA and SQ belonged to STAR ALLIANCE group.

In the lounge.

I just had a quick bite, as I expected to have a branch in the airplane.

Now I moved to the departure gate. On the way, I happened to see ANA’s special aircraft of STAR WARS.

I also saw a panel of Singapore Girl (Singapore Airlines’s cabin attendant).

Descending on the elevator to the departure gate.

I saw a Singapore Airline’s aircraft after a long interval.

I waited for an announcement for boarding.

Now the boarding started on time and I got into the plane.

SQ Flight 631 Business Class

Boeing 777-300 ER was used for SQ Flight 631 and the aircraft was equipped with the latest business class seat in Singapore Airlines. The seating configuration was 1-2-1 and I chose a window seat as I traveled alone.

The monitor was 18-inch HD screen.

The controller was changed to touch screen.

Welcome drink.

Singapore Airlines’s in-flight magazine “SILVERKRIS”.

Dining menu.

Singapore Airlines has the “Book the Cook” system where passengers for business class or above can order their meal in advance online. However, the range of the option differs depending on the departure airport and flights from Tokyo did not have so much option compared with those from Singapore, so I decided to use the “Book the Cook” just for my return flight.

From the normal menu, I chose “Hana-Koi-Reki” from Japanese dish.

To choose the order, I did some research online in advance and agreed with its reputation 🙂

Here were cheese cake for desert and Singapore Sling.

View from the window.

Although it was a seven hour flight, I arrived at Changi airport without feeling bored at all.

I just happened to see a special aircraft of Singapore Airlines.

Arrived at Changi Airport

I got off the airplane and went to the arrival lobby.

There was an immigration check and I passed it without any problem.

However, I made a mistake. I passed the customs without picking up my checked baggage and came to the arrival lobby.

So, I went to the information counter to apply for re-entry.

Now I collected my checked baggage and moved from the airport to hotel.

ibis Singapore on Bencoolen

Here was the hotel I stayed this time – ibis Singapore on Bencoolen.

In the room.

I spent lots of money on my flight ticket this time, so I could not afford to spend for accommodation. In this context, I chose ibis Singapore on Bencoolen in terms of cost-effectiveness.

After I checked in the hotel, I went out for a sightseeing and I will write about it in the next article.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about my flight to Singapore with Singapore Airlines as part of Day 1. Singapore Airlines is well known for its excellent service and as usual I enjoyed my flight with Singapore Airlines. My only regret was that I missed a chance to take photos of Singapore Airlines’ flight attendants just like I did when I used Malaysia Airlines last year (see the related article). Although I didn’t take any photos, I was satisfied with their service and hospitality 🙂

In the next article, I will write about Merlion Park, which is one of the most famous tourist spots in Singapore.