Friday, 12th Sept 2008

I left the hotel for the airport at 0630 hrs to catch a 1155 hrs flight. It was still dark and chilly - I was already dressed for the tropics in a thin cotton tunic and linen pants so I was glad to get into the car ...

Traffic to Heathrow was a breeeeze at that time of day, if we had left half an hour later the driver told me, the M25 would be choked up and I would not have been able to get into Heathrow until at least 0800 hrs or after so it was a sensible decision to leave early as I arrived Heathrow just after 0700 hrs.

So here I am waiting impatiently for the check-in counter to open
as I know a certain shop
raised their shutters at exactly 7 am.. Sent a text to Wm to whine about the delay.... Hurry up, SQ, hurry, hurry..... *the counters were opened at about 7.40 am, well before the 3 hours notice I was given - hooray for SQ*
Made a beeline for that shop, and after some texts/phone calls and dashing in and out of the lounge/shop, here I am ready to board with a precious cargo of 3 bags. You only see two paperbags here as I put 2 handbags into the large paperbag and folded the third paperbag into two and placed it carefully in the large paperbag.

As it was a day flight, it was very bright outside - it is pretty strange when they turn cabin lights off after lunch and although it is only about 3 pm, you find yourself getting all sleepy - I read somewhere that the temperature in the aircraft is turned up ever so slightly after meals to induce passengers to sleep on long hauls - I wonder if this is true? If there is someone from the airline industry reading this, can you verify this as fact or fiction? Or is it just a combination of high altitudes, food and wine? :-)

It was almost 1220 hrs when we took off as we were in a queue of more than 10 aircraft waiting and well after 1155 hrs when it was finally our turn - never mind, there's always champagne. Take your time, my good pilot, take your time, I am in absolutely no hurry at all now I am on the aircraft and I know I will be here for the next 13 hours or so. :-P

Shortly after take off, some satays and more champagne were served - the peanut sauce was very good - all nutty and spicy. I sensibly gave the onion slices a miss!

For lunch, a starter of crab was served and for my main course, I chose the seabass with grilled vegetables - it was ok ok, nibbled on a bit of the fish and some vegs.


Dessert was a passionfruit mousse. After lunch the cheese / fruit trolley was wheeled out - I gave the cheese a miss but had a kiwi.

After lunch I watched What happens in Vegas - oh dear I sniffed a bit towards the ending when it was all music and lights and bubbles and happiness when he got down on one knee.... After the movie I settled down to read Vogue, Straits Times, Appetite, Daily Mail and my book and finally for a bit of a snooze.

I was extremely restless and managed to close my eyes for about an hour or so - woke up and had a little stroll around the cabin - most people were fast asleep - eye masks and blankets firmly on. No excuse except for boredom? I asked for a snack of fish ball soup and expected to find a small bowl but look at this - a full meal on its own! And it was delicious - nice soup stock with sesame oil and cut chillies/soy sauce. The person (French national - his accent gave him away) in the seat by the aisle next to me took one look, asked if it was good and I said yes, and he promptly had one too.

And a few hours later, breakfast was served. (Are you getting tired already?) Turbulence was awful and they had to stop the breakfast service for half an hour between fruit and the mains. At one time I had to hold on to all 3 glasses/mug to prevent them from falling over. Breakfast was Fruit/croissant and I chose the fried rice.

Landed at Changi at 0745 hrs - strolled around, went to the lounge and finally boarded the BI flight and here is lunch. The steak was actually very good (took 2 bites), very tender and the mustard was a nice touch.


And finally a good 20 hours later, here I am at Brunei International Airport. Not having seen my kids for a week, there were glossy brown from swimming on Friday/Sunday morning swims.

Ladies!! Your bags have arrived!!
p.s I guess in today's turbulent, uncertain and extremely bleak economic climate, such food excesses, at best, will not sit too comfortably with many and at worst, appear obscene; but you are given the meals as part and parcel of your airline ticket, and they will go to waste anyway and also for the sake of the blog, for the sake of the blog...... in all fairness, I definitely am thrifty and careful (except for the slight handbag appreciation problem) - who do you know will cut open a tube of toothpaste to get right to the bottom before discarding the used up tube?? hehe yes, that's me !! :-)