Ultra Long-Haul Flight to HKG [Singapore Airlines] SQ 001 SFO-HKG (San Francisco->Hong Kong) trip report

SQ 001 SFO-HKG (San Francisco->Hong Kong)

DEP SFO 20 AUG 2015 01:15

ARR HKG 21 AUG 2015 05:00

Flight Duration: 12:45

Aircraft: B777-300ER

 

Courtesy of www.flightaware.com

I always try to take advantage of my leave days to take a trip to my motherland at least once a year, and this year's August - September time period was the perfect time for me to do just that.  Not much was going on in my work (in construction field) and NFL wouldn't be kicking off until 10th of Sep, so I figured why not take a two-week off from work to visit my friends and families back in Korea. 

 

It was in fact last year (2014) September when I booked the flights to and from the West Coast to Korea.  I needed to hit up three cities in one trip this time; Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo.  After a month-long research, I came to the conclusion that Singapore Airlines provided the best prices with the best cancellation policy ($20 - $50 per change plus difference in fare).

 

I've flown Singapore Airlines in and out of San Francisco Airport before.  They've always provided the best prices between SFO and ICN.  For my past trip reports with SQ 15 (SFO-ICN) and SQ 16 (ICN-SFO), please click the following trip reports below:

SQ 015 SFO-ICN (August 2012)

SQ 016 ICN-SFO (September 2012)

SQ 015 SFO-ICN (February 2013) 

 

I decided to book the outbound flight with SQ 001 from San Francisco to Hong Kong on August 20th and inbound flight with SQ 012 from Tokyo/Narita to Los Angeles on September 6th.  I booked the HKG-ICN-NRT segments with my remaining mileage on Korean Air (trip reports to follow). 

 

Cool thing is that I've actually flown SQ 001 a year ago, but on the second segment (HKG-SIN). For the trip report on SQ 001 in 2014, please click the following link below.

SQ 001 HKG-SFO (March 2014)

 

I left Berkeley, CA around 7PM for SFO. My good friend was gracious enough to give me a ride.

A view of the Bay Bridge from the west-bound lanes. They did a lot of work so far to bring the one bridge down!

Downtown San Francisco

I arrived at SFO International Terminal at around 9PM. Plenty of time to spare!

There was also a Cathay Pacific flight, scheduled to depart 15 minutes before mine, bound for Hong Kong. 

When I arrived, the Cathay Pacific counters were already open.  The international terminal at that time was busy with Manila-bound passengers (with Philippines Airlines) and Sydney-bound passengers (with United).

The yet-unopened Singapore Airlines counter

International Terminal backside.

The counters opened around 9:45PM.  I was able to utilize the online check-in line, since I was able to check-in through my mobile device.  Otherwise, I would've had to wait for about 30 minutes.

Right after check-in.

 And the boarding pass for tonight's flight! I assigned myself into row 43, which is 2-3-2 configuration as opposed to 3-3-3 on rest of the rows.  For me to use the restroom, I only had to go through one person, not two.

Toward the security checkpoint (G-gates).  A-gates are located to the opposed side of the terminal and there's a separate security checkpoint to access the A-gates.

At 10PM at night, the terminal felt very empty.  I don't think any other flights were leaving from the G-concourse other than SQ 001.

A Sydney-bound flight was pushing back when I arrived.

Arrived at my gate, G96!

The plane had already arrived from HKG since 9PM. SQ's livery surely does look good on B77W.

Waiting area for G96. Waiting area for G98 was on the opposite side.

One more close-up of this beauty.

 

Gate G96 Desk

At around 11:30PM the SQ flight attendants started to pass by. 

 

While waiting by the gate, I spotted some young athletic guys and girls (about 30-40 of them). When I spotted the "Arena" logo on their clothes and bags, I knew they were headed for Singapore for FINA World Junior Championships competitions.  I saw that the SQ ground staff also realized this; they wrote a nice message on the screen wishing them luck.

The US FINA Jr Championships Team lining up to board.  Most of them would be boarding at the last economy section.

My boarding group, since I was somewhat in the front section of the economy class, was number 4. I boarded the plane at around 12:50AM.

Business class section of the SQ B77W. They recently have been retrofitting their fleet with new F, J, and Y products.

I was pleased to find that the Economy Class seats have also been retrofitted. They look a lot more comfortable then the previous ones. The AVOD screens are a lot bigger, which is a plus.

The headphones were already on the seats.

Welcome message on the AVOD screen

View towards Terminal 3

I settled in and started watching "The Wedding Ringer"

Inflight map

Around this time, the captain announced that the flight would only take about 12 hours, arriving into HKG about one hour earlier than expected.

The revamped KrisWorld Entertainment System.

Passengers settling in.

Push back was on time at 1:15AM.

Safety Annoucement

Take Off commenced at about 1:30AM.

Check out that wing flex!

Flying into night clouds or fogs above the Pacific.

Lights were turned off for the duration of the take-off until right before the late-dinner service commenced.

At the safe cruising altitude, the Menu were passed out.

Beverage Choices

 

Wine

Red - Blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon

White - Chardonnay

White - Riesling

 

Aperitifs

- Campari

- Dry Vermouth

 

Spirits

- Johnnie Walker Red Label Whisky

- Jim Beam Black Label Bourbon

- Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac

- Beefeater Gin

-Smirnoff Red Label Vodka

-Bacardi Superior Rum

 

Liqueurs

- Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge

- Bailey's Original Irish Cream

 

Beer

- International Selection

- Stout

 

Soft Drinks

- Coke

- Coke Light/Coke Zero

- 7-Up

- Ginger Ale

- Soda Water

- Bitter Lemon

 

Cocktails

- Singapore Sling (Enjoy this 1915 classic - a concoction of dry gin, Dom Benedictine, orange liqueur, and cherry brandy, shaken with lime and pineapple juice, a dash of Angostura bitters, and Grenadine.)

- Alspritzer

- Screwdriver

- Bloody Mary

- Dry Martini

 

Mocktails

- Fruit Spritzer

- Orange Cooler

 

Fruit Juices

- Orange

- Apple

- Pineapple

- Tomato

 

Coffee and Tea

- Coffee

- Black Tea

- Jasmine Tea

- Oolong Tea

- Pu-Erh Tea

- Sencha Green Tea

- Peppermint Tea (naturally caffeine-free)

 

Other Beverages

- Soya Bean Milk (Sweetened/Unsweetened)

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Supper Choices (International Selection)

 

Appetiser

- Smoked Turkey with Potato Salad

 

Main Course

- Baked Fish Fillet Veracruz Style with buttered vegetables, pasta and caper tomato sauce

or

- Stir-fried Sliced Pork in Oriental Black Pepper Sauce with Chinese vegetables and steamed rice

 

Dessert

- Strawberry Cobbler

 

From the Bakery

- Bread Roll and Spread

 

Hot Beverage

- Coffee - Tea

- Chinese Tea

Supper Choices (Indian Selection)

 

Appetiser

- Aloo Mutter Chaat (Potato and green peas salad with aromatic spices)

 

Main Course

- Aloo Korma, Moong Dal Palak, Sabzi Pulao (Potatoes in cashew gravy, green gram spinah stew and vegetable rice)

 

Dessert

- Strawberry Cobbler

 

From the Bakery

- Bread Roll and Spread

 

Hot Beverage

- Coffee - Tea

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Delectables

 

Sandwiches

- Cold Vegetarian Sandwich

- Cold Savoury Sandwich

 

Snacks

- Assorted Nuts

- Hershey's Cookies and Cream Bar

- Original Sun Chips

- Milano Cookies

- Fresh Fruit

Breakfast Choices

 

Fruit

- Seasonal Fresh Fruit

 

Main Course

- Stir-fried Egg Noodles with chicken, Chinese chives and cabbage

or

- Poached eggs with Hollandaise Sauce (Pan fried pork sausage, tomato and roasted potatoes)

or

- South Indian Breakfast Combination (Rice pancake with potato, onion lentil dumpling, lentil tamarind stew and coconut chutney)

 

From the Bakery

- Bread Roll and Spread

 

Hot Beverage

- Coffee - Tea

Followed by the same menu in Chinese (Cantonese)

Drink services commenced shortly after the menu was passed out.

I ordered the famous Singapore Sling. It's a must-have drink on SQ flights.

The dinner service commenced not too long after the drinks services.

I ordered the Fish Fillet Veracruz Style. Along with it, I ordered another Singapore Sling.

The taste was great for this meal.  The only thing bad about this meal was that the pasta was a bit slippery.  I try not to be sloppy when I eat, especially in-flight, but I couldn't help it but drop some sauce on myself (my fault). I don't blame SQ for it though. Fantastic meal overall.

As I finished eating, the movie "Wedding Ringer" had ended. I started sleeping at around 2 hours into the flight.

Completely dark interior

I woke up a little before halfway through the flight.

I decided to watch "Chef & My Fridge" (냉장고를 부탁해). It's basically a show where chefs compete each other in order to impress the celebrities whose fridges are basically taken in-tact from their houses to the show. It's gotten very popular in Korea this year.

I had one of the "delectables" items off of the menu directly from the flight attendant.  I asked him for a savoury sandwich.  He passed me a cold sandwich which was labeled "CHIX" (for chicken).

The inside filling of the chicken sandwich, which was pretty good.

I slept couple hours more and woke up somewhere south of Japan.

As the plane was passing over Okinawa, the breakfast services had commenced. As always the flight attendants started with the special meals.

My AVOD system had some trouble for 10 minutes and the system was automatically restarted.

I had couple of my friends stationed on that island the day I flew over it.

I chose the poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce.

The meal looked good overall. The taste was even better.

Along with the poached eggs were pork sausage, sautéed potatoes, and tomato. The Hollandaise sauce was one of the best I've tasted.  Overall, it was the most impressive breakfast meal I've had on an airplane.

The plane made some series of slight turns as it passed over Taiwan.

Overview of Taichung.

 

One of the young competitors for the FINA World JR Championships gave me some USA Swimming pins.  I had briefly talked with her sometime during the flight asking about the competition. 

In time for 5AM landing at HKG!

It was cloudy outside, so I didn't get a chance to catch the HK skyline.

Lantau Island.  The airport expressway is visible below.

Our plane landed into Runway 25L at around 5AM Hong Kong time (2PM SF time).

That's the midfield terminal under construction (scheduled to open in 2016)

North Satellite Terminal

Our plane arrived at Gate 15. To the left (Gate 16) was the CX flight which had arrived from SIN.

Last shot of the plane before heading toward immigration.

The immigration checkpoint at HKG.

Even at 5:30AM, the airport seemed to be busy with mostly international arrivals from Southeast Asia and China.

 

Thank you for reading my trip report!