(gotta love that Wordpress App)
All times CEST (Germany).
04:02 – SQ973 has the smoothest takeoff I have ever experienced. Aisle seat 39D. Front wheels lifted off at 267 kph.
04:10 – headphones handed out.
4:18 – I turn on the on demand entertainment system anmd find out that the booklet is different than what’s on the screen, so I call for flight attendant.
4:24 – no attendant, so I rummage around in the seat pocket and find Feb 2010 schedule that matches.
4;30 – I decide to save the movies for the 2nd leg and turn on tv shows only to find out that nothing is ‘on demand’, everything just runs continuously. Saw last half of Bones episode.
Breakfast served same time: omlette, hash browns, fried tomato, chicken sausage, roll & butter, tea, oj and water.
4:54 – Three Rivers starts. Apparently it’s a TV show
5:04 – tray taken. CS confirms not on demand and depends on where you fly. Confitmed that flights to Frankfurt have it.
5:22 – 2nd tea refill 
5:24 – pilot speaks.230 nautical miles from SIN, die to arrive at 13:05 SIN time (6:05 CEST).
5:35 – headphones taken for landing, ent system turned off. Watching Flightplan. We arrive at terminal 2, gate F50 ten minutes before my next flight boards, and it leaves from terminal 3, gate A13. Shuttle train ride required. Could be fun. Let’s see how efficient Singapore really is.
6:49 – made it to SQ 326. Took a shuttle train from terminal 2 to 3 and another intraterminal train to gate 15 and then a travelator to gate A13. 10 minutes.
The plane: WOW!!!!!!! A 777-300ER !!!!! The Rolls Royce of planes!!!! USB plugins, electricity plugins (no adapter needed), newer video screens and controllers, etc. The works. If one has to spend 13 hours in a plane, this is the way to do it. Not to mention that I’m in the back cabin and there only about 10 people in it.
7:28- headsets and I started watching The Informant. never heard of it, but the title makes me think I would like it.
7:30 – Drinks given out. Peanuts too!! Woo Hoo!!! When was the last time you got peanuts on an airplane?!
7:40 – refill on water and another pack of peanuts.
8:02 – dinner over the Andaman Sea 719 km into the flight well off the coast of northern Malaysia.
Beef fillet with rosemary sauce, asstd roasted veggies, gratin potato, cheese & crackers, roll & butter, red wine and water (not mixed). Absolutely delicious.
8:22 – desert arrived: a Magnum Classic ice cream bar.
8:33 – red wine refill
8:39- PA system about duty free for sale on board. It pauses the movie, but the announcement doesn’t come through the headphones unlike on 747s or lesser 777s.
9:09 – turbulence- seatbelts on
9:15 – over the Adaman Islands now, which I think belong to India. Entering the Bay of Bengal airspace (can an ocean have airspace?) in a minute.
9:20 – they closed all the open window shades in my cabin, but not the one in front of us.
9:32 – because of the turbulence and and for the safety of the crew, all cabin services are suspended.
9:46 – I think the above is a bunch of BS because there had been very little turbulence and the FAs are gone. I think it’s just due to how empty the plane is.
10:00 – movie ended. The first 2/3 were good, but the last 1/3 was boring. It was a true story.
Still over the Bay of Bengal. Over some tiny arpellegios now, probably uninhabited.
10:13 – seat belt sign off. Flight attendant break must be over.
10:20 – went to toilet and then walked around the plane. Came back to seat and given oj. Just started watching ‘Amreeka’. Arm rests are up and I’m lounging across all 3 seats.
10:40 – land ho! The Bay of Bengal is quite large. We’re finally flying over land again somewhere way south of Calcutta and I’ve just been given water.
11:36 – more oj
12:05 – movie just ended. I liked the it and recommend it. It’s far from the best I’ve seen, but was good (actually, at times it made me think about The Whiney Expat Bloggers in Germany) The ending didn’t work for me, though because it didn’t really end, it just stopped and left many open questions. I guess that was the point. It would have been a great pilot for a tv show.
12:10 – more water
12:20 – just started watching ‘Surrogates’ somewhere over nothwestern India after a lap around the plane. Most passengers are crashed out. How I envy people who can sleep on planes.
12:30 – oh good, a murder and also a car crash in the first 10 minutes.
12:37 – snack time! Veggie sandwich (the other choice was tuna) and an apple. I quite like this. I lounge here watching movies and food and drinks are brought to me. I need one of these at home!
13:13 – turbulence – buckle up
13:32 – more oj
13:39 – halfway! Where might that be?
Afghanistan. Specifically the snow capped mountains about half way between Kandahar and Kabul. Spectacular scenery from this vantage point.
13:58 – sunset at 9448 meters 30,998 feet) and we’re still passing over snow covered mountain peaks in Afghanistan. It’s great being able to pause the movie to take photos.
14:20 – turb is getting get bad over Turkministan. The cabin crew has been told to be seated and we’ve just made a hard right and are climbing most likely to attempt to get out of it.
14:28 – movie finished. A but far-fetched, but I liked it because in a way it also deals with the modern times.
14:33 – running out of movies that interest me (I bought the dvd for one of them in Vietnam so I won’t watch it on the plane). Granted, there are about 50 movies, but I’ve seen many of them, but many of the others are not my taste.
Just started ‘Love Happens’ after another lap around the plane. The review looks pretty good.
14:53 – the lights of the city of Ashkhabad are off to my right (18:53 there).
15:02 – snack time again. Chewy apricot granola bar and a Tiger beer (it’s after 5pm in Ashkhabad). I am never leaving this airplane.
15:25 – we’ve just started crossing the Caspian Sea.
15:56 – more water
16:09 – we’ve come ashore (so to speak) in Russia ust north of the Caucus Mountains
16:16 – toilet break
16:23 – another Tiger beer and more peanuts.
16:35 -The movie was okay. Not my type and way too much product placement, but it was okay – light-hearted and funny. I felt like looking for another in the middle but stuck it out til the end. The delivery van was very cool.
17:03 – Thought I hadn’t seen ‘Wanted’ yet, but I had and love it, so I had to resist watching it. Just started ‘The Great Escape’ which after Reading the blurb in the inflight magazine made me think it might have spawned Hogan’s Heros, but at the beginning it said it was a true story. We’re currently clipping the northeast part of the Sea of Azor and will soon be barrelling across Ukraine.
17:30 – more water
17:36 – flying over the lights of Dnepropetrovsk now. Looks well planned. 2.5 hours left.
17:57 – even though it’s night, the ground looks white. I’ve been trying to convince myself that I’m seeing clouds, but I can see too many lights to actually believe that.
18:13 – cabin lights turned on.
18:30 – Light meal: potato salad, pan roasted chicken with mushroom onion sauce, sauteed green beans, carrots and fettuccine, roll & butter, chocolate cake, tea.
18:40 – this is not a good movie to watch while eating. The 4th of July was so funny (at first) that I just about spit my tea on the screen from laughing so hard.
18:58 – south of Katowice now.
19:08 – I hope they’ve got the weather sorted out. I’m still in a polo shirt and shorts.
19:32 – pilot speaks. Eta 20:15. Temp is -1C, mixture of snow and freezing rain.
19:42 – darn, took our headsets. Have to watch the last 20 minutes without. Luckily, I should be able to do that this far into it.
People are changing into winter clothes now, I’ll wait til I get into the airport.
19:45 – fasten seat belts.
20:05 – landing in 5 minutes. Missed the last 3 min of the movie.
20:07 – eek! I see the ground and it’s white!
20:09 – landed, taxiing.
20:10 – waiting for parking slot to open.
20:15 – still waiting.
20:20 – still waiting.
Posted by: J
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