Flight Report : SQ 863 Hong Kong - Singapore
23 Sep 2019

Having been greatly disappointed on my last flight on this route with Singapore Airlines, I got picky this time to look for a newer aircraft to fly this afternoon. It was a smooth and quick ride on the Airport Express and the only bottleneck was the airport staff checking all arriving train passengers for their boarding passes and IDs to prevent protesters from getting in. Air-side, I noticed the restaurant area just past the immigration kiosks is in the midst of renovation. Gate numbers have also been renumbered recently, so pay attention to the signage. With some time to go before boarding, I scanned around for interesting birds, noticing British Airways' A380 has parked closer today. The bridge to the North Satellite Terminal is slowly taking shape. Views from that bridge across the tarmac would be quite sweet! In the distance is a Lanmei plane that just pushed back. That airline is a mystery to me, supposedly Cambodian but seemingly Chinese-backed. My racoon-windowed plane was already at the gate. No equipment swap today! Boarding was on time and since I was flying cattle class, my group number was all the way up the scale. I helped myself to a newspaper and headphone, and passed through Business and Premium Economy on the way to my seat out back. This new plane had a lovely and warm interior. The tray table was foldable with a mirror, as well as a small storage compartment for your phone. The upholstering seems easy enough to clean and not a leathery type of surface that ages badly and absorbs stains. The IFE interface was great and there was plenty of selection to keep the 3 hour flight busy. With a fairly full loading, we pushed back 5 minutes early and taxied across the airport for take-off.
Upon departure, I realized just how massive the boundary island for the bridge to Macau really is. With a left window, I was able to see the skyline as we turned and headed south for Singapore.
A late lunch is served. The portion was decent and it tasted quite good. The appetizer had a lot of little shrimps in it. They still keep providing metal cutlery, which I recall from a documentary about the airline that they don't actually wash after use, but polish it instead. The IFE had some features about Seattle, which is one of their recently-launched new destinations.
As we neared Singapore, the sky started getting hazier. The forest fires are really affecting air quality across the region.
There is a lot of reclamation in Malaysia as we headed closer to landing.
We arrived at Terminal 3, and had to take a shuttle to the immigration area. Luckily, there wasn't much of a line for foreigners and I was out at the baggage belt within minutes. It would take a bit more time for my suitcase to appear. Upon arrival, I headed over to the Jewel, which is a long walk from Terminal 3, albeit connected indoors, for a look at the infamous waterfall. I was disappointed that the various walks with the best view of this structure required payment. While this central part looks quite green and the 2 ends are open to the public with several floors of free viewing areas, the building itself is just one gigantic but typical shopping mall. At least those in transit now have another place to pass their time if they choose not to venture into the city.