Five Days in India

From lunch, we headed to the airport and arrive about 75 minutes before departure.  Since Jet is years ahead of Air India, I had no problem checking in online and printing our boarding passes from the hotel.  As with all Indian airport, only passengers with tickets can enter the terminal.   Our local rep collared a Jet rep to escort to security.  Not that difficult at this small airport but what the heck.

Once thru security, we headed to Gate 1A and 1B, aka the bus gates.

I left Mrs. SFO at the gate area and headed off to explore the rest of the terminal.

The C.I.P. Lounge, perhaps open for international flights.

From the terminal to the tarmac gate positions.

And back downstairs.

Where the gate lice are already lining up.  Whoa, and I thought United gate lice was bad.

Joining the queue.

Three rows on Business Class seats.  Not the most comfortable but fine for a short domestic flight.

Today's menu.  Having just eaten, we declined as did most other pax that I could see.

On approach to BOM

And naturally to a remote stand.

And the short ride across the tarmac to the domestic arrivals lobby.

And outside to the chaotic domestic pick-up area.  Crazy.

And the roughly hour long drive south to Marine Drive and The Oberoi.

Not a great pic but the world's most expensive residence at the end of the street.

Our final day in India began with in room dining.

Technically, it is an Ocean View, or at least a Sea View... of the Arabian Sea.

Although a pretty ugly one...

We met our guide Nina and driver and headed out to the The Gateway of India and our "private cruise" to Elephanta Island.  But first some sights of Mumbai.  I'm thinking that the British were here.  LOL.  Some pics from this trip and my last visit.

And The Gateway of India at southern end of South Mumbai.

And our private luxury liner to Elephanta.  Private as in a regular ferry where we are the only pax.  And a crew of 5!

OK, these sea gulls are no dummies.  They know there's a meal to be had.

And the "evil eye" pic of the trip. LOL.

Meal time.

Got it.

There is a shuttle train from the pier to "town" but we were in between, so we walked while it was still reasonably cool.

Wow, let's gouge the tourists.  10 rupees for Indians, 250 rupees for foreigners.  At nearly 70 rupees to the dollar, pretty cheap.

And the caves of Elephanta Island, with a temple complex over 1,200 years ago.  Dedicated to the trinity of Indian dieties _ Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Some of the sculptures were damaged when the island was used by the Portugese as a base, where these used the images as target practice. 

You get to and from the caves by stairs/walkway lined all the way with hawker stalls, where apparently most of the island's residents work.

Now approaching +30C, we took the mini-train back to our boat for the return to Mumbai.

You probably don't want to go swimming here.

Shockingly good air quality today.  :)

And back to the hotel for a late lunch.  After 5 days of India food, we both decided to go western today.

Then up to our room to relax before our 8pm airport pick-up.

Boarding commenced as soon as we arrived at the gate.    When I originally booked this flight, SQ was using an A380-800.  However, scheduled maintenance for the A380 caused an old 77W to be swapped for two weeks, including our departure date.   Since it was only a 4h40m flight, just like LAX-JFK, not that big a deal. 

Today's menu.

And wine list.

Pre-departure beverages were limited to non-alcoholic as FA claimed that they could not serve alcohol on the ground in India. 

Once in the air, I decided to watch Premiers Crus, an entertaining wine-related French movie set in Burgundy.

While Mrs. SFO headed to sleep shortly after take-off.

But not me.  I'm always up for some food and drink.

Except that my seat controls and then IFE crapped out.  Our FA and purser had to reset it 4 times before it finally took.   Yeah, this looks like modern technology.  Ha.

Showtime.

To start, the Tandoori Spiced Lobster with chili grape chutney and dahi kachumber.  Very good.

The the Indian Style Creamy Carrot soup.  Meh. 

For my main, I went with another starter, the Trilogy of Asian Prawn.  OK, not so good.  Couple of bites and I was done.  

I finished my movie and then slept for a couple of hours before we began our descent to Changi, where we pulled into Gate B10 at the end of the B concourse.  While SQ provides great in flight service, its premium ground service is pretty much non-existent.   No car service (like AF), no buggy service (like TG), just a long, long walk to the Sliver Kris Lounge and The Private Room. 

About 15 minutes later, we're at the Silver Kris Lounge.

SQ's pathetic premium ground product continues with no priority security line.  After waiting an annoying 10 minutes to clear security behind a dozen Economy passengers, we were in boarding area.

Finally the premium experience begins with a separate First Class jet bridge.

Once in the air, a glass of Krug.

And the always excellent satay.

Today's menu.

And the wine list.

Taking lunch selections.

Showtime.

Starting with the Parma Ham and Perigourdine Truffle salad with shaved rock melon and honeydew.   Pretty good.

The lavosh was excellent and I may have cleaned them out on that.

Salad of Baby Spinach, Arugula, Frisée, Sun-dried tomato and Kalamata olives.

For my main, I had Booked the Cook and went with Matt Moran's Seared Lamb Loin with salsa verde, Lyonnaise onion, aioli and bacon.

Unfortunately, it was awful... overcooked and inedible... with no sign salsa verde, aioli and bacon.   Not that it would have made it any less inedible.

The Warm Lemon Tart with mango ice cream and citrus salad was good.

After lunch, I moved over to 4A, Mrs. SFO to 2K for a couple of hours of sleep.

We arrived 30 minutes early and headed to security and then wait to reboard the continuation of SQ12 to LAX.