My seat: 41G
Fellow passengers: "I WANT SOME CHOCOLATE!!!" Came the scream from a 4-year-old girl who had been fed far too much chocolate already. Her
feet were pummelling the seat of an ageing Indian woman who looked longingly down the aisle at our child sleeping peacefully in my arms. I was trying to keep my son asleep after he'd been woken by the last screaming fit. Being someone who endures rather than enjoys flying, I sometimes take solace when, returning to the UK, I arrive at my gate to find fellow British passengers clasping their familiar and comforting maroon passports. Usually grey haired and overly polite, they are the kind of person who watches Mrs Brown's Boys on rotation and sit in Premier Economy.
There is another breed of British traveller though. One usually found tucking into their duty free early on package holidays to Spanish beaches. Somehow this extended family had found itself going home via Singapore. The 11-person tribe spanned three generations who made their presence known early. Oblivious to everyone else they noisily got themselves comfortable. The loudest of the lot was Nan, who spent the first few hours of our 13-hour flight feeding ice cream to the next loudest; two girls around 4 and 5.
Despite being a new parent, I know one thing: Feeding young children sugar on tap never ends well, especially in a confined area. So it proved when for reasons known only to her parents they tried to force feed Calpol to the same girl who'd eaten three ice creams. Cue a flurry of whirling arms and nearby passengers ducking to avoid flying medicine.
Soon after the girl calmed down and celebrated by singing a nursery rhyme at the top of her voice for the best part of half an hour. Her Nan commended her on her beautiful singing voice. Thirteen hours doesn't pass quickly at the best of times and this flight was anything but the best of times.
How full: There wasn't a spare seat to be found on the flight to Singapore. I know that for a fact because my 15-month-old son wanted to play with his toy truck over every inch of the plane for the first five hours of the flight. Thankfully for our sanity and that of our fellow passengers he slept for most of the remainder of the flight. The second flight was around 75 per cent full which meant we had a spare seat in our bassinet row.
Entertainment: I didn't get to find out on the flight to Singapore as my attention was taken by trying to stop my son from walking around the posh seats. Seemed like a decent spread of films and TV shows, though. I wish all airlines would show more cricket matches in their entirety. Imagine getting on a plane and being able to watch the entire 2015 World Cup semifinal between New Zealand and South Africa!
The service: Excellent. Singapore Airlines are the only carrier that compares to Air New Zealand.
Food and drink: The menu said chicken but I'm not sure what part of the animal it came from. Breakfast on arrival at London wasn't much better, meaning by the time I arrived I'd hardly eaten a thing in 14-15 hours.
The toilets: In constant use on the flight to Singapore. The changing facilities were adequate. The flight to London placed less strain on the facilities because the plane was nowhere near as full.
Luggage: Excellent. We had a stopover at the Terminal Three Transit hotel at Changi Airport. Our luggage was waiting for us when we arrived in London. I've never had such a speedy and seamless journey through arrivals at Heathrow. We were being greeted by family members within 45 minutes of landing. Incredible.
The airport experience: Because of the time difference, my son awoke at 3am Singapore time and was in no mood for further sleep. Of all the airports I've visited I wouldn't want to be walking around at that time anywhere else. Despite being almost deserted sandwich shops were open with attentive friendly staff and big TV screens showing English football.
Would I fly this again? I wouldn't fly long haul on a 777 with a baby again — I'd only opt for the A380-800 option. If Singapore Airlines didn't offer this option I'd look elsewhere.
