This was my second time this year flying in business class with Singapore Airlines. With a dedicated business class check in at row 1 at Changi, check in for me was a breeze. I received my connecting flight boarding pass on United as well, and my luggage was checked all the way to Koror.

In case you were wondering my destination, I am heading to my 90th country -Palau for the weekend! There are no direct flights from Singapore, so I am flying to Manila on Singapore Airlines, then continuing on United from Manila to Koror. The purpose of this article is to review the flight SQ916, which was using a miles redemption. Avianca has a sweet spot, where it is 20 000 miles from Singapore to North Asia in economy class one-way, and Palau is also included in North Asia. For business class, I used 30000 points one-way.

After having a quick lunch at the Silverkris lounge, I proceeded to gate F54 for boarding. I was one of the last few passengers to pass through the security screening. Most of the people in the waiting area had already boarded the plane.

Our cabin is the 2018 Regional Business Class seat, which is a massive improvement from the 2009 version. It will become increasingly common throughout the fleet as the A330-300s are returned to lessors and the older B777-200/300 aircraft are retired. During our previous trip on Singapore Airlines this year from Singapore to Bangkok, the business class seats were still using the 2009 regional version.

The flight time between Singapore and Manila is 3 hours 40 minutes. The new 2018 regional business class seat was really comfortable, with a fully flat bed and wide legroom.

The leading stewardess served me a glass of champagne and a hot towel for me to freshen up.

These seats are 1-2-1 configured with all aisle access, and for the middle aisle passengers, there is an option to pull a sliding partition to give each other more privacy. If you are traveling as a couple, then the partition can be removed.

There were no other planes parked at the landing bay when I looked out of my seat window. After the mandatory service checks, the plane slowly reversed out of the parking lot at 2.00pm. We taxiied to the runway and waited for a few planes to take off, before we took off at 2.19pm.

The headphones provided for business class passengers are not so comfortable and I could not identify the brand. Singapore Airlines also does not offer amenity kits in business class which is a pity. I could do for a new toiletries pouch for my future travels.

As we took off from Changi, we could see a huge plot of land being developed. This is the upcoming Terminal 5 which is about the size of Tampines town. With the opening of Terminal 5, the combined capacity of all the terminals at Changi can be increased up to 150 million passengers per year.

This is the lunch menu for the Singapore to Manila segment. However, I chose to Book the Cook instead and the main course served to me was different from the one presented on the menu.

For starters, smoked duck breast was served. I also ordered a glass of Chardonnay to pair with the dish. The duck meat came with cabbage, rock melon, dried cranberry salad and yuzu pepper vinaigrette which the stewardess drizzled over my salad.

For the main course, I had the Lobster Thermidor with Book the Cook. Lobster tail sautéed in butter, flambéed in brandy, sprinkled with cheese, and served with creamy mushroom sauce, garlic and spicy mustard, and buttered asparagus. The sauce was a little overbearing for me, I would have preferred the lobster to be grilled simply and sprinkled with black pepper. The rice was buttery while the asparagus used was slightly aged, so there was a lot of fibre.

Lastly, desserts were served. It was a choice between Movenpick creme brulee ice cream or blueberry yoghurt cake. I was lucky to have both because I kindly asked the stewardess. The ice cream was perfect, while the blueberry cake was a little dry.

For the drinks selection, SQ has a wide selection of wines, liquor, coffee, tea and even Milo! I ended off my meal with a glass of Port wine (reminiscing about my fond times in Portugal) and a glass of Moroccan mint tea.

This is how the business class seat at the window seat looks like. The windows are automatically dimming and offered a full view of the skies outside. The cushion was comfortable and for passengers feeling a little cold, they can cover with the thin blanket. Nowadays, the newer planes do not have adjustable setting for the air-conditioning, so we have to bear with the internal temperature that the pilot set for the plane.

SQ uses Penhaligons for the facial mist, hand lotion and eau de toilette. I wish they could provide such samples in the amenities kit. It is a luxury British perfume house, offering a wide range of luxury fragrances online for women and men, as well as gifts, scented candles and grooming products.

As we approach Manila after three hours of flying, the pilot made the landing announcement and the cabin was prepared for landing. The islands surrounding Manila really make me want to visit or climb to their peak. Philippines is such a beautiful country, and after having visited for five times, there are still many other places in the country that I would like to visit.

As we taxiied to Terminal 3, we passed by Qatar Airways and Cebu Pacific planes docked at the terminal.

We were really lucky to dock at a gate that was near to the immigration. After disembarking from the plane, I walked a short five minutes, went to the ASEAN lane and soon I had cleared immigration. There was no special lane for business class passengers unlike at Bangkok airport. That is the end of my flight review on Singapore Airlines Business Class. Hope to be able to fly more with them in Business Class next year, perhaps to Maldives or a North Asian destination.

Being curious to check out the Silverkris lounge at Manila airport, I went to take a look. But it was shuttered already as the last return flight out of Manila back to Singapore is at 7.00pm. Singapore Airlines flies 4 times daily between Singapore and Manila.