Sydney: Day 4: Return - the Continuum

Sydney

June 2025: Day 4: Return

Sunrise at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Circular Quay.

The view from Circular Quay as you walk to the train station.

Singapore Air lounge at SYD.

Mmmmmm congee.

The view.

N26970, 8 year old 787-9.

Not quite Mt. Blanket. Menu.

Menu.

T'way A330 and Cebu Pacific A330neo, the latter on runway 25-07.

Hong Kong Airlines A330.

Runway 16R.

13hr 27min, 7.486 miles estimated.

Seared tuna FTW.

Barramundi is good.

Snack cart.

Mid-flight tapas.

Smoked beef ragout, butter chicken, shrimp tom yum rice.

Gnocchi with the smoked beef is truly awful.

Mango chia seed pudding is a bit too sweet.

13:01 flight time (actual), 7,534 miles (actual), 7,784 miles (Flightaware), 7,488 miles (great cicle).

Early morning international arrivals mean going to Tom Bradley International Terminal instead of Terminal 7 for arrivals.

Just like Carl's 3,000,000th mile celebration in Sydney last year, sunrise at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Circular Quay was low-key pretty, and after a single night's stay in Australia, it was time to head back home. Most of the group stayed a few extra days to party, some even to celebrate Jay's 2,000,000th mile flight on United on the weekend return (congrats Jay!)!<./p>

The train back and forth to the airport is one of my favorite train rides, with well-maintained, slightly older double-decker train cars and a very efficient journey. Crossing through security and departure immigration is painless, it's a bit of a long walk through the terminal to the gates that United uses-- probably should have left a few minutes earlier if I wanted to use both the Air New Zealand and the Singapore Air lounges. However, visiting "only" the Singapore Air lounge is just fine, the food is solid, and managed to catch up with Alex, one of the youngest 1K's you're likely to meet on United, as we waited for our return to LAX.

Once at the gate, met up with Alex's dad Sergio, and had a very smooth return back to the United States. The barramundi, as noted earlier, was delicious (thanks Susan!), and the seared tuna appetizer was tasty and quite unexpected (United serving seared tuna???). The mid-flight tapas was a bit less impressive-- although butter chicken is always safe, the shrimp and Thai-style rice was a bit too dry, as was the smoked beef ragout with potato.

Decided to mix it up with the mango chia seed pudding for pre-arrival meal; was too sweet for me, although Alex said the banana bread was good. Still a nice change from the awful egg white bites and sausage that United has been serving for far too long now. The arrival into Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at LAX was smooth despite the fog, and with that, it was back to reality and things like work. Congrats again to Carl on finishing a long four years and 4,000,000 miles, and achieving the life-long, rarely-achieved goal of any crazy United frequent flier, Lifetime Global Services.