Checking in for Singapore Airlines in Jakarta is a very easy process as the counters are usually not very busy. Moreover travelling in First Class I had an empty counter waiting for me. After getting the boarding pass, I was actually escorted by a staff member through a premium immigration and security counter on the left of the check-in area. This was my second time departing on Singapore Airlines First Class out of Jakarta and the additional escort service might be useful for a foreigner. To me, it is just an added perk. There is only one immigration officer waiting by the door into the lounge but you get into the lounge area straight. For other premium passengers this is their lounge, but Singapore Airlines uses the Esplanade Lounge across from this one, and in my opinion the Esplanade Lounge is certainly the more exclusive one.
No lounge invite was necessary and a show of my boarding pass was all I needed to gain access. While the lounge is split into a Business and First Class section, there does not seem to be any big difference in amenities. In fact it is easy to go through between the Business and First Class sections through the unmanned central bar area.
Entrance to the lounge was a bit dark and this section is especially empty because of the lighting. A buffet counter lies beside this area. While the lounge serves hot cooked food like fried rice and/or noodles, they were lacking in quality. I would rather just get meals before or at the flight instead. It is honestly quite bad. I had quite a heavy breakfast before arriving at the airport and Singapore Airlines does serve decent meals on First Class so I was not about to make myself full from subpar lounge food.
A partition lies between the buffet counter and the rest of the lounge seats that has tarmac views. It was a very decent space all around and there was free wifi that guests could use by asking for the password. In the end I just sat down to lounge since I did not really need much food or beverage. There was also no staff that asked me whether I wanted any drinks, a slight difference compared to my previous visit to this lounge.
In the lounge, there is also a row of workstation located between the Business and First Class sections. It was empty with no use using the PC nor the bar.
I did not take new pictures of the Business Class section of the lounge, but there was some new alteration in terms of seating layout though it did not feel any different in furnishing. Naturally this section of the lounge has a higher number of guests though there was still plenty of seats to lounge in.
Instead of writing more about this average lounge, I will just post the photos taken from previous visits. In addition, during this lounge visit, I actually misplaced one of my keys. I was actually able to exit out to the check-in area to check if I dropped it somewhere. That meant I actually went out of the immigration and back into the lounge just by saying a word to the lone immigration officer waiting at the premium check-in area. Aside from this minor incident, the lounge was just adequate for waiting the next flight and I proceeded to go through another round of security check before boarding (the first round of security check is before the check-in counters).
