Down Under 2006 - I
May 31st , 4:20 PM
Starting from the special counter for First class passengers and a separate security lane exclusive to Business class travelers it was a royal treatment that I have never ever experienced before in my hundreds of flight trips before!
Here I am sitting in the Alaska Board Room lounge , rubbing shoulders with all those snobs whom I always envied as they popped into these special club rooms every time I crossed them in those hundreds of airports before. The setting cannot be any more perfect. A window couch next to the 737 which I am going to board shortly and almost being able to come in touch with the romantic drizzle outside.
There is a full service bar in the top floor and a completely furnished Business lounge in the ground floor. Free Wireless service to add topping to the already delicious serving of luxury. This place is pretty much like a sanctuary from all the all the crowds and the noise of the airport.
May 31st , 5:30 PM
I am not a fan of queue jumping and nor do I think that is a nice thing to do. However when I reached my gate and noticed that passengers had already started boarding, I could not resist the rushing urge to jump into the front and flash my first class privilege and get in way ahead of the irate fellow passengers who were already tired of the late boarding. Once inside the flight I was so glad to use my new privilege to park my sweet ass on one of those oversized leather first class seats, which I have drooled for in my few million trips on board the minimal leg room airlines.
Every time I board a flight and buckle up my seat beat, the first craving I get is for water! Don’t know why and don’t know what exactly triggers it, but I need my H20! It does make me feel good when I get that icky feeling during the takeoff. But now, if I haven’t carried that with me into the flight, securing myself a small cup of this “precious” natural resource inside a flight that has still not taken off is a Himalayan task! Every time I have ever asked a flight attendant for a bottle or cup of water, I have gotten responses that ranged from completely absurd to annoyingly meaningless. So, boy was I thrilled when I saw a nice bottle of water parked on the “widescreen” armrest of my assigned first class seat.
Minutes after the flight reached cruising altitude I heard the voice on the flight speaker announcing the soon to start Beverage service. The sweet thing about this was , that was only for the Cabin class passengers. Not for us super dopers! At the same time the message was being announced, an attendant was taking individual orders for food and drink from us J I passed on the tempting food and went straight for the Alaskan Summer ale on bottle. 6:30 PM is not too early for a sud right?! But Jenna on the other hand seemed to be one up on me already. She had already downed a pint in the Alaskan Board room lounge even before boarding the flight! Looks like I have a nice company to explore and exploit the beer “hotels” of Sydney.
May 31st , 9:30 PM
We are here at the Qantas lounge in LAX and I finally have the chance to get to my beer. I got 2 drink coupons at the customer service desk in the lounge and used them wisely to fuel myself with 2 refreshing Redhook ESBs. Carrie gave me company and so did Jenna, though she contained herself to just 1 beer. The lounge was nothing great to write about , but still a far cry from the noisy airport gates and bars. Once we board the flight, I tried my luck to get a seat in the top floor, but couldn’t manage to get one. However, one of the flight attendants was sweet enough to come and check with me if I wanted to move to an empty row behind so that I can have the luxury of crashing out peacefully without anyone having to jump over me in the middle of the night. Of course I accepted the offer and shifted immediately. So here I am relaxing alone in my huge business class seat waiting for my next free pint of cold lager.
The Qantas Skybed was some magical flight seat that I have never seen or experienced before. The controls on it were high funda even for a gizmo geek. It took me almost an hour to figure what each one of them would accomplish! Much to my surprise I didn’t do justice to the can of Victoria Bitter that was served as a part of a very nouveau cuisine dinner. Eating in business class really gives you the feeling that you ARE eating. Unlike the cabin class, all the cutlery is not plastic. The serving plates are made of real china. Even the cup in which they serve coffee or Hot chocolate – yes they do offer that! – is a real coffee mug. This was more of a “Dining” than eating 10 kilometers above the surface of the pacific ocean. As soon as I did my best to stay awake and finish the movie Eight below that I had started before dinner. But the Evil Skybed would let me do that . It just sucked me into its world of comfort. What a swell way to travel!
June1st , 9:30 AM
I wake up and was shocked to find out that I had actually slept for more than 9 hours at a stretch in a flight! Oh Mother, what else can I pull off in flight when rewarded with ever elusive comfort and luxury. As soon I woke up I stepped out into the cabin class to use the rest room there and was a little bit overwhelmed by the stark difference between Business and Coach class. That was entirely another world. The way the seats were close together, the way people were struggling to stretch and focus on their entertainment screens! I don’t believe that I was going through this all these days and not complaining even a bit. Gosh, I hope I am not spoilt after this trip!
June3rd , 6:30 AM
The flight landed on time at Sydney airport and I had around an hour to kill. So, what did I do? Take a wild guess! Of course I had to run straight to the Qantas Business Lounge. I have become a lounge lizard now! The lounge was fully loaded with all sorts of Cold and Hot Beverages, Snacks, Break fast stuff. In a matter of way as I am so used to doing this all the time, I picked up a copy of The Sydney Morning Herald and tapped myself a hot steaming(actually not so steaming!) cup of Flat White. Wow! Flat white – the ever so familiar flat white. How can I forget how much Sangeetha and I tripped on this the last time we were here. I just realized a while ago that my connecting flight was not through Qantas, but through an Airlines that I have not heard about till now. I cant even pronounce it easily. Air Nuigini. Yes that is the name and I don’t have a clue where Port Mortesby is and that apparently is the final destination of the flight I just boarded.
Starting from the special counter for First class passengers and a separate security lane exclusive to Business class travelers it was a royal treatment that I have never ever experienced before in my hundreds of flight trips before!
Here I am sitting in the Alaska Board Room lounge , rubbing shoulders with all those snobs whom I always envied as they popped into these special club rooms every time I crossed them in those hundreds of airports before. The setting cannot be any more perfect. A window couch next to the 737 which I am going to board shortly and almost being able to come in touch with the romantic drizzle outside.
There is a full service bar in the top floor and a completely furnished Business lounge in the ground floor. Free Wireless service to add topping to the already delicious serving of luxury. This place is pretty much like a sanctuary from all the all the crowds and the noise of the airport.
May 31st , 5:30 PM
I am not a fan of queue jumping and nor do I think that is a nice thing to do. However when I reached my gate and noticed that passengers had already started boarding, I could not resist the rushing urge to jump into the front and flash my first class privilege and get in way ahead of the irate fellow passengers who were already tired of the late boarding. Once inside the flight I was so glad to use my new privilege to park my sweet ass on one of those oversized leather first class seats, which I have drooled for in my few million trips on board the minimal leg room airlines.
Every time I board a flight and buckle up my seat beat, the first craving I get is for water! Don’t know why and don’t know what exactly triggers it, but I need my H20! It does make me feel good when I get that icky feeling during the takeoff. But now, if I haven’t carried that with me into the flight, securing myself a small cup of this “precious” natural resource inside a flight that has still not taken off is a Himalayan task! Every time I have ever asked a flight attendant for a bottle or cup of water, I have gotten responses that ranged from completely absurd to annoyingly meaningless. So, boy was I thrilled when I saw a nice bottle of water parked on the “widescreen” armrest of my assigned first class seat.
Minutes after the flight reached cruising altitude I heard the voice on the flight speaker announcing the soon to start Beverage service. The sweet thing about this was , that was only for the Cabin class passengers. Not for us super dopers! At the same time the message was being announced, an attendant was taking individual orders for food and drink from us J I passed on the tempting food and went straight for the Alaskan Summer ale on bottle. 6:30 PM is not too early for a sud right?! But Jenna on the other hand seemed to be one up on me already. She had already downed a pint in the Alaskan Board room lounge even before boarding the flight! Looks like I have a nice company to explore and exploit the beer “hotels” of Sydney.
May 31st , 9:30 PM
We are here at the Qantas lounge in LAX and I finally have the chance to get to my beer. I got 2 drink coupons at the customer service desk in the lounge and used them wisely to fuel myself with 2 refreshing Redhook ESBs. Carrie gave me company and so did Jenna, though she contained herself to just 1 beer. The lounge was nothing great to write about , but still a far cry from the noisy airport gates and bars. Once we board the flight, I tried my luck to get a seat in the top floor, but couldn’t manage to get one. However, one of the flight attendants was sweet enough to come and check with me if I wanted to move to an empty row behind so that I can have the luxury of crashing out peacefully without anyone having to jump over me in the middle of the night. Of course I accepted the offer and shifted immediately. So here I am relaxing alone in my huge business class seat waiting for my next free pint of cold lager.
The Qantas Skybed was some magical flight seat that I have never seen or experienced before. The controls on it were high funda even for a gizmo geek. It took me almost an hour to figure what each one of them would accomplish! Much to my surprise I didn’t do justice to the can of Victoria Bitter that was served as a part of a very nouveau cuisine dinner. Eating in business class really gives you the feeling that you ARE eating. Unlike the cabin class, all the cutlery is not plastic. The serving plates are made of real china. Even the cup in which they serve coffee or Hot chocolate – yes they do offer that! – is a real coffee mug. This was more of a “Dining” than eating 10 kilometers above the surface of the pacific ocean. As soon as I did my best to stay awake and finish the movie Eight below that I had started before dinner. But the Evil Skybed would let me do that . It just sucked me into its world of comfort. What a swell way to travel!
June1st , 9:30 AM
I wake up and was shocked to find out that I had actually slept for more than 9 hours at a stretch in a flight! Oh Mother, what else can I pull off in flight when rewarded with ever elusive comfort and luxury. As soon I woke up I stepped out into the cabin class to use the rest room there and was a little bit overwhelmed by the stark difference between Business and Coach class. That was entirely another world. The way the seats were close together, the way people were struggling to stretch and focus on their entertainment screens! I don’t believe that I was going through this all these days and not complaining even a bit. Gosh, I hope I am not spoilt after this trip!
June3rd , 6:30 AM
The flight landed on time at Sydney airport and I had around an hour to kill. So, what did I do? Take a wild guess! Of course I had to run straight to the Qantas Business Lounge. I have become a lounge lizard now! The lounge was fully loaded with all sorts of Cold and Hot Beverages, Snacks, Break fast stuff. In a matter of way as I am so used to doing this all the time, I picked up a copy of The Sydney Morning Herald and tapped myself a hot steaming(actually not so steaming!) cup of Flat White. Wow! Flat white – the ever so familiar flat white. How can I forget how much Sangeetha and I tripped on this the last time we were here. I just realized a while ago that my connecting flight was not through Qantas, but through an Airlines that I have not heard about till now. I cant even pronounce it easily. Air Nuigini. Yes that is the name and I don’t have a clue where Port Mortesby is and that apparently is the final destination of the flight I just boarded.
posted by Prasanna vee at 12:22 AM
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