<< BEG. OF PART 2>>
Normally I don't take pictures of airplane bathrooms but this was the nicest one I had ever seen. I was standing in the part of the bathroom that had a chair and a giant mirror for doing your make-up or freshening up. The side pictured is the sink and toilet. There was even a Fresh Orchid hanging out for scent. Linen towels instead of paper, too.
As soon as we got settled in our seats a very kind flight attendant introduced himself as "C" and told us if we needed anything for our comfort to call on him. He them popped a bottle of 2004 Dom Perignon (USA Retail Price - $175 a bottle) and offered it to us. We gladly accepted.
The delicious ice-cold 2004 Dom Perignon. I had read reports that the 2003 Dom was typically served and people prefer it less than the 2002 Dom. So maybe the 2004 is the newest vintage Thai is corking. either way, we loved it.
A view from the lounge area in the front of the plane. For a short flight we didn't use this space but on a ultra long-haul I imagine it would be a nice place to stretch your legs or chart with your colleagues or family.
They were not stingy with the Dom Perignon. They were quick with refills and we enjoyed 3ish servings each even before take-off. The cabin eventually filled up and we pushed back for take-off, on time.
One we got in the air it was a bit of a bumpy ride. But not as bad as I expected considering the Super Typhoon was nearby. We were both happy to have made it out of Hong Kong without getting stranded and we settled in to enjoy this unique experience for us.
They began the in-flight service shortly after take-off. An amuse bouche was served and our drink order was taken. Lady Tocqueville will do a full write-up on the food and drink served on this flight so I will spare detail here. But know it was awesome and we downed our Lobster Thermador with a healthy dose of Champagne, Paired White Wine, and aged Cognac to finish the meal. How cool is it that my wife drinks Cognac?
The Lobster Thermador in all its glory. Stay tuned for the full food and beverage report to come on Lady Tocqueville's Food Blog.
A view of the flight tracker about 2 hours into the flight. We didn't have to go too far out of our way since the Typhoon was coming in from the East.
The Thai camera is pretty cool considering it is mounted to the top of the tail fin. What a view I watched as we came in through the clouds, unto the Thai farmland, and eventually onto the runway.
At landing the flight attendants handed out Playing Cards featuring the Thai A380. I guess you are not allowed to bring them into Thailand since they were marked "For Export Only".
This flight was incredible. I have taken over 1,000 flights in my life and it was truly the best. During the flight Lady Tocqueville looked over at me while enjoying her lobster and the 2004 Dom Perignon. She said all those credit cards we opened up and churned were so worth it to be able to have aspirational experiences like this. I was given the green light that we could begin a new churn when we returned home in 3 weeks to be able to have those kind of awesome experiences again. We really enjoyed the service, equipment, food and ambiance of this flight. An A+.
On landing we walked down a jetway and all First Class passengers were herded onto our own shuttle bus. There were Thai Airways agents with signs with our names on it that joined us on the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus ride was short and within a couple minutes we were at the terminal.
A view from the shuttle bus for First Class passengers.
Thai Airways is known for their amazing service for First Class connections in Bangkok. And we really enjoyed this service. The escort brought us to a priority security line where we quickly cleared security. Then she walked us and one other guy over to a golf cart where our hand-luggage was loaded and we were quickly swept through the terminal towards the First Class Lounge. People who were walking in the terminal looked at us a bit funny while we coasted by them in this golf cart. After a 2-3 minute ride we were dropped off at the Thai Airways Royal First Lounge.
View from the golf cart.
The priority screening area. As I have mentioned before I am no fan of airport security as it exists today in most of the world. I believe it to be Security Theater and not actual improvement in security. But we have no choice so we have to comply with it. Here the screening was standard compared to our other flights. The guy in white, pictured just before the metal detector had a meltdown with a security agent. They took his toothpaste, which was a full size toothpaste but had about 10% of it left, probably less than 20mL or 20mG. But they took it nevertheless and he freaked out and started yelling at the lady and making a big stink about it. I sympathized with him. In the normal world, searching someone's property without a warrant is a violation of their natural rights. And certainly taking of their property is theft. But this is the security state we live in these days. And if a thief came after my stuff and took it from me, I would be agitated and frustrated as well. But it didn't feel right to watch him yell at this little Thai Lady about it. For me in protesting violations of rights, civil disobedience is the way to go. Not uncivil rudeness.
We arrived at the First Class lounge. They were waiting for us. I guess our Thai agent with us radioed ahead we were coming in. We were quickly escorted into a private room within the lounge that felt like a living room. We dropped off our luggage and requested some time at the Thai Airways Royal Spa. Because we were flying First Class and connecting to a First Class flight we were entitled to a complimentary hour massage at their spa. The Lounge agent radioed to the lounge and we were told they were immediately ready for us. So we walked the 30 meters or so from the First Class Lounge into the Royal Spa.
As soon as we got to the Royal Spa we were greeted by name and sat down in the narthex. They brought us some tea and some cold towels to refresh us. We particularly liked the zen bonzai/terrarrium thing that was on the table.
After about five minutes we were taken by our masseuses to our private massage rooms. We each had our own seperate and private massage. We went with the touch of silk oil massage.
The massage bed and massage room. I was asked by my masseuse, a relatively tall young Thai woman to take a shower before we began the massage. She handed me a pair of disposable black underwear and showed me to the room's shower and toilet.
The private bathroom with shower and toilet at the Thai Royal Spa.
A view of the shower.
After I rinsed and dried off, I proceeded back into the massage room. The masseuse presented four different scented oils for me to smell. I liked #3 the best and the massage began.
It was a very relaxing and pleasurable hour. The masseuse was strong and I enjoyed the sense of relief while my back cracked as she ran her hands up my back muscles. Now this is relaxation! When it was through I showered and dried off and put my duds back on.
After the hour was up we were rejoined in the front area of the spa and given some tea to unwind and fill out a survey about the experience. We both gave the spa "Excellent" ratings in all categories.
We walked back to the First Lounge. We had about 1.5 more hours to kill during our layover. It seemed like there was at least one staff for every passenger in the lounge and ours quickly came by to take our food order. An iPad was used to facilitate the descriptions of each of the dishes available. I went with some spicy green chicken curry.
11 pages of food choices on the Thai Royal First Lounge menu.
My curry served with a purple local drink. It was great and refreshing.
The lounge also had a buffet area where you could choose from many different canapes and snacks. We were stuffed so we passed on even more of these delicious goodies.
At boarding time we were taken from our private living room and escorted, along with 5-6 other passengers to our gate.
View of the Thai Royal First lounge entrance on our way out.
We were walked to the gate instead of taken in a cart. It was about a 5 minute walk to the gate. We were actually brought there towards the end of boarding. It appears this was done to let the supplemental security screening that was taking place for our flight die down of business and economy passengers. And sure enough we got to gate C7 and had the screening area to ourselves.
<< END OF PART 2>>