"Nowhere in particular" - 73 hours of random flying including the EK A380 in J (pics)
May 14, 2009, 11:50 am
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Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,660
"Nowhere in particular" - 73 hours of random flying including the EK A380 in J (pics)
The below trip report is just something I cobbled together on a relatively quiet afternoon. Please forgive its poor quality, especially when compared to the magna opera produced some of the illuminati of this forum.
====
Some months ago, Airbus had promised me a ride on a promo flight they were doing with the A380 in my part of the world in June. Last week though, their regional sales team broke the sad news to me that the flight was not going ahead as originally planned. This left a void in my life that had to be filled.
It had also been a long few weeks at work. I really needed to get away from the office for a few days. Ideally, somewhere where there was no cellphone coverage. Better still, somewhere with a double mileage promotion. Other than that, I was not fussy where I went. And so it came to pass that I decided to ride the A380. Where, when and how? Minor details to be decided later...
Even though I still fly almost 300k miles every year, my last elite status expired just over a month ago. I still have millions of miles and points banked in various programs though, so I could use a mix of paid and award tickets. The best option seemed to be the Emirates A380 out of Heathrow on Friday afternoon. And I had just enough orphan Emirates miles in my account for a Europe to Middle East upgrade award! My trusty travel agent advised that the best mileage bang for buck comes with a Johannesburg ticket. For just under £400 and 25000 miles, I would earn almost 30000 miles, fly the A380 in Business Class and get to watch virtually every recent film that I cared to catch up with on ICE.
Still, I needed to get to Heathrow. I am in London so often that I sometimes think of Heathrow and Gatwick as alternative airports to start a trip from, even though they are actually located just over 3000 miles away from my apartment. Thankfully, KLM Promo @wards were offering a half price one-way award (17500 miles only) from my home airport to Amsterdam. From there it was a short hop on my choice of KLM, bmi or British Airways to Heathrow. I decided to pick bmi, if only because their full Y fare was only about €50 higher than the others, got me lounge access to nap for a few hours at Schiphol and enough miles to take me to the Blue Plus threshold in Diamond Club. Oh dear, how the mighty have fallen. How do Blue Plus people even have the shame to show the card to the crew for the free sandwich on board? It seems to scream "I'm a wannabe serious traveler - I care about the benefits but I don't fly enough to earn them".
After checking in online, I left the office at 7pm on Thursday for a 9pm departure. The KLM agent scolded me for being late and pointed at a sign requiring passengers to report at the boarding gate no less than 3 hours prior to departure. Yeah right. I proceeded to the boarding gate where about a hundred passengers were already waiting. And we continued to wait until about 60 minutes prior to departure when the staff showed up and started the boarding process.
Today's ride is PH-BQK "Mount Kilimanjaro" and we are about two thirds full down the back. Departure is on time and dinner is served as we wing our way towards Amsterdam. This month features "Africa Experience" menus and I am served something that tastes like beef stew with rice and soggy plantain. I watch "Slumdog Millionaire" and sleep for a while. Breakfast is a joke of a muesli bar and a fruit bowl served in a very elegant cardboard box. Soon enough, we land on the Polderbaan. If the IFE system were still running, I probably would have been able to watch the movie again during the taxi from runway to gate.
I'm hungry so I make a beeline for McDonalds and grab some breakfast. A quick stop at Duty Free to buy some Dutch Cheese and its off to the Servisair Lounge where my bmi full Y fare ticket entitles me to lounge access. The lounge is empty at this hour and I relax with some juice and nap for another couple hours. I won't actually sleep in a bed that doesn't move until Sunday night and its only Friday morning now, so I better stock up while I can.
The hop to Heathrow is brief and efficient. I choose to pay neither £1.80 for a cup of coffee nor £3.50 for a sandwich and instead relax with my complimentary copy of the Daily Mail. Next time I fly on bmi, I shall be Blue Plus and get these for free!!! Oh, its the little things that can stroke our egos.
Heathrow is surprisingly civilised for a Friday morning and my transit to Terminal 3 goes painlessly. Armed with boarding pass and lounge invitation, I make a pit stop at WHSmith to top up my Vodafone units and then onwards to the Emirates lounge. Lunch is just about to be rolled out, so I take the opportunity to grab a shower. Can't be polluting the A380 with body odour can we? When I emerge, the initial rush for the buffet has just passed and I am able to saunter over and poke around the dishes at my leisure.
The lounge menu for lunch is actually quite excellent. I start off with a Prawn and Grapefruit salad, followed up by a spicy Thai Lobster curry with Jasmine rice. I'm in a seafood mood today as you can probably guess. I nibble on this for a while as I check email. Meanwhile, an announcement that our departure will be delayed 30 minutes due to a late inbound aircraft. Shortly thereafter, the beast itself arrives on 27L which BAA has kindly located most conveniently for spotters in the Emirates lounge. As she taxies past the windows to her gate, virtually everyone in the lounge has their cameras out and clicking away. I'm guilty of this as well.
Eventually we board. Us privileged types do not have to rub shoulders with the proles as we get our own jetway to the upper deck. My seat is 25K located in the second last row of the cabin. How often does one get to ride in a Business Class seat located well behind the wing? There seem to be a hundred hosties hustling about trying to take coats, serve champagne, hand out amenity kits and take the obligatory photograph of the first time A380 flyers sitting in their big seat.
Speaking of seats, I am quite impressed. I've prostrated myself on some fairly fancy flying contraptions over the years but what hooks me on this one is the minibar. Nobody else has a minibar at every seat in Business Class. Of course, its completely pointless but today I have my decadent passenger hat on, not my penny pinching airline manager one. The charming English girl serving my zone comes around with a tray of bubbly, water and orange juice. "Would you care for some champagne sir?". "Why yes, yes I would, thank you."
The Full A380 Experience Photo Album
We finally take off into the afternoon sky and I am impressed by the relative silence of the engines. I am however not particularly impressed by the acceleration. It is more A340-esque than B777-esque in that respect. Of course, the pilots may just be using flex thrust but that doesn't exactly fill one with confidence in light of recent incidents on this carrier. Nonetheless, the beast takes to the sky sans incident and the guys up front point us in the general direction of Dubai as we climb to 35000 feet. Menu cards are handed out and the meal service begins shortly thereafter.
I have always been a fan of the Emirates mezze, so I decide to forego my fishy streak and opt for that as my appetiser. I do however pick the seafood option for my main course. The meal is quite excellent. I mention my weakness for fresh garlic bread to the delightful young ladies serving me and they make it a point to quietly add a few extra slices to my plate every time they pass by. I must have gone through an entire loaf on my own! By the time dessert time rolls around, I am quite stuffed but the girls talk me into trying the lemon tart, with a fresh fruit plate and cup of coffee to finish up. I loosen my belt buckle and take one for the team.
Meal complete, I watch "The Ramen Girl" and then take a gander around the aircraft. The lounge area at the rear of the upper deck is very impressive with a huge flat screen TV showing the airshow against the wall and a number of trays of canapes and other snacks strategically placed at various locations. There is the obligatory bar with bartender and the area is absolutely packed (placarded for maximum capacity of 21 and we had at least 17 there at some points). The crewmember who has been serving me offers to show me around the lower deck and I happily take her up on the offer. Nothing major to see down there though but we get into an interesting conversation regarding some of the customer options selected (eg. main deck CRC, galley/lav locations, etc...) and their pros/cons. We also discuss my itinerary for the weekend and she expresses the typical shock/horror that most normal people do when told about mileage runs.
Back to my seat, I recline it into the flat bed position and nap for a while. I must have really zonked out because the next thing I remember I am being gently shaken awake and asked to prepare my seat for landing. Darn, I missed the snack service. Or so I thought. Two minutes later the same crewmember comes around with a small carrier bag that she passes along to me. "I saw you were sleeping soundly so I didn't disturb you, but I figured you'd need all the snacks you can get for the rest of your trip!" She has packed up the sandwiches from the second meal service together with bags of crisps, some packs of biscuits and some fruit. I am really touched. Yes, the A380 was fancy and sleek and had lovely toys to play with, but what truly made the flight special was this small act of thoughtfulness by a young lady who didn't even know me until a few hours ago.
Dubai airport is its usual zoological self at 1am. Luckily, I know of an area that is not only relatively deserted at this peak hour, but also offers clean bathrooms that do not have a 20 deep line stretching out the door (hint : its in old Terminal 1). I spend a happy couple hours mooching off the ubiquitous free wifi until its time to head to my next gate for the flight to Johannesburg. This flight is chocka in all classes so I am grateful for my aisle seat. Until I realise that my aisle seat has actually split up a family. The father and 4-year old daughter are in the middle and window to my right, with the 6-year old son across the aisle in a middle seat. My heart sinks but common decency trumps comfort. I offer to trade places with the son. The father is extremely grateful and I resign myself to 8 hours squashed between a Sri Lankan lady and a Filipino man. As the doors are about to close, my luck turns. One of the crew approaches me and asks if I would like to take the only open seat on the plane, an aisle in the 2-section of the second last row. Pardon my french, but "Hell yeah!". Proof that karma is not just an option for the Asian Vegetarian special meal.
The 8 hours down to Joburg pass peacefully. I watch "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and nibble on the chicken tikka sandwich that is served around 5am. Breakfast is the usual Emirates option of Ricotta Omelette or Mixed Grill, neither of which takes my fancy. Approach into Joburg is quite exciting with a fairly strong crosswind requiring heavy use of rudder on touchdown on 03R. And then its the long taxi past the hangars to the international terminal.
A few years ago, I used to be a very regular visitor to Joburg. I opened the station for our airline and was acting Station Manager for the whole season that we operated the route. Of course, by the time the next winter season rolled around fuel prices had gone through the roof and we decided not to continue the service. So after spending almost 8 months flying into there at least once a week, I hadn't been back in over 2 years. And my oh my, how it has changed. The old Alpha/Echo ramp that used to be a construction zone now has a gleaming new steel and glass concourse. I wander through the terminal to the transfer desks where my return boarding passes are printed a few seconds later. Then its through security and into the departure concourse no more than 10 minutes after I stepped off the aircraft.
With over 2 hours to kill, I decide to grab some lunch and spend the remainder of my orphaned Rand from two years ago. I watch the swearing in of Jacob Zuma (featuring an impressive flypast by SAA aircraft) while eating and then wander back down to the gate where A6-ECD is preparing for her return to Dubai. This leg is almost deserted with under 200 passengers booked on the huge machine. I am fortunate enough to have an aisle with two empty middle seats to my left.
About an hour after departure we run into some pretty bad turbulence (I would categorise it as "moderate") during the drink service. Lots of screaming passengers and drinks flying around. The Australian purser comes on the PA system and very tersely instructs crew to "sit down NOW wherever you are". Even the ICE system hangs for a few seconds with all the bouncing around. I'm just upset that my Diet Coke has spilled. Once things calm down, I am very impressed to see that the crewmember working my zone brings me a refill almost immediately and without the need to ask. Two thumbs up again.
Looking closer, the crewmember seems extremely familiar. She doesn't have a nametag but I'm quite sure I know her from somewhere. I use the ICE handset to send a text message to a good friend of mine who works for Emirates asking her if I might know any of the crew on this flight. No immediate reply so I take the opportunity to stop the girl a few minutes later and ask her name. Once she tells me, the penny drops. I actually interviewed her for a job with our airline a couple years ago and she was placed in a holding pool for future openings. While waiting though, she got a call from Emirates and proceeded to accept a job with them instead. She is quite excited once she recognises me and says that she also thought I looked familiar (she recognised me from Facebook pictures of myself with our mutual friend!). Small world.
We continue to wing our way along the East Coast as dinner is served. My dinner choice is the Beef Paprika, purely because I know from my own menu presentation a few years ago that LSG in Johannesburg has an excellent recipe. I am not disappointed. Just before landing, the obligatory Chicken Tikka sandwich is handed out again and I am asked to complete a Feedback Form. I happily oblige. The crew are very pleased by my comments and the Senior Flight Steward comes around to thank me for my kind words. Credit where credit due.
Back in Dubai, its 14797 miles down and only 6881 miles to go. I grab a snack at Burger King and then head over to the gate for my final Emirates leg to Gatwick. The passenger load on this flight consists overwhelmingly of chavettes wearing tight tracksuit bottoms decorated with sequins. That and Bangladeshi restaurant workers who spend hours poring over the landing card and asking everyone for the correct spelling of "chef". I sleep the whole way. Somewhere in the middle of the flight one of the Bangladeshi chefs is taken ill (something he ate?) but after a few minutes of fussing around everything calms down. The menu is identical to that on last night's Joburg trip, so I nibble on the Chicken Tikka sandwich and skip the breakfast again.
Home sweet home (almost). I'm struggling a bit now as I plod my way through the hallways of Gatwick and over to check myself in for my last legs back home. Thankfully, I shall be on my own airline for these legs, so Business Class awaits. Today's routing runs via Dusseldorf, so we have only a half load for the 55 minute hop from Gatwick. The crew are also familiar with my drink preferences and I have a Diet Coke with ice and lemon at my elbow without even having to ask.
During our 45 minute transit in Dusseldorf, I take the opportunity to catch up with our duty manager and also to visit the Duty Free to buy some Niederegger marzipan. Passengers must stay on board however. Lunch is served just after departure from Dusseldorf.
Finally, just after 730pm on Sunday night, we touch down. I have spent almost 73 hours in constant transit through no-mans land on 3 continents. The immigration officer is chatty and comments on the lack of stamps in my passport since the exit stamp on Thursday. He asks if I went anywhere interesting. I smile. "Nowhere in particular", I respond. It's easier than trying to explain....
====
Some months ago, Airbus had promised me a ride on a promo flight they were doing with the A380 in my part of the world in June. Last week though, their regional sales team broke the sad news to me that the flight was not going ahead as originally planned. This left a void in my life that had to be filled.
It had also been a long few weeks at work. I really needed to get away from the office for a few days. Ideally, somewhere where there was no cellphone coverage. Better still, somewhere with a double mileage promotion. Other than that, I was not fussy where I went. And so it came to pass that I decided to ride the A380. Where, when and how? Minor details to be decided later...
Even though I still fly almost 300k miles every year, my last elite status expired just over a month ago. I still have millions of miles and points banked in various programs though, so I could use a mix of paid and award tickets. The best option seemed to be the Emirates A380 out of Heathrow on Friday afternoon. And I had just enough orphan Emirates miles in my account for a Europe to Middle East upgrade award! My trusty travel agent advised that the best mileage bang for buck comes with a Johannesburg ticket. For just under £400 and 25000 miles, I would earn almost 30000 miles, fly the A380 in Business Class and get to watch virtually every recent film that I cared to catch up with on ICE.
Still, I needed to get to Heathrow. I am in London so often that I sometimes think of Heathrow and Gatwick as alternative airports to start a trip from, even though they are actually located just over 3000 miles away from my apartment. Thankfully, KLM Promo @wards were offering a half price one-way award (17500 miles only) from my home airport to Amsterdam. From there it was a short hop on my choice of KLM, bmi or British Airways to Heathrow. I decided to pick bmi, if only because their full Y fare was only about €50 higher than the others, got me lounge access to nap for a few hours at Schiphol and enough miles to take me to the Blue Plus threshold in Diamond Club. Oh dear, how the mighty have fallen. How do Blue Plus people even have the shame to show the card to the crew for the free sandwich on board? It seems to scream "I'm a wannabe serious traveler - I care about the benefits but I don't fly enough to earn them".
After checking in online, I left the office at 7pm on Thursday for a 9pm departure. The KLM agent scolded me for being late and pointed at a sign requiring passengers to report at the boarding gate no less than 3 hours prior to departure. Yeah right. I proceeded to the boarding gate where about a hundred passengers were already waiting. And we continued to wait until about 60 minutes prior to departure when the staff showed up and started the boarding process.
Today's ride is PH-BQK "Mount Kilimanjaro" and we are about two thirds full down the back. Departure is on time and dinner is served as we wing our way towards Amsterdam. This month features "Africa Experience" menus and I am served something that tastes like beef stew with rice and soggy plantain. I watch "Slumdog Millionaire" and sleep for a while. Breakfast is a joke of a muesli bar and a fruit bowl served in a very elegant cardboard box. Soon enough, we land on the Polderbaan. If the IFE system were still running, I probably would have been able to watch the movie again during the taxi from runway to gate.
I'm hungry so I make a beeline for McDonalds and grab some breakfast. A quick stop at Duty Free to buy some Dutch Cheese and its off to the Servisair Lounge where my bmi full Y fare ticket entitles me to lounge access. The lounge is empty at this hour and I relax with some juice and nap for another couple hours. I won't actually sleep in a bed that doesn't move until Sunday night and its only Friday morning now, so I better stock up while I can.
The hop to Heathrow is brief and efficient. I choose to pay neither £1.80 for a cup of coffee nor £3.50 for a sandwich and instead relax with my complimentary copy of the Daily Mail. Next time I fly on bmi, I shall be Blue Plus and get these for free!!! Oh, its the little things that can stroke our egos.
Heathrow is surprisingly civilised for a Friday morning and my transit to Terminal 3 goes painlessly. Armed with boarding pass and lounge invitation, I make a pit stop at WHSmith to top up my Vodafone units and then onwards to the Emirates lounge. Lunch is just about to be rolled out, so I take the opportunity to grab a shower. Can't be polluting the A380 with body odour can we? When I emerge, the initial rush for the buffet has just passed and I am able to saunter over and poke around the dishes at my leisure.
The lounge menu for lunch is actually quite excellent. I start off with a Prawn and Grapefruit salad, followed up by a spicy Thai Lobster curry with Jasmine rice. I'm in a seafood mood today as you can probably guess. I nibble on this for a while as I check email. Meanwhile, an announcement that our departure will be delayed 30 minutes due to a late inbound aircraft. Shortly thereafter, the beast itself arrives on 27L which BAA has kindly located most conveniently for spotters in the Emirates lounge. As she taxies past the windows to her gate, virtually everyone in the lounge has their cameras out and clicking away. I'm guilty of this as well.
Eventually we board. Us privileged types do not have to rub shoulders with the proles as we get our own jetway to the upper deck. My seat is 25K located in the second last row of the cabin. How often does one get to ride in a Business Class seat located well behind the wing? There seem to be a hundred hosties hustling about trying to take coats, serve champagne, hand out amenity kits and take the obligatory photograph of the first time A380 flyers sitting in their big seat.
Speaking of seats, I am quite impressed. I've prostrated myself on some fairly fancy flying contraptions over the years but what hooks me on this one is the minibar. Nobody else has a minibar at every seat in Business Class. Of course, its completely pointless but today I have my decadent passenger hat on, not my penny pinching airline manager one. The charming English girl serving my zone comes around with a tray of bubbly, water and orange juice. "Would you care for some champagne sir?". "Why yes, yes I would, thank you."
The Full A380 Experience Photo Album
We finally take off into the afternoon sky and I am impressed by the relative silence of the engines. I am however not particularly impressed by the acceleration. It is more A340-esque than B777-esque in that respect. Of course, the pilots may just be using flex thrust but that doesn't exactly fill one with confidence in light of recent incidents on this carrier. Nonetheless, the beast takes to the sky sans incident and the guys up front point us in the general direction of Dubai as we climb to 35000 feet. Menu cards are handed out and the meal service begins shortly thereafter.
Appetiser
Selection of authentic Arabic mezze
which includes tabouuleh, hommous, succulent vine leaves filled with rice, aubergine moutabal, muhamara and cheese sambousak.
Tuna loin
hot peppered tuna loin, served with sun-blushed tomatoes, accompanied with a mango and red chilli salsa
Seasonal salad
a seasonal side salad served with a choice of dressings
Main Course
Lamb machbous
lamb marinated in Arabic spices and cooked with rice, topped with fried onions and sultanas, accompanied with a tomato chickpeas stew and served with mint raita
Honey glazed chicken
roasted and honey glazed chicken breast served in a mild saffrom fond, accompanied with spinach tagliatelle and vegetable medley
Linguini pasta
traditional Italian hand-made pasta, served in a creamy sauce Alfredo, accompanied with roasted cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan
Grilled seafoord
grilled salmon, lobster and monkfish, served in a light herb fond, accompanied with saffron rice and a grilled vegetable selection
Main course salad
Classic chicken Caesar salad topped with parmesan shavings, focaccia croutons and tender marinated chicken strips, served with a creamy dressing
Dessert
Lemon and lavender tart
sweet pastry base encased with a rich lemon and lavender sabayon, served with mascarpone and chantilly cream
Chocolate and raspberry sponge
rich chocolate sponge filled with fruity raspberry confit, served with a white chocolate Anglaise
Fresh seasonal fruit
International cheese selection
specially selected international cheeses, matured to perfection and served with a selection of crudites, crackers and dried fruits
Bread basket
Selection of authentic Arabic mezze
which includes tabouuleh, hommous, succulent vine leaves filled with rice, aubergine moutabal, muhamara and cheese sambousak.
Tuna loin
hot peppered tuna loin, served with sun-blushed tomatoes, accompanied with a mango and red chilli salsa
Seasonal salad
a seasonal side salad served with a choice of dressings
Main Course
Lamb machbous
lamb marinated in Arabic spices and cooked with rice, topped with fried onions and sultanas, accompanied with a tomato chickpeas stew and served with mint raita
Honey glazed chicken
roasted and honey glazed chicken breast served in a mild saffrom fond, accompanied with spinach tagliatelle and vegetable medley
Linguini pasta
traditional Italian hand-made pasta, served in a creamy sauce Alfredo, accompanied with roasted cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan
Grilled seafoord
grilled salmon, lobster and monkfish, served in a light herb fond, accompanied with saffron rice and a grilled vegetable selection
Main course salad
Classic chicken Caesar salad topped with parmesan shavings, focaccia croutons and tender marinated chicken strips, served with a creamy dressing
Dessert
Lemon and lavender tart
sweet pastry base encased with a rich lemon and lavender sabayon, served with mascarpone and chantilly cream
Chocolate and raspberry sponge
rich chocolate sponge filled with fruity raspberry confit, served with a white chocolate Anglaise
Fresh seasonal fruit
International cheese selection
specially selected international cheeses, matured to perfection and served with a selection of crudites, crackers and dried fruits
Bread basket
Meal complete, I watch "The Ramen Girl" and then take a gander around the aircraft. The lounge area at the rear of the upper deck is very impressive with a huge flat screen TV showing the airshow against the wall and a number of trays of canapes and other snacks strategically placed at various locations. There is the obligatory bar with bartender and the area is absolutely packed (placarded for maximum capacity of 21 and we had at least 17 there at some points). The crewmember who has been serving me offers to show me around the lower deck and I happily take her up on the offer. Nothing major to see down there though but we get into an interesting conversation regarding some of the customer options selected (eg. main deck CRC, galley/lav locations, etc...) and their pros/cons. We also discuss my itinerary for the weekend and she expresses the typical shock/horror that most normal people do when told about mileage runs.
Back to my seat, I recline it into the flat bed position and nap for a while. I must have really zonked out because the next thing I remember I am being gently shaken awake and asked to prepare my seat for landing. Darn, I missed the snack service. Or so I thought. Two minutes later the same crewmember comes around with a small carrier bag that she passes along to me. "I saw you were sleeping soundly so I didn't disturb you, but I figured you'd need all the snacks you can get for the rest of your trip!" She has packed up the sandwiches from the second meal service together with bags of crisps, some packs of biscuits and some fruit. I am really touched. Yes, the A380 was fancy and sleek and had lovely toys to play with, but what truly made the flight special was this small act of thoughtfulness by a young lady who didn't even know me until a few hours ago.
Dubai airport is its usual zoological self at 1am. Luckily, I know of an area that is not only relatively deserted at this peak hour, but also offers clean bathrooms that do not have a 20 deep line stretching out the door (hint : its in old Terminal 1). I spend a happy couple hours mooching off the ubiquitous free wifi until its time to head to my next gate for the flight to Johannesburg. This flight is chocka in all classes so I am grateful for my aisle seat. Until I realise that my aisle seat has actually split up a family. The father and 4-year old daughter are in the middle and window to my right, with the 6-year old son across the aisle in a middle seat. My heart sinks but common decency trumps comfort. I offer to trade places with the son. The father is extremely grateful and I resign myself to 8 hours squashed between a Sri Lankan lady and a Filipino man. As the doors are about to close, my luck turns. One of the crew approaches me and asks if I would like to take the only open seat on the plane, an aisle in the 2-section of the second last row. Pardon my french, but "Hell yeah!". Proof that karma is not just an option for the Asian Vegetarian special meal.
The 8 hours down to Joburg pass peacefully. I watch "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and nibble on the chicken tikka sandwich that is served around 5am. Breakfast is the usual Emirates option of Ricotta Omelette or Mixed Grill, neither of which takes my fancy. Approach into Joburg is quite exciting with a fairly strong crosswind requiring heavy use of rudder on touchdown on 03R. And then its the long taxi past the hangars to the international terminal.
A few years ago, I used to be a very regular visitor to Joburg. I opened the station for our airline and was acting Station Manager for the whole season that we operated the route. Of course, by the time the next winter season rolled around fuel prices had gone through the roof and we decided not to continue the service. So after spending almost 8 months flying into there at least once a week, I hadn't been back in over 2 years. And my oh my, how it has changed. The old Alpha/Echo ramp that used to be a construction zone now has a gleaming new steel and glass concourse. I wander through the terminal to the transfer desks where my return boarding passes are printed a few seconds later. Then its through security and into the departure concourse no more than 10 minutes after I stepped off the aircraft.
With over 2 hours to kill, I decide to grab some lunch and spend the remainder of my orphaned Rand from two years ago. I watch the swearing in of Jacob Zuma (featuring an impressive flypast by SAA aircraft) while eating and then wander back down to the gate where A6-ECD is preparing for her return to Dubai. This leg is almost deserted with under 200 passengers booked on the huge machine. I am fortunate enough to have an aisle with two empty middle seats to my left.
About an hour after departure we run into some pretty bad turbulence (I would categorise it as "moderate") during the drink service. Lots of screaming passengers and drinks flying around. The Australian purser comes on the PA system and very tersely instructs crew to "sit down NOW wherever you are". Even the ICE system hangs for a few seconds with all the bouncing around. I'm just upset that my Diet Coke has spilled. Once things calm down, I am very impressed to see that the crewmember working my zone brings me a refill almost immediately and without the need to ask. Two thumbs up again.
Looking closer, the crewmember seems extremely familiar. She doesn't have a nametag but I'm quite sure I know her from somewhere. I use the ICE handset to send a text message to a good friend of mine who works for Emirates asking her if I might know any of the crew on this flight. No immediate reply so I take the opportunity to stop the girl a few minutes later and ask her name. Once she tells me, the penny drops. I actually interviewed her for a job with our airline a couple years ago and she was placed in a holding pool for future openings. While waiting though, she got a call from Emirates and proceeded to accept a job with them instead. She is quite excited once she recognises me and says that she also thought I looked familiar (she recognised me from Facebook pictures of myself with our mutual friend!). Small world.
We continue to wing our way along the East Coast as dinner is served. My dinner choice is the Beef Paprika, purely because I know from my own menu presentation a few years ago that LSG in Johannesburg has an excellent recipe. I am not disappointed. Just before landing, the obligatory Chicken Tikka sandwich is handed out again and I am asked to complete a Feedback Form. I happily oblige. The crew are very pleased by my comments and the Senior Flight Steward comes around to thank me for my kind words. Credit where credit due.
Back in Dubai, its 14797 miles down and only 6881 miles to go. I grab a snack at Burger King and then head over to the gate for my final Emirates leg to Gatwick. The passenger load on this flight consists overwhelmingly of chavettes wearing tight tracksuit bottoms decorated with sequins. That and Bangladeshi restaurant workers who spend hours poring over the landing card and asking everyone for the correct spelling of "chef". I sleep the whole way. Somewhere in the middle of the flight one of the Bangladeshi chefs is taken ill (something he ate?) but after a few minutes of fussing around everything calms down. The menu is identical to that on last night's Joburg trip, so I nibble on the Chicken Tikka sandwich and skip the breakfast again.
Home sweet home (almost). I'm struggling a bit now as I plod my way through the hallways of Gatwick and over to check myself in for my last legs back home. Thankfully, I shall be on my own airline for these legs, so Business Class awaits. Today's routing runs via Dusseldorf, so we have only a half load for the 55 minute hop from Gatwick. The crew are also familiar with my drink preferences and I have a Diet Coke with ice and lemon at my elbow without even having to ask.
During our 45 minute transit in Dusseldorf, I take the opportunity to catch up with our duty manager and also to visit the Duty Free to buy some Niederegger marzipan. Passengers must stay on board however. Lunch is served just after departure from Dusseldorf.
TO BEGIN
Slices of grilled chicken breast with chilled seared peppers
Assorted warm rolls
MAIN COURSE
Chicken Persian style
Grilled chicken napped with a tangy lemon yogurt sauce served with rice and brocolli
Pepper lamb
Tender lamb loin in a peppercorn sauce served with potatoes and sautéed vegetables
Spicy prawns
Jumbo prawns in a rich and spicy tomato gravy served on a bed of aromatic white rice
Tortellini ricotta e spinaci
Ring shaped pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese in a cream sauce
TO FINISH
Banoffee mousse
Chocolate orange dome
Cheese plate with grapes
Slices of grilled chicken breast with chilled seared peppers
Assorted warm rolls
MAIN COURSE
Chicken Persian style
Grilled chicken napped with a tangy lemon yogurt sauce served with rice and brocolli
Pepper lamb
Tender lamb loin in a peppercorn sauce served with potatoes and sautéed vegetables
Spicy prawns
Jumbo prawns in a rich and spicy tomato gravy served on a bed of aromatic white rice
Tortellini ricotta e spinaci
Ring shaped pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese in a cream sauce
TO FINISH
Banoffee mousse
Chocolate orange dome
Cheese plate with grapes
May 14, 2009, 9:17 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
Posts: 38,332
Wow, Sean! What a fabulous trip reports! I'm glad that you are enjoyable on A380 aircraft for your first time. I never been ride on A380 yet. So you ate with Tortellini ricotta but, it was absolutely very good italian food. I am really loves with italian food. Do you recognized know someone else with your relatives? I think is soo much more emotionally that you rode on A380 for first time. So you didn't take a pictures outside the windows. I would love to see beautiful sunrise is going down. Maybe I will try to see A380 coming into JFK tomorrow afternoon in between 2 or 2:30pm. So I will take a pictures of A380 is coming into JFK. I will write the trip reports when I am get back home from JFK tomorrow evening.
May 16, 2009, 12:51 pm
#10
Moderator, Argentina and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: MIA / EZE
Programs: Lord of Malbec & all Wines Argentine. AA EXP / Marriott Lifetime Silver / Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 35,681
Wirelessly posted (Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x448)
This reads like an Illuminati report to me.....,
This reads like an Illuminati report to me.....,
Jul 21, 2009, 7:16 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Brisbane AU, Planet X
Programs: QC Life, QFF Gold, VA Gold, HH nothing,IHG Gold
Posts: 1,605
