TG 431 Bangkok – Denpasar A300-600 (AB6) Seat 12J
We boarded the plane and were quickly welcomed to our seats on the regionally configured Airbus 300-600 (AB6). This is not my favourite aircraft for regional flying, but it was what it was. The staff passed out amenity kits which were identical to the one I received on the flight from Rome to Bangkok. One a side note, of 4 flights with TG on this trip, I received 3 different types of amenity kits. Weird. Menus were also delivered along with a hot towel (would’ve preferred a cold one) and choice of champagne, orange juice, or water. I took the champagne (again, it is noon somewhere, right?!). Ok, so not Dom Perignon on this leg, but a decent Pommery Brut Royal. We pushed back just 5 minutes behind schedule, taxied and took what I think was perhaps the longest take-off I’ve ever experienced. I thought for sure we were going to run out of asphalt! But, we did eventually lift off and service started immediately. Ok, I will not criticise the service as it is not fair to compare regional Royal Silk to intercontinental Royal First. The FAs were fine and very nice. The cabin only had about 20 passengers leaving another 26 seats unfilled. Economy seemed to be full however. On this 4 hour long flight, our menu was for a brunch:
Fruit juice
Fresh fruits and Fruit Yoghurt
Main Course
Congree with Prawn, Black Mushroom and Ginger Cantonese Style
Or
Leek and Potato Quiche with Thyme
Premium Chicken Sausage
Roasted Potatoes, Green Asparagus
Baked Half Tomato with Olive Oil and Oregano
Or
Stir-fried Hokkien Noddles with Chicken and Mushroom
Assorted Breads, Croissant, Danish Pastry, Butter, Jam
Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate
Wine List
Champagne - Pommery Brut Royal
Red Wine – Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes De Nuits Le Confessional 2006
Bourgogne Pinot Noir Vieilles Vignes Albert Bichot 2006
Château Robin Côtes De Castillon 2004
La Salle De Château Poujeaux 2001
White Wine – Bourgogne Chardonnay Fabrice Lensne 2006
Château Bonnet Blanc Entre Deux Mers 2006
I went with the Stir-fried Hokkien Noodles with chicken and Mushroom and sparkling water. I wasn’t in the mood to get completely wasted on the flight to Denpasar. Soon, my meal was put on my tray. Ok, well, it wasn’t what I envisioned, but wasn’t all bad. The noodles were small little rice vermicelli with little bits of mushrooms and a few fatty pieces of chicken. The noodles and mushrooms were fine, but I had to leave the chicken chunks to be disposed of in the trash. The fruit was excellent and given that I’d been stuffed full on the first flight from Rome, I really didn’t need to eat this meal. I do not care for the IFE on this aircraft. It is not AVOD, so you have to start watching the movies when they start them. I watched my iPhone instead (latest episodes of Law and Order: SVU). We were both a bit knackered from the previous day’s flying, we both slept about 2 hours. This was my friend’s first time crossing the equator, so when the AirMap showed that, I poured ice cold water on his head. My own way of carrying on the US Navy’s tradition of Wogs (any Navy folks out there will understand that). He was bewildered and confused, but a good sport about it. The staff passed frequently through the cabin to freshen drinks. Overall, a decent flight. We arrived in Denpasar about 5 minutes behind schedule which turned out to be a semi-nightmare. A China Airlines 747, Cathay Pacific 777, JetStar A320, some Australian charter 737 called Oz, and Transaero 747 had landed just before us.
Thankfully, our hotel, The Laguna Resort and Spa (part of Starwoods ‘The Luxury Collection’) had emailed me 2 days in advance of our arrival to ask if we wanted to have the Bali Concierge’s services for visa on arrival, luggage retrieval, and a nice arrivals lounge. For $25 per person, I thought it would be a good deal. When we arrived, the lines were horrific for immigrations, but I saw my last name on the Bali Concierge’s board and we were quickly escorted into their arrivals lounge. Once again, we were presented with ice cold, lemongrass scented towels and our choice of cold beverages and a small plate of sandwiches and cookies. We handed our passports and a copy of the electronic ticket for the flights to our escort and he disappeared for about 10 minutes. He re-emerged and advised us our luggage was being located, then handed back to us our passports with Indonesian visas and passport stamps. About 5 minutes later, he told us our bags had been located and we were ready to go. We literally just walked past the hoardes of people to the front of the line, went through a special metal gate, our luggage was waiting for us at customs, two porters grabbed our bags, we waltzed past customs without even a question and headed outside where our car was waiting for us. That was $25 well spent. I can imagine the lines would’ve been at least 2 hours or more if we hadn’t used The Bali Concierge. I highly recommend it for anyone and everyone arriving in Bali. I know some people will say it can be a waste of money if there aren’t throngs of people there, but even if I arrived by private jet at 2am and there wasn’t a single person there, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again. Even if just to have someone else worry about finding the luggage and getting the visas and stamps. To me, definitely worth it.