First leg: IAH-ORD-ZRH-BKK-SIN
Part 2
Right then. In Zurich now.
I look for the transfer desk because the Thai BP didn't print in Houston at the CO check-in machine. Neither the desk nor the Thai gate will print them just yet, so I wait for 25 minutes. I contemplate going to the FCL but the mini train, immigration, and a possible denial (no connecting flight on LX/LH) didn't make it an appealing option.
I end up using the lounge in the E gates, up top. Pretty disappointing: while the attendant is warm (not letting me leave without taking some Swiss chocolates) the lounge itself is crowded. No showers either, and cheap sandwiches. I don't bother with any of the alcohol. I'm not that pretentious: it was only a few years ago that I was drinking 4 EUR bags of wine at the Cite Universitaire dorms at the University of Paris. (Mitigating factor: peer pressure not to complain about the wine quality.) But I can already hear the Dom on Thai calling my name. Or maybe it was just a hallucination induced by jet lag and the LX9 excesses.
Anyways.
I head over to board. TG is a bit haphazard, and seems to let *G board with F. Maybe I missed the earlier announcement. In any event, J passengers were coming through the F cabin and using the F lavatories. Quel horreur. I hurriedly order the Dom and look away, out the window.
Only five people in F today. The cabin crew are wonderfully caring and attentive. At times I feel the language ability isn't fluent (but still quite good). But when more than half the words you say are 'Dom, please' it isn't hard to communicate.
I quite enjoyed the TG website, which allows you to preorder meals out of certain stations. Having spent the last year in Boston, I've eaten plenty of excellent lobster and not enough good Thai food. So I preorder the Prawns with Basil and Chili. There is also a peanut Chicken curry on the menu, so I order that too. I can exercise it off when I start work in Paris, I tell myself optimistically.
The curries are quite good. Very spicy. The rice is a bit disappointing, as are the vegetables on the side. But I can't complain: curries, Dom, and 'How I Met Your Mother' over the Black Sea make for a great stress-reliever.
The 11 hour flight passes by very quickly. I manage to sleep a few hours, and wake up wanting a snack. There isn't a menu, as far as I can tell, but they prepare some decent instant noodles. Also with Dom.
I think, at this point, it might be a good idea to try the Veuve Rose Vintage 2004.
Wrong. It is pretty disappointing, and I switch back to the Dom after a few sips. I tingle a little when I hear the pop of another bottle being opened.
Landing in BKK at 5:30am is a treat. The city stretches on and on and the lights aren't as organized as, say, Switzerland, making for a stunning landscape. The airport is quiet; I have a buggie waiting at the end of the jetbridge to take me through security and into the FCL. I've booked a 5hr layover to enjoy the 1 hour massage, have some breakfast and lunch, and send emails.