After the belt signs went off my purser dropped by and said can I get you a drink James (as in Bond 007)? I had been wondering if BA had vermouth on board as I really fancied a martini. He said please tell me you are not going to order a martini and I said ‘Well I was wondering if you had vermouth on board’. He laughed and said ‘you want a martini then?’ I agreed and he went off to make my drink.
He returned a little later with my drink including the olives on a stick and some warm nuts. It seems he was not a big martini drinker as he served it over ice and there was a little too much vermouth in it for my liking, but it was great he made the effort for me.
Martini Mr Bond?
He came back a little while later and said he had asked the captain to wobble the plane about a bit so I could have my martini shaken not stirred.
After my drink he came back to set up for dinner. I dashed to the loo to change into the PJs as I inevitably get food on me when flying. When I returned there was an Amuse Bouche waiting of goats cheese balls served with salsa.
Amuse Bouche
One thing I noticed about this guy that other crew of late haven’t done is that he took the cutlery away that I had used for the Amuse. Others usually leave it behind for me to use for the starter. It is the little things I notice.
He came back with the starter of crab timbale that was a bit tasteless and I really would have liked to have the meze plate I first asked for.
Crab Timbale Starter
After this the salad arrived and was consumed. What can you say about a salad? It was fresh.
Salad
I was drinking the viognier with these first two courses and he filled it regularly.
Viognier Wine
He went to fill it again after my starter and I said I would like to try the South African Syrah with my main. He came back a little later with the bottle and left it for me to take a photograph and poured a glass for me. It was nice.
Syrah Wine
Now for the make or break moment. I ordered beef on a plane. Ah yes it was not bad at all. It was overdone for my liking but tasty and tender none the less. I was a happy chappy.
Steak Main Course
A refill later on the wine and I had made short work of the meal. Mr funny man came out and pointed to the very empty plate and said ‘good to see you eat all your food’. He said can I tempt you with some dessert or cheese? I said lets wait a bit until I sip some more of my wine.
A while later he came by and said hot or cold? I said I think I will have the tart, he said ah hot. He said it would take a few minutes to warm and he will be back. He returned and I said more red or something else? I said I was quite intrigued about the straw wine. He said oh it is lovely you must have some. I said I had had the SA noble wine they had served on these routes in the past and loved it. He said this is even better. Bring it on then my good man.
Again he left the bottle next to the glass for a photo opportunity.
Dessert
Straw Wine
Hello Gorgeous
Luscious, unctuous, thick, golden, sweet, yummy, delicious. What a superb wine if you are a sticky fan. The dessert was OK but I didn’t really care about that. He filled my glass again and left the rest of the bottle for me. He came back later and upended the bottle into my glass with a smile. He said I normally don’t do this but you seemed to be appreciating it.
The IFE on these 12 seat 777 is still the older AVOD of BA that has limited choice for music and they seem to not change it all that frequently either which is a real pain. I did figure out I could still listen to music and watch the flight map by pushing the map button on the screen. This then does a side by side arrangement where the main IFE still plays music, movie whatever but you can see the flight map on the left. If you choose the flight map in full screen mode it turns off all the music which I hate.
Eventually after finishing my wine and listening to some music I decided it was time for bed. I went to the loo and a crew member asked if I would like my bed made up. She proceeded to do so and I was able to snuggle in under the duvet for a good few hours sleep. She also gave me another bottle of water as I had already downed the first bottle they gave me after the meal.
I awoke around 2 hours out of JNB and lay there for a while before getting upright again. I noticed that during the night my bottle of water had been replaced again; it is the little things that make a true first experience. The F purser dropped by and asked if I would like something to eat.
Breakfast
I said I would have some cereal a tea with lemon and the energiser drink.
He came back and set up my table and delivered the cereal.
Cereal
A while later the tea and energiser arrived. The energiser was as thick as wall paper paste but very tasty.
Smoothie
After breakfast I donned my civvies again and made ready for landing way too early as usual. The CSD made a brief visit to ask if I needed an immigrations form, no greeting or anything just the offer of a form.
The F purser dropped by one last time to wish me a pleasant holiday and shook my hand.
We landed at 07:55 and taxied up to the terminal. There was some confusion about which door the jetty would pull up to and in the end it was both 1 and 2. I was first out at door 1 and thanked the great crew on the way out. At the top of the ramp the escalators down to the immigration hall were right in front of me.
I managed to hot foot it in front of a whole swag of SE Asian people who were also making their way down. I joined a queue that doubled back 3 times but was moving quite fast. By 08:20 I was through and walking down and out into the terminal via customs. Upstairs I made the long hike to the domestic gates security section. There was no queue and I was through in a jiffy although I did beep and needed a quick pat down.
I made my way to the right and up to the SLOW lounge. Inside I ordered a lovely double espresso and check emails etc. After an hour or so I grabbed a nice shower to wake me up and then started to right this report.
Before any boarding announcement was made I decided to wander down and have a look around the gate area. There were a few stores selling sports gear, touristy items and books. I noticed that one of my favourite authors had released a new book; must look into that when I get home. Books aren’t particularly cheap in SA.
I also noticed that my flight was to leave from the E gates. Oh dear a bus ride to the plane. I eventually wandered downstairs to the bus loading gates and saw a long queue lined up for my flight. I figured what is the point of queuing to get on a bus? I wandered around for a while and boarding started and the queue shortened. I eventually joined a shorter line and had my BP scanned and PP checked. I then hopped on the second of the two busses. We eventually got the go ahead to pull away and drove out onto the apron and stopped to wait the passing of a CX 777 making its way out to the runway.
At the plane we queued up again to go up the stairs onto the aircraft. It was a beautiful day in J’burg and I didn’t mind in the least standing in the sun.
Flight BA6417 JNB-CPT Seat 3A (Business)
Aircraft: B737-400
Departure time: 12:50
On board I made my way to my seat and stowed my roll aboard above and my satchel bag under my seat. As the flight continued to board I was offered a newspaper and a pre-departure beverage of water, cranberry juice or sparkling wine. I opted for the sparkling wine and it was a bit sweet for me.
The first officer announced a flight time of 2 hours stating that we had a strong head wind en-route. When the doors were closed there were 8 in the business class cabin that was laid out in 4/3 rows of a 2-3 configuration.
We pushed back at 12:58 and after a short taxi we took off at 13:07. Once in the air a hot towel was handed out.
Leaving Joburg
Up the front the service started with a round of drinks. I went with the usual scotch and dry and upon asking the purser reeled off a range of scotches. I went the bog standard Johnnie black on this occasion.
The drinks round were served with a packet of nuts.
Scotch and Nuts
Before anyone had a chance to finish their drink he started to dish out the meal trays.
On the tray was a small Greek salad with leaves, tomato, olives, feta and capers served with a balsamic dressing. Also on the tray was a small chocolate.
Lunch Tray with Salad
No further drinks were offered with the meal.
After I had eaten the salad the purser came out again with a tray with each of the main courses to view. On offer there was a beef fillet with mushroom sauce a chicken dish with roasted vegetables or a vegetable and cous cous dish.
I chose the chicken this time and the meal was very tasty and hit the spot as I was getting a little hungry by this stage.
Chicken Lunch
Only upon taking the tray away did the crew ask if I wanted anything else to drink. I said could I have some red wine please. He said he would be back to show me what they had. A while later, after serving coffee to the flight crew he returned with a bottle of pinotage and a bottle of Shiraz pinotage. I went with the latter and it was cat’s bum young. You know the type of young red that makes you purse your lips when you drink it.
I just read through my report of the same flight I took last year and how things have changed. There were cheese and crackers on offer and I was served a refill of the scotch before lunch and offered wine with the meal. Also a dessert was offered as an option to the cheese course.
Despite the fact that the curtain was pulled between the cabins numerous economy passengers kept coming up to you the toilet and the crew did nothing to stop them.
Coming into Cape Town the first officer announced that it would be quite bumpy as there was a cold front blowing through. We flew out over the ocean and it was quite choppy down there and I wouldn’t have wanted to be in a boat. It was also quite choppy up where I was but we eventually made it down onto solid ground around 15:05.
After leaving the aircraft I made my way through the baggage hall and out to meet my driver who was waiting to take me into Cape Town and my hotel.