Thai Airways Bangkok Ground Services
I arrived back at the airport a little before noon. I kind of wished i took a cab back to the airport from the hotel and you can pull up to curb and someone will pick you up at the curb by the check in area. It was quite a hike to get to the check in area. I had to take several escalators up the 6 or 7 floors from where the train arrives in the basement to level 4 for check in. Once again it was all the way at the end of the terminal. This is not the first segment with the hike and will not be the last one of the trip.
Thai has a separate check in section for first class check in. They didn't look too happy about me taking a photo
They took my bag and my passport and i sat at one of the chairs in the waiting area. They then came and delivered a cold bottle of water a glass and a cold towel while i waited for them to handle check in.
I was then escorted down the escalator to security and to have my exit stamp. Luckily in the first class portion there is only a bag x-ray and a walk through metal detector. I hear there are full body scanners at regular security. I was then loaded on a cart. I chose to sit facing backwards so i could take a video as I was driven through the business class lounge
to get to the first class lounge.
When i arrived at the lounge i was escorted to a table and was asked if I wanted a drink. I ordered champagne and asked to book an appointment with the spa. For first class passengers departing Bangkok you get the option of having a one hour oil massage. The agent came back and told me the next appointment was at 1PM so i booked that. He brought me an ipad with a menu of the food options.He disappeared for a long time it was about 20 min before he came back to take my order and deliver the champagne. I guess he forgot about me. I ordered a spice beef steak dish that looked amazing on the photo. The food came fairly quick and didn't look as tasty as the menu looked and the steak was tough and chewy. I should have gone with chicken curry instead. Not much longer someone came and advised me it was time for the spa appointment.
I wasn't thinking and left my camera in my bag at the lounge when I was taken to the Royal Orchid Spa. I was asked to wait in a small first class dedicated seat and given a glass of tea and another cold towel. Not too much later the female masseuse came and brought me to the private massage room. There was a table in the middle of the room and a large bath tub. I wish I had time to soak. There was a side room with a shower and mirror and sinks. Looked like the bathroom of a 5 star hotel. She put out three different oil containers and had me smell to decide which one I wanted to use.
I then went to the side room and changed into some special underwear that is provided, hung up my clothes and grabbed one of the purplish robes. From reading a trip report from Ben over at "One Mile at a Time" blog described the underwear as being netted. It wasn't as skimpy fabric as i thought it would be and held everything in well. It didn't really matter anyways as the masseuse held up a towel blocking everything as i lay down face first on the table. I was then covered in full with the said large towel. This was my first ever full body massage, so i was a little nervous. Didn't want to have any uncontrolled actions. All areas except my bum, chest, front torso area were massaged. After about 5 min it was time to change. I must have been really relaxed as i could not see well for about 15 min after the massage.
I was asked if i wanted to stay at the spa complex and have a drink from the bar but I decided to head back to the lounge. I ordered a champagne at the bar and dropped it off at my seat. Bag was still there with laptop, camera and other valuables. I the walked over to the buffet area. Two lounge agents followed me in as i looked at all the food on display. It wasn't the type where you grab you food but you just point to the food on display and go back to your seat while its prepared. Not much later my second meal of the day arrived. BLT finger sandwiches and au gratin potatoes. It was ok and not that tasty
About 20 min later they came by to collect us for the trip to the gate for boarding. Normally there is a cart that comes to bring everyone to the plane. They had us walk about 10 min w/ an escort to the gate. I did see some empty carts along the way to i was shocked they didn't drive us. I mean it could have been worse I've seen reports where passengers are walked outside the secure area and have to go through regular security all over again including full body scanners before boarding a cart.
View from the walk
Here is our 747-400
Flight to Hong Kong
This was my first time in the nose of a 747. I had flown upper deck twice before, once on CX and once on UA. Even with 10 seats it seemed very spacious. Lucky for us three were only 3 passengers up front which made it feel even more spacious. I chose seat 1K. Even with someone in 1A it was good.
View from Front
View from Back
The person in 1A noticed my yellow FT tag on my carry-on. Both of us had cameras out so it was pretty obvious we had something in common. He said he used to be on FT but has decided to join a private group of UK area flyers. He was a Scottish man who was on his way to Hong Kong to meet up with is friends who flew in earlier on the A380. He invited me them in Hong Kong at a bar called White Stag. If anyone knows this group of people let me know. I had some issues in HKG so i never made it.
It was finally time to take off. There are so many windows and they face more forward so it was a much better view. Looking through all of the opposite side of the plane, your eyes almost make it look like there is one giant window going along the side. Here is a video of the
take-off and view of cabin . It really displays how far away the person is in 1A
They then came out and took drink orders, of course had some Dom. There was also a delivery of nuts. The screen is way too small. I kind of like how it pops out as
seen in this clip
Flying first class there is an extensive online menu of pre-booked special meals, almost anything you could want such as, steak, NZ Lamb, lobster thermidor, various curries etc. I noticed what seemed like a multi-course small plates specials. There were multiple versions based on Chicken, Pork, seafood etc. I picked the one that seems like it had the most i could eat. I looked at the menu for the flight just in case. Only one person ordered form the main menu so i'm not sure why i didn't ask for leftovers.
Menu
Drink menu's
Menu. I actually could have eaten 2 of the 3 main choices which is surprising to me on most flights. I never tried vaccum cooked meat before so this is where i kicked myself for not asking for a main menu item to go with my Multi course menu.
Meal
I was totally amazed with how much food came with my special meal. You would think I was on an ultra long-haul flight. A flight scheduled at 2.5 hours in the states would be a small snack and a drink. What was really amazing in the sheer size of the tray table. It was so massive i could barely reach the salt and pepper shakers
Place setting with coconut curry soup
Chilled spicy beef appetrizer
Rice & some veggies. i'm not sure what the omelette looking thing is because i didn't really eat it
Pork curry. The meat was kind of fatty and gross (i always get laughed at when i surgically disect a steak) so i mainly ate the sauce and the veggies
Pork dumplings and broth. This was the tastiest part of the meal
Fruit and cheese plate w/ a small glass of port
This is bananas in a coconut milk w/ sesame seeds. It tastes a lot better than it looks
The final piece of dessert of custard in a chocolate bowl was very tasty as well.
The rest of the short flight consisted of drinking more champagne and playing with the seat. 1A saw me taking a picture of my seat reclined and offered to take a photo on my lying down.
Lots of room for me here
Before it was time to land the purser came by and delivered A380 playing cards and a flower. There was also a promotional booklet with writing paper and an envelope with the logo and A380 printed on them. I'm looking forward to that flight in August
Once we were on our final descent, I notice I picked the wrong seat. On the A side of the plane we had the most amazing view of any city I had ever seen when landing. I could see the entire city lit up and the harbor as we were so close on approach. I should have switched to one of the A side seats even though we were under 10,000 feet, to get a photo.
We taxied to the gate and just our luck there was a buggy waiting to bring us to passport control. We ended up at what had to be the furthest away gate in the airport. It took over 5 minutes to make it. I dont want to think about how long that would have taken on foot
I took a video of a portion of the ride