February 7, 2014
Thai Airways Seoul to Taipei 530p – 710p A330-300 Business Class
Thai Airways Taipei to Bangkok 810p – 1105p A330-300 Business Class

There was a surprisingly long line to clear the security checkpoint for transit passengers, but once I did I was left with about a four hour layover until my connecting flight to Taipei and on to Bangkok. I was thankful that having arrived off of Asiana’s International First Class, I was eligible to hang out in Asiana’s attractive First Class lounge at Incheon. Right on!

My good fortune continued upon discovering that the entrance from transit security into the main terminal put me almost directly across from the lounge entrance. After pausing a moment to brush my hair and straighten up my jacket, I took a deep breath and proceeded through the opaque doors.

When I was through Incheon a couple of months ago I visited the new Business Class Lounge just down a few gates down from here. I loved the interior design and furnishings which incorporated plenty of wooden bookshelves, potted trees, muted lamp lighting and comfortable seating upholstered in complimentary earth tones. The large terminal windows provided an abundance of good natural light and overall I found the lounge immediately homelike and inviting.

Asiana’s First Class Lounge at Incheon is just a slightly smaller but somewhat nicer version of the Business Class lounge. The interior design is essentially the same but the facilities are just a bit nicer. For example, the buffet features actual food rather than a collection of snack items, the little nooks nearby the bookshelves provide more comfortable seating and the selection of alcohol is highlighted by a big bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. A beautiful grand piano dominates one end of the lounge and just down the hall are shower facilities that are much larger and nicer than those found in the Business Class lounge.



Asiana’s First Class Lounge at Seoul


Asiana’s First Class Lounge at Seoul


A Nice Place to Enjoy A Good Book


The Buffet at Asiana’s First Class Lounge at Seoul


A Decent Selection of Booze


Beautiful Grand Piano and Seating


Best Shower Room of The Trip!


In a lounge this pleasant and comfortable, time has a way of just flying by but over the course of my three hour stay I managed to use just about all the facilities from shower room to Business Center. By the time I left at 4:30, I was well rested, well fed and looking forward to my upcoming flights on Thai Airways.

The last time I flew on Thai was way back in April of 1987. Back then the domestic version was known as Thai Airways while the international division was known as Thai International. I was in First Class aboard what was then a relatively new 747-200B flying between Singapore and Bangkok’s old Don Mueang International Airport. The First Class seats were second generation sleepers and the inflight service was superb. While I’ve logged exactly 3100 flights and over 3.3 million miles since, that particular aircraft was subsequently sold to Atlas Air Cargo in 1996 where it toiled for another fifteen years before finally being retired in 2011. When last seen, it was rusting peacefully at the Industrial Air Center in Roswell, New Mexico, awaiting the scrapper’s torch after 32 years of reliable service.

The aircraft operating my flight tonight was a two year old A330-300 registered HS-TBC. As I mentioned earlier, I log all of my flights, including the registration number. A check of this aircraft’s registration revealed that the original HS-TBC was a Thai 737-200 that crashed into the sea on approach to Phuket back in August of 1987, killing all 83 onboard. Admiring Thai’s beautiful livery on the sleek new Airbus parked at the gate in front of me, I couldn’t help but wonder about the cosmic implications of reassigning to it the registration number of an airplane that came to such a tragic end.

Parked next door was yet another Air Canada 767-300, looking quite nice in what’s come to be known amongst some as that airline’s “Peppermint” livery. With so many 777s and A330s flying international routes these days, the 767 now seems like a small plane for such a long distance flight. Still, it’s a perfectly capable aircraft with a range of near 6000 miles, more than enough to cover the 5080 mile flight across the Pacific to Vancouver. And, now that I think of it, for those sat in Economy at least, it’s probably a more comfortable plane as well with its 2-3-2 seating configuration.

Boarding was called a bit late – at 5:15pm – but it was quite orderly with Business Class and elite passengers called first. Once again there was minimal crowding around the gate area, something I wish we’d practice a bit more back home on our domestic flights. Another nice aspect of boarding at many of these new Asian airports is the use of separate jet bridges for First and/or Business Class and Economy.

According to seatguru.com, Thai operates two seating configurations in the Business Class cabins of its A330s. One has 42 recliners with a 47” pitch while the other has 36 angled lie-flat seats with a 58” pitch. I was thankful that our flight was assigned the more spacious configuration though for shorter intra-Asia flights like tonight’s, I suspect the tighter configuration would have worked equally well provided one didn’t want to sleep. Since the Business Class cabin was only about half full out of Seoul, there was plenty of room to spread out as well as stretch out.



Business Class Seating Aboard Thai’s A330-300


Business Class Seating Aboard Thai’s A330-300


A flight attendant stopped by with a tray of orange juice, water and iced tea. The iced tea was the only drink with ice in it, so that’s what I chose. Sweeeeeeeet! Uh… a bit sweet for me, thanks. Fortunately I was able to snag a glass of water before the FA had gotten too far down the aisle.

Hot towels came next – the first of four separate hot towel presentations as it turned out: Boarding, before the meal, after the meal and just prior to landing. To Thai’s everlasting credit, all of the towels were hot, moist and lightly scented. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been handed a hot but essentially dry towel on some of our airlines back home. Do it right or don’t do it at all! Good job, Thai!

Next up was the menu and wine list. Wow! This is a lot of service so far. Compare it with a flight of similar distance back in the States and we’d probably just be getting around to having our coats and jackets hung about now. The menu was specifically catered to this flight with separate pages for the Seoul to Taipei sector and the Taipei to Bangkok flight. Let’s check out the offerings on the upcoming flight to Taipei:


DINNER
Seoul to Taipei

First Course
Grilled Prawn, Bean Curd and Vegetable Roll

Main Course

Grilled Salmon with Pesto
Oven Baked Chateau Potatoes, Carrots and Green Beans

Stir-Fried Prawn with Black Pepper and Bell Pepper Sauce
Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice, Pak-choy

Deep Fried Pork Tenderloin with Sweet & Sour Sauce
Steamed Rice and Vegetables

Marinated Chicken Thigh with Hot Spicy Sauce
Steamed Rice and Broccoli

Assorted Bread, Crackers, Butter

Dessert

Vanilla Cream Cheese Cake
Tea Coffee
Espresso, Cappuccino

Our taxi out to the runway provided a good tour of the airport grounds. Korean Air Lines is by far the dominant carrier at Incheon, its attractive tiffany blue, silver and white airplanes filling up an entire half of the main terminal. Asiana and a couple of discount carriers dominate the other half, while all foreign carriers operate out of the so called “Concourse”. A couple of those foreign carriers caught my eye – Business Air and Mongolian Airlines, both of which had 767-300s parked at their respective gates. Business Air appears to be limited to charter work while Mongolian has come a long way since the days when Tupolevs and Antonovs dominated its fleet.

We were less than twenty minutes into the flight when the second round of hot towels were presented followed by the drink cart. Thai uses full sized bottles, so that drink cart was a sight to behold. Let’s check out that drink menu before they get here…


WINE LIST

Champagne
Piper Heidsieck Brut Champagne

White Wine
Château Haut Bertinerie 2011
Montagny Premier Cru 2010
Bourgogne Chardonnay 2011

Red Wine
Château Peyrabon 2004
Grand Enclos de Château de Cérons 2008
Côte de Nuits-Villages 2011
Château des Jacques Morgon 2008

Aperitifs
Mekhong Thai Sabai, Mekhong Amethyst, Campari, Gin Martini,
Screwdriver, Bloody Mary, Black Russian, Vodka Martini, Warre’s Warrior Port

Spirits
Rum, Gin, Bourbon, Whiskey, Vodka

Cognac & Liqueurs
Cognac X.O., Kahlua, Drambuie, Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge

Beer
Chang Beer, Heineken Beer, Singha Beer


I asked the flight attendant what kind of bourbon they had on offer and she replied Jim Beam. Would that be black or white label? Um… black label. Awright! I’ll have a glass of that, please. Lots of ice!

Turning my attention to the dinner menu, I had some tough decisions. Each and every one of the main courses looked delicious but in the end I was smitten by the magic words: “Hot Spicy Sauce”. That would be the Marinated Chicken Thigh with Hot Spicy Sauce, accompanied by steamed rice and broccoli. Yep. That’s the one for me!

The meal service started with the presentation of a tray bearing the appetizer plate. The tray included separate bread and butter dishes in addition to an attractive salt and pepper set. Also included were a packaged portion of kimchi, some hot pepper paste, a portion of Brie cheese and a packet of crackers. As for the appetizer, it was an attractive arrangement of prawns, asparagus and uh… bean curd. As you might imagine, I’m not a big fan of bean curd but this evening’s version wasn’t half bad. Bean curd aficionados would probably give it an enthusiastic endorsement. The asparagus was the standout for me. Large, crisp, delicious! We’re off to a good start.



An Excellent Appetizer Presentation


The main course was delivered hot from the cart. I can’t say I was overly impressed with the 1970s style Economy Class serving dish that it was stuffed into, but the food is what counts and it was indeed good. Funny though – I didn’t find the chicken all that hot and spicy. I grew up in Colorado, eating homemade Mexican food made by fourth and fifth generation Hispanic folks whose families had lived in the Colorado high country considerably longer than any of the local gringos. Not all Mexican food is hot but there’s a lot to be said for the heat of fresh jalapeno peppers and hatch chiles when used liberally in certain recipes and sauces. Ultimately it’s airline food, so they can’t afford to be too authentic with such a wide mix of passengers. The meal was good though – moist meat and good rice, with a decent amount of heat provided by the container of hot pepper paste. A nice little slice of vanilla cream cheese cake brought this meal to a satisfying close.



Marinated Chicken Thigh with Hot Spicy Sauce


Marinated Chicken Thigh with Hot Spicy Sauce


Vanilla Cream Cheese Cake


The flight time between Seoul and Taipei was only two hours and eighteen minutes, so it wasn’t long after the last of my plates were cleared that we commenced our descent into Taipei. I’ve flown into Taipei three times now and each time I’ve arrived at night. I’m really looking forward to a daytime arrival to I can enjoy a good view of the island from the air.



SkyMap ~ Seoul to Taipei


Although our ground time was limited to just one hour in Taipei, all through passengers were required to disembark with all of our carry-on baggage and clear security before re-boarding for the flight to Bangkok. Well alright but jeez, why’d they have to park us so far down the concourse from immigration and transit security? I mean, here were all these empty gates much closer in but we get sent down to the second to the last gate on the concourse. Grrrr… Oh well. Better get walking then! All the way down. And – all the way back.

Flight time on the 1540 mile sector between Taipei and Bangkok was projected at three hours and thirty-five minutes, more than enough time to enjoy another cocktail, a late dinner and maybe a bit of time checking out Thai’s inflight entertainment system. Here’s the menu for the flight down to Bangkok:


DINNER
Taipei to Bangkok

First Course

Rosette of Smoked Halibut with Duet of Capsicum Jelly

Main Course

Wok-Fried Beef with Brown Sauce
Roasted Potatoes, Green Peas, Red and Yellow Peppers

Steamed Fish Fillet with Tomato Concasse
Steamed Buttered Potatoes with Parsley and Vegetables

Salted Baked Chicken Hainan Style with Chilli Sauce
Pilaf Rice, Stir-Fried Loufah, Poached Carrot

Braised Minced Pork with Pickles
Steamed Rice, Carrots and Chinese Greens

Assorted Bread, Crackers and Butter

Dessert

An Assortment of Cheese served with Fruit, Crackers and Port
Lime Cheese Cake

Tea, Coffee
Espresso, Cappuccino


I don’t know what kind of fish that is since it’s unnamed (It seems like they always make a point of naming the fish on the menu when it’s something good like salmon, trout, snapper, grouper, halibut or barramundi. Everything else just goes under “fish”) so I think I’ll pass. I prefer my beef in the form of steak, prime rib or half pound burgers, so it looks like I’ll be having the chicken again. No worries! Mongo like chicken!

Another Jim Beam Black got things off to a good start, especially served with a packet of savory roasted cashew nuts. With my meal however, I switched to a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc. The appetizer was an artistically presented rosette of smoked halibut sitting atop a couple of squares of capsicum jelly. I like halibut, but not served cold as it turns out. No complaints here though. I never would’ve known unless I’d tried it. Now I have. Unfortunately, the capsicum jelly did nothing to improve the flavor of the cold, clammy halibut. Nor did the wine, which tasted a bit flat despite its flowery description in the wine list.



Rosette of Smoked Halibut with Duet of Capsicum Jelly


Now the chicken on the other hand – Ooo-la-la! C’était magnifique! Moist, juicy, and plentiful! The rice didn’t seem like most pilafs I’ve had but it complimented the chicken very nicely. I decided to pass on cheese and dessert but watched with a bit of surprise as a selection of cheese, fruit, crackers and crudités were rolled down the aisle on the trolley. Very impressive. It’s the little things like this that – for me at least – really make a flight stand out, elevating it from mundane to special. Well done, Thai!



Salted Baked Chicken Hainan Style with Chilli Sauce


Cheese & Port Trolley Service


Bangkok’s a big city, with a population of 6.3 million. We flew over city lights for a good long while before finally touching down smoothly at Bangkok’s beautiful new Bangkok International Airport. Truth be known, this airport – known more popularly as Suvarnabhumi Airport - isn’t exactly “new”, having opened in late 2006, but compared to musty old Don Mueang International Airport it’s downright fresh and shiny. Why, it still even has that new airport smell!

As much as I enjoy gallivanting around the world in the unique comfort of a First Class airline suite, after spending the past three nights on airplanes I was more than ready to exchange my airplane suite for a hotel suite where I could zzzz-out on a king sized bed in a nicely air-conditioned room. That I did at the Phoenix Hotel where a suite with a king sized bed could be had for the very affordable price of just $51.00 USD all-in.

Now I know that most of you tend to stay in some pretty nice hotels, many of them with bathrooms larger than some of the rooms I’ve stayed in over the years. I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I am with some of the pictures I’ve seen posted here over the years, and my hat’s off to all of you who figure out how to stay at these swank digs without having to take out another mortgage on your cabins.

What’s that? You don’t live in cabins? Really! Oh, well uh… that’s different I guess but uh… aw heck, maybe you’ll still enjoy the view I had from my balcony.



The view from my balcony at the Phoenix Hotel



February 8, 2014
Lufthansa Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur 445p – 740p A340-600 First Class
Thai Airways Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur 440p – 710p A330-300 Business Class

Even though I’ve had some fantastic First Class flights to get this far, I’ve really been looking forward to today’s shorter flight in First Class aboard Lufthansa’s A340-600 down to Kuala Lumpur. It’s been ten years since my last flight aboard the A340’s longest variant, a 790 mile jaunt aboard South African Airways between Cape Town and Johannesburg. Tonight I was looking forward to checking out the First Class – new or old – aboard Lufthansa on the 740 mile flight down to Kuala Lumpur. From there I’d have almost three hours to make my way down to KL’s cavernous Sentral Station for the overnight train to Singapore. So – it was a good, well rounded day of travel and when I awoke from my king sized bed in the Phoenix hotel, I was primed and ready to go.

Two things went wrong today.

First off, my Lufthansa flight got cancelled, or at least the Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur portion did. Apparently the plane departed Frankfurt about twelve hours late and so the decision was made to simply turn it around at Bangkok. Well damn!

So – what are my options?

If I want to make my train tonight, the only flight that’ll work is Thai’s 4:40pm departure to KL, another A330 that meant I’d be downgraded to Business Class. Just getting switched to this flight was enough of a hassle what with reissuing a United issued ticket that I figured bringing up any talk of compensation for the downgrade would only complicate an already complicated situation even more. Business Class it is. Book it, Danno!

Secondly, my memory card filled up. I only keep a little 2G card in my camera because normally on a trip like this I review and download the photos into my laptop every couple of days. Unfortunately, my new laptop is such a piece of dog doo that it won’t even accept my memory card properly (who’d think to check this function before buying it) and even if it would, Windows 8 is such an equally worthless operating system that reviewing pictures on it is way more difficult that it really needs to be. As far as I’m concerned, the entire computer is a piece of junk so when I get home I’ll likely clean it out and donate it to some place that may need one. Assuming they’ll accept it, that is…

In the meantime, I’ve got a full memory card and no back-up. Part of the problem is I generally take anywhere from 4-7 pictures of each food item on the planes. Out of those, I’m pretty much guaranteed to find one that has come out well enough by my standards to be included in this report. Additionally, I take a lot of photos of where I stay, what I’m doing, people I meet, etc. Those pictures never make it into my reports because of my steadfast policy to focus my FlyerTalk trip reports only on the transport aspects off the trip, i.e. getting there.

Additionally, I don’t keep a lot of pictures that I take. The subject might look like it’ll make a good picture at the time I decide to shoot it, but then occasionally when I look at the picture later it just doesn’t come across as very interesting and/or very good. I’m not shy about dumping photos and as many of you know by now, in terms of embedding pictures in my reports I’m a bit of a minimalist compared to the true photo reporters who’ll shoot everything from a bottle of hand cream in the lavatory to their hot towel (So that's what a hot towel looks like!) to multiple pictures of the check-in counter and gate lounge. I know for many FTers there's a lot of interest in looking at stuff like this but to me these types of photographs hold all the titillation of watching carrots grow. With few exceptions, when I see those types of photos in a report - especially in abundance - I tend to just drop it right there and look for another report. Conversely, I'm sure many people feel the same way about my reports. Too much writing! Why didn't he take more pictures of the crowd at the check-in counter or the bathrooms in the airline lounge?!

Anyway, bottom line is I wasn’t able to get a big new 8G card until I got to Singapore so we’ll have to do without any photos until then. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I’ve got some photos from my last trip in 2010 on the night train to Singapore. Believe me, nothing has changed except the arrival station so I’ll go ahead and use those.

Alright then, enough with the explanations. On to the trip!

Thai operates five different Royal Silk Business Class lounges at BKK. I don’t know what I was thinking but when I emerged from security and saw the signs for the Royal Silk Lounge and the C Concourse, I thought that I was just a short way from my gate at C-10. Ha! Not by a long shot. Regardless, I spent an hour or so lounging about, totally clueless as to my actual whereabouts. While I was there though I enjoyed some really good Tom Kha Gai soup along with a plate of Chicken in Green Curry, all washed down by an exquisitely chilled can of Singha Beer. When I finally decided to meander on down to C-10, I found that I had quite a long way to go just to get to the head of the C Concourse, and then – in keeping with most of my recent flights – I discovered that C-10 was way down at the very end of the concourse. In what has become by now a tired old refrain: I’d better get walking!

We had a pretty full load down to Kuala Lumpur, possibly due to re-accommodation of passengers from the cancelled Lufthansa flight. My seatmate was an elderly Asian gentleman who didn’t appear to speak any English and wanted to sleep the flight away. No worries there, mate! I’m just fine on my own and don’t require automatic interaction with folks just because they’re sitting next to me. I accepted the first of my hot towels and put in some time studying the menu. I should mention here that the Drinks Menu was specific to February, so any of you curious about wines, etc. should refer to the transcript posted above. As for the dinner menu, in keeping with today’s weird flow of events, I actually left it onboard the plane. I can tell you that I had yet another chicken dish (I swear, I’ll have something different next time!) Unless it’s dry or undersized, you’ll rarely if ever hear a bad word about airline chicken from me. It’s all good. I do remember the shrimp appetizer was horrible! The shrimp tasted like bad fish. Other than that, everything else including the chocolate parfait dessert was excellent.

Immigration and customs was negotiated quickly and painlessly – after all, I’d only be in Malaysia for a few hours – and soon I was on my way to the KLIA Ekspress platform. During off peak hours, express trains leave every 30 minutes, and the journey into downtown Kuala Lumpur takes only 28 minutes. These guys have got it down! What a great service!

Collecting my ticket was no problem and, after stopping by the local Kentucky Fried Chicken for a late night 2 piece snack, I headed down to the waiting area for the train I booked as Train #25 but locally known as the Ekspress Senendung Sutera. Although there is a lounge available for those of us holding First Class sleeper reservations, we were close enough to boarding time that I decided to just head straight to the gate.

Boarding was called at 10:00pm sharp. Although the temperature inside Sentral Station is cooler than it is outside, it is hardly what I’d call “Air-conditioned”. By contrast, my train car was wonderfully chilled, like stepping into a walk-in fridge. There was a car attendant was at the door, but his primary function, aside from checking my ticket, was to smile. Not like I needed any help finding my room, mind you. Just follow the numbers.



All Aboard at Kuala Lumpur Sentral


Now if you’re going to travel by night train from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, the deluxe sleeper is definitely the way to go. It’s worth noting that the Second Class sleeper is a car full of bunk beds. Though it’s certainly more comfortable than spending the night in a First Class recliner, the privacy your own room in the deluxe sleeper is worth the extra $25.00.

It wouldn’t surprise me if I got the same car I was in four years ago. There’s only one deluxe sleeper car per train and everything looked pretty much exactly the way I left it four years ago. My cabin came with two beds (an upper and a lower) nicely made up with plump pillows and monogrammed wool blankets. Also included was an ensuite shower and toilet but there was no hot water in the shower and no towel was provided regardless. In the good old days – however long ago those were – these cars also included a television. Where the TV used to be was a small platform and some unconnected wires. I wasn’t overly put out however. It was 10:30pm and I was looking forward to a good sleep. As for a shower, I could get one in the airport lounge tomorrow.



Accommodations in the Deluxe Sleeper


These beds are quite comfortable


Ensuite Toilet & Shower


Instructions for use of toilet


We eased out of Sentral Station with all the punctuality of a Swiss train, slowly picking up speed as we rolled through Kuala Lumpur’s rather far flung suburbs. This wasn’t exactly an “express” train in that we did make three or four stops in outlying KL neighborhoods before finally finding our rhythm, whence we proceeded to rock and roll on down the tracks to Singapore. Sleep came easily with the motion of the train, and I particularly liked the firmness of the mattress. This was as nice a train bed as I’ve ever slept on.

One especially welcome change from four years ago is that immigration and customs no longer take place at the crack of dawn in Johor Bhayu. Back then, we had to gather all our belongings and head into a large building for about 45 minutes to an hour of Malaysian emigration processing. These days those same functions are carried out on board the train at Johor Bahru while Singapore passport and customs formalities are undertaken at the new Woodlands checkpoint after you get off the train.

By the time I cleared Singapore customs, it was approaching 8:30am. I took a cab from the station to the Woodlands MRT station. From there it was about an hour and twenty minutes out to Changi.


February 9, 2014
Thai Airways Singapore to Bangkok 1250p – 210p 777-300 Business Class
Turkish Airways Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City 410p – 530p Business Class
Lufthansa Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok 855p – 1015p Business Class


Check in via Thai’s Royal Silk Business Class counter was quick and efficient. Soon I was on my way to the Rainforest Lounge, conveniently situated at the top of the C Concourse, just a short walk from my departure gate at C-22. Thai does operate a Royal Silk lounge here at Changi but it’s nothing to write home about and, so far as I know, it doesn’t have showers. By comparison, the Rainforest Lounge (accessed via Priority Pass) has showers and a much nicer selection of food though the drinks are from a cash bar. No biggie – at this time of day I’m a water or coffee guy.

Boarding didn’t get underway until about 12:40 but this flight was only about half full so we were buttoned up and ready to go only about fifteen minutes later. The aircraft was a 777-300 and the seating was substantially different from that found on Thai’s A330s. These seats were essentially Business Class cubicles, and depending upon your location, they could be downright claustrophobic. On a positive note, each seat was of decent width and had direct access to the aisle. However, certain seats had an area only about 15” wide through which to access them and once sat, everything was right up on you. Window seats could be either “A” or “B”, with the “B” seats being a bit farther out from the windows. For me, those are the good seats with much wider access points than the “A” seats. That translates into better room for those of us who like to cross our legs now and then while seated.

Now maybe it’s just me, but one of the best pure benefits of sitting up in a premium class cabin is the increased amount of space that you have around you relative to Economy. In the case of Thai and other airlines like Austrian that have gone with these modular seating compartments, I think they’ve sacrificed the spacious ambience in order to provide a lie flat bed while still maintaining direct aisle access.



Business Class Seat on Thai’s 777-300


Here is a VIDEO produced by Thai about its new 777-300ERs. There’s some decent footage of the Business Class cabin.

As we taxied out to the runway, I saw Airbus’ A350 in factory colors remotely parked. The Singapore Airshow starts in a couple of days and this will be the A350’s first full display at an international air show. I’m sure it’ll garner a lot of attention as the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing market for new airplanes. In fact, 30% of the total orders thus far for the A350 have come from airlines based in this region.

Lining up at the head of the runway, we paused briefly before the pilot pushed the throttles forward and sent us hurtling down the runway. 777-300ERs are equipped with the most powerful engines ever installed aboard a commercial jet airliner. That engine would be General Electric’s massive GE90-115B. Recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "World's Most Powerful Commercial Jet Engine", the GE90-115B is certified as producing 115000 lbs of thrust but recorded an amazing 123,000 lbs. of steady thrust while undergoing initial ground testing in 2001. In late 2002, the engine shattered its original record by reaching 127,900 lbs. of thrust during required certification testing. By comparison, the original JT9D engine that powered the early 747-100s was rated at "only" 40000 lbs. of thrust, a huge increase over the 18000 lbs. of thrust put out by each JT3D engine that powered Boeing's 707-320Bs.

Given a half full airplane and all that extra power, we took to the air with considerable alacrity, powering smoothly through the moist, heavy air that perpetually envelopes Singapore by midday. Soon enough we were levelling out in the cool crisp air (-53°C according to the SkyMap) at 30 some off thousand feet and it was time to peruse the luncheon menu in anticipation of a nice afternoon meal.


LUNCHEON
Singapore to Bangkok

First Course
Whole Duck Foie Gras with Verjuice and Rose Grapefruit

Course

Seared Prawn with Sweet Chilli Sauce
Served atop Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice with Carrots and French Beans

Stir-Fried Chicken with Leek and Mashed Bean Sauce
Accompanied by Tossed Healthy Noodles and Sautéed Vegetables

Poached Siam Perch in Red Curry
Served with Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice,
Stir-fried Pickled Turnip and Egg

Bread, Butter

Dessert
Pardan Sago Seed, Water Chestnut and Coconut Cream
Tea, Coffee
Espresso, Cappuccino


The drink cart arrived first and I decided to try my luck with a Bloody Mary. I watched as the flight attendant mixed my drink with vodka and Spicy V-8 but nothing else. As such, I was served a mediocre Bloody Mary. Still, it’s an airplane, not a proper bar but even so, surely it couldn’t be that difficult to stock a small bottle of Tabasco Sauce and/or Worcestershire Sauce. Then again, this is Business Class, not International First, so perhaps the onus is on me to bring along those accoutrements. In fact, I actually have some small packets of Tabasco Sauce along with Cholula and Grey Poupon Mustard and a few other items that I keep in a little zip-lock baggie in my day pack. I just totally forgot about it.

While I’m in a good rant mode, another complaint I have with Thai is their tiny drink glasses. A good deal of the satisfaction derived from enjoying a refreshing drink is having a decent sized portion of it, providing the promise if not the reality that you’ll have a satisfyingly long drink before having to ring for a refill. Mind you, I’m not advocating 16oz tumblers such as those once served aboard Texas International flights, but a good 8-10oz cocktail glass would be appreciated. As it is, the little glasses Thai uses can’t be more than 6oz and when filled with ice, you’re down to about 3oz.

Alright then, let’s see about lunch…

Hmm… If I eat much more chicken I’m likely to start clucking but I don’t much care for the sweet chilli sauce which topped the prawns, nor the pickled turnip and eggs which accompanied the perch in red curry. Sigh… Stir-Fried Chicken, please.

Now this was actually a pretty good meal. I’m a rice guy but the noodles were an interesting change of pace and really quite good. I also really enjoyed the foie gras appetizer. As rare as it is to be served caviar these days, it might be even more extraordinary to be served foie gras. It’s always been one of my favorites though and I have fond memories of United’s appetizer plates in the mid-eighties, one of which was highlighted by decent sized portions of foie gras accompanied by jumbo prawns, cheddar cheese and bread sticks.



Stir-Fried Chicken with Leek and Mashed Bean Sauce


It’s a 900 mile flight from Singapore to Bangkok, which translated into a flight time of two hours and ten minutes. After lunch I spent some time having fun with one of the geography based trivia games. In concept it was a great game but in practice it was quite frustrating. For example, it would have a picture of the Rock of Gibraltar and to get points for the correct answer you had to touch a world map on the screen where you thought the pictured location was. If I had a pen, I reckon I could have been within five miles of a landmark like The Rock, but using my truly average sized finger tips would result in a response along the lines of “210 kms away. You’ve nailed it!!” or worse, “400 kms away. You’re pretty close!” Points were accrued based upon how close you were and how fast you were. As you might imagine, it was a bit frustrating to quickly yet carefully put your finger on something really easy like Chicago and then get the response “310 kms away. You’re really close!”

In Bangkok we parked out on the C Concourse and I began the long walk up to the transit desk at the head of the concourse. Unfortunately, I discovered that my onward flight to Ho Chi Minh City was departing from F-6 on the opposite side of the airport. As such, I would need to collect my boarding pass at the West Transit Desk, also located on the opposite side of the airport. It was of little consolation that this would require me to walk across the world's fourth largest single-building airport terminal (563,000 square meters or 6,060,000 square feet). According to a sign posted above the terminal walkway, the West Transit Desk was located just 850 meters away. 850 meters! I should’ve taken a picture with my new memory card. 850 meters translates to just over half a mile away, and that wasn’t even including the 200 yard walk from my gate at C8 to the top of the concourse in addition to the additional 200 some odd yard walk down to my gate at F6. People movers were available on the C and F concourses, but not the long crossover D Concourse. All told, I limped about three quarters of a mile which is nothing for your morning joggers but inside a building with so-so air-conditioning, wearing a 15 pound daypack and trailing a roll-a-board with a sore back and an uneven gait, it felt like quite a long walk.

Which gets me to wondering – what’s the longest distance one can possibly walk between gates for a connecting flight while staying completely inside an airport terminal complex? We’re not counting airports that have trains. Today’s walk might be a personal record but I also remember once coming into Denver’s old Stapleton International on a North Central flight from Minneapolis and walking from NC’s gate at the very end of the D Concourse all the way over to my connecting United flight to Las Vegas located just one gate from the end of the equally long B concourse. That was a lonnnng walk!

Back to the present, I collected my new boarding pass for Turkish Airlines’ flight XXX to Ho Chi Minh City and then decided to use my Priority Pass membership to visit one of the six Louis’ Tavern Lounges spread out around the airport terminal. I’ve used these lounges on two prior occasions and have always left with a good impression. The décor is stylish, the food offerings are acceptable (Not hot food but a nice variety of sandwiches) and there’s a decent selection of spirits and beers. Given my long walk and the muggy day, I quickly availed myself of an ice cold Singha’s Lager and found a comfortable lounge chair just down draft from an air-conditioning vent. Ahhh….



Lewis’ Tavern Lounge on F Concourse at Bangkok


So I’m booked on Star Alliance partner Turkish Airlines from Bangkok over to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon for you old timers) but the booking indicates that the flight is operated by Jet Airways of India. Oh Good! I’ve already flown on Turkish so now I’ll get to add another airline to my collection, which currently stands at 172 airlines flown and counting.

Not so fast, Bucko! Sitting at the gate was a 777-300 wearing the red and white livery of Turkish Airlines, and upon making my way down the jetway I was greeted at the door by a flight attendant with blond hair, which I believe is a pretty rare sight amongst indigenous Indians. As it turned out, yes – this flight was operated by Jet Airways – but the cabin crew and the service on board was totally Turkish. The plane itself was from Jet Airways, complete with First Class sliding door suites. Back in the Business Class cabin the large, comfortable seats were arranged in a herringbone fashion, configured 1-2-1. Their only drawback from my perspective was that they faced away from the windows. Other than that, I could have easily spent much longer than the one hour and seven minutes we’d spend aloft enroute to Ho Chi Minh City.



Business Class seating on Turkish 777-300
Aircraft operated by Jet Airways of India


Service enroute consisted of a pass with the beverage cart and a tasty salmon, cucumber and asparagus sandwich on focaccia bread accompanied by a delicious little tiramisu cake. For a one hour flight at this time of day it was just perfect.



Afternoon Snack on Turkish Airlines


As much as I’d like to have spent a couple of days in Ho Chi Minh City, I was forced to press on due to the fact that the only available First Class seat I could score on Emirates back to the U.S. within the next five days was departing out of Dubai the day after tomorrow. I would have been willing to fly into any US gateway city served by Emirates but alas, Seattle on the 11th was it. Getting a First Class seat from most any Asian city to Dubai was not a problem but it meant I’d have to leave tomorrow. Emirates does fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Dubai but unfortunately that flight was only available in Business Class. The alternative which would have allowed me to stay an extra couple of days in Vietnam would have involved heading back up to Incheon and flying home in “First Class” on American. As you might imagine, I had such fond memories of my First Class flights on Emirates last fall, not to mention my recent experiences on Lufthansa and Asiana, that settling for a Flagship Suite on American was never really a consideration.

I encountered a brief problem at the transit desk because they weren’t set up to issue Lufthansa boarding passes. Apparently not many people flying into SGN are transiting onto Lufthansa’s flight to Bangkok and Frankfurt. They were especially not used to seeing guys like me who’d just flown in from Bangkok and were now turning right around and heading back again. Thankfully, my odd routing didn’t attract any official attention but I had to sit around in the transit area for a half hour or so before a transit desk employee could return from the ticket counter with my passport and boarding pass.

Included with my boarding pass was a separate card granting me access to the CIP Rose Lounge. This lounge was one of two contract lounges on the concourse, the other being the Apricot Lounge. There are three flights that all depart SGN for Bangkok within twenty minutes of each other, and based upon the crowds in the Rose Lounge it looked as if each airline (Thai, Turkish and Lufthansa) used this lounge for its Premium Class passengers. As such, the best pictures I can offer you come via this You Tube video which I found on the internet.

What this video won’t show is that the air conditioning in this lounge was fighting a losing battle with the hot, humid air outside. Although there was a fairly decent selection of food available, I wasn’t particularly hungry, preferring instead to wait and see what Lufthansa had in store for us on the short one hour flight back to Bangkok.

This was only my second flight on an A340-600, the other having come in Economy Class aboard a South African Airways plane back in 2004. Needless to say Lufthansa’s Business Class up ahead of the wings was a huge improvement over having been sat back in row 34 or so on the SAA bird. Even so, I couldn’t help but lust just a bit over those big blue First Class thrones sitting ever so empty just beyond the curtain. These were the old style First Class seats but they certainly looked inviting and – were it not for yesterday’s flight between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur having been cancelled – I would’ve gotten a chance to check them out myself.

Oh well. I was still sitting pretty comfortably in Lufthansa’s spacious Business Class seats, sipping on a nice cold glass of water while reading about Chinese passengers rioting in a northern Chinese airport due to snow delays. Apparently they were unhappy at the lack of information being provided them by the airline personnel and finally the situation just reached critical mass. What I found more interesting – if not slightly entertaining – was that this was not the first time Chinese passengers had rioted over what they perceived to be bad service. My goodness! Apparently some ticket counters and computers were damaged, resulting in even longer delays for everyone. Yeah, but it sure felt good!

Service on this short flight back up to Bangkok consisted of a good looking plate of roast beef and asparagus served with lightly flavored glass noodles. I washed it all down with a glass of Jack Daniels and then reclined my seat a bit to watch the lights of Bangkok was we followed a wide sweeping path around the southern edge of the city before lining up for a surprisingly smooth landing at Suvarnabhumi.



Evening Snack on Lufthansa


Once again I’d booked a suite at the Phoenix Hotel. My wait time was minimal and soon I was reveling under the blast from not one but two air conditioners as I got my room chilled to a wonderful 18°C in preparation for a good night’s sleep.