Originally Posted by
VorelNaCestach
Once I settled into my seat, the crew member brought me a glass of champagne. This time, I took a photo of the bottle, knowing it is important here on FT, lol.
Two hours before landing, it was time to enjoy a traditional Malaysian dish - satay.
Satay and guava juice
I was a bit disappointed when they directed me towards the egates, as I wanted to get a stamp. Oh well, maybe next time.
The guava juice is the MH signature drink but they don't load many bottles of this! Great complement to the satay for sure.
Were you unable to book a throne seat on the starboard side of the plane?
Originally Posted by
VorelNaCestach
Having arrived at one of the gates C31-C37, I needed to locate the lounge. The information board was unhelpful as it didn't display any lounge information. Exhausted from not sleeping on the flight to Kuala Lumpur, I began walking in an anti-clockwise direction.
It was still early, and there were hardly any people around. The lounge dragon directed me to the right side, and I followed without thinking. Later, on my way out, I noticed it was for First Class, Enrich Platinum, and Oneworld Emerald members.
The First Class lounge is smaller. Its primary area consists of a lengthy room that offers an incredible view of the airport apron.
I even discovered a quiet room.
There is a small VIP room at the end of the lounge that everyone can access, but hardly anyone ventures into that part of the lounge. Out of the 4 people in the lounge, I was the only one walking around and exploring the whole place. The VIP room has its own private bathroom with a shower.
The meal options were quite underwhelming. I was disappointed to see that there were only two varieties of sandwiches, a toaster and plain bread, available.
Then, some dried fruit, nuts, biscuits, yoghurt, and two cakes.
White wine was in the fridge (forgot to take a photo). Meanwhile, two bottles of red wine were clearly visible and ready for the passengers wanting to drink some wine for early breakfast (it was 5pm somewhere in the world
I chose to have coffee and cakes from the limited selection available. While I was observing the planes, I overheard a fellow passenger mentioning on the phone that the business lounge had a skilled barista and superior coffee. I approached the staff immediately and asked if they could bring me a cup. 😊
As I anticipated spending just a few minutes in the lounge, I stayed for an hour. Feeling drowsy, I decided to head to the gate before the boarding announcement. On my way, I glimpsed a dining room but didn't have time to check it out. I made a mental note to visit it on my return journey.
I wasn't even aware of the VIP room in F!!
The food offerings in the J lounge is nicer, with more options, so you can just duck in there for the Nasi Lemak and pastries at breakfast time, or some heartier meals and noodle soils during lunch or dinner.
Originally Posted by
VorelNaCestach
There was constant protest throughout the week I was there, especially on Wednesday and Friday. I noticed several helicopters as I was walking to my meeting.
There was a convention on military weapons and technology in the Melbourne CBD in late Sep/early Oct so that is likely what escalated the protests. There have been regular protests every Sunday which are quite peaceful but some agitators seem to get behind the protests during this convention.
Originally Posted by
VorelNaCestach
I found that info on the Internet, that Cairns is the least touristy. Also when I was in Cairns, I was asked why I didn't go to Port Douglas instead.
Thank you! I did ask Australians. At least they recognised The Australian Aboriginal flag (red-black-yellow).
I am absolutely ashamed as an Aussie that other Aussies were unable to identify this flag.
Originally Posted by
VorelNaCestach
As I explored nearby dining options on Google Maps, I was disappointed to find that most places were closed due to it being Sunday evening. The only available dining option was the hotel restaurant, where I received a welcome letter offering a 15% discount. I decided to try the fish and chips, hoping to compare it to the British version.
The dish did not come with the traditional mushy peas and tartar sauce; instead, I was served mayonnaise and ketchup. No offence, dear Australian readers, but this was probably the worst fish and chips I've ever had. Additionally, the discount code in the welcome letter did not work as expected.
.
We usually do fish and chips with tartare sauce and lemon, epic ... for me with that mayo and ketchup - pitchforks out for the chef on that one!!
Originally Posted by
nancypants
take NJE off your list as they only do mine charters
you
may want to consider Skytrans, Hinterland, Airnorth (ex CNS) and FlyPelican (ex somewhere further south- CBR maybe others). Next time
National Jet operate the Boeing 712/DC-9neo/Aeropenis and also the A220 for QantasLink so technically that might be workaround?
Originally Posted by
VorelNaCestach
The spring started only recently, yet many people were already sunbathing. I stayed there for a while and watched surfers. How do they know how to avoid others while riding a wave? They all looked too close together.
Tamarama Beach wasn't very busy.
Surfers have some form of etiquette where they wait for waves in order of who has arrived first. Sometimes a surfer may gesture that they don't wish to take the next wave and that may mean the next surfer up could take this one, but they generally don't "jump in" on someone else's wave.
Tamarama is one of my favourite beaches on the eastern suburbs. It is generally quiet because it is a smaller beach and the rip is quite savage, so it isn't good for those who are not strong swimmers.
Originally Posted by
VorelNaCestach
i didn't know that, thank you for sharing this info.
earlier this week, I read that they are replacing them with A220, and have four of them. I am glad I didn't know about it when I was in Australia otherwide I would plan some crazy city hopping.
I saw VH-X4A: Minyma Kutjara Tjukurpa as I was leaving CBR.
Some of us AVGeeks call this A220 "Broccoli Dreaming” because of the colour and how it looks from a distance. Also because the Dreamliner in the Indigenous scheme is called "Yam Dreaming" 🤣
You were definitely lucky to get on a 712 as so few of them are flying at the moment, and they have a habit of going tech. Sadly they have become quite unreliable in their twilight years. I loved flying SYD-MEL-CBR and vv to get my #Aeropenis fix and to scoop up extra TPs. I am guaranteed to be in Row 26 or similar haha.
The only annoyance is if it was a dinner flight CBR-SYD and they literally throw the boxed hot meal at you and you have to scoff it down because they come around to collect the rubbish almost straight away. On a few occasions we have ended up in a holding pattern, one which was for 30 min, so doubling the length of the entire sector!
I will definitely miss them when they are gone.
Great review of your trip so far, and I am looking forward to seeing other FTers visiting my homeland, it is always interesting to see how others view it as a tourist.