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Sweaty Singapore & A Big Fat Indian Wedding (SQ F, EY F (Jetihad), Park Hyatt HYD)

Sweaty Singapore & A Big Fat Indian Wedding (SQ F, EY F (Jetihad), Park Hyatt HYD)

Old Nov 10, 2015, 10:54 am
  #76  
 
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Maybe this has been asked and answered before -- but how much weight do you gain after one of these trips?

If you don't, what do you do to keep it off?
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Old Nov 10, 2015, 11:06 am
  #77  
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Originally Posted by anaggie
Maybe this has been asked and answered before -- but how much weight do you gain after one of these trips?

If you don't, what do you do to keep it off?
It's a good question - on average, it's about 5-10 pounds per week of travel. On this trip it was closer to just 5 since some stomach issues in India knocked out my appetite for a couple days. For my 3-week honeymoon, I gained about 20 pounds

I do try to diet before each vacation and we always try to walk as much as we can, usually averaging about 10 miles per day if possible. But that's hard to do for beach vacations.
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Old Nov 10, 2015, 3:27 pm
  #78  
 
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Post #40 is what we're talking about in Singapore. Thanks for a terrific report!
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Old Nov 11, 2015, 4:26 pm
  #79  
 
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Originally Posted by sfoactuary
It's a good question - on average, it's about 5-10 pounds per week of travel. On this trip it was closer to just 5 since some stomach issues in India knocked out my appetite for a couple days. For my 3-week honeymoon, I gained about 20 pounds

I do try to diet before each vacation and we always try to walk as much as we can, usually averaging about 10 miles per day if possible. But that's hard to do for beach vacations.
^

5 pounds per week is about average for me also. I always try to get some sort of Jiu Jitsu in whenever I travel but in certain parts of the world, it is too complicated.
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Old Nov 15, 2015, 10:48 pm
  #80  
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Originally Posted by Chalkie
Post #40 is what we're talking about in Singapore. Thanks for a terrific report!
You are very welcome!

Originally Posted by anaggie
^

5 pounds per week is about average for me also. I always try to get some sort of Jiu Jitsu in whenever I travel but in certain parts of the world, it is too complicated.
Yes I can imagine that it isn't easy to find a dojo in many destinations, my parents are similar and try to squeeze in some tai chi as their exercise when traveling
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Old Nov 17, 2015, 10:57 am
  #81  
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Etihad Premium Lounge at AUH

Upon arrival at Abu Dhabi airport, we disembarked and navigated our way over to the Etihad Premium Lounge. Since the First Class Lounge was currently under construction, there was a small section in this lounge roped off for First Class passengers. However, the section was filled and looked a bit claustrophobic, so we ended up finding a seat elsewhere near the bar.









Despite the fact that it was just past midnight, the lounge was humming as many folks were scheduled on flights that departed well past midnight and into the early morning. Ours was scheduled for 2:25AM, and we were instructed by the staff to leave the lounge at least an hour or more in advance to account for the pre-clearence process.

So we only spent about an hour here, and of course I couldn't help but to graze just a bit. I thought about utilizing the style and shave facilities but was pretty tired at this point, so a midnight haircut was the last thing on my mind.

There was a rather impressive selection of food here, and the service was very attentive and kept the buffet constantly re-stocked. There was a section that had fruit, cheese, and salads.





As well as a hot buffet with a number of dishes.



And it wouldn't the Middle East without a huge selection of sweets, including pastries, cakes, and mousses.







We packed up our stuff around 1AM and started the pre-clearence process, which I'd describe as a huge pain in the butt. Honestly, going forward I'm planning to avoid connecting to the US via Abu Dhabi as a result.

I'd read reports on Flyertalk about this process taking upwards of 2-3 hours, and I'm glad to report that ours only took about 45 minutes from start to finish. So it sounds like the operations are working much more smoothly, and as a result flights to the US are no longer being delayed as often as a direct result.

The first step was the most thorough security checkpoint I've ever encountered. Each person was screened from top to bottom, including a pat down, and had the contents of their bags essentially emptied as part of the process. So you can imagine that it took a long time since each person would then need to re-pack.

The customs side of things actually went very smoothly courtesy of Global Entry, and we were able to pass through in just a few minutes.

Because the pre-clearance process can be such a wild card in terms of time, there was actually another lounge afterwards. As the "US Premium Lounge" name suggests, it appeared that this was built specifically for passengers departing for the US.



Overall, a very similar style and setup to the other lounge, and actually felt more relaxed. Maybe it's because everyone had finished the dreaded pre-clearence process.



There was no hot food here, but plenty of sandwiches and sweets to go around.







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Old Nov 20, 2015, 11:19 am
  #82  
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Etihad (Jet Airways Config) First Class Abu Dhabi to San Francisco

As I wrote about here, it seemed like I was the only person in the frequent flyer community that was actually excited to take this flight. On the plus side, because I'd heard so many negative comments about Jetihad, the bar had been set really, really low.

After a few final stretches in the Etihad US Premium Lounge, we headed over to the gate and on-board our 16-hour flight back home to San Francisco. It was well past midnight and I was half-asleep, so I remember having to do a double-take when I saw the exterior of the plane showing the Jet Airways livery rather than Etihad's.



It was a completely full 8/8 on our flight today in First Class. As we got settled in, I took a look around and my initial impression was that the cabin and seats were actually pretty darn nice. I think the words "run down" and "old" were often used in people's reviews, and I honestly didn't get that feeling at all. In fact, these seats were probably in better shape than the Singapore Airlines ones we'd taken on the way over.



Overall, I found the seat to be incredibly comfortable, and was definitely well-cushioned, which was important when your butt was going to spend the next 16 hours in the same place.

The colors and finishes were understated compared to the standard Etihad product, and especially when compared to Emirates, but I don't think that necessarily makes it worse. The only major difference that may matter to some folks is that these were cloth seats, whereas many others have leather.



We had booked the middle seats in the 2nd row.



The suites were massive, and had plenty of legroom even for the tallest of travelers.



That's just plain mean to advertise the Etihad First Apartments while someone is sitting in the Jetihad First Class seat!



The handheld screen was really the only thing that was showing some wear and tear, and the Jet Airways logo was still prominently displayed.



This device was used to control the seat as well as the lighting.



The flight attendants started to come around with goodies, and I was anxious to see what would be provided. First up, the usual Bose noise-canceling headphones.



The amenity kit bag itself was rather sad, just basically just a thick cloth bag with a zipper.



The contents inside were pretty decent, and featured some Bergamote-branded lotions and soaps, along with a toothbrush and shave kit, ear plugs, and eyeshade.



And last but not least, the pajamas. These were certainly not the best quality we've ever received on a flight, but were perfectly fine for lounging and sleeping in.



Next up, the menu. It had been really hard to find a reliable menu for this flight in advance, so for once I was actually reading through the menu in detail since I wasn't sure what to expect. The first page featured the all-day dining options, even though technically everything on the menu was available at any point during the flight.



The next page featured some of the Indian dishes that I was really excited to try.





And the last page was the "From the grill" section of the menu.



And the dessert and wine sections.











Shortly after take-off, the on-board chef came around to take orders. This was my first time having an on-board chef available, and while I guess the concept was cool, in practice I don't think it really made an impact on the quality of the food.

It was nice to order with him directly though, since he's fully aware of all the options available and with some general guidance on what you'd like to eat, mentioned that he would just "come up with something".

The meal service started with a fresh spring roll with duck. This was just plain gross and in my head I started to get worried. What if all those bad reviews were true...



Next up was the marinated prawn and crab salad which was much better. Looks like we're headed in the right direction now...



For this first go-around, since it was about 4AM local time I decided to go with a light meal, and ordered the chicken tandoori from the grill with some veggies. The chicken was accompanied with some tomato and butter sauces which were quite good.



And of course my version of a night cap, a huge bowl of strawberry ice cream.



I was ready to pass out and went to the bathroom to change into my pajamas. On the way I requested turn down service, and came back to a nicely made bed. I popped in a Benadryl and jumped into bed.



The closed doors of the suites provided plenty of privacy, and thankfully they weren't motorized as the ones on Emirates are.



After dozing off for a good 5-6 hours, I awoke and as you can guess, started eating again. There was still over 8 hours left on this ultra long-haul flight, and over the course of that time I sampled a few more things.

The on-demand dining concept was perfect for a flight this long, since it wouldn't be practical to force people to eat at certain times. Overall, I went through 4 rounds of dining, and each time I called for the flight attendant, the response and subsequent dining service was extremely efficient.

I started with the lamb kabob entree which was my favorite thing on this flight.



I also tried the lamb from the grill, which came with potatoes and vegetables.



And the chicken masala curry entree.



And another tandoori chicken just for good measure, this time with a cool salad and a different sauce.



And the panna cotta to cap things off.



So how was the flight overall? I'd probably give it a B-. The hard product was great, and I had absolutely no complaints there.

The food? It was pretty mediocre, and probably tied with Emirates for the worst I've had in First Class.

The service? It was OK, efficient when needed, but otherwise pretty apathetic.

But perhaps the most annoying thing is that this flight just didn't get the little things right. For example, there were no slippers available which is a standard amenity in First Class, so that meant having to put on my shoes each time I needed to walk around.

Also, the headphones they provided only had a single plug, whereas the audio system required a dual plug. So essentially I was only able to get sound in one ear at a time, which was just ridiculous. I ended up rotating between the left and right sides every 30 minutes or so to keep from going deaf in one ear.

So in many ways, the negative reviews were consistent with my experiences, although I do think they are slightly blown out of proportion. The Jetihad product is perfectly adequate but certainly nothing to rave about. And given how long this flight is to begin with, I still believe that you'd have to be crazy to add an additional layover in order to re-route to the standard Etihad product.
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Old Dec 29, 2015, 11:31 pm
  #83  
 
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This seems to be the major problem with the F soft product in the ME3 carriers-- a frustrating lack of consistency. The hard product is out of this world but the service can't quite match. But then I'm not talking from experience. Jet does seem to have a nice F suite, though.

A TR that truly lived up to expectations. Bravo. How were the macarons in Hyderabad? Not quite something you'd expect to see!
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Old Dec 30, 2015, 12:00 am
  #84  
 
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There is a gorgeous hotel in Hyderabad; like a Maharajah's Palace.

I assume you must have lost a lot of weight on your trip. Did you check?

Your trip looks great. Thanks.
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