Billiken

Fantastic report!! Thank you.

Will be at the CAI Conrad in February.
Will see what kind of room Diamond status gets.

offerendum

This is of course a fantastic destination if it comes to art and culture👍

dat4life

I slept fitfully until around 5am when I was jolted awake by the call to prayer. While I’ve seen, or more accurately, heard the call to prayer a number of times on TV, it didn’t remotely compare to hearing it firsthand. I did wish I was still sleeping, but the early wake up did give me enough time to call the folks back home, including the same coworker who called me back while I was in Los Angeles. He may not understand boundaries, but he truly means well.

After a breakfast of cold leftovers and fruit, I was ready to tackle the day. Alex picked me up promptly at 7, and we were off to Giza.



So funny story: I have a friend that is really into street art. When I spotted what I thought was street art on the way to Giza, I naturally snapped a picture and sent it to her. She sent the picture to a mutual friend who is fluent in Arabic. It was apparently an ad for a weight loss clinic. Oops.



Blame it on Hollywood or even my history textbooks, but I still pictured the Pyramids to be set in the middle of a desolate desert. I was somewhat surprised when we pulled into a parking lot stacked with tour busses and teeming with tourists right next to the Great Pyramid. In hindsight, it should have been expected given this day and age.



While Alex went to make the necessary arrangements, I hung out in the parking lot. That was kind of a mistake. I was approached by all manner of vendors offering crappy trinkets, a donkey ride across the parking lot, and other tours. It was quite a chore to fend them off, as they were fairly aggressive and “attacked” in packs. Eventually Alex returned and rescued me, and we headed up into the Great Pyramid.



Before we could enter, a guard asked me to leave my camera at the entrance. It was a reasonable request, especially in the interest of preserving one of Egypt’s national treasures. I had no issue with not bringing my camera into the Pyramid. What I had an issue is leaving it at the entrance where it was for all intents and purposes unguarded with hundreds of people streaming through the area. Now I could have gone back and left it in the car, but it was quite a hike. My excitement from finally visiting the pyramids eventually overrode my better judgment, and I handed it to the guard who placed on the ledge behind him and turned his back on it.

My heart was racing as I took my first steps into the dark and musty smelling Pyramid. I have to admit it was actually kind of anti-climatic as I’ve always associated ancient Egyptian royalty with glitz and glamor. But to think that these Pyramids were constructed at all during that time period without the assistance of modern technology is truly breathtaking. Of course, I’m well aware that the Pyramids were constructed with slave labor, and the fact the Pyramids are still standing today is a testament to their skill.

It wasn’t long before I was glad I left my camera behind. We were allowed to march up to what I believe is ante chamber. The passage was steep and narrow, and it was so narrow in some spots that only person could pass at a time. It was tough sledding just navigating it myself, let alone doing it while lugging around a massive DLSR. Imagine how tough it would be bringing a sarcophagus up here.



The antechamber, if my memory of sixth grade world history serves me correctly, was a bit anti-climatic.



My camera was right where I left it, thankfully. I grabbed it, and we headed to the nearby museum to meet my friend’s sister who is curator at the museum. She met us by entrance and took us on an in depth tour of the museum.











One of the coolest things we got to do on the tour was take a peak at the excavation of the second boat of King Khufu (similar to the one pictured above), which was discovered somewhat recently. Understandably, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, but what an amazing opportunity it was.



Afterwards, I got to tour around the grounds a bit.















Eventually, we rolled up to an area where there were a bunch of guys with camels in tow milling around. Alex asked if I wanted to take a ride. I mean what’s more Egyptian than camels and the Pyramids, right? I said sure, and he went to talk to one of the guys in Arabic. Alex beckoned me over and instructed me not to give the guy any money. Of course, once we were out earshot of Alex the camel handler asks me for money, and specifically US Dollars. I guess this was somewhat expected in any tourist area. I should know haven grown up in one. Anyways, I offer up a crisp five dollar bill. Camel guy looked a bit offended at the sight of it, and asked for a $20 or $100. Wanting to get it over with, I dropped him a twenty and he seemed satisfied.

I used to be rather annoyed when such tactics are employed. After all, the point of tourist areas is to, you know attract tourist, and I can’t imagine anyone would enjoy such treatment. Then one day I was chatting with a friend about such matters, and she presented another actually pretty reasonable viewpoint. At the end of the day, these guys are trying to scrape together a living as best they can. If she can afford it, then why bother complaining. While I don’t completely agree with my friend, it is certainly some food for through and certainly an empathetic way to view the situation.



Next, Alex brought to an area next to the Great Pyramid where there were entrances to what looked to be antechambers. However, these entrances were closely guarded and there was clear signage that these were not tourist areas and no photography was allowed. That’s a bit of a buzzkill. However, Alex simply told one of the guards that I was the guest of my friend’s sister, and I was ushered in with open arms. One of the guard led me down into the chamber, and encouraged to take as many pictures as I wanted and to touch the hieroglyphics. Not wanting to be that guy that was thrown in jail to desecrating a several thousand-year-old treasure, I was reluctant to. But Alex assured me it was on the level, so I gingerly ran my fingers over a section of the wall. It felt no different than rock based wall I’ve ever touched, but cool nevertheless.







Last but not least was the Great Sphinx, which… I’m not sure why it’s so great, but hey it’s famous!



It was late afternoon, when we pulled up to the Conrad. Just enough time for a shower and a lie down before I had to pack you say? Yes, I did. Technically, my stay at the Conrad was for two nights. Before I left home, I did some research into the lounge situation at Cairo International Airport. Information was sketch about the availability of showers, so I decided to keep my room for a second night to make sure I wouldn’t have fly to back to Asia still covered in dust from Giza. The front desk agents were just as confused when I went downstairs to check out.

“Mr. dat4life, you are not scheduled to check out into tomorrow.”

Yes, I’m very well aware. The gent behind the counter dutifully checked me out and handed my receipt with a puzzled look on his face. Those, crazy Americans.

dat4life

Alex arrived at my hotel at 8PM sharp, and we were soon wizzing through the streets of Cairo on the way back to the airport. You would think traffic would have died down a bit at that hour. Nope. It was just slightly lighter. Over an hour passed before Alex managed weaved his way through the throng at the departures drop off. After bidding him farewell I made my way toward the very dim and depressing looking terminal.

Before I made it inside, a stern face guard asked to see my ticket. I handed him my e-ticket itinerary, which he studied for a solid minute. Without a word, he handed it back to me and pointed me toward the door. Security had to be cleared to even reach the check in counters. There seemed to be a ton of midnight departures as the line snaked down the hall. Thankfully, there was a dedicated premium cabin and Star Alliance Gold line to the far left. The special people line was shorter, but it still moved at a glacial pace. Security declared me a good egg, and then it was off to the line at the check in counters.

My bag was tagged all the way to Phuket but the EgyptAir agent wasn’t able to issue the boarding pass for my Air China flight to Beijing. I could easily take of that in Beijing, where I had a whopping six-hour layover. At the present moment, I was glad to get rid of my bag, which seemed to have gained quite a bit of weight since I left home.

Generally, airlines install their nicest lounges at their major hubs. Case in point, Cathay Pacific’s The Pier lounge I visited a few days earlier. Cairo is EgyptAir’s only hub, so it would be safe to assume that’s where their best lounge is. If this is their best effort, I hate to see what their outstation lounges look like. In short, it was small and packed to the gills with the spate of midnight departures. Food was meh looking, and bathrooms were not very nice. I was really glad I decided to hang on to my hotel room for an “extra night”. The lounge did clear out after a little while, and I was finally able to stake a claim on one of the sitting chairs.



Unfortunately, wifi in the lounge worked sporadically so I spent most my time in the lounge trying to connect. I gave up about an hour before departure and just headed to the gate. The apron was abuzz with activity with a small army of rampers readying the Airbus A330-200 for the 4,651 mile flight to Beijing. Things were just as hopping inside at the gate, where two poor gate agents were trying to manage a (heavy) plane load of restless passengers. At one point, I considered saving a few miles and flying coach. Judging by the packed gate area, my decision to splurge for Business Class was wise. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong airline.



EgyptAir 955
Cairo (CAI) – Beijing (PEK)
Depart: 12:55 AM
Arrive: 4:20 PM
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Seat: 2D (Business Class)

Like any good FlyerTalker, I took to the interwebs to figure out what I could expect aboard EgyptAir. There weren’t many trip reports covering EgyptAir here on FlyerTalk or elsewhere. The few recent trip reports on I found were fairly positive for the most part. EgyptAir’s angled lie flat seats looked fairly similar to what constituted American Airlines’ former “Next Generation” Business Class seats, and I slept really well on those seats. Food looked decent. With all the booze I consumed thus far during the trip, it was a positive that EgyptAir was a dry airline. And perhaps more importantly, I was also really excited to fly another new airline, and one that I wouldn’t ordinarily cross paths with at that. So why not?

Now I did notice the trip reports I read were on EygptAir’s Boeing 777s. My flight was operated by an A330-200. I just assumed that angled lie flat seats were EgyptAir’s standard longhaul seat. I assumed poorly. Very poorly. In fact, it didn’t take more than five steps onto the plane before I realized I made a horrible mistake. As I made the right turn into the cabin, the old recliner business class seats came into view. The seats looked downright uncomfortable.





I’m not one of those people who thumb their nose at premium cabins without lie flat seats. I actually have slept quite well on many of the old style recliner seats. The problem with EgyptAir’s seat is that it seemed to lack any sort of padding, and it was as hard as a rock. I would say it was as comfortable as a bench or metal bleachers, but that would be an insult as either of those might be more comfortable.





Not only was the seat uncomfortable, the amenities were lacking to put it mildly. There was a tiny IFE screen that folded out from the armrest, which looked as if it could have been pilfered from a carcass of a DC-10 in a boneyard. Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t get the screen to work at all. That might have actually been a positive, as I can’t imagine the content would be very good.





Underneath the right arm rest was an awkwardly placed electrical outlet. To plug something in, I had to twist it to the right while pushing inward simultaneously. It took several tries before I got my phone charger plugged in, but my efforts were in vain as it too didn’t work.



While legroom was plentiful, there was dearth of storage space. The only storage place at the seat was the small cubby where the power outlet was, and it wasn’t big enough to fit anything much bigger than a phone. I couldn’t even fit my backpack underneath the seat in front of me. To top it all off, there were no overhead bins over the seats in the center of the plane. I ended shoving my backpack in one of the overhead bins and (barely) cramming the pillow and blanket set underneath the seat.







Fragrant hot towels were also offered. Also distributed were little a set of stickers which passengers could indicate whether they wanted to be disturbed or if they wanted chow.



After boarding was nearly completed, flight attendants came around offering glasses of hibiscus and lemon juice using a very classy and ornate silver tray. The juice was so good that I asked for seconds, and the flight attendant gladly obliged.



I was ecstatic when the Captain announced a “projected flying time” of 8 hours and 30 minutes, which was much shorter than the block time of 10 hours, thanks to a 92 mph tailwind. There aren’t many flights I dread, especially when I’m seated in a premium cabin, but I was more than ready to get this one over with. The flight attendants were the only redeeming quality of this flight thus far. They were friendly and attentive throughout the pre-departure service despite the late hour and continued to be cheery once service began airborne.

Service began with an offer of newspapers and distribution of arrival cards. This was followed by laying of tablecloths on each tray and the drink cart. I went with guava juice, which was tasty.



While menus were not offered, the meal was served from carts with all of the options for each course displayed. While I do prefer physical menus, I suppose this is certainly a more environmentally friendly way to go about it.

Trays with appetizers and cheese course already plated were served next. The presentation of the appetizers looked nice. Though everything tasted pretty bland with the exception of the smoked salmon (impossible to screw up), the appetizers were fresh. I did enjoy the salad which was fresh and crisp. A packet of Thousand Island was provided. While I don’t particularly care for Thousand Island, it was a nice departure from the balsamic vinaigrette 99 percent of the airlines in the world insist on serving aloft. The cheese course was already on the tray, which wasn’t very tasty



Since I’ve been (deservedly) whaling on EgyptAir fairly heavily thus far, it’s only fair I also point out what they do well. One thing they do well is branding. First off, their logo is pretty flipping cool and an average joe can easily discern it consists of a bird. Not that I’m an expert or anything, but I would think EgyptAir could easily get a trademark for their logo in the United States, unlike the airline that bears the name “American”. Secondly, they put their logo on pretty much everything from the drinking glasses, crockery, and the blanket. All of it looked awesome.





Main course options consisted of chicken, beef, or fish



None of the dishes looked particularly appetizing, and there didn’t seem to be an Egyptian dish on offer. So I went with the fish, which turned out to be salmon. It was perfectly edible.



Dessert options consisted of apple pie, chocolate cake and fresh fruit.



Dessert was also offered from a cart. I really didn’t want anything, but the flight attendant insisted I try the, and I quote, homemade apple pie. I think I can do better at the Wal Mart bakery, but it was again perfectly edible.



Cabin lights were turned off as soon as dinner was finished. I tried to get to sleep but I couldn’t find a remotely comfortable position. I gave up after an hour or so, and I grabbed my laptop to watch a movie. Then I remembered my laptop hadn’t been charged since I arrived in Egypt, thus, the battery was dead. So I alternated between dwiddling my thumbs and staring into space

The flight attendants disappeared into the galley after dinner and stayed out of sight until breakfast, which was served two hours before landing.



Like dinner, breakfast was also served from a cart. None of the options looked particularly appetizing. I did go with what was described as the Egyptian option. It was pretty bland. A choice of white bread and croissants was offered. I chose a croissant, which was flaky and tasty and by far was the highlight of breakfast.



Descent into smoggy Beijing began shortly after breakfast dishes were cleared. At exactly 8 hours and 30 minutes after takeoff, we touched down softly at Beijing Capital Airport. The parking brake was set after a quick taxi, and I leapt out my seat the very moment the plane stopped. I couldn’t get off the plane fast enough.

Well… I’m glad to have flown EgyptAir, and I don’t think I’ll ever have the urge to fly them again in the future. It certainly wasn’t the worst flight I’ve ever flown, but it’s up there especially given what I paid for the ticket. Not much more to add than that.

dat4life

After regaining some feeling in my backside with a bout of some serious stretching, I set off to find the Air China transit counter to get my boarding pass for my flight to Phuket. The desk was just a little ways down the corridor, and the agent manning the desk was able to print my boarding pass no problem. Then it was off to transit immigration and security, during which my boarding pass was checked no less than four times and the $1.19 in coins in my backpack was sent through the x-ray machine separately. When I flew out of Beijing with my friend earlier in 2017, his bag was also flagged because of coins and thoroughly searched. I have no idea why Chinese airport security is so obsessed with coins, but when in Rome…

Since I was flying Business Class, I figured I only had access to Business Class lounges. But for whatever reason, Air China’s First Class lounge can be accessed using Priority Pass. Since the First Class lounge was closer to my gate, I figured I’d head there and use my Priority Pass card to get in. However, the friendly agent admitted me based on my boarding pass alone.

Air China’s First Class Lounge is located just above the gate level. It’s spacious and airy with plenty of seating.





The large windows offer an excellent view of the tarmac.



There are several buffet and drink stations around the lounge. Even after not eating much on the EgyptAIr flight, I still found the food meh at best and not very appetizing. In contrast, I found the drink stations to be pretty awesome. No, there wasn’t Dom or Krug on tap. In fact, the booze selection was also pretty meh. There were plenty of soft drinks and juices available as well as some Chinese drinks. But what I loved was the tea. There were six different varieties of loose leaf Chinese teas available along with a proper mug. I took advantage of the teas multiple times during my nearly six hour stay.



Not sure what the point of it is as the TV was never on, but there’s a “TV Room” in the middle of the lounge.



I was longing for a shower, so I asked one of friendly agents in front who summoned an attendant who led to one of the shower rooms located in the restroom. The odor emanating from the shower room bore strong resemblance to the one from my high school restrooms after nachos day, so I passed leaving the bewildered attendant in my wake. Instead, I setup camp at one of the comfortable seating areas. It didn’t take me long to remember that there’s only so much of the internet you can explore in China. So I spent most of my time editing and organizing pictures on my now freshly charged laptop.

As you can imagine, I was rather beat from my sleepless night. I ended up dozing off despite my best efforts. When I opened my eyes next scheduled boarding time had already rolled around. I quickly packed and hurried to the gate. By the time I got there, boarding was already well underway.



Air China 821
Beijing (PEK) – Phuket (HKT)
Depart: 7:40 PM
Arrive: 12:40 AM+1
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 2A (Business Class)

There wasn’t any sort of priority lane, at least one that I could find. So I just went to back of the already massive queue. Queue might be too generous of word. A total cluster you know what would probably be more accurate, as people were needlessly jockeying for a more forward position in line. Not gonna help us get to Phuket any faster, folks.

After a delightful 20 minutes of being pushed and elbowed, a smiling flight attendant greeted me at door. She took a quick glance at my boarding pass and asked me to follow her a whole six feet to me seat. There, she introduced herself and told me I was the only Business Class passenger on the flight. Woohoo! She then offered to fetch me a drink. I just asked for water, which was promptly served.



I didn’t dig the reddish purple color scheme of the cabin But I could definitely dig the seats themselves, which would best be described as a better padded US domestic First Class seat. Far far far better than EgyptAir.





Legroom also seemed to be a few inches better than US carriers as well.



A fragrant hot towel was offered next, followed by a pair of slippers. The slippers were impressive as even Cathay Pacific did not offer slippers on my last couple of long haul Business Class flights.





Thailand immigration forms were passed out next. I had a good laugh when I saw the field for income information. I didn’t remember seeing this my last trip to Thailand, but I suppose all is fair when it comes when love and immigration.



The flight attendant returned one last time before pushback to “personally inform” me of our flying time of 5 hours and 20 minutes and take dinner orders. No menus were available, but meal options were verbally described as cheese pizza or Chinese stir fried fish with rice. Well… I didn’t come to China to eat pizza, so I asked for the fish. The flight attendant happily confirmed that was the far better choice.

And that was the last thing I remembered as I pretty much just plain blacked out. When I woke up, I groggily glanced at my watch and determined I slept for about a little over an hour so I figured we must be speeding over the Chinese country side by now. Wait… is that squealing of brakes I hear? I raised the window shade a bit to take peak, and sure enough we were still queuing for take off. Another 18 minutes elapsed before our humble little Boeing 737-800 soared into the smoggy night sky with its CFM-56s singing a deep tenor.

The cabin crew wasted no time getting ready for dinner service. A white tablecloth was carefully placed on my tray table, followed by another towel, my requested Coke which looked a lot like Pepsi, and ramekin of peanuts and craisins. Had I known Air China was going for a sweet and salty combo, I would have gone for a less sweet drink. Also this was a bit of an unusual sweet and salty combo, at least for my tastes, but it worked decently. That said, I don’t think I’m going to be mixing peanuts and craisins at home any time soon.



Dinner was a one-tray affair as expected on these regional routes. My expectations for the dinner service were pretty low given the so-so food quality at Air China’s lounge and some fairly negative reviews I read. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the flight attendant return with an impressive looking tray. Let’s start with the appetizer, which were two pieces of snow crab salad wrapped with smoked salmon top with small serving of smelt roe. It was delicious with a drizzle of lemon juice. The main course was very familiar looking as it was the exact same dish I was served aboard China Southern in Economy Class earlier in 2017, though larger and better presented. I loved the dish then, and it was every bit as good as I remembered. Large chunks of a flaky white fish stir-fried with wood ear mushrooms served with some white rice and Chinese vegetables. Absolutely delicious! Even the white rice was cooked perfectly moist and soft, a hard feat to pull off in an airplane oven. Already on the tray was a piece of delicious pretzel bread (my favorite!) and an oat roll. Dessert was fresh fruit, though the pineapple was a little past its prime. Other than that, it was an excellent meal.



I passed the rest of the flight watching episodes of Ballers on my laptop. Anyone who’s seen the show knows it might have one or two NSFW scenes. Back in 2015, I was flying United from Houston to Denver. I remembered being thrilled about getting upgraded just before the door closed as the flight was operated by a then brand spanking new Boeing 787-9 equipped with lie flat seats in the forward cabin. While browsing the entertainment system, I saw there were episodes of Game of Thrones loaded. A few of my friends were and still are big fans of the show, but I never watched it before and I had no idea what it was about. I swear. So I figured it was a good time as any to check it out. Breakfast was served just as one very NSFW scene rolled around. As the flight attendant was describing the meal options to me, she caught a glimpse of said scene and gave me a look of disgust I won’t ever forget. Eagar to be finished with me, she slammed down my meal tray and took off. The way I see it, it’s United’s fault making such entertainment available on their IFE system. Anyways, that’s a really long-winded way of saying I learned my lesson. While Ballers isn’t quite as raunchy as Game of Thrones, I did take great pains in angling my laptop so that my screen wouldn’t be visible to the aisle just in case.

Despite the delayed the departure from Beijing we landed in Phuket on time, due in no small part to the well padded block time. It was a quick taxi to the gate. I thanked the lovely crew on the way out, who handed me a lovely parting gift of an immigration fast track pass. The pass was worth its weight in gold and then some, as the immigration hall was packed from wall to wall with a multitude of late night arrivals. But thankfully, I was through in less than 20 minutes.

The driver from the hotel was waiting for me at the arrivals area, and it was a quick ten-minute drive to my home for the next four days.

dat4life

Glad I got the post up in advance given my 12 month timetable to finish trip reports! Hope you enjoy your trip!

One of the best for sure!

cockpitvisit

Great trip report, looking forward to more!

Do they now allow taking photos at the Egyptian Museum, or did you take those pics undercover? I was in Cairo back in 2010, and you could take photos inside the pyramid (though you had to pay a small bribe if any of the Egyptians noticed). But at the Egyptian Museum, they made you check in cameras at the museum entrance, all employees were busy watching that no one takes photographs, and shockingly, they refused bribes!

Is it different now?

dat4life

Thanks! At the museum, there were signs prohibiting the use of flash, but nothing about photography in general. None of the museum employees I encountered battled an eyelash at my picture taking.

kevincrumbs

This made me chuckle.

Glad you are making the effort to finish off this TR and it's been enjoyable. MS C looked dire but yes, it does seem sort of fun to check them off as a carrier you've flown on. I'd hate to see what Y is like, though.

stevie

Thanks for the TR it gave me a few laughs.

mialink

dat4life

Ha. Amen to that! Don't thank me just yet, but it should all be done very soon!

Thanks for reading, stevie!

Interesting. I don't know if Alex helped me out or what, but I was never asked for a photo ticket in the Egyptian Museum. Thanks for reading!

dat4life

As soon as the car came to a halt in front of the hotel, the single bellman on duty sprang into action grabbing my bag and ushering me to one of the seating areas in the open-air lobby. The front desk agent greeted me bearing a refreshingly chilled and tasty welcome drink and then took my passport and credit card to complete the formalities.









Had I arrived just a couple of hours earlier, I might have appreciated the theatrics. And to be fair, it was a really nice show. But it was closing in on 2AM, and I hadn’t really slept in close to 48 plus hours. Anything that was in the way of getting to a bed was not appreciated. After what seemed like an eternity, the agent returned with the room keys and spent another five minutes going over my benefits as a (legacy) Marriott Platinum Elite. Yes, I’ve procrastinated writing this trip report so long that a loyalty program doesn’t even exist anymore.

Finally, the bellman loaded my bag and I onto a golf cart and zipped me straight to my room.



On account of my Platinum status, I was upgraded to a Garden Cabana Pool Access room, which looked a lot like a standard room. But it was spacious enough.



The bed was very comfortable.









The bathroom was large and equipped with a walk in shower and a garden tub.





Outside, there was a good-sized patio with a table and a couple of chairs.



And beyond the patio, there was a small pathway that led to a “private” cabana overlooking the pool (hence the name of the room category). It would have been a really nice place to lay and read had the weather cooperated. But more on that in a bit.



After a wonderful hot shower, I fell asleep pretty much the instant my head pillow. Twelve glorious hours later, I woke up to a tropical monsoon pelting the building.



And that pretty much sums my entire stay. It would start pouring right around mid-morning and not taper off until the late evening hours. Had I done my research properly, I would have known ahead of time it was monsoon season in Thailand. But obviously I did not, and I was pretty much relegated to hanging out inside my hotel room the whole time. I did arrange for the hotel car to take me to see some of the sights around Phuket, but I ended up canceling because of the weather. Naturally, the only day I saw the sun in Phuket was on the day I checked out.

There were a few things to do around the hotel in between the downpours. The pool was a large enough to sneak in a few laps, and it was deserted for the most part. The only other people I saw in the pool was a grandmother and a her grandson. Aw, isn’t that cute? It was, until I heard the grandmother encouraging her grandson in Mandarin to pee in the pool. I was out of there in flash and didn’t return.









Technically, the hotel is on a beach of the Andaman Sea. But it is located on a shallow bay, and at low tide the hotel might as well be miles away. There were lounge chairs set up along the beach,.











The hotel is also close to the airport, so there was some plane spotting opportunities as well.





In between all of that, I had to eat to keep up my strength. After all, sitting around and doing nothing at the hotel was hard work.

The hotel had an excellent breakfast buffet on offer each morning, with a wide selection of fruits, western options, Asian options, pastries, and fresh fruit juices. While most hotel chains offer their top tier elites free breakfasts at their full service properties, Marriott saw it fit to provide their top tier elite members with a convoluted spreadsheet to figure out if Marriott was going to feed them the most important meal of the day. One of the exceptions are resorts, which are not required to offer free breakfast. To lessen the pain somewhat, the Phuket Marriott Nai Yang Beach by offering then Gold and Platinum (now Platinum and Titanium) members a substantial discount on all food and beverage. Given the quality of the breakfast, I thought it was more than worth it.

Fruits were a highlight of the buffet. There was a wide variety, from the conventional like watermelon and berries to the exotic like dragon fruit and jackfruit. All of it was fresh and ripe. My favorite was the papaya. Never have Ieaten such sweet papaya.



The laksa noodles were also excellent.



The star of breakfast was the crab curry omelet with seafood fried rice. Simply amazing stuff. I’m not ashamed to admit I scarfed down two of these plates in one sitting. It was that good!



Club sandwiches in Asia are always a treat, and to me it just tastes better over there. What it makes it better? For one thing, there usually a fried egg in the sandwich. The Marriott took it one step further and added a fantastic curry avocado salsa to the sandwich. It was awesome.



It’s really amazing how technology has progressed over the years. When my family went road tripping when I was a kid in the 90s, I remember needing a calling card to make affordable calls from the hotel even from Alabama, which actually might qualify as a foreign country. With the advent of Skype, WhatsApp, and affordable international cell phone plans, calling cards are mostly a thing of the past and you can keep in touch with family and friends from just about anywhere. One of the coolest things I’ve done was to be able to Facetime with my parents from the top of the Great Wall of China. Of course, there is a downside to all of this technology. Exhibit A: my coworker able to reach me while I was in Egypt. So after I let my folks know I was alive, I powered down my iPhone and threw it into the safe where it sat until it was time to check out.

The first couple of hours were tough. I found myself randomly reaching toward my empty pocket whenever I had a “spare second”, but then I got over it. And I have to say this was one of the most relaxing few days in recent memory. Without a smartphone to waste time, I found plenty of time to do things I’ve been meaning to do. Like reading. I read several books that have been sitting on my Kindle for a couple of years. It was also incredibly relaxing just laying around and listening to the surf, whenever the rain let up The days flew by. When I turned on my phone again, I had hundreds of texts and other messages I missed, and I couldn’t have cared less.

dat4life

After one last crab curry omelet, I returned to my room to pack the last bits of my stuff and then headed out to the to catch my prearranged hotel car. A cab would have been slightly cheaper, but the hotel car was more convenient and the price was fixed so I just opted for that. I was wheeling my bag into the terminal just over ten minutes after leaving the hotel. Malaysia Airlines’ check in counters were located the exact opposite side of the check in area where I was dropped off. But with 30 plus hours of sitting ahead of me the driver did me a solid.



After a bit of wait, the agent quickly processed my check in. I handed her my AAdvantage Executive Platinum card to add my number to the ticket. Technically, my original ticket was in an el cheapo economy class bucket, which of course is not eligible for mileage credit. But when I bought my upgrade, the ticket was reissued in a full fare business class bucket, so I was hoping to get some miles out of it. But no cigar.

The agent handed my boarding pass and lounge invite before sending me off. The invitation was to a contract lounges which half of the airlines that fly to Phuket use. Needless to say, my expectations were really low, and I believe my expectations were met. As expected, the lounge was overcrowded, but its redeeming feature was the two masseuses on duty whom offered and gave neck and shoulder massages on the spot. With other persons mere inches away. Quite a few people took advantage of it. As for me, I found it to be a bit strange. But different strokes for different people.

I wasn’t able to find a seat despite searching for awhile, so I went to the other lounge down the hall which the other half of the airlines flying to Phuket use. It wasn’t any better, so I sought respite in the crowded terminal, which was far more pleasant.

Phuket International Airport is relatively small, probably similar to in size to a smaller international airport in the US such as Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut. But for its size, Phuket sure handles a heck of a lot of passengers and heavies. That morning alone, an A330-300 of Turkish airlines as well as an A350 and 777-300 of Thai Airways was paying Phuket a visit. Not to mention, the heavies of less well-known carriers such as this 747-400 that pulled in right in front of me while I was waiting to board. Props for y’all who know which airline this is off hand, as I had to do a little interweb sleuthing to figure it out.



Malaysia Airlines 787
Phuket (HKT) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
Depart: 10:15 AM
Arrive: 1:00 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 4F (Business Class)

Once I realized my gate was in the bowels of the far end of the terminal, I figured it was a bus gate. And it was. On one hand, it was impressive how many people were able to pack the small area. On the other hand, it was downright unpleasant. Mercifully, I had a short stay at the gate before boarding was underway. Props to the ground staff at Phuket who didn’t pack the bus like a can of sardines before sending it off. After a quick ride, as the remote position was really just past the main terminal, I managed to be the first off the bus and up the stairs.



A pleasant flight attendant was stationed at the doorway to greet passengers. Thankfully, the pilots saw it fit to keep the air conditioner packs going on the ground so the cabin was very pleasant compared to the sweltering tropical heat outside.

Seats were decently comfortable and were equipped with a manually controlled footrest, and legroom was more than sufficient for this one hour flight.







With its marginal picture quality of the smallish screen and limited content, it was painfully obvious that the IDE system was obsolete. At least it was an on demand system, and the interface was decently intuitive. That said, it was perfectly adequate for for most regional routes.





An universal power outlet, USB port, and headphone jack were located beneath the armrest.



Shortly before the cabin door closed, flight attendants offered pre-departure beverages of water, orange juice, and guava juice. I took a glass of guava juice, which was fine. A blissfully cold towel was offered after drinks were served.



Despite the remote gate and boarding started late, it took just about twenty minutes to board a nearly full 737. Pushback was on time, and we began taxiing the length of the runway as our remote parking spot was on the opposite to the direction the airport was operating. There were some nice plane spotting opportunities on the way.





Orders were taken while we were taxiing. Breakfast was a choice of eggs and sausage or rendang. Rendang is one of my favorite Southeast Asian dishes, and I have fond memories of the excellent beef rendang I had aboard a Cathay Pacific flight a couple of years ago. I was curious as to how Malaysia’s version would stack up so I went with that.

Despite the scattered cloud cover, I was able to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Thai coastline while climbing out.





The seatbelt sign was turned off a couple of minutes after takeoff, and then flight attendants unlocked the IFE system. As I mentioned earlier, content was limited. But there were a few The Big Bang Theory episodes I have not watched before which was perfect for the short flight. Annoyingly, there were 3 minutes of ads played before each episode, and I couldn’t find a way to fast forward through them.

Breakfast was served seemingly seconds after takeoff. While I ordered the rendang, a tray bearing eggs and sausage was plopped down on my tray table without explanation. The eggs were really a frittata looking contraption, and served with a sausage and some really bland looking potatoes and tomatoes. As if the potatoes weren’t enough carbs, a croissant and danish was also served. I was glad I ate at the hotel, because the food was as bland as it looked. Eggs and sausage was completely tasteless, and I was done after a bite or two. At least the fruit was really good.



I asked for another glass of guava juice to accompany breakfast.



Service as could good as can be for a one hour flight. Flight attendants were constantly roaming the aisle offering refills and clearing trays promptly.

IFE cut off 20 minutes before landing for the Malaysia arrivals video and was locked afterwards. While this would have been perfectly fine for longer flights, this meant IFE was only available for half of this one hour puddle jump. It was annoying, but fortunately my EgyptAir flight trained me well in staring into space.

We were skimming over the lush green thick tropical foliage of Malaysia as the landing gear was lowered.



As we touched down, I couldn’t help but notice the sad sight of retired Malaysia Airlines 777-200s, which were retired much too young in 2016 after series of very unfortunate events. Given my visit to Kuala Lumpur was in late 2017, it was surprised to see such capable and relatively young aircraft sitting idle and not already toiling for another airline.

dat4life

My connection was too short to head into the city, so I settled for getting my KLM boarding pass printed and exploring the airport. Kuala Lumpur International Airport doesn’t hold a candle to the likes of Changi and Hong Kong International Airport, but it’s decent in its own right. One cool feature I stumbled onto a garden feature in the middle of one of the terminals. Again, not quite in the same league as Changi’s famous butterfly garden, but it was pretty cool nevertheless and easy on the eyes after a long day of travel.



I had plenty of time to do a little plane spotting, and I was excited to see more exotic liveries I don’t get to see at home.







I was very much looking forward to my upcoming flight on KLM. My first and only longhaul flight on KLM was back in 2011 from Houston to Amsterdam. At that time, KLM operated two flights between the cities most days. One of those flights was operated by a venerable Boeing 747-400. The other flight was operated by a wet leased PrivatAir 737 in the Boeing Business Jet configuration, which is essentially a 737-700 with extra fuel tanks making it capable of making the 5,012 mile journey and then some. The thought of flying a typically configured 737 across the pond is not even remotely palatable; however, PrivatAir’s aircraft was equipped with just 32 angled lie flat business class seats. While not cutting edge even back then, it was still a very comfortable ride.

Today, the short fifth freedom flight between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta would be operated by KLM’s current flagship, the Boeing 777-300ER, and equipped with KLM’s latest and greatest products in all classes of service. I find KLM’s livery, which has been around forever, to be rather dull, but the 777-300ER seems to wear it very well.



KLM 809
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Jakarta (CGK)
Depart: 4:20 PM
Arrive: 5:25 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 4A (Business Class)

Several cheery flight attendants greeted passengers at the door and directed each of us down the appropriate aisle. The Business Class cabin was equipped with the same lie flat seats as many of United’s 787s and American’s A321T in a 2-2-2 configuration. It’s certainly not the most cutting edge seats as most airlines have gone to some variation of seats with direct aisle access for all Business Class passengers on their flagship aircraft. But what these seats lack in privacy and convenience is made up for in comfort. This particular seat is among the most comfortable I’ve ever experienced. The dark gray and blue tone of the cabin gave it a rather sleek and modern look.



I quickly found my seat, 4A, toward the rear of the cabin.



Headphones were already placed at each seat right by the powerports, which were located right above each seat. While not branded, I did find the headphones to be pretty decent.



In between each seat was a small fixed privacy partition. While it didn’t look like much, the partition was actually quite effective.



Right up front was a fairly large screen and small storage areas both the screen and the foot well.

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On my right armrest were the controls to the seat, which I thought were pretty intuitive to use.



Underneath the seat controls was a touchscreen IFE controller supplementing the touch sensitive screen. The interface on both were intuitive and easy to use. I was particularly impressed at how responsive both the controller and screen were. Content was also excellent with a wide range of movies and TV shows. Topping it all off was the crisp and high resolution screen.



When the stragglers slowly filed onto the plane, I was already comfortable settled in my seat with a glass champagne in hand. Speaking of which, pre-departure beverages’ were the usual Business Class choice of champagne, orange juice, and water. As I mentioned earlier, I chose champagne which was the perfect classy accompaniment to the classy episode of Family Guy I was watching.



Business Class ended up being completely full. Despite the load, the flight attendants never seemed rushed and even took the time serve each straggler drinks before the door was closed. We pushed back right on time and began the lengthy taxi to Runway 32R. The captain added his welcome on the way to the runway and announced a flying time of 1 hour and 40 minutes.



Minutes after takeoff, the seatbelt sign was turned off and out came the flight attendants with a round of nicely scented hot towels.



Next up: the time honored tradition of drinks and nuts. I asked for another glass of champagne and a glass of water served with a ramekin of delicious cashew nuts. Top offs were offered right before dinner was served.



On the menu tonight was a choice of chicken rendang or some sort of noodle dish. I was happy to see rendang on the menu having missed out on it on my flight to Kuala Lumpur. My excitement fizzled out as soon as I took a bite of the chicken. Rendang is supposed to be robustly flavored and spicy; however, the dish in front of me was very bland and not very good altogether. A small serving of Indonesian gado gado salad was also on the tray. My grandparents used to make gado gado all this time when I was kid. I haven’t eaten it in years. KLM’s rendition of the dish wasn’t remotely as good as my grandparents’, but it was still tasty enough. Dessert was some sort of cake. It was fine though not amazing.



Coffee and tea was offered as meal service was winding down. I asked for a cup of tea, which was served in in pretty nifty looking mug.



The green tea was good, but with six hours in Jakarta looming I needed something a little stronger. Nay, a lot stronger. So I ordered a scotch on the rocks.



Service throughout the meal service was excellent as flight attendants constantly roamed offering refills and quickly clearing trays for those passengers who finished eating. Interestingly, there was a gentleman who appeared to be a first officer, given the three stripes on his epaulets, helping the flight attendants out with the service. I’ve encountered many deadheading pilots over the years, but this was the first time I’ve seen one of them helping out the cabin service. So good on him!

One of the coolest airline mementos I have ever gotten was a KLM’s signature Delft House from my aforementioned flight from Houston to Amsterdam. Delft Houses are small ceramic Dutch style houses filled gin that are gifted to each Business Class passengers on longhaul flights. I didn’t expect to receive one on this flight as it was a shade over 700 miles, just before top of the descent flight attendants rolled carts with Delft Houses on them down the aisle. I’m sure KLM regulars wouldn’t bat an eyelash at the sight. But I was delighted to be able to add to my lonesome little collection on one.



After navigating around some towering thunderheads, the 777 thumped down firmly at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport slightly ahead of schedule. During my previous trips to Jakarta, the taxi to/from the gate have been relative short. This evening we taxied through some rather interesting areas of the airport with some rather interesting traffic.





Eventually, we parked right next to a Qatar Airways Boeing 787-8.