Nickbots visit SE Asia on SK, LH, EK, TG and (last but not least!) SQ

[taipeiflyer]

can't express how much i am loving the TR Nickbot! truly exceptional stuff. can't wait to read more!

[SQ LPP]

Sunday noon in the UK. It's time to wake up and to start again the report, nickbot!

[nickbot]

ARN-FRA

Sorry for the delay, back to the actual flying component of the report! For the first part of our BD miles redemption on LH, we had to travel from Stockholm to Frankfurt (J Class only). We opted to take the first available flight to FRA in the morning in order to maximise time at FRA (again, the agent at BD thought it a little odd that we didn't want a shorter connection time!)

LH, flight No. LH3007 [ARN-FRA]
Dep. 06:40, Arr. 08:45 [2h 05min]
Airbus A321-100
J Class, Seats 7A/C



As we had already walked most of the way to the gates about half an hour earlier in search of the lounge, we knew the way this time! Can't recall whether or not there was preferential boarding for J pax, I think we just joined the queue but were soon through the BP check (boarding had already commenced by the time we arrived at the gate).

Our first taste of LH metal for the day,...mmm I *love* the taste of Aluminium in the morning



Seating was, again, typical intra-Europe style (i.e. same seats, but with middle seat blocked). In this case, there was a tray table that came out of the backrest of the middle seat. Being my usual inquisitive self, I pushed the table back into the seat and was unable to re-deploy it despite a fair amount of effort -luckily a helpful FA saw my plight (probably thinking "what's this joker up to?") and revealed the secret catch button on top of the headrest. After this, mrs nickbot told me to stop fiddling and sit down

Row 7 opposite our seats, showing pitch and central drinks tray (unruined by meddling nickbot in this case



Now, almost six weeks since the flight, I'm trying to remember whether we had a menu/meal choice for the flight -I'm pretty sure we didn't, but mrs nickbot was pretty sure we did. I have to say, I think it's unlikely for such a short hop, but I may stand corrected. Either way, our large collection of bumph from the trip doesn't posess one, so I can't describe in great detail exactly what we had for brunch, so I'll let the photo do the talking:

Breakfast offering (wine glass about to be filled!)



The yoghurt (with the strawberry),...well maybe it wasn't yoghurt, the best way I can describe it is a cross between vanilla custard and yoghurt...was delicious -unfortunately my seatmate thought so too, or else I'd have been finishing hers off too! Despite the early hour, it's always champagne o'clock (well, more like cava o'clock), I felt a little guilty as I was probably the only pax on the plane drinking fizz and they opened a full bottle for me, so had to force two glasses down.

Unshaven nickbot on second glass of wine at circa 07:30



I was offered a third glass, but I think I'd have only been drinking for the sake of it (it wasn't that pleasant), also with two glasses I felt I'd at least done my bit in justifying the opening of a bottle! My seatmate was wisely sticking to OJ, as there would be plenty of better quality drinks later in the day.

Wing shot, beautiful sunny morning over northern Europe - dedicated to jjpb3 as per SQT tradition



J Class cabin, looking pretty full



After breakfast we both settled into a little reading, but as with most European short hops, it seemed that no sooner were we up at cruising altitude, we were commencing our descent into FRA. We were half hoping to stop at a remote stand (so that we might be in with a chance of a chauffeur ride to the terminal), and indeed passed a couple of stands with Porsche Cayenne's waiting for incoming aircraft as we taxied along -however none of these were for us, and we docked at a main terminal gate:

Welcome to FRA,...FCL/FCT here we come!



Overall, pretty standard fare for a short LH hop -a treat for us nonetheless, as we're rerely up in the front cabin. Service was good, no compaints. Now that we were at FRA, we were pretty excited about visiting the F Lounge and First Class Terminal for the first time

[tokyonite]

EXCELLENT TR!

[jhm]

Our first taste of LH metal for the day,...mmm I *love* the taste of Aluminium in the morning

The sort of thing I'd expect Jaws from the James Bond movies to say but you as well, Nickbot ?

[nickbot]

The sort of thing I'd expect Jaws from the James Bond movies to say but you as well, Nickbot ?

Yep, I almost got refused boarding for taking a nibble out of the door surround

[FlyinG4MileS]

Very nice trip report. Really enjoy reading it. Thank you.

[DeltaFlyingProf]

Can't wait to hear about the FCT visit!

Meanwhile, I hope I will get good treatment on LH tomorrow, unless the drivers in MUC are on strike!

[matt_will_fix_it]

I couldn't help but laugh... mrs nickbot looks like she is enjoying the lounge or more likely bored waiting for photographer & journalist mr nickbot to finish collating information for the epic TR

[nickbot]

I couldn't help but laugh... mrs nickbot looks like she is enjoying the lounge or more likely bored waiting for photographer & journalist mr nickbot to finish collating information for the epic TR

Most astute! It was, in fact, the latter I "had" to get that one last shot of the lounge before we headed off to the gate!

[nickbot]

FRA FCL

Following SQ LPP's directions, we headed straight from the gate towards the First Class Lounge near gate A26, as we were reliably informed that this was pretty much identical to the First Class Terminal. The reasons why we didn't opt to head straight over to the FCT were twofold, primarily we thought that we might like to spend some time shopping in the main terminal (possibly from the FCT, but not without inconvenience) and secondly as this was our first trip in F, we wanted to experience all that FRA had to offer, so a trip to both the FCL and FCT was the plan. As it was roughly 09:15 and our onward flight to HKG wasn't going to depart until 17:45, we had plenty of (self inflicted!) time to spend exploring both options.

Escalator up to FCL (located to the RHS at the top of the stairs)



We rang the bell at the lounge door and were soon greeted by the Lounge Dragon -in this case, I don't think the title was warranted, as she was extremely pleasant. A quick check of our BPs and she welcomed us into the lounge, but not without mentioning the FCT facilities; we let her know that we'd like to spend a few hours at the FCL, have some brunch and then head over to the FCT, she said to ask her later for directions before offering us a tour of the FCL (which we politely declined). A quick mention to her that this was our first ever trip on LH F and thus a request for "proper" LH F BPs was met with an obliging smile and she promised to re-issue them and bring them over to us (the warm fuzzy feeling was coming over both of us,...this was the start of "Proper F Treatment" )

FCL front desk



As soon as we sat down, we were offered drinks by one of the attendants/waitresses - we both opted for freshly squeezed orange juice and these were brought over to us promptly. The lounge was relatively quiet, meaning to say there were still a fair number of pax around, but it was still nice and quiet and certainly didn't feel crowded. The lounge "dragon" soon brought over our shiny new LH F BPs, so now we really felt the part!

LH F BP shot, OJ and gratuitous flying of the SQTalk flag (oh, and some Tumi porn too!)



We initially grabbed a couple of seats by the window -for those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting this lounge, it has a wonderful tarmac view all along one side (and part of a second). It was shaping up to be a gloriously sunny day, and getting pretty warm beside the windows.

mrs nickbot, lounging in F opulence!



Apparently (unbeknownst to me), there was some form of football type thing going on at the time (Eurosomethingorotherboring), so there were touches of football-themed decorations around the lounge. Unfortunately, even the LH F ducks had been infected with Eurosomethingorotherboring fever,...more of that later!

Selection of dried fruits, nuts etc. with Euro flags



I seemed to be up and down like a yo-yo, taking photos and having a bit of an explore around the lounge; it's not a massive lounge, but not that small either (excellent description of size, coming from a scientist!) -all I can say is that it feels well designed, light and airy. We were certainly beginning to relax and soak up the atmosphere.

As a couple got up to leave, we were able to take their place on the comfortable reclined chairs towards the far end of the lounge. These represented an excellent place for us to park ourselves for a couple of hours, offering pretty much everything we needed (comfy relaxing chair, footstool, side table and laptop power,...not forgetting excellent tarmac view). Here we have mrs nickbot modelling the furniture:

Yes, you've seen it here first, she does sometimes use t'internet!



I was, meanwhile, busy acting like a child in a sweetshop -spending half of my time walking round and exploring (including visiting the office booths, logging onto Facebook and messaging mrs nickbot,...but she ignored me ) and the other half excitedly pointing at any LH 744 that happened to be passing the windows.

There's another one,...is it mine this time?!?



With it being such a wonderful day, we felt that the only thing lacking was an outside area or balcony (think Changi rooftop pool) -the area outside the windows, as shown in the photograph above, would have been perfect for this, with the addition of a barrier (and a door of course!)

Now that we were happily relaxing in front of the window, we felt that it was the perfect time to kick off the celebrations with a glass of champagne. We were unaware at this point that there was a selection (more later), so I just popped up to the bar and asked for two glasses. Again, the staff were wonderfully attentive, and despite my gentle protests that I could carry the glasses over myself, the lady said she'd bring them over to us.

FCL Bar, caught in a rare moment that people weren't working behind it, polishing glasses etc. to keep it looking immaculate



On one of my many exploratory forays around the lounge I'd managed to tick off task one for the day, namely to procure jjpb3 one of the football themed ducks -this certainly warranted yet another BP shot, this time accompanied by duck and champagne.

jjpb3's duck and celebratory champagne




When I first posted this photo on my Facebook profile, SQ LPP picked me up on the photo caption ("FRA FCL"), commenting that surely it was the FCT rather than the FCL that was depicted -our friend is certainly eagle eyed, as similar seating is indeed provided in the FCT, however I think he needs to fully refresh himself with the FRA F offerings once his current period of being grounded is over -I'm more than happy to accompany him to assist with observations )

[nickbot]

By now, I was feeling rather peckish, so decided to go and see what was available for breakfast. Rather than have a sit down meal, I opted to just select items from the buffet and return to my seat over beside the window (and mrs nickbot of course!) The selection was excellent, but as is the trouble with buffets, I probably ended up having a bit too much.

Breakfast buffet selection - carefully observe the small square porcelain pots between the two pineapples,...more about those later



Hot breakfast selection



One of the dining tables, commanding excellent views



I'm ashamed to admit it, and am fully prepared to be stripped of my SQTalk Solitaire PPS status, but I forgot to take a photograph of my breakfast. I know this is inexcusable, but please accept this photo of my next meal by way of an apology I can also post a copy of the breakfast menu if anyone is interested.

Lunch buffet selection in lieu of breakfast!



I particularly liked the fact that the buffet was constantly being refreshed -maybe we were just lucky in catching it at the transition point between breakfast and lunch, but each time I went up (and there were a few!), there seemed to be something else to tempt me. I have to say, however, that the only thing that I didn't partake of was dessert, despite the mouthwatering selection:

Handy dessert selection on trolley, so that I could wheel it away with me!



As we'd had such an early start, and precious little sleep the night before, mrs nickbot decided to pop into one of the slumber rooms for an hour whilst I happily surfed on my laptop. Of course, a photo-call was in order prior to her occupancy...

Slumberette room, showing selection of fruit juices for refreshment



I took the opportunity to take a few more photos of the facilities...

Business room, with internet terminal and laser printer



Bath, with another lonely duck looking for a home,...this time somewhere in KL!



Close-up of Etro toiletries selection



mrs nickbot hadn't managed to sleep a great deal (only 30 minutes or so), so we decided to make the move over to the FCT. We'd had a good 3 hours in the FCL and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but fancied a change of scenery and a little fresh air. A quick stop to grab some sweets...

Another metaphorical child in a sweetshop!



...before visiting the front desk in order to get directions to the FCT. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the lounge and would very much look forward to a return visit at some point in the future (once we save enough miles up!) I'd certainly have to rate this a 9 out of 10. A wonderful start to our F experience. Most impressed!

[jjpb3]

jjpb3's duck and celebratory champagne

Wow, my duck is famous!

Thanks for your generosity, nickbot, and of course for the very entertaining ongoing story. <------ smiley to reflect your picture of my duck

[SuperJonJon]

More, more, more!!
Great read!

[nickbot]

Post #57 updated