Flo around the world 08

[flo]

Flight: NZ 2
Departing: Auckland International
Arriving: Los Angeles - Terminal 2
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Registration: ZK-NBS
Name: Bay of Islands
Seat: 37K

Upon entering the aircraft, a male flight attendant greeted me and I honestly had to hold my breath because he basically smelled like he bathed in red wine. I made my way to 37K and passed the premium economy class which did not look too impressive to me. Luckily, I did not upgrade on cash because I probably would have been disappointed. I got comfy and instantly started to watch the new Narnia movie again. After an SQ bird landed in front of my eyes (what a sight!), we departed into a rainy and stormy night.

My row of seats. Unfortunately the armrests do not go up all the way.


My seat width on one seat.


Kia Ora!

Although the plane featured the new Air New Zealand seats, it still looked pretty worn. You could easily tell that this plane was pretty old and checking on the internet, NZ got this baby in 1991. Well, at least some nostalgia here! The FA's came around with the first couple of drinks and as I wanted to sleep right through the flight, I did not go for my usual can of coke but for plain water instead. Meal service commenced and I chose the lamb they had over the fish. The meal did not really strike my taste nerves but it was quite ok. I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc which was still excellent before I finished my dinner and as if it was planned, the movie ended, my meal tray was removed and I got tired. So I had some 5 hours of sleep before I woke up somewhere past the international date line.

Food!


Dawn!


Crossing the border for the first time!


A view from the wings (dedicated to jjpb3).

I could not believe how bad the air condition was because I was so short of breath, I could not believe it. As I saw that another passenger in the other row got a bottle (!) of water, I asked the FA if I also could have one - I was really thisty and I knew that one cup would not be enough for me. The FA replied with a very loud voice and a ridiculing tone, that they don't hand these out aboard and all the passengers near me looked at me. This was really embarassing and because I am not a PITA pax I did not want to cause more commotion and asked if he could bring me some cups because I was feeling like I kissed the desert. He came around, brought me two cups and disappeared. i was still thirsty and short of breath

So I had another round of sleep, breakfast commenced and the plane was pretty much prepared for the landing. As usual on Boeing 747s, the landing was soft as a baby's bottom. I hardly felt anything at all - splendid. So we taxied about 30 minutes to get to our gate and I spotted an SQ bird there was well.

Brekkie was okay-ish.


Seeing another SQ bird!


NZ2 on her further way to London-Heathrow! My plane!

We parked at terminal 2, together with two Air France, one KLM and one Virgin Atlantic flight. I tried to get to the immigration counters ASAP but the room was full (!) ... I made taipeiflyer wait for about two hours because I got stuck here at immigration. The system there is really weird: as a US citizen, you get though pretty quickly and when all the US guys are through, they would add some counters for the visitors. They divided us up into arriving planes for the lanes which caused a major chaos. Welcome to the US!

[flo]

Auckland
Just to check, I did a little thing I always do when I travel: inventory checks. lol. Till now, I managed to lose following items:

- My Nike cap (forgot it on the KUL-SIN flight)
- My green iPod sock (must have fallen out of my jacket in SYD)

After some refreshing 18 hours (!) of sleep (Dane Cook would call this a brief coma), I woke up at 3 pm - still sleepy. I had a slight fever so I took my meds and went for a quick stroll to buy the basics that would get me through the day: mints for my bad breath, instant ramen for my stomach that was already complaining, a 2.25 liter (heck, why no round numbers? slight autism here lol!) fanta bottle and oven-frehs cookies (if you happen to be in Auckland, at Queen's Street, there is a shop that makes great cookies! You can smell them when you are nearby: get the double chocolate chip cookies! they are a blast!). I took some pictures and went to my room again. After some episodes of "How I met your mother" I decided to go to Subway, grab a sandwich and watch a movie. Knowing me and my stories, you probably know that I instantly fell asleep during the movie.

Mrs. Higgins Cookies at Queens Street. Delicious!


My Nikon makes Subway sandwiches look delicious!

The second day in Auckland was rather unexciting as well. Auckland, somehow, apparently is not my place at all, in terms of going out and partying like a madman but a very comfortable place to freshen up. Given the action I already enjoyed in Melbourne and Singapore, Auckland seemed like a sleepy nest to me. This could be due to the facts that a) I did not have a clue where to go and what to do and b) I did not knew anybody in Auckland besides Kiwi who unavailable for the first three days of my stay.

The Auckland SkyTower. When you're lost in AKL, just look for it!

I woke up at 12, headed out to the SkyTower and had a meal at McDonald's (first time!) because SQFlyergirl recommended me to get a special burger there. As far as I can remember, she was referring to the Boss Burger, they did not have anymore. They only got the Kiwi Burger and some other burger called Chief Burger or so. Cannot recall its name, sorry. Anyway .... one thing that really rocks is how gorgeous the pictures of my dSLR camera are! I only have the Nikon D60 and a starter lens, plus I am a novice on photography, but fast food never looked this good as on my photos. Have a look yourself - this is the Kiwi Burger!

The Kiwi burger.

I went to the internet cafe and had some refresher course on Austrian local politics ... what a waste of time and went to the supermarket later on. As you can guess, the 2.25 liter bottle of Fanta was the obvious choices besides cup ramen and potato chips (yes, chips - not fries!) to endure the night. I went opposite the hotel to a local cafe that had free Wi-Fi. Cheerio - if I only knew this earlier ... but there is always a next time, I suppose.

The view from my room. 5 stars deluxe for 150€ for 3 nights!

Thinking about my trip on Sunday, the evil genius inside of me forged a plan. I would tell the check-in agent my story how badly I wanted to try out the Premium Economy product of Air New Zealand and how United would deny me paying up for it in hope she would give me an upgrade or so. The thought of 12hrs in Y scares me a bit - not because I have become picky over the days - but rather because I really wanted to try the Premium Economy and would have paid the 300 US$ gladly, knowing I could ride the upper deck once more. Anyway, given the misfortunes I've already encountered (SQ seat on DME-SIN, OLCI not working at all,...) and lucky things that happened (upper deck on the A380, premium treatment in Y because of *G on NZ) I really wanted to stress my luck one more time before my upcoming first business class trip on United 22 from LAX to JFK.

Apart from that, Auckland has not been too exciting but very relaxing for me. I needed that break. All in all, I came here, slept here, broke a chair at the hotel here (hey, I think it was already broken when I came here), had a beer and left. Although, when I went out for a cup of tea in the coffeeshop nearby, I came to see Aucklands wicked nightlife. U-turning cars in the middle of the street, drunk teenagers laying in the gutter and people heading to the next bar. Unfortunately I had to be awake the next day at 9 because my checkout was at 11, so I went to bed after a cup of tea and after I did my laundry. Yes, folks, I am a guy who can iron his shirts

But before departing for LA, I still managed to meet up with another SQTalker. Kiwi took me to a great beer-brewery called Galebraith's Alehouse. I had a small appetizer, a beer and a cup of coffee which was great but apparently nobody ever orders it; the waiter even had to laugh when I wanted it. I got on the Airbus once again and off I was for the next leg of my grand escapade. My ride on the bus took about 50 minutes - acceptable in very bad traffic conditions (on a Sunday).

Premium check-in ahead!

As Kiwi suggested, I headed to the premium check-in lounge which was very efficient. The lady at the check-in counter wasn't able to upgrade my ticked but made sure I had a whole row for myself blocked out. I guess three Y seats are better than one Y+ seat! Great stuff. I showed my passport to the immigration agent at the premium check-in lounge and made my way to the lounge. I had some food, drinks, Skype calls with home and a refreshing shower there and I was pleased that my seat neighbour on the couches was a girl bound for Vancouver on her MacBook, and not the grumpy couple who sat beside me before.

Showers. Good amenities, no picture, though


Little lounge view

I ran for my flight and the boarding agent said "you made it right on time!" ... phew. So premium boarding was already over but at least I made it on time.

Still... boarding

[flo]

Flight: NZ 704
Departing: Sydney Kingsford-Smith Terminal 1
Arriving: Auckland International
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Registration: ZK-OJH
Seat: 12A

The seat next to me stayed empty but on the C seat, there was one of the British girls from the check-in sitting, chatting with her companion who was located in the D seat. Great stuff - earplugs! ... Anyway, the flight attendants on this flight were so gorgeous. Especially Belma, a dark-haired girl, made the short hop really pleasant for me. Not only did she appoint me to my seat, she also was great to look at: she smiled all the time and was very welcoming. Totally fitted her pretty appearance. I really like it when people love what they are doing. You instantly know you are in good hands when these people take care of you and Belma was not only the best looking FA I had on my RTW trip, she also did everything she had to do with a smile and passion for her job. Unfortunately I was too shy, but also too sleepy to snatch a photo of her

The cabin ... well at least a shy shot of it

Right after take-off I fell asleep and woke up when meal service commenced. There was some kind of salad or a ham and cheese sandwich up for choice and I opted for the sandwich which was really tasty. It was toasted and hot (!) ... the melted cheese inside was delicious. I didn't even have any drinks because I usually go for coke on planes but I wanted to sleep another round, which I thankfully did after my empty meal-tray was taken care of. Right before touch-down, I woke up and filled out my immigration card.

The sandwich and egg-salat.

There were no surprises at my landing: the A320 had a rough one as expected and used the whole runway to brake. I saw, again, two Emirates birds at the gates. One was an Airbus A340-500 and the other one was too far out of my sight, I could only see her tail.

Final view of my ride to AKL.

I made my way for the immigration and biosecurity authorities. They were most welcoming and friendly - I had absolutely no problems at all there. Outside, I bought an AirBus return ticket and waited for my bus to arrive. When the bus came, I took my seat and instantly fell asleep. It must have been at least one hour later when I woke up. I looked around me: still the same people and still not near the city. The bus driver dropped me off directly at the Mercure Auckland and I thankfully dropped off, checked in at the hotel, went to my room and fell asleep.

What have I learned from this flight:
- NZ flight attendants are stunning!
- They serve good food, even in Y.
- The A320 leather chairs lacked PTVs but they were really comfy
- The exit rows on the A320 are great!
- Star Gold status really pays off at NZ!

[flo]

Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport
Check-in for Air New Zealand was at the J counters. A pity that the train dropped me off next to the A counters - meaning I had to walk all the way up the terminal. Luckily, there was nobody queuing at the Business Class lane but I still had to wait 15 minutes. On the one counter, an Aussie apparently booked tickets and forgot to renew his passport which expired. On the other one, there was a group of British girls that were rather corpulent in their physique. They had to stuff things from their onboard carriage into their checked baggage so that took some time. Just listening to them made me want to smash my head against the wall: They giggled like schoolgirls and were apparently so obsessed with Aussie sports players, they honestly did not have any other topic to talk about. But wait before I get carried away by other people's behavior - this has a reason.

Mind the queue. Having gold status helps. A LOT.

Anyway, when it was finally my turn, I got my exit row, checked my bag thru Auckland and got a nice card to clear the upcoming queues faster. Pretty neat. I did some plane-spotting and saw a MH 747-400 'Johor Baru', SQ 747-400 '9V-SPH' and big daddy A380, a Virgin Atlantic A340-600, some various other Airbus tails of Emirates, Etihad and others. I instantly went for the Koru Club and entered without anybody checking up on me. Not a bad thing haha.

The spirit of the zephyr hines at Sydney. How majestic it looks .....


Welcome to the Club!

The lounge is great: a good view of the apron, a descent selection of food, sparkling wine available, free wi-fi and best of all: showers. Feeling a bit fevery, I only opted for a cheese platter and some soft drinks. I just cannot drink alcohol in the morning so I passed on the bubbly and the Kiwi wines.

Lounge overview


... well it looks good.


Chair-io!

After some bird-watching, I saw today's baby arriving from Auckland and I was quite excited: another Star Alliance livery plane I took! Boarding was not called out although the lady at the entrance said it would be, so I was a little late. Anyway, I boarded the plane first because priority was given to Business Class passengers and Star Golds.

Another Star Alliance livery. Sweet!

What have I learned at SYD:
- Transferring between domestic QF/DJ and intl. flights costs time and money.
- Be very early at the check-in! Preferably: have status!
- The Koru Club is easily the best lounge so far.

[flo]

Flight No: QF 402
Departing: Melbourne Tullamarine Domestic
Arriving: Sydney Kingsford-Smith Domestic
Aircraft: Boeing 737-400
Registraty: VH-TJL
Name: Swift
Seat: 13A

It was, again, one of those nights I only slept for an hour tops. singaporu_kooku was the one who woke me up - I guess I would have overslept on my own - so thanks to you buddy! (Gosh, I'm starting the buddy thing like another beloved SQTalker... the over-usage of 'mate' in Australia still shocks me hehe). After a splendid breakfast of egg-tarts, we got ready and left for Melbourne Southern Cross. It actually took us longer there than expected because the train made the whole city loop before reaching the station we needed to get out at. Southern Cross seemed almost deserted apart from early risers catching their flights at Tulla.

It was so nice of singaporu_kooku to take me there and I felt really sad to leave Melbourne so early again. This week in Melbourne felt like it was only a day or two. I suppose it's right what they say: the good times pass too fast. I talked to a guy who was heading to Adelaide on the SkyBus to the airport and he told me he was originally from Brisbane looking to go to the U.S. and Europe asap. He got out at the first stop for the Virgin Blue flights while I stayed in the bus heading for the Qantas Domestic terminal. I got off and made my way to the self-check-in machines because it was way too early for face to face communication. I managed to pass security and make my way to the gate without talking a single word and I was a bit sad that my flight boarded from the worst gate available: A2 does not have a window showing the aircraft we would be taking so I did not manage to get the aircraft registration. Yet.

Boarding Pass ... poor paper quality

I decided to get some souvenirs for my friends back in Austria. I got two lovely plush Wombats that were so big, I decided that once I'd get to Sydney, I'd stuff them into my checked luggage. I could not check my baggage through to Auckland which was expected anyway, so I needed to pick up my baggage at Sydney and recheck at the Air New Zealand counter in the international terminal. I had absolutely no clue about how to proceed there but I honestly did not care because I already thought of the muffins they would serve me aboard again. So I was really looking forward to the Koru Lounge at Sydney, knowing they would probably serve me better food than Qantas. Also keeping my transit time in mind, I did not have my hopes high to see much of the Koru Club, though.

My flight

It seemed like Qantas had some problems with their ground-based computer systems at our gate so we had to wait a while before being allowed aboard. The crew was most welcoming and I did some out-of-the-window planespotting, seeing an SQ Boeing 747-400 (sorry, no registration), an armada of Airbus 330's by Air China, China Eastern, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air and two Emirates birds: A Boeing 777-200 and one of my favorite aircrafts ever, an Airbus A 340-500. The star was the Wunala Dreaming Boeing 747-400 though. Stunning bird! We had to wait for two Virgin Blue 737-NG's to take off but we skyrocketed into the sky and reached our cruising altitude in nearly no time at all. There was a Melbourne based lady who works in the Aussie taxation office (or so); unfortunately her disclosed material was far to unimportant (risk matrices ... ewww) for me to read, so I plugged in my iPhone and got some of my daily Snow Patrol.

Seats on Qantas.

Then, finally, my moment has arrived: breakfast time! Bring on the muffins! I was so hungry I just had to go for it, whether I liked to or not. But lucky that I was, there were no muffins this day. We had cereals and some weird kind of roll stuffed with spinach. It wasn't good but it wasn't bad though! But somehow I came to realize that it cannot be helped: not every airline can serve food like SQ or on short hops like Austrian. I really like Qantas but in terms of breakfast, I would choose some airlines over the Australian flag carrier. Next time I will probably try Virgin Blue and go for their wraps

Brekkie by QF. Finally the good stuff.

We landed safely in Sydney and I made my way to the baggage claim where my bag was already waiting for me. Cheerio! I went down two floors and took the train (which cost me about 5 more dollars!) to the International Terminal.

Finally: A view of my machine!

What have I learned from this flight:
- Not all meals on QF suck. The spinach roll was fine!
- If there is a choice between 737's and 767's, go for the smaller plane.
- The CityFlyer fleet is apparently pretty dated, go for the 737-NG planes!
- Don't grab your boarding pass at the self-ceckins: you will literally get a 'paper ticket' - no pun indeed

[nickbot]

Flo is no choirboy after all! I'm disappointed!

And Nickbot too!

I think we all knew, deep down, that that was the case

In my defence, I do know a lot of useless information, including the true meaning of the aforementioned 'stacking' gesture, but have never actually 'stacked' it myself

[KeithMEL]

Guess who's on SQtalk now.... Good to see you flo. TaipeiFlyer should be doing you justice as your tour guide in LA....

Ah, welcome!

[jhm]

Flo is no choirboy after all! I'm disappointed!

And Nickbot too!

[KenLeeHo]

Guess who's on SQtalk now.... Good to see you flo. TaipeiFlyer should be doing you justice as your tour guide in LA....

[phaleesy]

He's a bad bad boy

Flo is no choirboy after all! I'm disappointed!

[taipeiflyer]

He's a bad bad boy

for those curious, simply google "shocker." i'll give you a hint.... two for the pink, one for the stink.

[flo]

He's a bad bad boy

I am not I am just having fun haha

[KeithMEL]

Hmm, don't think I took that pic at Love Machine? IIRC it was actually Mr K (who has yet to sign up to SQT but intends to *wave*) who took the pic with my camera. Considering i'm in the pic myself, it looks too good to be a self-portrait.

Showing my ignorance here... I'll ask The Flo when I see him soon.

+1

[nickbot]

Well, I think Flo knows the meaning

And if you know it, i think you will laugh

He's a bad bad boy

[petz]

Well, I think Flo knows the meaning

And if you know it, i think you will laugh