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Departure was delayed as one of the airconditioning packs on the plane was found to be defective and the cockpit was working on it with some engineers. Which must explain why the cabin felt rather warm. The crew did a few drink runs in the mean time, so even more bubbles for me.
We finally were on our way 40 mins after scheduled departure. Amenity kits were given out after take off. Got the new Marc Newson kit. In terms of practicality it was more useful than the previous one as it was a fair bit bigger. But I still prefer the rather industrial look and smooth, hard plastic feel of the previous kit. The amenities are now by Korner rather than Ultraceuticals; I'd really liked the Ultraceuticals lip balm but the new Korner kit had a v good moisturiser.
Bar service was performed after take off, no prizes for guessing what I'd picked. Hint: my choice was rather bubbly.
Lunch was served shortly after. Menu hasn't changed from when I'd last flown this segment in late July
. Though winter melon duck soup is quite a bit better this time, less bland. Main course of fish was delicious. The wine offerings were different - I had a lovely West Australian pinot noir, by Picardy which accompanied the meal beautifully. I had the cheese plate for dessert, with some Muscat to go along with it per another FA's recommendation (sadly i'd forgotten his name).
I'd resumed to sipping on the pinot for a while. This broke my own rule of not having red wines in the day due to wine stains, but the Picardy pinot noir is one of my faves.
Watched a bit of the IFE - they had Little Britain Abroad! Quite a favourite episode of mine. As well as the hilarious Osama Bin Laden APEC stunt episode of The Chaser's War on Everything. Then moved on to some Kath and Kim.
I'd listened to my seat mate's ordeal of trying to get home from Berlin, she'd been traveling for 2.5 days now! Her BA flight into HKG was diverted to SZX due to the previous day's typhoon and she'd spent 11 hours onboard as there was an impasse between the airport authorities and the planes which have landed to accomodate the pax. BA had ended up sending up crew from HKG to bring the flight into HKG. Rather than waiting 24hrs to fly Cathay directly to ADL, she'd opted to fly Qantas into MEL, overnighting at the Hilton and a domestic connection the next day - as she just wanted to be home(ish).
Decided to switch back to bubbles when I was done with the IFE. I wasn't tired, but my seatmate was in deep sleep. So instead of disturbing her by dinging the galley for top ups, I'd simply walked to the galley for drinks. Had a nice chat with Glen, as well as the other FA. This flight had crews from all over the place it seems; apart from MEL, there were also crew members hailing from bases in AKL and BKK. The flying pattern of QF crew seem pretty long, and they also get less breaks compared to other airlines. I was told that some crew doing AKL-LAX only get a night's rest before resuming duty!
About 2 hours before landing, Glen handed out hot towels and the refreshment service had commenced. I tried the pot pie this time (as I'd had the pork last time and I can't eat the prawns) - simple but v yummy! Washed down by more bubbles. I finished up with the v nice passionfruit tart for dessert which came with some delightful blueberry toppings, and accompanied by some fragrant Grinders coffee.
oops i'd made a mess of the compote before taking the pic
Glen then came around with a bottle of bubbly for me to take off the plane, as the crew were v grateful for my swapping seats. That was a v nice gesture.
Despite the delayed departure, we only ended up landing 5 mins late due to favourable headwinds I'd assume. We had to be towed into the gate at MEL as the plane couldn't use engine power for the gate it was assigned to.
The flight consolidated my v high opinion of Qantas; it was another one of those that made me almost refuse to leave the plane when we arrived at Tullamarine. Indeed, if there is anything nice at all about ending a holiday other than seeing the familiar sights of home upon landing, it is being brought home by Qantas. The Spirit of Adventure. The ever faithful and reliable Flying Kangaroo.
Next: Epilogue
We finally were on our way 40 mins after scheduled departure. Amenity kits were given out after take off. Got the new Marc Newson kit. In terms of practicality it was more useful than the previous one as it was a fair bit bigger. But I still prefer the rather industrial look and smooth, hard plastic feel of the previous kit. The amenities are now by Korner rather than Ultraceuticals; I'd really liked the Ultraceuticals lip balm but the new Korner kit had a v good moisturiser.
Bar service was performed after take off, no prizes for guessing what I'd picked. Hint: my choice was rather bubbly.
Lunch was served shortly after. Menu hasn't changed from when I'd last flown this segment in late July
. Though winter melon duck soup is quite a bit better this time, less bland. Main course of fish was delicious. The wine offerings were different - I had a lovely West Australian pinot noir, by Picardy which accompanied the meal beautifully. I had the cheese plate for dessert, with some Muscat to go along with it per another FA's recommendation (sadly i'd forgotten his name).
I'd resumed to sipping on the pinot for a while. This broke my own rule of not having red wines in the day due to wine stains, but the Picardy pinot noir is one of my faves.
Watched a bit of the IFE - they had Little Britain Abroad! Quite a favourite episode of mine. As well as the hilarious Osama Bin Laden APEC stunt episode of The Chaser's War on Everything. Then moved on to some Kath and Kim.
I'd listened to my seat mate's ordeal of trying to get home from Berlin, she'd been traveling for 2.5 days now! Her BA flight into HKG was diverted to SZX due to the previous day's typhoon and she'd spent 11 hours onboard as there was an impasse between the airport authorities and the planes which have landed to accomodate the pax. BA had ended up sending up crew from HKG to bring the flight into HKG. Rather than waiting 24hrs to fly Cathay directly to ADL, she'd opted to fly Qantas into MEL, overnighting at the Hilton and a domestic connection the next day - as she just wanted to be home(ish).
Decided to switch back to bubbles when I was done with the IFE. I wasn't tired, but my seatmate was in deep sleep. So instead of disturbing her by dinging the galley for top ups, I'd simply walked to the galley for drinks. Had a nice chat with Glen, as well as the other FA. This flight had crews from all over the place it seems; apart from MEL, there were also crew members hailing from bases in AKL and BKK. The flying pattern of QF crew seem pretty long, and they also get less breaks compared to other airlines. I was told that some crew doing AKL-LAX only get a night's rest before resuming duty!
About 2 hours before landing, Glen handed out hot towels and the refreshment service had commenced. I tried the pot pie this time (as I'd had the pork last time and I can't eat the prawns) - simple but v yummy! Washed down by more bubbles. I finished up with the v nice passionfruit tart for dessert which came with some delightful blueberry toppings, and accompanied by some fragrant Grinders coffee.
oops i'd made a mess of the compote before taking the pic
Glen then came around with a bottle of bubbly for me to take off the plane, as the crew were v grateful for my swapping seats. That was a v nice gesture.
Despite the delayed departure, we only ended up landing 5 mins late due to favourable headwinds I'd assume. We had to be towed into the gate at MEL as the plane couldn't use engine power for the gate it was assigned to.
The flight consolidated my v high opinion of Qantas; it was another one of those that made me almost refuse to leave the plane when we arrived at Tullamarine. Indeed, if there is anything nice at all about ending a holiday other than seeing the familiar sights of home upon landing, it is being brought home by Qantas. The Spirit of Adventure. The ever faithful and reliable Flying Kangaroo.
Next: Epilogue
like myself. Woo-hoo!
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