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**kikoenaivoice** · 21 January 2009, 12:43 AM

Ohh Im doing something similar.. departing from PER to SIN. Then A380 to LHR. I would be in IST as well.. lol.. but from 3rd Feb at this stage.. enjoy your trip!!

**SQflyergirl** · 21 January 2009, 10:45 AM

Look forward to reading about (even though I can't really read).

**leo** · 23 January 2009, 10:28 AM

thanks kikoenaivoice and SQflyergirl.

In the midst of hustling the travel agent to get a better rate on my *A European Airpass

More updates soon...

**SQflyergirl** · 23 January 2009, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by leo View Post

In the midst of hustling the travel agent

9 Ball pool, darts, golf or some other sport?

**leo** · 23 January 2009, 07:57 PM

SQflyergirl golf... and I lost

**leo** · 28 January 2009, 04:08 PM

So here's the final routing...

Code:

DATE   FLIGHT INFO    FROM           TO            DEP   ARR  TRAVEL INFO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  THAI AIRWAYS I KUALA LUMPUR   BANGKOK       2100  2205  DURATION
FRI    TG 418  Q      KLIA           SUVARNABHUMI INTL         2:05
       ECONOMY CLASS                                           NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       BOEING 777-200/200ER
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  THAI AIRWAYS I BANGKOK        FRANKFURT     2340  0530  DURATION
FRI    TG 920  Q      SUVARNABHUMI I INTL                07FEB 11:50
       ECONOMY CLASS                 TERMINAL 1                NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       BOEING 747-400
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  LUFTHANSA      FRANKFURT      ATHENS        0920  1305  DURATION
SAT    LH 3380 Q      INTL           INT E VENIZELOSC          2:45
       ECONOMY CLASS  TERMINAL 1                               NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A321
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  TURKISH AIRLIN ATHENS         ISTANBUL      1055  1210  DURATION
WED    TK 1846 Q      INT E VENIZELO ATATURK                   1:15
       ECONOMY CLASS                 TERMINAL INTL             NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  TURKISH AIRLIN ISTANBUL       ZAGREB        1400  1505  DURATION
SUN    TK 1449 Q      ATATURK        PLESO                     2:05
       ECONOMY CLASS  TERMINAL INTL                            NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       BOEING 737-800
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  CROATIA AIRLIN ZAGREB         FRANKFURT     0655  0830  DURATION
WED    OU 410  Q      PLESO          INTL                      1:35
       ECONOMY CLASS                 TERMINAL 1                NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  LUFTHANSA      FRANKFURT      RIGA          1100  1410  DURATION
WED    LH 3244 Q      INTL           RIGA                      2:10
       ECONOMY CLASS  TERMINAL 1                               NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       BOEING 737-500
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  LUFTHANSA      RIGA           FRANKFURT     1440  1555  DURATION
FRI    LH 3245 Q      RIGA           INTL                      2:15
       ECONOMY CLASS                 TERMINAL 1                NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       BOEING 737-500
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  THAI AIRWAYS I FRANKFURT      BANGKOK       2055  1305  DURATION
FRI    TG 923  Q      INTL           SUVARNABHUMI INTL   21FEB 10:10
       ECONOMY CLASS  TERMINAL 1                               NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       BOEING 747-400
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXX  THAI AIRWAYS I BANGKOK        KUALA LUMPUR  1640  1950  DURATION
SAT    TG 417  Q      SUVARNABHUMI I KLIA                      2:10
       ECONOMY CLASS                                           NON STOP
       NON SMOKING
       BOEING 777-200/200ER

**leo** · 9 February 2009, 09:18 PM

It started off with a early evening journey to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The weather was good, and it was turning dark as I approached the airport.

Honestly I was dreading the flight on Thai Airways (more so in economy class) due to the various reasons, perhaps I’ve been spoilt by the legendary service of Singapore Airlines with they excellent in-flight product (individual screens, etc).

Nevertheless, I reminded myself constantly that one should not write off something based on a one-time expreience. After checking in, I got all my documents in order and headed toward the Royal Silk Lounge of Thai Airways in the Satellite terminal of KLIA.

It was a quiet evening, which was surprising as this flight to Bangkok was the one that connected with most flights to Europe.

I found my little quiet corner and proceeded to have a drink and something to eat (my first dinner). Soon it was boarding time - and to my surprise and delight, we were flying Thai’s brand new Boeing 777-300ER.

I got booked into an EMEX seat, which was plenty thoughtful (TG doesn’t charge for it, unlike a certain SINGAPORE AIRLINES). Spacious leg room.

The steward came over and to my annoyance started to speak to me in Thai (one of the other factors why I don’t fly TG). That was addressed promptly when I indicated otherwise (me not Thai OK?). He came over to confirm my order of seafood meal.

Takeoff was punctual and meal service started thereafter. It was good! When a stewardess was asked what it was, I got the standard “plawn with rai, sir”.

After disembarking from the TG flight in BKK, I headed towards my next gate with about an hour to kill until my next flight to FRA.

The Royal Silk Lounge in BKK (a lot of them) were extremely spacious considering there were two of them opposite each other. Perhaps the majority of Europe-bound flights are in the evenings using 747’s were the consideration when Suvarnabhumi was built.

Needless to say the lounge was rather crowded and there was this really really annoying French dude who left his blackberry ringing continuously for a good 10 minutes or so until another person walked up to him and literally told him to shut it off.

To make matters worse, he then answered a call and was talking so loud that everyone in the lounge could hear him profess his innocence in not receiving emails sent by a lady colleague.

I decided that I had enough of this drama and headed to the lounge located opposite - calm and tranquility greeted me with open arms.

There was no announcements for boarding, by the time I got to the gate it was already boarding the first of economy passengers.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got to my seat in the Boeing 747-400, the seats were brightly coloured (see pic) and pitch for economy was fantastic. I could stretch my legs out without feeling cramped. I guess the choice of aisle seat in the middle groups also helped as the overhead compartments were smaller, hence reducing the feeling of “claustrophobia”. *note to self - sit in the middle when flying 747’s in TG*

Not long after, it was push back and we were in the air on time.

Cabin service started, and my patience was being tested with numerous cabin crew coming up to me, speaking Thai once again (one of the few reasons why I don’t fly TG that much, or at all).

After making myself clear that I am neither Thai, nor do I speak the language, things settled down and turned rather pleasant. I must say that although the cabin crew came in all shapes and sizes, they were silently efficient.

My meal came thereafter, this time it was a roasted pepper fish appetiser (I think it was snapper fillet) and a grilled garoupa fillet with tomato (I think this is the standard seafood meal selection - had it a thousand times on SQ as well). It was alright, and more importantly served at the right temperature. I’m one of those “purist” that think seafood should never be served with tomatoes.

I managed to catch about 7 hours of sleep, which was fantastic due to the seat that reclined a lot (compared to SQ’s 777-300ER which I normally fly to Frankfurt).

There was this Thai girl behind me (who looked really provincial) who perpetually tried to stuff her feet in the crevice between the seats. After numerous sessions of turning back and asking her to remove her feet, I got furious and stood up and spoke to her firmly but loudly (do you really need to stuff your feed in my seat?). She obviously got the message. Stupid Thai lady.

Frankly speaking, I miss the joy of flying the 747. Being an old plane, of course it was not fitted with individual screens on every seat (unlike SQ, or any other middle eastern carrier) but it was a good opportunity and further motivation to catch up with some snooze. Snooze I did (with the help of sleeping pill).

I was really relieved to be able to fly Star Alliance (priority boarding, luggage and more importantly lounge access - no more spending unnecessary money at airports!).

Arriving in Frankfurt on time, I cleared immigrations and headed to the A gates located in the other terminal, passing through the infamous 10km tunnel hehe!

I parked myself at the Lufthansa Senator Lounge (near gate A26) and put my name in on the list for a shower. I was pleasantly surprised by the state of the shower rooms, which surpassed SOME hotels that I’ve had my unfortunate experience to stay in.

After a short wait at the lounge, it was boarding time for the 2 hour flight to Athens. Needless to say I was DEAD tired when I finally arrived at the Grande Bretagne in Athens - after almost 24 hours of flights and transits.

**leo** · 19 February 2009, 02:26 AM

Athens...

So it was a charming Sunday, the sun was shining brightly (contrary to weather forecasts) an I was in Athens. What else to do but to explore the ancient Acropolis.

Firstly, I must admit that I am not much a history and culture person. Nevertheless, the thought of structures present dating back to pre-millennium times were indeed an eye opener on how advanced the Greek civilisation was in their time.

I�ll let the pictures do the talking�

I was really not in the mood to go out and hence only visited one of many ancient sites that dot Athens.

The underground metro stations are really something as well. The story was that when they were building the metro system some time back, they would bump into new sites and the project had to be stopped for the achaeologist to work. The many Greek era artefacts are displayed within the stations.

Hence the completion of the metro system in Athens was somewhat of an accomplishment. I think it was a similar case in Rome.

I also took the opportunity to take the metro out to Pireus port and Faliro - a coastal city about 20 minutes by metro from Athens.

It was cold and the wind was ceaseless!

Nevertheless it was beautiful weather for the time of the year (according to George who urged me to get my ass out of my wonderful suite at the Grande Bretagne), and I have a big feeling that he was right. My business associates whom I had the chance to meet in Athens told me that it was unusually warm for February.

This sunset picture is one of Faliro, and here are some more pictures.

And my favourite, a dog awaiting the return of his master from the sea.

**leo** · 19 February 2009, 02:37 AM

ATH-IST TK1846

After spending a wonderful four nights at the Grande Bretagne, it was time to head on to Istanbul.

After checking in, I was directed to the BA Lounge - a brightly lid lounge with internet access and very very basic drinks and snacks. Good feature is the separate smoking room!

Today's aircraft, A320-200 is one of the latest addition to the TK family (IIRC). Being my first time flying TK, I was rather "shocked" with the selection of the cabin colours. It was a regional configured one with a one class cabin, and the J part of the cabin being separated by an armrest built into the middle seat.

When asked by the cabin crew whether I liked it, I said it was "different". The mentioned crew obviously didn't like the colour though...

It wasn't a terribly full flight and to my delight cabin service was prompt.

Moved my behind to the EMEX row when cabin doors closed.

Full meal service for a one hour fifteen minute flight - I am amazed.

Loved the route map that was shown throughout the flight (unlike LH).

A view of Ataturk International Airport, we flew well off the airport due to traffic and had to circle for 15 minutes or so before landing clearance was given.

Luggage was swift and it was good traffic in Istanbul (surprisingly), I found myself in the W Istanbul about 40 minutes from landing.

Announcement

Around Europe and back... SQ, TK, OS, OU - IST, ATH, VIE, ZAG, LJU (in whY)

Around Europe and back... SQ, TK, OS, OU - IST, ATH, VIE, ZAG, LJU (in whY)

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