Four airports in
one day again! Argh! My first flight was with El Al to Bangkok in a 777. I
thought I’d chosen an exit row but apparently not. The steward said the seat I
had was better, but I didn’t see how. It was up the front of economy and on the
aisle, but I was surrounded by a group of loud-mouthed Israeli youths
travelling to Thailand for a month. The reason I knew they were loud-mouthed
was I had been lined up near them at security. They all had brand new passports
and were obviously excited. I had two beside me, one across the aisle and two
behind me, so the conversation flowed all over me. Great! I was hoping to
sleep.
Dinner was
served-balls of something and couscous, pickled salad and dry cake. I ate the
balls and drank an orange juice. The only alcohol they have is red wine, and
I’m still not up to it. The “entertainment” was terrible. Bot only were none of
the movies listed on the correct channels, the screen was microscopic, and the
sound almost inaudible even on maximum. I watched Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day then amazingly fell asleep. I must have been
sound asleep because I was dreaming and someone in my dream was saying “excuse
me”. It was the guys wanting to get out! I then watched a movie with Jason
Bateman called The Longest Week, which would have to be one of the most boring,
pointless movies I’ve ever sat through. I kept watching thinking something
exciting must happen soon. This flight was never ending. I estimated it should be about 6 hours, but
in fact was 10 and a half! When I looked at the flight screen, I found out why.
We had flown all the way down the Red Sea and over the Indian Ocean, across the
southern tip of India, before coming up to Bangkok. We hadn’t flown over any
countries at all! Finally breakfast was served- an omelette, olives and cherry
tomatoes were all I ate. The yoghurt was inedible! Nothing was served in
between, not an ice-cream or an apple or anything, and there was no
self-service bar. I won’t be flying El Al again by choice. Almost four hours at
Bangkok before I board my Qantas flight back to Australia.
Well, I saved the
best until last! BUSINESS CLASS, BABY! Of course I didn’t pay for it! It was heaven in the air! I’m even
considering paying for it next trip, but $9,000 return is a lot of money, but
wow! Comfortable, noise-reducing headphones, a butler to be shared with 3 other
passengers, who treated me like royalty, Billiecart champagne on boarding the
plane, which continued to flow until dinner, which was cooked for each
passenger! I had zucchini and parmesan soup, followed by grilled atlantic
salmon. Several desserts to choose from- but I reclined my seat into a bed and
was asleep before dessert. And, ah the bliss! I can’t explain just how
different this was from economy! I wanted to take photos but thought that would
seem rather gauche, so just lay back and lapped it up. The long flight was over
in no time- I never looked at the flight map once- when in economy, I’m
checking it every five minutes to see how much longer I have to survive until our
flight reaches its destination.
Reluctantly, I
disembarked at Sydney, checked into an earlier flight, and prepared to pay $60
for excess luggage. But, aha, when I mentioned I had flown business class in
from Bangkok, I was allowed the whole 30kgs free of charge!
In the bus and
over to domestic wher I tried to board a plane to Melbourne! Luckily the
scanner picked it up as the wrong flight. In my defence, the gates were right
beside each other and the boarding times were 5 minutes apart, and I was keen
to get home!
I sat down with my
backpack on to wait the extra 5 minutes, but when I tried to get up, I just
couldn’t manage it, and ended up spread-eagled and laughing on the floor! Those
seats were much lower than I expected. I rolled out of my backpack and managed
to regain my feet. I am beyond embarrassment! I lined up and boarded the 737
for my last flight home. From riches to rags, I was stuck in between two large
people. (I can talk!) After a white chocolate and cranberry cookie and a cup of
tea, my right leg started to cramp right up to my hip so I had to get out of
that seat! The hostess made me up a lucozade drink to try to dissipate the
cramp, and I sat further back in the plane with a little more legroom.
Off the plane and
into the oppressive heat, grabbed my suitcase from the carousel, and was just
starting to panic when I spied Ross, who was here to pick me up. I am so happy
to be home. So, until my next adventure, farewell, au revoir, adieus, adios,
arrivederci, and auf wiedersehen.
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