2018 "Song of India" Adventure - Days 1 and 2

2018 “Song of India” Adventure

Day 1 – Monday, February 19th – Seattle to Los Angeles and Beyond

The day before we departed was a cold, and surprisingly snowy one (it didn’t stick, but it did feature some rather loud “corn snow”). By departure day, it was still very cold (hovering just above freezing) but beautifully clear. The Cascades and Olympics showed off their snowy peaks.

A little history of this trip: this wasn’t supposed to happen. At least, not yet. Our plan had always been to do an Antarctic expedition around this time of year. We were waiting to see if our next-door neighbor could get us a discount on one of these expeditions (they are very expensive). But as summer 2017 passed, the combination of no news on the discount plus the lack of frequent flier award space to South America, moved this trip from tentative to solid. (Antarctica is now solid for November 2018, but that’s another adventure yet to be taken). We booked this trip originally as a backup, but moreover, because the itinerary really appealed to us. We tend to be more itinerary-driven in our travels, rather than just because it’s a particular ship we’re fond of.

Mike and Chuck were kind enough to take us to the airport, and before long we were ensconced in the Alaska Airlines Board Room to kill time before the flight to L.A.  For a Monday afternoon it was fairly busy, with one family taking up the entire section on the other side of us. The baby wailed and the daughter closest to us had a nagging dry cough. Allan said that if he comes down with something, he’s blaming her. (My sentiments were a bit more extreme, but nevermind – AFK)

The flight to L.A. was pleasant enough, with a tasty lunch served en route (de-constructed fajitas). The snow on Mt. Rainier looked especially beautiful, and by the time we were descending into the greater L.A. area, the clear skies made for a spectacular carpet of lights from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach and beyond. Strong northwest winds made for a surprisingly bumpy approach, and in typical LAX fashion these days, we landed at the furthest runway from the Alaska terminal and had a lovely tour of the airport, putting us just a few minutes after our scheduled arrival time.

We picked up our bags and walked through the crowds to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which was a zoo. Many international flights to Asia leave later in the evening (like ours), making for long check-in queues at the varying airlines. We were fortunate enough to fly Cathay Pacific in Business Class, so there was no queue and plenty of friendly service. I’ve written this before and will write it again: the TSA queues were badly handled. Even though we have TSA PreCheck, that line seemed to eventually blend in with the others. I just can’t figure out why they can’t get their act together here.

We lolled about in the OneWorld Lounge for a few hours, snacking on this and that, before heading down to our gate. After a slight delay (reason never given), we boarded our Boeing 777-300(ER) and got settled into our seats (more like pods, as Allan was in the row in front of me). I love this configuration (1-2-1 across), because it gives one a fair amount of privacy with good views out the windows. We pushed back some 30 minutes late (around 10:40PM) and then taxied very slowly to the runway. I realized that one of the four runways was closed for reconstruction, which is what affected virtually every aircraft at that airport. At 11:05PM we were airborne, heading northwest along the California coast.

One of the reasons we love Cathay is their level of service. The purser, Nick Ng, introduced himself to each passenger, apologizing for the delay. Menus were soon handed out, and at all times we were addressed by our names. Before the start of the supper service, I changed out of my travel clothes and into my old British Airways First Class pajamas. Very comfortable, but the dark blue shows every speck of dust and food.

The dinner service (and breakfast as well) was done from a cart, with each passenger first receiving their drink order. Then came the tray with the starter and an offering from the bread basket (Cathay’s garlic bread is always available). A little later, another cart comes down the aisle with the entrée options on top (you can see it before you choose it). Dessert is served in a similar fashion. It’s all very relaxed, with plenty of offers to top up drinks (and keep your water glass filled).

Once the tray was cleared, I could barely keep my eyes open. I converted the seat into a flat bad, pulled the blanket over me, clasped the seatbelt on top of that, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

[Travel detail notes: SEA-LAX Alaska #410, 737-990 N315AS, Seats 2A and 2C. Departed from Gate C3, arrived at Gate 66. LAX-HKG Cathay Pacific #833, 777-367(ER), B-KPT, Seats 18K and 19K. Departed from TBIT Gate 130, arrived at Gate 48 on 02/21. Purser: Nick Ng]

Day 2 – Wednesday, February 21st – Hong Kong to Singapore

Tuesday was a blur because, well, we crossed the International Date Line and lost it. (WAH!!!! – AFK) I’m afraid we will never recover February 20^th, 2018. A moment of silence in its memory, please….

When I woke up, all was dark and quiet. The crew had pulled down all of the window shades, which was funny, because the nearly 16-hour flight was mainly in the dark. Much to my surprise, I slept for seven solid hours. I don’t even do that at home! Perhaps I need to build a business class pod at home and pipe in airplane noise to get a good night’s sleep…

I stopped by the galley on the way to the restroom, where a very chipper flight attendant took my order for a cheeseburger snack (it was delivered 20 minutes later, and it was surprisingly delicious). Now fully awake, with another 6-7 hours ahead of me, I plunged into some movie watching. The noise cancelling headsets and the large screen made for pleasant viewing. My first selection was “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri”, which featured outstanding performances by Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell. It was fairly dark in tone, and when McDormand smiled it stood out, because it only happened once late in the movie. And the ambiguous ending felt appropriate after all that befell before.

For something cheerier (and that’s questionable), I watched “Loving Vincent’, a spectacular animation of Van Gogh’s paintings turned into a plot to discover what really happened to him in his last days at Auvergne. Flashback scenes were done in black and white, but still in the artist’s style. It was brilliant.

I changed out of the pajamas and back into my travel clothes, and watched this and that from the vast selection of entertainment until the lights slowly came up (in pink, of course) for the start of the breakfast service. Again, it was the same style of service, with the tray preset with some fresh fruit and a delicious fruit-in-cream bowl. Bread choices included croissants and rolls. For the main I decided to try congee with beef strips accompanied by onion cakes. Congee is a popular Chinese breakfast, similar to a thin porridge. It was interesting, but for me won’t be replacing my omelets.

One thing that Allan noted after we landed: it was the smoothest trans-Pacific flight we’d ever been on. Usually there is a rough-patch over Japan, but today it didn’t happen. Our flight time was quite long due to high headwinds. We flew as far north as the tip of the Aleutian Islands.

Soon the skies were brightening, and we descended through several cloud layers to Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport, quickly pulling into the gate. We were an hour late, but that still gave us a couple of hours before our next flight. The airport is huge, and it took some time walking from our distant gate, through the crowded early-morning transit area, and into the lounge.

Cathay has no fewer than five lounges at Hong Kong (it is their base, after all, and they are the dominant carrier by far). We chose The Bridge, because we were familiar with it from our trip to South Africa a few years ago. The one thing we wanted was a shower, and we each enjoyed it. Unfortunately, we could do little more than that, as we had to step on it to make our connecting flight. It was, of course, at the opposite end of the terminal, but it felt great to be walking.

Boarding was underway as we arrived at the gate, and stepped right into our pods aboard this Cathay Airbus A330-300. There are quite a few flights between Singapore and Hong Kong, and Business Class was about half empty. We pushed back right on time and before long we were once again in the air.

Similar to the prior flight, the purser, Seraphina Tang, introduced herself and handed out the menu. Before long her young crew was serving breakfast (I guess that would make this second breakfast). This time I chose the eggs, and they were adequate. Maybe the congee spoiled me…

I did watch my favorite sequence from “2001: A Space Odyssey”, which is between the Dawn of Man section (which always creeps me out), and the mission to Jupiter. The Strauss waltz with the visuals of the Pan Am spaceplane heading toward the revolving space station is still one of my  all-time favorites.

After about three and a half hours, we started our descent into Singapore. I last visited here in February 1996, and it was for only a few days. As we approached for landing, we could see dozens and dozens of tankers and freighters in the bay, riding low in the surprisingly light-blue water.

We were about 10 minute ahead of schedule, and debarked into the nearly new Terminal 4 at Changi International Airport. Everything smelled fresh and looked new. There was plenty of natural light, something that’s rare in airports where the arrivals level is below the departures level.  It was quite a walk to get to immigration, but there were no lines, and as we arrived at the baggage claim area (in a beautiful high-ceiling, light-filled area with plants growing along a living wall), our bags were just appearing on the carousel. There were no customs, to speak of, and before long we were outside in the sweltering fresh air. Between our departure from Seattle and our arrival in Singapore, the temperature difference was 53 degrees. And that doesn’t include the humidity!

Our friendly taxi driver drove along tree-lined highways and high-rise apartment buildings toward the downtown area. We arrived at The Quincy Hotel about 30 minutes after leaving the airport, with some delays due to some traffic congestion.

The stylishly modern hotel was in a quiet area a few blocks off of Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping area. We were greeted warmly by Muhammed, a young man we swore was wearing lipstick. Our room on the 6^th floor was equally stylishly modern, with a comfortable king-sized bed, large floor-to-ceiling windows, and a bright and airy bathroom.

After changing into shorts and unpacking a bit, we headed out to discover the neighborhood. Orchard Road was a lot of what I remember about Singapore: one giant shopping center after another lining both sides of a wide boulevard. The sidewalks were also generously wide, and we spent a few hours walking, popping in here and there, and enjoying the very warm but fresh air.

Within two hours of arriving in Singapore, Allan managed to buy a new tie at the Etro store. I don’t know how he does it, but I think he has a built-in tracker for high-end shops. This place could really break his radar, as there are several Louis Vuitton stores within a several block radius. It’s like New York on steroids, with some Vegas glitz added for effect. (It REALLY is… the glitz started wearing on me fairly quickly. It’s a good thing our hotel is a bit off the beaten path – restful J - AFK)

We came back to the hotel to cool off, have a snack (offered in the lobby area daily, along with cool drinks), and took a brief nap. The rooms also have a stocked mini-bar, with the beverages included (water, Coke, iced-tea, and Tuborg beer).

While we hoped to go further afield for dinner, we ended up at a Din Tai Fung just down the street (there are many, many branches here). We had our classic pork dumplings (xiao long bao), and in place of green beans in garlic, they offered sweet pea shoots in garlic. Not as crunchy, but just as delicious. While I was hoping to sample more local fare, hunger and convenience won the day.

The Singapore dollar is worth about .75 USD dollars, and prices are reasonable (at least compared to Seattle). Wherever you go, the level of service is quite good and always polite. It may sound like a cliché, but that’s our experience.

We walked back up the hill to the hotel, took a Melatonin, and drifted off to a good night’s sleep.

[Travel detail notes: HKG-SIN Cathay Pacific #759, A330-343, B-LAJ, Seats 14K and 15K. Departed from Gate 1, arrived at Terminal 4. Purser: Seraphina Tang. The Quincy Hotel, 22 Mount Elizabeth, Singapore, Room 603. Total of 20, 166 steps today]