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 20th, 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 6th 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]
Comments