Tag Archives: Business Class

Going back to Mexico, through Japan

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During my first trip to Mexico City, I went through Amsterdam on board KLM. This time, I went through Japan. But before that, I had to buy a new luggage because my old one was made of plastic and is now broken. I learned from my last trip that my baggage would definitely grow when I leave Mexico so I needed to buy a bigger one. My new luggage is as high as my waist, but the scale showed when I checked-in was only 19 kilograms. Fair enough, at least I would have 10 kilograms to spare for presents later.

From Singapore to Narita, I took Singapore Airlines (SQ), still with a business class ticket. I was ecstatic because it was my first time to go through Changi Airport Terminal 3 and my first business class flight with SQ! The Kris Flyer Lounge didn’t disappoint me. It is by far the best business class lounge I’ve ever been to. They serve the most number of food variety and the best one as well. Few minutes before boarding, I got to chat with my family using one of the iMacs at the lounge (cool, huh?). One disadvantage though: the lounge was crowded at that time but I still managed to grab one of those very comfy couches.

Unlike the business class seats in other airlines, the ones in SQ could be converted into a bed! With my size, i didn’t even have to curl up. I had a good night sleep on my way to Japan so I only had to use the entertainment system while I was having my breakfast. They didn’t give one of those personal kits in pouches but you’ve got everything you need at lavatory (toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, etc). They just personal hand you a pair of socks and an eye cover.

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It was about 7 hours flight and they only serve one meal. We were made to choose when to have the meal served. I preferred breakfast and I chose the Japanese menu. Food presentation was good and the taste was very good.

Time does really fly fast when you’re on a great airline. I had a wonderful flight with SQ. I shouldn’t forget to mention that the attendants were very nice and they’re really “visible”. It felt like they’re baby-sitting the passengers.

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On the way to Mexico!

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It’s been more than a month since my boss asked me if it is OK for me to go to Mexico. Of course, I said yes, despite the fear of facing a different kind of challenge (facing our project’s customers). I was told that it was urgent so I immediately headed down to the Mexican Embassy to apply for a Mexican Visa. Three working days later, I got my visa. That was two days before the planned flight. And on that day, I was told to delay my trip for two weeks.

I thought it might become like that one time when I was told to go to France then it got canceled. I waited for the confirmation from my boss while being really busy because Mexican customers are coming over to Singapore for a visit. Then last Saturday, I finally got the go signal but I still had doubts.

Now, here I am in the Sky Lounge waiting for the boarding time. Finally I am going to Mexico! But I have to go through Amsterdam first because it is only in Amsterdam or in Paris that Filipinos don’t need a transit visa.

Because of the stress I’ve been experiencing these past few days, I’ll definitely have a good rest in the plane later on.

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Lisbon!

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Paris to Lisbon flight is about 2 hours. These two places have one hour difference. The flight was really pleasant and a bit exciting because we’ve got to fly over Spain. Hopefully, I could visit that place in the future. I attempted to take sky photos but it was full of really thick clouds and no interesting cloud formation so I won’t bother posting it here.

I took Air France to Lisbon, I think it was an A320. There was no difference between the business class and economy class seats but I suppose the in-flight meals were? Anyway, here’s what I got:

I loved the bread, salad and cheese (got addicted to it actually) but I only had a spoonful of the chocolate pudding. Because of that, the flight attendant asked me if there was something wrong with the dessert. I couldn’t tell him straight that I generally don’t like chocolates so I just told him I was too full. For the first time, I was asked to fill in an airline’s feedback form, which I willingly did to kill time.

I don’t like using an aircraft’s toilet so my first destination when we reached the terminal was the toilet! When I got out from there, it took me sometime to find my way to collect my baggage. The airport layout was quite confusing or am I really bad at navigation? Because of the Schengen Visa, I didn’t have to go through immigration.

I’ve visited some sites online to know about Lisbon and came across warnings from tourists of getting over-charged by cab drivers so I headed to the tourist information booth. I was directed to this taxi queue:

I was told to pay about 28 euros to the hotel but when I asked the cab driver, he told me it was 48 euros! He even showed me the table of charges. Still, I had doubts, but I didn’t want to spoil the excitement so I forced myself to shrug it off. The beautiful scenes on the way to the hotel made me feel a lot better.

I recorded some videos for my families, friends, and you of course! Here’s one…

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The day I travelled in business class

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The two things that made me really excited about my trip were: it would be my first time in Europe and I’ll be travelling in business class! Thanks to our company’s generosity, I get to travel luxuriously even if I’m just an ordinary employee.

So there I was, finally being able to join the premiere class queue. Then I got hold of this pass (I’ve just noticed that the lady at the check-in counter encircled “Mr”, tsk tsk…):

However, I arrived just a few minutes before boarding and I had to run to Terminal 2 to buy some kind of Singaporean pastries from Bengawan Solo. My boss particularly mentioned giving something from Bengawan Solo to the boss in Portugal, so I had to do it even if it meant sacrificing my chance to enjoy the sky lounge. I did not regret it though, because the people I work with here enjoyed the food. It was about 5 minutes before boarding when I got back to Terminal 1 so I was able to spend a couple of minutes in the sky lounge.

I was almost transferred to a middle seat because the video console was defective. But later on, they informed me it was fixed. I was not entirely happy keeping my original seat because the video console became defective again a few hours after take off. There must be a lot of people who are rich because I didn’t notice an empty business class seat. To make my story short, I would have to say it was so good travelling while being pampered. The food was great and being on the plane for 13 hours was not that hard because I slept most of it. I wanted to try out champagne but I was afraid I would get allergic reactions and I don’t want to cause any problem with a huge adventure ahead of me. I only managed to take this photo while on the plane:

I hope I won’t forget taking photos of the food on my way back to Singapore. But I don’t want to think about that yet. How I wish I could stay here longer… :P

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