Time passes so quickly at times. No sooner had I returned from my last trip to Bangkok, than it's time to pack my bags for the next.
Well, that's how I wish it really seemed.
It was a long 5 weeks ago or so, since my return home to Melbourne. It's been a hard slog at work, and frankly, I have had just about enough of it all. The terrible shift, and the being hated, by our management and supervisors, just gets me down. We won't go into that here.
All that is behind me now. I am sitting here in seat 6B, on JQ29, winging my merry way to Bangkok and to the family I miss so much. Yes, I am sorry to be leaving my family in Melbourne. My son, 2 dogs and cat. But let's get real here, my heart now belongs in the city of smiles, and that is where I want to be.
Let's jump back a bit.
Last night I was at work, struggling to get through the shift. A friend called me to advise that the flights to Bangkok looked pretty full. Not good news for a staff member travelling on a space available category. He was also booked to fly to Bangkok on the same flight as I was, and he informed me that he was looking at alternate travel plans. Through Sydney, then on to Bangkok from there. I really didn't want or even wish to contemplate such a route, but I found that what he had indicated me to, was in fact, the truth. At first I thought he might be pulling my leg. A quick review of the staff travel site showed that was only the day before showing 15 spare J class seats, had now decide to shrink down to just 3.
Bummer!
Since I was really hanging out to fly tomorrow, I decided to, at least book some backup flights as he suggested. I can always get me money back, if I don't use them. After this news, I continued my struggle through my shift and a restless sleep.
8am......
The alarm went off. I felt like sh*t, but I must push myself to get the last minute packing done, and arrive at the airport supper early to list on the flight. JQ29, to Bangkok. I wanted to be first on the standby list.
After several cups of coffee, I managed to finish the required tasks. Filling my suitcase with all the items ordered by the gang in Bangkok. You would not believe the kinds of stuff they want. shower, shave, dress and drop the boy off at he railway station.
I arrived at the airport about 10 minutes early. The Customer Service staff greeted me with a smile, and put my name on the list. I was a bit surprised. Normally, them make me come back at the correct time, but not this time. Even a bit of service with a smile. Again, this was not the normal start to a trip like this. They did confirm that seats in J class were limited, but told me to come back in about an hour and see how this were going.
Boring......
That's the way it is while waiting for any flight. The whole travel experience in a matter of hurry up and wait. You would think that I would be used to this, but let me tell you, I still hate it.
While I was waiting, the same friend who let me know about the possible flight problems, called and had decided not to travel today. His choice, and it left another seat for me. All is fair in love and staff travel!
Back to the counter as requested. "Oh, it doesn't look good. Come back another 30 minutes later."
Back to the counter, and, YES, all is OK. "Go join the Starclass cue, your on."
On through to security and immigration. These are another unwelcome, even hated part of international travel. Sounds like I being a bit of a whinger here, but if you travel as much as I do, you really get sick of all this.
I arrived at the gate after the leisurely stroll through all the Duty Free shops, and settle for my next bit of waiting.
I have been enjoying an audio book these past few weeks. 61 Hours by Lee Child. Nice little thriller. (Maybe I will blog about it when I'm finished.)I don't get much time to read or even listen to all the novels I want to. Sign of a busy life perhaps. Normally I try to listen to my novel in the car on the way to and from work. A long flight like this, allows me to listen to larger blocks, and enjoy the experience more. Anyway, as I was saying, I was waiting for the boarding call, and you guessed it, boarding was to be delayed for 20 minutes. Some problem with the cleaning of the aircraft, they told us. The aircraft had just come in from SIngapore, and still needed to be cleaned, they told us. What crap! The aircraft just came up form the hangar from an overnight check. Should have been cleaned last night. I wish they wouldn't lie like that.
So, some 1 hour later, we boarded the aircraft and settled in for the flight.
At the "pointy end" of the ship, you can enjoy some nice things that flying has to offer. Even on Jetstar! A blanket, noise cancelling headset and amenities kit all await you at your seat. A glass of sparkling wine before takeoff. You might even think you are on a real full service airline. They try, but still, this is really just a smoke screen. This airline is advertised as a low cost carrier. Let's repeat that. Low cost carrier.
Let's get into the nitty gritty of the flight and see what Jetstar had to offer.
The Starclass cabin is not really a Business Class. It's more of a Premium Economy. The size of the leather covered seats is generous, although they did look a bit tattered. In fact the whole cabin could have had a deep clean and refresh of sorts. The walls and bulkheads looked grimy, the carpet a bit thread bare in places, and most of the fittings needs some work. My seat in fact had a problem with every control that was available. The lumbar support didn't work, the legrest and foot support wouldn't stow all the way, and on takeoff, the seat fully reclined on it's own inclination. The unseat music control didn't work. In fact, the only things that did, were the reading light and flight attendant call buttons!
The meal service was offered almost as soon as the seatbelt sign was extinguished. Bit early for dinner, I thought. The cabin filled with the pleasant aroma as I waited for my tray. Being in one of the last seats in the Starclass cabin, I thought I would not have much of a selection. This has occurred on several occasions in the past. This was not the case today. I selected the lamb casserole with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The meal tray was well presented. The flavour and consistency was above expectations, and I especially liked the baby carrots. A nice glass of Pinot to round out the meal, and it was all over as quickly as it started.
Well, so I thought. I forgot about desert. A selection of cheese and fruits, or cheesecake was push passed. I thought some nice cheese would go down great about now. Coffee or tea? No, I would partake in the Bailey's on ice. The flight attendant even gave me a spare bottle for later. So nice.
The media players were then brought around. The round up of movies and tv shows was acceptable. The same music videos where there. These have been the same since I started flying with Jetstar over two years ago. I am getting tired of them. I wish they would update these as often as they do the movies.
I decided on "The Hangover 2" to pass away some of the flight. We still had many hours to go until Bangkok. This would have to be one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. I don't know if I would want my daughter to watch it. I'm sure she would love to see it, but a little bit too much swearing and adult themes I think.
Once I had recovered from the fits of suppressed laughter, you must at least try to be quiet on the flight, I browsed through the other videos available. I watch several tv shows that I have already seen as these were not as current as the movies.
The few scotches I had taken, purely for medicinal purposes, started to take effect, I put my head down for a few hours sleep. My broken seat didn't allow for the best sleeping position, but I was tired from the long day already passed, so I drifted into the usual broken sleep I get on flights.
I was awoken to the muted clatter of the next and final meal service of the flight. I didn't really feel like a big meal, and I didn't get one. A. Simple pasta and meatballs. Tasty and probably the right size for what it was trying to do. Once again, this was over and done extremely fast. I suppose one of the advantages of a smaller cabin size. I don't know what was going on down the back of the ship. I suppose, I really didn't care either. I'm right Jack!
It was already dark outside, so no view of any of the floods I had heard and read so much about. There was a faint glimmer from bodies of water that I don't remember being there before, nothing of the magnitude I was expecting. As I didn't have a window seat, I can only say, that it seemed we had a straight in approach and we landed not much later. The landing itself was smooth and uneventful. The taxi seemed longer and slower that previous, but we made it all safe and sound, and pretty much on time.
Deplaning and the walk to Immigration and baggage collection was uneventful. Even the taxi ride was as expected. I arrived at our apartment to find no one home, except the dog waiting, wagging it's tail. The end to a long day of travelling. Glad to be here at last, my holiday really begins.....
