Qatar Airways - KL / Doha / Frankfurt ( December 2016 )

Nobody who went to KLIA during the last December holidays is going to buy the idea that Malaysians are travelling less overseas or that the economy is ailing . Apart from the umrah crowd , everywhere you turned , was yet another Malaysian family dressed in winter wear just waiting to fly off for their winter holiday .

And their winter wear is not those chekai ones that make you look like a blast from Bratislava circa 1980 . These travellers were all stylo milo enough to tell me that they probably have more airmiles accumulated than I ever dare to dream of myself .

And once we arrived home , if you actually parked yourself outside popular dry cleaners , every customer that walked in carried at least 5 winter jackets with them .

I hardly ever travel during winter so this was really , truly an eye opener for me .

Sky catering meal options

It's never a pretty sight when a vegetarian flyer gets served a meat laden meal onboard .

There will be a volcanic outburst that could cause some minor turbulence should you be within earshot .

While I've never given much thought to it , I never realised that meals onboard aren't just confined to a 

" Would you like the fish / chicken / beef or vegetarian ? "

Imagine if the stewardess would have to rephrase that to the following ...

Asian Vegetarian ? Bland ? Child ?Diabetic ? Fruit ? Gluten free ? Hindu non vegetarian ? Low Calorie ?

Nope . I'm not finished yet .

There's more !

Low Fat , Low Cholesterol ?

Low Sodium ? Non lactose ? Oriental vegetarian ? Raw vegetarian ? Lacto ovo vegetarian ? Jain vegetarian ? Non dairy vegetarian ?

AA

Another first time flight experience on yet another airline .

After ANA , I'm gonna board my first AA . 

American Airlines.

Malindo Air - Business Class

Blame the girl at the counter for telling me that magic word

" Murah " .

That's how I ended up in Business Class checking out this embroidered logo of theirs .

Flying Thai Air Asia from Hatyai airport

Hatyai Airport was a pleasant surprise.

Busy, bustling and vibrant, they even have a kopitiam and a full post office downstairs.

Turkish Airbus 320-200

This picture is the closest I'll ever get , to pretend to be a sexy air stewardess or ravishing hair model. Fail lulz.

Reality check : Had to keep one hand on my flyaway hair plus I lost my favourite hairband in the process.

If you laugh , I will tickle you until you beg me for mercy.

Turkish Airlines inflight meals

Honestly, although I thought their chef on board , was merely a gimmick, testimony from other travellers firmly confirm that Turkish Airlines serves the best airline meals in the world. I second that !

But nothing will prepare you for the time the stewardesses hand you these exceptionally delicious morsels called Turkish Delight.

Mmmmm....mmmmm...! Two thumbs up ! 

First time on Turkish Airlines

As per the title, yep, it is my first time on this airline.

MAS - domestic flight

This was the flight I was on earlier this evening. 

Packed from back to front.

Qatar Airways - KL / Doha / Istanbul

This time , we flew with Qatar because the fare was so incredible.

 Thing is, when the fare is low or when you get a sponsored ticket, most times, it involves a transit. And now it seems, there's a new colour coded system in Doha , hence you should receive the transit ticket with a coloured jacket

Malindo Boeing737-900ER vs Malindo ATR72-600

It's been just over a week since Malindo Air took delivery of their new Boeing 737-900 ER fleet .Take a look at this beauty and tell me you don't like what you see ? So sleek, like a personal jet

Compare the plane above to the ATR72-600 .

Vast difference.

Emirates In Flight Meals (Long Haul ) (U)

Be prepared to be spoilt silly even if you are in Economy class. Below is the chic looking menu, front and back cover which elicited a few oohs and aahs from a couple of Mat Sallehs

The inside of the menu might as well be a buffet ticket.

You can even have instant cup noodles anytime you want.

Emirates Airbus A380- KL to Dubai

Customary check in was speedily processed. Tickets in hand , we proceeded towards the departure gates

Actually, we didn't even know that we would be flying on an airbus. Imagine our excitement when we spotted this just outside the entrance to our plane.

Real life stairway to heaven . Even has shower facilities.

Economy seats on planet earth look like this.

I need to point out the black stewardess in the picture( closest to the man) .

She's super awesome and super super incredibly welcoming and nice. One of the best stewardesses I have ever come across in my life.

Seats come equipped with pillows,blankets, headphones

When we opened up our headphone pack, we found these stickers inside.

The number one reason why parents love flying Emirates. They shower our kids with endless gifts and goodies !

Sleeping mask,bag, magic scribbler,Dr Seuss book, Quiksilver wallet and products....fuyoh....

As if that were not enough, they also included child sized headphones (not in picture) and a blanket monster toy.

Oh the spoils of flying if you are a kid

So what's in it for the adults ?

Oh, Nothing except for 600 channels of entertainment !!! encompassing everything from the LATEST movies, to tv shows like an entire Glee Season 2 box set collection, games, National Geographic ......omg the list is mind boggling.

You WILL be kept busy. You can actually start watching even before take off !

Did I mention that it is TOUCHSCREEN operated ??

Impressive.

This really cool safety clip interrupts our viewing pleasure upon take off

Will cover their in flight meal in another post.

What was of utmost importance is that we landed in Dubai safely sound, greeted by the sight of a row of Emirates guppy like tail fins from grounds of the largest airport in the world

Can't wait to get off and explore

Cathay Pacific HK-Pen

Somehow or another I ended up here, just behind Business Class.

But my screen is screwed up , fried, not working, flicking and changing channels all the time.

The crew and head of staff offer their apologies.

Yeah whatever. Sigh.

Cathay Pacific In Flight Meal

Honestly I was prepared for the worst. You know how bad airline food can be at times. Thus I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their in flight meals. Ex Penang mind you.

We had to choose between curry rice or sausage. We took one of each.

This is the chicken curry rice. Rice is soft, moist and fluffy, while the meat was tender and well marinated . Cooked in fragrant, not too hot, very appetising Hong Kong style curry. Looks dry here, but I assure you, that this meal was good.

Loved that they included yogurt for breakfast.

I didn't really like the sausage. A bit too limp for my liking. Kind of resembled a semi scottish breakfast.
The deep maroon coloured, rolled piece of meat is a kind of ham. Very tasty although a little on the dry side .

The egg, on the other hand was something else. A real delight that left you wondering what the secret recipe was.  I think there were bits and pieces of chopped vegies inside.

Delicious.

Such a good meal deserves two thumbs up. Or so you may think, however service wise, there was much left to be desired .

The service on this particular Cathay Pacific flight is nothing compared to MAS. I think MAS spoils us passengers rotten by catering to our every whim and fancy whenever possible . 

Once the crew were done keeping our meals, I think they thought that, that was it. No need to cater to us anymore cos us passengers can be really bothersome.

Many passengers on CX 692 pressed the call button to request for water or other things but the man in charge switched off all the call lights without even bothering to ask if we needed anything.

Shut my eyes although I really needed a glass of water at one point.

Such a damper to the nice meal we had enjoyed earlier.