Once the movers left everything started to move way too fast, and this included time. Before we knew it, it was the night before we left and we had to make sure everything was packed and ready to go. I never knew I could pack so much into one little bag, but I was able to pack enough clothing lasting for a month in total, I must say I was very proud of myself. We woke up and it was time to go to the airport, and I think that I would have been a lot more nervous if I were going by myself, but thankfully I had my best friend with me, our adventure was starting.
Once we got to the airport I got really excited. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew it was going to be an interesting flight. We were scheduled to fly economy from Dulles International to LA and from LA to Singapore we were going to fly business class. I have only ever flown economy so I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got to LA. Dustin on the other hand had flown business class on a trip like this before. So he was not looking forward to fly economy the first leg of the trip, but I don’t blame him, he is 6’1. Thankfully we got to upgrade to economy plus, which means that we got a little more leg room than the rest, but we had to pay for food on the flight. Now I haven’t flown in a long time and the furthest I have flown was Florida, and on the flights all we got was peanuts. So I was expecting some kind of meal to come with our flight, but I was wrong. We had to pay for one, and of course you know on a flight it’s more expensive than it really should be.
Once we got to LA the business class treatment was in effect. I was so excited to be in LA. Not only because it was the furthest away I had been from home but I also knew that one of my best friends Jocelyn lived there and for some reason I hoped that she could swing by the airport and see us, but she had tickets to a game and it was also unrealistic with an three hour layover for an international flight. We walked to the international fight terminal and went to the business class lounge. Let me tell you it was F A N C Y! We checked in and they took our passports and boarding passes, I was thinking it was because they wanted to make sure that we weren’t lying about being in the business class lounge. Dustin thought it was weird because every time he had made this trip, the people in the lounge never took his passport, let alone his boarding pass.
So we went back, and there was a wonderful spread of food and drinks with relaxing chairs/atmosphere. Once we put our carry-on bags down we went straight for the food. I asked Dustin how much this was and the best words came out of his mouth, free! You better believe that I took advantage of that! There were wonderful sandwiches, soups, cheese spreads, fruit, and drinks, yes this included alcoholic drinks! So I helped myself. We ate, a lot, and settled down to watch a movie on my laptop. Before we started the movie I decided to go check on where our passports were and tickets, as we all know passports are precious property when one is traveling internationally. I went to the counter and the girl behind said that the other woman had taken them downstairs to get us checked in. I asked why they didn’t check us in when we came into the lounge and she said it was because their computers were down. So I asked why they didn’t just tell us to go downstairs to check ourselves in and she said something along the lines that they didn’t want to inconvenience us. I stated that it wasn’t going to be an inconvenience because I didn’t mind doing that; I minded that someone we didn’t know had our passports. She reassured me that it would be okay and the woman should be back in 10 minutes.
I went back and told Dustin what was going on and we started the movie. After a little while we realized that we had to get ready to head to the gate to board our plane. So, we got our stuff together and headed to the counter. We found that there were a lot of people there; I waited my turn only to find out that the woman who had our things was not back yet. I complained that we only had an hour till we boarded our plane. She did explain that there was something going on and no one was boarding planes or getting past security so not to worry. I also reminded her that she had the most important documents that we had (other than our passes to live in Singapore) and that put us on high alert. Now we all get heated when we know we need to be somewhere and don’t have the proper documents. I was not the only one who felt this way everyone else who was on the business class flight to Japan felt the same way. Dustin, being the most wonderful man ever, stood to the side and let me give the girl behind the counter my thoughts. I told her that if we miss our flight that her company will have to pay for it. It was not our choice for the woman to leave with our documents, she could have told us to go downstairs. Once I paused someone else came behind me and started saying the same thing. We were all mad and upset and after a half hour the woman appeared with all of our items. Once we had our passports and boarding passes I was relived. I was even more relieved when we got to our gate and they had not started boarding. We waited about 15 minutes and the boarding started.
Once we got on the plane I was truly impressed. The seats were HUGE. It was like two seats combine, not only that but they transformed into a single sized bed, laying down flat. Luxury?, I think so! I was looking at all the stuff that we got. Eye covers, ear phones and even socks! Yes, that’s right, I said socks! The flight attendant came around and asked what I wanted my preflight drink to be. I look at Dustin, surprised, and stated Champagne. After all, we had to celebrate the exciting adventure! Once the plane was loaded and we were done with our drinks the flight attendant came around again and asked what our post take off drink was going to be. Taken back a bit, I told her that I would love my very first Singapore Sling, I thought it was an appropriate drink! After the plane took off I looked at the menu of what was offered for dinner. The food I ate on the plane ride was five star quality. The flight to Japan was mostly me watching movies, talking to Dustin, eating wonderful food, drinking and sleeping. The one thing that did happen was that my TV went out a little more than half way to Japan. I got the attention of the flight attendant and let them know that my TV wasn’t working. They tried to reset it but it didn’t work so they apologized for the inconvenience and would fix it when the plane landed. So for the rest of the flight I read a book and took a nap.
Many hours later (like 13 or 15, I can’t remember) we got up and got ready to land in Tokyo. We knew we were going to be on the same plane so we didn’t think about getting off, until the flight attendance came around telling us we had to get off. So we collected our things and deplaned. Unfortunately we had to go through security, again. So as we approached I knew the drill, I opened up my bag, took out my lap top, emptied my pockets, took off my belt and started to take off my shoes when I realized that everyone around me didn’t take off their belts or shoes. I realized that the protocols that we are used to in the US are not the same in every country. I felt a little embarrassed but oh well, can’t be over prepared right? I mean they did have the 3oz liquid bottle rule. So we waited in the airport for about an hour and boarded again for a six hour flight. The same treatment drinks and food to die for and movies. We had about 3 hours left and I got my tray out again so I could support my book on it and so I could write down what I had to declare. I went to put it away and it would go down all the way. Dustin looked at me and stated that he couldn’t take me anywhere and that I couldn’t have nice things because they break (ha, ha). I looked further into the problem and there was a book stuck down there, it was not from me because when we got back on the plane we were in different seats. Hopefully this won’t happen when we come back home.
Once we got to the airport I got really excited. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew it was going to be an interesting flight. We were scheduled to fly economy from Dulles International to LA and from LA to Singapore we were going to fly business class. I have only ever flown economy so I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got to LA. Dustin on the other hand had flown business class on a trip like this before. So he was not looking forward to fly economy the first leg of the trip, but I don’t blame him, he is 6’1. Thankfully we got to upgrade to economy plus, which means that we got a little more leg room than the rest, but we had to pay for food on the flight. Now I haven’t flown in a long time and the furthest I have flown was Florida, and on the flights all we got was peanuts. So I was expecting some kind of meal to come with our flight, but I was wrong. We had to pay for one, and of course you know on a flight it’s more expensive than it really should be.
Once we got to LA the business class treatment was in effect. I was so excited to be in LA. Not only because it was the furthest away I had been from home but I also knew that one of my best friends Jocelyn lived there and for some reason I hoped that she could swing by the airport and see us, but she had tickets to a game and it was also unrealistic with an three hour layover for an international flight. We walked to the international fight terminal and went to the business class lounge. Let me tell you it was F A N C Y! We checked in and they took our passports and boarding passes, I was thinking it was because they wanted to make sure that we weren’t lying about being in the business class lounge. Dustin thought it was weird because every time he had made this trip, the people in the lounge never took his passport, let alone his boarding pass.
So we went back, and there was a wonderful spread of food and drinks with relaxing chairs/atmosphere. Once we put our carry-on bags down we went straight for the food. I asked Dustin how much this was and the best words came out of his mouth, free! You better believe that I took advantage of that! There were wonderful sandwiches, soups, cheese spreads, fruit, and drinks, yes this included alcoholic drinks! So I helped myself. We ate, a lot, and settled down to watch a movie on my laptop. Before we started the movie I decided to go check on where our passports were and tickets, as we all know passports are precious property when one is traveling internationally. I went to the counter and the girl behind said that the other woman had taken them downstairs to get us checked in. I asked why they didn’t check us in when we came into the lounge and she said it was because their computers were down. So I asked why they didn’t just tell us to go downstairs to check ourselves in and she said something along the lines that they didn’t want to inconvenience us. I stated that it wasn’t going to be an inconvenience because I didn’t mind doing that; I minded that someone we didn’t know had our passports. She reassured me that it would be okay and the woman should be back in 10 minutes.
I went back and told Dustin what was going on and we started the movie. After a little while we realized that we had to get ready to head to the gate to board our plane. So, we got our stuff together and headed to the counter. We found that there were a lot of people there; I waited my turn only to find out that the woman who had our things was not back yet. I complained that we only had an hour till we boarded our plane. She did explain that there was something going on and no one was boarding planes or getting past security so not to worry. I also reminded her that she had the most important documents that we had (other than our passes to live in Singapore) and that put us on high alert. Now we all get heated when we know we need to be somewhere and don’t have the proper documents. I was not the only one who felt this way everyone else who was on the business class flight to Japan felt the same way. Dustin, being the most wonderful man ever, stood to the side and let me give the girl behind the counter my thoughts. I told her that if we miss our flight that her company will have to pay for it. It was not our choice for the woman to leave with our documents, she could have told us to go downstairs. Once I paused someone else came behind me and started saying the same thing. We were all mad and upset and after a half hour the woman appeared with all of our items. Once we had our passports and boarding passes I was relived. I was even more relieved when we got to our gate and they had not started boarding. We waited about 15 minutes and the boarding started.
Once we got on the plane I was truly impressed. The seats were HUGE. It was like two seats combine, not only that but they transformed into a single sized bed, laying down flat. Luxury?, I think so! I was looking at all the stuff that we got. Eye covers, ear phones and even socks! Yes, that’s right, I said socks! The flight attendant came around and asked what I wanted my preflight drink to be. I look at Dustin, surprised, and stated Champagne. After all, we had to celebrate the exciting adventure! Once the plane was loaded and we were done with our drinks the flight attendant came around again and asked what our post take off drink was going to be. Taken back a bit, I told her that I would love my very first Singapore Sling, I thought it was an appropriate drink! After the plane took off I looked at the menu of what was offered for dinner. The food I ate on the plane ride was five star quality. The flight to Japan was mostly me watching movies, talking to Dustin, eating wonderful food, drinking and sleeping. The one thing that did happen was that my TV went out a little more than half way to Japan. I got the attention of the flight attendant and let them know that my TV wasn’t working. They tried to reset it but it didn’t work so they apologized for the inconvenience and would fix it when the plane landed. So for the rest of the flight I read a book and took a nap.
Many hours later (like 13 or 15, I can’t remember) we got up and got ready to land in Tokyo. We knew we were going to be on the same plane so we didn’t think about getting off, until the flight attendance came around telling us we had to get off. So we collected our things and deplaned. Unfortunately we had to go through security, again. So as we approached I knew the drill, I opened up my bag, took out my lap top, emptied my pockets, took off my belt and started to take off my shoes when I realized that everyone around me didn’t take off their belts or shoes. I realized that the protocols that we are used to in the US are not the same in every country. I felt a little embarrassed but oh well, can’t be over prepared right? I mean they did have the 3oz liquid bottle rule. So we waited in the airport for about an hour and boarded again for a six hour flight. The same treatment drinks and food to die for and movies. We had about 3 hours left and I got my tray out again so I could support my book on it and so I could write down what I had to declare. I went to put it away and it would go down all the way. Dustin looked at me and stated that he couldn’t take me anywhere and that I couldn’t have nice things because they break (ha, ha). I looked further into the problem and there was a book stuck down there, it was not from me because when we got back on the plane we were in different seats. Hopefully this won’t happen when we come back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment