due to my inability of resisting the magic moments temptation, i eventually decided to go home for this special event (ermmm... not just for it la, i insist hehe). after checking MAS fares, i almost dismissed the idea cos they were going for a whopping 900++ pounds. so i resorted to taking transit flights from LHR to KUL...
haven't heard of Etihad at all, but it caught my attention because that was the cheapest package offered then lol. after some googling and reading-up on flight reviews, i decided to give it a try since it was almost 40% cheaper than MAS! to be honest, i was still quite sceptical right up to the hour on the tube to airport... my first time taking a non-MAS flight back home, first time taking transit at middle east, first time taking a 3-yr old airline etc.
my itinerary started at 5am: 10mins walk (because of the bulky luggage) to bus stop -> 5mins ride on bus -> 25mins ride on tube from canary wharf to green park -> 45mins ride on tube from green park to heathrow terminal 3. phew! this is what i dread about flying to and from london - having to travel to airport on public transport alone, and to get to airport 2 hours before the flight =( of course, the journey home is always full of excitement, so i don't really mind the arduous route ; but the journey back to my london flat is always depressing, partly because there's no car to fetch me around lol.
by the time i (almost) reached the airport, dawn was breaking already haha. so i lugged my luggage to the check-in counter, and realised i was one of the very few lone travellers. while waiting in the queue, one of the attendants asked me to follow her to another counter. initially, i thought it was only to speed up the check-in process, but once i reached the business class check-in area, i was told that they would upgrade me to business class! hahaha what had i done to deserve this? i asked with a thick face, " is it just for the flight from london to abu dhabi? or from abu dhabi to kl as well? " (hahaha) just for the first leg, she replied. better than nothing right? ahhh a good start to my holiday :)
being a business class traveller (albeit paying economy class fare), i got the privilege to enter the departure gate via another entrance and so saved a lot of time queuing. fyi, queues at heathrow are always mad, it normally takes at least half an hour to just get past security check. somehow i wasn't used to the preferential treatment at all...
on my way to the boarding gate... this was the plane i took
i was immediately awed once i sat on my seat. i think the legspace was at least twice as big as a normal economy seat, with buttons at the side to adjust the seat up/down/front/back as i wished. no matter how we 'played' with our seats, ppl sitting around would not be affected as each had a (sort of) cubicle to oneself.
stretched my legs as far as possible, but still a lot of space left! haha
took a pic of the guy sitting across the aisle, to show the size of each 'cubicle'
once we were seated, gorgeous flight attendants came round to ask what we wished to drink right after takeoff. and soon enough, they served a round of drinks to each passenger - individually! that really gave me a very personalised feeling, haha as if we had the attendants to ourselves. no more plastic cup as given in economy class, all utensils are glassware, and served nicely before us...
massage functions for each seat! haha i had a few sessions of this, each lasting for a maximum of 20mins.
the only downside of the flight... my screen was broken! it was meant to be a touchscreen entertainment media, but mine crashed, boo. told the attendant about it, and since she couldn't do much about it, she gave me this:
watched my fav cartoon of the year, Ratatouille, for the second time! in Arabic subtitles lol
a portable dvd player! well, shouldn't make a fuss since i didn't pay business class fare haha. it was quite alright though, just a bit more troublesome to put it aside when food was served. but quality wise, it was just as good. felt so bad cos the attendant kept apologising to me about the broken screen. hmm to me, i was lucky enough to be sitting there!
this was the so-called starters, looked filling enough to be a meal lol. and notice how meticulously everything was arranged! the cute bun was made of three different kinds of bread combined together - granary, white and brown. served with a selection of dips, which i myself wasn't too sure what they were lol, apart from houmous.
mains i had - grilled cod served with potato mash. omg this had to be the best aircraft food i have ever tried. for the first time, i finished the whole plate of food haha. oh and it came with white wine as well... speaking of the difference between business and economy, we were given a selection of wine (with descriptions of each on the winelist) as opposed to economy where random wine would be served.
fruits as dessert...
i kept thinking what i should do to maximise this golden opportunity of sitting business class, should i sit and watch movie, should i try the 180deg bed, should i eat, etc... i decided to do a bit of each hahaha. was quite irritated that the attendants woke me up from my comfortable sleep to ask if i wanted any drinks. but nvm, good service mah haha.
the 7-hr flight ended really quickly. for the first time i didn't have the urge to leave the plane hahaha. waited for another 6 hours in abu dhabi airport, which was quite a horrible experience. the airport is really small, but full of people. and smoking was allowed in there (either it was allowed, or people just didn't care) no interesting shops, no special area for ppl in transit... haha such a big contrast from KLIA.
sat in economy class from abu dhabi to kl. it felt... funny lol. for the first time, i saw the disparity between attendants in business and economy - big drop in standards! not just the looks, but also the service level. they didn't seem professional to me, at least cabin service in MAS economy is still commendable (MAS has the best cabin service in the world according to Skytrax, wow) to make it slightly worse, the lady sitting next to me kept sleeping so i had to bear with the urge to go toilet >_< that was really tormenting i tell you haha...
caught another sight of dawn-break on plane
reached KLIA safely, but almost an hour late. i survived the 20+ hours journey (with a sore bum)! if not for the business class treatment, i think i would have been emotionless after touching down lol. from now onwards, maybe i should just ask without embarrassment whether i could be upgraded to business class hahaha.
