Now then, here comes the fun part. As I had
mentioned, the prices we had found for $200 and 6,000 Avios (at least
originally) to Dublin and then less than $200 from there to Tel Aviv were pretty
amazing. We also had found tickets from Christchurch, NZ back to Chicago with a
stop in LA for $600. Now, we had to put it all together, a challenge that
consumed far too many hours. The goal: fly in and out of as many cities as
possible, with just under 24 hours in each one, to bring it all together.
Initially, we had a ticket on the 10th from
TLV-AMM-BAH-DXB-DOH-SIN-KUL-TWU-BKI-HKG-ADL-SYD-CHC, all in business class with
a day in almost every city, for 45,000 miles. We decided to spend two more days
in Israel, and instead we flew TLV-AMM-AUH-SIN-KUL-BKK-HKG-MEL-SYD-CHC. The
Malaysia Airlines flight in Andrew's record vanished without a trace, requiring
us to break the award. American Airlines agreed to credit us the 20,000
additional difference (which was perfect, so that we could spend Shabbat in
Bangkok), but AA failed to keep their promise. In fact, when I contacted
customer service, they saw the documentation (and a supervisor also verified it
to be so), and this was their response:
Dear
Mr. Weltman:
Thank
you for contacting American Airlines.
I'm
sorry to hear about the difficulty that you encountered with your reservation
on another carrier. In addition, I regret you have not received the miles you
were promised.
Regrettably,
Customer Relations is unable to honor your request. I'm sorry.
Mr.
Weltman, we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon.
Uh huh. Well, whatever, you win some, you lose
some. Now back to the flights.
Preflight: Dan Lounge
Terminal C
Since we didn't want to wake our hosts, we
decided to head to the airport early in order to check in during the time that
Royal Jordanian would be checking in for their evening flight on the 11th,
letting us get rid of our baggage and hang out in the Dan lounge. After the
customary security drilling at Ben-Gurion International Airport, we made our
way to the RJ counter. Instead of checking us in, however, they refused, but
after some back and forth, they agreed to put us on the waitlist for flying
that night. They didn't change the reservation, though, so changing ourselves
to the earlier Etihad AMM-AUH flight was not an option, despite 2 available
seats that had just appeared. We were handed our boarding passes and entered
the massive baggage security lines to enter the airport.
The Dan lounge was actually quite nice,
comparable (at least in my opinion) to the King David lounge there. The food
selection was simple but filling, with soup, various Mediterranean salads, and
a nice selection of breads. The white wine was also particularly tasty, and the
two of us helped ourselves to a bottle of it. We then boarded our little E-75
jet, working ashtrays in the seat and all, to Amman.
 |
| Breads 'n Spreads--I loved the eggplant dish |
The flight: RJ 343
On a flight covering less than 100 miles between
cities, most time is spent circling, as was the case here. We took off to the
west, turned 180, then headed past Amman and turned 180 again. Despite this,
the flight was still super short, forcing the cabin crew to serve drinks before
take off. In fact, while this time the seatbelt sign did go off for about 5
minutes, that was not the case on my AMM-TLV flight last year. We arrived to
Amman a bit late and bussed to the terminal.
 |
| I dread to think when this thing was purchased |
Connection in AMM: RJ Crown
Lounge
In Amman, despite our best efforts, we could not
standby to the earlier flight, as Etihad had overbooked coach by 14 seats.
Meanwhile, our bags were sitting who knows where, tagged only to Amman. So we
jumped from place to place in QAIA in Amman, eventually using my priority pass
for access to the RJ lounge, and then jumped around there as well before Andrew
found a comfy couch. It's an okay lounge--lots of space (including a way too
chilled sleeping room without and lie-flat couches) but not the biggest
selection of food. Being who I am, I failed to fall asleep, although I did get
in a short nap once he woke up the next morning. The agent at the lounge desk
was awesome and chill and a great person to talk to while I waited. Eventually,
the night's watch had ended, and we made our way to the flight.
The flight: EY 514
Postflight: Etihad Arrivals
Lounge
The arrivals lounge in Abu Dhabi is quite nice.
There is a small selection of snacks and drinks, as well as SHAVE by Etihad,
although that service is not available at all hours of the day (when we were
there at 3:30 P.M., we were told the barber would not be returning until 5:00
P.M). After a short R&R and a small stocking up of water for the journey, So with that, we headed out into the city to explore Abu Dhabi.
Half Day in Abu Dhabi:
We took the public bus to the Sheikh Zayed
mosque. It was hot. I mean, like 110+F. But the dry heat makes it far more tolerable than other locations. Since I had been there before, I was able to tell my friend some
aspects of the incredible grandeur that it had to show. (See my post
here for my prior visit to the mosque and
other places in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.) Since we were both fairly tired, we
decided to head back to the lounge in Abu Dhabi, not knowing the amazing things
awaiting us.
 |
| Okay, so the bus didn't let us off right near it...or even 15 minutes walk near it... |
Preflight: Etihad Premium
Lounge
Wow. That's all I can say. After the express
check in at the first and business class area, we were told to go to the Etihad
Premium Lounge. Luckily, we chose the one farther from our gate in terminal 3.
The lounge was expansive, and every food table had a mix of generic foods and
its own specials. Between long buffet tables, sushi, appetizers, individually
cupped desserts, a thorough bar, and so much more, we were thrilled to have
come so early. We both received a fifteen minute complimentary massage (and it
was wonderful), and Andrew went ahead and did SHAVE, costing $55 USD for a
beard trim and a haircut. It looked pretty good. We later wandered to the
terminal 1 premium lounge. It actually had a different variety of foods, but I
was more taken with the one in 3.
 |
| Near the gate--very cool architecture |
The flight: EY 470
Etihad was debuting their new B787 Dreamliner
service on their AUH-SIN route, and with some available seats at hand, this
seemed as good a time as any to try their new product out. The design was sleek
and spacious, dark colors with a golden ambiance, all in line with Etihad's
look. The flight attendants came from all over the world, a standard on these
Gulf carriers. Our attendant spoke Hungarian, while the purser, from Kenya, who
had been working with Etihad for 11 years(!), spoke Swahili. The plane was
delayed significantly, in part due to what they said was a passenger who was
too drunk and rowdy in flight and had to be escorted (not sure that was
actually the case, but someone certainly was escorted off). They additionally
had to refuel the plane due to heavy air traffic in the area and a need to
reroute further north. All in all, however, the delay was helpful, since we
were able to make use of the extra sleeping time.
 |
| Forest mushroom dish |
They were as professional as could be while
still being friendly, giving us a deck of cards to play with while we waited to
fall asleep. The IFE was fairly expansive, although I didn't spend too much
time with it. The food and plating was spot on, and they attended to our needs
and our mix-and-match of their food with our kosher meals, as they did on the
AMM-AUH route (which was very helpful, because dinner was the same as lunch and
still not Hermolis). The woman next to us was a frequent flyer of Etihad and
was amazed at this award ticket, making me feel like I at least accomplished
something through those wasted hours.
Day in Singapore:
By this point, akin to zombies due to lack of
sleep, we first tried to enter the Malaysia Airlines lounge but were denied,
since (despite having a boarding pass already from Etihad) our flight was not
until early the next morning. Instead, we left the airport for the Botanical
Gardens. Singapore just celebrated its 50th year, and there were a number of
celebratory signs and notifications throughout the country. After about 10
minutes at the gardens, we decided to just turn around and go back to the
airport to nap (which we didn't end up doing after we got back anyways).
Preflight: The Qantas
Singapore Lounge
Singapore's Changi Airport is impressive and
outstanding, and after doing a bit of souvenir browsing, we decided to see if
we could move our flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL) up from the next day to the same
day. After some standby work on the part of the wonderful agents at Changi,
they were able to do it, and off we went to KL!
The flight: MH 610
Malaysia Airlines offered a lovely short service
for the 50 minute flight. Andrew and I were separated, as they only seem to
offer one business class seat per flight for award availability. I had coach,
and they brought some drinks, snacks, and blankets around. Their uniforms were
beautiful and their attention to their customers was very well done, including
on the part of the captain. Andrew had a full meal on this short route, which
is an amazing thing to me for such a short flight. We deplaned, went straight
to the C terminals for the KL international (satellite) lounge, and sought out
their nap room.
 |
| So exciting!!! |
 |
| He took the biz seat and slept through the whole thing! |
 |
| That's for sure... |
Postflight: Malaysia
Airlines Golden Lounge (Satellite)
For some reason, when we entered the KL lounge
in the international terminal, I was more excited to see it than any other
lounge I had been to. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I thought I would
never fly MH or connect in KL. The lounge decor was very classic. It was simple
but nice. The tuna snacks were delicious, and there was a modest fruit
selection as well. People were very friendly. At some point, one of the girls
working in the spa area came up to me and shyly asked me (braces and all) to
take a picture of her. I guess she found my height amusing, and all of the
girls were giggling. I asked her to send it to me, but apparently I broke some
sort of cultural taboo, so I just gave my email in hopes that I would receive
it. No worries that it didn't.
 |
| Very old-fashioned decor |
 |
| KLIA Express |
We made our way to the nap room, a modest area
of four beds (two for men and two for women, although men slept in the two
other women's beds as well). We were instructed to sleep while we were in the
room and not watch anything, since others would also like to use the place.
Still, we were given it all night, and while again I was only able to sleep a
few hours, Andrew slept a full night. I woke him up around 8:00 to leave the
airport to go into the city, and in we went!
Day in Kuala Lumpur
The flight: MH 782
The flight was another simple 737 flight, but
this time we were together in Business Class. I must say, the guava juice was
refreshing (second only to "The Cabin" lounge in Hong Kong International
Airport). The food was a Stogel long life kosher meal, but I enjoyed it well
enough, at least more than the repetitive Etihad flights. Andrew, not much of a
connoisseur of fish, did not, and asked for something else instead, which they
happily provided. The seat backs had individual extensive entertainment
systems, which I used when I wasn't sleeping. It was overall a very nice and
simple flight, and while Malaysia Airlines currently has a bad reputation, I
can assure everyone that a. we did not disappear and b. the service is truly
top-notch.
 |
| KL Airport--very spacious feel |
 |
| MANGOSTEENS (and no idea how to peel them) |
 |
| MH's Signature Pink Guava juice |
 |
| So many islands! |
 |
| Le Kosher Meal |
Day and a half in Bangkok:
I have never, ever seen something like Bangkok.
Traffic and chaos 24/7. Endless black and bootleg markets with canopy in which
a million things could happen. If such a term would exist today, this is city
of sin if I have ever seen one. There was almost some sort of beauty in the
chaos, the fact that it was so ordinary and regular to people. As we trudged
our things from airport train to local train to cab up and down stairs, we felt
a sincere lack of control in all that we did. Also, stairs. So many stairs
(second only to our hikes in Haifa, but this was with suitcases). If there were
ever a city in which I felt like it may be worth splurging on a cab, it'd be
this one. Except that traffic is also the worst. Needless to say, neither of us
are too excited about returning, especially not for a day trip.
But, I digress. As we climbed down our final set
of stairs, meant to take us for a quick taxi ride as the sun was setting to our
hotel (little did we know...), the national anthem blared through the subway
system at 6 P.M. sharp. Everyone came to a crashing halt. It was weird and a
symbol of the military junta rule of the country, to which most tourists
are--to the credit of the government--quite oblivious. We rushed thereafter to
the taxi, waited for someone who would brave the traffic (we should've
walked!), and then hopped on for our one mile, 1.5 hour taxi ride (which cost
us about $2). Ridiculous. We rushed to our hotel right next to Chabad, enjoyed
Shabbat dinner, and then made our way to the hotel.
Our hotel, House By The Pond, was a quaint
institution, something more like apartments but with security. There was a hen
house inside, as well as a garden and pond. The bed was really hard, but hey,
we hadn't slept well in days. Bed time: 11:30 P.M. Wake up: 1:30 P.M. Some
crazy night in Bangkok.
The next day, we rolled out of bed and headed to
Chabad for lunch. I then took a walk around the city while Andrew slept. Pretty
crazy and amazing place. I headed back, we went to services and another meal at
Chabad, and then headed straight to the airport. Good we gave ourselves enough
time--the trip was long and a last-minute change call to AA at the airport to
go from HKG-ADL to HKG-MEL the next day took an extra hour or so. But off we
went, leaving the chaos (and steps!) far behind us.
Preflight: The Cathay
Pacific Lounge Bangkok
The Bangkok airport is vast. Its metal
high-vaulted ceilings only add to its massive nature. I noticed on the British
Airways website that one seat had opened on the Sunday evening HKG-MEL flight,
while another opened on the 12:10 A.M. flight the next morning. We decided to
change our route to go HKG-MEL-SYD (caught the last late afternoon flight with
2 business class seats left), entailing a long call to AA. It was quickly and
happily attended to, however, and while doing so, we made a new friend in the
airport--an American backpacker connecting from Vietnam sad to go back to the
U.S. We swapped stories as we waited on hold, and we then all proceeded
together to the business class line, got our tickets (only to HKG, since I had
a bit of a visa mishap for Australia that I sorted out in the lounge), and we
proceeded to the lounge.
The Cathay lounge was just recently revamped. It
featured a delicious noodle bar with plenty of vegetarian and non-vegetarian
options alike, a full bar, sandwiches, drinks/beers, fresh fruit
(MANGOSTEEN!!!), and some amazing people. My favorite part (excluding the
amount of chow I ate while there waiting for our now one hour delayed flight)
was the lady who couldn't understand what I was asking. Picking up two
mangosteens, I asked which one, if either, was ripe. She thought I was asking
how to open them. She took one from my hand, pressed it between her palms, and
out came the mangosteen perfectly divided latitudinally. This was a feet that,
despite our many attempts, we could not achieve. Still the food was overall
superb by all of our standards. In high spirits, we made our way to the gate.
 |
| So vast! |
The flight: CX 706
After a further delayed boarding due to a late inbound flight, we made our way onto the CX flight. Cathay was operating its new regional business. The screens were new and the cabins were new, but so was the sad lack of recline on the seats. Both of us got little sleep (Andrew managed more than me--what else is new?), but the food was good (HERMOLIS YUM YUM YUM) and the service spot-on. I've always enjoyed flying with Cathay, and this was no exception.
 |
| Good IFE |
 |
| Huge Hermolis meal for short flight |
 |
| Progressive sunrise over HKG |
 |
| Landing in HKIA |
Postflight: Cathay
Pacific's The Arrival Lounge
After deplaning, we collected our bags and
headed to check-in to see if they would put me on standby for the earlier
flight (like RJ and MH did). However, they sadly wouldn't, as the evening
flight was oversold. Luckily, there was space for 2 more business class seats
on the BA website, so I called AA and headed with Andrew to the arrival's
lounge while we waited the hour for them to answer, followed by the hour it
took to force reissue the ticket through ticketing.
The lounge itself was small. It was, in fact,
too small for its capacity. I pointed to use the shower, and the agent directed
me to the public showers outside instead of theirs. I waited five minutes and
asked a different agent, and that agent happily let me shower. I assumed that
they were full, but maybe she just didn't want to clean them? I didn't see
anyone else leave when I sat next to the shower entrance for five minutes.
Whatever. No idea. There was very little food, but it was better than nothing! After the reticketing process was completed (although only Andrew's kosher meal could be guaranteed), we made our way to check-in, rechecked our bags, and then went out to the Promenade to take in the Hong Kong/Kowloon skyline.
 |
| Shower at The Arrival |
Preflight: Cathay Pacific The Bridge and The Cabin Lounges
We slept on the A21 bus ride over to see the city (and slept), and after some deliberation, we decided to just walk around, see just a few things, and head right back on the A21 to the airport (and slept) to lounge hop.
 |
| Definitely fell asleep after this picture on the bus |
 |
| Inside the airport |
Cathay's The Cabin lounge was our first target (since the current The Pier business class lounge is under construction). I actually prefer The Cabin for its fresh juices and its fresh fish--it's the only lounge to serve these, and I really do like fish. After Andrew found that there was no food to his liking, we proceeded to The Bridge, a slightly more spacious lounge with a much better view. There, we took showers and he searched for something to eat. The noodles were dry and the selection was limited, but hey, something is better than nothing. After a while, we decided to explore the airport and then return to The Cabin so that we could nap on the benches. Guess who napped and who didn't? Still, it was a pleasant afternoon, and we were excited to be off to a brand new place.
 |
| So many airlines! |
 |
| View from The Bridge |
 |
| Always the classiest lounge bathrooms |
 |
| Our plane! |
The flight: CX 135
The Airbus 330 provides a spacious cabin atmosphere in business class with a 1-2-1 configuration. Personally, it's nothing compared to my lucky HKG-SIN route in a 77W that I flew a few years back, but it was still very nice nonetheless. Service was prompt and courteous, although the meals were kind of cold. The kosher meal ended up being really useful, since most of the dinner options and ALL of the breakfast options were items that neither of us would want to touch. Also, it was Hermolis, so it was very good.
 |
| Not bad! |
 |
| Cathay's signature mint drink |
 |
| So many forms! |
 |
| Inside the Amenity Kit |
 |
| Nice Kosher meal |
 |
| Gross cold Cathay truffle pasta |
 |
| Fatty Kosher lamb |
I spent five hours of the flight (which was slightly delayed) watching Game of Thrones Season 5, which I had barely watched before. It was awesome, although way different than the books. Beyond that, both of us were able to get some sleep, although both the beds and blankets were not half as comfy as Etihad. Also, while the purser was incredible, the flight attendants were a bit too stuffy and unwilling to bend protocol. When we found the kosher meal to be limited, the attendant put up a fuss about serving us an extra meal, although the purser was quick to dismiss that and have it brought at once. I've certainly had better service on CX before, though, but It's still an amazing airline.
 |
| Kosher breakfast--delicious! |
With a delayed arrival into Melbourne (and constant apologies), we made our way to find public transportation. We also had to pay for luggage storage, since Qantas would not recheck our luggage until a few hours before the flight (protocol, they said). And with that, off we were to see Australia! Part 3 soon to come!
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