Singapore Airlines!
Michael Altschul
me with similar desires to miss my next flight -- just so crazy
different in this-a-here Eastern land. It's like my first time in
Europe when every little thing grabbed my attention. Just snaped a
photo of an escalator that you enter on the left, instead of right.
Singapore gets massive bonus points for giving me a free crab (some
bizarre celebrate our food promo), having an atrium with koi and
orchids in the terminal, and thousands of Julies walking around (tall,
beautiful Asians seem to be a rarity, and somehow Singapore Airlines
has hired every one of them -- save one in SF! -- to steward the
planes).
Okay, I need to dive further into this Singapore Airlines thing. I
step foot on my flight and I thought, "So what's the big deal?" (I've
heard from 3 different, well-traveled peeps that SA is the best).
"Okay, so cute girls, but this doesn't seem *that* special." Then I
arrive at my seat and that observation is slightly tainted. "So I get
stuck with a dude manning my section, now I'm really not impressed.
Equal opportunity me arse!" Well, within 15 minutes I understood the
SA allure. The steward(esse)s are all quietly confident with a high
degree of class and professionalism; their kindness knows no limits,
nor do the number of smiles. What a stark counterpoint to US
airlines. And something about that group of steward(esse)s'
professionalism and leadership permeates down to the passengers. Such
a smooth flight to Hong Kong, not one mishap. Oh, and did I mention
the complimentary warm towels, shaving kit and toothbrush (pity the
guy next to me never used his!)? Three cheers for SA!
Then there was a slight mishap. Our flight to Singapore was queued to
depart on-time when some drunk moron refused to sit down. Yes, that
was the explanation...go figure. "Ah, ladies and gentlemen...we will
return to the gate to drop off a passenger who refuses to sit down."
I later overheard a steward use the word "intoxicated." Thanks to Mr.
Intoxicated, Mike missed his flight to Jakarta and a 3 hour layover
ensued. But, to SA's credit, the moment I got off my flight, they had
my new boarding pass and flight waiting for me. Wow. What all this
means is that I will most certainly need to spend tonight in Jakarta.
I had seriously considered just hopping on another plane to Yapyakarta
and starting my travels there, but that won't be possible now. Oh
well...
So, everything's great, my spirits are high, and I'm psyched for
Indonesia (learned to count to 100 and mapped out an itinerary on the
flight)!!!
Love you all, more to come...