Round The World and other travels

A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries

This is: Round The World 2006-07

Flight Log 14 : TG417

Bangkok (BKK) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL)

OK, first things first! Somebody is sure to want to know, given that this flight is not part of my One World Explorer, what my justification was for travelling Business Class. The answer - not that any justification is necessary! - is this : because a fully flexible C ticket cost all of GBP20 more than the cheapest available Y ticket. Under such circumstances, 'Y' quite definitely = 'Why???'   (The same thinking applies to Flights 15 and 16 as well, incidentally.) 

I had been allocated seat 12A for this flight, which turned out to be the second row - it seems that Thai, like Cathay, only uses single-digit numbers when there is a first class cabin. Boarding was via Door 2, which meant a nice left turn   I was bowled over when I saw the seating, which looked ultra-modern and very spacious indeed, with only a 2+2+2 layout in the wide 777   One of the features that really appealed to me about the seats is the fact that each seat is enclosed in a hard shell, which defines its occupant's allocated space. That person can recline without, in effect, stealing space from the person behind. And just as importantly, whatever the person behind is getting up to - and heaven knows what some of them do to cause all the thumps and bumps - it can't directly transmit to your seat. Another striking feature was the large size of the individual video screens. An absolutely excellent layout

I accepted a glass of Champagne as my pre-departure drink. There was also a hot towels service and magazines and newspapers were offered from a trolley. Main course orders were taken prior to departure - I think the menus were already in the seat back pockets. 

MEAL

 

 WINES
First Course   Champagne
Mixed Salad with Prawn Pesto   Lanson
     
Main Courses   White Wines
Prawn and Scallop Thermidor, Potatoes, Buttered Broccoli and Carrot   Bourgogne Aligote
Lamb Curry "Mussaman" (lamb cooked in coconut-chilli paste with peanuts, potato and onion), Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice   W. Gisselbrecht Riesling Schiste 2002
Rolled Duck with Braised Bean Curd in Palo Sauce, Vegetable Fried Rice   Saint-Aubin 1er Cru 2003
     
Dessert   Red Wines
Sweet Taro Delight   Chateau D'Estoublon 2002
Tea, Coffee, Espresso, Cappuccino   Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003
    Marsannay Louis Latour 2000

We pushed back a few minutes adrift of the schedule at 1608, but it was a very short taxi to the runway and we were airborne at 1621. As we made our take-off run, I noticed that I hadn't been imagining things two days previously : there really is a golf course between the two runways! Incidentally, I can't imagine why whoever compiled the safety video thought it necessary to point out that lying on the floor is forbidden

The meal trays were handed out very quickly after departure and a choice of bread was offered. I sampled the garlic bread which Thai, again like Cathay, seems to do a very good job with. I had the prawn salad starter and the rather delicious lamb curry, washed down with water and a couple of glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon which, unless I'm showing my ignorance, didn't bear any relation to the red wines listed on the menu. In fairness, two of these were marked as being introduced around 20 April. Perhaps this was still a surviving bottle of the previous offering. I tried a little of the dessert - not bad - and finished with a cup of coffee.

Landing cards for Malaysia were distributed, together with passes for the Premier Lane (i.e. fast track) at Immigration, which later proved to be a very considerable benefit! A rather odd announcement was made reminding everybody on board that, under Malaysian law, the penalty for drug trafficking is death; the announcement ended with an ever so jolly, almost sung "Thank you!"   I wonder if anybody ever decides that they don't want to get off the plane

I noticed that, for just a few seconds, the 'map' channel switched to showing pictures from a downward pointing camera during the approach, but something or someone decided to give up on the idea. We touched down in KUL at exactly 1900 according to my watch and were at the gate by 1904, having obviously recovered the time lost at the start.

An after-thought : Of course, those seats that I liked so much weren't designed for a short hop like this, but rather for long-haul travel. They converted for sleeping into an almost flat, but not horizontal, layout. I didn't have either time or the inclination to try it out, but it would be interesting to see how it compares with, say, BA's Club World flat (and horizontal!) beds.


Date: Tue 25 Apr 2006
Aircraft : Boeing 777
Scheduled dep : 1600
Actual departure : 1608
Scheduled arrival : 1910
Actual arrival : 1904
Cabin : Royal Silk (Business Class)
Seat : 12A





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