Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 4 : EK94

Milan Malpensa (MXP) - Dubai (DXB)

I was one of the first passengers to board and quickly settled into 8K, a bulkhead seat in the second Business Class cabin. The seats were of the cradle type, rather than convertible beds, but frankly that seemed perfectly adequate for a flight of some five to six hours. I was quickly offered a choice of orange juice, apple juice or Champagne and decided to be content with apple juice for now. After all, I had a very long journey ahead of me, with plenty of remaining opportunity to sample something a little stronger. As I sipped my juice, I noticed that a bottle of water, my IFE headset and a pillow, cushion and blanket had already been placed in the seat area. The initial wave of boarding soon dried up and we were down to a trickle of stragglers by 1510. Unusually, a cabin baggage check took place as the overhead bins were being shut, with passengers asked to identify their carry-on items. This was followed by a rather more conventional round of nicely scented hot towels, which I could smell before they appeared in the cabin.

We were ready to go by 1520 and with a flight-deck announcement giving the expected journey time as 5hrs 35mins, due to a strong tail wind, an early arrival into Dubai seemed likely. We needed to be patient and await air traffic control clearance, however. During the delay, a cabin crew member invited my seat-mate to consider moving over to the block of three empty middle seats, an opportunity that he showed little hesitation in taking. Although he seemed a perfectly agreeable chap, it was obviously good news to be able to enjoy a bit of extra personal space. In the event, we didn't manage to push back until 1535, despite being ready so early. After taxiing out to Runway 35R, we eventually made it into the air at 1555 local time.

First order of business once established in the cruise was distribution of socks, eyeshades, menus and wine lists. After a scan of the latter two items, I decided to familiarise myself with the very promising-looking 'ice' IFE system by listening to a selection of Schubert piano music. A drinks round followed and I elected to sample the Champagne. A choice of nuts or canapés was offered. I had only ever seen canapés offered in First Class previously and took them for the sheer novelty value. The full menu was as follows:

DINNER		WINES
CANAPES		CHAMPAGNE
Selection of cold canapés		Taittinger Brut Reserve NV
APPETISER		WHITE WINE
Soy cured salmon, served with green asparagus salad and cilantro crème fraiche		Viré Clessé 2008, Jean-Claude Boisset
Chicken tonnato: wafer-thin chicken slices, served with a creamy tonnato sauce, topped with sun-dried tomato, caper and olives		Le Cap Maritime Sauvignon Blanc 2008, South Africa
SALAD		RED WINE
Seasonal salad served with a choice of dressings		Tourelles de Longueville 2003, Pauillac
		Mas La Molat 2006, Priorat, Spain
MAIN COURSE
Fish curry: red fish curry served with fragrant lemon rice and mixed vegetable jalfrezi, garnished with a deep fried red chilli		PORT
		Graham's Late Bottled Vintage, 2003
Roasted chicken breast served on a creamy pumpkin mash, accompanied by potato strudel and cherry tomato
Artichoke ravioli tossed in a creamy Parmesan sauce, served with sautéed button mushrooms and shaved Parmesan cheese
Viennese Tafelspitz: veal braised in a flavoured stock, served with steamed root vegetables, turned potatoes and sautéed fresh spinach
DESSERT
Tamarind chocolate tart served with a light Mascarpone cream
Raspberry sweet curd soufflé, served warm with crème Anglaise
BREAD
Bread basket: a variety of freshly baked rolls and garlic bread
CHEESE
International cheese selection
FRUIT
Fresh seasonal fruit
BEVERAGES
Tea: Ceylon, China, Earl Grey, Camomile
Coffee: freshly brewed, decaffeinated, espresso and cappuccino
Chocolates

I had the salmon and salad, sticking with the Taittinger for these, and for my main course I chose the chicken and the South African white. I finished off with a selection of cheeses, served with crackers and vintage port - how very civilised! - followed by a coffee. It was an enjoyable meal - about as good as it gets in Business Class. A further round of hot towels followed immediately when the trays had been cleared away. During the meal I'd been listening to a performance of Beethoven's 5th Symphony and was momentarily aghast at the hiatus between the conjoined third and fourth movements, simply caused by the way that the music had been transferred into the computerised system. Talk about scrambling for the controls!

After that, I reclined my seat a little and watched the classic Marilyn Monroe movie Niagara, one that I had seen many times on TV as a child but had never encountered since then. Next, I sipped an apple juice and listened to a selection of music as we passed high above the troubled country of Iraq. A final coffee and a third hot towel marked the end of the excellent in-flight service, as I picked out the lights of Bahrain during our descent (with the help of an announcement from the flight deck, I hasten to add!) We touched down at the airline's home base at 2327 local time and were parked up on-stand within a mere three minutes. The local temperature was 31C.

Date: Tue 18 May 2010
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Scheduled dep: 1530
Actual departure: 1535
Scheduled arrival: 2335
Actual arrival: 2330
Cabin: Business Class
Seat: 8K



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