Round The World and other travel

Flight Log 5: EK650

Dubai (DXB) - Colombo (CMB)

We passed through the First Class cabin and very quickly realised that we had been allocated an excellent pair of bulkhead seats in the forward section of Business Class. Even better, I instantly recognised the seats as the almost-flat beds that I had enjoyed so much on a Dubai-Sydney flight two years previously, which had departed at a similar time of day. It quickly became apparent that the flight wasn't going to be particularly busy, and the small section of the Business Class cabin immediately behind First Class felt quite exclusive. A selection of champagne, orange juice or apple juice was offered and we decided to stick with normal practice, despite the ungodly hour, and have a glass of champagne. This prompted delivery of the wine list, the menu and a bottle of water already being present in the seat area when we boarded.
		ABOVE: DXB is busy 24 hours a day

The captain announced the expected flight time as 4hrs 5mins and we pushed back precisely on schedule at 0245. Hot towels were distributed during the taxi and it was also during this time that I discovered some rather shocking news: on this aircraft, mobile phones could be used after take-off! We finally made it out to Runway 12R and took to the night skies at 0304.

Although the meal service was a breakfast, we had been given a wine list and decided to use it. The plan was to have a late-night cocktail, immediately followed by an early-morning breakfast - it seemed to make sense at the time! We each ordered a Martini and I was amazed and a little alarmed when they turned out to be absolutely huge. Oh well, what better way to put behind us all the shenanigans of a flight cancellation and being re-booked onto this one?

Having consumed our very substantial drinks, we snapped immediately into morning mode and examined the breakfast menu. The cabin crew demonstrated impressive flexibility in being willing to serve the food according to passengers' preferences, bearing in mind that this was Business Class and not First.

BREAKFAST		WINES
A refreshing choice of chilled fruit juices		Champagne
A palette of ripe tropical and seasonal cut fresh fruits		Moët & Chandon NV Brut Imperial
Selected fruit-flavoured yoghurts
		White
Main course		Pouilly Fuissé Tête de Cru 2009, France
- Farm-fresh egg gently poached and topped with classic light creamy hollandaise sauce, served with sautéed leaf spinach, woodland mushrooms and herbed potatoes		Metis Pascal Jolivet & Trinity Hills Hawkes Bay 2009, New Zealand
- Fresh tuna fish cooked with masala spices, served with pol roti and seeni sambal, garnished with green chilli		Red Château St. Georges 2005, St-Georges-St-Émilion, France
- Fried noodles and assorted dim sum dumplings, and bite-size chicken-shrimp siew mai with a vivid garlic-chilli sauce		Penfold's Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2008, Australia
- A gourmet selection of English red Leicester, mild crumbly Greek feta and smoked cheeses, wafer-thin beef pastrami and tender smoked turkey, dressed with an array of fresh crudités and garnishes		Port Graham's Malvedos Vintage Port 2004, Portugal

A variety of freshly baked breads, butter croissants and flaky breakfast pastries, served with butter and preserves

Black and herbal teas from around the world
Coffee brewed to order - your choice of decaffeinated, espresso and cappuccino

The tray arrived already loaded with the fruit plate, a pot of blueberry yoghurt, a roll, a croissant and some butter and jam. Although tempted by the egg, I decided that at this time of night the continental meats and cheeses might be a more palatable option. It was all pleasant enough, but it was difficult to enjoy the food properly as I felt increasingly zonked. I managed a short snooze after eating, but this was brought to an end with the distribution of landing cards and hot towels. I finally remembered to put my watch forward by the unusual time difference of 1.5 hours.

We crossed the coast of Sri Lanka and touched down at Colombo Bandaranaike at 0825 local time, arriving on stand just three minutes later. Oh, and that unwelcome innovation concerning the use of mobile phones? Perhaps not surprisingly, at that time of night nobody bothered to make use of the facility.