The Flight

7th August 2010 - The Flight

Hello USA!

This is my first business trip overseas and it's great to visit the US for the first time!
Well it didn't come with some "minor" challenge in our flight from PEN - KLIA - Hong Kong - LAX - Texas and finally Tampa, Florida. The total flight took us more than 34 hours! Ouch! We had 2 hours of delay in Hong Kong due to heavy rain. Because of the first delay, its a domino effect for the rest of the flights. When we reached LAX after a jet lagging 13 hours from Hong Kong, American Airline had a technical issue where the oxygen masks in the plane popped out and they can't put them back. Hmm...It's about 3AM (yes we were in the airport since midnight) before we get to fly. It was morning when we reached Dallas, Texas. Due to the delay, we had to wait another 4 hours before our flight to Tampa.

OK, let's leave the mess behind and get to the good part.

Well, we had some time in Hong Kong. So the moment we stepped out of the plane, we had the famous mango pudding in the airport. Yum!

Then, we took a taxi out

This is my 2nd time in Hong Kong and I didn't had a very fun experience last time. The moment I stepped outside, I was greeted by the hot and stuffy air. Then, the skyscrapers loomed at every corner.

Thankfully Hong Kong offers really good food especially its Dim Sum. Slurp!

And amazing shopping malls

I discovered that everything is fine until I stepped out of the air conditioned mall or restaurant. The heat is really torturing and I can't really breathe. The air made me felt nauseous. Then, I developed a bad headache. Which made me wanted to throw up each time I am outside. As you can see, there's no more pictures taken as I think I sort of "blacked-out" until we reach the airport.

I think I was seeing Tweety bird as I stepped out from the public bus that took us round & round before dropping us to the airport (thank you for making my headache worse). Then the heat wave hits again and I almost wanted to pass out until my boss had to carry my luggage for me. Oops!

Thankfully, we were in Business Class where we had a cozy lounge for R&R. There's a section where you can sit on the lazy chairs and just LOUGE!

Free flow of juices, coffee, tea, beer, soft drink, sandwiches, fruits, cakes, Dim Sum etc. You can get the chef to whip up the noodle of your choice or go ahead and order your favorite drink from the bar.

Done eating? Go take a nice shower when the light blinks. I love the private minimalist-Zen style shower room & the Dermalogica shower essentials. The shower is big enough to store your luggage without getting them wet

By that time, I felt so much better and ready to fly with Cathay's so comfortable "fish-bone" seat! Remember that time when you are in a plane and need to go to the washroom? You gotta squeeze through or make the other people get out of their seat just to get out. It's even worse if the person is an elderly or sleeping peacefully away! With this seat, you can get in & out of the seat without disturbing anyone. It allows me to sleep flat and inclines up to watch my personalized TV offering hundreds of songs, latest movies, games, etc. One channel shows the outside camera installed underneath the plane. It's interesting to see the plane leaving the runway just like the pilot.

So I drowned myself with a glass of Champagne offered to me and I slept like a baby.
I heard dinner was served but I really can't wake up or put anything in my mouth without having the feeling of throwing up

Before I knew it, it's morning. I refreshed myself in the first class washroom equipped with Dermalogica and Avene. Breakfast is served!

That's the starter

Then the main course

It's morning now. We are nearing US and I can see some weird design on the flat land below.

The sky was so clear I get to capture a stadium from above

Here we are in Dallas, Texas.When we reached Dallas, the first thing we did was to find the lounge to get a good bath. I would say the American Airline First class lounge in Dallas, Texas is the best I've seen so far.



After 4 hours lounging here, it's time to take the final connection flight to Tampa, Florida. Phew!