CATHAY TERRIFIC
August 26 Saturday 2006

I usually love flying, especially in that corny airline slogan kinda way that asks, “what’s a destination without a journey?” I enjoy the hustle and bustle of airports, the thrill of taking off and landing, and the wonder of being hundreds of miles above the ground. And no matter how routine flying becomes, I still find it exciting and glamorous; Nurses and French maid outfits have nothing on Flight Attendant uniforms *ahem.

I say, “usually” love flying, because as many of you know, I had an awful experience with Gulf Air last summer. A 23-hour long-haul flight, rotten food, no entertainment and a horrible cabin smell that makes me nauseous just thinking about it. So as you can imagine, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to going to the airport yesterday… I was dreading another “Gulf Air” experience.

Well thank the Lord for Cathay Pacific. What a quality airline. Not only have they restored my faith in flying, but the lovely lady at check-in upgraded me to “Business Class”. I feel so blessed. Indeed, I can’t even remember the last time I flew business. Business-class now, is probably like first-class back then, which is quite apt seeing as the cabin-crew are all wearing uniforms from the 1940’s as part of Cathay’s 60th Anniversary. It’s all very retro at the moment – I’m in seventh heaven!

I won’t harp on too much, but I could definitely get used to this. Loads of leg-room, my chair reclines into a bed, and the food is simply delightful. The entertainment’s not too bad either, with on-demand movies & albums and of course pretty ladies in 40’s flight-attendant uniforms tending to your every need (well perhaps not, but I like to pretend). What a great way to start my vacation… now bring on the jet-lag!

addendum: I'm typing this entry somewhere above Belgium, and for once, I don't have to worry about draining my powerbook battery - Cathay provide free power adapters for 15 brands of laptop including Mac!