The Emirates Experience

So oddly enough the cheapest flight from Cape Town to Seattle (To meet my family on vacation) was with Emirates…top ranked airline in the world. A nice night flight from Cape Town to Dubai (10 hrs) followed by a 4 hour layover followed by a 14 hour flight to Seattle via the arctic route. Long story short, Emirates is unreal, defs consider flying with them!

The longer version…

Flight 1
Had an unchangeable middle seat but nobody annoying around, in fact the lady beside me checked to see if I needed to go to the toilet often which was nice. Meals were great, I had hake and veggies for dinner and a continental brekky.

Friends on my tour informed me that all ….all…beverages on long haul flights were included….which I either slept through on my flight to Sydney or Air Canada sucks…but I got well tipsy on some “Flying Solo Viognier” The flight was even a bit early arriving in Dubai, we had to re-do security which was annoying until I felt a bit better about it on the second flight.

Layover
Did you know that if you have a layover over 4 hours Emirates gives you a meal voucher?
I didn’t either…shockingly…anyway I went to pay and the guy saw my boarding passes and told me to go to the transfer desk. Turns out I got a massive grilled baguette sandwich, brownie, and large flat white at le Pain Quotiden. Other options included thai, indian, mediterannean, or buffet food!

Also, the Dubai Airport is MASSIVE. I’m pretty sure it took me a solid hour to go end to end checking out the different food options I had for my voucher. And its packed…it makes LAX look lame.

Flight 2.
So, I.m happy…I have my aisle seat, they have better entertainment…touch screen instead of channels. We are all ready to go, I have my second flight pack with socks, touth brush, eyepatch, and stickers to identify whether I’d like to be awaken for food or duty free or not at all. then…

“Ladies and gentlemen this is the pilot speaking. Unfortunately we’ve had a few individuals decide not to take our flight to seattle today. Due to safety regulations we must now rescan baggage and remove theirs from the aircraft. Thatnk you for your patience.”
[3 different, 2 visibly muslim, 1 middle eastern people scurry off of the plane]

Now, I like to think I wouldn’t care….but when you’re flying between Afghanistan Independence day and a Full moon from Dubai to America and 3 people who historically dislike the states and are currently having some serious turmoil in their home countries (passports were seen)….decide for whatever reason they want off the plane youre about to ride for over half a day ….you panic.

Anyway, I quadruple checked the satelite phone setting, did some calming breathing and managed to somewhat compose myself.

This flight was leaving at 9 am locally…so for most people not on a connecting journey it was ‘morning’…i however got 2 bottle of vodka with my OJ for breakfast followed by a self created wine tasting for the remainder of the flight. The flight attendants were amazing… I hung out with them for a while while the kid behind me played footsies with my chair over and over again and the mother thought I was a bitch for caring.

Anyway it was great overall, the staff were great…My biltong got revoked at customs, but otherwise a trip including 15 countries prior to the united states didn’t hold me up too much.

Now I’m in seaside, running the prom daily, and forgetting I ever left. The family is always the same, but friends at home will be interesting…I’m already getting invites I can actually attend and randoms seeping from the woodwork…more importantly I’m looking for jobs, that’s making it all get real, real fast.

Hello Sydney!

Good news, my tarot card reader was incorrect about me needing to know plane crash over water precautions. That being said, the flight here was far from pleasant. It’s slowly becoming my life goal to create an airplane policy disallowing children under the age of five from flying. There were 6 infant/toddlers on my flight, 5 of which were a direct block away from me. ’nuff said. In addition, I would like to point out that if you have the middle seat in a three row aircraft please alternate which of your row-mates you disturb to go to the washroom. AND if you are like me and go to the washroom every hour, be thoughtful and proactive enough to book an aisle seat.
Side note: My logic in needing the aisle…a) I do actually go to the washroom every hour in real life and in the air. b) After working in an anti-coagulant unit and seeing the amount of DVT from overseas travellers I insist on getting up to walk or stand often. c) In the case of a mild crash you are furthest from the exterior part of the plane that would get damaged d)in case of evacuation/simply getting off the plane, you are first.

Anyway, I am here! My roommate from first year, Katie, was gracious enough to pick me up at the Sydney airport and let me crash with her for a few days which is much more comforting being in a ‘foreign’ place. ” used because for being as far (15 hours) as it is from Canada, it’s not much different at all. Its like a hybrid of Vancouver and Paris. Mostly I’ve almost died a solid dozen times today because cars get the right of way over pedestrians, and driving on the opposite side of the road leaves me checking the wrong direction for oncoming vehicles. On that note, I keep thinking cars are driving themselves. I did manage to walk down to Coogee Beach today to see the other side of the Pacific. B-e-a-utiful. I must also say it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. I found a lot of cafes hiring, but I really don’t know that I want to live in Sydney. I feel like it would be more sweet to live in a smaller town slash living in the 2nd most expensive city in the world is a terrible way to save money… then again, there may not be work elsewhere, time will tell.

Quick travel notes. They have 3 different phone carriers at the Sydney airport. As long as you have an unlocked phone or an unlock code you’re good to go. SIM cards are free and you can get a 10 dollar pay as you go plan where all text including intnl is 15c and calls including intnl to Can are 7c a minute. You can add on data for $5. I also went to the bank, decided to go with Commonwealth. Banking requires a passport and address. Fees range from 4-10 dollars per month but are waived if you deposit 1000 per month as an under 25, or if you deposit more than 2000 per month as an over 25. The tax file number, which is like a SIN number (for you Canadians) can be ordered on line but needs to be sent to an aussie address, so get that then apply. It takes 2 weeks to get. You can work during that time but you are subject to 45% Taxation instead of 10.

Tomorrow is off to the harbour!