Erk's Northern Hemiwanderer, June 2014

[TomVexille]

First look at my plane. I noticed PF written near the landing gear door. I didn't know Princess Fiona had a plane registered in her honour. LOL.

She is a Princess after all :mrgreen:

 

[erkpod]

It didn't take long to get above the clouds.



I reclined as soon as I could.



My first & only alcoholic drink on the plane.



Quite happy with my seat!

 

[Mal]

Oops, you forgot an AFF London meet as part of your highlights list

I am available for a catch up too. 15th June.?

 

[erkpod]

The IFE was a lot better this time in J compared to when I was last in J, on Awful MEL - PER.





Soon enough, I changed the clock on my phone to local Abu Dhabi time.



Oops. I filled in the wrong side of the card.



Checking out the bar.

 

[Flashback]

I am available for a catch up too. 15th June.?

Works for me.

 

[erkpod]

Time to get changed. From this...




to this ...



For my own amusement, I wore the PJ bag as a beanie. My FA later found that she was amused by it as well & found it cute.



After an early dinner (beef, not worth taking a photo of), I decided to go to sleep.



After a few visits to the loo, I woke up as I was flying over Oman.

 

[erkpod]

So close now as I pass over Oman.





While I was asleep, the alcohol at the bar was replaced by Arabic water.



It felt like morning (it was around 0400 Wednesday Sydney time) but it was actually around 2230 Tuesday Abu Dhabi time as I got ready to land.

 

[erkpod]

Row 5 on a VA 777 is the place to be!



Arabic chips for descent.







I was somewhat surprised to find that we had to get a bus from the plane to the terminal.

 

[markis10]

I was somewhat surprised to find that we had to get a bus from the plane to the terminal.

Pretty much the norm for VA, AUH is a hole in progress.

 

[erkpod]

I have arrived & find the combination of signs in English & Arabic interesting.







I have now arrived at my hotel.

 

[bass_ke]

Go the premier inn! I stayed at a stack of these when I was last in the UK. Cardiff was fun!

 

[OATEK]

Go the premier inn! I stayed at a stack of these when I was last in the UK. Cardiff was fun!

So was the one in Liverpool (UK).

 

[erkpod]

Flight Report
Tuesday 03 June 2014
VA29 SYD - AUH

Plane: VH-VPF

Captain: Tim
Cabin Manager: Kelly
Cabin Team Leader: Paula
Main FA serving me: Jessica

Seat: 5K

Check in: Quick, priority check in.

Customs/security: Express lane for both. Sent into the body scanner & selected for explosives test.

Lounge: EY lounge. Very new, very nice, very attentive staff. Nice plane spotting to be had. Staff member accidently spilled Pepsi on me. The steak was nice but oh so small!

Boarding: Priority boarding is usually good with VA & this was no exception. Just before the main door was shut, I waved to the ground staff on the aerobridge who waved back. One of my row mates wondered if I knew the people I was waving at.

Seat: Very nice. Could use more padding in bed mode, though.

Food: Captain Carnivore doesn't eat much on planes.

IFE: Worked well when I decided to use it.

Sleep: Slept from near Alice Springs to over Oman. Slept reasonably well. Noise cancelling headphones were awesome.

Staff: My main FA interaction with Jessica was awesome. She was polite, friendly & nothing was too much of an effort. She even tried to find Captain Carnivore some more meat.

OTR: Left Sydney close to time & arrived slightly early.

Deplaning: Being at the pointy end helps. Bus from hard standing area to terminal.

Passport Control: Little conversation/questions. No inbound paperwork required.

Luggage - Priority luggage meant nothing. Had to wait around 20 minutes for bags. Plenty of non priority bags made it before mine. One of my WP luggage tags are broken already.

Customs: Went down the green lane without issue.

To hotel: Fair walk but within the same terminal complex.

 

[erkpod]

I needed to eat before going to bed & McDonalds was closest open at 3am.







There was no way that I would get the same meal for under $7 back home (9 piece McNugget meal, upsized) which I paid 22AED here.

 

[erkpod]

Day 2
Abu Dhabi
Wednesday 3 June 2014

After about 4 hours sleep, I woke up to a hazy morning.

I went up to the swimming pool (and didn't see any swimming poo like the Agoda listing said.

The pool wasn't deep and the view was hazy. I could see the planes at the airport while standing up poolside but in the pool.

Down to reception & the free one way shuttle to downtown & Yas Island departed at 1100. It was 0830.

I got some cash & headed to get a bus into town. 4AED for a local bus wasn't bad & allowed me to look at local life enroute during the hour in the bus. Dropped off at the AUH City Terminal just up from the Abu Dhabi Mall, I went to the mall to eat.

Then there's a long, sweaty walk to the foyer of the Sheraton which is where I am now.

 

[erkpod]

After a while cooling down in the Sheraton, I ended up walking deep downtown before catching the bus down to Al Marina Mall. I offerred twice to pay the bus driver but he let me on the bus anyway. As I found out later, the city buses are a flat 2AED & the regional buses like to the airport are 4AED.

The mall was nice. I got excited when I saw there was an ice rink but it was quarter size (at most!) of the rinks I'm used to seeing lately.

After watching a water feature water featuring, I ended up getting 2 buses back to the hotel for a grand total
of 6AED.

 

[erkpod]

The view from my hotel room.



The view from the pooldeck of the airport - but only if you aren't in the pool.





Pool area

 

[erkpod]

Sundeck



The lifeguard is IN.



The buses are run by the Department of Transport. Sound familiar?



The bus arrives for downtown.



Erk, get on the bus!

 

[erkpod]

I found a seat at the back of the bus before finding a window seat later.





The A1 bus terminates at the AUH City Terminal near the Abu Dhabi Mall.



I understand that!



Melbourne hockey derby, Y U NO BE IN DUBAI?

 

[erkpod]

STOP!



Somehow the Arabic reminds me of a telegram.

I AM IN ABU DHABI STOP I DON'T UNDERSTAND ARABIC STOP THE LETTERS DON'T APPEAR TO MEAN ANYTHING STOP



Typing in Sydney?



There's a lot of men at work in Abu Dhabi. I'm not one of them.



I understand this one, too.