To Egypt and Back 2: Airport Drama and Towards Dubai

Fridays are always lazy. I always feel like sleeping till 12 PM on Fridays. But I never manage to do so due to my dad. He always wakes me up at around 9 AM, and asks me to join the family for breakfast. In most cases I have to comply, but on this particular Friday, nobody called me. I myself woke up at around 10 AM. Both my mom and sis (inspired by mom) started to tell me that I really should get a hair cut before traveling. I was feeling lazy and had no intention of doing so, which created a domestic chaos. Eventually, out of sheer irritation and boredom, I went out to get a haircut.

Actually the haircut felt good, and I was also saved from shaving on my own. Once again it was proved that parents are almost always right (!).

I wanted to reach the airport by 5:30 PM, but I actually managed to reach there by 6:15 PM. I said goodbye to my mom, sis and dad; all of them came to drop me at the airport. I didn't feel emotional at all. I seldom do.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to meet my companions at the Emirates business class queue. There are usually two queues for business class passengers, but that day one of them was totally occupied by a handful of Army personnel. Some defence big shot was traveling to Dubai, and hence one queue was blocked by them. As a result of this, a big rush was present in the other queue managed by a pretty young lady. Well, what more can you expect when "they are the boss"?

My colleagues checked in faster, as they stood in the line before I arrived. Seeing me, the "ticketing" lady started saying "This queue is only for business class passengers. Economy class passengers please go to the other queue". I pretended not to hear her. She repeated the same, but I didn't leave. She wasn't actually saying this to me. It was a general announcement. Eventually everyone in front of me checked in, and I handed over the business class e-ticket to her. I will never forget the embarrassed look she gave after seeing the ticket. She couldn't believe that a business class passenger can actually show up wearing t-shirt and jeans. She was desperately trying to avoid eye contact with me. I could've, and probably should've insulted her badly for judging people by their attire. There's no dress code for business class passengers, and many people travel in casual ware.

She looked like a haughty English medium student (no offence to my friends of the same background), who has little or no idea about social etiquette. Probably she didn't tackle so many passengers before; and to be honest, I was least bothered. I just wanted to get done with the formalities and get inside the departure lounge. As I've written before, I was really tensed and an unwanted commotion was the last thing I'd like to create. The good part is that me and my colleagues had a big laugh after this drama was over and the lady had to hear it all. Our laughter must have pierced her like arrows from a bow. That was better than any trivial insult that I could impose on her by filing a complaint.

Couldn't have started the journey in a better way!

After getting our boarding passes, we went to the business lounge. En route we met the Bangladeshi contact person from the hosts of the conference. He was traveling in the economy class, and hence he couldn't join us in the lounge. This was my third visit to the business lounge in Zia International Airport. The arrangements are pretty good, I must say. You get food and drinks for free. However, alcohol refills aren't given--just for the record! We had some snacks and soft drinks till our aircraft started boarding the passengers.

Once the boarding call was announced, we grabbed our stuff and headed towards the departure gate. I once again encountered that same lady whilst boarding the plane. She again avoided eye contact. Oh well--as soon as I boarded the aircraft, thoughts of an unknown, arrogant flight attendant disappeared fast, and the unpleasant images were replaced by thoughts of excitement and anticipation.

It didn't take me too much time to find out my seat in the business class. Surprisingly enough, I found an elderly woman sitting beside me. I have got used to traveling alone. I did not have a companion in my last two international flights in the business class. However, this time around, I had to share the flight with this woman. She was sick and had a weak tone in her voice. I inquired and found out that she is going to the states for treatment purposes. After a while she started looking for her son and daughter in law. None of them were to be seen. I assumed they have taken economy class tickets.

Seating Plan in an Emirates Flight

Initially I was sitting in the left column (right in the pic), fourth row, and my colleagues were sitting in the right column. After the aircraft took off, I found that the mid column business class seats were empty. So I relocated myself near to my colleagues. This is a common phenomenon; business class seats are often empty on outbound flights from Dhaka. I've found empty seats in my last two travels as well. At first I was feeling a bit guilty for leaving the elderly woman alone. In fact I was planning to go back to my seat. However, soon her daughter in law and son came, and the daughter in law sat beside her for the remainder of the journey. It was kind of like an abuse, as she held an economy class ticket. But as the elderly lady needed assistance, the flight attendants couldn't say anything. I saw her enjoying all the added benefits of the business class with pleasure and ease. And yes, business class does have its share of benefits. I realized that when I had to take an economy class flight on my way back. Will be told in due time!

There was a small TV inside the side rest of the seat. The seat had full reclining facility.

Business class seat

In the pic, the TV is being shown as an attachment to the front seat. But this is not the case anymore for business class passengers--this is just a google pic I downloaded. The TV resides in the side rest, and it can be rotated and moved in different locations for convenient viewing. The TV has touch screen facility, and there are hundreds of movies, TV series, albums, radio stations, cartoons, games, etc. for entertainment purpose. There is also a small remote control, which can be used as a gamepad for playing the games, and it can also work as an ordinary remote, if you're fingers are too sore for the touch screen controls! There is also a movable reading light attached with the seat. That can be used when all other lights are turned off.

Soon after I relocated, an air hostess came and gave me the beverage and dinner menu. A colleague of mine recently traveled via Emirates. He asked me to try out the Bloody Mary drink. So without thinking, I asked for it. I also ordered a "mixed grill", which was the only "non-Indian" dinner choice of that night. I wasn't really up for an Indian meal at that moment. The Bloody Mary was soon served. It's basically vodka with tomato juice. I really like this drink. It's one of my favorite cocktails. Probably due to lack of skill on the air hostess's part, the drink didn't taste good at all. The success of this drink totally depends on the right mixing of vodka and tomato juice, and she got it all wrong. The mixed grill was pretty good, with medium pieces of beef and lamb served with vegetable and sauces.

I had my dinner, and spent the remainder of the flight experimenting with the entertainment box, aka TV. At first I fiddled with the hundreds of music CDs they offered. I listened to Led Zeppelin, Frank Sinatra, Doors, Beatles and some other random artists. Then I started watching my favorite TV series, friends. They had 7 episodes of Friends, from different seasons. I watched them all. I also saw three episodes of Joey and two of Scrubs. I liked scrubs; maybe I'll buy the DVDs some time.

After long, tedious six hour flight, we landed in Dubai airport. The airport looked awesome from outside. Although it was almost an eight hour transit, we decided that instead of going to the hotel, we will spend the night in the business lounge of Emirates, which will enable us to look through the duty free shops of the airport.

Me, R and S were traveling together. I and R had lots of fun walking around the airport. It really is a magnificently built one. It was long past midnight, and I'll talk about it in my next entry.