Day 1.2 : Luxury in the Skies

Emirates is the only airline that I know, so far, that has showers in their A380 aircrafts. It's only for First Class though, but still, come on! That is taking luxury to another level. I kept telling my family and friends that if I get bumped up, albeit very unlikely, I am definitely taking a shower in the skies. Regardless if I needed a bath or not.

Anyway, back to showerless reality, the Emirates A380 is an experience by itself. And in premium, it's even more fun! The 'VIP' feeling begins at the departure gate where the ground crew directs you into an elevator to go up ONE floor to the First/Business Class dedicated air bridge. Yes, the A380 is so gigantic that it has two decks. The top deck is only First and Business Class while the whole lower deck is Economy. 

The top deck also has a Bar at the tail end, which is exceptionally cool because, it's a bar in a plane! Also because they provide you with snacks while you wait to use the lavatories :)

Since I'm travelling alone, I chose a window seat and I absolutely love the seat! It is not overwhelmingly big (like the Boeing), but reasonably sized to provide comfort, privacy, and it is cosy! Also it has ample storage spaces that I need not use the overhead compartments. Each J Class seat has two windows, and beneath the windows are these deep cabinets to put the larger items, like the mattress, blanket, pillows, etc. Next to the seat, you have your personal space and shelf, mini bar, the two ICE devices and the power outlets. In front of you is the wide entertainment screen, a space to put your shoes and another space where u can stow your bag. This later becomes your leg space when you go into flatbed mode, so if you have long legs, putting too many things in this space is not a good idea.

For this 14-hour flight to New York, we get two meals: breakfast after takeoff and lunch before we land. In between there are light meals at all times and snacks from the bar. I had the mixed grill for breakfast, which was pretty good, and then decided to sleep so that I can acclimatize myself to my destination time zone (at that time, it was about 3:00am in east coast US. For one thing, flatbed makes sleeping a lot easier and comfortable on the plane, compared to the usual angled recline. I think I slept for about 4 hours (I was aiming for 7 hours - a proper night's sleep but didn't managed that) and woke up feeling pretty good.

Since there is at least 2-3 hours more before they begin serving lunch, I decided to order some food off their light selections. I had a Cherry Cloutis and a cappuccino. Also I nabbed a mini bagel with cream cheese and lox from the bar. That was yummy.

As I am writing this, it is now 10:30 pm Malaysian time, 10:30am New York time, and 6:30 pm Dubai time. Lunch will be served soon and in 3 hours' time I'll be landing in JFK where the Emirates chauffeur will bring me to Morristown, NJ. And that will be the end of the Emirates experience until my return flight in 2+ week's time.

All in all, it has been a great experience, and if all my flights are like this, I would never ever mind flying long haul at all :)

Next up will be my days with the Luv in the Big Apple! Stay tuned!

p.s. I just have to state this for record: one of the odd thing that I did the most during the whole journey was brushing my teeth. I've lost count but I think I've brushed my teeth at least four times in the last 20 hours.