Around the World...in 15 Days

(Originally drafted May 8th, 2017; however, was not able to be posted through Blogger and was subsequently copied and pasted here) 

Thanks to an uncertain employment situation, a recent move back to Toronto, a (somewhat) less expensive deal that was offered from Flight Centre, I am on my way "around the world" on a set of long haul flights.  Although the cities were pre-selected, the flights with exception of Toronto to San Francisco, are all on Singapore Airlines, of which I have read and heard a lot of positive things.  I have never flown before with this airline (and thankfully, part of the Star Alliance for Aeroplan points!).  

The successive cities are as follows: Hong Kong, Bali, Singapore, Frankfurt and New York. All are cities/countries I have never travelled through before (with exception of New York), which was another reason in taking on this travel schedule.  

As I leave from Toronto (YYZ), I have a connection in San Francisco (SFO) before the 14 hours and 20 minutes flight to Hong Kong.  Currently I'm on the only Air Canada leg to San Francisco, and as I normally do on Air Canada flights I try to watch the film choices under Franco Cinema (some to improve my listening ear, others are in English sub titles so I can fall asleep with ear plugs in and not the crappy ear phones to listen).  The movie I caught was called "Votez Bougon" and even in English sub titles the outrageous political themes and concepts will strike a nerve.  The movie is about a motley family on welfare with variously checked they pull to "increase their wealth" on a temporary basis. After much whinging and complaining at the TV, the always dishevelled, Molson Export drinking M. Bougon suddenly finds himself on a talk show spewing his complaints of political corruption coming from a place of real life experiences and mops up a long time serving Quebec politician on a well known talk show. From there a blue collar party was formed, an intentionally phallic party name chosen and his unlikely election campaign results in him becoming premier. 

A few words about the SFO on the 14 hours and 20 minutes flight to Hong Kong....

Singapore Airlines: I'm a Big Fan

My first time flying with Singapore Airlines and I'm now their biggest fan. From the moment I walked on to the plane awash in its distinct shades of green and brown I knew the 14 hr 20 min flight would be less daunting than I expected.  As I shuffled through the high back, regal looking chic business class chairs toward row 40, I immediately wanted to fly more, anywhere, just to have enough points for any business class flight that Singapore Airlines goes.

The economy seats were a somewhat modern take with a decent size monitor and a handset below, rendering the foldable pull out table a little lower than most planes or North American short haul flights. Along with accessible power,  USB and ear phone abilities, the foldable table has the normal indent for a cup or glass as well as a mirror with a cover that slides over it. Genius. Upon boarding, we were handed a decent pair of fitting ear phones (without the annoying extra $3.00 charge).

The movies and entertainment options exceeded all expectations.  I think I read or saw (it was a long, long flight) to review the thousands of choices (movies, music, pod casts, games, TV shows) "ahead of time" on their app...before your even board the plane!  After scrolling through the hundreds of titles I landed on the entire Star Wars series.  Flying on the longest flight I have bee been on I could budget for the original trilogy (IV, V and VI) and began watching those.

Before take off, the efficient and friendly stewardesses were darting around assisting passenger dead once seated handing out hot towels.  Later, and even more efficiently, a solid dinner was served of corn bean medley, beef, mashed potatoes, banana loaf/cake and tea.

After everyone had their late dinner and the trays taken away, most, like me, settled into their movies...then sleep.  The cabin was kept extremely dark versus other over night flights.

A New Hope done. The Empire Strikes Back next...