BANGKOK TO DUBAI TO MUNICH ON EMIRATES FIRST CLASS

A 6:15AM pickup at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, two hours in the Suvarnabhumi Airport first class lounge, first class flight from Bangkok to Dubai, then after two hours in the airline first class lounge, a second AirBus 380, largest passenger liner in world, from Dubai to Munich, a total period of around 20 hours.  Basically, we had to wake up at 4:45AM in Bangkok, and did not get to the Munich Westin Grande Hotel until 3:15AM (or 9:15PM Munich time--there is a 6 hour difference).

This was the ultimate in luxury, and a prime example of too much of a good thing.

• First, Emirates picks us up at our Bangkok hotel and drops us off at our Munich hotel.  Nice.
• The Emirates Bangkok first class airline lounge early in the morning has the full complement of food and drinks.
• First class on an Air Bus 380 features unlimited caviar and high end champagne/scotch, like Dom Perignon, Johnny Walker Blue and Dalmore.
• The TV screen is huge, video/audio selections immense and a door blocks you off from the rest of the plane.
• But why this dream itinerary was painful is me.  I drank and ate too much on the first flight.  By the time I got through the Dubai Emirates lounge, I was super satiated and had weary eyes, but did not want to sleep because I would miss this luxury.  It was, thus great, but painful.

So a few photos.  Champagne start.

First class has two showers.

The first course was caviar.  Note there are two types.  The blacker on the left and brownish to the right.

This dish alone would cost $300 in many restaurants.  Part 2 featured soup and salad.

But the Mr. Bates film, was a four-part series.  So I decided to skip this.  Later checked and Rotten Tomatoes rated it 92/94.  The problem is that every time you start something new, there is a 5-7 minute commercial.  I ended up going to a Joan Baez documentary, I Am A Noise, with RT of 96/85.  It was good.  The steak was also okay.

Note those three glasses of whisky.  Earlier on I had a taste test of, from the left, Dalmore, Chivas 21-year old and Johnny Walker Blue Label.  They brought a fourth, but this was a bourbon.

The wines were a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon  Blanc and a French Bordeaux.

Our plane landed on time in Dubai.

We were greeted as we left the cabin by an Emirates staffer, who walked us to the First Class Lounge.  We never would have found it.  It took several elevators, while bypassing two check-through stations.

I asked whether they had any connection to an American plug, and just behind me was a pole of anything you might want to charge.

However, there was no menu, just one of those QR Code systems.  Learned that the items included wagyu burgers, foie gras, etc.  The whiskies included Blue Label and Dalmore.  What you see is the end of the wagyu burger.  Better assortment of cuisine than most fancy restaurants.

Boarded our second Airbus 380 and ordered a Kir Royale.  The champagne was Dom Perignon

Then had a beer with an 8-year old Sauternes, plus movie snacks.

Arrived in Munich, went through customs, and waiting for us was the Emirates driver to take us to the Westin Grand, a large hotel with 627 rooms.  Thus, all went well with anything related to Emirates.  Turns out that a taxi ride to town would have cost us around $150, which we'll need to pay in a few days for our flight to Copenhagen.  Maybe Frankfurt is a better transfer option, for there is a Sheraton at the airport.

At this point everything went askew.  The room we got was too hot.  At 9:30PM we asked for another room, and this one too had a problem.   Turns out that every room has this defect, for much of Europe has a two-week period during a season change, and the air-conditioning system does not work.  We asked about an adaptor to link our American plug, and the response was to buy one in the lobby shop.  No where in the world was this a problem, for the hotel normally loans this device.  Had to purchase one for $16.

The shower was too tiny, like being on a cruise.  We were totally dissatisfied, so made up our minds to take the penalty, leaving this hotel and flying to Denmark early, depending on how good the breakfast buffet and evening cocktail lounge were here.  Well, breakfast was fabulous.  Not quite up to what we had in the Orient, but not bad at all.

So now we await how good the Club Lounge is to determine how long we stay in Munich.  We have unique reasons for doing what we do.

My pedometer showed 9121 steps.

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