Hello Asia

We made it, after 2 flights, 9 hours in the air, and 36 hours of total transit time sans sleep, we are in Bangkok. Wooohooo! Kelsey's leaning on the elephant because she can hardly stand up, showing a little fatigue.

We took our first flights with Emirates Air, which is our main carrier for this trip. We had heard that Emirates is the best airline in the world for services in the air. Our first flight, from Athens to Dubai was the maiden voyage for one brand new Boeing 777-300ER. This plane must have been featured on MTV's "Pimp My Ride" because it had all the BLING BLING you could ask for, especially if you're asking from economy class.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but we wanted to show you our favourite airplane meal so far. Under the foil is a delicious main course of grilled perch in a dill sauce, asparagus, eggplant, and tagliatare noodles. Around the main course (clockwise) is a fresh bun, an appetizer salad, greek salad, cheesecake dessert, complimentary wine, water, and REAL cutlery! To top off the meal, we finished with tea and chocolate. We knew we weren't on Air Canada the moment they handed us a menu!
The inflight entertainment on this plane is a party. Your personal touchscreen computer with AC outlet and USB port also comes with a 2 sided remote control. The side showing is a satelite phone, along with TV controls. Flip it over and you'll find a nintendo style game controller and a full keyboard for typing emails etc. BUT, this is not just meat with no potatoes. Turn it on and you'll find a list of at least 25 current movies, TV episodes from MASH to LOST, a virtual arcade, news and info from BBC, tons of music including new albums from Radiohead and Arcade Fire, and onboard cameras showing views from the front and bottom of the plane as well as your classic animated flight tracker.

We saw the flight attendants getting a PEP talk at the gate before boarding. From the onboard service we recieved, we thought it included "Let's make this maiden voyage the BEST TRIP EVER!" or "There's an airline review guy onboard somewhere, so DON'T SCREW IT UP!" To top it all off, there was a major tailwind, so it was the fastest flight EVER made by Emirates from Athens to Dubai.

NOW, our connecting flight from Dubai to Bangkok, (still with Emirates) was a completely different situation. Our plane was what we'd call "a classic" aka "old". The service was terrible. They missed a meal entirely. Our malfunctioning tiny tvs had very limited selection and the seats were very uncomfortable. We landed as sore and dehydrated waifs in Bangkok. In one day, we think we saw the best and the worst Emirates has to offer.

Bangkok

Now that we are semi-recovered from our jetlag, we are taking in the first sights and smells of Bangkok. We haven't done much yet, but it's warm and welcoming. Kelsey's experiencing her first taste of Asia and Ty's excited to show her around.
Sawadee Kaa,

K & T