It was my first time having such a long flight. 18 hours of squeezing my ass to the chair is just tiring. But over all, it was a good flight.
It started off with a bad check in Melbourne. I misread the luggage policy of having two hand luggages with 7 kilos each. So, I packed a total of 40 kilos including the 20kg check in luggage hoping I can get through. But when I reached the check in counter, the officer was saying… “No, no.. you can only have one hand luggage with maximum 7kg. I started to get nervous and gave different reasons but failed. To cut things short, I ended up throwing almost 7kg of stuff or I had to pay more than AUD1000 which is ridiculous. Time was also running short as I took so long to figure out what to throw (It took me almost 1 day to think of what to bring, so thinking of what to throw was even harder). The check in lady kept on pushing me to be faster, reminding me that it’s boarding time. In the end, I ended up with 27kg of check in luggage and 8kg of hand luggage. I think the officer took pity or something.
Well, that was the bad part, the good part is, because the time is running short, I got priority check in. The check in lady was not only hot but she was so kind-hearted. She closed the counter and brought me all the way to the boarding gate. I felt like VIP. With her, I managed to cut all the queues although they were really long. Luggage scanning, body checking, passport stamping, it’s all cut queue. I felt pretty bad but that was only 1%. Honestly, I have never felt so good before. And all the stationed officers were unusually friendly. That’s the power when you have someone with the authority accompanying you. I ended up being the second to board the plane after a handicapped lady.
The first flight was 13 hours but I got the front row seats so it was really comfortable. My legs had a lot of freedom. Up on the wall, down, then up on the chair, then down again. Just so many possible positions. The facilities and services were all really good. No wonder Qatar Airways has a five star rank. The TV is touch screen and has more than 200 movies to choose from. And they were good movies. I watched Alice in the Wonderland, Avatar and Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
My favourite machine in the plane..and it's touch screen
So, I arrived in Doha early in the morning. It’s a ‘unique’ airport. The take-off and landing field is so wide but the terminal building only consists of one block. We had to use a bus to get to and from the aeroplane to and from the terminal. And the bus ride took around 8 minutes. So that’s how big the field is. Doha is the connection point between the East and the West and most people in the airport are transferring not visiting.
The bus that brings us to the terminal
Boarding the plane here is like AirAsia
The second flight was not as fun as the first one. In the bus, a little kid was saying, “What!! There’s only one pair of engine. There’s not gonna be TV in it.” It turned out to be true. No personal TV. That kid’s smart.
Jet Airbus with no personal TV. But there's still movies though. They showed The Last Song and The Simpsons
I arrived in Barcelona Airport at 2.15p.m, their time. I was surprised when I reached the airport. It was so empty. Sunday, in Spain I heard is an off day but I didn’t know even the airport has an off day. Only one luggage claim belt was functioning. And there was no custom checking which surprises me again. Maybe the customs also don’t work on Sunday. I didn’t have to fill any forms in the plane as well. It did not seem like an international flight. But who cares right. I should be grateful it’s simple.
The least busiest airport I have ever seen. A contrast with Doha's
