Not to be outdone by ANA’s Pokemon jet, UA now issues their 747s window shades so the dashboards wont be dried out by the sun when the plane is parked.
Do you suppose the headrests have doilies and there’s a keychain alarm?
This was the plane that flew me back to SFO from HKG. My SWU finally cleared when I landed HKG from SIN. Too much excitement for an upgrade…
Speaking of excitement, there was a passenger who decided to give the HKG based crew grief BEFORE TAKEOFF. Apparently he did not approve of the contents of the kosher meal he special ordered. AFAIK, on UA, you get to order the type of special meal, not the contents. This ain’t SQ and you can’t Book the Cook with any other airline but. Anyway, he kept name dropping “Global Services” every 15 seconds and threatened to get off the plane (which he should have done). The captain had to come out of the cockpit to read the riot act to this bozo, who because of his shenagans, prevented the cabin crew from locking down the plane for takeoff. The bozo (which shall be his name now) tried the “Global Services” namedrop but the captain simply said, “I don’t know and I don’t care about what Global Services is, my job is to fly this plane which is now late for take off. Do you want to get off the plane?”
After seeing that namedropping Global Services meant nothing to the captain, bozo shut up and takeoff resumed. Apparently, bozo lived in San Francisco. He was full of smug and was heading home (how appropriate!). I found it interesting he gave far less grief to the non-HK based crew on the plane. Typical. When we landed, I made it a point to shake the captain’s hand and to extend my support for his actions. He and the cockpit crew appreciated the gesture.
My good deed of the week…
The infamous ANA Pokemon Jet…
Last week, I wound up at Tokyo Haneda (HND) Airport for a short hop to Sapporo via New Chitose Airport (CTS) for a few days. Besides reveling at the fact that HND is a MUCH nicer airport than NRT and that their observation deck has a snack bar, I found this travesty at the gates.
Yes, it’s THAT jet…the ANA Pokemon Jet.
I shouldn’t have said anything because that jet became MY jet for the 1.5 hour flight to CTS. Here’s the obligatory close up of one of the most silliest liveries to grace a Boeing 747-400.
It shows that ANA has a sense of fun, since there is one other Pokemon jet in the fleet as well as a flying panda and a couple of Snoopy based jets as well. You want Kitty-Chan? You’ll have to fly EVA for that one!
Inside, the head rests were covered by Pokemon covers but otherwise, it was standard ANA in the rest of the cabin. No cabin attendants dressed up as Pikachu. Service was pretty good for a short hop. Apparently, the HND/NRT-CTS route is one of the busiest in the world and the loads are so high that they regularly fly jumbos on this route. They also fly itty bitty CRJs on this route as well, which was my return flight into NRT. There’s something not very nice about a plane where you can’t even stand up straight in the aisle!
This route is also hella expensive unless you get the mega discount 8 weeks ahead fare and then it’s close to 30000 yen. I got a round trip with two weeks advance for 22000 yen and got UA MP EQM for the flights on top of it. How? I purchased the ANA Skypass before I left the US. Info here (why should I type it when I can link it)?
Asia Beckons
Now that I’m used to spending at least 10 hours on a plane again, it’s time to plan my return to Asia…
The world famous BMW Museum Featuring cars, motorcycles and engines (marine and aircraft). Part 2
I chose to break this up into two parts because there’s a lot of photos.
The 507 gets a special nod here. Not only because it’s probably one of, if not the most beatutiful BMW ever made, it was a car that helped put BMW on the map in the 1950s. This model was also imported to the USA in small quantities which helped establish the brand there.
And here’s the Z8, the modern interpretation of the 507.
The 02 series was BMW’s first mass market seller and put them on the map. It saved the company and as befitting such an important model, it gets its own space.
There’s so much more to see here…need to return.
BMW Museum
Am Olympiapark 2
80809 Munich
The world famous BMW Museum Featuring cars, motorcycles and engines (marine and aircraft). Part 1
The draw here, for those of us not collecting a car for European Delivery, is the Museum.
When you enter, there is this mobile of every model that BMW has made over the years. The museum consists of two main parts, motorcycles and cars, with a small Motorsport section.
Although I like motorrad, the draw for me are the cars. Every iconic BMW is here in mint condition as well as their recent cars.
More in Part 2
M! The most powerful letter!
Here’s a teaser from my recent visit to the BMW Museum in Munich. This was one of my favourite parts of the museum.
What’s the most powerful letter in the alphabet? M!
This traffic jam consists of ALL the M class cars ever produced. I learned that the M635csi is a true collector’s piece because it’s just a good looking car, the first generation M5 came in other colors besides black, and the first M3 (E30) is still a good looking car and the previous M3 (E46) looks pretty damn good too!
To get a feel on just how motorhead the museum is, here’s the engine exhibit; every M engine that was made for the cars you just saw. Artsy!
Munich Mileage Run, BMW Welt. It’s still a mileage run if you leave the airport!!
So on the never ending quest for status on United Airlines, necessary if you expect to be treated like a person onboard, my friend and I have been doing weekend runs to Germany since the tickets round trip are in the neighborhood of $300 for 11728 EQM (elite qualifying miles). The destination alternates between Munich (MUC) or Frankfurt (FRA). We eat in the Senator Lounge, fly out on Friday evening, land Saturday afternoon, go clubbing to practice German (das stimmt, genau), head back to the flughafen early Sunday morning for the flight back home, arriving around dinner time.
The traditional Mileage Run involves a cheap round ticket with a lot of EQM, flying the same aircraft there and back and not leaving the airport (or the gate in that matter). So there’s some controversy about if this is actually a “mileage run”. I’d argue that it is since we spend 13 hours between flights.
So this weekend it’s off to Munich. We caught an early flight so we had a few hours to kill before clubbing. My friend crashed in the hotel room and I decided to visit BMW Welt, a pilgrimage that all Bimmer fans should make a few times. The complex consists of the Welt, a very large and swish brand dealership with the latest models on the floor, snacks and drinks (though you can’t buy any there). There’s also the Museum which will be the next post. The Welt includes a training facility for technicians (mechanics) and a delivery area where lucky people can pick up their cars for European Delivery.
Sights from Taipei
Last night I went with Diva and her entourage to a couple of events.
Piaget had a full spread of Moet champagne, cocktails, finger foods, a trunk show and a concert. Great event!
After that, there was a pre party at Opus for the Golden Horse awards. For the first couple of hours, it was like the Piaget after party. Lots of hats!
From the top of the Bottle Opener
If you actually pay the Y150 to visit the 94th, 97th and 100th floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center (AKA the Bottle Opener), hang around until 1830. Why?
And then, they turn the lights on! For four hours…
Shanghai Stories #2
Sunday was a rainy day and when it rains here, being outside or going anywhere where there’s a lot of people is a miserable experience.
So I stayed in, did laundry and pre-packed for my flight back to HKG on Tuesday. Eventually, all the laundry was washed and dried and packed away and it was time to eat. Still raining out, I did my customary nighttime walk on The Bund and Nanjing lu. The “massage massage” touts were out in force as well as the grifters. I witnessed an attempted pickpocket attempt just past the Peace Hotel, where Nanjing lu is still a street.
The scam goes like this:
Small guy follows the mark who is usually with his g/f (so there’s no trouble). He is shadowed by a larger guy maybe 4 paces behind at his 4 o’clock. Small guy times his gait with the mark and slips his hand into the mark’s pocket. Usually they seem to be after mobiles since you usually keep that in your jacket pocket as opposed to your wallet.
How do I know all this? I happened to witness most of this up to the point where small guy went for the mark’s jacket. Larger guy saw that I was witnessing this and strategically angled his umbrella so I couldn’t see the rest. It didn’t work out in the end. Why? There were lots of standing puddles on the sidewalk and small guy didn’t want to get wet. He rushed going for the mark’s pocket, which alerted him to small guy’s pickpocket attempt. Screaming and yelling ensued and both small and large guy took off.
Rule of story: keep your pockets zipped up.
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