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- Sep 20, 2018
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Friday 20 Dec 2024 - MAD-DXB EK142
Feeling like zombies, we easily navigated the metro back to the airport as this was now our fourth time. I can feel the beginnings of a headache. Takes me back to new parent levels of exhaustion!
Enjoyed the line jumping privileges of One world Emerald for speedy check in, and then made our way to Terminal 4S, which involved security, quite a walk, and inter-terminal train, , many escalators, immigration, and took almost 40 minutes in total. My toe is still very sore and I am limping.
Found our way to the Neptuno Lounge, which is a common use lounge shared by Emirates and a number of other airlines. The lounge was thronging with Spanish families heading off on their Christmas jaunts and the level of exuberance was very high, and the noise level was very loud, which did nothing for me emergent headache. The lounge was a nice space, but very crowded. We were soon joined by a voluble family with Grandma, Mum, Dad and 3 kids, who all crammed into the two seats available and then yelled at each other, with a few excited phone calls thrown into the mix.
The food and beverage offering was pretty average. It was morning, and there was no alcohol being served at that time, just a selection of juices and fizzy drinks. Food options were yoghurt, the dairy snack Americans call "pudding", and various sandwiches and rolls. There was also some cereal and a few sad looking plastic wrapped pastries like croissants.
First world problems, but hey I was grumpy.
The next adventure was getting to our gate. The boarding pass said Gate 23. The departure board said Gate 23. The announcement in the lounge said "passengers on EK142, please go to Gate 23 as soon as you are able." So, in a culturally deaf moment, we immediately left the lounge and headed for Gate 23. Another longish walk on my sore foot, and we walked past Gate 21 and Gate 22. Both of these were labelled EK142 and were heaving with people lined up, including a number of Emirates crew. Got to gate 23 and it was totally deserted. As in, there was no-one there but us. Looked out the window, and there was no aircraft at the gate. But there was an Emirates A380 at Gates 21/22. They must have changed the gate then. So over we went to Gate 21/22 and joined the Platinum priority boarding line. Waited there for 15 minutes. Our boarding passes were inspected by a gate agent and we were bounced - back to Gate 23 "that Gate is for Business Class passengers madam". So back to Gate 23, where there was now 1 person other than us, another very confused looking passenger. We waited another 10 mins or so, and a few more people started to arrive at Gate 23, including a friendly Spanish lady who laughed at our naivety in responding to the first boarding call. She said no one in Spain moves from the lounge until the 4th or 5th call, and that's probably why the gate wasn't open when we arrived, as they were not expecting us at that time!
Mystery solved, and soon we boarded and settled in. Decided I had no idea what the time actually was, and didn't really care, so accepted a glass of bubbles and a nice warm towel. Then I settled back to watch the rest of The Sympathizer. What a great series it was about the experiences of a double agent Viet Cong/South Vietnamese guy during the American War, with Vietnamese Australian actor Hoa Xuande in the lead role.
Dinner was the always delicious Arabic mezze platter followed by the seasonal main of roast turkey and veg, which wasn't great - quite dried out. Had a cheese plate for dessert, and a rather nice 2009 French red Chateau Something or other, but honestly, I've had better Aussie reds.
Napped for a few hours and then we landed in DXB. Arrival formalities were very smooth and we were through everything in a trice - around 40 minutes from exiting the aircraft to being on the airport concourse for collection by Seat Son and Almost DIL at 0100. They had been at a Christmas Party and so did not mind. We were delivered to our hotel, the Pullman Dubai Jumeirah Lakes Towers and checked into a very spacious studio style room - not quite a suite, but it has a separate sitting, reading and working space, and a large entry foyer.
Enjoyed a long hot shower, a cuppa and off to bed by about 0230 local. I am sure I will sleep well tonight.
Feeling like zombies, we easily navigated the metro back to the airport as this was now our fourth time. I can feel the beginnings of a headache. Takes me back to new parent levels of exhaustion!
Enjoyed the line jumping privileges of One world Emerald for speedy check in, and then made our way to Terminal 4S, which involved security, quite a walk, and inter-terminal train, , many escalators, immigration, and took almost 40 minutes in total. My toe is still very sore and I am limping.
Found our way to the Neptuno Lounge, which is a common use lounge shared by Emirates and a number of other airlines. The lounge was thronging with Spanish families heading off on their Christmas jaunts and the level of exuberance was very high, and the noise level was very loud, which did nothing for me emergent headache. The lounge was a nice space, but very crowded. We were soon joined by a voluble family with Grandma, Mum, Dad and 3 kids, who all crammed into the two seats available and then yelled at each other, with a few excited phone calls thrown into the mix.
The food and beverage offering was pretty average. It was morning, and there was no alcohol being served at that time, just a selection of juices and fizzy drinks. Food options were yoghurt, the dairy snack Americans call "pudding", and various sandwiches and rolls. There was also some cereal and a few sad looking plastic wrapped pastries like croissants.
First world problems, but hey I was grumpy.
The next adventure was getting to our gate. The boarding pass said Gate 23. The departure board said Gate 23. The announcement in the lounge said "passengers on EK142, please go to Gate 23 as soon as you are able." So, in a culturally deaf moment, we immediately left the lounge and headed for Gate 23. Another longish walk on my sore foot, and we walked past Gate 21 and Gate 22. Both of these were labelled EK142 and were heaving with people lined up, including a number of Emirates crew. Got to gate 23 and it was totally deserted. As in, there was no-one there but us. Looked out the window, and there was no aircraft at the gate. But there was an Emirates A380 at Gates 21/22. They must have changed the gate then. So over we went to Gate 21/22 and joined the Platinum priority boarding line. Waited there for 15 minutes. Our boarding passes were inspected by a gate agent and we were bounced - back to Gate 23 "that Gate is for Business Class passengers madam". So back to Gate 23, where there was now 1 person other than us, another very confused looking passenger. We waited another 10 mins or so, and a few more people started to arrive at Gate 23, including a friendly Spanish lady who laughed at our naivety in responding to the first boarding call. She said no one in Spain moves from the lounge until the 4th or 5th call, and that's probably why the gate wasn't open when we arrived, as they were not expecting us at that time!
Mystery solved, and soon we boarded and settled in. Decided I had no idea what the time actually was, and didn't really care, so accepted a glass of bubbles and a nice warm towel. Then I settled back to watch the rest of The Sympathizer. What a great series it was about the experiences of a double agent Viet Cong/South Vietnamese guy during the American War, with Vietnamese Australian actor Hoa Xuande in the lead role.
Dinner was the always delicious Arabic mezze platter followed by the seasonal main of roast turkey and veg, which wasn't great - quite dried out. Had a cheese plate for dessert, and a rather nice 2009 French red Chateau Something or other, but honestly, I've had better Aussie reds.
Napped for a few hours and then we landed in DXB. Arrival formalities were very smooth and we were through everything in a trice - around 40 minutes from exiting the aircraft to being on the airport concourse for collection by Seat Son and Almost DIL at 0100. They had been at a Christmas Party and so did not mind. We were delivered to our hotel, the Pullman Dubai Jumeirah Lakes Towers and checked into a very spacious studio style room - not quite a suite, but it has a separate sitting, reading and working space, and a large entry foyer.
Enjoyed a long hot shower, a cuppa and off to bed by about 0230 local. I am sure I will sleep well tonight.
. Seeing also that the Metro station is right outside the Pullman it’ll probably be that one, with care.
