Tag: airports

Singing praises for….

On By mouseytongIn Food, Mousey's Travel, TurkeyLeave a comment

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Ok…the photo has no bearing whatsoever with what I want to write about. The photo was taken in flight onboard Turkish Airlines as we were approaching Istanbul. It is the first leg of my journey home to Malaysia for my last trimester. Oh..and clouds always remind me of my sis. Whenever is see beautiful clouds I always think of her. She loves clouds! And I love her!!

I want to sing praises for Turkish Airlines’ amazing business class lounge! It is not my first time here but it was my last experience here that made me choose to transit here instead of somewhere else. Plus the fact that it is cheaper and I still get points cause they are a Star Alliance partner! 3x score!!

In this amazing lounge, which I get to access because of my SQ gold card and this time cause I flew business, they have thought of everything! And I mean everything! Free wifi for one. You can say that most lounges have that…true but they have more. A little library corner with a pool table. Cinema area with reclined lounge chairs complete with a popcorn machine in a corner. Bet the others don’t have that!

Then, they go further by having an area dedicated to children! My absolute favourite is their food buffet stations! They have a dedicate coffee and tea area separately. At the coffee area there is a barista that makes your coffee fresh! Whether it is an espresso or a cappucino or a Turkish coffee! I love it! Can’t go near it at the moment. I used up my  daily quota for coffee this morning. 😦 sucks! I know…

They have other stations too. Dessert lovers rejoice. There is a whole station dedicated to that sweet sin! An area for salads, another for bread that at different times you can see them baking or making fresh bread. The lounge smells heavenly! Aaahhh…bliss! Then there is he hot food section where the chefs are in full view preparing the buffet. For breakfast, there is even a station for the eggs or omelets like any respectable hotel 4 or 5 star hotel. And just like in the supermarkets,  you can find the drinks area on either side of the lounge where you can choose your drink. Be it just water, sparkling or still, coca cola, juice or beer and etc. How can you not love this lounge?

We just discovered that there is also a massage service. Haven’t gotten round to find out the rates but a treat for the weary traveller! There is also shower and prayer rooms and computers. The restrooms are also very chic! They also have an area where you can keep your luggage or other small items. Fully transparent cubicles locked by your own 4 digit pin code so that you don’t have to worry about your things being unsupervised while you grab some food or drink or some shut eye. I am truly bowled over by this lounge even if my layover is about 5 hours I think I will still choose to transit here.

It is comfy, it has everything and I love their design and decor. Whats not to like? Has anyone else tried their lounge? I am a frequent traveller and this lounge had me at “hello”!

Oh, and their inflight service and seats has improved leaps and bounds since I first flew with them 6 years ago. I am glad they took this step forward and even more that they added Genoa as a destination which lets me fly from my home city instead of making the 2 hour car journey to Milan for my flight home. Either way I still transit but how can I pass transiting here in Istanbul? Their lounge ROCKS!!!

I leave you with another shot of their interior.

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Vespa Rally in Genoa

On By mouseytongIn Misc..., Mousey's Travel, MusicLeave a comment

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A few Saturdays ago, there was a Vespa Rally in Genoa organised by a non-profit, non-governmental organisation known as Music For Peace. I should so have them linked here but typing from my mobile does make searches on the internet a little cumbersome but I think they really deserve some recognition for a job well done. They emphasized the fact that they are non governmental so that they can go where they are needed and not bound by government policies or alliances.

Not only do they ship or truck their aid over to where it is needed. They deliver everything themselves, door to door, which ensures it goes directly to the intended person and not disappearing as they sometimes do. On top of that, they help the city feed the poor. Especially those that have been refered to them by the government. I asked them why only those refered and they replied that they want to help those really in need as the have limited resources. Everything they have is strictly by donation so they want to give it to the person or families who needs it the most.

This rally was organised to bring in more donations and to raise the awareness of their organisation as they prepare for another aid trip to next war torn country. To bring in the crowd, they teamed up with the local Vespa Club to hold a 2 day Vespa Rally with loads of music, food and beers.

Many Vespa lovers came from far and wide. Some rode from as far as the Netherlands, Brussels on their vespas to join this Rally. It was really quite a sight! There were French, Germans, Austrians…

Above was my pimped out vespa for the rally. Just a 50cc one that M decorated with the Malaysian flags in the form of beautiful butterflies and a “I ♥ Malaysia” sticker complete with an Asian looking girl! Ah…I am loved!! He has since pasted another one of this stickers on my daily ride. My Vespa SS300.

I must say that it was organised very well. Even with so many people, order was maintained and cleanliness was tip-top. 2 full days from 10am to 1am on Saturday and till 11pm on Sunday. Even with booze and 2 stages of live music there was no trouble.

Our ride too was well organised and very picturesque. We even got to ride through the historic centre where it is usually off limits even to residents in the historic centre!

All in all a very good 2 days! I had fun! 🙂
By the way, I was the only Malaysian in the rally and M signed me up for a friendly competition too. Which I didn’t win. 😛

Will be boarding soon for Singapore. Lets see how Air France fares on this trip to Asia. I have taken them to the US. Though we didn’t have a good start. Our first flight out of Genoa was delayed for nearly 2 hours. Luckily our next flight was initially 4 hours after landing in Paris. We made it with nearly 2 hours to spare.

Fingers crossed no more problems. I have another flight to catch in Singapore. Wish me luck!

Toodeloos everyone!