Australian hotels, racists and Qantas' long-haul business class

Talking about anecdotes... I stayed in four different hotels in Melbourne and Sydney this month: Common features, lousy cable TV selection and absolutely obscene internet charges. Right back at the airport hotel in Toronto, back to normal, no internet charges, pleasant staff. Anecdotes, I know, but: You read it here first :-).

Also, having left Australia some 15 years ago, I was shocked about the level of racism that is standard political operating procedure in that country today. Much of what leading politicians and newspaper columnists spouted there on a daily basis in that regard would be a career-killer in Canada, thankfully. Truly mind-boggling stuff.

Well, I was also able to fly in Qantas' long-haul business class in its Airbus 380 fleet. I love the A380. It's such a more quiet, overall smoother ride than any other plane on the market. The seats are comfy, even though the recline doesn't seem to be completely vertical. One big issue: For some reason the aisles don't seem to be cushioned properly. As a result, each time a passenger or flight attendant passes by at your seat you'll be awoken by the feel of an elephant passing by. Clearly a design problem. Compared to what American Airlines calls 'business class', well, it's a no brainer. Qantas' premium economy is superior to American's business class product, let alone Qantas' stellar business class. Even the business class lounges were remarkably different. Qantas offered decent food and drinks, while American tried hard to sell even that to you in its lounges.  Makes you wonder why anyone would fork out money for a business class fare on American Airlines.

Other than that, I cannot believe how much Melbourne and Sydney have changed since I left. The mining boom brought obviously tons of money and people into the country. New gleaming everythings have transformed the city scapes, and not necessarily for the better.

I gave talks both in Melbourne and Sydney on assisted dying and managed to catch up with old friends and colleagues in both cities. Overall it has been a delightful trip. Oh, did I mention the weather? No point in that, it's been fabulous, in Sydney more so than in Melbourne.

A380 and such

Yours truly is currently in Singapore, on a work visit to the NUS bioethics centre. Will also be giving a talk here in the philosophy department. You might hear from me, on and off, but don't expect too much, the weather is such that I'd rather be outside than to go on blogging...

Hey, on the bright side, the dreaded flight on BAs 777 to Singapore from London turned out to be a Qantas A380 trip. The plane, according to its pilot, is a mere 4 weeks old. And guess what, it worked a treat. Being 'just' an academic, I flew of course torture class, and had it not been for an exit row 'window' (there's no window) seat and 7mg of diazepam I probably would have 'died'. Well, so I slept roughly 10 out of the 12 hours and am reasonably fit. Funny enough, these meds are not supposed to be used for this purpose. Btw, you probably don't want to go for the exit row seats in BA 777 fleet's economy section, just about all their monitors were broken. I wonder why. They fall back and hit people's knees all the time. They eventually upgraded me to Premium economy. Seems well worth it, to be honest. Lufthansa's business class just a few years back would have been what premium economy is today on most carriers. OH well, enough of this babble, I have this obsession with comparing airline services (well, disservices these days, mostly). I am pleased to report, however, that I avoided again Air Canada, so arrived on time without hick-up's.

Singapore is still as crazily efficient as it has been 10 or 15 years ago when I ventured here first time round. No queues at customs, luggage waiting, clean reliable taxi taking me to my residence, security waiting to take me to my lil flat (which turns out to be huge, 2 bedrooms and no less than three bathrooms...). Funny enough, I ended up in the supermarket next door to buy some of life's basic necessities, only to be told that they're not taking credit cards (in hi-tech Singapore of all places).

On that note, enjoy your day. I will do the same :).