India Trip: Day 1 - Getting there

Last time I updated this blog was right before the Dubai trip. I never wrote more because I think the video we made succinctly wrapped up the emotions of Dubai.

We have just returned from 2 weeks in India, and yes, there are slideshows, photos, videos, etc coming to a computer near you. But it is also worth blogging about because so much happened on this trip. The pictures and the video tell what we saw, but this blog tells of what we did, what we smelled, and what we laughed at. In that sense, that’s the real part of the trip that the pictures and videos can’t really tell you alone.

One of the best parts of the trip is the fact that we traveled with my Dad. Shelly and I had a blast with him and hope we get to travel with him again. He was very easy to travel with, very observant about funny happenings, told some fun stories, and was an overall great travel partner. If he says the same thing about us would be another matter. We were routinely 15 minutes behind estimated departure times which left him waiting around for us. But for all that irritation, we provided him great pictures, decent videos, and big smiles. I’m told parents really value smiling faces of their children and their spouses.

So on to the good stuff. The Actual trip.

February 13, 2010 – Shelly’s Birthday, a.k.a. departure day. “Ewww.” I know Shelly loves seeing her friends on her actual birthday. Leaving to be on a plane for the entire day was a huge sacrifice that was not lost on me. She put on a brave face:

But seriously, she did put on a happy face:

My Dad arrived at JFK with no problems with plenty of time to make our flight to Delhi. All three of us checked in at the Air India gate. Before I describe the flight, I have to say that it has become abundantly clear to me that I have become a travel snob. I know this about myself. It isn’t pretty, but it is what it is. I try to control it like Michael J. Fox trying to make sure Teen Wolf doesn’t come out. But when the conditions are right, the Wolf, aka the travel snob, comes out. You’re going to see this a couple times in this blog. You’ve been warned. Try not to vomit.

So that being said, don’t sit there and get angry that I insist to pass the never-ending economy line of passengers for our flight 2 or 3 times asking loudly, “where does business class check in?" Don’t get in a huff that I when I see the business class desk has no line and 3 workers waiting just for us to check in, I like to look back to the economy people and say, “Only three people? Standards of business class are slipping.”

Ok, I didn’t do those things, but I may have thought those things. And for those of you tsk tsking my snobbery, know that karma stuck it to us in the end like it always does (more on that below).

We got through security with no issue and headed straight to the Air India Lounge. With all the chaos of last minute packing, Shelly and I didn’t really eat much leading up to departure for the airport. Entering the lounge, we were greeted with free wireless and some buffet Indian food. It didn’t look so great, but it was really good. It also didn’t hurt that we took a couple water bottles and oreos for the flight when we left. This is the picture of our plane getting ready from the lounge window.

Now, if you look at that picture above carefully, Air India snuffs out the Wolf by providing two gates: one for economy that boards in the middle of the plane, and one for first class and business at the front. Sure, Air India will tell you, “we’re making it more convenient for you.” But they are stealing one of the greatest joys of the trip: the economy passenger pass by.

Some people will say to you that the best part of business class is the roominess of the seats, or the full recline for sleeping, or the food, or the fact you can eat your food in a fully reclined position as you take in all the roominess. I wouldn’t disagree with any of those assessments. But for me the best part of business class is getting on the plane first and then having the economy passengers walk by like refugees being asked to leave their motherland.

I like to fully recline my seat as they look at me like a child being walked into Willy Wonka’s chocolate room. I then like to ask if I get orange juice or champagne prior to takeoff. Then I request both. I also like to open the overhead bins in front of economy passengers waiting in our business class aisles. I like for them to see how my tiny backpack is the only thing in the overhead taking up almost no room whatsoever. Then I like to remove one sock and place it in the overhead as the flight attendant says over the PA system, “Economy passengers, due to limited space in the overheads, we ask that you hold on to your coats until all bags are stowed away.” Once their shoulders slump, I remove the second sock. Then I do a couple full body twists before collapsing into the large, reclinable seat.

By making economy report right to their section, I was left with none of little joys that I had rehearsed for a week leading up to the flight. Now I was the one in an angry huff. “This is not what I paid for,” I said incredulously. Then I turn to see my Dad standing there with the look that says, “You didn’t pay for this. I did. Shut up and board.” And with that, I put aside my self-righteous tone and walked towards the gate. Think of this as Karma lite. Karma heavy is still yet to present itself.

We were finally called to board the plane and we wound through a very long gate. Shelly and I noticed this comment on the top of our plane.

If you can't read it, it says, "cut here in emergency". I can’t say that was terribly inspiring. I don’t know if its worse to think that they’ve figured out that the plane most likely will end with a crash so its worth telling people how to get us out or that the rescuers are so inept that they’ll just stand with their hands cupped over the windows looking in unless notified to “cut here”.

We eventually found our way into our seats without the economy pass by. The seats fully reclined to 180 degrees. Shelly luckily tested out the full recline before take off. Her seat didn’t go back up. It took two people to figure out how to fix the issue, but they got it working again in 10 minutes. Somehow, I know the Wolf was to blame.

Once the flight got going, we had a nice dinner and kicked back and watched 1 of 5 current English-based movies available on the entertainment system. The other 200 hours of film was dedicated to the hyper specific tastes of hindi films. So I watched “17 Again”, a Zach Ephron/Chandler Bing movie, which was surprisingly palatable. Then it was ready for bed. Shelly took a picture of the Wolf fully emerged.

When I awoke, there was only 3 hours remaining in our 15 hour flight. Shelly and I watched “Ice Age 3”, movie 2 of 5 current English-based movies. My Dad was watching the classic movie channel. Which also had 5 older, English-based movies that Air India considers classic. For what it’s worth, “Die Hard” is considered a classic.

Honorable mentions for the flight are:

• At check in, I told the lady that it was Shelly’s birthday. She said she would notify the cabin crew. Our flight attendant seemed very confused at first. Of Indian descent, she read the note in her computer that said seat 8D “Michelle Shenoy” was the birthday girl. She then approached the seat and saw a white girl. I think she double checked with Shelly 3 times to confirm she was Michelle Shenoy. She was very serious in her check. “Are you Michelle Shenoy?” “Yes.” “Michelle Shenoy?” “Yes.” “You are Michelle Shenoy, no?” “Yes.” Deep breath that suggests, “ok, what the hell, let’s give this a try.” And she said, “Happy birthday” with a big smile. She told Shelly that she had a gift for her. During the flight, Shelly saw her struggling to open the cheesecake box to give her a slice. So she came back and told her the entire cake was ours upon landing.
• Shelly asked for water during dinner. The flight attendant returned with a monster 32 ounce water bottle just for her. I’ve never seen anything like that before. It’s only worth noting because Cathay Pacific almost let Shelly and me die of dehydration a year ago. They gave us a mini 4 ounce water bottle for a 16 hour flight. I felt like I was hung over for 3 days. The 32 ounces provided adequate hydration for the 15 hour journey.
• My dad did not use the eye mask or provided slippers. He fell asleep with the seat only partially reclined. I think he eventually reclined to the full bed, but I slept longer than him, so I’m not sure he did. Somehow that seems to stick it in the economy passenger faces who would have liked to use the recline function.

This was perhaps the shortest 15 hour flight I had ever been on. For the record I’ve been on less than ten 15 hour flights, so I don’t have a huge sampling. The plane touched down at 4:30pm, Delhi time and I had only been awake for about 5 hours of it. For such a large plane, it landed ever so gracefully. This is worth nothing due to our inter-india travel. Each landing in India made you wonder if the Pilot was expecting another 1000 feet before touchdown.

We debarked with our cheesecake in hand and went to Customs. Thanks to my dad’s partner’s father-in-law (less complicated than it sounds), we were treated like Royalty. My Dad’s Partner’s father-in-law is a minister of justice in the Indian Government. He is the Indian equivalent of Eric Holder, the current US Attorney General. Not bad!

As a result, when we approached customs, there was a sign, “Shenoy”. We said that was us, and a lady took us to a separate line. We bypassed all of customs and went to a line that said, “Diplomats.” They then escorted us to a lounge to wait as someone else got our bags. This was the personal lounge we had:

I’ll wrap up this entry to prove Karma is king. For all my snobbery and Wolf like impulses with business class, Karma got the final say. Our bags had been tagged “Priority” in NYC so that they come off the plane first in Delhi. However at the Delhi Airport, the cart that held all priority bags got “lost”. Every single person in economy had not only received their luggage but had left the airport about 15-30 minutes before we even knew if our bags made the trip.

NEXT: counting the sidewalk pee-ers, getting to the hotel, watching an awful Chinese band at Valentine’s dinner, seeing an Indian wedding, and taking in the first day of Delhi!