Holidays in Oz (part one)

Well I finally made it back home after a two and a half year interlude with a few setbacks on the way.

The trip from Geneva to Paris was delayed due to fog at Paris airport so we got there two to three hours later than expected (and unfortunately an hour too late to catch my Singapore connection). Myself and thirty other people heading off to destinations all around the world were not impressed – especially since there didn‘t seem to be any trace of fog when we got in… Hmm…

Air France responded with a Gallic shrug and a ‘what do you want us to do about it’ point of view. Guess the whole ‘customer service’ thing still hasn’t sunk into a state run airline. So I had a day to amuse myself in Paris before catching the same flight at 11:00 pm the following night ( they wouldn't book us on another airline).

Got into Singapore AOK and caught the Oz flight with minutes to spare – I literally walked off one plane and straight onto the next, and had a great flight down chatting to a fellow Aussie about cricket and trips and all sorts. It was so good to hear a familiar accent and rediscover that easy laid back friendliness that is most Australians.

M & D were at Perth airport was and I was pleasantly surprised to see my sister, her husband and one of their sons meeting me at 2:00am in their wedding clothes. They’d bought as they said ‘what was left of the wedding to me since I couldn’t be there’. Very nice. I was really touched.

I had a great two weeks. Apart from the business stuff like go to the Doctors and Dentists etc (and get a clean bill of health from the Dentist – much to every ones else’s chagrin!), I had a good holiday catching up with friends, fishing, having dinner(s) with various members of my family.

We all went to see the new James Bond film ‘Casino Royale’ – something of a Lowe family tradition dating back to when my twin brother and I were wee little tackers - only now we’re taking my nieces and nephews to see the films!

All too soon it was over and time to start wending my way back to the chilly north. True to form, my flight to Singapore was delayed due to late aircraft arrival from Europe, plus the need for a tyre change. Seems flights these days are so tightly scheduled for economic reasons that any setback has a huge domino effect. Anyhow, we got in to Singapore at midnight and by the time we got new tickets reprinted for connections it was between 2:00 and 3:00am. Big difference though was the service and hospitality. Air France had left us to figure everything out ourselves and WE had to constantly ask them for updates and in turn get bullshitted with various differing stories. One girl in Geneva was studiously ignoring a hundred passengers while she chatted to her boyfriend about what he had for dinner! Some of us were ready to leap the counter and strangle her! By contrast, Singapore/Qantas airlines provided us with constant updates, we were treated so well and so politely and got a four star hotel and world class breakfast instead of the two star motel and bread and water b/fast Air France reluctantly coughed up. At Changi airport, we were literally led by a staff member every step of the way from the airport almost to our rooms. It was awesome.

The Oriental hotel in Singapore treated us like Kings/Queens. It has been so long since I’ve had service like that I had almost forgotten what it was like. So ten points and more to the Singaporeans (Airline/Hotel, Taxi et al) and boos for Europe and Air France. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde ‘Considering how badly she treats her tourists, she doesn’t deserve to have any’.