Thursday, December 10, 2009
8:55 AM

The Virgin Experience

Twas a short trip to London. Was booked on upper class on Virgin Atlantic, which comes with free limo services 4-ways. So I left Hong Kong on Sat night after hanging out with Leann and Vik doing dim sum, H&M and walking up the mid-level escalators. We were initially torn between Maxim's and Chung's cuisine. Maxim's was the best dim sum I've ever had in HK, but heard that Chung's cuisine was much cheaper and better. Comparing the 2, Maxim's definitely got better service and more yummy traditional dimsums like the 蝦餃, 燒賣 and 奶皇包. Waiting time was bearable at about 20-30 min, food was served almost immediately, and no orders lost. On the other hand, Chung's had fantastic unconventional dimsums like cheese prawn spring roll, XO fried carrot cake and 玉竹腸粉 which was crunchy prawns on the inside, crispy in the middle and soft on the outside. However, the wait was almost 1.5h, food was served 10 min later, and 3 of our orders were lost. I would only go back if I manage to book a table way in advance.

The service on board the flight was not as fantastic as one would get on Economy class in SQ; nevertheless upper class is still better than economy class on Virgin. At least we get personal service and attention. Flight attendants openly flirt, joke and laugh with customers (perhaps something that Brits consider as good service). They prepared food at the bar area, laughed and made a lot of noise in the meantime. I guess this casualness is supposed to fit in the cool image VA is trying to portray. One of my breakfast orders even took a terribly long time to come, while the other got lost, and came only when I asked for it again. The food was rather sucky too. The peas that came with my sausage and mash appeared brown rather than green and exploded from the microwave overheating I suppose. The soups were also rather salty, and meals do not come with fruits. Perhaps I had to ask for it.

The bed was flat so I had an undisturbed 5-6 h of sleep, resulting in no jetlag! In London, the hotel room was too big for my liking since I was living alone in the room, but had a great view of the beautiful Tower of London. Sunday was spent having lunch and shopping with Kenny and Yaping. Christmas lightings along Oxford St was not as great as I'd expect, esp comparing with Singapore's. Weather was gloomy, cold and wet.

Tower of London!

Rabbit at L'escargot

Selfridges have the nicest xmas displays!

Traditional xmas market

Mon and Tue were spent fully on work. Discussions can get really boring, but were essential for the team to work in a specified direction across the globe, and to enable this new team to achieve greater revenues and targets. And for me, it seems the responsibility is going to be big. I better buck up! Team dinner was at Gaucho’s, which serves fantastic Argentinian steaks and excellent wine. The chips were crispy, martini yummy, and the sweet corn was heavenly.

My boss and I had to leave London immediately after the workshop on Tue, and were contemplating between the free limo service and Heathrow Express (which is probably faster, factoring in the traffic). But we went ahead with the limo service, trusting that they would make sure we reach in time for the flight. And hell yes, we reached within an hour of travel, and when the limo driver stopped at the gantry and reported our last names, I was wondering, how would they be able to trace our names amongst so many passengers? And why would the departure hall be so high on security here? It turned out it was a private driveway for upper class passengers. As I stepped off the limo, I was promptly handed my boarding pass without even a need to queue. My luggage was immediately tagged even before I could tell them that I’m not checking in my small luggage. At that moment, I realized, we have crossed the customs!

And as we entered the airport zone, we were straight into the baggage checks without a queue. As I looked to the right and saw the huge queue for the rest, I couldn’t help but gloat at their plights. Conclusion: limo service is still faster than the Heathrow Express that takes only 20 min, because all the walking and queuing already takes up most of your time! My boss has taken Business classes so often, but has yet to experience such service! This impressive service definitely made up for the substandard inflight experience.

If only we knew how fantastic the VA lounge at Heathrow was, I would’ve made my bookings in advance for the hair salon, mani/pedi and massage services to make the whole experience well worth it! And if only I could take my alcohol better, I would’ve made the experience more worth it with more Lanson champagnes on the flight (like all the other angmohs)!

In Singapore, it was hardly a break as my schedule was packed. But it was well worth it getting to meet up w my sis again after a long time, and taking family portrait! Haven't really missed home so far, until I went home this time round, probably cuz it's a really short trip home and I know I'm really going to be away for an indefinite period!

Huihui's wedding was like a big gathering for us!

With the bride n groom!

2/3 gathering?