We got picked up by our complimentary limousine at 5:45pm and transferred to Pearson Airport. We got checked in to the business class section of Emirates airline and given complimentary passes to the Plaza Premium Lounge, so we made our way up there and had some dinner. (Dinner was crappy buffet, cold pasta and a few other options but it was free - so we ate just enough to take the edge off and figured we'll eat on the airplane). Mark, Jay's business partner, who also qualified for this conference, and Lorna met us in the Lounge after about an hour and we hung out until it was time to board the airplane. They had free beer, wine, etc and although I didn't have any (because it was Crush Merlot and I'm a snob and wouldn't drink it even though its free - - WHAT on earth has happened to me Julia?!?!)
At 9:00pm our boarding was called and we made our way down to the gate. They were already boarding, so we got into the business class line up and went down the boarding ramp...as we got down the ramp it split off to two entrances (this airplane is HUGE, there are two levels. The lower level is for the economy passengers and the upper level holds about 20 first class passengers and 100 business class passengers). Mark and Lorna were a few passengers behind us but we looked back and the ramp was empty - Jay wanted to switch the signs on Mark to have him go into the economy section instead of the business class section - which would have been so funny.
We got on the plane and immediately Jay started to grin. There was SO much room! I said to Jay after we had been in the seats only about 15 minutes "these seats make me happy". This is Jay...grinning. Wild man.
Beside you is a little ledge, and a space for a few drinks, and your own on-board iPad.
And tonnes of leg room. (like my purple, fuzzy airplane socks? I take them on every flight and immediately strip off my shoes and socks and put them on...so comfy)
It was about this time that Jay said "they totally know if it's your first time in business class because you're taking pictures of your seat".
And then your whole seat folded flat into a bed too and shifted forwards and back if you have short or long legs. And it was super comfortable, but then a flight attendant came by and said "Would you like a mattress?" Oh yeah, totally taking a mattress - just about 3/4" thick down mattress to smooth out the bumps in the seat..with the extra long blanket and puffy pillow it was awesome!
There is a partition that goes up between passengers for when you want privacy - so fun.
We had dinner shortly after take off - I had a spicy thai coconut curry rice and chicken dish and Jay had lamb chops that he really enjoyed. Even Jay said half way through the flight "these seats make me happy too".
I managed to stay up until 2am watching movies and then slept between 2 and 6am. Got up at 6 and watched another movie and then had breakfast, french toast - yum. We were done sleeping and watching another movie and Jay saw the guy in front of him and said to me "He has a pillow!" "Um..I have a pillow, it was on my seat when we sat down". Jay slept just fine without a pillow.
When we arrived in Dubai (13 hours later) we were greeted at the gate and taken to another lounge while they picked up our luggage and then escorted us to a priority customs (though the airport was completely dead anyway). But beautiful.
From the airport we took private shuttles to the hotel - there are probably 20 of us that came in on the same flight. All in all there are 33 advisors here with their guests and 6 Manulife Sr. employees.
I thought that the hotel might be completely over the top and gaudy - and its borderline, but just the right side of tasteful and quite lovely. This is a photo of the chandelier in the foyer from below that was used in the most recent Mission Impossible movie.
When we got into our room we had a welcome bottle of prosecco and a cheese tray which was a really nice treat! Jay doesn't drink it so right after the photo I poured it all into one glass :)
And I made Jay stop and not drop a thing so I could take some photos of the room - because inevitably all of our crap is all over in 2 minutes and I never get a good picture of the room again!
And our bathroom - oh my goodness. The tub is huge, and there is a window our room that has a blind to pull down and really cool shutters too.. you can see them closed in the first photo of the room from the outside and then open from the bathroom looking out.
And a creepy shot with Jay in it...
After about 30 minutes we went down to the lobby to meet Mark and Lorna and go to a very informal group networking in the lounge. We spent an hour and a half down there meeting all sorts of new people (much to Jay's chagrin) and drinking cocktails on Manulife (thank you Manulife)..I tried something called a Honey Bee - which is rum, lime juice and honey - tastes like a Margarita without the tequila - delish. Mark never showed down there - now, you have to know Mark to know that this is not a surprise to me at all, and it doesn't bother me because I'm not expecting him to be on time anyway! In fact, its now just before midnight and we've been back up in the room for about an hour and Mark just called to see if we were going to go down to the lobby for a drink. Yeah, no. Jay is asleep - so is everyone else because we've all slept 4 hours in the last 35 hours. But that's Mark! All night Jay has been saying "we should wait for Mark" "we should wait for Mark" and I finally said "but why does he always have to be last?!?" Jay said it's a form of control and I said "why should we feed into his need to be last when I have my own need to be first!"...Mark was left in the dust, and I think he's ok with that, he's probably thinking "why should I feed into her need to be first when I have my own need to be last!" We have an unspoken understanding.
Anyway - so far the trip has exceeded my expectations.
Incidentally, there is an 8 hour time difference. We're ahead. So its midnight here and 4pm at home!
There is a partition that goes up between passengers for when you want privacy - so fun.
We had dinner shortly after take off - I had a spicy thai coconut curry rice and chicken dish and Jay had lamb chops that he really enjoyed. Even Jay said half way through the flight "these seats make me happy too".
I managed to stay up until 2am watching movies and then slept between 2 and 6am. Got up at 6 and watched another movie and then had breakfast, french toast - yum. We were done sleeping and watching another movie and Jay saw the guy in front of him and said to me "He has a pillow!" "Um..I have a pillow, it was on my seat when we sat down". Jay slept just fine without a pillow.
When we arrived in Dubai (13 hours later) we were greeted at the gate and taken to another lounge while they picked up our luggage and then escorted us to a priority customs (though the airport was completely dead anyway). But beautiful.
From the airport we took private shuttles to the hotel - there are probably 20 of us that came in on the same flight. All in all there are 33 advisors here with their guests and 6 Manulife Sr. employees.
I thought that the hotel might be completely over the top and gaudy - and its borderline, but just the right side of tasteful and quite lovely. This is a photo of the chandelier in the foyer from below that was used in the most recent Mission Impossible movie.
When we got into our room we had a welcome bottle of prosecco and a cheese tray which was a really nice treat! Jay doesn't drink it so right after the photo I poured it all into one glass :)
And I made Jay stop and not drop a thing so I could take some photos of the room - because inevitably all of our crap is all over in 2 minutes and I never get a good picture of the room again!
After about 30 minutes we went down to the lobby to meet Mark and Lorna and go to a very informal group networking in the lounge. We spent an hour and a half down there meeting all sorts of new people (much to Jay's chagrin) and drinking cocktails on Manulife (thank you Manulife)..I tried something called a Honey Bee - which is rum, lime juice and honey - tastes like a Margarita without the tequila - delish. Mark never showed down there - now, you have to know Mark to know that this is not a surprise to me at all, and it doesn't bother me because I'm not expecting him to be on time anyway! In fact, its now just before midnight and we've been back up in the room for about an hour and Mark just called to see if we were going to go down to the lobby for a drink. Yeah, no. Jay is asleep - so is everyone else because we've all slept 4 hours in the last 35 hours. But that's Mark! All night Jay has been saying "we should wait for Mark" "we should wait for Mark" and I finally said "but why does he always have to be last?!?" Jay said it's a form of control and I said "why should we feed into his need to be last when I have my own need to be first!"...Mark was left in the dust, and I think he's ok with that, he's probably thinking "why should I feed into her need to be first when I have my own need to be last!" We have an unspoken understanding.
Anyway - so far the trip has exceeded my expectations.
Incidentally, there is an 8 hour time difference. We're ahead. So its midnight here and 4pm at home!
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