The Adventure has begun

The next few weeks of blogs will introduce a new character - my niece from Chicago. We have invited her to join our family on this vacation to assist with keeping track of the kids. On a major vacation like this, I tend to focus on transit connections for flights, trains, shuttles as well as planning out the daily activities based on when events occur. My wife is, for the most part, left with keeping tabs on the kids. Our niece, who graduated last week and will be attending Illinois State in the fall, will help in both areas.


Our journey began simply enough when I left work at noon to return home and finish packing, eat lunch, and leave together as a family. We were out the door, as planned, by 3 PM to arrive at the airport by 5 PM for our 7 PM flight. Other than a complete mental lapse that I cannot yet claim as a "senior moment" when I forgot to fill out the requisite immigration cards, everything was uneventful. We cleared customs by 5:30 and spent the rest of the time before our flight in the airline lounge enjoying fresh juice and fruits.

We flew Singapore Airlines from Jakarta to Singapore, and Lufthansa from Singapore to Paris. Our connecting Lufthansa flight left Jakarta at the same time as our Singapore Airlines flight left Jakarta. Going forward, I need to rethink how I use online booking websites (Orbitz, on this trip). At the recommendation of Singapore Airlines, I tried to check in with the Lufthansa ticketing agents for our connecting flight. They informed me they could not, and that I should try it online from the lounge.

When I got to the lounge, I tried to check-in for our connecting flight. Lufthansa had no record of me by either the credit card I used to book the flight, or by the reservation number Orbitz had given me for how Lufthansa would recognize me. I was disappointed, but not really concerned. When I checked in with Singapore Airlines, they saw we were booked all the way through to Paris. I was a little nervous about the 90 minute layover not being sufficient now that I needed to get a boarding pass upon arrival, but, flying Business Class, I knew I would get preferential and expedited treatment.

We left for our gate at the allotted time - 30 minutes before our 7:05 PM departure. Then we waited. And waited. And then we boarded...and waited. Our flight left ninety minutes late. Our connecting flight was leaving Singapore at 11:05 PM and we were now scheduled to arrive at 10:40 PM, and I needed to get boarding passes.

Now I was concerned. We had to fly from Singapore to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Paris. Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Paris one hour before my niece's flight. This was intentional so we could be the ones to find her, and not the other way around. If we missed our Frankfurt flight, we would surely be delayed at least a day. Not good, but my wife and daughter still enjoyed their poached salmon dinner while I enjoyed my usual vegetarian fare.

When we landed, I rushed up the loading dock to the gate while my wife waited for the stroller we had gate checked. To my extreme gratitude, a Lufthansa representative was waiting at the gate looking for me. He loaded us all into a cart, sped through the airport to a transition station where I obtained our boarding passes, and then raced through the terminals again to get us to our gate. Singapore performs passenger security at each gate. There was a small line for Business Class - a much longer one for Economy - and we cleared security just in time to walk up for final boarding of our flight to Frankfurt.

This is probably a good point to introduce the two biggest difference we noticed between Asian based airlines like Singapore Airlines and German based airline, Lufthansa. For us, they really exemplify the cultural experiences we've had with the two countries. On Singapore Airlines, they were very interested in giving us the best, most personal experience possible. They catered to our needs. For example, they staggered the delivery of our meals so my wife could hold our son while I ate, and vice versa. On Lufthansa, the first thing we noticed was all the attendants were six inches taller. The other major difference was Lufthansa was focused on efficiency. Meals served to everyone, at the same time, in the correct order, according to regimented policies. They were more interested in following the book - give kids toys, offer drinks immediately after take off - than on personalizing the experience or catering to our needs. On this flight, the attendant recommended my wife hold my meal on her table while she ate and then give it to me when she finished. We talked them into keeping mine until I requested it. Asians are known for their hospitality; Germans are known for their engineering. The two airlines perpetuate these stereotypes.

Safely on board our flight to Frankfurt, we finally relaxed into our vacation. That's when the turbulence started. There was a huge storm leaving Singapore. We were flying to the Northwest. To our right, below us, were clouds putting on a tremendous light show. To our left, was the blackness of the open sea. Inside the airplane we bounced and swayed. They flight attendants delayed serving meals for about an hour until the turbulence subsided.

At this point, we put our daughter down for the night, and the airline installed a bassinet for our son on the wall in front of my wife (we were in the first row). As we made our way over the Indian subcontinent, passing over Pakistan and Afghanistan and into western Russia, the turbulence began anew, and much worse. Turbulence never bothers me, but I had trouble sleeping. You can imagine what my wife, who is not a good flier to begin with, was going through. We landed in Frankfurt unscathed and on time at 5 AM, Saturday, local time, 10 AM Jakarta.

The Frankfurt airport was an experience unto itself. We had a two hour layover before our flight to Paris and had to change terminals. We deplaned, and went through customs. No forms, just gave them our passports, told them how long we would be in Europe, and they stamped our passports and waved us through. From there, we walked for about ten minutes down winding hallways to pass through security. The first security checkpoint we arrived at sent us to a different checkpoint further along that screened children. Apparently all the other airports have been doing it wrong by having adults and children follow the same screening process. After clearing security, we finally were able to head to our gate. This meant taking an elevator down, riding people mover conveyor belts through a long tunnel, taking another elevator back up, and walking 32 gates - another twenty minutes. Thankfully, the business class lounge was near our gate, so we stopped for some more hydration and a quick bio break.

Our pilot flying to Paris must have received training from Danica Patrick. She piloted the lane through the airport runways faster than any other plane I've been on. The actual flight was uneventful, until the landing. Five minutes into our final descent, after receiving clearance to land, we were hit with turbulence from the side. Pretty severe turbulence. Like an inexperienced driver trying to gain control of a skidding car on the winter ice, our pilot over corrected. First we jerked hard to the left, then hard to the right, before levelling out again. The plane filled with nervous laughter, and we landed safely in Paris.

Then confusion set in. We had gate-checked our stroller in Singapore all the way through to Paris. When we exited the plane, we asked where they would deliver the stroller. The flight attendants told us to wait at the top of the ramp. At the top of the ramp, there were arrows directing passengers to the right to claim their baggage. The right was roped off, so you had to turn left. This is where we're standing, underneath errors pointing the wrong direction. A group of elderly Americans got so confused, they stood next to us, watching everyone else on the plane go to the left. We told them to go left. We told them we were waiting for a stroller. They just stood there. Finally, a uniformed airline representative told them the same thing we did - "go left" - and they did. She also told us the stroller would be at baggage claim.

We went left, following everyone else, and arrived at baggage claim. Everything was there - except our stroller. It never made the flight. Thirty minutes later, our niece arrived. We gathered all the luggage that did show up, and followed the signs for the shuttle to the hotel. The shuttle became yet another adventure as everyone was confused as to which bus was which, who had paid and who hadn't (and who thought they paid but the agent didn't provide them with an actual ticket), but we all finally made it to our respective hotels.

We arrived too early to check in. Our room would not be available for another three hours. We were tired and needed showers. My son was tired and needed a stroller. We opted instead to eat for the 7th time and pass the time. We finally received our room - twenty minutes early, and our stroller - four hours after they said it would be delivered, and finally crashed for the night shortly before 8 PM.