Category Archives: √√

I like it – might not be awesome – but it was a good value for what I paid. You won’t be sorry.

Was doing a Live-aboard on the Mangguanna in Komodo National Park worth It?


Interesting question. Glad I asked myself. The diving varied between Spectacular – 5 Star – Best I’ve ever done – diving, and pretty medicore. Sometimes on the same dive.

I asked Denny (dive master extraordinare) why we didn’t do some of the seriously famous dives in Komodo National Park (3 sisters, Cannibal Rock, etc.) – instead of hanging just in the more northern part of the park where the water is warmer, but the visibility very constricted by Indonesian standards. Our last dive was a muck dive (Denny’s description during the briefing) and it had water so cloudy I couldn’t see the bottom when I back-rolled in off the tender – and it was just 12 meters (30 feet) below. Visiblity like this means it will be challenging to see the sharks and other larger fish that circle around the reef.

And this was the case on several of the dives – and absolutely true for all the dives on days 3 and 4.

Denny explained that the safety of the guests came first – and they weren’t sure we could handle the serious drift dives. Ok – I can appreciate that I might be of concern, and maybe the vegetarian who just did her 99th dive – but the rest of the group was highly experienced, and would have done them with ease. So I don’t buy that as a reason. I think the issue was that we had to stay close to Labaun Bajo to pick up the Aussies on day 3 – and thus couldn’t just take the boat further away from the home base. This is disappointing to say the least – and not what I and the rest of the group that originally had booked on Moana Crusing had expected, been told, or wanted to happen.

Because we were joined on day 3 by 2 new divers – I believe that the 2 morning dives of day 3 had to be done within speed boat distance of Labaun Bajo, and the afternoon and night dives of day 3 had to be done in easy to dive locations so that the dive master could check out the new comers. This basically cost us one precious day of diving. On day 4 we could only do 2 dives because most of us were flying the next day – and we were scheduled to see the Komodo Dragons – but since the Aussies were doing 4 dives – again the locations were compromised. Yes – I was annoyed.

So – let’s say 1 star for dive site planning, 3 stars for the diving – and 5 stars for criter viewing. I would have loved to do a proper drift dive – I’ve done several before and enjoyed them – and expected that this time – but it didn’t happen. 5 or 6 of the 15 dives we did were outstanding – but that’s just 1/3. I know you can do better.

Another issue – the rats. Ok – it’s a boat – rats happen. I’m not stupid, I’m not ignorant – I know this. But it doesn’t make me happy. But what was of greater concern was the attitude among the crew. When guests comment about the rats eating our toothpaste, leaving droppings everywhere, climbing on our legs while we sleep – we don’t expect a shrug. Even if you can’t really DO anything – pretend to do something.

And this wasn’t just noticed on day 3 or 4 – On day 1 I spotted rat droppings on top of the cupboard in my room – pointed them out to the ‘chef’ – who did arrange to get them swept up. But clearly didn’t even try to arrange for some rat poisoin – and at that point we were close enough to Labaun Bajo to send a tender back. It’s ignoring the issue that makes it a problem.

Food – I commented in an earlier blog that the food varied considerably. I give the ‘chef’ points for trying hard – and there were some serious highlights – Those banana pancakes – perfect. And his smoothies were yummy. But there was a frustrating lack of variety, and nothing really new. Hey – how about some Snake Fruit or Mangosteens? Tempt us – tease us – challenge us. Don’t bore us!

Cabins – except for the rats – were great. My bed was extremely comfortable – plenty of head room even for an upper bunk. I would have liked a shelf in the cupboard – but that’s being fussy. And while the toilet arrangement wasn’t 5 star – it worked great.

Comfort – there were 3 chaises for 6 to 8 divers. So we constantly were fighting, or trying not to fight about who got the chaises. The bean bags were extremely comfortable – but had holes so the little white styrofoam beads keep falling out all over the deck. We complained, we asked for duct tape – we got told ok – and no duct tape EVER showed up.

Library – 3 fish books – NO reef animal book. So it was a good thing that Denny had his personal copy.

Amenities – no decks of cards, no dominos, nothing. No attempt to show videos, no photography station, no where to even plug in rechargeables if you didn’t bring your own converters.

So – would I go back to the Mangguanna? No.

Would I dive with. Komodo Diving? No

Would I dive again in Komodo National Park – Yes. Absolutely. Tomorrow if time, space on board a better boat, and money allowed.

So – bought the T-shirt – have extremely fond memories!

Signing off – The Soup Lady

200 Dives and Counting!


On March 18th I did my 200th Scuba Dive. Isn’t that cool?

Denny was my dive buddy – and the location was Palau Tenght in Komodo National Park.

I distinctly remember the first time I tried scuba diving – it was at a swimming pool at a hotel in Puerto Rico in 1976 – my husband and I ran into the guy running the resort course and he convinced my husband that even though he had horrid issues with his nose – he could teach him to dive – or his money back.

Such an offer my husband could not refuse.

So – we did it. We took the 1/2 day scuba intro at the pool – which ended up taking us into the swimming lagoon off the beach of the hotel. I’ll bet if we went 10 feet deep – it was a lot.

But we learned to take off our masks, how to breathe thru the regulators, how not to panic if you lost your regulator, and some more of the very basics of scuba.

The really attractive part of the deal was an offer to go to a small island 17 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico – Culebra – and do 2 boat dives there. To avoid the issues of flying after diving, the plane was actually open to the air (no pressure) and flew less than 200 feet above the waves – and they had to weigh us to determine where we should sit. In order to land – the plane tipped sideways thru 2 mountain peaks.

What nuts we were – but we did get to do 2 dives in crystal clear waters – and probably to a max depth of 25 feet. It was awesome.

Went home – got certified.

And now I’m doing #200. Wow – been a long way, lady.

I admit to hoping that #200 would be as memorable as #1 – but it was not to be. The memorable dives here in Indonesia (Komodo National Park) were 197 (Manta Point), 194 (Shot Gun), 189 (Castle Rock), 190 and 193 (Crystal Rock), and 191 (Secret Garden). The rest – including #200 – are a blur, nice but not spectacular.

There are other dives among the 200 that stand out – the overhangs and tunnels off the east coast of Grand Cayman, muck diving in the seriously cold water in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and of course the Roraima – a wooden sailing boat that sits in 185 feet of water off the coast of Martinque. That was done as a decompression dive of course – with tanks tied off at 25 feet and 15 feet. I also fondly remember the sponges in the cave in Greece, and the octopus that AquaMan – our dive master in Greece – found for us to play with underwater.

Nice memories of blowing bubbles. Here’s the next 50 (I’m doubting I’ll make more than that.. To busy doing too many other things)

Signing off – The Soup Lady

Food aboard the Manguanna – Komodo Cruising – Komodo National Park


Scuba Diving is hungry work. I looked it up – and scuba diving for an hour burns 333 calories. 3 to 4 dives a day – you are talking twice my normal diet! So food is going to be important – divers want food now – and they want it plentiful – and of course they want it good.

How does the chef on the Manguanna deliver? Well – variable is the best answer.

The quantity is perfect – there are always left overs at every meal – even with 6 divers and 2 dive masters chomping in. And there’s more than just 3 meals – there’s a cooked snack after the mid day dive, plus food available in the common area fridge. So quantity – got that covered.

And there is certainly no question about the variety. We’ve eaten about 10 meals now – and there have been no repeats of the final dish. There are repeating ingredients however – banana shows up in about 1 of 4 meals, rice shows up in 3 out of 4 meals, and mystery meat appears in dishes almost all the time. There’s mystery beef, mystery chicken, and mystery fish, served grilled in the case of the fish – and in sauces in the case of the beef and chicken.

There is always something that looks like a vegetable – once it was an Inodesian dish of noodles and vegetables with peanut sauce (Yum), mostly it’s sliced tomatoes with seasoning – or sliced cucumbers with seasoning – or a mixure of both. My husband would be moaning about the overall quality – but I’m happy. It’s hot, well cooked, not overly salty (everyone but me adds salt), and the chef always makes a smoothie to go with lunch and dinner.

My favorite – last nights Pineapple smoothie. Delicous.

For desert – fruit. We’ve had watermelon, Passion fruit, Pineapple, etc. There’s a big box of Khong Guan Biscuits – the club price size – sitting out at all times if you need a munch. Plus loaves of bread, peanut butter – and a variety of Indonesian spreads (Brand is Morin) – Orange Marmalade, Strawberry Jam, Pineapple Jam, Chocolate Peanut, Morin Kaya Spread (with a picture of a coconut on the label), and of course Nutello. The Sisters – being Swiss – are doing a number on the Nutello!

Breakfast is hit or miss. The first morning the chef blew me away with his banana pancakes – oh man were they good. Since then its been more American Dinner with a kick – Pancakes with Hot Dogs, Sunny side up eggs on top of Ramen Noodles, like that. I keep hoping that those banana pancakes will come back – but even if they don’t I’m ok. I had 2 of those!

What’s notably lacking is brewed coffee. So I’ve been coffee free for 2 days and have the caffeine withdrawal headaches to show for it. But it’s probably better for my diving in the long run – so I’m avoiding all caffinated beverages – its water, water and soda water. Plus those smoothies lets not forget.

So – bottom line on the food. A for punctual. A for quanitity. And a C+ for quality. But I’m a tough judge, and those pancakes were wonderful – Ok – give him a B for quality. You don’t have to be 5 star to impress me.

Signing off to go on dive #10! – The Soup Lady blowing bubbles your way….

What a difference a day makes – More excitement on the Liveaboard!


Last night the Vegetarian showed up at my door – sobbing and needing a hug. What the? Just goes to show ya – never make assumptions about people – you are so often completely off base!

While I don’t think the Vegetarian and I would ever be best buddies – I talk way too much for her – we did find a common ground – and agreed to be friends. How cool is that!

I’ll back track a bit. At dinner, the dive masters announced that the next morning we’d be doing two really cool dives – Batu Balong and Manta Point. That was the high point. Then they announced that after the 2nd dive, we’d be joined by two more divers. They were coming by speed boat from Labaun Bajo. Oops – that messes the sleeping arrangements – big time. And how is that going to impact the buddy teams? Questions – Questions!

To review – there are only 4 cabins. The Vegetarian has one, the German has one – I’m sharing with SC, and the Sisters have a cabin. Where are we going to put 2 more people? Clearly – either the Vegetarian and German bunk together – or the new folks split up and sleep in different cabins. Either way – the Vegetarian is losing her single cabin. And she was broken up about it.

Turns out it wasn’t just that either. Her father was having surgery that day – and that was putting pressure on her. Plus – she stopped working a year ago to rebalance herself – what ever that means. She wants only positive energy in her life – and when things go against plan – it just becomes challenging to stay positive.

All of which makes me feel sorry for her of course – and part of me wants to tell her – shape up. You are 35 years old, you have enough money to travel at will in facinating places, you are healthy – get a grip. But that isn’t the whole truth – it’s hard to be alone. And I’m sure without her admiting to that issue – the lack of support network hurts. You need to be able to reach out to people and be sure in your own mind that the reaching out will be welcome. That of course is the trick – how do you know your reaching out will be greeted with concern, interest, and thoughts for your well being?

Heavy thoughts for such a beautiful place!

But things do work out. The 2 dives were amazing – more on that later – and the new couple are very experienced – and have their own dive master from Komodo Diving. So our buddy teams don’t change, which is a good thing.

As for sleeping arrangements – the German gallantly offers to move in with the Vegetarian – who can’t take the additional pressure of a change in rooms – and the couple (lets call them Aussies) gets the German’s room. Of course this morning the gal of the Aussies complained bitterly about how her bed is uncomfortable – a comment that all of us completely ignored.

And while they are seriously on the hefty side – the guy is 6’3″ and I’d guess well over 250 lbs and the gal is about 5′ 8″ and around the same weight – they are highly experienced divers, have 6 grandkids, and even better – Speak English! So, while accented, it tips the scales towards English as the main language. They also turn out to be very very funny! They completely cracked us all up talking about the Kangaroo’s in Austrialia. Turns out that she likes to take in the babies to raise when their mother’s dies – and he likes to run them over with his SUV equipped with a ‘Roo Bar’! Not only are they funny, well traveled, and English – they work full time. She manages a chain of homes for the disabled, he’s a project manager for a mining company in Austrialia. Very nice folks, and great at keep the conversation going over dinner. Their dream – to own a yacht and cruise the world – diving all the way around. Good luck to them I say!

And the Vegetarian got word that her Dad is fine. Trama over for now.

Personally – I’m going Scuba Diving.

Signing off – The Soup Lady

Life in a Rain Forest – Ubud does Water World


Start with some Simple Geography – Ubud is built upon a series of ravines between, beside, and parallel to the parths 2 rivers. We hiked about 10 KM total along the ridge line that divides theses rivers this morning – (it was lovely) – but this blog is not about that hike – it’s about living in a rain forest.

To the south of Ubud is the plain of Dempasseur – the main city of Bali and the location of the airport. To the north East of Ubud is Mount Agung – a volcano that errupted most recently in 1963 and is still considered active. At 9,944 feet – it dominates the skyline from all directions – and is actually clearly visible from the back porch of our ‘Balanese Palace.”

Naturally – the clouds are forced upwards as they move from the hot wet coast towards the mountain – and thus we get rain here in Ubud. Lots of rain. Even now – at the ‘end’ of the rainy season, there are 2 or 3 rain storms a day – and the one last night was a dosy.

At about 3:30 AM I shot upright in bed to the sound of a clap of thunder so loud the house shook. With no insulation to speak of – and basically a thatched roof – while water tight – our little home is barely protection from the elements – it’s certainly not entirely safe in a thunder and lightening storm – at least that is what went thru my mind at 3:30 AM!

Next thought – what’s the tallest thing around? There’s a series of Palm trees at one edge of the rice fields that surround us – and there’s a magnificant Banyon tree South East of us that fairly large. But in the general height department – there’s not a lot to choose from. It’s a random chance if lightining should hit us rather than our neighters.

So – it rained, and rained, and rained. I had visions of flood warnings – but Ubud takes rain in it’s stride. All streets have 2 foot deep tranches on the sides – and the roads are slopped to drain into the trenches. The trenches funnel the water from the frequent rain storms into one of the 2 rivers – after providing water for the multitude of rice plantings that occupy any land not uesd for housing.

So Ubud can handle the rain. And it sure looks pretty while doing so! The flowers are amazing – everywhere you look there is one flower more glorious, more prefect – than the next. I had to look them up – Heliconia (red firm flowers (leaves?) hanging down from trees everywhere, Bananas – both wild and cultivated – and even growing in our back yard, Flamboyant trees are everywhere – in fact avoiding them is harder than finding them. Water Lilys, Bamboo trees, lotus flowers, the list is never ending – and all are lovely.

For a rain forest habitat – Ubud does not disappoint.

Clearly the issue around here is not on how to get plants watered – it’s how to deal with incredibly rapid growth. Trees have amazingly huge roots, statues if not cleaned frequently quickly develop a glorious green hue – and there are water falls – and signs of wash outs everywhere. But if you’ve always wanted to know what a rain forest feels like – Ubud is your place.

Signing off to go dry her feet – The Soup Lady

Business Class ROCKS – or what a difference a Plane Reno Makes


I knew that they had changed something about my long leg – the flight from Paris to Singapore. When I went to print my boarding passes – my seat assignment was different – and when I went to change it back – the seat map was completely different.

So no surprise that there were changes – but I was still stunned by the difference!

But before I get to my flight – a quick review of the Charles De Gaul Hilton. I arrived in Paris at 8:00 AM – and had to fly out at 7:30 PM – and I can’t sleep on airplanes. So I knew I was going to need to find a bed when I arrived in Paris. My husband encouraged me to stay at the Hilton – he’s used it before on these airport stays – and thinks of it quite fondly.

So – expensive reservation made (I opted for the room that gave me access to the executive lounge, figuring I’d grab breakfast before hitting the sack) – I arrived in Paris – terminal 2E. There’s a shuttle every 15 minutes from 2E to the hotel – but who knew. Despite telling the hotel when I was arriving – the only instructions they gave me had me on the airport metro – a short 4 stop metro between Terminal 2, Terminal 1 and 3, and a parking lot.

So – I got off the plane – walked thru passport control and luggage claim, out to the airport, back towards the center of the airport, got on the metro thingy, go off 2 stops later, then walked around that building until I spotted the Hilton. It was a huge problem – but the entire thing could have been easily avoided had I known to grab their shuttle from terminal 2. Good news – used that on the way back – dropped me right off at my gate.

Breakfast in the Executive Lounge was ok – but not worth what I paid for the upgrade. Message to self – next time don’t bother. I got to the room – nice comfy bed – great bathroom – and collapsed. 4 Hours later – I awoke – really to boggie. Had a very refreshing shower – took the shuttle to the airport – and found the Air France Executive lounge. All good!

On to the flight.

On January 1, 2015 – Air France introduced brand new seats in Business Class on several of it’s long haul flights – and mine was one of the lucky ones. Oh – what a seat. I’ve walked past these egg shell shaped curved seats many times – this was the first time I got to press the buttons!

My seat was awesome. No seriously – really amazing. It was a full Flat bed – which means that it goes completely flat – so comfy for sleeping. The TV screen is huge – and close enough to my face for me to see it easily – and it was clean. And touch sensitive. They provided a fancy touch sensitive remote – but I never actually used it. One part of the egg hold the TV, and a shelf that becomes part of the bed when the chair is extended. Super large – super handy for my purse and back-pack. On the other part of the egg – the part with the chair – there was a very large area for putting stuff – and a cabinet that opened. It held the provided headphones (dearly wish they were more comfy – my ears were in pain by the end of the 19 hours) – and was large enough for me to tuck in my ipad. There were 2 plugs – one a multi-plug outlet that accepted not only my US connectors – but also the connectors for a multiple of other countries. The other plug was a USB port – which would charge my iphone – but not my ipad. Oh well.

So – I sat down – and my neighbor quickly realized I was new at this – and was very happy to demonstrate all the bells and whistles! Up down, into a bed, into a chair – move the back of the chair – what fun. Only thing missing – built in massage!

Standard amenities (how many cheap toothbrushes does anyone need), little slippers – and those socks that fit no one. Nice blanket, big pillow – I was in heaven.

And the food was pretty darn good too! I loved the amuse Bouche of peas and cream, the shrimp was ok – but the winner was the Cod with black Rice. It’s a celeberty chef’s dish – and it was yummy. And the fish was properly cooked – amazing for airline food. Standard cheese course (and great bread), plenty of water – this time wihout needing the constant reminders, and a very light dessert completed the dinner portion. The staff passed several times during the night – and if you were obviously awake (ok – I slept a total of 5 hours – which is probably some kind of record for me) – they gave you little bowls of rubarb-apple sauce. Very refreshing.

Entertainment – watched 3 films – Magic in the Moonlight by Woodie Allen – great film – you have to watch it, and 2 smash ‘m up films – Milifcent and Guardians of the Galaxy. Not sure why I watched the Guardians of the Galaxy – it’s quite silly on a tiny screen. But it is what it is.

Breakfast was a waste – terrible coffee (I forgot to ask for the hot chocolate – and they didn’t offer it either), and unlike the flight from Montreal – the bread was cold. I did enjoy the Broiche though.

Fussy about breakfast aside (I think the big problem for me was the abundance of fancy mushrooms on the omlet. I love omlets – hate mushrooms), I was dutifully impressed. Absolutely worth every penny to get that seat and that food for that long of a flight.

We were a bit late departing from Paris – which put us in late to Singapore – but I had no issues with the transafer – in fact the new gate was directly accross from the old one. One thing surprising about Singapore – the gates are all encloed in glass (floor to ceiling), and the security check is INSIDE the glass. So about 40 minutes before departure – the gate opens and you must go thru security at that point. This despite the fact that you had to have cleared security before getting on the plane you just got off. I guess they have decided that having 2 machines at every gate is more efficient that having one big line at the spot where people enter the entire gate area. Interesting.

Ok – enough of this – I’m waiting for my flight to Bali – making good use of their free internet here in Singapore. It’s 30 degrees C outside – that’s 50 degrees WARMER than what I left 2 days ago in Montreal. But you can’t tell that from here – the airport is of course air conditioned – and people don’t look much different from how they’d be dressed for a Montreal summer. Sandles and flip flops are the norm – but only one gal is wearing a tank top – everyone is pretty conservatively dressed for that hot a climate.

Moving on – The Soup Lady

Air France – Matron in the Air (and not in a good way)


I lucked out to get relatively inexpensive tickets to travel Business Class to Bali – I’m not stupid – and I completely recognize a bargain when I see one. So it was with a great deal of trepidation that I read some pretty negative reviews of Air France in general – and Air France Business Class in particular.

For those who google – Seat Guru.com, Seat Plans.com, and Airline Quality.com are 3 of the many sites that allow folks like you and me to comment publicly on how airlines are treating their paying guests these days. My personal favorite is probably Seat Guru – it seems to keep up to date pretty reqularly – and has enough reviews to lend believability to the total.

Any way – it generally appeared upon reading these sites that I was in trouble. Air France has gone from Queen of the airways to what can best be described as an older lady who hasn’t aged as well as she might. Reviewers describe an old fleet, an old entertainment system, food that is best avoided, and not very friendly service.

Well I’m here to report – at the half way point – that the reviewers are not completely wrong. There is lots to love, and lots to wonder about on just one flight experience – people who have put on more miles with Air France will likely have found even less to love.

But let’s hit the highlights and the low lights. You can decide for yourself.

Right now I’m sitting in the Air France Executive lounge in Paris. On the Air France website – this lounge is described as sophisticated, elegant, luxurious. Well – not quite. The lounge in Montreal – while much smaller – had a much more elegant feel to it. I haven’t seen a single person cleaning or straightening up. The food selection is limited to delicous cheeses – and pre-packaged cups of noodles. Really – cup of noodles?

There was a sign at the entrance that advertised free massages – but when I arrived at 3:30 and asked for an appointment – they were ‘gone for the day’. Would it be so hard to take down the sign? Guess so.

I will give the lounge credit for size – it’s huge. And broken into quite attractive sections thru the use of plants (fake) and glass panels. One section is walled off completely – and labeled for Japan Air only. Guess they can’t mix with the likes of us. There are toilets – not wonderfully located though – and there’s an upstairs section that apparently has computers and work stations. Not to complain – but there’s no elevator – so everyone going up stairs is lugging their carry on.

And here’s the worst part – I’m in a basement. The view out of the only windows is of a huge construction site – I’m assuming the airport is expanding.

But this is the ‘name’ carrier of France – shouldn’t they offer guests a bit of a higher standard.

Late breaking news – my flight boards at 6:50 PM – so at about 6:45 I made my way out of the lounge – to realize they were setting up the most amazing spread for dinner – lox, cold cuts, several salads, etc. But it was chained off – you have to wait to 7:00 to eat! I guess they figure that just because you are Travelling – you should abide by France’s standard eating times to get hungrey. At least it’s a way step up from Cup of Noodles.

On to the review of the flight over the pond as the Brits like to refer to the Atlantic Ocean. Yes – I turned left. Yes I had one of those cool looking seats that becomes a bed – and yes they provided slippers, hand creme, eye shades, and even low end ear phones permanently attached to your chair. But I couldn’t plug in my own ear phones and stereo sound, the tiny TV monitor was over an arms reach away – and the selections rather limited. I did get to watch MockingJay, Big Force 6, and a bit of the 100 Foot Journey – so that was ok – but in comparision to the options available on Air Canada in Economy class – this was pretty weak. No points for making me use your earphones, no points for selections, no points for size/clarity of the TV. Sorry Air France – losers.

The service was variable. I can’t actually lift my carry on – it has my regulator inside – so I need help. Points for the staff noticing, Points for the staff trying to help – no points for the male steward saying – aren’t you going to help me. Really – I’m 66 and 5’4″ – I can’t even OPEN the overhead bin – let alone lift the carry on. And this is fancy dancy business class.

Drinks – Points for lots of drink options, 10 points for AWESOME hot chocolate, no points for making me ask 3 times for a refill on water, and definitely no points for telling me that after 5 hours they had figured out that I liked fizzy water – and thus included a bottle on the breakfast cart – just for me. It’s not the guesture – it’s having to tell me about it that’s weird.

Silverware – I have no idea where they are storing these things – but seriously cold silverware is a real turn off. So of course is plastic – so points for real silverware, no points for it being cold. Very cold.

Food – ok – this too had temperature issues. Where are they storing stuff? Frozen shrimp? Really? But the bread was fresh baked and delicious – and the cheese – wonderful. The butter so hard that I couldn’t cut it with a knife. So again – mixed review – Points for the bread – lots of points for the bread. And the main course was pretty good too. But too cold to eat shrimp was a serious negative. And I would have loved some of those fresh baked cookies that Lou mentioned. None showed up. On the other hand – the Hot chocolate was outstanding. And I’d almost fly AF again to get it.

Breakfast – 4 tiny pieces of fruit, a COLD (nothing new there) yogurt and 2 more hot chocolates. Best part – freshly baked pasteries. So few people opted for breakfast that the gal offered me seconds if I wanted. That was nice. Points for Hot Cocolate, Points for asking if I wanted seconds – No points for the rest.

Bed – which was in fact the entire point – Ok – that was pretty good. In fact – I don’t understand the negative comments all over the net. Am I just less fussy? It was firm, there was a nice big pillow and a huge blanket that was quite comfy. I was in 3E – which was NOT a bulkhead seat. That meant I had a shelf to put my feet on – and of course the slanted flat bed. So Points and them some for these. I wouldn’t want a bulkhead seat – but otherwise – all was good. And they had reading lights that you could move around as needed. Another nice touch.

Bottom line – I’m curious to see if we’re going up or down on this next leg – 19 hours to Singapore…

Signing off to get some more of that yummy cheese here in the Executive Lounge – The Soup Lady

Turn to the Left – a whole New Way of Travelling


I never travel business or first class. Never. But I’m going to Bali – and it’s 35 hours of travel there – and 25 hours back. Total – 60 hours.

That’s a lot of flight time for one little lady travelling alone. So when I booked my tickets – I looked at something I never even think of looking at – the difference in price between economy and business class. It was $1000. Round Trip. They were having a huge sale.

So $1000 for 60 hours is $16.67. What could they give me to be worth $16.67 an hour? Well it turns out that they are going to give me a bed. A bed. And not just one bed – two beds each way. And that’s not all – buy now and we’ll give you nicer food, a bigger seat, friendlier more personalized service, 2 bags free, priority access to the check-in counter, and guarenteed seats (which it turns out is not so guarenteed actually).

How could a bargain hunting senior possibly resist such an offer.

So – here I am – sitting in the Air France lounge in the Montral airport – snacking on their delicious food – fine cheese, proper nut bread, quiches, salad, biscotti (oh – I love biscotti), chocolates from Italy, unlimited drinks from canned Perrier to bottle water to wine and beer – although I’m not going to imbide any of the alcoholic suggestions – I know from previous flying experience that’s not a good plan.

They just announced that my flight is on time – but not to worry – when it’s time for us to board, they will make another announcement – meanwhile just relax and enjoy the lounge.

Oh man – I’m relaxing – and enjoying – and getting another biscotti!

About that guaranteed seating – I booked back in the spring of 2014 – and at the time I used Seat Guru.com – great site – to pick out the very best seats. I’m not a fan of bulkhead seats – I need something under my short legs to keep my feet flat – and I definitely don’t want to be near the toilets – or the gallery. So I carefully picked window seats that would be perfect.

Imagine my surprise to discover when I checked in yesterday that Air France had switched planes on me (not a bad thing – I’m getting their brand new upgraded business class experience) – but because I booked early – they gave me consistently bulk head seats! And naturally – there are not nearly as many options now as there where when I booked. So for the seriously long leg of this journey – the flight from Paris to Singapore – I’m in a middle row – no window. But in the image – it looks like one of the privacy booths – I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

Oh – my flight plans – Montreal to Paris – 8 hours in Paris (asleep – I can’t sleep on airplanes), then Paris to Singapore, then Singapore to Bali. Return trip is the reverse – without the long stay in Paris.

Can’t wait to turn to the left – Signing off so she’s really ready to enjoy this brand new adventure – The Soup Lady

Another Icon gone forever – And I’ll miss Spock forever


Spock died. Ok – I know – it’s not Spock – it’s Leonard Nimoy – but to me he was Spock. He was a visitor from another galaxy with issues related to his birthright that made him both intriguing and sometimes – lets admit it – annoying.

He was the torn in Captain Kirk’s side, the nemesis of Bones, and often the brilliant problem solver that saved the day for the Enterprise.

He took chances – both as himself, and as Spock – and challenged me at least to consider the benefits of not just doing the same old over and over again.

Getting scared isn’t a bad thing if it also means getting ahead. And one of my favorite posters has always been of a turtle with the slogan – a Turtle never gets ahead if he doesn’t stick his neck out.

And you are never too old, too set in your ways to ignore the pleasure of doing something that makes you happy.

So in honor of Leonard – in honor of Spock – in honor of growing up but not growing ‘old’ in the sense of same old, same old – let’s all go out and do something unique today. Something just a bit challenging – walk a little further, say hi to a stranger, make a plan to do something you’ve always wanted to do, try a new exercise, drive down a different road.

It’s in honor of Spock and Leonard!

Signing off so she too can go do something fun – and different – and challenging – The Soup Lady

My Aero Bed just died


Ok – so maybe a funeral is not in order – but I still have to figure out what to do with the dead body.

It’s not funny.

I’ve enjoyed this aero bed for years – and now – in the midst of my annual Maine vacation – it decides to die.

I woke up this morning sleeping on a balloon. No kidding. The maze of pathways that channel the air in the Aero Bed to keep it flat and bed like must have given way – and I was lying in the middle of a wall of puffed up bed-clothes.

Extremely uncomfortable – let me tell you.

At first I thought the bed had a slow leak, and my lying on hard surface meant I had to inflate it some more. So I stupidly did that – which just dramatically increased the balloon effect.

Once I was awake enough to appreciate the horror of what lay beneath and beside me and above my head and below my feet – I managed to swim my way out of the bed and turned to survey the damage.

It’s like a massive whale lying where my bed used to be.

And guess what – you can’t get the air out either. It’s stuck in there.

What am I going to do with the body….

Signing off in complete puzzlement – the soup lady