(The trip to Cape Verde started well with the flight onboard the A380 Airbus where there was a good view from the aisle seat and with the large screen in front and plenty of legroom – it was not a boring, tiring flight)
Boarding the A380 for the start of the journey to Cape Verde was proper & orderly – no morons around to cut queue or to make a scene. Boarding to the upper deck was even better. There were fewer passengers and there seems to be more space up here (I may be wrong).
To avoid us seating on “odd” seats, we did pre-book our seats (I opted for the aisle seat as usual – I can stretch my legs better this way), pre-booked Hindu meal for myself (Emirates always had best options when it comes to Hindu meals) and did online check-in for all including the leg from Lisbon to Cape Verde.
Please read Part 1 of the Trip to Cape Verde here
(Great tips from Sam Chui on flying Economy – check out his other reviews, tips and insights in his Youtube Channel. Personally, the best seat for me is the aisle seat on the far right or left)
Now talking about online check-in, before you fly, ensure to do this to avoid any missing name in the list like how I experienced many years ago. Back then when on transit in Dubai, catching my next flight, the Emirates staff suddenly said my name was not listed and I was held back from boarding.
Good thing I had already done online check-in and had all the “papers” & the pre-printed boarding pass with me and I made a lot of noise, much to the embarrassment of the staff and all the sudden, like a miracle, they found a slot to allow me to board.
Online check-in also allows us to simply to cut the long queue and proceed to the drop baggage counters. You will appreciate it during the peak hours when the queue is long and some passengers are making a scene at the counter. The good thing was the Emirates check-in staff arranged for our luggage to be sent all the way to Cape Verde.
The flight from KL to Dubai was uneventful (the flight from Lisbon to Cape Verde was another story altogether) – most of the “new” movies on their ICE channel were not really new to me but they had plenty of choices to pick. I had watched most of the new movies but one caught my attention – “The Hummingbird Project” (2018) which was fictional but held reality at every turn. It kind of blew me away. You need to watch this movie!!
Onboard meals were excellent as usual in Emirates and my request for Sprite with plenty of ice was not disappointing – the air stewardess gave plenty of ice every time I asked. Since I had opted for Hindu meal, I got my meal first ahead of the other passengers opting for the normal menu. But I had an extra meal when the air-stewardess came for the normal meal services.
We landed at about 4.30 pm and there was a 3 hours layover in Dubai but we barely had time to relax – clearing security is one thing – we still had to navigate the huge airport complex to get to our next boarding gate. At first, we thought it was near but then we realised we need to take the bus (with us getting lost with the many locked exits). A very, very short stop at the duty-free area primarily for window shopping and buy water and then we rushed to the gate with plenty of time to spare.
The flight from Dubai to Lisbon was full too and we were flying on Boeing 777 which was a favourite of mine. I knew that they had USB power slots onboard so I kept the USB cable in my pockets to charge up my phone which at this point was low on battery.
During the flight from Dubai to Lisbon, I slept most of the time – occasionally running through some of the classic movies, just to watch again some of the interesting scenes. This included Lawrence of Arabia. Landing in Lisbon was a breeze and uneventful. Soon after the doors were opened, we saw some passengers running to catch their next flight but not us. We had 8 hours of transit before the TAPS Portugal flight to Praia, Cape Verde.
(Comparing with MYR, this was not cheap but then again, it was worth the money – rice, codfish, fresh juice and coffee. This is the type of food we were expected to have in Cape Verde as well)
Some of the guys were planning to exit and visit the Lisbon city to kill time. Some like me decided to find a quiet place in the airport, lay down to catch some rest and watch movies before the next flight. A colleague of mine had the same idea. After some hours had passed, we were hungry – so we decided to check out the restaurant nearby for some food and drink.
It was not disappointing – the slices of codfish with potatoes (Codfish Brás Style), freshly squeezed orange juice and a small cup of coffee was really good but kind of expensive when one converts EURO to MYR (the price was EURO15). To be frank, 8 hours of transit did fly fast and before we know it, it was time to queue up for the next flight from Lisbon to Cape Verde.
Little I knew then that the flight to Cape Verde was going to be one of most eventful & scary flight I ever had since I have been flying!!
To be continued…