Swiss Air

Swissair, Switzerland's national airline, ceased operations in 2002. Swiss Air or Swiss, is an unrelated company that shares much of the philosophy of the former airline. As they say:

 The national airline embodies Swiss values such as "personal service", "in-depth quality" and "typical Swiss hospitality". 

It sounds great...  

Swiss reminds me of Lufthansa in many things.  Ha!

I have been traveling with them quite a lot recently because they offer great prices and flexibility for multiple-stopover trips (without the need of buying an around-the-world ticket). They have good planes, a good entertainment system, but the rest is all a happy medium regarding comfort, meals and service on board for intercontinental travelers, and an average for inter-European short ones. 

My first flight with Swissair was an inter-European one to Switzerland, and I had a very good experience; I was lucky enough to enjoy views with the tops of high mountains almost at my fingertips. Utterly beautiful and an awesome experience.  

My trips with Swiss Air have been carried by the carrier itself or by other Star Alliance members, mostly Thai and Singapore Airlines from/to Australia. However, I have found that the partnership, at least with South African Airlines was not good, and the conditions of the trip were those of the latter and not those of Swiss, even though the ticket was purchased with and issued by Swiss. 

I have never had any trouble with the airline, so I don't know how they behave when customers experience lost luggage or delayed planes or missed connections. 

Overall, I am happy to flight with them, but I am never excited to do so, because there are other airlines doing better job than they do, but they get me because they are usually cheaper. Another ha!  

 

 

NOV 2022 UPDATE - GONE DOWNHILL

I traveled with the airline recently as part of a multi-airline intercontinental trip. I don't know if this is the after-effect of COVID, but the airline has gone downhill in all fronts. Poor customer service. Average entertainment system. Poor food. I was unfriendly unhelpful flight attendants. Not comfortable flights. Some of the European segments had flights delayed and no reason or apology given to customers. I had a very small computer trolley bag pack, way smaller than the average cabin suitcase. I was targeted at the Zurich airport as not being able to take it into the cabin as I was also carrying a small handbag. Nobody else was addressed. There were people carrying double the size and two items on to the cabin without a problem. addressed in publish in a form that had the whole customer seating area focusing on me, that is, without tact or elegance. Really rude and unfriendly staff, who won't help you with anything and don't know what smile means. If the airline represent the country, I feel bad for the Swiss, because the airline gives a really sub-par 3rd-world country impression. Not enough flight attendants to attend a long-haul flight. Terrible experience and I will avoid them from now on, as much as possible. Yes, they have cheaper flights than most European companies, but you understand why when you travel with them. There are small European airlines providing better service than they do. 

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Avene Eau Thermale Spring Water

This is thermal purified water, put into a spray can. That is it!

It sounds simple, but sometimes the simplest things are the best.

You can use this for beauty or health purposes:  To refresh your face and eyelids when working for hours in front of the computer, to calm sunburns or irritated skin, to remove make up, after shaving your face or legs, and to clean small wounds (therefore, great for your emergency kit and for travelling). 
 
To be honest, you could buy a good thermal water by the litre, put it in a spray bottle and use it the same, but it would deteriorate after opening, and you would not have the benefit of the Avene's spray system, which is fantastic, as the water comes out with the right amount of pressure and in the form of a very pleasant mist.

I find the product overpriced, as it is sold as a beauty product. The travel size (50 ml) costs at least 8-9 bucks, which is a lot for a bit of canned thermal water! The bigger sprays are better regarding quantity-prize, but they are less portable and I wouldn't take it for travelling, and it is expensive, the 300 ml bottle is about 19-20 bucks.

Yet, a great product. 

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Lufthansa

I've  traveled endless times with Lufthansa, mostly for intercontinental trips, and also for some inter-European flights and, throughout the years, I have learned to respect it as one of my most reliable airlines in the world.

Lufthansa never gets me excited. You won't hear me saying "Wow, I am flying with Lufthansa" because, truth be told, their planes aren't the best, their meals aren't the yummiest, their seats aren't the most comfortable, and the look and decoration of the planes is dead boring. Unless you travel in Business, you will find that Lufthansa offers a happy medium (or just a medium) on those fronts. 

However, Lufthansa does something that I value more than comfort: reliability, especially when problems arise, great prices for single or multi-country intercontinental trips (without the need of buying an around-the-world ticket), good stopover policies, and great staff. They did have a huge network of stops throughout the world before they even joined Star Alliance, and now is even larger. They are best pals with some of my favorite international lines. These days the inter-European trips are done  by subsidiary or budget-ish airlines but subject to the terms and conditions of Lufthansa (that is always a guarantee to me), and some of the inbound-outbound trips in Australia are done by Singapore Airlines or THAI, and these airlines get me always excited. 

So many bad stereotypes about Germans in Australia, and my experience with the crews has been always fabulous -- the smiliest, friendliest, and most h-e-l-p-f-u-l on-board crews in the planet. Certainly, you can find here rude staff, or staff who don't care and don't want to help. That happens in every single airline. However, I have never found any of those. My experience with them has always been excellent.  

Most importantly, when problems have arisen, regarding delayed flights or lost/delay of baggage, their response was immediate. From the manual. No begging needed on my part.

These days, they have  online check-in, which is great, but they can be tight regarding regulations for in-cabin hand luggage.

You cannot love a company that does not respect customers or does not treat them well. In that regard, Lufthansa got my love, perhaps not my passion.

 

DEC 2022 UPDATE - GONE DOWN THE HILL AND NO MORE LOVE FROM ME.

I had several intercontinental trips with the airline this year and they've gone downhill. Service has been dreadful, with 13h flights with limited number of attendants and many of them unwilling to give you a hand with anything, plain rude and barely any customer service skills, reduced number of free snacks and water during the night, like water shouldn't be a luxury. There were several people complaining about an obnoxious rude vulgar flight attendant. Having that sort of cow in this sort of plane is unacceptable, and she seemed to be that way, like it's her personality so, if it was up to the customers, she would be sacked. Beside this, their planes are old, their entertainment system hasn't been updated and they are worse than anyone else I traveled with in my last trip overseas. The screens were non responsive, the amount of movies limited. Seat leg space has grown to... tiny, Head lockers too small for an intercontinental flight. 

 

The European short segments of my flight with them were also average. Poor service. No entertainment program for a 3h flight. No free food, just a bottle of water. Average customer service and they were serving drinks in glass glasses, so one customer broke one and there were pieces of glass all over, which not a safety point that you get from them. 

 

Avoid if you can. I will do my best not to fly with them again.   

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Clonea Antifungal Skin Cream

This is a generic brand for Canesten, a broad spectrum anti-fungal, the same product, the same concentration of active ingredient, but way cheaper. It works the same.

Any anti-fungal, especially if used on large skin surfaces (not just the feet), needs of at least three weeks use, one or so to get rid of the fungi, and two others to further guarantee you don't get them back. This being the case, you want to buy the cheapest possible product because you will using a few tubes. Canesten 50 gms costs about 10 bucks, while Clonea costs about 6. That is a remarkable difference in price for the same product.

The cream spreads well, absorbs well and, unlike other anti-fungals, I don't get an itch or burn reaction in my skin. The product does not smell and does not dry my skin either. I have found that anti-fungal creams work differently on different people, in my case this has worked great for me in the past.  

If you are going to travel for a long time and be walking barefoot in public or hotel pools, or backpacking and sharing showers, you want to have a tube of this at hand, just in case.  

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JB Hi-Fi

I have bought a few things from JB, the last ones a travel notebook, a mouse, and a mp3 player as they were cheaper than elsewhere. They always have great discounts, so I tend to browse their website when I am looking for specific items.

Unlike other electronic shops where I pop up regularly to see what they have in store and browse around, JB Hi-fi  stores seem to be uninviting, sombre places, overcrowded with stuff or just the layout not well thought to favour movement and exhibition of products. They are also short of knowledgeable staff too often, and short of staff in general also often. 

Although along the years I have found nice staff at JBHF, the norm for me has been just finding the unhelpful, uninterested unfriendly staff, so nothing that invites me to visit any more than I strictly need and when their prices are cheaper than elsewhere. Some of the guys on the floor don't really know anything about anything they sell, others do, so if you are unlucky enough to get one of the baddies, they can easily mislead you. I have also seen patronising attitudes towards people of a certain age or women because, in their silliness, some of them think they know something, when in fact they don't. I have found the people at the cash out and managers usually lovely, friendly and very helpful.

The most annoying thing is that there aren't sample mice to use and test on the tables in the stores, so you cannot test them for size, heaviness and comfort, and have to buy them, go home and, if not a fit, return it, and do the same with other mouse until you find one that fits. If you are looking for a work mouse, choosing the right mouse for you might take you to test several mice, so I wonder what's the convenience of having to go three times to the store.

They have one of the worse branding ever. Unmistakable, that is good. Cheap looking, bordering tasteless, that is not good. 

In a nutshell --  They have good prices but outdated shops and bad service overall.

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Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G, 6" Free 3G + Wi-Fi 1st Generation

I have one of these since the product was launched, and it is a good sound book reader. Easy to set, operate and maintain, easy to access the Amazon Store and download your books, easy to navigate and to create collections, and very portable. Here a wrap-up:

GOOD THINGS
> Easy to set for the first time and easy to operate.
> Very portable and easy to store anywhere, in a folder, small handbag or briefcase. Perfect for travelling, as well.
> Easy-peasy wireless connection and delivery.
> Easy to carry and to pack. 
> Lightweight.
> Free 3G to purchase and download your books all over the world. Yes, that is right. I have used it lots, and by default as, until recently, I did not have router at home.  Unlike tablets, which rely on the existence of free WI-FI on the place you visit or on you buying a 3G SIM card or using roaming, this reader connects automatically to the closest source of 3G in the place you are visiting, Amazon pays for it. Of course, you cannot browse, but if you feel like browsing the Kindle Store and buying a book, you can do so easily.
> Long battery life, especially if you use it in flight mode, which disables the Internet connection.
> Great storage capacity.
> Great contrast for reading. It feels like the pages of a real book, indeed. And you can customise the contrast to your liking. Also, the contrast is great for reading outdoors.

DOWNSIDES
>  Monochrome all over, so not good for colour graphic books.
> Not good for PDF books.
> No highlighting colours for your text.
> Not good for audible books or for listening music (some older models of Kindle were way better on that regard.)
> Non-customisation for the desktop wallpapers or for collections folders covers.

GOOD AND BAD
> There is not a browser incorporated into the device (which was in older Kindle models) but, being practical, you don't want a browser in black and white either! So that was a good move,
> There were two versions of this ebook reader, one with some advertisements, which was cheaper, and mine, which was more expensive but allowed you to turn off recommendations and adds on from editorial houses. I found shocking that an add-free version still had the adds on and needed you to switch them off. This is not a problem with the new generation readers.
 
TIPS FOR USE
> Save energy and battery life by turning the device on flight mode. Unless you want to buy a book or browse Amazon Store, don't switched back on. Even if you switch off the device, if the 3G is on, the battery dies down sooner. I have tested this personally, and when I have it off, the battery life lasts longer.
> The easiest way to create a collection is to press strongly the screen and the add to collection screen will pop up. There other ways to add a book to a collection, but they take more time.

IN SHORT
Great product, but obsolete. Yet, a great acquisition if you grab a second hand one.  On the other hand, I doubt that the new generation can beat the better quality and readability of any tablet and the Kindle App. I rarely use this device nowadays beyond storage, and use my tablet to access my Kindle library and reach Amazon, but I take it for travelling every time.

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WTF Foodie Moment 10: Egg and Ice Latte

(The guy at the café approaches and asks me what I am going to order. I want one of their  breakfasts, but with an added egg. )

An added what? 
> An egg.
A what? 
> An egg.
A what? 
> A-n e-g-g.
Sorry?
> AN EGG.
Ahhh, an egg!

(I feel like a ninja in Kill Bill. First person ever who doesn't understand me when I say 'an egg'.)

(It could have ended there, but he was inspired today...)

Any drinks?
> Yes, the ice latte, but I would like it large if possible.
We don't have it large, but we can certainly make it large for you.

(Mind, I had a large takeaway from here the other day...)

> Oh, and I would like it with skim milk, please.
> Oh, the ice latte doesn't have milk...

(Mind, latte in Italian means milk, so every single latte on Planet Earth has milk in it. And any person working in the food and hospitality industry should know that. Or is it too much to ask?)

> No? Really, So it is iced black coffee, then?
Yes.
> OK, no problem. An ice 'latte' the way you prepare it. 

(Five minutes later the barista appears with my iced latte, with milk of course.)

(The moron approaches and addresses the barista and with surprise says)

Oh, I have told her before that the latte didn't have milk but it does...

(The barista and I, at the same time:)
> But it is a LATTE, so it always has milk in it.


WHO? The manager and/or owner of the café... (Award 'Moron of the Year' granted.)
WHERE? A café close to my place whose name I don't feel like mentioning because the latte was divine.    

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