Me and the rest of the advance team’s flight was on a Wednesday night so I still went to work during the morning till lunch time. Stayed at the NAIA 3 Business Lounge until it was time for us to fly. I was pleasantly shocked by how nice Turkish Airlines’ (TK) Business Class was. The past Business Class flights I’ve been on were Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific but both were not as nice as TK’s.
Leg room was huge, there was in-flight wifi, the seat converted to a bed was the most comfortable I’ve been on, they had a pseudo-candlelight dinner, an in-flight chef, lots of good entertainment choices and the restroom was spacious and even had real plants inside. The fake light and real plants are shallow additions, I know, but come on? Nice touches, right?
Food, both dinner and breakfast, is as good as airplane food can be. I did enjoy the fish, which I usually order when traveling since I don’t want to be bloated in the middle of the air. Tried the Turkish coffee which was so strong, I only took one sip.
We had a one hour transit in Istanbul which wasn’t enough to actually do anything but wait, which was fine with me since I didn’t want to get too tired. Upon getting into the place, drinks and food again welcomed us. Haha! Loved the tiniest salt and pepper containers I’ve seen. Wanted to steal them (I didn’t though).
After a series of movies and a good night’s rest, we were finally in Tbilisi, Georgia. Looking out the plane windows, Georgia had a lot of unoccupied land. I think they only have 4 million people in the country, same number as the people in Manila. Haha!
Saw two interesting things at the airport. First was a passenger who individually wrapped her handbags. Why she didn’t buy a luggage instead, I will never know. I then saw her being interviewed at customs, because well, small checked in bags can get suspicious. Outside, there was huge gold, snail-like building. Pretty.
The moment I stepped foot outside the airport and breathed in the cool fresh air, I knew I was going to absolutely love my stay here, even though I would be in the midst of work stress and lots of meeting arrangements. For starters, the weather was sunny but the temperature was cool and nice. Such a great change from Manila’s harsh sun and humidity. The architecture of the buildings and the uniqueness of the stores were so beautiful to look at, very similar to European buildings (though some would think Georgia is part of Europe, most Georgians would still associate as Asians). There was little traffic and people were scarce. Later on I’d find out that goods and food were affordable and delish. If I could identify one negative thing about Tbilisi is that people smoked anywhere, including inside of cars, taxis and even in the mall. Other than this, I knew I was already falling for Tbilisi.
We stayed at Radisson Blu Iveria because that was where our meetings would be held. It was the perfect location, right near Shota Rustaveli avenue which was lined up with gorgeous old buildings, museums, the opera house and tiny shops, cafes and restaurants. Hotel was close enough to walk to tourist spots such as the Old Tbilisi Town where most souvenir shops, clubs and bars were. Plus, it was right beside Smart supermarket, Dunkin Donuts and Wendy’s fast food as well as the Museum of Modern Arts and the famous big metal bicycle overlooking the city. In front was a majestic view of the mountains.
View from my rooms (rooms because I had my first room changed) was so pretty – the pool, the Mtkvari river, the streets. It helped me relax after a full day’s work for a week.
Room was basic, which I loved. I mentioned before how I don’t enjoy staying in a humongous, too glamourous type of room, since it feels empty and un-homey. So I was glad this room was the standard, business room. I loved how they had a cushion lining up the windows (so you can stare outside while thinking about what in the world are you going to do with your life). I also find their characters interesting, very loopy, unlike Russian characters which are more triangular-ish, if that makes sense.
After settling in our rooms and still being full from all the plane food we ate, we went straight to work and only stopped for dinner. Will share in my next post what happened next.
jlapis 