Lounge visit

As usual, the story I have to tell today is probably not very interesting for most of you - because it's airline related and I'm the only geek around here about that... ;-) Still, I feel like sharing it with somebody. So maybe I should start it with "Dear diary..." hahaha, just kidding.

What I want to share is about something work related (somehow) I experienced a few days ago. I had the chance to visit the VIP lounge of the airport of Amsterdam. I was lucky enough that the lounge was completely unoccupied and I got a personal tour. Unfortunately I cannot show you any own photos but I have included some photos from the promotional folder so you have a better idea of what I am talking about. 

I had to go all the way to the newest part of the terminal in Amsterdam airport, find my way through a giant crowd of Hajj passengers that were checking in and being accompanied by an even bigger group of families and friends and in the very last corner is a side entrance of which the sign says it leads to the press centre. When I am about to ring the door bell it miraculously opens and of course I'm impressed already... ;-) I entered, climbed up some stairs and entered a different world, so much quieter and calm than the hustle and bustle of the "ordinary" terminal. One floor higher, in a completely different surrounding than the "ordinary" terminal downstairs you find the lounge of the famous and important people where they rest and wait before their flight takes off. The facility is provided by the airport and is only available to the so called "very important" people from governments/embassies and such, though it's not meant for the rich and famous so you would most probably not bump into famous pop or movie stars ;-) Though from what I heard that might change in the future and become a little more commercial.

The whole occupied space seemed very large to me; though to my surprise it felt less luxurious than I had expected it. If you have ever walked into lobbies of luxury hotels then you somehow get the look and feel of the lounge.
The overall design is very modern, with dutch accents but trying to avoid typical dutch icons like tulips and cheese... ;-) Even more surprising to me was the Royal Lounge, the lounge that is used by the dutch Royal Family during their stay at the airport.

I felt it is very modest, in a very modern design in white, blue and orange tones. A little cabinet holds the toys for the children, a few "family" photos try to give it a little more "personal" touch. The couches you see on the photo are standard and can be bought in stores I have been told but have been modified for better, slightly more comfortable seating (as they are very  [too?] low). But there were no immense luxuries that you might expect in the Royal lounge. Other space of the VIP lounge is used for a bar or other lounge rooms,

all in modern designs with more or less subdued colors or here and there a colorful accent like you see here in the bar. There is even a shower room which is a pleasant walk-in shower room, yet not overly luxurious, again something you will find in First Class lounges of airlines. Finally, the lounge even offers a pleasant waiting room for the drivers of the limousines of the VIPS where they can wait in a pleasant and comfortable (yet a little hidden and windowless) space for their next duties, including free coffees and soups... ;-) Last but not least, a sober not to big room is used for press conferences at the airport. I liked its design, a light, white walled room with black chairs (only one in a special "cow" design) on a carpet that was made from a photo that shows an airview of the landscape on approach to the airport while the ceiling shows the blue sky above the airport.

All in all, I think one can compare this lounge a little bit with the First Class Terminal that my employer offers at its hub in Frankfurt. Though I have never seen it personally I think one can compare the features and design and concept of the terminal with that of the smaller VIP lounge in Amsterdam. 

The funny thing was to learn that many features designed by the architect do look great from a designer's point of view but are terrible to work with from an employee's point of view :-D 

We have the same problem at our ticket counter which looks great but has some serious design issues - but that of course is another post yet to be written. ;-) 

I am very thankful to have been able to see the lounge, as it's truly something very special only few people will ever see. Hopefully I could give you a little impression on my imaginary walk around this lounge.

A very important hug.

I know, this is something very special and most of you might not be interested in it - but I think this is amazing, very fascinating. It's about Royal Caribbean's latest cruise ship that at the moment is being built in Finland under the project name "Genesis". It's going to be the world's largest cruise ship and the company has now released more details about what will be featured. One stunning new innovation for cruise ships will be what Royal Caribbean calls "Central Park" - basically a little mall in the center of the ship under the open sky, with lush (real!!!) greenery, little cafés, small restaurants, boutiques and rooms that have a balcony towards this mall out in the open! For a quick glance have a look at the video below which gives a first impression. To read more about this, head to Royal Caribbean's site. Awesome, is anyone sailing with me on this ship? ;-)

Foster's airport architecture

IMG_3966
Originally uploaded by stjohn88

On Friday, the new and third terminal of Beijing's capital airport will be opened. It's a fascinating architecture, designed by acclaimed architect Norman Foster. If you can read dutch, there's an interesting article about the opening and the terminal here.
Also check the flickr photos of St.John with fantastic photos of the new terminal, sure worth a look!

Introduction to my blog.

I started my blog with some sad thoughts. But I wanted to tell them as I really felt sad yesterday. But of course I should write some introducing words about the purpose of this blog. Well, it purely serves one simple purpose: to tell someone about my feelings, my
thoughts and my desires.

Wait a minute, I hear you saying, aren't you in a relationship? Well, yeah, sort of. Jelle and I live together since about ten years now. But we are in a crisis at the moment. Of course we need to talk about us, but I also feel I have to out my feelings to someone "neutral",
someone outside of our relationship. That's you, exactly. Oh well, and my hair dresser of course (to use a bad old german joke)...

So if you are interested in what I have to say about me or the things that bother me, read on. If you are more of a visual type, why not try and have a look at my flickr photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/? If that doesn't help, in some time I hope to have built up some movie suggestions and maybe you can find some distraction there. Of course there's also the music I listen too that you might be interested. Still not satisfied? Now it's getting difficult... well, have a look around yourself to find something of interest and else, check out my blog mates ;-)

That said, I feel i also need to mention that I won't be able to post something every day. I could try but I know in advance I won't manage to do that. I am working irregular shifts and it's impossible for me to have a decent regular private schedule. So I do thing more spontaneously, less planning unfortunately. So I suggest to add this blog to your feed reader so in case of any updates you will be noticed immediately. Very handy, I daily use google reader for the pages I am most interested in. I can only highly recommend to use it, too.

Oh, you wonder, what will I talk about here? Different things. As you can read above, my interests are diverse. I love bear men so I might bother you with some comments on recent sightings of a beautiful bear man or events or whatever has to do with the bear men's world. ;-) I also like going to the cinema. I haven't done that too much in recent years but hope to resume it more often and hopefully I can tell about the movie I've seen. I work in the airline industry and I am also interested in civil aviation. And I love to travel, with planes or cruise ships for example. So you might find posts here about my travels or airline or cruise related items. For some reason I have a general interest in public transport, so I also like trains, trams and
metros and to a lesser extent also buses. Technical gadgets, Apple computers, internet and stuff do get my attention too. Finally, I love design and architecture. So you might see posts about this topic as well.

Reading about my interests you might have realized that there is a lot of dead, technical stuff surrounding me. I realize that. I am in a process of trying to change it. I need to. As I do not feel happy about it. I miss something, I miss live, I miss love. You receive love by people, by friends, not by trains, planes or ipods... So this blog is most probably not only about trivia but things that really move me.

Please do leave a comment. I am most happy to get in contact with people. I want to meet new people, make friends. I know it's possible, even on internet. Friendships grow when you get to know someone, meet someone in person. Let's start out here. I look forward to meet you.

For now, I thank you for your interest. Please come back soon or even better add me to your feed reader like google reader.

Take care and let me give you a hug.

P.S.: Please bear with me while this blog develops. In the beginning you might see some changes, some things not working or not looking good. I am sure I will develop my own style, in the beginning I might look at other blogs to get some inspirations. But I am new to this stuff and have to figure things out. With the time comes experience on what and how I want to publish here and how I deal with comments and other for me yet unknown things. Thank you.