Qatar Airways business class experience with Qsuite review

 It has always been my dream to fly business class on a long haul flight. It's not only more worth it due to the duration but our bodies will thank us for it after touching down hahaha

And after finalising that we're set to go Italy as our next vacay destination, I was adamant to fly business class and not just any business class but Qatar Airways, the airline that won Airline of the Year in 2022. I mean if you want the best, you gotta go all out right =')

And let me just start by saying, they definitely did not disappoint and was deserving of the award. We were well taken care of the entire flight journey as well as lounge experience.

The first flight was from Hong Kong to Doha International Airport.

Their signature drink, lemon mint with nuts.

All business class seat will come with their amenities and we got Diptyque. And since we took a total of 4 flights, the both of us had 8 boxes of Diptyque amenities haha...Well, of course I didn't mind. I absolutely love Diptyque products! It came with perfume, lip balm, face moisturiser and body lotion together with compression socks, ear buds and eye patch for the flight.

Then we stopped over at Doha and got into the Al-Mourjan Business Lounge. It was majestic inside.

The lounge consist of 100,000 square feet spread across 2 levels with their signature water pool design.

We needed to shower because we had a long day ahead and the shower room was so clean, big and perfect to freshen up.

It cannot be any more luxurious than showering with Diptyque products hehe

The upstairs lounge is where the buffet spread is. There is even a sushi bar mind you!

Mind blown of how I could have made to order sushi in an airport lounge.

There was also a large dessert spread! I mean, as if they don't feed us enough on the flight, the layover was already making us full *laughs*

But, what I really wanted to review was their QSuite. I don't know how we got this lucky but lady luck was with us when we were on our flight back from Rome to Doha. At the check in counter, the lady told us that our flight has changed to the QSuite flight. I almost couldn't believe my ears. When I booked the flights, there were no QSuite option and I was quite disappointed, truth be told because I really wanted to experience The World's Best Business Class Seat! But out of luck, they changed the plane and we got to actually experience sitting in QSuite! Woo-hoo!

The best thing about QSuite is that after take off, you can push down the divider between your partner and you and you can close the door for privacy.

It was relatively more spacious than the other Qatar business class seats we've been on and...

...the seats can be transformed into a double bed!! I mean, WHATT? Because of the close proximity of the seats after sliding down the divider, when both seats are reclined fully, it can actually be a double bed. It was so cool and we were really thankful to be able to experience this.

If you have a family of four, you can even drop down the dividers in front of you and you would all be facing each other as a quadrant. Also perfect for business people who wants to have a business meeting on air.

Please go and experience QSuite once in your lifetime!

The food in business in Qatar were some hits and misses. But some memorable ones were:

Their paratha with dips. The spicy Muhammara dip was da bomb diggity. I think I ordered another one of this on the other flight because it was that good.

Laksa soup was another favourite. This was my second bowl. The first was at the lounge hehe

I still can't picture how they even have scoop ice cream on air plated nicely for each passengers.

It's like a 5 star restaurant standard but on air!

Their warm bread with butter are the best starters! We had this on every flight.

Their tasting platter was really good too so we got to try a little bit of everything.

And the best best thing I have ever eaten on flight! A freaking lobster brioche!! The brioche was warm and soft and the lobster was really yummy. It was better than some of the restaurants' lobster brioche I have eaten. I freaking love this. If I was not already so full, I would have ordered another one of this. 

Pandan pudding with almond crumble dessert. I really cannot get over their dessert plating and it was really yummyy!

I really had the best fantastic experience with Qatar. I would definitely want to fly with them again. This is what I really love about travelling. You don't know what you don't know until you experience it. We're really grateful for this entire experience and will be a memory etched in our mind for a really long time. Til' the next vacay!

Italy trip part 2- Pisa, Venice & Milan

 If you missed Part 1, it is HERE

After Amalfi, we took the train to Pisa. Pisa was a really small town and everywhere is walkable. The airbnb we stayed in was also the nicest and the cheapest among all. If we did not come all the way from the south, we would have taken a day trip to Pisa from elsewhere but because we came from Amalfi, it was a long journey to Venice which was our next destination so we had a pitstop at Pisa for 3 days 2 nights.

What else to see in Pisa other than than the Pisa tower? *laughs*

Since we stayed there, we got to see the day view and the night view and both were amazing. We didn't go in though and just took pictures and walked around outside.

It was in Rome that my husband saw people scooting around in scooters and he has been wanting to try. Since Pisa was rather small and lesser vehicles at night, it was time for us to try the scooter out. We downloaded the app, and used the scooter for an hour. It was really amazing! We scooted almost the entire Pisa town haha and it was so fun! 

The nightlife in Pisa was not very happening. But their alcohol drinks were rather cheap so we took the opportunity to gulp our happy hour cocktails on both nights haha

Funny thing was I was surprised to find Sephora in such a small town. Got my haul covered!

There was also poke bowl and after many pastas and all the carbs, I finally couldn't take it and succumbed to my first poke bowl in Italy hehe. It was fresh and was something I was really craving for!

The next day, we took the train to Cinque Terre from Pisa. Cinque Terre consists of 5 towns in the Italian Riviera coastline. There is a designated train which connects all 5 towns so you can visit all 5 towns easily. We only managed to visit 3 in our day trip.

 

The buildings were all very colourful and UNESCO recognized Cinque Terre as a World Heritage site.

If you love to hike, you can hike from one town to the other and the scenery would have been amazing.

The town is famous for fried anchovies. I cannot believe how huge their anchovies are as compared to the anchovies in Malaysia.

It was a rainy day when we were there and we just ate, drank and had desserts and left. There was nothing much to do so for a day trip to experience the scenery, it was just nice.

The next day, we took the train to Venice. Venice was rather unique because there were so many alleys and you can literally get lost walking in circles haha.

We did not take the gondola ride for Euro 80 which was such a rip off in my opinion because we were already taking the water taxis everywhere.

Saint Mark's Basilica was ginormous.

Venice is rather famous for their pastas on the go. There were a few shops selling these and you can see people queuing up and eating along the streets.

Black squid pasta.

You can choose your favourite pasta and favourite toppings to go with it and it was quite reasonably priced so it it a must try in Venice. You have no idea how much pasta we ate in Italy hahaha

We also managed to try the I Tre Mercanti's famous tiramisu and it was da bomb. Even better than Two Sizes in Rome!

We found an outlet shopping mall near Venice and booked a shuttle to Noventa Di Piave Outlet and boy did we shop a lot haha. We especially bought many Nike shoes because they were soo cheap and some clothes and designer wallet.

It was not very near Venice as it was quite a distance but it was worth a visit there.

We did not spend many days in Venice and lucky for us as well because again, there's not much for us to do in Venice. It was a very chill city.

The next day, we took the train to Milan, our final destination.

The majestic looking Duomo which is a famous tourist attraction.

The only reason we came to Milan was for the famous QC Terme Milano. Oh, this is a MUST-do if you're ever visiting Milan. We booked the spa from 5pm onwards for 56Euro per person and it was the best time we had in Milan.

There were around 20 experiential rooms to enjoy such as saunas, jacuzzi, pool etc

We also had some evening bites included in our package.

This water jet experience was so therapeutic with a good water massage on the body.

Infrared room for your cellulites.

My first ice bath experience which I was so happy I didn't chicken out.

We absolutely loved this spa and it was the highlight of our trip!

We thoroughly enjoyed our 10 days trip to Italy. The only thing was the weather was a bit too cold for me and some days were raining. Other than that, the scenery was gorgeous, Italians were friendly, everything went according to plan and it was truly a dream come true to visit Italy <3

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Italy- Rome & Amalfi

I am so excited to share with you about my trip to Italy in early April! It was the longest trip of 2 weeks to Europe in a single country. We used to hop countries last time but we figured since Italy has so many beautiful places to visit, we might as well, tour around Italy only this time. 

Started off right with business class with Qatar Airways. The stewardess gave the best hospitality and because of that, I arrived Rome with no jet lag. I slept well on flight and was definitely fed well. Will do a separate post on my experience with Qatar.

Then upon arriving in Rome, first things first, a morning cuppa. We arrived really early before check in time so we had to do a morning pit stop before going to our airbnb. But I was not prepared for the weather. First thing that caught me was the super cold weather. It was around 11 degrees whereas on google it stated that spring time was supposed to be 17 degrees or so. We definitely didn't pack for such cold weather and we had to layer on so much clothes like a dumpling haha.

Then after checking in, we were finally free to roam around without our luggage. I already booked a guided tour at The Colosseum beforehand because I didn't want to queue to get tickets. This was also the advice I received before coming to Rome- book your guided tours early! Luckily I did because the line outside all the famous landmarks were crazy. It was not even summer as this is still considered shoulder season yet the queues were long. 

Finally, got to see this with my own eyes. I always saw The Colosseum in pictures but in real life, it was way majestic. It was so huge!

I took the tour that took us to the arena area which was downstairs and we got to see a different perspective and different views of The Colosseum.

This was the spectators' view from the top.

Then after that, we went to the Trevi Fountain. The water was blue, it was really beautiful and we threw coins in there like any other tourists hahaha 

We also couldn't help ourselves to get gelato eventhough it was really cold!

The next day, we visited The Vatican City. Everywhere was reachable by train so it was very convenient. I also booked the guided tour in Vatican and my gawd, it was so huge. 

This is St Peter's Basilica, the biggest church in the world.

When you're in The Vatican, always look up. The entire structure was covered with art.

Inside St Peter's. The church was really huge and majestic.

Then after that, we went back to Rome to eat the famous Tiramisu dessert at Two Sizes.

We got 3 flavours- original, pistachio & salted caramel. MUST TRY when you're in Rome.

Then, we walked to the famous Spanish steps.

After that, we went to Ice Club Rome. This club is unlike any other club. The entire structure is made out of ice. For 15 Euro per person, you can go in and stay as long as you want with a complimentary cocktail. But of course, the trick is that the temperature inside was -5 degrees. We could stay max 20 minutes inside without freezing!

They will dress you up like a penguin before going in so that you don't freeze to death haha

But it was kinda cool. There's a small room for privacy.

 

The bar area was also made of ice. Even the cocktail cups were made of ice.

Next day, we took the train to Salerno. From Salerno, we took the ferry to the Amalfi Coast.We were lucky because the ferry only starts back in April after winter so we were just in time and taking the ferry is way more scenic and faster.

View from the ferry.

An hour later we reached Amalfi. We stayed in Amalfi in Amalfi Coast for 3 days. It was even more gorgeous than what we saw in pictures. Amalfi was a dream come true. People normally skip the Amalfi Coast during their visit to Italy because it's quite far down south. But I insisted on doing Amalfi because of what I read and saw and it didn't disappoint. 

In Amalfi, lemons were in abundance. Every other shops sell either lemon sorbet in a lemon, lemon souvenir, lemon chocolate and everything lemon basically!

The MUST TRY in Amalfi- lemon sorbet in a real lemon. Their lemons were HUGE!! It was refreshingly yummy but was pricey at 10 Euro.

We also had lemon pasta which was rather unique.

We were in Amalfi during the Holy Week of Good Friday and Easter. Since there were so many churches in Italy, it is bound to be a huge thing in Italy but boy, I didn't know it would be this huge a celebration. They closed the entire Amalfi town on Good Friday night and had a Good Friday procession. It was massive but what a sight. As a Catholic, I was happy I got to join in on it too.

The next day we took the ferry to the nearby town, Positano for lunch. The view was also so gorgeous, albeit you gotta climb a lot more in Positano because it was very hilly.

One of the best pasta we had in Italy was in Positano.

This was Ragu pasta and it was absolutely delicious.

It was also the first time I ate artichoke. I heard it's a thing in Italy so I ordered it.

I didn't mind it- it tasted like cabbage? LOL but the husband who is not a fan of vegetables didn't like it *laughs*

And then we went back to Amalfi and during the evening, we took the bus to Ravello.

I mean all the views were like in postcards. I couldn't even choose which has the better view. There were all different and beautiful on its own.

It was in Ravello I discovered Fried Pizza.

Omo, where have I been all this while and have never tried Fried Pizza? It was crispy yet chewy like mochi kind of pizza. We loved it so much that we ordered Fried Pizza from that day onwards until the end of our Italy trip hahaha.

The next day we took the ferry to Capri. Capri is a name I've only heard in movies and I was very excited to go to Capri.

I was actually most excited about the Chairlift at Anacapri to Monte Solano, the island's highest point. It was in my bucket's list after seeing so many videos on it.

The chairlift was a short 13 minutes up and 13 minutes to go down. For those who are scared of heights, not to be afraid because it was not that high. The view seems high but the view is actually on the right side. The chairlift line itself is quite low in my opinion. But the journey was super breathtaking and you need to experience this once in a lifetime.

At the top, you can be assured of picturesque views. There's really no words to describe the view on top.

We decided to hike down since we took the chairlift up just to see the best of both worlds. It was the best decision and we get to experience both sides.

In Capri, all taxis are convertibles. 

So we took a chance to also use the taxi just to experience what it's like to be in a convertible hahaha

Capri was so fun and we were sad that the ferry leaving to Amalfi was quite early as there's only one ferry to and fro per day but Capri is a place I would like to come visit again some day.

Part 2 is HERE!