Trip Plannin'

British Mike and I decided upon a trip to Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. I guess some of his friends were expressing surprise that he wanted to head to such places in winter rather than some beach resort in Spain. That sort of trip is only for normal people, sadly.

I was pleasantly surprised to find one of these at the bookstore in Redmond Town Center. We bought this and a pile of books for Ernie with all of the Halloween mall gift cards that we had gathered through our scheme.

British Mike is understandably located in Britain, so getting to Azerbaijan isn't as big of a deal. I, on the other hand, was in for a journey.

The trip was going to have a large downside, of course. Missing out on my crew's adventures back home. Sigh.

I told my mom about some of our tough times at the beginning of the Doha cruise, where the airline lost our luggage and Ernie had to sleep in the hotel crib. His legs would get trapped in the slats and I guess according to this photo that was something that I actually found comforting.

8 Months of Big Ern

Back in the United States, Ern had some important business to attend to: takin cute pics next to his blocks that show how many months old he is. 

My buddy British Mike hit me up and suggested we take a trip. I hadn't been on a trip in days so we got to planning. The problem that normal people have trying to go on trips with me is that I only want to go to places I haven't visited yet. That list is getting shorter and shorter as time goes on.

We brainstormed a few areas where we could hit the highest number of countries.

Ernie the Businessman

It was time for our Middle Eastern journey to come to a close, but we were going out in style: Qatar Airways business class direct to Seattle!

There was a small issue of... we forgot to buy Ernie a ticket. It was a big pain, as both the in-person sales desk and the phone support people all pretended like they couldn't sell us the ticket. At the last moment they remembered how to do their jobs and away we went.

I was sad though because the desk people were clowning so long that they burned up all of our lounge time. We've been to the lounge in Doha once before so it wasn't a complete loss but I was still annoyed.

It's sad that the title "master" has gone out of style. Dinner is served, Master Ernie.

This situation was kind of funny. We were in business class but we had to take the bus to the plane, so it was a mix of fancy and crappy.

There was a special business class bus with nice seats at least.

One of the screen wallpapers was of the fun Museum of Islamic Art we visited yesterday.

"Welcome on board.

Join us in the spirit of celebration during the festive holiday season, with our exclusively curated menu, crafted with the finest seasonal flavours to bring you comfort and joy during this special time of year.

Step into a world of gastronomy where innovation meets tradition and discover an array of global flavours, skillfully harmonised with our Arabic heritage.

Create your own dining experience at any time and in any order to best suit you. Select from our extensive a la carte menu and complement your meal choice with our impeccable selection of award-winning beverages.

Our cabin crew would be delighted to offer dining recommendations, ensuring an unparalleled on-board experience.

Enjoy your meal, bon appetit."

They had a champagne and a rose champagne.

It's cool that these flights give you jammies but I feel like they never make them in big boy size.

They gave Ernie a little plush ball toy thing.

He immediately started chewing on it.

The back of the food menu was in Arabic. The back of the booze menu was mysteriously blank.

The little candle light was a nice romantic touch.

"Roasted honey parsnip

crispy leeks"

"Smoked duck with caramelised figs

butternut puree, blue cheese, red endive, dried cranberry and walnut vinaigrette"

"Braised shank and herb roasted lamb cutlet

cheese polenta, buttered baby vegetables and thyme jus"

"Red velvet Yule log

raspberry gel, meringue crumble and fresh berries"