November 3, 2013: [Private Room Edition] After arriving back to Singapore, I grabbed my luggage, headed to T3.  I was excited to finally check out the T3 Slide (and by check out I mean go down), but I arrived to a line of CHILDREN so I opted out. Bummer.

I go up to check in to my flight, Singapore to Sydney strategically booked on an A380.  I had cashed in KrisFlyer miles (transferred from AMEX MR) for this one-way flight to experience the First Class Suites I have always read about… boy oh boy oh boy was I in for a day of surprises.

It started at check-in, when I was swiftly removed from line and escorted to a private First Class Check-In suite, asked to sit down and enjoy a beverage while they processed my check-in.  From there, I was escorted to a separate customs line, a separate security line, through the terminal, up the escalator, into a separate KrisFlyer First Class lounge and THEN to the Private Room in the back corner of the lounge.  Whirlwind. Apparently there is ‘first class’ and then ‘first class suite’ which I was unaware of.  So to be in a lounge inside of the top lounge… crazy.

From here, the treats continued. I was selected my seat in a vacant room, by the window overlooking an A380, and was promptly brought a hot towel and water.  So the funny thing at this point is… I’m wearing flip flops. I think that was a signal to the staff that they could loosen up a bit, and since I was the only person in the Private Room, we were all chatting and having a good conversation together. I asked them 100 questions about what it was like to work there, celebrity sightings, worst travellers ever, etc.

I was then brought an ‘a la carte’ menu that I basically looked at and said ‘I’ll take it!” since I hadn’t eaten lunch. (Darn you Myanmar and your cash-based economy).  I was ushered (again) to a separate dining room, which rivaled the nicest restaurants I’ve ever been to.

My late lunch was a Waldorf Salad, Western Soup and sauteed lobster with linguine, followed by chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and a few chocolate truffles. Divine.

As I sat there in the lounge all by myself, I naturally browsed other Instagram photos from the ‘Private Room’. One in particular stuck out to me, a photo similar to my view in which someone replied “Looks lonely.” Indeed it was.  And the person responded “They say it’s lonely when you’re at the top… and they’re right.”

I was already reflecting on the experience at hand, but this kicked it into overdrive. As I emailed Jen later I wrote:

"It’s neat being in this environment as my first ‘big’ experience of my 30’s.  It’s a unique environment to sit here and think about what I want to be and where I want to be by the time I hit 40 and beyond, and as I look around this room… at the faces of the other travelers who have grown accustomed to this lifestyle, at the smile on my personal assistant when she realizes I’m just in a good mood and enjoying this and I expect nothing from her… it really makes me remember what I don’t want to be or become! Me and you babe, always.”

From there I grabbed a quick shower, and realizing the plane was already boarding, headed down to the gate. And just when I thought things were incredible…