Arrived at Abu Dhabi after a grueling 14 hour flight from Chicago. I flew on Etihad Airlines which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Royal Family. It was a great experience. Even though I flew ecnomy, the service and courtesy of the airhostesses was excellent. The bigest perk was that we had our own lcd entertainment systems and a choice of movie, TV and music. Got through my flight with The Fellowshipof the Ring, 2 episodes of the The Off'ice and Radioheads greatest hits.

The meal, "Asian Vegetarian"...was meh! I was able to get some decent shut eye however.

The first thing that struck me when I landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport was how clean it was. You could literally eat off the floors (although I would'nt advise it). My flight to Bangkok has been delayed by 2 hours. The duty free shopping area makes O`Hare's meager fare look like an Aldi's. They have every imaginable designer brand store...although I am avoiding the temptation to spend. I have my heart set on a chunky flashy fake Rolex that I was told one could by at a Bangkok marketplace.

One of the first impressions of a countries embrace of modern culture is an inspection of airport toilets! I am happy to say that Abu Dhabi gets 10 out 10. There's a poor dude (probably a gullible immigrant promised a job in environmental management) who cleans out the sink after everyone who use it. He immeadiately mops up stray water drops and keeps the floor clean of streaks. But what impressed me the most was that the toilet stalls have hand held water jet sprays to wash your "you know what", if using toilet paper alone seems inadequate.

That makes a nice segue to the food court. I was disappointed because there was no Starbucks and the only coffee counter they had did not have Soy milk! The horror! Any way, I had some pita, hummus, baba ghanouj and tabouleh.

I will be getting on my plane soon. Plan to pop anAmbien so thatI am awake and fresh for Bangkok.