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I like to think of myself as a well seasoned traveller, as in my role as an event manager I fly between cities frequently. The majority of my family also live in Australia, while I live in Auckland, New Zealand meaning I am back and forth across the ditch often.

And I hate the airport. Don’t get me wrong, travelling on a biometric passport has made all the difference in streamlining the customs process, but the whole palava of getting your bags checked in, filling out declaration forms, validating your identity with customs officers…it’s a whole mess that stresses me out to no end.

While doing a tonne of research for both our trip and subsequently this blog, I found the LoungeBuddy app, which allows users to view, book and access some of the most luxurious lounges airports around the world have to offer. While Auckland International Airport aren’t registered on LoungeBuddy, they do offer travellers the option to purchase access to their Emperor Lounge.

After completing our bag drop, hugging and kissing mum goodbye several times and completing security clearance through customs, we made our way through the Mecca of duty free stores directly to the Lounge, where we intended to unwind and relax before our 8 hour flight to Honolulu.

The Emperor Lounge is located on the first floor after security, to the right of the Benefit & MAC counters. It boasts a sleek entrance and is relatively easy to find as the lounges are all signposted.

Upon arrival, we confirmed our reservation with the concierge and were asked to present our boarding passes as forms of identification. I looked up my booking reference using the wonderful TripIt app and once registered within the booking system, we were directed through to the lounge.

The lounge was relatively busy at the time of evening we arrived (5:30pm) so we seated ourselves in the dining area where there was a free table.

You are provided with the wifi login details upon arrival and encouraged to help yourself to meals and beverages.

The selection of hot items is small, and a little lacklustre. The soup option was a creamy kumara concoction that looked pale and underwhelming, so I elected to move directly to Malaysian chicken curry on offer, accompanied with either mashed potatoes or jasmine rice. There was also a tomato based vegetarian curry, laden with carrot and tofu. Christian tried this fare and declared it to taste similar to “watered down ketchup”. I told him I’d pass.

Despite the options being far from numerous, I can tell you that the chicken curry was to die for. I had two helpings!

There is also a relatively well stocked bar, offering sparkling and still wines (both red and white), hard liquor and a selection of New Zealand beers, mixers and fruit juices. I poured a double Chivas Regal 12 year old over ice for Christian, and helped myself to a very strong gin and tonic, in the hope it would put me to sleep on the plane.

The buffet also includes a salad bar, complete with dressings, cheeses, club sandwiches, seasonal fruit and sushi.

These petit fours were delicious, and we found ourselves returning for more several times.

I did note that while the buffet was small, the staff were vigilantly replacing items quickly and efficiently, to ensure that the fridges were never without bottled water, non-alcoholic beverages, mixers and beer & wine as well as replenishing the hot buffet items and pastries often.

After chowing down on the chicken curry and pouring myself a second G&T, I setup my laptop to respond to some emails, and check up on Facebook. The last time I was at the airport for an extended period of time, I ended up paying $20 NZD in internet access fees, as Auckland Airport has some of the worst wifi pricing in the land. At Christchurch and Wellington airports, service is free and unrestricted in the terminal whilst in Auckland your first ~500MB is free if you register your email (read: sign up to be spammed for eternity).

The several drinks we consumed over the 2.5hrs we were in the lounge would have easily been priced at one of the flight side bars at well over $60 NZD.

Once we’d eaten more than our fill, I noticed that the lounge had freed up a bit and some armchairs had become free. We settled ourselves in and dug into some petit fours, plugging our phones in to charge in the conveniently located outlets in the wall beside the armchairs. There are quite a number of outlets in the lounge for recharging devices, as well as several desktop PCs setup to provide internet access to travellers without laptops or those who choose the convenience of using a desktop that has been setup and connected to high speed internet.

Christian had a cup of green tea (yes, self tea and coffee service is available for your convenience) to accompany his dessert. We chatted and watched the departure screen above our heads, denoting when travellers should think about being on the move toward their gate. At just before 8:30pm, we strolled leisurely toward Gate 10 for boarding. I stopped in for a cigarette in the terminals’ smoking lounge before making my way down the ramp to the gate as we had plenty of time to board. I usually wait towards the end of queues to board anyway after the attendant makes his or her announcements, as I see no sense in rushing to be on the plane first. Ultimately, the pilot isn’t going to take off until the plane doors are securely fastened and all registered passengers are on the flight, so running to get to my seat never made much sense to me.

Before we departed the lounge, I packed a few of the water bottles on offer in the lounge into my carry on luggage for each of us, so that we wouldn’t have to purchase it after we left to board. Plane cabins always leave me super dehydrated no matter the length of flight, so I did appreciate having easy access to water without having to turn on my call light for the attendant while the plane was in flight and all the passengers around me were dozing in the dark.

So, in all – would I recommend the Emperor Lounge in terms of cost versus benefit? Absolutely. If you run out of time to shower, no problem! Take one there.

Want to get blotto without having to fork out $13 for a tap beer? Done!

Want to avoid eating airport fast food? Done!

Need internet access to pay that utility bill you forgot about? Too easy!

Pricing starts at $49 NZD per adult for 3 hours access. Children under the age of 12 are priced at $24.50 for the same duration, however you can elect to purchase a longer stay (8 hours access) at a slightly higher cost.

Charli x

I am a religious morning coffee drinker.
I would say that I’m a connoisseur, but someone who drinks mochas could hardly claim to be that. I don’t do espresso, short or long blacks but I do like a good, strong flat white.

I love Kokako beans the most, but regularly find myself drinking Sierra’s blend, mainly because their cafe is all too easily located on the first floor of the building I work in.

In short? It’s pretty obvious I love milky coffee. An obvious substitute for dairy as a vegan, soy from my understanding has always been a popular choice based on its accessibility.
I’ve never shied away from soy, being a fan of it’s naturally malt-reminiscent flavour, so the switch from traditional trim cows milk wasn’t and isn’t a huge stretch.

I ordered a syrup flavoured soy caramel latte this morning – and was disappointed. As I get older, the acrid taste of artificial sugars and flavours becomes more difficult to stomach. The sheer sweetness of the syrup, combined with the malt of the soy did nothing for me, except leave a bizarre taste in my mouth that remained for several hours, despite chewing gum and drinking a litre of water. 0/10 – don’t recommend.

Speaking of dairy, I came across a new term the other day, an expression I’d never heard before…’bovine secretion’.
This was a term used by popular YouTube vlogger Freelee the Banana Girl in a video her mother shot of her, during a visit to a farmers market, on the hunt for blueberries. A stall holder attempted to sell her some cheese, to which she responded, “No, we don’t need any of your bovine secretion, you can keep it”.

Here’s the thing – I think veganism is like religion. It appears to have its zealots and it’s hypocrites…like, an acquaintance I have that will happily smear a MAC lipstick across their mouths for a selfie, but then scream bloody murder at the guy on their Facebook feed enjoying a roast pork – that’s hypocrisy, much like Christians who preach ‘love thy neighbour’ – then vilify all of Islam for the acts of extremists in public forums.

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is an American manufacturer and the parent company of MAC. A Google search will tell you that their public stance on animal testing is that they do not test their products or ingredients on animals, or ask others to test on their behalf, except where required by law. So, essentially all EL products imported to China must be tested on animals under legislation.

If you want to spread a message of positivity to convince people that your way of life is the truth, the only way? Maybe don’t tell them they lack morals and scruples because their dietary choices aren’t the same as yours.
Make the choice accessible to all! Don’t preach, it’s tiring. Enough.

I ate breakfast just before 10am, sharing the raisin & cinnamon bagels I picked up at the Avondale Sunday Market yesterday with my friend Fraser. I bought a four pack for $3, and whilst they’re not Ugly Bagels, for those of us who are committed to actually having savings accounts that don’t have a deficit, that’s pretty good buying.

Usually, I would smother a fruit bagel in butter or cream cheese and greedily lick it off of my fingers as it drizzled down my hands – but seeing as dairy isn’t an option, we substituted the butter with Loving Earth’s Coconut Chocolate Butter…don’t let the name fool you, the product itself contains only raw and organic ingredients – no dairy here whatsoever!

Very similar in flavour to coconut rough, this chocolatey Nutella-esque spread went down a treat! It was actually a gift imported by my aunt who lives in Queensland. Loving Earth is an Australian company, meaning their products are obviously far more easily accessible there. As a breakfast option, this I can highly recommend. It would be a delight over soy ice cream too, or as an alternative to ganache on an almond meal/raw cake.

To keep hunger at bay throughout the day, I chose to snack on Californian red grapes today, referring to them to everyone in the office who I offered them to as either ‘natures’ or ‘vegan’ candy!
Disappointingly, I noted on the packaging that they weren’t spray free or organic, however after a good hand wash in cold water felt better about eating them.

Also at the market yesterday morning, I came across an older Chinese woman selling tomatoes by the box load. At $3 for a 3 kilo box, I jumped at the chance to buy them and swooped in. Admittedly, it was pretty clear that the majority of the toms were on their last legs, but I figured I could turn the whole lot into some kind of low sodium pasta sauce, using oregano, cracked black pepper, Himalayan sea salt and loads of New Zealand garlic to pack in flavour, mushrooms, eggplant, onions and spinach.

I spent a couple of hours on Sunday night hovering over the stove in sweltering heat, chopping, sautéing, mixing and stirring – pasta sauce from scratch! What a treat! After it cooled, I bottled it for future use. I’d say I’m going to get my money’s worth out of that box of tomatoes.

I made fettuccine using this sauce last night as an accompaniment to dinner with my husband, and made sure to make a little extra for myself for lunch. I’m not ashamed to say, the pasta sauce the night after was delicious!

After work, I made Ethan the same pasta dish my husband and I had eaten the night before, again using the sauce – a dream for frugal folks like myself – which he devoured. After Ethan hit the hay, I popped out to Circus Circus cafe for – you guessed it – a soy latte.

The one thing I will miss wholeheartedly during this experiment is the carrot cake they serve at Circus Circus – I’ve eaten a whole tonne of places in this town and I swear black and blue – it’s the best damn carrot cake money can buy. Octo-lacto friends, you should check it out!

So goes my entire dietary consumption on the first day of my life as a vegan.

On a final note, for those of you curious about what cosmetic brands there are available to you that are cruelty free, vegan and not owned by a parent company that does perform animal testing of its products, check out the following links:

http://www.rovie.co.nz
http://inika.com.au
http://www.kesterblack.com
http://www.coverfx.com/ (LipFX treatment contains carmine and beeswax and Bronze FX contains carmine. All other products are vegan).
http://www.limecrime.com

Love,

Charli x

Tag: newzealand

Emperor Lounge

The Beginning of All Things To Come