Meeting Familiar People on Airplane Trips to Thailand

[TotallyOz]

When I travel Delta, I rarely board the plane from Tokyo to Bangkok without meeting at least one person I have met in LOS. Yesterday was no exception. I met a guy that I have known for years but now lives in Chiang Mai. I met him initially in Pattaya and really enjoyed his company. When I saw him on the plane, we had a lovely chat and conversation and I hope to meet up with him in a few months when I head up to Chiang Mai.

 

I also met 2 guys from the plane that recognized me from Bangkok. LOL They said he remembered me from my Hamburger reviews and had met up with me at one of them a year or so ago.

 

That plane, Tokyo to Bangkok seems to have a lot of people each time for people I know. Do any of you ever experience the same thing with this or other planes?

[Guest fountainhall]

I've had that experience a few times over the years. But I've also had some instances of other passengers rather forcing themselves on to me! Merely to start a chat, I hasten to add, and usually when that was the last thing I wanted!

 

I was on a flight (also Delta) from London to New York in the mid-1980s. My colleague and I had gone to the galley to stretch our legs. We saw a smallish and rather loud American chatting to a flight attendant. He spied us and came over, seemingly determined to chat with us. Within seconds we got the line:

 

"Don't you know me?"

We didn't.

"Oh, of course you know me! Come on."

Again we had to admit we didn't.

"Don't you watch television?"

"A little, yes."

"Well now, you must have seen me."

Curious, but still not wanting to get in to a conversation, we made some excuse about not seeing much American television.

"Ah well, that's obviously why you Brits don't know me. Ever heard of 'The Phil Silvers Show'?"

I had, and had seen some of the episodes.

"Well, I'm . . . " And of course I have totally forgotten his name, but he had played one of the members of Sgt. Bilko's platoon - and it seemed he wanted the entire plane to know about it!

 

(That show played in the US for several years in the late 50s. It was rerun in many countries decades later)

[kokopelli]

Have never met anyone I knew on any flights and when someone does try to chat me up I shut up. Nothing beats putting on the headphones and tuning them out.

[TotallyOz]

KoKo, speaking of that, I bought some noise canceling headphones before I left at Brookstone. Wow. What a difference. When the flight attendants came by to ask me for food or something I had to take them off in order to hear them. Fantastic. Head phones, and esp. noise canceling ones are fantastic on long flights and well worth the investment!

[Guest fountainhall]

Head phones, and esp. noise canceling ones are fantastic on long flights and well worth the investment!

 

Completely agree. The only slight problem I find is that they can be a bit bulky. So when you turn your head on a pillow you become aware of them. About 4 years ago I invested in a pair of quite expensive Shure in-ear headphones. I was a bit dubious about the quality and whether they might feel 'awkward'. Even though these are not noise-cancelling, though, the rubber 'sleeves' effectively block out all extraneous sound. They are just stupendous for both classical and pop. Equally as good as any noise-cancelling ones I've experienced.

[Guest]

On the EVA 777s, the headphones don't seem loud enough to be clearly audible above the background noise.

So I use some Sennheiser in ear phones, which were a vast improvement.

 

What type of noise cancelling ones do you use Michael?

[TotallyOz]

What type of noise cancelling ones do you use Michael?

 

I got one called the Able Planet. They were easy to fold and fit my big head. I had one pair of another brand that I have used and loved them but forgot them so I just picked a pair up at the airport before my first flight and it was so worth it. They were 99.00 USD.

[Guest]

I got one called the Able Planet.

 

Something like this? http://www.amazon.com/NC200B-Fidelity-Foldable-Canceling-Headphones/dp/B002PHM0V8

[TotallyOz]

Something like this? http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/B002PHM0V8

 

That is it. But, at the airport, no discount. 99.00 from Brookstone. I was in one terminal and they had a BestBuy machine that I almost bought the Bose but they were 349.00 and I just didn't see I would use them that much to spend that much money. The ones I bought were fine for me and good enough for me to keep noise out.

 

The only think I don't like about them is they require a battery to use the noise canceling.

[Guest fountainhall]

I think all noise-cancelling headphones need a battery to power the signal which cancels out the ambient background noise.

[kokopelli]

KoKo, speaking of that, I bought some noise canceling headphones before I left at Brookstone. Wow. What a difference. When the flight attendants came by to ask me for food or something I had to take them off in order to hear them. Fantastic. Head phones, and esp. noise canceling ones are fantastic on long flights and well worth the investment!

 

My brother, the physicist, Acoustopelli advises that noise cancelling headphones are not designed to cancel intermittent or random sounds such as speech but rather sounds that are constant in amplitude and frequency (volume/pitch) such as engine and wind noise in airplane cabins. These headphones detect incoming sound waves and then generate an equal but opposite wave (out of phase by 180 degrees) which then cancels out incoming sound wave. Likely your headphones mitigated the FA's speech by physically blocking it plus any music or sound track would also mask incoming speech. As an experiment, put on the headphones while the TV is on a talk show, such as Fox Lies, and then switch on/off the noise cancelling function. See if there is a difference and report back. It is possible that new circuitry could also cancel speech but unlikely.

[TotallyOz]

I am not sure if it is the headset or my hearing but the BF has been watching TV in the hotel and I put these on and watch movies on my computer and I can't hear the TV except for certain screeches, etc.

[Guest fountainhall]

I can't hear the TV except for certain screeches, etc.

 

Professor Acoustopelli is correct in his evaluation of the way noise-cancellation works. He might have added it is the constant lower-frequencies which are 'cancelled'. It can do little to block sporadic higher frequencies - e.g. screeches. But, as he also pointed out, just wearing headphones inevitably is a barrier to some of the other sounds, especially if the headphones cover most of the ear. I still prefer the ear-bud in-ear phones, though, as these seem to provide a more natural barrier to extraneous sound.