Lobby Bar – December 12: Frequent Poetry Traveler, Nuts About Nuts, Gifting Baby Sheep, and Why Santa is Fat

The Lobby Bar – An Almost-True Summary of FBT News and Views

A dream come true. Frequent Business Traveler editors analyzed holiday shopping trends to bring you the best gift guide yet. Our highest recommended gift: a lamb. It’s amazing how many times the phrase “All I want for Christmas is ewe” popped up in our data.

A speck of green. Join Robert Waldner for a stroll through the streets of Moscow and you’ll learn some interesting Russian customs. Fear not – it’s nothing against you; it’s actually quite normal for people on the street not to smile at you. Or maybe you just have a piece of spinach stuck in your teeth from lunch. Don’t miss visiting Lubyanka prison, the tallest building in Moscow; so tall that from the basement you can see Siberia.

Poetry R Us. Just broke up with your partner and need a place to escape to in the winter months? To take your mind off things, head to Arizona for a simulated summer. If sadness is instead overbearing, how about spending a few brooding nights in the Swiss Alps, where you can compose an emotionally epic poem? Just be sure to give us credit (and 20% commission) when the poem goes Platinum.

Santa’s diet. Hey, you with the pretty face, want a sexy travel bag to match? Good news – we’re giving away a Ghurka Walker Tote Bag to one of our lucky Facebook fans! Think of us as Santa. Just pack the cookies and glass of milk (with dry ice) in the box with the return address label on it.

Aw, nuts. What could possibly be more offensive than being offered an unopened package of nuts pre-departure? For Korean Air vice president Cho Hyun-ah, apparently nothing. Word has it that Hyun-ah has since been receiving support from her fans in the form of nuts, hand-delivered to her Seoul loft by a top rated butler service, and served on fine china.

From limes to nuts. American Airlines is celebrating its one-year merger anniversary with a $2 billion investment in aircraft, airport lounges, and improving the passenger experience, which, we hear, will include making sure flyers are not served nuts improperly.

En Garde! We at Frequent Business Traveler wish you a happy and healthy holiday season, for you and your computer. That’s why we’re making our Executive Road Warrior Web Defender anti-malware browser plug-in free for all readers. A tote and free software? Sounds like you made Santa’s nice list.

Kassem’s new job. Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren flies to Los Angeles in a China Airlines Boeing 777-300 Premium Business Class seat. He awoke from a nap in his 78” full lie-flat bed after the first meal orders had already been placed, and when he asked if he might have a portion of the wolfberry soup being handed out, the flight attendant sternly admonished “no soup for you!”

(Photo: Accura Media Group)