If you're on the East coast of the United States, you're fresh into your work day. On the other side of the world, in Taipei, it's already creeping into the next morning. This fact is no more evident to me now that I am sitting in my "Heavenly" bed staring at the orange glow from my bedside clock as it counts down the minutes to 3AM. Jetlag is a funny thing; the great biological reminder that I have little control over my body's sleep functions. I flop back onto my pillow and run through the events of the previous 24 hours in my head.

It didn't seem like that long ago I had sauntered on to the Air New Zealand flight from London-Heathrow to Hong Kong. Even though the thought of spending 14 hours on one plane is enough to make anyone grumble, I was actually eager for the in-flight experience. The airline was fresh off winning the "Best Passenger Service" award from Air Transport World magazine. And who am I to disagree? Within seconds of arriving at my business class seat-pod-thingy, two flight attendants descended from either end of the aisle -- one smiled a welcome while grabbing my coat, the other raised a tray of champagne glasses for me to enjoy while settling into my seat.

Air New Zealand's Business Premier physical product is effectively a variation on Virgin Atlantic's famed Upper Class seat. The herringbone seat layout runs down into the front end of the 747 in such a way that ensures privacy and amazingly spacious comfort. The design of the seat is quite unique. An ottoman sits opposite each seat in case you want to have some company during lunch. Since I wasn't feeling social, I found the ottoman most practical as a footstool to stretch out my legs. When I was ready to turn in for the night, the flight attendant pushed a button and the back-board of the seat flipped down to form a fully-flat bed 6-feet 8-inches long. She spread out a mattress pad, down comforter and fluffy pillow ... I was out before you could say "fasten your seatbelt."

Besides the fantastic service and revolutionary seat, it's probably worth mentioning that the wine menu for this flight was 54 pages long. No, that's not a typo. 54 pages just for wine. It was a virtual encylopedia of the best harvests from New Zealand -- Northland Merlots to Gisborne Chardonnays. It even included a few pages for note-taking! Although I had been advised to make the most of sleep early in the flight to avoid jetlag, this was too much to pass up! (Of course, now I'm paying for it.) The wines were complimented by a mouthwatering menu featuring pan-seared organic salmon, beef fillet steak with red wine jus or roasted chicken leg stuffed with ginger, lentils and garlic confit.

The gastronomical adventure didn't stop with dinner. Two hours out of Hong Kong, the breakfast service started including blended-fruit smoothies, eggs, bacon, and French toast. It was tempting to keep on flying!

I snap back to reality. It's now 3:23AM and I'm no closer to sleep. In fact, I'm kind of hungry.