Posted by Seth on January 25, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports | 
A trip from Stockholm to Istanbul shouldn’t take 4 days. That said, it can if you want it to thanks to the joys of airline scheduling and the rather impressive route network of Star Alliance within Europe, I managed to schedule just such a trip, with stops along to way to see friends and also three new (to me) cities. First on that list was Berlin and the flight down was on SAS.
The flight was relatively quick and uneventful. I actually remember very little of it thanks, in part, to a rocking hangover. But nothing really happened that was at all special. I was hungry so I bought the chicken salad snack box during the flight (all food AND beverages were BoB only!). The Swedish version of pasta salad isn’t really my thing, but it wasn’t bad. The chicken and the lettuce part of the salad were pretty good. I’d call it overpriced in general, though not really so bad once you figure in both the Scandinavia and airplane markups.
The most memorable bit of the flight for me was the final approach into Berlin’s Tegel airport. It was right a sunset and that let to some great views of the suburbs, Tegel airport and the general area as we made our way down.
Like most flights, this one wasn’t really all that special, either good or bad. That’s just the way I like them.
Tags: Berlin, Dining, EuroHopping, Flying, in flight, Photos, review, Star Alliance, Stockholm, Sweden, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on January 20, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
Any trip that starts with a dozen folks hanging out in the lounge, enjoying a few drinks before the flight, has strong potential. That I had already been in the lounge 2+ hours when the others started to arrive didn’t hurt the situation either. And the fact that my upgrade into the BusinessFirst cabin on the 757-200 had cleared at the time of booking made things even better. So it was slightly lubricated that I made my way down to the duty free shop and then to the gate for a flight from Newark to Stockholm.
Boarding was a bit of a mess, even though we arrived at the gate towards the end of the process. We were awaiting the last of the duty free deliveries which took us precariously close to departure time and my mobile boarding pass failed, causing me to hunt down a printed one while the gate agent dealt with some other issues which involved the police. Still, I had sufficient time to stow my bags in the overhead and settle in to 1E with a glass of champagne prior to departure.
I also was able to find the International Concierge working the flight, despite his best efforts to remain invisible in the cabin. Somewhat critical to the success of our first day in Stockholm, I requested access to the arrivals facility that the BusinessFirst service provides. In Stockholm this is a day room at the Radisson Blu hotel in the airport. There were four of us in the forward cabin so four rooms were requested. And he actually followed through on the request; the agent meeting the flight knew that we needed the rooms and was ready for us (sortof).
I chatted with my seatmate a bit during our short taxi out to Runway 22R and the ~7.5 hour flight to Sweden began.
It turns out that there are only two bottles of Heidsieck Monopole catered in the forward cabin on a 752. Those went pretty quickly, starting with the warmed nuts service and lasting part of the way through the appetizer service. The nuts were not particularly memorable but the apps were. Both the cold seafood soup and the beef empanada were quite nice. There was a salad, too.
I took a risk when ordering dinner: I chose the miSteak. It is a complete crap-shoot taking that route. Sometimes the meat is horribly overcooked and miserable. For this flight, however, it was cooked to a reasonable medium doneness (still way overcooked for my tastes, but at least edible) and actually tasted pretty good. The accompanying sides (creamed spinach, asparagus and a potato patty of some sort) were not particularly memorable, either for being good or bad.
And then there is the hour-long foodgasm that is dessert on the BF flights. First was the cheese plate, served with a reasonable glass of Port. Not particularly great cheeses, but the flavors were where they should be for the types served. Next up was the ice cream sundaes. I only had one (caramel and chocolate, thank you very much), but there were extras making their way back to the galley which may have been waylaid by a couple of the other guys. And then there were the pastries. They’ve got nothing on Austrian, to be sure, but they were pretty tasty.
And then it was time to try for some much needed sleep. I actually managed to get 3-4 hours which is pretty good for an eastbound redeye; it helps that this is one of the longer flights being run out of Newark to Europe. Plus, I managed to sleep through the relatively poor breakfast offering which was a good plan based on the reports I got from the others.
The food was fine, as was the seat and the sleep. What truly made the flight for me, however, was the crew. It is usually easy to tell at the beginning of a flight if the crew is enjoying themselves or not, and that generally translates into a better in flight experience. This crew was having a great time from the get go and it really did play out through the rest of the flight. It really is great to fly with a crew that enjoys their job.
Overall the trip was a very good one. Most of that is attributable to the crew, combined with having a bunch of friends on board, but I’m not so sure the reasoning matters as much as the fact that it was a nice flight. Even with the very recent surprisingly nice flight on Lufthansa, I have to say that the legacy Continental product that United is offering these days tops it, both in food and seat. It is one of the better business products across the pond.
Tags: Continental, Dining, EuroHopping, Flying, in flight, Lounge, Lufthansa, Newark, Photos, review, Stockholm, Sweden, Trip Report, United, United Airlines, upgrade
Posted by Seth on January 18, 2012 under News |
American Airlines is changing their beverage service policies, adding free wine and beer to the menu for economy cabin passengers on long haul flights starting in February 2012. The policy will apply to flights between the USA and Europe, Asia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.
"Offering complimentary beer and wine to our loyal customers in all classes of service allows American to better align our product offering with fellow oneworld® alliance members and is another example of our commitment to enhance the travel experience," said Rob Friedman, American’s Vice President – Marketing. "Our customers asked for complimentary beer and wine, and we listened. Starting Feb. 1, when a customer travels internationally onboard American, we invite them to have a drink on us."
This makes a lot of sense with respect to aligning the product with oneworld members where the flights are covered by the antitrust immunity deal which is supposed to give passengers the same experience, regardless of which carrier operates the flight.
Bottoms up!
Posted by Seth on January 18, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
By the time we got to London we had been on the go roughly 34 hours. Sure, a decent amount of that time was spent in the glorious confines of Emirates‘ A380 First Class Suites but we were still pretty beat. The last flight of our vacation was all that remained – British Airways from Heathrow to JFK – in first class on the 747-400. When booking the flights I did my best to ensure that we would have the new first class product so as to hopefully experience the best that BA has to offer. When we got home I actually had to go back and double check to make sure that the product we saw was the new one; the experience itself wasn’t defining enough that I knew.
Yes, I had just come off of Emirates and their Suite so I’m sure that my point of reference is somewhat skewed. And I’m a bit disappointed that we couldn’t get a spa treatment in the Concorde Room lounge, though that is in part due to our short connection and my not pre-booking because of uncertainty with the connection times. But the seat itself was not particularly impressive, especially not for a first class product.
There is no doubt that the seat is good on privacy, but it isn’t particularly large. And, unlike other first class seats I’ve flown in, the British Airways seat tapers somewhat dramatically at the foot. Not enough to be uncomfortable to fly in, but I’m also not nearly the tallest or widest passenger they’re going to be dealing with; I’m actually probably smaller than average for the F cabin.
On the plus side, the soft product on board was incredibly good. I slept nearly the entire flight in the quite comfy PJs I was offered so I didn’t really eat or drink much, but the bits I had were very tasty. At the top of my list was one of the appetizers, a seafood dish that was delicious and also quite nicely presented.
I’ll give a bit of a pass on the lounge bit as missing the spa treatment was at least partially my fault. That said, the quality of the food served was, well, British. Not bad, but also not particularly awesome or inspired. And the soft product was very, very nice, definitely first class. But the hard product on board – the seat – really was a bit of a let down. I understand that the new seat – particularly the iFE options are better than the old one. To me that’s more a comment on how bad the old one was than an endorsement of the new product.
At this point I’d say that there are a number of business class products that I’d probably take over the BA first option, unless BA is pricing first at the business class price. In this case it was more or less free as an add-on to the Emirates fare home from Sri Lanka so I’m not really upset about it, but I was definitely expecting better from BA. I literally had to check after the flight to figure out if I really was on the new product. That’s probably not the impression they’re trying to leave with customers.
On the plus side, snagging seat 1K and getting to look out the front of the plane was pretty awesome.
Tags: A380, Airbus, Boeing, British Airways, Dining, Emirates, in flight, London, NYE2011, Photos, review, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on January 17, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
It took a long time before I managed to get myself into a proper first class cabin on a long-haul flight. I still haven’t actually done it all that often. And now I believe myself wholly spoiled from enjoying it in the future. I’ve had the great pleasure of flying in the Emirates A380 First Class Suite.
Coming home from Sri Lanka actually involved two flights in Emirates First, one on a 777-300 which is a proper F cabin and pretty impressive on its own. The seat is huge and offers a decent amount of privacy, though the 2-2-2 configuration does mean that the outside pairs involve climbing over someone or having someone climb over you for window/aisle access. As we were a couple traveling together it wasn’t a huge deal.
The other amenities on the 773 are comparable in many ways to the A380. Each seat has a private bar, though the good stuff comes from the flight attendants, not pre-stocked at the seat. And the ICE entertainment system is awesome in so many ways. Huge screens and options for both movies and music.
My only minor complaint on the first flight is that there was no meal service at departure. It is only a 3:30 flight and it leaves around 3am local time from Colombo. Still, the food options in the airport sucked and I was hungry. I chose to sleep through breakfast to try to actually get a couple hours of sleep so I basically had no food on the flight. Other than that, lots of fun.
Our layover in Dubai was just long enough to get lost in the lounge (I’ll post about that later) and then it was time for the crown jewel of the trip: A380 Suites.
The 773 provided a lot of space and privacy. The A380 bested it by far. The closing doors on the suites, in particular, was a nice touch for privacy. Also the 1-2-1 layout allows for isolation quite well, Sitting in the middle we were unable to actually see out the windows at all which was slightly annoying, but that’s how much privacy it afforded passengers. The photo below shows just how much space there is; my 22" TravelPro fit nicely under the desk at my seat, with plenty of room for the seat to still recline into bed mode.
The service started with the purser presenting our menus for the day and offering up some quite lovely advice, "The champagne today is, of course, Dom 2002." Suffice it to say, a bottle or two of that ended up in my belly. There’s a 21 year Single Malt and an 8 year rum, too, if that’s your thing. And the wine list was pretty impressive as well.
The food service was also at the top of my experiences, with a couple minor caveats. I liked the meals better than those I had in Lufthansa First last year. There were more choices, we were served more of them, and I thought that the quality of the food was slightly better.
My wife did remind me that the Lufthansa options are a bit more of a stretch in terms of providing a fine dining experience – fancier preparations and presentations – but I think that Emirates is nearly at the same level there and delivered on the attempt much better. Even the caviar service appeared better to me on Emirates.
You can eat anything you want off the menu whenever you want to. I understand that there is some flexibility to that effect on Lufty but they weren’t nearly as happy about providing it. And when I couldn’t make up my mind between the lobster and the lamb, the flight attendant solved that problem quite quickly, serving up both. They were delicious, though the lobster truly shined.
Oh, and then there was the shower. At roughly 35,000 feet over Ankara I stepped into my "spa experience" and enjoyed a quick rinse. We had been on the go for about 30 hours at that point and the shower was quite refreshing. I was somewhat concerned about the 5 minute limit on water but I ultimately found that by turning it off when soaping it was more than enough for me. There are a full set of shower amenities provided and the flight attendants are happy to explain the process to you, including the instructions to sit down on the bench should the plane encounter turbulence.
The flight attendant also made sure to ask what beverage I’d like to have when I finished my shower, and I came out to not only the aged rum that I had requested but also a fruit plate to have as a snack. She was top notch.
While she was great I cannot really say the same for her colleague across the aisle. My wife and I received notably different levels of service. Even when we specifically requested to dine at the same time we had issues with the timing of the food. Not the end of the world by any stretch, but it was a bit annoying. She was good, but not effusively so like the FA on my side.
There are some other things that are a little different with Emirates. There isn’t a proper amenity kit, per se, in that there is no little bag to take home with you.That said, everything you need – and then some – is provided either at your seat or in the lav.
And then, all too quickly, we were on final approach into London. The flight was only 7.5 hours. They were 7.5 hours of aerophillic bliss, but it was done. And now I am spoiled rotten. Flying in First will never be the same (though I’m more than willing to try just to confirm that concern).
Tags: A380, Airbus, Colombo, Dining, Dubai, Emirates, in flight, London, Lufthansa, NYE2011, Photos, review, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on January 5, 2012 under Dining, Hotel, Review, Trip Reports |
On our second stay in Chennai on this trip we wanted to be more in the center of town than the Radisson Blu at the airport could offer. There were a few options available to us towards the center of the sprawling metropolis and, on the recommendation of a good friend, we chose the GRT Grand hotel.
The GRT Grand is a mid-range, utilitarian business-class hotel located in a reasonably busy area of town. It is not far from a number of western branded hotels (we could see the brand new Hyatt from our window and had drinks there on a couple of the nights) but doesn’t suffer from the same pricing issues those seem to (we were in for about $130/night including tax via hotels.com; could have booked slightly cheaper as a non-refundable rate directly with the hotel but wanted the flexibility). Not being a western brand also means a bit of character that I nearly always find lacking in those hotels, charms I usually enjoy.
The hotel itself is pretty big, with three restaurants, a night club and a huge atrium that extends up the entire interior of the building.
The check-in process was a bit frazzled as they were swapping our room and that of another guy around because he needed an extra bed but it was eventually squared away and we were escorted up to our room on the 6th floor. I’m not sure if they have upgrades or suites but the superior room we were booked in to was decently sized, with a separate tiny couch (both of us on it was a bit tight) and desk area.
Yes, the décor is a bit dated, but it was a pretty comfy bed and the desk had outlets above, not below, for charging my gear.
The bathroom was similarly dated in style but functional in its facilities.
We had meals at all of the restaurants on the property. Breakfast each morning (included in the rate) was a at the all day lobby buffet. It was passable, barely. Cooked to order eggs was a bit of a saving grace there, really, giving us enough sustenance to get out on the road and find other options.
We dined at the Indian restaurant for lunch on two days. The menu is vast, inspiring great curiosity in how all of it could be good and challenging us to guess at what might be. I don’t know that we guessed right either time but we also didn’t guess particularly wrong. The food was fine, though hardly memorable. I actually don’t remember now what we had, but I know it wasn’t so great that I needed to.
Finally, they gave us coupons at check in for the Mediterranean restaurant in the hotel. Figuring that we wanted a bit of variety (but not so much that we were willing to venture out into the rains of Cyclone Thane) we gave it a try. It was surprisingly delicious. We learned why about half-way through the meal when the chef came out to say hi and ask how things were. He’s a native of Turkey and has spent a few years in Uzbekistan, too. The menu here was even broader than in the Indian restaurant; it is literally a bound book about 80 pages long including sections on the history and cuisine of the various countries around the Med that they are serving from. We were, again, hesitant, but the choices we tried were all delicious. Oh, and there was a weird stage show at various points throughout dinner where a young woman came in and danced a bit in a relatively skimpy outfit. Best we could figure is that it was their version of the Moroccan belly dancer option; it was a bit strange but didn’t detract from the food.
My only real complaint about the property was some frustration that I had with the travel desk and concierge services. Not surprisingly they don’t like their guests going out of their purview for day trips or really anything else and they were less than helpful in making arrangements. When it came to things like getting movie tickets – something that I was told the hotel guys should be able to handle quickly and easily – it actually turned into a bit of a fiasco with promises of seats three different times which were never delivered upon. We eventually figured that out on our own via a pretty web booking engine; I’m shocked that the guy didn’t know it existed and they had a computer sitting there for them to use. On the plus side, they did have an umbrella to loan us when we headed out into the Cyclone.
And even on the day trips front, the driver was less than stellar. Our tour was supposed to include all tolls and parking. The driver insisted we pay. I didn’t mind as I was collecting the receipts and that would be enough to get it handled back at the hotel. But I also called to make sure I understood the tour correctly as I didn’t want any more surprises. When we got back in the car the driver insisted on paying us back immediately (admission of first attempt to screw us) and then tried to short-change me on the reimbursement. Funny thing is that trying to screw me out of 10 rupees cost him 50 times that in tip; I had intended on giving a rather generous tip but that plan went out the window in a hurry as soon as the guy tried to short-change me. On the plus side, he did a great job of getting us to and from our intended destination without any incidents on the road.
Overall the hotel was pretty much exactly as I expected and it was perfectly functional and the price was right. Even the couple minor inconveniences were trivial relative to the value we got. I still think that the Radisson Blu was a much nicer property near the same price point, but the location – all the way out at the airport – isn’t great for being a tourist in town.
Posted by Seth on December 30, 2011 under Review, Trip Reports |
With the city besieged by a tropical cyclone and some uncertainty about the drivability of the roads we set off early for the airport. The ride didn’t take too long, all things considered, despite the areas of ankle-deep standing water we encountered from time to time. With three hours in the airport prior to our departure, and only a small amount of that taken up figuring out how to get the appropriate credentials to get past the guards there was plenty of time for lounge hopping.
There are two lounges in the international terminal, both of which are accessible via the Priority Pass I received from my American Express Platinum card. The first, the Royal Lounge by Le Royal Meridien was lovely inside.
Alas, they had no food available at that time and the host suggested we try the Clipper Lounge instead. So we did. Probably a mistake.
The Clipper Lounge is actually fine, though a bit darker and less welcoming than the Royal Lounge. It is also larger, however, so it does not surprise me that they wanted to shift the Priority Pass customers over here.
The beer is cold, however, and served in the big bottles, which covers a large number of other issues.
More details on these and nearly 500 other lounges are available at the Wandering Aramean Travel Tools Lounge Guide.
Posted by Seth on December 22, 2011 under Dining, Flying, Trip Reports |
Flights from New York City to western Europe are generally too short for anything remotely resembling a good night’s rest. In many cases even a chance of a decent nap is pretty low. The key to having a chance, however, is to be done eating before clearing the edge of Canada. That generally means at least 4.5 hours until landing, leaving a 4 hour window for sleep before the attendants have to put the cabin back together for arrival.
And so I was watching the in-flight map as we departed Newark for Frankfurt last night, trying to figure out how we were doing on the meal as we headed east. When the appetizers showed up we were over Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Not good for hoping to be done with the meal before clearing Canada. On the plus side, the food was quite good, a pleasant surprise in quality and quantity. I even managed to skip the Fernet Branca, going to sleep without that flavor in my mouth for the first time in a long time on a Lufthansa long-haul flight.
By the time the meal was done we were 3:45 out from landing. I slept almost all of that, even in the angled seats of Lufthansa business class. We were fortunate to arrive to a gate at the terminal rather than a remote stand and from there wended our way through the terminals and the SkyTrain to find some lounge time.
Our onward flight to Chennai departed from B42, directly adjacent to the new Terminal B Senator Lounge. The new lounge is quite a welcome improvement over the old B lounge, though it still suffers from crowding at the peak morning departure bank; the wait for a shower was about 30 minutes and our layover wasn’t long enough to make that work.
And then it was time to head out to the gate and board our flight to Chennai. Another 8.5 hours in the sky with Lufthansa as we begin this crazy adventure.
Tags: Canada, Chennai, Dining, Frankfurt, in flight, India, Lounge, Lufthansa, New York City, Newark, NYE2011, Photos
Posted by Seth on November 16, 2011 under Dining, Review, Trip Reports |
There’s something to be said for enjoying the local dining delicacies when traveling. Whether Peking Duck is actually a local dish in Beijing or not is certainly the subject of some debate – there are a number of folks who suggest it is better in other cities – but given that I was in Beijing and it was available, I figured I’d give it a try. There are a few restaurants generally considered as the upper echelon of options for the experience and I chose Made In China, one of the restaurants at the Grand Hyatt Beijing.
It should be noted that ordering the Peking Duck is very much an experience, not just a meal. And as executed at Made In China it was a rather wonderful one. Not just for the quality of the food, which is incredibly high, but also for the expansive presentation and the expertise and precision with which the entire exercise is carried out.
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| The speed and precision with which the waiter carved and presented the duck was incredible. |
My favorite part of most poultry is the skin. And that also happens to be the part that is most special when it comes to cooking the duck. The skin holds much of the fat from the bird, meaning that it can be chewy or otherwise not so great. But when prepared correctly the skin is crispy and full of flavor, without too much fat dripping off. The staff insisted that it be sprinkled with a bit of sugar to complete the effect. I’m not completely convinced that was needed. It was simply delicious.
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| Duck skin, sprinkled with a bit of sugar. |
Next up after the skin was the breast meat, served with hoisin sauce, leeks, cucumbers and small pancakes for making small rolls. Not surprisingly, there was nearly as much focus on the presentation of the meats as there was on the quality of the preparation.
This was followed by the leg meat being carved and presented. The leg was actually my favorite bit, much like it is on other poultry. As served up at Made In China the leg meat was a full ross-section of flavors, including the skin and a layer of fat, in addition to the meat itself. Each bite was a combination of the flavors.
In the end, the amount of food presented for the order is somewhat staggering.
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| One of these days I’ll learn to order a meal that doesn’t require a spare stomach. That will be quite sad. |
From a logistics perspective, making a reservation is highly recommended, both for a table and for a duck. Preparing the duck can take over an hour if you don’t and that’s not much fun. That said, if you do have an hour to spare while waiting you have the opportunity to sample some of the other food on the menu. Thinking that I was going to be waiting that hour I actually ordered an appetizer, scallion pancakes, to nosh on while waiting for the duck to show up. The duck actually was served first. Whoopsie. Not that I’m particularly disappointed as that was also delicious, but it was way too much food for just me.
For seating, as a single guest they managed to find room for me at one of the bars scattered through the restaurant. I much prefer that arrangement to being seated at a table on my own so that was great. Plus, rather than a cocktail bar this one was located facing into the dumpling kitchen. So in addition to the great food I was treated to the entertainment of watching the chefs work their magic on a variety of different doughy delights.
Overall the entire experience was wonderful. Yes, it is one of the more expensive meals in Beijing, but it isn’t actually all that pricey. I walked out for under USD $50, including one cocktail and fully stuffed with delicious food. Well worth it for the experience; I highly recommend it.
Read more from this Trip Report under the Dream2011 tag here.
Posted by Seth on November 11, 2011 under Trip Reports |
For a few years now the United States government has been gouging potential visitors with high fees to apply for visas to visit. No guarantee that you’ll be admitted but you pay anyways. A number of countries responded in kind, either requiring a visa with a comparable fee or, in some cases, just charging the fee. Argentina is one of these countries, charging a "reciprocity fee" for visitors.
The fee is comparable to what is charged to Argentinians visiting the United States, $140. Rather than applying in advance for a visa, however, one simply pays the fee in a separate line at the airport before heading through the immigration line. But it turns out there’s a way to avoid this fee, if you happen to be a bit crazy like me.
The fee only applies for folks staying in Argentina. If you’re just connecting then you don’t pay the fee. And, much like the airlines, the definition of a connection is pretty liberal: 23 hours 59 minutes. If you over-stay you get hit with the fee on departure and it can be a bit of a mess, but so long as you have proof of onward travel departing in <24 hours you’re good to go. Rather than getting a stamp in your passport you get a stamp on the immigration form. And if you lose that you get hit with the fee. But so long as you can hold on to that piece of paper for 24 hours the transit is free of reciprocity fees.
I strongly recommend having a paper print-out of your itinerary showing the onward flight out of the country. I managed to get by with showing the immigration officer the itinerary on my phone but I got the impression he wasn’t too impressed but that performance. Show them the itinerary and explain that you are in transit and you should be good to go. I would imagine that this is an easier conversation if you speak Spanish but I managed to get by in English so it is definitely possible. It is possible that this only works for passengers in transit between countries, not folks returning to the same country from which they arrived (similar to China’s policy on transit) but it definitely worked at least twice I can vouch for.
Once you’re past the immigration folks for your day trip to Argentina head into town and spend some of that $140 saved on supporting their economy. And expanding your waistline:
That was a great steak. And I was much happier spending the money there than on the reciprocity fee.
And a special thanks to Grahm for tipping me off to this benefit in the first place.
Posted by Seth on October 31, 2011 under Dining, Flying, Mileage Run, Review, Trip Reports |
About half way between San Francisco and Beijing I awoke from my nap and headed to the lav. Time for a quick break to stretch my legs. I had absolutely no expectations of anyone waiting for me when I got out. Apparently I should have.
A flight attendant approached me in the aisle, addressed me by name and asked what she could get me from "up front." Knowing that a bigger seat – my likely answer – probably wasn’t going to actually do much in terms of being successful as a request I was rather dumbfounded. Partly because I had just woken up, I like to think, and partly because I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to answer.
She then offered up that they had no extra amenity kits as the forward cabins were both full, but that I could ask for anything else I wanted, finishing the suggestion with the phrase, "You know the drill, don’t you?" Alas, I was somewhat embarrassed that I have no idea what the drill is or what I’m supposed to ask for or be able to get. Eventually she suggested that perhaps a glass of wine or a snack would be suitable.
And the snack was.
Seriously, compared to the mid-flight snack offered up in Economy is was like a bit of heaven.
And the mid-flight snack was probably better than the first meal. That first meal was a piece of sponge-like reconstituted chicken-esque product soaking in a tomato-based sauce. It was pretty bad.
The last of the three meals was the most edible of the bunch, but still not phenomenal. I chose the noodles over the turkey sandwich.
And then I was in Beijing. Woohoo!
As always, more to come…
Tags: Beijing, China, Dining, Dream2011, Flying, Mileage Run, Photos, review, San Francisco, Trip Report, United
