Love...... The Journey

[anat0l]

Tue 10 Apr

Now I had a couple of hours to pass before my flight to FRA boarded, so I located myself at one of the "dens" nearest to the entrance of the lounge. It was the furthest from the dining area so it almost felt like a remote part of the lounge.

One of the odd things about the view from the lounge is that whilst you could get a nice view of the tarmac from the "den", the glass windows of the terminal, at least in this section, have been "lined" in order to prevent excessive light from getting through. The downside is that the view is not that great.

Keeping my satiety under control: coffee from the robot barista, green tea Haagen-Daaz and a small bowl of tofu salad and dumpling

The wifi is pretty decent and, naturally, free of charge in the lounge, which allowed me to fire up the laptop and answer quite a few messages from work and personal. It was probably a good idea to knock out as much as I could then, since my next sector was going to mean my being out of contact for about 11 hours.

A selection from the all-day buffet: Tomato Caprese with pesto, croquette, skewers, smoked ham, and smoked salmon with capers and horseradish cream.

As it was getting closer to 1200h, I asked the front desk whether they would be calling us for boarding. She said someone would fetch me when it was time to board. Fair enough, I went back to my chair and relaxed.

Time now 1205h. Nothing yet. Perhaps they're delayed. OK...time for another lemonade.

Now it's getting up to 1215h. Alright - what's going on... I go to the front desk...

Me: "Hello, is the flight to Frankfurt boarding yet?"
Attendant: "Yes, boarding started."

Part of me inside curses, and where's the person that is supposed to fetch me to go? I semi-sprint out of the lounge and head downstairs. Lucky my gate isn't far away, but gates usually close at T-10 minutes, so I was really putting it down to the wire.

Move it! Luckily the status isn't, "Flight Closed".

As I was making my way down the concourse towards the gate, I was intercepted by another OZ staff member.

Staff: "Are you going to Frankfurt?"
Me: "Yes."
Staff: "You in First Class?"
Me: "Yes."
Staff: "Oh! We were looking for you."
Me: "I was in the lounge! Someone said they would tell me when we were boarding."
Staff: "Yes, I was looking for you but could not find you."

Perhaps that's a disadvantage of sitting in a corner of the lounge. So it seems normally you would be escorted from the lounge to your flight, but it didn't quite work in this case. No matter, at least I was going to make my flight. A short walk later, my BP was processed and I was led aboard my OZ flight to FRA.


Flight: Asiana Airlines OZ541 Seoul Incheon (인천국제공항) (ICN) - Frankfurt am Main (Flughafen Frankfurt am Main) (FRA)
Depart: Sched 1230h; Actual 1230h
Duration: 11 h 30 min
Distance: 5,323 mi (8,567 km)
Aircraft: HL7421 Boeing 747-400M Combi
Class: First
Seat: 3A


I turned left at the aircraft door as I was greeted with an Annyeong Haseyo, which I returned (as well as the English greeting so as not to let the staff on that I might know some Korean when I knew none at all!). The OZ F class on the 747 is, like most, located in the nose, with a cabin of only 10 seats: 4 on each side as window seats, and a sole pair of seats in the middle of the cabin. Again, the colour scheme of OZ makes the cabin almost disappear into the cream / off-white colouring of the standard aircraft fittings, and may be off-putting for some. Nevertheless, each seat is quite functional and cosy. Colours aside, the seats look a bit better than old QF F / old BA F. The seats are probably designed for the typical Asian profile, which pitches the height of such people as not as tall as those from a Western country. It works OK for me as I'm pretty short by Australian standards; might be a different experience for others.

The OZ F cabin on the 747-400M.

My seat, 3A.

Legroom in 3A.

As I got settled in, the crew came around to offer pre-flight drinks, amenity kits and sleeper suits. For my pre-flight drink, I opted for the simple orange juice, which was served with a handful of nuts.

Pre-flight orange juice and nuts.

Whilst I drank my orange juice, boarding was being finalised, and I notice that there were only going to be 3 of us in the F cabin for this flight, with myself being the only one on the left side of the aircraft, and another two gentlemen taking positions 3K and 4K. As the cabin service started in earnest, just like my previous flight with OZ, the cabin FAs took their positions at the front of the cabin, bowed and greeted us, and the initial welcome PA was made by the cabin manager. Unlike my previous regional flight, a lot more of the announcements in English were made live rather than from pre-recorded messages.

Soon enough, we pushed back from gate as the FAs armed the doors and commenced with the safety demonstration. Then, through a slightly clearer but still gloomy ICN, we taxiied to our runway and was soon into the air and flying towards FRA, keeping clear of North Korea in the process.

 

[anat0l]

Tue 10 Apr

As we approached cruise height, the seat belt signs were switched off and I decided to use this moment to visit the bathroom and get changed into my sleeper suit.

The F bathroom looked nothing special compared to the factory default, but it was otherwise quite well appointed with the essential grooming supplies. The sleeper suit reflected the colour scheme of the OZ cabin - off-putting perhaps, but ultimately very comfy sleeper suit with a full button-up shirt, a rather unusual design compared to others.

The rack in the OZ F bathroom contains enough grooming supplies for most purposes.

Me wearing the OZ F sleeper suit, with full button-up shirt.

The OZ F amenity kits are a soft leather zip bag stocked with Bvlgari accessories. The bag itself looks nice and would probably make a nice make-up bag but otherwise not too practical because the leather is very soft and looks like with even minimal abuse, the leather might start to peel.

OZ F amenity bag made of soft leather

Contents of the OZ F amenity kit, featuring Bvlgari accessories.

Menus were distributed soon after I returned to my seat. The menu on this flight were written in four languages - Korean, English, German and Japanese - though the wine list is only offered in Korean and English. OZ offer three cuisine types ex-ICN - Western, Chinese and Korean - but unfortunately, without the benefit of research or experience, I only found out from the crew that in order to have the Chinese or Korean choices, they must be pre-ordered by calling OZ at least 24 hours in advance. So I was stuck with having to experience the Western menu for this flight. Given that OZ have ICN as a home base, they can be extremely precise with the catering loading so they will only stock exactly the number of meal sets required for the pax in the cabin. This can pose problems for those of you (like me) who may have been planning to mix and match across respective cuisine menus!

OZ F menus

Remember the good ol' days when formal dinners had more courses than Harvard? OK perhaps that was a bit extreme, but the OZ First Western menu appeared a lot like that and, with the exception of a few other airlines (including QF F when they offer their degustation), no one else offers such a distinction in the air. So it's probably worth noting that if you're about to tuck into this dining experience, get ready to pace yourself (or eat for a long time!).

The plate design of the OZ F dining table consisted of many subtle curves rather than the standard circular types. For those of you who have flown CX F before, the design concept is quite similar; and for those who have flown LH F before, OZ F takes some inspiration from their table by adorning the First Class dining table with a rose. My appetiser was served along with a choice of drink. The two Champagnes loaded for this flight - a Pol Roger 1999 and Taittinger 2000 - were looking very attractive, so my first glass of Champagne was to be the Pol Roger, of which I was quite pleased with.

Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 1999 Champagne. Wonderful drop.

The OZ F dining table set with appetiser of baked pear with prosciutto and sticky balsamic.

Bakery items were offered as I tucked into the appetiser, which was delicious. The sticky balsamic did an excellent job in accentuating the combination of pear and prosciutto. It was great to soak up the remaining balsamic with my bread roll, as well as with the supplied olive oil.

Bread roll.

 

[Sprucegoose]

As we have to expect from you, a high and comprehensive standard of reporting.

Thanks!

 

[lmere12]

Awesome TR, can't wait for the rest. Booking a trip to Europe using US miles very soon

 

[pat25d]

This is unfair, how can you stop a TR halfway through a meal service?!!!

 

[anat0l]

Tue 10 Apr

Olive oil, balsamic and butter

The next course after the appetiser was the caviar course. Once again, a dying breed around the world, even in F, but it has been maintained at OZ. Compared to TG, OZ probably take a more pure interpretation of the experience by providing a mother-of-pearl spoon rather than a regular metal spoon. (It is believed that metal spoons impart a certain taste which interferes with that of the caviar, which is why a mother-of-pearl or bone spoon is preferable). The caviar is served straight from individual serve jars, though I can't remember if it came off an iced serving tray or not. The wedge of lemon is encased in a porous bag which allows you to squeeze away without getting pips on your plate. The accompaniments included a few blinis as well as Melba toast, but the latter was a bit lame and not quite crispy enough.

The overall serving of caviar from OZ looks a wee bit smaller than that on TG, but the OZ serving appeared to have larger caviar pearls. As I said, OZ have the advantage of loading at ICN so they can be very precise with catering, so there was strictly only one serving of caviar per F pax on board. (Yes, I was trying to be greedy in asking for another serve after this one!)

OZ F caviar course.

The following course was the small serving of seafood served with saffron and curry sauce. An interesting course in writing, but turned out to be OK. It's a combination of mussel and scallop (if I recall correctly), surprisingly prepared quite well for air travel, with a creamy sauce with hint of curry and a generous amount of saffron. It isn't a smack in the face hit of spice that you would expect from a curry. The combination of the lemon and onion makes for not a bad course.

Seafood salad with saffron and curry sauce.

At this point, I decided to try the other Champagne, the Taittinger Comtes de Champagne. This is a 2000 vintage, which is different to the 1999 vintage that I've been used to on QF F on board (or Brut served in the QF F lounges in SYD and MEL). Nevertheless, I've been impressed before, and I was once again impressed. A distinctly different character to the Pol Roger.

The new drop - Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2000.

Pouring the Taittinger.

The next course was a soup one - cauliflower veloute, of which the latter noun tends to refer more often to a sauce rather than a soup. It did have the consistency of the veloute rather than a much less viscous soup, but it was delicious. I probably would've asked if there was any more left for a second helping, if only that I knew that my stomach was telling me, "hold back there, mate - you've still got about half of the menu to go..."

Cauliflower veloute with Parmesan chip.

The final of the starter courses (still with me?) was a Parmesan chicken schnitzel with a creamy mustard sauce. Very German in inspiration and hit the mark nicely. The micro-salad on the side complemented this course well. The combination of the schnitzel with the mustard sauce was to die for, and if I'd had another one, that might've been the case

Parmesan chicken schnitzel with potato and creamy mustard sauce.

Finally, after all of that... the main course! My choice of main course was the lamb loin, mainly because it seemed to be the most interesting looking one of the three. The wagyu did look attractive but it seemed rather simple, whereas the grilled salmon and shrimp Fricassee was similarly intriguing but to see it served with a beef jus was a bit left-field. So that's why I settled on the lamb loin served with artichoke and a black pepper jus. It might've been that this course was quite late in the proceedings, but the lamb could've been a slight bit more tender (perhaps slightly overcooked) and the jus a bit thicker and stronger, especially when you're combining the lamb and artichoke. Still, the flavours were there and it tasted pretty good.

Main course of roasted lamb loin with artichoke, lemon gremolata and black pepper jus.

I don't know how much time elapsed between first course and now, but we're not done yet! Now for the concluding courses - firstly the cheese selection. Unlike TG, at least OZ do select some more exquisite cheeses (or at least try), though I still suppose that being an Asian airline, they're not really into the whole selecting cheeses thing compared to the Western world. I don't know what the deal is serving crudites with the cheese plate - is this a cultural thing?

Cheese plate.

 

[drron]

Re: Tue 10 Apr

Great TR.And I do love the food pics!

 

[anat0l]

Tue 10 Apr

The last course was dessert, which was a green tea torte. Although there's nothing really wrong with the torte, it was probably not the best dish of the series. Probably expected - a light, anticlimax to the entire meal.

Green tea torte.

I enjoyed my cheese plate and dessert with a couple of glasses of the dessert wine, which was an ice wine from the Niagara Peninsula in the USA. This is the first time I've had a dessert wine from North America, and I must say that its taste greatly outpaces any other wine I've had from the continent.

Jackson-Triggs Vidal Ice Wine 2007.

The ice wine has such a wonderful colour in the glass and a wonderful flavour and consistency to it.

Just as I was finishing up, the crew appeared at the front. They were offering an unusual service (and I might get the details wrong since I wasn't paying much attention), but apparently it is an offer for you to be able to write a letter to someone (I presume in Germany or South Korea) and it will be delivered for you by the airline. I suppose it's novel because a snail mail letter internationally these days can take at least a week to be delivered, though the old pen-and-paper letter was falling quickly out of fashion thanks to email and Skype. In saying that, the crew pushed it more as a romantic gesture, and that makes sense - whilst also being enveloped (no pun intended) by the electronic revolution, nothing expresses love more classically than a wonderful hand-written letter personally addressed to those you love.

Unfortunately for me, I had no one in Germany nor in South Korea whom I'd be thinking of sending such a letter to, so I turned down the offer when the crew came around.

The cabin crew selling the letter service.

My table was cleared away as I asked the crew if they could prepare the bed at my seat. Whilst they were doing this I went to the bathroom to freshen up, liberally using the moisturiser provided as I could feel my skin drying up a bit too much, and further not going to be helped by the rest of the long flight ahead. Teeth brushed, I went back into the cabin and my bed had been made up, though the cabin lights weren't turned out just yet.

OZ set up the bed and have you in a semi-reclined position. You tuck yourself in, then recline it all the way in order to sleep.

Bed set up.

Fully reclined and ready to sleep. Just put the eye mask on, then it's good night!

......

...... Some time later ......

Waking up... here was our position in flight, and with about 4 hours before landing

I woke up after my nap with still plenty of time before we were landing in FRA. Time to keep myself occupied - so out came the laptop and a bit of work to do. The table isn't all that big compared to other F cabins, so it fit my laptop on there and a little more, with most of the rest of everything sitting on the side ledge between my seat and the window. That was enough.

After working away a bit and listening to my iPod (and not being interested in the IFE), I got up and refreshed myself (again being liberal with the moisturiser). As I left the bathroom, I noticed one of the FAs keeping everything in line in the galley. Being that I was in need of something to occupy time, I started a conversation with her.

OZ FAs, like most Asian countries and their airlines, know enough English to do their jobs well. In the case of the FA I was talking to, her English was quite good, but she still felt quite reserved as we talked about working for OZ, favourite stopovers and so on. Maybe this is a cultural thing, but I think it was just more that thing where you're not speaking your native language. (Western people are much the same when they converse in a language other than English). Still, it was a good way to pass the time, but as I checked my watch, there was about 2.5 hours left. I was a bit peckish, but just more that I wanted to sample what was on the snack menu.

Snack menus in F cabins (or any cabin for that matter) are a hit and miss affair. More often than not, they are not meant to be elegant meals, but rather fillers, so they are usually packed with comfort food at best. You can have noodle soup or Lays potato chips on SQ F, a pretty mean steak sandwich on QF F, Penne Arrabiata on BA F, dim sum soup on CX F, and if you are even hungry enough to want anything between meals on LX F, well, you'd better hope there's something leftover from the last meal. In the case of OZ F, their snack menu was pretty simple. I simply chose the native favourite, ramen. Yep, it is instant ramen, presented in a nice bowl with a side of kimchi and pickles. But for the purposes of a simple filler of soup and noodle, it fit the bill.

A word of caution for the uninitiated: Koreans can eat fire pretty well - probably much, much better than their Japanese and Chinese neighbours. Instant ramen is popularly taken with the spicy flavour. For most, the first impressions of eating the soup is that it is not spicy, and you'd probably be very right. But start wolfing down that soup and let the spiciness concentrate itself in your mouth, then you'll feel it. Not for the feint of heart.

Snack of instant spicy ramen with kimchi and pickles, with a glass of water and guava juice on the side.

The ramen soup was enjoyed whilst I tapped away at work and listened to episodes of My Kitchen Rules in the background. It also pays to be good to your body (and because my own intake was and would be lacking), so I followed that all up with a plate of fresh fruit.

Fruit plate

The flight went on until about 1 h 45 min before landing, when the snack was due to be served. At this point I noticed there was a Korean dish on the menu so although the other two choices looked pretty good, I wanted to have at least something Korean (besides instant spicy ramen) before I left this OZ flight.

The snack was a kimchi-based stew. Quite spicy, lots of kimchi and not much meat, so it's not quite vegetarian but it gets close. The multitude of side dishes make up the rest of the meal. The meal was served on a polished wooden tray, and the Korean traditional metal chopsticks (which can hurt your hands if you have to handle them for a very long time). The snack was accompanied with another glass of Taittinger (apparently, they ran out of Pol Roger sometime during the flight - ah well...)

Kimchi stew "Kimchi-jjigae" with various side dishes

 

[anat0l]

Tue 10 Apr

Metal chopsticks

Another spicy Korean dish down, a very simple mousse cake finished off proceedings, which I decided to have with a green tea.

Yoghurt mousse cake with fruits

Green tea served traditionally in a bowl rather than a tea cup

Nearing our touchdown into FRA, the FAs started making the final preparations for landing. I changed back into my day clothes as I prepared for my last flight of this little series (as well as mentally preparing myself for my short 75 minute transit at FRA).

OZ have a feature where they offer their F pax, along with a thanks for flying with them, a farewell gift. These gifts have varied from time to time, and in some cases a choice has been offered and in others not. Last I heard of the gifts there were iPhone cases and scented candles being offered. This time it was a CD of classical music, an iPhone case or a duffle bag. I took the most practical option for me, which was the duffle bag. Seeing as only three choices were offered and there were that many of us in the cabin, there would not be much choice after this! So good that the FAs had decided to offer me first picks at the gifts.

The duffle bag proved to be very useful in replacing my shopping bag in its duties of keeping all the trinkets and excess stuff I had collected whilst travelling, though I will warn now: be careful with this bag, since it isn't the most robust or sturdy one around.

The other farewell gifts on offer

The duffle bag by OZ. The main (bigger) bag is folded and contained in the smaller bag. So it's actually two bags in one.

I repacked all my belongings and checked off the transit at FRA in my mind as we started to descend in earnest. Whilst I've really enjoyed my time on board OZ (can't say I didn't enjoy the food!), it was time to move onto my final destination. We touched down in a wet FRA and taxiied to the gate. We had to wait a little while at the gate before disembarkation could commence, because they had to start the unloading of the freight in the rear of the aircraft otherwise something funny would happen to the weight and balance. Once that was taken care of, however, the FAs made sure that the J pax (and all the rest of the plebs) were kept behind whilst we exited first (after all, we are First class...) I thanked the crew for their service and quickly moved into the terminal.

The good thing about transferring within the Star Alliance is that all the flights leave from the same terminal (though changing terminals isn't too bad, either). Meticulously following the signage at FRA is crucial. If a sign says to turn left, as soon as you get under that sign, make that 90 degree due left turn and march on! I found a departure FIDS and it showed my next flight (after checking the multiple scrolling screens) was to depart from the B set of gates. So I followed the signs to B transit, and then there was security.

Uh oh. I have amenity kits, that's many liquids (and not in a LAG bag). And this isn't Asia any more - they can get pretty strict here in FRA. Heck, sometimes I think they set the WTMD setting to 'plastic', which isn't great for getting through quickly.

Take out the essentials - laptop, of course - then remove belt etc. Everything goes through the x-ray, I walk through the WTMD.... and that's it! Wow... that went much better than expected. I quickly pack up my stuff and move along before the security staff get other ideas.

Normally if I still had my Star Alliance Gold status, then I'd be entitled to use either the LH Senator or LH Business lounges, but in my case I was a Star Alliance Silver (useless for lounge access) and only had my J ticket, so the only lounge I could access was the LH Business lounge. Walking through the complex, at least LH made good sense to have signage to their lounges, because it'd be too easy to get lost in FRA trying to find what you're looking for. The Business lounge is located up a set of stairs (or via a lift), but in order to get past the stairs you need to have your BP scanned.

Walk ahead for the LH Business Lounge at FRA area B

Wilkommen!

Once I got into the lounge, I was expecting something pretty small. Instead, the lounge is quite decently sized (well, at least for the present time that I was in the lounge; guess I'm quite naive as to how busy it could really be), and even has shower facilities, along with a decent enough bar and food selection. Unfortunately, my transit time was too short to be able to have a shower now.

The lounge curves around like around the edge of a circle. Full length windows let light stream in, so it doesn't feel like a bunker in the case of some other lounges in the middle of the airport with just four plain walls and, often, pretty tacky or poor lighting.

Inside the FRA B section LH Business Lounge

Back of the lounge where there are desks with power points, phone rooms and through to showers and bathrooms

 

[anat0l]

Tue 10 Apr

Metal chopsticks

Another spicy Korean dish down, a very simple mousse cake finished off proceedings, which I decided to have with a green tea.

Yoghurt mousse cake with fruits

Green tea served traditionally in a bowl rather than a tea cup

Nearing our touchdown into FRA, the FAs started making the final preparations for landing. I changed back into my day clothes as I prepared for my last flight of this little series (as well as mentally preparing myself for my short 75 minute transit at FRA).

OZ have a feature where they offer their F pax, along with a thanks for flying with them, a farewell gift. These gifts have varied from time to time, and in some cases a choice has been offered and in others not. Last I heard of the gifts there were iPhone cases and scented candles being offered. This time it was a CD of classical music, an iPhone case or a duffle bag. I took the most practical option for me, which was the duffle bag. Seeing as only three choices were offered and there were that many of us in the cabin, there would not be much choice after this! So good that the FAs had decided to offer me first picks at the gifts.

The duffle bag proved to be very useful in replacing my shopping bag in its duties of keeping all the trinkets and excess stuff I had collected whilst travelling, though I will warn now: be careful with this bag, since it isn't the most robust or sturdy one around.

The other farewell gifts on offer

The duffle bag by OZ. The main (bigger) bag is folded and contained in the smaller bag. So it's actually two bags in one.

I repacked all my belongings and checked off the transit at FRA in my mind as we started to descend in earnest. Whilst I've really enjoyed my time on board OZ (can't say I didn't enjoy the food!), it was time to move onto my final destination. We touched down in a wet FRA and taxiied to the gate. We had to wait a little while at the gate before disembarkation could commence, because they had to start the unloading of the freight in the rear of the aircraft otherwise something funny would happen to the weight and balance. Once that was taken care of, however, the FAs made sure that the J pax (and all the rest of the plebs) were kept behind whilst we exited first (after all, we are First class...) I thanked the crew for their service and quickly moved into the terminal.

The good thing about transferring within the Star Alliance is that all the flights leave from the same terminal (though changing terminals isn't too bad, either). Meticulously following the signage at FRA is crucial. If a sign says to turn left, as soon as you get under that sign, make that 90 degree due left turn and march on! I found a departure FIDS and it showed my next flight (after checking the multiple scrolling screens) was to depart from the B set of gates. So I followed the signs to B transit, and then there was security.

Uh oh. I have amenity kits, that's many liquids (and not in a LAG bag). And this isn't Asia any more - they can get pretty strict here in FRA. Heck, sometimes I think they set the WTMD setting to 'plastic', which isn't great for getting through quickly.

Take out the essentials - laptop, of course - then remove belt etc. Everything goes through the x-ray, I walk through the WTMD.... and that's it! Wow... that went much better than expected. I quickly pack up my stuff and move along before the security staff get other ideas.

Normally if I still had my Star Alliance Gold status, then I'd be entitled to use either the LH Senator or LH Business lounges, but in my case I was a Star Alliance Silver (useless for lounge access) and only had my J ticket, so the only lounge I could access was the LH Business lounge. Walking through the complex, at least LH made good sense to have signage to their lounges, because it'd be too easy to get lost in FRA trying to find what you're looking for. The Business lounge is located up a set of stairs (or via a lift), but in order to get past the stairs you need to have your BP scanned.

Walk ahead for the LH Business Lounge at FRA area B

Wilkommen!

Once I got into the lounge, I was expecting something pretty small. Instead, the lounge is quite decently sized (well, at least for the present time that I was in the lounge; guess I'm quite naive as to how busy it could really be), and even has shower facilities, along with a decent enough bar and food selection. Unfortunately, my transit time was too short to be able to have a shower now.

The lounge curves around like around the edge of a circle. Full length windows let light stream in, so it doesn't feel like a bunker in the case of some other lounges in the middle of the airport with just four plain walls and, often, pretty tacky or poor lighting.

Inside the FRA B section LH Business Lounge

Back of the lounge where there are desks with power points, phone rooms and through to showers and bathrooms

 

[munitalP]

Re: Tue 10 Apr

Darn you anat0l - you have given me a new bucket list item - a caviare and champagne run

Great TR mate - can't wait for the next instalment

 

[lmere12]

Re: Tue 10 Apr

I'm booking a F to Europe soon for next year, so excited after reading your TR. Going to be using TG, OZ & maybe UA. Can't wait for the next instalment... Read some of your others now

 

[Grooba]

Re: Tue 10 Apr

Once again a well written and presented trip report, looking forward to the rest.

 

[Solid]

Re: Tue 10 Apr

Excellent trip report, thanks for going to so much effort!

 

[anat0l]

Tue 10 Apr

To be honest, the legroom was pretty good in my row, so I wonder if it was the same for the rest of the aircraft. Suffice to say if it were, then this particular Embraer would have to be one of the most comfortable shorthaul aircraft I've been on.

Once our bus load of pax was on board, I think we didn't have anyone else to wait for. This is one of the things about boarding at a remote stand by bus - especially with small aircraft, if everyone can fit on one or two buses, then it really clamps down on the gate closing time and departure time to a degree, since there's none of this running to the gate at last minute and then further running onto the plane (because if you miss the bus, too bad). I guess the only problem is lack of real priority boarding (unless you're lucky to use the FCT), but it was a lightly loaded flight, so plenty of room for everyone and similarly space in the overheads.

With the weather starting to pour a little harder now, we were pushed back out of our stand and soon taxiing and on our way into the sky towards London.

FRA to London is a mere 90 minutes or thereabouts. For the Australians amongst us, that's pretty much a BNE-SYD or SYD-MEL - fairly standard and known hops for all of us. LH serve a snack on this flight, which probably amounted to the normal cheese sandwich with full bar for the Y pax. For J pax, I was expecting the plastic food I got last year on my FRA-ZRH hop. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised.

Tasting refreshment plate from LH.

The tasting plate LH provided wasn't too bad at all. Not sure what the obsession is with tartares, but they weren't bad (and if not, there was always a bread roll on the side to eat it with). Whilst a full bar was on offer (not a comprehensive list, but the bare essentials - wine and beer at least), I decided to be conservative and opt for an orange juice. Probably not a good idea to greet the people who would be accommodating me for a couple of days whilst pickled (my liver had already gone down that path with the Champagne...)

Those of you who have flown CX in J - remember those little cardboard ads CX like to add to your meal tray? Well, LH do them as well; this time they were promoting trips to California. And just when I thought the USA airlines were the only ones trying it on the napkins....

Napkin advertising on LH. How shameless.

90 minute flights go by pretty quickly, and soon we were passing over the body of water separating continental Europe from the British isles, signifying we would be landing into LCY fairly soon. LCY may be the smallest of London's five major commercial aviation airports, but it plays a fairly vital role in short haul flights serving mostly the business community (given its proximity to Canary Wharf and the rest of the neighbourhood), plus the novel LCY/JFK which is operated by BA. Like LHR, LCY has its fair share of controversy and limited in expansion as a result, plus it has stricter operating time restrictions than LHR. Nevertheless, the proximity of LCY to central London is unmatched and valuable.

Personally, I just wanted to land into LCY for the hell of it. If it was different to LHR (and LHR can be a headache to get through sometimes, let alone get in and out of), then I wanted to try it out.

Now approaching Mother England.

Looks like a storm region in the distance.

Lower altitude flying - we're getting there!

Our descent had a few bumps in it, but soon we were down on the ground in London City Airport.

[video=youtube;wXkUkcU8FfM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXkUkcU8FfM[/video]
Landing at LCY

We had a long taxi at LCY as we docked at a stand pretty far from the centre of the complex. All planes at LCY seem to turn in and then make a 180 degree turn so they are facing back towards the runway, presumably so that once they are ready to go, all they do is remove the chocks and off you go - no pushback required. A bus was waiting at our disembarkation point, so we all piled onto the bus (which just fit us all!), and then we puttered slowly along the edge of the terminal until we reached the entry to the arrivals flow.

One thing I keep forgetting to do: almost every country where you have to fill out an entry card (and/or exit card) at immigration, you need to provide your address where you will be in that country. Why do I keep forgetting it - this is ridiculous. I panic slightly and fire up my mobile, trying to find a compatible network to send a quick message to Flashware to supply me with an address. A quick call later and the reply comes, "Just put the name of the hotel where the wedding reception will be." Geez, why didn't I think of that? Problem solved...

At border control, LCY only have 6 counters, but thankfully all of them were open. 5 counters were for Euro and UK passports, and the last line was for all other passports. The immigration officer in counter 5 seemed to be in a bit of a rush, continually beckoning people to move to the next available counter, announcing the counter number to move to, and in no less than five languages including English.

Passport control was passed, then it was onto baggage claim. Let's see if my bag made the long trek like I did. I read the monitors and it said my bag would appear on carousel 1. So I stood near carousel 1 and waited. And waited more. Still a bit more. OK what the hell is happening now.......

I saw many bags, some seemed to come from FRA, so where is my bag? Don't tell me it's lost. I've come this far across the world; I don't want to deal with a lost baggage report. Suddenly, I had a peer over at carousel 2. That's a lot of bags there. Hey, why is my flight also on the carousel 2 info board? Oh nuts - that's my bag there! So much for any degree of organisation - so LCY probably decided just to load the bags on both carousels - whichever it ended up on it was there. Luckily there are only 2 baggage belts in an area no bigger than a double lock-up garage...

There's a first time for everything...... including being stopped at customs. The officer asked me a few questions then requested an inspection of my bags. She was quite pleasant about it all and mentioned all the regular cover-my-butt things...

Officer: "This is just a regular random check, this is not unusual or anything like that..."
Me: "Yeah, go on, it's OK. I'm from Australia, we do this all the time."

If you didn't think I was telling the truth, maybe you really haven't travelled to Australia. And if you are Australian, you know I'm telling the truth!

The officer was kind of intrigued by all the food I had bought. Not sure if she was sizing up my cargo to procure some for her own under the guise of "customs risk" or greater than duty limit (yeah right, like this stuff costs multiple hundreds of quid). In the end, it was a 10 minute procedure and she even let me pack my bag up myself (I mentioned to her that the first time I went to New Zealand and got the third degree, I had to keep my hands behind my back the whole time - I wasn't allowed to touch a single thing, and not allowed to say a single thing until prompted to do so).

I proceeded out the final set of doors, and I was in London. And so ended my 30+ hour trek from the antipodes.

Love... Land Again

When I got out of the small arrivals area, I made sure I had everything in place before heading out of the airport itself. Unlike other airports, LCY has a pretty small entrance. Even regional airports in Australia can have a large-ish entrance (probably because they have an adequate parking lot), but at LCY there's not much of that at all. In fact, you'd think LCY is some small out-of-the-way aerodrome than a bigger-than-it-looks STOL airport.

I bumped into Flashware as I made my way to the nearby DLR station - another LCY advantage. Armed with a Travelcard - much more superior to my PAYG Oyster - we were off on the train trek to home (Flashware's home, of course). That's a DLR to Bank, followed by the tube to Victoria, then a Southern rail service to the south of London. Seems complicated, but once you're used to it, it's like clockwork. What you might not get used to quickly is carting a ~20kg bag and a backpack and a duffle bag up and down several flights of stairs! Thankfully escalators and lifts are numerous, but you'll always have a spot in London where you'll need to drag or lift your bag up and down stairs (this gets worse if it's icy, wet, and/or near the end of the trip - you know, when you've accumulated a few more kilos of stuff!)

It's amazing how the rail services in London seem so much better than home. Must be a "grass is always greener" thing, because if there's something that Londoners will complain bitterly about, it's TfL (Transport for London), the rail services and the cost of public transport. Maybe we should at least bring some of their know-how to Australia - we could learn a thing or two (especially at the rates of fares we are paying for public transport!)

By now, I've had 30+ hours in planes and airports. It's no where near my last epic of just over 100 hours before getting to a bed, but that's not to say at a mere 30+ hours that I'd be as perky as a hummingbird in the morning! Arrived at our destination station, whereupon it was another 10 minute walk in the light wet (in London terms, nothing at all) to Casa de Flashwares.

The Flashware apartment isn't very big, then you add one big suitcase, a couple of big-ish bags, and one big human (plied up with rich food and Champagne).... and you probably don't have quite much room to swing a small cat, so big thanks to Flashware and Flashware+1 for letting me stay a couple of days. The only thing on my mind was to wind down and think about getting to sleep. Normally in my own room I'd open up the case and so on, but that's a no-go here, but I did unzip the case to take out all the goodies for my accommodation hosts - a taste of Australia (supermarket style - no chocolate covered macadamias here! ).

Anyway, it was a bit more small talk (and a box of In-A-Biskits consumed), showing a few photos and then it was time for bed. An air mattress on the floor is probably like an F bed in the sky, but it is on land! And thank goodness for that......

 

[anat0l]

Menu: OZ541 ICN-FRA F (Tue 10 Apr 2012)

Asiana Airlines OZ541 First Class Seoul Incheon - Frankfurt am Main
Tuesday 10 April 2012


Lunch


Western


Starters

Prosciutto and Baked Pear with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Caviar

Seafood Salad with Saffron and Curry Sauce

Cauliflower Veloute with Parmesan Chip

Parmesan Chicken Schnitzel and Potato with Creamy Mustard Sauce


Main Course

Grilled Wagyu Sirloin (494 kcal)
Mushroom with Syrah Sauce

Grilled Salmon and Shrimp Fricassee (371 kcal)
Potato and Pea Puree with Beef Jus

Lamb Loin (338 kcal)
Artichoke and Lemon Gremolata with Black Pepper Jus


Cheese Selections with Apricot and Raisin Chutney

Castello Blue

Saint Andre

Camembert


Dessert

Green Tea Torte with Caramel Sauce


Coffee and Tea


Petit Fours


Chinese


Starters

Deep Fried Prawn and Bean Curd Roll

Assorted Cantonese Cold Platter

Bird's Nest Soup


Main Course

Deep Fried Lobster (431 kcal)
Served with Black Bean Sauce

Stir Fried Beef (499 kcal)
Served with Hong Kong Style Sauce, Vegetables and Steamed Rice


Dessert

Persimmon Puree
Served with Chinese Rice Cake and Fruit


Coffee and Tea


Petit Fours


Korean Royal Table D'hote


Starters

Chlorella Roll

Shrimp Salad with Melon Dressing

Chestnut and Date Porridge


Main Course

Koreal Royal Cuisine "Bibimbap and Grilled Toothfish" (1240 kcal)
Steamed Rice Mixed with Various Kinds of Vegetables
Accompanied with Red Chilli Paste, Sesame Oil,
Grilled Toothfish, Assorted Side Dishes and Soup

Koreal Royal Cuisine "Bibimbap and Braised Short Rib in Sweet Pumpkin" (1115 kcal)
Steamed Rice Mixed with Various Kinds of Vegetables
Accompanied with Red Chilli Paste, Sesame Oil,
Braised Beef Short Rib in Sweet Pumpkin, Assorted Side Dishes and Soup

Koreal Royal Cuisine "Bibimbap and Stewed Seafood" (1600 kcal)
Steamed Rice Mixed with Various Kinds of Vegetables
Accompanied with Red Chilli Paste, Sesame Oil,
Stewed Abalone, Scallop, Sea Cucumber Roll, Assorted Side Dishes and Soup

Koreal Royal Cuisine "Ssambab with Beef Short Rib Bulgalbi" (911 kcal)
Steamed Rice Topped with Grilled 'Bulgogi' Beef and Bean Paste
Wrapped with Various Kinds of Leafy Vegetables
Accompanied with Assorted Side Dishes and Soup


Dessert

Fresh Fruit


Coffee and Tea


Petit Fours


Refreshments


Besides the main course, the light snacks as follows are provided upon your request throughout the flight

Ramen

Warm Noodles

Sandwich

Fresh Fruits


Snack (Prior to Landing)


Starter

Sugar Cured Salmon with Tomato, Avocado and Olive Vinaigrette


Main Course

Korean Traditional Spicy Stew "Kimchi-jjigae" (327 kcal)
Served with Various Kinds of Side Dishes and Steamed Rice

Rossini Beef Tenderloin (521 kcal)
Deep Fried Potato and Madeira Jus

Sous Vide Chicken Breast (434 kcal)
Arugula and Goose Liver with Beef Jus


Dessert

Yoghurt Mousse with Fresh Fruits


Coffee and Tea


Drinks


Aperitifs

Sweet Vermouth

Dry Vermouth

Campari

Sandeman Medium Dry Sherry


Spirits

Johnnie Walker Blue Scotch Whisky

Jack Daniel Bourbon Whiskey

Canadian Club Canadian Whisky

Smirnoff Vodka

Beefeater's Gin

Bacardi Rum


Korean Traditional Liquors

Hwarang (made from rice and herbs)

Mae Chuy Soon (made from plum)


Beers

OB

Cass

Hite

Max

Leffe Blonde

Krombacher

Miller


Korean Rice Wine

Makgeolli


Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Orange Juice

Apple Juice

Tomato Juice

Pineapple Juice

Plum Juice

Guava Juice

Coke

Diet Coke

Sprite

Ginger Ale


coughtails

Whisky Sour
A refreshing coughtail made with Bourbon Whisky, lemon juice and sugar served with a lemon slice and cherry on top.

Manhattan
A coughtail reflecting Manhattan's nightscape with Bourbon Whisky, Sweet Vermouth and a cherry garnish.

Bloody Mary
A classic blend of Vodka, tomato juice with a dash of Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce.

Buck's Fizz
Otherwise known as Mimosa. A drink composed of sparkling wine (Champagne) and chilled orange juice garnished with a slice of orange and cherry.

Screwdriver
A popular coughtail made with fresh orange juice and Vodka.


Other coughtails are also available upon your request, subject to the availability of ingredients.


Champagne

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2000

Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1999


White Wines

Mersault 1er Cru Clos Des Poruzots 2009
Burgundy, France

Chateau Brown Semillon / Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France

Jordan Chardonnay 2008
Sonoma County, California, USA


Red Wines

Chateau Gruaud Larose Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Saint-Julien, France

Corton Bressandes Grand Cru Pinot Noir 2008
Corton Bressandes, Burgundy, France

Robert Keenan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Napa Valley, California, USA


Dessert Wines

Blandy's 10 Years Old Malmsey Madeira
Madeira Island, Portugal

Port Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Porto
Porto, Portugal

Jackson-Triggs Vidal VQA Ice Wine 2007
Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada


Coffee and Tea

Asiana uses Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

Decaffeinated Coffee


Earl Grey

Camomile

Oolong Tea

Ginseng Tea

Green Tea

Rooibos

Peppermint

Jasmine

 

[anat0l]

Menu: LH936 FRA-LCY J (Tue 10 Apr 2012)

Lufthansa Cityline LH936 Business Class Frankfurt am Main - London City Airport
Tuesday 10 April 2012


Refreshment by Mario Kotaska


Duck Tartar on Couscous Salad

Smoked Salmon Tartar on Horseradish Creme Fraiche, Red Beet Julienne, Diced Onion and Capers

Rolled Potato Crepe with Bündnerfleisch (air-dried beef) with Paprika & Chilli Salsa

Espresso Cream with Chocolate Sauce and Cru de Cacao

 

[Flashback]

Re: Menu: LH936 FRA-LCY J (Tue 10 Apr 2012)

The Flashware apartment isn't very big, then you add one big suitcase, a couple of big-ish bags, and one big human (plied up with rich food and Champagne).... and you probably don't have quite much room to swing a small cat, so big thanks to Flashware and Flashware+1 for letting me stay a couple of days. The only thing on my mind was to wind down and think about getting to sleep. Normally in my own room I'd open up the case and so on, but that's a no-go here, but I did unzip the case to take out all the goodies for my accommodation hosts - a taste of Australia (supermarket style - no chocolate covered macadamias here! ).

Anyway, it was a bit more small talk (and a box of In-A-Biskits consumed), showing a few photos and then it was time for bed. An air mattress on the floor is probably like an F bed in the sky, but it is on land! And thank goodness for that......

Said nibbles were very well received

 

[bossreggie]

Re: Menu: LH936 FRA-LCY J (Tue 10 Apr 2012)

Thanks for the TR Anat0l.

As usual.. Very thorough and a great read!!

Boss

 

[anat0l]

Wed 11 Apr, Thu 12 Apr, Fri 13 Apr, Sat 14 Apr

A lovely English village-like scenery. Perfect weather, too.

Love... the Celebration

It's about time I got back to this TR. I opened this report with a promise of a love story, and that I intend to finish telling. I've been requested to keep this part short, and to protect the innocent. The first TR I ever read on AFF was also a love story - that of our esteemed mod Lindsay Wilson - and whilst I lack his articulation and ad libitum, I'll do my best...

In mid-July 2011 - by definition, an English summer - Flashware decided that the time was right. Some people rent out billboards, some people plan ambushes, and some others debate whether you get down on one knee, or both knees (!). Like so many successful men before him, combined with his resolute attitude (and a beautiful handcrafted diamond ring), Flashware asked his sweetheart the question, and the answer was positive.

Fast forward to April 2012 and I was in Greater London, a matter of days before their momentous wedding. Flashware had the ingenious idea of nominating yours truly to be the best man for the wedding. I'm not entirely sure I was ready for this...

Over the course of a few days, family and friends converged on leafy green Surrey, an area graced with a lovely English village-like charm, and a lovely place for a wedding, too. The few days were a combination of running through the flow of the wedding day, as well as organising the rings, the other props and the venues. Oh yes, and of course the usual having to calm down the to-be bride and groom as well.

Of the AFF contingent, besides myself, we were also joined by drewbles and notzac. Flashware and I caught up with drewbles on the evening after he arrived - the latter not too much worse for wear after his travel, but always kept busy on the road wherever he went.

Three AFFers catch up for dinner in London. Flashware: "Nerves? What nerves?".

Finally, the day of the wedding arrived...


Saturday 14 April 2012


The weather, looking rather ominous from a distance, managed to stay on its best behaviour for the day. The wedding was in the afternoon, and the day pretty much proceeded like clockwork. The guests had all arrived and ready in their best. As for me, I had the same regalia as the groom, a very English traditional wear.

Ahoy there, Captain! Yours truly ready to be the best man...

Flashware's dad, notzac and I were gathered in Flashware's hotel room, pacing around and offering words of support to the groom. We also all managed to work out how to tie a cravat, which is oddly enough not the most intuitive thing to prepare, even for those who had grown up with the Windsor (and it doesn't help that the usual vision of a cravat is something of the elaborate, frilly or ruffled kind - think Austin Powers or a mad orchestral conductor...)

As afternoon set in, we started to make our way to the registry for the wedding ceremony. I was responsible for the rings, having been entrusted to keep them safe. In my head I was also trying to keep calm and formulate the speech I would have to give later at the reception. At the registry, just like tradition we were led to a small anteroom away from the bride and her party in preparation for the wedding. Those of you who know Flashware knows he appears "nervous" at times, but this time if he looked nervous, it might've just been genuine!

Please, Sir... I'd like to ask about a small loan...

Minutes passed like hours, but then we were called into a dainty set drawing room where the ceremony would take place. The paperwork was taken care of, then it was time for the guests to be seated, and await the entrance of the bride. No organs or violin would announce her entree - no, but of the resounding of Muse's Feeling Good. Knowing the weeks that lead up to this moment, I couldn't have imagined a more befitting tune. The bride, splendid in a dress of grandeur navy blue, lit up the room and the ceremony started.

To say I was a bit clumsy might have been an understatement. It was a bit embarrasing getting to the ring part and not quite pulling out the rings fast enough to put them on the cushion. The celebrant curiously asked if there was only one ring - no, wait! There's another! Big heave and sigh felt from the groom... oh dear... (What kind of wedding doesn't involve two rings, but only one?) Crisis averted and the rest of the ceremony proceeded beautifully. The wedding party moved from the drawing room to the lawn outside, welcoming the newly wed couple with streamers, rather than the more traditional yet painful (and if you're Asian, wasteful ) choice of rice.

Mr and Mrs Flashware, newly wed, posing for the photographers on the registry lawn.

Mr and Mrs Flashware on their way to the reception.

Several photos later, we proceeded back to the hotel for the reception. The reception, like the ceremony, was simple and uncomplicated, and the intention was just as simple as the opening lyrics of Flashware's signature song, which was played as the couple entered the room: "Tonight, gonna have myself a good time...". Much stumbling ensued on my part as an event coordinator as I botched up the entrance of the newlyweds, and I've found out that I'm not as good a pourer of sparkling (in the traditional and more showy method anyway). Maybe it was pressure, but why did it have to happen today?

Everyone let their hair down as the formalities were quickly put out of the way. The speech I had stressed a bit over ended up being like many speeches I've had to give: off-hand and winging it, even with preparation, and ominous given I had a glass of alcohol in my hand. A funny anecdote thrown in about Flashware and I garnered a bit of a laugh, so I decided to cut my losses and quickly propose the toast. Flashware, equally willing to be a man of few words, added a little bit more before signing off with his usual aplomb.

Mr and Mrs Flashware share their first dance as a wedded couple.

Wedding cake - red velvet sponge.

The festivities proceeded to creep into the late night, but not too late as the stroke of eleven began to near. With most of the guests having left, we started to pack up and retire to our rooms. It had been a long but wonderful day.