by airoli and FLYGVA
FLYGVA was very proficient with ICN lounge options as on similar itinerary as last year. Me, only know CX lounge from 2006 and definitely did not anticipate to “return” to Korea so soon. So, we decided to go to OZ lounge, and are welcomed at separate entrance by lounge attendant. “First contact” remains intact throughout dealings with OZ (at least on outbound as I write this): Very, very kind, very eager to please, but English at minimal level. Constant nodding and “yes yes” are not enough to communicate effectively.

We are put in elevator and expected upstairs, but I drag FLYGVA around the C lounge complex, as lured by the sound of a piano. Indeed, live piano player in the passageway over the concourse => free entertainment for all pax. Business Section looks large and nice, entire lounge atmosphere very sophisticated and somewhat resembling CX Wing with airy concept and looks on pax and apron.

The First Class section is small, but completely empty (eat this, SQ) except for charming and forthcoming agent who takes care of our baggage transfer and onward boarding passes, including APIS.

We both tired co connect our laptops to the free W-Lan in this lounge but failed. I have had weak signal from the Business Class Lounge (did not remember, they have had a separate W-LAN Gateway for the C-Class Lounge from my previous trip). We checked the signal on the laptop in the lounge and it can't connect either, so we brought this to the attention of the lounge agent, who at once got someone to fix this.
WLAN was working after a short while; speed was good enough for excellent Skypeout. Ample selection of PCs and printers.

Lounge has very good selection of drinks (Blue label, Moet), nibbles, hot food, and fresh sushi. Also has Hagen Dazs ice cream. But we are both stuffed so only have chilled green tea.

I asked about the load of First Class on this flight, since I remembered the lounge to be fuller last year. To my suprise we were told, we would be the only passengers in first class on this flight today to Chicago. I began to really looking forward to this partly deja-vu

Boarding delayed by 30 min due to late arrival of aircraft, we are informed by “our” lounge attendant and eventually escorted to the gate, where boarding has not yet started but would right now as the First Class pax have arrived. Ignorant as I am, I wander off to look at the plane – which results in the boarding to be halted until I fancy to return! God, I felt royally embarrassed as 300+ other pax stared at me! Reason for the process apparently is that F pax are supposed to reach secondary bag inspection (inside the jetway) first.

From my trip last year, I cannot remember that we were brought to the gate. Boarding had started last year, but here was for sure not additional security check at the jet bridge.

21 May 2007
ICN – ORD
[Seoul Incheon – Chicago O'Hare]
OZ 236 (Asiana Airlines); Boeing 747-400 (HL7423)
Gate 8
19:15 – 18:00 [effective 19:45 – 18:30]
First Class
Seat 02 J

We were escorted to the door and “handed over” to cabin crew. First impression is that of having arrived at Korean airforce by mistake, everything is army mud brown: plane, seats, carpet, even FA uniforms. Again, immediately notice how kind, helpful and eager to please the three First Class FA are, but the limits of their English are just as obvious. At times comprehension < 30%. Cabin looks very well kept, and yet hopelessly outdated with early 90ties seats that hardly go fully flat, tiny personal monitors, overhead projectors and lack of any paintings, art, decoration that usually graces 747 nose-cone cabins. Offered pre-departure drink, we both choose Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, which is nicely presented in bottle and poured in eyesight.
After the flight attendant confirmed, we were the only ones in first, I moved to the opposite side of the cabin.

Next, we are given PJ in sand-colored “dear leader” design, with flight attendant suggesting XXL for both uf us – probably thinks of Caucasians in general as large. However, after having one opened up, we both find that XL is still more than wide enough. Kudos to OZ for having 4 sizes available. Amenity kit equally militaristic (I call it the DMZ patrol bag), but with nice Bulgari contents and enough spare room to stock socks, eyeshades and “humidity-preserving mask” (inflight SARS scare?) that are given at turndown.

Seat is not bad and reasonably comfortable when fully flat, but offers limited legroom due to bulkhead in front and has stone age metal bar as legrest => this belongs to shorthaul Economy. IFE absolutely spartan, made worse by the shortage of non-Asian channels for movies (only 1) and audio (3 of 12). No powerpoints either, so using notebook is not an option. Very few announcements are made throughout the flight (which is a nice change from chatty UA flight attendants and self-important LX pilots), and English is mostly not intelligible anyway. Selection of Korean and English newspapers available on bar table in middle of cabin, but nothing interests me, stick to Economist from SQ.

video of take off (duration 1:23 min)

Takeoff about 30 minutes late, nice departure into the Seoul dusk. Another round of drinks is offered as soon as seatbelt sign off, along with nice, A4-sized menu and beverage list. Though different OZ channels and with great difficulty, FLYGVA and I have both tried to book the Korean special menu available on this flight. Our choice was reconfirmed, but we are also given the choice of anything from the regular menu – and decline. Three rather basic canapés are served, and I have a look at the beverages list to find an impressive selection of wines, spirits etc. OZ first airline to have Sherry, Madeira and Canadian Icewine.

lets have a look at the menu and the wine list

Ask for meal to be served approx. 90min after take-off, request is kindly honored. Setup is extensive and formally presented off a trolley and a silver tray, with multiple little ramekins and bowls for various side dishes and condiments. I find the china to look old-fashioned and well in line with dated cabin décor. A very nice and unexpected element is a red rose, which is placed on the table and later into the seat pocket. Unfortunately, unlike on LH it doesn’t come in its own little vase and consequently quickly dries out over the course of the flight.

First dish is sort of crabcake with green leaves, looks rather simplistic but is actually quite good. FAs, hesitant at first, then more readily, explain how to eat the various dishes (put this in here, use chopsticks for this and spoon for that etc.), Their explanations are always voiced in the form of an implicit suggestion (“In Korea, people normally use a spoon for this dish…”, which is subtle and does not insult guests. Good training shows here.

Second course is a cold platter of different shredded veggies, along with thinly shredded radish in the middle of the plate. We are instructed to put some of the veggies onto a bit radish slice and form a “taco” out of it, to then dip that into a soy-based sauce. Easier said than done, but ultimately rewarded by an interesting combination of flavors and a thumbs-up from the most junior FA (a rare occasion of “out of role” behavior methinks). Again, “simple” food for western standards, but also healthy and not bad at all. To drink, am offered a choice of two Korean sake-based liquors as an alternative to wine, and gladly accept a shot of the FA’s recommended type. Tasted to me like a fusion of Japanese sake and Swiss Kräuter schnapps. Have no wine with this meal.

Next up is the main dish Bi-bim-bap, a beef stew. It is presented as a main dish with mixed shredded veggies and beef, along with a clear broth, a rice bowl, pickled veggies, and of course kimchi. Thanks to FA instructions, we ultimately manage to properly finalize the meal by mixing the rice, veggies and beef. Table-side finalization of food is a thing I experienced a lot when I visited Seoul, so I assume it’s an important part of Korean cuisine. The meal so far was filling although it never looked like that and seemed reasonably healthy.

The desert was a nice little plate of fruit (freshly peeled and cut for our convenience), as well as a selection of colorful, individually-wrapped Korean cookies on the basis of rice, wheat or sesame. Followed FA’s recommendation again and was not disappointed. However, still felt a bit too healthy and reasonable, so asked for and was immediately grated a piece of the rich chocolate mousse cake touted in the western menu. FLYGVA glanced over, and quickly ordered some as well.

After meal, read a bit while sipping some green tea (alas, unlike other Asian carriers OZ only has tea bags on board, albeit a wide selection and with a service procedure that lets passengers chose from a wooden box, the crew infusing the tea and then serving it without the bag. Then decide it’s time to sleep, go to the lavatory stocked with toiletries and toothbrushes and get ready. When I return to seat, without having mentioned anything, my seat has been turned down, equipped with a thin mattress, duvet, and comforter. FLYGVA is already snoozing, and as soon as I have settled in the cabin lights go out and I snooze away. During the night, snacks would be available, but I only help myself to some chocolates and cookies from the mid-cabin buffet during a quick lavatory break.

Sleep fairly well for roughly five hours, until gently awoken by FLYGVA at the requested time (want not to sleep too much as to avoid arriving SAN feeling wide awake). As soon as crew notice both pax up, come around offering drinks and enquire about second meal. We confer and agree on about 2h prior to landing. When time comes, we ask for all shades to be up to get some daylight exposure (sorta ;) ) and then witness another full-fledged meal setup. This time, it’s distinctively western for me. Order beef kebap with rice and veggies, service kicks off with nice little seafood platter.

lets have another look at the menu

Then, a trolley is rolled out to between our two seats, with casseroles containing very large quantities of all the individual items on our respective meal choice. The FA then skillfully plate the meals in plain pax sight, adjusting quantities and choices as per request. All service items appear to be made out of sterling silver, very elegant in an 80ies, Trump Tower way. My meal is very good, with the beef of excellent consistency and not chewy at all. Have a glass of the Bordeaux to go with the meal, but as bottle hadn’t had time to breathe and warm up (neither of us had had any red wine with the first meal), it can’t really develop much of an aroma. Make mental note to state preference early in the fight on the return. After main course, when FLYGVA is already enjoying a mandarin cake, I am bold and ask for some of the cheese that was part of the first western meal. My request is quickly acknowledged, and the crew disappear for a while into the galley, where some frantic work must have taken place. I was expecting a little plate with a few hunks of cheese, but nooo, not on Asiana. Out comes a trolley with “the works”: A sublime selection of four cheeses (Emmental, creamy Brie, Blue and Goat’s cheese), crudities, dried fruit, a bread basket with water crackers, and a bottle of port. Regular readers of airoli’s trip reports know that this is my favorite part of any airborne meal and something I cannot miss. I ask for a selection of cheese and some crudities, and am enchanted by the sight of one FA holding out a plate and the other one slicing the cheeses for me. What I found almost decadent is that she always sliced of a first small hunk, put that away and then cut a larger chunk that wasn’t dried out on either side to serve me. Stunning! The port was a twenty year old Sandeman Tawny, but I must admit I found that to be quite unremarkable in taste and smell compared to what other airlines had. For an instant, I was tempted to order some ice wine, but ultimately didn’t as at that point, we already were in the first stages of descent into ORD. Thee mandarin cake desert was then offered, but I declined and gestured at my tummy – something the lead FA reacted to with a cheerful “so sorry” look – it seemed that at last, the ice had molten.

Before landing, we were presented with the signature Asiana parting gift – a shoebox-sized Wedgewood gift containing various wine accessories. There was one open box for us to know what we were given, but we were then handed a pristine, wrapped box. This of course increases the appreciation with the mother-in-law… or the eBay purchaser! We both have to ask for a duty free shopping bag to carry all the goodies given during this flight. As we descended into ORD, the lead FA (who was not seen during the flight) returned to ask us for our opinion of the Asiana F experience, and openly acknowledged that their hardware was not up to date. She promised the rollout of an all-new product in late 2008. Not sure why they are a decade behind their peers? Also intrigued to know that we only stay two days – my guess is we’ll have same crew on way back.

Jetty docks at 2L, which means that Eco pax in mini-cabin between F and the central stairs / galley get off first, while C and rear Y pax are blocked by the crew. Still, with some hurrying we make it to deserted immigration first, and against all odds are quickly and painlessly admitted. Bags are the first two out, and after some repacking and a go-ahead by customs, we’re on the transit train less than 30min after gate arrival. Wow!!!

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