Air Canada 4: NRT-YVR

My first 787 flight.

I've waited a very long time for this, and I was very excited to know I would return to North America to the most sought after plane currently in the skies, Boeing's 787 'dreamliner'.

Today's flight from Tokyo's Narita airport to Vancouver will be aboard C-GHPX, but before we get into the details of the flight, and since we're in Tokyo, a flight out of Narita is incomplete without a visit to the Last Chance sushi bar.

Some pictures of the ōtoro and Uni sushi I enjoyed before the flight.

C-GHPX was only visible after the gate check during boarding.

And once on board, five rows of lie-flat seats filled the business class cabin which I found to be a  relatively small business class cabin.

Just in case one can't read the seat number above, each entertainment screen listed the seat number. Below, I enjoyed my pre-flight champagne while waiting for boarding of the aircraft to finish.

The cabin's menu was available on-screen, but paper menu shots are provided below!

 It wasn't long that we were in the air heading east-ward thanks to Japanese efficiency.

Menu shots for your perusal - click to enlarge. A decent food and liquor selection on board. Air Canada has been having issues with their Espresso machines so cappuccinos and the like were unavailable on board. 

To start, nuts and scotch of course! I always get my blanket out before the main meal as it's easier to pass out once the meal service is over and I'm cocooned as well as liquored. 

The starter was smoked salmon topped with fennel, dill and salmon caviar. Not a fan of fish eggs, but the started was most fresh and delicious. Not a fan of the mayonnaise like dressing on the right and left side of the dish.  

Tray shot overview with the Appetizer, starter salad, wine, and bread.

 The starter salad was fresh and greens were crisp. There's really only so many ways one can describe a salad so I apologize for the unenthusiastic tone.

The main was FANTASTIC! The lamb loin was oh so tender and the said was the perfect compliment to the sautéed potatoes and beans. Air Canada really knocked it out of the park on this dish. I was so torn between the Japanese meal and the lamb, but it's not often one finds Lamb on the Menu, and I had to indulge.

After the excellent Lamb, I finished with a cheese plate. I heard the senior purser remark than not enough cheese was loaded onto the flight. It did not deter me from making sure I tried one of everything. 

Breakfast was another eye-appetizing meal. I went for the omelette as usual. I say eye-appetizing meal as breakfasts are never better than the dinner.

Breakfast tray shot with the fruit, yogurt, and yummy crispy croissant. 

Vancouver Island was view upon descent into Vancouver ending a fantastic first flight on Air Canada and their excellent 787 service. If this is the level of service their aiming for, then I'm happy to continue flying with them!

Dragonair 634: PEN-HKG

I start writing each post with a blank plain text window on my computer, and somehow it magically transforms into a wall of text. It’s intimidating seeing a homogenous white wall of nothingness, but I hate white space, so here’s to adding the binary with strokes of my keyboard. 

Today’s flight is taking me from the tropical island of Penang to my Asia hub of Hong Kong aboard a 18-year-old Dragonair A330-300, B-HLE. 

Just two months ago, this flight was serviced by Cathay Pacific, but now has transferred over to the 2006 airline acquisition. Am I disappointed? You betcha. 

Here are some memorable moments flying between these particular two airports with CX:

- Flying in the F section of a 77W from HKG to PEN on a J ticket

- Having the entire upper deck of a 744 to myself. The ISM, upon welcoming passengers boarding mentioned that I was the only passenger in the upper deck and queried if I wanted to move down to the main deck. Heck no! An entire upper deck to myself?! yes please.

- Having well trained international crews flying these odd-long-haul aircraft to Penang’s tiny airport. I can’t say that I’ve had more personable service anywhere else. Perhaps it was due to low load or whatever, but it was always great to be well treated. 

- Having the same ISM in flight from Penang to Hong Kong and then 8 hours later to SFO. I don’t think I’ve ever had a warmer welcome aboard and goodbye upon deplaning in SFO.

- Always being presented with a random bottle of Evian upon departure from the senior purser - likely due to my one world status. 

...Alas those days are over and I am truly sad to see it go. I’m not saying the dragonair service is horrendous - it’s just not the same. Overall, it doesn’t feel as special, or warm as CX. 

Here are some negatives of CX no longer serving PEN:

- Dragonair does not have as wide of a range of drinks on board - they do not seem to serve champagne pre-departure and no longer can I have my Johnnie Walker Gold as a finish to my meal

- No more long haul aircraft = no more lie flat seats. I used to purposely plan my trips to catch a 77W, 744, or A340 on my inbound/outboud from PEN. Thankfully dragonair has refurbished the A330s to the new business class interior, but still not on par with the above. 

- Hot towel before and after your meal? Not on dragon air! Instead, you get the same economy treatment with a nice moist towelette. 

- Crew. As mentioned. Cathay crews seem to be well trained and did I fail to mention, very attentive. Dragon air crews seem to be analogous to the minor league teams of professional sports. Rarely do I see them walk the aisles after the main meal service to refresh drinks etc. Instead they seem to congregate in the galley in a flurry of chatter amongst themselves. 

- Lastly, making me realize how I can be a whiny entitled little bitch sometimes.

- All of the above dragon air “enhancements” for the same ticket price as CX on the same route. Sigh. 

Here’s a positive:

- Salt and pepper shakers on the meal tray… c’mon Cathay.

Enough of that...now onto the food and drink.

Pre-flight, I started with a Dragon Sunrise. Loved the fresh mint. Yum. 

After takeoff, who can say no to champagne? I can’t. Apart from champagne, nothing brings me more joy than taking the perfect photo of my glass - this one took me around 20 photos to get this one which I felt adequate. 

Some photos of the menu. I don’t know if it’s my wester upbringing or whatever, but I find it severely unappetizing to label “black fungus” as part of the meal.

To start, a cold roast beef with waldorf salad (whatever waldorf salad is..). Just look at that presentation. Damn. See that perfectly placed circular onion? So appetizing, and yes it was good. 

The words “black fungus” steered me away from the chicken this flight, thus the Cod would have to suffice, and I was actually surprised. Usually, I am not too fond of fish on aircraft, but this may change after this meal. The red pepper topping the Cod really balanced the fresh fish.  I paired my meal with the unknown and unlisted, “south african” white wine. May ye never be known. 

And to finish.. haagen daaz once again. Disappointed there was no cheese, but I made it up with an Asahi. 

First time having a beer on the CX/KA flight and instead of just listed the beers as “International selection” here’s what I could get on this flight: Heineken, Carlsberg, Asahi, or Tsingtao. Thankfully, the asahi on this flight was brewed in Japan, and not the swill they brew and serve in craft beer-deprived Malaysia

Overall, an unremarkable flight, apart from the Cod, and I guess the champagne. The view on landing was nice, I guess.

US Airways 554: PHX-PVR

Mexico. Vacation. All inclusive. No work. 

Who cares about that? Let’s talk about the food on the flight down to PVR.

My journey began at SFO on an early morning flight in order to connect through PHX to the final destination of PVR. One thing that has struck me about US airways on this journey is their punctuality. Both my flights left and arrived early, unlike Air Canada which always seems to have some excuse for their late departure. Regardless, this journey has been a fresh breath of air in comparison. 

The SFO flight was unremarkable thus no post shall be made about the 1.5 hour journey to the PHX hub of US airways. I had a cup of tea and a few snacks from the snack basket, once again, unremarkable and unworthy of a post. 

On the contrary, the flight down to PVR has a meal service; “Lunch” as it’s listed in the itinerary. No written menu was provided - only a verbal “Spinach Tortellini, or Barbecue Chicken” was given from the stewardess to indicate today’s sustenance options. I chose the “Barbecue Chicken” with a note that the quotations will become clear as you read through the post. 

US Airways is currently in the process of being absorbed into American Airlines. As an elite member of American Airlines, I was able to snag a free upgrade at check-in time, and sitting at the front of the plane was definitely worth the 6 AM wakeup 24 hours prior to my flight. 

Onto the food. To start, I requested a scotch, and it was served alongside some nuts. Not warm nuts, just nuts. I realized how nice warm nuts are after the serving of these nuts which felt like they just came out of a refrigerator.

Soon after, the meal was served and this is where the quotations around barbecue chicken come in. There was no barbecuing in the preparation of this dish. There was no barbecue taste from the dish. There was no barbecue period in the context of this dish, and I’m utterly confused to it’s naming…

That being said, here are some shots. They’ve introduced American Airlines branding to the cutlery wrap as well as the salt and pepper sleeve which was a default meal provision - *cough* Cathay Pacific *cough*.

Frankly just looking at the dish, it’s more reminiscent of turkey and gravy. The gravy was tasty and the flesh of whatever poultry was adequate. 

The salad was fresh and had a nice mango/cucumber/red onion salsa as a topping. The dressing as nice as well, but that’s all I have to say about the dish. The salad was the highlight.

Rice dishes on planes will always receive comments from me about adventures in textures from soft, perfectly cooked grains, to the semi-stuck crunchy outliers in contact with the surface of the dish. 

Here’s to hoping my upgrade clears on my return (it probably won’t).

Postscript: The upgrade cleared!

Cathay Pacific 536: HKG-NGO

Hello World. 

As an attempt to make the sometimes monotonous beat of travel more interesting, I’ve put together this sliver of the internet to document the interesting and perhaps sometimes the mundane aspects of life on the road, in the air, or even the rare time at sea. 

This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about sharing my experiences with the internet, but I’ve been internally divided on which aspects to share. Even from the last hour since I’ve taken off from Hong Kong, I decided to only document my meals on flights, but then have decided to broaden to general experiences as I feel necessary to share. 

So here I begin.

Cathay Pacific flight 536. Today’s flight, aboard Hong Kong’s flag carrier, is taking me to Nagoya, Japan aboard a practically brand-new Airbus A330-300, registration B-LBC. Luckily, this wide-body aircraft is configured with long-haul business class with Cathay’s much lauded Cirrus Lie-Flat seat. 

Meal service on board included special dishes from Hong Kong Michelin Star Chef Pino Lavarra. It’s not clear to me if this was a new promotion for the month of May or had been previously offered in April. Nevertheless, the two special dishes from Chef Pino Lavarra came as a starter and a Main. 

Menu insert for special dishes

Meal Menu

Drink List

Wine List

Spirits list

Prior to the meal service, rice crackers and a drink were served. Not wanted to delve into the alcohol too quickly, I decided to relax with a glass of Perrier.

The special starter was a beef seared carpaccio with ricotta and rice crackers. Perhaps I’m not “cultured” enough, but prior to serving, I was having a very difficult time visualizing a carpaccio that had been seared. Hm. 

Soba and a Salad accompanied with sesame dressing rounded off the appetizer list which made just the appetizers alone feel portioned enough to be a meal… and I wonder why I’ve gained so much weight since I began flying often…

Definitely no carpaccio here....

The wine pairing for the appetizer was a French 2012 Vignerons de Buxy “Tete de Cuvee Bourgogne. I’m no sommelier or do I currently plan to talk about nose, mouthfeel, and tasting notes, but I felt the wine was well suited to the appetizer. 

The main was a  roasted lamb shoulder confit, grain mustard and herbal bread crust, vegetables caponatta, and black pepper sauce. As always, Cathay has procured an amazing piece of lamb to which I reflect that I cannot recall ever having a less than spectacular lamb dish on Cathay. 

For the main, there was no specific pairing, but the inflight service manager recommended the Red Chateau des Jacques Morgan.

To finish, cheese, fruit, and ice cream, and as if perfectly timed with the end of the meal service comes the captains announcement of the descent into Nagoya. 

Yes... the spoon reflection was intentional

A perfect flight, with a excellent attentive cathay crew. 

Well... almost perfect. The above was all written during the flight but getting onto the ground involved a go-around a couple hundred feed before our first attempt at landing.