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!

United Airlines 378: YVR-SFO

My first inflight hamburger!

UA378 from Vancouver to San Francisco, just under 2 hours aboard a plane jane, A320-200. No menu provided on this flight as seems normal for a mainline UA flight in a narrow body plane. 

After takeoff, nuts were served alongside my usual sparkling water. I will have to say the water service on the flight was excellent, my water glass never went empty for long. I wouldn’t be surprised if my seat mate and I went through their stock of sparkling water. No complaints. 

The other meal choice was a grilled chicken, which would have been the nice healthy options - oh well. 

The tray looked pretty damn good, that is until I realized my burger was fully stuck to the plate! After some attempted non-invasive surgery with my knife and fork, I was able to free the burger with minimal damage from the plate and begin to eat it. Overall, greasy, definitely not good for my health but still delicious and made better when halfway through the burger, I realized there was onion and lettuce that I could add to the toppings. That soft pretzel bun tunneled my vision to the central plate and only until the burger was gone, did my peripheral vision return. 

On the side of the plate was a country potato salad and to finish a nice warm, freshly baked, chocolate chip cookie.   

Korean Air 759 : PUS-KIX

Sometimes, short flights are the best flights. Especially those with a meal served on board for all passengers as flight attendants know they need to be efficient to complete the meal service before the call to secure the cabin for landing. Of course, efficiency doesn't exist in North America and nor do such meal services. 

Today’s flight is Korean Air 759 aboard HL8246, a next-generation 737-800 with the sky interior that I am such a fan of, flying from the southern Korean city of Busan on a short hop to Kansai international airport. 

There’s nothing really remarkable about this flight or about the city of busan or why I’m really here - the only thing that was interesting was getting myself comfortable in the lounge for what I thought would be a lengthy two hour wait to only realize my flight began boarding in the next minute. This hopefully will be the last time that I confuse the departure time with the actual arrival time at the destination. Whoops.

Boarding the aircraft was less than desirable - no gate boarding in PUS meant we were stuck on a bus and driven out to the plane. On the other hand, such boardings are great opportunities for super cool plane photos reminiscent of days gone by. Luckily, I had some super nice light to try to take a neat shot - I think it turned out well. 

Onto the food. As this was a short flight, the meal service was simply a handout of meal trays. On my plate was a bowl of soup, a roasted beef and grilled vegetable sandwich, and to finish, a small plate of seasonal fresh fruit. 

I decided to accompany my meal with umeshu, a Japanese fruit liqueur and tt did not take me very long to finish my meal. Overall, each item was delicious and the mint on top of the fruit cup was a very nice touch to a refreshing dish. 

I've had many bad experiences with airplane sandwiches in the past but I was surprised the sandwich bread was not stale whatsoever - it seemed freshly baked and topped with thinly sliced almonds.

Here’s a shot of my demolished tray - and rightly so!

Onto the menu shots for your perusal. Note the liquor selection on a 1.5hr flight…which in terms of whisky/scotch selection is very impressive especially when comparing to United…

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.

United Airlines 1568: PVR-SFO

After three short days vacationing in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, United flies me home to SFO, an upgrade clears, and a blog post is written.

United is such a mixed bag of quality. Some flights are utterly atrocious, others put them in front of many of the top airlines of the world. Today’s flight was the latter. UA1568, flown on this day by a 737-900ER from PVR to SFO. A relatively new (month old) aircraft with tail number N69840 and Boeing’s rather pleasant Sky Interior. The day that all airplanes switch to this new interior will be a great day. The hard fluorescent lights one suffers through at a window seat seem archaic in the era advanced LED technology mixed with a tad of color science.  

Onto the food. Warm nuts were served post-takeoff alongside the first drink. I opted for a soda water, unusual, but after several days at an all-inclusive resort amongst friends, my liver needed a break. 

The food choices on this flight were a salmon dish with vegetables, a chicken something with some sort of jambalaya and an indian vegetarian dish that was repeated twice to me from the flight attendant, but the only words I can remember were vegetarian and paneer. 

Regardless after I made my choice and the flight attendant removed herself from my presence, I was consumed by indecision with my choice. Especially knowing that it would be an indian-resembling dish, I knew it would be served with rice. And when I’ve talked about rice served aboard airplanes before, I am bringing up memories of pain and disdain for what i’ve called “adventure in texture”. I experienced such adventures on my flight down on US Airways from Pheonix. 

Upon being served the dish, I was honestly shocked. Yes, there was rice, but the food was just aesthetically perfect. Each grain of rice that was visible on that plate looked like it was perfectly cooked - plump, moist, and juicy. There were no adventures in texture whatsoever in this meal, only bewilderment if I was actually on a United flight and not Singapore Airlines. The food was as delicious as it looked. Again, each bite was just absolute bewilderment. Was United -Actually- trying now? Were the PVR caterers just rockstars within their game? How was this food quality actually obtained from an American carrier, especially aboard a narrow body plane? Here’s the tray shot - 10/10 for presentation. 

And the money shot close up of the dish below. Wow. I can’t vouch the dish for being anything close to authentic indian, but I’m slightly thankful. The aircraft is a mostly closed system that is to be shared for just over 167 people for a couple hours. I’m ok without the authentic indian flavor and the smell that comes along it. Granted, I’m a huge fan of indian dishes - I have naan in my freezer right now for times of indian cravings, but I’m mindful that there is a time and more critical, a place for authentic indian food. A plane is not one of those places. This bowl was clean by the time the tray was retrieved thanks to the bread bun. 

Onto the closeup of the salad. Fresh, fresh, fresh, fresh!!! I wasn’t too keen on the cheese, it wasn’t quite feta, and seemed more like parmesan, but wasn’t quite parmesan. The balsamic dressing was thick and hard to spread, but still tasty. 

UA1568 departed in the early evening, 6 PM from PVR. Sun streaming into a cabin on a sunset flight is one of my favorite things, as it provides vital vitamin D which my desk job does not provide during the week. Passengers on this flight were treated with an absolutely stunning sunset - here are some shots below.

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!