Carfield
Mar 20, 02, 6:24 pm
March 9, 2002
OS 3006 MEL-KUL Lv1835 Arr2320
Boeing 777-200IGW OE-LPA "Pablo Picasso"
After a brief stay at Melbourne, I continued onto the next leg of the RTW - Lauda Air. The ground service was performed by Jardine Airport service and the agents all wore Lauda's uniforms. Check in lines were long, even I arrived three hours early. Y line was long and J class had about four people in front of me. The Australian agent was very efficient and helpful, and all my bags were tagged with the Amadeus Class tag and Star Alliance priority tag. It was checked in all the way to LHR and I got all the boarding passes. However, my carry-on bags were proved to be too heavy and my roller bag had to be checked in as well. It was perfectly fine and I also received an invitation to the United Airlines' lounge. The UA lounge was definitely nothing special and I would not allocate extra hours for a visit. I would indeed use the Air New Zealand lounge because the MEL RCC was small and crowded with dated décor. No newspapers were there and magazines were worst than those featured on United's aircraft. Snacks were sandwiches and there was a self serving bar. The Lauda agent looked over the lounge and announced the boarding of the flight when it was 6pm. When we reached the gate, 6, boarding had already completed for Y class. Obviously, the flight was full in both J and Y class this afternoon, and I was immediately offered a choice of mimosa, water, or champagne by the chef. The door was closed at 6:45pm due to late arriving passengers. Then the F/As passed out headsets, amenity kits, and the newspaper trolley. I got another copy of the "Australian" weekend edition and the aircraft was pushed back within a minute. Like ANA and Emirates, Lauda Air had the mainscreen showing the views from the nose gear and pilot view was also available on the PTV system. It was pretty amazing, especially they zoomed in to the residential area during takeoff. During our taxi, we passed through all the idle Ansett's A320s and Boeing 767s. It was a very sad scene. On an exciting note, I saw both the Qantas' and Virgin Blue's Boeing 737-800s with the winglets. The traffic was rather light this afternoon and we took off from Runway 16 at 6:57pm.
Flying time was seven hours and eighteen minutes and our flight route first took us to 36,000ft. We passed through Coober Pedy, Ayers Rock, and then climbed to 37,000ft as we got to our last Australian way point - Derby. Then we entered the Indian Ocean and climbed to 39,000ft as we entered the Denpasar, Indonesia. My first impression of the aircraft was a rather crowded J cabin, especially the 2-3-2 seating and the legroom was about 52 inches (better than SQ and the recline was fine). I like the color of the décor, but the lavatory in J class was nice, but the one between J and Y was bad. No one replenished the towel drawer and the smell was rather unbearable. I was surprised that soap was still used by Lauda Air. The second thing I noticed was how young and beautiful the flight attendants were. They were young, blonde and had bodies like models. I beat the straight male passengers had a good time - too bad, there was no male flight attendant and the chef was a chubby middle aged man.
After the seat belt sign was turned off at 7:09pm, the F/As immediately began the dinner service. Hot towels were first passed out, followed by fresh linen set up and a beverage service. I had some freshly squeezed orange juice - good stuff. Like Continental, the F/As set up your table individually - no tray, and then passed out a basket of bread rolls - very fresh and crusty white hard rolls, soft rolls, and rye bread loaves. Then the purser walked around to take our appetizer and entrée choices. Of course, sitting at 5G meant that my order was taken last. Only the fillet mignon appetizer was left and only the lamb and fish curry choices were left as they reached me. Anyway, all courses were served individually and the presentation of each course was perfect. The taste of the meal was restaurant style - definitely the best meal you could get in a plane. However, I was disappointed that all courses were served a la carte style, unlike the appetizer and entrée trolley featured on various Lauda Air's advertisements. The only trolley service was the tea, coffee, and digestif services served at the end of the meal. Here is the transcript of the wine list and menu.
Wine List
White Wines
Riesling 1999 - Winery Nigl, Kremstai - Niederosterreich, Austria
Vina Sol 2000, Bodeges Miguel Torres, Spain
Chardonnay 2000, Penfolds Wines, Koonunga Hill - South Australia
Red Wines
Blauer Zweigelt 2000, Vineyard Hedwighof, winery Sepp Moser, Apetlon - Burgenland, Austria
Rioja Marques de Caceres 1997, Cenicero Rioja Alta, Spain
Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 1998, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Coonawarra - Australia
Menu
Salmon Carpaccio
Or
Fillet of Beef on oriental styled salad
Nice appetizer with warmed beef slices on top of a light salad with light vinaigrette sauce
Please choose from our selection:
Spring Lamb on cannelini beans with grilled gruyiere-polenta
Excellent lamb chops - can't describe how good it was… just like the chops you have on a restaurant. Perfectly cooked…
Or
Linguini with sauteed Porcini & goat cheese Pesto
Or
Stir Fried Yellow Fish Curry with steamed rice
Desserts
Viennese Apricot Crepes with hot chocolate sauce
how could I resist a crepe from Austria… just perfect…
Or
Panna Cotta
Assorted Cheese & Exotic Fruit from our trolley
Never showed up but my neighbor chose a pre plated cheese slices and fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, mango, grapes and kiwi)
Freshly brewed coffee or tea
Digestifs from our trolley
The chef showed up as the purser and him pushing out the digestif trolley. I had a cup of tea and settled down for more newspaper reading. I did not sleep on this segment because it was more important to sleep on the longer overnight segment. Most passengers did sleep. Before dinner started, an entertainment video guides was shown to passengers, so they knew how to use the in seat personal TV system. The entertainment selection was okay and here is the list of movies.
n Don't Say a Word, Pocahontas, K-Pax, and Nine Months… including audio channels and PC games.
Throughout the flight, the F/A passed out with water refills and was more than happy to serve you beverage. Hot towels were passed out at midnight time in Sydney. Once again, beverage order was taken and our tables were set up individually with the stylish triangular shaped plates and S&P shakers. The plastic eating utensils were a bit unfitting but too bad… The purser took the entrée order and I was fortunate to have my own choice this time.
Hot Snack
Steak sandwich served tomatoes, light sauce Aioli
The white breads were freshly toasted on board and the sandwich was not soggy at all. My neighbor seemed to enjoy it very much.
Or
Salmon pizza with sour cream, red onions and basil
The smoked salmon pizza was definitely made freshly on board. The crust was loaded separately and reheated on board by the chef. The smoked salmon was freshly placed on the crust and all the accompaniments were added on board. The pizza was warm and the crust was perfect. So delicious…
Coffee or Tea
After the snack, coffee and tea were passed out, and the F/A prepared for our arrivals. As required by the Malaysian government, the F/As had to spray some stuff into the A/C system. I just covered my head when the spraying was taking place. The F/As warned us before the spraying process. Soon we began our descent into Kuala Lumpur. We touched down at 11:15pm local time and parked at gate C2.
March 10, 2002
NG 3006 KUL-VIE Lv0050 Arr0605
Boeing 777-200IGW OE-LPA "Pablo Picasso"
The layover was nothing special and most passengers shopped a bit. The new KUL airport was very nice and there was lots of open space, and arriving passengers had to take a train to the immigration facilities. As expected, many passengers continued to Vienna on this flight. I did not visit any lounge, as I was not advised to visit a particular facility from the agent. I just stayed around the gate and talked on my mobile a bit. Boarding began early at 12:08 in the morning. Once again, I boarded the same aircraft and both J and Y cabins were full. The F/As were beautiful and fortunately, the chef was extremely handsome this evening - he was tall, blond, and cute as ever. I was in a much better mood, and once again, the chef brought a tray of orange juice, water, and champagne to everyone. The F/As passed out amenity kits, newspapers, and headsets. The Lauda Air's amenity kits were pretty basic with socks, eye shades, and other basic amenities, but the bag itself could change into a waist bag. Not a bad design! The F/A just passed out another amenity kit and I could never have enough kits. Anyway, boarding took a long time as the aircraft was slightly overbooked. A couple passengers were upgraded to business class in the last minute. Anyway, door was closed four minutes early and we pushed back after a Qatar Airways' Airbus A300-600R pulled in on our neighbor gate. The taxied took a while, despite the limited traffic at this point. We took off from R/W32R at 1:08am.
Flying time this evening was twelve hours and eleven minutes. The flight went longer than expected as we hit strong head winds along the way. Our routing took us to 28,000ft and then onto the Bay of Bengal, and then 35,000ft as we reached Chennai, India. Then we passed through the Arabian Sea into Muscat and Dubai. Then we climbed to 36,000ft and turned NW into the Iran/Iraq air space and Turkey's Northern coast. Then we headed towards Bucharest and began our descent after passing Budapest and then into Vienna.
Surprisingly, most passengers stayed up for the meal service, although it was late. The dinner service featured on this longer route was even better than the dinner on the MEL to KUL sector. Once again, the F/A placed a fresh linen on our table and took our beverage order. I had a coke and it came with a slice of lemon, which was pretty amazing for an airline. Lauda Air paid attention to small details, and then the table was set up with the bread basket. The wine list was the same on the previous sector. Here is the menu!
Tuna Tataki with soja-seamoil dressing
Nice five pieces of tuna with a bean noodle salad, spring onions and oak lettuce leaves - the presentation was perfect and the tuna tasted fresh and the side salad was beautiful.
Or
Grilled Asparagus on tomato-avocado carpaccio and marinated goat cheese
Steak Arugula on Rocketsalad with rosemary potatoes and shaved Parmesan
Or
Spaghetti Pepperoncini with grilled prawns
I chose this entrée and the spaghetti was not soggy at all and three giant prawns were featured at each corner of the triangular plate. I love it.
Or
Traditional Chicken sate with peanut sauce, steamed rice and spicy cucumber salad
Nice presentation with five chicken satay sticks placed in a bowl with the sauce in the middle… Seemed to be a popular choice.
Selection of Cheese
Desserts:
Selection of Sorbet with Lemongras fruit brochette
I had the sorbets - mango, strawberry and lime favor with the real chopped fruit inside. The brochette was pineapple, melon, cantaloupe, and strawberry. Lovely dish!
Or
Profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce
Or
Fresh Strawberries on vanilla creame fraiche
Or
Fresh Fruit Salad
Diced pineapples, kiwi, melon, cantaloupes, strawberries, and grapes - I had the salad as well. It was delicious. Lauda Air used the fresh fruit, not canned fruit.
All the trolleys came in a cart and the flight attendants did their best to decorate the dish. They used powder sugar and chocolate syrup to decorate the dish.
Freshly Brewed Coffee or Tea
Digestifs from our trolley
After the dinner service, most passengers, include me, reclined the seats and were ready for the night. The F/As continue to pass out orange juice and water throughout the flight. The entertainment choices were a bit different from the previous sector - Zoolander, Le Placard, and the Others. The movies featured on the last segment were also here, but more choices for the longer segment.
Breakfast service began with another round of hot towel at 10:40am Kuala Lumpur time, followed by a tray of fresh orange juice, apple juice and tomato juice. Unlike other meals, the breakfast service came with a tray… I guess for the quicker service. The bread basket came with delicious croissants, toasts and rye bread loaves. The F/As passed out the bread basket throughout the breakfast service. Here is the transcript!
Breakfast
Fresh Fruit Platter
papaya, cantaloupes, kiwi, grapes, pineapples, and strawberries
Homemade Plain Yogurt with granola and strawberries
Musli to Order
Cheese Omelette with fried potatoes, grilled turkey ham and tomato
Or
Fried Eggs Sunny Side Up
I had this entrée, which was a bit overcooked.
Or
Beef Burger served with onion, salt pickled cucumber, tomatoes, lettuces, mustard, ketchup, and potato chips
DO & CO'S Apricot Jam
Croissants and Bread Basket
Coffee or Tea
We began our descent at 12:53pm KUL time and the chef passed out chocolate squares and personally thanked us for the service. Of course, naughty Carfield could not help to take a good look of him again. We landed on Runway 29 at 6:19am and found our gate, A3. Vienna airport was definitely smaller airport, but the place was pretty crowded this Sunday with the morning flights to London Heathrow. I was concerned with the connection time, so I chose the 10:30am flight to LHR, instead of the 7am flight. I would be fine with the early morning flight… Too bad, my bags were checked through to LHR and nothing could change this three hours layover. Finally, I found my way into the Senator's lounge and got in with my J boarding pass and Star Gold card. The lounge was very quiet and there was a computer terminal. I took place with the breakfast pastries and orange juice, and then read emails for a while. Beverage choices include tea, coffee, and bottled soft drinks, including some nice ginger ales.
March 10, 2002
OS 453 VIE-LHR Lv1030 Arr1205
Airbus A321-200 OE-LBA
Our flight to London LHR boarded at 10:10am and the load was pretty full in Y. There were only three rows of J class seats. They are all convertible seats with a 2-3 sitting arrangement. The AC side was converted with the middle seat changing into a tray table. The seat really did not get wider because the seat cushion was still the standard coach cushion. I was glad that I did not pay full fare for this seat - only the D fare and coming off from a long haul flight. Boarding was completed quickly but the A/C unit was not working properly, so it took an extra twenty minutes to change the unit. The flight attendants offered us choice of orange juice, water, and champagne, followed by the newspaper trolleys. Door was closed at 11:05am and we pushed back in two minutes. We taxied towards R/W29 and we lifted off at 11:19am.
The seat belt sign was turned off quickly but soon the seat belt sign was turned on again, and we hit severe turbulence as the winds changed direction. Cabin service was suspended. Flying time was two hours and one minute, and we climbed to 36,000ft. The flight route took us over Linz, Frankfurt, Brussels, and then descent into London LHR. A hot lunch service was served… it was basically an one tray service with a tray of roast beef and German potato salad as appetizer, a small hot casserole dish of potato dumplings with cheese and tomato sauce, a slice of cake, and a bottle of sparkling mineral water. The lunch was pretty non-filling, especially the breads turned into hard rolls due to an extraordinary long time in the oven. The F/A apologized, but you could not blame her, and the turbulence was bad. After passing out lunch, she served us beverage. There was no entertainment program, but the map function was shown out throughout the flight.
Due to the choppy weather, the flight went by quickly. We began our descent at 12:50pm and as usual, we were put in hold a bit. Then we landed on London LHR at 12:20pm (London was an hour behind of Vienna) on Runway 27L. London LHR was amazing with the rows of Boeing 747-400s in Terminal four and the assorted planes featured all over the airport. The F/A passed out chocolate squares as we taxied into our gate, 13. We had to wait for an Iberian Airbus to push back before pulling in. But the interior of Terminal two was pretty dated and the line at immigration was unbelievable long, especially we don't have an EU passport. I noticed many people sitting in the benches, but anyway, when I passed through the immigration line, my bags were already on the baggage belt.
A word about my hotel, Rennaissance Hotel LHR - it was a very basic hotel and the buffets featured in the hotel's restaurant, was pricey and did not go well with my taste buds, but the room had nice shower and beds. The runway view was amazing and it was hard to list all the airliners that I saw in the three days that I was there. I saw the concord landed in the rain and taking off on a cloudy morning. They were pretty noisy though. Heathrow was definitely busy but things quieted down after 10pm, with only a few late night takeoffs, like Emirates' Airbus, SQ's Megatops, MH's Boeing 747-400s, and BA's Boeing 747-400s.
Carfield http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
OS 3006 MEL-KUL Lv1835 Arr2320
Boeing 777-200IGW OE-LPA "Pablo Picasso"
After a brief stay at Melbourne, I continued onto the next leg of the RTW - Lauda Air. The ground service was performed by Jardine Airport service and the agents all wore Lauda's uniforms. Check in lines were long, even I arrived three hours early. Y line was long and J class had about four people in front of me. The Australian agent was very efficient and helpful, and all my bags were tagged with the Amadeus Class tag and Star Alliance priority tag. It was checked in all the way to LHR and I got all the boarding passes. However, my carry-on bags were proved to be too heavy and my roller bag had to be checked in as well. It was perfectly fine and I also received an invitation to the United Airlines' lounge. The UA lounge was definitely nothing special and I would not allocate extra hours for a visit. I would indeed use the Air New Zealand lounge because the MEL RCC was small and crowded with dated décor. No newspapers were there and magazines were worst than those featured on United's aircraft. Snacks were sandwiches and there was a self serving bar. The Lauda agent looked over the lounge and announced the boarding of the flight when it was 6pm. When we reached the gate, 6, boarding had already completed for Y class. Obviously, the flight was full in both J and Y class this afternoon, and I was immediately offered a choice of mimosa, water, or champagne by the chef. The door was closed at 6:45pm due to late arriving passengers. Then the F/As passed out headsets, amenity kits, and the newspaper trolley. I got another copy of the "Australian" weekend edition and the aircraft was pushed back within a minute. Like ANA and Emirates, Lauda Air had the mainscreen showing the views from the nose gear and pilot view was also available on the PTV system. It was pretty amazing, especially they zoomed in to the residential area during takeoff. During our taxi, we passed through all the idle Ansett's A320s and Boeing 767s. It was a very sad scene. On an exciting note, I saw both the Qantas' and Virgin Blue's Boeing 737-800s with the winglets. The traffic was rather light this afternoon and we took off from Runway 16 at 6:57pm.
Flying time was seven hours and eighteen minutes and our flight route first took us to 36,000ft. We passed through Coober Pedy, Ayers Rock, and then climbed to 37,000ft as we got to our last Australian way point - Derby. Then we entered the Indian Ocean and climbed to 39,000ft as we entered the Denpasar, Indonesia. My first impression of the aircraft was a rather crowded J cabin, especially the 2-3-2 seating and the legroom was about 52 inches (better than SQ and the recline was fine). I like the color of the décor, but the lavatory in J class was nice, but the one between J and Y was bad. No one replenished the towel drawer and the smell was rather unbearable. I was surprised that soap was still used by Lauda Air. The second thing I noticed was how young and beautiful the flight attendants were. They were young, blonde and had bodies like models. I beat the straight male passengers had a good time - too bad, there was no male flight attendant and the chef was a chubby middle aged man.
After the seat belt sign was turned off at 7:09pm, the F/As immediately began the dinner service. Hot towels were first passed out, followed by fresh linen set up and a beverage service. I had some freshly squeezed orange juice - good stuff. Like Continental, the F/As set up your table individually - no tray, and then passed out a basket of bread rolls - very fresh and crusty white hard rolls, soft rolls, and rye bread loaves. Then the purser walked around to take our appetizer and entrée choices. Of course, sitting at 5G meant that my order was taken last. Only the fillet mignon appetizer was left and only the lamb and fish curry choices were left as they reached me. Anyway, all courses were served individually and the presentation of each course was perfect. The taste of the meal was restaurant style - definitely the best meal you could get in a plane. However, I was disappointed that all courses were served a la carte style, unlike the appetizer and entrée trolley featured on various Lauda Air's advertisements. The only trolley service was the tea, coffee, and digestif services served at the end of the meal. Here is the transcript of the wine list and menu.
Wine List
White Wines
Riesling 1999 - Winery Nigl, Kremstai - Niederosterreich, Austria
Vina Sol 2000, Bodeges Miguel Torres, Spain
Chardonnay 2000, Penfolds Wines, Koonunga Hill - South Australia
Red Wines
Blauer Zweigelt 2000, Vineyard Hedwighof, winery Sepp Moser, Apetlon - Burgenland, Austria
Rioja Marques de Caceres 1997, Cenicero Rioja Alta, Spain
Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 1998, Wynns Coonawarra Estate, Coonawarra - Australia
Menu
Salmon Carpaccio
Or
Fillet of Beef on oriental styled salad
Nice appetizer with warmed beef slices on top of a light salad with light vinaigrette sauce
Please choose from our selection:
Spring Lamb on cannelini beans with grilled gruyiere-polenta
Excellent lamb chops - can't describe how good it was… just like the chops you have on a restaurant. Perfectly cooked…
Or
Linguini with sauteed Porcini & goat cheese Pesto
Or
Stir Fried Yellow Fish Curry with steamed rice
Desserts
Viennese Apricot Crepes with hot chocolate sauce
how could I resist a crepe from Austria… just perfect…
Or
Panna Cotta
Assorted Cheese & Exotic Fruit from our trolley
Never showed up but my neighbor chose a pre plated cheese slices and fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, mango, grapes and kiwi)
Freshly brewed coffee or tea
Digestifs from our trolley
The chef showed up as the purser and him pushing out the digestif trolley. I had a cup of tea and settled down for more newspaper reading. I did not sleep on this segment because it was more important to sleep on the longer overnight segment. Most passengers did sleep. Before dinner started, an entertainment video guides was shown to passengers, so they knew how to use the in seat personal TV system. The entertainment selection was okay and here is the list of movies.
n Don't Say a Word, Pocahontas, K-Pax, and Nine Months… including audio channels and PC games.
Throughout the flight, the F/A passed out with water refills and was more than happy to serve you beverage. Hot towels were passed out at midnight time in Sydney. Once again, beverage order was taken and our tables were set up individually with the stylish triangular shaped plates and S&P shakers. The plastic eating utensils were a bit unfitting but too bad… The purser took the entrée order and I was fortunate to have my own choice this time.
Hot Snack
Steak sandwich served tomatoes, light sauce Aioli
The white breads were freshly toasted on board and the sandwich was not soggy at all. My neighbor seemed to enjoy it very much.
Or
Salmon pizza with sour cream, red onions and basil
The smoked salmon pizza was definitely made freshly on board. The crust was loaded separately and reheated on board by the chef. The smoked salmon was freshly placed on the crust and all the accompaniments were added on board. The pizza was warm and the crust was perfect. So delicious…
Coffee or Tea
After the snack, coffee and tea were passed out, and the F/A prepared for our arrivals. As required by the Malaysian government, the F/As had to spray some stuff into the A/C system. I just covered my head when the spraying was taking place. The F/As warned us before the spraying process. Soon we began our descent into Kuala Lumpur. We touched down at 11:15pm local time and parked at gate C2.
March 10, 2002
NG 3006 KUL-VIE Lv0050 Arr0605
Boeing 777-200IGW OE-LPA "Pablo Picasso"
The layover was nothing special and most passengers shopped a bit. The new KUL airport was very nice and there was lots of open space, and arriving passengers had to take a train to the immigration facilities. As expected, many passengers continued to Vienna on this flight. I did not visit any lounge, as I was not advised to visit a particular facility from the agent. I just stayed around the gate and talked on my mobile a bit. Boarding began early at 12:08 in the morning. Once again, I boarded the same aircraft and both J and Y cabins were full. The F/As were beautiful and fortunately, the chef was extremely handsome this evening - he was tall, blond, and cute as ever. I was in a much better mood, and once again, the chef brought a tray of orange juice, water, and champagne to everyone. The F/As passed out amenity kits, newspapers, and headsets. The Lauda Air's amenity kits were pretty basic with socks, eye shades, and other basic amenities, but the bag itself could change into a waist bag. Not a bad design! The F/A just passed out another amenity kit and I could never have enough kits. Anyway, boarding took a long time as the aircraft was slightly overbooked. A couple passengers were upgraded to business class in the last minute. Anyway, door was closed four minutes early and we pushed back after a Qatar Airways' Airbus A300-600R pulled in on our neighbor gate. The taxied took a while, despite the limited traffic at this point. We took off from R/W32R at 1:08am.
Flying time this evening was twelve hours and eleven minutes. The flight went longer than expected as we hit strong head winds along the way. Our routing took us to 28,000ft and then onto the Bay of Bengal, and then 35,000ft as we reached Chennai, India. Then we passed through the Arabian Sea into Muscat and Dubai. Then we climbed to 36,000ft and turned NW into the Iran/Iraq air space and Turkey's Northern coast. Then we headed towards Bucharest and began our descent after passing Budapest and then into Vienna.
Surprisingly, most passengers stayed up for the meal service, although it was late. The dinner service featured on this longer route was even better than the dinner on the MEL to KUL sector. Once again, the F/A placed a fresh linen on our table and took our beverage order. I had a coke and it came with a slice of lemon, which was pretty amazing for an airline. Lauda Air paid attention to small details, and then the table was set up with the bread basket. The wine list was the same on the previous sector. Here is the menu!
Tuna Tataki with soja-seamoil dressing
Nice five pieces of tuna with a bean noodle salad, spring onions and oak lettuce leaves - the presentation was perfect and the tuna tasted fresh and the side salad was beautiful.
Or
Grilled Asparagus on tomato-avocado carpaccio and marinated goat cheese
Steak Arugula on Rocketsalad with rosemary potatoes and shaved Parmesan
Or
Spaghetti Pepperoncini with grilled prawns
I chose this entrée and the spaghetti was not soggy at all and three giant prawns were featured at each corner of the triangular plate. I love it.
Or
Traditional Chicken sate with peanut sauce, steamed rice and spicy cucumber salad
Nice presentation with five chicken satay sticks placed in a bowl with the sauce in the middle… Seemed to be a popular choice.
Selection of Cheese
Desserts:
Selection of Sorbet with Lemongras fruit brochette
I had the sorbets - mango, strawberry and lime favor with the real chopped fruit inside. The brochette was pineapple, melon, cantaloupe, and strawberry. Lovely dish!
Or
Profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce
Or
Fresh Strawberries on vanilla creame fraiche
Or
Fresh Fruit Salad
Diced pineapples, kiwi, melon, cantaloupes, strawberries, and grapes - I had the salad as well. It was delicious. Lauda Air used the fresh fruit, not canned fruit.
All the trolleys came in a cart and the flight attendants did their best to decorate the dish. They used powder sugar and chocolate syrup to decorate the dish.
Freshly Brewed Coffee or Tea
Digestifs from our trolley
After the dinner service, most passengers, include me, reclined the seats and were ready for the night. The F/As continue to pass out orange juice and water throughout the flight. The entertainment choices were a bit different from the previous sector - Zoolander, Le Placard, and the Others. The movies featured on the last segment were also here, but more choices for the longer segment.
Breakfast service began with another round of hot towel at 10:40am Kuala Lumpur time, followed by a tray of fresh orange juice, apple juice and tomato juice. Unlike other meals, the breakfast service came with a tray… I guess for the quicker service. The bread basket came with delicious croissants, toasts and rye bread loaves. The F/As passed out the bread basket throughout the breakfast service. Here is the transcript!
Breakfast
Fresh Fruit Platter
papaya, cantaloupes, kiwi, grapes, pineapples, and strawberries
Homemade Plain Yogurt with granola and strawberries
Musli to Order
Cheese Omelette with fried potatoes, grilled turkey ham and tomato
Or
Fried Eggs Sunny Side Up
I had this entrée, which was a bit overcooked.
Or
Beef Burger served with onion, salt pickled cucumber, tomatoes, lettuces, mustard, ketchup, and potato chips
DO & CO'S Apricot Jam
Croissants and Bread Basket
Coffee or Tea
We began our descent at 12:53pm KUL time and the chef passed out chocolate squares and personally thanked us for the service. Of course, naughty Carfield could not help to take a good look of him again. We landed on Runway 29 at 6:19am and found our gate, A3. Vienna airport was definitely smaller airport, but the place was pretty crowded this Sunday with the morning flights to London Heathrow. I was concerned with the connection time, so I chose the 10:30am flight to LHR, instead of the 7am flight. I would be fine with the early morning flight… Too bad, my bags were checked through to LHR and nothing could change this three hours layover. Finally, I found my way into the Senator's lounge and got in with my J boarding pass and Star Gold card. The lounge was very quiet and there was a computer terminal. I took place with the breakfast pastries and orange juice, and then read emails for a while. Beverage choices include tea, coffee, and bottled soft drinks, including some nice ginger ales.
March 10, 2002
OS 453 VIE-LHR Lv1030 Arr1205
Airbus A321-200 OE-LBA
Our flight to London LHR boarded at 10:10am and the load was pretty full in Y. There were only three rows of J class seats. They are all convertible seats with a 2-3 sitting arrangement. The AC side was converted with the middle seat changing into a tray table. The seat really did not get wider because the seat cushion was still the standard coach cushion. I was glad that I did not pay full fare for this seat - only the D fare and coming off from a long haul flight. Boarding was completed quickly but the A/C unit was not working properly, so it took an extra twenty minutes to change the unit. The flight attendants offered us choice of orange juice, water, and champagne, followed by the newspaper trolleys. Door was closed at 11:05am and we pushed back in two minutes. We taxied towards R/W29 and we lifted off at 11:19am.
The seat belt sign was turned off quickly but soon the seat belt sign was turned on again, and we hit severe turbulence as the winds changed direction. Cabin service was suspended. Flying time was two hours and one minute, and we climbed to 36,000ft. The flight route took us over Linz, Frankfurt, Brussels, and then descent into London LHR. A hot lunch service was served… it was basically an one tray service with a tray of roast beef and German potato salad as appetizer, a small hot casserole dish of potato dumplings with cheese and tomato sauce, a slice of cake, and a bottle of sparkling mineral water. The lunch was pretty non-filling, especially the breads turned into hard rolls due to an extraordinary long time in the oven. The F/A apologized, but you could not blame her, and the turbulence was bad. After passing out lunch, she served us beverage. There was no entertainment program, but the map function was shown out throughout the flight.
Due to the choppy weather, the flight went by quickly. We began our descent at 12:50pm and as usual, we were put in hold a bit. Then we landed on London LHR at 12:20pm (London was an hour behind of Vienna) on Runway 27L. London LHR was amazing with the rows of Boeing 747-400s in Terminal four and the assorted planes featured all over the airport. The F/A passed out chocolate squares as we taxied into our gate, 13. We had to wait for an Iberian Airbus to push back before pulling in. But the interior of Terminal two was pretty dated and the line at immigration was unbelievable long, especially we don't have an EU passport. I noticed many people sitting in the benches, but anyway, when I passed through the immigration line, my bags were already on the baggage belt.
A word about my hotel, Rennaissance Hotel LHR - it was a very basic hotel and the buffets featured in the hotel's restaurant, was pricey and did not go well with my taste buds, but the room had nice shower and beds. The runway view was amazing and it was hard to list all the airliners that I saw in the three days that I was there. I saw the concord landed in the rain and taking off on a cloudy morning. They were pretty noisy though. Heathrow was definitely busy but things quieted down after 10pm, with only a few late night takeoffs, like Emirates' Airbus, SQ's Megatops, MH's Boeing 747-400s, and BA's Boeing 747-400s.
Carfield http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif