milehighj: the OZ lounge is located at the opposite end of the terminal (gates 1-10), where the KE and OZ flights leave from.

On with the story!

OZ 152 ICN-SDJ J B767-300

And onward onto what looked like exactly the same plane... except that it wasn't (sole giveaway: magazine holders in row 1 were a different model). Even the passenger density was equally poor, with not even 50% this time. But now I snagged seat 2F, the evil twin of seat 2A (at least on 767s), and it is indeed the best of the J world with good leg room and reclinability... not that either is really needed on a 1:50 flight.

This time OZ was kind enough to serve real champagne (Piper-Heidsieck Brut, claimed the menu) before takeoff, and accompany it with the sweet sounds of... Korean rap? I'll be kind and refrain from speculating why it's abbreviated "K-RAP", but AK still takes the musical cake for playing "I Shot the Sheriff" during landing.

Takeoff was a few minutes late due to a queue, the sun was up now and it looked cold out there... but everything was enveloped in fog and soon we were above the clouds.

An early lunch was rolled out, and this time I have a menu too:

Grava Lox with Green Salad

Beef Short Rib "Bul-Gal-Bi"
A Famous Korean Beef Dish Served with Sweet Soy Sauce, Accompanied by Steamed Rice,

or

Grilled Scallop and King Prawn
Served with Nantua Sauce, Presented with Saffron Potato, Asparagus and Carrot

Mandarine Cream Cake

Choice of 3 reds and 2 whites, I picked the beef and had a red wine chosen for me. Lots of meat, but the entire entree was quite mild-tasting, and I only realized a little too late that the innocuous toothpaste tube sitting by the side in fact contained dochujang, the fiery Korean chili sauce. D'oh! My second mistake was ordering a glass of "Sandeman Port" (said the menu, evidently a cheap ruby) as an digestif. Based on the taste the bottle had been opened 5 years ago when a sozzled Englishman boarded the wrong plane by accident, and had sat untouched ever since, slowly oxidizing. Blech.

And now my sole small but real gripe for this flight: it would be oh so nice if OZ either used common sense or, even more simply, didn't discriminate. Not only was I the sole visible furriner (near 2 meters and blond) on a rather strange route, I grabbed a Nihon Keizai Shimbun on boarding (as you do) and spent most of the beginning of the flight reading Japanese. Did the crew take a hint? Care to guess who was not given chopsticks for his meal, while everybody else got them? Care to guess who was not offered green tea when the stewardess went around with the pot, when even my seatmate got some? When I politely suggested that ano, o-cha itadakitai n' desu ga, miss Japanese FA stuttered out that the pot she was holding contained "Japaneezu guriin tea". Yes, that would be why I just asked you for it. Grumble.

Ah well, shikataganai (lit. "there is no way to do it", all too common a phrase). By this time we reached the coast of Japan and I was treated to a beautiful view of Japan's Snow Country, plus a FedEx plane zooming past nearby in the opposite direction. The plane landed on time, I was the first in Immigration's foreigner queue (the second being a Korean Buddhist monk!), and after my means of earning living were checked, my itinerary queried and my pockets patted down, I stepped out into the crisp Japanese winter to meet the welcoming committee.

Not too far from SDJ, East Naruko Onsen Hot Springs

The Tohoku Shinkansen is fun, outdoor hot springs surrounded by snow are fun, Hanagaki's junmai-daiginjo sake is fun, and that's about all I can say in a family-friendly publication.


[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 15, 2004).]