Somehow my wife let me go on a boys trip to Asia. Granted, it was with her father and two brothers, but still, this was quite extraordinary. She's at home with our 1.4 year old, changing diapers and doing bath time and I'm out crushing beers and eating boxes of uni in some random Tokyo salaryman den. She's a saint and I am very lucky.
Was able to book this whole trip on a variety of point redemptions, including LifeMiles, Alaska, SPG, and Hyatt. We would fly BR J direct from JFK to TPE, spend 3 nights there in the W Taipei, fly JL J from TSA to HND and stay 2 nights at the Andaz Tokyo and then fly JL F from HND to JFK, all in time to be home for Thanksgiving. This should be fun.
Thursday November 16
EVA Air Flight 29
JFK to TPE
Departs 12:45pm
Arrives 5:55pm
We were meeting my father in-law and older brother in-law in TPE, so myself and the younger BIL met up at my place for breakfast, drove 20 minutes to JFK and parked in long-term parking and hopped the AirTrain to Terminal 1. First time at Terminal 1 and it's kind of a dump. Crowded, hot, terrible lounges (will get to that soon) and just overall feels like the almost 20 years old terminal it is.
View from the bridge connecting the AirTrain to Terminal 1
No line at Royal Laurel check in. Was greeting by a nice contract agent and quickly checked in. We were traveling light and with only carry-ons.
Terminal 1
Followed the signs to Airline Lounges. We were invited to use the Alitalia lounge, which I've heard was bad, but this was a joke. Apparently BR uses the Lufthansa lounge for the evening departure, BR31, not sure if it's much better but it could not be worse.
I thought i'd see if the Air France lounge would grant access to Priority Pass members, look promising as we approached, and then we saw two signs that they were not accepting Priority Pass members, amongst other programs.
Headed over to the Michaelangelo Lounge. Michaelangelo would be rolling over if he knew about the state of affairs here.
The one plus was that this place was empty.
The food spread, lol.
Cheese plate.
About as clean as Manafort.
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Grabbed a quick Pellegrino and made my way out to gate 5, where I met up with my wife's brother. It just so happened that my brother's brother in-law was also on our flight, as he was flying to TPE and on to mainland China for a R&D trip, so we grabbed a beer and chatted for a few.
Caught a nice Saudia 777 pulling in from the bar, which seemed a bit ironic.
Gate 5
Noticed a long line queuing up for RL boarding, so I joined the gate lice on it and waited about 10 minutes to board
Fairly clear instructions on where to stand.
Flying a 3.5 yo 777 today to TPE in just under 16 hours.
First time flying in a reverse herringbone seat. While it is fairly comfortable, it's a bit narrow for my size and the default position was a killer on my lower back.
Also, not sure what got into me this trip, but didn't take the best pictures of the cabin and seats on any of my flights, sorry.
Legroom is great, but felt a bit narrow, with my left knee butting up against the shell. Maybe I'm just manspreading a bit too much.
BTW, the I've worn Nike my whole life, but these Adidas NMD's may be the most comfortable sneaker out there.
Waiting at the seat was a pair of noise cancelling headphones, Rimowa amenity kit, duvet and mattress pad. PDB of orange juice, water, sparkling water was offered. No champagne pro-actively offered, but I did see a few glasses making their way in and out of the galley, which I thought was interesting. I was fine to wait till up in the air for some Krug.
Pajamas were offered shortly thereafter. I took a large (the largest they have) and the pants barely fit and the top was way too snug.
Nothing special in the kit, just the basics
Drink and food menus were distributed. I think EVA Air has one of the most beautiful and unique menu designs out there. I had heard good things about the EVA Air catering and it did not disappoint. I appreciate the fact that they serve Krug in J class and also have a preorder feature online. I booked the stir fry lobster.
Solid spirits line up with the Taiwanese Kavalan Single Malt leading the pack
a la
SFO777, Showtime, EVA Air style
Amuse bouche. I sort of feel like an amuse douche saying that.
The menu design carries over into the tablecloth design, which I also found to be quite attractive.
Tasty garlic bread. Nice salt/pepper shakers.
EVA Air silverware, along with a side of mint floss.
Tuna starter, fairly bland.
Great butternut squash soup, quite seasonal.
Salad with a cucumber cream dressing. The lovely FAs found cucumber to be quite a tongue twister and we laughed together as they sort of gave up after the 4th or 5th try. I applaud their courage. I don't speak a lick of Mandarin and can only imagine how difficult it is.
Main course of stir fry lobster with noodles and bok choy. It was excellent and had a fair amount of meat.
After dinner, the cheese and dessert cart made a pass. I had my head turned for a second and when I looked again, they had served me everything imaginable from the cart. I can get used to this.
I really enjoyed the chocolate mousse cake.
Bottled water was handed out after the meal, which lasted about 1.5 hours. Mood lighting was turned on and I had my bed made up.
Slept for about 4.5 hours, which left another 9 or so left. Decided I should continue to eat and see what else EVA Air has to offer.
Ordered the burger. I had low expectations but this turned out to be amazing. The burger was juicy and good sized. I like that it was topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese and pickles. The fries were a bit soft but tasty.
Finished that and noticed we were taking the Polar route. Magical scenery, not so magical low light iPhone photography
Little snack bar set up in the J mini cabin galley. The seaweed Lays were interesting.
Next was the noodles with minced pork. TASTY. This was a precursor to some of the Taipei cuisine I would sample.
After a few more movies, it was time for breakfast/refresher course. I went with the Chinese option, which was not the right choice for me and my palate, but hey, when in Rome...
Views
IFE was touchscreen and remote activated. Fairly responsive with a decent selection.
Landed on time at TPE, which was about an 75 mins from Taipei proper. Arranged for the W to pick us up. A clean Porsche Cayenne was waiting. Hit the ATM and hopped in our ride.
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Up next: W Taipei, Taipei food and sites