zcat18

Sounds like a great Marvel Comics issue to me! Actually, I've done many more longhauls in Y than I have in J or F, but just a couple of years flying up front has spoiled me rotten.

Thanks again for the report!

steveman518

haha yeah one flight in J has already spoiled me forever

steveman518

The next day was my planned trip to Phillip Island, which was again booked through Melbourne Coastal Touring, but what happened was, which the driver told me was somewhat common, was that the company had essentially sold seats on another company's tour. In this case the company actually operating the tour was Wildlife Australia Tours. This was a larger tour that seated up to 24, so we were on a small bus for the day.

The common pick-up spot was at St Andrew's Cathedral at 11:45AM after those who had been picked up earlier at their respective hotels. The inside wasn't particularly roomy, though I was able to get one of the single seats.



Our first stop was at the Maru Wildlife Park for lunch and some close inspection of some wildlife. However, I'm not a huge fan of these types of parks, as the "wildlife" was about as tame as could be and most of them didn't really care about our presence.

Except emus of course-they just hate everything


Koalas being koalas


And nothing else cared


Seriously


The wombat was just sleeping in the corner


On the way to Phillip Island we made a couple of other stops, but nothing too notable (which is why I'm not a huge fan of larger tours-there's only so much you can do). However, I did spot this "miracle" outside a candy and ice cream shop in Cowes


We also went to swan lake, where we spotted about one swan


Our last stop before the penguin parade was at the Nobbies at the headlands, where you can see some of the penguins' residences overlooking the coast

baby penguins


There are some man-made houses for the penguins that researchers use to study the penguins




Naturally, where there is life, there is death


Naturally, my one other shot of a seagull is much less morbid


Our last stop was the penguin parade, where, at dusk, the penguins return from the ocean and make their way to their homes on land. We arrived just before dinner, and I grabbed a seafood plate. Interestingly, sauce packets in Australia are squeezable from the start. There are two reservoirs that are connected in the middle, and squeezing them together creates an opening in the middle where the sauce comes out.


For the actual penguin show, they do not allow picture-taking, as flash disorients the penguins and [rant]TOO MANY IDIOTS USE THEIR CAMERAS ON AUTO SETTINGS BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THEIR CAMERAS. IF YOU HAVE A NICE SLR PLEASE LEARN HOW TO ACTUALLY USE IT INSTEAD OF USING YOUR AUTO SETTINGS, OTHERWISE YOU'RE JUST USING A MASSIVELY EXPENSIVE POINT-AND-SHOOT[/rant]. So as thus there are no pictures. At dusk you can see the first group of penguins start to arrive on the beach, only to turn back if they see the seagulls (believing them to be birds of prey). Eventually they'll start making their way inland and past the viewing areas. When the first penguins are sighted, the rangers will leave the lights on for 50 minutes and count the number of penguins that come ashore. For viewing the penguin parade, there are two types of viewing areas: standard and Penguin Plus. I had the Penguin Plus seating, and I have to say that it was well worth the extra $20, as the penguins will pass directly next to the seating area and in great numbers. I spoke to some of the other tourists who were in the general seating area, and they weren't quite as trilled as there were relatively fewer penguins.

We headed back to the bus for a 10pm departure, arriving back in Melbourne around midnight

Flinders station at night


Overall I was not a fan of this tour, as we didn't do very much at all, as there wasn't really much to do until we reached the Nobbies and I felt the larger group wasn't quite as conducive to having a good time.

steveman518

I awoke late the next morning for my final day in Melbourne. After checking out of the hotel, I was on my quest for lunch, possibly in Chinatown.



However, nothing seemed to appease me, so I headed further east to the highly-recommended Pellegrinis' Espresso Bar, home of Melbourne's first cappuccino. It's a blast from the past and has a very homey feel to it. Seating is bar only, and the menu hangs above the bar.





I ordered a lasagna with a watermelon granita, and it was brought out several minutes later.


I was a huge fan of the granita, so much that I even got one to go. The lasagna was pretty good, though I would admit it is a little different than what I'm used to-in this case it wasn't really cleanly layered, but instead more of a hodge-podge.

Since it was my last day in Melbourne, I decided to walk around the southern part of the city, which I previously hadn't explored

Queen Victoria Garden




Royal Botanical Garden




Shrine of Remembrance


I eventually made my way under the Eureka Tower, but I walked past it first as I wanted to visit the South Melbourne Market. Unfortunately I found it to be closed that day


I made my way back to the Eureka Tower and up to the Eureka 88 Skydeck, where you can overlook the city of Melbourne.


Flinders Station


Olympic Park and the MCG


CBD


From there I walked back to Southern Cross Station to board the Skybus back to the airport. The bus first stopped at the international terminal before the domestic terminal




After I arrived at the airport my first goal was to acquire dinner. I stopped by Oporto to grab a sandwich-it was surprisingly small, though I suppose I'm used to fast food here in the US.


After dinner I headed over to the Jetstar gates, which really reminded me of the UX area at IAD


Unfortunately our plane was delayed, but that didn't stop everyone from lining up UA-style (in this case with only one boarding zone)


Eventually our plane showed up, and like boarding, JQ deplanes from both ends of the plane


JQ478
MEL-NTL
Airbus A320
5D

This flight was more or less like the flight coming down from NTL-bright cabin, but this flight was packed. Unfortunately the couple next to me engaged in some high school-esque PDA through the entire flight and couldn't keep their hands to themselves. I did find it interesting once again that all announcements were automated and I don't think the FAs said anything over the PA system.

Obligatory legroom shot and another reminder of my shortness


I was a little sad reading through the magazine again as I wasn't able to visit any of the gourmet doughnut places recommended in the guide-perhaps next time?

steveman518

The rest of the time near Port Stephens was spent with the family, so here are a few highlights of the area

Near Nelson Bay there are quite a few hills where you can climb and have a look around. If you climb up to Mt. Tomaree at the headlands you can look back towards the area with ocean on either side of you.


To the south is a large area of sand dunes, and available activities include sandboarding and camel riding.

Dunes!


Sandboarding






In Port Stephens, the central business districts of many of these small towns (if they exist) are about a whole block or two. In Lemon Tree Passage, there's a park where fishermen will skin and clean the day's catch in the presence of hungry pelicans.

cleaning the dolphinfish


waiting for lunch


After spending several days, including Christmas, in Port Stephens, we made our way down to Sydney. On the way down we stopped at the Australian Reptile Park, which housed a lot of wildlife. This was definitely an improvement over Maru Wildlife Preserve, as the animals did more than just sleep, and the kangaroos would come up to you if you wanted to feed them-just make sure that when you feed them you put the food in your hand and extend it to them, otherwise they'll also take the entire bag if you present it to them. There were also various demonstrations, including an alligator feeding and a brown snake venom collection demonstration.

One of the koalas was of particular fascination, as he spend a good amount of time trying to escape the enclosure, including trying to climb the metal exterior barrier.





He also tried to climb up the tree, but the trees are wrapped in plastic about half-way up so that they can't climb to the top and escape by jumping to another tree


He looks so sad after being resigned to his fate


After arriving in Sydney the first order of business was dinner. We stopped by the Din Tai Fung in World Square, and I was generally pleased with the food-it's better than the ones in the US, but definitely not as good as it is in Hong Kong. An interesting item contained seven "XLB", each one with a different filling, including one with cheese and one with BBQ pork, designed to be eaten in a specific order from lightest to heaviest.


At the World Square we saw what was to be the first of many fake Christmas trees-it's almost like an obsession...


While wandering in the CBD we did run into some drunk guy washing windshield by pouring bottled water on people's windshields and using a squeegee to remove the water


To complete the evening we wandered into the Queen Victoria Building, which is basically a building full of boutiques, and yet another huge fake Christmas tree, this time courtesy of Swarovski


There are also two clocking hanging above, and this one would play a little show on the hour. Unfortunately we didn't see it that evening, but I managed to catch the show a little later


Meriton Serviced Apartments Dank Street, Waterloo

Our stay in Sydney would be split into two locations: one before the new year, and one after the new year. Our first stay was in the southern area of Sydney, in a 2 bedroom apartment.

The upstairs bedroom


The upstairs bathroom (toiletries by Peter Morrissey)


The kitchen after I had finished eating a midnight snack


View of Sydney Cricket Ground and the nearby golf course from the balcony


The bedroom and the kitchen were both upstairs, while the master bedroom and bathroom were downstairs. The two bedrooms were very similar, but the downstairs bathroom also had a separate bathtub.

The AC in the apartment was not central, so there was a wall-mounted system in every room. Additionally, our dishwasher was broken and it had to be repaired the second day we were staying. My biggest gripe was with the internet. Each apartment did get wi-fi, however it was capped (ours was 2GB/day) and device-limited. There seemed to be issues of disconnected sessions not expiring, and we would hit the device limit daily and have to call the front desk to remove the disconnected sessions. Other than the broken dishwasher and internet issues, the stay was more or less adequate.

steveman518

The next morning on our first full day in Sydney we began the way with the I'm Free walking tour. Now the one in Sydney was much more crowded than the one in Melbourne, which made it a little difficult to hear the guide. The tour, which takes a little less than 3 hours, started at city hall and made its way north, ending at The Rocks.

St. Mary's Cathedral from Hyde Park


Lindt Chocolate Cafe


Memorial still going strong


Another fake Christmas tree


Modern "Art"


Another fake Christmas tree at Circular Quay


Harbor Bridge from Circular Quay


After the end of the tour, we had lunch at the nearby Playfair Cafe, where I had the rachel, which was a pastrami and slaw sandwich


After lunch we crossed the Harbor Bridge into North Sydney, and the harbor itself is pretty much the only thing to see


There isn't really that much to do (IMHO) in North Sydney, so all I did was get an ice cream bar. Since Magnum was doing a 25th birthday special, they had "silver"-coated salted caramel bars.


Naturally I was hoping for it to be like

but of course it tasted like a regular ice cream bar

Our next stop was the Royal Botanical Garden before our Opera House tour. However, since it was so close to NYE, fences and tents were set up over a good area of the open space




The tour itself was about an hour long, taking you through one of the smaller theaters and one of the larger theaters. The Opera House actually consists of three smaller theaters and two larger theaters. However, they didn't allow pictures inside the theaters as they were setting up the sets for upcoming performances (including the NYE premier of the opera season with La Boheme).



The north foyer, where the NYE party would be held


The day ended with my second ever live cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with the Perth Scorchers visiting the Sydney Sixers. By this point I had started to watch some cricket on TV any time I was at the hotel, and there were a good number of test matches happening leading up to the ICC Cricket World Cup. For this match the general seating was sold out, and the lines were ridiculously long-so long that we didn't get into the match until several overs in. The ticket agent sold the tickets at student price, so the silver tickets cost the same as general admission. The Sixers couldn't get going their time up to bat, losing by 36 runs







The pyrotechnics weren't as impressive




creepy mascots: Sydney Sixers edition

steveman518

The next morning we tried to reach the hectic place that is the Sydney Fish Market. And by try I mean spend half the morning getting there and finding parking. I was very impressed by the shops there, with a very large selection of seafood, and much larger than that here at Seattle's Pike Place Market





Once we got inside the main building, it was completely packed, with no clear indications of where lines were forming or ending, and eventually decided to stay for lunch. I chose to wait for the BBQ Grill, and was somewhat disappointed that several of the menu items were not available before settling on the whole grilled flounder. I really liked the the marinade and sauce on the fish, and the fish was very fresh and flaky, but there was a lot of fish and not a lot of sauce, and most of the fish didn't have much beyond texture. The chips also stuck to the paper on the bottom of the box, and the paper would often rip and attach to the chips.



The afternoon was spent wandering around the CBD with a few stops. Our first stop was at the Hyde Park Barracks, which was built in Sydney's earlier years to house convicts (later housing arriving women). It is probably the one paid museum in Sydney I would recommend, as it told the stories of those in the early days of Sydney and lets you see a little into the past.







Wandering further down Hyde Park we come upon the ANZAC memorial


Let Silent Contemplation Be Your Offering


We made our way back to Queen Victoria Building on the way to Darling Harbor to see the little show in the clock, and it was kind of cute seeing the little mechanical show in the thing, capped off with the decapitation of Charles II (I think)


And people getting into the swing of things


That evening we had scheduled a dinner cruise with Captain Cook Cruises aboard their newest boat, the Sydney 2000. The 3-hour evening cruise would make a round-trip through the harbor and begin with dinner. However, if you eat more than a tiny portion for a meal, I would recommend something larger than the sailor's menu (main course only), unless you want to eat before and/or after the evening cruise. I also had the misfortune of the motor in my wide-angle zoom lens becoming inoperable from here until the end of my trip







Naturally, "My Heart Will Go On" was the last song of the night on the boat, and of course, this happened

steveman518

And finally, we've reached New Year's Eve. Sydney has lots of public viewing places where you can set up, but the best spots will fill up quickly and after they've reached capacity the city will actually close those areas to new guests (thank goodness for crown control). Since we had tickets to see the Opera Gala, we made our way to the Opera House

In the early afternoon


Boats setting up in a small area of the harbor


Inside the concert hall


The program for the night featured several performers with the Opera and Ballet Orchestra performing a range of popular arias and featuring several pointed jokes. I'm not entirely sure who did what or what was exactly performed since you could only find out if you purchased a program. What I can tell you is that the program was very entertaining, and the singers sang beautifully to help us prepare to kick off 2015.

The first intermission was set to coincide with the 9PM fireworks, which is for families and children who don't want to stay up until midnight and others who want to avoid the crowds leaving after the midnight show. The show itself was somewhat subdued and not that grad, but then again it was still 2014. We went on the balcony outside the north foyer to get an unobstructed view of the show. (Remember the broken lens motor-all focus is manual focus )






There are six barges in the harbor, each producing the same show. This barge was closer to the Opera House, but of course there wasn't the Harbor Bridge in the foreground


Because you can do so much more with the bridge


We returned to the second half of the excellent show to wind down 2014


The midnight party at the Opera House was a separate event requiring a second ticket (and lots of confused people wondering why they were being turned away). The party was hosted in the north foyer, and featured drinks (Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial NV being the featured champagne), finger foods, and live music.

All the well-dressed people




Definitely not the cheap stuff




At the beginning of the party, there were people already waiting at the balcony for the best views for the fireworks, and the party started two hours before midnight. In addition to wishing that I had a better view and wasn't so short, I still wished that the motor in my lens would also work

Happy New Year!




omg is the bridge still there?








oooh




After the ten or so minutes that the show lasted, the party continued until about 1:30am

music and dancing


and the desserts finally come out around 12:30


After the party we make our way back to the car and to the second hotel of our Sydney stay

Courtyard Sydney North Ryde
In this hotel we had two rooms with two beds each. It was an adequate hotel room typical of a Courtyard




The one thing I had issue with was that too much light leaked from the bathroom into the bedroom, as there was a frosted glass wall between the bathroom and the near bed, and this can be an issue if someone is a light sleeper and someone else is a night owl.

We slept in the next day so I didn't get a chance to check out the hotel breakfast. The day was spent relaxing at Bondi beach with hundreds, if not thousands, of your friends.


My last dinner in Australia was at the Sydney Eye, which is similar to meals at the Space Needle in that the floor rotates so you can see the views around.


The food was a buffet spread and did contain kangaroo, emu, and crocodile meat, among other items, but for the most part the food was kind of meh and not particularly inspiring. The kangaroo meat was very dry, though most other foods were decent.


Coming up-returning home: featuring my first real business class, short connections (and 3-minute showers), and UA trying to screw me over one more time

steveman518

And finally, I am approaching my first real flight in a premium cabin (because UA domestic F doesn't really count...) and my first flight with Asiana. Since it is a relatively early flight and requires an early departure from the hotel, I decide to stay up all night and mash out the first couple posts of this TR. Before breakfast begins we make our way from the Courtyard to SYD. I was dropped off at the terminal while my dad went to drop off the rental car.

SYD, like a fair number of airports outside the US, is like one big duty free store-I almost couldn't find where the gates were. Eventually I made my way through the duty free area to the AMEX lounge by gate 24, which had only opened a couple of weeks earlier.



AMEX Lounge SYD, operated by Premium Plaza



The main seating area


There were a couple of small corners around, but not quite as private as some areas of the centurion lounge




From the lounge there is also some good spotting that can be done-mostly QF planes since the lounge is in the QF area of the terminal


Food area


Cold breakfast options + warm pastries


Hot breakfast options


Bar area


My breakfast


Having breakfast at the lounge instead of waiting for the hotel breakfast, which most likely would not have had as many hot items. I really really liked the waffle and syrup and everything else on the plate was very good. There was always a lounge attendant roving around clearing plates and asking if you would like a drink brought out (or you could ask for a drink from the bar). ^ Additionally, the wifi was very good and kept up with my FT TR-reading habits

The bathroom, on the other hand, was very small, in that there was one bathroom per gender, so I can see how there would be problems when the lounge would get crowded.

From the toilet


I waited until 10 minutes before boarding to leave in order to guest my dad into the lounge, as he was departing on a later MU flight. I proceeded to the gate, while passing through another duty free area

steveman518

Note: I've split this post from the previous post because it was too long-wait for the next installment!

Gate area


Our bird to take us to ICN


OZ602
SYD-ICN
Boeing 777-200ER
2D

When boarding is announce, I make my way to the podium and, due to no gate lice, am the first to board. At SYD everyone boards through door 1L, passing through the J cabin. The plane features OZ's old angle lie-flat J product with a 2-3-2 layout. The load on that flight was 27/28, with the one empty seat being the middle seat next to me (yes, an extra amenity kit! )

From seat 2D


Legroom for days and days


Still in the festive spirit


Seat controls-the control for raising the lowering the armrest wasn't working for my seat, but I didn't need it anyways


The amenity kit, pillow, blanket, and slippers were at the seat at boarding


The amenity kit contained earplugs, socks, an eyemask, tissue, lotion from L'Occitane, a comb, and a toothbrush and toothpaste


The non-noise cancelling headphones that no one seems to really like in J


Towards the end of boarding when the passage of Y passengers has calmed down, the FAs come around with pre-poured PDBs (no alcohol on the ground). I begin my flight with an OJ served in a glass. I'm already liking this flight, and it doesn't hurt that the FAs are good-looking young women


After take-off the IFE is turned on. This is OZ's old old IFE system that isn't AVOD, but instead various channels that regularly loop, like NW maybe about 10 years ago. While normally I wouldn't be too happy about it, there weren't really any movies I was looking to watch (as I tend to watch all my new releases on planes), and the service on this flight was unlike that I had ever had before.

Also, Chinese cinema needs to come out with a movie that's not a love story and/or a kung fu movie. While the Chinese movie was "The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom" 《白发魔女传之明月天国》, it was just another fantasy love story...


Soon after and hot towel (towel #1) and the menu was presented (and I'll give it to you in English instead of translating from the Chinese version )



















Since the pictures aren't that great, here's a written version:

Lunch

Western:

Canape
Smoked Salmon

Appetizer
Prawn Salad

Soup
Zucchini Cream Soup

Main Courses
Beef Tenderloin Steak
Served with Porcini Mushroom Sauce
Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables
-or-
Seamed Hake Fish
Garlic and Herb butter with Mixed Vegetables
-or-
Chicken Cacciatore
Steamed Rice and Mixed Vegetables

Cheese
Emmeental, Garlic Cream, Camambert

Dessert
Mango Mousse

Coffee and Tea

Korean:

Starter
Smoked Salmon
Beef Vegetable Roll
Korean Pumpkin Porridge 'Hodakjuk'

Main Course
Mixing and Harmonizing
A Famous Korean Cuisine 'Bibimbap'
Steamed Rice, Various Kinds of Vegetables and Minced Beef Mixed with Red Pepper Paste 'Gochujang', Sesame Oil, Accompanied by Assorted Side Dishes and Soup

Dessert
Fresh Fruit

Coffee and Tea

Korean Traditional Cookies
Made of Wheat Flour and Walnut

Refreshments
Sandwich, Seasonal Fresh Fruit, Ramen, Chips

Snack

Appetizer
Prosciutto Salad

Main Courses
Stir Fried Kimchi with Pork
Served with Pak Choi and Steamed Rice
-or-
'Barramundi' Fish Crust
Crusted with Gremolata
Served with lime Hollandaise Sauce,
Potato, Carrot and Snow Pea
-or-
Chicken Porridge

Dessert
Fresh Fruits

Coffee and Tea

Wine Menu

Apertifs
Campari
Medium Dry Sherry Sandeman

Spirits
Chivas Regal 18 Years Old Scotch Whisky
Ballantine's 17 Years Old Scotch Whisky
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey
Absolut Vodka
Beefeater Gin

Gognac & Liqueurs
Camus XO
Baileys Irish Cream
Drambuie
Cointreau

Beers
OB, Cass, Hite, Max
Heineken, Beck's Budweiser

Korean Rice Wine 'Makgeolli'

Non-Alcoholic Beverages
Orange, Apple, Tomato Juice
Pineapple, Guava Jiuce
Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale

Cocktail
Whisky Sour
Manhattan
Bloody Mary
Mimosa
Screwdriver

Champagne & White Wine
Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne
Joseph Drouhin Saint-Veran Chardonnay 2011
Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay 2011

Red Wine
Chateau du Malleret 2010
Wente Vineyards Reliz Creek Pinot Noir 2010
d'Arenberg Stump Jump Syrah 2012

Dessert Wine
Sandeman 20 Years Old Tawny Port
Sawmill Creek Vidal Icewine 2008

Coffee & Tea
Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee
Decaffeinated Coffee
Espresso
Cappuccino
Cafe Latte
Earl Grey
Chamomile
Oolong Tea
Ginseng Tea
Green Tea
Jasmine Tea

For lunch I went with the Korean option. The service began with the FA setting the table before a drink service with the first starter. I had an orange juice along with the champagne to begin the meal service

Appetizer cart


Showtime with the smoked salmon starter. The starter was a great way to being the meal-a small bite with some light flavors. The FAs always set up the tablecloth with the logo facing you.


Silverware and napkin arrive after the first starter


Beef vegetable roll-a little heavier than the first starter, but also very good-I'm a huge fan of serving sliced beef served cold. However I wasn't a huge fan of the stuff inside the tomato-there was an overpowering horseradish flavor


Up next was the pumpkin soup, which was nice and thick


Normally that's about as much food as I'll see in a meal in Y, but of course, this is business class, and despite reading many TRs on FT, I was still quite surprised at the amount of food there really was (remember the first flight in J part )

So naturally, a huge tray of food showed up for the Bimbimbap main, served with a soup, kimchi, and anchovies sides. I also had the champagne refilled by this time, as the FAs wouldn't take no for an answer


Naturally I had no idea what I was doing so I just mixed a bunch of stuff together and it was absolutely delicious


After that absolutely ridiculous amount of food, I was glad that the dessert courses weren't that big, otherwise I would have felt bad leaving food on the plate in front of these lovely ladies


Korean dessert


Coffee and tea cart


Dessert with an oolong tea, which was brewed on the cart on order


Originally I had also requested to have the western dessert as well, but I did have to decline it due to how full I was. Overall this was the best meal I had ever had on a plane thus far, and I was definitely very happy with the meal. The FAs were also really great and warm, always asking if you were finished with a "may I..." and asking if you wanted refills with a "would you..." without being overbearing (and with a smile!). I was very happy with the meal service and pace and was extremely full.

After my dessert was cleared, I went to check out the bathroom. It was a normal sized bathroom stocked with some L'Occitane amenities and the same comb and toothbrush/toothpaste found in the amenity kit




Upon returning to my seat, the meal service had concluded and there was another hot towel (#2) and a bottle of water presented


Soon after I prepared to take a nap

Seat in "bed mode"-you could actually get it to recline a little further into something that was actually angle lie-flat




Soon after the curtain was closed (a real curtain!) and the cabin lights were dimmed


From the back of the J cabin


I was able to nap for an hour or so before the curse of the screaming baby hit (I swear there's a screaming baby within 2 rows of almost every flight I'm on) and the baby kept screaming for most of the rest of the flight. I try to keep myself occupied through various movies and music (interestingly the music would cut out every once in a while) before the snack service about two hours away from ICN. I use the call button to get a ginseng tea halfway through the flight, and a FA appears very quickly, with the tea following several minutes later. Too bad I wasn't hungry enough for a snack

The cabin lights soon turn on in preparation for the meal service. For the snack, I chose the porridge for the main, as I absolutely love porridge as it's one of my favorite comfort foods. Hot towel (#3) followed with an orange juice, quickly followed by a guava juice




Showtime


Proscuitto salad appetizer


Chicken porridge main, with pumpkin(?) and jujube and kimchi and pickled radish sides. The only issue I had with this was that there were some pits in the jujube


Fruit


Jasmine tea


Towards the end of the flight, after the last round of the IFE, an arrivals video appears, highlighting some in-air "exercises" and transfer procedures. I almost couldn't even...


We arrive at ICN on-time, only for our gate to still be occupied. I had originally scheduled a 1 hour transfer at ICN, which was more than enough time, but I still wanted to take a shower. After a 10-minute delay, we reach our gate and deplane from doors 1L and 2L and I'm on my way.

Up next: another 45-minute connection and my second ever true business class flight

steveman518

Initially I was a little worried about having a 1-hr connection at ICN, mostly because of how incompetently long it takes to transfer in the US after an international flight (and how much longer it takes than it should in Europe). Of course, after consulting FT and reading about everyone else's experience, I wasn't too concerned, except for the fact I might not be able to stop by the J lounge.

After we arrived, I was the first one off the plane and was blitzing it on my way to transit security.



At ICN, transit security essentially involves someone looking at your passport and boarding pass and passing through the metal detector. Since there was no one in line at transit security, I was able to go from plane to terminal in about 5 minutes, where I immediately set out to find the lounge.

In the terminal looking the wrong way (naturally)


Eventually I make my way over to the J lounge (by gate 28) and ask for a shower key. The lounge dragon reminds me that boarding begins in 10 minutes before exchanging my boarding pass for a key to a shower room, and I was on my way. The showers at ICN weren't stocked with travel-size bottles, but instead with large multi-use bottles. The lounge was very empty, as I don't think OZ has that many late departures.

Lounge from the back, featuring the grand piano in the middle of the lounge


Food spread, which I didn't have time to try






Again, I shower and brush my teeth in less than ten minutes, with the goal of just not being particularly unclean. I grab a bottle of water on the way out, and left the lounge to head over to my flight, which was boarding at the far end of the terminal. Interestingly, like when I left HKG, I had a bottle of water confiscated at the gate, though naturally being OZ J there would be no shortage of available water.

steveman518

OZ204
ICN-LAX
Boeing 777-200ER
4A

I reach the gate after most of boarding has completed and make my way to the plane. There are two doors at the gate with J and Y labels that lead to a set of stairs, at which there are two more doors with J and Y labels with jet bridges leading to doors 1L and 2L.

This was the flight I was particularly looking forward to because it would be my first long-haul with a lie-flat seat (I had previously flown the J seats on UA's 788s when they were initially doing only domestic routes), and my first all-aisle access seats. The flight featured OZ's first generation Business Smartium seats featuring the 1-2-1 staggered alignment. I chose 4A because it was one of the seats with the seat by the window and the little table against the aisle for a little more privacy.

By the time I board most of J has already boarded, so the following cabin shots were taken throughout the flight.

4A




The small storage compartment contained the headphones, slippers, and amenity kit (same as previous flight)


From 4A




Still in festive mode


Even more legroom


Very soon after the FAs come around with a tray full of PDBs (bubbles on the ground!) and Korean and international newspapers. The lady across the aisle from me and her husband were also on J on my previous flight, and we started chatting about holiday plans (me finishing my vacation, and they starting theirs). We push back from the gate on-time and are soon airborne.

After the seat belt sign is turned off the crew set about distributing menus before taking orders-perhaps it would be a little more relaxed if there was more time to peruse, though since this is a night-time flight this might be done in the interest of maximizing sleep.









The wine menu is the same as the previous flight. Since the pictures might not be great, the menu is also listed below

Dinner

Western:

Appetizer
Roasted King Prawn with Couscous and Baby Leaves, Asparagus

Soup
Lentil Soup

Main Courses
Grilled Beef Tenderloin Steak with Red Wine Sauce
-or-
Crumbled Cod Fish with Sepia Risotto
-or-
Chicken stuffed with Ricotta Cheese, Vegetable & Champagne Rose Sauce

Cheese
Blue, Saint Andre, Camembert

Dessert
Walnut Carrot Cake

Coffee and Tea

Korean:

Starter
Korean Traditional Pan Fried Yam 'Seoyeohyangbyeong'
Korean Rice Porridge with Black Sesame 'Heugimjajuk'

Main Course
Nutritious Korean Cuisine, 'Ssambap'
Steamed Rice Topped with Grilled 'Bulgogi' Beef and *Bean Paste,
Wrapped with Various Kinds of Leafy Vegetables

*Bean Paste: Contains various nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pine nuts, etc).
Those with allergies should be careful

Dessert
Fresh Fruit

Coffee and Tea

Korean Traditional Cookies
Korean Style Mixed Nut & Dried Fruit Brittle and Dried Apple Roulade

Refreshments
Sandwiches, Seasonal Fresh Fruit, Ramen, Kimchi Cold Noodles

Snack

Appetizer
Assorted Salad with Caramelized Goat Cheese
Italian Dressing

Main Courses
Korean Braised Chicken 'Dakjjim'
Seasoned with Bulgogi Sauce
Served with Glass Noodle, Vegetable and Steamed Rice
-or-
Grilled Salmon Steak
Served with Hollandaise Sauce and Vegetables
-or-
Korean Rice Porridge with Edible Shoots of a Fatsia and Beef

Dessert
Sweet Potato Cake

Coffee and Tea

For dinner I chose the Korean option again, with the request of an additional western dessert if available.

At this time the IFE was also on, and since this was the OZ Quadra Smartium, it was AVOD, which was nice. Of course, there was still the one Chinese movie that was the same as the previous flight


Though...uh...
In hindsight I probably should have checked it out for the laughs, even if it was in Korean


Hot towel (#1)


Showtime with OJ and champagne (and the tablecloth and the logo displayed correctly )! This time the silverware set also came with one of those hand wipes, presumably for the main which you eat with your hands.


The first starter, the pan fried yam-it seemed like it was breaded and pan-fried before being served chilled, resulting in an intriguing mix of taste and texture


Up next was the rice porridge with black sesame, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting (it was more a thinner rice porridge instead of a thick porridge with rice) and there was enough sesame to give it some more flavor without it being overbearing


Next up was the Ssambap main served on a big tray with soup, kimchi, and fish sides


Naturally I had no idea what I was doing and just kind of made something really delicious. Judge away all you want, but it tasted good to me


After the main course the fruit course was presented-this one wasn't quite as fresh as the fruit course on the other flight


And this time, I was still hungry enough to have both desserts (Korean dried apple roulade and mixed nut and dried fruit brittle and western walnut carrot cake, from left to right) with a ginseng tea, which was once again brewed on the dessert cart. I really liked the apple roulade and brittle, though the brittle was a little harder than I liked. The carrot cake was a little lacking in flavor, but I liked that it wasn't heavy


The aftermath with towel #2


During the meal process the crew was once again very proactive, but not quite as warm as those on the first flight. They would not take no as an answer, so I ended up consuming a fair amount of champagne during the meal. Needless to say, being a one-shot wonder and a sleepy drunk, after visiting the lavatory, I downed the water bottle that was provided, reclined my seat, and fell asleep. This time I stayed asleep for 4.5 hours, setting a new personal record for uninterrupted sleep on a plane 3.5 hours longer than previous.

Lav with the same amenities as previous flight


Laying flat somewhere over Japan before I go to sleep


I really liked the seat, but I can definitely see how it would be a problem for shorter and those with wider shoulders (I believe the shoulder width was improved on the second generation of seats on the 380, per Carfield's report). Being a short Asian dude the seat was more than adequate for me. However, on this flight the cabin was a little warmer than I liked, and after I woke up, I had a hard time getting more sustained sleep. What was nice is that every time I finished a water bottle, a FA would soon quickly replace the bottle without me noticing.

A couple of hours before landing, the cabin lights are turned on and a hot towel #3 and drinks were presented.


Showtime! with OJ and guava juice


Salad appetizer-I loved the dressing on the plate-it was much better than the italian dressing in the little container


The porridge main with fatsia shoots and beef with pickled turnip side-once again the porridge (awesome comfort food!) hits the spot and I love pickled turnip


Sweet potato cake dessert, which was a nice light dessert to close out the flight, with an oolong tea


Hot towel #4 to close out the meal service


Unfortunately, all good flights come to an end, and we arrive at LAX TBIT. We deplane from door 2L, but the FAs hold back all the Y passengers to let us de-plane first. The immigration lines were very long with many other early afternoon arrivals, and using global entry was a huge time-saver. Interestingly there was a glitch in the machines for some people coming in from the OZ and BA flights saying that they were coming in from the wrong city, resulting in a lot of people getting the X on their receipt. However there was an officer at GE and we were processed quickly, and soon after I was heading over the T7 for my UA segments...

Unfortunately my time on OZ has come to an end, but so far those two flights were the best flight experiences in my life, with good food and staff that actually cares about the traveler experience. That's why I suffer through UA to fly on partner carriers, though too bad UA had to make partner award redemption more expensive.

Coming up: oh no, back on UA...

ellielovesem

Really enjoyed this report, thanks for taking the time to write.

injian

This was a good TR. LMAO @ Magnum/Blue Steel reference. Thanks for sharing.

BadgerBoi

Thanks for the great report, you managed to capture so much detail for every part of the trip. I don't normally read TRs that are so long, but you held my interest all the way through and I eagerly awaited each new instalment.