Round The World and other travel

Flight Log 12: OZ541

Seoul Incheon (ICN) - Frankfurt (FRA)

ABOVE: Asiana's 'hard product' in First Class

Having been escorted from the lounge to the door of the aircraft by a member of ground staff, I was then led to my seat by a member of the cabin crew. A washbag, pillow and blanket were already in place, and pyjamas, slippers and a set of top-quality Bose headphones were soon delivered on a tray. My jacket was hung in the closet and I was served a glass of champagne, after which some warmed nuts were spooned out into a small dish at my seat.

The Cabin Service Manager also dropped by to say hello. I then had time to take stock of my surroundings. The front bulkhead seemed much larger than usual, for the simple reason that it was, being set further back than usual (see blanked out windows in picture at foot of page). While the layout bore similarities to that used by British Airways, there were also marked differences. While BA manages to shoehorn 14 passengers into the nose cone, Asiana was content to have just ten. The overall seat layout was similar, but with less overlap of adjacent seats. There were only four seats along each of the two converging side walls and only one seat pair in the middle of the cabin. Asiana had also eschewed the buddy seat concept in favour of a larger IFE screen. The overall effect, predictably, was a much more spacious and exclusive feel.

Door 1L was closed at 1222; with only five passengers (1A, 3A, 1K, 2K, 4K) in the cabin, I wondered if this was it. The speculation was confirmed four minutes later when I heard the command being given to arm the slides. A round of hot towels was distributed at this point and the captain greeted the passengers, mentioning in passing that the expected flight time today was 10hrs 40mins. We pushed back at 1232 and minutes later were waved off by the ground crew. As we taxied out to the runway I briefly browsed through the IFE guide and concluded that the movie selection was the best of any airline on the trip so far, especially when it came to recent releases. We reached the holding point for 33L and Asiana revealed itself to be another member of the select club of airlines that sounds chimes in the cabin prior to entering the runway.

We took our leave of Incheon at 1246 local time and I immediately set my watch back by 7hrs ... to 0546! I started up the first of three movies, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The sound was excellent, but the screen certainly wasn't state-of-the-art. A flight attendant took my main course order and placed a tablecloth on my table. I noticed that the attendants had put on rather quaint pinafores for the meal service. Surprisingly, there was no drinks service and we launched straight into the food.

WESTERN MENU		CHINESE MENU
Starters		Starters
Foie gras mousse with blini, truffle and ginger compote		Shrimp spring roll
Caviar		Assorted cold platter
Pepper-crusted tuna with carrot and chive slaw		Crabmeat soup
Pickled mushroom and chickpea salad with baby leaves
Creamy chicken soup with risotto ball		Main course 1
		Assorted stir-fried seafood 'Jeon-ga-bok'
Main courses
Roasted veal tenderloin with lobster, mushroom ragout.		Main course 2
wilted cabbage and horseradish cream		Stir-fried pork and cashew nuts served with oriental sauce,
Pan-fried sole-stuffed crab with grilled tomatoes and		accompanied by fried rice
parsley pesto
Braised beef cheek, mushroom gnocchi, asparagus with		Dessert
Burgundy jus		Chinese tropical fruit
		Coffee and tea with petit fours
Cheese selection
Castello Blue, Saint-André, Camembert, with apricot and
raisin chutney

Dessert
Tropezienne with blackberry sauce
Coffee and tea with petit fours

KOREAN ROYAL TABLE D'HOTE		WINE LIST
Starters		Champagne
Eggplant roll with soybean paste sauce		Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2000
Poached prawn and vegetables with pine nut juice		Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1999
Purple sweet potato porridge
		White wines
Main courses		Meursault 1er Cru Clos des Poruzots 2009, Burgundy,
Korean Royal Cuisine 'Bibimbap and Grilled		France
Toothfish': Steamed rice mixed with various vegetables,		Chateau Brown 2007, Bordeaux, France
accompanied with red chilli paste, sesame oil, grilled		Jordan Chardonnay 2008, California, USA
toothfish, assorted side dishes and soup
Korean Royal Cuisine 'Bibimbap and Braised Beef		Red wines
Short Rib in Sweet Pumpkin': Steamed rice mixed with		Chateau Gruaud Larose 2006, Saint-Julien, France
various vegetables, accompanied with red chilli paste,		Corton Bressandes Grand Cru 2008, Burgundy, France
sesame oil, braised beef short rib in sweet pumpkin,		Robert Keenan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2006,
assorted side dishes and soup		California, USA
Korean Royal Cuisine 'Bibimbap and Stewed
Seafood': Steamed rice mixed with various vegetables,		Dessert wines
accompanied with red chilli paste, sesame oil, stewed		Blandy's 10 years old Malmsey Madeira, Portugal
abalone, scallop, sea cucumber roll, assorted side dishes		Jackson Triggs Vidal VQA Ice Wine 2007, Niagara,
and soup		Canada
Korean Royal Cuisine 'Ssambap with Beef Short Rib
Bulgalbi': Steamed rice topped with grilled Bulgogi beef		Port
and bean paste, wrapped leafy vegetables and served with		Port Sandeman 20 years old Tawny Port, Porto, Portugal
assorted side dishes and soup

Dessert
Fresh fruit
Coffee and tea

I had decided to go with the western menu and the first starter, the foie gras, was served as an amuse bouche. The table was then set properly and I was intrigued to see red roses make an appearance, as though they had somehow escaped from Lufthansa F! The remaining starters were then served in turn, commencing with the caviar, which was nicely presented with the usual accompaniments. My chosen main course was the veal and I had to stop after the cheese and port; even if I had wanted to try some dessert, I had no room left for it. Afraid that coffee might remove any chance of sleeping later on, I finished off this amazing feast with a cup of Earl Grey tea.

I then watched Tower Heist before changing into my PJs, which prompted one of the FAs to make up my seat as a bed. I'm not convinced that I fell into a deep sleep at any stage, but I did successfully doze and rest for a few hours and that was all that I really needed on a day flight. When I realised that there was no chance at all of any further snoozing, I moved my seat back into the normal position, dumped my duvet in empty 3K and started to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I made sure I drank plenty of water to stay hydrated and also had a few glasses of fruit juice. Snacks were available at any time. Although I had no wish to indulge after such an amazing lunch, I could have had any of the following:

REFRESHMENTS (available on request throughout the flight)

Ramen

Warm noodles

Hot sandwich

Fresh fruit

With around 2.5hrs still to run, it was time for the second meal service, the menu for which was as follows:

SNACK

Appetizer

Roasted beet with boiled quail egg, Heirloom tomato and mustard vinaigrette

Main courses

Korean Royal Cuisine 'Ugeoji Galbitang': Korean traditional cabbage and beef short rib soup, served with various

side dishes and steamed rice

Balsamic Glazed Mero with mushroom and grilled pineapple salsa

Cumin Scented Lamb Tenderloin, green olives and peas, orange segments with tomato coulis

Dessert

Vanilla mousse, pineapple shavings, crunchy chocolate, lemon dressing

Coffee and tea

I had the lamb as my main course and was glad to see that it was presented as a fairly light option. We were now over Poland and it looked as though this part of Europe was enjoying a bright sunny day. I watched the ubiquitous Canadian show Just for Laughs to pass the time during these final stages of the long journey.

ABOVE: Second meal service, with lamb main course

I got a surprise when one of the cabin crew appeared with a trolley bearing items that were not for eating or drinking and which didn't look like duty free goods either. It turned out that they were a selection of gifts for the First Class passengers. I don't think I had ever seen that done before. As we got much closer to our destination, I had some excellent views of Frankfurt city centre in the sunshine - what a shame that I had put my camera away by this point, in preparation for landing. We touched down at 1631 local time on 25L and parked at Gate B48 comfortably ahead of schedule.

I had heard the rumours and now I had experienced it for myself. As I left the flight, I knew that I had discovered another Star Alliance carrier with a truly excellent First Class product and standard of service.