Greetings from EVA Airways’ lounge in Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, where I am enjoying a three-hour layover on my way from Los Angeles to Bangkok. The outbound flight was kind of a challenge. First, it departed at 1:50 am, which is just a really late departure time, all the more so when considering that I am operating on Central Daylight Time, making it feel like a 3:50 am departure.
To top it off, as much as I like EVA I think that their economy class seat cushions are uncomfortable to sit on for long periods of time. After a few hours, my butt bones hurt. The person sitting next to me made the same observation, so I’m not alone. The final thing that made the flight kind of tough was a combination of sleeplessness – I only dozed for a short while before I would wake and shift myself into a new position – and an inaccurate air map. For some reason the data on the map froze just before the halfway point of the flight. So each time I would wake up and try to determine how much longer we had left in the flight, it seemed that we had not made any progress. In my dazed state, this was very… disorienting.
All in all, though, it was a fine flight. Leg room is good, the food is decent, and service was friendly and attentive. For the price, it is still a good value.
I’m skipping an entry on the main reunion event, as there is some video material I want to post. In the meantime, I’ll share with you the unofficial post-reunion after-party, which we held Sunday evening after the public reception at the church. Most of the more immediate part of my family (my mother’s siblings and their children and grandchildren) made it over to Jennifer and Kevin’s house. We stopped at the market to pick up some meat and salad makings and just had a casual meal.
Still quite a few people hanging out in the living room of my sister’s house.
Cousin Alex braided my niece Emily’s hair while her son Tommy looked on excitedly.
Cousin Brad from New York and his father Carl.
Uncle Dick and his son Michael enjoyed the warm summer evening as my cousin Bill (Alex’s husband) manned the grill.
Cousin Silvia (Brad’s wife) took care of the grilling, which went fine until…
We started getting some flare-ups after the chicken was finished. I was worried that Kevin’s grill might spontaneously combust. Thankfully, grillmaster Bill was able to get the flames under control.
Two KC Strips and two Rib Eye steaks on the very hot grill. I was looking for some grass-fed beef at the local store but couldn’t find any. These seemed to be the best alternative, “vegetarian” fed (isn’t grain vegetarian?) with no “sub-therapeutic antibiotics” (what?) and no growth hormones. That all struck me as kind of meaningless phrases along the lines of “all natural”. But the beef did taste good.
Finished Italian sausages and chicken.
Charred steaks. Ostensibly, two were done rare and the other two were supposed to be medium rare. Despite five extra minutes of cooking, the second two still looked rare when cut into. Thankfully, I like them that way.
Dinner – chicken, sausages, and steak (did I mention it was rare?), with beans and salad. Yummy.
christao408 
I was drooling along until you got to the last photo. Erk! Raw beef – no can do. I’ve taken too many parisitology classes…
I wanna come to the next reunion! I will sit quietly in the background and read to the children and eat food. I don’t snore.
Nice memories to hang on to till the next year. Rare beef steaks? Glah YOU like them.
Now I am so hungry and crave Western food. Looks all delicious. Nice to see all the family. 🙂
steak looks hella good. this is one instance when you say “rare” does it really come served nice and rare! :)what is the glaze on the chicken?eva seats are pretty uncomfortable now, even if you fly deluxe/business…the cushion is so hard, and even though the upholstery feels nice on your bum and your skin, it’s way too slippery… i find myself unable to stay in one position while i try to sleep 😦
The food looks good, it does! I love the family pic, btw.
Good food!I had some good experiences on EVA. (they fed you constantly)
Yum…..is Grillmaster Bill available for loan at my next outdoor bash?? But he would have to cook my steak a little longer…that looks like it is about ready to get up and amble off of the plate!!!LolRuth Ann
@Redlegsix – “Wipe its butt, trim its horns, and carry it past the grill.” That’s the way a good steak should be cooked. Ha ha!@amygwen – Yeah, there was plenty of food and they kept me well hydrated, too.@Dezinerdreams – Glad you liked the family picture. It turned out nice.@iskrak – The glaze is some Jack Stack’s barbeque sauce, brushed on a few minutes before taking the chicken off the grill. As for EVA, the premium economy product seems okay. It was just the regular economy seats I couldn’t get comfortable in.@beowulf222 – I suspect everyone is getting tired of seeing pictures of my extended family!@ZSA_MD – @murisopsis – These could have been cooked for just a few more minutes and I’d be happy.@csn71650 – Sounds like a deal! =D
Yum!
Heavy drooling here. Next reunion, I’m crashing the party. 😛
wow, such a feast! we flew delta, and i thought they did a decent job in the economy section for our international flights. i slept a lot on the plane, though, so i guess i can’t really comment much on the flight itself. if you are having trouble sleeping, maybe try take some melatonin? i took half a tablet when we were flying out, and it helped me sleep through the flight.
@kunhuo42 – Aaron, I took a sleeping pill so the issue wasn’t lack of medication. It was the uncomfortable seat cushion that felt more like I was sitting on a metal bar. Glad you had a good experience on Delta.@marc11864 – You would be more than welcome.@yang1815 – Yes, I figured you’d like the steak.
I guess you must have enjoyed the bbq steaks, which is more difficult to prepare in BKK! Do you have a Weber grill at your place? 😛
@christao408 – Love it.
I love the first pic of everyone hanging out in the living room! Reminds me of my family gatherings. 🙂
@CurryPuffy – No grill, unfortunately. Would be quite a mess on our small balconies.@brooklyn2028 – It really captures the warm atmosphere of family gatherings, the thing I most like about them.
you think economy class seats are uncomfortable for sitting for a long period? try doing so while having a migraine. that’s just what i had last night on my flight back from a business trip. ps: the bbq looks delish AND i think cousin brad is kinda cute :p
@rudyhou – Yes, Brad is a handsome man. I’ll be sure to let him know you think so, too. LOL His best friend from growing up is gay so I’m sure he’ll take that in the way you meant it. Well, at least the way I hope you meant it! =PSorry about your migrane. I’ve very thankful that I’ve never had one and hope it stays that way.
lol.. no need to go such length. don’t want your cousin to think you are communicating with a weirdo online. let’s just keep it between us 🙂