Tawn and I flew from Bangkok to Los Angeles yesterday, a journey that was about 18 hours gate-to-gate and went pretty smoothly, thanks to the good service of EVA Airways of Taiwan and an upgrade on the transpacific segment to business class.
In the EVA Airways lounge in Bangkok we had a bite to eat, including this passable pad thai. Not bad for something that was prepared in advance and was sitting, covered, under the heat lamps.
And ice cream! Passion fruit and cookies and cream. That was a nice treat.
Nice view at the gate area at Bangkok Airport in the mid-afternoon sun.
Our flight out of Bangkok was in the premium economy class, which offers about 6 more inches of legroom than regular economy and one fewer seat across the width of the cabin. Only a little bit more expensive than economy class – and actually similar in price to what US carriers charge for their economy class – and a lot more comfortable. The food is nicer, too. This was the dinner served out of B angkok.
Close up of my chicken and rice dish, which was very nice.
Tawn’s seafood and noodles wasn’t very pretty, although it did taste okay.
In Taipei we visited the EVA Airways lounge, which is available to even their “silver” tier fliers, which is a relatively low bar to achieve. Two flights from Bangkok to the US is pretty much enough to keep that status. While in the lounge, Tawn tried some of their congee (rice porridge) which he pronounced was quite tasty.
For the Taipei to Los Angeles segment we cashed in some miles to upgrade to business class, which is a nice way to fly. Considering I’m not at a point in my life where I would ever consider paying for business class, using miles is about the only chance I have!
Appetizer of smoked duck breast, pate served in a plum, and shrimp.
One of the benefits of being in business class on EVA is that you can pre-order dishes from a special menu available online. That way you know exactly what you will have to eat. I ordered lamb chops served with mint sauce, gratineed potatoes and mixed veggies. Tasty.
Tawn’s dish, which he pre-ordered. A Chinese style sea perch with three types of sticky rice and steamed veggies. The sauce is made of fermented soybeans. Tasty.
Fruit plate
Some sort of a cake, served with chopped pistachios.
During the flight, the window shades were closed, lights were dimmed, and in the business class cabin, there are LED “stars” in the ceiling and a cool blue glow. The idea is that the ceiling lates can gradually change colors to simulate sunset and then sunrise in order to help you adjust your circadian rythm. However, they change a bit too quickly for that to happen.
Before landing, Tawn enjoyed congee (“jok” or rice porridge) with a variety of condiments. Compared favorably with the one served in the lounge before the flight.
Made to order latte with a crystal sugar stir stick. Very nice.
Special ordered “breakfast” shortly before our descent into LA: chicken noodle soup with pickles and side dishes, made by Din Tai Fung restaurant in Taipei.
Coming in over the central coast area of California as the sun’s rays grow long on the hills, about 7:40 pm.
Coming in over west Los Angeles, about ten minutes before landing. We were a few minutes ahead of schedule but, even then, it still took about two hours to get through immigration and customs. In any case, we’re here now!
This year marks the 85th anniversary of United Airlines. In a post last November, I mentioned that they were holding a contest for employees to vote for their favorite previous livery. The winning livery would then be painted onto a “retro jet” to commemorate the anniversary. Five previous color schemes were presented, voted on, and I recently saw that the Airbus A320 painted in the winning colors recently took to the sky:
Sigh…
I’m quite excited because of the five liveries, this was my favorite. It is the one I associate with my early childhood in the 1970s. I remember drawing airplanes when I must have been in my early elementary years and this was the color scheme I could recreate from memory.
The other four liveries that represent the different eras of United Airlines.
While I’ve had my rough patches with United over the years, it is the company that my father, my husband, and I (not to mention countless friends) all worked for at various points in our lives. Happy 85th anniversary to the Friendly Skies. May the merger with Continental make the skies friendly once again!
After six days in Hawai’i, I had attended my cousin’s beautiful beach wedding, I had tasted the holy grail of desserts – macadamia nut cream pie, I had eaten poke and ordered loco moco, and I had bumped along an unpaved road to reach the place where Hawaiians believe the spirits of their dead depart for the next world. After accomplishing all that, it was time to begin the journey back home.
While the trip was quite similar to the one into Hawai’i, I though I would share some more pictures of the trip for those of you who enjoy them. Check out the video of our takeoff from Honolulu – the reef just off the runway is gorgeous.
The check-in area of Honolulu International Airport reminds me a bit of LAX. In fact, it looks more “LA” than LA does.
The interior, though, is still in that 1970s time warp that seems to be pervasive in Honolulu. It seems that an expansion and remodel is planned so we’ll see if that brings the airport into the 21st century.
Oddly, this video monitor shows the date as November 30. Only off by a few months.
Another beautiful outdoor garden you can access from the gate area. While the airport is in need of a remodel, I give it high marks for having lots of open air spaces and also for offering a lot of visibility of the airplanes. A lot of airports make it hard for you to appreciate the view of the planes, which I think is a part of the romance of air travel. Here is a selection of the planes I saw while waiting for our flight:
A Delta Boeing 767-300 heading to Los Angeles.
Two Continental jets. The nearer one is a Boeing 737-700 headed to John Wayne International in Santa Ana, CA. The further one is a Boeing 737-800 in the new United livery, headed to Los Angeles.
This Boeing 757-200ER belongs to Omni Air International, a charter operation based in Tulsa, OK.
An American Airlines Boeing 757-200 with winglets, bound to Los Angeles. (Lots of flights to LAX, no?)
Alaska Airlines also flies to Honolulu. This flight is going to Portland, OR. This Boeing 737-800 is part of their Hawaiian subfleet – notice the lei of flowers around the Eskimo’s neck.
Hawaiian B767-300 without winglets
Hawaiian Boeing 767-300 with winglets. These winglets help reduce drag, resulting in an improved fuel economy of about 3-4%. One of Hawaiian’s new Airbus A330s is in the background.
Japan Airlines Boeing 767-300 in “Oneworld” alliance colors. This plane is bound for Osaka.
Another Japan Airlines plane, this one a Boeing 777-200, destined for Tokyo.
The other major Japanese carrier, ANA (All Nippon Airways), Boeing 767-300. This is operated by ANA subsidiary Air Japan, which operates charter flights to popular vacation destinations.
A United Airlines B777-200 scheduled for Chicago O’Hare. A Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 departs for another island in the background.
Our ride to Guam: A Continental (but in the new United livery) Boeing 767-400.
The gate area was particularly crowded. In fact, the flight was oversold and they were asking for volunteers but $300 in travel vouchers was incentive enough, since I’d have to use the vouchers on another Continental flight!
The interior of our plane during the boarding process.
A video of our takeoff from the Reef Runway in Honolulu and landing in Guam.
The lunch service was a choice between cheese tortellini and some chicken dish. I overheard the flight attendant tell another passenger that the pasta was the better of the two options, so that’s what I went with. It was actually pretty tasty, better than the food we had been served on the inbound flight.
Mid-flight the flight attendants served ice cream – cups instead of sandwiches – and then about an hour before landing in Guam, they served these turkey ham sandwiches. All in all, I think the flight from Honolulu to Guam and onto Hawaii was better than when we had traveled to Hawaii, probably because it was a daytime flight and we weren’t utterly exhausted.
We didn’t have that much connection time in Guam. Here’s a picture of a Chinese tour group taking a picture moments before boarding. While they were seated further back in the plane and thus were to board earlier, we sneaked ahead and the gate agent, seeing the unruly crowd coming towards the boarding gate, let us board ahead of them.
Our flight to Hong Kong, a Boeing 737-800.
Once again, we had the option of buying extra leg room by sitting in the exit row. It was worth it and just like on the flight from Hong Kong to Guam, we had an empty middle seat between us. Interestingly, this flight was operated exactly a week after we had left Hong Kong and one of the flight attendants from the flight out of Hong Kong was working our flight back to Hong Kong. I don’t think he recognized us.
Some thirteen hours after leaving Honolulu we arrived in Hong Kong, at about 8:00 pm. We headed into Ho Man Tin, a portion of Kowloon where friends of ours live. More about our two days in Hong Kong – and two Xangans we ran into – tomorrow.
After some 29 hours traveling, we had safely made it to Honolulu and had just one more short hop to our destination: Lihue, Kauai. To get there, we had to take a 20-minute flight about Hawaiian Airlines, which has a codeshare agreement with Continental.
We exited our plane from Guan (pictured) above and walked downstairs where we had to claim our luggage and go through customs. As you can imagine, since Hawaii is a bunch of islands they are particularly concerned about fruits, vegetables, uncooked meat, plants, and anything else entering the state that might harm local agriculture. About forty minutes after landing we found ourselves outside in the fresh (and very pleasant) air, and made our way to the inter-island terminal.
The inter-island terminal is a ten-minute walk from the main terminal and is also connected by these buses called Wiki-wiki busses. In Hawaiian, “wiki” means quick, so “wiki wiki” implies very quick. In place since 1970, the buses really are anything but that. Ostensibly a new moving sidewalk system has been opened but I didn’t see it.
Since our bags were checked through (we placed them on a belt outside customs so they could be connected for us), the walk was leisurely and we proceeded through security. We realized, though, that we still had better than an hour before boarding time, so I walked around the inter-island terminal to get some pictures.
For the longest time, the state of Hawaii had two dominant airlines: Hawaiian and Aloha. In March 2008, Aloha went out of business, at least in part because of predatory practices by Mesa Air Group (who operate many regional affiliates for major US airlines) who decided to open their own island carrier called “go!” Hawaiian continues strong, though, and consistently ranks with the best on-time percentage and fewest mishandled bags of any US carrier. Here is their fleet of Boeing 717s (a modernized version of the 1960s era Douglas DC-9) at Honolulu.
The airport has lots of open air areas, although since I was last there in 1994, they have enclosed and air conditioned the gates. The walkway in the picture above is open air. The garden below in the picture below is viewed from the left edge of this walkway.
One of several beautiful gardens in the airport which passengers can spend time in. What a peaceful place to wait for a flight!
As the sun set, I caught this nice picture with the Hawaiian Airlines maintenance hangar in the background.
Throughout the terminal are wall-sized enlarged photos taken from different eras of Hawaiian Airlines’ history. Talk about a walk through the past!
1960s – Hawaiian received their first Douglas DC-9 aircraft in 1966 and along with them, these funky flight attendant uniforms and hot boots! Go, Nancy Sinatra, go!
In the 1970s, the carrier updated their look both in terms of livery and flight attendant uniforms. I’m curious where they got the California surfer boy? Must have flown in from the OC and been accosted on the ramp by the flight attendants!
This picture, probably from the 1980s, is very pretty, showing off both the beauty of the islands as well as of the airplane.
One reminder of Aloha Airlines is this mural from a route map they had published in the early 1960s, based on the aircraft shown, a Fairchild F-27. Beautiful illustration, isn’t it?
Speaking of nice illustration, the toilet signs are appropriately decorated with aloha shirts for the men and muu-muus for the women.
As night fell and departure time neared, the gate area started to fill up. Among our fellow passengers, a group of elementary school students and their parents, flying to Kauai for a weekend outing. The flight attendants gave them a special shout-out when we landed.
Our aircraft, almost ready to board. Watching their ground crew move, you can understand why they have such a good on-time record. Despite the islands’ laid-back culture, they certainly hustle when there is work to be done.
The interiors are a bit old and dark, but for such a short flight it was fine. Service was friendly, along the lines of Southwest Airlines. For our 20-minute flight, the only “inflight service” was the handing out of containers of POG – passionfruit, orange, guava juice – and then quickly collecting them. Seriously, we took off, leveled at about 5000 feet (versus 35,000 for a normal flight), and then were descending almost as soon as we had leveled off.
Finally, about 32 hours after leaving Bangkok, we landed smoothly on Kauai, retrieved our bags in the open-air bag claim, and waited for my parents to arrive and pick us up. At last, we were there!
Well, I’m back and reasonably well recovered. Recovered enough, at least, to start sharing the story of our trip to Kaua’i. First part of the story, our flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong. This may be a bit more detailed than you are interested in, but I’m going to cross-post it as a trip report on Airliners.net. I hope you enjoy.
The alarm rang too early, but since the first leg of our four-flight trip from Bangkok to Lihue, Hawai’i departed at 6:30 am, perhaps that was inevitable. A quick shower, a double check of critical documents and must-bring items, and a few minutes to whip up some sandwiches to eat onboard later, and Tawn and I were headed downstairs for the waiting taxi.
As we walked across the condominium driveway, a small toad hopped into the bushes, startled by our approach. On the 25-minute ride to the airport, the taxi driver pandered to us, selecting English songs from his MP3 player. “YMCA” by the Village People, “Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer, and “Ice, Ice, Baby” by Vanilla Ice were among the selections. “Do you really like these songs?” I asked the driver in Thai. “Of course,” he responded with all seriousness. “Don’t you?”
Air Asia’s ticket counter was its usual early morning chaos, although once we pushed through the masses of infrequent travelers, we found the online check-in queues had only a few people waiting in them. After our bags were tagged and our travel documents checked, we headed for immigration.
As of late, lots of letters to the editor of the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper have been inspired by complaints of the long queues at Suvarnabhumi Airport’s immigration counters. However, at 4:50 this morning, lines were about ten people deep and it only took a few minutes to clear immigration.
Just beyond immigration is this epic sculpture taken from Hindu mythology of “The churning of the Ocean of Milk.” More about that story here.
After a latte and some duty free browsing, we headed to our gate. The airport is laid out in the shape of a massive letter “H” and our gate was at the far end of the upper right leg. We had checked in close to the near end of the main terminal in the center of the “H”, so it was a bit of a walk.
A lonely, dimly-lit pier stretched out ahead of us as we traversed one moving sidewalk after another. The airport authority has made some attempts to warm the interior and make it more welcoming, especially in a well-publicized desire to rank as one of the top five airports in the world. This jealousy of peer airports such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Seoul should be a good motivator, but unfortunately the airport authority is run by people who either know little about airports or else pay little attention when visiting the competition. Compare the above photo with one later on from Hong Kong to see a night and day difference.
Boarding began about 6:00, an orderly affair. We had purchased “hot seats” – designated as the first five rows and the two emergency exit rows – for an extra 250 baht (about US$ 8.50) per segment, per person. This gets you priority boarding and, in the exit rows, a smidgen more leg room and a fixed (not reclinable) seat in front of you.
A look at the leg room in the exit row. About 36 inches, which is 3-5 more inches than you get in most American economy class seats. In a three-seat row, we reserved the window and aisle seats, betting correctly that few people would choose to upgrade to a middle “hot seat”, thus effectively getting us three seats for the price of two. If someone did come along with that seat, we could always offer them the window or the aisle instead so we can still sit together.
This flight was operated by Thai Air Asia, one of four subsidiary companies that together make up “Air Asia”. The fleet is completely made up of new Airbus A320 aircraft. The interior was clean and the black leather seats look sharp. Flight attendants are friendly and attentive and seem very capable.
As the sun rose over Suvarnabhumi, a final passenger count was done and the main cabin door was closed for an on-time departure.
After a quick safety demo in Thai and English, we taxied to runway 1-Left and since there was no other traffic at this early hour, we started our takeoff roll just ten minutes after scheduled departure time, climbing through the hazy skies of Central Thailand en route to Hong Kong.
Housing developments on the eastern edge of Bangkok, as seen on departure from the airport. The main part of the city is in the haze on the horizon.
Above, a two-minute video of the takeoff from Bangkok and landing in Hong Kong, if you are interested.
The captain greeted us aboard the flight, informing us we were cruising at flight level 350 – 35,000 feet above sea level – at a speed of 815 km/h (506 mph). The flight was smooth, crossing Laos, Vietnam, and the South China Sea on our way to Hong Kong.
Air Asia is a no-frills airline. Other than buying a seat on the plane, everything else from baggage to seat assignments to food has a price tag. While I get bummed when I see formerly full-service US airlines doing this, I have no qualms about Air Asia doing it because that has been the arrangement from the first day. Plus, they provide genuinely friendly and caring service, something most US carriers seem to be missing.
One arrangement they offer is the ability to pre-book your meals from a selection of more than 20 dishes such as pad thai, nasi lemak, chicken rice, and basil fried rice with chicken. Out of Bangkok the catering is done by local restaurant chain Seefah (“blue sky”). Dishes are around 100 baht, about US$3.30, and are reasonably tasty for the price.
While they announce a “no outside food” policy, I’ve found if you keep your dining on the down-low, it seems to be no problem. Before leaving home, I had used the last carefully-selected food items from the refrigerator to make two turkey and provolone cheese sandwiches, complete with homemade pesto-mayonnaise sauce. All in all, I have to admit they were a little dry, but still a tasty way to start the day.
Needing some more caffeine, I ordered two “Old Town White Coffees”, which are the three-in-one coffee, creamer, sugar mixes from the Malaysian chain Old Town Coffee. Maybe it is just all the sugar, but these are a surprisingly tasty treat.
Food and beverage service concluded, the flight attendants plied the aisle with duty free and souvenirs. I can’t imagine why people flying would want to buy some of these things, but it appears they do.
As much as I have had my qualms about Air Asia in the past, more recently I’ve come to respect them. Their once abysmal on-time performance has significantly improved. Their website, which would crash under the pressure of too much traffic, performs more reliably. And they keep their fares low and frequencies high. Kudos for that.
Interestingly, Air Asia is the official airline of the Oakland Raiders, despite Air Asia flying nowhere in North America. The Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes has explained it as something of a preemptive move, building the brand in anticipation of an eventual service to the Bay Area. Air Asia already flies to Paris and London through their Air Asia X long-haul subsidiary, so it would not be a surprise to see them begin flights to Oakland eventually.
Descent into Hong Kong seemed to begin quite quickly, less than two hours after takeoff. I’m reminded that there was a time in my life when a 2-3 hour flight seemed long. Now that I cross the Pacific several times a year, two hours passes in the blink of an eye. We touched down on runway 7-Left about twenty minutes ahead of schedule under skies as hazy as they were in Bangkok.
The north satellite concourse (with gates numbered as 501-510!), which seems to serve carriers heading to and from Mainland China. I like the design of the roof, which reminds me of a bird in flight.
We parked at gate N28, just a short walk from the main terminal. Next to us was this Qantas Boeing 747-400, which has a color scheme similar to Air Asia’s, I think.
Here is the transit check-in and duty free area just before immigration. Earlier, I wrote about how Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok fails to reach the same level as other regional airports such as Hong Kong. Compare the above picture with the fourth one from the top of this entry. While the chairs in Bangkok might be more comfortable, the whole setting here in Hong Kong looks more attractive and warmer. Maybe it is the use of – gasp! – carpeting. In either case, Hong Kong remains one of my favorite airports and sets the bar which Bangkok will have to reach.
We exited customs and immigration with minimal delay and entered the spacious and well-organized arrivals area, another distinction between Bangkok and Hong Kong.
Since we had exactly twelve hours between our arrival and the departure of our next flight, we decided to check our bags into the lockers and head into the city for lunch. An attractive atrium leads from Terminal 1 underneath the Airport Express train station and to Terminal 2, where the lockers are located. We were able to store our two large check-in bags plus a trolley bag for 80 HKD (about US$ 11) for up to 12 hours, quite a reasonable price.
Within an hour of touching down on the runway, we were boarding the Airport Express train for the 24-minute ride into the city. I’ll write about our day in Hong Kong in the next entry. Stay tuned!
Sorry that my posting (and reading and responding to others’ entries) has been slower than usual as of late. Many of my recent entries have required a lot more leg work. Here’s the latest:
Two Saturdays ago, as Tawn and I were driving along Ramkhamhaeng Road on an errand to the northeastern outskirts of Bangkok, we were taken by surprise when we saw the front third of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet propped up alongside the street.
This is neither an industrial area nor anywhere particularly close to the airport, so for there to be a pair of airplanes being disassembled in this neighborhood is downright strange. While there is a fence along the front of the property, there is no proper gate along the entrance.
Curious, we headed back early the next morning, arriving just after 7:30. A street sweeper sat in her small rest shack, more of an open-air stand, and Tawn chatted with her while I wandered around taking pictures and video. “Sure, go on in,” she said. “The workers won’t be up and working for a while still.”
The result of the exploring is a five-minute video. I think you’ll find it very interesting. I’m happy with the results. For those of you without five minutes to spare, here are some of the pictures:
The entire site is probably four acres (16,000 sq meters), adjacent to a school, temple, and canal. Condo towers and office buildings are visible in the distance and it is really a strange place to be disassembling airplanes.
The monk’s dormitory (robes hanging to dry) is visible next door. I guess this view reminds them of the fundamental Buddhist teaching about all things being impermanent.
There are two planes here, both from Orient Thai Airways, a local carrier that operates limited scheduled service and also does charters. I like how the top of this plane looks like a whale surfacing from the waves.
You could be mistaken for thinking this was the set of an airplane disaster movie. Every area that has been cut by a welding torch is scorched black and there also looks to have been a few small fires set. Pieces are still very identifiable, though, provided you know your airplane parts.
The vertical stabilizer (tail) of the plane, being cut into smaller segments for disposal. The red and blue color scheme, which was meant to represent the Thai flag blowing in the wind, has been deconstructed.
There were hundreds of oxygen masks on the property, most still stowed in the overhead compartments that had ben removed and stacked.
Near the front of the property, galleys and lavatories, which are modular units, were standing about, stripped of carts and other supplies, although with the ovens still intact. Recalling his days working as a regional flight attendant for United, Tawn pretended to be setting the ovens to warm a meal.
Orient Thai had a fleet of about a half-dozen older model 747s. Their only scheduled international service was to Hong Kong and Seoul, and they used their larger planes mainly for charters, especially during the Haj. Note the lavatory signage in Arabic as well as in Japanese. This plane’s original operator was Japan Air Lines.
A two-door segment of one of the planes – basically, the front third of it – was intact and propped upright. The street cleaner explained that it was destined to be sent somewhere to become an airplane-themed coffee shop. “You can climb up!” she said. The homemade ladder had very narrow and widely-spaced rungs!
Inside, the ceiling, carpet, and seats had been removed but wall panels were still intact. This picture is taken from the nose section, the front of what would have been first class, looking back. The opening in the floor is the access hatch to the avionics bay. Looking at the wallpaper, I noticed it is identical to that which was on the Orient Thai 747 that I flew as part of an inaugural test flight from the Don Meuang Airport to the new Suvarnabhumi Airport in July 2006, about two months before the new airport opened. I wonder if this was the same plane?
I climbed the stairs to the upper deck. Used as business class for most airlines, both Japan Air Lines and Orient Thai had put additional economy seats up here.
The avionics had been stripped from the cockpit but it was still relatively intact. The flight engineer’s station on the right-hand side is a clue to the airplane’s age: at least 21. The last 747 with a three-person cockpit crew was a 747-300 built in September 1990. Since then, they have been flown by just two people, with computers handling the functions that the flight engineer used to.
After working up a sweat and shooting some 250 pictures and 30 video segments, I finally decided it was time to wrap up and head home. I felt a bit of nostalgia and melancholy, sorry to see planes that had been so technically sophisticated, and that had flown hundreds of thousands of people around the world, reach the point where their only value was for their scrap.
Edit: Found this link listing the history of all of Orient Thai’s former 747s. Looks like the plane that is completely scrapped was originally delivered in March 1979 to Japan Airlines and the one with the intact front third was delivered in December 1986, also to Japan Airlines. From that website I was also able to confirm that, as of this past December at least, the plane I flew on the test flight to Suvarnabhumi is still in operation.
The place we stayed in Phuket is just a mile or so stroll down the beach from the international airport. Far enough that you don’t hear much noise, but close enough so you can walk down and watch planes land and depart. We also spent an hour or so one morning parked alongside the service road that is the back entrance into the airport, paralleling close to the runway. Here is a little aviation porn for those of you whose tastes run that way.
And from the beach side:
THAI Airways A300 arriving from Bangkok.
THAI Airways A330 arriving from Hong Kong
Transaero B777-200 arriving from one of the Moscow airports.
“Be careful! The jet blast.” Yes, I managed to stand right behind a Dragonair A320 as it powered up for takeoff and learned just how strong that is. Smartly, I turned my back to it as it was kicking up a lot of sand. The blast was pushing little waves about 200 feet into the ocean.
There’s that Dragonair A320 from Hong Kong, about 45 minutes before it sandblasted me.
Another Transaero plane, this one a B747-200, coming from the other airport in Moscow.
Beautiful erosion in the sand banks just off the runway. You can see the top of the fence in the upper right hand side of the picture.
There will be some Mexican food porn from Houston tomorrow for everyone else.
Before heading to Kansas City and the craziness that two young nieces can create, I drove north to Omaha for two days of acclimating to the American Midwest with Andy and Sugi. (Better pics of the events on Andy’s blog.) Since we first met a year ago when we were in the Omaha area for our wedding, Tawn and I have enjoyed having the opportunity to see Andy and Sugi several times, including in Taiwan last November.
Thursday evening shortly after I arrived, we headed out to Shucks Oyster Bar and Fish House to join Sugi’s sister, brother-in-law, and niece for Thursday Fish Taco Night.
A dozen oysters on the half-shell. Delicious.
Fried fish tacos (also fried shrimp tacos) had a nice batter with just a hint of spice. Different from the Baja-style fish tacos that I’m used to from San Diego, these were very tasty, too.
Thanks to a Tylenol PM, my second night in the US was a good one, sleeping straight through for about seven hours. Sometimes I find that the best way to fight jet lag is to beat it into submission with some medication. Sugi and Andy had both taken Friday off from work and we had a full day planned. But first, some breakfast.
Baily’s restaurant specializes in Eggs Benedict, including this type with a slab of tomato and thick slices of smoked bacon. The eggs were perfectly cooked with a firm white and a golden liquid yolk.
Our first stop was the Strategic Air and Space Museum a few miles west of town. The museum focuses primarily on the history of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), the operational establishment in charge of America’s land-based strategic bomber aircraft and nuclear missiles until 1992, after which a military reorganization led to the closure of SAC.
As an aviation enthusiast, I found the museum very interesting. Even people who aren’t so interested in aviation – Sugi, for example – enjoyed the visit as we went on a docent-led tour with Bob, a former Korean War pilot who had a wealth of information and a cute sense of humor.
Andy and Sugi in front of the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane which is dramatically displayed in the museum’s entry lobby. The museum has two hangars with about two-dozen aircraft displayed, many of which have been expertly restored.
C-47 Skytrain, the military version of the classic Douglas DC-3 passenger aircraft. Over 10,000 were built for World War II and General (later President) Eisenhower identified the C-47 as one of four pieces of equipment critical in winning the war. The other three were the jeep, the bazooka, and the atom bomb.
B-1A Lancer – This bomber was actually one of four prototypes built to test all of the systems before full production of the bombers – redesignated the B-1B – began.
F-101B Voodoo – an all-weather fighter/interceptor designed to protect America from incursions over the North Pole from Russia. Was also operated by the Canadian Air Force.
B-17G Flying Fortress – A heavy bomber that was critical to America’s success in World War II. More than 12,700 were made and more than 4,700 were lost in combat missions.
B-25N Mitchell – A medium bomber that was made famous by Doolittle’s Raid on Tokyo, a 1942 surprise attack by 16 B-25 bombers launched from an aircraft carrier hitting five cities in Japan. The success in this attack helped lift the sagging American morale in the wake of Pearl Harbor and damaged morale of the Japanese civilian population, who had been told that their homeland would never be reached by bombers.
After a few hours at the museum, including a disturbing special exhibit about the Nazi’s eugenics experiments and extermination programs, we drove further west to Lincoln and visited the James Arthur vineyards. Yes, wine in Nebraska!
The tasting room (and the winery behind it) is located atop a small hill with a cute garden around it, the perfect place for an afternoon tipple.
We tried tastings of a half-dozen different wines along with a sampling of local cheese produced by the University of Nebraska’s agricultural department. The best of the James Arthur wines were the semi-sweet whites, the grapes of which are well-suited to this climate. The reds were not as good.
Beautiful skies and rolling fields of corn and soybeans lent a pastoral look to the passing landscape.
After the wine tasting we drove to Sugi’s parents’ house on the north side of Omaha. Sugi’s sister was celebrating her birthday and I was fortunate enough to be invited along. They live on 20 rural acres with a sweeping view of the countryside.
Sugi’s mother prepared an elaborate dinner including baked lobster tails, grilled beef teriyaki, and clams boiled in a garlic-sake broth. She didn’t want any pictures taken, but Andy and I both managed to snap a few shots.
Sugi’s mother is passionate about horses and has two that she trains and shows. Taylor, her niece, loves the horses and they seem equally fond of her, following her from the barn to the exercise yard. They probably know that she usually comes bearing carrots!
Taylor riding bareback on Callie, a beautiful 13-year old mare. Lest you worry for her safety, Callie’s grandfather was standing in the back of the picture, cleverly hidden, holding her leg.
Cowgirl Taylor is eager to ride the open range.
Sunday morning after another relaxing night’s sleep Andy, Sugi, and I went for breakfast at WheatField’s, a local chain of German bakery restaurants. The selection of baked goods was overwhelming.
The cute indoor patio seating area, which was a bit over air-conditioned.
Wanting to enjoy some fresh seasonal fruit I had the peach crepes for breakfast. As pretty as it looks, the dish was a little disappointing. The flavor was very one-dimensional and about one-quarter of the plate would have been more than enough. The yogurt they drizzled on top wasn’t substantial enough to add anything to the overall flavor.
Andy ordered a seven-piece serving of Ron’s Honey-Drizzled Fried Chicken. It was really well-prepared and the honey does add a nice touch. You’ll be glad to know that Andy did take a few pieces home.
Sugi’s choice was probably the best – half egg salad and half chicken salad with a side of homemade chicken mushroom soup. You can tell how cold it is in the dining room by noticing that a skin was already forming on the soup’s surface.
After that filling breakfast I hit the road for the three-hour drive back to Kansas City. Thanks again to Sugi and Andy for a wonderful start to my visit.
When I mentioned in the previous entry that I grew up with air travel in my blood, I wasn’t kidding. Here’s some documentary evidence.
Dated Easter 1980, when I was nine-and-a-half years old, this picture shows my sister and me flying unaccompanied on a flight from San Francisco to Kansas City. Traveling on employee passes, since my father worked for United, this was probably one of our earlier flights flying solo. The plane is a Boeing 727-022. Check out the funky wallpaper!
A sneak view into First Class on the same flight. Different wall treatment up front. This was in the days when United operated a nonstop between SFO and MCI. In fact, twenty years or more after discontinuing the nonstop service, a few months ago United once again resumed nonstop service on this route using United Express partner aircraft.
After the nonstops went away (following deregulation) the name of the game was Denver Stapleton, one of United’s two largest hubs. In the years leading up to the opening of the new airport in Denver, United’s operations were so overcrowded they would park a second row of airplanes behind the row pulled up to the gates, leading to domino effects of delays if one of the planes in the back couldn’t leave on time. Here’s a Boeing 727-200 with Continental’s DC-9s behind. This was in the days when United, Continental and Frontier (the previous version of it) all had hubs at Denver.
In 1992 as United was phasing out its Boeing 727-022 aircraft, it donated this one, its first 727 (note the registration number N7001U on the engine) and in fact the first 727 ever produced, to the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle. One of her sister ships (N7017U) was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, where it remains on display to this day. In preparation, mechanics repainted the plane to its original paint scheme, hand-taping all of the logos and detail work. I had the opportunity to visit United’s Maintenance Operations Center in San Francisco and walk around taking pictures of this plane.
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