Lufthansa, flying the new Airbus A380 to Frankfurt

I am flying back to work, this time to Miami and will then join the Constellation to go over to Europe, so yes, you will have many new interesting Blogs about the travel in Europe starting with the north, and then later going to the Mediterranean.

To get to work I was booked from Cape Town to Johannesburg, then on the A380 to Frankfurt and then further to Miami, a long flight again, but that is normal. So I am flying for the first time on the new Airbus A 380. Looking at the plane in the airport it is just huge, this a little fat big bird sitting there waiting to be filled with all the passengers. And now of course the big question, how was it?????

Just another flight to be honest. When one sits inside one doesn’t feel the size of the plane, the only difference is, one waits a lot longer for everything, the check in is slow, there are long queues, the food is slow, both dinner and breakfast and if one needs something special, my neighbors wanted more water, one waits forever and best goes and fetches it oneself.

I was flying Lufthansa, so one must not forget, Lufthansa doesn’t give the nice night bags with the socks, tooth brush and eye pads, I asked for the eye pads and got some delivered fairly shortly afterwards. The Cabin Attendant went to business class and got me one. Service was excellent considering the size of the plane, imagine there are 420 passengers in tourist class alone, that is a lot. Food was very good, it did not look that appetizing as you can see on the photo, they just called it beef, but the taste was delicious, it was a red wine braise beef steak, so flavorful, one could taste the red wine, the meat was marinated before it got braised, it was really a dream. OK, a bit difficult to cut, even so tender, but wow, the taste was outstanding, one of the tastiest meals I had on a plane.

The one main difference I could feel is how the plane sets off and lands. With this huge size one doesn’t feel the pull during the start and the landing was very soft too, that was very nice.
I was very unfortunate to be seated in row 60, which is next to where they prepare the food, it is a lot going on there and difficult to sleep (that is why I needed the eye patches) but it is still better than sitting close to the toilets, wow, there is a lot more happening and I don’t want to go more into it......so be careful when you book.

But otherwise it is just another normal flight, movies were disappointing as there was just a very small choice, but service was excellent, so if you have to fly the A 380 do it, but don’t expect too much.

I think this will be the future in flying, bigger and more passengers, so we better start getting used to it, it is more economical for the airlines so of course they will go the economic way. Overall the flight was good, but then I had nice neighbors as well, an Indian couple with their 2 year old son going on holiday in Italy, we had a nice chat and then after dinner I had a good nap. Now I am in Frankfurt waiting for my connection to Miami....... will get back to you from the ship

Flying KLM again

Amsterdam Airport is one of the great airports; good shopping and plenty of restaurants. I have raved about this airport before and still think it is a great one. I walked just briefly through it as I had not too much time till my next flight and yes, the flight on KLM was exactly as I hexpected it. I had a great flight last time and again this time I was pampered. Plenty of leg room in the tourist class, movies were the latest and the food.....was great again

The presentation of the food was already great, modern, simple and then of course the taste, I have to say, was superb. The dessert tasted like home made, everything was fresh, the bread rolls were warm and crispy, but soft inside, what a treat! Yes I like flying KLM they are way up on my favourite and I can only recommend them. (No I am not getting paid to say that, I really like them)

I think on the food side it very much depends from where one flies and not just with which airline. On some airports they are not so good in cooking (like Washington) and some are great ( Amsterdam, Cape Town, Singapore) so even when the airline has specific guidlines, I think it istill very much depends from where one starts the journey.

So finally the flying is over again, at least for the next ten days before going to Philippines, I know I will enjoy my time here in South Africa, always have and I can't wait to see my boys again.

Flying Air France, the holiday begins

OK, it is a while ago, but I still need to tell you how my vacation started.

I was supposed to fly in the evening with Delta from Washington to Amsterdam and then with KLM to Cape Town.Unfortunately the first flight was already delayed by the time I checked in, so the lady at the counter looked for a new connection and luckily found one immediately, flying with Air France to Paris, then change planes and then I would still be able to catch the original flight to Cape Town.

I needed someone to accompany me to the plane in Washington as time for a normal check in was too tight. Did you know that this way within 10 minutes I was from the check in counter to actually sitting in the plane? I do like to shop a bit at airports, or at least look around a bit and usually have plenty of time to do so, so this time I missed out on it, please don't ask me how the airport in Washington is, I have no idea!

The flight was OK, the on board entertainment system didn't work for the first 2 hours and then the movies weren't new, what a bummer. The highlight of the first flight was a glass of Canard Duchene Champagne....yes the rest was not that exciting, service was friendly but food was bad.I have to say bad even so I don't like to be negative. I had a lovely sounding "Beef Parmentier" which is usually a tender beef stew with potatoes. What we got served is a tiny layer of mince meat topped with mash potatoes made out of powder, I could not eat it so the only thing what I did on the flight was sleeping.

The Airport in Paris (Charles de Gaulle) is very good, easy to find everything a bit weak in shops where I was but by good chance I met Cem, an Assistant Maitre'd from Mercury, he was actually on the same flight like me, but we didn't see each other. He was now on the way to Montpellier in the same part of the airport, so we had a cup of coffee together for about half an hour before we parted again to catch our flights. Was really nice to see him again and catch up a little bit.

The next Air France Flight was really good, just a short jump to Amsterdam, had a quick snack and we were ready for landing again. Overall I have to say that I was not overly impressed with Air France, very little leg space, disappointing movies, service friendly but not wowing me away, I am glad the next flight is KLM, I hope it is as good as last time.

British Airways, back to work in Alaska

I am on the way back to work, yes it was a long and fantastic holiday, done a lot, been in beautiful places, but now it is time to work again, earn some money......and see some more of the World. I just had a long flight from Cape Town to London with British Airways, 8 hours in Heathrow and then another long haul flight to Vancouver. That is quite a change in scenery. I am joining Celebrity again for another 4 month contract, starting here in Canada and then going over Alaska and then down the West Coast to San Francisco and San Diego. Then we will go through the Panama Canal back into the Caribbean with some exciting new ports, so there is a lot happening in the next four month with many new recipes.

As so often my journey starts in Cape Town Airport. Since the renovation it became a really beautiful and practical airport. There is plenty of parking and everything is easy to find. Check in is central and quick, there are plenty of shops, and restaurants so there is enough to do while waiting. The shops in the duty free are fine, but nothing special, after all it is not a huge airport, but has everything one need. The design is beautiful, so well done on this airport.

As a little farewell treat I went to “Mugg and Bean” for a Bagel Breakfast with smoked Salmon Trout and Scrambled Eggs, it was as usual in this restaurant a big portion and delicious. Everything here is nearly over sized, the Muffins, Scones and if you attempt a slice of cake, you will need someone to help you.

I am no fan of British Airways, maybe because I had two bad experiences quite a few years ago and am still grumbling about them; it was that they run out of drinks and bad service. Especially bad service I can’t stand. As usual the seats are tight together and one has hardly enough space to move, the flight was pretty full, so one is stuck in the seat. The food looked........not very appetizing but in its defence I have to admit that the chicken was really tasty. The pudding was straight out of the desert, just dry and crumbly and the next morning breakfast, let’s say I will not gain weight on this journey, I didn’t eat the breakfast, just not as nice as on many other airlines.

But this is only the first leg of the journey; I am now in London waiting for my connection to Vancouver. I am in terminal 5 and must say that it is very nice. Loads of overpriced shops, many restaurants and some of them are actually pretty interesting like the one of Gordon Ramsey. I am no fan of him, but like some of his cook books very much. The restaurant is called Plane Food and I just made a photo of the Menu, I think it is a really good idea, unfortunately the menu is only served from 12 lunch and that is the time I need to check in otherwise I would love to spend the 19 Pound for the three course meal, it looks very appetizing. For a Foodie, this is a place to go.

Then there is of course Prunier, Caviar House. This is another good place to eat some Seafood and have a glass of Champagne. It is very upmarket, but nice! So everything is available here, fom the quick take away to the upmarket deli dining, a good place to be stranded for a couple of hours between flights.

Flying Qatar Airways

Yes on the road again, this time with Qatar Airways from Cape Town to Manila, where I will be spending the next three weeks. I did a bit internet research and as I am paying for this flight I have no option as to take the cheapest flight available, but cheap doesn’t mean bad. Qatar advertises to be the World’s 5 star Airline, so expectations are high.......and met.

Even so the planes have a very plain look from the outside with this white and grey, inside they are good, very clean and modern. I love the lights on the side, different colours gives the interior a great look. I had plenty of space in my seat and the seat was really comfortable, so everything went off to a good start. We were totally in time and took off smoothly. Every seat has its own TV screen and I have to admit that the entertainment system is one of the best I have seen so far, very easy to use, loads of new movies and plenty of choice in general, I could even watch my movie while we had a stopover in Johannesburg.

Now being a chef, the food is of course very important. First minor disappointment, no choice of food on the first leg to Johannesburg, but we were served a spicy hot Chicken Byriani with some lovely Dhal, really good. So we are all happy, the plane is quite empty, but filled up completely in Johannesburg. Service was impeccable all the way through, we were served the food on paper underlay’s, nice touch, the wine was excellent, Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, just the food between Johannesburg and Doha was very bland, I had Chicken in mushroom Sauce with potato and vegetables, very, very bland, especially after the super Byriani. Breakfast was a simple roll filled with scrambled egg, nothing special, but the coffee was really good and again, service was top notch.

But overall I have to say flying Qatar Airways was a top experience on the first leg. I am now for 12 hours in Doha Airport, after flying such a great Airline the home airport was just simply no good. I did expect more from a Middle Eastern Airways, not that everybody has to be the same like Dubai, but even the toilets were old and grotty, water everywhere, just not nice. The Food Court is not satisfying to say the least, sorry but I am a foodie and there is just no choice. I think this airport needs work, a lot of work, the best of the whole airport is the kids section, if families have a long lay over, that is the place to go, there is food available close by and the kids can go wild. Don’t buy anything in the Duty Free zone, it is very expensive, a lot more expensive than going shopping at home.

Watch out for more news from Qatar Airways, my next leg and some photos of the food served!!!! This blog is basically life, just landed here in Doha and the blog is online!!!!

Flying South African Airways

You guess it right, I am in the air again, but it looks like it is the last time for a little while, at least the next four month as I will be based on the same ship for that time. As the title for this blog already says, I took South African Airways, one of my favourite airlines. OK, maybe it is because I live in South Africa and support anything South African or it is that I have never had a bad experience with this airline when it comes to flying.

What I like already is that there is more leg space than in many other airlines which makes long hauls a lot easier. I was flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then via Dakar to New York which is a 17 hour long trip, so it is very much appreciated to have these couple of extra centimetres.
Since they renovated all the airports in South Africa for the Football World cup the check in is so much easier. Cape Town International Airport is an absolute dream, no comparison with the old one. Check in is easy, everything is good to find, nice restaurants and good shopping, even on the domestic side. I love this airport.

The same with Johannesburg; one finds everything easy, check in is quick and the facilities are great. The shopping is outstanding and of course everything is brand spanking new. Like this flying already starts well.

As I already mentioned, South African Airways did again a great job. The service was outstanding, the food was good, ok the sandwich was a little weak, some sloppy wrap with beef inside, nothing to write about, but then the hot meal was very good and nicely presented. The choice of course the usual beef or chicken and I opted for the chicken, very tasty and good, no complaints.

The movie choice could have been a bit better, but I guess if one doesn’t fly too often it is perfectly fine. I slept quite a bit on the way so it didn’t matter too much. The service passes often with refreshments, so one is very well looked after.

Now I spend the day in New York but I don’t even want to go into the hotel here, check in time is late so there is no way to catch a train to the city as we are out at the airport, but at least one can relax a little and get ready for the next day when I am back onboard the beautiful Celebrity Summit.

Flying again

Newark Airport, The Food Hall
OK, some longhaul flights are on again, first from Newark to Amsterdam with Delta and then from Amsterdam to Cape Town with KLM. I am looking forward to the KLM flight as I have not flown with KLM in such a long time. Delta.......on the other side I have no high expectations as I have flown plenty times in the States and it is just another bus trip from A to B......which it was. The food was nothing to write about, I made a photo of my space age looking lasagna, ok I have to admit it still tasted nice, but look and texture was really nothing that finds any followers.
The one interesting part was the wine, served in 1 liter Tetra packs. Nothing wrong with it as wine is never anything special in the tourist class section, so why not serve in Tetra packs, save storage and waste and still be able to serve a good product, I enjoyed my glass or two of the white and the red wine.

KLM on the other side was a dream, good service, own TV (Delta was a communal thing) and good food which was beautifully presented. I think KLM wins hands down. Everything from check in to the arrival in Cape Town was perfect. They came ever so often with refreshments, something that was non existent with Delta, So yes, I do like KLM a lot.


The of course the comparison of the airports, yes well.... I really don't want to elaborate on Newark, I had to spend far too long on an airport that has absolutely nothing to offer....again with the one exception of a take away serving Oxtail, beautifully braised Oxtail. I could not believe to see this lovely dish which smelled great and tasted great. I have to say as well that they are busy renovating the airport, let's hope it will improve!

Amstardam Schipol is tops, good facilities, great shopping, a central kids station where parents can go with their little ones while waiting for the next connection. There are plenty of nice restaurants, just everything is great and the flight connections are easy to find.

Popping over to Miami for an interview and a Stone Crab recipe

I know it is a while ago, but I went quick from Newcastle, north of Sydney over to Miami for an interview with a rather big cruise line. It was a lot of flying for 5 days, actually most of the time. Everything was good, but there is nothing worse than having to sit at airports and wait for a connection. I had the great pleasure sitting in Los Angeles for 7 hours, as the departing plane to Miami was delayed.......Sounds familiar?

I was impressed with the size of Newcastle Airport, I was there at 530 in the morning and it was pumping, it looked like everybody wanted to leave Newcastle. It is a modern airport with all the facilities, not huge, but nice and cosy.
After a quick flight I was for a couple of hours at Brisbane International Airport. Had some lovely coffee there, everything is well organized, just keep in mind when arriving in Brisbane International and you need to take a Domestic flight, the transfer between the airports can take a long time as there is only one train connection every about 20 minutes.

Immigration Los Angeles........anything can happen........I am prepared for a long wait as I usually do.........5 minutes later I was through it, I just can't believe that Immigration took actually less than 5 minutes, including the wait in the queue, which as you can see was non existent. So there is plenty of time to explore the airport. Last time I was here was about 2 years ago and I thought they should be finish with renovating......they are not! I had a breakfast coffee at the International terminal, at 7 AM and was amazed how busy Mac Donald's was......long queues.....let's not go into it! So, no there is not much I can say about Los Angeles Airport except, make sure you are there for as short time as possible.
Now to Miami. I LOVE Miami, it must be the Hispanic influence, the Cuban feel, it is just nice. Staying at Hilton Down Town (the company pays), I had this most amazing view over the City Bowl, all the photos are taken from my room, OK I got upgraded to a Junior Suite, not because I am a nice guy, but the other rooms were fully booked and I only arrived after 10PM. So I had to reside in this Suite with a lounge big enough to accommodate a soccer team. The rest of the hotel was then very much average, breakfast and service even below. I like my breakfast, but what they offered was not even worth taking a photo.

I was lucky enough to be flown in a day early, so I could meet up with some friends and spent a lovely day, driving out to the Everglades National Park. Just amazing to see the sheer size of it. The dinner with some beautiful BBQ Lamb Chops and good wine, life is good.
Then after being so short in Miami I was on my way back, another 20 hours of flying.....yes it started to get sore in some special place of my body! But this time there were no overlays in the airport, no delays, just straight flying. Quantas was lovely, good service, good food, and even good movies. As this flight was on a Monday night, the planes were not that full, on my way here all the seats were taken. So this time I had space and on both long haul flights had a really good sleep.

I thought I give here a little recipe for Stone Crabs, a speciality in Miami when in season.

Ingredients:

3 pounds stone crab claws
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-dry vermouth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Preparation:

First crack the stone crab claws and remove the shell and pincer. Leave the meat attached to the remaining pincer. Next it is time to heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add Stone crab claws and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the claws are heated through, and turn the crab claws frequently. Turn heat to high; add vermouth, lemon juice, salt and pepper to pan. Cook 1 minute more, spooning vermouth sauce over claws

Oh, by the way, I did get the job and will start mid January, my new Job title is Traveling Executive Chef, fits perfectly to the Gourmet Traveler, doesn't it? So I think there will be plenty more posts to come over the next year. And I better get used to the hotel (not the room of course) as it seems that this is the hotel I will be staying at while in Miami.

Happy Flying Again

I am sitting in Airplanes again, I am for a quick interview in Miami......more time in the air than actually here in Florida. This time I had the pleasure to fly Quantas and American Airlines.

Quantas was from Brisbane to Los Angeles, a 13 hour flight, so it better be good. The flight was fully booked, something I am getting used to, yes of course it is nice to have an extra seat, it sleeps so much better, but I think sometimes one must be happy to just get a seat. Service was good, but by far behind Singapore Airlines or Emirates. There is just enough space to sit, luckily I got an average height, so it was fine, tall people would not be too happy.

The food.....airplane food, nothing to rave about, it feeds you but that is about it, rather bland it was some red wine braised beef with peas and potatoes....An ice cream was served as dessert.....anyway, it filled the tummy. Breakfast on the other side was nice again (or I was just really hungry) Omelet with sausage, potatoes and a lovely tomato sauce, nice and chunky. Coffee was very good, so at least the morning started off well and gave me the stamina to go through US Immigration.

Then the second flight, American Airways from LA to Miami. We had already to wait an extra 90 minutes as there were technical problems with the plane which they had to fix first. Then the flight....is there anything positive to say about flying in the US? It is just another bus trip, tightly squeezed Sardines going from one place to another. The planes are usually not very clean, like this one, food doesn't exist except one buys it from the service personnel, so I was just happy that I slept most of the way, I think the only way one can survive the 4 and a half hour flight. I think the scary part is of how much these planes fly. The plane arrived in LA then got a minor clean up, got fixed then off to Miami and as soon as we were off the plane it was made ready to go further to Sao Paolo. They are non stop in the air!

So in two days I have the same coming up again, just this time the other way around. I hope especially the flight with Quantas will be a bit nicer, the first one wasn't bad but I had much better flights with this airline (guess I am a spoilt little.....) But first let's have a nice Sunday here in Miami, then interview Monday morning and back to Aussie Monday evening....

Flying Singapore Airlines

I just had a lovely flight from Cape Town to Singapore. Even so the flight was fully booked, service was impeccable, beating Emirates! Very seldom will one find such wonderful and smiling flight attendants and especially during the night they passed all the times with trays of water, juice and snacks, something I was missing on Emirates.

The food of course was very good too, but what I especially liked was that it was served on nice and big non slip trays, big enough that one had space to put all the papers, bags and lids on the tray without having everything piling up!

The menu we were served was a lunch

Smoked Ham with vegetable and pasta salad

Braised fish fillet with black bean sauce

seasonal vegetables and steamed rice

or

Roast Chicken with Herb Gravy

Buttered vegetables and roasted Potatoes

Cheese and Crackers

Mocca Mousse

OK, the menu was not as fancily written, but everything that was on the menu was as well served. The weakest part of the menu was the smoked ham, it didn't live up to the rest of the meal. I had the fish and it was delicious, my neighbours had the chicken and it looked succulent and juicy.

For breakfast one had the choice between Asian and normal Continental, both were very nice with me having the braised egg noodles with chicken and mushrooms, in Oriental sauce.

The wine is served in 750 ml bottles, and the quality was very good. They came 3 or 4 times to make sure every bodies glass was always re filled.

There was ample space to sit and everything else was good too, so Singapore Airlines is definitely an Airline I recommend.

Flying Emirates

Now after spending so long on airports, yes I had to spend quite a few hours in planes as well. It is always the same, flying away from home, there is no rush and I have time on airports, but flying home, that has to go as fast as possible.

Check in as usual wasn't a great deal, even with my nearly 40 kg luggage. I just produced my Seaman's book and off the suit cases went. It has some advantages when travelling back from a ship, 40 kg luggage is nice, all my 6 bottles of wine, one bottle Metaxa, the Turkish delights and much more...that all takes space and weight!

Emirates is nice to fly with, service is lovely and helpful and one of the most important parts, for me at least, the food is good. Just to let you know what we "had" to eat for lunch:

.

Salmon and Vegetable Terrine

served with crunchy bean sprout and mushroom salad

Sauteed Prawn and lemon wedge

.

Chicken Makhanwala

Tender pieces of chicken sauteed and tossed in a creamy Makhanwala sauce

Served with steamed Basmati rice and vegetable Salounah

.

Green apple and almond dream

soft almond sponge topped with a light green apple flavoured mousse

and home-made granola

.

Cheese and biscuits

.

Tea or coffee with chocolates

.

Sounds delicious doesn't it? And to be honest most of it was, just the salmon terrine was actually a salade Nicoise, still very nice but not what was advertised, main course lovely, dessert delicious, even as it was made out of a packet, cheese the usual in plastic wrapped cheddar and chocolates was a single chocolate, but overall, very enjoyable. I have eaten a lot worse on planes so Emirates are high up there in the ranking.

Like I said, service was faultless, attentive and very friendly, TV...I had to get used to it, just a different system but huge choice. Space on the seats was average, but then again, I have seen worse. Bot times I flew the plane was fully booked to the last seat, but the attentive personnel coped very well. I think it is an airline one can recommend.

Oh, by the way, if anybody is allergic to onions or garlic, there is plenty of both in the food..plenty!!