April 6, 2014
We have landed at Seoul, South Korea, ICN/INCHEON AIRPORT. This place is also big like the airport we just left in Bangkok although I think the Bangkok one was bigger. By the time we get up to the area where we will wait for our next flight it is too late to try to take one of the free transit tours. ICN offers free transit tours if you have long layovers. I wish all airports did this. I think it's great PR for the city. I picked up a booklet from the transit tour desk and there are so many really neat tours ranging from 1 hr. to 5 hrs. I wish we had a longer layover!! We walk around looking at the stores, people. There's a STARBUCKS and I'm hungry and thirsty so I buy a sweet cinnamon roll for 3500 Korean money. I give the lady $5 and since they don't give the change back in US I get 1680 Korean back. Then we go to CAFFE BENE because they have free wifi and I can sit here and check things on my I Pad. 2 coffees set us back $11 US money accepted but no change as I have the correct amount in USD. My brother-in-law was supposed to pick us up at the airport in Buffalo but he was hospitalized and is recovering at home. My nephew got in touch with my step daughter who is now going to pick us up I hope. Yes-there's an e-mail from her and she will pick us up tonight when our plane arrives at 8:40 pm. Time to board our next ASIANA flight OZ 236 departing ICN at 11:00 am and arriving in ORD/Chicago at 9:35 am. We have a very long layover of almost 8 hrs. in Chicago. Too bad there's no transit tours!! GOODBYE, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA!
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Our next flight is OZ 236
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Our next Asiana Airlines plane
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On board we have seats 19C and 19D. After a sort time in the air we are served a chicken burrito. I thought we'd get a full meal but this burrito is very good considering it's plane food. Lots of good movies to watch on your personal TV screen. I think I watched a total of 5 movies on the two ASIANA flights and I only wish I had written the names down. I can say they were very entertaining and made the time whiz by. Also the flt. attendants were always offering drinks. Unlike flt. attendants on US carriers these were busy all the time. That's what I call good service. Soon we were given a menu. Surprise we are going to have 2 more full meals before we land in Chicago. Wow! And you don't have to pay for it! The first meal has 2 choices: western or Korean. Since I had the Korean on the first leg I choose western this time but I forgot to take a picture. It consisted of bay shrimp salad which was ok, mixed vegetables-good, beef tenderloin steak with demiglace sauce-excellent and so tender, and almond raspberry cake for dessert. For airplane food it was filling and good. Then several hrs. later our 2nd meal is served: choice of chicken stew with tomato sauce and penne cream pasta which I choose or seabass with hot spicy sauce and steamed rice. Yogurt and fruit comes with both. I would definitely fly on this airline again. The seats were comfortable and roomy enough, the service was spot on, the in flight entertainment was good, and even the food exceeded my expectations. Because of all the movies, the food, the drinks it's time to land in Chicago! Landing was as smooth as the take offs. We get through customs/immigration and collect out bags so they can be tagged and put on our next flight.
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| It was good |
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My second meal of our flight-chicken stew and penne pasta with broccoli
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We will be on
United flight
UA 246 departing
ORD/Chicago at 6:05 pm and arriving
BUF/Buffalo at 8:40 pm. We have such a long lay over here. There's a counter right where we are with our luggage that is
UNITED AIRLINES. I'm going to see if we can get put on an earlier flight as I notice ones on the departure schedule board. What have I got to lose?? She is very pleasant and even catches that our bags had been tagged to go to Cleveland, not Buffalo! Good catch! She tells an
ASIANA staff person about this mistake they made in a jokingly manner. Now we are going to be on flt.
UA 1615 leaving 1:11 pm, arriving Buffalo at 3:39 pm-that's like shaving 5 hrs. off our travel time. I thank her very much!! Our bags are retagged correctly now. We still have a few hrs. to wait but that's no big deal. I use our cell phone to contact my step daughter who can pick us up earlier. I'm feeling like I won a lottery because everything has been so great on all our return flights as opposed to the horrors we went through on our flights back in January. A much better ending than beginning. I treat us to iced coffees from
STARBUCKS in Chicago-$9.50. Our short flight goes without a hitch. We see Arleen as we exit and our bags are on the carousel. Yay! We're home and the snow is gone. Well not quite because as we drive up the road to our house I can see traces of snow. I give Arleen all the things I bought for her and her husband Bill. We will spend more time catching up when we celebrate Easter at my brother-in-law's home in 2 weeks. My final post will be reflections of our trip-things we wished we had done, things we would have done differently, etc.
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