Asiana A359 to Seoul: Bibimbap, Cocktails at Zest, and Nest Hotel Incheon

[yflyer]

I was in Seoul last week for a work trip. I flew from Singapore to Seoul on Asiana Airlines in Economy. Both my outbound SIN-ICN and return ICN-SIN flights were operated by Airbus A350-900 XWB aircraft. Asiana is in the process of merging with Korean Airlines, which means it is likely that at some point in the future, frequent flyers on this airline will move from Star Alliance to Skyteam. At the current time, Asiana was still with Star Alliance, so Star Gold privileges still applied. This was my first time flying Asiana -- my impressions of this airline to follow in this TR.

As this was a business trip, I had no meals pre-planned, but I ended up dining very well, as I had many lunch/dinner meetings with clients and ex-colleagues who brought me to really wonderful places to eat. Coincidentally my niece and her husband were on holiday in Seoul at the same time, so we had dinner together as well.

I also checked out a couple of top cocktail bars in Seoul, Zest and Alice. Zest impressed me so much that I went there 3 times during the week.

I spent the last night of the trip at Nest Hotel Incheon. This stunning property was located next to Incheon airport, and was affiliated with Design Hotels and Marriott Bonvoy. This was my first time staying there, and I was completely blown away by the experience. Far more than an airport transit hotel, this was a designer/boutique hotel in the best possible sense, with amazing architecuture, design, rooms and location. If I ever head to Seoul again, I would try to plan to stay my last night at this hotel again.

[yflyer]

My flight OZ752 was a 10:50pm departure out of Changi T3.

Before my flight, I headed to Jewel for dinner with Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2.



Mrs yflyer had wanted to try Kantin, a Borneo/Sarawak-themed restaurant on the 5th level of Jewel, where many eateries were located. This was a wonderful part of Jewel to haver dinner. We were right under the glass dome, with the night sky just above us. With the trees, foliage and sound of running water from Jewel's waterfall nearby, we felt as if we were dining outdoors, in a forest, on a cool evening.



This moderately-priced restaurant served Borneo/tribal themed dishes such as this Headhunter Pansuh Set, which included chicken, vegetables, unpolished rice and crackers...



...as well as more familiar items like Sarawak Laksa...



After dinner, we said our goodbyes, and I headed via the connecting tunnel/walkway to T3 to catch my flight to Seoul.

[yflyer]

At 9pm, there was a queue at the economy check-in queue for Asiana Airlines, but it wasn't too long. There was no queue at the Business Class / Star Alliance Gold check-in counters, so I got my boarding pass very quickly.



The display outside T3 departures celebrated 70 years of Miffy (Who's Miffy you ask? No idea... :-)



Once past boarding pass and passport-less passport checks (just a face scan required for Singapore passport holders), I headed straight for the designated lounge, the SATS Premier Lounge.

[yflyer]

The T3 SATS Premier Lounge was located next to the SQ Krisflyer Gold Lounge.



This was an airy, semi-open lounge, with a seating section...



...and a sit down dining section with a self service buffet and beverage spread.



There was a separate seating section which was open only to Asiana airlines passengers.



The main section of the lounge was quite full, so it was nice to have a separate room to relax in, although there wasn't much in that room apart from sofas and workstations/ worktops.



I left the Asiana-section and headed back into the main lounge where all the F&B was.

There was a self-service bar area with a small wine and liquor selection.



I poured myself a glass of Pol Remy sparkling wine.



There were also soft drinks and mixers available.

[yflyer]

Wine glass in hand, I headed to the buffet...



Carrot Soup...



Chicken congee...



Miso butter spaghetti, and "lu rou fan": braised minced chicken with rice...



Someone at SATS really loves chicken: also on the menu were chicken karaage, salted egg popcorn chicken...



...and chicken fricasee...



There was also fish curry...



Brocolli and mushrooms, and mashed potatoes...



Maggi Mee Goreng and Kimchi fried rice...



Vegetarian samosas with mint chutney...



There was also SATS signature laksa...



Just add your own piping hot laksa gravy...



If I had not already eaten dinner, I think I would have been quite happy with this spread.

Beancurd with Ginko nut for dessert...

[yflyer]

There were also a few shower stalls in the lounge, with no queue to use them.



Overall, I thought this was a decent lounge, with pleasant decor and good F&B. But the SATS Premier Lounge was quite crowded when I was there, so the ambience was not ideal.

After spending some time in the SATS Premier Lounge, I decided to head to the SQ Krisflyer Gold Lounge next door, which I was eligible to use as a KF Gold / Star Alliance Gold member.

The SQ Lounge was far larger and much less crowded -- this made all the difference. I much preferred the ambience here.

Pics of the SQ Lounge during my visit below. It felt much more serene and peaceful than the SATS Premium Lounge, as there weren't too many people there at the time.



I spent a few minutes chilling in the SQ lounge...



...before heading to the gate.

[yflyer]

Asiana Airlines OZ752 SIN-ICN was operated today by Airbus A359-900 XWB registration HL8360, a 6 year old aircraft.



Boarding took place slightly late as the inbound aircraft arrived a little late.

The Y cabin was arranged in conventional 3-3-3 layout.



The first few rows had extra legroom.



These seats had large placards stating "EXTRA PAYMENT REQUIRED".



The row 29/30 seats emex row seats also had extra legroom. Note the row 30 window seats had no seat in front of them (A layout fairly common on the A359).



My seat was in the rear of the Y cabin...



I had chosen 43G for one reason only -- on this very full flight, the seat next to mine was empty on the check-in seat map. When travelling in Y, an empty seat next to you makes a flight much more comfortable!



My seat had pretty good recline.



Some seats in the rear had "DO NOT OCCUPY" stickers on them. It was not clear why those stickers were there. It was unlikely to have been crew rest, as this was a long haul aircraft with the crew rest cabin in the rear of the aircraft, above the last few rows.

[yflyer]

The bathroom...



Toothbrushes and combs on the counter...

[yflyer]

I was handed eye shades and earplugs -- a nice touch on this red-eye flight.



The seat pocket contained a safety card, connectivity info and a thick duty free catalog. No inflight magazine, though (I wonder if any airlines still offer a hardcopy inflight magazine...).



Headband style headphones, which I left unopened, in favour of using my own Shure earbuds.



Seatback IFE...



USB power under the IFE screen...



Underseat A/C power (And no underseat obstructions...)



Not the most sophisticated looking IFE menu...



There was a selection of movies/TV/music available, but the number of titles seemed a lot fewer than what SQ offered.



Some of this month's movies...



I was delighted to see that one of the TV selections was a broadcast of a Czech Philiharmonic Orchestra concert with guest soloist Daniil Trifonov, one of the world's leading classical pianists, who coincidentally just played with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra earlier in the week.



There was wifi available on this flight.



Asiana had a no-nonsense safety video, which just gave detailed safety instructions -- which to me was a good thing.



I think many airlines go overboard with their safety videos, which detract from the message of what pax must do to survive an emergency...

[yflyer]

5 hours and 54 minutes to Seoul today...



Meal service began shortly after take-off, starting from the front of the cabin...



There were 2 choices of main in the Y cabin: Asiana's signature Bibimbap, or fish with rice.

My friend had recommended the Bibimbap, but alas by the time the cart came to me in the last row, only the fish with rice was available. I would have to wait until my return trip to try their famous Bibimbap.



All that said, the meal on my tray looked pretty appetizing.



Beverage-wise, I was surprised to learn that Asiana had only wine and beer on offer as alcoholic beverages, no liquor, soju or makgeolli. I decided to pair my fish with white wine.

The fish and rice were ok, if a little bland, but the packet of fiery Gochujang sauce really saved the day: it transformed the fish and rice into something quite delicious...



After that, the cabin crew came round with coffee and tea...



Meal service ended fairly quickly...I was done with my meal within an hour and 20 minutes of take-off, leaving 4 hours to rest/sleep.

[yflyer]

I slept really soundly on this flight. Next thing I knew, it was 30 minutes to landing. There was no disruptive breakfast or snack service, and cabin crew landing prep only started 30-35 minutes before estimated arrival time, which left pax maximum time to rest. Thumbs up!

A short video with stretching exercises was screened...



By then, the sun was up...



Final cabin checks...



28 minutes to go...



Today's route...



Finals...



On the ground at ICN...



We landed at 6:07am, a full 33 minutes earlier than the scheduled arrival time of 6:40am.

I was off the plane by 6:25am.



What a large terminal ICN T1 was...



There was a 15-20 min queue at immigration, but I had no luggage, so I didn't have to wait at baggage claim.

Once landside, I picked up a local SIM card from SKTelecom which gave me 6 days of unlimited data roaming for a very reasonable fee. They also threw in a transport card for bus/subway/train services, which could be topped up at any convenience store or subway station.



From there, I caught the airport limousine bus 6006 from ICN to the Aloft Hotel in Gangnam.

[yflyer]

Overall, I had a really good flight on Asiana to Seoul. The A359 Y cabin was spacious and comfortable. As this was a slightly older A359, I thought the cabin product and IFE were not as advanced as SQ's A359 (or TK, which I recently flew on the SIN-MEL sector), but as this was a red-eye, the IFE didn't matter too much to me.

I thought catering on this flight was fine. I was slightly disappointed that only wine and beer were offered with the meal, but the meal itself was tasty.

Cabin service was efficient, if not the warmest or friendliest (Maybe there was a language gap?).

What I really liked was the quick service format: A meal served quickly right after take-off, and no interruptions until top of descent, giving pax maximum time to sleep on this red-eye.

I wish I had tried the Asiana bibimbap, though. That would have to wait until my return flight.

Next up: Seoul!

To be continued!

[SQ218]

Great read and thanks for sharing yflyer!!

The display outside T3 departures celebrated 70 years of Miffy (Who's Miffy you ask? No idea... :-)

A fictional rabbit by dutch artist and got popular in Japan due to the kawaiiness of it.

[yflyer]

Great read and thanks for sharing yflyer!!

Thanks for reading, SQ218!

A fictional rabbit by dutch artist and got popular in Japan due to the kawaiiness of it.

Dutch! I would never have guessed! :-)

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...

I caught bus 6006 from ICN airport to the city.



This was both inexpensive and convenient, as the bus was practically non-stop most of the way from the airport to the city, before making stops at several locations in the city, including one stop right across the street from the Aloft Seoul Gangnam.

The bus layout was a very comfy 2-1 layout. It was possible to sleep for most of the hour long bus ride, as there was a long uninterrupted stretch from ICN to the city, before announcements came for stops in the city. The announcements would wake you up, so there was no danger of missing your stop while sleeping.