I'm in Paris! My sister and I arrived at the airport around the same time in the morning today, so once we were happily reunited, we took the train into Paris and dropped our stuff off at our hotel before heading out immediately to wander around this beautiful city. I've only been here less than a day, but I'm already having such a blast! And I already have a bunch of Paris pics to share, but I'm so pooped from the long flight and walking around that I'm about to pass out here on my hotel bed. :) Plus, I'm still on Seoul-time, which means I should be fast asleep right now! Eyes are... slowly... closing...
But before I conk out, here's some vegan airplane and airport food I ate while en route from Seoul to Paris, with a layover in Tokyo:
Both of my flights were with Japan Airlines (JAL). From Seoul to Tokyo, I was served a snackbox of half a pita bread stuffed with sauteed veggies, a slice of bread with baby corn and red bell pepper strips, and a container of syrupy canned fruit and an apple wedge.
The soft pita bread with the veggie filling was quite good. I also liked the baby carrots, but the bread slice they were on was rather dry and stale. A decent snackbox, but nothing to write home about.
My layover at Haneda Tokyo International Airport was about 1:30 hours long, so I wandered around for a bit, checking out all the robot toys and hello kitty souvenirs.
I also got a bit hungry (that previous snackbox didn't fill me up much), so I headed to the food court and got a rice ball with marinated seaweed strips on top, as well as in the inside.
The whole thing was about the size of my palm. It was mostly just a hunk of plain white rice, but was surprisingly still tasty from the seaweed.
Then, about an hour into my flight from Japan to France, snacks were served. While everyone else got Croque Monsieur and some steamed cakes, I got a whole wheat bun with tomato and cucumber slices, and a banana. In my experience, this was one of the few times during a flight where the vegan meal didn't look better than the omni option. While I appreciated the healthiness of this snack, I was a bit disappointed in its lack of creativity and flavor... The bun didn't have any condiments inside, so it was all rather bland. I reckon JAL could do better...
Fortunately, JAL redeemed themselves with the hot meal which was served before we descended. The entree was cous cous with a side of okra, broccoli, and button mushrooms, sauteed in tomato sauce. The tray also came with a bread bun, iceberg lettuce salad, a serving of artichoke hearts and steamed cauliflower, and some slices of fruit. Oh, and some margarine and french dressing. Everything was so vibrant, healthful, bright in flavor, vegan and delicious!
It had been forever since I last had okra, so that was a nice surprise. Loved the button mushrooms too.
After that, they served coffee, which I enjoyed with some homemade tropical biscotti that I brought along with me. Hehe, my own little coffee shop in the sky. :)
So that sums up the aiplane and airport eats. Overall, I wasn't blown away with JAL's vegan fare, especially on the snack-front, but at least they ended on a high note. We'll see how the food is on my return flights! :)
Well, there are plenty more travel photos to share, so hopefully I can find time (and wifi) in the next few days to do that. Tomorrow I head to Amsterdam for the weekend to see some old friends, and I'm super excited! But now it's bed time. nite nite~~ :)