Precious Memories: Sydney to Incheon on Asiana

Asiana 602/Air New Zealand Lounge/Incheon Airportel-- April 3, 2014 (Thursday)

It was the end of our trip downunder. Got up early at around 4:30 to get ready and pack. Our van came on time as we waited in the lobby and off to the airport we went. There was a little traffic but we made it in good time for our 10:30 flight. We had to fly to Incheon, spend the night there and then catch the morning flight out to Taipei the next day. A long route indeed! No complaint since we were flying business using miles.

Duty-free

Sydney Airport

For Asiana, we used the Air New Zealand lounge.

Basic and simple. Quite crowded for that early hour.

Breakfast food served.

Almost time to board.

Settling comfortably in this 777-200

This older plane had no AVOD.

Pre-flight drinks

Business Class was about half-filled

Leaving Sydney Airport

Great garlic bread!

Korean meal

Western meal--this time the beef was a little overcooked.

Half way through the flight, a snack of ramen was served to those who were hungry. Excellent!

Another meal was served before landing.

Arriving ICN as the sun goes down.

We had the Information Desk call for our hotel shuttle pick-up. We also went to the bank counter to exchange some money. With the Asiana boarding pass, we got a better rate. (check the inflight magazine for details)

The van came promptly as we waited at the departure level here.

In less than 10 minutes, we were at this service apartment type hotel called Incheon Airportel. No need to check-in. The driver just handed us the card with the key code and we went up to our room by ourselves. He also arranged the time for pick-up the next morning.

A commercial building with many units. Ours was on the 11th floor, right in the middle of the building. For about $85 a night, this is a better option than any other hotel rooms.

The only complaint that I had was the very thin towels that they provided. They can hurt your skin if you are not careful.

Came with a little kitchenette

Spacious and clean

Strong Wi-Fi signal

And we had a view of the airport.

As in most Asian countries, the beds were kind of hard.

We wanted to get some dinner so we took the elevator down to the ground floor where we found several restaurants and convenient stores still opened. There was a 24-hour Korean restaurant, a couple of Korean BBQ places, an Aussie Fish and Chips place, and a couple of cafes. We didn't even need to leave the building. We tried, but it was really windy and cold, so we retreated back into the building.