Korean Air Rocks, Chasing the Darkness, and Cankles

I HEART KOREAN AIR, I really can't say it enough. I seriously could be their new spokesperson!!!

After being informed that I was bumped from my aisle seat to a middle seat because I was one of the last people to check in(even though I showed up more than the suggested 2 hours ahead),  I made my way through the security check staffed by very unpleasant and rude TSA employees. Then things turned around for the better.  I came upon my departing gate which was full of lovely, friendly, calm Korean people and this group of Korean flight attendants who looked like a throw back to the 1950s Pan Am Stewardesses. They were stunning, beyond polite, perfectly dressed and groomed in their powder blue silk perfectly tailored blouses, jackets, cream colored pencil skirts, and matching hair bows.  I couldn't stop staring at how lovely they were people must have thought I was a creeper.
I made friends with a little guy named Nathan who came over and shared his Incredible Hulk figure with me, to his parents surprise, and then a few minutes later, I was staring off in the distance at the lovely flight attendants, I feel little Nate crawl up into my lap and put his face up by my ear and say "I'll keep you company until we leave, Mommy has Daddy on that bench so I'll sit with you".  It was a little like a scene from a movie and the perfect remedy to calm my slightly heart which was slightly anxious about flying to opposite side of the planet by myself.

Ok, so more on Korean Air. I board the plane to find a large blanket folded neatly on my seat with a plastic cosmetic bag filled with cloth sandles, a tooth brush and toothpaste, headphones, and tube of chili sauce that came in what looked like a tube for acne medicine or craft glue(random but amusing).  I was barely seated when the flight attendants came around with warm wash clothes for our faces and hands. There was even a little clip on the back side of the tray table to put the wash cloth until the flight attendant came around the retrieve them. Check out the back of the seat, there is a pull out hook on the left to hang a sweater, an outlet on the right to charge your cell phone/Ipod/computer/whatever, and a TV with tons of movie, tv and travel map options.

It was a bit surreal to watch the world map color coded in real time with daylight and darkness.  I knew based on my flight time that I would be traveling backwards in time until we reached the international date line but to essentially be chasing the darkness on our flight and not see the light of day for close to 25 hours was a pretty surreal.  I also had plenty of room in my middle seat because I was definitely one of the heavier people on the flight.

We also had 2 full meals and multiple rounds of snacks and wine on the 15 hour flight from JFK to Seoul.  The first try at breakfast was on the recommendation of the Korean American woman sitting next to me.  It was Green Tea Porridge, let's just say "I tried it......."

This is what the flight attendant brought me when she saw the look on my face after the first few bites.

This was all in economy class! If you can't tell I'm a little enamoured by the little things in life. ;)

The Seoul airport was stunning and impeccably clean.  It was like an enormous mall with airplanes parked outside.  I had a 4 hour lay over before my connecting flight to Manila and so a I sat down at this beautiful restaurant at 5am(Korea time) on the 2nd floor of the terminal with floor to ceiling windows and had this delicious Korean vegetable rice soup for "breakfast".

My flight from Seoul to Manila was an entirely different experience.  The passengers were mostly Filipino men coming from some kind of golf outing in Korea and were pretty rowdy.

I was very excited to reach my final destination for the day and these lovely ladies were at the gate to greet me when I arrived in Manila.  Aaaaahhhh, it feels good to have someone know your name on the other side of the planet when traveling alone.

They were very helpful watching my carry on bags while I elbowed my way through the rowdy golfers to get my luggage off the baggage carousel. Sheesh! They kindly escorted me through customs and to the Operation Smile Team Coordinators waiting outside baggage claim.


I noticed that my ankles were unusually stiff and my jeans felt a little tight on the flight but it wasn't until I got to my Op Smile team and relaxed for a few minutes that I noticed how heavy my legs felt. I did sleep for 7 hours straight with my feet on the floor on the plane which was a small miracle but I never thought it would produce this kind of swelling. These socks were loose when I boarded the plane in NYC. When I took my shoes and socks off, I developed "cankles" with pretty moderate pitting edema.  I thought "Ok, great, I made half way across the world with out as much as a sore back but now this". Oy vey! 

To no one's surprise I didn't want to spend my only full day in Manila in the hotel room with my feet propped up so I laid on the bed, feet resting on the wall almost straight up in the air for about an hour until my legs felt a little less like tree trunks and off I went to explore Manila. :)