Waiting to board at midnight was rough for both of us. We usually have early bedtimes, 9-10pm, and staying up past our bedtimes was torturous. We were so sleepy but we were afraid of missing boarding time.
It was all worth it! Paying a little extra for EVA Air, it was fun; even the boarding! We were greeted by cute Sanrio themed pillows and blankets. There were even disposable paper bags in Sanrio characters.
After takeoff, I was surprised we were still served dinner even though at this point, it was already 1-2am. I was exhausted and sleepy and delirious, but still mustered the strength to eat even though I was sleepy and not that hungry.
Our meals were also Sanrio themed! There was a Sanrio print paper placemat and Sanrio utensils that were hard and sturdy. It was so cute! My mom and I enjoyed eating our meals more because of the utensils. So cute, she wanted to keep them! There was also Sanrio toothpick and floss served with our meal.
The bathroom reminded me of premium economy for Japan Air. There were good quality soap, hand sanitizer, lotion and even a mint spray. There were also eye masks, toothbrush, toothpaste and mouth wash provided. Even Hello Kitty cups! This is just for economy folks!
We were given the option between chicken or rice and we both chose fish.
Fish with hot bean sauce served over rice. It also came with boiled cabbage. The rice was short grain rice and was moist. The fish was fried in battered and then covered in the bean sauce. It was good.
Smoked salmon with honey mustard potato salad. I was surprised to see smoked salmon on my plate. I trusted and I ate. It was a good complement with the potato salad.
Cantaloupe and honeydew. The fruits were refreshing!
Raspberry cheesecake. Was just cheesecake.
Hot tea. I also added creamer and sugar to make it a black milk tea. It was comforting.
Now time to try to sleep..
In between meals, there was self served juices and a basket of assorted taiwanese snacks: rice crackers, nuts and cheese crackers.
For the morning breakfast, with two hours left, we were given the choice of egg or congee. My mom and I both picked congee!
And again, the cute Sanrio utensils and floss!
Congee with pork, mushroom and pork floss. The pork floss was in a separate package that I had to open and sprinkled in. It added a light salty element that finished off the congee taste well. There were plenty of pork and mushroom in the congee. It was more thick and sticky than brothy.
Bean curd with celery and carrot. This was a cold side. I got tricked with the celery but thank god it was only one bite. I enjoyed the bean curd though!
Pineapple and mandarin orange. Very refreshing.
And to end my meal I made myself some milk tea with their hot black tea, a pack of sugar and milk. I also love that this airline serves milk as one of the beverages!! You know me, I love milk!
During our layover in Taiwan, we went to the Oriental Club Lounge, which is one of the better lounges I’ve been to so far! Also one of my top favorites. They have a special entree bar of beef noodle soup, braised pork over rice, sesame noodles, etc. There’s a hot food station of fried noodles, tea eggs, broccoli gratin, kimchi hotpot, congee station and a steamed dim sum station!!
The beef noodle soup is the best food item here so far. I even ate two bowls!!! Granted, they were smaller portions but still!! The beef was so tender and soft. The broth was savory and the noodles are soft and chewy. Not top notch restaurant grade but very, very good for an airport lounge and for being free (for me, thank you priority pass).
As I ordered my second beef noodle soup, I saw a guy order the braised pork and it looked bomb. I’m totally trying that on the way back!
Coffee machine makes very decent cappuccinos compared to others I’ve tried. It’s strong and it’s working….! 😉
Tea bags are all from Ten Ren.
I’m in love with this lounge!! There are a variety of seating from comfortable lounge chairs to high top tables. There’s even a fitness gym IN HERE!! And shower and massage chair station too.
Tandoori chicken and orange flavored potato with apple and celery salad. This was served cold and tasted pretty bland to me. I definitely only took a few bites. I couldn’t even muster to eat my warm bread and butter (which I love).
Spaghetti with seafood in tomato sauce topped with cheese. This was just decent. It’s not dry because there was tomato sauce. I wish there were more cheese. I think the spaghetti noodles were a bit too Al dente to me.. Seafood consists of squid and fish. I ate about 80% of this..
For the assorted fruits, I ate my one slice of apple and gave my mom both my orange slices. For drink, I made myself the milk tea again by mixing cafe creamer and sugar with hot black tea. Yummy.
It’s weird to be surrounded by mostly Vietnamese people on this plane. I feel like even though I speak Vietnamese, everyone around me can understand me, which I am not used to. I’m used to saying things to my mom and expecting no one around us to understand us.. haha.
Can’t wait to finally land.. 14+3hr flight is a long one!!
Finally landing was finally a relief. We were greeted by a handful of my mom’s family, including her sisters and nieces. It was definitely a warm welcome.
One of her sisters got us drinks because we were parched. She got us pennywort and mung bean drinks from Infini tea. It was really refreshing and good. It was about $1 USD. I never welcomed ice cold drinks so much since I usually get no ice at home.
Seeing where and how my moms family lived definitely made me appreciate and extremely grateful to have an American life in an American home with my American lifestyle. I mean I was already like that after Thailand but this hit differently and it was because it was my family I’m seeing like this. Also seeing how much they adored and loved hand me downs from us made me feel a bit sad. They were happy but I was a bit sad for them.. The magnitude of how different our standards and expectations and resources are just so drastic.
This trip is definitely more of a family oriented focus than leisure travel. I saw where my mom’s old house was and aka my grandparents home. I saw my mom’s old church and where she used to play. It was enlightening.
