We decided to fly out of San Diego because Vince’s parents and his aunt live down there. With ticket prices not varying by much, we figured it were easier for us to drive down to fly together than to have them drive up to us.
San Diego International Airport is very small and less busy than LAX. It made navigating through check-in and security very straight forward.
With Priority Pass, I was brought my mom and Vince’s mom to a lounge called Aspire Lounge. Even for its small size, it was a pretty nice lounge. There was a bar that doesn’t open until 6am (we were at the airport at 5am). There were self serve coffee, beverages and little breakfast bites. There was a toaster over for bagels and waffles. There was yogurt, fruit, deli ham and cheese.
I took a plain bagel and a few packets of Philadelphia cream cheese to go. It was too early for me to eat but I knew I would spruce up an appetite later, which I did during the first leg from SD to Vancouver.
I also snacked on half a Churro cookie Vince got me and a Taiwanese pork meat floss bread with cream from Vince’s mom.
During our Vancouver layover, we went to hang out at SkyTeam Lounge, located upstairs from the Pier D. I was able to get two for free with my Priority Pass again and we paid $85 to get the other 3 in so that we can spend time together. It was well worth it! Divided by 6 and it’s less than $15 per person. We treated it as an all you can eat.
There was also a salad bar, which I tried a couple varieties of pasta salad because I love pasta salad! The chow mein was decently cooked. I even made myself a chocolate cappuccino from the coffee machine and a glass of red wine.
Wonton egg noodle soup. They only serve two pieces of wonton and two pieces of broccoli per bowl per person. The broth was very flavorful and comforting. The wontons were juicy and soft. Everyone was surprised at how delicious it was and kept getting seconds and thirds and fourths!
Taiwanese cold noodle. This was like a creamy sesame peanut sauce noodle served with slices of ham, peanuts and a hard boiled egg. Very refreshing and good also.
Pork dumpling. Also called Siu Mai. This was made ‘fresh’ every 30 mins and run out fast! Again, they only serve two pieces per person. They were soft and juicy, served with vinegar and soy sauce. Topping it off with chili oil was a bonus too!
Soon we boarded our second leg of the trip to head to Zurich. I nabbed two middle rows of 3s so that the six of us can sit next to each other and have access to 4 aisles hehe!
DINNER was served about 1hr into the flight. We were all still full from the lounge food but when you’re served airplane food, you eat it. Or at least I do! Breakfast is usually not that good anyway..
Portobello macaroni and cheese. I picked the ‘pasta’ dish. It had a creamy white and peppery sauce that reminded me of beef stroganoff’s sauce. Yummy!
Chicken cacciatore, roasted potatoes, bell peppers. My husband picked the chicken. The white pieces kind of looked like mozzarella to me.
Lemon herb couscous salad. I barely tried a a bite of this and I did not like it! It was cold and dry.
They also gave a block of Colby jack cheese, a packaged brownie and white bread and little bottles of red or white wine!
BREAKFAST.
Croissant, yoghurt.
