As I was boarding the Korean Air plane I asked if there were many kids on the craft. I was well fed and stocked on bottled water so there was no unpleasant experiences waiting for me to happen in this regard. The only thing that might turn this long flight into a painful experience would be screaming kids who have the tendency to spend an entire flight yelling. According to stewardess I had approached, there weren’t mane if any at all.

That was great news. I also loved the plane. When I was it from the outside parked at our gate, I got excited. I have never flown one of those Boeing planes with upper deck (I think it was Boeing 747-400). I knew that’s where first class passengers stay so it was off limits to me, however it was still exciting to board and fly one of those monsters. Really cool. So far nothing but complete awesomeness regarding Korean Air but at that time I still did not know I was in for the best flying experience ever.

This is the Boeing 747-400 Korean Air Plane I Flew from Vancouver, Canada to Seoul, South Korea With

This large Boeing aircraft has seats on both sides of the plane, the same way regular planes do, but it also has a four row seating in the middle. That makes the plane look spacious and more luxurious. I got a seat numbered 41K. It was the seat by the window and none of other two seats were taken when I got there. Given that Korean Air parked this giant craft to fly us to Seoul, I assumed it was because there was many people who wanted to fly so in order to accommodate them all, large craft was provided. My thinking truly was that this flight will be packed full.

When I took my seat, I have collected my jaw from being helped by those drop dead gorgeous Korean flight attendants and asked the one closest to me whether the flight was sold out. I was suggested that it wasn’t which made my feelings about this flight even more positive. I was one of the last ones boarding and so far the only one at the three seat. Could it be that I’s have the whole damn thing all for myself? Chance was certainly there, but what I liked even better was the fact that right behind me, right behind the raw 41 there was this large open area with emergency exit. Only one guy was sitting in that three seater with loads and loads of leg room. I asked the flight attendant if it was possible for me to sit there provided these other two seats don’t get taken prior to take off. She said I would only have to wait until we do take off and then I could move.

Sweet – except that I didn’t wait. I moved as soon as she left me. I have asked that guy who was on one seat if he was OK with me and he actually said that if no one else sits in the row where I was, he would actually move out of this spot and take that whole row 41 for himself as it is better for sleeping. He said he was boarding a flight to Hong Kong after arriving in Seoul and starts working right away so getting some sleep would be beneficial for him.

I sent him to sit there right away, suggesting that there are hardly any more people left to board the plane so he will likely have the whole thing for himself. It worked out perfect, cause yet before we took off, I had entire raw by the emergency exit for myself with more leg room than I could bargain for. The guy who was originally meant to sit here got what he wanted whole row of seats for himself – everyone wins.

Scoring an Emergency Row Seat Granted me with Lots and Lots of Legroom

As we were getting ready to depart, the things just kept getting better and better. Facing me opposite that large leg room area is one seat where flight attendants sit for the take off. The hottest of all flight attendants sat there facing me, so we were just giving each other smirks. She was so cute. But the real awesomeness of Korean Air started after we were in the air. I can safely assume that flying Korean Air = the most awesome plane experience ever. The awesomeness of Korean Air simply never stopped.

The entertainment system is loaded with latest Hollywood movies and all of them free of charge. Quality headphones were provided to every passenger after take off free of charge. It was none of that cheap crap I got from Westjet for $3. Korean Air headphones are much better and are complimentary. The selection of movies as I have said was noteworthy. Normally you get one decent move and a couple of stupidly crappy ones. Yu would have probably seen the good one and stupid ones are so lame, you don’t even feel like watching. Korean Air is different.

Their selection of movies included Wolverine, Terminator Salvation, Angels and Demons, The Hangover, Star Trek XI, Monsters vs Aliens, etc. Absolutely amazing selection of in flight entertainment and all of it free. You don’t pay to watch any of the movie aboard Korean Air. It is included complimentary to make your flight with them more enjoyable. And awe just continued.

Korean Air Flight - Spacious Plane with Interactive Screens

Bottle of water was provided on every seat, but even so, before you feel like you may be thirsty, the flight attendants are already delivering drinks. They never stopped. They were always on their feed providing with customers with something. And then the food was served – that’s where Korean Air really got me.

I was asked whether I wanted Korean traditional meal or beef. Of course I went for Korean dish. No question there. But what I did not expect was that in flight meals on Korean Air flights are served in actual porcelain dishes, not in some plastic stuff. Also, you get new, plastic wrapped silverware. Actual high end silverware instead of cheapo plastic crap other airliners give you.

Traditional Korean Dish Served with Real Silverware and Porcelain Dishes I Got on Korean Air Plane

The traditional Korean dish I chose consisted of steamed rice and a bowl of Bibimbap – some mixture of sea weed, vegetable, minced meat and sprouts. Awesome Asian soup was part of it too as well as pickles and fruit. Kingly meal, I tell ya. When a girl who served me the dish asked me what wine I wanted, I automatically assumed wine will be paid for. I mean – no airline in the world, no matter what china they serve their food in and what cutlery they serve to eat with will serve you wine for free. You always pay for alcoholic beverages so I respectfully declined.

A minute later, another flight attendant comes with bottle of red wine in one hand and a bottle of white in another and asks me if I’m ready for a refill of wine. I asked how much it was for wine and I was told it was all free. I took a glass full of red and most mention one more thing – the glass they provide you with to drink your beverages is an actual glass, not plastic. What an awesome experience flying Korean Air.

When Asked Whether I Wanted Lipton Tea or Korean Green Tea, Of Course I Went for Korean. Glass of Red Wine Was Also Complimentary and Served in an Actual Glass, not Plastic

Everything on this flight was included, and it wasn’t an overpriced flight. I have actually bought it because it was the cheapest and I always do my homework when it comes to buying travel stuff.

I got my bonus of in flight entertainment when one of the flight attendants accidentally dropped a can of coke which burst on impact and sprayed legs of those Korean girls with its sticky self. These girls are absolutely gorgeous with perfect legs after this (for them) embarrassing incident, they grabbed at paper towels and started rubbing their legs off. It was the highlight of my trip (hey, at least I’m honest with you).

An extra surprise took place when I went to use the washroom and found it equipped with disposable toothbrushes and toothpaste. These were plastic wrapped, single use units. Inside were one toothbrush and a very small tube of toothpaste. I brushed my teeth with it which was amazing given the length of flight (aka time during which you would otherwise not give your teeth any care).

I have flown many a time in my life but flying Korean Air beat any and all previous flight experiences. This was above and beyond awesome. I will always look for Korean Air flights when booking plane tickets in the future before I book with someone else. The treatment, the value for money and the presence of most gorgeous girls can not be beat by any other carrier. Korean Air rules. This was the best flying experience of my life to date. Someone’s gonna have to provide hell of an experience to beat that.

Korean Air Boarding Passes Came in a Shiny Package

As I have mentioned, I love the atmosphere at the airports. When you’re at the airport, the change is imminent. I got off the Air Canada plane and followed the International Flights signs at the Vancouver International. I had a few hours to kill, so there was no need to rush, however I still needed to get boarding passes for my Korean Air flights so I wanted to get that off my hands as soon as possible in case it was necessary to go at the opposite side of the airport.

Vast Hallways of Vancouver International Airport

It took me good 20 minutes to get from one end of the airport to the other where international flights depart from. Information panel suggested that my flight takes off form gate 58, which I found, but there was nobody there yet. I simply got there too early. I had no other option but to wait until someone shows up as they would either issue my boarding pass, or tell me where to go to get it.

I have decided to kill the time getting on my laptop and checking emails. I have noticed signs all over Vancouver airport stating that YVR has free WiFi internet. They were advertising it big time everywhere so I found nearest power outlet, plugged my laptop in there and logged on. However after 20 minutes of desperate attempts to get connected to their unsecured network I had no luck at all. It was really frustrating.

Large Flat Screen TV Advertising Free WiFi at YVR

I have eventually given up, packed up my laptop and started walking towards where I came from to track someone who looks like they might know what’s going on and ask them why they advertise free WiFi when it’s impossible to connect as system rejects all connection attempts.

And as I’m walking back, I see that cute girl sitting there on her pink Sony Vaio laptop, chattering to someone on a webcam. Since she was obviously on line, I stopped by her and asked if she had any troubles connecting. She said she had no troubles whatsoever so I sat opposite of her, plugged myself into the wall and made an attempt from this location. However, same lack of luck as before. I made no sense.

But I kept trying as that girl kept chatting and eventually I got to some window that was telling me that the host wants me to confirm something on their website and was asked if I wished to visit that website. I agreed and was taken to Vancouver International Airport site where I was asked to click on Agree button to agree with some of their TOS (quite likely confirming that I won’t be using this internet connection to download viruses or porn or what not).

The moment I got on, that girl asked me if I had any luck connecting. I said it just started to work for me and got down to doing my on line business. Being used to cold people from Edmonton, I ignored the girl believing she will be the same as regular Edmontonian, but was surprised after she repeatedly kept talking to me. She was cute and barefoot, so it was awesome. It was just something I am not used to, coming from the city where when you talk to a stranger, you get weird looks. Here I was a stranger to her and she talks to me.

Eventually, I put my work on hold and engaged in conversation with her. She told me her name was Irene and that she was from the Philippines. She lived in Calgary for 5 months but her contract didn’t get renewed or something like that so she had to return back home to the Philippines. I told her about my photography and it immediately increased her interest in my even more and asked me if I was on yahoo messenger, cause she wanted to add me. Seriously, I could already feel big time the difference it makes leaving Edmonton. There was no point for me to linger in the city that turns you into a chunk of stone.

Passengers Without a Laptop Computer Can Access Internet at YVR Via One of Numerous Paid Internet Stations

Sadly, I don’t use Yahoo messenger. I once installed it, many years ago and it came with so much bloat ware and spyware and pop ups that it went off my computer before I first used it. Perhaps Yahoo got their act together in the meantime, but this initial experience was good enough for me to keep away. I have always used friendly and safe MSN messenger and have never had issues with it.

I explained that to Irene, but told her that I do have a yahoo email address and gave it to her. She made note of that and also took my Hotmail address in order to add me to her MSN messenger when she gets it installed so we can chat in the future. That’s how awesome people are outside of the corporate lifestyle world. I have just left Edmonton and I was back at living the life, instead of spending it.

Irene then came to sit next to me with her laptop and showed me some of the pictures her brother, who’s a photo enthusiast took. We talked about photography as she was actually well familiar with many aspects of it. I asked her to send me an email to the yahoo address I gave her so I could respond with links to my sites. I did not want to just give her the URL to my personal site which has a lot of nude photography, so I sent a link in an email with appropriate warning.

Right after that, I took a glance at the clock on my laptop and realized it was already 1.40pm and my flight departure was scheduled for 2.20pm. I didn’t have a breakfast so I wanted to go get something before boarding and I also wanted to pick up a bottle of mineral water so I don’t die thirsty on a plane. It was going to be a long, long flight so I had better taken care of myself or else I’d be looking at 10+ hours of pain.

I liked hanging out with Irene form the Philippines, but I really had to go. I still needed the boarding pass. So I said my Good Byes, Irene insisted that I visit Philippines on my travels and let her know so we can hang out in her country and then I took off. I quickly picked up a sandwich from Subway, went to just grab it and go to the place where they sell bottled water so I can dart off back towards my gate, when I noticed on the board that it was only 12.40 – my computer clock was still on Canadian Mountain Time so being in Vancouver put me back one hour.

This Oversized Fish Tank Greets Tourists at International Departures Section of Vancouver International Airport (YVR)

This gave me an extra hour so I ate my sub in peace, picked up a bottle of water which is BTW extremely expensive within secure area of the airport (grrrr, cause you can’t take any liquids with you as security precautions don’t allow that, so you are forced to buy overpriced water or stay thirsty on the plane) and went back to gate 58 to get a boarding pass.

Boarding Passes for my Entire Journey from Vancouver, Canada to Siem Reap, Cambodia via Seoul, South Korea

It was a pleasure to be served by absolutely gorgeous Korean girls. Beautiful, slender and tall, these girls are jaw dropping. I got my boarding pass and was told boarding would begin at 1.50, which gave me a bit over 5 minutes to spend on a computer again.

I knew I wouldn’t want to be the first one to board a plane, so I sat back, plugged myself in and started the laptop for the thirst time in Vancouver. Low and behold, after 15 minutes of trying, no luck getting connected. I was messing around hoping to click on a button that would open a message which prompts me to visit the website but it never happened. I don’t remember how I got there the first time. I tried everything but to no avail. Frustrated, I have eventually turned the computer off and boarded the plane. And it was a nice plane. Korean Air rules in more ways than just by having the most stunning flight attendants in the world.

RELATED PHOTO GALLERY:
Vancouver International Airport

My first flight was by Air Canada from Edmonton to Vancouver. The rest of the flight was provided by Korean Air with stop in Seoul, South Korea. I wanted to check my luggage right away so I am rid off this burden and can hang out with Lisa and Britney (Lisa’s 17 year old friend). I got in Air Canada line (it doesn’t look like Korean Air has a booth in Edmonton, they probably don’t have this city in their destination schedule) and as I was checking in, I was told by the lady that my flight from Edmonton to Vancouver is delayed, but she can try to put me on an earlier flight. It made no sense to me whatsoever, but I wasn’t arguing. I was there already anyway, so I might as well try to get on an earlier flight. It would mean that I’d have to spend more time in Vancouver, but that sounded much better to me than spending more time in Edmonton.

It was 9.20am when I got a boarding pass for Air Canada flight that departs at 9.50am. I have no idea why that check in lady would tell me that my flight is delayed when it wasn’t scheduled to leave until 11.20am, but whatever.

I was very short on time so I just gave quick hugs to Lisa, gave Britney a wave, promised Lisa to stay in touch over email (I can do it, but she needs to send me her email first – she’s got mine, I’m still waiting for her to email me) and popped myself in line to undergo security check. Unfortunately for me, the line there was endless.

It took forever for me to get my turn and once I went through, the security decided that they need to closely examine my camera bag. I obliged (of course, the only other option is to turn around and leave) but have reminded the young man that my plane leaves in less than 10 minutes. Luckily for me, he understood.

Perhaps I was lucky in a fact that he was a photography enthusiast. He admired my full Canon gear and asked me about what I take pictures of, had brief look at everything and let me go fairly quickly even though I had my tiny bottle of oil of oregano with me. Fluids and gels of any kind are a big no no on aircrafts nowadays.

As he was going through my bag and doing chemical analysis of vapours to make sure I don’t have any hidden explosives there, my name was announced on the speaker system calling me to deliver my ass to the gate or miss the flight. I have reminded the man that I have got to go and luckily he let me.

He sort of cut his job short and took chances for not examining my bag thoroughly, but I’m no terrorist and they really were calling for me. To add insult to the injury, my name was being called repeatedly as I was running through the airport, prompting several people to shout at me – you must be Mark they’re calling. Embarrassing.

I have boarded the plane last minute, we took off without delay and got from Edmonton to Vancouver in about 1 hour and 14 minutes. The flight was relatively painless, except from excessively obnoxious and loud pair of girls sitting across the aisle one row back. They were literally yelling like they’re at the party. I felt tired because of no sleep last night and their shriek made it impossible to take a nap. Luckily it was a brief flight. And I got a complimentary plastic cup of tomato juice (my favourite in flight drink).

Soon enough I was in Vancouver and there was no turning back for me anymore, even if I wanted to. I would never want to. I longed for this moment for so long, going back was not an option. There are so many places to see, so many things to do, so many girls to f….. Sorry, couldn’t help )