Last month, Wes & I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary 💕 with a trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ✈ We flew out on a Monday, arrived late Tuesday evening, and had Wednesday thru Friday to enjoy ourselves as tourists. Then headed home at midnight on Friday, getting back to Oklahoma City on Saturday. Since we'd be spending as much time flying as we would actually be in Kuala Lumpur, I decided that we should splurge on first class seats, so we could start our vacation as soon as we stepped on the plane. We chose Delta and Korean Air; both were amazing and I probably can't ever go back to economy. LOL
The first leg was a short flight from OKC to Minneapolis/St. Paul. We got breakfast from Elemental Coffee in OKC ☕ and a second breakfast at MSP. 🥨 Then came the long haul flight: +13 hours from MSP to Seoul (Incheon airport). Our Delta plane (airbus?) had individual pods with sliding doors for added privacy. It was SO spacious!! Each section of first class had a dedicated flight attendant; I got Dan (who was a little too dedicated and attentive -- I felt like I could sense him watching & anticipating my every move), and Kenneth as back up. There were also Korean speaking flight attendants who we could request. Our pods came with a fresh pillow, blanket, sleeping mat, toiletry kit (that included an awesome pen made from recycled materials, that I dropped in between my seat & the console to never be seen again 😑), slippers, and earphones.
Since there is literally nothing to do on a thirteen hour flight, the flight attendants make sure everyone is well fed and full of alcohol. The rest of the post will be everything I ate (which is like 5x more than I would eat on a regular day!) 🍴
* As soon as we sat down, we were presented with champagne and snacks. Top Left
*Our first meal (lunch, I guess) was a choice between various entrees off the Korean menu by Chef Peter Cho or the Western menu. I got the beef & pepper galbi. They ran out of Korean options, so Wes got the roasted chicken breast off the Western menu. The cured salmon, and green beans & tofu from the banchan were my favorite part. My soup was way spicy and the galbi had more onions than I wanted. Top Right
*For dessert, I chose an ice cream sundae with vanilla ice cream that tasted like coconut (weird) Bottom Left
*We were offered various chips, crackers, granola bars and more wine for the next hour or so. I turned it all down because I was still full from lunch.
*At snack time ("mid-flight snack"), I got a not very crisp/kinda soggy margherita pizza - I should have chosen the other meal option, a delicious salad, and a surprisingly tasty vegan brownie. Middle Right
*At second snack time ("pre-arrival snack"), I got the three cheese quiche, which was full of onions and not any cheese. 😒 Wes got the French toast. I only ate the parfait, which was plenty enough since I just ate a full meal less than two hours ago. Bottom Right
This was the first time I could sleep on a flight! 😴 The sleeping pods were so comfy!! I went back & forth between listening to my audiobook (Conclave by Robert Harris) while crocheting, and napping throughout our journey. Wes watched a bunch of movies. There was a bit of drama on the plane... it was announced that there was a medical emergency on board. We were seated right outside of the flight attendants' quarters, and I later overheard that the emergency resulted in a death. But besides that, the flight went smoothly and before we knew it, we were landing in Seoul. 🛬 Our original layover was pretty tight, but we got to Seoul early and ended up with over an hour at the airport. The airport offered Transit Tours in & around Seoul. The shortest tour was 3 hours so we couldn't go. But, next time!!
Our flight from Seoul to Kuala Lumpur was a much shorter 6 hours, but it seemed like we ate just as much! 😋 I liked the food on this flight way better. Our assigned flight attendant this time was Lee, who recommended the best green tea! He also handed us snack mix and champagne as soon as we sat down.
*Dinner started with a delicious and gigantic scallop, paired with a fancy red wine (Speri Valpolicella Classico Superiore Sant'urbano 🍷). Top Right
*Our salad course was cream of broccoli soup with a smoked salmon salad Middle Right
*Wes & I both chose the Western entrée of beef tenderloin. It came with a mustard sauce that I actually liked. The entire 4-course dinner was really good, I would say this one meal was better than all the meals we had on the Delta flight combined. Top Left
*I went with fruit instead of ice cream for dessert. *gasp* The grapes were enormous and they tasted so authentically "grapey." 🍇Bottom Left
*Snack time consisted of a pesto chicken sandwich that was really good but I literally could NOT eat anymore (I just picked at the sandwich and ate the pickled salad). I never thought I'd not eat a yummy meal when presented to me, but seriously... I was absolutely stuffed. Bottom Right
When he first introduced himself, Lee asked if we'd like to be woken up at meal times. We both agreed. I wondered how he would manage that since I assumed they wouldn't be shouting at us or physically shaking us awake. 💤 I was fast asleep when he came by at snack time; he woke me up by gently whispering "ma'am?" until I stirred and then he immediately shoved the plate of food in front of me. LOL
The flight went smoothly and the landing was much easier than our one coming into Seoul. ✈ Toward the end of the flight, the attendants walked up & down the aisle spraying disinfectant. Kinda weird but anyway, we had made it to Malaysia!! 🙌 Going through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport was a million times easier than I expected. They had airport guides dressed in cultural uniforms & sashes that ushered us down corridors and onto buses. All we had to do to get through customs was scan our passport. We were told we'd need a digital travelers' arrival pass but no one even asked for it. It took a minute to get used to the Grab app (southeast Asia's Uber), but it was fairly intuitive and easy to use once we got the hang of it. It even provided pictorial directions and landmarks in the airport that lead to the rideshare pickup.
Our home for the rest of the week would be room #1502 at the Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel. Checking in was fast & easy; the porter insisted that he bring our bags to the room even though we only had carry-on luggage. LOL All of the hotel staff was extremely friendly and polite. The hotel really leaned into the old oriental style of decor and dress... think The King & I sultan vibes. They had traditional musicians playing in the evening! We had a lovely surprise waiting in our room - Wes told the receptionist that it was our anniversary when he booked the room, so there was cake and soda laid out for us on the table. 💝 And some pretty flowers that I got a vase for and kept throughout our stay. 🌸 Our room was immaculate. There was morning and evening room service; they thoroughly cleaned the room. Our phone cords were tidied up in Mandarin Oriental branded Velcro wraps (and, yes, I took mine home with me), our clothes folded & put away, and our shoes were placed underneath the ottoman in a designated shoe spot. The hotel also offered a daily morning poolside yoga class that I had full intentions of taking... but it didn't happen. #irathersleepin We're usually really thrifty travelers but I am so so so glad we pulled out all the stops to fly first class and spend our vacation at a luxury 5-star hotel. It was 100% worth it!!!
We had originally planned to head out to a night market for some street food for dinner upon arrival, but we ate entirely too much on the flight and the room was so cozy & inviting that we changed our minds and stayed in the first night. Days 2, 3 and 4 of our trip to come!!🌞🌆Our days (and nights!) were jam packed with touristy activities and adventure.
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