Flying Food (Part 1)

American Airlines

Over the years of flying several airlines, particularly those belonging to the Oneworld Alliance, I've taken photos, lots of digital photos, of meals served to me 36,000 feet up in the sky. Even before I get to eat, I discreetly focus my camera on what's in front of me (while my seatmate's eyes probably roll in disbelief hahaha!). Some were good, some were bad.

Beginning this series, I will be posting photos of my meals taken in Economy Class and on those occasions I redeemed a Business Class seat out of my FF miles. Back in 2004, when I flew on American Airlines B757 from Seattle, I took the photo above of what is probably one of the last free meals served in Economy Class: pasta with meat sauce, a very limp salad, diet Coke and a small cake for dessert. Rating? A 2 stars out of 5.

Rating: ***** excellent, **** very good, *** good, ** fair, * inedible

breakfast: bagel, omelette, fruit, hot chocolate
route: New York-Dallas Forth Worth (2005)
class: domestic First
aircraft: B757
rating: ***

pre-meal: diet Coke and assorted warm nuts
route: Dallas Forth Worth-Las Vegas (2005)
class: domestic First
aircraft: B757
rating: ***

lunch: salmon, vegetable salad, diet Coke
route: Dallas Forth Worth-Las Vegas (2005)
class: domestic First
aircraft: MD-80
rating: **

breakfast: Quesadilla, fruits, coffee with cream, bagel (already eaten!)
route: Las Vegas-Dallas Forth Worth
class: domestic First
aircraft: MD-80
rating: ***

snack: warm cheese sandwich with bits of chicken
route: New York-Los Angeles (2008)

class: domestic First
aircraft: B767
rating: ****

salad: lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, yellow pepper with Ranch dressing
route: New York-Los Angeles (2008)
class: domestic First
aircraft: B767
rating: ****

breakfast: bagel with cream cheese, fruits
route: Los Angeles-New York (2008)
class: domestic First
aircraft: B767
rating: ***

breakfast: omelette
route: Los Angeles-New York (2008)
class: domestic First
aircraft: B767
rating: ***

coming up next . . . British Airways

Dream Destinations

It was another weekend of travel, one that's conveniently done under one roof. Or as the goodie bags say: travel the world in a New York minute. I'm talking about the New York Times Travel Show held last Saturday and Sunday at the Jacob Javits Center. Obviously, I'm drawn to travel shows just as much as I love traveling. I've been going to these shows for several years already. And every time I go, my heart rolls into tachycardia (or a fast heartbeat). This is the time when major players in the travel industry gather again and this for me means looking at prospective destinations - old and new - and getting inspired to go there.

Just looking around the huge exhibit area and I felt my itchy feet really getting itchier. Arranged according to geographic area, I roamed for free (or $15 for those who didn't get free tickets) across South and North America, Asia, Africa and Europe. There were plenty of resource people to talk to. And I never went home empty handed - there were pens, posters, DVDs, t-shirts and more brochures than I can ever manage to read. A highlight for me was attending one of the seminars: I got to listen to Arthur Frommer once again and for the first time, Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places To See Before You Die.

Japan, Mexico, Alaska (US), South Africa

Panama, Turkey, Peru, Philippines

Greece, Brazil, Thailand, Chile

Out of the 1,000 places, Patricia Schultz talks about her
30-best destinations in the world through a slideshow

While seeing 1,000 places is a tall order for most of us in our short life time, I'll certainly want to see as much as my finances and time will allow me to. I'm keeping my fingers crossed: One of the destinations pictured above is where I'm planning to go next.

What about you, what are your dream destinations this year?