We’re back in Korea, but not before sitting through a mind numbing twelve hour delay at Beijing International, a blizzard that caused 298 cancellations right after we finally took off.
Arriving at 5am local time, after a sleepless 12 hour flight that departed at 1am Los Angeles time, I was in dire need of caffeine. I went to the first cafe I saw at the airport, which, advertising “beer, coffee, pasta,” was quite the multitasker; but like all the food I had there, it sucked.
The barista, who had been passed out on the back counter, woke up and knocked half the things off the counter onto the floor, and then proceeded to fill the entire doser with ground coffee, ensuring stale coffee for everyone after me.
The restaurants in the airport are even worse, at least at 5am. And there are no convenience stores to find snacks. When our flight was delayed, Air China gave us free lunches that consisted of processed bread, which tasted more like sweetened cotton balls, and processed spam-like meats stuffed with pieces of corn. Yum. Thanks China.
So, consider yourself warned: bring your own food to Beijing international, or you might starve if your flight is delayed.
More pictures here on Flickr, plus LA posts coming up soon.
-Aaron
