Petrossian Caviar and Champagne Bar: Pre-Flights of Fancy at LAX

LAX never used to be a place where you'd actually look forward to spending time before your flight.

Until they made like Hollywood magic-makers, and gave the place an extreme makeover, starting with the Tom Bradley International Terminal. They introduced high end designer boutiques, gourmet dining spots powered by some of the best chefs in the city, making food options finally world class.

On our recent bucket list trip to Fiji, we were lucky enough to be invited to check out Petrossian's Caviar & Champagne Bar before our flight.

We fell in love with the sleek, shiny space at first sight - what better way to kick off a much anticipated vacation?

Every detail was carefully orchestrated to provide a luxury experience - down to the beautiful lineup of caviar spoons.

We enjoyed a bottle of Moet champagne with a tin of Transmontanus caviar - but you can choose from their full menu of caviars and list of bubbly!

Fresh made buckwheat blinis were the perfect canvas, along with creme fraiche, to showcase the luscious lil orbs.

The LAX boutique also offers Petrossian's signature cocktails, including the Fleur de Vers with Tanqueray gin, St. Germain elderflower liquer, green chartreuse, rose water, and Petrossian's trademarked caviar powder. This one would be a fun conversation starter at the bar, if you're traveling solo!

Aside from caviar, bubbly and cocktails, the bar also offers cured fish plates.  The one we had with smoked salmon carpaccio, sturgeon and their most recent release, smoked trout (my favorite, super flavorful and tender yet structured, with what tasted like a sweet glaze on top), was presented with a trio of accompaniments to spread over toast points: salmon rillete, caviar creme, and wasabi tarama (with wasabi 'caviar' - pearls made with liquified wasabi that created pleasant bursts to counterbalance the creaminess!).  This plate alone has me dreaming of the next time I get to make a luxe-stop when jetting out to some exotic location!

Oh, and for those who, like me most of time - somehow always end up cutting it close while trying to catch their flight - you can order a 'Caviar in the Air' picnic pack filled with your choice of caviar, blinis and creme fraiche (with ice, of course), and/or add smoked fish to give yourself first class treatment no matter what class you're actually flying.

If you're flying domestic (or going to Canada and pushed to a domestic terminal), you can still dine at Petrossian if you leave yourself enough time to get to the Tom Bradley terminal, through that security (you can get through security with your same day boarding pass) and back.

Last but not least, for those with a sweet tooth: I didn't expect this at all, but Petrossian actually sells these amazing chocolate pearls filled with liquor: we were given a tin of cognac filled pearls to take with us, which were perfect to snack on, on our very long (4.5 hour) boat ride to the Yasawa islands!

These pearls were so delicious, and addictive, that I headed to Petrossian's restaurant in West Hollywood the week I got back, to spluirge on another tin ($49) - they were extra tasty now that they have created a food memory of our trip to Fiji!!!

Can't wait til the next time I get to travel out of Tom Bradley!!!






Disclaimer: The LAX meal was hosted.


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Petrossian Caviar & Champagne Bar (LAX)
Los Angeles International Airport - Tom Bradley International Terminal
599 World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045
Ph: 310.216.9861

Website: petrossian.com

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1MB Travels: Fiji: Adventure Flashpacking Day 5: Rainforest Ziplining, Slipper Lobsters, and Young Coconut Plucked to Order

Sunday was my last day in Fiji, and we were originally just planning to 'chill' and enjoy the beach. 

But with the impending end to a bucketlist, adventure packed trip - we decided to make the most of every minute.

With the lack of info online about activities schedules in Fiji in general (most resorts say just stop by the activities desk, and vendor websites mostly do not post times) - we'd approached the front desk the day before, asking if any zipline companies would be operating Sunday.  We were told pretty much everything is closed Sundays, and a waterfall hike run by Uprising that would require a long boat ride was our only option.  The receptionist, at our insistence, supposedly confirmed this by phone to Zip Fiji.

A former boss used to always say: "Always ask twice", and it's been a part of my don't-give-up-easy approach that's carried through to my personal life.  So, I emailed the company before bed, and sure enough, we woke to an email clearing up the confusion - they are OPEN, and would we like a car to come pick us up in the morning?

So, with a pit stop to Uprising Resort's restaurant for international style buffet breakfast...

...with fresh scrambled eggs, fluffy pancakes and the ubiquitous 'tropical juice', we were off to the rainforests of southern Viti Levu.

25 minutes, and we had arrived at Zip Fiji's private eco reserve. 

We were outfitted with gear, then a scenic (and informative, thanks to our enthusiastic guides, who pointed out and told stories about local plants along the way) hike up the mountain to get to the first platform.

The course consisted of 8 ziplines, through lush tropical greenery and over the Wainadoi river valley under the sun-soaked, cotton-puff-cloud-filled blue skies of Fiji.   

Shark diving was hard to beat, but rainforest ziplining gave us on land, an experience to also cleanse all the stresses of every day life from our systems. Both provided that pure rush, that connected with nature and made you so, so (appreciative of being) alive.

Our tour guide was awesome and turned my iPhone into a makeshift GoPro - check out his video below! (Yes my phone made it back in one piece - seems that he's done this before ;))

 

Zip Fiji apparently also offers several zipline adventures including one in Nadi (around the airport area!) where outdoor ziplines yield to limestone cave systems 100 meters deep that you can rappel into.  We definitely need to check that one out if we make it back to Fiji some day.
 

Back at Pacific Harbour, our driver was kind enough to help us pick up our luggage from Uprising Resort, and take  us over to our next hotel:  The Pearl South Pacific. 

Where all of our previous 'resorts' did have a bit of the vibe of upgraded backpacker venues, The Pearl was a true resort in the traditional sense of the word - we definitely felt a huge difference in the beautiful, very modern architecture and grounds, the level of service from the moment we set foot on property, and the fact that their restaurant had a live band at lunch, performing covers of the latest Top 40 hits poolside.

Plus, thoughtful cocktails that meld Western with local flavors!  (We had the Paw Paw Smash ($20 Fiji / ~$10 USD) with Bounty rum, coconut rum, fresh paw paw, mint and lime.  Paw paw is a local / Aussie term for papaya!)

And no mosquitos in sight - not sure how they managed this, but it resulted in our undying love for The Pearl at first (non) sight.

 We had just 40 minutes before our spa appointment - just enough time to grab a bit of lunch.

Already excited to find that we had arrived on BBQ Day, with AYCE LOBSTERS at the lunch buffet - we got a bonus in the types of lobsters that were offered, one of which we had never seen before: a Slipper Lobster, common to the Australia / New Zealand / Fiji area.  I thought they tasted a bit sweeter and more tender than the lobster we get in the States.

Here's a shot of the other super photogenic whole lobster split.

Stuffed, we headed to the spa. A beautiful, modern 4-star space that we didn't want to leave.

And yes, we reaffirmed that there is nothing in the world like a free massage in tropical paradise.

Post treatment, we got to enjoy soothing ginger tea in the lounge.  The attentive hostess, noticing that pretty much every one of our limbs were polka dotted with mosquito bites - showed us this amazing "dilo" lotion (yes, we almost spat our tea out when we first read the name, with an extra consonant inserted by our subliminal selves).  

Apparently dilo is a fruit native to the south pacific, whose 'somewhat poisonous' kernel produces an oil that became popular for healing skin ailments: the extract is supposed to enhance the skin's natural regenerative functions, and speed up healing, with antiseptic properties to boot.  It's most commonly used for burns, inflammation and rashes.
 
The Pure Fiji bath/body/skincare products line uses a lot of this nut oil, and the Dilo Rescue body gel in particular worked wonders to ease our evil itchy mosquito bites.

After the spa, I had only about an hour before my hired car was due to come take me to the airport, and we chose to spend it by the pool (the beach at Pacific Harbour definitely doesn't compare to Blue Lagoon's warm, crystal clear blue water and soft pristine white sand.  But The Pearl had a swim up bar!).

That's when @gourmetpigs reminded me that we still hadn't gotten a fresh young coconut.  Throughout the trip, knowing it was cliche, we still expected that coconut would be served everywhere we went - but even til the last day, it was MIA - until The Pearl.  No, they did not have it on the menu either - but when we asked the bartender, he offered to climb up a tree to fetch a fresh one for us!!!  

Now that's 5-star service!!  

We took our freshly fetched and cut coconuts to the swim up bar and toasted to one unforgettable trip.


It was hard to leave utopia - the only thing I'd missed was the chance to make a visit to the local village, but @gourmetpigs stayed an extra day and you can read all about it soon on her blog!

Can't wait til the next time we can say Bula to Fiji again!


(Read all about the other days on our bucket list Fiji trip here: Day 1 , Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4)


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Fiji

ZipFiji
Ph: +679-672-6045
Email: zip@zip-fiji.com
Website: zip-fiji.com


The Pearl South Pacific Resort

Pacific Harbour, Fiji

Ph:+679 773 0022
Email: stay@thepearlsouthpacific.com

Website: thepearlsouthpacific.com

Koro Makawa Rentals & Tours (car service)
Ph: 3450567
Email: kmrentals@hotmail.com
facebook.com/koromakawarentalsandtours


Day 5 costs breakdown:

• Breakfast at Uprising Resort: included in price of hotel
• Car service from hotel to zipline and back: $0 (FREE, courtesy of Zip Fiji), $5 Fiji tip
• Zip Fiji:  $225 Fiji per person (~$187 USD pp)
• The Pearl South Pacific
• Lunch at The Pearl: $29 USD pp
• Massage: $0 included with hotel stay, $10 Fiji tip
• Dilo lotion: $10 Fiji
• 1 night stay (@gourmetpigs only)
• Car service (Koromea): $160 Fiji (~$80 USD)
• Total: ~$307 USD

(Also see my recaps for Day 1 , Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4)
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1MB Travels: Fiji: Adventure Flashpacking Day 4: Shark Diving, Arts Village, Kumaran Chetty's

"Do one thing that scares you, every day." - Eleanor Roosevelt

I didn't grow up dreaming of swimming with sharks.

I ended up doing it metaphorically, involuntarily, most of my professional career - and on this trip to Fiji, literally, semi-voluntarily.

Truthfully, my original intention with Fiji was to dive the world famous Rainbow Reef. Fiji is the soft coral capital of the world, and scuba diving there is definitely a bucket list adventure.  I'd dreamed of a utopic underwater world, fish of all sizes and creatures of all forms flitting around, technicolor coral formations in all directions - marine life at 500% vibrancy.

But Fiji also features probably the best shark diving in the world - a once in a lifetime experience on par with, and possibly overshadowing the Rainbow Reef.  With the safety rule of not diving 24 hours before flying, we could only choose one.  As I was traveling with daredevil @gourmetpigs, and *because* the thought of diving with sharks (and as extremely inexperienced divers, at that - we'd only completed the minimum dives required to get PADI certified) terrified me - we decided to go for the shark dive.  When else in our lives were we going to do this?  And, if we were going to take the risk: might as well do it at the best place possible.

After some research, we decided on Beqa Adventure Divers - run by marine biologists who were conservationists first and foremost, running tours to educate, inform and raise funds to keep protecting sharks and their beautiful habitats. While they were perfectly friendly to guests/customers, what we loved was that they did not seem to be tourist pleasers, who would never encourage any goofy, risky behavior, nor tolerate silly selfie-takers. 

Four dive masters accompanied our group of five amateurs, led by a guide who asked to be addressed as 'Papa'.  Papa was charismatic and very entertaining on the boat ride to our dive site - but make no mistake, he had been running this tour for 18 years, loves the sharks like his own children - he knows almost all of the regulars by name - and never had any incidents.  He laid out the rules we were to follow, not only to keep us safe from the sharks, but the sharks safe from us (after all, if anything were to happen, the damage from a fear driven public would cause irreparable harm to the entire shark population).  

Our destination that early morning was to Shark Reef Marine Reserve, an aquatic park with coral walls built for the study of the resident shark population.  We would travel as a group to each wall, amateurs to lie prone, heads down - while divemasters used tuna heads and other feed above us to attract the sharks.  The first stop was at a ledge 30 meters / 100 feet down, in "The Arena", where we spend just under 20 amazing minutes with 30 to 40 bull sharks swirling around us.



Then we move up to "The Shallows", at 16 meters / 55 feet - where smaller sharks from blacktips, whitetips, grey to lemon dart back and forth along the wall, sometimes at just arm's length from us. 

The thrill of the first dive was incredible: there is the expected adrenaline rush, but at the same time, an amazing stillness from being in the presence of the majestic creatures, designed by nature as the most efficient killers, but really simply following the basic instinct to survive - just like all other living beings.  We didn't see the blood-lust driven monsters from Jaws movies that everyone who thought we were insane were afraid that we would come across (ok we didn't encounter that exact species, great whites, either, but you get the point).  They're not swimming around looking for humans to tear limb from limb - most shark attacks happen because sharks can't see very well, and sometimes mistake humans for fish.

If you're wondering what was protecting us from sharks who can't distinguish us from lunch - it was basically our divemasters, holding blunt metal rods (shaped like those triangle-handled screwdrivers you get with IKEA furniture sometimes) that they use to gently nudge curious sharks away whenever they get a little too close. 

When we surfaced, we were very pleasantly surprised to hear that there was a second round!  This time, the divemasters HAND FED a line of bull sharks, right in front of us!  The sharks seemed to know the drill though, and were very comfortable with all the feeders and having us bunch of tourists around watching while they grabbed lunch from the divemasters, in protective metal mesh suits.

All in all, an incredible bucket list experience - one that we will always look back on proudly to have done!!!

After an adventure-filled morning, we headed back to the resort for a little R&R.

Since we arrived fairly late night the first night, it was great to get a chance to see and appreciate the resort property with its traditionally-styled bures (even at the oceanfront bar).

We ordered our requisite island drinks ('tropical juice' - a blend I think of watermelon, pineapple, and ? - seemed to popular here too)

And after all the excitement, we realized we were starving - and inhaled this lovely kokoda (traditional Fijian ceviche made with mahi mahi and coconut cream) presented in a coconut shell bowl, the best version of it we'd had in Fiji so far - with super fresh fish that was just the right supple texture and infused with flavor.

We also had mahi mahi prepared another way: as fish and chips, also tasty with a fresh fried golden crispy exterior and juicy, flaky fish beneath. 

The only bit of trouble we had in paradise was with mosquitos - they were everywhere, and made quick lunch of us wherever we went.  Time to break out my secondary supply of mosquito repellent - I was trying to stay 'natural' as much as possible, and had brought "Florida Water" from Hong Kong's "Two Girls" brand.  It smelled great, and was supposed to repel bugs.  But like all the other repellent I brought, this didn't work very well.  In Fiji, if mosquitos are a problem for you (I'm allergic and bites swell up sometimes to knuckle size), I would advise on giving in to tropical-strength / max strength DEET repellent. They smell like death and are bad for the environment and for the person inhaling the fumes - but they will work to keep those bloodsuckers from making a meal of you.

Photo credit: artsvillage.fiji.com

We'd heard that Arts Village was a great place to visit, and that it was 'just across the street' from Uprising Resort, and decided to walk off our lunch there.  

Found out this was a bad idea for 3 reasons:

• Across the street turns out to be 15 minutes
• In the Fijian heat, every minute feels like half an hour
• During wet season, downpours can happen at any minute without warning

We totally got scorched in the heat of the first part of the walk, then drenched in the rain running for cover (which was still a distance away).

Photo credit: artsvillage.fiji.com

Oh yeah, and there was a fourth reason: while we had planned fairly meticulously the rest of the itinerary to ensure we maximized every minute of the bucket list trip, I had somehow missed looking up showtimes for the the Arts Village fire walking and meke dance.  Maybe in the back of my mind I thought it was something that would occur a few times throughout the day, or perhaps once in the evening (allowing us plenty of time to get there after our shark dive).  

Apparently there was only 1 show time, at 2:30 - and we had missed it.  

Also, 'Fiji time' meant that all the little shops close by 3:30pm / 4pm. While to be honest we were not impressed by the number and quality of shops we did manage to see, we also don't know what it might have been like if we had arrived early enough for most stores (and possibly table vendors) to be open.  I had been looking forward to getting some unique souvenirs, especially handcrafted items like the Fijian weave bracelets / bags - but the shops we saw mostly carried standard issue postcards, magnets, generic shell jewelry and bath products.  There was also a small market, where we were hoping to find local snacks and other food treasures - but that one also catered to tourists and carried mainly processed items from Australia.

So learn from our mistakes and if you go: 
1) Take a taxi
2) Plan even your visit to the local arts village to give yourself time to fully enjoy it.

Venturing on to check out local fare at Kumaran Chetty's down the street, we had a lovely meal of lamb curry 

...and Mahi Mahi curry.  A little more expensive than we had expected, at $35 Fiji total (~$17 USD) including drinks, but we were glad to have been able to check out a local spot.

All in all, an amazing Day 4!


(You can see my recaps for Day 1 here , Day 2 here and Day 3 here)


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Fiji

Uprising Beach Resort

Queens Rd, Pacific Harbour, Fiji

Ph:+679 345 2200

Website: uprisingbeachresort.com

Beqa Adventure Divers
Lagoon Resort, Pacific Harbour, Fiji
Ph: +679 345 0911
Email: contactus@fijisharkdive.com
Website: fijisharkdive.com

Arts Village
Pacific Harbour, Fiji
Ph: +679 345 0065
Website: artsvillage.com.fj
Program:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday
10:45am – 11:45pm – Boat Tour
12pm – 1pm – Temple Tour
1:15pm – 2:15pm – Lovo Lunch
2:30pm – 3:30pm – Fire walking & Meke Show

Kumaran Chetty's
Lot 9 Pacific Highway, Pacific Harbour, (Opposite Pacific Timber), 3450096 Navua, Central, Fiji
Ph: +679 9962062
facebook.com/pages/Kumaran-Restaurant

Day 4 costs breakdown:

• Car service from hotel to Beqa Adventure Divers and back: $0 (FREE, provided with dive - just have hotel call to arrange in advance).  Tip optional (we tipped $8 Fiji total roundtrip)
• Shark dive:  $375 Fiji per person (~$187 USD pp) PADI certification required, Open Water Diver at minimum
• Lunch at Uprising Resort: $27.50 Fiji per person (~$13.75 USD)
• Dinner at Kumaran Chetty's: $17 Fiji per person (~$9 USD pp tip included) 
• Taxis: $10 Fiji (~$5 USD)
• Uprising Beach Resort 2nd night (@gourmetpigs caught a promo code that knocked $100 off this night's booking.  And free upgrade to beachfront bure continued!): $31 USD total tax included) prepaid via Orbitz
• Total: ~$229.75 USD per person

(See my recaps for Day 1 here , Day 2 here , Day 3 here, and Day 5 here)
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