After lunch, 6 hours of fairly blessed sleep, despite the
hard-as-a-board seat back and headrest and despite the
fairly loud and jolly conversation between 8H and J, an
attractive midwestern-sounding woman and a tall German guy
who was obviously trying to make time with her: I dreamed
my friends and I were dancing to the Isley Bros song Shout!
and afterwards I was hardly able to walk: this no doubt
reflective of the soreness caused by the lack of cushioning.
Woke up for the snack.
Second towel service: the thing was stinging hot.
The second meal was served almost 2 hours before landing.
We touched down half an hour early. There was a big line at
premium security - I think the unmanned entrance had a lot
to do with this - it looked as crowded as the regular line.
The Japanese processed us expeditiously, though, and we
were in to the RCC before 1530. Met up with chchkiwi out
front; chatted a bit and excused myself for the lovely
shower rooms. The amenity kits remain first-rate, and the
facilities, though showing their age, are still quite nice.
Kirin VSOP brandy was a worthy facsimile of Hennessy
VSOP Exclusif, the extra-harsh version offered in Asia.
Mike and I parked ourselves in front at 1620 to look for
jswong's friends; we waited 15 but didn't see them so went
back in to enjoy the fruits of the Amazing Beer Machine;
figured they would page us if they needed to. They didn't.
Returned inside and visited with chchkiwi, who at some point
exclaimed, we're everywhere, pointing at some guy motoring
down the aisle. So I went to catch up with him and cornered
him as he appropriated a nice window seat. Embarrassment.
What ch had seen was not, in fact, a FlyerTalk tag, but a
carryon bag tag. In my apologies for the mistake, it turned
out that the person was, in fact, an FTer, and so we ended
up having a nice chat with 1KfromSNA, during which time
another person came up and said, hey, violist, and it turned
out to be long-time member WindFlyer. So ch is right
after all: we are indeed everywhere, especially the NRT RCC.
They announced our flight a little early, so we hightailed
it to the gate; I delayed us a little, though, and by the
time I got to my seat, my overhead space was gone. The young
guy (40 or so, I guess) in 9H, solicitous of me as though I
were his grandpa, found me overhead space not far away.
0114 UA 803 NRT SIN 1755 0025 777 9J Ch9 Y Empower Y
chchkiwi in 8D, mikew99 in 13J. Turns out later UAX@SFO was
in row 1 and wwbgd's+1 was in the last row of C.
My seat was much comfier than on the last flight. Also, the
recline was not restricted by the closet behind.
The snack was Summer Harvest Selects Premier Snack Mix in a
bag, very unclassy indeed. Mumm Cuvee Napa was clean and
lemony and very unconcentrated - I think it's a mistake for
UA to cater a lesser product on its intra-Asia routes; bad
for the prestige and all.
Pretty, smiling Miss Hashimoto and her colleagues kept up
the well-known high service standard of Asian UA flights.
to begin
Fresh seasonal greens; sliced almonds; Balsamic vinaigrette
This salad was nice mesclun greens touched slightly by frost
in a more herbed vinaigrette (Conway's) than the bulk stuff
offered on the long flight.
main course
TRADER VIC'S sweet and sour braised short ribs; roast garlic
mashed potatoes and glazed carrots and peas
TRADER VIC'S shredded chicken in Thai green curry sauce;
jasmine rice and roasted mushroom and vegetable medley
Salmon topped with chestnut paste; Hanagata rice with white
sesame seeds, grilled eringi mushroom, green beans and
carrot flower
I asked for the beef, with chicken as a second choice; my
seatmate reversed the two. We both got our preferred. His
went down the hatch rapidly, so it couldn't have been too
bad. A FA warned that my plate was very hot; it was, and the
sauce on the short rib (1 piece, 5 oz or so, of chuck) was
in fact boiling when it got to me. It was unrelievedly
sweet, the cook apparently having forgot the sour part; its
accompanying peas and carrot cubes from a freezer bag, the
only glazing the abundant goo from the meat. The subtly
garlicked potatoes were the best part of the meal.
dessert
Eli's cherry frangipane tart
A slice of dense white almond cake thing, with some cherry
pie filling baked in. It was okay.
When I asked, I was told that as there wasn't cheese on
this flight, they hadn't loaded any Port. Courvoisier,
by way of atonement, came as a double. It was the same
acrid stuff as on the other flight.
Today's menu features beef from Australia.
We apologize if occasionally your choice is not available.
1/09 NRT-SIN (LD83)
262C003-1
[wines as above]
Owing to a delay leaving NRT (ascribed to cargo loading
issues), we landed 20 late.
Said a bientot to chchkiwi and mikew99 and made tentative
plans to meet at Banana Leaf Apolo for dinner.