Manny showed up around 10:30, and we took a
trip to the Bowers Museum (right near SNA),
where there was an exhibition of treasures
from the People's Republic's Palace Museum (as
opposed to that of the ROC) - it was entitled
The Forbidden City, and it was the perfect
size for a short stopover - kept us enthralled
for an hour or so, looking at artifacts from
the Ch'ing court including such oddities as a
mechanical calculator (made in France, I
think), tuned jade coathanger-like carillon
bells, court dress and uniforms, a solid gold
Bodhisattva of the Future, and the bicycle of
Pu Yi (the last emperor). Then a quick tour of
the rest of the museum (mostly an
anthropological and historical collection of
things relevant to southern California -
strong on proto-Mexican cultures and early
California history), then to Sumo Sushi for
lunch. This is an AYCE buffet of sushi and
assorted hot and cold dishes. In general, the
fish was fresh and of high quality, the cooked
dishes variable. All of the varieties of sushi
I tasted were of impeccably fresh fish on
oversweetened sushi rice, no wasabi added.
LAX BOS UA 180 1535 2353 320 2A
And so back to the airport at 3, where I
washed up at the RCC, collected my baggage
from the locker in front, and discovered to my
chagrin that this flight was due to take off
from 67B, one of the far gates. Hot-footed it
there and found F about half full and Y at 1/3
or less. F filled up, though, by pushback. 1A
and B were taken up by a pair of wiseacres who
couldn't stop laughing the whole time (and
kept the other passengers and the FAs laughing
as well). My seatmate, however, was a young
woman who didn't crack a smile and didn't
speak unless she was spoken to: definitely
wanted to be private, which I sensed right
away, and the FAs apparently did too, as even
though the other passengers were addressed by
name, she never was.
One very cool thing I saw as we took off and
banked left, there was a CO 757 below us
banking right, giving a very interesting
perspective. I didn't know that it was a CO
757, given my lovely eyesight, just some kind
of airplane, but that's what Ch 9 is for.
We were more than well served by Michelle and
her staff, who I think would have been good
under any circumstance, but who had the time
to relax with a half-empty plane.
An uneventful flight; the movie was one about
two teens, one rich and one poor, who are in
love with the same girl: I can't figure out
what went on, as most teenagers look the same
to my tired eyes, but I gather it's a Love
Story type of story, with bits of other old
plots thrown in. I watched it idly while
listening to Ch 9, which might explain why I
didn't catch the action too well. Empower
ports at the seats, but apparently they
haven't been wired up yet.
Our meal:
Chilled salmon presented with a fennel and
mustard seed salad - two large chunks of
salt-cured but otherwise quite raw fish, I
would say 2-2.5 oz each piece, crusted with
mustard seeds and served over minced fennel
with capers. Excellent quality fish but way
salty. Also, I think the texture was daunting
to many: there were several left over, which I
saw heading behind the curtain to an unknown
fate.
Garden fresh salad offered with Parmesan
pepper or Asian sesame ginger dressing - good
greens mixed with scallions; the Asian
dressing was sweet, rather like a thick
version of a teriyaki marinade.
Lamb chops Provencal with a red pepper sauce
baked with a breadcrumb and mustard crust,
complemented by dill gnocchi and a vegetable
nori featuring sweet potatoes, parsnips and
leeks. I wasn't super hungry, as I'd eaten at
this buffet, so I told Michelle to ask
everyone else first, and when they'd gotten
their choice, I'd take what was left. This was
what was left. The only problem was the usual
too many flavors at once, but this was
mitigated that the lamb didn't have any sauce,
and the dill gnocchi ended up being basil
gnocchi. If you want to know what a vegetable
nori is, I cannot enlighten you, as what came
was a stewy mess of the listed vegetables. The
gnocchi were among the best I've had anywhere
- airy tender pillows - but the red pepper
sauce (meant for the lamb) had found its way
onto them, and this was not an inspired combo.
The lamb was medium, a double chop and a
triple chop, a huge serving, tender as
anything, good tasting, with a few needles of
rosemary.
Sauteed turkey piccata in a lemon caper sauce
topped with herbs and Parmesan cheese,
accompanied by sauteed spinach and nutmeg and
yellow rice with orange rind
Seared fillet of salmon enhanced by basil
tomato sauce complemented by steamed bok choy
and Parisienne potatoes with parsley - this
selection had a big X through it, and a salmon
appetizer followed by a salmon main dish might
seem a bit odd.
Ravioli filled with butternut squash and
ricotta with spinach served with oven-roasted
tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, offered with
a rosemary breadstick - my seatmate had this
and cleaned her plate: it looked good, and
instead of one breadstick, this was served
with a bouquet of three or four.
Salt and pepper shakers.
Ice cream sundae, Ben & Jerry's vanilla and
chocolate ice cream accompanied by hot fudge
sauce, wafer and whipped cream - few of us
seemed to want this, and later on in the
flight, a cart full of them (maybe a couple
dozen?) was seen being pushed to the wayback
of the plane. I imagine there must have been
some mighty happy Y customers later on.
After a while, people started asking if we
could get updates on the Yankees-Sox game, so
eventually ATC was replaced by Yankees
baseball on Ch 9. I am pleased to say that the
Sox won (this, I heard, was shortly after a fiasco in which these Yankees had pounded them at Fenway by something like 22-1).
Touchdown about 10 min early, so I decided to
take the subway instead of a taxi home, and it
turned out that the station attendant had
cashed out already and herded us all through
the pass gate.I am lucky to have this apartment a 10-min subway ride from Logan.
Arrived home to find a MP statement without
any certs in it! I think I'm owed a book or
two.
And that was it ... enough flying for a couple weeks ...