February 20, 2016
Emirates Airlines Dubai to San Francisco 855a – 1255p A380-800 First Class

By the time I cleared transit security, took the train across to Terminal A and then made my way up to the First Class Lounge, the time was approaching 7:00am.

Let me start by saying that the two largest First Class lounges I have ever been in are both here at Dubai International. Both of them are operated by Emirates – one in Terminal A and one in Terminal B. Both of them appear to stretch from one end of the terminal to the other. They’re like lounge amusement parks with all manner of incredible offerings.

For example, as you continue past the reception desk you’ll pass by a collection of attractive high end shops that include Le Clos, a seller of fine wines and spirits or VERTU, a purveyor of luxury mobile phones. I recall seeing a jeweler and of course there was a duty free shop.

As you continue down the length of the lounge, seating areas abound. Everywhere are small attractive groups of seats and tables, occasionally offset by larger stylized rooms.




Emirates First Class Lounge Seating Area



Emirates First Class Lounge Seating Area



Emirates First Class Lounge Seating Area


It’s hard to ever imagine this lounge being full. No – it’s scary to imagine this lounge ever being full! As it is now, it’s really rather relaxing to stroll down the length of the lounge, considering the many possible seating areas. Should I sit here? Why n – Oooo! Check out that magnificent room! Maybe I’ll just settle in over there….

My flight to San Francisco was scheduled to depart from gate A-10, located down at the very end of the terminal. One nice benefit for Emirate’s First and Business Class passengers is that all gates are accessible directly from the lounge. There’s no need to return to the main concourse and join the crowds.

As I made my way down the length of the lounge, I passed a sleeping room and a children’s play room.




Emirates First Class Lounge Sleeping Room



Emirates First Class Lounge Play Room


Continuing on, I saw a cigar lounge, a spa and shower facilities. At this point I would like to have taken advantage of a shower but with a fifteen hour flight to San Francisco ahead of me, there’d be plenty of time for a shower on board the plane.

Like all top flight First Class Lounges, this one offered excellent dining facilities. The main dining room offers both buffet and/or table service from an extensive menu of really good sounding items like salmon tartare, prawn bisque, T-bone steak or lamb shank. Still not full? Perhaps some cheese or a slice of Banoffee Pie (described as banana slices layered with dulce de leche, crispy filo pastry and whipped cream, garnished with coffee jelly)




Emirates First Class Lounge Dining Room



Emirates First Class Lounge Dining Room


In addition to the dining room, little food service areas are sprinkled throughout the lounge. These are like little cafes offering things like pastries, salads, mini-sandwiches and fruit plates. Hot and cold drinks – including alcohol, are available everywhere.

I would love to come back someday and take full advantage of this lounge’s many offerings. Honestly, why not make a day of it? Arrive early, enjoy a nice lunch, take in a movie, take advantage of a spa treatment and perhaps a shower, have a nice dinner and then board your flight.

As it is however, my flight will be boarding in just over an hour. Since I’d had breakfast just three and a half hours earlier on the inbound flight from Brisbane, I decided to forego the temptations of the dining room menu and instead made my way down to the Gate 10 lounge area where I settled for a cup of coffee and a pistachio pastry along with a copy of that morning’s Gulf Times.




The lounge area for gates 9 and 10


The lounge area serving gates 9 and 10 is larger than some airline lounges I’ve been in. Certainly with the nearby café area it offers better amenities than any airline lounge in the U.S. Wi-Fi is available throughout the lounge, as are electrical outlets. Time passed quickly as I plugged in, caught up on email and sports scores and enjoyed another cup of coffee.

It was only about twenty minutes from departure when boarding was finally called. An agent showed up to deal with the boarding formalities and then off we went, riding an elevator down one level before continuing down the glass walled jetway to the plane. As I did so, I took note of the aircraft registration – A6-EOM. Ah, much better.

Earlier in the lounge I’d checked out Emirates’ fleet listings over at airfleets.com. It is really amazing to look down those columns representing the world’s largest fleets of 777s and A380s. As to Emirates’ A380s, registration starts with A6-EDA through EDZ, continuing on to EEA through EEZ and finally rounding out with EOA through EOW. Out of a fleet of 75 aircraft (with six more on order), that would make ship “EOM” the 11th youngest A380 in the fleet. She was delivered new to Emirates just eleven months earlier, on March 8th, 2015. Her first birthday was only three weeks away. In the early morning sun she positively gleamed with the vibrancy of youth.

Once onboard I settled in quickly while the cabin crew dispensed with their usual preflight offerings. By the time we pushed back I’d compiled one amenity kit, one set of pajamas, some slippers, two newspapers and a nice Emirates tote bag in which to carry it all.

Menus were presented and I took a moment to admire both the presentation as well as the bounty of foods contained within the impressive leather bound booklet.




Still life with menu and orange juice


As I sipped from the glass of nicely chilled orange juice, Jennifer Anniston stopped by to inquire if I’d be interested in showering with *pop* Oh my! I must’ve dozed off! Sorry – what was that? A shower? Oh yes! If no one else has taken the first slot, I’d love to shower as soon as we level off. No problem. My name was duly recorded at the top of the list. A flight attendant will come round to collect me once the spa is ready.

This is a busy departure time for Emirates and as we made our way out to the runway, we did so amidst a large assortment of 777s and A380s, all of them bearing Emirates’ distinctive green, red and black emblem on their tails. When it came our time for takeoff, the captain ever so gently applied power and off we went – rolling down the runway with ever increasing speed until 51 seconds later we’d achieved sufficient velocity to break those surly bonds and soar into the hazy skies above Dubai.

As we climbed away from the airport and sped out over the Persian Gulf, I caught an interesting glimpse of Dubai’s buildings rising amidst the morning fog…




Good Morning, Dubai


Meanwhile, life in Suite 3K proceeded apace as I reclined my seat a bit and took in my surroundings…




Leaving Dubai



Only ten out of the fourteen suites were occupied on this flight


We were about thirty minutes into the flight when one of the two shower attendants stopped by to inform me that my shower was ready. Normally they’ll take some time to explain the operation of the shower to you but as a seasoned veteran of these showers we were able to dispense with those quickly – mainly you’ve got five minutes of water and a total of twenty-five minutes in the spa. Should turbulence develop, take a seat in the shower and ride it out. Alright then, enjoy your shower!




This spa is larger than many home bathrooms



The nicest wash basin aloft



A nice collection of spa amenities


Twenty-five minutes is more than enough time to enjoy a good hot shower, dry off, dress up and be done with it. One of the best things about this shower was the atmosphere – it was nice and dry, just like back home. Whereas in Brisbane I couldn’t dry off, here I felt cool and dry quickly after toweling off. It was a refreshing feeling.

Returning to my seat, I set the big screen on my favorite program – the Sky Map – and then prepared for my second breakfast of the day. Earlier in the flight a flight attendant had stopped by to take any initial meal orders. The menu for this fifteen hour flight included a wide variety of breakfast, main meal and light meal selections. Even though I’d already eaten breakfast earlier in the day on the inbound flight from Brisbane, that had been six hours ago and hey – you only live once - so why not have breakfast twice? Why not, indeed!


A LA CARTE DINING

BREAKFAST
Dubai to San Francisco

Juice
Orange or grapefruit juice, apple and carrot detox drink, or a strawberry smoothie


FRUIT, YOGHURT AND CEREALS

Breakfast Fruit
Fresh cut seasonal fruits

Yoghurt
Natural of fruit flavored

Assorted Cereals
Choice of cornflakes or muesli


MAIN COURSES

Spinach and Feta Egg White Omelette
Served with baked beans, roasted cherry tomatoes and crushed potatoes with chives

Poached Eggs
Presented atop salmon and rösti, served with sautéed spinach and sour cream with chives

Anda Aloo Bhurji
Spiced scrambled eggs with potatoes, served with potato patties and minced mutton curry with lentils

Breakfast Platter
Spiced grilled chicken and bresaola, with red Leicester and gruyère


BREAD BASKET
A variety of baked breads, butter croissants and breakfast pastries
Served with butter and preserves


It’s been quite a while since I last had poached eggs on an airplane. I still remember my first time – aboard an Eastern Airlines 727 between Evansville, Indiana and Atlanta, Georgia. It was a pretty standard plate of Eggs Benedict but as that is one of my favorite ways to enjoy eggs, I was and remain impressed to this day.

So, why not revisit something similar via Emirates’ offering of poached eggs, which the flight attendant informed me did not come with salmon as per the menu but did come with a topping of Hollandaise Sauce. Sold!

My table was quickly laid with the requisite linens, china, silver and glassware. Added to the initial assemblage was a small appetizer sized fruit plate with a sweet dipping sauce. Nice!




Breakfast table setting


This was followed shortly by the main dish…




Poached Eggs
Presented atop salmon and rösti, served with sautéed spinach and sour cream with chives


What a great way to start my trio of meals for this flight!

Whaaaat? Three meals?!! Now I know what some of you are thinking – glutton! How the heck does he eat so much?! Well let’s stop and take a moment to consider my day onboard this flight before we go casting aspersions.

First of all, most people have never flown on a flight this long. For many, a five and a half hour flight to Hawaii is about as long as it gets. For others, that westbound flight they were on from Europe back home to the U.S. a couple of years ago seemed like it would never end. Had they flown to anywhere in California – a distance of about 5400 miles - they might have been aloft for a mind numbing ten and a half hours!

With the arrival of ultra-long range jetliners starting with Airbus’ A340-500, we now see many flights exceeding 8000 miles and fifteen hours in length. Singapore’s 9520 mile nonstop flight between New York and Singapore was once regarded as the world’s longest but in terms of flight time, the 8760 mile flight between Los Angeles often took longer to fly due to the winds encountered enroute. We’re talking flight times occasionally approaching 20 hours!

Today’s 8090 mile long flight between Dubai and San Francisco has been announced at fifteen hours and four minutes. Now fifteen hours – that’s just a number – but then look at it as the same amount of time as if you woke up at 7:00am, went to work at 8:00am and then put in a full day that had you home by 6:00pm. You then had dinner and enjoyed the rest of the evening until you went to bed at 10:00pm. That’s a full day right there. Now imagine if you woke up at 7:00am and then just sat around the house all day until 10:00pm. Whoa… definitely a long day.

And what about meals during that time? Most people would have all three – breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you take a look at my breakfast plate, that’s really not a huge amount of food, especially since the only bread I accompanied it with was a single slice of toast.

By the time I’d finished breakfast, there were still thirteen hours left in the flight – plenty of time to do all kinds of stuff from checking out the IFE to taking a nap with more than enough time along the way to enjoy a couple more meals. After all, if back home you’d finished your breakfast at 7:30, thirteen more hours would take you all the way to 8:30pm – more than enough time for most normal people to have lunch and dinner without anyone considering them to be piggish.

My favorite thing about flying during daylight hours – other than a propensity toward remaining conscious – is the view out my windows. I mean, I spend the vast majority of my life down on terra firma and so for me it’s rather unique and special to be able to observe the world from 35000 feet above it. Granted, it lacks the detail from so high but in other ways there’s even more to be seen in terms of geological patterns or where rivers flow or neat looking cloud formations.

I always figured windows were put on airplanes for a reason and yet it truly amazes me these days how many people shut their window shades as soon as we take off, immediately preferring the artificial light and manmade entertainment generated via their laptops or seatback screens to even a few minutes of wonder at the world outside their windows.

Take this flight, for example. Soon after departing Dubai we cross the Persian Gulf and continue north over Iran. Iran’s got some wonderfully mountainous territory that on a clear day can be appreciated quite nicely, even from thousands of feet overhead. Unfortunately, clouds gathered quickly as soon as we took off out of Dubai and by the time we reached the Iranian coast the only means we had of knowing it was via the Sky Map.

So then, circumstances like this represent a perfect time to then check out the inflight entertainment system. Emirates have a very good one. Branded as “ICE”, it’s an acronym standing for Information, Communication and Entertainment. You can learn more about it right HERE.

I think it’s great that Emirates has all these great options available for its passengers. Me personally, I don’t generally get all that excited about watching movies onboard flights – 23”screen notwithstanding – mainly because I’ve got plenty of things to keep me busy on my laptop. Those things would include everything from listening to music to surfing the net to working on this trip report to actually putting in time on work related projects (Yes, there’s more to my life than driving busses in Denali National Park).

In any event, a quick perusal of the entertainment options led me to the games section where I discovered a couple of different trivia contests. I love trivia and – as one who’s kept up on the news every day since I was a schoolboy – I’m pretty good at it. The only thing I’m not so good on is pop culture and music. I could care less about the personal lives or histories of celebrities and outside of jambands, upbeat blues, modern folk and new grass, my musical tastes don’t generally include anything that has been popular in the mainstream since after about 1980. Thankfully there were plenty of questions in categories like geography, sports, history, science and technology and tv/movies that I was able to entertain myself for a good couple of hours and in the process set hitherto unheard of point records. The only downer was while playing “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” when I got all the way up to playing for 500,000 before finally submitting a wrong answer.

A quick peek out my window revealed the snow covered landscape of the Ukraine. The land was pretty flat with little of anything to draw my attention so I shut my shades and, after a quick visit to the forward lavs reversed course and took a stroll back to the lounge. It wasn’t much busier than it had been the night before on my flight from Brisbane, so I returned to the front of the plane and read the latest from the International New York Times before finally turning my attention to the luncheon menu…


LUNCHEON
Dubai to San Francisco

Canapés
A selection of hot and cold savouries including prawn cake skewer, sesame chicken, a goat’s cheese filo with onion marmalade parcel, crème fraiche and salmon roe tartlet and pesto bocconcini


APPETIZERS

Caviar
Presented with a traditional selection of finely chopped onion, grated egg, sour cream and lemon
Served with melba toast and blinis

Tomato and Thyme Soup
With balsamic braised shallots

Chicken and Lemongrass Consommé
With shredded chicken, water chestnuts and vegetable julienne

Traditional Arabic Mezze
A spread of local savoury dishes including baba ghanouj, houmous, minted labneh ball, lentil rice, okra bil zeit, spinach bil zeit, tabbouleh and stuffed vine leaves with warm lamb kibbeh, cheese sambousek and zaatar fatayer

Herb-Coated Tuna Loin
Presented on a salad of edamame, green beans and roasted red peppers

Roast Chicken with Cumin
Served with couscous salad and preserved lemon gremolata

Seasonal Salad
Fresh salad leaves topped with cherry tomatoes, celery, olives and baby mozzarella
Served with your choice of dressing


MAIN COURSES

Roast Beef Short Ribs
Served off the bone with barbecue sauce, fingerling potatoes and steamed green beans

Sautéed Prawns with Garlic and Coriander
With herbed butter sauce, steamed rice and seasoned vegetables

Mughlai Chicken and Zafrani Kofta
Chicken in creamy gravy, served with basmati rice with green peas and paneer dumplings in saffron sauce

Goats Cheese and Beetroot Ravioli
Tossed in Arrabbiata sauce, with asparagus and roasted red pepper

Grilled Kingfish with Garlic and Herbs
Served with mango salsa, crushed pan-fried potatoes and cherry tomatoes


Vegetable Selection
We also offer a variety of alternatives, including roasted potatoes, blanched green beans, green pea purée and steamed basmati rice

Bread Basket
A variety of freshly baked rolls, Arabic and garlic breads


DESSERTS

Chocolate and Apricot Pudding
Served warm with whipped cream

Fig Cheesecake
With cinnamon sauce

Seasonal Fruit
An assortment of fresh cut fruits

Cheese Board
Wookey Hole Cave Aged Farmhouse Cheddar, West Country Cornish Brie, Yarra Valley Dairy Marinated Feta, Stilton and Kidderton Ash served with traditional accompaniments

Chocolates
Fine luxury chocolates


*** *** *** *** ***


LIGHT BITES


Sandwiches
Smoked salmon with cream cheese, vegetable antipasti with feta and roasted beef with sweet pepper mayonnaise


Hot Meal Selection

Veal Burger
Presented on a sesame seed roll, with Emmental, onion marmalade and baked potato fries

Gramigna Marinara
Twisted pasta with seafood marinara sauce and parmesan

Minestrone
Italian style vegetable soup with beans and pasta


Dessert

Selection of Pastries
White chocolate biscuit, chocolate and cinnamon ganache cup, raspberry tartlet, vanilla macaron and chocolate éclair


HOT DRINKS

Tea
Chamomile, Ceylon, Earl Grey or Green

Coffee
Freshly brewed or Nespresso (espresso, cappuccino or decaffeinated)



It’s not hard to rekindle an appetite after looking at a menu like this. From caviar to cheeseboard it all looked delicious. But first, it’s time for a pre-luncheon cocktail. Let’s start with a glass of Woodford Reserve on the rocks, accompanied by both the hot and cold canapés.




Woodford and Canapés ~ A great start to the afternoon


So then, what to order…

With two more meals off this menu coming up, now seemed like a good time to pass on the caviar course and move right on to a bowl of Chicken and Lemongrass Consommé. We’ll follow that with the chicken appetizer and then for the main course… Ooooo, so many great choices… I was really having a hard time choosing between the Mughlai Chicken or the Roast Beef Short Ribs. Since I’d chosen the chicken appetizer, I went with the short ribs. I’ll have the Mughlai Chicken for dinner.

I live in the forest a few miles outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. While many people who’ve never been to Alaska might think of it as a place of great natural beauty but one that has otherwise only the most rudimentary trappings of modern civilization, the reality of it is that Alaska, and Fairbanks in particular, is a warm and vibrant place with plenty of entertaining and enjoyable things to do - be it music, sports, dining, drama or seasonal festivals.

One of the things Fairbanks has become rightfully famous for is its Thai food. At last count there were eleven Thai restaurants in the city not including a number of drive up take-away type places. I’ve eaten at all of the sit-down places and so I’m pretty familiar with Thai cuisine, including its soups or which lemongrass is often an essential ingredient.

The soup served today was pretty good. Being a consommé it was pretty mild but I could definitely taste enough of the lemongrass to make it enjoyable.




Chicken and Lemongrass Consommé
With shredded chicken, water chestnuts and vegetable julienne


Moving on to the appetizer, I decided it was time to compliment this meal with a glass of wine. Let’s have a look at that wine list…


WINE LIST

Champagne
Cuvée Dom Pérignon 2006

White Wines
Condrieu Les Cassines, Paul Jaboulet Ainé 2012, Northern Rhône, France
Moone-Tsai Charles Heintz Chardonnay 2013, Sonoma Coast, USA
Robert Weil Kiedricher Riesling 2014, Rheingau, Germany
Antica Chardonnay 2013 Napa Valley, USA

Red Wines
Château Certan de May 2003, Pomerol, France
Saintsbury Stanly Ranch Pinot Noir 2011, Napa Valley, USA
Sloan Asterisk 2012, Napa Valley, USA
Sarget de Gruaud Larose 2005, Bordeaux, France
The Paring Red 2011, California USA

Dessert Wine
Château Doisy Daëne 2006, Bordeaux, France

Port
Quinto de Portaln 40 Year Old Douro, Portugal


The Napa Valley Chardonnay made a delightful accompaniment to a surprisingly good chicken appetizer. Neither I nor the flight attendant knew what lemon gremolata was (a chopped herb condiment classically made of lemon zest, garlic and parsley) but it added great flavor to the couscous salad and really made this appetizer the most memorable part of the meal.




Roast Chicken with Cumin
Served with couscous salad and preserved lemon gremolata


Plates were cleared quickly and efficiently. I also traded in my Chardonnay for a glass of the Napa Valley Pinot Noir. Though it’s tempting to try out those fancy French reds, I also would like a chance at finding a wine that’s accessible in both price and availability.

The ribs I was presented were not the type you’d receive in a typical Kansas City eatery, but they were moist and reasonably flavorful – overall a pretty good plate of food. Corn on the cob would have accompanied this meal nicely. As it is, I haven’t seen corn on the cob served aloft since back in the 1970s when Braniff used to serve it with their famous fried chicken.




Roast Beef Short Ribs
Served off the bone with barbecue sauce, fingerling potatoes and steamed green beans


So here I’ve gone and logged three flights with Emirates and I’ve yet to take advantage of the cheese course. Well that will change right now. I requested a small portion of all five cheeses offered, along with a glass of that 40 year old port. I mean really now, how many restaurants aside from the most ridiculously exclusive and/or expensive even offer 40 year old port? Or Wookey Hole Cave Aged Farmhouse Cheddar?!




Cheese and Port


Now then, dessert? Oh, why not. What’ve you got that’s not too large? Chocolate and Apricot Pudding? Bring it on!




Chocolate and Apricot Pudding


By the time the last of my plates had been cleared off, we were cruising high over a part of the planet that quite possibly no human had ever before set foot upon. In the diminishing light of the mid-winter afternoon, it looked positively bleak out there. With just under eight hours left in the flight, now seemed like an excellent time for a nap.

Before doing so however, I couldn’t resist some intriguing calculations. Here we were cruising high over the Polar Regions. Who knows what time it was down there, but local time in Dubai was 4:30pm. We’d been in flight a little over seven hours. I’d been awake since about 1:15am Dubai time. When I woke up this morning some fifteen hours earlier we were way around the dark side of the planet over by Sri Lanka. Yesterday at this time I was just sitting down to dinner as we sped westward across central Queensland. That seems weird because in the interim I’ve spent less than three hours on the ground – all of it in Dubai. After this flight lands I’ll still have two more flights to connect to before I get home, and as such I won’t arrive for another eighteen hours.

Calculations like this allow sleep to come that much more easily…

When I awoke we were high over British Columbia, speeding south down highway 97. Well, judging by the Sky Map we were actually just north of Prince George. Out my windows heavy cloud cover obscured the land as far as I could see. Oh well – it’s winter in the Pacific Northwest. Conditions like this are pretty much the norm.

Meanwhile, onboard our A380 it might as well have been overcast. The cabin was dark and I appeared to be the only one awake. A gentle snore emanated from the forward left side of the cabin, then abruptly stopped. I’d slept almost five hours and though I probably could have used a couple more hours of sleep, I want to remain conscious for the remainder of the flight. After all, who knows when next I’ll have the good fortune to fly Emirates First Class?

I popped up to the forward galley to request a cup of coffee with Baileys and alert the crew that I was once again up and at ‘em. We’d spoken earlier and agreed that I’d take my last meal as late as possible. According to the menu, that meant an hour and a half prior to arrival. I asked if that were really enough time, because I’d be willing to start a bit earlier. I was assured that an hour and a half would be just fine. So long as the crew knew what I wanted in advance, they could have it prepared in a timely manner resulting in a seamless service. My words, not theirs.

In any event, with three hours left in the flight, coffee and Baileys seemed like a good wake up call.




Coffee and Baileys


At this point in a fifteen hour flight, I suspect quite a few people – especially those sat downstairs in Economy Class - are thinking something along the lines of “Only. Three. More. Hours...” I completely understand. Being stuck inside an airplane for double digit hours is tough, especially when you’re sat amidst a sea of humanity where the seatback in front of you less than two feet away and the person beside you is only three inches away. The inflight entertainment system is a huge help inasmuch as it’s a wonderful distraction. It does nothing though for your comfort or personal space.

As I once again took stock of my opulent surroundings and by extension my lot in life, I am ever so thankful to be fortunate enough to have had the wherewithal to have figured out a way to put myself in this magnificent suite – not just once but twelve times now. Certainly, as a guy who drives a bus for a living and lives in a rustic cabin out in the woods of Alaska’s Interior, I’m an unlikely candidate to ever see more than the backside of an Economy Class seat. And yet – here I am.




Here’s to the good life!


So here I’d been reading this fascinating book called “One Second After” and as happens with me and books, time just flies by much faster than it would watching a movie or working on my laptop. I was effectively transported to the hills of North Carolina when our flight attendant (whose name I simply can’t remember at this point) brought me back to the present – we had just crossed the U.S. / Canadian border over Washington State – to ask if I were ready to eat. Deep in the pages of “One Second After” things were getting very interesting indeed and I could very easily have just skipped dinner and read straight on through to San Francisco. Still, as many of you have no doubt surmised by now, I’m a big fan of inflight catering, particularly as practiced by the world’s best airlines. I’ll have plenty of time to read on my upcoming flights, not to mention in the coming days, so I quickly bookmarked by spot, gave my assent to the attendant and prepared for this final gourmet meal on high.

Of course, I just had to start with a serving of caviar. And, as always with Emirates, I was presented a tastefully prepared plate highlighted by a generous portion of caviar surrounded by all the traditional accoutrements. Mmmm! Dee-licious!




Caviar with all the trimmings


Tempting though another salad was, I’ve always enjoyed tomato soup and really wanted to try out today’s offering of Tomato and Thyme with balsamic braised shallots. Well let me tell you, this soup was thick and rich, every bit as delicious to eat as its name was delicious sounding to type. Anybody who says airline food is inferior to restaurant fare hasn’t had a bowl of this soup. Just excellent!




Tomato and Thyme Soup
With balsamic braised shallots


Tuna loin… I didn’t know fish had loins. Regardless, this appetizer as described in the menu sounded pretty good. As presented on the plate it was delicious. I particularly liked how the crunch and flavor of the edamame beans complimented the tuna. ^^




Herb-Coated Tuna Loin
Presented on a salad of edamame, green beans and roasted red peppers


Alright then! Now well and truly appetized, I was ready to check out that Mughlai Chicken and Zafrani Kofta. When I first read the description I was immediately intrigued. It’s always nice to check out local cuisine and – with few exceptions – I’ve generally always been pleasantly surprised. This dish was no exception. That is to say I really enjoyed both the flavor and the texture of this dish. It’s always nice when no extra seasoning is needed and this dish tasted just perfect as is. Well done, Emirates chefs and cabin crew.




Mughlai Chicken and Zafrani Kofta
Chicken in creamy gravy, served with basmati rice with green peas and paneer dumplings in saffron sauce


By the way, a glass of the Moone-Tsai Charles Heintz Chardonnay proved to be a superb accompaniment to both the tuna and the chicken. A subsequent search of internet wine dealers revealed that this wine retails for about $80.00 USD per bottle – a bit more than I generally like to pay for a bottle of Chardonnay. As such, I was that much more thankful for the opportunity to enjoy its elegance free of charge. Had I known it was so pricey, I would have asked for a refill!


* * * _ _ * * *


Well as they say – all good things must come to an end. Local time was approaching 12:30pm. Out my window the sun shone brightly, and as we made our descent into the San Francisco Bay Area the sun glittered nicely off the dark blue Pacific below and beyond. It’s hard to believe that just five days ago at this time I was inflight between Anchorage and Seattle, on my way to Vancouver and the first of my sextet of luxurious First Class flights. That was 32000 miles ago and if you’ll recall, I started this trip out having flown 4,972,360 miles. That means I broke through the five million miles flown mark about eight hours ago, somewhere over the Polar Regions.

As such, please allow me to present myself as the newest member of the Five Million Miler Club.




Five Million Mile Fireworks Celebration


EPILOGUE

After a flight of fifteen hours and two minutes, our big bird alit softly at San Francisco International Airport. It was a gorgeous winter afternoon and had I had more time, I would love to have taken a room at the Mark Hopkins or some other fine San Francisco establishment and continued a celebration of my accomplishment in style.

As it were however, I had promised my neighbor a ride to the airport tomorrow night. In exchange she not only got up early to drive me out to the airport at 7:30am five days ago, she’ll also be there to meet my flight when I land in Fairbanks at 10:30pm tonight.

Besides, it’ll be good to get back to Alaska and spend a little time at home. I love my cabin in the woods and I also love winter in Alaska. I haven’t been here much of late. The week before leaving on this trip, I’d flown down to Colorado to enjoy the Denver Broncos victory in Super Bowl 50 amidst a partisan crowd. While on that trip I also undertook a tasty tour of local brew pubs at Oskar Blues just down the road in Longmont and the Rock Bottom Brewery at I-25 and US 34. Next week I’ll be out in Raleigh, North Carolina for a day and then it’s off to San Francisco for an airline collectibles convention out at SFO.

So again, I look forward to a bit of down time in Alaska. Wouldn’t you if you lived here?




On the road to Ester, Alaska



My Humble Abode



Cabin livin’ at its finest



Where great trip reports get written


To those of you who read this report in its entirety or simply skimmed briefly through a few pictures, thank you for stopping by! Given the substantial investment in time required to actually read one of my reports from start to finish, I’m doubly thankful to those of you who did just that. Thank you again!

My next big trip is in about ten days but with the exception of flights on my 179th and 180th airlines – including my first flight aboard a Sukhoi Superjet 100 – I’ll just be riding over rails I’ve already reported upon and flying in First Class aboard boring U.S. airlines. That won’t be worthy of a trip report but I do expect it will be a lot of fun.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a plane to catch!