NRT – SFO
UA 838
Well after being delayed for as long as I was, I was in the mode to get home. It’s been a long run so far and I am getting a little tired of being on a plane every day for the last 5 days. Well I store my case in the storage bin so it’s not down by my feet and settle into my seat, 2J again, and look over the menu for this flight. I’m drinking my Le Crui (sp??) which is my favorite and want to see what I’m going to be eating this leg. The menu is:
To begin:
Join us in a sampling of appetizers:
Hot crispy shrimp potsticker with a mild Thai chili sauce
Proscuitto ham and persimmon roll with sour cream, ricotta, blue cheese and walnuts
Maki sushi with yukan and inari
Pickled ginger and soy sauce.
Salad
Fresh seasonal greens, cherry tomatoes, yellow peppers and croutons
Hot crispy smoked bacon
Asian citrus or Roquefort dressing
Main Course:
Filet mignon with Hollandaise roasted tomato sauce
Orange herb-roasted breast of chicken with demi-glace
The above entrees include your choice of:
Cheddar cheese and potato pie, basmati rice with vegetables or steamed rice, green beans with red onions or carrot and zucchini sauté
Broiled sea bass in yuzu mirin broth with chasoba noodles and ginko nuts.
Honshimeji mushrroms, carrot batons, green beans and grilled negi onions.
Japanese Obento selection
An appetizer of sillago roll, salmon temari sushi, grilled eggplant with walnut paste, stir-fried lotus root and soba sushi
A main course of broiled salmon, shrimp, scallops and vegetables and shiitake mushrooms, conger eel tataki and steamed rice. Served with green tea.
Dessert:
International cheese selection
Coulommiers, Danish Blue and Gouda cheese
Haagen-Dazs ice cream with sundae toppings
Fresh seasonal fruit
Prior to arrival:
Spanish style eggs with ham, mushrooms and cheese.
Mornay sauce and fresh fruit appetizer
Or
Fresh seasonal fruit plate with creamy yogurt
Well this time I selected the salad, Orange herb roasted chicken, Ice cream sundae and the Spanish eggs. Off they went and we were finally ready for departure. I wanted to get this going because I still had a very tight connection to make and really didn’t want to spend another 3 hours in SFO. The only bad part of this was if I did make my connection, I would not be able to see what the showers were like in SFO. I will just have to wait and see what happens. A few minutes later we were taxiing to the runway and off we went, once again leaving after dark from NRT. I wouldn’t mind if I could see what this place looks like without being in the dark.
About 30 minutes after take off they start the beverage service. I can say for one thing around NRT the air is very bumpy and the plane is always bouncing around. It settles down after awhile and we can enjoy our drinks. I make sure my glass is not over half full because it spills if I have more inside. After the first beverage round, it’s time for them to serve dinner. The salad and chicken were very good and I thought it was a good choice. After having the beef twice, I really wanted to see what else they had to offer and see how it tasted. I was not disappointed. After dinner, the best part came out, the sundae. I don’t know how they can keep the ice cream so hard! It takes a while to eat because of this but I enjoy it just that much more. They come around and ask if we want an after dinner drink and I just want some water. They also bring around the movies this time for the video player. I select my movie choice and get settled in. I’m watching a movie already that was on the movie selection and will watch this one after I’m finished. I can say the movies on all the flights are good and enjoyed them. I will have new movies to look at since I will be going back in December. I’m glad for that because I don’t like having to watch the same movies over and over again. After finishing the first movie, I put in the PVM movie and start to watch it. Well about 5 minutes into the movie it doesn’t work anymore. I can hear the sound but there is no picture, just a bunch of lines. I try to see if it’s the player or movie and I decide it must be the movie. I try to get another one and they didn’t have one. Since there were no further movies I wanted to see, I decided to try and get some sleep. I was tired so it should not be too hard to fall asleep. Once again I get all the things I need to sleep and get settled in. They have one small pillow, one large pillow and a good blanket. I’m not sure what the small one is for. It is so small it doesn’t do me any good. I use the large one and get ready for a good nights sleep. We are traveling during the night so it’s not too hard to sleep. Besides, with the shades down, it is dark in the front also. Most of the cabin is getting ready or are already asleep because I can hear the people around me snoring. I put on my eye shade and ear plugs. I lay the seat down flat and the next thing I know, I’m off to sleep.
I wake up after about 4 hours of sleep. I can’t believe I’ve slept this long because I’ve never been able to do this before. It must be the seat or should I say bed. I feel rested but not completely. I know I will be tired tonight and I’m glad I didn’t sleep too long because that would have effected what I would do tonight. I get out the paper and start to read. It seems I got up just in time. A little while later, they were getting ready for the pre arrival meal. I got the eggs and wasn’t very hungry but I wanted to see how they tasted. They were not that bad but I would think they would have a little bit more flavor. I ate a little bit of the eggs and finished the fruit. Had a cup of coffee and started getting ready for us to land in SFO. I looked at my watch and saw we were making good time. It looked like we would still land around 1:00pm and my next flight was leaving at 2:17pm. I decided oh well I might have to miss that flight and get on the next. I didn’t want to but I just didn’t see how I would make it through passport control, get my bags (I just knew they wouldn’t come out as fast as they did in SIN) go through customs, recheck my bags, go down and go through security for the domestic side and then make it to the gate for the flight. I would try but I wouldn’t be too upset if I didn’t make it.
We landed at 1:00pm and got to the gate around 1:10pm. This was going to be close and I decided I would try. One good thing was I was in First and they allowed us to get out fast. There were a couple of other people who were also in the same problem as I was. So once the door was opened, we were off to the races. I got to the passport control in about 5 minutes and I was the first one in line to have my passport checked. It only took about 5 minutes more to do this and I was off to the baggage area. I knew this was going to be the one part that would cost me the most time. Sure enough, I waited and waited for my bags to come out. I saw some priority tags and mostly missed bags with no tags at all. I really wish they would understand what is meant by PRIORITY! Well about 15 minutes or so later, I finally see my bag come out. I grab it and see I have 30 minutes before my flight. I go right through the customs area since I didn’t have anything to declare and I’m off to find the place to drop off my bag. I really don’t care if it makes it and just want to get to the gate. I turn in my bag and off to the security area. I’m hoping for the one to be open on this side of the terminal but I come up and find it’s not open. Now I know I’m going to cut it close because I have to go down and see which line is better, the non-status or the 1k line for security. I decide the non-status line is too long and get over to the 1k line. Not too bad so I get in line and hope for the best. I can always hope the gate is on this side of the terminal. I go through security with no problems and look at the board for the gate. Sure enough it is just off to my right. It’s looking good for me as I head over to the gate. Sure enough just as I get there they are calling for first class to board. This is great!!! I think this is the fastest anyone has ever cleared customs from an International flight and made it to the domestic side. I’m happy but sweating from the rush to the plane. I sit down in 2A and get ready for my next short flight. Boy I sure feel good now. A little over an hour and I will be in my home airport.
Last flight of the first trip is coming soon.
