SIN Do 2011
 

UA 861 BOS IAD 1921 2100 320 3D Ch9:td::td:td: Empower^
was CO3275 BOS EWR 1220 1349 Q40 2A
and 3262 EWR IAD 1540 1710 Q40 2A

There was supposed to be this snow, so I rescheduled my
one-stop for the UA nonstop, sacrificing 500 eqm for a
first-class seat and avoiding Newark in a snowstorm. It
turns out that my original flight was cancelled, and I'd
have gotten in really really late.

The pilot announced that Ch9 would be on, and our call sign
would be United 861C ... but though other channels were on,
9 gave only dead air. I told the FA, but nothing happened.
The FA was otherwise perfectly fine. Pop Chips, otherwise
fairly worthy things, don't go with Courvoisier. Toblerones,
however, do. A somewhat bumpy approach followed by a very
smooth landing.

I'd booked a great rate at the Sheraton Dulles Herndon,
which I began to regret as every possible hotel shuttle but
that one went by. The near half-hour wait seemed even longer
owing to the biting wind and subfreezing temperatures.
Eventually the guy came by after all the people I'd started
out waiting with had been picked up. I started to drag my
bag into the passenger compartment, but the driver, perhaps
afraid for his tip (which he would have gotten in any case),
stopped me, saying that there would be others aboard. Which
turned out to be one (1) rather cute UX pilot in from YUL
and her one (1) bag.

Got the biggest room in the joint, which was good. Went
downstairs to the bar for a burger and beer, and, guess
what, nobody there. I poked my nose into the kitchen and
saw a couple guys hanging around not paying much attention.
I guess I could have summoned them, but they didn't appear
to be up to the taxing job of cooking a burger, so I went
upstairs, kiped an Orange Crush from the self-serve cooler
in the so-called club lounge (the elevator lobby, with this
cooler, an espresso machine, and some chairs), and toddled
on to bed, which was superbly comfy. Ah, yeah, unfortunately
I left my glasses on in the shower and saw some signs of
previous human habitation that hadn't been fully housekept.

Wi-fi in the lounge turned out to be the same paid Lodgenet
available throughout the hotel. Later I discovered that the
password for the lobby free wireless worked upstairs as
well, though the duty manager (and weekend handyman and
driver) said that it would have been comped anyhow.

UA 319 IAD LAX 0900 1155 763 21J Ch9^
was UA 170 IAD LAX 0819 1104 752 2A next day

I'd originally planned to meet lili in Seattle, but a
schedule change scotched that, so I leaned mildly on the 1K
desk and got recoordinated with her, this time meeting in
LAX. More snow was predicted, so I called to go out early,
prompted by west coast friends who are less trusting than I
about precipitation and cold and such.

The 1K desk wouldn't do anything, as the waiver hadn't been
issued yet. I offered to buy a ticket to replace the first
leg, but the drone said she couldn't do that. Ah, well -
back in the olden days they would have rebooked me on my
say-so alone, but these ain't the olden days. The waiver
came through a few hours later, though, and I was rebooked
expeditiously, trading an F seat on a plane that might not
go (I thought it would) for an exit seat on a sure thing.

I'd priced hotels and found a lovely deal at the Four
Points. But by the time I got round to booking it, it was
50 bucks more. I booked anyway.

SuperShuttle came 10 min late. I'd asked for a particularly
early pickup so as to be able to stand by for 170, but F
was zeroed out, so the heck with that.

The RCC was pretty hopping at 7 in the morning. I had poor
man's sangria - half rough red and half OJ. Improved both.
In fact, the wine acquired some interest and complexity once
its sweet edge had been taken off by the OJ.

My first ever sighting of the Choice Menu. Seems not too bad
though a bit pricy. I had a Courvoisier (using coupon) and
kicked back for a snooze, which was fitful as the quite
elderly exit door leaked lots of cold air from the bottom.
Lots of legroom, though - more than in F.

There was Airphone on this flight: $10 setup and $10/min
plus taxes applicable fees. Such a deal.

My seatmate had tried to use an expiring SWU to upgrade this
flight - as did one of the guys in the other exit row. We
were 3-4-5 on the list. Irrops are a bear.

Stopped in the RCC for a glass of rough red and a look at
the sign-in sheet, which is new, with only about a half
dozen names. The old sheet has been flipped over and is not
gone yet.

Four Points LAX is a little on the antiquated side, but it's
not awful, and it's really quite close to the airport.

At checkin I discovered that the disadvantageous rate I'd
booked came with dinner for two (actually, just two main
courses, no appetizers or alcohol). So no In'n'Out.

I got a good but somehow nonrectilinear room, so the beds
(I got two, just in case I encountered a stranded FTer)
looked oddly nonparallel; the bathroom was big and
wheelchair-accessible. Oddity: one of the mercury switches
made a loud sparky noise (no visible spark, but my eyesight
isn't so terrific), so I asked maintenance to come look -
turns out the spring is too strong, or something, no spark,
but enough to startle one in the middle of the night.

The bathroom: a much bigger version of a hospital bathroom.
The shower went from too hot to too cold and vice versa in
0.01 seconds.

The snow and timing being as they were, neither skye1 nor
Alysia would be in time to help me with dinner, so with the
input of a waiter I got smaller portions of two dinners for
myself alone. I'm glad, in the last analysis, that I was
alone.

What was billed as linguini with clams in a light butter
sauce was hotel food at its most spectacular. The kitchen
managed to take chopped sea clams out of a bucket and turn
them into not rubber bands but worse, rubber erasers. The
butter sauce was a milk sauce that tasted of margarine, as
did the very lightly if at all garlicked garlic toast that
came with. At least the pasta itself was nicely al dente.

A glass of the Sheraton Four Points LAX Sparkling Wine was
sort of semi-dry, peachy, and not too bad: I wonder if it
had come from Costco. Probably the best part of the meal.

A NY sirloin with garlic mash and seasonal vegetables might
have been cooked from frozen. I ordered it rare, and it came
somewhat seared and totally raw but juiceless inside. Not
such a big deal, because I like raw beef; but raw tasteless
unjuicy beef is not one of the wonders of the world. And
remind me not to travel in the winter, when the seasonal
vegetable is yellow summer squash. The mash had a strange
chemically note. Oh, yes, the beef came smothered in a thick
brown slightly-wine-tasting substance, a blob of onions and
mushrooms, and a melted pat of garlic buttery - all trying
to camouflage the fattiness of the cut of meat. Which wasn't
a problem with me, as I enjoy fatty meat.

Peter Lehmann Cabernet had a peppery edge and was not
uninteresting, but it's been sweetened up I guess for the
US market, and as I mused, he would be rolling over in his
grave, except he's not dead. Note to Peter: don't taste
this, or you'll die.

When the waiter returned with the bill he congratulated
himself on steering me to smaller portions. I gave him
12% on what the meal would have cost retail. If he had
steered me away altogether I might have tipped him more.

Sad fact. Local kids apparently come in here for dates.
There were a few couples of such this evening. And it's not
that the liquor enforcement is weak, the underage table next
to me got Cokes and stuff.

I returned to my room to find a welcome amenity - a plate of
really sour and mooshy grapes and big cookies such as you
might encounter in the supermarket waiting to attack you: I
ate the former and saved the latter for breakfast. It is
4 something am as I type, and the white chocolate macadamia
one is way sweet but not bad.

Turns out my original flight went out fine - just a bit over
an inch of snow at Dulles over two days. I hope some Premier
was happy in my row 2 seat.

Icing on the cake: the wireless here is spotty and slow.

Verdict: the spirit is willing but the product is weak.

Any report that has a Futurama quote is aces in my book, keep it coming ^

As lili was coming in early from the commuter terminal, I
decided to surprise her by meeting her at the gate. So I
took the shuttle at 0630, imagining fondly that I was
allowing plenty of time to get to the airport and through
security. The shuttle driver dropped me at Premier security,
and I thought why not. Mistake. It was a total zoo, and I
should have followed one of my instincts - either terminal 6
or the bridge security at 7.5. Instead, I stayed put and
endured first the premier lane security guy calling forward
not only people from the right plebs lane as well as the
premier lane and the F/GS lane, but also from the left lane
as well, so that our premier lane was in fact the slowest,
there being another podium just for the two economy lines.
And as soon as I got past him, there was this commotion, and
it turns out they chose this time to do a security breach
drill. Running this gauntlet took well over half an hour,
and that with saying ok to the Rapescan.

I managed to get to the corridor between piers, noting
the absence of virtually anyone at the bridge security;
after kicking myself for a second or two, I went down
to 8, where I found lili trundling her disobedient
little bag toward the RCC.

It was way too early to drink, so we chatted in a breakfasty
way until it was deemed seemly to take a snortful of Beam
for me and vin rouge ordinaire (Bogle) for her. Chatted with
our favorite bartender for a while, then went wandering -
it appears that there is an underground walkway that goes to
the AA terminal, but it's closed to the public. We strolled
around the DL terminal, where there's nothing to see, but we
were reminiscing about flights from decades ago, then back
to the RCC for a bit, and then it was time to go.

UA 891 LAX NRT 1145 1635 777 13AB Ch9 dead air
was UA 201 IAD SEA 0819 1103 320 2A
and UA 875 SEA NRT 1255 1615 777 9AB

A perfectly fine flight I suppose. Alysia was in row 12;
we in 13, whose advantage appears to be slight if any.
restlessinRNO was up in the minicabin and bschaff1 in
the front, I think. We were pretty quiet, alcohol and
sleep providing most of the entertainment.

IAD/LAX/ORD/SEA-NRT;SFO-KIX (LD83-S89-L87) 260C012-3

beginnings
center cut smoked salmon loin - over a bed of fresh
cucumber relish
seasonal mixed greens, Lite French or Roasted Garlic
Red Wine Vinaigrette; if you have chosen the Washoku Zen
meal, the appetizer selection is served as the starter.
The salmon was the same thing you've known for years;
the cucumbers were lightly marinated in the Asian style,
not bad at all.

main course
braised beef short ribs with roasted shallot sauce;
oven-roasted fingerling potatoes and grilled asparagus
herbed boursin rotisserie chicken with pomegranate-lime
glaze; bulgar wheat pilaf with cranberries and pecans,
stir-fried sugar snap peas and carrots
Washoku Zen selection - appetizers of layered egg,
grilled scallop, lime-flavored beef tenderloin, shrimp
with vegetable sushi rice, poached tuna with karashi miso,
steamed leeks, buckwheat soba noodles with wakame seaweed;
a main course of barbecue eel with teriyaki sauce, kimpira,
sauteed Japanese peppers, carrot flower and ginkgo nut
served with steamed rice and Japanese pickled vegetables;
served with green tea. Items in this meal may contain MSG.
The short ribs were dry and inappetizing. Their sauce
resembled a thickened Lipton soup pot roast liquid.

to finish
artisan cheese selection served with red grapes and
crackers - Sartori Bellavitano, Montchevre sun-dried tomato
and basil chevre
ice cream
I passed.

midflight snack
Mediterranean veggie hummus sandwich with fresh
avocado, red onion, cucumber and cream cheese on toasted
multi-grain bread
savory Boar's Head Ovengold skinless turkey breast
sandwich with Swiss cheese and stone-ground mustard
on sourdough bread
all natural Popchips, Emerald natural walnuts and almonds,
Toblerone chocolate bar, bananas
hot noodles are available upon request
I passed.

prior to arrival
stir-fried chicken and vegetables with egg noodles
fresh seasonal fruit plate with creamy yogurt
I passed, looking forward to finer things in the
NH lounge later.

champagne
Pommery Brut Royal nv Champagne
Not a bad tipple, and I got used to it by the time this
trip was over,

white wine
Burgans Albarino 2009 Rias Baixas, Spain

Errazuriz Chardonnay 2008 Casablanca, Chile
or
Buena Vista Chardonnay 2007 Russian River Valley, California

red wine
Cave La Suzienne Racines Profondes 2007 AOC Cotes-du-Rhone
or
Cave de Tain Crozes Hermitage
The Crozes was surprisingly tasty though not distinctive
in any way.

Pedroncelli Three Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Dry Creek Valley or
Yalumba Y series Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Australia

sake
Gekkeikan sake is available on flights to and from Japan

beverages
Aperitifs, cocktails, spirits, liqueurs, and beer

Sandeman Founders Reserve Porto or Fonseca Guimaraens
LBV Port will be offered during the main meal's dessert.

Starbucks coffee will be available throughout the flight.

We landed early enough that it seemed worthwhile to go to
loungehopping, but the bugaboo of taxiing forever to the
gate made it a one-stop-if-any situation. So on deplaning
Alysia, lili, and I hightailed it speedily to the alternate
security checkpoint, where a large contingent of Taiwanese
Buddhist monks had congregated. Still, the wait was just a
few minutes, and soon we were at the NH lounge, where I
showed lili the amazing beer machine and the sake bar, and
we had a not-so-nourishing meal of vegetable sushi and
chocolate. restlessinRNO joined us after a few minutes,
presumably having braved the regular security line.

You forgot to write about the entertainment that my lovely seatmate provided: loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore...loud snore

:-)

That was really funny - we could hear him over the
plane noise a row back.

We chugged off eventually almost all the way to the RCC
to board our plane.

UA 875 NRT SIN 1750 0020 777 9AB Ch9^

This was the party flight, but aside from a few galleyside
chats, it was pretty uneventful. We're getting old, bschaff1
the instigator of partytime, was hiding out in the front
cabin, and we all wanted to be fresh for the airport event
in the morning. Roll call:
Alysia
bschaff1
dbodner
gfowler-ord-1k
lili
restlessinRNO
Ted
violist
two more FTers names unknown

NRT-SIN (LD83) 26C003-1

beginnings
seasonal mixed greens, French vinaigrette

main course
Trader Vic's sweet and sour braised short ribs,
roasted 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
sea bass wakasa yaki with gin-an, hanagata rice with
white sesame seeds, simmered enoki mushroom and mizuna, baby
asparagus and carrots
The short ribs were moist and appetizing, the sauce sweet
but not out of line. Maybe the benevolent ghost of Trader
Vic was hovering over us.

to finish
Eli's cherry frangipane tart with creme anglaise and
pistachio
I passed.

The wines were the same as on the previous flight.

We landed a bit early.

My room at the Ambassador Transit Hotel T3 was perfectly
okay, perfect for a few hours' shuteye. OK, it's SGD11 an
hour, same as the Conrad, but you can buy in increments of
as little as 6 hours, and the beds are comfy enough.

Had brekkers with lili before the airport tour. I showed
her the 24-hour food court in the upstairs of T2, and she
had a pastry and coffee at Satori: for me Rong Chen beckoned
with its pig knuckle soup; but it was out, so as usual my
fallback was the pork liver soup - the signature peppery bak
kut teh broth with noodles, a couple ounces of liver, and
some unidentified floating things; this time I splurged for
the extras, you tiao, boiled peanuts, and salted greens
cooked in lard. A nice start to the day.

We met at Starbucks at 0930 for the Changi event. eightblack
was already hard at work trying to get the security
clearance for the eight latecomers, which he got, finally,
after much emphatic conversation into his mobile.

A smartly-uniformed representative of the airport met us
with her earnest young sidekick to shepherd us through the
airport: we started with a presentation from the airport
authority - if you ever wanted to know where SIN stands in
rank in passenger movements or cargo tonnage, you could
find out here. Then in through an employee checkpoint to the
secure area, in which we revisited the facilities that
draw us here again and again, in contrast to lesser transit
experiences. Some of us are delighted every time we visit,
some apparently less so. My pleasure was hardly diminished
by having done a similar jaunt on my own the night before.

One thing I hadn't seen before was the tallest airport slide
in the world, something like that, which we were given the
opportunity to ride. Several of us took it and enjoyed the
experience. Daunted by the prospect of finding my way back
up several flights without my glasses, I declined.