SIN DO '09
Feb 8, 2009 | 12:44 pm
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: AVL
Programs: AA EXP, UA LT Plat, Mar LTT
Posts: 18,147
Or perhaps just required reading for any SIN DO newbies??? 
Feb 10, 2009 | 5:32 pm
#32
Original Poster
In memoriam
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: IAD, BOS, PVD
Programs: UA, US, AS, Marriott, Radisson, Hilton
Posts: 7,203
dessert
International cheese selection; Colby Jack, Camembert
Eli's cherry frangipane tart
A dense almond white cake with cherry jam baked on top.
Okay.
prior to arrival
Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese on waffle
Fresh seasonal fruit plate with creamy yogurt
I passed. My seatmate's egg thing looked nasty. Owing to
catering cutback or booboo, there was no salt or pepper on
the trays, which perturbed him.
Today's menu features beef from Australia
1/09
NRT-LAX/SEA/SFO (LD83-B87)
261C002-1
[wines as above]
I slept long if a bit fitfully, as the sound of the vacuum
toilet interrupted me every thirty seconds or minute. When
I woke I found us traveling in formation with a beautiful
JAL 747 and that we'd essentially beelined it across, none
of this great circle stuff. The 47 eventually got tired of
waiting up and ran off, leaving us to poke on to SFO alone.
My seatmate told our favorite of the several quite attentive
FAs that he'd like a comment form; she said they didn't give
them out any more but that he could go on the Website and
offer feedback there. I ended up giving him a GTEM to use
under his signature and gave the crew a little bag of Sweet
Sloops as my contribution. These were pronounced delicious.
We landed pretty much on time; entry was a snap (the agent,
either knowing my type or seeing something in my record,
asked but one question: are you bringing anything edible
in?, to which the reply was, "sorry, no"); what was not a
snap was reentry security at the priority line, where as
usual everyone and his grandma was lined up - it looked
longer than the regular line, but I wasn't in the mood to
trek back there. Still, the wait was only 15 or so, and I
had an hour and half in the extremely crowded RCC.
==
UA 176 SFO BOS 1133 2008 752 2D Ch9^ Empower
Got to the gate just at the end of red carpet boarding;
watched some 1P get turned away; he sheepishly went back
to the back of the regular line.
I arrived to find 1A and 2C the only empty seats besides
mine. I figured they'd be filled, as the boarding area,
zoolike, bespoke a crowded flight. They were, but not for
a while. Meantime, I saw the captain talk to the guy in
1B, a big biker-looking fellow; I figured he must be
some famous country singer or something; maybe he was; but
the captain ended up going down the aisle and chatting with
each flier in the cabin: I can't think of the last time this
happened (experienced it but a handful of times over the
years). His name was announced later over the PA as
something like "John Gorsich."
The flight was a bit of a lovefest, the rather matronly
matrons being matronly in a matronly way. It's different
from SQ, say, as here the FAs treat you as equals, which I
believe is the right way, or perhaps as their kids, which
is almost the right way.
As with all the flights, predeparture drinks. We took off
on time.
My seat kept reclining itself, which was annoying.
Warm nuts with seconds; hot towels.
The meal choice was a steak salad or a chicken, bacon, and
cheese "club" sandwich, both with cream of asparagus soup.
I said I didn't care, surprise me, to which the FA replied,
that's a good choice, both are delicious. At lunchtime, I
was wakened and greeted with a rather enthusiastic "You'll
like this, it's yum." And so it was, given the setting.
The soup was at least as good as Campbell's, which is
actually pretty good. The bread roll could have been from
the basket of a real restaurant. The main course: about 4-5
oz of medium-well but still juicy rump, warm, atop a cold
salad with roast red peppers, white asparagus, roasted corn,
Parmesan shavings, and black beans, Caesar dressing on the
side - a pretty satisfying lunch.
Canyon Road Cab 07 was purply young, bouquet-free, and just
a sort of inky red experience but enough to put me to sleep
and make me dream of the soft, lovely history professor who
won't give me the time of day.
As usual, the scent of baking chocolate chip cookies roused
me, and I had mine with a Courvoisier.
The captain had different standards for turbulence than
most, and the seatbelt sign didn't go on until just before
"flight attendants, please take your seats," which happened
I think twice.
We landed right on time ... and waited half an hour for
them to get the jetway to move. Apparently it was frozen
in place or something. I asked the purser why we couldn't
just re-push back and go to some other gate. She said she
had wondered the same thing.
International cheese selection; Colby Jack, Camembert
Eli's cherry frangipane tart
A dense almond white cake with cherry jam baked on top.
Okay.
prior to arrival
Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese on waffle
Fresh seasonal fruit plate with creamy yogurt
I passed. My seatmate's egg thing looked nasty. Owing to
catering cutback or booboo, there was no salt or pepper on
the trays, which perturbed him.
Today's menu features beef from Australia
1/09
NRT-LAX/SEA/SFO (LD83-B87)
261C002-1
[wines as above]
I slept long if a bit fitfully, as the sound of the vacuum
toilet interrupted me every thirty seconds or minute. When
I woke I found us traveling in formation with a beautiful
JAL 747 and that we'd essentially beelined it across, none
of this great circle stuff. The 47 eventually got tired of
waiting up and ran off, leaving us to poke on to SFO alone.
My seatmate told our favorite of the several quite attentive
FAs that he'd like a comment form; she said they didn't give
them out any more but that he could go on the Website and
offer feedback there. I ended up giving him a GTEM to use
under his signature and gave the crew a little bag of Sweet
Sloops as my contribution. These were pronounced delicious.
We landed pretty much on time; entry was a snap (the agent,
either knowing my type or seeing something in my record,
asked but one question: are you bringing anything edible
in?, to which the reply was, "sorry, no"); what was not a
snap was reentry security at the priority line, where as
usual everyone and his grandma was lined up - it looked
longer than the regular line, but I wasn't in the mood to
trek back there. Still, the wait was only 15 or so, and I
had an hour and half in the extremely crowded RCC.
==
UA 176 SFO BOS 1133 2008 752 2D Ch9^ Empower
Got to the gate just at the end of red carpet boarding;
watched some 1P get turned away; he sheepishly went back
to the back of the regular line.
I arrived to find 1A and 2C the only empty seats besides
mine. I figured they'd be filled, as the boarding area,
zoolike, bespoke a crowded flight. They were, but not for
a while. Meantime, I saw the captain talk to the guy in
1B, a big biker-looking fellow; I figured he must be
some famous country singer or something; maybe he was; but
the captain ended up going down the aisle and chatting with
each flier in the cabin: I can't think of the last time this
happened (experienced it but a handful of times over the
years). His name was announced later over the PA as
something like "John Gorsich."
The flight was a bit of a lovefest, the rather matronly
matrons being matronly in a matronly way. It's different
from SQ, say, as here the FAs treat you as equals, which I
believe is the right way, or perhaps as their kids, which
is almost the right way.
As with all the flights, predeparture drinks. We took off
on time.
My seat kept reclining itself, which was annoying.
Warm nuts with seconds; hot towels.
The meal choice was a steak salad or a chicken, bacon, and
cheese "club" sandwich, both with cream of asparagus soup.
I said I didn't care, surprise me, to which the FA replied,
that's a good choice, both are delicious. At lunchtime, I
was wakened and greeted with a rather enthusiastic "You'll
like this, it's yum." And so it was, given the setting.
The soup was at least as good as Campbell's, which is
actually pretty good. The bread roll could have been from
the basket of a real restaurant. The main course: about 4-5
oz of medium-well but still juicy rump, warm, atop a cold
salad with roast red peppers, white asparagus, roasted corn,
Parmesan shavings, and black beans, Caesar dressing on the
side - a pretty satisfying lunch.
Canyon Road Cab 07 was purply young, bouquet-free, and just
a sort of inky red experience but enough to put me to sleep
and make me dream of the soft, lovely history professor who
won't give me the time of day.
As usual, the scent of baking chocolate chip cookies roused
me, and I had mine with a Courvoisier.
The captain had different standards for turbulence than
most, and the seatbelt sign didn't go on until just before
"flight attendants, please take your seats," which happened
I think twice.
We landed right on time ... and waited half an hour for
them to get the jetway to move. Apparently it was frozen
in place or something. I asked the purser why we couldn't
just re-push back and go to some other gate. She said she
had wondered the same thing.
Feb 12, 2009 | 9:39 am
#33
Original Poster
In memoriam
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: IAD, BOS, PVD
Programs: UA, US, AS, Marriott, Radisson, Hilton
Posts: 7,203
-33-
Things I did when not with FlyerTalkers.
1. Worked doing editorial stuff on the computer. I find that
in the music biz gigs are getting fewer and farther between
and are paying relatively less and less: when I worked the
Disney jobs in the '80s, we were paid a vaguely adequate
amount, I forget, $500 a week or something; at that time I
ran into an old-timer who had done the same gig in the '50s
and talking to him discovered that he had been paid the same
amount in nominal dollars almost thirty years previous (when
that was a lot of money); and things have not gotten better
since then. Also, when I leave behind my musical colleagues
to go on a DO junket, I don't leave behind my revenue stream
but join a parallel one, which allows me to, like, survive.
This project in particular was kind of dull and not worth
reporting, except that when some folks asked where I was and
I dazedly said I was working on a book, they asked if it was
going to be about travel, music, or food. I had to burst the
bubble and point out that it was someone else's book.
2. Ate.
Tiong Bahru Market was less than a half mile from the hotel;
most convenient, and I will consider staying at the HI again
just for this reason. I tried various things, of which the
various iterations of roast pork were the most notable.
Original Tiong Bahru Golden Pig & Roasted had only a short
line, and I was hungry, so I got a couple hundred grams of
roasted bacon. This was extremely fatty but quite good,
there being a hint of some foreign spice in the salt coating
- it reminded me of, but must not have been, the caraway
that you sometimes get on a roast Schweinshaxe in Munich.
I imagine that the reason this place doesn't get so much
custom is because pork of this level of fatness is out of
favor (temporarily, I bet).
The tall skinny guy in front of Tiong Bahru Roasted Pig
Specialist is a bit of a hoot but a bit tiresome to watch
after one waits for a while and sees the same schtick
aimed at several customers. But this is a famous roast
pork, so I watched and waited. Got a standard set with a
side of char siu. Quite good pork, not so fatty as at the
other place, about 100 g, over rice with an excellent
sweetish gravy. On the side, your usual afterthought bok
choy and oyster sauce, this time topped with a generous
handful of fried onion. The char siu was average - a bit
too lean, I'd say.
I missed Lee Hong Kee, which is said by some to be the best
of the lot, because the line was really long, and I was kind
of full anyway.
I also missed the xiao long tang bao place in or near the
Tiong Bahru MRT by virtue of not finding it.
At some point I went to Zion Riverside Food Centre, one of
the oldest hawker centers in the city, for the famous fish
tofu. Unfortunately, the place didn't open until 12, so I
left empty-handed and nearly empty-stomached.
--mm
Raffles revelry
cat: booze
servings: 1
20 mL Cognac
15 mL Cointreau
15 mL banana liqueur
5 mL Galliano
30 mL orange juice
30 mL mango juice
10 mL lime concentrate
1 lime wedge, juice of
1 lemon slice mixed with a strawberry
top up with ginger ale
garnish: a slice of orange, a strawberry, and mint leaves
Combine first 8 ingredients. Muddle lemon slice and
strawberry; pour into highball glass. Top up with ginger
ale. Garnish with a slice of orange, a strawberry, and
mint leaves. Source: Raffles Hotel recipe card
M's note: owing to the banana liqueur and Galliano, this
tastes rather like Juicy Fruit gum.
---
-33-
1. Worked doing editorial stuff on the computer. I find that
in the music biz gigs are getting fewer and farther between
and are paying relatively less and less: when I worked the
Disney jobs in the '80s, we were paid a vaguely adequate
amount, I forget, $500 a week or something; at that time I
ran into an old-timer who had done the same gig in the '50s
and talking to him discovered that he had been paid the same
amount in nominal dollars almost thirty years previous (when
that was a lot of money); and things have not gotten better
since then. Also, when I leave behind my musical colleagues
to go on a DO junket, I don't leave behind my revenue stream
but join a parallel one, which allows me to, like, survive.
This project in particular was kind of dull and not worth
reporting, except that when some folks asked where I was and
I dazedly said I was working on a book, they asked if it was
going to be about travel, music, or food. I had to burst the
bubble and point out that it was someone else's book.
2. Ate.
Tiong Bahru Market was less than a half mile from the hotel;
most convenient, and I will consider staying at the HI again
just for this reason. I tried various things, of which the
various iterations of roast pork were the most notable.
Original Tiong Bahru Golden Pig & Roasted had only a short
line, and I was hungry, so I got a couple hundred grams of
roasted bacon. This was extremely fatty but quite good,
there being a hint of some foreign spice in the salt coating
- it reminded me of, but must not have been, the caraway
that you sometimes get on a roast Schweinshaxe in Munich.
I imagine that the reason this place doesn't get so much
custom is because pork of this level of fatness is out of
favor (temporarily, I bet).
The tall skinny guy in front of Tiong Bahru Roasted Pig
Specialist is a bit of a hoot but a bit tiresome to watch
after one waits for a while and sees the same schtick
aimed at several customers. But this is a famous roast
pork, so I watched and waited. Got a standard set with a
side of char siu. Quite good pork, not so fatty as at the
other place, about 100 g, over rice with an excellent
sweetish gravy. On the side, your usual afterthought bok
choy and oyster sauce, this time topped with a generous
handful of fried onion. The char siu was average - a bit
too lean, I'd say.
I missed Lee Hong Kee, which is said by some to be the best
of the lot, because the line was really long, and I was kind
of full anyway.
I also missed the xiao long tang bao place in or near the
Tiong Bahru MRT by virtue of not finding it.
At some point I went to Zion Riverside Food Centre, one of
the oldest hawker centers in the city, for the famous fish
tofu. Unfortunately, the place didn't open until 12, so I
left empty-handed and nearly empty-stomached.
--mm
Raffles revelry
cat: booze
servings: 1
20 mL Cognac
15 mL Cointreau
15 mL banana liqueur
5 mL Galliano
30 mL orange juice
30 mL mango juice
10 mL lime concentrate
1 lime wedge, juice of
1 lemon slice mixed with a strawberry
top up with ginger ale
garnish: a slice of orange, a strawberry, and mint leaves
Combine first 8 ingredients. Muddle lemon slice and
strawberry; pour into highball glass. Top up with ginger
ale. Garnish with a slice of orange, a strawberry, and
mint leaves. Source: Raffles Hotel recipe card
M's note: owing to the banana liqueur and Galliano, this
tastes rather like Juicy Fruit gum.
---
-33-
Feb 12, 2009 | 9:45 am
#34
Original Poster
In memoriam
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: IAD, BOS, PVD
Programs: UA, US, AS, Marriott, Radisson, Hilton
Posts: 7,203
Originally Posted by opushomes
I think that you may be confused.
Kishka = stuffed derma
vs.
Kasha = buckwheat groats
I find neither particularly starchy. Actually they are high in carb and fat content.
Kishka = stuffed derma
vs.
Kasha = buckwheat groats
I find neither particularly starchy. Actually they are high in carb and fat content.
like sausages but taste like fatty cracker crumbs, a bit of a disappointment;
buckwheat groats (which I lived on for a week in 1970) are just plain nasty.
Originally Posted by opushomes
Now more particularly to you taste might be Nieren Suppe from Rhine-Hessia
Or
Tete de veau: found in the restaurant on the main road across from the church in Mont Mort, Champagne not far from Reims. Be sure to have them pluck off the excess whiskers.
Or
Tete de veau: found in the restaurant on the main road across from the church in Mont Mort, Champagne not far from Reims. Be sure to have them pluck off the excess whiskers.
available: when properly prepared, they're just fine. Tete de veau I've had
but prefer en gelee. I still haven't gotten past looking my food in the eye.
Feb 13, 2009 | 11:36 am
#35
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: AA LT G (1MM);DL G, UA GM
Posts: 2,028
Nah, I find both particularly starchy. Thing about kishka is that they look
like sausages but taste like fatty cracker crumbs, a bit of a disappointment;
buckwheat groats (which I lived on for a week in 1970) are just plain nasty.
I've not tried Nieren Suppe, though I often order Nieren when they are
available: when properly prepared, they're just fine. Tete de veau I've had
but prefer en gelee. I still haven't gotten past looking my food in the eye.
like sausages but taste like fatty cracker crumbs, a bit of a disappointment;
buckwheat groats (which I lived on for a week in 1970) are just plain nasty.
I've not tried Nieren Suppe, though I often order Nieren when they are
available: when properly prepared, they're just fine. Tete de veau I've had
but prefer en gelee. I still haven't gotten past looking my food in the eye.
The DO sounds fabulous. I think I gained two pounds just reading the trip report!
