Text 1843, 88 rader
Skriven 2008-02-04 13:30:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: more trip 800
=====================
Thanks to Mark (a former college football player) blocking
for me, I was 2nd out of the plane and 1st at the transfer
security (this took 30 seconds start to finish, pretty
amazing), so I had time for a shower and snacks at the Club.
The shower rooms are pretty nice if spare, but the amenities
leave a lot to be desired - big bottles labeled "shower gel"
and "shampoo," conveniently placed by the sink, not the
shower. I couldn't get the wi-fi to work. The buffet dishes
this day were e-fu noodles with ground meat and peas sauce
(actually not bad) and bowtie noodles with what the label
called bolognaise sauce but which I think was marinara.
The dim sum machine had the usual (fresh-cooked roast pork
puffs, yum) with the addition of something new and
especially nasty, a ground shrimp and cheese Danish that
might have been one of the most mephitic, nasty things I
ever put in my mouth - I think I got sick from it.

UA 895 HKG SIN 2040 0020 744 15H Ch9 dead air Empower Y

An exemplary cabin crew, what seems to have been an older
aircraft. The side bins were of an older style than on
the other plane, but not so old as the ones I remember
from the early 747s, which looked as though they had been
made in high school shop class.

to begin
Fresh seasonal greens - cucumber, tomatoes and roasted
sunflower seeds; French dressing

main course
Hunan-style chicken with Chin-kiang vinegar sauce; stir-
fried Chinese noodles and sauteed broccoli

Grilled cod with lemon dill butter sauce; Basmati rice with
vegetables, sauteed spinach with enoki mushrooms

dessert
Apricot cheesecake with apricot coulis

quick and lite meal
In lieu of our formal meal presentation,
we offer a complete service for the lighter appetite.

Fresh seasonal fruit

Warm crispy bacon, apple and celery wrap served with
horseradish sauce

Apricot cheesecake with apricot coulis

[Wines same as on the previous flight.]

The salad was okay, but the sunflower seeds were raw and
stale.

The chicken was quite tasty - the ketchup-tinged red sauce
full of garlic and a surprising hit of hot pepper (I found a
bird pepper in my portion), and its accompanying broccoli
perfectly cooked. Unfortunately, the e-fu noodles, quite
nice in themselves, were covered with a brown sauce that
tasted like 80% sugar and 20% vinegar.

Taurus was a decent wine, tannic and big with blackberry
and other dark flavors. Good long finish.

I passed on dessert and had a glass of Port instead.

After some sizable jolts on the descent, we landed a few
minutes early, but as the line was long at T1 Immigration,
I fooled around on the free terminals until the line
seemed manageable.

Then I got in the shortest line, which of course immediately
ground to a halt. Reason: a chubby 40-ish Chinese guy was in
the process of being denied entry. The officer kept looking
at his passport; finally summoned a supervisor, who kicked
the unfortunate out of the line but instead of having him
detained (I've seen this before, and it's heartrending)
shunted him over to the side, where he spent the rest of my
time there shouting into a cell phone. For me, the process
took just long enough for an empty stamp spot to be found
(there was one on p. 18); I immediately resolved to have
pages added at the next opportunity.


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