Text 20303, 133 rader
Skriven 2009-02-01 08:02:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 156
================
We landed a bit early, but that extra time was chewed up by
the huge line at transit security, where United's feeble
attempt to make life easy by putting up a premium line was
thwarted by there being nobody to police this line, so it
ended up being if anything slower than the other line.

Had an hour at the All Nippon lounge, which was its usual
excellent self. Dave2 and Glen excused themselves for their
LAX flight, and we went to the sake bar:

Shochu kaeda is a distilled sweet potato liqueur that tasted
for all the world like cheap moonshine - raw nuts on the
nose, fire on the palate, an odd starchy aftertaste. Dave
didn't like it; I thought it was okay.

Chomeisen ginjo karakuchi was pretty much what you expect,
pleasantly fruity, slightly sweet.

There was a third, which had no alphabetic identification -
flavors of melon and citrus, fairly nice but not as good as
that second.

After a few kanpais it was time to say goodbye to the rest
of them, and off to the gate, where my boarding pass was
rejected by the reader!

UA 838 NRT SFO 1710 0915 777 11A was 9J

The good news: this was an XP, and 9J has infinite legroom.
The bad news: it was being used for crew rest.

Back in the olden days, when I was young and handsome or
something like that, this would have signified 1A for sure,
but it was not to be. The boarding pass that came out said
11A; I sort of rolled my eyes but went on board; complained
to one of the FAs on embarking.

The guy in 11B with the canonic dark pants and blue-striped
shirt asked me to change seats to accommodate his friend; I
told him that UA had moved me around enough already, and I was
staying put, thank you very much; turns out he wasn't ground
staff at all but just some fellow with defective taste; I
enlightened him on how not to dress like a United person and
said that his friend would no doubt have good luck switching
seats, and so it was. My new seatmate was unbelievably polite
and kind; we had a pleasant chat, and it turns out we knew
people in common, as he got his master's the same year as I
had my A.B., from the same institution.

The duty manager came on board and knelt before me; he was
comically insincere, fluttering his eyelids and doing his
best to resemble a condemned criminal begging for his neck
before the mediaeval warlord, in a way that I have seen
before only in movies. I accepted his apology, laughing
inside at the silliness. No 1A for me! Later, a FA tried to
explain, saying something about how in this configuration
the former crew rest area was used for something else, and
so they had to take row 9 away from the customers. Whatever.

The FAs were perfectly nice, though not in their first
youth, which didn't bother me, as I'm not either.

Warm nuts with seconds; hot towels.

to begin

Smoked salmon rose, sweet sesame pork; vegetable sushi and
pickled ginger

I got a salmon rose, which was good, but something else
unidentifiable instead of the other things. Unmemorable.

Fresh seasonal greens; blue cheese or sesame vinaigrette

Okay.

main course

Pan-seared filet mignon with balsamic onion demi-glace;
baked stuffed potato with chives and asparagus

Key lime and honey chicken breast with mango lime sauce;
jambalaya rice and green beans with macadamia nuts

Washoku zen selection; appetizers of snapper sushi, simmered
shrimp, lightly salted flounder wrapped in seaweed, chicken
in cod egg roll, baby bamboo with dried fish flakes, beef
sirloin with Japanese dressing, maitake mushroom and cha-
soba noodles topped with simmered shimeji mushroom; a main
course of salmon topped with chestnut paste and grilled
eringi mushroom, chestnut, green beans and carrot flower;
served with steamed rice and Japanese pickled vegetables;
served with green tea. Itens in this meal may contain
traces of MSG. When making reservations on future flights
to and from Japan, you may secure the Japanese meal by
pre-ordering

I told the FA taking orders that I didn't care what I got. 
Later, someone else asked me again to make sure I got my
first choice lunch, as I hadn't gotten my first choice seat.
I reiterated that I didn't care. I ended up with the beef,
which was tender if stewed in its sweet-and-sweet onion
sauce. Asparagus was surprisingly fine. I didn't like the
looks of the potato so didn't eat it.

Got to see the Washoku Zen meal next to me; it appeared to
be a mishmosh of small malodorous things followed by a piece
of a fish that had met its maker weeks, perhaps months
before, and then had been held at a high temperature for
many of the intervening days. Not what I'd expect of
catering out of Tokyo.

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.
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