Text 4976, 90 rader
Skriven 2008-04-05 05:03:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 101
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We ordered a full meal:

Diana's special meat pie was if anything better than other
iterations - fresher-tasting, less greasy, and less salty.
The pastry was crisp and light, the meat filling spicy but
not loaded with bean paste the way it was at the place on
Natoma or with salt the way it was on Sansome.

Kung pao chicken lacked the cornstarch gloss of most
restaurants, which was a welcome thing - the flavors came
out well.

Chicken with broccoli was the usual.

An order of spicy noodles was a big heap of slightly too
oily but very tasty pasta with bits of the kitchen sink
tossed throughout.

Beer of course is the perfect accompaniment, so all of us
except Jim had some.

As we'd walked almost all the way back the way we'd come,
I hitched a ride to the train station, as it was getting to
be that time.

Caltrain was its usual reliable self, and in an hour I was
at Belmont, having had a couple interesting little
conversations with other passengers and having enjoyed the
frisson of seeing a number of police officers hustling
purposefully through the train looking for some kind of
suspect.

My friends Mark and Liz were on hand to greet me, and soon
we were at The Fish Market, a haunt of plane enthusiasts on
short layovers, as it's not far from the airport. Got a nice
table on the porch overlooking a little estuary of the bay.
As I'd just eaten, I wasn't very hungry and ordered light -
an assortment of steamed shellfish called Duckett's Buckett
- two kinds of mussels and two kinds of clams served au jus
and drawn butter - with a couple beers, it hit the spot. Mark
ordered cioppino over pasta "lazy man style," which was
enormous (he took half in a doggy bag) and pronounced good.
Liz had calamari steak, of which I had a bite - very nice.
After a leisurely meal they threatened me with ice cream,
but we went off to the water and fed the ducks instead.

They got me to the airport in plenty of time, so I had time
for some Pass-O-Guava at the Club and to inquire about my
upgrade. It looked bad, as Mark had suggested it would.

The big monitors at the gate showed me as 3 of 10 on the
upgrade list. Nobody cleared off it, which is fine, as I
had a highly recommended exit-row seat.

UA 188 SFO PHL 2220 0640 319 12A

I was looking forward to stretching out in my throne and
relaxing comfily even despite the widish young man who
plopped down in 12B, making himself even wider with elbows
well beyond the armrests. I was busily making my little
cocoon with blankets and pillows and whatnot, when the
rumble of intestinal cramps struck me. Uh oh. I thought to
myself, should have kept 6D. I popped a double dose of
Benadryl and tried to sleep through it, but no way. Toughed
it out for a while and could stand it no longer. Squeezed
my way aft, scanning for empty seats (none) and poured
myself into the lav, where I spent way too much time and
then begged the FA for a Courvoisier. Unfortunately, I'd
left my free drink coupons at my seat, and this guy was in
no mood to give anything away, so I was out a fiver. Hung out
there alternating water and booze and eventually made my way
back to my coupon stash. Rang the call button, and to his
credit the guy returned with a brandy after only a small
delay. Managed to sleep the rest of the flight; on the way
out another of the FAs was kind enough to inquire about my
health.

I don't know whether to blame Henry's, the Fish Market, or
Pass-O-Guava, but it was one of the nastiest bouts of
distress I've ever had on a plane.

0327
US1112 PHL BOS 0815 0938 734 2A

Sat next to a rather pretty little blonde but fell asleep
before the safety announcement and didn't wake until the
plane landed. I apparently missed an amusing approach,
judging from the Flightaware.com record (look it up).
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