Text 19359, 101 rader
Skriven 2014-11-14 05:13:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: Asia trip '13 274
=========================
This was probably the most extravagant (airplanewise)
trip I'd ever planned and taken, and the eventual costs
led to the precariousness of my current condition, but
I have no regrets. Lilli and I did this trip with the
consciousness that - given both of our recent health
issues - we might not have had many more of these coming
up together. Things seem to have stabilized somewhat,
but future trips will likely be a little more frugal,
thanks to the hole I dug for this one.

Much of this was reconstructed from notes a year old,
so parts will be overdetailed and others kind of sketchy.
==

UA1509 BOS IAH 0850 1223 319 2A

The plane was packed with zone oners vying for the usual
delicious collation: the sausage puck browner than normal,
the omelet filled with some Swissoid compound. A fruit
appetizer was relatively sour, hard, and nasty except for
the grapes, which were surprisingly good.

Pink yogurt and a squashed but at least buttery croissant
completed the meal.

We had a friendly flight attendant who had to be primed but
thereafter provided very attentive service. This is not
the way it is supposed to go, but I'll take it in a pinch.

Thunderstorms in Houston, but despite some reroutes (no
Channel 9, but the pilot kept us reasonably informed on the
PA) we landed close to on time.

A genial bartender at the club sold me more Beam than I
needed: each pour was more generous, and I think he figured
he was doing me a favor. I was somewhat overserved when I
left, and I am glad that I was doing Coke chasers rather
than water.

Had a small conversation with a very cute blonde that made
me wish I were a quarter century younger. Edited to add:
Shoot, just as I was about to leave for my flight, she
offered to buy me a drink; I said thank you and left anyway.

UA1639 IAH SAN 1551 1721 739 2A

The evocatively named chicken and rice was chicken and
rice; it came with tomato sauce and green beans. The
appetizer was one smoked salmon rose. Salad was actually
reasonably fresh. The other choice was described as
vegetarian ravioli marinara; I didn't see any go past.
Dessert: an orange oatmeal raisin cookie.

To get primed for the trip, I went to a well-reviewed
place called Taste of the Himalayas, where lamb momos
tasted pretty much like potstickers from Trader Joe,
and a lamb curry was a bit on the bland side. I asked for
something to hot it up, and the waiter brought out a little
dish ($1 extra) of what appears on the menu as 9-1-1 sauce;
it's plenty hot and carries some of that rotten fruitiness
of the C. sinense. The curry thereupon became sufficiently
hot but not substantially tastier.

I repaired to my rather nice room at the Hampton and
snoozed lengthily.

Met up with Lilli, who was happy as a schoolgirl in
anticipation of the trip.

UA 573 SAN SFO 1311 1450 320 2EF

No PreCheck here, but the lines were short, and we were
through in no time flat.

The club has an odd assortment of provisions. I had three
bottles of grapefruit juice blend, white grape being number
one, apple two, ruby red three, colored with of all things
carmine, which renders it nonvegetarian, which is silly.

A nice flight, with a rather glum FA who turned out to be
fine and who supplied all the red wine an elderly pair
might want.

It's quite a hike from gate 90 to the international
terminal, where we made a beeline for the Silver Kris,
which now appears to be open only for the SQ flights and
thus was useless for us. It was no great tragedy, as we
would be fed and watered adequately on our flights.

The free wine on offer was something called Twisted Merlot -
rather soda-poppy but with more acid and a bit of wood.
Somewhat unpleasant, and the bartender chuckled at the face
I made. I bought a $10 worth glass of Stag's Leap Artemis
Cabernet for Lilli, much better.

We spent a pleasant hour and change there, and then it was
time to head to the gate, where there was an awful scrum.

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