Text 9474, 83 rader
Skriven 2014-02-03 19:50:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: long lost end 140
=========================
Long lost end to Rochester trip - I thought I'd sent this
last September, but I must have reached my message quota
or something.

--

Part of the purpose of this trip was to have Nancy show me
some of her favorite haunts, so after the laundromat (very
ordinary but somewhat inexpensive; also very necessary) she
took me to El Latino, a palace of Dominican goodness in what
looks like a former KFC. It was not yet quite lunchtime, but
the parking lot was full, with lots of defensive driving
necessary amid the dodge'em cars.

It's non-self-service cafeteria style - you specify the
size of your serving, the main meat (or two), and a few
sides, and the lady puts them into a big styro box, and
off you go. It is possible to order pastries and stuff
not on the steam table.

We shared what I think was a medium plate of roast pork;
maybe it was a small, and it was plenty. This came (Nancy's
choice of sides) with plantains two ways (mashed green and
fried ripe) and a surprisingly savory boiled cabbage dish
that I ate altogether too much of. To me, there's no point
in ripe plantains, as they might as well be not-so-good
bananas, but what the heck, they were filling and tasted
okay. The food in general was delicious but unspicy
(despite its being on Chili Avenue), and the choice of hot
sauces was meager and also largely unspicy. I guess that
Dominicans don't do heat much.

I washed this down with the undistinguished Sabor coconut
soda (the sign promised Goya); Nancy had mango juice out
of a big jug.

We were well satisfied, and I would most happily return.

Dinner was a sort of afterthought, mostly to feed Richard:
red-sauce gizzards of the normal sort.

=

I was taken to the airport not too early but in time to
visit the famed Clock of the Nations and watch it chime
ten. It's amusing, with a dozen mechanical displays that
animate their characters in native costumes on the hour.
Not so elaborate as the ones I've seen in Europe, but if
you fly only domestic, pretty cool.

UA4854 ROC EWR 1046 1212 Q30 2D

Though a prop plane, this is much more agreeable than the
jet products that this company (Bombardier, best known
for being the developer of the snowmobile) offers. When it
first came out, it was advertised as being quieter than a
jet (Q standing for quiet), which it might be, especially
compared to its Canadair self-competition.

My seatmate was Ching Tang, the developer of the first
working OLED; a wide-ranging and fun conversation. The
plane landed a touch early, so I had an hour to enjoy
the EWR club, where in order to get my exit row the agent
messed up my reservation so my miles were credited to the
wrong program, which put my goldenness on US Air in some
jeopardy (this was remedied by a couple segment runs later
in the year).

The well Bourbon here at least turned out to be Wild Turkey.

UA1146 EWR BOS 1355 1530 738 21F

I was a stupid boy and credited this flight to US Air, as I
wanted the segment to requalify for Gold. Upshot: I failed
miserably, as they managed to credit my flights to United
anyway, plus I didn't get on the upgrade list, so the effort
went for naught or less.

It's okay, the exit row is just fine, and one doesn't need
to drink on a 40-minute flight (schedule padded to double,
thanks to the exigencies of public perception of ontimeness.
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