10.293 Skinless Chicken Skewers Served with Barley and Porcini Salad, Light Sage Jus

10.293

25 (Fri) October 2019

Skinless Chicken Skewers Served with Barley and Porcini Salad, Light Sage Jus

2.0

on board Singapore Airlines – SQ 918

-Singapore en route to Manila-

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Mission to New Zealand, Day 7.

In transit.  In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and National Ethics Advisory Committee, I was in Wellington to coordinate the proceedings of the Second Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting for National Ethics/Bioethics Committees, Tuesday to Wednesday.  I had also coordinated the first AP-NEC meeting two years ago in Seoul (see 8.292 Grilled Lamb).  On my way back home to Manila.

BREAKFAST

First look at the Air New Zealand Business Class Lounge in Wellington.  As in any lounge, the breakfast offerings were minimal.

As always, I am grateful for and respectful of the opportunity to travel, especially via business class (see BEST IN FLIGHT), including lounge access (see BEST IN LOUNGE).  Any comments here, even the negative ones, are simply relative to other business class experiences, not complaints per se.

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My flight was assigned to Gate 35 – as noted yesterday, I always seem to be stuck with a hotel room at the end of the hallway or boarding gate at the end of the terminal.

LUNCH

Christchurch to Singapore.

Rather than the fancy chef-branded items – e.g., Roasted Pork Belly in Spiced Apple Sauce with carrots, green beans, fennel, cherry tomato, and hazelnut dressing, exclusively created by Matt Moran of Aria Restaurant, Sydney, la-di-fucking-da – I opted for what would presumably be the safer Asian dishes within the core competencies of Singapore Airlines.

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Prosciutto with Melon, Green Olives, and Lemon Dressing (2.5)
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Stir-Fried Beef with Ginger and Spring Onion Sauce (2.5): meh.

DINNER

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Soya Sauce Chicken (2.0): more mehe.

Should’ve gone with the fancy chef-branded items, if only for fun.

EVENING SNACK

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To expand on my point above, my flights also seem to get assigned to last arrival gate in the terminal – among gates A9 to A21, my gate was A17, which was physically the farthest away.

A quick break in the much smaller yet still competent SilverKris lounge in Terminal 2.

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I kid you not: my flight was assigned to Gate E12.

LATE-NIGHT DINNER

Singapore to Manila.

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A final opportunity for Singapore Airlines to impress.

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Smoked Duck Breast (2.0)

With the silly description on the menu and the flight attendant’s recommendation as an excellent light option – also having just had a snack in the lounge and dinner on the previous flight – I couldn’t resist.

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Ugh.  In fact, the starchy grains of barley were quite filling – not in a good way.

I wonder what the Fillet of Sole and Mussel with “Sauce Normand,” plus asparagus, semi-dried tomato, fettucine pasta, and ginger cream sauce, was like.

MIDNIGHT SNACK

The best dish of the entire trip was Tom Yam Noodles – instant cup noodles with shredded chicken (they were out of prawns) and fresh veg tossed in at the end.

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And so, Singapore Airlines loses the top spot and drops down to number 5.

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