I've been pretty slack this time around. I had every intention of posting during the holiday as a number of you asked me to, but then I just kept getting distracted. Luckily I took notes! Consider this a Holiday Retrospective series...
So, the holiday started on a Friday afternoon at Jacksons International for a flight to Sydney. Air Niugini decided to give me a mild panic attack by telling me I wasn't booked on the flight. Thankfully it turned out it was just that the check-in staff confusion and I was soon on my way. Phew. The joys of flying on the final day of a code share arrangement between two airlines (and being booked on the airline that cutting them loose).
On Saturday, there was markets and Pokemon hunting and coffee and a Mintie hunt. The highlight of the day though was when Ms Moore and I hit up Momofuku at The Star for a long lunch.
The meal started with a chef coming to our table with two live marron and introducing us to our lunch whilst it was still alive. Seriously.
The first edible course was corn and caviar.
The second course was snail. We were very glad we didn't know it was snail until AFTER we ate it (Momofuku give you menu at the end of the meal). Not because we don't like snails, or were squeamish about eating them. No, full blame for our newly found snail-a-phobia comes from Dr Catherine, who the previous night at dinner had told Gaye and I in great detail all about Rat Lung Disease. Don't google it. just take my word for it that it is bad, and rinse all your food that a rat or snail could have pooped on.
Next up was black pudding. The cucumber cut through the richness really well.
It was then time for some mulloway with rice. I'm not a fan of rice at all - but this was delicious.
Remember those live marron that the chef introduced us to? Well they finally made an appearance. They were delicious. They just melted in your mouth. And don't get me started on the warm buttery roti and onion butter they served with them. I could have had 12 courses of this. It is one of the best things I have eaten in a very long time.
The chef that served the next course seemed a little surprised when we replied in the affirmative to the question "do you know what cassava is?". I did do a small face palm that I went to the trouble to go on holidays from Melanesia and a fancy restaurant in Australia was going to make me eat cassava. Possibly the tastiest cassava I have ever eaten though. They made it into little gnocchi type dumplings. Served with a tomato based sauce and crab.
It was then time for some roast pork. I think Gaye was disappointed she didn't get introduced to that meal as well. It came with crackling, candied pumpkin and curried onions with goat cheese. The crackling was really ordinary.
Time to move to the sweet courses. And to do so you need a pallet cleanser, right? how about passion fruit ice. So cold, so so so cold.
We then got to try a plate of petite fours. Which to be honest seemed odd as these normally come after the dessert, not before.
Dessert was amusingly called the "Conkie" on the menu. If only a dessert that I shared a nickname with was tastier. I was a little underwhelmed. It was banana and raisin.
With very full bellies, we headed off to the Seymore theater to see our friend Darrin in "Next Fall". I will be honest - it is nerve wracking to go see someone you know in a show. Daz wasn't just the star, he was also the producer. What if it sucked? (it didn't) What if he sucked? (nope) What if we were sitting so close that he could see us in the audience? (we were) would we throw him off? (People in front super tall!). Thankfully the show was great, Darrin was amazing, and by the end of the show my only concern was 'I am going to kill him for making me cry'. The upside of seeing a friend in a show that is great is that you walk out not just entertained, but feeling immensely proud that you know the person that created something that good.
Sunday morning was for some more Pokemon hunting, and breakfast and a lot of coffee at Bills.
Gearing up for my afternoon flight from Sydney to Dallas I got a text from Qantas letting me know I had been upgraded to First Class. First Class on one of the longest flight legs in the world. Ahhhh. My own little private bubble for 15 hours.
There were even pre-flight canapes...and yes I realise I am not making the most of it from the glass of water in the picture above. Don't worry, I did try the VC bubbles during the flight itself.
Sadly, I got no sleep the entire 15 hours. I laid down in the dark with my eyes closed for about 7 hours. I tried the sleep mask. I tried the ear plugs. I tried everything to block out my rude fellow passengers who kept turning on lights, having loud conversations and snoring. The guy snoring sounded like a lawn mower. I've never wanted to smother someone with a pillow more in my life. I did feel bad for those back in economy when an announcement was made letting them know that in Sydney they didn't load all their food (!!!), so the crew were scrambling through first and business asking us to identify everything we wanted to eat for the whole flight and everything we didn't reserve was then served to economy.
So, I arrived in Dallas a zombie. Went and got a manicure in the airport in an attempt to stay awake (after walking about three laps of the terminal and having a few rides on the monorail). There was one key lesson to be learned. A Texan airport is not a place to be on a Sunday afternoon if you don't like football. Every screen in the terminal that wasn't showing arrival and departure information was showing a game of some description.
It was then time to head to Orlando. I got to witness the cabin crew and the gate attendant get into a fight. Seriously - there was yelling and name calling in the front galley as we boarded. I'm not sure who has the 'on time departure' KPI in their performance agreement, but by the way that the gate staff were acting it was them (unless they could blame the cabin crew, and boy did they try). Cabin crew and pilots then hit back by getting everyone seated so fast that we left early. Won't hear me complaining.
Finally made it to Orlando. Caught the bus to the Mouse. There was a hot shower. And a quiet room to sleep in.
Stay tuned for part 2.
So, the holiday started on a Friday afternoon at Jacksons International for a flight to Sydney. Air Niugini decided to give me a mild panic attack by telling me I wasn't booked on the flight. Thankfully it turned out it was just that the check-in staff confusion and I was soon on my way. Phew. The joys of flying on the final day of a code share arrangement between two airlines (and being booked on the airline that cutting them loose).
On Saturday, there was markets and Pokemon hunting and coffee and a Mintie hunt. The highlight of the day though was when Ms Moore and I hit up Momofuku at The Star for a long lunch.
The meal started with a chef coming to our table with two live marron and introducing us to our lunch whilst it was still alive. Seriously.
The first edible course was corn and caviar.
The second course was snail. We were very glad we didn't know it was snail until AFTER we ate it (Momofuku give you menu at the end of the meal). Not because we don't like snails, or were squeamish about eating them. No, full blame for our newly found snail-a-phobia comes from Dr Catherine, who the previous night at dinner had told Gaye and I in great detail all about Rat Lung Disease. Don't google it. just take my word for it that it is bad, and rinse all your food that a rat or snail could have pooped on.
Next up was black pudding. The cucumber cut through the richness really well.
We then had a jerk chicken salad. That chicken skin on top was waaaaay too spicy for me.
Remember those live marron that the chef introduced us to? Well they finally made an appearance. They were delicious. They just melted in your mouth. And don't get me started on the warm buttery roti and onion butter they served with them. I could have had 12 courses of this. It is one of the best things I have eaten in a very long time.
The chef that served the next course seemed a little surprised when we replied in the affirmative to the question "do you know what cassava is?". I did do a small face palm that I went to the trouble to go on holidays from Melanesia and a fancy restaurant in Australia was going to make me eat cassava. Possibly the tastiest cassava I have ever eaten though. They made it into little gnocchi type dumplings. Served with a tomato based sauce and crab.
It was then time for some roast pork. I think Gaye was disappointed she didn't get introduced to that meal as well. It came with crackling, candied pumpkin and curried onions with goat cheese. The crackling was really ordinary.
Time to move to the sweet courses. And to do so you need a pallet cleanser, right? how about passion fruit ice. So cold, so so so cold.
We then got to try a plate of petite fours. Which to be honest seemed odd as these normally come after the dessert, not before.
Dessert was amusingly called the "Conkie" on the menu. If only a dessert that I shared a nickname with was tastier. I was a little underwhelmed. It was banana and raisin.
With very full bellies, we headed off to the Seymore theater to see our friend Darrin in "Next Fall". I will be honest - it is nerve wracking to go see someone you know in a show. Daz wasn't just the star, he was also the producer. What if it sucked? (it didn't) What if he sucked? (nope) What if we were sitting so close that he could see us in the audience? (we were) would we throw him off? (People in front super tall!). Thankfully the show was great, Darrin was amazing, and by the end of the show my only concern was 'I am going to kill him for making me cry'. The upside of seeing a friend in a show that is great is that you walk out not just entertained, but feeling immensely proud that you know the person that created something that good.
Sunday morning was for some more Pokemon hunting, and breakfast and a lot of coffee at Bills.
There were even pre-flight canapes...and yes I realise I am not making the most of it from the glass of water in the picture above. Don't worry, I did try the VC bubbles during the flight itself.
Sadly, I got no sleep the entire 15 hours. I laid down in the dark with my eyes closed for about 7 hours. I tried the sleep mask. I tried the ear plugs. I tried everything to block out my rude fellow passengers who kept turning on lights, having loud conversations and snoring. The guy snoring sounded like a lawn mower. I've never wanted to smother someone with a pillow more in my life. I did feel bad for those back in economy when an announcement was made letting them know that in Sydney they didn't load all their food (!!!), so the crew were scrambling through first and business asking us to identify everything we wanted to eat for the whole flight and everything we didn't reserve was then served to economy.
So, I arrived in Dallas a zombie. Went and got a manicure in the airport in an attempt to stay awake (after walking about three laps of the terminal and having a few rides on the monorail). There was one key lesson to be learned. A Texan airport is not a place to be on a Sunday afternoon if you don't like football. Every screen in the terminal that wasn't showing arrival and departure information was showing a game of some description.
It was then time to head to Orlando. I got to witness the cabin crew and the gate attendant get into a fight. Seriously - there was yelling and name calling in the front galley as we boarded. I'm not sure who has the 'on time departure' KPI in their performance agreement, but by the way that the gate staff were acting it was them (unless they could blame the cabin crew, and boy did they try). Cabin crew and pilots then hit back by getting everyone seated so fast that we left early. Won't hear me complaining.
Finally made it to Orlando. Caught the bus to the Mouse. There was a hot shower. And a quiet room to sleep in.
Stay tuned for part 2.
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