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Old 25 Apr 19, 02:29 AM  
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#181
theCMG
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Originally Posted by JenD1 View Post
Video is genius. Have an amazing time 😄
Originally Posted by JenD1 View Post
Ps I had to stifle my sniggering in the staff room (they wouldn’t understand &#128532
Thank you I'm sure we will those pesky colleagues never understand do they!

Originally Posted by Cha cha View Post
Guessing you’re mid flight now?!
Hope you have a good one - look forward to following along 😊
All settled in the hotel now, great to have you reading along

Originally Posted by Wismgari View Post
Great first meal Hope you are having a good flight and have an amazing trip. Looking forward to following along!
Was a good travel day in the end, starting to run out of steam but have some meals ready to share first Thanks for reading!
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DLP, EuropaPark & Efteling Roadtrip (2019) 3 parks, which is best?
The Prisoner of Vineland Mall (2019) Orlando passion, romance and fine dining...ok so it's mainly eating
Scream if you want to go Fatter! (2018) This report contains images some dieters may find distressing!
The 12 Days of Easter (2015) Rumoured to contain up to one good joke. Let me know if you find it
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Old 25 Apr 19, 03:19 AM  
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Travel Day Lunch - Nando's, Gatwick Airport


I'd originally planned Wagamama for our pre-flight lunch but DW wasn't feeling it and we agreed on Nando's instead.

I was on the no luggage/food fare so was keen to get something fairly substantial. Went for the Sunshine Burger which is two chicken thighs in a bun with cheese and a tomatoey sauce and had that Hot.


I've had this before and its lovely - the best of their burger options for me with the tastier thigh meat and it comes in a nicer roll.

We shared the extras, coleslaw in the pic above and then spicy rice and halloumi below. We love their halloumi it's always squeaky salty goodness and could easily have eaten way more. You only get 2 small pieces.

Here's DWs 1/4 chicken. She went for a leg (which is why its small) and also for hot. Said this was decent as ever, she had the plane meal so lunch was less of a necessity.


Also 2 soft drinks with this for £23 and the usual reasonable Nando's price.


I wanted something relatively healthy to eat on the plane so headed to Itsu; which is a very West London Asian chain that is probably everywhere now I guess. They do a good job presenting the food here.


Settled on a teriyaki chicken dish and some rice cakes (not like the Centerparcs story!)


It was a little alarming to discover a gratuitous naked male torso on the rice cake packet which made me worry about a deficiency of manliness in my lunch arrangements so I popped over to WH Smith to pick up some yang in the form of Steak McCoys Distressingly McCoys were not available and I wasn't having the Walkers options so went off crisps and ended up getting a couple of Dr Pepper zeroes and a tube of fruit pastilles for the flight. I figured they'd probably offer me snacks on the plane anyway


Then to the gate and we were off. Not sitting together on the flight as is often our preference bearing in mind our tendency to aggravate each other on travel day

Ben and Jerry's machine at the gate, not a great flavour selection IMO (no Peanut Butter Cup)

---------------------------------------------------------------

+ the Food On the Flight


Summary of the plane service is they offered me everything, drinks, snacks, meal - the lot. That's despite the no food ticket I bought. Figure they probably have the means to check but just can't be bothered to discriminate between the passengers sat together some with some without the service. Not something to rely on but I doubt you're going to starve unless you annoy the crew.

In the end I only went for the mini Magnum (because I got told off in my report for not eating it last time ) plus the pretzels which just appeared and the mango and passion fruit dessert pot DW didn't want and brought round. Also some cheese and crackers, I was in no danger of starving).

Magnum 9mm




The food and drinks I bought in the terminal also disappeared obviously. Watched the Bros documentary film which was as good as advertised even if you hated the music

Here's where I have to really praise the Itsu dish. £4.99 and this was amazing, nicer than any airline meal I can remember in a long time including the odd business class trip.


So this was chicken teriyaki with some Edamame on a bed of rice with a little pot of sauce that I poured on myself (somewhere in Cobham a waiter twitched). Really great dish I though can reach an Itsu from work and I'll be trying more from there I'm sure, it's a bit healthier than most alternatives too.

Meantime DW was mainly getting on the red wine further up the plane but she did take pictures of the economy lunch.


Apparently the chicken chausseur was good despite the appearance not sure I'd pick it over the Itsu plate though.

Dessert was the mango thing which I had. Nice but a very strong flavour.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Running out of energy now will wrap up travel day's quick dinner and share Harry Chapter 6 tomorrow morning Florida time. Then on with the holiday

Edited at 09:47 AM.
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Old 25 Apr 19, 07:22 AM  
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I have to sit next to my hubby so I can annoy him and get him to stand up every time I need to go to the loo!
Your chicken and rice does look tasty.
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Old 25 Apr 19, 08:05 AM  
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Interesting placement of an Applebee's receipt after your Nando's meal.

Was this a deliberate test to see who was paying attention?

Oh, and I didn't realise that the BA budget fare was "No meal", I thought that was only on SH. When did they change that? Learn something new every day.

Edit: According to BA's own website you do get fed on the "Basic" fare (probably why you were offered the meal) britishairways/en-gb...ong-haul-fares
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Edited at 08:13 AM.
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Old 25 Apr 19, 10:01 AM  
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Originally Posted by Disney Planning View Post
I have to sit next to my hubby so I can annoy him and get him to stand up every time I need to go to the loo!
Your chicken and rice does look tasty.
That would be me, I have to get up and stretch my legs at least once an hour just for something to do, always need the aisle seat. I've sat next to DW on a flight and she's started to de-shell a boiled egg, I'm better off out of there. The chicken dish was lovely

Originally Posted by Burgmeister View Post
Interesting placement of an Applebee's receipt after your Nando's meal.

Was this a deliberate test to see who was paying attention?

Oh, and I didn't realise that the BA budget fare was "No meal", I thought that was only on SH. When did they change that? Learn something new every day.

Edit: According to BA's own website you do get fed on the "Basic" fare (probably why you were offered the meal) britishairways/en-gb...ong-haul-fares
Well spotted, the receipt was a teaser for the next meal (a bit like Marvel now does using Tom Holland). A few technical issues last night with handling the photos and uploaded them from thumbnail sized images so that one slipped through, now corrected.

Somewhere in the pre-trip I have that conversation with someone about the flight, it is strange. Not sure if the BA terms changed or it was a one off but they specifically sold me a basic ticket without the food service.

Cheers for reading, supposed to be asleep
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Dining & Trip Reports:
50 Shades of Beige (2022) xxl rated food
DLP, EuropaPark & Efteling Roadtrip (2019) 3 parks, which is best?
The Prisoner of Vineland Mall (2019) Orlando passion, romance and fine dining...ok so it's mainly eating
Scream if you want to go Fatter! (2018) This report contains images some dieters may find distressing!
The 12 Days of Easter (2015) Rumoured to contain up to one good joke. Let me know if you find it

Edited at 01:37 PM.
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Old 25 Apr 19, 10:08 AM  
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I'm looking forward to the many pictures I can drool over. I'm now quite excited about the Applebee's installment - pretty sad for a (very) grown-up man.

I'm sure BA Long-haul Basic has always had free food. SH is a completely different matter of course. Anyway, I'm sure you can enjoy your included meal on the way home - guilt free!
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Old 25 Apr 19, 01:24 PM  
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CMG, you are a very funny man!

Having read your previous reports, I have been very much looking forward to 'Harry'. I'm sure, despite the enforced changes, you will keep us all entertained and giggling into our hands - so not to disturb 'those who do not understand'

Your video explanation was brilliant. I had to watch it twice because, being a German speaker, I was initially distracted by the spoken word... but your 'subtitles' were superb - very fitting

I look forward to the next episode of Harry.

Have a fab holiday
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Old 25 Apr 19, 01:48 PM  
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#188
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Originally Posted by Burgmeister View Post
I'm looking forward to the many pictures I can drool over. I'm now quite excited about the Applebee's installment - pretty sad for a (very) grown-up man.

I'm sure BA Long-haul Basic has always had free food. SH is a completely different matter of course. Anyway, I'm sure you can enjoy your included meal on the way home - guilt free!
Applebee's was a mini-dinner, the real feasting starts at breakfast on Day 1 (he says teasing it massively!) Keep on reading

Originally Posted by VizslaMom View Post
CMG, you are a very funny man!

Having read your previous reports, I have been very much looking forward to 'Harry'. I'm sure, despite the enforced changes, you will keep us all entertained and giggling into our hands - so not to disturb 'those who do not understand'

Your video explanation was brilliant. I had to watch it twice because, being a German speaker, I was initially distracted by the spoken word... but your 'subtitles' were superb - very fitting

I look forward to the next episode of Harry.

Have a fab holiday
Glad you're enjoying and yes I'm sure we'll have a ball.

When I watched the video back there were a couple of moments I wanted to adjust but it seems to have gone down well. I find it hard with the live report that you don't get time to fine-tune things because there's always the next thing you should be updating (but I love doing it)! Thanks for reading and hope you continue to enjoy

and more Harry in a moment!
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Dining & Trip Reports:
50 Shades of Beige (2022) xxl rated food
DLP, EuropaPark & Efteling Roadtrip (2019) 3 parks, which is best?
The Prisoner of Vineland Mall (2019) Orlando passion, romance and fine dining...ok so it's mainly eating
Scream if you want to go Fatter! (2018) This report contains images some dieters may find distressing!
The 12 Days of Easter (2015) Rumoured to contain up to one good joke. Let me know if you find it
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Old 25 Apr 19, 02:01 PM  
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Travel Day Dinner & Snacks - Applebees & Hilton Doubletree SeaWorld

Landing on time we were out the airport and in our hire car pretty quickly. Bit disappointed at the Hilton to end up in one of the older style rooms when we thought we’d reserved a newer, tower room but not a lot we could do. The building is old and the corridor looks shabby but the room itself is massive and fitted out fairly well so can’t complain. We also realised it was a choice between free breakfast our getting the reward points for the stay each day so there’s going to be a wider variety of breakfasts for the report

The Hilton gave us a few snacks, chocolate walnut cookies, cheez-its and a Hershey bar plus some water which was handy. Guess which food survived the snacking and is still here for a photo op.
This is not chocolate


Anyway after checking in we were straight out before the tiredness kicked in to grab a bite to eat and pick up a few drinks. We drove around aimlessly for a few minutes, I wanted Panda Express but was too tired to find it, in the end we settled on Applebee’s.

For those that don’t know this is a sports bar-y style restaurant. Food was a bit like Miller’s Ale House but the bar and sports element is less impressive than Miller’s. We weren’t starving hungry so kept it fairly light. I ordered Brisket quesadillas with pico de gallo, melted cheddars (there's more than one cheddar ) sour cream and chipotle lime salsa. Poorly lit photos sorry, left the better camera phone in the room!


These were really nice, weirdly they reminded me of the sunset burger from lunch at Nando's. We shared these and both enjoyed, I didn’t realise the salsa on the side was so elaborate until I looked it up later or I would have tried it. Anyway these were a hit.

DW had a strange idea to order wings without sauce I did at least manage to get buffalo sauce and ranch added on the side.


The wings were coated and fried, very nice and crispy but spoilt for me by the lack of the usual flavour. Isn’t the hot sauce the whole point of wings! She liked them, to me even when dipped they tasted mostly of the oil they were cooked in

Service in here was slowish to okay, it was not well lit for our level of tiredness. Drinks-wise DW went for the usual Jamesons and Diet Coke and I decided alcohol was too risky today and stuck to diet coke. The bill came to $38 which was okay, probably could have got some discounts with planning, we didn’t mind it but wouldn’t seek Applebee’s out again.
Applebee's receipt in the right place this time


After that we popped across the carpark to Walgreens and picked up a few drinks for the hotel fridge. Would normally have bought some beer and wine but we were too knackered to choose and the choice is limited given that it's mainly a pharmacy


We also found these beauties which DD will no doubt text me about within 5 minutes if she’s still reading. Along the lines of don’t you dare eat those or I’m expecting some of those to come back with you
Not seen these ones before, I guess this is Nutella equivalent


Bit more Harry below from when I was on the plane and stay tuned later for a really great (6am!) Day 1 breakfast I’m sure you’ll like.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry Porker Chapter 6 - Gatwick North-East Terminal

'Hermione, why are you wearing a tie-die top, leggings and flight socks in the terminal?' Harry was puzzled. She was normally fairly smart but today Hermione looked like a skateboarder who'd just checked out of hospital.

'Its my glands Harry' she explained and pushed on ahead towards departures. 'Hurry up, we've only got two and a half hours to get through security.'

In the end they were through in minutes. Gatwick was deserted. Finding the way into the terminal however confused Harry. Someone had constructed a duty free labyrinth behind customs and filled it with old people and Bombay Sapphire. Light headed as they were from the fumes of the perfume counter, the two youngsters battled on in confusion.

Finally a breakthrough. Lit up ahead of them like a Pyrenee or an Alp, maybe Montblanc itself was a magnificent pyramid of Toblerones. The bars went from the largest at the foundation to those scabby little ones which are mostly nougat on the top as well as all the variations, even the rarely seen fruit and nut. The display was taller than Harry and probably stored almost as many calories. 'The Toblerone Ziggurat of Gatwick' he said in hushed tones 'Seventh wonder of airport retail! I never thought I'd live to see the day.'

'The terminal is behind the Toblerones' Hermione explained. 'Make a run for it before that big group of dawdlers spots them and blocks the passage forever.'

This needed a run up. Harry walked quickly back through the duty free shop, holding his breath to resist scents carefully put together by singers and our stars of reality television. Separately they may be fine but together the perfumes made an intoxicating mix. 'Just keep swimming Dorothy' he muttered to himself in a confusing mix of IPs.

Taking a deep fill of clearer air just behind customs Harry turned and charged towards the Toblerones. Wheeling his carry-on in front of him like a battering ram he flew into the chocolate mountain, ducking into a charge and demolishing the display head first.

'Are you okay sir?' Harry looked up groggily from the floor but everything was black. He lifted his head slightly and managed to dislodge enough Swiss chocolate to see a member of staff and Hermione looking at him with concern.

'I can't feel my legs' he said dramatically, looking down in front of him onto a sea of Toblerones. 'Oh no wait, here we go.' He wiggled a dependable travel shoe just where the white chocolate gave way to the limited edition fruit and nut twin pack and looked relieved.

'What on earth were you doing young man?' The shop assistant said sternly.

'He was looking for the entrance to the terminal.' Hermione replied. 'My mistake, I told him it was behind the Toblerones. He's a bit.' At this point her voice dropped and she whispered in the older lady's ear.

'I see' she replied. And looked at Harry pityingly. 'Well the "Secret Entrance" to the "North-East Terminal" is over there. One must walk around the Toblerone fixture...what's left of it, arc round the Red M&M helicopters and do a left at the Scotty dog Walkers shortbread tin. If you reach 1 kilo Allsorts, turn back, you've gone too far.'

Thanks said our heroes hurriedly and they proper scarpered out of the Toblerone mess and away through the gap between the shortbread and the edge of the booze. Hermione's case clipped the edge of the Amarulas as they went (but luckily the display held).

'What did you say to her?' Harry said. 'I thought I'd have to spend all my dollars on squashed chocolate.'

She glared at him. 'That you thought you were a wizard writing a food report.'

'Oh okay' he replied
.
'Looking for the secret portal to a magical terminal.'

'OK you can stop now.'
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Dining & Trip Reports:
50 Shades of Beige (2022) xxl rated food
DLP, EuropaPark & Efteling Roadtrip (2019) 3 parks, which is best?
The Prisoner of Vineland Mall (2019) Orlando passion, romance and fine dining...ok so it's mainly eating
Scream if you want to go Fatter! (2018) This report contains images some dieters may find distressing!
The 12 Days of Easter (2015) Rumoured to contain up to one good joke. Let me know if you find it

Edited at 03:04 PM.
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Old 25 Apr 19, 02:18 PM  
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Ha brightened my day , looking forward to more . Enjoy your holiday
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