Tokyo

An electronic voice in a "Limousine Bus" (bus) welcomes me to Japan, then reminds us that "cell phones are prohibited as they annoy neighbors". We're on an hour and a half journey to Tokyo from the Tokyo airport, humm? My spontaneous idea to reroute through Narita instead of SFO after visiting Lord doesn't seem so brilliant anymore. Or does it? Perhaps there will be opportunity yet. We've passed 4 nice hotels within a few minutes of the airport. The fact that we'll need to catch a bus for our 8AM international flight tomorrow remains daunting.

I feel sorry for a group of high school exchange students. One girl's comment, "oh how cute, she looks like she's wearing a girl scout uniform - and she's an adult" caught my attention and made me laugh. I looked over to see a petite Japanese woman in a red uniform - a customs officer. The girl had a Southern California accent, but turned out to be North Carolina. Once the group realized that I lived where they were headed they had a battery of questions. "What country is best?", "Will I like the food - I don't do spicy?", and others, to which I could only laugh. The barrage of questions came right when we were stripping down for the x-ray machine.

The United line to get our bus voucher and hotel reservation wasn't bad. It was a little strange looking at the "departures" screen and reading, UA883 - "Not leaving today". WHAT!?!? There were no answers, only customs and immigration lines. Once I found a long United line I knew I was in the right place.

The flight to Japan had been surprisingly easy. The seat next to me was empty so I could creatively lay, stretch, or curl. Some limb would inevitably fall asleep, but no big deal - that was the price of getting some sleep. We were told that a strong head wind would delay our arrival by an hour. I slept most of the 11 hours, which was much shorter than I remember flying in '96.

I woke up for both "lunches". Neither were any good. They made me wish that I'd stuck with the original plan with Korean Air by Delta. They always gave you 2 choices, "chicken" or "beef". One with rice, the other "American style". I was always going for the Asian one, but never got it. I've been duped 3 times now in 2 flights. I felt like I was on some kind of a sick game show.

My Japanese neighbor in the isle seat was great. He never made a move to raise his armrest for a stake in the available center seat; it was all mine!