Deep purple is something ferocious. As is travel.
Pictures will be coming soon. We're having a problem finding the password to the router so there's been a delay in getting the photos uploaded from my phone.
Please excuse typos. The Japanese keyboard Im typing on has different positions for punctuation. Im too lazy to seek their new location.
So, international travel, its cool. Its long.
My flight was relatively painless. And I credit that to a solid two reasons:
1. I was not suspected as a terrorist.
In spite of my bushy beard, my wall like stature, and general confusion, I sport everyday, I did not set off any red flags. In fact, I believe the TSA officers were probably thinking, "This poor guy is struggling and needs to get his ass on through here." I dont do big crowds without an adult beverage in my age and the airport is definitely crowded. Sometimes smiling, sometimes apparently on the verge of tears, I had Asami guide me by the hand through the horrors and maniacal madness of the airport. Sadly, this was before I had even left Memphis. I was panicky because almost an inch of snowfall had accumulated on structures and grass and all I could picture was a bad 1970s movie reminiscent of something Id find on MST3000 of a plane's wing freezing and the ensuing crash was fiery and bad.
So we make it onto the plane. Im jumpy and excited and Asami is sleepy and nonchalant. She is not entertained. There isnt an atom of stimulus regarding the plane that shes responding to, so damn near dead Id call her. Looking out my window, I see the faint remnants of DELTA covered by ice. I shudder. Im cautiously observing the people around me. Everyone on this flight has flown so much that they have a distinct routine they follow for air travel. Kindles, Ipads, fold out pillows, travel lights, gadgets, trinkets, bells, whistles, whiskey, tourniquets, dramamine. I saw it all in my first 6 minutes on the airplane that had not even completely finished boarding for a 45 minute flight from Memphis to Atlanta. I look to Asami for a piece of advice that would really seal the deal on what Im experiencing and would offer peace as an alternative to my nervous breakdown. Except, Asami was head on my shoulder, eyes closed, mouth breathing. This is also known as sleeping.
The pilot comes on the radio: "Were experiencing maintenance issues currently, and Im sorry for the delay, but we must power down the aircraft so do not be alarmed when the lights go off. Afterwards, the plane will be deiced before take off, so after all said and done, expect a 20 minutes delay. We will then taxi to the runway."
What the hell? There is a maintenance issue that can be resolved by rebooting the plane? Im sorry, but a plane is not a Dell PC. You do not just reboot the damn thing to solve issues. Apparently you do. After the reboot, the pilot came back on and said, "Issue resolved, now we're finishing the paperwork and waiting for the deicer. 15 more minutes" Sure enough, here comes the trucks with huge hoses firing a blast of pink solution all over the plane. There were so many more decals on the wing tips that were hidden by the ice. It almost made me faint. So after a brief blasting, we were off to the runway.
The flight was easy, smooth, and a very settling experience for the upcoming 13 hour flight to Tokyo Norita. There was no room, however. At 6'4", there is absolutely no leg space. In fact, my feet barely touched the floor because my knees were stuck to the back of the seat in front of me. The poor asshole sitting there, Im sure, felt two huge kneecaps thrusting and thrashing about his back. He probably thought I was donkey being spanked by owner and kicking the shit out of his seat out of frustration. I am not a donkey, I am a tall guy, in a way too small seat.
Re read this first part for experience of flight from Atlanta to Tokyo.
Now, on the airplane, which I believe was a Boeing 767,
there were monitors which operated independently in the back of the seats headrest. This was bad ass. They had a plethora of movies, games, TV shows, and flight information. I took advantage of each.
Pictures will go here.
We flew north from ATL through Michigan to the very northern section of the Northwest Territories in Canada where we then traveled west, north of Alaska, into Russia. Once into north north Russia, we then went southwest to Tokyo. The views were mindblowing.
When we arrived in Tokyo, customs was extremely easy, thanks to Asami. The hardest part was being finger printed because I did not know I had to smash my finger onto the machine to activate its scanning sequence. The Japanese customs agent gave me a mid air demonstration that made total sense and I passed.
Has anyone ever seen a bathroom in Japan? Thats where I will pick up my next post.
To come: toilets for peeing that pee on you back, food food food, baka gaijin, and a Shizen style wedding!
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