Back to Lilliputian Land
Another day starts with the alarm clock going off, and me heading off to LAX to jump on some airplane heading to a hotel in a far away land. The difference this time, Mikiko is not dropping me at the bus stop and leaving, we are dropped by my mom and headed home to Japan instead of a hotel, wow... home... For a first in my life I'm head off on this mysterious thing I've only heard others remark off-handedly about, vacation...
As I watched our bags run though the x-ray with all the nifty stuff in my luggage glowing different colors, I only one thought comes to my mind.... New game concept... Who can arrange the items for best representation of a detailed picture, only using the items you would normally travel with ( Liquid shows up blue and red and metal being shades), as I alway have my laptop power supplies, USB cables, tooth paste and soap, I think I'll first go for a simple smiley or maple leaf...
Breakfast at the terminal's local unnamed dinerish waiting area, Mikiko and I migrated to the back table, a typical sight of laptops, food and drink, sending off the last minute emails, few reports, few IM's and it's just a normal morning at in transit.
North West business class rocks, the new seats are those funky looking SciFi pods that lay almost flat and have a complex set of buttons for complete control. Complete on demand entertainment system with over 30 movies, games and an interactive touch screen map system like google maps. The service and food were outstanding.
Wine and Snacks
Japanese Style Dinner w/ Calculate Cake Ala mode
Mixed Greens Salad, Halibut on Couscous with Garlic butter w/ Cheese and Crackers
Chicken and Shrimp with Asian Slaw / Egg pie Florentine
Then, fun with trains... A quick run though the heath station, immigration, baggage clam, customs and a though Narita airport to the Japan Rail (JR) office grab our three week rail passes and got seats on the next Narita Express. A new record has been laid down, 28 mins airplane to train transfer... A short transfer at Tokyo Station to the Hikari Shinkonsen ( Japanese Bullet Train ) with a quick tech handoff from Shimpei for our cellphones and my new datacard, and we're off to Osaka.
While wading though the sea of little Japanese businessmen at Tokyo station, Mikiko and I both started laughing, people in Japan are really short. Not that I'm at tall at 5' 8" with my little Japanese wife being 5' 10", the original reason she started traveling to the US in the first place was to find clothing that fit. Now in the states they have started a public service campaign that kids under 4' 6" should have child safety seats in cars. But in Japan they have a different style of transportation safety, train stuffing ( more to come on this subject later, and maybe even some video).
From Shin-Osaka station we jump a few local trains and we're home, a nice relaxing soak on the furro, and crash... thus ends the 24 hours of sitting marathon...