Jamie and Judy go to Japan

We make it to the airport for our 3:30 flight and notice it's the biggest plane we've ever been on. A 747 with 400 passengers (upper and lower deck) and 15 flight attendants. And because we were rebooked, I was on side of the row and she on the other side of the plane. Thanks to a nice young woman we swapped seats and all was good for the 12 hour flight. Got into Japan with 1/2 hour layover and then headed out on our 7 hour journey to Bangkok. This plane had a TV on each seat -- and we were in the next to last row (that's what missing your flight does to you!). Overall great flights, and got into Bangkok at 10:30 pm Bangkok time. It's so surreal!!!



The twelve hour flight was frightening, not scary, just frightening. The Gentleman to my left was the vice-president of an auto parts dealership from Tennesee and kept encroaching on my 18 inch middle seat. His elbow, his leg, in my space, and he was not the happiest fellow in that part of the plane, either. We had asked him to switch his seat to Jamie's, on the other side of the plane, but this man was not budging. This was his seat and that was where he was staying, and he did. The airline brought us an endless supply of food over the next 12 hours. We ate shrimp, chicken, steak, peanuts, pretzels, and drank warm Fresca and white and red wine. After that there was an endless line to the bathroom. We watched four movies while peering over our seats to the TV harnessed above the doorway: Ghost Writer, Valentine's Day, When in Rome, and Harry Potter's new film. I think we both watched the latter without ear phones. Sleeping was nearly impossible. The car parts man kept shifting around while leaning on the window leaving us with no view. He shut the window at one point complaining about the glare from the sun which made us glare, at him, all the more. He did open the window as we careened out of the skyline, in this two story four hundred passenger 747, allowing us to try to gawk out the window when he would move his head out of the way. Once on the ground in Japan, leaving Mr. Auto Parts to his convention, we braved the crowded halls and found our way to our Gate which would be loading in 10 minutes. Our stay was brief but yes, we were in Japan! Our flight to Bangkok was much less traumatic. Jamie and I were able to stretch out , sleep and watch our choice of movies. It was turbulent at times but we weathered through it. I was able to finally sleep for an hour uninterupted and yes, I spilled my diet coke all over my white shorts which are now hanging on the balcony of the Dusit Resort in Hia Hua. We made it to the airport, disembarked, left with our luggage, which was a surprise to us, and met Jamie's (and Judy's) father and step mother in the lobby (after an hour of searching). We reached our destination, Dusit Thani in the wee hours of the morning sleeping for 3 hours before it was time get up and leave for a fun filled day touring the nearby land and water.