Visitors from Ireland, visitors from Tokyo – it was a busy time at Uncle Markie’s Home For Wayward Tourists. The first to arrive were Jeff and Mindi – though Jeff only for drinks from 10PM-1AM with Mindi’s brother as she got sick on the flight from Dublin. Sorry, no pictures of the drunken festivities – though it did wreak havoc with y packing for the Denver trip which was in the middle of all these visits, and hence why Jeff came over late at night – because it was the only night that we’d be in town the same day, and he didn’t want a repeat of when I was in Ireland last month I was headed south to the wedding as he was cabbing in from the airport.
The day after I got back from Denver, Tokyo Dave showed up – at least I got pictures of that! Dinner Saturday night was at Swanda’s place. Here are MY pictures:
And here is Swanda’s picture of the event – clearly we know who is the better blogger:
That is TRULY a GREAT photograph of the two of us.
Sunday night’s dinner I did a little better when Mindi (ex-pat from Ireland), Anne (ex-workmate), and Tokyo Dave (ex-pat from Tokyo) joined me for a flank steak dinner:
Tokyo Dave was staying at my place, and after he’d decamped for the airport on Monday I found a t-shirt and underwear left behind, and then got a message that he was missing his work iPhone5 as well. Apparently enough sleep wasn’t part of anyone’s holiday plan – both Mindy and Anne arrived for dinner a wee bit hungover from the previous night. Ah, the life of travelers. I’ll have to try that sometime myself.
It started out to be such a quite day of working a handful of hours, and then the plan was to meet up with Tokyo Dave, his wife and kids around 7 for dinner.
Who could have foreseen the tornado of Wonderful, Atrosius and Gnarlene whirling through around 5:30. So much for watching the news!
Dave and family are staying at the Panama Hotel down in the International District, which is a little down scale from what I would expect, but an interesting place none the less. Downstairs is the cafe where my buddy Glo loves to have tea. That would be the Panama Tea and Coffee House.
I actually beat then to the hotel — parked at my old apartment since it was three blocks away — and hung out front chatting with a couple of Dutch tourist boys. The hotel itself is your old (1910) hotel where the desk is on the 3rd floor, with their room on the second…. and no elevator, and shared bathrooms. Upside is that it’s under $100 a night whcih is cheap in Seattle.
Dinner was at the Shanghai Restaurant made famous by Swanda (and their hand shaven buckwheat noodles) where in true Swanda fashion, we ordered too many dishes. We even ordered a bottle of wine with dinner — which turned out to be a quite passable Jekel Merlot.
After dinner was a walking tour of Uwyjamaya to ogle groceries, and then a tour of the upstairs garden. I would have shown them the apartment, but it was “occupied”.
I was going to let them walk back, but after being panhandled once, and oddly approached by someone else, we all went back together. Don’t know if the neighborhood has changed, or whether I was just never out at 9:30 at night.
Home I headed stuffed. When Wonderful called at ten, I was already in repose, exhausted.
Out of the house at 9am this morning to pick up Tokyo Dave at SeaTac. He is coming for an overnight stop on his way from Tokyo to San Francisco to see me, and renew his US driver’s license.
A little grocery shopping followed “license department waiting hell”, and late in the afternoon of hanging around the house it was off to the apartment to pick up shirts and a package.
Here is today’s humorous story about wanted and unwanted guests. Tokyo Dave would be the wanted guest, a couple of crows, the unwelcome guests.
For dinner I defrosted the deer back chops that Alan sent me home with on my December trip to Juneau. The BBQ was ready and I took the plate out with the four chops on it, went back in the house for something… came back to find three chops rather than four and a couple of squawking crows in the alley… Tokyo Dave found the fourth chop sitting on top of a fence post half eaten. And yes, I washed it off and put it on the BBQ with the others.
Thought you would find it assuming that crows here in the city have such good taste.
Before, the crow eaten chop:
And the fine meal after.
Finished the evening with a little soak in the hot tub before draining it since I’ll be out of town for almost a week – no need to run up the electric bill, and it was time for the water to be changed anyway.
Tonight headed to Tokyo but one more meal with Julian – out at a kitschy Shogun era restaurant a block from the main Nagoya train station. Interesting enough, on the 4th floor of a small high rise. Welcome to Japan, where home improvement stores can be on the 18-20th floor.
Fun, fun, fun. And the food was good as well.
Took the train to Tokyo after dinner – the Shinkansen!
Dave was a saint and met me at the train station…with a CAR.
A very nondescript building housing a sobering account of the Napalm Fire Bombing of Tokyo during WWII. If you want a clue as to the massive scale of bombing and the fire that followed, take a look at this map:
That was central Tokyo. Sigh.
Later in the evening we were off to a jazz club known as The Pitt. Small, less than a hundred people. Off to Shinjuku we go!
And downstairs to The Pit, in the basement:
Here is the poster for tonight’s show – seems he’s had the club for the last couple of nights doing various styles. Tonight was mostly experimental, with a DJ spinning between sets, though the closing number was more traditional jazz. Loved it all.
All the sudden, my schedule is full again. Seriously full.
Today – poker in Olympia, and maybe a tour of the state legislature (doubtful this trip)
Tomorrow – return from Oly, hopefully work on computer hardware in the PM, then Michael and Chris for dinner. Trying to figure out how to do a peanut butter rub on steaks, maybe salmon would work better
Sunday – Tokyo Dave arrives for dinner before flying back to Tokyo
Monday – Tokyo Dave to the airport, then off to pick up Helene and drive to Canada so she can “land”. Hang out at the border (remember to bring book or newspaper) while Helene does her paperwork. Continue on to Vancouver for lunch, hopefully at the sushi place on Commercial Drive
Tuesday – MoonSong working at the house, stove guy sometime between 10-2 — then need to actually find a dish to cook on the stove since it should finally be working
Wednesday – Tour Palm Harbor Manufactured Home plant (deferred from the last trip) at 2pm, then check in at Breitenbush after 4pm. Stay until Sunday.
Makes me tired just typing it…. and at some point I still need to get back to the island and finish prepping the house for new listing. Though in this market, who knows if any one can get financing on anything.
Oh the joys of family. My planned two-night stay in Tokyo has been turned into a one-night stay in Tokyo and a one-night stay in Yokohama, where I am the .005% — which has turned out to be…I’m at a loss for words, but not at all negative.
One of the things that I love about JapanLand is the attention to detail….TokyoDave got his shirts back from the laundry – tied with a ribbon:
Nice touch.
I spent my morning in Tokyo, not sightseeing, but working on the last blog post, eating toast and yogurt and Japanese-brand Laughing Cow, before Mitsio (TokyoDave’s wife) returned home and made coffee. I’m at a loss in their kitchen.
By noon or so I’m at the station to catch the train to Yokohama – in theory meeting up with TokyoDave on the train. They gave me one of their “ORCA” cards (actually that’s a Seattle thing, but same principle), though it was drained so I had to go through “the dance” and then top it off before the end of the trip. Apparently the same card works all over Japan, which should be handy – just need to mail it back since I think it’s like Seattle’s with a $10 charge to buy one.
Small misconnection with TokyoDave, but with the joys of email, we have a backup plan, and I have a “chair”, I mean suitcase, that works as a seat, and before you know it we are here:
And then we are checked in, after a bit of a walk – not my fault!
Tight quarters, but not my dime, nor Circus, nor Monkeys.
First up – LUNCH!
Nothing says Tokyo like plates of food on a conveyor belt – though we ordered the lunch special. We just needed a snack to tide us over until an early dinner (5:30):
The joys of mechanization, Tokyo Style.
And then there are the vending machines… not the porno ones in the “entertainment district”, but more mundane:
I love the “Japanese” Juan Valdez hocking coffee….
Next up was the Shinyokohama Raumen Museum…sort of an “odd” concept – you pay 310 yen to get in, and the place is set up to look like a 1958 townscape with stalls selling various styles of ramen…like I said, “odd” Covers two floors…
The only reservation TokyoDave could get for Teppanyaki was at 5:30 – which is a little early for dinner (for me…), but the show was fun:
Nice meal all around – though not cheap. Think 35000yen (now divide by 120). Luckily (for me) it was a business expense for TokyoDave since I’m his registered agent.
That was pretty much the end of the evening for the two of us.
In the morning it’s the breakfast buffet that is seriously crowded….but it’s included in the room, so we are up and out early since TokyoDave is manning the desk at his daughter Maya’s International Baccalaureate Art Show (the same sort of show that I went to for my niece Karen a couple of weeks ago. Here is a quick picture of Maya’s exhibit.
Maya’s would the second one in from the left. It seemed a little higher quality that the New Mexico show, but not hugely so.
Lots of interesting work in Maya’s – even got to meet TokyoDave’s in-laws, who were in town for the show as well, hence, why I was decamped to Yokohama so they could have the guest bedroom.
I have the day to kill before catching the Bullet Train to Nagoya to meet up with my nephew, Julian. First up is the Silk Museum, which was right next to the IB exhibition.
Not a huge place, but lots of traditional clothing throughout Japan’s history. Then it’s off to the Nissan Gallery at their World Headquarters – yes, I know, I’m breaking my rule of only one tourist attractions per day, but these were pretty cars to look at, and nice butts in rubber pants:
Then down the block a little more and it was to the Haro Model Railway Museum – apparently this guy has been collecting and building model trains for his entire life.
Then it was back to the district where my hotel was to grab my luggage – but not before trying to squeeze in one last museum, the CupNoodles Museum (yes, that’s how it’s spelled).
But alas, there were tons of people in line to just get tickets. Guess I’ll save that for the next trip. Time to grab a bite, pick up the luggage and head to the station (which luckily is right across the street from the hotel). And this would be my office inside the JRStation waiting for my train…time to work on the blog (but not finished it – which is too bad because there is free wi-fi and I’m stocked with Whiskey and Diet.
I’m actually taking a weekend off leaving Jim in charge – like he is even when I am working the weekend. Destination? Tokyo to visit my ex, his wife, and daughter for a couple of days, then down to Nagoya to visit Julian.
But first, I have to get there, which means a stop in the Alaska Lounge:
Breakfast of champions!
Saw the combo Alaska/Virgin plane that was damaged several weeks ago in an “airport incident“. Fortunately, not my airplane.
Several days ago, I’d gotten an email from Alaska Airlines saying that they had upgraded me on my flight from Seattle to Vancouver. In the back, there isn’t even enough time for a beverage service. In the front, we got one quick round in the half hour flight. It was nice to even get an upgrade on a frequent flyer award ticket. Even got my favorite seat, 1C.
When I checked in back in Seattle, they were able to check my bag in all the way to Tokyo, but not give me a boarding pass for my connecting Japan Airlines ticket. Got to Vancouver, and while the plane had arrived, there, the gate area was locked up. Wandered the airport a bit and finally decided to go to the lounge that Alaska partners with in Vancouver – which turns out to only work if you are flying to the states, or, as it turns out, connecting to the Japan Airlines flight. Yahoo! More free food.
My newspaper fortune (VERY appropriate):
My plane (787-8):
My seat:
The bidet controls in the lavatory (yes, a bidet on a plane – better than a snake):
And then the food started coming (and coming). It IS business class, after all:
Somehow, I forgot to take a picture of the “starter” course which was shrimp, lox, foie gras (and tasty). Then before landing (after my third movie), they served us another lunch:
Upper left is VERY unusual version of Paella.
I went for the Western Meal option since I’ll be in Japan all week and this will be my last chance. Here were the menu options:
But considering my round-trip ticket was 112,500 miles and $85, I can’t complain too much.
Arrived in Tokyo to an airfield taxi stand – meaning down the stairs and into a bus to the terminal. Fairly quick transit through immigration and customs, and soon enough I was on the Narita Express bound for Shinagawa Station where TokyoDave would meet me and get me the rest of the way to his house:
The train into town was an hour, and the remaining legs with TokyoDave another half hour.
We’ll pick up the story tomorrow, but at least I made it in to Tokyo in one piece.
Today’s news is that this evening, Tokyo Dave makes a brief appearance in town on his way back to Tokyo from San Francisco, then St. Louis. All his visit did was to remind me that it’s been too long since I’ve gone to visit my friends in Tokyo.
The downside was that he didn’t get in until almost 9 — his flight was 45 minutes late, and he had luggage, though it was the second bag on the belt. Pretty amazing that United Airlines is down to one dedicated baggage belt, and sharing another one with Alaska.
The day was filled with work and figuring out how to maximize my Alaska Airlines EQM (Elite Qualifying Miles) with their offer of Double EQM AND Double Miles on flights taken before the 30th of June in all ticket classes other than their Hot Deal fares.
Guess where I’m going just to get my Alaska MVP status next year?
EWR — I’ll let you all look up that airport code. Six hours out, hour on the ground, six hours back. It will be a little under $400 (rather than the $300 Hot Deal fare) but it’s still worth it. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get upgraded, though that is less likely on their long haul flights.
And that is what MVP status is all about — getting FREE first class upgrades.
Add some packing for the two upcoming trips and the day is done.
I didn’t really get to see much of anything in Dubai, but that would have required a layover, which wasn’t permitted under the tickets rules – or if it was, it would have screwed up my car service on both ends.
Got to Dubai in the dark last night, leaving before the sun is up – at least this morning I’ve got time/inclination to take a shot of the hotel:
Grabbed the transfer bus, avoided check-in since I’m doing carry-on, so it’s straight to the Emirates Business Class Lounge. Looks large from the outside…
But when you get inside, you need a map!
The Business Class lounge runs THE ENTIRE LENGTH of a 25-gate terminal, as does the First Class lounge, one floor down.
And there are dedicated check in desks inside the lounge for EACH gate, with four elevators (per gate) that take you directly to the jet bridge for boarding.
But I haven’t even talked about the food service – hello breakfast!
Big buffet with everything from British to Middle Eastern – I’d love to see what the dinner spread is like – maybe I should have stayed in the airport overnight rather than dropping $140 (and the cost of dinner).
Time to head to the plane…
There is even a second level jetway (a separate stop on the elevator from the Lounge) for the Airbus A-380 double decker planes that Emirates has about 50 of.
Soon, I’m back in my seat…feeling a little narrow this time, but it’s exactly the same seat (just on the other side of the plane).
And we are in the air with a TOTALLY crowded Business Class section – seems we have a delegation (business/political?) from Tanzania. Alas – Bing Search didn’t come up with anything, yet.
Every seat is full. Expecting service to be a little less attentive than on the first leg, but breakfast is served:
Not feeling 100% this morning – maybe too much fun yesterday?
At least it isn’t coach. No lunch picture, slept a good four hours (out of the nine). No movies, just Brooklyn 99 which is a cop/comedy with one of the Saturday Night boys, featuring a gay Precinct Captain – think Barney Miller updated that is a “Box Set” which means that you get the entire season that plays ene-to-end, unfortunately with the same annoying commercials between episodes.
I was a little worried about arriving in Tokyo – as I’m carrying things I probably shouldn’t:
Couple of pounds of low carb flour
Couple of pounds of some hulled grain
Business Documents
Last known copy of an erotic photo from 30-years-ago of a mutual friend (that Swanda had in his bathroom for years, and I had in mine for years before)
All that was for TokyoDave, as well a couple of pairs of underwear he left behind on his last trip through.
But no problems – just got stuck behind someone with paperwork problems which delayed my arrival into the arrivals hall which was my other worry…what about this famed “car service”… but there he was, with his clipboard in hand, waiting for me.
That would be Mitsuru – my driver for the evening:
And off we go into the city!
To TokyoDave’s place, with a warm futon (after a couple of glasses of Bourbon).
I am blessed to have spare bedrooms in two different places in Tokyo with exPat friends of mine (alas, the other is in Portland at the moment dealing with his aging mother).
The big deal for today (other than cleaning up the house and the yard to get ready for company) is the final dinner for Curt’s neighbor from Olympia, who has become a friend of mine as well. He takes off the 19th for 28 months in Cambodia with the Peace Corps. Odd that he will be teaching English and doing community outreach when his last gig was as a public defender. I’ve thought about the Peace Corps as well so had lots of questions — like how long was the process (about a year) and how much of a pain (annoying but tolerable). Who knows, it would provide some focus in my life, but could I take two years in one place?
Dinner was a mixed grill of Italian sausages, chicken breasts and lamb lollipops (a new phrase I learned from Jeanne for those tiny little lamb t-bones), salad, pencil thin asparagus and rosemary challah rolls. Yum. Curt and Brandon drove up from Olympia after work, Dave came from the north end of Seattle where he is staying with his parents before he ships out.
Today’s scissor lift update is a video of the ride up and down before the platform gets built:
Got Tokyo Dave to the airport for his early flight to San Francisco. Came home and went back to bed.
Woke up and found his toiletry kit sitting on the toilet tank — guess I will be taking that to the Bay Area with me tomorrow as well as a bunch of frozen meat.
Wood putty and aluminum were today’s errand… it last bits for the trap door cover. And installed. Now all that’s left is to give it a coat or two of varathane and we are good to go while I think about wine cellar designs.
Dinner tonight with DB. No, not DB Cooper, nor Dave Brauer, but Dancing Bear.
Roasted potatoes, salad, pork chops, yum.
I guess packing it being put off until tomorrow morning before my flight.
Planned a quiet day of puttering around the house, connecting with Mark Graf for some hardware repairs (computer hardware, not door hardware), laundry and dishes. Evening is Dave-son from Tokyo at the airport at 6:20pm with a dinner reservation in seats 58 and 59 at 8pm.
So far – laundry and dishes and puttering. No Graf so far, and looks like Dave-son missed his connection in Cincinnati because his plane was an hour late. There is another direct flight that arrives at 10:30pm — but that’s a little late for dinner. Considering he has a 7:30am flight in the morning, not much time to spend catching up. Maybe I should plan a Tokyo trip for the late summer/fall/late fall.
Getting caught up on my reading however, so guess that’s the silver lining. And there is certainly more puttering to be done.
Evening Update
Graf is sick to that ain’t happening this week. And Dave-son is on the 8:45pm flight — which sat on the ground for half an hour (technically it left the gate a minute late at 8:46pm)… so current arrival time is 11:06 pm. Good thing that I thawed that steak when I saw he’d missed his connection. Add some wine, and maybe some tomatoes off the vine.
Looks like a calm evening of TV and reading for me…. until time for the airport run.
TokyoDave and I arrived from the train station to a living room full of teenagers – apparently, there were twice as many (eight) earlier. In the living room on a tabletop cooker they had been making quesadillas and smores – yes, these are international school students. Sarah’s (TokyoDave’s number two daughter) red-haired boyfriend is half Japanese, half Argentine. Definitely a mixed crowd where English was the major language. And like teens everywhere, more food was needed:
Yep – they send Mitzio (TokyoDave’s wife) to the Dominos store because you get an extra pizza if you pick it up rather than have it delivered. Thankfully she also picked up a bag of ice for cocktails.
It was a long evening of catching up, noshing on various bits and bobs, a bottle of red wine was opened to go with the dutyfree whiskey I brought. Spanish, El Diablo something. Didn’t try it but it was finished by the morning.
Julian showed up from Nagoya in the morning – only getting a little lost needing TokyoDave to fetch him from the Family Mart (the 7-11 of Japan, except that 7-11’s are EVERYWHERE in Japan). Soon we were off to Kawasaki for the Kanamara Festival. Basically, it’s a Penis Festival – like the one that I went to two years ago in Komaki.
But a still photo doesn’t do it justice – how about a video!
And there were more “floats”….
This one was carried by and donated to the local temple by local drag queens:
Yet, more dongs…
And dress-up:
It turned into a family event with TokyoDave’s wife and daughter meeting up with us, though it’s only Julian, Sarah, and I in this shot.
Sarah and I are eating chocolate dipped penis’ (banana on a stick), while Julian is holding up his “mini-me”.
Eventually, we ended up at one of the two temples (starting and ending):
When the “honored guest” (that would be me) was ask about lunch, my request was not for street/stall food, but a sit-down restaurant to get away from the crowds (and, frankly, to sit down). We ended up at t noodle joint.
You order and pay at the hostess station, they give you tickets to place on the table. Want drinks? Step up to the vending machine for more tickets:
I opted for the sparking sake:
Soon, it was time to head back to TokyoDave at Mitzio’s house and relax:
Hong Kong to Seattle via Tokyo. That’s today. Up at 6:30am, checkout and check-in at the desk… which didn’t open for 15 minutes after I got there. The good news? My boarding pass now says Star Alliance Gold (on the way out it said Silver) which gets me into the Club Lounge.
Picked up some cheap Chinese cigarettes for the freezer at duty free – have to wait for booze until Tokyo where I won’t have a connecting flight.
As I’ve said, the Chinese are wild about buffets. I’ve never seen a lounge buffet with shumai (little dumplings), spring rolls, sausage, sushi, all those breakfast pastry type things, cereal, all which morphed into lunch items including hot dogs (odd choice), curry chicken, more sushi.
Lucked out on the flight to Tokyo – exit row with reclining seats with the middle seat empty after the window seat didn’t show up. Sweet.
The Club Lounge at Narita was huge and packed, and the food not nearly as good. Maybe I should have tried the ANA lounge.
The one thing the United lounge did have was a shower:
Nice to have a break, get out of painful socks – never again will I wear tight socks on long flights.
Watched one movie, washed down an Ambien with Chivas (out of a real bottle, not a mini), the joys of flying another nation’s carrier slept for four hours or so, woke up had another meal, watched another movie.
Global Entry made it easy to get back into the US, but Sparky the USDA dog got a scent off my bag so I was off to ag (agricultural) inspection – the guess by the officer was that it was the scent from the sandwiches I grabbed in Hong Kong that I disposed on the flight from Tokyo to Seattle. Hopefully this won’t affect my status.
Even with the delay out of Tokyo, we were almost on time getting back which is good since I’m meeting Alicia at baggage claim. She’s going to see her father in Idaho, and leaving in an hour or so, so it’s a quick visit.
Alicia leaves, I take a quick nap, and Patrick is knocking on the door – he’s in town for two nights for a green building conference… no rest for me. Well, yes, rest for both of us – he hadn’t slept last night (flew in from DC) and I could use a little more sleep for dinner at Swandas, well, dinner and package delivery.
Dinner, oddly enough was sushi from downstairs – how much sushi in two days….
And for our last picture… shadows on Swandas wall.
I love mid-day flights. Begin about to get up at the usual time and still be able to pack your bags.
Got out of the house around 10:30 with a bag full of frozen pork and shrimp, and a resealable jug for Onyx. By 11:30 I was at the airport and checking into the Board Room for lunch. Not bad considering that in that hour I’d driven to the apartment, left the car in the garage, walked across the street and caught light rail to the airport, had to check in since a bag was going in the belly of the plane, and made it through security. And it was Memorial Day weekend with tons of people.
Flight was running early because of a tail wind. Spent more time waiting for my bag (I wish Alaska would tag First Class bags with priority stickers like United does) than for my ride (Onyx) to show up. Mark was back at the house embroiled in a work crisis.
After several calls from Tokyo Dave, decided he should just come to dinner with the boys and I. Twice in one week, in two different cities. How fun.
Country style pork ribs marinated in a plum sauce, on the grill. Broccoli with hollandaise. No salad, none in the house so we made do with what we could find, but as usual, wine.
Stayed up late last night chatted with Tokyo Dave… so the morning came early.
With his flight at 1pm and a little shopping to be done before, it was out of the house by 10am. No Jaguar for the run to the airport today (did it last night between rain clouds) but the Mommy Van instead. In the shopping run I saw a wonderful Mercedes factory limosine. Didn’t get a picture of the white one I saw, but did find a picture of a black one:
Pretty isn’t it….
But I digress. Lot’s of work yesterday and today on trademark infringement stuff — not my favorite, but it does pay the bills. Got the rest of the packing done for the trips with the exception of the booze for the Alaska trip (and I did pack the “Beer Belly”).
The highlight of the day is dinner with Helene and Jonathan and a bunch of champagne. We are celebrating Helene getting laid off yesterday. Yes, celebrating. Think big severance package for her fourteen years of work which doesn’t include to the two paid months off and all the vacation, and extended health benefits.
Now this is good news because she can now take the summer off while transitioning her life to Canada, which she was going to have to do this fall to keep her landed immigrant status.
Change the spacer by 1/8″ to make it totally flush with the rest of the floor
Also – still ruminating on whether I can turn the space under the trap door into a wine cellar, and if I want to have it air-conditioned.
I would have gotten more of the project done, but today’s big event is having dinner with Marybeth and the kids down in Tacoma – which means driving down there in rush hour. The usual 45 minute trip is more like an hour and a half in the evening rush hour.
I brought steak and fresh bread (needless to say the kids loved the steaks, guessing as a single mom they don’t get them that often) and MB provided the corn on the cob and the salad – and homemade pie for dessert, a treat.
Got back to the house a little before ten to set the alarm for the morning… Tokyo Dave is coming into town to get his license renewed (and to spend the night) before flying to San Francisco for a funeral.
Been busy all day — up at 8am for those who care. Lots of little stuff done like stuff needing to go into the mail to get it off the desk.
Took Jonathan to the airport for his afternoon flight to a wedding. He’s back Monday midnight. Went to the bank on the east side, and the post office to mail Tokyo Dave’s mail, then to Jimmies to drop off a job — guess I’d better get them a bill! Stayed for a G&T and dropped him on the hill on the way back over
Home to finish unloading the car (thanks Jonathan for help with the printer before the airport). Deflected an alarm salesman — but looking back on it why. 21, blond, geeky in his company golf shirt. What was I thinking!
Planted the two trees that Jeff left before they start to die anymore — and watered them. Need to plant the tomato starts that Jimmy gave me along with the arugula. Need to mow the rest of the lawn (tomorrow before company comes) and bondage up the raspberries (and water them too). Damn — yards are hard work.
Off at 5 to meet SpaceOtter (Numero Uno Dato) for dinner at Tom Tuk Thai on Queen Anne before seeing “Skin of the Teeth” at the Intiman. All I know is it’s part of their “American Cycle” which I cynically refer to as the “if you want to get NEA funding — put on American plays.”
Blog lesson to the wise — if you are giving someone a gift that isn’t here yet — don’t mention it on your blog. RE: Knife Sets.
Since the bag is out of the cat, it’s called “The Ex”. Available at Overstock and Amazon.
Puttering around the house all day. Groceries from Safeway. Where did the day go — oh yeah, that’s right I was doing SOB work this morning. Afternoon of reading, writing Steve in the can, mailing out articles to Chris and Curt — and visiting Chris to pick up packages — and yet more books for my unread stack. Maye I should spent my Breitenbush time catching up on reading by the water hole with a glass of white wine in my hand…. sounds delightful.
Made some fresh bread for dinner — tried cutting my usual recipe in half — the answer might be a three quarter batch — though I’m not sure how you get 1.75 eggs into a recipe… guess it would be 2 eggs, and less water. Yummy, even richer bread. Caesar salad, and a side of marinated organic heirloom tomatoes, and some lovely ribs off the grill. It’s nice to have Jameson here to spoil (and thereby spoiling myself as well).
Breaking Stove News!
Maybe it was karma that we put in the range hood one day — and getting a call from Seattle Appliance the next day that they have the last of my parts in. Tuesday from 10-2. They wanted Wednesday, but that’s when I’m leaving for Breitenbush — with what I’ve paid them already, I’m glad they are working with me on this. Below is today’s picture — the new range hood.
Breaking Helene News!
Well, no trip to Lopez on Monday/Tuesday before Breitenbush. I’m taking Tokyo Dave to the airport on Monday morning, and then swinging north to pick up Helene so that she can “land” in Canada before her September 11 deadline. Ironic isn’t it that that’s the day she was assigned. I was lobbying for her landing on July 4th — or the anniversary of her first visit to the Northwest. Anyway, the plan is “land” — i.e. stop, get the visa stamped, turn in the excel spreadsheet of goods that she will be importing and continue on to Vancouver for lunch, then head back. We won’t even be there long enough to qualify to have duty free!
Breaking Jameson News!
He’s not coming home for dinner — got invited to the Blue Moon by his teammates, and is feeling he should be social at some point this summer — he still has a month to go.
As the trip comes to an end, there are just a couple of final flights.
Nagoya (NGO) to Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Seattle (SEA)
But first I have to get to the airport – and it’s basically a two-hour train ride, but only one transfer…..and by taking the semi-express, I save 340yen ($3 – should have taken the express!).
Not my train – going in the wrong direction:
5
My train, going away from my destination but hooking up with the main line to the airport:
A little nerve racking with the maps on this train all in Kanji – but then I remembered back to my Kanji Character Matching from my first trips to Nippon 30 years ago.
Got to the airport with plenty of time (as I always do), got through security with only a double scanning, then found the lounge to settle in and write the previous blog report, and have a cocktail or three. Sparse but comfortable service. Only one bottle of hard liquor open (luckily whiskey), but draft beer and packaged cocktail mix. No English language papers alas…. I’ll have to wait for Tokyo:
And my office in the lounge:
It was an hour flight to Narita (Tokyo) on a full flight, at least they were mostly tiny Japanese people since I was in the back (no First or Business on this Airbus A320):
But soon I was doing the maze of Narita airport, having to clear Immigration – thank goodness for the Gold/Business lanes – all I saw in the other lanes were panicked people. Personally I barely had a chance to do my duty-free shopping – to spend my last 7,000+ yen (guess I didn’t need to change that final $50 bill. Did find some “odd” things in duty-free to buy. Whiskey with emperor’s armor:
And some off menthol (though I didn’t know that until later) cigarettes that come 8 or so to a square box in different colors – perfect for Jerod. Then it was off to the Lounge – which the pictures of didn’t come out because I was in a hurry, but there was food, booze, and English language newspapers – that’s all I need.
Inserted just for amusement – this is what happens when you don’t check your images….
Did some final shopping to whittle down the change (750+ yen) – bought an overpriced sticker for my suitcase and some sushi shaped erasers for Jonathan (since he has drafting classes).
And then it was time to get settled in for my Business Class flight home on an ANA 878-800. Welcome to my “throne”:
It DOES feel like a throne. And the service:
I found the lay-flat beds in the ANA plane more comfortable than the Emirates, with the Emirates bed feeling like a sofa-sleeper with the ribs in unfortunate places. And soon it was time for breakfast:
Landed a little before 11 – and by a little after 11:30 I was through immigration, grabbed my bag, through customs, and home bringing in the mail. A five-hour nap before going to the shop to work 3 hours for a private event. And working Friday, Saturday, Sunday. No time for jetlag.
[222.4] Nothing like a couple of days do drop the flight water weight.
But still more to do:;)
Leave a passing comment »