May 28th, 2006. The night before.
I am trying to get this laptop to work. I would love to learn more about Macs, and so I am taking this iBook to Japan with me. It is 11:15pm. We will wake up at 4:40am, but I think it is worth it to get this up and running so that I can keep a journal on the plane.
Hiro-chan has worked so hard to get us ready. I hope this is a good trip. Off to bed. I think I got the iBook basics figured out.
May 29, 2006
Monday 9:11 am LA time.
Well, we are settled at our gate (76) at the LA airport. From now on, I will refer to time as the time of the place I am currently located. Our plane leaves at 12:33 pm. Looks like a three hour wait. Hiro-chan is off walking with Toshi. She has got him on a leash thingy she bought off the internet. After this entry, I will go for a walk with him as she rests.
The drive to Vegas was pleasant. Traffic was sparse. The temperature was cool. Peb, Hiro-chan, me, and occasionally Toshi, laughed and chatted. We ate at McDonalds and then mom dropped us off at the airport. Life is good.
The plane ride to LA was a little scary for me. As we took off there was a very unusual glump thump thump sound by the landing gear. I have flown a lot and never heard that sound before. It sounded like the gears were breaking/grinding.
My plane, on a trip to Korea some while ago, had landing gear problems. The tires caught on fire on take off. We had to do an emergency landing (the Korea Trip) after we dumped fuel. The plane was smoking and they expected the plane to flip on landing---since it was minus some wheels.
However it only cut grooves in the runway. We made the news. It was weird to watch our plane dump fuel over the ocean and then come back to a fleets of ambulances, police, and news crews. We are fine, obviously, but the memory came back as the landing gears on the Vegas to LA flight made such strange noises.
Now we are waiting. I wish I brought my portable DVD so we could watch Baby Einstein or Bourne Supremacy.
To Japan
My internal and external clock are off.
Darrrgh. We got off to a bad start. Right before we got onto the plane, Toshi broke my digital camera. He was playing on the Airport Computer, and while Hiro-chan was off to the restroom, I pulled him off. It looked like there were people waiting to get online.
He pitched a fit. I decided to let him play with my camera. He was having so much fun taking pictures that I let him continue. As soon as Hiro-chan came back, he threw it on the floor and ran to his mom. Now it wont finish turning on--the lens gets stuck as it tries to come out. *cry*
That set me off in a bad mood. I was mad at myself for giving him the camera to placate him.
When we got to the plane, we found out that we did not get a door seat or a seat in front of the plane (before first class). Those areas have plenty of leg room so Toshi could sleep on the floor, but the girl who checked us in gave us really cramped seats in the back--even tho we requested a roomier seat. Hiroko is mad about that.
I felt better once the plane started to take off. I canﾕt take pictures at the Tokyo airport, but I think we can find another digital camera in Japan. :P Hiro-chan feels happier because the stewardess got us a first class Japanese newspaper and really did try hard to find a better seat. Even if we can not get what we want, having somebody care and try to help makes all the difference.
Hiroko and Toshi are asleep. Oh, I found out that my cell phone automatically adjusted to California time. Who knew!?
Almost Mcphee
Sitting at the Narita Terminal at the Tokyo Airport
Man I am a sweaty mess. After landing in Tokyo, we had to switch terminals. That involved a nice little bus ride and going up and down and down and up stairs. It is like a maze. Even Hiro-chan got a little lost. But let me reminisce on the flight.
I have learned the difference between an 11 hour flight with adults and an 11 hour flight with a 22 month old. Toshi was actually really good. He slept a lot and Hiroko took him for walks around the plane. The stewardesses got really rude with Hiroko. I think they didnﾕt like she was walking him so much. They made her sit down because the seat belt light was on. She did, but later she had to use the bathroom REALLY bad. Other people were getting up and using the restroom or getting luggage, but one particular nasty stewardess kept redirecting Hiroko to sit down and wouldnﾕt let her use the restroom. Finally when she left, Hiro-chan just went.
They started to show Nanny McPhee, but it looked like there was no tracking on a VHS tape. There was also no sound. They gave up and showed Narnia---all three screens I could see were either almost black and white or faded. I was a little bummed.
Anyway, we got to Tokyo safely.
Off ot Fukuoka,.
Up in the air.
We have a 1 hour and 45 minute plane ride to Fukuoka. By From there we take a bus for one hour to get to where Hiro-chanﾕs family will pick us up. By the time we get to her house, we will have traveled for 26 hours.
I am tired. Toshi and Hiroko and asleep and I am fading. I am so excited to be here, The Japanese stewardesses are very nice--Hiroko wanted me to point that out.
Home
We got home safely. Hirokoﾕs family LOVED playing with Toshi. At first he was shy, but he warmed up fast. As I took a shower then bath, Naoko wrestled with toshi and laughed. Toyotoshi went out and got be me bread. I called mom and went to bed.
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