I’m sitting here on the airplane sort of bored, but also not really. The people here at Northwest Airlines are doing fine for such a long flight. I’m not accustomed to actual meals during a flight, free beer and wine in coach, and beverages whenever I want them. Of course, I’m on a 12.5 hour trans-pacific flight from Detroit to Tokyo so entertainment is at a premium. And I guess the $1,000 ticket entitles me to my “free” beer, wine, and food. I’m pretty content so far. Pat the flight attendant is very nice. Because we’re sitting on the exit row, I have nothing but space in front of me, and the flight attendant’s chair is in front of me. It’s fun to chit chat with Pat while she takes a break. Plus she’s hooking me up with beer and such, so that’s a plus. According to this computer, it’s 8:52 PM Central Standard Time on April 1st. We are scheduled to land in Tokyo at 4:30 PM local time April 2nd. I think they’re 9 hours behind Houston but ahead a day. So really they’re 15 hours ahead. Shit, I have no idea what I’m talking about. It seems I’ve been in the air for about 8 hours, so that means we have 4.5 hours until we land. That would put me at 1:30 AM Central Standard Time, which is 15 hours behind Tokyo and everything works out. That’s why they pay me the big bucks. (I’m delirious you see.)
The day began at 5 AM (all CST for future reference) with a shower and some queasiness. After the shower, I made the coffee, got dressed, and got in Kayla’s car to pick up Byron, a classmate on the trip. Last night Kayla came over and helped me pack. I had everything in the room, but it still took me about 4.5 hours to pack everything the way I wanted it. I managed to pack everything in my large suitcase, including a big duffle bag I’m taking on our 11-day backpacking trip at the beginning of May. My smaller bag contains all the little “presents” I’m giving to the medical personnel in Beijing. They are mostly pens, staplers, and other office stuff provided by drug reps. The drug’s name is plastered all over each item to let you know who’s shelling out the fun stuff. I filled that bag to the brim with this stuff, plus all my toiletries, toilet paper, and everything else I could fit in there. In addition I have a backpack filled to the brim with CD’s, a CD player, a travel backgammon set, two decks of cards, my “dop kit”, my camera charger, a medical jurisprudence book, a few research papers on the surgical treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, and other things I can’t think of right now. You should see the mobile pharmacy I have in my bag. We are ready for any ailment that might come to us in China including allergies, bacterial infection (five different types of antibiotics), diarrhea, insomnia, extreme pain, and inflammation. Oh, and I have my laptop with computer, Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2, and my current leisure book “North Dallas Forty”, which is about professional football in the late sixties.
So anyway, we lugged this stuff to the airport and got on the 2 hour 30 minute flight to Detroit. Then we walked straight to our waiting Boeing 747-400 and got on. I’ve never been on an aircraft this big. Seriously, this thing is HUGE. It’s incredibly big. My eyes were popping out of my skull just walking through the main cabin checking this thing out. I can’t even imagine what first class upstairs looks like, but I think I would like to experience it someday (maybe on the Dreamliner when it’s eventually completed). So we sat down and proceeded to look at Michigan, a big lake, frozen mountains in Canada, Alaska, and now I think we’re over the Pacific but I can’t tell because everyone has the windows closed to simulate darkness and make it easier to watch the movies. The whole simulating darkness thing is required, because we’re flying west and the sun will not set during this flight. I think that’s pretty cool. The first film was the fantasy with the long name starring Jim Carrey. I skipped that one and read my book. The second movie was Ocean’s Twelve. It was sort of the same formula as Ocean’s Eleven, with a cool plot twist at the end. Julia Roberts (who plays Tess) ends up playing Julia Roberts, which was fun. There was also a cameo by Bruce Willis. So the movie was fun. It doesn’t match the first film, but it’s worth seeing especially since it’s available for rental (isn’t it?).
Two evenings ago, I watched I “Heart” Huckabee's starring everyone in Hollywood. It was a very strange, thoughtful movie, but I enjoyed it. I don’t want to get into the plotline, but it deals with existential detectives who help solve people’s life crises and help them achieve inner peace. What they really do is cause nothing but trouble. I really enjoyed the film in the end, and it’s worth watching if you can get over the weirdness. Lilly Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman are great, as is Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore), Jude Law, Marky Mark, and the cute blonde girl from The Ring.
Back on the HUGE airplane, Kevin Spacey’s movie “Beyond the Sea” (or something like that) is on. It also stars John Goodman, but I can’t seem to get into it. It’s on as I type this, so maybe if I paid attention I would enjoy it. However, it’s too late now, so I’ll just finish typing this thing and get back to reading. I look forward to my breakfast omelet and maybe a mimosa? Yeah right. I could con them into some white wine and mix it with orange juice I guess…or maybe I should just let it go. I’ll give you more later.
Sweet! Now I'm in Tokyo Airport using the wireless internet for 500 Yen. I think that's $5 US. I hope. A pint of beer here is 800 yen, so I think I'm ok. It's 5 PM April 2nd here in Tokyo...or 2:00 AM April 2nd there in Houston. It appears the time change in Beijing will be CST plus 13 hours. I’m starting to get excited about all of this! I already took a bunch of pictures of the airplane and scenery, and I'll try to get that up ASAP.
The day began at 5 AM (all CST for future reference) with a shower and some queasiness. After the shower, I made the coffee, got dressed, and got in Kayla’s car to pick up Byron, a classmate on the trip. Last night Kayla came over and helped me pack. I had everything in the room, but it still took me about 4.5 hours to pack everything the way I wanted it. I managed to pack everything in my large suitcase, including a big duffle bag I’m taking on our 11-day backpacking trip at the beginning of May. My smaller bag contains all the little “presents” I’m giving to the medical personnel in Beijing. They are mostly pens, staplers, and other office stuff provided by drug reps. The drug’s name is plastered all over each item to let you know who’s shelling out the fun stuff. I filled that bag to the brim with this stuff, plus all my toiletries, toilet paper, and everything else I could fit in there. In addition I have a backpack filled to the brim with CD’s, a CD player, a travel backgammon set, two decks of cards, my “dop kit”, my camera charger, a medical jurisprudence book, a few research papers on the surgical treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, and other things I can’t think of right now. You should see the mobile pharmacy I have in my bag. We are ready for any ailment that might come to us in China including allergies, bacterial infection (five different types of antibiotics), diarrhea, insomnia, extreme pain, and inflammation. Oh, and I have my laptop with computer, Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2, and my current leisure book “North Dallas Forty”, which is about professional football in the late sixties.
So anyway, we lugged this stuff to the airport and got on the 2 hour 30 minute flight to Detroit. Then we walked straight to our waiting Boeing 747-400 and got on. I’ve never been on an aircraft this big. Seriously, this thing is HUGE. It’s incredibly big. My eyes were popping out of my skull just walking through the main cabin checking this thing out. I can’t even imagine what first class upstairs looks like, but I think I would like to experience it someday (maybe on the Dreamliner when it’s eventually completed). So we sat down and proceeded to look at Michigan, a big lake, frozen mountains in Canada, Alaska, and now I think we’re over the Pacific but I can’t tell because everyone has the windows closed to simulate darkness and make it easier to watch the movies. The whole simulating darkness thing is required, because we’re flying west and the sun will not set during this flight. I think that’s pretty cool. The first film was the fantasy with the long name starring Jim Carrey. I skipped that one and read my book. The second movie was Ocean’s Twelve. It was sort of the same formula as Ocean’s Eleven, with a cool plot twist at the end. Julia Roberts (who plays Tess) ends up playing Julia Roberts, which was fun. There was also a cameo by Bruce Willis. So the movie was fun. It doesn’t match the first film, but it’s worth seeing especially since it’s available for rental (isn’t it?).
Two evenings ago, I watched I “Heart” Huckabee's starring everyone in Hollywood. It was a very strange, thoughtful movie, but I enjoyed it. I don’t want to get into the plotline, but it deals with existential detectives who help solve people’s life crises and help them achieve inner peace. What they really do is cause nothing but trouble. I really enjoyed the film in the end, and it’s worth watching if you can get over the weirdness. Lilly Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman are great, as is Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore), Jude Law, Marky Mark, and the cute blonde girl from The Ring.
Back on the HUGE airplane, Kevin Spacey’s movie “Beyond the Sea” (or something like that) is on. It also stars John Goodman, but I can’t seem to get into it. It’s on as I type this, so maybe if I paid attention I would enjoy it. However, it’s too late now, so I’ll just finish typing this thing and get back to reading. I look forward to my breakfast omelet and maybe a mimosa? Yeah right. I could con them into some white wine and mix it with orange juice I guess…or maybe I should just let it go. I’ll give you more later.
Sweet! Now I'm in Tokyo Airport using the wireless internet for 500 Yen. I think that's $5 US. I hope. A pint of beer here is 800 yen, so I think I'm ok. It's 5 PM April 2nd here in Tokyo...or 2:00 AM April 2nd there in Houston. It appears the time change in Beijing will be CST plus 13 hours. I’m starting to get excited about all of this! I already took a bunch of pictures of the airplane and scenery, and I'll try to get that up ASAP.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home